RIGHT and LEFT PAIR of AKAI M-6 Tube Recording Preamps + ready for conversion project

Hi There

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I am selling A LEFT and RIGHT PAIR of AKAI M-6 tube mic preamps taken from an AKAI M-6 reel-to-reel deck and ready for your conversion project into guitar preamps or pro audio level microphone preamps, similar to Universal Audios tube preamps and in the lineage of the Akai M7, M8 and M9. Both units will require modification and a little bit of work to convert them into microphone preamps but you can find a lot of literature about this online. I would advise that only qualified technicians or enthusiasts with valve experience take this on however, as valve wiring at full voltage can of course be deadly. I and my tech just don't have time for this project so I am selling it onwards. Priced to sell and as described.

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The Akai M6 (often referred to as the Akai Terecorder Model M-6) is a classic, tube-driven, quarter-track stereo reel-to-reel tape recorder introduced in the early 1960s. It features built-in speakers and amps, making it a popular vintage unit for warm, analog tape saturation and sampling

An Akai M6 (Terecorder) conversion typically involves stripping the vintage quarter-track tape transport to repurpose its dual mono tube amplifiers into standalone 5W guitar amplifiers or high-quality microphone preamps. The two identical EF86 and EL84 tube channels can be rewired for modern 1/4" input jacks and output to a speaker.

Key Conversion Details

• Tube Lineup: The Akai M6 utilizes an EF86 for initial gain stages, a 12AX7 for the mixing/preamp stages, and an EL84 for the 5-watt power stage. [1, 2]
• Guitar Amp Conversion: The stock amplifiers can be re-terminated with a new 1/4" instrument input bypassing the tape head circuitry. Many builders add a basic passive Baxandall/James tone stack or gain/boost potentiometers to make them more versatile for guitar tones.
• Preamp Conversion: The unit can be rewired to accept XLR microphone inputs, retaining the EF86 tube's coveted harmonic coloration or "mojo".
• Safety First: Vintage tube electronics use high voltages that can be fatal. Before attempting any modifications, you must discharge the capacitors and replace old, degraded capacitors and power cords to ensure safe operation.