We intend to support both machines with our mods and electronics. I'm selling Big Red because I now have a Nagra T. I'm also selling a couple other Technics that I took in trade from Tape Project subscribers. Normally I don't buy and sell machines, we just mod customer machines.
Both the modded Technics and the modded Otari are good choices for a machine if one does not have the budget or the inclination to climb the learning curve of a studio machine. There are sonic differences between the Technics and the Otari, but they are small relative to the differences between, say, open reel tape and vinyl or open reel tape and high res digital. The modded Technics is a little more towards smooth and sweet, and the modded Otari is a little more towards quick and punchy. It would be the along the lines of the kind of differences one might hear between different types of turntables or different types of output tubes. Each flavor will have its supporters.