Commonwealth Electronics: 60th Anniversary

FIELD NOTE 01 / 60

The next frequency is now forming.

In 1951 a group of intrepid Australians formed Commonwealth Electronics Ltd and set about producing some of the greatest turntables the world has ever seen in a repurposed armaments factory in Hobart Tasmania. The designs were brilliant industrial units destined for radio stations in Australia and New Zealand.

The designs all carry the same foot print, oversized bearing, heavy platter, precision ground idler wheel and a large synchronous motor. It all sounds so simple today but to do this in the 50s was something out of left field and had no equal as a transcription turntable at the time.

The pinnacle of Commonwealth design was the 12D, designed to meet the exacting broadcasting standards of the day with extremely low wow and flutter and a one platter rotation to full speed start up it was soon adopted as the table of choice for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as well as the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. If you listened to the radio in the 70s and early 80s then you were most likely listening to a 12D.

Commonwealth Electronics ceased production of the 12D in the Hobart factory in 1966 when the government subsidy related to using repurposed armament sites and employing returned service men ended. The small number of tables produced have become legend and highly prized by Audiophiles seeking the pinnacle of Vinyl replay.

Now after 60 years Commonwealth returns with a limited run of 60 completely new 12d tables to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Factory closure.

Produced entirely in South (of) Tasmania (Auckland, New Zealand) we are proud to bring you the 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Commonwealth Electronics 12D3.

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