I think Tim de Paravicini has some special electronics coming out for 
the 1500 series.  If so, that would be the cat's meow (and the bee's 
knees too).  Tim is a first class engineer, not some copier of archaic 
Western Electric circuits (or the Radiotron Designer's Handbook).  I 
would bet that the 1500, with Tim's electronics and custom heads, would 
blow the doors off of most stock professional machines.
Phillip

carlstephen koto wrote:
> On Jan 22, 2008, at 2:16 PM, phillip holmes wrote:
>
>> The Technics (the one Tom mentions) is the way to go.  For better 
>> sound, keep the Technics and use nicer/better electronics and maybe 
>> custom heads.  That Technics transport is super gentle and it's got 
>> good looks.  Also, the Technics turntables are still state-of-the-art 
>> when combined with a good plinth and tonearm.  Matsushita put way 
>> more money/time/engineering into those products than any high-end 
>> audio garage outfit will be able to do (or Ampex for that matter).  
>> I'm not saying there aren't other great tape decks and turntables (or 
>> that Ampex engineers sucked).  What I am saying is that if you want a 
>> great machine for your home, the Technics is the way to go.
>
> I've had a Technics RS1500US for a number of years. It's one of 
> several decks that I own and while I have very limited experience with 
> ATR 100s, MR70s, Studer A80-812-820s, it still doesn't prevent me from 
> lusting after one. That said, there's very little that I haven't 
> modified on my 1500. The major one has been wiring the heads directly 
> to output and using a custom, tube playback amp..I have Greg Orton 
> from Fux Magnetics, building a pair of custom heads( 1/2 track 15ips 
> and 1/4 track 7.5ips)  that he'll be installing in my headblock in a 
> couple of weeks.  Personally, I'd love to get an A80 and give it this 
> same sort of treatment. But until I feel satisfied that I've wrung 
> every last bit of performance out of the Technics, I'll wait. The only 
> way that I can "know" that every adjustment or modification is "spot 
> on" is if I do it myself (it certainly helps that I enjoy this kind of 
> self torture).  The combination of my deck and the Tape Projects 
> master dubs would be pretty hard to beat. I have a couple of friends 
> that have what would currently be considered among the best sounding 
> digital playback front-ends (EMM Labs transports/Dac) and they are 
> shocked how much better my tapes sound than their SACDs. These 
> comparisons are done with their systems.
> BTW Bruce, I was glad to see your name here. I still miss your 
> newsletter.
>