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Author Topic: Fair prices for RTR machines  (Read 8160 times)

Offline heideana

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Fair prices for RTR machines
« on: January 23, 2007, 12:39:33 AM »
What's fair price for decks in good condition?  I've been told it's between $500-$1000, depending on the deck.  Studer's of course seem to be in the 1-3k range it seems....
Studer A810 and Otari MTR-15...Klipsch CWIII's, KG2's & RF7's

Truth is a kind of error, so vaporize it to find your way to heaven, or at least to a smile...

Offline docb

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Re: Fair prices for RTR machines
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2007, 11:09:30 AM »
Hi Hop,

I feel this is too general a question as posed. Certainly a funky Sony reel to reel in a thrift store is worth less than a Studer 810 or ATR 100. Whether we like it or not ebay has a lot of influence on pricing and it's probably the best place to do pricing research these days.

Most importantly one needs to consider what it will cost to service a machine. A lot of folks selling tape machines are not really savvy as to their mechanical condition. Their "excellent condition", might be your "looks OK and runs, but needs heads, pinchrollers, brakes and one lifter is bent". And so it is usually best to either ask for the option to return the machine if it doesn't perform to your standard, or make an offer that leaves you room to pay for repairs.

I suppose if folks want to we could start a thread on prices paid for various machines. We would have to be very careful to post the condition the machine was in, whether we felt we got our money's worth, and what we may have had to pay for any repairs.
Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President for Life, Bottlehead Corp.
Managing Director - retired, The Tape Project

Offline heideana

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Re: Fair prices for RTR machines
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2007, 05:35:05 PM »
Thanks Doc...my newbie experience has been that a Technics or Revox PR99 that's ready to go costs about $600-$800 via e-bay.  One PR99 that I picked-up for approx. $400 required another $300 worth of service and repair, before it was ready to go.

I've also learned the hard way that these machines are old and fragile, and as such, switches and other parts can break easily while transporting them.  I've had one machine that checked out great at the purchase site, but didn't work 2 days later at home...
Studer A810 and Otari MTR-15...Klipsch CWIII's, KG2's & RF7's

Truth is a kind of error, so vaporize it to find your way to heaven, or at least to a smile...