Ampex F-4460 (circa 1964)
The Ampex F-4460 is a tape recorder from the company's F-44 series, a line that included at least four models aimed at different installation scenarios. Most of what survives about this specific variant comes from a single lab test published in High Fidelity (February 1964, p.62). It measured NAB playback frequency response at 7½ ips using an Ampex 31321-01 test tape. The test recorded response curves for both left and right channels across a 20 Hz to 20 kHz sweep. Beyond that test data, the F-4460's place in the F-44 lineup is hard to pin down.
The F-44 series was introduced in Tape Recording (November 1963, p.28) with a new hysteresis-synchronous motor and wow-and-flutter rated as low as 0.3% at 7½ ips. It included the F-4450 and F-4452 for custom installation, plus the portable F-4470. Those models shared slide switches for power, loudness compensation, stereo/mono selection, and combined high/low filters, with rear-panel inputs for three phono cartridge types. Period sources don't say whether the F-4460 was another custom-install variant, a different configuration of the deck electronics, or a specific retail bundle. No service manual, schematic, or owner's documentation has surfaced, and no production years or original price are recorded. What exists is that single High Fidelity test report and the F-44 series context. That is enough to confirm the model existed and to place it in early 1964.
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