Picked the big Ampex ATR-700 up from Hi-Tech Service in Nashville yesterday. Checking it out today. It's a user, but in overall good condition and is cleaning up nicely. Low lighting levels in the listening area downplay the finish issues - lots of labels stuck on controls for years - that sort of thing. I'll figure out how to get stuff looking a little better as I go along. Also, red oak side panels are already in the works.
It's set up for LPR-35, has been lubricated and tweaked - all while I was at a meeting in Nashville yesterday. Heads still have some life in them and considering I don't listen to a tape but every few days, they should still last for some time. Might send 'em off to John French to be relapped sometime in the future but for now, it's fine.
The sound can best be described as accurate and big (if that makes any sense) once you get the tape matched up. While the frequency response is spot on compared to the source, the soundstage seem to be a little wider than the source - not necessarily a bad thing. Need to try a few different recordings before saying for sure. One thing it's not real good at is picking up speed instantaneously when starting a recording. There's a big flywheel (I guess for speed stability) that has to come up to speed and that takes a few milliseconds. Recording an album is fairly easy, but a single cut, not so much.
It definitely behaves more like a full-on studio deck than the pro-sumer decks that have passed through here so far. I like it a lot.
Anyway, here 'tis.
Bob
It's set up for LPR-35, has been lubricated and tweaked - all while I was at a meeting in Nashville yesterday. Heads still have some life in them and considering I don't listen to a tape but every few days, they should still last for some time. Might send 'em off to John French to be relapped sometime in the future but for now, it's fine.
The sound can best be described as accurate and big (if that makes any sense) once you get the tape matched up. While the frequency response is spot on compared to the source, the soundstage seem to be a little wider than the source - not necessarily a bad thing. Need to try a few different recordings before saying for sure. One thing it's not real good at is picking up speed instantaneously when starting a recording. There's a big flywheel (I guess for speed stability) that has to come up to speed and that takes a few milliseconds. Recording an album is fairly easy, but a single cut, not so much.
It definitely behaves more like a full-on studio deck than the pro-sumer decks that have passed through here so far. I like it a lot.
Anyway, here 'tis.
Bob
