Some analog tape deck history...

  • Thread starter Thread starter miroslav
  • Start date Start date
Wow! How much fun and work would it be to have a unit like that to record on!!! I really hate being poor.
 
Man, what a BEAUTY! Stephens 2" 16, now there's a deck I'm sure I'd love working on! No way is it 100lbs though :D
 
The Ghost of FM said:
Looks like it uses a 3M transport!

But the seller is talking about it being portable and weighing 100 pounds??? That's not even close to accurate! :D

Cheers! :)
Click to expand...

Actually, it's darn close. Page 4 of the spec sheet says 102 lbs in cabinet for 16-track.

www.dvq.com/hifi/images/stephens.pdf

Remember, unbalanced +4 audio with no transformers. Electronics are tiny, installed right on the front of the transport behind a pull down front panel. The first 100 or so machines were modified 3M transports, but then 3M got tired of him outselling them, so he had to make his own.

Of course, for portable use, he would package the transport in one portable rack box and the meters in another, not in a console. The machines can even run off 12VDC so you can use a car battery.

Price is pretty high, even for a machine in such good shape.

Cheers,

Otto
 
ofajen said:
Actually, it's darn close. Page 4 of the spec sheet says 102 lbs in cabinet for 16-track.

www.dvq.com/hifi/images/stephens.pdf

Remember, unbalanced +4 audio with no transformers. Electronics are tiny, installed right on the front of the transport behind a pull down front panel. The first 100 or so machines were modified 3M transports, but then 3M got tired of him outselling them, so he had to make his own.

Of course, for portable use, he would package the transport in one portable rack box and the meters in another, not in a console. The machines can even run off 12VDC so you can use a car battery.

Price is pretty high, even for a machine in such good shape.

Cheers,

Otto
Click to expand...
Wild!

My old MS16 was well over 200 pounds in its roll around console so I thought for sure that had to be an error!

I stand corrected! :)

Cheers! :)
 
A top of the line 2" 16 track tape machine from the 70s and 100lbs is an engineering marvel in my opinion. Good point with the Tascam, if the Tascam 16 track (1" tape btw and a newer machine) was well over 200lbs and definitely isn't at the same professional grade as the Stephens, you can really start to see how impressive it is. Sort of similar to the Nagra (which is almost amazing) but on a much bigger scale.

Stephens were famous for sounding incredible in such a small package. They were always marketed as 'portable' but with sound and build quality as good as any machine at the time. I read somewhere that The Doors decided to record LA Woman in their rehearsal space (as they weren't getting a good 'vibe' in the studio) so the engineer brought over a Stephens 8 track (Can't remember which one) rolled it in and threw Jim Morrison in the bathroom and they recorded the whole thing live.
 
So is this one a 3M or a Stephens transport? Because his own transport was so awesome. I wish more people had used that kind of design in multitracks - less moving parts and less rubber to go wrong. It can't play tape loops, but for a multitrack I think that's a worthwhile compromise.
 
This is a Stephens style, servo-controlled, capstan-less transport. Looks like it may be built on a 3M deck plate, as it has that look and layout. The early machines used Isoloop transports with the original capstan and pinch rollers. Funny, Wes Dooley of AEA and I were discussing these machines recently. I think he sold and used them some and liked the older ones as they were electronically simpler, though mechanically more complex.

I was discussing purchase of an 811C 16-track about two years ago. I bought the Otari 8-track as an inexpensive, short-term substitute, but it's worked so well for me that I couldn't justify the huge scale up in cost for the 2" machine, a new 2" MRL and 2" tape stock, compared to already having all the 1/2" stuff on hand.

Cheers,

Otto
 
The Ghost of FM said:
Looks like it uses a 3M transport!

But the seller is talking about it being portable and weighing 100 pounds??? That's not even close to accurate! :D

Cheers! :)
Click to expand...

Stephens portable units break down into 2 or 3 "suitcases." I doubt the wood console was part of the package.
 
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