General Asylum

General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

Return to General Asylum

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

An Epic Maxell Reel Tape Find

24.23.3.203
Posted on November 9, 2014 at 15:10:23
X-2000R
Audiophile

Posts: 335
Location: SoCal
Joined: March 1, 2006



Went looking for something else and found these.

Would you believe that all of these, brought to picture, cost me less than TWO DOLLARS?

I'm feeling good right about now....

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
RE: An Epic Maxell Reel Tape Find, posted on November 9, 2014 at 15:46:07
Devils Advocate
 holy rip dude! I counted 42 reels which means you got them for 21 cents each?!

question is can you use them...

 

RE: Yeah Buddy, posted on November 9, 2014 at 15:54:42
X-2000R
Audiophile

Posts: 335
Location: SoCal
Joined: March 1, 2006
 I'm pretty sure they can be put to good use on my namesake deck. But yeah...every one of them is factory sealed. Not like it's some departed gentlemans old collection. These are never used.

 

Nice Type B post., posted on November 9, 2014 at 16:04:24
DeKay
 .

 

RE: Nice Type B post., posted on November 9, 2014 at 16:05:45
X-2000R
Audiophile

Posts: 335
Location: SoCal
Joined: March 1, 2006
 LOL

But it's 100% true.

 

& you have the deck(s) to put them to good use I gather., posted on November 9, 2014 at 16:16:12
DeKay
 .

 

RE: But Of Course, posted on November 9, 2014 at 16:18:39
X-2000R
Audiophile

Posts: 335
Location: SoCal
Joined: March 1, 2006
 A Teac X-2000R and a TASCAM 3030, which is just a rebadged X-2000M, which is itself a half track,one-direction version of the "R"

 

That Maxell "silver" tape was good..., posted on November 9, 2014 at 16:39:56
rlw
Audiophile

Posts: 3347
Location: Near West Palm Bch, FL
Joined: August 29, 2006
 But nowhere near as good as the "gold" tape. The TDK top-line reel tape was also very good, I forget the name, maybe SA?

No matter, you made a heckuva score there - good on ya!!

-RW-

 

RE: Actually..., posted on November 9, 2014 at 17:09:14
X-2000R
Audiophile

Posts: 335
Location: SoCal
Joined: March 1, 2006
 I would argue that Quantegy 457 is/was the all time best of the 1.0 mil/long play tapes. But absent proper biasing, it can be difficult to work with and get a good sound. But if you DO calibrate for it, it's very very rich and deep sounding. But given it's limited user friendliness combined with its (now) near impossibility to obtain, that largely renders this tape almost irrelevant anyway, its sonic attributes notwithstanding.

XLI is probably the best in that it is arguably the perfect balance of fine sound mixed with near universal deck compatibility and little or no need to rebias or calibrate.

Plus the Maxells come with the cool reels.

To my knowledge, Q-457 was never sold in 3600' length on a reel; it was pancake form only. But that of course meant you could customize it with whatever reel/leader/storage combination you want.

7" X 1800" 457 OTOH *WAS* sold in reel form and was also an anomaly in the Quantegy lineup inasmuch as it was the only Quantegy tape sold with factory attached leaders (green one end/red on the other).

 

RE: An Epic Maxell Reel Tape Find, posted on November 10, 2014 at 03:35:14
b.l.zeebub
Audiophile

Posts: 9361
Location: 52deg 28'N,1deg56'W
Joined: April 17, 2006
 Bear in mind that the life expectancy of magnetic tape is about 10 to 20 years (depending on usage and storage conditions) before it physically degrades and sheds the magnetic particles.

After that it is possible to retrieve the stored info by baking the tape for a certain time but this is only ever a temporary solution and has to be done before every play back.
Blank tape that is 20 years or older is practically worthless.

 

RE: An Epic Maxell Reel Tape Find, posted on November 10, 2014 at 04:28:44
seas
Manufacturer

Posts: 138
Joined: December 21, 2006
 It depends very much on the storage conditions. Under the right conditions it can last much longer. In this case, at least the boxes are sealed so no outside air, humidity, pollution, etc. has come in contact with the tape. The rest depends mostly on storage temperature. If they were in a cool place, they might be in great condition. Sitting up in a hot attic....not so much. Hopefully we'll find out.

