The "Picture of your Reel-To-Reel(s)" thread

Yes they did. I have quite a collection of prerecorded open reel tapes, loaned some of the to Steve to use in a German TV segment about reel to reel tapes.

Higher-end stereo shops, some record stores, and Columbia House record club offered them.

Ampex stopped producing them in the mid-70s.

Magtec (formerly Bell & Howell and later Stereotape) carried on until the early 80s.

Columbia House until 1984.

Barclay-Crocker until around 1986 or so.

There is The Tape Project which today offers titles recorded at mastering speeds and in half-track format (at very high prices) for those who wish to go that route.


Don't forget that you could also record your own tapes (which was the case more often than not)

-Aaron

 

I'm still wondering why I sold my minty Teac X-2000R 3 years ago?

 

You got the Ampex 300-4 back, Steve?

 

WOW.....$1,800.00 for 6 albums for the "Selective Subscription" and then $300.00 per additional album after that. Yep, that is a bit pricey.

 

I have this really old Tandberg 3000X (I think it was the bottom of their line way back when). I bought in 1972 or 1973 in St. Louis when I was still in grad school (those were the days ). I bought it at a place called "Hi-Fi Fo Fum" (I am not kidding ). It was a demo and they did not have the manual so I had to figure out how to run it on my own, but I got it cheap which was all I could afford in grad school. All I can remember is the 3M (IIRC) made some tape with an extra black oxide in the coating and a special backing that gave it better traction through the rollers to keep tape speed steadier. I loved the stuff and made some fine needle drops with it. I have no idea when I last used the thing.

This thread inspired me to dig the deck out of the back of one of our big closets. I think it has been moved six times! It still lights up but the spindles will not turn. I think they are belt driven and after 30+ years the belts are probably dust. Maybe some day I will open up the back and see what it needs. Would it be possible to still get parts for it?

FWIW, Here is a revieiw of the deck, I have no idea what magazine it is from or what I paid for the thing.

http://www.bassboy.com.au/getreel/site/samples/tandberg/3kxtest/3000x.htm

 

Ebay and Craigslist my friend, if not that then your local secondhand store or flea-market. Thats where i for my pre-recorded tapes and my machine for that matter

 

Originally, being from St. Louis, I can vouch for the Hi-Fi-Fo-Fum store.....I have been there too.

 

ReVox B77..... sounds wonderful!

 

It's still here, about a mile away from my house. The few specialty audio stores that are still around in St. Louis seem to be doing OK. There used to be tons of them in the 80's and early 90's, but during the late 90's there was a big shakeout when Best Buy, Circuit City, and Ultimate Electronics expanded there presence in town.

 

"Hi-Fi Fo-Fum . . . Exclamation Point!"

Bring back any memories?

www.fum.com

Gotta love the McIntosh gear on the homepage!

 

Eric, WOW!, I remember that goofy looking little dude. Talk about memories. I grew up down on the southside of the city (Gravois and Hampton) which was almost all blue collar so I never got any exposure to things like Fum and Hi-Fi Showroom (is it still there?). But then I was lucky enough to get my butt into WU and along with a class A education I got exposed to good sound systems, boy was I hooked the first time I heard one.

 

My Teac X-10R. I pull it out once in a while...

 

Oh yeah. Good to hear they survived and are still in business.

The other high end store I remember is Best Sound Co. They used to be on Brentwood Blvd. where the Galleria now is. IIRC, they are now on Lindbergh Blvd. in Creve Coeur. Haven't been there in years either.

 

Check out:
http://www.sound-smith.com/tandparts.html
Paul

 

So, here's mine. You may laugh.

 

Here are most of mine

TEAC A-6100
TEAC A-7300
TEAC A-3440
Tascam BR-20

the Tascam 32 I gave away

I've also got a couple Ampex 601's

I'll probably pick up another, better 2 track

 

I have 3 in my systems

in the Tube System a 1966 AKAI M8



in the Office System a TEAC A-1230



in the Main System a Pioneer RT-707



I use all of them. The M8 has built in amps and is somewhat portable I also have the matching mic for it.


The TEAC 1230 gets the most use since it's in my home office where I do the most listening.

The RT-707 is what I do my LP to Tape transfers with. At 7.5ips the sound is amazing. I have amassed some 75 blank Maxell 35-90 UD tapes and another 20 NOS BASF LP-35 tapes and hope to do some serious duplicating this winter.

 

Mine...

 

Mine.

 

If anybody answered this yet, I missed it. To be honest, matters of sentiment aside (and don't get me wrong: I am very fond of open reel), if you don't already have any music in the format and don't expect to have any gratuitously coming your way, I don't think there's much reason to get into R2R at this point. It's a fine recording format, but blank tape is hard to find and expensive, and, frankly, having experienced digital editing at a humble level, I will never willingly return to slicing tape with razor blades. Prerecorded tapes, such as they are, are ludicrously expensive. On the other hand, if it's a good deck, particularly one that will take 10" reels, and you have space to store it against the possibility that somebody some day may say "I have all these old tapes that I'd like to give away," the price is certainly right.

 

Here are my 3 decks

 

My Teac X-2000M.

 

I did own a 2000 series 4 track plus a Series 6 1/2 track Tubed with 'Magic Eye' meters until I was injured which left me unable to use it.