O-Boy, I can't believe I'm inquiring about RTR...
1) Machines, what's recommended to buy (Machine make/model) ?
2) Where to buy these machines refurbished, ready to go ?
3) Media...best place to buy copies of 1/4" master tapes ?
Rather than making mistakes, I strongly urge you speak to Charlie King aka Stellavox. He's a world of knowledge having probably rebuilt ever deck made
(OK Charlie, you can send the check now!) I think he's even in your neighborhood and Bill Demars carries Charlie's tape preamp. I'll PM you his email address.
Here are some considerations:
1. Space eg. pro or pro sumer deck.
2. Tape handling.
3. Do you want playback only or playback and record.
4. Maintenance eg. the pro decks are a lot more work and if you're not tech savvy, you need someone who is. Decks like the Technics are just basically align and play.
5. To get the most out of your R2R, you're going to need to bypass that crappy '70s solid-state electronics.
6. Shape of the heads--though they can certainly be relapped or replaced. If money is no object, replace the pro sumer deck heads with a better head block like the Nortronics. You'll be amazed at the difference. Like going from a good $750 cartridge to a great 10K cartridge.
7. Tape sources eg. Tape Project, Yarlung Records, Master Tape Sound Labs (Kostas Metaxas' tapes carried by United Home Audio) and a German Analogue Society whose name escapes me.