Visit to Tape Aficionado and Audiophile: John Brooks

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
I post this a few days ago on ASR Forum but thought there may also be interest here.

-----

We are blessed in the pacific northwest (US) with a very friendly audiophile group and society. The format of the regular meetings is usually inviting someone from the industry to give a talk/play music. Such was the case with a company that specializes in Technics Reel-to-Reel refurbishing. Alas that demo did not in my opinion go off very well due to poor choice of material and recording ("hot" captures of CD on old CD player).

Something nice did come out of it which was meeting fellow audiophile and tape lover, John Brooks. As with me, John has Otari tape deck(s) but similarity ends there in that he has much deeper investment in the format as you will read shortly.

For now, just a bit of background on why I love tape so much. The interest dates back to early 1970s when I was probably 12 to 14 years old and had gotten the audiophile bug. Thought I was doing well with the (cheap) gear I had until I visited the home of a friend of mine and saw what his older brother had. It was there that I saw and heard the most amazing sound coming out of a Sony 777 reel-to-reel deck. I still remember what it cost then: $1,000. I pestered my dad to buy me for months but it was not going to happen. Fast forward decades later and I had to have one and courtesy of Ki Choi -- tape God -- and I acquired an Otari B5050. I then bought a few tapes and some kind souls gave me a couple and that has been my investment to date.

Well, John is in another league altogether. He was kind enough to invite me to his house and put up with me driving into his neighbour's house like a fool sitting there for 5 minutes for him to arrive! :D What went on was an incredible "tape night" that lasted two to three hours.

Here is John's system:



And with him in it (my apologies for only have a shot of him from back side :) ):



As you see John doesn't have one Otari deck but two! They each beautifully flank the sides of his equipment rack. The decks are the Otari MTR-15 which is a "mastering deck" with oodles of more features than mine.



The main amplification is VAC:



As it almost always happens with Murphy and demos, when John tried to power up the amp it would not. He swore it was working prior to me coming but here we were dead in the water. John being a DIY electronic person pulled out a trusty analog meter out and we set out to check the fuses in the outboard power supply. He was doing the pulling and re-insertion of multiple fuses and I was doing the test. We tested a couple of good fuses and then got to one that was reading OK but just when I was putting it away it seemed to act open. I almost did not catch it but thought I should re-test and wouldn't you know it: the fuse looked perfectly OK but if you pressed on the ends, it would alternate between making a connection and not!

These were aftermarket audiophile fuses and fortunately John had a spare. We put that in and stars aligned and the amp powered up.

Turns out John is a masterful "tape jockey." He would play something for me and while I was listening he would cue up the next tape on the other deck and advance it to the specific track. So I was hearing music non-stop and none of the long gaps of waiting for tape to rewind and such. John did this all night, impressing me to no end with his hard work and hospitality.

John is also far more organized than me with set of notes for all of this tapes on what is in them and what to play. He keeps them in this folder that you see above his rack of tapes:



John's approach to collecting tapes (and decks) has been to search the classifieds high and low to find and mine these tapes. He told me story after story of how he found these, often having to buy or sift through a ton of tapes to find the right ones.

Every tape sounded wonderful, accompanied with a great story from John on who the artist was and how he had come about finding the tape. His system was true to source in that every tape sounded different as it should. The system did not impose its constant signature on everything you play as some systems do.

I was too involved in listening to take any notes. Sorry about that :). But did take pictures of what was being played here and there:















I could not be more thankful of John's hospitality and wonderful joy he provided in playing all of these tapes for me and the conversation during the same. If there is someone in the pacific northwest that has interest in tape, I highly recommend meeting John and and hopefully get the same invite I got to hear and experience the same.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
And oh, his speakers are Wilson Benesch (Square Three?) which he bought used at a killer price. He also has a turntable which didn't get much play when I was there:





 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
12,471
11,368
4,410
John is one of my 'drug dealers' (as my wife refers to them) where I sourced many of my tapes. I likely have 15 or 20 double-reel albums from John. likely the best source for great jazz and blues tapes I know of. great guy and very knowledgeable.

back almost 10 years ago John visited my room and heard tapes on my Studer and then dived deep into tape. can't say it was just me that pushed him down that road but I did tip him over that way.

