My Revox A77 may generates crosstalk: any ideas why ?

[david winter]

Hi,

I have been using my 4-track Revox A77 in a daily manner to listen to 1 or 2 4-track pre-recorded tapes every day for over a year. I restored it back then and it has always worked like a charm, until two tapes obtained from different sources started playing incorrectly.
While Side 1 plays great, Side 2 becomes slightly audible in reverse when the music is loud enough.
I took several pictures (click here) and wonder if the head starts opening. Would this explain the trouble ? The only reason that I see is that the "magnetic isolators" between the three sections (2 tracks + 1 diaporama) started opening and no longer block magnetic interferences, supposing they also have a gap.

Any ideas ? If the playback head is dead (or almost) anybody has a new one for sale at a reasonable price ? I don't need the diaporama track.


Thanks,

David

 

[jpmorris]

It's not simply an azimuth issue, is it?

 

[mdainsd]

The pictures dont do much good as cant see the face of the heads that well. Should try and shoot close to head on and try to reduce reflections.

Have you gone back to the older tapes and heard the same problem?