Telefunken 15-A (c. 1975–1978)
The Archive's file on the Telefunken 15-A is thin. No original manual or datasheet was supplied, so the model is documented here mainly through professional-audio magazine appearances from the mid-to-late 1970s. In those pages it shows up as the “magnetophon 15A” or “M15A” - a professional open-reel tape recorder aimed at control rooms, with a multi-track variant advertised by 1978.
The most detailed contemporary account is Hugh Ford's review in Studio Sound (November 1976, p.64). He lists the manufacturer's transport specification: a brushless DC servo capstan motor with a quartz oscillator reference, two separate reel motors, tape speeds of 38 cm/s and 19 cm/s, 6.35 mm tape, and European-type hubs. In the same issue (p.70) Ford noted that the inputs and outputs were floating and isolated from ground. He measured the input impedance at a constant 16,900 ohms across the audio band and found the arrangement sensible.
Telefunken's own advertising from the same period stressed reliability and system integration. A Studio Sound ad (October 1976, p.51) presented the 15A as a control-room recorder and tied it to Telefunken's audio heritage. By May 1978, another Studio Sound ad (p.27) showed a 15A Multi-Track version with an optional microprocessor-based autolocator, nine-position memory, stop timer, remote track selectors, and capstan-speed selection.
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