About the Company
Thorens is a Swiss‑founded audio equipment maker with a long history dating back to 1883, originally producing musical boxes and clock works before expanding into phonographs and hi‑fi equipment. For much of its existence the company was best known for high‑quality turntables and playback gear, but it did produce a reel‑to‑reel tape machine, marking its presence in that segment of analog audio. Thorens has been associated primarily with audiophile consumer products rather than mass‑market tape decks.
The most notable Thorens reel‑to‑reel product is the Thorens TM 1600, developed in cooperation with German specialist Ballfinger and offered around 2011–2012. This machine represents a modern, high‑end analogue tape deck produced long after the classic reel‑to‑reel era. It is a half‑track quarter‑inch design capable of handling 10.5‑inch reels at speeds of 19 cm/s (approximately 7.5 inches per second) and 38 cm/s (approximately 15 inches per second). The TM 1600 has a three‑motor transport with two reel motors and a capstan drive, and it provides features such as CCIR and NAB equalization selection and a real‑time counter. Unlike the historic cassette and reel recorders of the 1960s and 1970s, the Thorens TM 1600 was built for audiophile playback and analog tape enthusiasts in the 21st century and was produced in limited numbers before being sold out.
Before the TM 1600, Thorens did not have a significant reel‑to‑reel production line in the classic consumer or professional markets like contemporaneous Japanese or European brands (for example TEAC or Philips). The company’s historical focus remained on high‑fidelity turntables and related playback equipment, and its involvement with magnetic tape recorders outside of this later project was minimal. Thorens is better documented for its turntables such as the TD‑124 introduced in 1957, which became a long‑lived hi‑fi reference, than for tape recorders.
The TM 1600 initiative appears linked to a revival of interest in analog formats, where Thorens leveraged its reputation in analogue audio to offer a discrete high‑quality tape machine in the early 2010s. It was manufactured in Düsseldorf, Germany, and marketed to a niche global audience rather than mass consumer markets. Its production run was brief, with units sold out and no continuation as a standard Thorens product line.
In summary, Thorens’ direct involvement in reel‑to‑reel tape recorder production was limited, with its most notable contribution being the TM 1600 high‑end analogue tape deck launched around 2011–2012. Historically, Thorens is better known for its turntables and hi‑fi components, and the TM 1600 stands as a specialized, modern effort to extend that analogue heritage into open‑reel tape playback rather than as part of a long‑running series of consumer tape recorders.