The Geography of Sound
How Import Duties, Currency Risk, and Distribution Margins Shape the Turntable You Can Afford
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A REFERENCE FOR ANALOG AUDIO · FROM THE GOLDEN ERA TO THE PRESENT
Every turntable and
tape deck
worth remembering
Six thousand machines, nine hundred manufacturers, and the engineering, business and restoration stories behind them. Catalogued, cross-referenced, and described with knowledge and authority.
Analog Soundware is not affiliated with any manufacturer, retailer or advertising entity. Analog Soundware does not sell anything. All information here is to be shared.
THE CORE OF THE SITE
Two databases, one entry point
Filter by manufacturer, country, drive, speed, era or just type the model number
Turntable Database
4,559 MODELS · 567 MANUFACTURERS
From pre-war radiograms to current reference decks. Drive type, platter mass, motor, control, tonearm, weight, price at launch
COMPARE TWO MACHINES ->
Reel-to-Reel Database
1,444 DECKS · 385 MANUFACTURERS
Consumer, semi-pro and studio machines. Track format, speeds, reel size, head configuration, electronics
THE ARCHIVE IS ALIVE
Recently added
New entries and revised records, the newest first
ALL RECENT CHANGES ->
Wilson Benesch Greenwich
Soulines TT23
LONG-FORMAT, WRITTEN BY AN ENGINEER AND DESIGNER
The Labs
Three standing lines of enquiry. Nobody else is writing this material
LAB 01
Business Lab
From pre-war radiograms to current reference decks. Drive type, platter mass, motor, control, tonearm, weight, price at launch
LATEST JULY 2026
LAB 02
Design Lab
Bearings, plinth resonance, motor control, arm geometry. Why the shoebox silhouette persists and what it costs acoustically
LATEST JULY 2026
LAB 03
Restoration Lab
Idler wheels, capstan bearings, electrolytics, deck ailignment. What is worth saving, what is not, and how originality is judged
LATEST JULY 2026
FROM THE JOURNAL
Latest articles
THE PEOPLE, NOT JUST THE PRODUCTS
Legends
Visionaries, designers and engineers of the golden era, and the companies that changed the way we listen
TURNTABLES
REEL-TO-REEL DECKS
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