This is LITERALLY the best reel to reel “ tutorial” on RU-vid. Just a fantastic professional video - well edited and just sublime. Can tell it was done by someone who was well versed in video production .
I recently inherited a very model from my uncle Pete, who passed away a few months ago. I thought it was broken from wear and tear until I discovered I was looping the tape incorrectly. I'm so honored to have this beautiful machine in my vintage collection. I had to self-teach myself the many features this reel-to-reel offers. I still have yet to record some modern digital music on analog tape.
As a,tv radio broadcast engineer. I finally got my akai 747 dream machine., a few years back, no it doesn't have the rugged abilities of Ampex or studer for 24/7 hours of commercial radio use , but for a home unit, it has smooth silky transport response, and sonic broadcast quality ,even at 4 channel quarter track ,it is truly amazing & akai flagship &best sexey looking reel to reel machine. They saved the best for last..
AGREED! Everyone gives the Akai GX-747 shit for its unreliable nature (lots of stuff to break and wear out), but what Akai nailed is the absolute best looking deck on the market. When I was looking at the 747 in an audio/video store in the mid-80's and saw those tension arms automatically retract, I felt like I was looking at the future - it was a robotic piece of art. Studer, Revox, Teac, Technics, etc - they *COMPLETELY* missed the boat on that design. There's a reason why the Akai GX-747 line is the most coveted among audio enthusiasts, and it's valid.
Just got a call from my Audio Technician. He is finished with a complete restoration of my 747. I will be picking it up this Friday. I am very excited to spin those reels again. 😁
I have exactly the same unit and at the moment I'm replacing the small rubber belts behind the tape tensioners' mechanism. It sounds soooo great, this machine is worth every effort to bring it back in pristine condition...
Thank you , I’ve just found an almost immaculate one in all places a stable! ...albeit a dry one and the tips you’ve provided in its operation were great and idiot proof. I had everything crossed that it worked when I plugged it in and for once Lady Luck was on my side ....sounds fantastic!
These unique NAB adapters from Akai have an additional ring to tighten them up. I would highly recommend releasing this ring BEFORE you remove the adapter from the deck, and tighten them up when you install the adapters back.
^^ THIS ^^ - I have a 747 and original Akai NAB hubs. Those retention rings are no joke - they truly make the reel hubs a lot more stable when FF and RW your reels. Using any aftermarket NAB hubs without them, and the reels "wobble" when FF and RW. Akai really nailed improving this design, Revox be damned.
I've been recording MQA onto a half-track Revox B77 mkII and it is stunning. I use 15ips and some new Recording the Masters NAB tape. Reel to Reel is an amazing format - even given that the format is pretty much dead in that there are no manufacturers of new machines. If you have one, get it serviced and love it! I still have an Akai HXA3-DBX cassette deck and I always preferred dbx to Dolby.
8 years later and this is still the best "professional" presentation of an Akai GX-747 on the web. To @Funny Man - well done on this video, even though it's apparent you made the video to sell your 747. Do you miss it?
AKAI is quality i still use my GXC-46 Stereo Cassette Recorder from the seventies, my AJ-520 FL Stereo Portable Radio GXC Cassette player from the eighties. And the Double Stereo Automatic Reverse GX-W45 cassettedeck from the nineties. They are all excellent & indestructible so i know what kind of quality your AKAI 747 is !!!
Thanks for the video, just been given a mint black version of this, not had one before so trying to get to grips with it, your video has helped a lot, thanks
I prefer to just lay the tape on the take up wheel without using the cut outs. This saves the end of the leader tape from bending and eventually breaking. Some of the take up wheels have a sticky rubber center giving friction when laying the tape.
@@jmfloyd23 Muse changed all of my capacitors, changed a few belts. Cleaned the goop out of it.... Made a few tracking adjustments and my deck looks and plays like new. Had some old maxell metal tapes from 30 some years ago and they sounded just as good as when I recorded them...
А в AKAI 747 модели шумопонижение есть? В 636 есть, но кнопки NR я на фото не видел.Возможно шумодав встроенный и не отключаемый. Крайне скудная информация на эту тему.
Hello, Could you please let me know if you are considering selling it? I am interested in purchasing the same model to gift to my father on his 90th birthday. Thank you
15 IPS is the actual pro quality speed for a 1/4" RtR mix down or home RtR. 7 1/2 is better quality than 3 3/4 ips which was longer play mediocre commercial sound and 1 7/8" was low quality extra long play commonly used on true professional decks, that had 4 speeds ranging from 15 ips, to 1 & 7/8 ips. 911 police call operations, police dispatch, call rooms, phone call recordings (typical of lawyers, & paranoid politicians, like Richard Nixon,) , and police surveillance (bugs & phone taps) commonly used 1 7/8 ips speed. Some of these dedicated phone recording decks had extra huge reels on them, too. I still repair some of the older machines to archive tapes for police departments, government agencies, security firms, private investigators, etc. This is a nice machine, but I would prefer it had a 15ips speed for true professional mix down sound quality from a 1/4" four track singe direction, which commonly ran at 3 speeds, 3 3/4ips, 7 1/2 and 15 ips. These commonly were used to record four tracks, and mix those back on a single track while mixing in the 3 remaining tracks for a maximum of 7 tracks. The 1/2" 8 track Otari or possibly Tascam or Ampex was the next obvious step up. Then one might be Wili Studer 8-24 track 1"-2" width decks. These can be had for a paltry sum of $12,000 USD now, which seems rather budget friendly compared to their $250,000 list price in the 1980s. The thought of the day was "the more tracks, the better the quality of the recording", but the simple truth is: Miraculous recordings were made with 4, 4 on 3 for 7, and or 8 track RtRs, and before that simple sound on sound RtRs with the final mix cut to vinyl. Led Zeppelin's first two albums were very crude 4 track affairs, masterfully mixed & cut.
Thank you very much for this upload. Very cool. And nice to see one of these working. Can I ask you a question? I know I'm asking a question on a five-year-old upload lol but I was wondering if you knew what was the last really good Akai reel-to-reel player produced? Even if it was somewhat recent. I'm trying to find one of the "Newer" good models . Thanks!
The GX -747 is the top of the line model as far as I know, from akai. It was the last of the line. I picked mine up around 1983, if I remember correctly. As for other brands I am not sure. There are many websites out there to research. I am very interested in this topic, if you reply I will take some time and assist you in this endeavor.
@@daves8429 thank you very much. I put in tons of hours of research into consumer electronics and pro Electronics as well. And I only know a little bit about reel-to-reel machines. Got a lot going on now but when I get back into it and there is less stress going on, LOL, I will hit you back up! Thanks!!
+حسين احمد طعمه الطعمه Thank you. Actually, I've already sold it. You can find these on ebay between $900 and $2,000. Hope you find one. They're great additions to any stereo system.
I have the non-dbx black panel 747 had it serviced for speed issues a few years ago. Looks like it needs service for speed issues...again. Frustrating! Any ideas how to fix this once & for all?
A masterpiece. But next time make the machine the star of your video instead of your editing skills. Nothing more frustrating than blurring the subject in order to show some titles, only for 2 seconds. Annoying, I quit very soon after that.
It's a nice machine, but still very overrated. The much better machines you can buy voor less money. Today's prices are going trough the roof...anno 2023 they ask 2000 to 3500 euro and more even! 😮 I think that's grazy.
