Hello Ki,
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I've been away to visit NC and found the weather nice. I am a warm weather person so don't mind heat so much. My friend, you have a lot of recording equipment. I thought I was the odd ball out because I presently have the Sony 5002, Otari MPR-15, Teac 32-2B, Otari MX-50, Pioneer 1020L and Otari MX Bll.
My plan is to have the Otari MTR-15 or Sony modified so that the outputs come directly from the heads and bypass all of that other stuff. I would love to get a clean signal that plugs direcly into my Audio Research pre-amp. I do hope this modification is possible, and that I can find a person in NC who can do that for me. I hope I can find a good tech who can keep my recorders up and running for me without breaking the bank.
I had lusted after a Studer machine for sometime until I get my hands on the studio Sony and Otari. As I came to know more about the Studers, I found that all parts for those recorders are very expensive and that some parts especially bearings can't be purchased. Isn't it a shame that we must look to purchase more than one of each machine in order to have parts for repair??? Yes, Richard does have a large group of Sony's. He has urged me to purchase some basic electronics testing equipment. I have already begun to embark on that. I already have a dual trace scope and voltmeter. I am looking to purchase an AC voltmeter and signal generator soon.
Well Ki, I've been living in the Washington DC/Maryland area all of my life. I now want to move south and look forward to that move. However, I will be that much further away from where most of the great tape recorder techs are. By the way, you did a great thing having a special crate build for shipment of the tape recorder. I have heard of some dreadful things happening to recorders shipped in cardboard boxes. And, I am impressed with you collection of recorders. Look to hear from you again sir.
Bob W.