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

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.

Prof.

While I may agree that the physical beauty of many r2r machines can be lacking and the media is most definitely not sexy.
But there is absolutely something almost hypnotic about watching those reels spin at high speed and seeing one tape spool get smaller while the other grows.

And I do not need any eyes in all honesty, just my ears......

Although you have to admit some of the machines are nearly "steampunk" in appearance!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.