Why no interest in reel to reel if you're looking for the ultimate sound?

Dear @scar972  : ""  I'm more satisfied with my vinyl setup now than ever before and it performs at a high level. ""

Good, but that does not means that that same analog rig can performs way better that what you have rigth now and I'm not talking because those are my " preferences " no I'm talking because I know for sure that that will be when you pull the trigger about.

Anyway, only an opinion, the important one is yours.

R.

I’ve been into R2R since that was the only option for serious home recorders. I still have my quarter-track Tandberg TD20A and half-track rebuilt Crown SX822. I use them mostly to listen to historic recordings, which should probably be digitized for posterity. Maybe some day I’ll get around to that.

For me, audio is not about trying to get the best sound, but about getting the best sound from recordings that you actually care about. Efforts from boutique labels such as The Tape Project can sound fantastic, but I can’t justify the price. As much as I can appreciate the best quality pure analog, today’s digital is so so-oooo good that I can’t spend $450 for the tape. YMMV.

sdrsdrsdr134, I am so into R2R that I haven't posted on this thread in regard to R2R, but that was in response to "Raul" always commenting on distortion and noise.

I agree that R2R is a great format.  My 1980s recordings are really low noise and have the breath of real life. 
I have dozens of 1950s pre-recorded 2 and 4 track 7.5 ips tapes that are super dynamic and open sounding.  
I also have about 100 1960s 3.5 ips pre-recorded 4 track tapes that are okay, not great.  Especially classical music where all sorts of shenanigans occurred (e.g. Bruckner Sym. 5 with Klemperer-the 4th movement has a sudden lower volume at tuttis versus the LP and CD versions).  I suspect little effort to make the 3.5 ips tapes was done.  Hiss is also prominent.  The 7.5 ips 1960s tapes are pretty good and dynamic but mostly pop music.  With over 500 pre-recorded cassettes, they do not sound wonderful to me on my Nakamichi ZX7, especially classical.  My own non-Dolby recordings made on a Tandberg 310 sound wonderful played back on the ZX7 with very very faint hiss.  Tape quality and live source makes a huge difference.