Reel to Reel for play back

A 10 inch reel holds more tape than a 7.5 inch reel, therefore longer playing time and more music per reel (playing time will vary depending on the recording speed that you use). I'm a fan of reel to reel and have two Revox A 77's, but personally, with all I've seen in the last few years, a digital music server (or even a laptop with files recorded as WAV or Apple lossless) is probably what I would reccomend now.

Some open reel decks only use 7.5" reels,10" decks can use both sizes.I owned a Dokorder 10" deck in the 70's,wish I still had it!I have seen open reel decks here on Audiogon for well under $1000.00.You would be pleasantly suprised at the quality of recording you can get with a good source and good tape.

With RtR I always thought the best advice if your serious is to find a good tech that rebuilds pro decks. Ampex and studer. For about 2k you can get a machine that is perfect and will last a long time with some PM.

On the other hand you can buy the crap du jour on ebay and take your chances.

IME, your best bet is an Otari MX-5050 BII2. Plenty of them available for well under $1,000. This model will have 2-track record/play and SHOULD have 4-track playback. It plays small and large tapes at 3 3/4, 7 1/2 and 15 inches per second. It is a professional deck used by the thousands in radio stations and studios. It is rugged and sounds better than consumer decks. A brand new one (Model BIII) is available at something like $5,500 but will not play 4-track tapes unless specially equipped with a 4-track head. Otari makes an outstanding machine. I had a well-respected Teac X1000R and it couldn't hold a sonic candle to my Otari.

HOWEVER.

Many or most of these decks have been played to death, and look it. Replacement heads are not cheap. Repairs are not inexpensive. Finding a great one is not easy. But they're out there. Good luck, Dave

Note: Otari called many of their models the MX-5050. The nomenclature is confusing, but the one I cite is the most commonly available and your best bet. Again, though, you must be sure it has a 4-track playback head. Most of them do, but not all.

playback only must mean you already can get tapes? the nice thing about a r-to-r is IF you can get some good vinyl to record, the results are very good even with a teac. or you can have some fun with microphones and a guitar et.al. teacs are not the best machines, but parts are still available (or you can buy 2 and use the second one for parts). or you need to find a 1st class repair/refurbish facility and fine-tune an otari or a studer/revox.