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Thread ID: 33209	2003-05-10 21:12:00	OT - Is there such thing as a stereo record?	somebody (208)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
142971	2003-05-11 05:07:00	I'm not entirely sure of the age of the records. They are the big 33(???) RPM records. I don't know the terminology for sure, so I'll describe them as the big 2 sided records which are about 30cm in diameter. They are mostly orchestral instrumental music. They are in extremely good condition - original box, covers, etc. The recording quality is also quite good. The only reason I "think" they're old is because of the printing/labels on the box and on the actual record itself. For all I know, they could be quite new :)	somebody (208)
142972	2003-05-11 05:26:00	Alan Blumlein, today a largely unrecognised genius, had 128 patents, about one every seven weeks of his working life. He invented the long-tailed pair, and cathode follower, which we couldnt live without today in their solid state form, also the Miller integrator to produce a linear time base ramp generator. His untimely death was a great loss, who knows what he could have achieved had he lived. Anyone with access to Electronics & Wireless World archives will find information about him in the February 1988 and November 1990 issues.	Terry Porritt (14)
142973	2003-05-11 06:17:00	Terry Do you know whether anyone has tried to digitally drag the utmost fidelity out of Edison cylinder records? It would be interesting to see what they could do with Caruso, who, I think, recorded on them. I have a few CDs with music recorded in the 30s and 40s and a it's amazing how good some of them are. I'm a big fan of 50s Rock 'n' Roll, the first music that particularly interested me at around age 9-10. Many of the digital remasters, played on modern gear, give a sound that far surpasses what we used to hear back then. I well remember first hearing stereo about 1958 -- sticking my head over the centre of a four-foot long Pye stereogram and listening to the sound of a steam train moving from one channel to the other. Wow!!	Deebee (1184)
142974	2003-05-11 06:21:00	> Radio DXing is a good hobby too NAR I could not see myself stuck to the same music station via DX.	E.ric (351)
142975	2003-05-11 06:42:00	Hello Deebee, yes Im absolutely sure digital techniques have been used on cylinder records, but I dont have references to that off hand. Some of the finest reproductions of 1920s 78 rpm jazz records was by Robert Parker in Australia, "Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo", on LP records, FM radio broadcasts and CDs, quite a long time ago now like the early to mid 1980s for the radio programs and LPs. I dont think the quality has been exceeded by anyone since IMHO. He made acoustic recordings sound like electric ones. Here are some sites: http://www.dawnofsound.com/ http://dismuke.org/ www.neworleansradio.com php.indiana.edu www.edisonnj.org	Terry Porritt (14)
142976	2003-05-11 10:27:00	Thankyou Terry for those sites . . Interesting, I'll get into them later . And yes DeeBee, 1958 was the start here in NZ for stereo 33 vinyl records . I remember well . In 1957 I had made my hifi system to end all systems . It was valve amp, pushpull EL34's, driven by a Garrard transcription turntable, into a 12" Wharfdale speaker in a massive enclosure . . The sound was incredible & powerful . . Haha, and then next year the 33 vinyl stereo records became available . . Of course then, I had to duplicate the amp & speakers, fit a stereo cartridge into the turntable, and wow the sound was even better . It all seemed worthwhile, the only way was to DIY . These days, with the availability of quality stereo gear, it's so very easier .	Bazza (407)
142977	2003-05-11 10:54:00	Yes Bazza, a bit like computers . Are you still into hifi? audio is my main hobby, and I love hearing about audiophile gear	Baldy (26)
142978	2003-05-11 10:55:00	Yes, thanks from me too, Terry. Will also check them out later. Bazza, you're obviously older than me. When about 14 in 1963 I got a rellie to build me a 10-watt mono valve amp and connected it to a guitar-amp speaker box with two 12-inch dual cone speakers. It was the most powerful gear around at most parties for a few years. I used to have a book about speakers in the late 60s that said the best speaker-box material was granite, and speakers had to have a certain volume of space behind them, baffles, and a certain area of outlet from the back. So I wonder nowadays how small speakers in enclosed boxes can put out such a good sound, particularly the bass notes. Always thought a large area of speaker was required to push a certain volume of air for the low notes. No doubt the technology has changed. When I bought my first stereo in 1973 I noticed that what was just a rumble through the old gear from Sibelius's "Karelia Suite" was actually the double basses doing a series of descending notes that I'd never heard before. Ah, them was the days!	Deebee (1184)
142979	2003-05-11 11:40:00	Way back last century, in the 50s, the BBC began sterio broadcast trials in the UK . You had to have the steam-radio tuned to VHF Radio-3 for one channel and BBC tv turned on for the other channel . P .	Peter (676)
142980	2003-05-11 12:14:00	Hi Deebee, the design philosophy in the valve days was a bit different . Power output of amplifiers was more limited even for high quality units like the Leak, Quad, Williamson, Dinsdale, Mullard etc . (Incidently, Jack Dinsdale was a whiz electronics man at Cranfield Inst . of Technology at one time in the 70s) Speakers were mounted in bass reflex cabinets which were essentially Helmholtz resonators, ie, a closed volume with a vent hole or pipe . The natural frequency of the enclosure was adjusted to that of the natural frequency of the speaker, say about 35Hz for a typical 12" unit, 45 Hz for an 8" one . Damping was low so only a few watts was required to produce a high sound volume output . The larger the enclosure the better the sound quality, but then if plywood or similar was used in the construction, there would be the danger of panel resonance . So heavy materials like brick (or granite)were favoured by the Hi-Fi enthusiasts of the time . The other trick was to use double walled panels filled with dry sand to provide friction damping and so prevent annoying panel resonance . Nine cubic feet was a popular reflex cabinet size, that is PDB (pretty damn big) . Cubic box shapes tended to be avoided to reduce standing wave effects within the speaker box, thats why basically triangular corner units were favourites . There would also be internal baffles or drapes to break up standing wave resonances . Speaker cones were and are attached to the framework with soft low compliance surrounds, and back in those days corrugated laquered cloth was used . The search was to get the best material to get the lowest natural frequency and a reasonable speaker cone movement . As I live in a time warp I dont know much about modern design except that the speaker enclosures are not vented and they heavily damp the speaker . Higher powers are used to drive the speakers to much bigger amplitudes most probably, than in the valve days, and the speaker output characteristics are probably much more linear as a result . So a smaller speaker with a larger amplitude can produce the same sound level as a larger one at a smaller cone excursion . I suspect size is more of an aesthetic consideration than a quality improvement, wives didnt want these huge speaker boxes, and certainly not two of the b*****s in a small room especially after stereophonic sound came along . My wife said we havent room for another one of those things!!!!!!!! Smaller is better became the watchword, and design was centred around producing acceptable sound from small units .	Terry Porritt (14)
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