Vintage Reel to Reel and Tape Deck Recorders

Q: I want to get my hands on an old reel-to-reel tape player so I can see what my favorite albums sounded like on tape back when they were originally released. I know nothing about the reel-to-reel format, but it makes sense to me that they would have superior sound quality over vinyl records.

A: High quality reel-to-reel machines can sound fantastic. But, a lot of the tapes used on them were recorded at home, usually off the tuner or turntable, so the quality can suffer a little. If you can find factory-made pre-recorded tapes, the quality can be excellent. But remember, most of these tapes are decades old and may have started to shed their oxide coating and otherwise deteriorate. Tapes do NOT last forever.
P.S. Try and find a ReVox A-77. Fantastic unit.

Over the last eight decades AKAI has proven itself to be one of the premier sources of vision and innovation in the audio industry. Founded in 1929, Tokyo, Japan, AKAI immediately gained world wide recognition for their superior open reel tape deck designs. Their dominance in the reel-to-reel market over the last 80 years is the direct result of their commitment to quality and innovation, a value instilled in the company from there very first product. Throughout the years their ingeniously design tape decks have consistently set the standard for quality of design, construction, and most importantly sonics.

AKAI's GX series represents their finest contribution to the world of audio. Coming from the height of the reel-to-reel era, the GX series has secured its place in history as one of the greatest. These truly distinctive decks contain the most highly developed features which allow them to greatly outperform any other.

The GX-635D is one of the gems of AKAI's decorated past. It is a highly sophisticated deck introduced in 1979 with a production run until 1981 and an original selling price of $1,135.00. The GX-635D has a time proven history of dependability, durability, an amazing sonic performance. It plays and records with effortless precision, capturing sonic detail with stunning clarity and accuracy. Akai engineers did not hold back in the features & functions department, the GX-635d is loaded.

Vintage Ampex 350-R reel-to-reel tape deck serial number 54J95. Has full-width mono heads and has a editing block mounted to the top of the head cover. This came out of an AM radio station. Does NOT include amplifier unit or anything else not described or pictured. Not tested, unknown functional condition, sold as-is. Good physical condition with the usual scratches and scrapes.

Near mint condition Pioneer RT-707 stereo tape deck. 4-head, 3 motors, 2 speed with auto-reverse. Pioneer designed these units to be rack-mounted but this one was always used free standing. It is in absolute perfect cosmetic condition and all buttons, switches, knobs, etc. are fully functional. The lighted VU meters work flawlessly. Sometimes the tape counter sticks. I'm sure this could be fixed easily. I am the original owner having purchased it in 1979 for $425. I used this unit for light home entertainment during the first few years. It has been packaged in it's original packing materials and box ever since. I used it this past Christmas and it was as good as it was in 1979! I've always kept the heads cleaned. All manuals, wiring diagrams and paperwork included. This unit is built to last. Shipping weight is 50lbs. They don't make units like this any more - this is a classic!

THIS IS ANOTHER NICE EXAMPLE OF A REVOX A-77 .. ALL FEATURES WORK VERY WELL. I HAVE CHECKED OUT ALL ASPECTS OF THIS DECK AND IT PERFORMS WELL. HEADS ARE GOOD. THE SOUND IS CRYSTAL CLEAR.THIS DECK IS DESIGNED TO RECORD AND PLAYBACK IN ONE DIRECTION THIS IS A 4 TRACK DECK . TWO SPEEDS- 3 3/4 & , 7 1/2 IPS . HAS WOODGRAIN CABINET. . MULTIPLE VOLTAGE. I STILL PRE-SHIP-CHECK-OUT ALL ITEMS I SELL, SO SHIPPING WILL BE DELAYED A FEW DAYS FOR THIS PROCESS TO BE PERFORMED.THERE ARE SOME VERY MINOR IMPERFECTIONS

This is a Sony TC-558 open reel tape deck. It is a six head, three motor direct drive deck with recording and playback in both forward and reverse. It was Sony's top of the line seven inch reel to reel when it was produced and is considered by many to be the finest seven inch deck Sony ever made. I have cleaned and lubricated it as needed and now it functions nearly as new. All switches are silent, smooth, and static-free. The recording switches have been cleaned as have the head selector switches. These switches are always dirty on these decks and cleaning them is absolutely necessary. Uncleaned, they cause distorted playback and recording if the deck will record at all. As with all of this particular model tape deck of this age, when you switch playback or recording direction, the pinch roller does not "flop" from side to side as it should. If you don't want to flip the roller by hand, I'd recommend either rubbing a little rubber restorer on it or replacing it. I wanted to keep the deck original so I did nothing to this roller. The only belt in this deck is one that turns the counter and it is in fine shape. There are a few scratches and dings to the veneer cabinet and a few scratches on the faceplate. Sometimes when recording in the forward direction, the right channel cuts in and out. I am half convinced it is the tape I am recording on, but it might be a loose connection somewhere in the deck. Recording in reverse works perfectly.

