Reel to Reel decks

Yes, 15 and 30 ips tapes are the ne plus ultra of tapedom. But let's get real,
folks, a would-be tape newbie will be totally turned off by the prices of tapes
(Handyman, would you believe $500 per Tape Project performance?) and the
machines capable of playing them.

I would recommend visiting the Ebay sites, as well as Audiogon of course, to
get a fix on prices of tapes and equipment. Buying used tapes (there are
precious few new ones) is pretty much of a crapshoot, and buying used tape
decks -- there are essentially NO new ones -- is dicey as well. The decks
need regular service and finding competent tape techs is no picnic either. I
know I've painted a gloomy picture, but there IS a plus side in terms of fidelity
and just the fun of watching those reels spin. It can be addictive but you do
need to know what you're getting into.

As a starter deck, I'd recommend a Teac in the 2300 or 3300 series or a
Pioneer 700 or 900 series, and avoid brands like Akai (very hard to find parts
and Akai is not alone in this respect). I've been into tape since the 1950s, but
if I were starting out today I'd think long and hard about it. Good luck, Dave

Dopogue:

Actually the Tape Project tapes are $350 each for the series 2 if one gets a subscription for 6 or 10 tapes.

Have many decks, technics, tascam, teac, sony. In addition to the commercial seven inch pre-recorded tapes, I have a large library of ten inch pre-recorded tapes that were used in radio stations. These latter tapes include Drake, Century, Media General, Radio Arts and AFRTS. The quality of the tapes are all over the lot. The AFRTS among the best, as the government spent big bucks to produce them, some of which have almost 55 cuts on a track, and with auto reverse cueing the tape can go for hours and hours. On the seven inch tapes the Barclay Crocker are the best. Analogue still lives.

I have heard the Tape Project tapes at the CES and they are truly great, sound wise but not value wise. So, to get started with a modified Technics 1500 and some software you are talking $5K plus.

I caution newbies that decks are expensive to maintain as parts are hard to find. My advice is skip reel to reel and invest in blu ray audio media, which I think is the future. The transfers from the original master tapes are being done by many labels now, including the soon to be release Miles/Blue which will be the original three track mono, without a mix. Given a listen to the latter blu ray and I think you will forget about reel to reel.

I grew up listening to my old man's concertone R2R deck.
We usually did Our own recording & very rarely purchased any pre recorded material.
I still have a bunch of tapes stored away & recently had
a friend give Me his old Teac deck which is in nice shape
except It has an issue, motors inside rotate but the reel
does not.
I am hoping I can get it repaired without going broke since I love spinning tape! (& miss it).
I realize new tape is hard to come buy, about a month ago
I snatched up a couple of brand new sealed Tapes (American Recording) at a yard sale for a buck each.