Thanks for the advice wualta. Yeah its a simple plastic ticker counter. I've played all of the tapes once just to find out what's on them but the machine needs a little more work than I'd first thought. I think that the play head may need renewed or replaced, it's looking slightly flattened. And I've no idea how well aligned the heads are or what particular tape formula they might be optimised for. Not that that matters because theres like 6 different types of tape in the box I've got.

Given how little listening I do with my turntable compared to digital I can't see how this will integrate properly into my listening. Even if I was to send it away for a full tune-up there's just no way I can afford to spring for the Tape Project tapes, which in any event aren't the kind of music I'd want to spend mega money on.

I'll take some pictures tomo.

I used to tape my albums onto HiFi VHS. I also had an $1,100.00 Sony BetaMax HiFi VCR that recorded in Beta 1 speed. That worked really well for parties and the like. It kept people from fidgeting with my turntable, which meant certain death if I caught them.

It didn't have the versatility of reel to reel, but it was simple to use, the tapes were cheap and the sound quality was pretty good.

Hi-Fi VHS was awesome. In some ways, it was better than DAT.

I miss my reel-to-reel.

Same here. Still check them out ocassionly on ebay. Everynow and then some tempting ones pop up.