About the Company
Ultra was a British brand of reel‑to‑reel tape recorders manufactured in the United Kingdom during the mid‑1960s. Its products were aimed at the consumer home audio market rather than professional broadcast or studio applications, and the company’s presence in the open‑reel landscape was relatively brief and limited in scope compared with larger or more internationally known manufacturers. Ultra machines were produced around 1966 to 1969 and employed solid‑state electronics, reflecting the transition in consumer audio equipment from older vacuum tube circuits toward transistorized designs.
One of the best‑documented Ultra models is the Ultra 6206, a mid‑hi‑fi quarter‑track mono tape recorder sold during the late 1960s. It supported the standard three tape speeds of the era — 1 7/8 inches per second, 3 3/4 inches per second and 7 1/2 inches per second — and could handle reels up to seven inches in diameter. The machine used solid‑state circuitry and a two‑head transport, with permalloy heads typical of consumer tape decks at that time. The unit included basic user features such as push‑button controls, built‑in level metering, input jacks for a radio, pickup and microphone, and an internal loudspeaker along with outputs for external amplification. Its performance and long‑term reliability were regarded as moderate to modest relative to more ambitious hi‑fi machines.
The Ultra tape recorder designs of this period were often badge‑engineered variants of common British transport units such as those originally developed by British Radio Corporation and used in contemporary decks by Thorn, Marconi and others. This meant the basic mechanics and electrical characteristics were similar to peers, with brand‑specific styling and control layouts distinguishing Ultra units from other badge‑engineered products.
Because Ultra’s reel‑to‑reel production lasted only a few years and included a small number of models, the brand did not build a long or deep legacy in the history of reel recording. Its machines are now occasional entries in vintage audio collections, often of interest to enthusiasts of mid‑1960s British audio gear rather than representatives of a major reel‑to‑reel manufacturer.
In summary, Ultra was a United Kingdom‑manufactured consumer reel‑to‑reel brand active around 1966–1969, producing solid‑state tape decks such as the Ultra 6206 aimed at home audio use. Its short‑lived presence reflects the broader mid‑century consumer audio landscape in which many smaller brands competed briefly before cassette formats and major international manufacturers dominated the market.