Hi Mike, first, we probably should remind everyone that analog tape is not the new, best thing in high-end audio. Obviously it can't be, because making copies of analog tapes is fraught with serious quality degradations that are both plainly audible and easy to measure.
With that said, it is fact that some audiophiles have extensive tape collections. And a few even own real master tapes. So, as to what ATAE machine we might suggest to this community, the answer is it could be any of them.
As you know Mike, our message on achieving highest quality tape playback hasn't changed. For those who don't know ATAE, here's our checklist for building a proper reproducer: You need excellent dynamic azimuth stability with an absolute minimum of fixed guides in the tape path. That means you need a reproducer built on costly to manufacture precision guidance tape path architecture. Because scrape flutter is audible, you need a really good, single-head, read-only headblock design. (Obviously, you will never get highest quality tape playback if you're using a 3-head tape recorder.) Because you need highly accurate time base stability, you will need servo constant-tension and a servo-capstan.
Now, if you use the above checklist to develop and build something new from scratch, you'll probably burn through a quarter million dollars or more to arrive at a decent working prototype transport. So we think it's much more cost-effective and smarter to instead begin with a survey of the very best of what was done earlier back in the analog era. Using this same checklist, you'll soon arrive at the Studer A80, which is the tape transport design that is the basis for our product family known as ATAE Model Twos.
Our response to customer pressure for a lower cost offering is our upcoming Model 2e. Like all Model Twos, this is an ATAE modified A80 transport that has been completely re-manufactured by us. We greatly respect what Studer created with the A80 and we do not cut corners in our re-manufacturing and we sincerely believe we are actually improving on the original. We are spending about $31,000 to build each 2e and we plan to sell them for $39,000. But there's one catch. A purchaser of a Model 2e will be required to send us a complete A80 in trade. (It can be any model A80 and it need not be working.) This is how we can keep our Model Two transport re-manufacturing program re-supplied with the necessary core parts.
The Model 2e is brand new for us and there is as yet no mention of it on our website. The first two prototypes are presently under construction here and we will make these two available at discount to purchasers who pre-order them by placing deposits. We call this bootstrapping our construction financing. Mike, if you believe in our work and want to help support it, perhaps you'll tell any friends with significant tape collections about the Model 2e. Thanks very much for your interest!