 

RE: An Epic Maxell Reel Tape Find, posted on November 10, 2014 at 04:49:27
fantja
Audiophile

Posts: 15969
Location: Alabama
Joined: September 11, 2010
 Nice score!

how are you going to use these reel(s) ?

 

RE: An Epic Maxell Reel Tape Find, posted on November 10, 2014 at 05:05:21
Dave Pogue
Audiophile

Posts: 11689
Location: DC Area
Joined: October 9, 2001
 Hardly any of my tapes are YOUNGER than 10-20 years and they sound fine, including the acetate (pre-Mylar) ones I used for recording in the 50s. Just bought an Ella Fitzgerald tape on Ebay -- thought it was a commercial reel but it was homemade -- whose recording date was listed on the box as April 28, 1963. I had very low hopes for it (BECAUSE it was homemade) and it turned out to be one of the best-sounding tapes I own. And I have more than a few reels of blank tape dating back to the 1970s that play and record without any issues at all.

I'm speaking from a great deal of personal experience involving many hundreds of tapes. Are you?

 

I have commercial 2 tracks that'll be eligible for Medicare soon, posted on November 10, 2014 at 05:20:54
vinyl phanatic
Audiophile

Posts: 1596
Location: Washington DC
Joined: May 22, 2006
 and they are among the best sounding things that I own. Most of them made between 1955 and 1958. I guess YMMV!

 

RE: I Was Thinking......, posted on November 10, 2014 at 06:25:04
X-2000R
Audiophile

Posts: 335
Location: SoCal
Joined: March 1, 2006
 I'll definitely put most of these to good use. But its not note I do THAT much recording, so I was thinking maybe I'll try and sell a few. They seem to go for $75 and up on the Bay. So heck yeah.

 

RE: Not Maxells...., posted on November 10, 2014 at 06:28:05
X-2000R
Audiophile

Posts: 335
Location: SoCal
Joined: March 1, 2006
 Ampex and Scotch tape may be worthless, thanks to sticky shed. But Maxell's have stood the test of time. I have plenty of others of both this vintage and older. All still perform as though new. And while *YOU* may think they are "worthless", a search of these on Ebay tells another story.

 

RE: An Epic Maxell Reel Tape Find, posted on November 10, 2014 at 07:32:17
b.l.zeebub
Audiophile

Posts: 9361
Location: 52deg 28'N,1deg56'W
Joined: April 17, 2006
 Had that happen to me with practically every tape format from cassettes to 2".

Different makes are affected to a different degree, the worst tapes in this regards are those made in the '70s & '80s and tapes made by 3M and BASF are less prone than other makes.
Over the last 20 years or so an entire 'tape-baking' industry has sprung up.

 

RE: An Epic Maxell Reel Tape Find, posted on November 10, 2014 at 08:05:13
Dave Pogue
Audiophile

Posts: 11689
Location: DC Area
Joined: October 9, 2001
 My question would be, how often did it happen? I'm surprised you called 3M (Scotch) one of the brands LESS troublesome, since some of the later Scotch tapes were well known for being prone to "sticky shed." As long as you know the good brands (Maxell being one of the very best) and/or buy only the commercial tapes, I can't see what the problem is.

I'm not saying that commercial reel-to-reel tapes are any kind of slam dunk because they invariably sound great. Many were poorly recorded to begin with or had their highs removed by being played on decks with magnetized heads. Or they feature artists and/or performances that haven't, let's say, stood the test of time. But as far as the tape stock itself is concerned, few exhibit problems. On my Otari and Teac decks at least. And certainly the idea of a 10=20 year lifespan is just plain silly.

 

RE: An Epic Maxell Reel Tape Find, posted on November 11, 2014 at 16:36:05
The Dill
Audiophile

Posts: 2323
Location: Portland, Oregon
Joined: July 1, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 3, 2016
 Kinda conflicts with your post over on Shady Lane.

 

RE: That Maxell "silver" tape was good..., posted on November 12, 2014 at 23:09:40
pictureguy
Audiophile

Posts: 22597
Location: SoCal
Joined: October 19, 2008
 I KNOW that TDK SA was a Cassette formulation. I standardized on TDK SA or SAX for all cassettes tapes I owned.
Too much is never enough

 

Page processed in 0.036 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]