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<DIV>The AVR-2 will make better pictures and provide better audio. It also
takes a lot less power. There are a couple of things that you need to look
at.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>First and foremost is what recording standard was used. The AVR-2 is
a high band only machine. There were board sets available for other
standards. These are hard to come by but the instruction book always
included the other boards so you could make your own. It will take
time.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Second, What condition is the transport. Look at all the rollers and
guides on any machine. How about the compliance arms? The rollers
and compliance arms can be rotated to get rid of the cuts. Do the rollers
even turn? What condition are the audio and erase stacks? Do the
reel hold downs on the VR-1200 hold a reel? These are all pieces that you
will want to consider replacing because they can cause edge damage.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>After that, look at the serial number and modification history. The
early AVR-2's had a lot of modifications. By the time they were in the
500's. it was pretty stable except for the Triac assembly. The VR-1200 had
a long history. The Inter-sync went through about 11 (?) different
versions. The assembly number has a -xx and that tells you the
version. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The VR-1200 Auto Chroma was a band by band system. The AVR-2 was a
line by line system. It makes a difference. The VR-1200 had as an
option, the Differential Gain module. This is something that makes a whole
lot better pictures. The AVR-2 had that built in. I could get an
AVR-2 to look better than a 1 inch Sony. It was because I took the time to
tweak the DG controls and set it up correctly.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The AVR-2 has a better RF system. The filters used were better
designed. The VR-1200 had numerous filters available. There were
four different versions listed in the schematics. Most came with the
better filter but not all. Also most came with the AFC modulator but again
not all. These things make subtle differences in the performance.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The VR-1200 can play back some tapes that the AVR-2 has issues with.
Or you have to go into the AVR-2 and change a few jumpers. Most of these
are very early tapes that were made on poorly maintained machines. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>So what does it come down to? I would not worry that much about the
transistors but more about what do you want to do with the machine. Yes
the AVR-2 is a better performing machine and will work forever. The
VR-1200 is a little easier to get to but you have to spend a little more time
keeping it up. The biggest thing is you are going to have to look at all
the big electrolytic capacitors in each. The get a stock of certain
transistors for both. The AVR-2 will go through the power transistors on
the back panel a lot. That was the major item that I dealt with. The
VR-1200 it was just general ones in all different areas. Mostly keep the
servos aligned. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hope this helps your decision.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Chris Hill</DIV></FONT><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/>The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. <b><a href="http://music.aol.com/grammys?ncid=emlcntusmusi00000002">AOL Music takes you there</a></b>.</font></DIV></BODY></HTML>