Are audiophile R2R tapes worth the money if you do not have a professional R2R deck?

My R2R, 7-1/2 IPS are my highest Noise to Signal and yet my best sounding content, everyone picks tape over lp after picking lp over cd here.

But the artists/content is limited to the era when they stopped making pre-recorded tapes, so I rarely play my tapes. 15 IPS is far superior to that, but I purposely stay in the pre-recorded 4 track world which is 7-1/2 IPS.

My friend has two Otari’s, and has acquired a collection of expensive tapes over the last few years.

Just as billstevenson said, my friend’s Led Zeppelin Tape is the best reproduction I ever heard, I thought I was hearing what they heard in the studio when creating the music. Previously unlistenable portions became the coolest stuff I ever heard.

Others, even tape versions of his/my favorite albums, the quality varies, great/darn good/ ok/ not so great, no-where worth the price ......

You need to make friends with others who are totally into it, and can lead you to providers of superior tapes.

I’m kicking myself towards digital only, as much as I love the idea of tapes and records - and I have two tape decks and two record players.

I use my tapes mostly to intrigue our 8 year old now days, as he’s fascinated by the concept. He’s more into using Alexa, but he listens to tapes also to my surprise.  And the records - when my wife and I have our fireplace going and some candles and a little wine. In other words, a couple times a month, if that.

Otherwise it’s always Amazon prime HD. Makes me sad.

I wouldn’t buy pre-recorded personally. I have some brand new chrome tapes, and I record on them my hi res play lists from Amazon. To me SQ is much better than pre-recorded.  And it’s been quite useful on a couple of occasions when we lost our internet access - tapes to the rescue.  
 

But now I view this as a toy and a conversation starter mostly - as most everyone who comes over for the first time are speechless and don’t really know what to say when they see the stack, haha!

Please ignore the naysayers. I’ve bought around 20 tapes so far and they sound PHENOMENAL. A level above vinyl. It’s not even debatable.  Have I got a fantastic sounding system. Yup. Vinyl CD and R2R with the latter supreme. 
 

I meant to say I go straight from machine to amps

Nothing is better than tape (at least those tapes sold by Analogue Productions and other audiophile labels).  

If youre willing to pay the price, then go for it.  Tape is the most expensive medium and worth it. 

elliottbnewcombjr, I am intrigued, where did you friend get he is R2R Led Zepllin tape from?