Consider a restored Studer A810 from http://www.reeltoreelhaven.com/ The Otari MX series are very nice, but the differences c/w Studer in sound, build, and transport are evident. It’s a B quality versus A quality comparison.
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not exactly sure where the price a high quality 'stock' used ATR-102 starts, my guess is the $15k-$25k range. to know it’s high quality you need a reliable source. for reference a nice Studer A-820 is likely in the $30k-$60k range for comparison purposes. i know since i just sold 3 of them. a hot rodded ATR-102 likely is ’more’. but it is really the way to go long term. and justifies your investment in great tapes. here is a link to a post with some ’AK’ contact info. there is no website. if the link does not work it’s post #39 on that WBF thread.
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I currently have an Ampex ATR-102 and two Studers in my system. I have owned many of the highly regarded Prosumer machines capable of of playing back newly released tapes such as the Technics RS-1520, Tascam BR20, Otari MX5050B2, Revox PR-99, B-77, Pioneer, Teacs, etc. before I settled on what I have now. While it’s nice to have a master recorder, we all don’t have the space or the means to keep and maintain a large machine of this caliber. It’s okay to start with a nice Prosumer machine (Studer A810, 807) that’s fully gone over, they are excellent and enough to experience the joy of tape and easier/less costly to maintain. These machines hold their value well so if you plan to upgrade, there’s minimal loss to you. You may realize that a Studer A810 is good enough that upgrading is unnecessary. Just a thought.
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