Studer Revox 1948-1987

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sTFT'DtrR NA/OXThe philosophy of excellence

Who has not heard one of those famoustales of an emigrant to the land of bound-less opportunities, There, in the sweat ofhis brow he managed to work himself upfrom a dish-washer or a shoe-shine boy toowner of a factory and, consequently, be-come a millionaire. The life of Willi Studerand his Revox company is such a story, andit happened right here in Switzerland. Theonly difference lies in the sound technicaltraining on which it is based.

It just goes to show that skill, iron will-power and being venturesome marks theway to this remarkable success. 40 years ofpersonal commitment have resulted in an

enterprise of more than 2000 employees,Willi Studer's name has become renownedand synonymous for quality the worldover. The Confederate Technical High-school (ETH) bestowed upon him the hon-orary doctor of technical sciences; the Au-dio Engineering Society awarded him silverand gold medals for "permanent excellentcontributions in development and produc-tion of recording components", Dr. h.c.

Willi Studer still dedicates his entirestrength to his enterprise, thereby inspiringand motivating his employees. The futureof Studer Revox is in best hands,

It all started rn l94B:

a948It started with a solid professional trainingfollowed by some hard years of furthereducation. At the beginning of 1948,lYr.W Studer founded his first own busi-ness, after he had been working in Re-search and Development for several firms,some of which had been founded on his

initiative Since there were no capital re-sources, the flrst order was financed by theflrst customer's deposit, After working forsix months, nearly day and night, the flrstl0 high tension oscilloscopes are producedand ready for delivery. Other oscillo-scopes, which were sold directly to indus-trial users, followed soon. ln September ofthe same year, the young firm moves toWehntalerstrasse in Zurich into the base-

ment of an old post oflce building. Thedecisive turn to today's aclivities tookplace in these rooms. The staff consisted of3 people,

,949The first tape recorders are importedfrom the USA. They are not marketable

Studer Revox 194Ga-1987

First high tension oscilloscope made by Willi Studer,

Herisau,

Inproved oscil'oscope by Will' Studer

without modiflcations, The importer ap-proached Messrs. Studer to modify thesedevices by replacing capstan-shafts, frictionpulleys and rollers. Slowly the idea of de-veloping and constructing better tape re-corders emerges. With the purchase of500 recorders from the importers de-velopment on the first Studer designedtape recorder Dynavox begins, The lack ofaccurate measurement facilities presentsenormous obstacles.

For this first series in-house designedmagnetic heads are used already. The tele-phone's dialtone is utilized to check wowand flutter, The great talent to improviseand the very strong will to introduce a high

quality producl leads to the flrst Europeandesigned amateur tape recorder ready forquantity production. The staff numbers 6

people.

r 950The assembly line for the Dynavox-seriesis now ready for produclion. Thereforethe number of employees rises to 25 byyear's end. The development of tape re-corders is underlaken, As the first produc-tion batch of the Dynavox-series is nearingcompletion, economic considerations call

for the formation of a marketing organisa-tion which is to operate under the controlof the manufacturer.

1952ln addition to the production of the RE-VOX tape recorder f 26 - the successor-model of the Dynavox series - 100 studiotape recorders are being built.

t95IDistribution by the own marketing com-pany commences on the 27th of lYarch.

The new firm is called ELA AG' Simulta-

neously with this event, the name ofthe amateur-products is changed to.REVOX'"

The prototype of the first professional

studio tape recorder is ready for opera-tion, and it is used by the Swiss Broadcast-ing Corporation to record on tape for thefirst time the performances at the Lucerne

lnternational Music-Festival.

ffiRevox T26 as presented in the flrst leaflet

Studer 27: first studio tape recorder

1953Larger production areas and newmachines at Wehntalerstrasse make itpossible to take on produclion of manyparts that had to be obtained from outsidesources previously,

The Revox model T26 was built also in

Radio-Recorder Combination. A compari-son of prices with today's devices is quiteinteresting:The standard version T76 carried a pricetag of Sfr. I 395.-, As production of theT26 series comes to an end, the numberof units built totals 2500.

