SOUND ON SOUND

[Arpangel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac3cXu27M-M

Very tempting, but I bet they’ve sold out.

:-|

[FrankF]

Uh er, missus!
Reminds me of how I used to covet Revox and Tascam machines in the 90s, especially the Revoxes that went SLOOOOW.

I wonder if Robin Guthrie hung onto his A-3440...Maybe it's sitting there, gathering dust in his Brittany bolthole.

[The Elf]

I never, EVER want to see a tape machine again. I lived through that hell and there's no way I would go back! :headbang:

[James Perrett]

Very nice - looks a reasonable price too though I would say it is more of a curiosity than something useful. There are a few boutique audiophile reel to reel machines being made but the prices I've seen are pretty high. Allowing for inflation, a Revox B77 would cost around £2500 these days.

[Kwackman]

I never, EVER want to see a tape machine again. I lived through that hell and there's no way I would go back! :headbang:

This man speaks the truth!

[Sam Spoons]

The ones on ebay seem to be around half that, this one is a little more than half but appears to be a particularly good example https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Revox-B77-mkII-Reel-to-Reel-serviced-and-boxed-with-accessories-as-listed-shown/324369704957?hash=item4b85f0e7fd:g:1l8AAOSwVjdfkt7z.

[James Perrett]

Can't really tell how good that one is Sam because there are no pictures of the heads. It also sounds like they haven't checked for parts that need replacing so there's a good chance that the new owner will find smoke coming out of it sometime soon. Typical used prices for a B77 seem to be around £800-900 at the moment.

[MOF]

I wonder if Robin Guthrie hung onto his A-3440...Maybe it's sitting there, gathering dust in his Brittany bolthole.

I’ve still got mine, one day, when I get a room large enough, I’ll put it in a display cabinet.

It also sounds like they haven't checked for parts that need replacing so there's a good chance that the new owner will find smoke coming out of it sometime soon

He says in the video that they check each one before dispatch. The only thing likely to go wrong is electrolytic capacitors, a visual inspection suffices there, plus rubber capstan and belt drives, I presume they are swapped if they’ve perished.

[James Perrett]

It also sounds like they haven't checked for parts that need replacing so there's a good chance that the new owner will find smoke coming out of it sometime soon

He says in the video that they check each one before dispatch. The only thing likely to go wrong is electrolytic capacitors, a visual inspection suffices there, plus rubber capstan and belt drives, I presume they are swapped if they’ve perished.

I think I probably confused things as I was talking about the Ebay auction that Sam Spoons linked to rather than the original video of the Uher.

Any knowledgeable Revox seller should mention the 3 Rifa capacitors that crack with age and eventually start smoking and go short circuit, often taking out other components with them. These are normally a 'replace on sight' item.

[DGL.]

Any knowledgeable Revox seller should mention the 3 Rifa capacitors that crack with age and eventually start smoking and go short circuit, often taking out other components with them. These are normally a 'replace on sight' item.

Yes, anything with RIFA X2/mains suppression paper capacitors can fail quite dramatically, so replacement with modern non-paper types is essential. Just to think you can buy NOS ones on ebay!, who on earth would want to do that :shocked:

[Sam Spoons]

Can't really tell how good that one is Sam because there are no pictures of the heads. It also sounds like they haven't checked for parts that need replacing so there's a good chance that the new owner will find smoke coming out of it sometime soon. Typical used prices for a B77 seem to be around £800-900 at the moment.

Well, they appear to be a dealer so you would have some comeback. Prices for completed, sold B77s vary from £255 up to £1850.

[Tim Gillett]

I always liked those little Uher Reports. In their day a much cheaper alternative to the Nagra but very usable. But another part which eventually deteriorates is the rubber drive surface on the capstan wheel. Typically the rubber slowly goes hard, making running noisy and eventually tape drive becomes unreliable. I read recently that someone in Europe was selling the assemblies refurbished. Maybe it's the same people as here and because they have to refurbish the rubber on these NOS machines anyway before sale.

[Mike Stranks]

Ah the Uher 4000!

My partner for all my radio work 1976-1990. I found it opened a lot of doors at stations when I said, "I've got my own Uher..." :lol:

I then switched to a Sony WM-D6 cassette machine for another few years before I went to minidisk.

Whaddya mean, old? :D

[Arpangel]

Can't really tell how good that one is Sam because there are no pictures of the heads. It also sounds like they haven't checked for parts that need replacing so there's a good chance that the new owner will find smoke coming out of it sometime soon. Typical used prices for a B77 seem to be around £800-900 at the moment.

Well, they appear to be a dealer so you would have some comeback. Prices for completed, sold B77s vary from £255 up to £1850.

I had two B77’s on permanent loan back in the 90’s, I opened them up because of some problem or other, I was really surprised at how bad the build quality was, low quality pots and components, badly installed, it’s really surprising how they became an industry standard as I though the Japanese machines like the Tascam 32-2B were much better built, and sounded great.
I ended up giving back the Revox's and I bought a Tascam, interesting bit of info, I also had a Teac 3440 at the time, amazing condition in a custom built flight case, it was at one point used by John Cage on a European tour, as a four channel surround source, I wish I had kept that machine, it had a great history.

[Folderol]

If anyone does want an open reel machine, I've still got that UHER Report Stereo machine, that I'd accept any reasonable offer for - with about half a dozen BASF tapes .