Elektromesstechnik
The Allied bombing air raids over Berlin intensified in 1943 and Franz moved to Schuttertal, then, after 1945, to Lahr, in the Schwarzwald region of south-western Germany.
Reverberation times were adjustable between one and five seconds by means of a soft damping felt which could be moved closer or farther from the steel plate.
[3] In 2004, the EMT 140 was inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame, an honor given to "products and innovations that have had an enduring impact on the development of audio technology.
[5][6] The EMT 250 was commonly referred to either 'R2D2' because of its iconografic lever-controlled interface, or 'Spaceheater' due to its vertical heat sink body made of black anodised aluminium panels and separate U-shaped 'Chimney', housing all heat-emitting ic's and therefore being painted red.
Its enormous main platter (44 cm) was necessary to play 16” acetate records and it was driven by a very large electric motor through a sturdy idler-wheel system.
Its very sturdy cast-metal frame, ‘Kunststoff’ (Bakelite) main board and idler-wheel drive to the internal rim of its heavy platter gives it peerless sonic qualities.
The quality and reliability of the EMT machines became rapidly legendary and the 'arrowhead' logo became a symbol of German engineering at its best in professional studio audio equipment, the only possible choice for top radio stations and the phonographic industry.
In that same year, Studer and EMT began to cooperate officially in the professional sound sector, the German firm becoming a distributor of the Swiss equipment for many world markets.
In the following years, while Studer/Revox developed their own distribution network (one part of whom originated from ‘EMT-Wettingen’), Franz slowly tightened its relations with Thorens until, in 1966, he bought a majority stake in the firm.
It was also this close co-operation that carried, in 1969, to the birth of the first EMT tonearm, the fabulous ‘929’ (introduced in 1971 on the new ‘928’ and, since July of the same year, on the ‘930st’), loosely based on Thorens' 9” ‘TP-14’/BTP-12S’ arms.
It was based on the excellent Thorens ‘TD125’, using its bearing, stroboscope, platter/subplatter arrangement and two-part sturdy chassis: both were designed and developed in the laboratories of the Gerätewerk.
Direct-drive turntables were changing the habits of radio professionals; a rigid coupling between the motor and the platter was desirable for quick starts and stops.
Starting time at 33 rpm was 200 milliseconds, and, just pushing a button, the record would rotate backwards to find the beginning of a track: the user could monitor the cueing with the inbuilt speaker.
Basically, its design owed much to the superb construction of the ‘950’, and its sturdy metallic chassis was filled, under the deck, by a neat stack of boards carrying the electronic circuitry allowing an easy, quick access for service or repair.
Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall for the vinyl LPs and for the turntables built for them; the arrival of the 5” Compact Disc, in 1982, made an irreversible impact on the pro world.
In 1983, the Audio Engineering Society awarded Franz a posthumous Honorary Membership, recognizing his impact in the professional sound field with products like the model ‘140’, ‘240’ and ‘250’ reverberation units and his turntables.
