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Vintage Tape (Audio), Cassette, Wire and Magnetic Disc Recorders and Players Open-reel tape recorders, cassette recorders, 8-track players etc.

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Old 9th Nov 2011, 10:44 am   #61
'LIVEWIRE?'
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

If the later Philips date codes were the same format as those used by Blaupunkt, which
followed this pattern... FD710, this IIRC equates to 1977/10, i.e. October 1977
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Old 9th Nov 2011, 11:30 am   #62
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

That would work with one of my machines with code 910 (being Oct 69 by your ref) which followed an earlier model that used the 'old' week/year code of 05/68 but it doesn't seem to work with later models (after the 910 code) which are:

033.......1970.....33?
037.......1970.....37?
336.......1973.....36?

However, using the 033 as the example, if the first number (0) is the last digit of the year: 1970 and the last two digits are the week number then that's week 33 (not the month) that would make more sense.
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Old 9th Nov 2011, 11:50 am   #63
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

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Originally Posted by camtechman View Post
Code #1 (Factory/Line):
For the EL3300, it should be something like: AH01 or AH02 and for later EL3301/2 machines it's probably a WR or WT code.
I always thought the WR code was some sort of revision code. But I have no experience with the cassette recorders, mostly 60's reel-to-reels, which all seem to use WR codes to indicate some sort of revision number, starting at WR 00 (or 01?) and working their way up from there.

Last edited by ricard; 9th Nov 2011 at 11:51 am. Reason: Accidentally chopped off a sqaure bracket in the quote tag
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Old 9th Nov 2011, 12:15 pm   #64
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

I have a N2205 - this machine was made between 1969 and 1975 I think. The code is 043, so this certainly seems plausible.

Does anyone know the owner of this site:

http://www.oudio.nl/

I reckon if anyone knows, he will.

Paul
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Old 9th Nov 2011, 5:35 pm   #65
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

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The earliest, fully complete & fully functional I have was manufactured between June 1st & 7th 1964 (23/64) but I have parts & part ass'm chassis from 1963.
That's interesting, my EL3300/15 is from 23/64 too. Serial 505556, I wonder whether they started at 500001.

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Old 9th Nov 2011, 8:27 pm   #66
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

Me too, same again 23/64 but slighly higher Serial 506148
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Old 10th Nov 2011, 10:37 am   #67
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

I wouldn't get too carried away with serial numbers for accurate dating!

23/64 is most probably 23rd week of 1964, ie June - a batch code - but 500001 etc may be a manufacturer's model code - '5' perhaps or '50', but to prevent competitors getting wise to commercially sensitive sales figures, serial numbers were often intentionally misleading by being out of sequence or a new, unrelated serial starting mid-way.

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Old 11th Nov 2011, 2:41 am   #68
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

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Me too, same again 23/64 but slightly higher Serial 506148
My EL3300 23/64 is S/No: 505203 and so, mine is earlier than either of yours...Yah Boo (LOL)
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Old 11th Nov 2011, 2:59 am   #69
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

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Does anyone know the owner of this site: http://www.oudio.nl/
I reckon if anyone knows, he will
Thanks Paul,

That's a good website and I'll try to make contact with them.

There are some articles on early cassette production and some interesting photos, espcially one showing women assembling music cassettes at the Deutsche Grammophon factory.

Only wishes I learnt Dutch though....
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Old 11th Nov 2011, 6:39 am   #70
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

I've just come across this review of the early cassette scene in Billboard Magazine in 1967 - pages and pages of interesting stuff!

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=D...3300%22&f=true

or

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=D...9&output=embed

Scroll up as well as down!

Paul

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Old 11th Nov 2011, 6:48 am   #71
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

And another....

http://vads.ac.uk/diad/article.php?t...ticle=d.226.33
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Old 11th Nov 2011, 12:58 pm   #72
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

Many thanks.
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Old 17th Nov 2011, 7:28 pm   #73
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

Cassette is still a great format-I use it constantly. Ive always loved them.

Another interesting early cassette recorder site
http://www.cassetterecorder-museum.c...ollection.html

Great site with hundreds of cassettes in first class picture form, some very early types here, you navigate at the top of the page
http://www.tapedeck.org/index.php
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Old 28th Nov 2011, 3:43 pm   #74
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

I'd like to add my contribution to this great thread with an article I wrote on the subject, 7 years ago, for an Italian antique radio magazine. It's a draft, that's why the picture descriptions are question marks.
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Old 28th Nov 2011, 4:22 pm   #75
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

wish my Italian was up to it
google translate i think
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Old 28th Nov 2011, 4:40 pm   #76
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

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I'd like to add my contribution to this great thread with an article I wrote on the subject, 7 years ago, for an Italian antique radio magazine
I shall get it translated soon when I visit my old stomping grounds of Waltham Cross in Herts, it's not called "Little Italy" for nothing.....
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Old 7th Dec 2011, 5:05 pm   #77
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

Here's the Google 'English' translation but even that needs 'translating' too:
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File Type: pdf Philips EL33XX Article (English) 2.pdf (21.2 KB, 925 views)
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Old 8th Dec 2011, 12:06 pm   #78
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

I at least can translate 'spaghetti' and 'al dente', but here's one for Marcoberti to get his teeth into (no pun intended)...!

What do you know of 'Incis', perhaps one of Italy's largest tape-decks maker who began with open-reel and, I believe, later cassettes and more modern recording technology mostly branded for other companies; very little is recorded of Inics.


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Old 20th Dec 2011, 4:23 am   #79
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

Quite interesting topic, this one

I haven't had time to read verything fully, but I certainly feel I can help out on some of the peculiarities of the Philips codes and markings (AH, WR, determining the meaning of some model versions, determining whether a drive or complete set was made by a Philips factory or possibly cloned (as was claimed for the Sony set), in which Philips factory the set was actually manufactured, why serial numbers can indeed start at 500000).

I will try to get back on this tomorrow after I've read the topic fully. Maybe answering some specific questions, or writing some background.

Last edited by Maarten; 20th Dec 2011 at 4:29 am.
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Old 20th Dec 2011, 7:08 am   #80
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Default Re: History Of Philips EL33XX Series Cassette Recorder

That would be very interesting indeed. I always thought I was alone in wondering things such as why tape recorders all had the EL prefix which was also used for all sorts of accessories such as microphones and cables, and why the switched to N at the end of the 1960's, WR codes (they seemed to be PW codes in the 1950's), if there was any significance to the number after EL or it was just an arbitrary number, what the numbers after the slash mean (e.g. EL3547/19A), etc etc.
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