Viking 811-R (1969)
The 811-R was designed by Viking, but by the time most reviewers saw it, it wore Telex badges. High Fidelity (March 1972, p.57) presented it as the Telex 811-R, originally a Viking product, and described it as a trailblazer among component-grade eight-track cartridge recorders. It was announced in August 1969 as the recorder/player of a new line of Viking 8-track equipment, alongside the playback-only Model 811 (High Fidelity, August 1969, p.36). The magazine noted then that recording on eight-track was still rare. Few decks could do it.
It was an eight-track stereo cartridge deck with record and playback preamps but no power amps or speakers, meant to sit in a home component system. A later High Fidelity review (October 1971, p.49) gave dimensions of 15 by 11 by 4¾ inches including the wood case, and a list price of $169.95, down from $189.95 at introduction. That review also mentioned a red record-interlock button at the back left of the control panel, with the deck powered up by partially inserting a blank cartridge. By 1972 the price in print had crept up to $190.
Beyond the contemporary reviews, documentation is thin. No service manual or detailed spec sheet for the 811-R has surfaced in the Archive's holdings, so the record is mostly what these period reviews chose to say about it.
- Type: 8-track stereo cartridge recorder/player for home component systems
- Introduced: August 1969 — Model 811R at $189.95; playback-only Model 811 at $99.95
- Later list prices: $169.95 (1971), $190 (1972)
- Dimensions: 15 × 11 × 4¾ in. including wood case
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