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Author Topic: Technics Rs 1700 compatibility  (Read 10475 times)

Offline mofifool

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Technics Rs 1700 compatibility
« on: July 27, 2008, 11:05:53 AM »
Will the Rs-1700 work as well as the 1500 for the Bottleneck modifications? Sorry if this is a redundant question but i just came across this site and have been a long time R2R user.

Offline ironbut

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Re: Technics Rs 1700 compatibility
« Reply #1 on: July 27, 2008, 11:17:03 AM »
Ooh, Doc's gonna love that. It's Bottlehead btw and yes, the 1700 is an autoreverse version of the same machine. Actually, I'm not positive about the record facilities (if someone else can chime in here) since the 1500 is 1/2 track record and playback/1/4 track playback and the 1506 is 1/4 track record and playback and 1/2 track playback. It would make more sense to me that the 1700 would follow the 1506 format for record (since autoreverse is a 1/4 track convenience feature).
Most reel to reels should be able to be modified for wiring directly from the playback heads (or head switch on 1/4-1/2 track). It's just a matter of how easy it would be to do.
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Offline mofifool

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Re: Technics Rs 1700 compatibility
« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2008, 11:44:43 AM »
Bottlehead of course! Bottleneck now thats funny! I appreciate the response and look forward to others. Thanks

Offline Studer Fool

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Re: Technics Rs 1700 compatibility
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2008, 12:34:00 PM »
The 1700 should be amendable to most of the 1500 modifications.  Which ones were you interested in?  Your desires and thoughts articulated in better depth and detail will go a long way in getting a more satisfactory answer for yourself.  Since the 1700 records and plays 1/4 track tapes (incompatible with The Tape Project btw) in either direction, the outboard electronics upgrade needs to tap into the headsignal path at the right point so as to avail itself of the signal as switched between the forward playback head and the reverse playback head, as slected by the tape direction.  I'm sure if you get serious and send your machine to Doc he could work it out and install it for you.

Does that answer your question?

cdw
Christopher D. Wait
Charter Subscriber SN# 026
Studer A80-VU & Studer A80-RC (and Doc's lovingly modified Ampex 934 with Seduction Tape Head Preamp Combo!)

Offline docb

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Re: Technics Rs 1700 compatibility
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2008, 12:57:20 PM »
The 1700 headblock doesn't have the manual switch that allows selection of either the 2 track or 1/4 track playback head that the 1500, 1506 and 1520 have. I'm not knowledgeable enough about the autoreverse switching circuit in the 1700 to say whether it could somehow be adapted to do this switching. It is relatively easy to install just a single 2 track or 1/4 track playback head that could directly feed an outboard repro amp without switching.
Dan "Doc B." Schmalle
President for Life, Bottlehead Corp.
Managing Director - retired, The Tape Project

Offline High and Outside

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Re: Technics Rs 1700 compatibility
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2008, 12:08:33 PM »
i just came across this site and have been a long time R2R user.

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