Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: MTM/MTE heads compatible?

This is topic MTM/MTE heads compatible? in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Perry Paolantonio (Member # 10234) on 07-19-2019, 09:50 AM:

We have an MTE MR-10036 recorder/player unit, 6-track. I picked up a box full of heads at an auction, a few of which are mechanically compatible with our unit. Some of them have MTM labels on them though (Multitrack Magnetics, not Magna-Tech Electronics).

Are these heads electrically compatible? Some are unlabeled, but have the screw posts and Centronics connector in the right location, and physically fit in the dubber. Any way to tell if these will work before firing it up and potentially doing any damage? My understanding is that there's something about the inductance of the MTE heads that makes them a bit funky.

Also, here are some of the heads that *don't * fit - any idea what machine these work in?

...some in better shape than others, a mix of about a dozen 35mm and 16mm heads.

Thanks!

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 07-19-2019, 11:18 AM:

I've used both MTE and MTM dubbers (long time ago) and we used the same heads in both, all 35mm 6 track. The dubbers came with metal heads that wore out fairly quickly, we would install Teccon glass heads after that which - as far as I know - never wore out.
We did not need different parts for MTE vs MTM - although I may not remember this perfectly. I did install a fair number of replacement heads though, the metal ones would wear down causing the gap to open up which eliminated high frequencies progressively.

Posted by Perry Paolantonio (Member # 10234) on 07-19-2019, 11:22 AM:

Thanks. Some of the heads we got are teccons, which we have several of in our other headstacks. many are metal though, but seem to be in good shape. With the volume of tape we run through them, they'll probably last forever!

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 07-19-2019, 12:45 PM:

It all depends on if they are high impedance or low impedance heads and what your playback preamp is set for. Record is almost always low impedance. Low impedance is certainly prefered for playback as they tend not to induce any hum into the system.
You might be able to find out the head specs on the Magnatech heads from MTE in Miami. MTM is sadly no longer around, they have the best drive system and are my preferd machine, I owned a lot of them.

Mark