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"Audiophile" tape decks - Mark Levinson ML-5
stellavox:
I was looking through some old hi-fi advertising info in my files the other day and came across some Mark Levinson brochures from the early '80s. In there was a flyer about the ML-5 Master Recorder and it got me to thinking that there never really was a tape recorder produced to "audiophile?" standards.
Levinson liked to record and soon realized that the electronics in the "state of the art" recorders weren't as good as his equipment, so he made them better. He marketed his hybrid product as the ML-5 and used a Studer A80 transport (he actually started with the Stellavox TD88 but that fell through for some reason) with his own R/P electronics and regulated power supply.
Don't know how many he sold. I knew of one in Chicago, and saw the original? at the Levinson factory (MIddletown, CT) during the viewing before the operation was auctioned in the mid 80's. Had a pile of (master?) tapes with it. Had I been smarter (and had a lot more money) it might be sitting in my living room - Oh well. Don't know what happened to either it or the tapes.
Here's a link to the ML-5 brochure - interesting reading: http://www.marklev.com/ML5/bro/index.html
Charles
ironbut:
Thanks for the link Charles. I have most of the records that were made in the Mark Levinson Acoustic Recording Series. I still listen to them, particularly the piano recording. Here's some of the blurb on the inner cover;
This record was produced without compromise.
Mark Levinson Audio Systems built special equipment for use with calibration microphones and high speed wide track tape format to create virtually noiseless, ultra low distortion master tapes, without noise reduction systems.
Robert Ludwig mastered the records by feeding the original tape through a custom mixer directly to the cutting amplifier rack with no filtering, limiting, or other added effects.
CIDS in France, developed special pressing techniques to produce the most quiet record surfaces posible with today's material and technology, and the skill of their chiefs of staff.
For the Acoustic Recording Series, musicians were asked to prepare programs which could be released without splicing passages. In this way, the coherency and immediacy of the musical event, rather than the note by note perfection of the spliced tape, are preserved.
Funny, they aren't very thick or heavy like the "audiophile" pressings today. But man, they sure sound great!
James Guillebeau:
The Studer C & J 37 were made to beyond "audiophile" standards. So was the Ampex MR-70. Tim de Paravacini is making a living modifying the still existing C & J 37s and A80s A 880 and Ampex ATRs. The Studer C&J37 machines was used little in the USA but a number of them were used in Europe notably by the Beetles starting on REVOLVER. 1", 4 TRACK.The only other system I considered better were the Westrex 35mm 3 track full coat machines developed for mo pic production and used by Robert Fine for the Mercury Living Presence and Command recordings.
Record-play electronics advanced little from the first AEG magnetofon except for experiments by Marvin Camras and his cross field head and Keith Johnson and his focused gap beamed bias head. If you look at the average solid state mastering recorder's record-play circuitry used in the height of multi-track era, it is really awful! Terrible design with crudely patched in solutions. Op-amps used willy nilly. P channel FETs used as EQ switches in feedback loops! You can't clean it up without a completely new design. James Guillebeau
U47:
The Studer C-37 is one incredibly well built Swiss machine. Many great European recordings were made with both the C and J(multitrack) versions. However in stock form they are not much better for playback than a stock G-36, which is fairly mediocre. Both the C-37 and G-36 decks were fine recorders but not anywhere near the same quality on playback. MR-70 is wonderful for play and record and is considerably more advanced than the earlier Studer tube decks. Many consider the MR-70 the pinnace of analog recorders. The MR-70 was priced about twice the amount as the AG-350 pro recorders. MR stood for master recorder and AG designated Audio General.
James Guillebeau:
The Ampex MR-70 while a truly fine machine used the similar tape path as the old 300 deck with the addition of a viscous damped supply reel inertia idler (flywheel ran in a sump of oil)but it's supported path from idler to capstan across the head is long. I also don't like those all Nuvistor tubes in the electronics of the MR70. They'll oscillate if you look at them crooked or not holding your tongue right!. Much prefer the Studer arrangement and the Studer choice of tubes. Cheers! James
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