AudioMagnetics XHE II - 1979
A Swiss AudioMagnetics S.A. series manufactured in Portugal, for the European market.
XHE released type I, II and IV tapes and were accepted as good quality cassette tapes. They also had a fairly unique packaging styles, making them a favorite for nostalgic and collectible reasons. Typically, XHE tapes are rarely offered.
A High Bias formulation with the typical 70μs type II setting. Here, AudioMagnetics boasts about their patented "Paraflo" special jam-proof mechanics. I actually bought 2 of these in 1981 while on one of my trips to Portugal, and had a Hi-Fi store record me one full tape, which I still have and it plays just like it did 43 years ago! :)) So much for the tape degradation theories...
NOTE 1: 90 Minutes: 100% Sealed and new. The wrappers are brittle and they open and split randomly. A very common occurrence with tapes from these years (1975-1980) with most top brands such as TDK, Maxell, Sony, Fuji and BASF. See pictures.
Sidenote: These will be put into a new small bag to keep it from further degrading when being handled. Very few available.
About AudioMagnetics:
Audio Magnetics was a manufacturer of magnetic tape products based out of Switzerland and very little else is known about this company. Some of their 1978 released tapes were manufactured and distributed in Portugal and possibly released in the UK and Ireland. These XHE II and the XHE I appear to have been made for the Canadian market.
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