Mara Machines

[MylesBAstor]

Now available from Acoustic Sounds.

[jcmusic]

Does anyone here have one of these machines? Or know anything about them?

[MylesBAstor]

A summary from Chris.

$10k is the transport (no audio electronics) with a Flux reproduce head.

$12.5k is record/playback with MCI electronics and a Flux reproduce head.

$14k is record playback with MCI electronics with a Flux reproduce head and an additional Flux reproduce head wired to XLR for use with external head amps (can be used simultaneously with the MCI electronics)

We also have added a wireless remote control (standard feature) which is awesome!

I am working with Chris to get a machine for review late summer/early fall.

[MylesBAstor]

[jonathanhorwich]

Don't take this as gospel but Sony bought MCI and the Sony APR series tape decks I use were modernized/updated versions of the MCI machine Chris sells. My professional associate here in Chicago has one of the Mara machines and loves it. He bought the least expensive version with cards.and loves it. I have used it and it operates beautifully.

[Kingrex]

The website says they are all rebuilt MCI machines. Not that that is bad. Might be a decent price for the machine.
I am personally swirling over this being such a juxtaposed medium. Supposed to be great but so hard to get into. Machines are reasonable, but as Asteotoy said, tapes can cost as much as a new Tesla. New Acoustic S tape costing $450 each. ouch.

[jcmusic]

So does anyone know anyone who has one of these decks in any format? Or has anyone ever heard one of these decks?

[jonathanhorwich]

I posted weeks ago and above about my associate owning one and loving it.

[lance002]

I just took delivery of the silver/black "HiFi" version (with the extra repro head) yesterday and let it (and me) rest overnight after an initial demag.

I demagnetized again this morning as I am new to the whole process.

This is a very large machine (perhaps 100 pounds plus another 40 pounds for the outboard power supply) measuring 20.5" wide x 16" deep x 25" tall with the power supply 20.5" wide x 10" deep x 8.5" tall; both are separately housed in finger jointed wood cabinets, neither of which have feet.

Delivery was in a well constructed wooden crate; total weight about 220 pounds. I was able to roll it around using a standard steel dolly.

Delivery of a blank tape from ATR is tomorrow so I can practice spooling and fast rewinding without destroying a recorded tape. Maybe get a first listen this weekend.

I abandoned vinyl about 10 years ago, so no memory of analog as a current reference.

My listening impressions can only be made in comparison to Esoteric Grandioso K1 in my own system.

However, I am prepared to be floored.

I will start with Muddy Waters, then move to the RCA recordings from Acoustic Sounds as I have SACD versions of each to compare.

I must say the R2R community is a breath of fresh air with the substantial assistance provided to me (a complete R2R beginner) by Fernando Cruz and Jonathan Horwich, as well as Myles Astor for creating this site and the two videos from 2016 (along with the guest speakers from The Tape Project, Acoustic Sounds and ATR) and re-kindling my interest in analog, and Chris Mara who not only made this version possible, but available, and for completely de-mystifying reel to reel.

I also appreciate the listing of great R2R tapes, the top three of which are currently available.

[Skylab]

Congrats on your purchase! I’m sure it will be awesome - love to see some pics!

Out of curiosity, why did you demag the heads after delivery? Did they tell you to? It shouldn’t have needed it. Demagnetizing heads is a somewhat controversial practice - definitely not something to overdo, and also something to make absolutely sure you’re doing correctly.

[jonathanhorwich]

One always demags after a deck has been moved. Movement can cause the heads to pick up magnetism. But once is enough.

[Skylab]

Huh, good to know, thank Jonathan. I’d never heard that.

[lance002]

Thank you.

Continual thanks to Jonathan Horwich and Fernando Cruz for providing the guidelines for demag process. I was moving one inch every two to three seconds moving towards and away from the deck and slowly across the metal parts (about 1/4" away) and safely away from the head in as non-jerky motion as I could. I went over it again the next day.

There is a separate thread on demag that mentions a magnetism detector, which I purchased this morning and just received (love that same day free shipping). My unit was certified 5/18, came in a white box (no instructions) , has the circumference of a silver dollar and is about 3/4" thick.

Walking around my house randomly shows between -2 and zero; on the deck, the left rollers are zero, while the heads and right rollers are -2 (all measured at a "safe distance"). Six feet away from the deck in a sweep yields -2 to zero. Not sure what the numbers mean but it looks like the deck is demaged.

Front of speakers pegs at +20 within three inches; rear of deep cabinet -2.

Against a known strong magnet readings are from 6 feet to four inches away -2, 3 inches away -4, 2 inches away -8, 1 inch away -12 and 0 inches pegged -20.

I guess + and - are north and south poles.

[timztunz]

I just took delivery of the silver/black "HiFi" version (with the extra repro head) yesterday and let it (and me) rest overnight after an initial demag.

I demagnetized again this morning as I am new to the whole process.

