16 track Ampex MM-1000 Tape Machine Available Boston Area

That machine belongs to a friend of mine. Haven't talked to him in awhile. Didn't know he was putting his MM-1000 to market. Actually he probably would avoid telling me because he knows I'd give him a hard time about it.

Alex takes very good care of his gear, has good taste and is discriminating about upgrades and upkeep.

His MM-1000 is a straight-up proper early generation machine (i.e. pre auto-input switching). Asking price isn't insane considering you get three headblocks total, spare electronics and other bits, and you get the 8 and 16 kits along with the proper and very rare remote...not to mention the upgrade work that has been done as far as recapping.

Anyway, he's a good guy. If anybody is in that area and is looking for such a beast, I'll vouch for it FWIW.

Now...to send him an email and give him a hard time...
 
sweetbeats said:
Now...to send him an email and give him a hard time...
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Funny you should mention that ...

I actually did just that yesterday! He responded (nice guy). I basically told him that he's probably going to regret the sale. I think the old clunkers are probably better sounding, have more energy to them, and are probably more reliable long-term than the ones that came after.
 
Well the thing you need to know here is that his other machine is an MM-1200, which, at its essence, uses the same class A discrete amplification and transformer coupling as the MM-1000 which is the same as the AG-440 series. That was such a popular amp design for its sound that, yes, when everybody else was running to opamp-based amp designs in their tape machines, Ampex was still sought after for "that sound" when when a key reason for "that sound" was the decade old "passe" design. Many still consider the MM-1200 the best sounding open reel tape machine. Alex has set his up really nice with a Flux ME play head and all the rolling guide mods. The MM-1100/1200 is kind of like an MM-1000 in a smaller package...same great taste with half the calories, and servo tension control upstream of the capstan. There are certainly differences enough in the transport that some could and do argue that the MM-1000 is a better sounding machine, but awesomeness is in the ear of the beholder. Its a tough argument when the amp design is essentially the same. You can take an amp card out of a 440 and put it in the MM-1200.

Anyway, Alex has plenty mojo-makin' gear left after the MM-1000 goes.
 
sweetbeats said:
Well the thing you need to know here is that his other machine is an MM-1200, which, at its essence, uses the same class A discrete amplification and transformer coupling as the MM-1000 which is the same as the AG-440 series. That was such a popular amp design for its sound that, yes, when everybody else was running to opamp-based amp designs in their tape machines, Ampex was still sought after for "that sound" when when a key reason for "that sound" was the decade old "passe" design. Many still consider the MM-1200 the best sounding open reel tape machine. Alex has set his up really nice with a Flux ME play head and all the rolling guide mods. The MM-1100/1200 is kind of like an MM-1000 in a smaller package...same great taste with half the calories, and servo tension control upstream of the capstan. There are certainly differences enough in the transport that some could and do argue that the MM-1000 is a better sounding machine, but awesomeness is in the ear of the beholder. Its a tough argument when the amp design is essentially the same. You can take an amp card out of a 440 and put it in the MM-1200.

Anyway, Alex has plenty mojo-makin' gear left after the MM-1000 goes.
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Yeh I suppose since he's used them side by side, he would know best. But the 'I know I'm gonna regret this' in the ad is very telling !

I don't have the experience to know for sure, but I've heard from some very knowledgeable people that the transport has a large influence on the sound of a deck.

I have two 440s and while they sound slightly different than one another, they are in the same ballpark ... as is the Scully 280, again slightly different but in the same range.

The AG-300 though sounds notably different (I think, better/tighter). It doesn't have any discernable head bump at all and everything that goes through it has a certain presence I've not heard on other machines ...

I think perhaps it's partially because they use germanium transistors? Of course, it is a totally different design. Yeh, it's large and inconvenience, but ...
 
Well that's the same reason I don't plan on ever "trading up" to an MM-1100 or MM-1200...great machines and would gain me a few valuable square feet in the studio, but I have a friend who as extensive experience with the whole MM family and states that they shouldn't necessarily sound different with respect to the amp electronics, but he says they do and that the MM-1000 sounds best. This goes for the AG-440-8 compared to the MM-1000-8 as well. Big, ungainly, relatively crude transport, but effective and robust...my theory is that there is a significant degree more mass on the MM-1000 plus other significant differences in the tape path...the viscous damped reel idler flywheel for one, *totally* different tape path geometry, and then the fact that the electronics are centralized in a drawer system on the MM-1100 and the the MM-1200, whereas each channel has its own 2U amp module on the MM-1000...part of why it is so huge, but I subjectively theorize that that has something to do with huge sound. Hey...let me live my own delusion. :)

Anyway, the MM-1000 is unique for sure, and though Alex has a kick-butt MM-1200 which I'm SURE sounds unbelievable, I too think he will miss the MM-1000.
 
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