Can we finally put Reel to Reel out of its misery? Put it to rest people.

I’ve ‘had tears’ twice now with reel to reel. One a recording of Nina Simone, the other an Ink Spots recording—a group and recording I had never heard before. 

Simply amazing!

I have some great early stereo 50's R2R that slay the LPs and CDs.  George Wrights' Razz Ma Jazz on Audio Fidelity, Red Norvo Quintet Naturally and the Hi-Lo's on a pre-Columbia tape   Amazing clarity and dynamics.

Regarding tape longevity,

I am reducing my collection. I have sold over 150 of my factory recorded tapes from the 50, 60, 70's. on eBay. I offer unconditional returns. 

40, 50, 60 years old, they still sound awesome, no one has ever asked for a return.

@ orpheus10

Don’t really see how a R2R is much less trouble than a turntable. Once the table is setup it’s easy. Unless, you are anal and must make adjustments for every record you play.

Pre recorded reel tapes are expensive.

If you record on a R2R it can be very time consuming not to mention a pain if you want to listen to a particular album on a ten inch reel. I remember having a few 10 inch reels full of recorded music but got sick of fast forwarding or backwards to get to a particular album. Then having to take the tape off and putting another on to get to another album.

My deck also had an auto reverse function if you applied a small length of metallic tape at the end of the recorded tape it would reverse. So you could get essentially 6 hrs(?) of music on one 10 in. reel.

No thanks.

I admit that the sound was fantastic though.

Like I said,  I could have sold that rig for a lot more than what I did back in the day.  I hope someone is happy with it.

Reel To Reel holds no appeal to me.

Would I sit and listen to a system playing RTR?
Definitely!

Am I even remotely tempted to integrate RTR in my set up?No.
People may say the move from the ease of digital to getting in to vinyl is cumbersome - gotta find vinyl, physically handle it, put it on the turntable, get up to change sides etc. But for many like me, that’s actually part of the appeal - not the "work" per se, but I find the physical aesthetics of albums and turntables appealing and I enjoy looking at them and interacting with them.


For me RTR holds no such appeal. I don’t care for how the machines look, they are generally quite large and bulky, and having worked in film "forever" I sure as heck don’t care to go back to the hassle of handling/using magnetic tapes and RTR machines. And the tapes themselves...no aesthetic appeal.