This is a very large machine (perhaps 100 pounds plus another 40 pounds for the outboard power supply) measuring 20.5" wide x 16" deep x 25" tall with the power supply 20.5" wide x 10" deep x 8.5" tall; both are separately housed in finger jointed wood cabinets, neither of which have feet.

Delivery was in a well constructed wooden crate; total weight about 220 pounds. I was able to roll it around using a standard steel dolly.

Delivery of a blank tape from ATR is tomorrow so I can practice spooling and fast rewinding without destroying a recorded tape. Maybe get a first listen this weekend.

I abandoned vinyl about 10 years ago, so no memory of analog as a current reference.

My listening impressions can only be made in comparison to Esoteric Grandioso K1 in my own system.

However, I am prepared to be floored.

I will start with Muddy Waters, then move to the RCA recordings from Acoustic Sounds as I have SACD versions of each to compare.

I must say the R2R community is a breath of fresh air with the substantial assistance provided to me (a complete R2R beginner) by Fernando Cruz and Jonathan Horwich, as well as Myles Astor for creating this site and the two videos from 2016 (along with the guest speakers from The Tape Project, Acoustic Sounds and ATR) and re-kindling my interest in analog.

I also appreciate the listing of great R2R tapes, the top three of which are currently available.

SO excited for you! Congratulations!

[lance002]

Thank you.

I received the blank ATR tape this evening, so I am going to practice rewinding that to prevent noob damage to a precious recording.

The deck has a feature called Manual Velocity Control (instruction manual calls it a joystick; must have had a different definition 30 years ago as it only moves horizontally) that reduces speed as it is moved in the direction of the tape movement; I guess start at the far right and move it left for slowing down rewind (vice versa for fast forward). Have not tried this yet.

[lance002]

Photo attached of the deck.......

Cramped quarters so outboard power supply sits on top (and towards the back for balance).

Low profile pedestal for WAF (also required less lifting of 100 pound unit into almost "piston-fit" location)

[Purevinyl]

Nice Deck! looks like a normal tape deck from the front, but it's a beast in size and depth. congrats!

[lance002]

Thank you.

I am past my noobishness and ready to play a tape tonight.

Was able to get tight packs of an ATR blank tape on rewind and fast forward using the Manual Velocity Control that allows variable speed from zero to full speed; settled on a slow enough speed to safely fill the spool.

Still working on the first-wrap technique.

[lance002]

Wow, just listened to Side A of Patricia Barber "Cafe Blue"; if this does not make the Spinsational Six then I have quite a treat waiting for me with the three already on the list. I actually enjoyed the vocals and lyrics (OK, maybe not the lyrics of "Inch Worm").

The deck is XLR and my linestage is RCA, so I have been suffering with a set of Hosa female XLR to male RCA adapters ($12 each from a local guitar shop) for almost a week until my Cardas adapters arrived yesterday and were installed about 24 hours ago. This reinforces my opinion that quality of interconnects matters in my system.

The deck has two mechanical noises, measured at my listening position 12 feet away: about +3 dbA from the power supply fan and about +0.8 dbA (by subtraction as the power supply needs to be on) from the motors, capstan and tape movement; neither cabinet has a back or sound deadening. These do not bother me (but will bother some, so I want to mention and repeat it) and are only heard during the quieter passages, and I plan on isolating the power supply, as best I can. I looked online for equivalent fans (120mm square, 38 mm thick and 100 cfm); I ordered one anyway just to try. My listening room is below 30 dbA with no equipment turned on other than the DirectTv receiver, and no "outside" noise present.

Still trying to get the hang of starting a spool and I slow-rewind all tails-out tapes. My tube amplifier takes about 30 minutes to "warm up," so that is dead time for SACD playback.

Comparing the Grandioso K1 and the MCI I would say the K1 is "spectacularly precise" and the MCI is "effortlessly natural." It is almost laughable now that my decision a month ago was between the G1 clock or the MCI. The price difference alone has more than funded my RTR library so far. The MCI bests the K1 by a fair margin in all aspects except mechanical noise (and of course ease of use and cost of software). I was told by two people before I bought the MCI that it had a world class preamp and I have to agree. I now have the best of both worlds with RTR software: the "silence" of SACD (no tape hiss) and the analog of vinyl (without the distortion); RTR is to vinyl as vinyl is to CD, the latter in each case being more convenient, but sonically a step back. I still prefer the mechanical noise of the MCI to vinyl playback (including associated equipment) "noise."

Every instrument in Cafe Blue was "alive" and accurately portrayed. I had read about the perceived superiority of analog to digital, so I always had in the back of my mind that I was missing something; now I know what it was (cymbals, piano, upright bass, woodwinds, brass, strings, etc. were not quite "there"with digital, even though it sounded "accurate" and "clean"). It is almost painful (dare I say "fatiguing"?) ) to listen to some digital knowing what the analog version sounds like; it is not just a "veil," but a different "interpretation." I no longer have to question whether the playback is a fair representation of the original recording venue. I feel like I have broken free, hearing things with clarity for the first time.

