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

Showing 1 response by dopogue

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!
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