Crown CX844 Reel to Reel In Custom Walnut Cabinet - METICULOUSLY RESTORED and Customized

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This special Crown vintage reel to reel machine came to us from a serious collector who gathered nothing but the best.

The CX844 in its custom wooden cabinet is simply stunning to look and and operate.

This specific example was actually painstakingly hand-built for our client from NOS (New Old Stock) official Crown Audio parts. All to a great cost and investment in time.

This is also a 4 Track version capable of high speed. 

It also includes a Crown D-40 amplifier mounted at the bottom which could make this a stand alone piece.

Its twin brother and the last custom CX844 we had sold quickly to a lucky buyer. You can check out that unit via the video below. Notice the lack of custom wooden cabinet on this sold machine, which makes this unit stand out even more.

Really stunning to look at even when it's just sitting looking pretty. This is also a 4 Track version capable of high speed.

These sold for $3,000 back in the 1970's which works out to about $23,000 in 2020.

Due to its size and weight this machine will be carefully packed and shipped via freight at no additional cost anywhere within the lower 48 US States. International buyers please inquire for a shipping quote as we have experience shipping worldwide. 

Click below to add our recommended matching cables from Kimber Kable, all brand new as SkyFi is an official Kimber dealer.

Kimber Kable - RCA Interconnects - Best

The SkyFi Testing Process for Tape Decks and Reel to Reel Machines:

First steps are performed to determine if the unit is a candidate for our full restoration process or if its just in need of a light service.

We first do a  basic functionality test to ensure proper playback fast forward and rewind.  We look for smooth operation of the motors, transport engagement and associated rolling parts.  

We then do an internal physical inspection to ensure the belts and rubber consumable parts are up to spec.  

Internal components are checked to make sure that there are no signs of heat stress or damage particularly in the power supply section.  Capacitors are checked for telltale signs of predictive failure including bulging, shrunken wrappers, or physical leakage. We also inspect the PCBs for discoloration from resistors or transistors that may have been running hot. On vintage units we often spot check select capacitors for value and ESR. 

A light service will involve replacement of belts and rollers, external cleaning of heads, mechanism and boards and basic record and playback tests.  

A full restoration will often include disassembly of the drive system and replacement of all consumable and wearable parts including pinch rollers, belts, brakes, bearings.  We then clean lubricate and re-assembly the drive and perform basic mechanical alignment to ensure proper tape path and head alignment. 

Final calibration will involved adjustment of playback erase and record heads and optimization of the bias for a specific tape type.  We do this with the aid of a  Soundtech 1510A tape deck analyzer and a Nakamichi T100 unit and reference calibration tapes.  

Final listening tests are done while monitoring with our reference Grado HP1 headphones and a variety of factory and custom reference recordings.  We find that there is no better system for critical listening on tapes than the headphones specially when comparing a live feed to a recorded feed.