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At 06:06 AM 6/7/2005 -0700, RA Friedman wrote: >A few hundred dollars has become available to purchase a ree-to-reel tape >deck so that we can audition what I believe are mostly 1/2 track and >possibly 1/4 track stereo reels playing at >3 3/4 or 7 1/2 ips. It's conceivable there are some 15 ips, but most >likely not. I'm assuming we will need two decks, one for each head >configuration. > >Any recommendations as far as units, dealers, re-builds, etc? We are not >planning on using the deck for transfers, but we'd like something that >will have a long useful life and won't be a huge maintenance headache. > >With any luck, transfers will be done by an outside specialist. We need a >unit that can give us some indication of what's on the tapes and will have >minimal impact. Luckily the tapes have been stored under cool, dry >conditions and none appears to have sticky-shed or surface/support >breakdown even though some are acetate rather than polyester. > >RA Friedman >Assistant Project Archivist >Historical Society of Pennsylvania I took advantage of an opportunity offered here a year or so ago which would serve your needs perfectly - except possibly for running over your budget. I purchased a Studer A807 refurbished by Studer Canada and equipped with a second (quarter-track) playback head rather than the record head of the half-track suite. A three-speed machine (3 3/4, 7 1/2, 15 ips), the tape handling is superb, speed control admirable and other than the $1K price, it would match your needs perfectly. In fact, I can think of no better machine for effecting the transfer after the initial audition. Having been spoiled by the Studer, I would not readily return to a home deck if only for the tape handling. One possibility is to find a deck such as a Uher with dual head blocks; in that way, you are not spending for two drive assemblies just to have two play heads. Another is to dig up a quad machine and to adapt to quarter- or half-track operation by selecting the appropriate configuration in playback. Mike -- [log in to unmask] http://www.mrichter.com/