2. amps-preamps
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Why do people like reel to reel players?


do They sound all that much better than the other stuff?

they look very cool and remind me of language class when I was younger which was the only place I saw them used. It’s like a record player mounted on the wall where you can watch something spin.

It seems a bit impractical to get the tapes and then to mount them all the time. Cassette players seem a lot better. Cassettes used to be a bit easier to get. Not sure they’re even available anymore. I remember they were double sided just flip them over.

emergingsoul
ghdprentice
6,884 posts
 

@mitch4t 

That makes great sense to me. 

mwolfe
3 posts
 

because they sound great!

jmkrajnik
31 posts
 

The best thing I've ever heard was a rebuilt Ampex from their glory days.  Sorry, I don't remember the model.

I really think the the idler arm setup in reel to reels is the most important reason that they sound so good.  Properly set up, idler arm equipment seems to give the best combination of speed control (belts don't do that well) and isolation (direct drive struggles with that issue).

Haven't really seriously looked at that theory above, but it seems to make sense.

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