Comments on: Magnecord Tape Machines of the Early 1960s

By: Samuel A Morrison

Samuel A Morrison — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 21:24:11 +0000

I’m looking for a 728 15 ips. Anybody have one to sell?

By: John Farrell

John Farrell — Sun, 22 May 2022 04:16:17 +0000

Any luck in sourcing output transformers? I have a 1048 that needs the upgrade. Thanks

By: dana

dana — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 21:46:30 +0000

hello, all. I acquired a 728 (strangely, the model number is stamped as 728-44) some years ago. It has sat static for those years and I assume for some years prior to my acquisition. My first of probably many questions – can someone point me to a resource as this does not seem so much like a bulletin board for such use. In the case that no one has such, first problem is. the power cord is stiff and dry (rubber casing) and gives me pause to even start the troubleshooting.

By: Philip Jones

Philip Jones — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 05:27:12 +0000

In reply to Chris Whinery. Did you sell these parts?

By: Russell Clark

Russell Clark — Tue, 05 Mar 2019 16:04:18 +0000

I have a Magnecord 1024 which I bought new in the 1960’s. It is still like new and working …It has been well maintained. Replaced the idler and belt …serviced the electronics once…. made to last I would say

By: Chris Whinery

Chris Whinery — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 06:41:26 +0000

I have dozens of early Magnecord transports and preamps (some believed to be Demo’s & prototypes) and hundreds/thousands of parts and manuals. All from the estate of Feador Van Den Dool a WW2 hero and 70 year employee of Magnecord/Midwest/Telex. I’d like to sell this collection to a passionate enthusiast, please give me a call Chris (918) 949-5626

By: Jim S.

Jim S. — Sun, 07 May 2017 23:53:08 +0000

At this time without doing further research, I seem to recall that the 1028 was a ‘half track’ unit that recorded in stereo using one half the tape per channel in one direction only, whereas the 1048 model recorded ‘quarter track’ stereo on one forth the tape per channel but the reels could be ‘flipped over’ to reverse the direction; I think this would be compatible with ‘standard’ stereo decks. Of course, due to the nature of the construction of the record/playback head assembly, a machine could easily be converted to utilize any head arrangement so one might find a model with either heads.
P.S. I have a 1028 that has been stored away since the early 1980’s after I purchased an Akai 635D for convenience which was able to play the Magnecord tapes in one direction only. The Magnecord has/had a warmer sound and I even used it in the mid 1970’s to tape a master for a live album released by an area band.

By: chris

chris — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 15:13:34 +0000

In reply to Seth Lorinczi. That sounds like a wise idea to me. AFAIK, the best move here is to use a transformer such that the reflected impedance of the secondary is 1/10th that of the pot value (IE., if it's a 100k pot and your source into the deck is 600 ohm, use a 600:10k transformer or even one with a lower turns ratio. This SHOULD minimize any timbral shift accompanying pot position. Other folks may have other advice...

By: Seth Lorinczi

Seth Lorinczi — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 14:49:04 +0000

In reply to Mark.

I’ve been researching input transformers for my 728 as well. Given that I only plan on using it as a mastering deck (in other words, no mic-level signals), the best advice I’ve gotten thus far is to bypass a gain stage and connect a Jensen line-matching transformer to the gain pot.:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/geekslutz-forum/1128320-line-input-transformer-does-care-whether-feeds-pentode-triode.html

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 22 Jun 2016 13:46:56 +0000

In reply to greg richardson. Greg . . . Did you ever find transformers for your 728 that matched the ones you already have? If so, could you kindly relay what you used and where to get them?