Grundig 2100

The Grundig 2100 is a solid-state stereo reel-to-reel tape recorder from the mid-1960s. Documentation is thin. What survives is mainly a Grundig brochure scan and a German equipment listing, and together they show a fully transistorized home machine with some interesting features for its era.

The brochure highlights reverse playback, along with a single-lever control for all recording functions. There are three separate heads (record, playback, and erase - the erase head is a high-frequency type), driven by a single heavy-duty asynchronous motor. Tape speeds are 9.5 and 4.75 cm/s. The built-in amplifier is rated at 5 watts sinusoidal output (12 watts music power) per channel. Frequency response is 40-20,000 Hz at 3 dB loss, and dynamic range is better than 50 dB. The speaker section covers 80-16,000 Hz. Separate bass and treble controls are provided.

The 2100 also has a tuner section. A German distributor description calls it a 3-band tuner, but the Hifi-Archiv listing mentions only two shortwave bands. The records conflict, so the exact band coverage is not firmly established. Voltage is switchable between 110 V and 127/220 V, which suggests export-market flexibility.

A single German source lists the introduction year as 1964. No original price, weight, dimensions, or track format (2-track vs. 4-track) are documented. Period trade press from the late 1960s, such as Studio Sound (December 1967, p.46), carried Grundig advertising of the era, but no dedicated review of the 2100 has surfaced.