Can we finally put Reel to Reel out of its misery? Put it to rest people.

Long Live R2R.

Analog must involve physical wear. We deal with it, happily.  Analog simply gets the overtones right. That's why it is so Involving. 

I play Sgt. Pepper's (anything I have in all 3 formats) on CD, then LP, then R2R. EVERYONE prefers LP to CD, and EVERYONE prefers R2R to LP.

Play  In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, CD, LP, .. now play R2R, you can hear him say "In the Garden of Eden".

Play 1st Moody Blues Album, Go Now, before Justin, when they were a piano based blues band. Hear hard driven piano, muddy/mushy on LP, play R2R, it sounds awesome. 

Rare Earth, ... Anything 

I play McIntosh 300 wpc transistor, then 30 wpc tube amp, EVERYONE picks the tubes.

Come over here, we will listen, you will leave with tears of joy.

I’ve ‘had tears’ twice now with reel to reel. One a recording of Nina Simone, the other an Ink Spots recording—a group and recording I had never heard before. 

Simply amazing!

I have some great early stereo 50's R2R that slay the LPs and CDs.  George Wrights' Razz Ma Jazz on Audio Fidelity, Red Norvo Quintet Naturally and the Hi-Lo's on a pre-Columbia tape   Amazing clarity and dynamics.

Regarding tape longevity,

I am reducing my collection. I have sold over 150 of my factory recorded tapes from the 50, 60, 70's. on eBay. I offer unconditional returns. 

40, 50, 60 years old, they still sound awesome, no one has ever asked for a return.

@ orpheus10

Don’t really see how a R2R is much less trouble than a turntable. Once the table is setup it’s easy. Unless, you are anal and must make adjustments for every record you play.

Pre recorded reel tapes are expensive.

If you record on a R2R it can be very time consuming not to mention a pain if you want to listen to a particular album on a ten inch reel. I remember having a few 10 inch reels full of recorded music but got sick of fast forwarding or backwards to get to a particular album. Then having to take the tape off and putting another on to get to another album.

My deck also had an auto reverse function if you applied a small length of metallic tape at the end of the recorded tape it would reverse. So you could get essentially 6 hrs(?) of music on one 10 in. reel.

No thanks.

I admit that the sound was fantastic though.

Like I said,  I could have sold that rig for a lot more than what I did back in the day.  I hope someone is happy with it.