Turntable manufacturer sees sales surge 400% to keep up with vinyl numbers

[earlinarizona]

This could be about tape in the future

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2017/03/31/turntable-sales-surge-to-keep-up-with-vinyl-numbers/

[Rust]

But likely not for a variety of reasons.

Price of media - Used LPs start at about 50 cents on up depending on condition and desirability into the stupid price range. New vinyl is around 23 bucks per LP. New R2R tapes are what, 150 bucks and up.

Availability of media - Considering both used and new vinyl, there is an very large selection of titles available. There are about 450 new tapes available and typically titles that do not lend themselves to the larger segment of the market.

Availability of playback machines - Turntables (decent ones) are available from a wide variety of vendors both retail and on line. Despite the promise of new R2R decks, the market is still as is used decks or refurbed/upgraded decks. Even when R2Rs where still in production they were a specialty item due to price and availability of media.

Current pricing of playback machines - a decent turntable starts at round $400, a good turntable can be had for around $1,000 and the prices climb into the stratosphere. Quite a few of the affordable tables come as turnkey packages. A very large majority of tables are in the more affordable range. A used consumer R2R can be had for $500 if you can find one. Prosumer decks are increasingly rare as they are picked up by the refurb/modification market. Purely pro decks were always rare.

So while quality R2R will always be a superior media, the buy in for machines and media, along with the pretty much complete lack of popular music titles pretty much insures it stays a niche market.