About the Company
Planet was a short‑lived British brand that manufactured consumer‑oriented reel‑to‑reel tape recorders in the early 1960s. The company’s products are rare today and typically of interest to collectors rather than mainstream hi‑fi historians.
Brand: Planet
Manufacturer: Planet Projects Ltd.
Country: United Kingdom
Production Period: Approximately 1962–1965
Market: Consumer / mid‑high fidelity home use
Electronics: Tube‑based (valve) designs typical of early consumer reel decks
Production History & Context
Origins and Development
Planet tape recorders were conceived in the late 1950s and eventually launched in the early 1960s. The brand doesn’t have deep corporate archives, and most historical records come from vintage equipment directories and enthusiast databases.
The design work was led by engineer Frank Underhill, and the flagship model debuted in 1962. Production was handled by Planet Projects Ltd. at Goodman Works in Northolt, Middlesex, England.
Notable Planet Reel‑to‑Reel Models
Planet U1
Era: ~1962–1965
Category: Mid‑hi‑fi consumer reel‑to‑reel tape deck
Electronics: Tube (valve) design
Track Format: Stereo (½ track)
Tape Speeds: 3¾, 7½ & 15 ips — relatively wide range for its class
Heads: Three‑head configuration for better recording/playback performance
Max Reel Size: 10½″ — a full‑size format allowing longer play times and higher fidelity
Other: RCA outputs, typical British mains voltages (220–240 V)
The U1 was engineered to sit at the higher end of the consumer market, with features like multiple speeds and three heads — uncommon on many British decks of that era.
Technical Positioning
Planet’s reel decks were solidly built and engineered for accurate speed stability, with a large brass flywheel to reduce wow and flutter — a key performance measure for tape decks.
Design: Single‑motor but with careful mechanical layout for steady tape movement
Performance: Good frequency range and low speed variation relative to some contemporaries
Audience: Enthusiast consumers who wanted better quality than basic tape recorders without paying for fully professional machines
Duration & Legacy
Planet tape recorder production was brief (circa 1962–1965), and the brand doesn’t appear in many mainstream audio histories because:
The company produced very few models compared with major players like Akai, Revox, or Philips.
It focused on a niche segment of the British market, so its presence outside the UK was limited.
The rise of solid‑state electronics and compact cassette formats in the mid‑1960s quickly overshadowed valve‑based open‑reel decks in the consumer market. The Planet U1 and its variants were among the last of the classic tube‑based consumer reel recorders produced in the UK.