Dating from the late 1950s, this is a stunning example of a very early valve (tube) Binson Echorec in superb condition and very good working order. It has just had a full service with our Binson specialist and is in excellent working order for a 55 year old Binson.
Many of our Echorecs sell on pre-order. Some are listed here, but if you don’t see what you need get in touch now.
This is a stunning example of a very early valve (tube) Binson Echorec from the late 50s in superb condition and very good working order.
It has just had a full service with our Binson specialist and is in excellent working order for a 55 year old Binson.
It’s in stunning condition – hard to believe it’s well over half a century old.
Everything is in amazing condition, including the original heads. This machine is stunningly-engineered and has many features unique to these very early handbuilt pre-production units. From the solid plate that the disc/heads are mounted on (late units were pressed steel), to the beautiful (bespoke?) heads, plexi cover and machine-turned aluminium jockey wheel, all the parts of this Binson are of the highest quality.
The original carry case is included (not pictured) and is in excellent condition.
This is an early example of a Binson and is in excellent order but should not be expected to match the sonic performance of later machines.
It has been converted to ¼” jack inputs/outputs and the mains socket is now an earthed IEC socket to comply with modern safety requirements.
The combination of valve preamp, well-engineered ‘tape’ stages and a subtle dose of true analogue ‘warble’ create a mesmerising sound that’s utterly-addictive and unmistakably-Binson. The Echo/Repeat buttons switch between a single echo or multiple repeats, with the Length Of Swell pot controlling the amount of feedback – from minimal subtlety to frenzied cosmic mayhem…
The motor starts well and the disc spins smoothly and quietly (some machines can require a nudge to get started if they’ve not been used for many months). It will go into gentle self-oscillation if required (this can be adjusted via the internal trimpot) and is capable of all sorts of cosmic noises – Binsons do tend to encourage experimental noise-mongering. The repeats are not hifi – this is after all 50 year-old technology – if you want perfect repeats, buy a digital delay. It sounds warm and very fifties and inspires creativity when you play through it – being a good quality valve unit, it also sounds wonderful as a pre-amp.
It has a voltage selector switch so can be used worldwide without modification.
Switchable voltage for use anywhere in the world - it will be set up ready for you to use before we ship.
Binson Echorecs have been our obsession for many years. They are amazingly engineered machines: where a tape echo’s input sound is recorded to tape, on a Binson it is recorded onto a circular spinning disc which has replay heads positioned around it.
Every Echorec we sell is the product of an accumulation of hundreds of hours spent dismantling, rebuilding, tweaking and listening to them. The distance between a “good” Binson and a truly “great” one may only be short in terms of functioning (how many people tell us they’ve got a Binson from somewhere that is “90% there…”); but in our experience they can be a world apart in terms of the time, patience and experience required to get to that ultimate goal.
To find out more about these machines – the history, how they work, and what we do to make them sing – head to our Binson pages now:
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