The Perfectone Tape Recorder - Text 2
Transporting sound recording equipment in a truck was a constraint which would only disappear in the 1950s with the development of portable recording equipment. The Nagra was designed by a Swiss engineer of Polish descent, Stefan Kudelski, in 1950. The word “nagra” means “[it] records” in Polish. Beginning in 1958, with the Nagra III, this compact and lightweight (5 kg) tape recorder made it possible to record sound anywhere. It was adopted by sound engineers working in radio, television and cinema. Perfectone released the EP 6A model, with a quartz signal which made it possible to synchronize it with the camera, just before Nagra released its even more reliable model. But the Perfectone’s robustness led it to continue being used in the 1960s. Its electronic circuits could be taken apart and replaced using a screwdriver[3]. The French journal La Cinématographie française described the Perfectone as “unbreakable and practically impossible to wear out.”[4] Its robustness was indicated in its user’s manual, which described the device as being able to withstand temperatures ranging from -20°C to 50°C. The third Swiss brand, Stellavox, made lighter weight devices than Nagra or Perfectone, but these were more fragile.
