Teac Tascam Reel To Reel Tape Recorders

Year	Model	Ad	Unit in Museum collection	Specifications
1957	TD-301			Freq Response 40 - 15,000 Signal to Noise55db Speed 7.5 & 15 ips Motors  3 Reels  10" Timing accuracy .5% Weight  49 lbs (deck only) Price Modeled after the Ampex 300 A reminder that the prices listed are what the item originally sold for in the year it was released.

Teac TD-301

 

This is one of the first Teac reel to reel tape recorder produced by the Tokyo Electro-Acoustic Company - TEAC in 1957.  The recorder is believed to be based on the Ampex 300 which was created in 1949.  The photo above right shows the Ampex 300 and the Teac 300 in our collection.  The Teac is actually smaller.    See also Berlant Concertone Teac connection

Note: the Ampex 600 was the unit that Akai & Roberts copied.  External look alikes, however not near the same quality components.  They say "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

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On March 10, 2013, we received the following information from Liam

"In 1959 I worked with the original TEAC engineers at Far East Network, Tokyo. I was invited by them to their humble shop near Tokyo Bay to see their latest creation.  It was the original prototype stereo TEAC 1/4" Reel-to-Reel.  The model for it was the AMPEX 300 series which we all worked with daily at FEN.  

Our conversation was around the idea of marketing the recorder in the United States.  My idea was to focus on small radio stations which could not afford an Ampex 350 costing more $1200 at the time.

Hindsight shows my choice not to help the company entry to the U.S. was a very wrong one.

It was interesting to see your early TEAC."                - Liam -

Some Far East Network photos

   

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This recorder originally came from Nashville, TN and appears to be brand new in its original wooden shipping box from Japan.

 

     

Interesting that the TD 102 is crossed out and 301 & 9 added.  David Hutton brought to our attention that this was actually a 301 and that probably an old Teac-TD-102 tag was available and used for the TD-301.

Jerry Norton worked for Berlant Concertone and shared a summary with us about Teac building units for Berlant Concertone and building Dokorders for Tokyo Denki Onkyo.

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Here is possibly an early version of the Teac TD-301

 

Go to the company's history

Please select a reel tape recorder company from the list below

• A
  • Amplifier Corp
  • Akai
  • Ampex
  • Ampro
• B
  • Bang & Olufsen
  • Bell
  • Bell & Howell
  • Berlant Concertone
  • Brenell (UK)
  • Brush
• C
  • Concord
  • Crowncorder
  • Crown
• D - K
  • Dokorder
  • Eico
  • Ferrograph
  • Fostex
  • Grundig
  • HeathKit
• L - O
  • Lloyds
  • Magnecord
  • MCI
  • Mitsubitshi
  • Monarch
  • Nagra
  • Newcomb
  • Otari
• P - R
  • Philips Norelco
  • Pioneer
  • RCA
  • Roberts/Rheem/Califone
  • Russian Romantic
• S
  • Sony
  • Spectone (UK)
  • Studer ReVox
• T
  • Tandberg
  • Tape Athon
  • Tapesonic
  • Teac Tascam
  • Technics Panasonic
  • Telefunken
• U - Z
  • Uher Martel Telmar
  • Viking Telex
  • Webcor
  • Webster Electric
  • Wilcox Gay
  • Wollensak 3M