The development of the first 3 motoramateur tape recorders rs now in prog-ress.

1954The form is cast: The firsttape recorder ofthe successful 36 series goes into produc-tion and is introduced to the market, ltfeatures 3 motors, push button control,and the remarkable direct drive withoutbelts or pulleys. The annual productionamounts to 2500 units,

I 955A new era of professional studio taperecorders begins with the development ofthe series Studer 437 and B37. A mono-phonic high fidelity. amplifrer is added tothe Revox line, and it appears on themarket well timed with the break-throughof the long playing record. A simultaneousattempt to produce a hi-fl turntable failsbecause of insufficient production capacity,

t 956A new development, the modular plug-inmicrophone pre-amplifier for professionalaudio mixing consoles enlarges the basicrange of products,

The new Revox 836 features separateheads for recording and replay, which en-ables the amateur to take advantage ofbefore and after tape monitoring.

Studer Revox 1948_1987

First Studer factory in Regensdorf; the burlding on theleft was constructed in 1958

D36: flrst Revox stereo tape recorder

An inside view of the neat modular type constructionofthe J37

t957Presentation of the porlable compactstudio tape recorder Studer B 30 formobrle purposes with impulse push buttoncontrol, interchangeable tape adapters andplug-in head assembly.

I 958The prototype of the first portable Studermodel 69 mixing console is completed. But

before it can be offered to the Swiss

Broadcasting System, it has to pass many

hard tests in the lnspection Department ofthe Swiss postal authority.

Additional space is required for the al-

ready 120 people that are employed bynow and the acquisition of a 38,700 sq.ft(3600 m'?) building site in Regensdorf nearZurich is the flrst step towards the erec-tion of a wholly owned plant.

I 959The construction of what is known todayas plant lcommences, Half of the land staysunused for future expansion. Additionalmixers for the Swiss radio-studios, or-dered by the Swiss postal authority, arebeing produced,

r 960The new factory is ready for occupancy.Various, rather heavy transitory technicaland economical difficulties are caused bythe conversion from the previous mono-units to the new stereo tape recorder

'Revox D36 Studer C37, the newly de-veloped studio tape recorder, is ready forsmall quantity production. Within a veryshort time it becomes standard equipmentin many famous studios. ln view of the

'forthcoming multichannel versions, it is

equipped with an extremely rugged trans-port mechanism and very compact am-plifier electronics,

436: the flrst of a world famous series

t 96lWith the introduction of the model 40stereo-amplifier, Revox presents a high

quality product for the disc enthusiast. Animproved tape recorder, the Revox modelF36, is now released on the market,

Studer Revox 194id_-1987

Type 40: first Revox Hi-Fi ampli{ter

I 966Offlcial opening of the new factory atLoffingen, Black Forest, The hitherto sepa-rate marketing organisation in Germanybecomes integrated into the Willi StuderGmbH Computers are being installed in

Regensdorl and Loffi ngen,

t967On the iand held in reserve in Regensdorfsince I 958, asecond factory is being built

The very successful series of model 36-recorders, of which more than B0 000units have been produced, comes to an

end,

The new Revox-generation is presented at

consumer shows in Zurich and Berlin. The

completely restyled and newly designed

stereo tape recorder A77 is comple-mented by the matching stereo ampliflerA50 and a separate FIY stereo tuner' All

these units are fully transistorized and ofmodular construction, These characteris-tics as well as the drive system of the A77,with its seryo controlled capstan motor,are the beginning ofa new technical era

I 968The officially opened new building in Re-

gensdorl makes the long overdue exPan-

sion of research and engineering possible.

It also allows the creation of two newdepartments, one for the in-house design

of test equipment and the other for cus-

tom building of Studio equipment. At theZurich consumer show "fera" the follow-ing units are shown:Revox-FlY-stereo-tuner A76, Revox train-er language laboratory ABB and the mixingconsole Studer 089.

