Tostadosunidos, Yeah, I remember that era. But even earlier, in 1971 or so, I remember my first experience hearing STEREO playback. I was mesmerized  and for the life of me I couldn't understand how that tiny needle tracing a microscopic groove could separate the music into 2 channels! On top of that, early stereo mastering/mixing of popular rock music was all about effects like panning back and forth and disembodying the musicians from their instruments (i.e. different parts of the drum kit showing up in different channels). Yes, now it's total cheese ball, but back then... talk about going to another world... all I can say is  thank God for gravity.
Also, slightly off topic (sorry, Leicachamp):
I know that there's now a renewed interest in MONO... but this time, it's expensive high-end MONO... but I must be missing something. I don't recall ever hearing a MONO rig throwing a wide and deep soundstage, which is where, among other attributes of STEREO, that I get my thrills. Can you (or anyone for that matter) enlighten me as to why there's a retro buzz about 1 Channel sound, to the point of having a few $5K MONO phono carts on the market?
Also, slightly off topic (sorry, Leicachamp):
I know that there's now a renewed interest in MONO... but this time, it's expensive high-end MONO... but I must be missing something. I don't recall ever hearing a MONO rig throwing a wide and deep soundstage, which is where, among other attributes of STEREO, that I get my thrills. Can you (or anyone for that matter) enlighten me as to why there's a retro buzz about 1 Channel sound, to the point of having a few $5K MONO phono carts on the market?