Vintage Electronics - The Tefifon

Additional information - the Tefifon model I demonstrate does not have a built in speaker, although portable devices with speakers were available. The music plays from the beginning of the tape to the end in one go, at which point it needs to be stopped manually. There is no need to manually move the stylus on the tape to different songs.

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[ramrod]

That may be the neatest piece of unknown audio gear I have ever seen.

[CoolAsFreya]

"The reason I'm taking this one apart? It teaches Germans how to speak Italian..."

[JinzoCrash]

This looks like a record player that fell out of an alternate universe.

[mgconlan]

I loved the German-language version of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti." It sounds like a cocktail-lounge band trying to figure out what this new rock 'n' roll stuff is all about.

[HSishi]

Basically this is the "tape" version of a vinyl record. Pretty neat concept. Also the exhibits which are shown here are in very good condition and the sound quality is VERY good, even compared to a vinyl record.


These whole things are even older than me - I was born 16 years after these were released.

[rideRgetRDEn]

How funny I'm new to this channel and I haven watched a single camera video. This old tech fascinates me endlessly.

[frankj]

As a 52 year old German I have never even heard about this device. Now I finally learn about it in 2023 from an 8 year old British youtube video. Fascinating.

[Thugorp]

I honestly didn't even know that you did cameras. I have only ever seen your sound stuff. :-)

[tdcattech]

The levels of ingenuity in some of this old gear never fails to amaze me.

[Techmoan]

The build up visible on the stylus (when viewed at a microscopic level) is the fluff and dust that's present in the 60 year old grooves on the tape (rather than the red tape getting worn away). You can see white marks on the red tape as its moving, the tape should be pure red, so anything that isn't red is 'dirt'. These things have sat around on the spools for probably 50 years so there's bound to be a bit of stuff transferred from the felt pads in the cart.

[AO-blcc]

I think I know why the Tefifon sounds so good for its age. The grooves are linear across the length of the tape so the signal never degrades regardless where the needle is on the tape. On vinyl, the grooves become denser as you get closer to the inner portion of the record, so the sound degrades because there is less and less room for the grooves to be placed.

[Bikewithlove]

The sound reproduction of this machine is gorgeous! It sounds like you’re right 1950s, and with bass! The fact that it’s mostly cheesy covers makes it uniquely of its time. Very cool thing. I’d totally play this at an art school party.

[michaelparker]

The tape's making me hungry for those red liquorice strips.

[EpicLPer]

Looks like a device that could be straight out of Fallout

[joop]

Born in 1950, I thought I had seen it all, however this one is "new" to me!
Great machine!

[BunyMagnet]

To come back to this again and watch the origin story of that glorious jingle you put into your videos.

It's like a little bit of magic.

[rollercoastermaniac]

For something that old that didn't catch on, IT SOUNDS F*ING AMAZING.

[frac]

Whatever polymer that is, that's not bad for 60ish years old. Many similar rubber-like plastics would be cracked and flaking.

[warrenmcclure]

The inside of the tape thing looks like a fruit roll up, I wanna eat it lol

[greenaum]

I wonder what amazing plastic they used, that the rubber rollers haven't perished, and the tape itself is still completely flexible! Without even threatening to snap itself into a thousand brittle pieces! That's some very good plastic. I suppose being kept away from light and air in it's cartridge, in it's little cardboard box, will have helped. But still, bloody good plastic! NASA ought to be notified!