Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff. The name AMPEX is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence. At one time public, the remaining ongoing business unit (Ampex Data Systems Corporation) was acquired by Delta Information Systems in October 2014, with the original parent, Ampex Corporation, ceasing operations in October 2014.
Ampex's first great success was a line of reel-to-reel tape recorders developed from the German wartime Magnetophon system at the behest of Bing Crosby. Ampex quickly became a leader in audio tape technology, developing many of the analog recording formats for both music and movies that remained in use into the 1990s. Starting in the 1950s the company began developing video tape recorders, which set the studio standards for decades, and later introduced the helical scan concept that make home video players possible. They also introduced multi-track recording, slow-motion and instant playback television, and a host of other advances.
The Ampex 601 was a portable analog reel-to-reel tape recorder produced by from the late 1950s through the 1960s. Ampex manufactured a singe-channel model (the 601) and dual-channel version (the 601-2). The suitcase-sized, 26lb unit was designed for the professional recording applications. It recorded to 1/4" tape on 5" or 7" reels.
The Ampex 601 was preceded by the Ampex 600. Although there was no officially-released Ampex 600-2, there were factory bulletins available which detailed how to change the second electronics to support the equivalent of 600-2 mode, and this made use of the 601-2's head stack possible, thereby creating the functional equivalent of a 600-2.
The Ampex 601 was succeeded by the Ampex 602, which was available as 602 and 602-2 models.
The Ampex 600 and 601 were housed in light brown Samsonite cases. Optionally, the machine could be 19" rack-mounted, using an adapter plate.
The Ampex 602 was housed in a dark brown Samsonite case with similar rack-mounting provisions.