Vintage Hifi ReVox B750

[Ichi.One]

Anyone any experience with the ReVox B750 amplifier?
i got one offered for a good prize (250,-Euro) and in very good shape,
but i donno the machine (except what google tells me)
What's the sound of this ReVox, warm, cold, natural, neutral...?
any comments ?

[Dubious]

ichi is it a tube pre?

[Ichi.One]

no it's not a tube pre
Here are the specs.
http://www.analogstereo.com/reel2reel_revox_b750.htm

i believe in the build quality of this machine, it's swiss, it's revox...

it's more will i like the sound ?
In the past few weeks i've played around with a kenwood (1986 36w),
a marantz (from 1976 30w), a denon (1995 60w) and a little Sony from 1972 only 18watt.
The Sony beats the others in soundquality by a lenght, really
and i was very surprised that there was so much difference
in soundquality between these amplifiers.
The only problem with the sony is not enough power, i can put the volume on 10 with distortion but it's not very loud...

http://www.analogstereo.com/images/r2r/b750_main.jpg

[Dubious]

you're going to use this for recording as a preamp or as the amp for your home audio settup?

either way i wouldnt go solid state at that wattage. there's not a whole lot of headroom at such a lo wattage and your most likely going to introduce distortion before you start gettting the volume you want.. and solid state distorition tends to suck.

now a 30 watt tube amp is gonna sound a whole lot louder and the distortion will also be more musical when it does occur.

i not big on audiophile gear but ive bought 3 old tube amps lately. they're all old mono PA heads... what's great about them is you could get a pair and run it as your stereo system... but they also have balanaced mic inputs and aux jacks for running studio gear thru.. and additionaly they make killer guitar amps.

i've bought 3 for under $200. So that revox doesnt seem alll that cheap to me.

[Ichi.One]

Just as home stereo-setup (with of-course the 2 TT & mixer) and for making mixes but then the audio-signal (for recording) goes from the mixer straight to the Mac, so basically it's just for listening
The Sony i got now is indeed not enough wattage,
the Revox is a in a different beast
from the site :
"Technical data Power output (DIN 45500) 220 Watts (110W per channel with 4 ohms) Music 280 Watts (140W per channel with 4 ohms)"

A few people have suggested your approach
2 mono blocks as amp and the mixer as pre-amp / selector
but donno where to start with this kind of stuff,
i'm absolutly not an audiophile freak (you can sell me hifistuff if just looks right in the design dept.)

:p

[Dubious]

alright that revox sounds up to snuff then.. with that much headroom you should be golden... box looks purdy baddass too.

[misterharrison]

box looks purdy baddass too.

Agreed - nice box ;)

[misterharrison]

http://www.analogstereo.com/reel2reel_revox_b750.htm

Priceless:

"The fine ears of fastidious Revox B750 discover physiological sound differences, to which with measuring instruments hardly is despite - or straight because of - this improvement to be gotten."

"The einzelstufen are approximately coupled in itself, so that only a small total inverse feedback is necessary."

Einzelstufen?

[Ichi.One]

I picked the revox up last saturday,
it's in perfect shape only a few spots on the top from the tuner,
the inside is for a 25-year old amp almost dust free
and very clean, not a scratch on the front-panel,
Everything works without any noise or cracks

The sound is very spacious, records sound more 3D
And the power is superbe, like dubious said enough headroom
With the volume at 5 conversation is no longer possible in the room
for daily listening level 1 to 2 is more than enough
i'm happy man :-D

[Dubious]

cool, that amp is definatly sweet looking.

i really wish i knew more about home / hi fi... i finally got my living room settup but i went for the surround sound route...

[Solid State]

Which '76 MArantz did you audition Pete?

Dunno if you're referring to mine, or since you got home, but you know my 1060 wasnt performing ANYTHING LIKE, due to speaker probs, dontcha? It's a beast when firing on all four... and the 1060 is rated as the best of that era.

Good luck in sorting this out!

(PS I found out the MIssion speakers Im havin probs with have a KNOWN fault with the 780s and can be repaired free by Mission if under 5 yrs old.. so Im on it!)

[Ichi.One]

this one : marantz 1072

http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/1072.html

nice machine, but not enough power and the one i bought was fcuked,
but now one channel of the revox is gone, i think i will give him a total revision...
well it depends how much it's gonna cost, all original parts of this revox are still available...
i was really happy with this revox, very good sound
and very powerfull

[mikedefacto]

get some of these and be done with it ;)

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/pipexdsl/o/aots86/hifisounds/meridian/meridian201front.jpg
http://www.sound-pit.com/used7/meridian205.jpg

[Ichi.One]

get some of these and be done with it ;)

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/pipexdsl/o/aots86/hifisounds/meridian/meridian201front.jpg
http://www.sound-pit.com/used7/meridian205.jpg

looking super cool ! :) what price are we talking about ?

any idea what a revision of an revox amplifier costs? he is in good shape
inside everything looks topnotch, very clean no burning spots & all that, just the left channel gives only noise since yesterday

[mikedefacto]

I paid £150 for the Meridian 201 preamp and the pair of Meridian 205 mono power amps were about £300 - these are pretty much the going rates and they are not rare. Bear in mind that when new this was a c.£2000 pre/power amp combo - and that was in the late 80s when that kind of money really meant something... and it sounds it.

No idea about Revox sadly but the build quality is famous and so I'd guess that with the right kind of attention from the right people it can be brought back to life. best place to ask is www.pinkfishmedia.net or www.zerogain.com as there's quit ea few modders on there.

[bonusbeats]

also try the tape op diy forums:
http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewforum.php?f=18&sid=7e5cfabdb3b48a39763e36952460895a

i have a harman kardon amp i found on the street that i need to fix. it powers up, so i should be able to get it working.