Reel to reel

I am not making the claim but stating the fact, as I have already stated in my post, but first you must tell me at what speed you are referring to, what kind of tape, and whether or not the machine was 1/4 track or 1/2 track?

"There is always a loss when copying from one analog source to another." That's false.


Magnetic tape recording works by converting electrical audio signals into magnetic energy, which imprints a record of the signal onto a moving tape covered in magnetic particles. ... Between the reels, the tape passes over a series of magnetic heads that convert audio signals into magnetic energy and back again.Mar 31, 2018.


You were probably using 1/4 track reel in order to record in both directions, that meant your tape had less signal area, meaning less of the tape was converted to magnetic energy, which would become audio energy on play back, and you didn't say what speed you recorded at.

"I transferred many LPs to RTR and on a good day I was happy if the tape copy fidelity was close to the LP."

There is far too much information left out of that statement; 1/2 track 1/4 track, recording speed, etc. The top machines, of which there were many, gave top results, but there were also many lesser machines. For example; AKAI had models from the best to the cheapest; that was a wide ranging variable.

We are not talking about tape media of today as opposed to yesterday, we are talking about yesterdays machines and tape.

In regard to my claim that the playback of an LP far exceeded the original LP; take it for what it's worth, I have no intention to prove or disprove it. 

Absolutely nothing is better, including amps, pre-amps, phono amps; just different. A top of the line ARC amp of 30 years ago, would sound as good as a brand new one; assuming both amps had brand new parts; for my money, I would take which one was the cheapest.

I have a Technics RS 1500 that I modified by replacing all the electrolytic capacitors with "Black Gates", and also replacing all the transistors with new ones. Panasonic people are wonderful to do business with; while I didn't get the caps from them, they supplied the new transistors, plus new tape rollers.

orpheus10"Reel to reel is ultimate audio, this is unequivocal fact"

It is an "unequivocal fact" for those who enjoy the euphonic noise, distortion, and unlinearity inherent in the use of analog tape no matter the deck and tape formulation there is no way to completely suppress, avoid, or eliminate the distortion that results from analog tape and it is fine that some people prefer the resultant sound but it is less accurate, faithful, and true to the original source and that is truly an  "unequivocal fact". 

Tape from masters doesn't necessarily have summed mono bass either. It can be a killer depending on the provenance of the tape. That's the hard part. If you are having fun recording LPs knock yourself out. 

The most wonderful thing about this forum is "Freedom of speech"; anyone can state as "unequivocal fact", that the Sun rises in the West and sets in the East, and that's a good thing. However, there are those who know, and those who don't know; it's up to the seekers of truth to separate the two; fact from fiction.

Maybe it would help if I compared the size of the tape to the size of the signal; beginning with a cassette, and working up to 1/2 track, which uses all of the 1/4 inch tape in one direction; that yields a lot more signal strength than what many people used to save money on tape and recorded in two directions.

In regard to tape speed, that yields "resolution"; if anyone has ever been into photography, maybe they know what a difference that makes. When you combine increased size of the signal, plus increased speed, you have transformed those tiny squiggles in the LP to giant squiggles that are exact reproductions of the tiny squiggles, and that gives us giant music.

I hope that helps.