Beechwoods
09-03-2011, 21:56
This little thing is slightly overpriced for the 'Bargains On Ebay' thread, but it's such an oddity I thought some of you might be interested.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nagra-JBR-PLAYBACK-T-SYSTEM-PS-1-RARE-COLLECTABLE-/180635505265
It's a Nagra JBR 'Playback' machine. The Nagra JBR was a variant on the Nagra SN (http://www.nagraaudio.com/pro/pages/products_nagra_sn.php) series of ⅛" tape miniature recorders; generally used in covert surveillance, but also occasionally in film recording (as an on-body recorder in the days before radio mics) and later, as an incredible feat of miniature hi-fi, the SNST-R (http://www.nagraaudio.com/highend/pages/productsSNSTR.php) which managed to achieve a frequency response of 50 Hz to 15 kHz ±2 dB at 3¾ ips using tape half the width of your typical reel to reel.
Anyway, the JBR variant of SN had a cartridge to hold the tape. The story goes that the US government commissioned that kind of functionality rather than having to mess with miniature open-reels. I've never seen a JBR recorder, but here we have on eBay a JBR playback machine. It looks fabulous. It was designed though to play back surveillance tape; so the objective was to make bad recordings sound good. While the SNST-R and SNN could record (in stereo, and mono respectively) at 3¾ ips, and achieve a hi-fi level of reproduction, most use of the systems for surveillance used 1⅞ ips or even 15/16ths of an inch per second... great for covert recordings left running for days, but not so good for hi-fi reproduction. When you compare the best the miniature Nagra can achieve with the best of compact cassette - 20 Hz to 20kHz ±2 dB at 1⅞ ips (my Nakamichi CR7) - it's more of a nice curiosity.
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_6883.jpg
I still want a Nagra SN though. Performance of the SNN and SNST-R are good enough for enjoyable hi-fi (FM equivalent) and they're just glorious examples of bygone engineering. It's the first thing I'll get when I win the lottery :)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nagra-JBR-PLAYBACK-T-SYSTEM-PS-1-RARE-COLLECTABLE-/180635505265
It's a Nagra JBR 'Playback' machine. The Nagra JBR was a variant on the Nagra SN (http://www.nagraaudio.com/pro/pages/products_nagra_sn.php) series of ⅛" tape miniature recorders; generally used in covert surveillance, but also occasionally in film recording (as an on-body recorder in the days before radio mics) and later, as an incredible feat of miniature hi-fi, the SNST-R (http://www.nagraaudio.com/highend/pages/productsSNSTR.php) which managed to achieve a frequency response of 50 Hz to 15 kHz ±2 dB at 3¾ ips using tape half the width of your typical reel to reel.
Anyway, the JBR variant of SN had a cartridge to hold the tape. The story goes that the US government commissioned that kind of functionality rather than having to mess with miniature open-reels. I've never seen a JBR recorder, but here we have on eBay a JBR playback machine. It looks fabulous. It was designed though to play back surveillance tape; so the objective was to make bad recordings sound good. While the SNST-R and SNN could record (in stereo, and mono respectively) at 3¾ ips, and achieve a hi-fi level of reproduction, most use of the systems for surveillance used 1⅞ ips or even 15/16ths of an inch per second... great for covert recordings left running for days, but not so good for hi-fi reproduction. When you compare the best the miniature Nagra can achieve with the best of compact cassette - 20 Hz to 20kHz ±2 dB at 1⅞ ips (my Nakamichi CR7) - it's more of a nice curiosity.
http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss49/aos_images/beechwoods/IMG_6883.jpg
I still want a Nagra SN though. Performance of the SNN and SNST-R are good enough for enjoyable hi-fi (FM equivalent) and they're just glorious examples of bygone engineering. It's the first thing I'll get when I win the lottery :)