Studer Expert--Analog-Audio Kuhn

Mike Lavigne said:

all Studer owners should be aware of this.

http://www.theaudiomagazine.com/?p=281

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I have talked to Andreas many times. He is probably the best Studer technician in the world. He specialises in A820's,A827's and especially the tubed C37 machines. He offers reconditioned C37's,they are expensive,but beautiful.

Thanks Mike for the info.

He has all the original Studer factory drawings. Yes, Andreas is the man when it comes to Studer - now that Martin Berner had retired or not answering emails anymore...

I saw a well running C37 last month. It would be nice to have one before I die... Do you know the price range for one from Andreas, Roger?

Analog-Audio Kuhn are really experts in Studer equipment - they bough all the existing stock of parts for Studer reel-to-reel machines, as well as all the existing technical archives.

But expertise has a price - and their spares and work are expensive, much higher than the typical prices charged by the USA companies who supply and refurbish parts for Studer machines.
Also, prospective buyers of Studer machines should consider that Analog-Audio Kuhn have not released in the public domain the technical information such as firmware code of the programmable eproms and controllers of some machines - needed for DIY amateurs that want to service them themselves in case of some electronic malfunctions.

As Studer has released all the information of the A80 series I have preferred this series in order to keep maintenance at low cost and headache free!

BTW, the Studer technical archives are currently a post subject at the Studer list, and Andreas Kuhn is participating in it.

Ki Choi said:

Thanks Mike for the info.

He has all the original Studer factory drawings. Yes, Andreas is the man when it comes to Studer - now that Martin Berner had retired or not answering emails anymore...

I saw a well running C37 last month. It would be nice to have one before I die... Do you know the price range for one from Andreas, Roger?

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Hi Ki,

When he quoted one about 16 months ago 12K sticks in my head,but it could have been as high as 16K for a 100pct example.

RogerD said:

Hi Ki,

When he quoted one about 16 months ago 12K sticks in my head,but it could have been as high as 16K for a 100pct example.

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Thanks Roger.

It will cost another ~$3 - 5K to pack, crate, and air freight the machine to NW...

But then again, the total cost at ~$16K min is still only 1/2 of one of Mike's speaker cables. ;-) I guess it's all relative...

Ki Choi said:

But then again, the total cost at ~$16K min is still only 1/2 of one of Mike's speaker cables. ;-) I guess it's all relative...

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I can recall Rick Dees, declaring on the radio "Hurt me, baby -- make me write bad checks!"

Seriously, "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up." -Ferris Bueller

Mike Lavigne said:

all Studer owners should be aware of this.

http://www.theaudiomagazine.com/?p=281

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For those who are not member of the Studer List, this communication between Fred Thal and Andreas Kuhn is very interesting for all Studer owners:

Hi Fred


sorry for the delay but I'm very busy here.


I will give some quick answer's to you question

Am 15.05.2011 um 22:55 schrieb Fred Thal:


Hello Andreas,

It is nice to hear from you. Thank you for the post and the link to
the magazine article profiling your business.

As is by now perhaps apparent to you, I can be persistent in a quest
for more detail. I appreciate your good-natured tolerance of that
characteristic.

First, it is excellent to know that you have all the firmware. How do
you make this available to users around the globe?


answer: since servicing and taking care of the STUDER heritage it's my full time business, the firmware is avalible to all my customers.


Do you happen to know if Harman’s Regensdorf facility has now purged
that resource from their drives and servers?



answer: the FTP server is still online, but nobody knows how long this will last. since studer moved to a new building almost everything has changed. by way, firmware was never a part of this server/service


Next, I find it fascinating to read that you purchased the complete
Studer and Revox manufacturing archive. From whom did you purchase
this? Was it from Harman International Industries, or was it from a
private individual

answer: the text on the review side is not correct in that point, I did not purchased this things since they where never up for sale at any time !
this was a very personal hand-over since the efforts that my company does for keeping the heritage of Willi Studer alive has being appreciated very much. We are not a workshop in the ordinary sense, but model ourselves closely on the utter precision of the originals we are exclusive unique specialists.


