About the Company
Pyrox Ltd. was a mid‑20th‑century audio equipment maker in Australia that produced reel‑to‑reel tape recorders under the Pyrox Magictape name in the 1950s, at a time when magnetic tape was just becoming a practical recording medium for home use.
Brand/Manufacturer: Pyrox Ltd., Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Market: Consumer / general audio use (with some adoption by small radio stations and schools)
Production Era: Early 1950s to late 1950s
Technology: Started with tube (valve) electronics, later some solid‑state units appeared
Reel Type: Open reel (¼″ tape)
Early History & Origins
Post‑war Tape Innovation in Australia
In the early 1950s, magnetic tape was transitioning from a specialist professional technology into consumer‑accessible machines. In Australia, Pyrox Ltd. was among the first companies to manufacture or license and assemble reel‑to‑reel recorders locally.
The first recorded Pyrox magnetic recorder model in collector records is the Magictape PH1‑CP from about 1952, a reel‑to‑reel machine made in Melbourne.
Some sources also show Pyrox earlier making wire recorders under U.S. licensing, reflecting the era’s transition from wire to tape recording technology in consumer markets.
Key Pyrox Reel‑to‑Reel Models
Pyrox Magictape PH1‑CP (~1952)
Category: Early reel‑to‑reel tape recorder
Country: Australia (Melbourne)
Electronics: Valve/tube circuits
Description: Early portable desktop recorder with integrated speaker; part of the first wave of tape machines in Australians homes.
Pyrox Magictape ST1 (1953–1956)
Era: c. 1953–1956
Electronics: Tube design
Track/Format: Full‑track mono (½ track)
Tape Speed: 7½ ips
Reel Size: 7″
Notes: Sold under the Pyrox Magictape name, and also offered under the AWA brand in Australia; it was one of the first widely available tape recorders in the country.
Pyrox Magictape ST5 & ST6 (circa mid‑1950s)
Era: 1955–1958
Electronics: Tube circuits
Tracks/Speeds: Dual‑track half‑mono; ST5 at 3¾ ips and ST6 at 7½ ips
Features: Built‑in amplifier and speaker; simple forward/rewind controls
Market: Consumer and educational use, including smaller broadcasters.
Pyrox Magictape ST4
Electronics: Solid‑state (transistor)
Tracks/Speeds: Dual‑track mono, with typical consumer speed range
Cabinet: Often suitcase‑style with external speaker output
Notes: One of the transitional models as electronic design moved away from tubes.
Technology & Design Traits
Valve to Solid‑State Transition
Early models like PH1‑CP, ST1, ST5/ST6 used tube‑based amplifiers, still common in 1950s consumer electronics.
Later examples such as the ST4 incorporated solid‑state elements, showing Pyrox adapting to transistor technology as it emerged.
Tape Speeds & Features
Tape speeds such as 3¾ ips and 7½ ips were typical consumer standards of the time, balancing recording time and fidelity.
Machines generally had simple interfaces — forward, rewind, and play — with built‑in speaker systems and provision for microphone and line inputs.
Market Role & Distribution
Consumer and Educational Use
Pyrox reel‑to‑reel recorders were affordable and accessible to consumers in Australia, schools, community groups, and smaller broadcast outlets, particularly before imports became more common.
Licence Manufacturing
Many Pyrox machines were built under licence from the Armour Research Foundation of the USA, which licensed tape recorder designs to various manufacturers globally in the early years of magnetic tape adoption.
Regional Significance
Unlike global brands (e.g., Akai, TEAC, Philips), Pyrox was primarily a regional Australian brand, with limited export and profile outside Australasia.
Legacy
Pyrox Ltd. was not a major global brand, but it played a notable role in early magnetic tape adoption in Australia, producing some of the first commercially available reel‑to‑reel recorders in the region in the 1950s. Its machines reflect the transition from wire to tape recording and from tube to solid‑state electronics in consumer products.