Q: I'm thinking of buying a reel to reel deck. I'd like to put some of my old LP vinyl records on reel to reel tapes...what would be the sound quality I might expect?

A: Back in those days it was common knowledge that LP records had the better sound. Pickup any 60's or 70's HI-FI magazine with an article about it and you will see basically the same thing I am writing about here. First of all, tape hiss was the main objection, but there are other subtle differences as well. Most consumer decks back then did not have the frequency response that LP records had due to wide tape head gaps and lower bias oscillator frequencies. For instance, my 1962 Webcor tape deck is in perfect working order and it sounds pretty good, but it only has a 12Khz top end (Webcor spec) at 7.5 IPS, compare that to my Pioneer RT-909 deck from 1983, it sounds utterly fantastic as it has a high end of 33Khz at 7.5 IPS and a 22Khz top end at 3.75 IPS.

You must keep in mind, however, that even though the RT-909 can playback 22Khz at 3.75 IPS, that does not mean your factory recorded tapes that were made at this speed will necessarily sound better on that deck, as, those frequencies must be there to begin with in order for the deck to play them back. Many of the pre-recorded tapes made at the slower 3.75 IPS speed were lacking in high frequencies right out of the gate due to the recording heads being unable to transfer those higher freqs onto the tape at that speed.

In defense of tapes I have to say that tapes recorded by the RCA studios had some of the best sound I've ever heard, and if properly cared for, will definitely sound better today than their LP counterparts of the same vintage due to groove wear and other mechanical anomalies that take place over time. All of my RCA factory recorded tapes still play and sound like new. They are all from the early 1960's, and all of them run at 7.5 IPS (best speed for highest fidelity for most consumer tape decks).

Akai had some wonderful machines with a feature called "cross-field". This allowed you to use a really slow speed such as 1.875 IPS and still get decent fidelity as long as you used very good tape, like Irish "Ferrosheen", a micro particle tape that allowed higher frequencies to be recorded. The trick of the cross-field was that the record bias was not superimposed on the record head, which tended to erase the higher frequencies at slower speeds. Instead, Akai placed a separate head that had the bias on it when in the record mode just ahead of the main audio record head. This kept the highs from getting erased. Tandberg also used this technique in some of their decks, like the 10XD.

I have only touched on the better tape machines produced in the very late 70's and early 80's as your focus is more the 60's and 70's era. The open reel tape and decks produced in the 80's cannot be compared to those of the 60's and half of the 70's decade as the improvements to the tape and the decks had not come out yet. But if you could step back in time to, say, 1970 and went to an audio shop you would have noticed these differences.

TEAC X-10R Reel To Reel Deck. Bi -Directional recording and playback. Timer switch lets you make timer-activated recordings. Manual cueing lever makes precision cueing and editing quick and easy. Accurate UV meters help you set precise recording levels for minimum distortion. Dual capstan closed loop transport achieves super stable tape travel and minimum modulation distortion
Independent Mic and Line level controls. Auto Reverse. Pitch control provides extensive flexibility for creative recording. Will run both 7 inch or 10 1/2 tapes.

In 1953, a pair of talented engineers from Japan - the Tani brothers - created the first TEAC product line which was comprised entirely of open-reel audio tape recorders. Over the subsequent years these two brothers forged ahead making many industrial breakthroughs, advancing the science of recording & playback to new heights, and eventually becoming the world leaders in recording technology.

Today TEAC is a billion-dollar global corporation and has been the world leader in recording technology for over four decades. TEAC manufactures an entire spectrum of components, not only do they continue to produce recording devices for home and professional use but nearly 75% of the free world's airforces-as well as NASA-equip their aircraft with ruggedized TEAC airborne video and digital recorders. The company's success has undoubtedly grown from the Tani brother's undying dedication to perfection and this devotion is plainly obvious in the amazing tape decks Teac has produced over the years.