Among the internationally leading FIY-

tuners, Revox immediately flnds its place in

the top-ranks, lts unconventional circuitrysets new measures, New possibilities forthe use of the A77 are provided by the

newly developed language laboratoryA8B. For the first time, numerous inte-

grated circuits are used for logic control Anew audio mixer, Studer 089, is offered by

the studio equipment division. Compactmoduls, which provide for a multitude ofadjustments in each channel, form the nu-

cleus of this new product,

t962The incisive event of this year - with farreacting consequences - is the Swiss Gov-ernment's coercive measure of reducingthe number of foreign workers in thecountry. This has the effect that the forceof over 200 employees has to be reducedto I 87,

ln production is now the again improvedtape recorder F36,

r 963An innovation in the Studer program is theintroduction of the fully transistorized pro-fessional tape recorder A62.

1964Presentation of the prototype version ofthe 4-channel-studio tape recorder )37 ltrepresents the up to now most complexe,tube equipped machine, which paves the

way for the acceptance of Studer products

by well-known disc recording studios the

world over, "Face lifting" and quite a

number of important improvements are

reflecled in the Revox G 36, the last modelwithin the 36-series, ln iuly the foundationof a German daughter comPanY takes

place in the Black Forest, 86 000 sq ft(8OOO m') provide for the comPany's

steady groMh which has been halted in

Switzerland due to Federal Government'srestrictive measures, The new computer-system IBM 360/20 is ordered in No-vember,

r 965A dried-up labour market in Switzerlandcombined with the general restriclions ius-tify the move to Germany.

G36:the last of a grand series

A77 tne lrst transistortzed Revo' raPe recorde'

lYollis branch which supplies sub-groups

New plant in Löffrngen, Black Forest(F,R Germany)

The last series of high-tension oscilloscopesis being delivered to the customer,Herewith a 20 years' partnership termi-nates. The ever present strive to becomemore and more independent from exler-nal suppliers of semiflnished products findsits reflection in the structuring of a motorproduction in a newly acquired plant in

Ewattingen, Germany.

I 969ln order to take excessive workloads fromthe mainplant at Regensdorl a new plantfor subassembly production goes into op-eration at Mollis in the canton of Glarus(Switzerland).

a970The new generation of the series A80professional studio tape recorders is intro-duced in the spring of this year. The entire-ly new design concept satisfies a widerange of possible applications whtle rts

well-conceived modular construction is

optimrzed from a production point of viewas well, Some of its outstanding charac-teristics are:Sturdy tape transpoft mechanism with in-tegrated logic control, electronically con-trolled tape tension even during fast windand the braking phase, electronic sensingof tape motion and direction, electronictape timing, electronic speed control, plug-in amplifier modules with separately plug-able equalization and level pre-sets pluselectronic equal ization changeover.

Presentation of the first Revox Multipro-gramme Language Laboratory at the"Didacta" exhibition in Basle,

Construction of an extension to the exist-ing plant at Loffingen increases the totalfloor space to 51 700 sq,ft. (4800 m') Ateleprocessing terminal is installed in thecentral Research & Development Depart-ment at the Regensdorf Headquarters.This terminal is utilized for technical-scien-tiflc calculations and for the production ofpunched tape as required for the opera-tion of numerically controlled (NC) pro-duction centres, ln recognition of his

achievements in the fleld of Audio,Mr, Studer is made a Fellow of the "AudioEngineering Society".

Studer Revox 194B-1987

A8B language laboratory, the llrst in-house develop-ment ofthe Revox tra ner department

Studer AB0 for I 6 track

)uly 1976. move into the new production and ad-ministratrve building

t97tln Wettingen, Switzerland, the partlyowned marketing company for profession-al studio equipment, Studer Franz AG,stafts its activities with the delivery of thefirst units of the improved version of the862 series recorders. The Revox line ap-pears in a new styling while several specialversions of lhe A77 such as the modelsA77-PTf , A77-ORF and A77-Dolby arealready in produclion.

