About the Company
Heraphone was a French brand under which reel‑to‑reel tape recorders were marketed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. These machines were consumer‑oriented units designed for home audio recording and playback, and were built with tube (valve) electronics typical of the era.
Brand: Heraphone
Country of Manufacture: France
Era of Production: circa late 1950s–early 1960s (inferred from surviving models and documentation)
Target Market: Consumer/home audio rather than professional broadcast or studio equipment
Records of the brand are scarce, which suggests the operation was small and relatively limited in scope compared with larger, better‑documented reel‑to‑reel manufacturers.
Known History & Models
Late 1950s / Early 1960s – Heraphone Tape Recorder Production
Collector and enthusiast sources list Heraphone among tape recorder brands with tube‑based French builds, but offer very limited detail and few model names.
The Heraphone C59 is one of the few documented examples associated with the brand:
Heraphone C59 (c. 1959):
A tube‑based open‑reel tape recorder/player with 7 tubes used in the audio amplification stages.
2‑track mono format with tape speeds listed at 9.5 cm/s and 19 cm/s, equivalent roughly to 3¾ and 7½ ips, common for consumer decks of that era.
Included a VU meter and was built as a tabletop cabinet unit with speaker.
Likely manufactured by a French electronics house such as Charollais et Marsone, Ets., with the Heraphone brand applied for sales/marketing.
This type of unit fits the early home‑recorder pattern seen in European brands of the period — tube electronics, two standard tape speeds, and basic record/playback functionality — but stops short of a full documented lineup.
Market Position & Context
Heraphone machines were part of a broader ecosystem of mid‑20th‑century French and European consumer audio brands that offered entry‑level reel‑to‑reel recorders for hobbyists and general household use — a segment that expanded in the 1950s as tape technology matured.
However:
Heraphone did not become a major manufacturer with a long history or deep product range.
Unlike prominent German or Japanese brands, it is sparsely documented in enthusiast archives, which typically record only a handful of surviving models.
The absence of extended product listings suggests a short production span and limited distribution within France and perhaps neighboring markets.
Decline & Legacy
Like many small brands of the era, Heraphone’s presence faded as:
Solid‑state (transistor) designs emerged in the mid‑1960s.
Japanese manufacturers with broader product ranges became dominant in consumer tape decks.
Compact cassette technology (from 1963 onward) rapidly overtook open‑reel formats for home recording.
Today, Heraphone tape recorders are rare collector items — mostly known through occasional appearances in vintage audio collections and catalog archives.
Summary — Heraphone Reel‑to‑Reel History
Brand: Heraphone (France)
Production Era: Late 1950s–early 1960s (limited)
Technology: Tubes (valve electronics), standard consumer deck formats
Known Model:
Heraphone C59: Tube open‑reel recorder/player, 2‑track mono, ~3¾/7½ ips speeds.
Market: Home audio/hobbyists, modest distribution
Legacy: Obscure French brand; rare collector interest today.