Studer A80 VU Master Recorder - unveiling a legend.
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- Опубликовано: 13 авг 2022
- An exciting day today: a new addition has just been delivered. Perhaps the ultimate source: a 1970 Studer A80 VU Master Recorder. This one has clearly been beautifully looked after by its former owners, the first of which was EMI, Hayes, Middlesex.
The mind boggles at the albums this beautiful classic Master Recorder may have helped produce.
Having been asked about my system many times, this seems like the perfect opportunity to introduce you what will sure be my favourite source.
For much more information on reel to reel tape visit www.thereeltoreelrambler.com
Tags: #stereo #hifi #hi-fi #music #record #recording #analog #analogue #soundquality #highend #Studer #tape #mastering #reel-to-reel #Studio
A “new addition”! That’s quite an understatement. Some people think I’m anti-digital so I have to point out to them that I am not, It’s just that my preference is analog. At this point I give them my three things that digital did for us. One of these being that without digital I would never have the home recording studio I have as I wouldn’t be able to afford the analog equipment. So good on ya, I’m guessing this is for planning your one-to-one copy Masters. I will look forward to any updates, thanks for showing this.
Thanks Paul. “Some people think I’m anti-digital so I have to point out to then that I am not. It’s just that my preference is analog”. We’re on the same page there!
You’re correct about my justification for getting the A80. I do hope to be working with a bunch of mastering engineers and labels to produce 1:1 master copies of some very cool music. We’re a way off yet, but watch this space…
Thanks dave , brilliant news
Congratulation
Nice looking speakers. With the exception of the ribbon tweets , they seem to be very similar to the big PMC's.
Hi Fred, the speakers are Kerr Acoustic K100 MkII. Like the PMCs they were developed for studio monitoring and also use Volt midrange domes and 'Radial' bass drivers. Obvious difference is the ribbon tweeter, and not less obvious, the Kerr cabinets are 1/3-wave transmission lines made from 24mm baltic birch ply.
@@DaveDenyer I believe those dome mids are ATC 's like the PMC's. The woofers of course are Volts. The Kerrs look great, I'm sure they also sound very nice.
Hi Dave, I love the Studer A80 but my set up is in my cellar and getting it down the stairs would be impossible with insufficient room (I do have a Studer A810 trolley version with VU meter bridge which is my baby). I was hoping that you might have put together a folllow up video to this to let us know how the machine sounds, your joruney in linking it to your system and bedding it in and your longer term thoughts and feelings now you have had it for a year.
Hi, that's a great idea. It's been a dream to have this machine, but I am, after a year, shortly going to get it 'fully restored'; replacing any tired components etc. I think that would be the best time to make a follow-up video.
Respect....
Thanks Mauricio!
Lovely looking machine. Would love a decent 2 track machine. My 2 mono and one stereo R 2 R's are all laid up awaiting s service/ repair. A nice working machine would be great, but getting it past the missus might be tricky ( not to mention the space). Keep up the great videos on tape and records
Thanks Nick.
Sounds better than my rega hifi
LOL thanks for sharing.
And my linn lp12
Will ditch the hifi buy one of them, god.knows if i can get hold of tapes. Would sound special.if set up right
Wanna swop for my rega cd player, rega amp, linn.lp12, q acoustics speakers???....err no thought not
@@nigelsmith2044 a side-effect of getting into tape was that fine-tuning the vinyl-playing side of the system became much easier. Contrary to my expectation, that I’d stop playing vinyl, because I can better appreciate when the turntable’s doing something wrong it becomes much easier dial it in.
I have an A810 which becomes a headache and muscle ached each time we move houses. Your A80 is most likely heavier. Watching your video got me thinking how realistic is it that MoFi ships one of these units around the world together with the ancillary electronics needed to create DSD files from analogue master tapes. These decks are delicate and don’t travel well in my experience. There is always something to repair or re-calibrate. What’s your take on MoFi’s claim that they take one of these monsters around the world? Congratulations on your A80. It looks fantastic.
