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Vintage Tape (Audio), Cassette, Wire and Magnetic Disc Recorders and Players Open-reel tape recorders, cassette recorders, 8-track players etc.

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Old 10th May 2023, 7:30 pm   #141
murphyv310
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Default Re: Brenell Purchases

Hi.
Here is a wee video of the unit playing, the little microphone on the camera does the machine no justice.
https://youtu.be/Oqhr5mKbY0U
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Old 12th May 2023, 8:25 am   #142
wd40addict
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Default Re: Brenell Purchases

The suppressors are a known weak point on these machines, best to just change all 4. On my machine two had already been replaced back in the day and those replacements had also failed!

Interestingly the two head magic eye version of this machine seems much rarer than the 3 head + moving coil meter version (type m) even though the latter was more expensive. Presumably enthusiasts, having saved up for a machine in this class, wanted something beyond the typical domestic specification.
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Old 12th May 2023, 6:53 pm   #143
murphyv310
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Default Re: Brenell Purchases

Hi.
Received the 15 ips sleeve today. Sounds very good bar some distortion on deep bass. Changed a lot of out of spec resistors that has helped. Drive to the head is clean (bias disconnected) so wondering if its tape saturation, they are old ferric tapes.
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Old 12th May 2023, 8:22 pm   #144
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Default Re: Brenell Purchases

From my experience with Brenell decks they can modulate the tape to a high level so a good tape is essential. Old tapes maybe limited as to what level they will take without distortion.
Try reducing the level and see what you get. If it’s still distorted then try different tapes.
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Old 12th May 2023, 9:05 pm   #145
murphyv310
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Default Re: Brenell Purchases

Hi.
The problem though right now is all the tapes I have are rather old. Buying used ones is of course hit and miss. I'm keeping my eye open for a decent tape. I fact I've done another recording on a different tape and it certainly is a lot better with a higher level, nearly spot on IMO, quality is good. Will do a spec check next week and plot the frequency response too, there is zero visible head wear and the whole machine looks as if it's had very little use, all the original valves have no discoloration of the white Mullard printing even though the EL84 gets HOT!
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