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Revox A77 high speed - with speakers

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Posted on March 29, 2020 at 11:29:00
torc
Audiophile

Posts: 193
Location: Boston
Joined: October 17, 2002
 I have a Revox A77 - but it only has 71/2 and 15 IPS speeds (and I have a bunch of 3.75 IPS tapes). I find the addition of speakers to the set up a little surprising - it seems like headphones would be a better monitoring tool.

I'm going to send it to Tennessee for repair/revitalization, as it currently doesn't run. But before I do, does having the high speed edition have any advantages or drawbacks, besides the advantage of playing 15 IPS tapes, and not being able to play 3.75's? Are the speakers a neutral attribute, or should I ask him to remove/disable them?

Thanks,

David

 

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RE: Revox A77 high speed - with speakers, posted on March 30, 2020 at 03:37:52
vinnie2
Audiophile

Posts: 4481
Location: North Carolina
Joined: September 28, 2013
 I would never use 3 3/4 for anything but voice recordings anyway, so I would never use it. Your machine has the two most desirable speeds.

On second thought, you really need that speed, so sell me your machine cheap and buy another for yourself! : )

 

RE: Revox A77 high speed - with speakers, posted on March 30, 2020 at 07:54:27
torc
Audiophile

Posts: 193
Location: Boston
Joined: October 17, 2002
 Oh - I know that for fidelity's sake, I have the right one. But I have all these tapes of album's I love - Frank Sinatra's "Sings for Only the Lonely," Joni Mitchell's "Blue" and more in 3 3/4 speed. I guess I'll get over it. Had you ever heard of a deck of its type with speakers built in? Seems unusual...

 

RE: Revox A77 high speed - with speakers, posted on March 30, 2020 at 08:46:22
Victor Khomenko
Manufacturer

Posts: 55317
Joined: April 5, 2000
 Well, both the 3 3/4 and 15ips have their uses, but unfortunately in the consumer realm they don't meet in the same machine.

If I were you, I would have that Revox repaired, as it is a nice machine... the music can be bought, copied, etc, so you will be able to play it on your A77. I would not butcher it to have lower speed. You can always buy a reasonably priced working machine with 3 3/4" speed.


 

RE: Revox A77 high speed - with speakers, posted on March 30, 2020 at 10:28:11
Inmate51
 Sorry, the forum owners don't want my input.

 

RE: Revox A77 high speed - with speakers, posted on March 30, 2020 at 17:36:14
torc
Audiophile

Posts: 193
Location: Boston
Joined: October 17, 2002
 1. Is it quarter-track or half-track? I'd be surprised if it's quarter-track and running at 15 ips.

The deck seems to have both quarter and half track options

2. I'll guess that your 3-3/4 ips tapes are quarter-track.

Yes, they are

3. Speakers: This was fairly common in the early versions of the A77 - let's say early 1970s - and made the A77 a truly portable high quality recording and playback deck. My musique concrete mentor had two of them. We could go anywhere to record and hear the tape.

It does have the headphone jack, but I wondered why they would have speakers - thinking that headphones would be better for monitoring. But you answered it - more than one person could enjoy the fruits of the recording session.

4. Headphone output: Doesn't it have a headphone jack?

See above

5. Obviously, you didn't buy it new. Why did you buy it?

I love analog, and I have always heard of the superiority of Reel to Reel playback over even good vinyl. I saw it very inexpensively on craigslist, and decided to dip my toes into these waters. It doesn't run well - maybe something in the motors. I want to fix it up and just learn more about the world of tape. Out of sheer ignorance, I bought used R2R tapes from eBay - and many of them turned out to be 3 3/4. You live and learn.

Thanks,

David

 

RE: Revox A77 high speed - with speakers, posted on March 30, 2020 at 18:36:07
Victor Khomenko
Manufacturer

Posts: 55317
Joined: April 5, 2000
 ***I love analog, and I have always heard of the superiority of Reel to Reel playback over even good vinyl***

That is, generally speaking, not correct, and most certainly not true of industrial prerecorded tapes.

Ultimately, that can be true, but only for higher grade equipment and material - specifically, 15ips, 2-track copies of the master tapes.

The deck you got is a fine one, but not at that level.


 

RE: Revox A77 high speed - with speakers, posted on March 31, 2020 at 13:30:04
vinnie2
Audiophile

Posts: 4481
Location: North Carolina
Joined: September 28, 2013
That is a new one on me to.

 

Both?!!!, posted on April 1, 2020 at 10:09:05
Inmate51
 Sorry, the forum owners don't want my input.

