My original Tefifon videos; 1. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nBNTAmLRmUg.html 2. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9tTURrAWVYE.html If you only want to watch one - I’d recommend the second video.
Thanks so much for this one, 60s styling on devices built like tanks really float my boat, I'll definitely watch the previous Tefifon vids. Had no idea such a device existed, the missing link between phonograph and compact cassette. You rock Techmoan.
Being a Tefi collector and enthusiast from germany I can add a few facts: - The serial number label is cropped at the end. In fact the serial number of this KC-4/T (T for Tischgerät as opposed to /E for Einbauchassis) is somewhere in the range of 502.000 to 502.999. At 7:54 you can see the same number on the inside - and it is confirmed as being 502.463. - With my collection of serial numbers for this kind of chassis I can apply the „german tank problem“ algorithm to estimate the number of devices that have been build. From my numbers it seems that about 3.700 KC-4s have been built. For comparison: The model KC-1 has been built around 142.550 times! - Stereo tapes are rare because stereo did not catch on with the Tefi customers. So only a few different titles have been produced in stereo. There are 5 known cartridges in stereo. The one than can be found most easily is „TD/ST1602 Wien, Wien nur Du allein“. In fact Tefi produced mainly mono tapes even after intruducing stereo. Maybe this was due to license costs for stereo productions? - The KC-4 was not the first Tefifon to support stereo. The later models of the KC-1 already hat stereo pickups. There are rumours that those stereo KC-1 where inofficially called KC-2. This is because KC-2 is missing in the line of names. (KC-3 is the type of the chassis in the portable device Tefifon Holiday - which would also make for a nice Techmoan video - wink, wink) - Fun fact: There are 3 grey rubber feet on the top of the brown plastic to hold the cartridges in place. The engineers have made a mistake here: The position of the feet should have been mirrorred. The problem is that there are smaller 18-minute cartridges that will not rest on the rubber, but fall in between. This is another sign of what you discovered and what all Tefi collectors know: The KC-4 was not a good chassis. Technically it was much worse that the KC-1. The KC-1 (although having it’s own flaws) was the best type of Tefifon ever constructed. - Tefifon is not spelled like „…phone“, but rather the way you spelled it at 16:06 before you corrected yourself to the wrong spelling :-) Only the ´e‘ is not spoken that short, but slightly longer. Hm, it’s hard for me to explain… BTW: I did not know about Tefifons until a few years ago, when I saw your first video ob the KC-1 on youtube! Since then I have been researching the history of the company and the devices. Thank you very much, Techmoan! Keep up the great work!
Tischgerät und Einbauchassis. Hach das waren noch Zeiten... als Dinge noch auf Deutsch bezeichnet wurden. ^^ Es ist außerdem bei sämtlicher Retro-Technik unglaublich, dass sie nach meist kleinen Reparaturen ca. 40 Jahre später (!) immer noch funktioniert. Nicht so wie heutiger Ramsch. Pass gut auf deine Tefi-Sammlung auf und noch viel Spaß beim Sammeln!
Here's a native speaker pronouncing it "Teeh-fi-fōn", with the additional fun fact that it stands for Te (Telefon) - Fi (Film) - Fon (Phono/Klang/sound) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-IpyS3JLVsM8.htmlsi=61SP_7QimANVx2tO .
P.S. Tefifon en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefifon may have indirectly inspired the Dictabelt en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictabelt ... I'm old enough to remember the secretaries in my father's office using the latter.
(english translation below) Ja, bis zum KC-1 konnte man alle Tefifone gut reparieren. Robuste Ingenieursarbeit ohne Zwang zum Sparen, mit Materialen und Teilen, die auf eine lange Lebensdauer hin ausgelegt waren. Einzig die Gummiteile halten nicht ewig (machen sie heute i.d.R. noch immer nicht) und die Kristalle der Tinabnehmer zogen Wasser und gingen kaputt… Mit ein wenig technischem Geschick kriegt man aber alle Geräte wieder zum Laufen. ====== Yes, up to the KC-1, all Tefifones were easy to repair. Robust engineering work without the need to save money, with materials and parts that were designed for a long service life. Only the rubber parts didn't last forever (they still don't today…) and the crystals of the pickups got wet and faded away… With a little technical skill, however, you can get all devices working again.
Yeah, first I was like 'mkey so when does the Tefifon track start?' :D I don't think the records of that time sounded much different. Quite impressive for some plastic ribbon.
i was thinking that too! it might be because, being more flexible than vinyl, it isn't as subject to warping or cracking, and the cartridge protects it from dust
If you follow Techmoan for some years, you'll remember the "muppet" show he did at the end of the videos with a "mysterious" accordion jingle. When he presented the first Tefifon he revealed that the piece was a Cuban dance on a Tefi cartridge and that also was captured with optimum quality and used in the videos 😃
Germany still used 110V 50Hz until the 1950s, and I'm sure it took many years to get all areas changed over, so this company likely wanted to make it available to all. I bet it came from the factory wired for high voltage, but then if the customer was still on 110V, the worst that would happen is it running at half speed (or less). Back then, they probably would have been sold by a knowledgeable electronics shop with an on site repairman who'd solder the mains lead to the correct terminal that the customer needed.
