analogman

Foer years I have read numerous opinions concerning camera gear and how to us them. Very seldom has a single group completely agreed on anything. Some have knocked on one another for poor discussion making while a few have been accused of being smarty pants. So, by taking you out of your comfort zones I have a new subject not related to photography. I am a collector of cameras, mechanical cameras but I also collect stereo equipment. Now to finish off a system I have painstakingly just completed I would appreciate your input. Should I put a near mint Revox B77 reel to reel tape deck to the system or about face and add a quality turn table to the system? Already in place are an amp, preamp and tunner designed by David Hafler and A CD player by Rotel. This will complete my 4th system in my audiophile collection What say you, Hogs of the Leafed Shutter?

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

You specify the R2R but not a turntable, so we don’t have much to go on. But unless you plan to do a lot of taping, I don’t see a need for the Revox. A premium turntable can coexist with a CD player. I would go that route.

DaveyDitzer Loc: Western PA

I would do the turntable and access some old vinyl

ELNikkor

turn table, if it is vintage, (adding the Revox gets into a whole new category of sound machines, if that is another track you want to go)

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

Unless you want to be recording every now and then, I'd vote for the turntable and hunt down some good vinyls.
Looking for 33's , 45's & 78's may be a great adventure or just some good time to burn.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

If any one is looking for old vinyl, I just uncovered two bankers boxes full of mostly mint 60s, 70s Rock that I have had in storage for about 20 years. The genre is Pink Floyd to CCR. All 33s

DaveyDitzer Loc: Western PA

I'm interested but need to know prices and most important, shipping costs. Please PM me.

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Why can’t you add both? You obviously have a use for both or you wouldn’t be debating. Purchase one now and the other later. As to which to purchase first choose the one that is more difficult to find later or purchase the one you will use more often.

Dodie

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

A couple of considerations: do you have a library of recorded 7-1/2/15 IPS tape or a library of LPs?

The Revox is a nice machine assuming the heads are cleaned, demagnetized and aligned, but what will you use it for? When I was still playing LPs, I primarily used either reel to reel or cassette decks to record a new LP as soon as it was purchased and typically played the tape copy to save the vinyl, which deteriorates with each playing. Of course, to address the noise, I always used dbx encoding/decoding to suppress noise and tape hiss. And if you have a cassette machine (and hopefully a noise reduction system such as Dbx or Dolby C), what would you use the reel to reel deck for? If you need to do tape to tape copies, maybe another cassette deck like a Nakamichi.

If on the other hand you have a library of LPs, like the sound and don’t mind the limitations and maintainance, get a good turntable, and more importantly a good cartridge/stylus. You can spend thousands on high end MC cartridges, but a good reasonably priced cartridge is the classic Shure V15 in later models. Be sure to get an extra stylus if you can and especially if you buy it used with stylus wear. And of course, don’t forget some sort of LP cleaning system and anti static device.

Just some thoughts to begin the discussion

BebuLamar

If you are into R2R today the Revox or Otari is kind of fit because the R2R tapes are damn expensive to use any less expensive deck.

hippi Loc: Sedalia MO

Lens Cap Loc: The Cold North Coast

Buy both

cdayton

I agree. Back in the day when I was into such things, I believe the most exciting sound came from reel to reel tapes - I still recall a stunning recording of Alexander Nevsky on tape (Ormandy???).

kerry12 Loc: Harrisburg, Pa.

I too would go with the turntable.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

Turntable. Vinyl is becoming more popular and a lot of new and used but in perfect-condition records exist. Unless you plan to spend endless hours taping songs onto reels you don't need the tape machine.