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My tastes in audio slowly but irreversibly migrate out of the “common audiophile sense”. 

Years ago I met some people form NY and Chicago, the former classical radio-station employees, the people with encyclopedic knowledge and understanding of music and the people with a mind-boggling collection of recorded FM broadcasts form the entier world that never ever were released or become available. Over the years I have purchased from them CD copiers of some of their tapes and they become my favorite CDs that I play when I want to listen the real music.

Couple years ago I paid attention that my local Clark Johnson, despite owing a 3-floor home filed with LPs and 78s, do not even have a playback to listen all his staff but prefer to spend most of his listening time with FM radio. Clark, among my audio people is kind of “strange person” as I hardly find any common grounds to talk with him about audio and some of his audio thoughts I do not take seriously. However, I do not think that I even had in my listening room more interesting, evolved and sophisticated music listener then Clark and it is always superbly educational to listen music with him. 

So, my FM broadcast that I was buying, the Clark's examples and few other thing moved me to pay very close attention to the phenomenal FM classical radio stations that we are lucky to have in Boston and to become thier avis follower. One after another, 5  "good" tuners went through my room and gave me some wonderful experiences.... but the recent sucker really was the straw that really broke the camel’s back.

I did not buy CDs or LPs since then. Today, I clearly see myself in future as the person who has no analog or digital installation but only my Macondo Acoustic System, pair of the Super Melquiadeses and a proper  tuner. The thousands dollars that spent in past buying music I would rather, with a great pleasure donate to my local classical FM radio station, and it would be all that I ever need. Do not make any mistake thinking that it would be consider "downgrading" of my audio demands in any way. I still have very serious and very demanding and very evolve audio objectives, the objectives that so far only FM broadcast could fulfill. Stop by in my listening room during an interesting FM broadcast and I will demonstrate you sound that you hardly hear from any audio-minded installation….

Anyhow,

Here are the things that I'm contemplating now. The broadcast quality is superb and many performances that I'm hearing I would like to record. For instance, the last night’s broadcast of the San Francisco Symphony under Herbert Blomstedt playing the Bruckner’s No. 4 was something that I would like to listen again. However, what kind of recording media would be able to preserve that magic of the FM broadcast?

I my past I had the Nakamichi CR-7A and recorded on a good metal tape it did a fantastic job; I still have many of this tapes. So, probably the CR-7A or Dragon would be the obvious choose, but are any alternatives available? Some people propose that the audio recording on Sony SuperBetta professional machine might deliver way more superiors result then Nak’s cassettes. I might also go for a good reel-to-reel machine. The new blank reel-to-reel tapes are being manufactured and the new heads are available, so why not? Perhaps some kind of DAT of hard drive-based digital format might be used? I really do not know and frankly speaking I would like do not try all of them.

Can some of you share your experience with recording media and suggest what from your prospective might be able to handle the “size” and the “weigh” of the FM broadcasts?

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