About the Company
Rangertone, Inc. was an American company founded by inventor Richard H. Ranger that produced some of the first commercially available tape recorders in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its products were important in the transition from electrical transcription discs and wire recording to magnetic tape — especially in broadcast and professional environments.
Brand: Rangertone (often spelled Ranger‑tone in early ads)
Founder: Richard Howland Ranger, American electrical engineer and pioneer of tape recording technology
Country: United States
Era of Production: Late 1940s – early 1950s
Market Focus: Professional & broadcast, with some early consumer interest
Electronics: Vacuum tube (valve) technology
Notable Historical Role: Among the earliest U.S. tape recorder makers inspired by German Magnetophon technology
Historical Context
Origins and Founder
Richard H. Ranger was a prominent engineer who worked at RCA before founding Rangertone, Inc. in 1930. His early work included electronic organs and broadcast technology, but his most lasting contribution was in tape recorder development after World War II, based on his direct study of German magnetic tape recorders.
Post‑War Magnetic Tape Adoption (Late 1940s)
After examining German AEG Magnetophon machines captured and studied at the end of WWII, Ranger adapted that technology into American magnetic tape recorders. Rangertone developed machines that were among the first U.S. designs capable of professional‑level tape recording and transcription.
These early Rangertone recorders were often exhibited at radio and engineering conventions and demonstrated to industry professionals — including radio network engineers and manufacturers — during the late 1940s.
Rangertone Reel‑to‑Reel Equipment
Unlike many later consumer brands, Rangertone’s products were primarily professional / high‑precision tape recorders rather than “home” hi‑fi decks. They offered multi‑speed operation, high fidelity, and robust construction intended for broadcast and transcription use.
Early Rangertone Professional Recorders (ca. 1947–1952)
Although specific consumer names are rare in surviving catalogs, period advertisements and trade publications show machines such as:
Rangertone R‑5C / Model A‑2 (mid‑1950s professional decks)
Multi‑speed: e.g., 3¾″, 7½″, 15″, and up to 30″ per second tape speeds
Full‑track / NAB standards: Designed for professional broadcast recording
Large reels: Capable of very long continuous record/play on 14″ reels
Features: Tight‑loop drives, footage counters, monitoring and mixing facilities
These specifications were advertised in Audio Record magazine in 1955.
While commercial catalogs from that era are sparse, these Rangertone professional units were technically competitive with early Ampex gear and were targeted at broadcast engineering departments rather than the general public.
Technical & Market Characteristics
Professional Focus
Rangertone machines were designed for broadcast, transcription, and studio synchronization applications, not primarily for home consumer use.
They featured vacuum tube amplifiers, multiple tape speeds, and large reel capacity, all aimed at high‑quality audio production.
Innovation Influence
The early Rangertone recorders built on the German Magnetophon legacy, helping to bring that technology into the U.S. market shortly after WWII.
Richard Ranger’s engineering and demonstration work helped form some of the first professional tape recorder designs in America, preceding or parallel to firms like Ampex.
Tube Electronics
The pre‑transistor era meant Rangertone recorders used valve (tube) electronics, typical of professional and broadcast machines of the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Later Years and Transition
By the early 1960s, Rangertone had largely discontinued its general‑purpose tape recorder line, concentrating instead on specialized recording systems (e.g., for motion pictures and data applications).
The original Rangertone company later evolved into Rangertone Research, Inc., a firm focused on magnetic sound and related technologies, but not as a major consumer or broadcast tape recorder manufacturer after the 1950s.