Yeah, many iterations of the Volksempfänger for example even had three choices. 110-130 volt, 150 volt or 220-240 volt. You could switch it yourself with a screwdriver or have it done by whoever sold it to you
I have a Tefifon radio unit and it has a 110v/220v voltage selector behind the back panel. I always wondered why it was there if it still needed 50hz A/C and now that question has been answered.
My 1950s sewing machine from Germany includes a warning, to check for the correct voltage, "whenever the machine is moved to another city". I found that odd, but that probably explains a lot...
@@codingquantum2195 Yup, Germany was all over the place. Even the full adoption of AC power wasn't universal until the 50s (some places still had 110 or 150 volt DC at the time), so you even get "Allstromempfänger" (literally "all power receiver") radios like the Volksempfänger VE301GW that can be adopted for 110-130 AC/DC, 150 volt DC and 220-240 volt AC. It took until the mid-70s to get all of West Germany to 220 volt AC.
Being someone that has been an eBay seller for more than a decade, it warms my heart to see packaging like that. So many people aren't regular sellers and they vastly overestimate the durability of their packing material and underestimate couriers' ability to smash things.
A few years ago we received a part from Kodak for our imagesetter at work. The part came in a crate, strapped to a pallet. When you opened the crateyou were greeted with foam. When you removed the foam you found a box. When you opened the box you found more foam Then another box. Inside that box was a laser cut foam holder with the part, a diode laser board, in an anti-static package. It was the most well packed item I've ever received. the part was less than 6 square inches. Admittedly the list price was around $47,000.
The rubber flywheels and rollers are still custom made to this day by independent shops. One of them is Terry's Rubber Rollers over in the USA. Terry doesn't just do reel to reel or cassette decks so chances are devices like these wouldn't be a problem for him!
I'm sure this comment will get buried but i wanted to say on the original video i made a comment about an old woman coming into my shop and seeing your video playing behind me then us talking about her christmas with it. She passed away 11/23/2021, from Covid; at 87. ♥
What an amazing machine! I surfed over here from Adam Savage's channel. He saw his first Tefifon today (January 18, 2024) and he and his guest both highly recommended you. So now I'm subscribed and hooked! Cheers from California. PS: I was in the Forces and served in Germany during the '80s and '90s. If I'd known about this back then I'd have haunted the antik and hifi ('heefee') shops for one!
I love these old and obsolete media formats, dare I say it my favorite of all the videos you make. The engineering behind them is always fascinating. Will be fascinating to see if a stylus and stereo cartridges ever show up, and I'm sure you'll share them with us if they do.
Back then shortly after that video i went to an older man to buy some vintage computers and he said he is collecting old radios for decades now. He wanted to show me something special which he thought i never even heard of before and suprise me. Well....he didnt since ive seen that special device (a tefifon) a few months earlier on techmoan.
I always enjoy these videos showing equipment I've never heard of and will likely never interact with in my life, thanks so much. Also, I don't speak a word of German, but still I think that song you played at the end is gonna be stuck in my head for awhile, very catchy tune!
7 месяцев назад
It's so strange. I was learning German circa two decades ago, haven't used it ever since and I think I can understand the lyrics of this song. Okay, it's not some scientific whitepaper text for sure :D ("Why the stars so bright tonight? The air is (something), my heart beats fast. I say to you: stay only with me." Something like that)
@ Warum strahlen heut' Nacht die Sterne so hell? Die Luft ist so mild, mein Herz schlägt so schnell. Ich sag' dir's: Nur weil du bei mir bist! Why are the stars shining so brightly tonight? The air is so mild, my heart beats so fast. I'm telling you: Just because you're with me!
Since most radio stations were terrible in post war Germany, this kind of machine was designed for dentist- & airport waiting rooms, train stations, bus depots and so on. They were intended for commercial rather than private use. The end tune you featured was from '57 "Schlagerrevue" anthology - the first one had Octoberfest drinking songs. Cartridges came prerecorded and you could only play them linear but they had the advantage of playing an hour while Phillips' cassettes had not made their debut yet and vinyl could only hold about 20' on one LP album side.
Nice, another Tefifon video. Your original one was one of the earliest Techmoan videos I watched when I first stumbled across the channel. I've found them oddly fascinating ever since--such a peculiar parallel-universe technology.