I only visited his room once quite a few years ago, but it was one of the better sounding rooms I have heard. loved his Wilson Benesch speakers.
 

spiritofmusic

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2013
14,606
5,415
1,278
E. England
Gosh, if analog is a drug, then tape is crack cocaine
Or is that multi vitamins/B12 shot?

I would LOVE to get into all this, but after the thread I originated, all the lovely enthusiastic replies, and one in particular from an industry insider, I reluctantly decided against
Mike, you commented anyone starting an Lp collection should think seriously about it
What do you say to a tape virgin contemplating things?
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
12,471
11,368
4,410
Gosh, if analog is a drug, then tape is crack cocaine
Or is that multi vitamins/B12 shot?

I would LOVE to get into all this, but after the thread I originated, all the lovely enthusiastic replies, and one in particular from an industry insider, I reluctantly decided against
Mike, you commented anyone starting an Lp collection should think seriously about it
What do you say to a tape virgin contemplating things?

tape can be done on a more modest basis than vinyl but still get very special levels of performance, mostly because the RTR decks are cheaper to get very good sound, and typically you are buying 20-40 tapes, and not 2000-5000 Lps. an under $10k RTR deck with a good tape repro and good tape will give you great sound.

so if you want excellent analog in your system for the occasional special moments, then the total investment is less stratospheric.

so I would ask the person what his/her end game is? if it's to dip the toe into analog then tape makes sense. if the intent is a new main approach to listening, then tape would get very expensive down that road.....and vinyl is the answer with infinitely greater media choices.

I would liken tape to single malt scotch. even though I have a modest single malt collection and do enjoy it a few times a month, it's not an every night or even every week thing. only when the moment is right......or it's a group session and it seems like a fun time to do it.

I'd still be cautious to encourage starting down the tape path considering how excellent digital can be and how easy it is to implement in a system. it's not a trivial level of effort and investment to get into tape.

as far as the 'drug dealer' comment; when particular people would come to visit me my wife knew it likely would involve me buying tapes. so over the years when I told her a particular friend was visiting she would ask 'would I be spending more money on tapes'? I would mumble something about I had no plans on any particular thing, she would then nail me with the 'drug dealer' comment.....and how I could not help myself.
 
Last edited:

spiritofmusic

Well-Known Member
Jun 13, 2013
14,606
5,415
1,278
E. England
Mike, without going down the Breaking Bad road too far, audio is DEFINITELY an obsession not far off a little substance dependency LOL
So, I'm in my new and super improved room, wowing myself as to how good my stellar cdp sounds, and how other than streaming I'm off the upgrade path
Then a few days ago I set up my modest but previously outperforming tt front end, and find the room is showing it up to be not as great as I thought
And so thoughts turn to, yes, upgrading analog
Just my tt, I cannot contemplate tape as well as this AND streaming
But I wish
Btw, seriously considering the AMG Viella V12, in the sweet spot re price/performance, a great all rounder, and absolutely to die for streamlined aesthetic and German no nonsense tech
 

Mike Lavigne

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 25, 2010
12,471
11,368
4,410
Mike, without going down the Breaking Bad road too far, audio is DEFINITELY an obsession not far off a little substance dependency LOL
So, I'm in my new and super improved room, wowing myself as to how good my stellar cdp sounds, and how other than streaming I'm off the upgrade path
Then a few days ago I set up my modest but previously outperforming tt front end, and find the room is showing it up to be not as great as I thought
And so thoughts turn to, yes, upgrading analog
Just my tt, I cannot contemplate tape as well as this AND streaming
But I wish
Btw, seriously considering the AMG Viella V12, in the sweet spot re price/performance, a great all rounder, and absolutely to die for streamlined aesthetic and German no nonsense tech

I'm excited for you with the additional information you are hearing in your new room. it does tend to expose things when the room gets out of the way more. but it will lead to more musical connection.
 

dminches

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
3,409
2,794
1,410
I would liken tape to single malt scotch. even though I have a modest single malt collection and do enjoy it a few times a month, it's not an every night or even every week thing. only when the moment is right......or it's a group session and it seems like a fun time to do it.

I thought the same thing 500 reels ago. The problem is when you hear something on tape and realize it is the best you have ever heard that album you want to get that same experience with yet another of your favorites.

"It's an obsession but it's pleasing."
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing