Well i scored the machine and its in great condition, but the heads need relaping, it is being rebuilt as i type. They are considered great sounding units, we will see.
Steven,
The MCI JH110B machine is not bad.
I know a few guys who own them and will be doing electronics upgrades to both. In standard trim I would say the repro is a bit better than the record side
and my clients listening tests tend to confirm this.
The repro are very similar in design to their mix console mic pre amps, which were not too bad, however they certainly can be improved quite a bit, there's a lot of junk
in the signal path (opamps, electro caps, etc etc) The good news is MCI is very accessible and doing card level upgrades are no problem.
The record side is probably a little more compromised and needs some work to get it really nice. Same deal card based and easy to sort.
Ultimately, a discrete / tube replay straight from heads is the way to go but that is an expensive option.
I'll keep you all posted how we go with this as he wants to get it done in not too distant future.
cheers
Terry