Outputs, Technics 1520 Reel to Reel.

I drilled, filed and installed an IEC male in place of the convenience outlet on the Technics 1520 power and ground panel and then auditioned three power cords.

The first was the original cord with a IEC female added, the second was a Belden that came with my strobe lighting power pack (photo gear) and the third was an Omega Mikro Red from Lloyd Walker.

The results, Belden better than the "lamp" cord originally supplied with my deck, and the Omega Mikro clearly better than the other two. The differences between these three cords was not as spectacular as experienced with my Aesthetix preamp or the VTL 750's and Air Tight ATM-3's, but certainly a nice improvement.

Initial tests with two pair of Purist Venustas interconnect (SE and BAL) produced slightly better dynamics with lower noise from the XLR than the RCA's, without any negatives, at least not that I have noticed during the short listening session.

Hope this helps someone else with their deck, the Technics 1520 is an extremely good source and I am enjoying it's strengths and personality along with my reference turntable.

Albert, have you seen the latest news about recording tape becoming obsolete? The last American plant making tapes is going to cease operation. Details can be found over at AA in a thread that Ray Kimber started. Sean
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I am primarily listening, buying tape at EBAY and where ever I can find it.

Calling around today to several suppliers I found out Quantegy will resume operations after they get their finances reorganized. Stock is supposed to resume by the end of this month, so if I decide to record, I can probably get what I need.

Even if Quantegy fails, I don’t' think much time will pass before someone sets up operation in China, Russia or Mexico and make money on whatever market is left. At one time it was predicted tube would cease to exist. I think more people are building them now than in the 1950's.

Never underestimate the power of Capitalism (free market).

Well, as I can see, I am not the only one with the TAPE disease...I have been in the music industry since 1965 and have a huge collection of pro masters fron the greatest in the industry. I have 6 machines altogether; a Sony 765, an Akai ???, a Tascam 38 ( 8 track hald inch ), my technics 1520 in mint condition, a Revox...
I also have a Tascam da88 that I have used for my bands recordings, but always go back to analog tapes for the best sound, just as my old friend Eric Clapton does.
Gerry

Any chance of us trading copies of 15 IPS open reel tapes? I don't have as many as you but am about ready to install my restored Ampex 351 into my system.

I have one original safety (NOT a copy) and a few master dubs.