Studer A-80R
A two-track Studer that working studios bought by the pair, and that the used market still prices like a serious machine.
Overview
Studer's own advertising for the A80/RC made a blunt pitch: the two-channel machine cost the same as or less than two of the other three popular names, and the copy insisted the quality "defies comparison." That is marketing, and collectors treat it as such. The secondhand record does back up the idea that this was a working studio tool rather than a showpiece. When Recording-Engineer (December 1977, p.59) ran the A80/RC announcement, it framed the machine as Studer build quality without a premium over the competition.
The A-80R turns up in period studio inventories as a workhorse two-track. A studio inventory in Mix (February 1981, p.47) lists Studer A80R and B67 machines among the tape recorders for the facility's work. A Canadian studio listing in Canadian Musician notes an A80R mono machine with pilotone in its rack of recorders.
The used listings put the A-80R in its place in the Studer lineup: the affordable two-track in a family dominated by multitrack A80s. Through the late Seventies and early Eighties, UK classifieds in Studio-Sound repeatedly price a used A80R stereo at roughly £3,000-3,500. The multitrack A80 Mk II machines in the same columns commanded £6,000 to £23,500, depending on track count and autolocate. The A-80R was the entry point into A80 ownership.
The A80 name covered a family of configurations, and buyers should not confuse them. The classifieds distinguish A80 Mk II multitracks, A80 stereo machines, and the A80R stereo specifically, with the "R" two-track appearing at 7½/15 i.p.s. and occasionally in a 4-track ½-inch form. A VU-meter variant, the A80R VU Stereo, also appears in dealer stock lists. Anyone shopping an "A80R" should confirm which head configuration and meter type they are getting, because the badge alone does not settle it.
The period record is thin on the A-80R's own numbers. The surviving documentation mostly prices and places the machine rather than measuring it. What the listings do confirm is the transport's flexibility: the stereo A80R is consistently described at 7½ and 15 i.p.s., the two speeds that made it useful for both master work and reference dubs.
The A-80R was bought new to earn its keep, and it was priced accordingly on the used market - a fraction of a multitrack A80 but still real money, and still a Studer.
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