Coming to a bake off near you 
(and/ or Lopwell).
I’ll have another bake be gads!
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What is the s/n ratio of 7.5ips tape?
Yep, got a few tapes you might like to hear, including -
- Marvin Gaye ‘What’s Going On’ @7.5ips
- Roberta Flack ‘Quiet Fire’ @7.5ips
- The Charles Lloyd Quartet ‘Love in’ @7.5ips
- Isaac Hayes ‘Shaft’ @7.5ips
- War ‘Greatest hits’ @3.75ips
- Aretha Franklin ‘Aretha Now’ @3.75ips
- Isaac Hayes ‘Hot Buttered Soul’ @3.75ips
- Stax/ Volt Revue ‘Live in London’ @3.75ips
Would sound nice through your horns 
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My Sony has a quoted s/n ratio of 61db. Wow and flutter at 7.5ips is +/- 0.07%
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That’s similiar to vinyl then, iirc?
Yep. The advantage of R2R tends to be lack of compression in pre-recorded media relative to other formats.
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The trick is to find a good condition 7.5 ips of an album you already know well on vinyl and compare them back to back to appreciate the difference.
Now now, a bit of indulgence is a good thing.
Play nicely.
I was genuinely curious about the s/n ratio comparison with vinyl, and indirectly, with digital. I agree with Wayne that tape probably bypasses a lot of the complications and compromises that you have to make to get vinyl to work at its absolute peak.
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Its a classic case of practice over theory.
In theory -
Analog master tapes (prolly @30ips) have a dynamic range of c 77db
Cassettes - c 50db
Open reel @7.5ips up to 70db
Vinyl - up to c 70db
CD - c 95db
Digital master files - 144db @24/192
Now go on the Dynamic Range Database and see what the measured actual dynamic range of most recordings are 
In practice the best format for a specific album will be the one with the least amount of applied compression. Typically that’s why a lot of people on here tend to buy the vinyl edition. Tapes were a niche product at the time, and end to offer greater dynamic range/ less compression than the contemporary vinyl version.
Another consideration is condition/ wear and tear. It might not be easy to find for example a mint vinyl first edition of say ‘Sgt Peppers…’ that plays without surface noise etc, at a reasonable price, but you might find a tape that can beat any affordable vinyl equivalent.
I see (and with limited experience, hear) the superiority of tape over other formats. The problem is the availability of the media. I don’t want to start listening to stuff that just sounds great, if it’s not my kind of music.
I’ll stick with vinyl and maybe just occasionally listen to tapes for fun and maybe recording some of the local musicians here, when I manage to get a pair of mic’s.
Agree. I’m not into easy listening, classical or jazz as a rule, so the choice of tapes is relatively limited.
But when you find a much loved album on 7.5 ips 
It is though as @MJ2 says above, just an indulgence.
That’s me then 
I have a few tapes. I’ll mess around with them when I’m able.
Main reason for buying a R2R was just as a plaything anyway.
Looking at the process of manufacture there are way fewer steps for a tape than vinyl pressing - Each step is liable to human and mechanical error (and limitations)
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A pre recorded tape or vinyl will have the same compression applied. I think it’s mainly the transfer process that makes tape superior.
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BMTI 
A freshly cut acetate can sound very dynamic (Cut direct from the master tape) Sadly they are: A) Only practical for testing / short runs B) They wear out (Deteriorate in quality) very rapidly (Acetates are a metal disk covered as the name suggests in an acetate lacquer which is brittle and does not fare well with time / repetitive plays)
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Very true. A 45rpm 12” that has been properly cut and pressed can as well.
Generally though, as you say, master tape to reel tape has to be a lot easier than pressing vinyl records from the same recording.