This
page gives some history of the Wollensak 5000 reel to reel tape recorder
series as fine and designer audio equipment of the time. Links to sources
and images are provided within the text. These links will open in
a separate window or tab, keeping this page available for further reading. As of December
2007, all the links were functional.
The
Wollensak 5000 reel to reel tape recorder series is difficult to research
(as is Wollensak itself.) The author scoured vintage audio equipment Web
sites and found a only a few references. Much of the information comes from
reading vintage audio equipment catalogs (which were very popular in the
1960's), advertisements and specifications about this line of reel to reel
tape recorders. This page is not meant as a research document as much as
a documentation of what is currently available (2007) via the Internet. However,
if anyone has additional information, we'd love to hear from you. Please
use our contact form to share what you know.
3M and the Wollensak Division
One of the
"players" in the reel to reel tape recorder market was Wollensak,
a division of the 3M
Company. 3M (Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing) are the makers of "Scotch®"
brand tape products. They also produced magnetic recording tape on reels
and cassettes. The company had a reputation for producing a solid performing
product at a reasonable price.
It is not
unusual to find that 3M was also selling reel to reel tape recorders under
the "Wollensak" name.
What makes it a bit confusing is that "Wollensak" is
also the name for a line of very high quality cameras and camera equipment,
not audio equipment. In fact even today, Wollensak is better known for optical
lenses and filters, etc.
According
to research I found at a site called: AudioTools.com,
in the 1950's the Revere Camera Company took over the Wollensak Optical Company
(which has supplied the Revere company with lenses and shutters). Wollensak
was an OEM company but did produce some high end still cameras. In the 1950's
the Revere company also started producing reel to reel tape recorders. They
were considered very good quality machines in the US market. In 1960, 3M purchased
the Revere Camera Company and initially sold tape recorders under the Revere
name. However, Wollensak had a better brand name, so in the mid 1960's, 3M
began producing tape recorders only under the Wollensak name. The Wollensak
tape recorders were focused on the higher end of the home tape recorder market,
going up against Ampex. In 1972 however, 3M closed the Wollensak division. (source:
Audiotools.com - however,
they claim their information may be dubious!)
Did 3M or
their Wollensak division actually make the reel to reel tape recorders they
sold? It is common for some manufacturers to produce machines
for other companies, changing cosmetics while keeping the mechanics and electronics
basically unchanged.
Some battery
operated reel to reel tape recorders sold under the RCA name were made by
AIWA of Japan, and competed with them in the marketplace. One could often
find a machine made by AIWA, and next to it, a machine of the same size and
shape, but with a different color, having the RCA name! Internally they were
identical because they were made by the same manufacturer, in this case AIWA.
This comes
to mind because the Wollensak 5000 series had such an unusual design that
did not appear under other brand names (in the US anyway).
Yet, according
to some Web sites, some of the Wollensak reel to reel tape recorders may
have been made by Sanyo of Japan.
Other sites
report that some machines (educational use cassette recorders) were made
by Advent. The design of some Wollensak AV cassette recorders does appear
in some cassette recorders sold under the Advent name, but it is a bit of
a question of "the chicken and the egg". Did Advent make the cassette
recorder and sell cosmetically altered models to 3M to market under the
Wollensak name, or was it the other way around?
One Wollensak
home cassette recorder is clearly a duplicate of the original Norelco (Philips)
design. It is more than likely that they made the cassette recorders for
3M and the Wollensak division with color and cosmetic changes for differentiation.
The Philips Norelco machine had a black case, the Wollensak had a tan case,
but the control functions and layout were identical, even down to the use
of "DIN" sockets. "DIN" is
very popular in Europe, and Norelco (Philips) was based in Holland.
Wollensak
T-1500
The most popular
and well known 3M Wollensak reel to reel tape recorder was the model T-1500
series. Click
here for a picture from retrothing.com. The machine had a reputation
of being a workhorse. It was solidly built, had a powerful amplifier and
good (for the time) sound quality. It was made almost entirely of metal,
and weighed quite a lot, yet was marketed as a "portable tape recorder".
