Part 26. The Golden Age Of Hi-Fi.

The History of the Phonograph. Chapter 4

Everyone in the band is wearing a life jacket, i'm not sure if it's a lack of confidence in the boat they're on, or their ability as musicians..

Well even though the news promises to get better soon, we also start on a low note. World War Two.

Most records at the time were made from a rather brittle formula of Shellac, powdered slate, a cotton compound similar to manilla paper and wax lubricant.

Vinyl was first used in 1939 for a cigarette commercial that was mailed to radio stations, the reason they used vinyl was that it’s flexibility meant it was much less likely to break in the mail.

This new surface while more prone to scratches and static and dust build up, had a much lower surface noise level.
But initially it was simply it’s durability for mailing that increased it’s popularity, companies that sent both music and commercials to radio stations began to send vinyl through the mail.

During WWII, The armed forces created thousands of records called V discs for the soldiers to play, they were all pressed on Vinyl, both because of it’s durability and that shellac was in short supply due to Japans invasion of South east Asia.

Incidentally, it’s those brave souls, who, armed to the teeth with V-discs would play records for the soldiers during R’n’R that were known as the first DJ’s!

Here’s a clip of the wonderful Vera Lyn singing we’ll meet again in 1941, it’s accompanied by images from world war 2 (no jokes here for this one)

After WWII, the turntable’s only real major competition was the radio, but as each device had a distinct advantage over each over, they were able to each carve it’s own niche. Radio provides information, entertainment and music that you don’t own, infinitely for the one entry price, so it’s value is immense, but the freedom of choice is limited to the programming available from the various stations. Record players on the other hand give you the control of playing whatever you have access to, whenever you want, how you want. The turntable provides a better sound, allows the freedom of choice, the freedom of self expression, and also fuels the rather powerful addiction of collecting.

Also lets not forget that even the radio depended on record for a large portion of their broadcasting content.

All of these strengths were capitalised on after WWII.

In 1931 RCA Victor was the first company to attempt to release long player records, but failed due to the hardships of the great depression.

For those of you born after 1995 this is what an Vinyl LP looks like!

Columbia Records spent 9 years on research and development for their version of the 12inch (30cm) LP (long player) and released the 33½ rpm microgroove record in 1948. These were made of vinyl and as such had a low surface noise.

Soon new methods of recording and mastering were adopted onto vinyl records such as equalization curves and the use of reel to reel magnetic tape recording technology that was found in Germany after the war.
Sound quality had made a quantum leap.

The 50’s saw the first breed of “Audiophiles’ – people who were concerned with getting the very best hearing quality out of the much improved sound embedded in their new LP’s.  These Audio purists came about as result of the development of High Fidelity – or hi-fi sound.
This was achieved through buying separate complex highly engineered components, such as turntables, loudspeakers, pre-amplifiers, and power amplifiers, all with the cumulative effect of a greater frequency response and much higher power output capability, allowing the playing of much greater audio peaks without distortion.

Then in 1958 sound experienced another quantum improvement.

I'm not sure if this diagram makes things clearer or will just complicate the issue..

To get a little geeky for second, it was thanks to the development of the Westrex single-groove 45/45 stereophonic record cutting lathe.
In basic terms the stylus (record needle) achieved stereo playback by by reading differences in signal vertically (up and down) as well as the mono-recording’s standard horizontal movement. (side to side).

For a far more technical description CLICK HERE

Gradually, People referred to playing records on their ‘stereo’ as well as  ‘hi-fi’ thus the terms were coined and began to replace the use of ‘phonograph’ and ‘gramophone’

It should be said that, according to Audiophiles hi-fi has another meaning:

The 50′s and early 60′s is often referred to as “The Golden Age of Hi-Fi” as this was a time when many audio components  were created using tube equipment, many now famous for their warmth and clarity. Lots of purists believe that quality fell dramatically with the subsequent introduction of solid-state systems.

In the next chapter we’re going to look at the other revolution that changed the face of music forever. It’s revolutionaries dressed funny, were not very tall, and had their own strange language.. To find out just who they were in CLICK HERE.

I might be showing my age here, but that is a seriously cool looking bit of kit - Cool name too.. "the Quad II Power Amplifier"

For part 27 CLICK HERE.

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CLICK HERE for the INDEX of History Of Electronic Music