You got the cables? When was the last time the heads were relapped? Did you get the power supply and umbilical? Does the remote work? How are the Brakes? Rubber in good condition? Do you have an alignment tape? How many Hours since relapping? Do you have the owners manual and the servicing manual? Is the take-up reel in good shape? Was it used recently?

Answer all of this for yourself and then you will have a beginners look at the machine!

yes I was prepared for most of this-
Cables-no.
Last time relapped-never (still has 9k hours on it)
Power supply and umbilical-yes
Remote work?-no remote
Brakes-good
Rubber-good
alignment tape-yes
hours on machine-11k (20k heads)
Owners manual-not sure
Service manual-wouldn't buy it without one
take-up reel-good
used recently-only to test it

So umm, does anyone like or dislike or have any stories about this machine?

The 800s are great machines. The one question I have is how will you arm the tracks to record if there is no remote?

As a guy who owned one for many years, I can tell you it is a great machine capable of great recordings. The punch-in can be a little slow or tricky compared to other decks. And it can be noisy/squeeky enough to be annoying.

Great sounding machine! I think it is one of the best deals going in used machines. I have never heard any squeaks/noises. Better buy up on tape. Tape manufacturers are getting few and far between. Last I heard Emtec had none available due to bankruptcy and sale. So what is on the shelf at your local supplier may be it for a bit. Maybe someone else has heard more recent news.

I didn't realize that there was a tape shortage in the near future...I do have one 2" reel of Quantegy.

I also didn't know that the punch in was that slow in this one, I thought that was more a problem that plagued the A80 not the 800 series, though I could be wrong.

Thanks for the input guys, anymore specifics or user stories on this machine would be great!

Aaron

For all things tape, contact ARCAL in the SF Bay Area ... http://www.arcal.com / info@arcal.com

They will be able to advise you in regards to the availibility of 2" tape.

I can't feature that it would be that hard to get. There are a lot of pro rooms that still use 2" tape.

Imation bought up the data storage portion of Emtec. I do not know who bought the analog portion. I had read that 3M had, but was told that it was not Emtec magnetics, but Emtec Engineering that was purchased. If anyone knows speak up.

Emtec/BASF was going under, spun off the analog tape operations, was involved in a class action lawsuit for price fixing the US import stock of pancake tape, closed the Nashville and LA sales offices, said bye-bye at the LA SPARS meeting, and that's all that I know.

It looks like Quantegy is THE supplier of 2" now that isn't bankrupt.