RX Reels

"B" Stock - Carbon Fiber 10.5" Tape Reel in Cobalt Blue Gloss Carbon (Copy)


This is a B-Stock item. "B" stock reels have minor cosmetic blemishes, which may only be notable up close or with the light at a certain angle. No blemishes impact performance.

This reel has a light scuff in the top coat in one area and a small blemish in the pattern in another. Hard to see unless you are looking for it. 

Library storage boxes are not included in B stocks - but may be purchased separately.

Our Risk-free purchase policy is still honored for our factory second sale however you will pay for return shipping for sale items. There are no restocking fees ever at RX Reels.

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This reel captivates everyone with its dynamic weave structure that adapts as you view it from different angles. It merges one of our best-selling colors, Cobalt Blue, with our unique block carbon pattern, topped with a high-gloss finish. The tone varies with every shift in perspective, becoming especially stunning on silver or dark gray decks, as well as black and two-tone decks. This reel boasts a sophisticated aesthetic.

Features: 

  • Open reel tape player 10.5”, ¼" tape spool
  • Each flange is made with aviation grade carbon fiber at our factory
  • We do not use pre-made carbon fiber plates as these do not meet our specifications for flatness
  • Each flange is 2.3 mm thick and is extremely dense and strong
  • Each flange is held to a custom-made professional style solid aluminum NAB hub with 6 screws per side (12 screws in total)
  • Each reel is handmade in the Pacific Northwest, USA
  • Each reel is laser etched with an individual serial number
  • A durable, high-quality finish is applied, then sealed in a clear coat
  • Our proprietary process allows reels to display a carbon fiber weave, a rich wood grain or marble finish
  • Optional durable storage box with custom foam insert to protect your reel for years is available.
  • Price is per single reel. 

 

Benefits:

Carbon fiber flanges are strong yet light to resist bending, warping and scratching. Because they are very rigid and don’t flex, they spin truer, which reduces motor wear, and some say that the reels sound better as a result. 

Hubs are made to 1/1000ths specifications under ISO 9000 certification standards to ensure precision and balance. This improves tape alignment and packing. 

Flange cut-outs have a function-first design to ease tape threading. 

Hubs have nano-grip texture to improve tape threading without risk of damage to the tape.


  • Risk-free purchase. We check out each reel before it ships but know that if it's not right for some reason simply let us know within 30 days of purchase. We want you to be happy. If we can not make it right, we will refund your money in full. 
  • Shipping: 

    All products sold within the United States are shipped via Fedex or UPS. Due to current service delays, we do not offer shipping via the United States Postal Service.  Orders are typically shipped within 1 business day. 

    You will have the ability to select the speed of shipping service at the time of checkout using our discounted rates.

    At this time, international shipping is to select locations only. Rates will display for areas we currently serve. 

How Our Carbon Fiber Reels Are Made

It took seven months to find the right combination that we were looking for. A way to not only make the reels look better, but to be better. Carbon fiber provided the right balance of strength to weight ratio. It's two times stiffer than steel and five times stronger. We wanted a flange that was rigid, but not too heavy.

Carbon fiber is not inexpensive. However, the second breakthrough was due to our location in the Pacific Northwest. Turns out there is a lot of new, high-grade raw carbon fiber material that is discarded in the manufacturing for the military and aviation industries. Much of this is perfectly good, but perhaps not big enough. It gets scrapped. We upcycle that unused material and turn it into our reels.

Carbon fiber comes in many grades. The highest quality is aviation grade carbon fiber and that is what goes into our flanges.

Benefits of our Carbon Fiber Flange: They don’t warp and resist bending.That means they won’t scratch your deck. Our flange cut-outs are made with a function first design to make tape threading easier. Because they are very rigid and don’t flex, they spin truer, which reduces motor wear, and some say that the reels sound better as a result.

How Our Aluminum NAB Hubs Are Made

Our reels are made to last a lifetime and it starts with the hub, which are custom made to our specifications. Most commercially available hubs are designed to be inexpensive to produce. They weigh about 23 grams and only three screws hold the flanges to the hub. Our solid aluminum hubs are precision made to tolerances below two thousands of an inch. Each flange is held to the hub with twelve screws for a secure fit.

Benefits of Our Precision-Made Aluminum Hub: A well balanced hub and securely fitted flanges creates a reel that spools tape exceptionally well to protect your investment. The quality difference is easy to see. Here is what industry professionals say about RX Reels: 

Pro Reviews

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

"Making advanced reels from CNC-machined hubs and carbon fiber flanges pays off in terms of appearance and sound quality via lower wow and flutter."

The Absolute Sound

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"The RX Reels are among the mechanically best I've ever seen. In use they provide the most even take-up I've experienced. In every case, the tape spooled to the same flat perfection you usually only see when you open up a factory-fresh blank tape."

Ken Kessler - Soundstage!HIFI

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Thanks to RX Reels careful balance, fast-winding is quieter than with lesser articles due to a considerable reduction in vibration - which is itself a good thing, for the life of your deck's reel motors. The lack of physical noise during playback isn't the only audible benefit - I also found that the stereo image was more solid and better defined. Quite frankly, it's highly unlikely you'll find a better spool for your deck."

Martin Pipe - Hi-Fi World 5 Star Recomended Product

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"I now understood how using an RX Reels spool could result in sonic improvements... I had a sense of a slightly wider soundstage with clearer instrument imaging in comparison with using a standard spool fitted with aluminum flanges and a plastic hub."

Neville Roberts - Hifi Journalist

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"This makes the task of threading a tape so much easier. Worth it for that alone."

Dave Denyer - The Reel-to-Reel Rambler

Customer Reviews