Studer A80 MKII VU Reel to Reel Tape Deck. REBUILT!

LONG READ, BUT PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!
We are one of the only facilities in the Pacific NorthWest that buys, sells and restores reel to reel tape decks. We have over 35 years experience working on these units, and have the tools and test equipment to properly align and bring these decks to life.
We use MRL calibration tapes, and are dealers for ATR tape. We work on everything from mono tube machines to 2" 24 track studio decks. We are reeltoreeltech dot com!
We stock many types of ATR tape from 7" reels to 2", in several formulations. We have about 350 decks in stock at all times. If you haven't yet checked out our website, please do so. Under the 'about us' tab we have a bunch of articles regarding the 'great barn finds' that we've come across this year, netting us well over 100 decks and tons of parts.

This is the Studer A80 MK II VU 1/4" Mastering reel to reel tape deck that is one of the most popular multitrack decks in existence. Thousands of albums were recorded on this model of deck, and what you put into the deck is exactly what you get out of it. While it does have that nice tape sound with awesome compression if you so desire, it's a flatter response than virtually any other deck out there, including Ampex, Tascam, and Otari. This deck is a bit of a rare one, as it runs at 7 1/2 and 15 IPS.

This deck has an interesting story behind it. We picked it up from Bottlehead in Seattle, the tube amplifier and preamp company. It came to us as a 1" 1/2 track deck, however it had an 8 track set of heads, wired in parallel to become a quasi-2 track machine. Since no self respecting producer would use a deck configured that way, we turned the machine back into a 1/4", 1/2 track deck, using heads purchased out of Europe. (we've since sold the 1" head stack with a different machine we sold a couple of years ago, sorry!).

As with all Studers that we sell, it needed a full rebuild, including:

-replaced the pinch roller with a new one from Terry's Rubber Rollers

-replaced all electrolytic caps in all audio electronics channels, as well as the transport cards

-replaced the VU meter bulbs with new ones

-replaced the super expensive 'record' and 'ready lamps with LEDs. No more paying $5.00 US each when those burn out, the LEDs truly will last the lifetime of the deck. (there's a document on our website describing how to do that if you have an A80)

-cleaned all switches and controls

-Bottlehead had already replaced the end of tape sensor, it's good for years to come

-replaced all bulbs under the function buttons (play, record, etc)

-Set up the entire deck to factory spec, both the transport, and both channels. Tape tensions were set, as were the eq and bias as per the service manual for both speeds.

-Test run the deck at both speeds for each channel with a full pass of the tape.

All told, we put about 30 hours of labor into this deck, plus parts.

The frequency response is typical Studer, flat to 20Khz at 7 1/2 IPS, and flat to 22Khz at 15IPS. There's no high frequency fluctuation, indicating that the heads are in good shape.

Cosmetically, there are some marks on the top transport cover of the deck as shown. The preamps are in good shape overall, as are the side panels.

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The deck and electronics will be crated, and sent on a pallet via truck. The shipping costs shown include A Uline 48 X 48 X 48 crate, and customs clearance charges, as the deck is located in Vancouver Canada. We will need a business tax number or your SSN to clear customs due to the value of the deck.
Also included with the sale of the deck is after sales support. We do stock spare parts for decks that we sell, and in fact we've got a total of 4 additional Studer A80 16 and 24 tracks in stock that we are working on currently.. One of the 24 tracks may end up being a parts unit, and the other 16 track and 24 track will also be for sale once completed.

Got a non-functioning multitrack sitting gathering dust? We'll consider taking it in on trade!

The deck comes with two Revox clone NAB hubs, a new takeup reel, and a 2500' roll of our new RTRTech tape.

The bottom line is, yes, this deck is more expensive than an as-is Studer A80 that hasn't seen a good service in decades. Many of these multitracks that are still in use have been minimally serviced, and the work done here is worth around $3,000 once you add it all up. For us, it's a labor of love, and there's nothing more thrilling (to us nerds!) than to see an MRL tape running with the meters sitting at exactly 0db.