I have just been offered........

[Johnny Vinyl]

Two....yes, TWO perfectly working Revox A77 reel to reels for $500. They have been sitting in a storage room for 10 years, after my friend's band decided to go digital for recording. Obviously I'm not buying these sight unseen, so my friend is setting up a tentative audition for next week Tuesday.

In preparation for this audition can some of you maybe help me out in telling me what I should look for or pay particular attention to? Please keep it simple, as you all know I'm somewhat technically challenged.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[naturephoto1]

Two....yes, TWO perfectly working Revox A77 reel to reels for $500. They have been sitting in a storage room for 10 years, after my friend's band decided to go digital for recording. Obviously I'm not buying these sight unseen, so my friend is setting up a tentative audition for next week Tuesday.

In preparation for this audition can some of you maybe help me out in telling me what I should look for or pay particular attention to? Please keep it simple, as you all know I'm somewhat technically challenged.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Hi John,

I can't give you guidance and leave that to others. But if they are working well and don't need work (or it won't cost much) this sounds like a good deal and probably the way to go rather than the Pioneer 707. One thing to check for obviously though is the available tape speeds. For best performance if the machines offer 15 IPS followed by 7 1/2 IPS would be something to find of value.

Rich

 

[DonH50]

They are junk, send them to me...

Unless they were really beat upon, if they work they are good. There are a number of things to look for, like head wear and capstan wobble, but it would be difficult to describe on the 'net and if you can see exceessive head wear (grooves) and wobble then other things are probably wrong. Sounds like a pretty decent twofer to me, though you might do a search on eBay, Audiogon, Craig's List etc. and see if that's the going rate. You are likely going to want a good tech to clean them up and oil them, check the belts etc.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

The A77's are 3.75 and 7.5ips only, so no 15ips...but I won't let that hold me back if the condition of these machines are good. I'm going to (obviously) do a lot of searching in the next few days to see what I can find out about these machines, and what they have been selling for. I'll look for any wobbling and head wear, make sure that the meters function properly and that all the switchers/functions are in order. I already know of a tech locally (older European gentleman that has been doing this for decades), and I'm hoping that Tony may chime in. If this works it's going to throw a loop into my PC audio upgrades........time to rethink everything again. I don't know whether to be happy and excited or pissed off about the wrench that's just been thrown into my plans. GRRR! LOL!

 

[RogerD]

The most important thing to look for is the condition of the heads.

http://www.analogrules.com/badheads.html

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Thank you so much Roger for providing that link. So I should stay away from even ONE BAD GAP? I should probably bring along a magnifying glass as well.

 

[Vincent Kars]

Maybe this link (and Google Translate) is of use: http://www.reeltoreel.de/Revox/Tips.htm

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Thanks Vincent! I'll take any and all info I can get. Now here is the challenge for me....how do I use Google Translate and where do I get it? LOL ...sorry, never used it before. I can understand a significant amount of German, but not something this detailed.

 

[microstrip]

USD 500 for two A77s can be a nice price if they are in very good condition, but if they are in poor condition you can need more than usd 1000 to refurbish them.

Some points to look:

1. Are the heads 2 or 4 track? Revox heads are easy to inspect - look for the length of the flat zone. If it is over 2mm they should be re-lapped.
2. Eccentricity of the hub central spindles - they should not wobble in FF or REW spooling.
3. Be prepared to replace all electrolytic capacitors.
4. What version is it - MK1, 2, 3 or 4?
5. Capstan motor condition.
6. Non reliable, intermittent operation of switches

BTW, you surely already know that all manuals for the A77 can be found at:
ftp://ftp.studer.ch/Public/Products/Revox/Revox_A77/Manuals/

Be prepared to have a lot of fun!

 

[mep]

John-The biggest question that no one has asked you yet is how do you plan to use these machines? If your goal is to buy used 4 track tapes from Ebay to play back on them, you better make sure they are 4 track machines. If these machines are 2 track machines with a top speed of 7 ½ ips, I surely don’t know what good they would do you. There are a limited amount of 7 ½ ips two track tapes for sale on Ebay and most all of them are classical.

 

[Vincent Kars]

Thanks Vincent! I'll take any and all info I can get. Now here is the challenge for me....how do I use Google Translate and where do I get it? LOL ...sorry, never used it before. I can understand a significant amount of German, but not something this detailed.

http://translate.google.com/

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

http://translate.google.com/

Thanks again Vincent!

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

John-The biggest question that no one has asked you yet is how do you plan to use these machines? If your goal is to buy used 4 track tapes from Ebay to play back on them, you better make sure they are 4 track machines. If these machines are 2 track machines with a top speed of 7 ½ ips, I surely don’t know what good they would do you. There are a limited amount of 7 ½ ips two track tapes for sale on Ebay and most all of them are classical.

I think I just want to record some of my audiophile vinyl recordings and listen to them, or make some compilations.