 

RE: Both?!!!, posted on April 2, 2020 at 07:09:27
torc
Audiophile

Posts: 193
Location: Boston
Joined: October 17, 2002
 I'm sure you are right - again, I am a newbie at the very beginning of my tape journey. I said "both" because I looked at the A77 owner's manual, and on pages 16 through 19, it showed illustrations entitled "Mono Half Track."Stereo Quarter Track." "Stereo Half Track." etc. I must be misunderstanding what that means. Again, I appreciate the knowledge you folks bring, and I'm just trying to learn something new.

I am surprised to hear that a player of this (mid-range?) caliber, once adjusted and calibrated, would not be superior to a good vinyl set up. I'm still interested in playing and learning from this machine, but then it seems likely that the benefits of reel to reel tape may live in a place I can't afford to go.

Thanks again,

David

 

The matter of scale, posted on April 2, 2020 at 11:19:27
Victor Khomenko
Manufacturer

Posts: 55317
Joined: April 5, 2000
 You say "good vinyl setup" - but what is it? It needs to be defined.

it is easier to talk in terms of "best possible". Including the system AND the source material. A very high quality vinyl setup is a very, very serious contender. It can be beaten by a very high quality high speed 2-track tape deck using a copy of the master tape as its source. Generally speaking... :)

But all this is academic. Both formats can and should be enjoyed for what they have to offer. If your A77 is properly set up, it will give you tremendous pleasure.


 

RE: Revox A77 high speed - with speakers, posted on April 7, 2020 at 10:32:57
Zombie
Audiophile

Posts: 772
Joined: March 5, 2002
 Join Tidal (or similar) for a free month and record all you want onto the A77 in 7,5 inch speed.
But take it to a service where they KNOW Revox A77s, not to the average repair man. There are some dodgy caps that need to be replaced and why not also all small elcos on the module cards.
Then adjust it to a certain tape.

 

Unfortunately..., posted on May 3, 2020 at 11:18:13
kootenay
Audiophile

Posts: 8445
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Joined: October 16, 2007
 what you said is true. That's the main reason why I bought the PR99 MKII model and put my other two A77 to pasture.


 

RE: Revox A77 high speed - with speakers, posted on May 31, 2020 at 00:27:31
sonyuser
Audiophile

Posts: 68
Location: Milan
Joined: January 14, 2007
 Perhaps your A77 can be modified for the two standard speeds. Many years ago I bought one which had an unusual set of speeds (the lowest, I think) and I had them changed for 3.75/7.5, in my opinion the most practical for domestic use. Btw I used it for many years, then it got stolen. Greetings from Italy.

 

RE: Revox A77 high speed - with speakers, posted on July 26, 2022 at 13:09:17
gcryow@gmail.com
Audiophile

Posts: 7
Location: GA - Georgia
Joined: July 12, 2022
 You could always get an Otari B5050. With all three speeds and 1/4 and 1/2 track playback heads. Of course to get to the slower speeds (3-3/4 & 7-1/2 ips) you have to take off the back cover and flip a switch inside. But a pretty good playback machine for just about any 1/4" prerecorded tape, and a good record/playback machine for 1/2 track stereo, especially at 15 ips.

 

RE: Revox A77 high speed - with speakers, posted on July 28, 2022 at 08:47:03
Bill Way
Audiophile

Posts: 1884
Location: Toms River NJ
Joined: May 28, 2012
Contributor
  Since: December 14, 2012



First, get the work done on it without waiting. The Frako caps in that unit are notorious for leaking and shorting, which can leave you with a huge repair bill.

To have all the options you want, sell it and buy an Otari MX-5050 B-series. They made a gazillion of them, so you can get a deal if you're patient.

They support half-track rec/play, and quarter-track play. They a support 3.75, 7.5, and 15 ips. The Otari decks don't have the always-pleasant Revox/Studer sound; they are neutral to a fault. They support low/med/hi fluxivity tape and have an internal test oscillator. Unlike the Revox, access to its innards is excellent. Get one, send the head block to John French (jrfmagnetics) to relap as needed, get the expensive Althan pinch roller and an MRL calibration tape and you're off to the races.

(And added benefit of having John work on the heads is that he returns the head block with the heads in perfect physical alignment, so you won't have to buy an oscilloscope and do it yourself.)

I don't know why the speakers bother you. You don't have to use them.

WW
"Put on your high heeled sneakers. Baby, we''re goin'' out tonight.

 

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