Trident TSM-32/24
A big British in-line desk that studios bought new, modified heavily, and then let go for a fraction of what they cost when the market moved on.
Overview
The TSM-32/24 is a 32-input, 24-track in-line desk built by Trident. A working studio ordered one new, customized it to taste, and ran it for years before the digital tide made it surplus. The paper trail is the interesting part. The same desks surface again and again in the classifieds of the British studio magazines, in the back pages of Studio Sound, priced and described and re-described as they pass from owner to owner.
The numbers in the model name tell the basic story. Thirty-two input channels, twenty-four tracks, a natural fit for a 24-track room. In the August 1990 classifieds of Studio Sound (August 1990, p.74), a TSM 32/24 in "very good condition" was listed at £13,950, in a package deal with a Trident 80B and a Studer A80. Roughly fourteen grand for a large-format British console is the recurring figure. By the time the same desk appeared in a 1993 dealer list, the asking price had softened into "POA" territory. A 1994 sale sheet still had a TSM 32/24/24 marked "POA" while lesser Soundtracs desks dropped to three and four figures.
The listings show a console that was custom-built and heavily modified. One 1991 advertisement describes a TSM 32×24 as "absolutely immaculate," custom-ordered from Trident three years earlier, with "countless modifications." These include LED meters throughout (switchable PPM or VU), an extended mainframe built to house 19-inch outboard effects, an improved patchbay, and all channels wired in quadraphonic for extra sends. That desk had 56 channels fitted and room for a further 12. That is well beyond the nominal 32/24 spec, so the frame was clearly designed to grow.
Key Features
32 Input Channels with 24-Track Monitoring
The 32/24 designation describes a classic in-line monitoring arrangement: 32 input channels with 24-track tape monitoring built into the same strip. For a studio running a 24-track machine, every channel could handle both the live source and the returning tape, with no separate monitor desk. The configuration was common enough in the era. What separates one TSM from another on the used market is the execution, meaning the extended frame and patchbay options buyers specified.
Custom-Built Frames and Expanded Channel Counts
These desks were not off-the-shelf the way a budget mixer was. The 1991 listing for a TSM 32×24 notes it was "custom built to my order by Trident 3 years ago," with the mainframe "built longer to house 19 inch outboard effects" and 56 channels fitted against a nominal 32. A separate 1989 listing describes a TSM 32×24 "custom built by Trident 2 years ago" with "many expensive upgrades," including a strengthened stand and upgraded ICs. Buyers treated the TSM as a platform to be specified and re-specified, so no two used examples are quite alike.
Switchable PPM/VU Metering and LED Upgrades
Metering was a common customization. The 1991 example had "LED metres throughout, all switchable PPM or VU characteristics." That is an upgrade over whatever the standard fit was, and it shows up repeatedly in the descriptions of well-kept desks. On a used example, the meter package is one of the first things to check.
Improved Patchbays and Outboard Integration
The extended mainframe and improved patchbay in the modified examples point to how a TSM was actually used. The desk sat at the center of a room full of outboard, and the patchbay was where that outboard met the console. A 1993 dealer listing for a TSM 32/24/24 notes a "Mosses & Mitchell bantam p/bay fitted." A proper bantam patchbay is expensive to retrofit, so it suggests the desk was set up for serious work.
Historical Context
The TSM appears in the British studio press across the late 1980s and early 1990s as a working console rather than a legend. A 1987 Studio Sound stock list priced a TSM 32/24/24 at $20,000 in good condition, alongside Neve, SSL, MCI, and Amek desks. That puts it firmly in the professional tier. By 1990 the same publication's classifieds had a TSM 32/24 at £13,950, and by 1993 a dealer listed a TSM 32/24/24 frame with a Mosses & Mitchell patchbay as "POA."
The desk also turns up in the American trade press. A Recording Engineer item notes that a Burbank facility reopened a studio with a new Trident TSM 32-24-24 board interfaced with one of the first Studer A-800 machines delivered in the U.S. The board had a custom layout and "special mods to provide optimum, transformerless, interface" with the Studer. So this one went in as the front end of a brand-new 24-track room, specified to match the tape machine it fed.
Collectibility & Value
The used market for a TSM-32/24 is thin and price-sensitive. The recurring asking price in the early 1990s British classifieds was around £14,000. A July 1990 listing had a "very good condition" TSM 32/24 at £13,950, and a 1990 dealer sheet had a TSM 32/24/24 with patchbay, installed in a top studio from new and "very well maintained," at £14,950. A 1987 stock list priced a TSM 32/24/24 at $20,000. By 1993 and 1994, dealer sheets listed TSM 32/24/24 frames as "POA" rather than quoting a number, which usually signals a slow-moving item.
The modified examples get attention but not necessarily a premium. The 1991 private-sale desk, with 56 channels, LED meters, extended frame, and quadraphonic wiring, was offered at £27,000. That is roughly double the stock price, and it reflects the cost of the modifications rather than a market premium. Whether that money comes back on resale is an open question. The seller was retiring from the music business, which suggests the desk went at a loss.
Known problems are not documented in the available sources. The listings do show that condition varies enormously. "Immaculate" and "very good" appear alongside desks that sat in private studios for years. Patchbay quality, meter package, and channel count are the details that separate one example from another, so anyone considering one should verify the frame configuration, the patchbay type, and the meter fit. The spec sheet in a classified ad says very little.
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