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Author Topic: Revox C-270  (Read 24407 times)

Offline rbwtapeinterlink-Bob

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Revox C-270
« on: January 14, 2008, 06:53:59 PM »
My Tape Project Friends,

Does anyone have personal or other knowledge about the Revox C-270 tape recorder? I got a call from a gentleman who wants to sell one he got from a friends estate. He says all he knows is that it turns on and off and that's all he knows. There appears to be very little information on this machine. It l ooks like the Revox A-700 or 810 recorder. I think this is one of the last tape recorders Studer produced. The recorder this gentleman has is rack mountable. Any help or advice you all can give me will be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

Bob W.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2008, 10:44:31 PM by rbwtapeinterlink »
Bob W. (African American) VPI, Ref Standard Grado, Denon 103r, Threshold, DecWare tube pre and Classe pre amp, Jolida tube phono pre amp, (Peter Gunn) modified Magnapan 1.6, Tascam 32-2B & 42B tape decks, Parasound belt drive CD transport, Pacific Valve tube DAC, VPI  TT, various upscale cables.

Offline Tubes n tapes

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2008, 12:44:41 AM »
Bob,

I have a C270 and it so happened to be the machine I've dedicated for the Tape Project. The Revox C270 was developed at the same time as the Studer A807 in the late 80s and was the last tape recorder developed by Studer Revox. The two machines therefore have a lot in common. Mechanically the C270 is one of the best recorders ever made, not in the last place because of the very smart use of the microprocessor in the tape transport.

There are a few practical drawbacks though. First, all C270s I came across are NAB, not CCIR. Second, there is a lot of (solid state) electronics in the signal path. The machine sounds good, but is limited by it's electronics. I have developed my own all tube electronics for this machine, which really brings out the superb capabilities of the C270. The audio performance surpasses my (unmodified) A810 by far. The third drawback of the C270 is that there are very few of them around. That means if it dies, it is most likely end of story, because the few available spare parts are horribly expensive. For that reason I'm currently retro fitting my A810 with my tube electronics. For the A810 there are plenty of spare parts.
On the positive side, since the C270 has been manufactured roughly between 1988 and 1996, all of them are using mainly Philips high quality components that are significantly more reliable than the components used in the early 80's and infinitely more reliable than the components used in the 70's. Therefore, if you can pick up any operational C270 for a reasonable amount (<$500) it will be a good deal. The EQ is sitting on separate PCBs and is very easily modified from NAB to CCIR.

Arian.
Arian Jansen.

SonoruS Audio.
VP of technology of the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society (LAOCAS).
ESL/OTL builder and modest Studer/ReVox collector.

Offline finneybear

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2008, 05:00:30 PM »
Airan,

Care to share your tube head amp? You have got me all excited!

-finney

Offline rbwtapeinterlink-Bob

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2008, 06:58:28 PM »
Airan,

Thanks much for this great information. I am glad you are happy with your C-270. You hit upon something that has caused me not to purchase this recorder. You note that there is a sparcity of parts and that bothers me very much. I got a call from a guy who has one he wanted to sell for $450. After doing much research and finding minimum information I decided to not go forward with the purchase.

Apparently the C-270 he wants to sell comes from a recording studio but he does not know or claims he does not know the history of this recorder. Plus there is no manual, NAB hubs or case. Bottom line, I would rather purchase a recorder that has lots of parts availability. Thanks again for your valuable input.

Bob W.
Bob W. (African American) VPI, Ref Standard Grado, Denon 103r, Threshold, DecWare tube pre and Classe pre amp, Jolida tube phono pre amp, (Peter Gunn) modified Magnapan 1.6, Tascam 32-2B & 42B tape decks, Parasound belt drive CD transport, Pacific Valve tube DAC, VPI  TT, various upscale cables.

Offline Tubes n tapes

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #4 on: February 02, 2008, 06:27:27 PM »
finney,

My current tube head amp is rather unusual and I'm still refining it further. After that I'm planning to derive a version of the amp for publishing that is easier to build for others. That may take me a few month still. It can be used for all recorders that use the same head (Studer p/n 1.116.022.00), which are the A77, B77, PR99, A700 and the C270.

Arian.
Arian Jansen.

SonoruS Audio.
VP of technology of the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society (LAOCAS).
ESL/OTL builder and modest Studer/ReVox collector.

