Otari MTR-10

[ironbut]

In the course of my endless dolby B hunt, I came across an Otari MTR-10 with a "pick up only" clause on Ebay. I'd heard about these studio mastering type decks in the past. I knew that Mike Papas of Positive Feedback used to use one for live recording (which is a feat in itself considering the size and weight) and have noticed that several studios still use them. It has a reputation as a very rugged machine and shares some parts with later 1/4" Otari machines. The parts are certainly not cheap, but nowhere near the cost of Studer or Ampex ATR series decks. The "pick up only" had kept most potential buyers away, but I had a friend that was interested in finding a deck for the Tape Project that lived within reasonable driving range so I did a little research for him. This is a 1/4" 1/2 track machine (3 heads) in it's normal configuration so, knowing that my friend would want to play old prerecorded tapes, I shot off some emails to the normal suspects. This is the email I got from John French;


Thank you for your inquiry.  The estimated cost to convert your Otari 
MTR-10 1/4-ich 2-tk head assembly over to 1/2-tk / 1/4-tk playback only
will be about $475.00.  This will include relapping the 2-tk playback
head, installing a new 1/4-tk (2-ch/4-tk) playback head, installation of a
gold toggle switch, wiring, relap of erase head (typical procedure on this
conversion) and an optical alignment.  Turn around time is about 3 days
and
we look forward to being of service.

Best Regards,

John French
That seems pretty darn good if you ask me. Of course, as with any r2r, you'd need to get it serviced to get one running in top  condition, and you have to deal with the pro studio output levels/connectors. And it is a big, heavy sucker.
The one I was looking at went for $150 with 4 channels of Dolby A, an MRL alignment tape and a few accessories. I've since looked at them, and they go for less than the 5050 series which are not even in the same ballpark as far as build goes.
What do you other guys think? Sleeper? Or am I off on a wild tangent and maybe need some sleep?

[Studer Fool]

Steve,

No, I don't think you're crazy, I was eyeing that same recorder myself.  Looks quite nice!  Pro machines like that CAN be really great buys, albeit with all the same caveats encountered with buying consumer machines.  Perhaps a greater likelyhood of head wear with pro machines, but it sounds like you've already allowed for that!  Where I differ in my thinking from you is that I would leave it as a 1/2 track machine only and not try to add 1/4 track playback.  With 1/4 track one soon ends-up wishing for autoreverse rather than flipping reels.

Why am I not bidding?  I've already got 2 Studer A-80's eating up floorspace.  Hence the self inflicted moniker "Studer Fool"!

-Chris

[rbwtapeinterlink-Bob]

Personally gentlemen,

I think the primary reason why we see the low price and low to no bidding on the Otari MTR-10 has more to do with weight and size than anything else. These are very large machines and would cost an arm and both legs to have them shipped if the seller would take that chance. I've seen one of two where the seller indicates "pickup only". So, even though these appear to be fatastic decks capable of great musical feats, their weight and massive size is a major problem. Finally, these things have to go somewhere in one's living room, den or? If you're married you might have a difficult time getting the fine lady to see how it could be presented as a fine piece of furniture (smile). Great tape deck but has some major deficits that have nothing to do with their fine quality.

Bob Williams

[ironbut]

Exactly why my friend didn't go for it. I think the MTR-10 is over 200lbs! That makes Mike Papas' use of it for location recording shocking. I used to have a Pass Labs X350 amp and it weighed over 150lbs. Once I set it on an amps stand, it stayed! But when you add size to it, it really makes having a "bat cave" seem more and more practical.