Besty22 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Hi guys, My dad left me a lot of HiFi gear including the following decks:Teac X-7RRevox A-77 mk 1vTascam 52Akai GX-650DI dont know why he needed 5 reel to reel decks (also a teac deck which dads partner is keeping) but I now have 4 of the 5 I have decided to keep one of the decks and sell three of them. This is not a for sale thread. I am looking for advice from knowledgeable people about which deck I would be best to keep given that Ia:- dont know very much about themb:- will have to learn how to use one again, (I had one when I was 15, now 42)c:- I cant really do any repairs of them and d:- I am into Hi Fi sound and will record from my records onto tape.The revox has an ir remote and sensor all the others are manual.I also have many tapes to choose from , some small diameter and some large. Also there are many different brands of blank tape plus quite a few prerecorded, I really have no clue about what is a good blank tape or a bad tape lolThanks in advance for any advice you can give me.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyboyrm Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Hi Chris, All the ones you have inherited are very good. The first thing I would do is to clean the heads with some denatured alcohol cleaner with a cotton ud. Then next thing to do is to obtain a head demagnetiser (try eBay) and damage each head on each machine - then try out the same tape on each machine to decide which one you prefer sonically. I personally have a very soft spot for Akai gear - all their the motor machines and 3 head units were the bees knees and lasted for decades. The 650D had the glass-cryptal hardened heads which would last quite well. IF you have a magnifying glass check the heads on each machine for wear (usually a flat spot around the recording and playback centres. The one with the least should be okay. I used to own an M10 (and miss it) one of the earliest auto reverse players. My current deck is an Akai GX-77 6 head 3 motor deck which is just great. You can get new tape from the following place: http://www.rmgi.com.au/default.htm They have a price list and you can order from them - RMG purchased all of BASF machinery and tech decades ago and now are probably one of the very few audio tape manufacturers left. The tapes are around $20-$60 a pop. Try to avoid using old tape as the ferric oxide usually lifts off and sticks to the heads if these haven't been played for a long time. It is always advisable to fastforward and reverse a tape at least once a month to keep the backing tension. Something one of the Akai engineers recommended in the '70s. I use mine for the same purpose as you do and to also record from ABC FM when they have a good concert on. Great fun and the dynamic range leaves most of the other digital stuff for dead. I hope you have good amps and speakers. Cheers Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soundfan Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Hi Chris The forum linked to has a great community of reel to reel buffs: http://www.tapeheads.net/forums.php Just scroll down home page to find the reel to reel threads 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Besty22 Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 Thanks billyboyrm and soundfan. I also made thread on tapeheads. Lots of good advice both here and there. All very appreciated. Thanks for the heads up re tapes Bill. I have some new in pack tapes already and many others that my dad recorded. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts