One thing I also noticed were the reel-to-reel tape players! Wow, when I was a young one, I"m now 71, well those were the citadel, that I could only dream about! Bose 901s, JBL 100s or even better McIntosh ML1s.
Do you still use these tape decks?
Yes, I do but not a lot. They are Revox machines except for one. That is a bespoke very rare Brenell Mark VI which was made to my specification in 1973. Most of these were made for the BBC. The Revox A700 was bought at the same time. I also bought the first dbx 1 unit then. I used them to make recordings and also used them a lot for outside broadcast work for the local public radio station. In 1984 I transitioned to the VHS based PCFM system which is still in the system. So I was making digital recordings for broadcast at a very early date.
I built my first DAW in 2002. This did me until 2019 when I built my current DAW. It uses the RME mixer DAC (external) and Steinberg WaveLab software. I also have an HTPC for streaming, this was last rebuilt two to three years ago, and is my third iteration
There are two cassette machines and TEAC Z6000 master recorder, and a Nak. There are two dbx 1 code/encoders in the rig and a dbx 2 decoder which will decode handle dbx tapes and LPs. The Revox A77s are restorations of mine from wrecks. There is also an Advent Dolby B encode/decoder and two single channel Dolby A code decoders, made by Dolby.
I do have some tapes still, but I mainly keep this for interest but especially to digitize prize reel to reel master tapes that people will bring me.
It is known by the pro community what I have here, and some of them make use of it from time to time.
There are also rare vintage turntables some items of which I have owned for nearly sixty years. In fact the actual three turntables are around sixty years old. The Decca ffss arm and heads date from 1971. There is an H4E LP head and a mark 2 78 head. The Quad 22 preamp to that turntable, which is one of two Garrard 301s is tube and I bought it in 1966 I think. It has the correct playback codes for just about every brand of 78 RPM disc that ever existed. The other PU arms are by SME with Shure V15xmr cartridges. The other preamps are Quad 34 and Quad 44. Power amps are Quad 909s for the bedlayer speakers, seven of them and two Quad 404 II for the four Atmos ceiling speakers.
I think the thing that astounds people the most is how good this vintage gear actually sounds. No it is not as good as state of the art digital equipment and programs, but if it was then there would be serious questions to answer. But with the right LP on a turntable you really would be very hard pressed to tell it was an old analog recording.
So, I am not a nut who pretends you can achieve audio nirvana with a diamond needle in a groove, because you can't, no matter how much you spend.
That is why I call that end of the system my museum, even if it is a working one to an extent. That is the honest way to look at it. However I would put those turntables against any audiophool turntable costing thousands.
I call this analog and early digital part of the system my "museum", which is what it is.
I think museum is the best description of that end of the room.