Why no interest in reel to reel if you're looking for the ultimate sound?

$2,000 for vinyl setup??!

i have a good friend who rescues RTR decks, repairs them, restores them, aligns them, etc. Nothing to spend $500-$700 on a RTR needing serious servicing. He gets great results! But he spends a mint in blank tape or rare recorded tapes.

I spent $75 on a nice Denon DP52F TT, restored it. Spent $75 on a Shure M97HE cartridge and put a nude Black Diamond Stylus in it, $42.

I brought both to him, aligned the cartridge and set him up. I brought some nice thrift store LPs I had.

Head to Head, he was amazed by the sound quality he was getting from that phono setup through his system. 

Now, he makes tapes from vinyl for long term listening on RTR.

Admittedly, RTR with dbx noise reduction, his playback is of tremendously good SQ. 

But RTR is WAY expensive! And $2,000 for a very good phono system???? Sure, if you have more money than brains....

Both Amazon and Etsy have per-recorded rtr tapes for about the same $ as vinyl versions. Almost all are under $30

If I remember correctly, 4 track R-R gets noisy with time, especially when the tape has not been stored cold. This is because tracks are interspersed in the 4-track format, unlike cassettes.

cassette -->            VS                 R-R --->
cassette -->                                  R-R <---
                                                     R-R --->
cassette <--                                  R-R <---
cassette <--

Of course, the 2-track format like Tape Project does not have this problem:
2Track -->
2Track -->

For a long time, I thought the creme de la creme of Analog is vinyl, and nothing is comparable. Skimming through the posts on this analog forum, so little mention of the tape format as if it is inferior or didn't exist.
My post is giving a little love to reel to reel tape, a format that I really enjoy, and just may be the format that delivers the ultimate analog experience.

Most of you have heard of, but some are still unfamiliar with the presently produced tapes by the Tape Project, Analog Productions, and others. These tapes are a direct copy of the original master tape, and they are available for purchase to play in your home. You can't get any closer to the master tape than that!

Some have mentioned the limited titles available, and I won't disagree there. But too expensive? Hmmm...look around!
As I wrote in my earlier post, with reel to reel, the point of entry is around $2000 for a machine that is capable of highspeed 15 IPS, 2-track, NAB/IEC eq. The tape is where you spend your money in this format. But again, tapes aren't meant to replace any of your existing formats, it's there for you to enjoy occasionally in addition to your vinyl.  

@woflie62 " Admittedly, RTR with dbx noise reduction, his playback is of tremendously good SQ."

I still have a Teac A-3340S and when coupled with dbx and played at
15ips it is really good. It is boxed up and in a closet with 4 or 5 amps
and tapes and bunches of cables. I suspect that the Teac would need some service to be used again.  I used it exclusively to record records
and then just play the tape.  Expensive, you bet, but tons of fun.

Clearly some kind of illness at work.