In this case, the word "portable" meant, moving from one room to
another and then catching your breath! These machines can still be found
on E-Bay as collector's items in the vintage audio equipment category as
well as the reel to reel tape recorder category. They were extremely popular
in home and business, and judging by the number available on the Internet,
very durable. The quality was beyond question, which is why they were so
popular.
Wollensak
5000 Series
In 1965, it
appears that the Wollensak line introduced a "designer" reel to
reel tape recorder – the
5000 series. This was a radical change in thinking and target marketing. A
look at one of the ads of the time clearly shows the designer target market.
The machines all had the
same basic mechanical transport design and basic audio performance specifications.
The line seems to have lasted from about 1965 to 1968.
Based on information
found on the Internet – mostly
from vintage audio equipment catalogs – it seems that the Wollensak
5000 series was a design line numbering from 5200 through the 5800 top-of-the-line
reel to reel tape recorder which had a matching tuner module and two-way
speaker systems. It has two appeals. For the audiophile, it was genuine
and serious audio equipment. And for the decorator and interior designer,
it was a furniture statement. According to the ads, a fully equipped 5800
"set-up" would span more than 6 feet across!
There were
several models of the 5000 series, all of which had similar specifications.
What made this design unique was horizontal aspect ratio of the cabinet
and the "in-line" layout
of the machine. It featured a central console of controls flanked by the
tape reels. It is similar in visual effect to to wide screen plasma TV compared
to the cathode ray tube TV "set".
A company
called: Phantom
Productions has generously provided
an on-line resource of vintage electronics catalogs from the 1900's onwards,
and they include advertisements. Many thanks to Phantom Productions for
this valuable historical resource. This page relies on their information
for illustrations from their section called: Vintage R2R, located
in their navigation sidebar.
It appears
that the Wollensak 5000 design seems to have started in 1965 as the 5200.
This was a "simplified" version
of the 5000 design, most notably the plain face plate which was later replaced
with a plate that featured a plastic and gold metal extrusion running along
the bottom. This machine had four tape speeds, one of which (15/16ths ips)
was later dropped.
In 1966, this
same "simpler" face design
machine appeared in a vintage audio equipment Allied Radio catalog
as the 5300 selling
for $279.95. One can easily see the wide horizontal aspect ratio of the design.
It is very similar in appearance to the 5750.
The top end
model, the 5800, was
featured in an ad clearly meant to place it as a "designer" high
end machine.
This ad is
interesting as it boasts many unusual features for the time. The "Control
Central", which placed all the controls of the machine in a center block,
surrounded by the tape reels, "power activated push
buttons", the four digit tape counter (most machines only had three
digits), four speed operation - most machines had two speeds. It also featured
a truly massive capstan flywheel, essential for smooth tape transport and
better fidelity (low wow and flutter). Of course, "solid state" transistor
circuitry was a benefit because it was replacing heavier tubes, and stereo
performance. At the time, mono was still much in use, and stereo was considered
"high end". The specifications and features target it as serious
audio equipment for the audiophile.
Sociologically,
the ad presents an interesting view of the roles of men and women at the
time. The male in the ad, who looks very much like a smug "intellectual"
(today we would call him a "nerd") is seated on a designer chair and
behind him is standing a very beautiful woman with a wistful look on her
face as if she is considering making a decision.
The idea seems
to be that she would appreciate the machine for its intrinsic beauty as furniture
for the home, while the male, obviously a savvy audiophile, would appreciate
it for its functions and features. The expressions
seem to indicate that while she is still undecided, he is determined and
knows "a good thing when he hears it."
Such an ad
is laughable today, but in the 1960's this was how people
viewed the genders. The ad, of course, is meant to be sleek and sophisticated,
with "sex" appeal, something unusual in advertising a reel to reel
tape recorder.
If you look closely at the machine mounted on the wall, the face plate
is plain and simple with no plastic and gold extrusion. By the next year,
this had been changed.
