Reel to Reel decks


Is anyone out there using reel to reels anymore? I remember at one time(30 years ago), they were probably some of the best analog reproduction equipment out there. Of course, it doesn't matter much if you can't buy good prerecorded tapes. I've googled prerecorded tapes, but haven't found much out there. Anyone have a good source? Also, can anyone recommend a good deck?
handymann
Buconero;

respectfully i want to echo Kipdent's comments and strongly disagree with your perspective on Blue-ray disc music performance compared to 1/4" 15ips master tape dubs.

you wrote;

Given a listen to the latter blu ray and I think you will forget about reel to reel.

please help us understand why you feel this way and describe what Blue-ray music disc was better than a 1/4" 15ips master dub to the degree to suggest 'you will forget about reel to reel tape'.

repeatedly you jump on RTR threads with baseless claims of Blue-ray music superiority without one example of that ever happening.

thread from last year;

post 1

post 2

post 3

post 4

again; tell us where your claims come from besides thin air.

btw; i have no problem with you claiming 1/4" 15ips master dubs are expensive......they are. and value is a matter of opinion.
While I stated tape is expensive, I now realize, that is relative. There is no better quality of stereo reproduction than reel to reel tape. My tapes are better than the original source. But that comes at a price; my tapes are half track, which means one way on 1/4 inch tape.
Orpheus10,
I don't want to pick nits, but I will anyway...
There is no better quality of stereo reproduction than reel to reel tape.
A lot of people will agree with this.

My tapes are better than the original source.
I hope there are not a lot who will agree with this.
T_bone, I am very glad you picked that nit. A bumble bee aint supposed to be able to fly; it's "theoretically" impossible. What I stated is "theoretically" impossible. However, when I record a CD on my 2 track Technics reel to reel; it becomes the same as a perfect analog record, and sounds much better than the original. As a matter of fact, the playback even increases the apparent size of the speakers.
Orpheus10,

It is actually not theoretically impossible for a bumblebee to fly. It was simply bad physics (and myth) which said it couldn't. There have been numerous scientific papers which have 'proven' that bumblebees can fly.

That said, I admit that when I made my comment, I did not give enough weight to the idea that just because it was not a source with better fidelity to the music as played into the original microphone did not mean that it did not sound better.

Given that you are recording the CD from the analog outputs of your CD player, and putting them through more circuitry, before applying them to a medium, then playing back that medium through other analog outputs, right back through the input of the amplifier that would have been used for the CDP in the first place...

I suggest that either
1) the analog outputs of your CDP are mismatched to your pre or amp in a way that your CDP output is not mismatched to R2R or the R2R is not mismatched to your pre/amp, or
2) the R2R through the tape input on your pre is simply a better analog gain circuit than the gain circuit you are using for your CDP, or
3) you find the changes brought on by additional circuitry pleasing...

Nothing wrong with any of those answers I guess, and anyone of them could explain the perceived difference in speaker size.