Dear Slutz, please answer this one... I've been hearing storiies about these STUDER's Top of the Range products and problems with them... Many say they're worst Studer's babies... Why? What's it all about? I have a combination to buy one or two of these decks.... But, should I be that scared? People've been telling me stories about their construcyional problems, short life, bad capacitors... Are these stories false or true? What are your "servicing" and "owning" experiences? What should I be afraid of, regarding A820s??? Till now, I've only worked with Otaris...

Thanks... I really need answers, I would buy 2 machines these days if everything's OK.

Regards from Serbia!

In truth...

Nothing really.

I've spent more time on A800's then the 820's & 827's and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong about any of this stuff.

IMO sonically they're all good sounding machines. The 827's seem a beefier and 'bigger' and IMO have a slightly more rugged transport but to the degree of splitting hairs. IIRC the 827 is a bit easier to service then the 820 but it makes NO difference to me since I call somebody for all that sort of stuff anyway!

The 820's have an 'auto-alignment' feature that some people use & others don't trust at all & it can also store alignments which is a BIG plus if you have multiple projects with multiple alignments coming through your shop. I take the middle ground on it...I trust it enough to get in the ballpark but I'd rather do the last 20% & final checks myself. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think the 820's also have a built in synchronizer.

As for capaciter life...ehhh...probably 50/50. Any machine is going to need it's electrolyitcs replaced every so often but like anything else, how often depends on a couple three factors. Where the machine is housed & it's average operating temp & environment are HUGE...if it's in a dusty shop & stuffed into a closet or back corner without adaqute ventilation & HVAC it'll eat caps like jellybeans...but stick 'em in a nice clean & cool place and the caps will last a LOT longer.

Some places power the machines down all the time & some shops leave 'em juiced up 24/7 and that's another huge factor.

Really dude...they're Studers...either one is a fine choice! Hunt around for a killer deal on well maintained decks. Get service records if you can and IMO a head report is MANDATORY before plunking down any amount of dough unless the machines are just stoopidly cheap!

Thanks Jay... I hope the troubles on these 2 decks only consider caps... Should recapping be a problem or huge expense? As I told, I've never used Studer... only Otaris... But I think this'll be a presedan!

Thanks again...

A827 is an awesome deck. It also has the ability to store your setup data at the end of the reel. Search the forum for the user "maidsroom" he has good contact #'s for Studer repair. They also respond to email very well. I would only buy an A827.