PS Audio - Surround Sound not more popular with Audiophiles?

[barfle]

To me it's all about options. I like having options.

That is why I have two turntables. That is why I have a universal disc player. That’s why there are ten speakers in my room and why my TV can show 3-D.

At one time, I could play and record reel-to reel, cassettes and 8-tracks (given up on tape, though).

 

[himey]

I have two turntables.

And a microphone?
Where it's at.

 

[barfle]

And a microphone?
Where it's at.

I have one in my phone.

 

[esimms86]

That is why I have two turntables. That is why I have a universal disc player. That’s why there are ten speakers in my room and why my TV can show 3-D.

At one time, I could play and record reel-to reel, cassettes and 8-tracks (given up on tape, though).

Revox has updated one of their best reel-to-reek decks with the release of the B77 MkIII (yes, it's currently in production). It's plays 2 track, 1/4 inch tape at 15 and 7.5 ips. The price is just a shade under $16,000. They have also jumped into the prerecorded tape business with 15 ips tapes for around $500 each. No, I'm not buying the machine nor the tapes.

https://reeltoreelhaven.com/products/new-revox-b77-mkiii-tape-recorder

https://reeltoreelhaven.com/pages/revox-master-tape-copy-collection

Edit: I have no personal or financial connection to Revox or Reel-To_Reel Haven. I just found it interesting that a company decided in 2024 to get back into consumer reel-to-reel production.

 

[mandrix]

Revox has updated one of their best reel-to-reek decks with the release of the B77 MkIII (yes, it's currently in production). It's plays 2 track, 1/4 inch tape at 15 and 7.5 ips. The price is just a shade under $16,000. They have also jumped into the prerecorded tape business with 15 ips tapes for around $500 each. No, I'm not buying the machine nor the tapes.

https://reeltoreelhaven.com/products/new-revox-b77-mkiii-tape-recorder

I've always wanted me one 'a them there reel-to-reek decks. Little pricey for me though.

 

[esimms86]

I've always wanted me one 'a them there reel-to-reek decks. Little pricey for me though.

You could get a fully refurbished reel-to-reel deck of similar quality and specs for under $6k. Then you would just to spend time and money to maintain it (and buy tapes to play).

 

[ar surround]

I've always wanted me one 'a them there reel-to-reek decks. Little pricey for me though.

You could get fully refurbished reel-to-reel deck of similar quality and specs for under $6k. Then you would just to spend time and money to maintain it (and buy tapes to play).

I had a Tandberg reel-to-reel machine in the 80s. It was a magnificent machine. Last month at a funeral,I actually ran into the fellow to whom I sold the machine. We both talked about what a wonderful beast it was.

Of course, RtR was half the convenience at twice the price of other formats.

 

[mrcond]

And a microphone?
Where it's at.

Now THAT would be a great album in surround.

 

[esimms86]

I had a Tandberg reel-to-reel machine in the 80s. It was a magnificent machine. Last month at a funeral,I actually ran into the fellow to whom I sold the machine. We both talked about what a wonderful beast it was.

Of course, RtR was half the convenience at twice the price of other formats.

Agreed, but no other media sounds quite like tape saturation. And, if that's what you absolutely need to hear then you better have the means and also be ready and willing to open up your wallet.

Aside from the cost and inconvenience of rtr, another big issue is the limited amount ofat media to play on it. If you scoured the internet for high quality prerecorded rtr tapes and had an unlimited budget to pay for them you would end up with perhaps a tape library that numbered in the dozens (and that's assuming that you were genre agnostic).

ar, how would you rate the inconvenience of vinyl relative to the inconvenience of rtr? Just asking.

 

[ar surround]

Agreed, but no other media sounds quite like tape saturation. And, if that's what you absolutely need to hear then you better have the means and also be ready and willing to open up your wallet.

I used it with a dbx encoder / decoder, which made the performance even more remarkable.

ar, how would you rate the inconvenience of vinyl relative to the inconvenience of rtr? Just asking.

That's the only other format that I had back then, so RtR was half the convenience of vinyl. IIRC, I sold the Tandberg when I got a HiFi VCR.

 

[mandrix]

You could get a fully refurbished reel-to-reel deck of similar quality and specs for under $6k. Then you would just to spend time and money to maintain it (and buy tapes to play).

Hard pass!

 

[esimms86]

I used it with a dbx encoder / decoder, which made the performance even more remarkable.



That's the only other format that I had back then, so RtR was half the convenience of vinyl. IIRC, I sold the Tandberg when I got a HiFi VCR.

I had an Ampex 7” rtr that I replaced with a Revox A77. I also had an dbx encoder/decoder. For some reason, it told me to drink Ovaltine.

 

[esimms86]

I had an Ampex 7” rtr that I replaced with a Revox A77. I also had an dbx encoder/decoder. For some reason, it told me to drink Ovaltine.

I bought the Revox A77 (used) shortly after seeing a picture of Chris Squire with one on the insert that came with Fragile.

 

[MathieuW]

My father had a Revox A77. Bought it new, probably at the end of the 60’s when he bought all his expensive audio gear (before he married). He seldom used it. I only remember him playing it on his birthday parties late in the evening. He made mix tapes, also in the 60’s, and had all the contents on index cards. He sold it all 5 years ago when they moved to a smaller house.

Even though I only heard it a few times, it is quite present in my memory as it stood clearly visible in the living room behind a glass door on a shelf for all those years. It was also quite large, hard to miss.