Studer 2-tracker

[Dolly]

Does anybody know about Studer A810 and A820 2-trackers, whats their value, can you find spare parts, are they any good? Or a link to a site with some specs, I couldn't find any.
Have any of you used either?
Thanks.

[lcouri]

nice way to 'warm' up final mixes ... just slam them onto this unit. I've seen them around the 7000.00 to 10000.00 range (Canadian Dollars)
hope it helps

[valvebrother]

Does anybody know about Studer A810 and A820 2-trackers, whats their value, can you find spare parts, are they any good? Or a link to a site with some specs, I couldn't find any.
Have any of you used either?
Thanks.

I use an A820 1/2" machine all the time. It's a great deck. One of the best out there. Worth depends on head life and wear, but between 5K and 10K, which is still pretty outrageous I think. Parts? I have no idea.

Damon

[Dolly]

There are both A810 and A820 models for sale, very cheap, 200€ (USD250), but the A820 model is reserved for this other dude. I'm trying to get an idea of the difference of their values so that I know if I should try and move mountains to get ahead the other guy's 'reservation' of the A820 model, maybe by bidding 500, or just settle for the A810. For what I've gathered so far is that the value for an a820 is around 6.000 and it's around 600 for the A810. Does this sound right? What a head-ache situation. I think that the A810 is a bargain for the money but since there is the opportunity to get a much better device for the same money, the situation gets funky. What do you think?
Btw, the A810 has a timecode option installed, does add to the value?
I need to know what I'm going to do by tomorrow...

[groundcontrol]

The Studer 820 and the Ampex ATR-100 series are the best 2 track decks you can get for mastering, especially in wider tape formats.

If you don't have analog deck operation/maintenance experience, I would advise to find a reputable and experienced maintenance tech in your area to help you in your machine selection/evaluation/setup and to properly maintain it afterwards.

Upgrades and parts as well as machine referals are available from: JRF Magnetics Home THE analog machines specialists.

Those guys also make mastering grade replacement/upgrade heads for Studers and Ampex stereo decks: Flux Magnetix Home

Completely refurbishing a deck that's in poor shape is gonna be a pricey proposition even if you though you had a bargain to start with, so it's often better to go for a machine that's a bit pricier but doesn't need much work done and has good life left in its heads.

Good luck! If you do get a good deal, you'll be in heaven for sure!

[groundcontrol]

Post deleted by groundcontrol

[Dolly]

Thanks!
I live in Finland, (northern europe, we have a better president but worse movies than you), so getting the thing refurbished is kind of hard, I think I'll have to send it to Germany or something if I want to get it done properly. I really can't say anything about the condition of the machine until I see it tomorrow, what should I look for, can I make assumptions by looking at the heads? How?
I can't figure a single scenario where I would need TC, maybe for locking to PT but what do I gain by that anyway. So no added value for me.
Both machines are 1/4" if I'm not mistaken, but if I go the Germany-road they could propably be modificated to read & write to 1/2".
Thanks a lot and sorry for my bad english!

[Dolly]

BTW groundcontrol, Canadiens' captain Saku Koivu is back playing in Finland for the NHL lock-out...

[kite]

I have a Studer B62 quarter Inch machine, which I bought from East midlands Audio, here in the UK . Julian Tipping who runs the company has loads of Studer machines, plus hard to find spares. He refurbs and sells complete machines-

his email is [email protected] - might be worth a try- sorry, can't find a website.

Good luck

[Dolly]

Thanks everyone!
We bought the A820 (1/4") together with my friend for 200 euros, and it's a great looking piece of gear!
It was in unbelievably good condition from the outside, I get to try it more tommorrow, but:
We plugged it in just to check if it wakes up because it hadn't been used for a few years and at first it didn't! After a few trys it made a weird beep noise and then a loud pop-sound. When we turned it on again everything lid up and it seemed ok, but it said "no errors" and then suddenly "power supply error" (or something similar)! What's up with that? There is around 8 (fuse?) leds below the deck, and one of them didn't lid, can't remember which one. We checked the five fuses around the back but they all were ok. Where are the other 3? It would be nice to have the operation manual. When pressing play, it rolled the tape just a little and the capstan motor didn't work. The reel motors started rolling full speed when we touched the red lights on the edges of the machine, so they work. Did the capstan motor's fuse blow up? Did the capstan motor itself blow up???
It's got something to do with the power supply not feeding power everywhere it should.
Does anybody have any idea if we have to make a total refurbishing or just replace a fuse somewhere inside the machine? The heads looked to be in very good condition, all tidy and evrything. As I said I get to see the machine tomorrow and discover more about it. Where could I find an operation manual or something?
It was a bargain even if it doesn't work, it's a great furniture aswell , but it would really be nice to get it working and start mastering through it!!
Thanks.