United Home Audio, a big champion of reel-to-reel tape, makes tape copies of vinyl albums. This is one way to preserve records (by not playing them much) and they maintain that the sound of the tape version of an album is actually better than the source album played on the record player. I've heard the comparison at their shop, and it was interesting. I still preferred the record (a touch more lively), but, I can see how someone might like the very smooth and open sound of the taped copy. They also have many of those spectacular sounding $500 copies from master tapes.
A friend of mine who reconditions tape machines is a big fan of Otari machines. He said they are easy to service and are built like tanks so they are quite durable. The downside is that most were used by professionals, so they have been subjected to very heavy use. Another friend bought something like ten machines from a folded books on tape operation. He got all of the machines, plus other gear for a few hundred dollars and has been slowly selling off machines and parts.
Not that long ago, I got to hear a big Studer that sounded really good. It is one of those holy grail machines, along with the Ampex ATR 100 machines (I've never heard one) that the very serious tape fans seek out. This looks like a fun hobby for those who are not as lazy as I am--I don't play my turntable that much because of the extra effort required over using a music server.
