I did a search and saw that there were alot of threads unanswered in the past about these consoles. I can get one pretty cheap for my home studio and just trying to figure out if these are pretty decent.

I most likely wouldn't be using the preamps very much. But may need them for the occasional backup. This console has automation, eq's, and some other good control features.

I like my folcrom setup, but I'd like to pick this up for the eq's and summing.

Can anyone speak of the sound of these units, and possibly reliability. I am doing alot more work out of my home studio, but not enough to justify a big ticket console.

So what are some opinions on these?

One of the studios I work at has a Status 18r console.
The preamps are good.
The eq is decent.
It is only 12 buss which sucks.
The overall sound of the console is "plain" (it's not a rock and roll desk).
It is an analog console under digital control. The digital stuff is in the center section and I always press buttons by accident when I have my hand on the control room monitor knob. I hate that. Overall I would rate it as decent.