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Welcome to the Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording

MOMSR is dedicated to the preservation of the technology of sound recording and its impact on music, broadcasting, film/video and science. In addition to the vintage technology, our Museum documents the significant individuals who invented, manufactured, engineered and produced audio creating the sounds in our lives!

What's new?

Keeping it reel... | Hi-Fi News • view pdf

Our Ampex 200A #33 may now be seen on the third floor of the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin Texas. View video

The 1948 reel tape recorder is on display with items from Asleep At The Wheel, Floyd Domino and George Strait.

MOMSR Ampex 200A on display at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum Chris and Martin Theophilus with the MOMSR Ampex 200A on display at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum

On January 5, 2020 the Ampex AG-440 reel to reel tape recorder from our collection arrived at Atlanta's Screen Gems Studio 6 to appear in Jennifer Hudson's movie, "RESPECT," about Aretha Franklin. It's scheduled to be released in October 2020. Hope it passes its screen test!

MOMSR Ampex AG-440

Larry DeVivo shared photos about the Presto studio he's created as well as Presto ads. View

Larry DeVivo Presto photo 1 Larry DeVivo Presto photo 2

Special notice: Our private collection, purchased over the past 20 years is currently undergoing downsizing. We are retaining many of the historically significant recorders. However, there is some duplication and many sound recorders that are represented by other machines. We will list the items currently for sale on our "Sale" page.

What is unique about our online sound recording museum?

Ampex 200A and Ampex 300 in the Theophilus collection

• Over 100 + vintage (most are working) reel to reel tape recorders displayed with supporting memorabilia The collection has been downsized from 225 reel and wire recorders.

• 125 + vintage microphones and numerous mixers and recording accessories

• Vintage documentation from the 1900's to the present including manuals, ads, catalogs and magazines

• Sound recording devices that include most of the US and many international manufacturers

• Some of the first magnetic tape recorders from Ampex, Brush, Magnecord, Sony, Studer and Teac

• Historical summaries and personal stories from the major international sound recording companies

Recording devices

Ampes 200A and 300 in the MOMSR collection

Manufacturers

Extensive vintage archive

1940s photo of John Boyers one of the founders of Magnecord

Ads, catalogs and docs

Interviews

Lisa Fletcher giving tour of Arlyn Studios in Austin

The vintage collection

We documented our collection and made the 7 hours of video available on line!

"The most comprehensive information about the open reel, or analog reel to reel tape recorder!" See below

Tour our collection!

We offer a seven hour video set about our collection and the history of magnetic recording available at this link. You can purchase the seven hours of files via download.

ORDER THE VIDEO FILES ON LINE - was ~~14.95~~ NOW only $9.95. There are 50 QuickTime H264 854 X 480 files in this download. Play on MAC OS or WinMediaPlayer.

You may also purchase individual videos of several major manufacturers at this link.

you will have 48 hours during which to download the files. After that the file access will expire. Once the files are downloaded they are yours to keep. If you have a problem downloading the files, please let us know.

Photos owned by our private collection are available for sale. High resolution requests require a deposit.

We do not provide copies of ads, nor photos from third party resources.

MOMSR logo by Alan Perez • Webmaster

The non-profit Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording established in 2012 to create a permanent public museum was dissolved December 31, 2017 due to lack of funding. This collection has now reverted back to a private collection which retained the name Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording and belongs to the Theophilus family who began the collection in 1999. All but a few of the reel tape recorders, microphones and memorabilia in this collection were originally purchased by the Theophilus family. When the non-profit Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording dissolved, the Theophilus family purchased (at FMV) several of the tape recorders that were donated to the non-profit. These were units that we wanted to preserve.

Museum of Magnetic Sound Recording