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Should I buy an Otari 5050 BII? I've been thinking about for a while and I'm not sure if I should jump or not.
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The second one is for dubbing. These are great decks. I couldn't believe how much better-SOUNDING my first one was than my former deck, a Teac X1000R. Even better, once I had it modified for tape head output into a tubed deHavilland 222 tape head preamp. As with any tape deck, you do need to have a competent tape tech on speed dial :-)
Outstanding deck, generally underrated. When my studio owner friend rented an 8-track 1" version, he was very surprised at how good it was. His decks are Studer B67, A80, and A800.
Pros:
Cheap for what it is, and lots of parts available, parts machines, etc... relatively affordable.
Excellent performer - the built-in repro amps are clean, uncolored, quiet. Hiss for half-track 15 ips virtually nonexistant. Transport performance is excellent. Easy to add other repro amps (Bottlehead, Manley, et al.)
Built like tanks. Excellent accessibility, easy to work on.
Cons:
Tape tension adjustment seems to be the greatest kept secret, through someone over at gearslutz recently posted about it. Put out a query over there to find out how to do this.
Do this:
Rewire the XLR connectors for pin 2 hot so you don't have to think about it. It's a 10-minute job. Get a roll-around cart - they come up often. Also find the guy who prints complete service manuals on paper - invaluable. Send the head block to Jim French (JRF Magnetics) for relapping.
Have fun.
WW
"A man need merely light the filaments of his receiving set and the world's greatest artists will perform for him." Alfred N. Goldsmith, RCA, 1922
I think all analog is a beautiful thing. I just saw a Craig's post offering a 'working' 5050 for $475 in Mission Viejo, CA [no affiliation- just sayin'...]
I would recommend Tapeheads.
The Otari's are popular, and you will get lot's of good advice there.
Proudly serving content-free posts since 1984.
The MX5050 BII-2 is well known over there.
-Steve
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