Hi Bob,
I saw the ebay post and thought the seller was relying on the ML legacy to score a bonanza.
The Studer A 80 transport is a beauty. A month or so ago one was sold for less than $400 on ebay. The only problem was that it had to be shipped from England <>*!! IMHO transports that old, coupled with electronics that probably need to be re-capped due to age, shouldn't cost $12,000 just because of a Mark Levinson pedigree.
Two months ago my wife and drove from Richmond, Va. to York, Pa. to attend a one day seminar at ATR Services learning about the fine points of analog tape theory. The day consisted of 3 hours in classroom discussion, a lunch of pizza, and 4 hours in a lab environment. The theory pointed out the fact that the MIGHTY AMPEX HEADS don't measure up to todays technology. My Ampex 351-2, I bought new in 1958 with only about 1500 hours on the heads, still sounds great on my TTP tapes but I have no illusions that it is as good as it gets.
The afternoon consisted of hands on adjustments of two ATR 100 machines. These are the same machines that Mike built for TTP. When you take a machine that pushed the envelop in tape transports, and couple it with electronics that are fully refurbished and guaranteed to exceed original Ampex specs by 60%, with a one year guarantee what could be better. There goes my kids inheritance!!
In high end audio circles, Mark Levinson is known as the father of HIGH END AUDIO. While Harry Pearson might dispute that fact, Mark Was better at audio innovation than he was at running a business, we all can't be perfect. He cleared a path for better sound reproduction that others have widened and extended. He deserves credit for opening our ears to how good recorded sound can sound. but time and technology march on.
IMHO, anyone willing to spend $12,000 for a tape machine, only needs to look at the pedigree of the ATR machines and what they have to offer.
Ken Fritz