This deck has so much to offer over the standard Ampex 350 transport and electronics.We now have
2 & 4 track playback capability @ 3 3/4,7 1/2,15,& 30ips .The electronics are all octal tubes with nos pieces in the GT (glass) envelope.The stock electronics were offered in the military type metal cans.It took me a long time to source these tubes all were mfg in the 1940's.In stock form the sound was very good with a rich midrange warm and inviting but now you have a drive and pace .The highs sparkle as they float with a holographic quality.The Bass was flabby now taught .
The ambient retrieval from the recording venue is really astounding I can't ever remember this much before.
The power of the instruments and there realism is changing by the hour.
Jaw dropping.....tone,power and pace.
You can see why the 300-3 recorded so many memorable performances for labels RCA,Mercury,Everest, ect
A piece of RCA recording history excerpt here:
"At the time that RCA initiated multi-track sessions, disc mastering and consumer playback technology were monaural. RCA Victor proceeded to use two- and three-track equipment to record the world's greatest artists--Heifetz, Piatigorsky, Reiner, Munch, Rubinstein, Fiedler--in anticipation that home technology would catch up to stereo sound. Finally, in 1955, 1/4" 7 1/2ips stereophonic tape players arrived on the consumer market, and RCA released its first Stereo Orthophonic tapes.
Stereo Orthophonic tapes redefined high fidelity. In 1958, the Western Electric Company produced the breakthrough Westrex Stereo disc cutter, thereby revolutionizing master disc production. Stereo playback equipment was developed to coincide with the new disc cutting technology. The same year, Living Stereo LP records were launched, ushering in the golden age of stereo high fidelity.
RCA Victor's first two-track sessions in late 1953 and early 1954 were captured on proprietary RCA RT-21 1/4" 30 ips tape machines, wired to a pair of mono mixers, each dedicated to one tape track. Neumann U-47 cardioid and M-49/50 omnidirectional microphones were favored, as were RCA-designed LC-1A 15" duo-cone speakers in the control room. Three track recordings were realized on tube amplifier Ampex 300-3 1/2" machines running at 15ips and in later years at 30ips, and were mixed down to 1/4" two-track masters. No equalization was used in the original tracking process; the microphone signals were summed through passive electronics and printed straight to tape. In addition, no equalization was used to alter playback takes for artist approval."
Image below from the early 1960's of an Ampex mobile recording station shown is the 300-3