Why is the ampex atr100 so reviered?

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evm1024

evm1024

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I'm having fun working on this atr-700 I've got and that has brought me to a lot of pages speaking of the Ampex ATR-100. So why is this deck so much better that some others?

I can think of a number of reasons one deck would be better than an other...

sound quality due to
- heads
- electronics

Tape handeling

Durability, and flexability and ease of repair.

What do you all say. How much better would a 2T ATR-100 be over a Tascam 32 for example.
 
Unfortunately EVM, I have no idea. I wish I had one of each so I could tell ya
........... I doubt that helps.
:D
 
evm1024 said:
What do you all say. How much better would a 2T ATR-100 be over a Tascam 32 for example.
Click to expand...

I'm sort of familiar with the ATR-100 series (not much tho) and I was always impressed with the built quality. It was meant to last through the rigors of studio operation, have top notch heads and electronics and be built accordingly. They're very easy to work on and have swappable heads. The ATR is an example of the top of the crop in reel to reel recorders. On the other hand, they're very expensive to maintain (parts, heads etc ...).

Would I pick one over a 32, for example ? No, not really. The ATR is nice, very nice actually but for my purposes and for the home recording crowd, a TASCAM would be a more financially sound alternative that holds its own.

Just my humble opinion .. ;)
 
MCIx0x0 loves Ampex and hates Tascam,...

& that's enough for me!............... :eek: ;)
 
Here is why the atr100 is so reviered

Hello
I have a few analog machines at home and among them the atr100 (GOD) and the 32 (uhh).
I don't know how long you want this answer to be but I will try to cover it all and be brief.
Transport:
The atr100 was built from the ground up a a pro machine. It is very heavy and will take a lot of abuse before it brakes or goes out of alignment. It doesn't have a pinch roller so it has constant tension that is applied to the tape. This gives it the ability to put very low tension on the tape compared to the conventional transports like the 32. In numbers the atr100 hovers around 100 grams while the 32 can switch from zero to over 500 grams like that. The atr can take any size of reel up to 14" on one side and as small as 2" on the other without a problem. It just doesn't care. The 32 is basically a teac x10. On the electronics side, it gets even better. The atr can work with 3 speeds, all with proper eq, etc. The 32 has the same eq for both 7.5 and 15 with slight variation (if you read schematics look at the 32). Just to give you an example about the high quality of the electronics and the heads, the bias frequency is 430KHz.
Shall I go on about serviceability, part quality, return on the dollar in terms of hours of use before heads or other parts need replacement? As always, the saying is true, you get what you pay for, IMHO.
 
Thanks for the info

One question. How does the atr100 sense and adjust tape speed. It is easy to understand that a tach on the capstan will give you the tape speed and let you set up a servo loop. But how does the ART do it without a pinch roller?

Regards, Ethan
 
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