I'm in awe. Tefifon KC4 is a work of engineering art. It ticks SOOOO many boxes. I really hope RU-vid isn't treating you as poorly as so many other presenters. You simply cannot get content like this as convenient as this. You should not be taken for granted
From everything I've read, the pickups in these were Rochelle salt crystal types. They would be high impedance and high output, and would drive a typical line line level phono input on a tube type German radio/amplifier. No doubt the cartridge in yours, like virtually all other crystal types from this period, is unfortunately dead. Any moisture that gets in there destroys the piezo element. When I was a repair technician, it was common to have to replace crystal cartridges in phonographs after just a few years time.
The tefifon uses ceramic cartridges which you usually cannot connect to a RIAA preamp additionally those cartridges tend to dissolve over the age, the piezo stripes sometimes need to be replaced and so the holder of the saphire needed sometimes a replacement as it hardens out... Besides the tape is about carnival in Germany... new season just went off 🎉
I love that the English lyrics are basically "today sucks because you are not here" and the German lyrics are "today is the best day ever because you are here".
It is, but it predates both! Invented in the 1920s, the Tefifon was used a lot during the war because of the long playtime. In that time the "sound ribbon" came loose in a box, but wound up as an endless loop, which made it difficult to handle. During the war Tefifon developed cartridges made of tin. After the war the war instead of tin bakelite was used, and also a smaller format. Those were the first Tefifons for the masses. Early cartridges are black and play with double the speed, you can't play them on later Tefifons like the KC1 or KC4.
@@qwertykeyboard5901 A metal master ribbon, pressed against softened blank tape between rollers, maybe? (Others have suggested the same in other comments.)
7:55 back in the day, the plugs and sockets of audio devices didn't have ground yet. So to improve safety, what many people do is add a new mains cord and plug and use a solder lug to connect the ground to the chassis. I do it too, if i sell people things. And if people bring old equipment in for repair, i always suggest opting to replace the mains cord by one with ground - even though they might not look as nice as the old, simple twin lead ones. With regards to the cartridge - be careful when buying a new old stock one. If it's ceramic, they'll be fine. But if it's crystal, it's completely possible that the crystal has dissolved internally and even though it has never been used, it still won't work. The internal crystal elements can be replaced by modern piezo plates, but that's a fiddly process.
The pickup might as well be dead if it's the piezoelectric kind. Moisture really wrecks them. I'm not sure how bad it was for old German gear, but Polish crystalline pickups made by Unitra Fonica often had nothing but rust and carnage inside, totally irreparable. Nicely packed indeed!
If it weren't for videos like this I probably wouldn't even know this technology ever existed. Thank you for sharing with us your knowledge on the history of technology.
Last year, I bought a Pioneer receiver (SX-550) on eBay. The seller wrapped the unit in plastic, and then immersed it in a box filled with expanding foam. The foam was done in halves, so that it was easy to excavate the unit. I have never seen such an excellent packing job in all my life. Anyway, the receiver is amazing!
The quality difference of the KC1 is amazing, those details made a massive impact of the longevity of the device compared to the poor KC4. Fascinating device. Thanks for showing.
The 1960s unit was probably a last-ditch effort of the format. Compact cassette was released 2 years later and the German audio industry was pretty heavily invested in it.
The Philips compact casette was originally concieved as a voice-only format for dictaphones. The audio quality was not good enough for music until better tape stock and dolby noise reduction were developed years later.
Years later after the first video I still wonder how were these ribbons recorded at the factory. It's not like they would simply press them out like a regular vinyl record?
My bet would be that they were recorded to a metal master ribbon first that would be run through some pinch rollers along with a heated blank ribbon to transfer the ridges to the player ribbon
They where pressed like a record, then both ends where joined by hand and a special tool with grooves (to allow uninterrupted playback) was used to melt both ends together without an audible gap.
That song at the end... im still in awe of how good a 60 years old plastic belt can hold audio in a micro-groove. This said, and seeing the comparation between earlier and later models, we can say now that the decline in quality of consumer electronics is not just a 21th century thing
At the time it was very common to make these (probably licensed?) copies of English songs in German. Many big artists like Udo Jürgens got their career start with them, as simple studio singers.
Yep, same or roughly the same. Love the dopamine surge I’m getting from the nostalgia of an era in which I never lived, boosted by an additional one from the time I first found these videos
@@Throckmorton.Scribblemongerit's a copy/cover done by some German recording company. Was really common at the time to make German versions of foreign songs, be it from the UK, Italy, France etc. Your typical German did not understand English back then.
Happy New Year, Matt! That cartedrige should be a piezoelectric or ceramic type. Those tend to decay and short in time, just like old capacitors. The main issue with replacing it is that we don't really know how the stereo cut is done. LPs use a 45° angle approach for left and right channels separation, and it would make sense that this device does it too... it's worth a try getting a new one that fits. Thanks for another great video.
