Re: Right, LP is 33 1/3 + microgroove

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In Reply to: Re: Right, LP is 33 1/3 + microgroove posted by tao on September 16, 2006 at 22:39:32:

You're overstating Wallerstein's contribution to the evolution of the phonograph. Wallerstein was an executive, not an engineer. Secondly, the critical point is "what is an LP." The initials "LP" are commonly understood to mean a 33 1/3 RPM microgroove record, not merely a 33 1/3 RPM record. The earlier RCA 33 1/3 records were a commercial disaster. Their groove was only a little narrower than that of a 78 so the RCA records could offer only about 8 or 9 minutes playing time. That's "long - playing" only when compared to a 4 1/2 minute 78. Columbia's microgroove LPs could handle 225 to 300 grooves per inch and accomodate up to 20 minutes of music per side. No one today would define an LP as a wide groove record with under 10 minutes of playing time. Thus the answer to the question "who issued the first stereo LPs" can only be answered with a microgroove record. "Who made the first stereo record" is a different question and the answer seems to be Alan Blumlein. In 1931 Blumlein patented many of the fundamental components of the stereo record that are in use to this day, and he had at least one experimental 78 rpm stereo record pressed.

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