Messages

1

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Otari MX 5050 Scored!

« on: February 21, 2012, 10:31:44 AM »

Nice Boat!! And to think the Otari will not even float....

Thanks to Iornbut and Doc for the replies!

Bill

2

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Otari MX 5050 Scored!

« on: February 20, 2012, 06:18:32 PM »

Greetings, all:

Just had to share with you all my newRTR. I found an Otari MX 5050 B2 HD on ebay (I know:( ) It was listed as an one-owner-since-new-used for home recording. I emailed the owner, asking about head condition and VU meter lamp function, and recieved the reply " what are those?" Seems it was owned by the lister's husband, since passed away, who told her beforehand "Everything is OK with the Otari". So I crossed my fingers, and did the BIN thing. I was somewhat concerned about packing/shipping, since it was in Florida and I am in Oregon. The woman had it packed by the UPS Pack n' Ship Store in Orlando ($150.00 to ship and pack).
I wrung my hands about it for a week. It arrived this morning, and to my great relief, it was EXTREMELY well packed, shipped cross-country on its back, and came through it all unscathed!
To my delight, the original owner was quite exacting in its' care and feeding, arriving with all of its' original accessories, plus a few more. It came with the original manual, Otari take up reel still in its' box, the Otari hub adaptors, a tape with alignment test tones,  and a full set of 4 cables for input/output, all for $225.00. DEELIGHTFUL!!

On the minus side were 3 burnt out meter lamps, and a heavy coating of nicotine residue on everything. I spent several hours scrubbing and bathing all I could, cleaned and demagged the heads, Deoxit to all the pots and switches, and replaced the meter lamps, plugged it in to the Variac for a slow charge-up, and took it for a test spin afterwards. EVERYTHING functions beautifully. It records and reproduces beautifully!

A good day, all considered. I just had to share!
Cheers!
Bill

3

Service Resources / Otari MX 5050 b2HD Heads Relapping

« on: February 20, 2012, 01:29:20 AM »

Greetings all:

I aquired a used MX5050 B2HD recently, and it has been well used, but all functions perform as they should. During teardown for service, I noticed that the Record and both Reproduce heads had considerable wear, a finding verified by the techs at Inner Sound in Portland, Or. They advised me to send them to Sprague Magnetics. I contacted Sprague Magnetics, and was informed that they no longer did head relapping for RTR machines, but a tech that used to do them in-house now has a business doing head relapping.

His name is John Austin. Contact info is: [email protected], or call 818-523-7487

 John quoted me a price of $50 per head for relapping. I sent him the entire head stack, which he evaluated, informing me that the heads had about 50% wear, and were able to be relapped, which he did to the 1 record head and 2 reproduce heads, for a total of $150 + $15 shipping to return them. The price included laser realignment of the heads. Turnaround time was 1 day!
I will post again when the deck is back together.

Is it OK to post pics? If so, I will include some later.

Cheers!
Bill

4

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Otari MX 50 vs MX5050

« on: February 20, 2012, 01:04:35 AM »

Hi, Neal:
Thanks for the additional info. A nice addition on the MX 5050, being able to switch from 2t playback to 4t playback!
Regards,
Bill

5

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Re: Otari MX 50 vs MX5050

« on: February 15, 2012, 12:42:51 PM »

Hi, Ed:
Thanks for the reply, and the helpful info. I will add it to my ever expanding list of newly acquired knowledge on the Otari's.
Best regards,
Bill

6

Reel to Reel Tape Machines / Otari MX 50 vs MX5050

« on: February 12, 2012, 09:57:58 AM »

Greetings all! I am a newbie here with this being my 1st post. I have owned RTR machines since the 70's, but I am now interested in getting the most performance out if RTR taping/listening as I can.
My question is this: I have found an Otari MX 50 for sale locally,1/4" 2t/2ch and it is in excellent condition. I am wondering how it differs from the MX5050BII that I currently own?
Any and all help is much appreciated This forum is a virtual gold mine of information! I am glad to be a member.