page_title: Revox
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Revox / History
caption_attribution_description: Revox B-215 cassette deck. Made in 1986, overhauled throughout in 2015, works like a clock, built like a tank.
context_page_description: ReVox is a brand name, registered by Studer on March 27, 1951, for Swiss audio equipment.
context_section_description: The first Studer-designed tape recorders were branded Dynavox. After the first production series of Dynavox recorders, a new marketing company was formed in 1950 called ELA AG. Revox was adopted as the brand name for amateur recorders, while the professional machines retained the Studer name.
  The first Revox-branded tape recorder was the T26, in 1952, successor to the Dynavox 100.
  The T26 was also made available as a radio-recorder combination unit. 2500 T26 recorders were made, priced at 1395.00 Swiss francs.
  The A36, the first 36 series recorder. became available in 1954. Unusual features for the time were pushbutton solenoid transport operations and a direct-drive capstan with no belts or idler wheels.
  The B36 of 1956 was the first 3-head model, the D36 of 1960 was the first stereo model.
  The company moved to Löffingen, West Germany, in 1966, due to labour issues in Switzerland. But the building of a second factory was started in Regensdorf, Switzerland in 1967 - to open in 1968.
  In 1967 the 36-series tape recorders ended with the G36, and were superseded by the transistorised A77 with a servo-controlled direct drive capstan. Over 80,000 36-series recorders had been manufactured. The A77, of which more than 460,000 were built, was complemented by an integrated amplifier (A78) and FM tuner (A76). The start of the 1980s saw the introduction of the "B7xx" series of high fidelity components, which was in turn replaced by the B2xx series in the mid 1980s. The B2xx series was versatile (the B250 amplifier offering 10 signal inputs, each with automatic sensitivity calibration) and feature-rich, all components containing microprocessors. Contrastingly, the "H" line, with "H" standing for Human, went to the opposite extreme, with minimalist control interfaces: several "H" components having only three buttons.
  In 1990 Willi Studer sold the Studer Revox Group to Motor-Columbus AG, including all subsidiary companies. In 1991, Motor-Columbus split the Studer Revox Group into Studer (Pro), Revox (HiFi) and a Manufacturing-division. Motor-Columbus sold several subsidiaries and plants.
  The extensive reorganization culminated in the sale of the Studer Group to Harman International Inc., in March 1994. The Revox Group was excluded and sold to private investors. On March 17, 1994, Harman International Industries completed its acquisition and acquired from Motor-Columbus AG 100% of Studer Revox AG. Harman paid 100 Swiss Francs (approximately US $70.00) for all of the issued and outstanding stock in Studer Revox. Harman assumed post-acquisition indebtedness of Studer Revox of approximately 23 million Swiss Francs (approximately US $16 million).
  The founder of Revox, Willi Studer, died on March 1, 1996.
  The company logo is the word "REVOX" in capitals, with a "V" larger than the other letters; when printed in fixed-size type, the mixed-case spelling "ReVox" is sometimes used, but in all older and most newer references the name is shown as "Revox".
  Many consider ReVox open-reel tape recorders to be high-end audio equipment. The most famous of these are the G36 (valve type), A77 (solid state with relay controls) and B77 (solid state with logic control and direct-drive). The A700 was the top of the line 1970s machine with 3-speed quartz PLL capstan, or, like the B77 which appeared in 1979, variable tape speed from 2.5 to 22.5 inches per second. Pictured to the right is the PR99 Mk2, a variant of the B77 for professional users, differing from the B77 in having balanced line in/out, and a real-time counter and auto-locator. The PR99 series was superseded by the C270 series, available also in multi-track formats (C274, C278).
caption: Revox B 215, 4-motors-Cassettedeck without belts (1985-1992)
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS REBEL SL1", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.8.16", "Image DateTime": "2019:04:15 18:52:09", "Image Artist": "", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "232", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "8630", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "8742", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4589", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:04:15 18:15:11", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:04:15 18:15:11", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "53/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-2/3", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "72/25", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "85", "EXIF SubSecTime": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1000", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "8600", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "864000/149", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1152000/199", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}