Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!uwm.edu!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!info-high-audio-request
From: srchtec!johnb@gatech.edu (John Baldwin)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.high-end
Subject: Re: split stylus
Message-ID: <8095@uwm.edu>
Date: 5 Dec 90 14:01:46 GMT
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Approved: tjk@csd4.csd.uwm.edu
Originator: tjk@csd4.csd.uwm.edu




In a previous article, John Shriver wrote:
JS> In reality, London records did not go through the decline or quality
JS> in later pressings that afflicted RCA, Columbia, and others.  Indeed,
JS> later pressings can be better than the earlist ones.  Also, until the
JS> Philips buyout, their pressing quality was pretty consistent.

One question: When did the Phillips buyout occur?  I have some London
FFRR recordings of my own, which date to my high school years (late 70's).


JS> There ARE differences between the different masterings (there was a
JS> decoder ring for that in TAS back when they were looking at the Phase
JS> 4 records), and some are better and some are worse.

Is there anything which differentiates the Phase-4 recordings from others?
A number of the recordings belonging to my Mom are in that category.


The previous poster (whose name got mangled by our news software,
which claimed *I* posted it), wrote:

?> That Magnavox probably tracked at 5 grams,
?> and may have had a worn out stylus much of the time.

Judging from the looks of the tonearm (size, weight, construction), that
Magnavox probably tracked at 5 POUNDS.    :-)

So I don't doubt the probablility that it got used with a worn out stylus.
:-(

BTW, apparently the bogus "split stylus" story is not altogether uncommon.
I mentioned to a friend (who used to be my boss at a previous employer)
that he should look at his older records, because they might be worth
something.  He is in his 40's, and both of his parents are living (they're
in their 70's and live nearby).  I knew that both he and his dad were into
audio, and that they never throw anything away.  [Geez!  Maybe we're related.]

His response was, "Yeah, we have a lot of the old 'split stylus' stuff."  [!!!]
"Dad tried playing some of it about 9 months ago, and had to go and replace
his cartridge and stylus; it 'tore' them up!"


Okay, assuming that this is the vestige of 1959 sales-doublespeak, then why
did his records trash his cartridge and stylus?  My friend said it happened
very quickly, on the third or fourth recording played.  Perhaps the records
were extremely damaged and worn?  Would this account for the incident?
Or maybe we're dealing with the placebo effect here: his dad *expected*
his setup to get ruined, and *thought* he heard a difference.

No, that last doesn't make sense, since he said his dad didn't know it
would do that.

Any possible explanations?


-- 
John Baldwin  | srchtec!johnb@gatech.edu
              | johnb%srchtec.uucp@mathcs.emory.edu