The Tapepath Process
Upgrade and restore your Revox A77 or buy a restored A77 from Ken
The goal at Tapepath is to thoroughly restore the classic A77 to its original, factory-fresh condition. This means that it should meet its original appearance and performance specifications as closely as possible.
Phase 1: A complete performance evaluation is done, determining the level of head wear, transport function and record/playback capability. Using a Sound Technology 1510A tape recorder analyzer a base-line performance can be determined. This will aid in determining what performance areas need to be addressed.
Phase 2: Your A77 is completely disassembled, removing all of the major subsections from the supporting frame. As each component piece is removed is is hand cleaned and polished and placed in a sealed environment. Depending upon the specific version of the unit certain mechanical parts may be upgraded. All of the important mechanical and electrical components are replaced. Every resistor and capacitor that are used in the input selection, record, bias and playback circuit boards are replaced with low distortion, high tolerance versions. An optional choice of replacing all of the transistors is available. All electrical switches, RCA connectors, contact selectors, speed change slider bar and potentiometers are cleaned, polished and treated with Caig De-oxit.
Phase 3: Your A77 is painstakingly reassembled, checking each subassembly as it it is returned to the frame. Then a thorough evaluation process is done. Playback levels, VU meter accuracy, record/playback frequency response and distortion measurements, signal-to-noise measurements, speed error, wow and flutter are all measured and compared to factory and base-line measurements. All specifications are supplied to the owner along with a 7” reel of recommended recording tape.
For example, these are original Revox parts which are replaced.
And these are original Revox circuit boards that I upgraded with new components.
These show the rear of the deck with modified circuits boards installed.
The all important tape path is cleaned and polished bringing it back to factory condition.
A Sound Technology 1510A tape recorder analyzer is used to evaluate the performance level of incoming and finished units.
