I thought you might get a good chuckle over this


I have this old Jack Benny, Dennis Day LP Christmas album from the 50's and I couldn't help but read the promotion for perfect sound reproduction claimed by the record company.Don't get me wrong I love Analog but this promo seems a bit extreme. AND I QUOTE" CP.....CP is Design's designation of controlled production.In pressing these albums in its own plants DESIGN controls the number of impressions each metal stamper will make.Since the stamper is the final metal part used to produce the grooves,and indeed,the final pressing of each record,it is important that it not be allowed to wear excessively before being replaced.CP assures you of receiving a perfect record every time you choose a DESIGN LP.
SPECTRA-SONIC-SOUND is the ultimate in hi-fidelity.Recording studios both here and in Europe are chosen for sound and technical excellence.Telefunken,RCA,ALTEC,and CAPPS Condenser microphones are used either singly or in battery to transfer all the shadings of the music to the Ampex model 300 tape recorder.These tape recorders produce a low frequency limit of 16 CPS and a high frequency limit of 25,000 CPS with minimum distortion.Although the full spectrum of sound which we have placed on these records might not be evident to your ear,DESIGN'S audio engineers have proven that these shadings are sensed or "felt" and are missed when not present.The masters are cut back on Scully lathes with Westrex feed back cutters to produce a disc exceptionally free of surface noise.RIAA crossover is at 500 CPS.Rolloff 13.75 DB at 10KC".
Well of course you wouldn't hear surface noise with a 13.75 DB CUT AT 10K.You probably wouldn't hear any upper harmonics at all.Maybe they were trying to reproduce the sound of a CD back in the 50's.WOW perfect sound forever.
I think I heard that before with the advent of the digital age.
Any thoughts about the promo from this record label?
Did they know something back then that we don't know today?
Are we still striving today to obtain that perfect sound.?
128x12876doublebass

Showing 2 responses by eldartford

The "Rolloff at 10K" does not mean that there is no HF on playback. The record equalization scheme (when the record is cut), attenuates LF and boosts HF. When the record is played, LF needs to be boosted, and HF needs to be attenuated. At one time different record labels used different equalization. They are telling you that the "Rolloff" controls on your preamp should be set to 10Kc and 13.75 dB. If you had such controls, and set them properly the playback response should be flat. When the RIAA equalization became standard for all labels the preamp controls disapeared.
Jea48...All "Hi Fi" pickups were magnetic. Far and away the most widely used was the GE pickup, which had both a 33 (microgroove") and a 78 stylus which could be rotated into use by a knob on the top. I think that frequency response was OK, 20 to 20KHz plus and minus ?. The stylus came with three materials, Osmium (a metal), Sapphire, and diamond. Osmium lasted about 100 hours and cost about $3.
Sapphire was considered good value, and the "true audiophiles" spent $35 or so for diamond. Tracking force was 5 grams. Anti-skating force? What's that?

Ceramic (piezoelectric) pickups cost about $5. There was one or two attempts to make high quality ceramic pickups, but none was successful in the marketplace.