Offline finneybear

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #5 on: February 04, 2008, 04:34:14 PM »
Awesome, Arian! Be sure to keep us updated! Probably I can make PCBs for you. :)

Offline ironbut

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #6 on: February 04, 2008, 07:30:16 PM »
Fantastic thread guys! Thanks for all the info. Do any of you know anything about the 812?
steve koto
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Offline Tubes n tapes

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #7 on: February 07, 2008, 04:16:19 PM »
Steve,

The A812 is basically a modernized version of the A810. The audio electronics are mainly the same and so is the transport from a mechanics point of view. If I'm not mistaken, the A812 uses the heavier spooling motors that are also used in the A807 and C270. That doesn't bring you anything other than faster acceleration and shorter breaking times. Very useful if you do some serious editing, but not really preferable if you only use the machine for listening, because these machines put quite a bit more stress on your tape during acceleration and breaking.
Furthermore the A812 has some more 'modern' control functions, again only really beneficial for editing.

In any case it is an excellent studio machine worth buying if you can find it for a good price.
Arian Jansen.

SonoruS Audio.
VP of technology of the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society (LAOCAS).
ESL/OTL builder and modest Studer/ReVox collector.

Offline ironbut

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #8 on: February 07, 2008, 06:40:46 PM »
Thanks Arian, Richard Hess had mentioned it as one of the better "small form factor" Studers. I've only seen one for sale ( I'm not seriously looking at this point) and it was not for a good price. I have a pile of 1/2 track acetates that I listen to fairly often and they seem to be propagating ( I think it's the oysters they demand to be fed) so stopping on a dime is not exactly what I need.
BTW what's the fluxivity and DCR of those Studer heads?
steve koto
 Sony scd 777es(R. Kern mods)> Vpi Aires>Dynavector XX-2mkll>Bent mu>CAT ultimate>CJ premeir 140>Magnepan 1.6qr(Jensen xover)Headphone Eddie Current Zana Deux>AT ad2000,HD800 ,Metric Halo ULN-2 (battery powered),
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Offline High and Outside

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #9 on: February 07, 2008, 07:16:29 PM »
finney,

My current tube head amp is rather unusual and I'm still refining it further. After that I'm planning to derive a version of the amp for publishing that is easier to build for others. That may take me a few month still. It can be used for all recorders that use the same head (Studer p/n 1.116.022.00), which are the A77, B77, PR99, A700 and the C270.

Arian,

According to the Studer head catalog, available for download from the MRL site, that part number refers to a record head. Could you check the part number for the playback head you're using?
Thanks.
Paul Stubblebine
Managing Director, The TapeProject

Offline Tubes n tapes

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2008, 12:35:35 AM »
Paul,

You're right. My mistake, the reproduce head I wanted to refer to is the 1.116.027.00
Arian Jansen.

SonoruS Audio.
VP of technology of the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society (LAOCAS).
ESL/OTL builder and modest Studer/ReVox collector.

Offline finneybear

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #11 on: February 12, 2008, 09:27:01 PM »
Well, actually late A810 is more like an A820 than an A812. Late A810 and A820 share the same reproduce amp, record amp, etc, and sure, those damn dry tantalum caps.

Offline dwilawyer

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Re: Revox C-270
« Reply #12 on: February 16, 2008, 02:27:11 PM »
Airan,

I got a call from a guy who has one he wanted to sell for $450. After doing much research and finding minimum information I decided to not go forward with the purchase.

Apparently the C-270 he wants to sell comes from a recording studio but he does not know or claims he does not know the history of this recorder. Plus there is no manual, NAB hubs or case. Bottom line, I would rather purchase a recorder that has lots of parts availability. Thanks again for your valuable input.

Bob W.

I have a C-270 as well, a great deck.  While most in the US are going to be NAB, they are easy to go back and forth to IEC with a change in the Reproduce Equalizer Board and, if you wish to record in IEC as well, the Record Equalizer Board.  These boards are readily available new from either JMTA or on ebay from Canada.  Currently you can obtain new heads, pinch rollers, and boards for the C-270, in large part because these parts are identical over several models.  I have a spare backup board for each of the 8 main boards, for both NAB and IEC, in all speed combos, along with new spare heads.   

$450 may have been a good deal, or as you say, a real bummer depending on the condition of the thing.  With no history I don't think I would have jumped on it without bringing my Studer tech with me, but that is going to cost money just to see if it is worth it.  The last C270 I saw on ebay, about a month or two ago went for over 1K and was in so so shape, no extras, no manuals, etc. 

I was interested in the comment about getting something that had parts that were more available.  I am not aware of anything being more available parts-wise then Studer/Revox other then Otari, which are still available new for 5K.  If there is something out there that has plenty of parts available I would like to know because that would sure be the way to go at this point. 

Travis