Turtlerock Forum

One of my son's uni mates just lugged an old Akai M8 Reel to Reel back to Sydney which he bought in Brissy for a couple hundred bucks. Needs some work. Came with a box of bits and pieces, the original separate speakers, original mics etc. The kid is a uni student and doesn't have deep pockets. He was asking who I knew that could look at it for him, maybe see what's up without costing an arm and a leg. I know there's Howard in Chatswood, but I don't think the kid can afford his services (let me know if I'm wrong Howard!)

I think he's hoping to spend up to $100 to get someone to crack it open, look inside and tell him what's worth doing or not. The usual service guys I used to know on the northern beaches don't seem to be there any more. Anyone know anyone who could help the kid out?

Thanks - Steve

its not worth "cracking open" as a working tape machine but they do have pretty good mic pres onboard they look good too

if it doesn't work straight up, then generally it won't be worth the cost of fixing

I passed on six little reel to reels of this sort yesterday, including Sonys, Telefunken and CEI

it hurts but sometimes life is too short to punt on such things

Thanks Rick/Rob. I'll tell the guy to save his money then.

Thanks - Steve

he can pull the channels out, reconnect the power to them and viola 8 racked up mic pres with vu meters

theres a bunch of info out there regarding racking/converting the m8 to mic pre's and they even keep the valve amp for use as a small gtr amp too. I've got a couple sitting around for this to happen but amazingly they dont seem to do it on their own.

I have a pair of M7 pre's I keep meaning to get working but, like your mate, no-one has been able to tell me whether it's actually worth doing.

i have a pair of these,they rock ,sound very cool for a 60s round bass sound