Open Reel Curious
I am relatively new to audiophile level listening, with a respectable SS system, streaming mainly, with some discs and vinyl in the mix as well. But I am intrigued with open reel. Yet I am also a bit intimidated. There is clearly a learning curve regarding equipment, calibration, tape types, etc, not to mention a pretty major expense.
It seems like there are only a very few places to listen and learn - Brooklyn, LA, Vancouver, BC…? Anyone know of places in Chicago or Detroit where one can go to hear high-end open reel demos and talk to knowledgeable people in person? Anyone have any advice, like “Run! Run far away!” lol.
The Good: The sound is close to unbeatable with the right machine and tape A good tape deck isn't really expensive The Bad: After hearing it returning to a lesser medium is difficult A great tape deck is expensive Great prerecorded tapes are expensive ($300 ++) I decided to not have a tape deck because of the expense of the software. |
Curious about where you live. I am from Detroit originally and live in Chicago. In Bucktown there was a shop that had a R2R prominently displayed about a year go. Ann Arbor had a very HE store that might be worth checking. At the moment I can’t recall the name of either place, I’ll have to dig a bit
deciBEL in Chicago
|
@mahler123 are you thinking of Paragon west of town on Jackson Road? |
The pre-recorded tapes that will be much better sounding than other formats are very expensive and the selection of music is also very limited. Playing R2R tapes is NOT just as easy as playing records unless you have some strange problems with records. It will not be a primary source component for any serious music listener. That is not to say that it cannot be a fun bonus thing to play with. Reconditioning machines for the long run can be quite a process. Even if all the transport parts are fine or reconditioned, there are a lot of other parts that might best be replaced. I know the owner and the service person for a really nice Technics RS1500 machine that had crappy Panasonic electrolytic caps that started to go bad (the electrolyte is corrosive and destroys board traces if they leak). The technician replaced 134 caps in that one machine. I think the technician charged four hours of work (I would have had to charge four years myself). I went to CapitalAudiofest with the owner of that machine and he lugged around a 15 ips pre-recorded tape of Bartok's String Quartets; we found one exhibitor showing a new model of tape player that is now on the market (can't remember the brand) and he was wiling to play the tape. That tape cleared the room very quickly. |
