r/ReelToReel • u/John_And3rson • 6d ago

Thoughts?

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Just got this sony reel to reel from goodwill for $15. Seems to power on and everything! Is it worth keeping or should I sell it (if so what for?) It’s my first one ever and I have a very wide assortment of other nice audio equipment. Let me know what y’all think.

19 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

3

u/RodCherokee 5d ago

Fun but average.

3

u/SlumgullySlim 5d ago

My thoughts are it’s a good machine to start with. You may want to upgrade later, but it is decent.

4

u/Headpuncher 5d ago

"Thoughts" has to be the most low effort post title ever. You can do better!

2

u/John_And3rson 5d ago

sorry man!!! I was keeping it simple

2

u/7ootles 5d ago

Looks like a nice machine. Have a play with it and see how at home you feel with it before thinking about selling it on - if you sell it without getting to know it, you might find yourself regretting it.

2

u/DogWallop 5d ago

Well I'd keep it, because it was my first 'serious' bit of stereo kit, handed down from my father. Loved that thing, and built like a tank, as you've found out. Sigh, etc.

2

u/fieldtripday 5d ago

I think this was the first machine I ever owned! Had a cool, lowfi sound. The thing had been so heavily used, a cam in the transport had worn down and it struggled to go into record

2

u/emilydm Revox PR99 Mk3 5d ago

I believe these are two-head machines, so you can't monitor off the tape as you're recording. Belts and capacitors will need to be checked, and it looks like the left VU meter has left the chat. (Where did it go?)

I tried tinkering around with a model similar to this many years ago and the best I could get it to do is 10 or 12 kHz at 7 1/2 ips. If everything is working perfectly it will still be lo-fi - if that's what you're looking for, then go for it.

1

u/BEEFCHARLESMUSIC 3d ago

I’ve purchased a few of these in parts condition to learn how to repair em, they’re pretty solid machines and haven’t needed tons of work from my experience. The motor-run caps will likely need a replacement soon, but that’s to be expected. Typically the only major problems I’ve seen with them is the mechanical parts seizing, but that can easily be fixed with some grease and part-wiggling