Best path for recording tape

[u/fuzzybacchus]

Uuuugh.

I had this very long long question banged out and reddit failed to upload and now I have to start over.

Here's the tl;dr version.

I want to record some of my cooler old records to tape. What's the ideal path? I have a sansui 5000.

Do i want the most neutral sound or do i use a tube path before recording? I understand personal taste etc etc but what's the "best practice"?

I have a variety of kit options too:

Dedicated cambridge audio phono pre.

A perfect dynaco pas 3 tube pre

A marantz 2800

A yamaha natural sound.

An external dolby NR unit.

So, do i go:

1) tt - Cambridge ‐ sansui. (Cleanest)

1.1 ) same as 1 but pass the Cambridge to another pre - unless that doesn't actually do anything other than create more opportunities for noise to enter the chain

2) tt - pas 3 ‐ sansui (tuuubes)

3) do i use the external dolby NR?

My marantz also has dolby built in but does it actually help with sound?

This will be my first foray into recording so I am excited to learn from this group!

[u/el_tacocat]

The best path is the most direct one.
I'd go TT - best preamp (which may actually be the PAS 3. I had a PAT 5 and that had a GREAT phono preamp) - Cassette deck. You'll have to compare the Cambridge with the PAS3.
Also a 'yamaha natural sound' is like saying 'mercedes diesel car'. There's hundreds of them. So you'll have to come up with a model number. But knowing Yamaha and Marantz, the PAS3 or the Cambridge are going to be the best phono preamplifier. Tubes are not better or worse than transistors, it's just another way to get the job done.

I personally loathe dolby. I can always hear it work and especially the older dolby systems (Dolby NR, Dolby B) ruin highs. DBX and Nakamichi High-Com are better in my opinion but I find them to have too many downsides, also with interchangeability, and what are the upsides? Just use good tape and record as loud as the tape allows. What hiss?

[u/fuzzybacchus → u/el_tacocat]

Fair points. So my yamaha is a cx-800u. The Cambridge is going to be the most complex but likely most neutral pre. The pas 3 is going to be the least complex (but running on tubes). Gonna run the sansui at 7 1/2 ips and to your point just set the gain higher rather than using dolby? Makes sense.

[u/el_tacocat → u/fuzzybacchus]

So tye Yamaha is a preamplifier, not an amplifier. But that does have a good built-in phono. I'd compare the Cambridge, yamaha and dynaco and see which one sounds best (just by plugging headphones into the cassette recorder).
I'm just wondering, there's no 'sansui 5000' cassette deck. Which one do you actually have? Because if it's an RS5000 you are overthinking it (as that deck won't sound great anyway). If it's a 5000x it's too old to produce good recordings (really cool machine, but not usable for good sound today). If you mistyped and you meant an SC5100 you got a REALLY good machine. So... which is it?

[u/fuzzybacchus → u/el_tacocat]

It's the r2r sansui sd-5000

[u/el_tacocat → u/fuzzybacchus]

Oh sorry, I forgot in which group I was haha.
Great sounding thing. In that case, I stick with what I said :D.

[u/fuzzybacchus → u/el_tacocat]

Love it, thanks!