A new studio tap recorder, the modelAB0/R "Broadcasting Version" comple-ments the 480 series, The capacity ofcentral data processing at the RegensdorfHeadquarters is increased with the installa-tion of the IBM 360120-5 system completewith flve magnetic disc storage units. Thehitherlo used IBM 360/20 cardsystem is

transferred to the German sister companyat Loffingen. At the end of the year thenumber of employees exceeds 1000

PuvP rL.

1972An urgently needed increase in productioncapacity is met with the addition of afurther plant in Bonndorf, Germany, On a

floor area of 56000 sq,ft. (5200 m'?) theproduction facilities for motors and printedcrrcu its are accomodated.

ln the department for studio equipments,the so far biggest professional audio mixingconsoles, Studer 289 with 30 input chan-nels for drama and music recording, arebeing produced for the Swiss BroadcastingCorporation. The vesatile concept of theprofessional studio recorder A80 permitsits conversion into a quadrofonic model,which is called AB0 RT-Quadra.

t97tOn the day of the flrm's 25th anniversary,Ylessrs. Willi Studer purchase the factorybuilding of Hermes-Precisa GmbH in

Sackingen, Germany. This new acquisitionis to operate under control of the Lof-{rngen branch. The Sackingen plant spe-cializes in non-cutting shaping operations,galvanising, spray painting and sub-assem-

bly production. ln Switzerland the Mollis

branch starts construction work on a newbuilding (first phase) with a total floor areaof 26900 sq.ft. (2500 m2) to accommo-date 200 workers. Planning goes underway for the construction of a new buildingat Regensdorf which is to house theheadoffice of the Studer group of com-panies while also providing room for ex-pansion for research, engineering and

central administration. On a total floorarea of 9l 500 sq.ft. (8500 m'?) it will also

accomodate the production facilities forstudio equipment and other special prod-ucts,

1974The flrst compact studio machine StuderA67 originated from the A700.

1975Another professional year Digital technol-ogy is introduced into control and syn-

chronization. The TLS 200 provides com-pletely new opportunities for coupling au-

dio, video, and fllm machines with theSIYPTUEBU-time code. The professionalpower amplifrer Studer A68 is launched,

the Revox 4740 being its amateur coun-terpad.

t976This year is marked by the introduction ofan efflcient compact mixing console seriesStuder 169, equipped for mobile use. lnJuly, the newly constructed production andadministrative localities are moved into.

t9inTen years since the launching of the suc-cessful A-series, time has come for re-placement. The entire range of Revoxcomponents is replaced in one go by the877 lape recorder, the B760 amplifier and8750 tuner, and as Revox novelty, theB 790 tangential tu rntable.

1978A memorable year for the founder WilliStuder: in autumn the ETH honours himfor his relentless efforl and research. They

Studer Revox 1948-1987

B750 amplifier

Tuner 8760 for electronic tuning

A Revox novelty: B790 tangential turntable

bestowed upon him the rare honorarydoctor of technical sciences. The newlydeveloped multi-channel tape recordingmachine Studer ,A800 is introduced Thelargest machine ever provides exceptionalfeatures: micro-computer controlled drivemechanism, Pll-capstan-servo with l3-VHZ-guarlz control and flat disc tape ten-sioning,

a979All of these projected extensions have

now been completed, The Mollis branch

supplies all the Studer factories with com-ponents, and the new building at Regens-

dorf has been completed, and productionis in full flow. Revox's new producl line

includes a digital tuner, an amplifier, a taperecorder and a record player, This newseries, known as the "B-Series", is enor-mously successful on the market. How-ever, there are some innovative develop-ments in studro equipment as well. There is

the Studer A800, a microprocessor-con-trolled multi-track unit, and a new mixingconsole for transportable applications,both developed in I978. So far this yearthe following products have been put intofull production: the Studer 069 reporlingunit for outside radio transmissions by land

line; another item is a new style remote-control system for modern tape record-ers.

