About the Company
Idel (in Russian Идель, meaning “Volga”) was a Soviet/Russian brand associated with consumer reel-to-reel audio tape recorders designed and built in Russia during the 1980s, long after most major global makers had shifted focus to cassette and digital formats. These tape decks were produced in small series, often at industrial electronics factories that did other primary production (e.g., computer or electromechanical plants) rather than consumer hi-fi audio.
Brand: Idel / Идель
Manufacturer: Soviet/Russian electronics factories (not a large dedicated audio company)
Country: USSR / Russia
Era: Mid-1980s (c. 1984–1987)
Market: Consumer/home audio, rare outside Soviet region
Production History
Origins in the Mid-1980s
The first known Idel tape recorder — the Idel (Идель)-001 — was introduced around 1984–1986 and built at the Kazan computer factory (an industrial facility normally engaged in computing and electronics rather than mainstream consumer audio).
Anecdotal and enthusiast sources from vintage audio communities note that:
Idel-001 was the first model in a planned series, with the numbering indicating it as the “first design” (001) and the simplest tier.
Production was limited — perhaps a few thousand units per series — hand-assembled in multiple shops at the same plant.
Serial number systems in the USSR changed mid-production (reset by state standard rules circa 1987).
This timing puts Idel toward the very end of the reel-to-reel era for mainstream consumer audio, since cassette tapes and portable formats had largely supplanted open-reel decks globally by the 1970s and 1980s.
Known Model — Idel 110 Stereo
The best-documented example of an Idel deck is the Idel 110 Stereo, a mid-1980s unit with the following characteristics:
Idel 110 Stereo
Category: Consumer reel-to-reel tape recorder
Electronics: Solid-state
Tracks: 1/4″ stereo (4-track)
Speeds: 3¾ and 7½ ips (9.53/19.06 cm/s)
Reel Size: Up to ~7″
Heads: 3 (erase / record / playback)
Features: Electronic speed control, logic controls typical of late-era transistor decks
Electronics: Permalloy heads, DIN outputs
Performance: ~31.5 Hz–22 kHz frequency range at 7½ ips; wow & flutter acceptable for a consumer deck
Voltage: 220-240 V mains (standard Soviet grid)
This model shows Idel attempted to offer a decently spec’d consumer deck even in the 1980s, with features competitive with typical mid-tier home tape decks — though built outside the main Western or Japanese hi-fi ecosystems.
Market & Manufacturing Notes
Idel decks were not mass-market imports like Japanese reel decks, nor were they part of a long run of product lines by a dedicated hi-fi brand. Instead, they were regional Soviet/Russian consumer units — perhaps influenced by earlier European designs, but with uniquely local production circumstances.
The name Idel itself reflects regional or cultural naming (e.g., Tatar language “Volga”), and Soviet-era gear often used meaningful names assigned by committees rather than consumer branding strategies familiar in Western markets.
Some enthusiast descriptions note Idel-001-1 as a later and improved variation of the first deck, with features like record-monitoring and remote control hooks appearing in small numbers.
Decline & Legacy
By the late 1980s, open-reel consumer tape decks were in steep decline worldwide, having been overshadowed by:
Compact cassette systems (introduced in the 1960s and dominant by the 1970s),
**Portable formats (eight-track, cassette), and
Digital media beginning to emerge.
Idel’s production in the 1980s came at a time when many Western manufacturers had already ceased reel-to-reel consumer production*, which is why the brand’s history is short and not widely documented outside specialized vintage audio communities.
Today, Idel decks are rare collector curiosities — interesting examples of late-era Soviet reel-to-reel design and manufacturing that stand apart from the more famous Western and Japanese tape recorder lines.
Summary — Idel Reel-to-Reel
Brand: Idel (Идель) — Soviet/Russian reel-to-reel tape recorders
Era: Mid-1980s (~1984–1987)
Manufacturing: Designed in Russia (often at Kazan electronics/computer plant)
Known Model: Idel 110 Stereo — 3-head, solid-state, 3¾/7½ ips deck
Market: Consumer / home audio (limited regional production)
Legacy: Short-run Soviet/Russian reel deck brand, rare today