Hello all. I'm curious about obtaining a R2R deck. I have what would be considered a high end hifi system, Theta, Esoteric, Aerial gear. With much curiousness, I'm interested in obtain a r2r most likely via AudioGon, Ebay, maybe Craigslist. In the 70's had a Crown, Tandberg 20AE, Revox A77, so somewhat familiar with the brands of the day.
I've been watching Ebay & Audiogon over the past couple of months & see all flavors of R2R on the block. In terms of finding a machine, that ultimately would be upgradeable to tape project standards, electronics etc. Is there any specific machine I should be looking out for if given a preference? Since all are old, no longer produced, parts/service/cosmetics are a concern. I'm in no reel hurry to jump in but just waiting for the right machine that appears to be a good choice. Which is the problem, which decks to keep an eye out for and what ones to avoid.
As a guest I've been reading the various posts here to get an idea of decks & issues involved. But never really seen a listing of the preferable decks assuming the all meet the basic qualifications for a TapeProject deck.
So I'm hoping some experienced members might give me a ranking of what machines would be a good candidate to try and acquire??? For example I see Revox's on Ebay, but also see a ton of spares for them which is appealing.