 

[tony ky ma]

The A77's are 3.75 and 7.5ips only, so no 15ips...but I won't let that hold me back if the condition of these machines are good. I'm going to (obviously) do a lot of searching in the next few days to see what I can find out about these machines, and what they have been selling for. I'll look for any wobbling and head wear, make sure that the meters function properly and that all the switchers/functions are in order. I already know of a tech locally (older European gentleman that has been doing this for decades), and I'm hoping that Tony may chime in. If this works it's going to throw a loop into my PC audio upgrades........time to rethink everything again. I don't know whether to be happy and excited or pissed off about the wrench that's just been thrown into my plans. GRRR! LOL!

Hi John
Are you looking for me to join the audition meeting ? let me know time & place to see if I can come, I know just a little bit of A77, the one we have need to replace heads too,if only just by listening is hard to find out, most old head's problem is in high frequency drop from 5 K or 8 K also if only one channel drop (most is the upper channel of the head ) and play in stereo, even same music you are quite familiar from CD or LP, you will still don't get it because they belong to different kind of sound unless you compare same tape in two machines or check with caribration tape , as I know A77 is around $300 to $500 depend on condition, you can find someone to re-lap the heads or get spare heads from Ebay, ( last time I paid $30 for a 70% a repro head) brand new one will cost $450, A77 play 7.5 pre recorded tape from Ebay will sound better than CD (normal price DAC) and record and playback for background music also OK, but 10" tape with metal reel are not cheap indeed Ampex 456 $60
regard
tony ma

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Hi John
Are you looking for me to join the audition meeting ? let me know time & place to see if I can come, I know just a little bit of A77, the one we have need to replace heads too,if only just by listening is hard to find out, most old head's problem is in high frequency drop from 5 K or 8 K also if only one channel drop (most is the upper channel of the head ) and play in stereo, even same music you are quite familiar from CD or LP, you will still don't get it because they belong to different kind of sound unless you compare same tape in two machines or check with caribration tape , as I know A77 is around $300 to $500 depend on condition, you can find someone to re-lap the heads or get spare heads from Ebay, ( last time I paid $30 for a 70% a repro head) brand new one will cost $450, A77 play 7.5 pre recorded tape from Ebay will sound better than CD (normal price DAC) and record and playback for background music also OK, but 10" tape with metal reel are not cheap indeed Ampex 456 $60
regard
tony ma

Hi Tony,

It would be wonderful if you could join me, so I will let you know the time & place for next Tuesday's audition. I should tell you that it'll likely be in Burlington, which is a solid one-hour drive without traffic from your place in Whitby. Either way, you and the other guys have been giving me some valuable information and tips in what to look for, so I'll be doing my best to analyze the condition.

Besides the heads, capstan wobble, general condition/operation of all swtiches, what else should I be looking for?

 

[microstrip]

(...) Besides the heads, capstan wobble, general condition/operation of all swtiches, what else should I be looking for?

John,

I forgot to put the brakes in my list - check if machine spills tape stopping from fast winding or going from FF or REW to play.

I just found this site about the A77 in my tape bookmark list - a nice summary of some of the more frequent faults.

http://siber-sonic.com/broadcast/RevoxA77tips.html

 

[microstrip]

as I know A77 is around $300 to $500 depend on condition, you can find someone to re-lap the heads or get spare heads from Ebay, ( last time I paid $30 for a 70% a repro head) brand new one will cost $450, (...)

Tony,
A 70% REVOX repro head will probably show some scrape flutter. But you can send it to JRF Magnetic Sciences and have it relapped for about usd 70 - performance will be as good as that of a new head. Sometime ago I had the heads of my PR99 relapped by John French and the playback quality ameliorated a lot, although the frequency response was still good before relapping.

Now it is time to send the A80 ones for relapping ...

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Thank you! I have bookmarked your link, and will read it at leisure later!

So instead of pressing stop in rewind mode when I want to go forward, I should press FF and only press stop once the reels are motionless? Once motionless, I can then press play to continue. Am I reading that correctly?

 

[tony ky ma]

Tony,
A 70% REVOX repro head will probably show some scrape flutter. But you can send it to JRF Magnetic Sciences and have it relapped for about usd 70 - performance will be as good as that of a new head. Sometime ago I had the heads of my PR99 relapped by John French and the playback quality ameliorated a lot, although the frequency response was still good before relapping.

Now it is time to send the A80 ones for relapping ...

Thanks for the information, friend Roger here is a Studer serviceman, he re-lap studer's heads, he just did for my other friend to set up a new head block to A80 and re-lap all the old one only charged $600 included total 3 hours drive for the job, is it lucky to have friend in this hobby ?
tony ma

 

[tony ky ma]

Hi Tony,

It would be wonderful if you could join me, so I will let you know the time & place for next Tuesday's audition. I should tell you that it'll likely be in Burlington, which is a solid one-hour drive without traffic from your place in Whitby. Either way, you and the other guys have been giving me some valuable information and tips in what to look for, so I'll be doing my best to analyze the condition.

Besides the heads, capstan wobble, general condition/operation of all swtiches, what else should I be looking for?

The power cord should come with, if missed you need to change the IEC socket, but they can be audition shouldn't be problem
tony ma