From: utzoo!decvax!decwrl!sun!megatest!fortune!dsd!atd!avsdS:avsdT:jon
Newsgroups: net.records
Title: Re: cassette brands
Article-I.D.: avsdT.238
Posted: Wed Dec 29 15:01:18 1982
Received: Thu Dec 30 05:18:29 1982
References: tekid.687


In response to tekid!barbaral's inquiry about Ampex 90 minute
cassette tapes I can offer a little information.

First of all, although I work for Ampex, I have nothing to do
with tape production; however, I have a lot of Ampex (and other
manufacturers') tapes.  Second of all, Ampex no longer makes con-
sumer tape.

In general, I've found Ampex cassette tapes to be of quite satis-
factory quality.  They really aren't high-end tapes and it's not
fair to compare them (even Grand Master) to TDK SAs or Maxell
UDXLs.  If they all were the same price, I'd take the SAs or
UDXLs.

The Ampex EDR and ELN series are fine tapes and offer excellent
value.  I use them in my car and Walkman primarily but also at
home and am perfectly satisfied.  The Grand Master series are
also good tapes but perhaps don't offer as good a cost/benefit
ratio.  Grand Master tapes do have two sets of labels for those
interested.  (The newer GM tape labels leave plenty of room to
write, whereas the old ones didn't.) I have over 70 Ampex tapes
and have never had a jamming problem.

If you are a critical listener you probably ought to stick with
TDK & Maxell.  Personally, I think Fuji tapes outperform TDK &
Maxell in the $3-$3.75 category.  I also think it's ridiculous to
use $3+ tapes in a car or Walkman and the intended purpose should
be mentioned when recommending a tape.

Ampex had a number of tape lines out and some are better than
others.  I have noticed that some lots are of lesser quality than
others.  Quality control seems to be much higher for Japanese
brands.  My advice is to by one tape and try it out and if it
works OK go back and buy a bunch.  While they're still available,
Ampex tapes are a very good value for the $$$.

-jonathan hahn
Ampex Corp.


P.S. This is unrelated, but once I bought a Memorex High Bias
tape and it only had 3 inches of tape in it!  I sent it back and
got a replacement with a letter saying "...after close examina-
tion, we have determined that the cassette you sent us was defec-
tive..."