ELECTRONICS: Stereo Grows Up

To the 1958 High Fidelity Music Show in Manhattan last week trooped more than 50,000 audiophiles who wanted to hear “the new dimension in sound,” stereophonic records and tapes. Spread over five floors, the 125 exhibitors concentrated on showing the fast growth of the new art. General Electric showed only stereophonic components; Massachusetts’ small Wright St. George Laboratories displayed an inexpensive ($65), thin (1⅜ in.) picture-frame speaker that can be secreted behind curtained walls or prints, is well suited for stereo,* which requires at least two speakers some distance apart. This year, sales of such stereo gear will help swell the music market by $50 million, to $450 million or more.

Ampex, Revere, Bell Sound Systems, Wollensak, Webcor are selling stereo tape players. Stereo record players (price: $125 to $2,500) are being pushed by Pilot, Columbia, Zenith, RCA Victor, Emerson and others. Into the market for stereo records have come Columbia, RCA, Angel, London, Audio-Fidelity.

Two Systems. Yet many music lovers have held back from buying stereo because there is such a wide variety of systems to choose from, and buyers are wary lest they get trapped in a battle of speeds such as the old 33 1/3-45-78-r.p.m. fight in records. Last week’s show demonstrated that the industry has pretty well shaken down to playing two systems.

For records, companies agreed to adopt the “45/45” system, in which each record groove is pressed with two sound tracks, angled at 45°. Thus one machine will play most stereo records. Stereo sounds richer on tape, although sales of stereo tapes this year will hit only about $3,000,000 because they are tough to thread and are expensive (about $16.95 for 60 minutes’ playing time). But major companies are now planning a simplified tape system.

Blades Before Razors. RCA Victor last week brought out a magazine-load cartridge that eliminates the shortcomings of spool tape. This month RCA will put on the market a broad library of classical and popular stereo magazine tapes in four sizes and prices, from $4.95 for 22 minutes to $9.95 for 60 minutes. Player sets for the cartridge tapes will come out later because producers, such as Motorola, insisted that RCA first put out enough tapes to make a market. RCA’s own magazine-tape playing system will come out by Christmas, retail for $295 to $450.

To spur stereo broadcasting, the Federal Communications Commission granted permission for FM stations to test stereo “multiplexing,” a system that sends the two separate signals over a single radio frequency. New York City’s WBAI started to broadcast stereo last week; WRCA-FM will begin next week. Manhattan’s two-year-old Madison Fielding Corp. last month put out a multiplex stereo adapter that can be attached to any FM radio, turn it into a stereo set. Price: $49.95.

* Stereo achieves a full concert-hall quality by reproducing two separate sound tracks, which the human ear combines, just as the eyes do for stereo photos to create a better image. In recording, at least two microphones are used, each stationed at different points to pick up the varying shades of sound.