Reel to Reel Options

there are basically two worlds based on speeds and pre-recorded content.

prosumer quality 7-1/2 IPS 7" diameter pre-recorded 4 track tapes, I went that way, have a few Teac X2000 auto-reverse 6 head decks and had about 500, sold some, now maybe 300 pre-recorded tapes. they can sound terrific, highest measured distortion, yet my best sounding content. Least convenience. Only content from their era is available. larger tapes exist, but not like the next category.

They were not designed for service, take the fake wood case off, take the plastic case off, good luck getting your hands in there to clean/adjust/change a belt, 

studio quality 15 IPS, 2 track stereo, (some 30 IPS, some wider tape) buy studio quality machines, buy 2 track stereo tapes on 10" reels made today from masters ....  for sale for a lot more money, they can sound fabulous. They cost more and take up a lot more space, machines and tapes. Pro motors and brakes are needed to handle the extra weight of tape on 10" reels

My friend has two of these, they were designed for service, the deck simply lifts up on a hinge. I thought mine sounded great, but when he played me Led Zeppelin, holy crap, now I know what they were hearing in the studio when making the music! It was like night and day difference between any other version I have heard.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/256728400718?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=5338381866&toolid=10001&customid=4b2f61a0-97ea-11f0-b68f-363537336264

Commercial 7 1/2 IPS tapes are scarce and expensive. They average about $30 each. I have around 30. I have three decks: a TEAC, a Pioneer 707 and a vintage all-tube Sony. The Sony had been restored when I bought it.

The cassette killed the RTR deck - and almost killed the LP. Cassette tapes were cheap and easy to load/use. The Sony Walkman allowed on-the-go listening. With Dolby noise reduction sound quality was quite good! I have a Nakamichi B deck and an Alpine-era Luxman. Also I bought a Technics DCC deck and several DCC classical tapes. I was curious about the sound quality of this new lossy format.

I’ve owned many R2R decks during the last 50 years: teac, akai, pioneer and Otari 5050. The Otari and pioneer were 15ips decks and the Otari using balanced interconnects sounded the best.

I was like the OP, I wanted a very nice deck that I could rip albums to it to build playlists. I also wanted to buy prerecorded music and nothing sounded good except at 15ips recordings and the tapes were hundreds of dollars. Plus, some of the 10.5” used tapes I bought weren’t that good and brand new tapes were expensive. The recordings I made didn’t sound any better than the source so why would I duplicate the music without any improvement of sq.

if I was going to record a live event, I’m not sure if I would go analog or dsd digital. I sold all my vinyl since I sold my r2r deck, so no analog and have never missed it at all.

The biggest issue is limited content. Even if you have a Studer or Ampex 15 IPS 2 track 1/4 inch, what is the cost of "albums"? Most are the audiophile spectaculars; yes, I I know about the "underground" market for dubs (how many generations down) but what held me back was the bottle neck of access to more, different music. I've heard how good  first rate tape can sound, but sourcing the content is a beyotch. I am not interested in paying 500 bucks for a copy of a warhorse. I want more different music, not less. To me, that 's the bottle neck beyond the deck-- which, I agree, has to be sorted, but the gear is only a starting point. Big limitation on good high quality content in my estimation. That's the main reason I have not made the move- I'm mainly a vinyl guy for that reason, and use digital to supplement or "try before I buy" on more expensive records. It is a luxe approach, done right.