Hello again Tom Fine,

> First of all, what is "the machine in question"?
> you need to name names

Please let me dodge these questions. Try to understand that I have to
sell into this industry in order to survive. To some, my long-time
outspokenness on these matters has been seen only as antagonism. I
guess I am very bad at marketing. (I think you have agreed with this
assessment before.) If you want to research the cited example for
yourself, the incident was first reported in The Boston Globe.

> I also prefer "pointier" heads

One of the things we did with our SHRO headblock design was to make
the wrap adjustable, which relates to contact area. With that,
together with introducing a wide range of running tension
adjustability, you gain a lot of new control.

Surface condition on the head is absolutely critical too. Your friend
John French (and his company JRF) do an outstanding job of head
re-contouring and final polishing. We use their services for this, and
it makes a huge difference in the dynamic behavior of the tape passing
over the head face.

> view the contents of these tapes as artworks

I do hope you are right. I do hope this attitude is finally emerging
at the labels. I find it very curious that the record label people
have been so ignorant and disrespectful about caring for and
transferring their old master tapes.

Fred Thal
ataestuder.com