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

You guys crack me up. Sure, RTR sounds great, when it does. But what does it take to get there? Lots of work, parts and mostly $$$. It's like golf - it's supposed to be fun. Until the day you realize that you will probably never get to your performance goal.

I spent years installing and later selling RTR decks to studios and rich celebs. IMO RTR is just waaaay too much work for the average audiophile, to set up but more to maintain And pro/semi pro RTR decks require a lot of routine maintenance. And no one has mentioned yet thew air filtration system you will want for whatever room your RTR is located. Dust/dirt/pet hair are sure fire killers of tape decks.

Just a casual survey: how many of you that want to own RTR decks do or would own a preamp withour a remote control? Just curious...

I have three working Revoxes (A’s & B’s) and an A700 project, which looks like it’s going to remain a project. My pre does not have a remote.

The R’s maintain their settings pretty well, especially when you replace those dirt cheap pots. It’s not very hard to set if you have a spectrum analyzer with a white noise generator. But it's true that my listening room is pretty clean.

Need a RTR remote, this guy makes them for many models. I use one with my Studer A807. Here's one for the Otari:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Otari-Wireless-Remote-Adapter-CR-705A-works-with-MX-5050-BQII-BII2-B2HD-B2F/221251196225?hash=item3383995541:g:TNwAAOxyIMhRFqad

R-T-R has another annoying limitation -the rarity of machines with TWO playback heads, one for 1/4 track tapes, and one for half-track. My excitement over the Tape Project was diminished due to the prices for fancy boxes and 15ips-only IEC-only half-track tape. I was able to get a hold of one issue someone wanted to sell. The entire 40 minute album was on TWO
reels which of course had to be rewound first and played back for 20 minutes each. I even ASKED them if they would "consider a consumer-line" cutting back on the packaging and offer 7.5IPS-NAB on ONE reel which still would have sounded excellent and would have cost much less money. For the less-fussy folks with a good machine at home. They were very "put off" by my suggestion, never mind thinking about all the qtr-track TEACS on the market. There's a word for that attitude which I will refrain from using here. If you're completely devoted to 15- even 30 IPS tapes- 1/2 inch and ONE-INCH tapes and outboard preamps, then you are either a technician or an engineer- or your best friend is. David Wilson had a superb Studer at his studio with all-custom built electronics; Mark Levinson customized a Studer-A80  which you can find for sale every few years, and with the proper ancillaries make mind-blowing live recordings if you can hire musicians to come and perform. OR...
you can have a nice Teac, Technics, or a Revox which will do a lot of things but not what certain companies will support. 
It seems like people are actually trying to discourage you from enjoying using your (well-cared for) deck. It really is a shame. 
P.S.- I have an Otari MX-55N WITH two playback heads. And I believe there exists somewhere a Studer A-810 with two playback heads. BUT try to find one...!