About the Company
Symphonic was a brand used for consumer-oriented reel-to-reel tape recorders in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The machines attributed to this brand were manufactured in Australia and were intended primarily for home audio use rather than professional broadcast or studio markets. Their production period is recorded as spanning roughly 1957 to 1960. These recorders are now rare and occur mainly in vintage audio collections or reference listings.
The best documented model under the Symphonic name was released in 1958. This unit was a tube-based (valve) reel-to-reel recorder featuring typical speeds for the era such as 3¾ ips and 7½ ips, and supported 7-inch reels. The electronics included vacuum tubes for amplification, and mechanisms of that period such as a dual-head transport setup with permalloy heads. The frequency response and wow-and-flutter figures were modest by later standards, reflecting the design’s focus on basic recording and playback rather than high-fidelity performance.
Symphonic machines were comparatively simple and utilitarian consumer products. They offered basic recording and playback capabilities along with a self-contained amplifier and speaker system in many units, aimed at listeners who wanted to record radio or personal audio at home. They are sometimes described in collector references as representing the era’s straightforward, no-frills portable tape recorder design, with robust mechanical parts rather than precision hi-fi engineering.
Because few models were produced and documentation is sparse, there is no extensive corporate history or large catalog available for Symphonic reel-to-reel tape recorders. Today these machines are of interest mainly to vintage audio enthusiasts and collectors as examples of regional, mid-century consumer tape recorder products that competed with better-known brands of the period.
Summary
Brand: Symphonic
Country of Manufacture: Australia
Production Era: Approximately 1957–1960
Market: Consumer / home audio
Technology: Tube-based electronics, basic tape transport
Typical Speeds: 3¾ ips, 7½ ips
Typical Reel Size: 7 inches
Positioning: Entry-level consumer reel-to-reel tape recorder with modest performance and simple design