The X-1000R EE was designed at the height of open reel popularity available new from 1980 to 1984 with a selling price of $1,400.00. It is a late generation tape deck containing the bulk of Teac's 40+ year history of open reel tape deck development.. It is unquestionably one of the finest sounding tape decks ever made and an absolute joy to use. It has the ability to fully maximize the sonic potential of ¼" tape format. It is an extremely high-performance machine, combining a rugged precision transport and exceptional audio electronics with a complement of performance features which meet and exceed the demands of even the most fastidious audiophile or professional audio engineer. Whether recording or playing back, the X-1000R obtains a level of performance rivaling high dollar modern digital devices. It has the rare ability to record and reproduce even delicate sonic details, rendering music in the fullest of fidelity with effortless precision.

OTARI MX5050 Master Reel To Reel Recorder. Otari's Top-Of-The-Line MX5050 Master Reel To Reel Recorder1/4" Mastering Console. 2 channel Stereo. Records and plays back 2-track and has a switch that will allow for Full Track (single track) playback. 7 1/2 and 15 ips. Smooth, accurate transport. Great console layout. NAB and IEC Eq. Digital counter with memory. Standard 10 1/2" (and smaller) reel capacity.

PIONEER RT-909 Open REEL TO REEL TAPE RECORDER. Excellent record/playback quality even 3 3/4 IPS! 7 1/2 is amazing! If you've had your eye on one of these, this is the one for you. Comes in original box and includes a take-up reel, owner's manual on CD, and original Pioneer NAB Hubs. 2 channel Stereo, 4-track, 2-speed 3 3/4, 7 1/2 ips (1/4" tape). Records forward (Pioneer did not put a reverse record head on the 909). bi-directional playback with auto-reverse. Smooth, accurate transport. Accurate counter. Blue lit fluorescent meters. Standard 10 1/2" (and smaller) reel capacity. RCA input/output. Rack mountable.

Teac A-3440 A3440 OPEN REEL TO REEL TAPE RECORDER QUAD. Teac's Top-Of-The-Line at the time. Record 4 tracks at a time (forward) or record 1 at a time and overdub. Great studio deck or use for live recording. We sell quite a few of these to studios to put into their digital rigs. Loop this deck through for an excellent real tape saturation effect. The 3440s are a ton of work being that there are modular circuit boards for each track, but they are certainly worth the effort once they are properly restored and calibrated. Excellent response on all 4 channels. 2 channel Stereo, 4-track, 2-speed 7 1/2 and 15 ips (1/4" tape). Records 1,2,3, or 4 tracks at a time. Plays back recorded tracks while recording others (overdubbing). Layer tracks to create your project. Also can be used as a standard stereo 4-track deck or even a quad deck if you wish. Very versatile. Excellent frequency response. Would make an excellent addition to an analog or digital studio. Smooth, accurate transport. Standard 10 1/2" (and smaller) reel capacity. RCA input/output. Bright, accurate meters.

Nagra Reel to Reel Tape Recorders. Kudelski NAGRA III 3 Field Film Tape Recorder, Nagra T-Audio Reel to Reel Tape Machine, NAGRA SN Reel-to-Reel Audio Tape Recorder, NAGRA 4.2 Portable Reel to Reel 1/4" Recorder, Kudelski Nagra SLO Synchronizer, Nagra III NB Kudelski Real to Real Tape Recorders.

Tandberg TD-20A SE Open REEL TO REEL TAPE RECORDER. If you're looking at this, you probably are familiar with the TD20ASE. This is the deck that is praised by audiophiles throughout the world. Awesome frequency response and s/n ratio. Probably the cleanest, most transparent reel to reel deck ever produced for the high end consumer market.

Technics Reel to Reel Tape Recorders. Technics RS 1506 Reel to Reel Tape Recorder, Vintage Technics RS 1506 Reel to Reel Tape Recorders, Panasonic Technics Model 715 Reel to Reel Recorder, TECHNICS RS-1500US REEL TO REEL Tape Player.

Nakamichi 1000 Cassette Deck. Has all items that were included with purchase in box. This Cassette Deck has never been used and new! This is the pinnacle of Cassette Decks. Try to beat this asking price of only $2750.00. Pressure sensitive remote, head cleaner, and manuals. Super for Anybody. Excellent Christmas Gift, Birthday Gift, or any Special Occasion. Great Collector's item, Or just treat yourself to this fantastic Nakamichi Cassette Deck fit for King or Queen!