Revox B-710 Mk II
Studer Revox built this cassette deck like a broadcast machine and then dared you to open it up and compare.
Overview
The ad ran a photograph of the deck's insides, untouched, under the line "The Naked Cassette Deck." Studer Revox knew what the comparison would show. Most cassette transports of the period rode on stamped metal and a sliding sled. The B-710 Mk II sat on a die-cast aluminum alloy chassis with four direct-drive motors - two quartz-regulated, Hall-effect capstan motors and two microprocessor-controlled DC spooling motors. No belts, no pulleys, no clutches. The company's own advertising billed the deck as "shamelessly professional," and the transport architecture was the argument.
The headblock is the other half of that argument. The usual design has a sled pushing heads into the shell, and its free play invites azimuth drift. The B-710 Mk II instead pivots its die-cast headblock upward on conical bearings machined to a 0.001 mm tolerance and locks it into a three-point mount. The headblock returns to the same position every time, which is why the deck earned a reputation for staying in alignment. Wow and flutter was conservatively rated at 0.05% DIN weighted. Mix-Magazine (October 1982, p.73) put the figure at an extremely low 0.035% RMS.
Audio (March 1983, p.62) listed the manufacturer's specs as 30 Hz to 18 kHz, extending to 20 kHz with chrome or metal tape, harmonic distortion of 0.8%, a signal-to-noise ratio of 72 dBA with Dolby C engaged, and channel separation of 40 dB. Input sensitivity was quoted at 0.35 mV for the mike inputs and 35 mV for line. Mix-Magazine (October 1982, p.73) reported a signal-to-noise figure better than −72 dB, IEC weighted at 3% distortion, with the same 30 Hz to 20 kHz response on metal or chrome bias.
The B-710 Mk II shares its transport with the Studer A710, the professional version of the same deck. The two machines share the three-head design, the internal 24-hour clock for programmable operation, tape-type sensing, Dolby B and C noise reduction, plug-in modular PC boards, an optional remote control, and an adjustable headphone output with ample amplification. The A710 got professional line-level inputs and outputs with output levels adjustable from −3 to +14 dBu, calibrated input and output levels, XLR connectors, and a rack-mount flange as standard. The Revox version, the lower-priced one, got front-panel mike inputs, mike/line mixing, and an optional infrared remote. If you wanted the studio connectors, you paid for the Studer badge. If you wanted to plug a microphone straight into the front and mix it against line sources, the Revox was the one to buy.
Modern Recording (November 1982, p.60) walked through the front-panel logic: a four-digit counter that doubles as a clock, and a microprocessor that handles memory location of preselected tape sections plus repeat play of chosen portions or an entire cassette. The counter group on the left relates to timer and memory functions; the group on the right handles the multiplex filter and tape selection. At the rear sit the line input and output jacks, with individual output level adjustments, alongside the power-line fuse and AC cord. It is a layout built for repeatable production work rather than casual listening, which is exactly what the deck was for.
The B-710 Mk II was never a budget machine. Mix-Magazine (October 1982, p.73) listed the suggested retail at $1,995.00, which was serious money for a cassette deck in 1982 and roughly what a decent open-reel machine cost. The sales pitch was that the money went into the transport and the electronics, not the trim. The deck adapts to external computer control, and Revox packed each new B-710 Mk II with three free TDK cassettes.
Today the B-710 Mk II asks for patience and a willingness to service it. Four motors, a pivoting headblock on precision bearings, and a chassis full of plug-in modular boards make it a machine that rewards competent maintenance and punishes neglect. The modular PC boards help. The die-cast chassis helps more, because it does not flex and does not throw the headblock out of alignment the way a stamped chassis eventually will. Collectors note that the transport is the reason to own one, and also the reason a neglected example can be a money pit. As with any deck of this vintage, the condition of the heads and the health of the capstan motors matter more than cosmetics.
The B-710 Mk II sits in a peculiar spot in the Revox catalog. It is a cassette deck built to open-reel standards, sharing its guts with a Studer, and priced accordingly. It is not the deck you buy to play back old mixtapes.
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