[QuadList] Restoring an Ampex AVR-1

[C. Park Seward]

I agree with my friend Don.

While that is the best quad ever made IMHO, it also has an appetite  
for a lot of time and money. I just got two audio head stacks lapped  
by John French and it was over $2,000.

A 1200 would be easier to resuscitate and maintain. It also runs on  
120VAC.

Best,
Park

C. Park Seward




On Oct 22, 2008, at 8:24 AM, Don Norwood wrote:

> Hi John:
>
> It will be interesting to see what the collective wisdom of this  
> group has to offer to your situation.  I suspect that the likelihood  
> of finding an AVR-1 available for donation would be an extremely  
> long shot.  But beyond that, I would encourage you or the group you  
> are working with to very carefully and realistically examine both  
> your goals and abilities in relationship to this project.  Any quad  
> machine, and most particularly an AVR-1, requires specialized  
> knowledge along with both technical and financial resources to  
> maintain it in an operating environment.
>
> If your goal is to have a machine that operates reliably, the only  
> way to achieve that level of performance is to properly refurbish  
> the machine.  Simply substituting boards from another "donor"  
> machine is not a good idea for several reasons.  First, if the donor  
> machine has not been properly maintained, it too will likely  
> experience failure, and then what?  You must properly repair it or  
> find yet another donor which is just not a practical approach.   
> Second, depending on what boards are swapped, there may be alignment  
> and set-up issues that if not properly performed, will either  
> degrade the performance of the machine or render it unusable, even  
> though the board is perfectly good.
>
> Having worked with non-profits, I am sympathetic to the common  
> problem of budget restraints.  Unfortunately, the reality of the  
> costs, both in dollars and knowledge, may be more than the  
> organization can bear.  I certainly wish you success, and strongly  
> support the preservation of this technology, but I also urge you to  
> carefully evaluate your expectations and resources to determine if  
> this is a feasible undertaking for the organization.  There may be  
> other alternatives which are more practical.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Don
>
> Don Norwood
> Digitrak Communications, Inc.