Reel to reel (r2r) tape decks were the big dogs on the block for years and years.  First mass-market medium for recording your own sound and still in use at many studios and audiophile setups.

Some of the favorites out there are the Pioneer RT series like the RT707 and RT909. Excellent studio quality r2r's that still look beautiful today.

Akai had many great decks like their GX series - GX-747, 636, 630, 625, 4000 series.  The heads on these r2r are virtually indestructible and were designed for 100,000 hours of use.

Teac and Tascam had many fine audiophile and studio decks such as the X-1000, X-2000, A-2340, A-3340 etc.  They shined in the 4, 8 and 16 track areas along with Fostex. A lot of the big record albums from the 70's were recorded on the Tascam gear.

Alas, not much being made anymore in r2r's.  The last was a Teac BR-20 for production work and  a $3000 bill to go with it.  To my knowledge, this unit has now been discontinued. If you know of any audio reel to reel units still in production and available in the USA, please drop me a line about it. Analog audio has a whole different sound to it than digital and it's still nice to listen to and make recordings on.  Also a viable option for the garage band wanting to record their work and not worry bout the computer stuff until they have to.  Very simple to operate and tape is still being made.  My units are competitive in price and performance compared to the new digital work-stations. And it's fun watching the reels go round and round! (Especially at 3AM after cranking it out all nite long).

Digital Audio Tape (DAT) was a supposed successor to r2r and cassettes but didn't get commercially accepted as the music companies would not release any music for it as there is no copy protection. A 10th generation tape sounds as good as a first generation copy.  Studios used them and many still are.  New units are still for sale in the $1000 - $1800 price range.  They're great for jamming on when you don't want a computer doing it.  I have one in my studio for that purpose.  If I record anything good, I can always dump it on my 'puter for editing.  Great for 2-channel mix-down also.  CD quality sound with extremely low noise.

Of course we all have a cassette deck somewhere - usually in our vehicle.  I started using them in the 60's when they were only good enough for voice.  Pioneer hit the absolute pinnacle with their CTF-1250 cassette recorder.  The sound rivals the r2r's.  Course there's a whole slew of great decks by various companies. I sell mainly the Pioneer CTF900, 950, 1000, and 1250 units. Wonderful to play and look at.

4-24-08

Picked up a beautiful rare Pioneer RT-2022/2024 with both heads and pre-amps for studio recording. (THIS UNIT IS NOT FOR SALE YET!) This unit can be used as a 4-track recorder or a 2-track (half-track) machine for final mix down. The 2-track heads have never been used and are still in their case.  All covers and cables are present and when cleaned up, it will be as close to a new unit as possible.  Don't think a better one is in existence. This one owner unit was carefully taken care of throughout its lifetime.  It's a toss-up between this unit and a brand new Tascam BR-20 for two-channel analog mix down in my studio.

As time goes on, I will list more pictures and specifications. These are the units that I have gone through and are ready for sale.  Email for more pictures! When a new window appears after clicking the link, resize the window for maximum picture detail.

Some Prices not including shipping:

Here's a few pix of what I'm talking bout (actual pix of my units, not generic) til I get some more detail: