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re-hashing a side issue

Posted by jrtrent (A) on August 24, 2003 at 12:15:44

In Reply to: Denon DL-102 mono--initial impressions ( long-winded) posted by bigi on August 23, 2003 at 13:34:40:

I know the "playing mono records on a stereo system" issue has been dealt with before, but if we don't occasionally repeat subjects, how will newer members get a chance to comment or longer-term members get a chance to revise their positions. This response was prompted by a recently-acquired Nonesuch recording and two comments in your post:

1. "I've long understood that the right way to listen to them is with a mono cartridge"

2. "It works wonders on "electronic stereo from mono" records (of which, alas, I have far too many), making good mono sense of the artificially separated signal."

I've sometimes wondered about using a mono cartridge for mono records, but it always seamed easiest to just blindly believe the claims from most record companies--that mono records play with "even more brilliant true-to-life fidelity" using stereo equipment (strange how both Columbia and RCA used exactly the same phrase).

The only exception I've seen is Nonesuch, who argue that "the mono record is worse, not better, when played via a stereo player." Their explanation is that a stereo system is designed to present a "sound curtain" at least as wide as the speakers' separation, and that a mono record played on such a system results in a sound that is squeezed together tightly in the middle, with an effect that is "unnatural and highly unmusical." Of course, this is in the context of Nonesuch's justification for their own stereo enhancement of mono recordings:

"Electronic 'enhancement,' whatever its form, is a way to adapt the mono playback sound to the stereo machine. It creates an artificial sound-spread. This is the primary purpose of 'enhancement," NOT the right-left locating of various musical instruments.

Good 'enhancement' creates differences in phase and volume level between the signals fed to the two stereo speakers so that the resulting sound, instead of operating in a pinched, forced, center point, spreads out from side to side. The improvement in musical naturalness can be extraordinary, quite aside from any 'realistic' spatial location.

Thus, Stereo Enhancement is highly worthwhile for valuable mono reissues and is in no sense 'fake' or dishonest. It is a legitimate adaptation of the mono recording to the stereo player, for maximum musical impact."

While I expect to continue enjoying mono recordings played through a stereo system, Nonesuch's explanation of the purpose and usefulness of "enhancement" will at least cause me, for a little while anyway, to not automatically shy away from albums with "enhanced for stereo" emblazoned on the cover.

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