2. analog
  3. 1207021596

orthophonic...???

So recently I picked up a $.99 'bargain' from the dust bin. This is a RCA Victor Red Seal recording, dated 1959 with the following description on the back cover:
Important Notice
This is a "New Orhtophonic" Hi Fidelity recording, designed for the phongraph of today or tommorrow.Played on your present machine it gives you the finest quality reproduction. Played on a "Stereophonic" machine, it gives even more brillant true-to-life fidelity. You can buy today without fear of obsolescence in the future.

Can anyone give me a background on the history of "Orthophonic"?
Should I play this with mono cartridge?
jlamb
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
I play mine with a stereo cartridge with no issues. I think the point was that the "orthophonic" mono pressings were compatible with stereo cartridges.
jlamb OP
150 posts
 
Johnny53, so this is a mono recording; which is what I suspected but there was nothing on the cover to say so.
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
At the time this record came out, the terms monophonic and monaural hadn't yet come into common usage. There was only stereo and, um, not-stereo, which was why RCA came up with the "orthophonic" term. Certainly, BEFORE stereo there was no need for a monaural/monophonic term since that's all there was!
More to discover