I have no "gain" in my system (just volume attenuation using light) and the MCI has plenty of "drive" using its default output position (somewhere around 2 volts; this is manually adjustable, I think to a whopping 24 volts) to push the one watt I need to drive my speakers to 94db one meter away (I sit about three meters away and doubt I get anywhere near that loud,but I have seven watts to spare). With only three tubes per channel, hopefully I am maximizing the low level information on the RTR software sent out as sound; it sure seems that way.

In summary, the MCI is hardware I could not live without, and the deck and Cardas adapters are not even broken in yet; the sound is so spectacular any drawbacks (including shear size) are minor. I considered "pro-sumer" decks, but the almost necessity of having an outboard preamp for sound quality and IEC drove the price "near" the MCI without the extra repro head for an outboard amp (which I am now convinced is not needed, but I have the extra head so might audition some for comparison - they may sound different, but it would seem hard to sound materially better - but the chase for "better" is part of being an audiophile). It is nice to have the "build" of a professional deck and the extra "features."

Offerings from Jonathan Horwich, The Tape Project and Acoustic Sounds (most of which I had never before heard, even if I have the SACD version as it has remained unplayed) sound spectacular on the MCI. I am waiting for the Nostos to arrive later this month for a treat as well as some of the tapes I have not listened to that have "complex" music (including the other two entries in the Spinsational Six) and the Side B for all of the two-tape albums I have listened to so far. It initially took me a couple of songs before my brain (fed solely digital for the past decade) figured out that RTR was a closer portrayal of the original recording (again, using the Hosa adapter) as I was listening via headphones (direct entry to the brain); almost like learning a foreign language. By the third song, there was no looking back.

YMMV as I have only heard it in my system, but as fantastic as the K1 sounds, it is not analog played by the MCI and never will be. Software availability necessitates keeping the K1 for now, and at the end of the day its "fault" is measured by subtraction of low level information found primarily on the software (omission versus commission).

[JDZA]

While I have no experience with the Mara Machines,I do love the sound of the MCI JH110. While not as precise or detailed as the Studer A 80. it does have a marvelous natural tonal balance with easy flowing rhytm structure. Currently my second most favourite,well until the next machine comes rolling in. I do find the fan somewhat obtrusive though and would not like mine (or any RtR for that matter) in my listening room.

IMG_0031 by jdza, on Flickr

[astrotoy]

Not to hijack the thread, but I have found that fan noise can be a big issue with my tape machines. I have two Ampex ATR-102's, one used for playback and one for recording. Since all my recording is dubbing tapes, I mostly use the playback machine only and the machine is dead quiet. However, I realized that my record machine fan is fairly noisy. It turns out my record machine has a stock fan and my record machine, which was worked on by ace tech Soren Wittrup in Chicago before he shipped it to me, has a replacement fan which Soren installed. Big difference in fan noise.

Larry

[lance002]

Thank you to both.

The Mara Hifi version has "a number of upgrades from our standard JH110 machines, like rebuilt motors, quieter fans, new bearings, and Flux Magnetic repro heads" per the website, so I suspect it sounds different than the "stock" version.

I am working with the dealer regarding the fan issue and possible isolation/wall treatments. As you can see by the picture above I had the power supply on top of the deck (now moved down and to the left) and there is a window directly behind the deck with the window covering in the down position.

Looks like +3dbA means if my room is 28.8 dbA quiet and 31.8 dbA with the fan on, then the fan is making 28.8 to 29.8 dbA noise. The fan is 57dbA from the back and my replacement fan (if it has the same connector) at 41 dbA is 16dbA less noise from the back; hopefully this means a reduction from the front as -4 to -9 dbA to the fan noise looks to reduce the sitting position noise by -2 dbA if I understand the sound levels correctly. A reduction of 10 dbA or more seems to mean 0 dbA change to my room noise of 28.8 dbA. I got this information from noisenet dot org slash Noise_Terms_calcs dot htm.

The sound from the deck is so fantastic I am willing to make the trade-off. At least the sound is fixed and does not increase with volume like vinyl.

[lance002]

Hat tip to Fernando Cruz (my dealer) and Will Tyson (Lead Technician at Mara) for suggesting isolation.

I made a rudimentary box from some spare 3/4" MDF with a covered access point in front for the power switch and this step reduced noise down to +1.4 dbA (over 50% reduction!). The back is about 50% open to allow airflow, so some noise is still hitting the wall. I think the replacement fan is set to arrive Tuesday.

BTW, Side B of Blue Cafe is stupendous (and the vocals are stunning), with a drum solo rivaling John Bonham around the 24 minute mark that lasts a few minutes and the cymbals on the entire side put the best of digital to shame; elusivedisc dot com may still have copies for sale, so no excuses for not having this one.

Also the "extra" guitar player in the right speaker performing in Folk Singer is magic; I never differentiated him from Muddy Waters this much on the SACD or MFSL vinyl as the two guitars appear to have a similar sound.