Technics RS-1500 Reel To Reel Fully Restored - McIntosh Tribute - With Kimber Kable Package - PRE-ORDER NOW

Now Taking Pre-Orders - Please Inquire

Starting at 19,990.00

No, this is not a vintage McIntosh prototype that someone smuggled out of Binghamton. Or a clone someone half-attempted in their free time.

We recently posted a full walkthrough video to our YouTube channel of a similar machine the RS-1520. It started quite the commotion in the audiophile community! 

This is a very special Technics RS-1500 that first received a careful and complete restoration, and then on top it gained a plethora of functional and cosmetic upgrades.

It's finished in a unique black and green color theme to resemble and blend right into your beloved McIntosh system.

The Reel to Reel that McIntosh never made!

Every custom piece was meticulously designed and manufactured to perfectly mate into the legendary RS-1500. It looks like it just rolled off the factory production floor in this special style. 

We've also packaged this machine with our favorite Kimber Kable interconnects to do it justice with the rest of your system, including:
• Kimber Kable Palladian PowerKord PK14, 1.5M Length  
• Kimber Kable Select KS1016 RCA Interconnects, 1.5M Length (2 Pairs)

Included with your purchase:
2 x NAB Hub Adapters
2 x Aluminum Take-Up Reels as pictured
1 x Super High Quality Tape Recording to get you started  

Plus our famous "bomb-proof" custom packaging to ensure safe worldwide delivery.  

Upgrades from Stock Include:
• "McIntosh Tribute" Cosmetic Package
• Electronics Performance Upgrade
• IEC Power Cord Mod
• Universal Voltage Power Supply Upgrade
• Aluminum Botton Overlay Upgrade
• Aluminum Knob and Switch Upgarde
• Machined Aluminum Feet

Technics RS-1500 Technical Details:
• Quartz-Locked "Isolated Loop" Open-Faced Reel  
• 3 -Motor Direct Drive 
• 2 Track 2-Channel Record/Playback 
• 2 Track 2-Channel Playback w/3 Speeds 
• 3 1/4, 7 1/2, and 15 ips
• 5" to 10.5" Reels 
• 4 Heads, Auto Stop, NAB 
• Bias, EQ and Pitch Controls 

UPS Ground Shipping with Insurance within the Lower 48 US states is currently free under our active electronics promotion. If you're outside of this area please just contact us for a quote as we ship worldwide frequently.

Click here for a PDF copy of the "Operating Instructons"

And Click here for a copy of the original (and very retro-cool) brochure

The SkyFi Testing Process for Tape Decks and Reel to Reel Machines:

First steps are performed to determine if the unit is a candidate for our full restoration process or if its just in need of a light service.

We first do a  basic functionality test to ensure proper playback fast forward and rewind.  We look for smooth operation of the motors, transport engagement and associated rolling parts.  

We then do an internal physical inspection to ensure the belts and rubber consumable parts are up to spec.  

Internal components are checked to make sure that there are no signs of heat stress or damage particularly in the power supply section.  Capacitors are checked for telltale signs of predictive failure including bulging, shrunken wrappers, or physical leakage. We also inspect the PCBs for discoloration from resistors or transistors that may have been running hot. On vintage units we often spot check select capacitors for value and ESR. 

A light service will involve replacement of belts and rollers, external cleaning of heads, mechanism and boards and basic record and playback tests.  

A full restoration will often include disassembly of the drive system and replacement of all consumable and wearable parts including pinch rollers, belts, brakes, bearings.  We then clean lubricate and re-assembly the drive and perform basic mechanical alignment to ensure proper tape path and head alignment. 

Final calibration will involved adjustment of playback erase and record heads and optimization of the bias for a specific tape type.  We do this with the aid of a  Soundtech 1510A tape deck analyzer and a Nakamichi T100 unit and reference calibration tapes.  

Final listening tests are done while monitoring with our reference Grado HP1 headphones and a variety of factory and custom reference recordings.  We find that there is no better system for critical listening on tapes than the headphones specially when comparing a live feed to a recorded feed.