Ampex 440 w/seduction?

[Teeg]

  It doesnt seem to have been discussed here before.....can the seduction be mated to a 440 transport?

Tj

[ironbut]

The real question is can it be mated to the heads installed in the 440. I believe it or just about any other repro amp can be with the proper passive eq components installed.

At this point, for a little more money I'd go for modifying an Eros phono stage. The output level of the Seduction has been an issue with some systems and the extra 10dB that the Eros puts out will eliminate this concern.
Since Bottlehead put up their new web site, I don't see the "Tape Head" modification page but I'm sure it's in the works. Maybe it'll include the Eros mods too but you can see the Eros phono stage posted there and it sounds very nice (both the Seduction and Eros are outstanding values no matter how you use it or cut it).

[Teeg]

  I have an unbuilt Seduction kit and thought about mating it to one of my 440B decks, as a playback rig in a second audio room.  Oddly enough, my wife somewhat approves of the Ampex roll-around cabinet.
 

Tj

[xcortes]

I have tried the Seduction with two different transports. A Technics and it works very well as everyone knows. I aldo tried a Tascam BR-20 and couldn't get it to work until I added a pair of stepup transformers in between. It has been working very well since. It would be nice if you could get the specs of the Ampex heads. If you already have both fire up your soldering iron and put that Seduction together and try them!

[Teeg]

  I recall reading your thread on the Tascam/Seduction combo and had actually taken notes on your findings. There are two issues that need to be considered regarding the 440 mod; I can build a nice chassis to put the preamp in where the stock Ampex electronics usually mount, but that will necessitate a fairly long set of interconnects between the Seduction and my preamp.

 The other issue, and perhaps Mike at ATR or the folks at JRF magnetics can help sort out, is the fact that I have two 440 machines and several spare headstacks, and the playback heads are (visually, at least) different. They all work, but I wonder if/what the differences are. At some point I'd like to add a quarter-track playback head to one of the decks so the question will come up eventually.

 But, like you said, it wouldnt hurt to try......

Tj

[docb]

Dave Dintenfass at Full Track Productions is a great resource on Ampex 300s, 350s and 440s. In fact he has several 440s available for sale right now. The fact that the 440 uses SS electronics makes me uncertain whether the playback heads will mate well to tube electronics. You might want to contact Dave and see if he knows what the 440 1/4" 2 track playback head impedance is. If it's relatively high, say in the 200mH range, it should work OK.

http://www.fulltrackproductions.com/