About the Company
Regentone was a United Kingdom consumer electronics brand used on a variety of audio products — including radios, radiograms, record players and, for a short period, reel‑to‑reel tape recorders. Machines bearing the Regentone name were manufactured in the UK and were typical of late‑1950s to early‑1960s domestic reel decks.
Brand: Regentone (brand name applied to products by various UK manufacturers)
Country: United Kingdom
Reel‑to‑Reel Production: circa 1959–1962
Market: Consumer home audio
Technology: Valve (tube) electronics, typical for pre‑solid‑state consumer gear
Disposition: Brand later consolidated under larger electronics groups like Standard Telephones and Cables/ITT via acquisitions of UK electronics firms including Regentone itself and its affiliates.
Regentone wasn’t a manufacturer in the sense of having its own factory; rather, the Regentone name was applied to tape recorders built by (or for) UK electronics firms under contract or licensing and branded for retail.
Regentone Reel‑to‑Reel Models
There were only a few reel‑to‑reel tape recorders documented under the Regentone name, all typical of their era:
Regentone 1
Era: c. 1959 – 1962
Electronics: Valve/tube
Tracks: Half‑track mono
Tape Speeds: 3¾ & 7½ ips
Reel Size: Up to 7″
This was a basic consumer deck typical of early open‑reel domestic machines: simple mechanical transport, modest frequency response and tube amplification.
Regentone RT 51
Era: c. 1959 – 1962
Electronics: Valve/tube
Tracks: Half‑track mono (1/2 Rec/PB)
Tape Speeds: 1⅞, 3¾, 7½ ips
Reel Size: 7″
Heads: 2 (erase/record & playback)
Features: Typical vintage tube deck layout with neon level indicators and internal speaker output options
The RT 51 reflects a slightly more featured domestic record/play unit, offering three speeds and full‑track mono recording.
Context & Market Position
Timing
Regentone’s reel‑to‑reel machines appeared close to the peak of UK consumer interest in open‑reel recording — roughly 1959 to 1962 — just before solid‑state transistor designs and imported Japanese brands began to dominate affordable home tape decks.
Consumer Orientation
These machines were aimed at domestic users rather than professional studios.
They used tube electronics, modest frequency response, and 7″ reels, consistent with entry‑level and mid‑range home units of the period.
Brand Manufacturing
Regentone gear was part of a broader ecosystem in Britain where brands and manufacturing relationships changed frequently. For example, Regentone and other British brand names (such as Ace, Argosy, RGD) were absorbed into larger companies like Standard Telephones and Cables (STC) and Kolster‑Brandes in the 1960s, reflecting consolidation in the UK electronics industry.
This means Regentone‑branded tape recorders were often manufactured by various contracted suppliers and sold under the Regentone label rather than developed by a single unified engineering department.
Decline & Legacy
By the mid‑1960s, Regentone’s reel‑to‑reel tape recorder lineup ended as:
Transistorized solid‑state machines quickly replaced tube designs in home audio.
Japanese brands (Akai, TEAC, Sony, etc.) became more affordable and technologically advanced.
Cassette technology began to supplant open‑reel in the consumer market.
As a result, Regentone reel decks today are rare vintage units of interest mainly to collectors and historians of early UK consumer tape recorders.