Manufacturing archive to me suggests (mainly) the engineering drawings
that might be sent to the fabrication departments. Is it not so?

answer: the archive is much more than most can ever imagine ! studer did more than most other companys regarding "total quality" every build and mesaurement process has noted down to the last detail. how to set up, why and what king of tools are needed.
what kind of tolerance theay apllied, capstan construction, head-construction, transformer windings........... aligment gauge constructions and set up aids and many many more things.....


My next question is do you also have all the technical documents (such
as every SI, TI and Technical Protocol publication ever issued) and
also the vast, Studer analog tape machine technology engineering
library



answer: yes, almost every document that has every released is here, beside that many internal memorandums about modifing and improvment of parts and units. beside that all the laboratory books from every construction engineer is here too.


in addition to that, there is another very importent thing. If you tell me for example a serial number of a STUDER A80, I can get the original and detailes test and measurment protocol before the maschine has left the factory including who was in charge at the time....


This would be a hugely important collection, and one of considerable
physical size!



answer: YES Indeed !! It need plenty of space since all document are stored in fire-save and acid proof special cabinets


If so, where ever did you find the space to house it?

answer: it's part of our second workbench place only for multitrack maschines, there is a separate and secured are only for the archive.


Also, did you formerly work at the Studer firm? If so, would you tell
us in what capacity? (Thanks in advance.)

answer: I never worked for STUDER


Regardless, thank you for your kind invitation to visit you in Spiezs.





As I would like to do a book on the development of the Studer models
A80 and A820, if I come over, I might be occupied there for perhaps
two years or more. I trust you wouldn’t mind? ;-)

answer: I know that my answers just give a small overview about what we are talking about, only a personal visit can bring more light into the picture.


Thanks again for corresponding with us. I look forward to your reply.

Fred Thal
ATAE STUDER
Grass Valley, California
_______________________________________________
Studer mailing list
Studer@bach.pgm.com
http://bach.pgm.com/mailman/listinfo/studer



Mit freundlichem Gruss


Andreas Kuhn

analog-audio kuhn
professionelle Tonbandtechnik
Seestrasse 41; CH-3700 Spiez
Tel: ++41 (0) 33 654 93 22

E-Mail: info@analog-audio.ch
Website: www.analog-audio.ch

c1ferrari said:

Hi everyone,

FYI...http://www.analog-audio.ch/

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Bo[]%€$ , Well that's one Evil Plan Well and Truly Torpedoed

The good news for Studer A80 owners is that there are no firmware or unsolvable issues with the A80 - all electronic parts are easily available. The only programmable device is a reliable and simple decoder IC in the control card of later models and if needed could be easily reproduced.

microstrip said:

The good news for Studer A80 owners is that there are no firmware or unsolvable issues with the A80 - all electronic parts are easily available. The only programmable device is a reliable and simple decoder IC in the control card of later models and if needed could be easily reproduced.

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That's why I love our A80's..... 2-3 tools can take these machines apart in an hour. A820 machines.... not so much!!

At that price, wouldn't people want to compare it with the UHA tape deck?

is that fair....a reworked TASCAM B20 vs A820?

Hi folks, I'm relatively new here. I've been reading all of your insightful posts for many months, gleaning as much as possible in the process (thank you all for that!), but I think this is one of, if not my first post. I have been looking at purchasing an A820 and have located a low-hours unit of relatively recent build (~1996) with 1/2" and 1/4" headstacks. However, reading this thread has made me take pause - given this recent development, would you advise against such a purchase?

Also, does Andreas have the last remaining stock of parts for the A820?

correct me if I´m wrong
as far as I´ve understood, the A820 is all about the transport
the repro and record cards are the same as A810
I also believe it´s full of switchmode psu´s that are a pain to repair
I stick to A80RC for simplicity, access to parts and even sound with the MTSL upgrades/rebuilds
best
Leif