A vintage
audio equipment tape recorder directory from 1966 shows the different Wollensak
models available, including a
picture of the 5750. By
now the machine only had three speeds. The slowest speed found on earlier
models (15/16 ips) was dropped, possibly because it was not compatible
with many other machines of the time. In the home market, this very low speed
was used by very small battery powered tape recorders to get maximum use
from the small (as small as 1-1/2" diameter) reels of tape.
In 1967 the
series had a
new high profile designer ad for the 5800. This ad had changed its focus
to increase the female role.
The ad copy
is more balanced between the genders, offering equal benefits for male and
female. Yet it is obvious from the photo that the female now dominates, indicating
the goal of the ad was to appeal to women, as if they would appreciate the
machine more for its beauty and would have to somehow "educate" the
men who could only accept its technological value. The role of the female
has gone from wistful and undecided in the earlier ad to confident and assured,
and the male has clearly become more subordinate. Whereas in the earlier
ad he was smug and self assured, in this ad, he seems almost to be cowering,
bowing to the woman's will. It is of course possible that he is listening
intently to the machine's performance, but then why is the woman not
impressed?
Also note that the face plate on the machine now has the plastic and gold
trim extrusions at the bottom, meant to improve the designer appeal of the
machine. It is possible that due to competition in the market (Ampex tape
recorders, which electronically and sonically were superior to Wollensak
machines, were only $20 more than the top-of-the-line Wollensak 5800)
It appears
that Wollensak chose to appeal to women. At the time, women's
roles in America were changing, and Wollensak may have been a pioneer in
recognizing this fact and sought to tap this rich market.
A
tape recorder directory from the time shows the 5000 series centered
around the 5700 models. The high end 5800 continued to be sold as top
of the line audio equipment because it had the option of adding a matching
tuner (apparently sold separately), making it more than just a reel to reel
tape recorder.
In 1968, the
5000 model line can be seen in an ad
for "Scotch®" brand recording
tape. This is a clever "cross
sell". They could have displayed any of the Wollensak models, but they
chose to feature the 5000 series. Placing it in an ad for recording tape
could give it an added boost in the mind of consumers. Also it
is interesting to note that the focus of the ad is on artistry (the conductor,
the singer, the musician, the "audiophile"), and utility and
fun – the children - all potential users of recording tape. We do not
see it as being part of a proud display of audio equipment, but rather as
a stand alone (perhaps, stand apart) machine that delivers sonic satisfaction.
In 1968, the
5000 series was
still being sold through vintage audio equipment catalogs.
By 1969 the
model appears to have been discontinued. A
tape recorder directory no longer lists the series,
but lists a new model machine, the 6000 series.
It appears
from the vintage audio equipment catalog and directory collections that the
Wollensak "designer
series" (5200 through 5800) had a life span of about four years. Obviously,
with inventory and back lots, the tape recorders were still available long
after 1968, but they probably were no longer being heavily advertised or
mentioned in audio equipment catalogs. Who knows, somewhere today there may
be a warehouse filled with unopened boxes containing these machines!
Although Wollensak
continued to make reel to reel tape recorders, it seems they changed the
design by 1969 and were no longer promoting this type of "designer
machine" or advertising approach. The fact that Wollensak did not continue
to push the wide horizontal design in subsequent machines, nor did they try
to push their machines as designer products, seems to indicate that this
was not a good target market for the reel to reel tape recorder buyer.
Functionality,
reproduction, dependability and power as audio equipment were the features
that seemed to most appeal to buyers. Products from Ampex and SONY had a
much better reputation for audio excellence at competing and even lower prices.
And at the time, the compact cassette was increasing in popularity, threatening
to replace the reel to reel tape recorder altogether.
Nevertheless,
for sheer beauty and originality of design, the Wollensak 5000 series "takes
the cake". There simply was nothing like it, before or since.
Please
note that ClydeSight Productions DOES NOT rebuild or sell vintage
reel to reel tape recorders, nor can we help anyone involved in such a project.
The tape recorders shown in these pages are part of a personal collection
and are not for sale. We Do Not recommend
that unqualified or inexperienced persons attempt to restore vintage audio
equipment.
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www.clydesight.com Master Site
Web site copyright ©ClydeSight
Productions - 2007
