Help in reducing distortion from old mono records.

Amen to all that. Please allow me to take a moment to suggest two Firebird's I've enjoyed thorougly: Stravinsky's own, with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra in pretty decent Columbia sound, (I've tried every incarnation and the best IMHO is the one included with the Franklin Mint 100 Greatest Recordings). Stravinsky never lets the orchestra or the listener forget the ballet's avian roots, even in the finale. The other I always reach for is Dutoit's on London digital lp. His is simply the most perfumed and exotic, esp in the first half. I know everyone raves about the Dorati on Mercury, and while the Infernal Dance is, *wow*; the rest isn't as magical as the above. Luckily both can be had for around $2.

I think it's simply inner groove damage, which in my experience is much more prevalent on choral, vocal and piano recordings; not just the old mono ones, but also lp's from the late 70's when light tracking force was all the rage. It is not suprising to me at all that an all orchestral piece has none, even if played more. My stereo guru says that people used to align their mono carts at the edge of the record, rather than with the usual null points.

I returned a $300 mono Furtwangler Tristan because of inner groove distortion, even though the records looked perfect. That was uncomfortable. I love mono Classical opera, so I zero in on the very last tube-cut editions, which have that great tube sound. It's your best chance at the least damaged monos, IMHO. Of course, you've got how many stereo releases from '58 to '89 to choose from? : )

Regarding "tube-cut," I'm only talking about sound-quality, the lp's have a "glow," supposedly imparted by the tubes, that later Lp's do not. (My point was that, the last released *may* be the least played.) This was just an aside, had nothing to do with the topic. (There were three tube-cut releases of Furtwangler's Mono EMI Tristan: the first, in six separate lp covers, then a 6 lp box set, and finally a 5 lp "Everyman Opera Series" box set) I obsess over this performance, and have had the best of luck with the last mentioned.)

And yes, I meant inner groove damage, which causes a type of inner groove distortion. Your description and curiosity reminded me of my own concerns when I first stumbled across the issue. I, too, was curious as to why a hugely complex orchestral passage--closer to the end of the record mind you--did *not* have damage, while a relatively quiet but sudden vocal passage toward the beginning of the record *did.* IMHO, vocal, piano, and choral, sometimes even loud solo flute, are the first to go bad.

It bothered me a lot the first time I came across such damage. I called my stereo guru and had him try different realignments, etc. The "cure" came when I stumbled upon the exact same record, which played perfectly, or--when I've found reviews from ages ago about a certain records which complain about the exact same passage; that they were cut too hot, or--I acquired the reel to reel or CD and discovered the distortion was in the master tape.

I would throw away the lp and move on. There is no one pressing that is alike, and one can never know how an lp was previously handled, which makes the exploration fun but also frustrating.