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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 21st Dec 2014, 9:24 pm   #1
Valvepower
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Default Brenell Stereo Hi-Fi tape link and Mark 6 Deck question.

Hi,

I recently came by a Brenell Stereo Hi-Fi tape link unit along with a second unit for spares without a tape deck…. The question is do I peruse the finding of a Mk6 deck to go with this unit as it would be nice to get it up and going again? Being honest I know very little about these units, and how good they are.

I figure the Mk6 tape decks are few and far between though, more so with decent heads, as when this unit was originally on the market in the early/mid 70’s, the cassette was starting to take its place in Hi-Fi systems making reel to reel units less appealing and therefore I figure the sale of Mk6 reel to reels were few and far between.

Sadly, I have a feeling this could prove to be a costly exercise though.

I’ve located the circuit and it looks to be a competent circuit with similarities to the tape/mic preamplifier circuits found in the Mullard Transistor Audio & Radio Circuits book.

Regards
Terry.
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Old 21st Dec 2014, 11:30 pm   #2
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Default Re: Brenell Stereo Hi-Fi tape link and Mark 6 Deck question.

Who says it has to be connected to a Brenell mechanism?

OK, one would be ideal.

But...

You could slum it with a Wright & Wearie deck (Ferrograph) if you can find one and suitable heads. There are many more of those around

David
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Old 22nd Dec 2014, 9:59 am   #3
DOFFERY
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Default Re: Brenell Stereo Hi-Fi tape link and Mark 6 Deck question.

Contact Barry, he will know if/where/when.

Doffery
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Old 22nd Dec 2014, 11:30 am   #4
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Default Re: Brenell Stereo Hi-Fi tape link and Mark 6 Deck question.

Thanks Colin! (I've popped an IC-2000 in the post to you for Christmas)

By 'stereo Tape Link' I pressume you mean the transistorised brushed aluminium job designed for the Mk.6 rather than the green enamelled valve stereo Tape Link designed for the Mk.5 deck?

Yes, (both) are very good units attuned to the Bogen heads and offer great versatilty in mixing, track dubbing etc. Mk.6 decks do turn up from time to time, usually the 8-1/4" model but the 10-1/2" deck (also used by the IC-2000) is the more versatile. Alas, as with all Brenells the Bogen heads and Papst motors may be dead ('open circuit') so check before buying. The Mk.610 decks (10-1/2") were used by the BBC for editors to research material and like most professional decks were often worked hard, but they are very good decks, so are well worth finding. It's contemporary Ferrograph Srs 7s was a dogs dinner to my mind, better to go for a Ferrograoh Logic 7 or Rveox A77!

Barry
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Old 23rd Dec 2014, 9:30 am   #5
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Default Re: Brenell Stereo Hi-Fi tape link and Mark 6 Deck question.

I have to say i had one of the transistor tape links WAY back in the 70's - It came paired with a non-matching deck from the previous series.
It looked great, with the dual illuminated edge on VU meters. But...
Not impressed with it at all. Very simplistic circuitry which proved incapable of adequate erase and sufficient record amp drive without distortion.
I sold it on and then saved for my REVOX A77 - Much nicer.

It did have the flexibility of being able to swap the record/replay phono connections around.
Hence much fun with sel-sync - piano duets with oneself, etc etc.
But I still thought the recordings seemed 'weak' and noisy, compared with say, a valved Ferrograph unit.

Andy
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Old 4th Jan 2015, 2:02 pm   #6
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Default Re: Brenell Stereo Hi-Fi tape link and Mark 6 Deck question.

Hi All,

Firstly sorry for a late reply but Christmas hauled into view and the ‘ole wireless posts took a back seat for a while.

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, it’s the transistorised brushed aluminium unit. I must admit it was the edgewise VU meters and 70’s style etc., which caught my eye on the sellers stall.

I have to somewhat agree with Andy as after having a better look at the circuit I figure it’ll not be up to the performance of the A77, which is a superb machine, but as Barry said they are good units and because of this I feel it’s worth finding a deck and making up a complete unit.

In my mind I’m fine with the unit as is, as I’m just interested in making up a unit up to keep the amplifier unit from being stripped or used for parts and other projects etc.

I’ll keep my eye peeled for a sensibly priced Mk6 or similar deck at jumbles, swap meets and fairs etc.

Regards
Terry.
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Old 4th Jan 2015, 7:46 pm   #7
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Default Re: Brenell Stereo Hi-Fi tape link and Mark 6 Deck question.

There is one for sale right now on eBay. It is mono though, so you would need to source stereo heads.
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