Lovely musical gem at the end. I once asked my mother if she was a fan of Elvis when she was young. She would have been the right age. But she preferred Tommy Steele.
Tefifon was the video that pulled me to your channel all those years ago. Nice to see the continuation of the saga :D If someone ever wanted to make the Fallout: Germany game mod, the tune at the end would fit perfectly.
This is such a fun channel to watch because you introduce your viewers, new, old, long-term or recent to all sorts of fun audio equipment from regular things like a record player or a CD player to strange and exotic things like the Tefifon Keep up the good work! I love seeing some of the toys you have and learning new things.... even at 45 years old I get to learn new things and that is a joy.
I've got an Emerson electric fan from 1952 and it's amazing to see how amazingly simple but still dangerous these were. The power switch is one big metal arm that runs over 4 different contacts. Big clunky switch too. The occilator mechanism is rather cool too. Its just a big arm that uses a rotating spindle from the motor and a system of brass gears. She had no cord on her when I got her and she was sitting outside where the rain had blown on her for over a decade. Put power to her and she's running smoother, quieter, and more powerful than the fan I use now.
What a fascinating video- I really appreaciate your enthusiam for these unusual devices and the care you go to to repair and demonstrate them. I'd never heard of a Tefifon- it really is the transition between vinyl and magenetic tape- I cannot imagine how someone came up with the idea in the first place!
Your videos are always a highlight of my day! Hope you are having a wonderful New Year and I'm sending lots of love and good wishes for all! Have a great day. ❤
"Warum strahlen heut' nacht die Sterne so hell" is one of several German versions of "Singing the Blues", so you were lucky not to get a composition match. Also, performance rights are now protected for 70 years after publication in many countries :o
BTW, probably the biggest hit in the UK with "Singing the Blues" was by Tommy Steele, who took this tune to #1 in the charts in 1956. It's a good example of primal British Rock n Roll.
Great start to the year, well the search is on everybody for a stereo telefon 😅 I'm sure someone will have one somewhere 🤔🤔🤔 Happy New Year Matt enjoyed the show 😊
You really have to admire the inner working of this device. Such minimal wire, I know more moving means more chance if failure. Theres just something about the gears and motors that scream craftsman. Quality and care.
The Tefifon does not need a new stylus but a new phono cartridge, the stylus is surely still perfect. The cartridge is using a crystal element, actually two if stereo and decays with time, as opposed to ceramic elements, used in new type of cartridges, for instance the cheap Crosley phonos and last almost forever. At least until the rubber damper dry hard. The original cartridge can be restored by replacing the innards. I have seen the pictures of work done on other Tefifon using cheap cartridges and one even made a 3D printer adapter. However, I believe the best is to have the original rebuilt to keep the Tefifon a original as possible. I really enjoy your videos and I would be more than happy to restore the original to its former glory for free. I have done many in the past, actually probably over 600 early phono cartridges of all makes using crystal and ceramic elements. Let me know.
Thanks for the awesome follow-up vid and a big thanks to the seller who went above and beyond with excellent packing! Here in the US it would very likely have been smashed to bits due to careless / clueless packing.
Thanks Mat - another superb video about a subject dear to my heart - I've been involved with restoring and repairing Tefifons (amongst many other things!) for many years and a few years back ran a display about them at the annual BVWS event. As part of reducing my workshop contents and collection, I'll be putting my KC4, complete with advertising material, leaflets and books about Tefifons, up for sale shortly. That will include a number of cartridges, two of them the elusive stereo ones! Let me know if you'd like to know more!! All the best and keep up the excellent work! Bryan
there's something to be said for Tefifon carts compared to ordinary records, the track in the outro sounds an awful lot better, in terms of surface nose from dirt and scratches etc, than any of my dads records from the 50s/60s.
I'd guess there's less noise because the "tape" is stored and protected by the cartridge shell, it basically will never get dirty, as each each section of tape barely gets exposed on each playthrough
Nice follow-up piece on the Tefifon. They were definitely a unique audio format. The outro was a perfect close to this chapter for German Audiophiles. :)
The song at the end is a hell of an Ohrwurm. Never heard it before, but it's quite catchy. It's interesting to see how companies were already downgrading their products back in the 60s. Great video, thanks!
The song is apparently "Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit" (A toast to cosiness/congeniality). It's the same tune as "Singing the Blues" which was a worldwide hit for Guy Mitchell in late 1956/early 1957. No idea when the German version dates from...
@@thescrewflynope, "Prosit der Gemütlichkeit" was the carnival chant on the other tape that came with the KC4. No idea as what the pop song was published here. Or who the singer was.
Every time there was a shot of you holding the coax wires in both hands, I immediately heard you doing Tom Baker's "Have I the right?" speech from Doctor Who.