That's a very good question Fernando. I was heartened by MOFi's claim (in Mike's video) that they do (still) take their Tim de Paravicini-modded A80 with them to replay the original master tape. I agree this is a major effort: the A80 is a lot bigger and heavier than an A810. It would require their engineer to check / set up the machine after every journey. I suspect this goes a long way towards the excellent sound quality they achieve.
Very interesting and wow what a beautiful machine, the pinnacle of tape some would say. Do you archive your vinyl in to it? If so how does it compare to the original
Hi Darren, I don't typically archive vinyl to tape but on occasions I have used it to assess certain things or to make compilation tapes. They sound superb.
Have a look at Tannoyvista review of A80 and Sepea Audio Stabiliser card for the Studer A80.
Thanks, I will do.
Hm, we might have to reconsider how we label our electronic bips n bobs
hi know a man i did alot of deal with his mate worked in the emi tape place dave did say alot of the decks at emi did have alot of hrs on them
i have my self a otari mtr 12 because the price of the parts is very fair note my deck is a 1/2 inch low speed 4 track stereo with the head set up very hard to find now
the deck came with 100 zonal 1/2 inch tapes wow it sound mind blowing it can record at 10 ips and any speed from 3 3/4 ips to 15 ips
i all ways buy a deck that can be jazzed up after repair i have alot of jazzed up tascam 38 decks
the thing is i have a otari mx80 i had to make a ramp out of decking boards i am a tec so working on them is ok
Cool, thanks for sharing your story Bob.
Do you have DIY speakers? It looks your speakers have ribbon tweeters. I hope you can do a tour of your listening room.
Hi Riccardo, thanks for your question. I may do a listening room tour soon. My speakers are Kerr Acoustic K100 MkII www.kerracoustic.com/k100
Yeah get rid of the scissors. Always freaks me out, I get rid of them in all machines I refurb. I love A80. Almost everyone has bad A101 and those terrible Frakko caps, but they are the best sounding Studers.
Thanks for your comment. I’m still very tempted to remove the scissors.
Extreme overkill for a hifi system, but can't say I'm not jealous!
LOL thanks for the comment John.
In a world where a record player can cost €250,000, a pair of monoblocs €300,000, speakers €1,000,000, a set of cables...imagine the number...no, a higher number, this Studer is entry level.
@@ljuboizsiska5448 I totally agree. Performance per £ this is the bargain fo the century.
@@ljuboizsiska5448 well spending 1.55 million pounds on a stereo is just a fuck you statement. If you spend a million pounds on a pair of speakers... I mean there are people starving in the world for fuck sake.
As for the studer, I would just rather see it in a studio making music and being edited on as it was designed to be. These are serious tools meant to make music 10 hours a day, not just repro a few tapes a week. That's just a personal thing though and I understand people can own studio level stuff because it's fun to tinker and watch the VUs bounce.
@@johnkaplun9619 I'm sorry if I made you think that I have a €1,500,000 system. I don't have, I just stated that there is such equipment. My system is worth a measly €200,000. The argument about hungry children is a very shallow virtue signaling. You don't know anything about people who buy such systems, nor do you know anything about me. For example how much money do I give to charity? But without giving a single cent, what about the workers who work in factories that produce expensive equipment? Are we going to fire them so that you can feel good and tell other people what is moral to buy and what is not? What about their children who will then starve? My God, in what moral heights do you live!? Your lack of understanding of the human instinct to possess the best tool for every field of human endeavor is astonishing. If I deal with something, I always strive for excellence, so in the audio hobby. I leave to you mediocrity and the signaling of virtues that in most cases do not arise from well-thought-out moral reasons, but rather from the depths of human misery in which many wallow; jealousy.
Hello Dave.
I have a question on your Studer A812. Can I contact you via email?
Kind Regards
Daniel