I 980The B7B0 Receiver is added to the rangeof Revox equipment. The Triton loud-speaker system is marketed. On the pro-fessional side, the biggest mixing console ofthe 69 series, the Studer 369, is presented,accompanied by telephone hybrid and bal-ancrng unrt.

t 98lFinally, the Revox 87l0 Tape Deck is

launched.

| 982The new speakers Forum B and Plenum B

complete the product range. The cassette

deck and turntables are modified, whilethe Studer ,A7l0 tape deck is marketed,The 89 mixing console generation is re-placed by the elegant 900 series. The Re-

B77, the flrst ofthe B series

The flrst Revox tape deck 87 | 0

vox PR99 is launched on the professionalmarket.

I n August, Studer I nte rnational (d istri butorsof professional equipment) move into thenew building at Althardstrasse 10.

r 983As technology leaps forward, Revoxlaunch the B25l amplifler and the 826ltuner, both units equipped wrth micro-processors and remote controllable.

Digital technology first appears in theStuder SFC I 6 and the DAD I 6. Theyoungest recorder, Studer A8 10, also fea-

tures digital control. Another novelty is thestudio loudspeaker Studer 2706.

,944True to principle, Revox waited for theright moment to present an elaboratelydesigned 8225 CD player, while Studerlaunch their 4725, The active speaker Ag-ora B makes its first appearance.

r 985The Revox 82 I 5 tape deck and the B2B5tuner/amplifier round off the productrange. The 8285, without power ampli-flers, is designed for use with the activespeaker Agora B. The complete line is

remote controllable. On the professionalside, the A820 tape recorder rings in thedigital recording generation. The Studercompact mixing consoles 96 I and 962fullysatisfy the latest requirements.

Studer Revox l94Ul9B7

Advanced technology and microprocessors in theB 25 I amplifier and . , ,

The digital era commences wrth the Revox 8225 CDplayer

r 986The Studer system controllers SC4008and SC40l6 permit synchronization of up

to l6 units (audio, video, film) with theSMPTUEBU bus. Two comPact taPe re-

corders, AB l2 and 4807, enrich theStuder line. The Revox B203 timer con-troller features three main functions: Easy

Control, Timer and Personal Computer,The new power amplifier Revox 8242takes up a special place in the home hi-fi

equipment. The 829 | turntable with inte-grated lR control replaces the previousmodels B79l and 8795. Thanks to the firstRevox mixing console C279, all uncondi-tional Revox users can now set up theirown studios. The Forum MKll, Plenum

MKll and Symbol MKll loudspeakers have

been completely redesigned: the AtriumMKll is an elegant medium-sized new-

comer. The 8203 timer controller rings ina new era,

This artrcle has been published in the. , ,

rn the B 26 I tuner

82 I 5 cassette deck w th integrated lR remote control

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Compact B 285 tuner/amplifier

B 242 power amplifler

A new generation of loudspeakers,

Worldwide distribution:REVOX ELA AG, Division Export, Althardstrasse 146,CH-8105 Regensdorf-Zurich, SwitzerlandAustralia:SYNTEC International PTY Ltd. PO. Box 165North Sydney, N.S.V( 2060Canada:STUDER REVOX CanadaLtd.,14 Banigan Drive, Toronto,Ontario M4H 1E9Hong Kong:STUDER REVOX FAR EAST Ltd., 25th Floor, ArionCommercial Centre, 2-12 Queen's Road West, Hong Kong, B.C.C.japan:R.E Enterprises, Ltd. Yoyogi Mansion Bldg. l-22-2 Yoyogi,Shibuya-Ku, TokyoSingapore:STUDER REVOX AUDIO PTE. Ltd., 173, Goldhill Centre,Singapore 1130United Kingdom:F.W:O. BAUCH Ltd.,49 Theobald Street, Boreham Wood,Herts. WD6 4MUSA:STUDER REVOX AMERICA INC., 1425 Elm Hill Pike,Nashville, TN 37210

Revox national agents will gladlysupply you with a listof authorized dealers.You will recognize them by this sign.

SIUDtrR F|EVOX

-

Authorized Dealer

REVOX is a registered trade mark of WLLI STUDER AG Regensdorf1986, Design and Copyright by WILLI STUDER AG,CH-8105 Regensdorf-Zurich.Printed in Switzerland, E 10.90.1101 (Ed.0487)