Quote Originally Posted by JohnMichael
Sounds like you need your tape heads aligned.
There were several reel to reel recorders of that era that didn't really need Dolby noise
reduction, Revox and Tandberg comes to mine. The Revox did add Dolby later and used a 10 inch reel.

The Akai GX600DB was a dog with fleas. It needed all the help it could use.
The Revox A77 Mark lV had Dolby plus used 10 inch reels. The Revox A700 did not need a Doby noise reduction system and also used 10 inch reels.
I have a Revox A77 runs perfectly , has been in for repair only three times in 40 years.
The last time it was in the repair shop the technicians enjoyed the playback of the 40 year old machine.