Why do people like reel to reel players?

They sound great. I also have a Pioneer RT-707, and even with just good quality needledrop tapes (7.5 IPS quarter track Maxell UD 35-90, good for two 1970’s era albums per reel), there’s a warmth and organic flow that vinyl alone can’t quite match. The top end is rolled off, and of course the noise floor is much higher - but that stuff in the middle...is magic. Playing these tapes is the only time I’ve consistently liked the Tannoy supertweeters, but it still sounds amazing without ’em too. I find the supertweeters way too "hot" for vinyl playback with MC cartridges (even loaded down).

I’ve heard the $500 a pop modern audiophile reel tapes, backed by lots of expensive kit (high end J-Corder Technics deck, Doshi Audio tube head amp), and yes they’re truly State of the Art (no HF roll-off, lower noise floor). However, that route is a no-go for me due to high cost coupled to poor availability of material. I just play my old needle drop tapes as an occasional treat :)

The "warmth of vinyl" reputation really belongs to tape. I have had (and still have) lots of high end analog gear, which I still love too - just saying, I’m not comparing this tape to a Fluance. The best Koetsus get very close to this midrange magic, but good tape still has more of it. 

Decades ago, I was lucky to have the opportunity to get a few first generation open reel copies of some recording studio tapes. They blow away the LP versions , especially so in the bass quality.  That said, copying LPs to open reel doesn't improve anything though it was one way to get a copy of a friend's LP without buying a copy. But, then you had to buy 7" reels of tape. The commercial mass-produced open reels one used to be able to buy were typically transferred at high speed which compromised the quality. So, for me, I liked having an open reel for those situations where it allowed me to record live music, or, the few times I had access to studio masters. For routine playback of commercial music, one is far better off in terms of both convenience and sound quality using LPs, CDs, or CD/Hi-Rez quality streaming. (And these days, almost all new recordings are done digitally even when you buy the LP.)

OP,

I have the same question. I asked what is the source of music on that thread mentioned by @mgattmuch (?)… and really didn’t feel like I got a satisfying response. I think… there are few. I can see if you are recording live music. But for the vast majority of us…. Some really old stuff… and not much of it… I think.

R2R tapes sound fantastic but the machines are expensive there are not many pre-recoreded tapes out there and they are very expensive also. Like $500 a pop for software. No thanks but I love hearing them at audio shows.

@mlsstl

@ghdprentice

I wonder if master tapes exist for lots of the older stuff, that is before 1990 or whenever Digital replaced it, where possibly this stuff can be transferred off the tapes in a better way that would improve what we now listen to.

It would seem if we’re able to be more impressed with an actual reel tape, there must be way to transfer this experience to another medium. It sounds like all the mass produced albums and I guess CDs may have been limited in the quality department which is really really really sad. But what did they know back then when they didnt care as much about the quality as we do now.

I saw a YouTube video that just came out where someone had a master tape from Sergeant peppers Recording that was used to make copies for lots of other tapes that went off to other countries to be reproduced. How cool would that be to listen to in such a pure form.