Sound "Studio" Reel-to Reel from 1959

[Edward Huggins]

I have recently fully restored a Sound "Studio" reel-to-reel from 1959. Made by Tape Recorders (Tottenham) Limited. It uses the Collaro Studio 3 speed deck and an 8" x 5" speaker. Valves EF86, ECL82, EL84 and EM84 + full wave contact-cooled rectifier. Quite well specified for two-input Mixing and also Superimposition.

It still sounds best at 3.75 ips with the treble well balanced with the Tone control at full rotation. At 7.5 ips the Wow is marginally better on slow piano trios, but the sound is rather forward, needing the Tone control to tame it. At 1 7/8 ips OK for speech only. Inadequate EQ in the original design I think. Playback used the EF86, the ECL82 triode and the EL84, so no shortage of gain as you can imagine.

When I was a youngster, I used to send 3" EMI Lettertapes to my Girlfriend and she played them back on her (superior?) TK20.

The work entailed a replacement EF86, some caps and the piano key linkages made good. Low hum still.

We were Agents for them and they were very good value, especially at the time, at 39 gns. We sold quite a few to local Pubs who let them play continously in the Bar - no records to change!

Does anyone remember this Company, they made a wide range of units?

[david freeman]

Hi Edward
I remember the Sound Riviera tape recorder range which used the BSR TD 2 deck, having edge type controls, and a layout very similar to the Fidelity Playmaster. Unlike the Playmaster, the Riviera used an ECC 83, ECL 86 and EM84 valve line up.

[Paul_RK]

The only example I've met is the Belle, their low-end recorder and the only mains-powered machine I'm aware of to do without capstan drive. I remember occasional small advertisements in search of one in the early '70s, as of course recordings made with a tape speed increasing as the take-up reel filled couldn't readily be played back on anything else. I owned a couple of these back in the day, one or both of which may still be on the premises somewhere.

Paul

[reelguy]

I think the Collaro studio deck was later than 1959. It had black piano keys at the front.
There was an earlier Collaro deck with three red keys each side of the deck with a stop key in the middle . My first reel recorder was a Sound 555 with the red keys.
I still have a recorder with the original deck in working order . I've always thought both types of deck were reliable although not exactly hi-fi . Better than the BSR decks though.

Peter W......Reelguy.

[Ted Kendall]

Sound was the brand of Tape Recorders (Electronics) Limited, which also made machines for several large retailers' own brands, Civic, Retra and the like. Nearly all of them conformed to the standard formula of a BSR or Collaro deck with "cost-effective" electronics. Around 1964, they had a big push into the States with face-lifted versions of their range, which petered out and took the firm with it, as far as I can tell.

The Collaro Transcriptor was launched in 1956, the Studio some time in 1959, about the same time as the BSR TD1. The Transcriptor was unpopular with the trade for being over-complex, and led to the mechanical simplicity of the Studio. Neither had the effective crudity, or elegance, of the BSR decks, and I don't think there was much to choose between any of them in straight-line performance. The Studio was superseded by the Magnavox Studiomatic (363), after Collaro were bought out. This was a single-motor design, following BSR's lead, unlike the two-motor Transcriptor and the three-motor Studio.

The best performance from either type was to be had from specialist concerns - Eltra produced a machine with a modified TD10 and the Reps range was based around the Transcriptor and then the Studio. Both decks had key components re-machined to improve wow and flutter performance, and the Studio was fitted with Bogen heads. Some R10 models had a Prescollan (polyurethane) idler fitted, further to improve the wobble performance.
Whether they went gooey as the Ferrograph 7 and Chilton idlers did I don't know.

As a general point, a three-motor deck did not necessarily give better performance for the same sort of cost as a single-motor type. Apart from the questions of heat, weight and hum, most three-motor machines had fixed back-tension, which led to rising wow towards the end of a reel. A single-motor design with gravity clutches has some degree of servo action which reduces drag in line with the weight of the remaining tape. Revox, of course, overcame this by the simple expedient of a large capstan motor and huge pinch pressure - later designs used servo-controlled capstan motors and, in the case of the A700, constant linear tension, which is the right, if complex, way of doing things.

Against this must be set the greater maintainability of the three-motor layout over the single-motor approach with its belts, wires and bent tin...

[brenellic2000]

To go back further, TRE's origins lie in Eisler & Gilbey's "Mail Order Supply" company circa 1951... I've still not discovered much about either gentlemen but they became famous for their Burgoyne brand and the 'Editor' tape recorders, later adopting the early Walter deck to which the 'Sound' name was first applied before chosing Collaro decks from 1956.

They joined D G Gee's Brayhead group alongside Mastertape in 1965 but had effectively closed by 1966.

Barry

[Edward Huggins]

Thanks for all your interset and additional information. I think my recorder was one of the very first incorportations of the then new Collaro Studio deck - in fact the recorder was called by TRE the "Studio". Yes it had the black piano keys and was bought in March 1959 as I still (nerdlike) have the all the paperwork.

[Hartley118]

I remember using both the Collaro Tape Transcriptor and the Studio deck back in the day. I still have an example of the Studio in the loft somewhere. ISTR buying it at the end of 1960 together with the
Sterns kit for the Mullard HF/TR3 tape amplifier (See http://www.zen22196.zen.co.uk/scans/...3%20(MkII).pdf )

The attached pictures show both the Studio and the Transcriptor. Collaro Studio service data is available from the link at the top of this page and is dated 1960. The 'Spectone' recorder ad incorporating the "NEW" Tape Transcriptor is dated 1958.

Both decks were capable of high quality results. I still have many good quality tapes recorded on them both. In common with most decks of the period, including Ferrograph, Brenell etc, top quality results required a tape speed of 7.5 ips.

Martin

[Edward Huggins]

How lovely to read that Sterns manual. Just think of all the work that went into producing this with those stage-by-stage wiring illustrations. It does seem from another age when people took their time over things - and it was.

[Hartley118]

I agree Edward, I have great admiration for the engineers who designed and documented those kits from the 1950s/60s. Maybe they were professional production engineers moonlighting from their day jobs?

Martin

[Nuvistor]

Another Sound tape recorder using a BSR deck, photo taken at MOSI Manchester.
Frank

[david freeman]

This is the very model I mentioned in post 2!