Date:         Fri, 25 Aug 2006 23:14:36 -0400
Reply-To:     Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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Sender:       Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
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From:         steven c <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Early stereo LPs: subject to mononuclearosis?
Comments: To: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rob Bamberger" <[log in to unmask]>
> I seem to recall hearing in the early 1960s (when I was a mere youth
> developing an instinct that would, in due course, mistrust a
> civilization that could come up with reprocessed stereo) that playing
> stereo pressings on a monophonic record player would harm the stereo LP.
>  Was this a myth?  At some point, stereo LP covers indicated that they
> were mono-compatible. Was the prior warning meant to discourage people
> from playing stereo records with their older, heavily weighted tonearms
> and mono cartridges that would chew up the stereo groove?
>
T'weren't a myth! Around 1959, I was working part-time in a music/record
store in Bloomington, Ill's...part of my duties were repairing radios and
record players. In this particular case, I had fixed a "no audio" problem
in a pre-stereo "record player" and happened to grab a stereo LP to verify
the repair. Thereafter, the record no longer produced stereo audio output!

Keep in mind that most "record players" had a tracking weight of an ounce
+/-
and that the stereo needles used .7 mil, rather than 1 mil, tips...

Steven C. Barr