Anybody know about Tandberg and SAE stuff?

Yesterday I answered an ad in the local FreeCycle group for a "Tandenburg Reel to Reel". The ad also mentioned "Also, several tube amps and tuner and equalizer. Five pieces in all with nice walnut rack." Since I take all email groups in digest form, I'm never the first responder, but in this case I was. The woman making the offer was very nice and I made the 50-minute drive within my county to meet her this morning. What I was met with was rack-mounted system left from her father-in-law that they'd tried to sell complete on Ebay but only got interest from Japan. The owner was not involved enough to try to market the pieces individually but knew the cost new was over $5000 and that it did have value. But she still gave it all to me for free! What is included is:

Tandberg TD-20A complete with rack-mount kit, 10.5" reel hub adapters, and two boxes of quarter-inch 10.5" tapes all on aluminum reels, probably fifty in all. I believe this one is two-channel and it's not the ES black version.

The "tube" stuff turned out to be all "00" series black SAE components:

SAE 2600 amp (400wpc @8ohms)
SAE 2400L amp (200wpc @8ohms)
SAE 2100 Pre-amp with parametric EQ
SAE 8000 Mark VIII FM digital tuner
SAE 4200 speaker switching system

I know, I know, :useless:
but I just got it home and it has overwhelmed my house. I had to take it all out of the rack just to get it out of the basement where it was living and I've not had a chance to test any of it yet. The rack is six-feet tall with rack-mount rails full length down both sides and had a pull-out turntable drawer in the middle under the reel-to-reel. The speaker controler was marked "Tannoy" on two output terminal sets but the owner said she couldn't find the "huge" speakers that came with it and figured her older son must have taken them. I'm guessing some of the HPD series 15" and 12" pairs.

I've never owned SAE equipment but the 2600 is a heavy darn thing at probably close to 60 pounds, and it's huge! Big VU meters, too. I'll be testing each piece individually. The owner said it all worked except the tape deck heads needed "magnetizing". She was using the tuner but had some problem when trucks passed by with CB radios so she stopped using it all. A friend looked at the pre-amp but said he didn't know how to work on "tubes" and blamed the CB interference on the lack of grounding tab on the power cord. Uh-huh. Oh well. Even a blind pig finds an acorn every once in a while; I guess this was my day.

Anyone have any experience with any of this stuff? I'm probably not keeping the Tanberg just for space reasons and because I have no use for it. The included tapes are supposed to be classical and jazz. I'll give a listen and look for labels but I suppose the reels are a worth something, with tape or not. The rack-mount frame is unusual and something I've not seen before but it looked awesome in that big rack with those big reels on it. I'd be interested in hearing what you all think of the SAE amps which may help me decide if I hang on to them or try and turn the whole system into one week of college tuition for my daughter.

I guess I could trade the whole deal for a pair of L300 or 43xx 4-ways, but then we've already established I am a bottom-feeder.

I recall both brands, but not well. (age does that to you)
I think the Tandbergs were highly regarded tape machines. The heads do suffer physical wear and occasionally need degaussing. (There used to be "cleaning tapes" that were supposed to accomplish that.) It's not something that would affect value.

http://www.jims-sae-site.com/ looks like a place to start on the hardware.

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Originally Posted by BMWCCA

Anyone have any experience with any of this stuff?

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Send a PM to forum member Wardsweb. He is Mr. SAE. ;)

That Tanberg is a very nice tape deck, but there is precious little interest in reel to reel these days. If it is very clean you should get a few hundred for it. If the tapes are in good shape and are Maxell, Ampex, or TDK they may be worth more than the deck. People are buying used 10" reels to record over for $10-$25 a reel these days.


Widget

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Originally Posted by Mr. Widget

Send a PM to forum member Wardsweb. He is Mr. SAE. ;)

That Tanberg is a very nice tape deck, but there is precious little interest in reel to reel these days. If it is very clean you should get a few hundred for it. If the tapes are in good shape and are Maxell, Ampex, or TDK they may be worth more than the deck. People are buying used 10" reels to record over for $10-$25 a reel these days.

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Thanks guys. I've been to the Wardsweb site and Jim's site. Some good info there. Nothing like a certain JBL site though!

I've stashed the tapes in a storage facility to leave some room for cleaning and testing the electronics. Tapes seem to be predominently Sony, with some Ampex, TDK, and quite a few Maxell. I kept one Sony out to test the deck. Saw one that went on eBay recently "as-is untested" for $260 without the rack-mount frame.

I'm hoping someone can get me excited about the SAE amps. They sound impressive in spec: 400 wpc at 8 ohms is pretty stout for 1980. I'm looking for information on any pitfalls like the old Flame Linear meltdown problem. I've been spoiled by near-flawless performance from my Crowns for almost 35 years now. I hope to have pics to post soon.

Thanks.

Didn't Riessen change his handle to "SAEMAN"? Maybe he'd have some input.

I used to install both brands in the late 80s, but don't remember much about specific models. I had two of the A201 power amps, they were fine and still work well in a friend's studio.

Nice grab, have fun testing it all...

je

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Originally Posted by BMWCCA

Thanks guys. I've been to the Wardsweb site and Jim's site. Some good info there. Nothing like a certain JBL site though!

I've stashed the tapes in a storage facility to leave some room for cleaning and testing the electronics. Tapes seem to be predominently Sony, with some Ampex, TDK, and quite a few Maxell. I kept one Sony out to test the deck. Saw one that went on eBay recently "as-is untested" for $260 without the rack-mount frame.

I'm hoping someone can get me excited about the SAE amps. They sound impressive in spec: 400 wpc at 8 ohms is pretty stout for 1980. I'm looking for information on any pitfalls like the old Flame Linear meltdown problem. I've been spoiled by near-flawless performance from my Crowns for almost 35 years now. I hope to have pics to post soon.

Thanks.

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You don't want that old SAE stuff anyway. :thmbsup:

Actually, until Wardsweb chimes in I can say that the 2600 is was well regarded in its day. I have an SAE A502 (not in the same league as your 2600) but has been in service since I bought it new in 1989.

Yank

Yep, looks like Rick Riessen is also a fan; his name comes up in SAE references on the web. "Saeman" and I have been in touch.

Tracking down replacement meter bulbs and tuner belt rubber bands right now. Oddly, most replacement bulbs are really only rated for about 3,000 hours. What a pain-in-the-ass VU meter bulb replacement must have been when these beasts were rack mounted. So far in two pieces of equipment only two out of ten bulbs are working. Guess that's why they switched to LEDs, though the VU-meter versions seem to hold their value better. It's really all about the "show" isn't it?

Tandberg = Norwegian Revox. Best of kit.:)

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Originally Posted by macaroonie

Tandberg = Norwegian Revox. Best of kit.:)

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agreed !! My Tandberg R2R was far better sounding than any of the TEAC's I ever had.

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Originally Posted by SEAWOLF97

agreed !! My Tandberg R2R was far better sounding than any of the TEAC's I ever had.

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:yes:

TEAC was very popular, but they never were anything special as far as performance went.

I have only had experience with two SAE amps and the SAE 5000 pop filter... it did work, but it was more annoying than the pops and it wasn't terribly transparent. The amps I have listened to extensively were the 2200L which a friend had when we were in college. I was very impressed with it. Many years later I bought a reconditioned 2600 with those big ass sexy VUs... really cool looking, but it sounded very harsh. I kept it for about a week. It probably would have sounded OK with a pair of old ARs or something else that had little detail, but powering my Soundlabs electrostats it was a no go.


Widget

Tanberg is as you know from my country. I will check out the TD-20A and give the info I can find.