Studer A80 Home Studio

by chowkwan on Studer Manley NagraEminent TechnologyNBSAgfa BASF 468Versa DynamicsBlue Hawaii StaxGanesh Hindu God of MusicMicro-BenzPearl ZildjianDeanFredensteinReaperBurlGold Lion KT 77
Half Inch Studer A80 + Agfa 468 tape = Live. Reaper Digital Audio Workstation software. Burl B2 Bomber A/D converter. No lousy steenkin' limiters or compressors.
Artwork by Djibril Ndoye who is a world class drummer from Senegal.
The Wave flanked by, appropriately, the Blue Hawaii headphone amp created specifically to drive the Stax 9. Self-portrait by Miles Davis.
Spaghetti much.
Manley 440 on top with KT 77's. Manley 500 on bottom with KT 90's. The 440 powers the panels on the Eminent Technology LFT 8A's and the 500 powers the woofer.
Versa Dynamics 1.3 with Benz-Micro LP mono cartridge. John Bicht has been wonderful about supporting the Versa, decades out of production but still arguably the best turntable in the known universe.
It is the Legend. Nagra. Wooden sculpture in background by William Stranger doubles as a diffuser.
The full Nagra CD Player. Transport on top. Bottom shelf: power supply on left, DAC on right.
Daryl Dimebag guitar by Dean. Marshall DSL 40C amp.
Pearl drums. Zildjian cymbals. Billy Cobham drumsticks. A classic combo.
I, for one, welcome our new Hindoo musical god. The Ganesh is not bad either.
Tired from all that audiophilin'? Recline.
Turntable Alley
Turntable Alley

Description

It's wonderful that people are getting into reel to reel. The two half inch Studer A80's are the foundation of a home recording studio. One serves as the main recorder, the other is the backup or "Safety". IMHO, Agfa 468 is the tape to use. Agfa was bought out by BASF and now it's made by Recording the Masters. Fredenstein electronics. That there lil' ol' cube you see on the right of the second to bottom shelf is a 32 track mixer. Fred has used his semiconductor background to put a mixer on a chip. Welcome to the 21st Century, friends. For mikes there are Manley Gold Stereo, Sanken 100K (yup that's 100 KHz. If it's good enough for George Massenburg, it's good enuff for me), and the ubiquitous Neumann U87.
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Room Details

Dimensions: 32’ × 20’  X large
Ceiling: 9’

Components Toggle details

    • Manley Lab, NBS, Eminent Technology, Hsu Wave, Skipjack, 440 monoblocks, 500 monoblocks, LFT 8A, VTF-2 Mk. 4
    Welcome to the Manley Lab demo room. I kid. I kid. It just seems that way. Four inputs in to the Wave Pre-amp just wasn't enough. Adding two Skipjacks brings the number of inputs up to ten. And y'know what? It's STILL not enough inputs. The weight of all the NBS wires has to be counterbalanced by a lead ingot otherwise the whole thing'd tip over. A pair of 440 monoblocks runs the panels on the Eminent Technology LFT8A speaker. The monoblocks have been tricked out with Genuine Gold Lion KT-77's. Mmmmm delicious smooth KT-77 sound. The 500's run the woofer on the Eminent Technology ET 8A's. Four Hsu VTF-2 Mk 4's have built in amps.

Comments 9

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Owner
@emaillists I am the Don Law of Thai Classical Music using an AEA 88A stereo mike and an RPQ2 mic amp into a Nagra Seven recorder.

The studio setup here I use for at most a trio due to lack of real estate. There are so many great musicians out there. My inspiration is M. Ward who records in what looks like a sitting room (Blue Note anyone?).

chowkwan

Enjoyed seeing this recording setup and reading about the mics.  What kinds of things do you record?  I own a few nice pieces of recording gear - a U67, matched pair of AKG 414XLS, a single Neve Portico II channel.

emailists

Thanks so much for the response, chowkwan.  I've got a 1/4" A812 whose power supply problems are giving me fits.  Will call on Monday.  Again, great system!

millguy_3

Wow. The whole setup and choice of decor and art is simply sublime! The whole space feels artistically inspired and inspiring. Well done.

shadorne

Owner
To millguy_3, who was asking about service on your Studer. Charlie Bolois, he da man.

Charlie Bolois
Vertigo Recording Services
210 West Palm Ave.
Burbank, CA 91502

(818) 429-3334

chowkwan

Two pair ET LFT-8's! Have you seen the thread by the guy who made new stands his, putting two LFT mid drivers side by side with two more directly above, with two tweeters one-atop-the-other right up against the mid drivers!

bdp24

Wow, brilliant system. Engaging in every sense. Congratulations!
~Oran

oranfoster

Nice system with insightful equipment choices.  Bet the LFT8s sound great fed by the Manleys.  Do you do your own Studer maintenance? Thanks for posting this.

millguy_3

Very nice set up. Apparently it is all about the music. The art works are anice touch as well. A very organic set up - must be fun to listen to and use.

jg_meyer

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