The first in a short series of videos captured at the recent Hi-Fi Show Live 2019 in Ascot, UK – in which the Rambler’s roving reporter, Shauna Robertson, grabbed a quick chat with a number of devotees of R2R – from journalists to record labels to manufacturers of open reel tape. We asked them such … More A quick chat with… Ken Kessler
Well, we did it… this Hallowe’en weekend, The Reel-to-Reel Rambler went from being an online webzine to a collaborative live event at Hi-Fi Show Live 2019 – and what a show it was! If there was any doubt about the growing interest in reel-to-reel, then this weekend must surely have put it to rest. The … More Hi-Fi Show Live 2019: “a pivotal moment for tape”!
The Rambler has some very exciting news to announce…. this October we’re celebrating all things reel-to-reel at the UK’s biggest high-end hi-fi show and we’d love you to come along and join us! The show: Hi-Fi Show Live, Ascot, UK, 26th-27th October 2019 Hi-Fi Show Live, now in its 7thyear, is run by AVTech Media, … More R2R live! The Rambler will be at the UK’s Hi-Fi Show Live this October – with tape decks both vintage and brand new, tape labels, tape manufacturers, tech tape advice and more (oh and Ken Kessler!)
You know that irksome feeling when you really want to hate something but you can’t help loving it? Worse still, have you ever waxed lyrical in the public domain about how terrible something is, and then found yourself being blown away by it? Then you’ll understand how poor Ken Kessler feels, as this self-confessed cassette … More Still reeling: Ken Kessler discovers audiophile cassettes
Intrepid R2R junkie Ken Kessler didn’t always have a bountiful stock of tapes. Everybody has to start somewhere, after all. Here, Ken casts his mind back to the early days of his open-reel tape habit and recounts how he got started building up a collection of pre-recorded reel-to-reels. When Tim de Paravicini demo’d a mint … More Kicking off the Kessler collection: in which tape junkie Ken Kessler recounts his early forays into the world of pre-recorded reel-to-reels
When an addiction takes hold, there’s no knowing where it might lead. Here, hi-fi journalist Ken Kessler’s love of all things tape takes a turn for the surprising… My name is Ken Kessler and I’m an addict… and this disease – a new-found love of tape – manifested itself in a strange way at the … More “I always felt that cassettes were utter shite”: Ken Kessler treats us to a brief digression from the continuing saga of his reel-to-reel adventures
About a month ago, we learnt that renowned hi-fi journalist Ken Kessler has harboured a life-long love of tape. Now, he comes clean about the full extent of his fondness for all things open reel. At this stage, it’s worth letting you know just how badly infected I am by the open-reel bug. Having just … More Six of the best: in which Ken Kessler atones for prior tape ‘sins’ by stocking up on vintage decks
As a hi-fi journalist of international standing, Ken Kessler has a breadth and depth of experience in all things audio. In fact, there’s not much in the world of hi-fi that he hasn’t seen or heard and, as his readers know and appreciate, he isn’t afraid to be candid in sharing his opinions about it … More ‘Decked by tape’: for Ken Kessler, open reel tape has been with him all the way
Dave Denyer: The Reel-to-Reel Rambler 