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January 1958 has been an interesting month in the high-fidelity industry, what with the scramble for stereo cartridges, meetings of the Electronic Industry Association, and the demonstration of a new system of stereo recording Just such a month as we enjoy because of new developments - one in which we have to keep awake continually.

Electro-Voice anounced and demonstrated a new stereo cartridge composed of ceramic elements and to be available at a price of $19.59 with a diamond stylus; one other model of cartridge was announced in the trade press at a probable price of around $80.-; and there have been other cartridges and rumors of cartridges which are not yet to the official announcement stage. Naturally every manufacturer will have his own version of a stereo cartridge before long.

The new system of stereo recording being shown employs a standard - but necessarily high-quality - monaural cartridge which plays a groove on which one channel derives from a frequency-modulated carrier which is recorded along with the conventional lateral recording.

While this system would not require a stereo cartridge, it does need a converter unit to unscramble the EM signal, with the converter said to range around $30 in cost.

The Electronic Industry Association held several meetings aimed toward standardization of stereo disc recording standardization as to stylus tip radius, recording levels, and standard positioning of right and left channels.

There is still, much to do before we may expect stereo discs in quantity, but we can still expect them.

Our own efforts in making a conversion of the popular General Electric VR-II cartridge took up rather more time than we expected after the first model was built.

Having constructed one in some five days' time after the conception of the original idea, we spent several more weeks in finding out how to do it in a manner which was simple enough to be able to impart it to our readers.

Undoubtedly there will be stereo cartridges on the market just about as soon as the records will be available, but we just couldn't resist the temptation to continue our own "do-it-yourself" habit to this extent.

One would be surprised at how much he can learn about phonograph cartridges by trying to build one - we're only glad we didn't have to start from scratch.

There has been a lot of talk about how the stereo disc would destroy the market for stereo tapes. We look upon this as complete nonsense.

One can make a good case for the LP monaural disc over the ordinary monaural tape - the former is cheaper, quality is excellent, it is easier to handle - placing on the machine and operating - and it takes up less storage space per minute of playing time. But in spite of these advantages, there are many thousands of people who will go to the extra trouble of handling, who will pay more for tape, and who will provide the extra storage space (not to mention the extra cost of a good tape player over a record player, changer, or even professional turntable and arm).

We don't think there is any question but that tape quality is better - when played on a good tape machine - and that alone is still enough to attract those who are not satisfied with anything less than the best.

And since it has already been shown by sales figures that there are many who want the best, we may reasonably assume that there will still be plenty who will continue to buy stereo tapes just as they have buying monaural (and stereo) tapes to date. We do not see a large swing in tape, nor do we see a large swing away from tape - tape is admittedly better in quality than discs under optimum conditions, and there are still many people who will never be satisfied with anything but the best.
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While there has not been much national publicity about the forthcoming "Los Angeles High Fidelity Show", we understand that there has been considerable in the western hi-fi hotbed.

The fact that the New York show is in our own backyard (Hinterhof), so to speak, has probably led us to believe, that a hi-fi show anywhere is an event of real importance to everyone.

Those who are connected with the industry in any way are naturally most interested in its goings on. The fact that there is to be a show in Los Angeles from February 26 to March 2 (1958) is only of academic interest to a resident of Manchester, N.H. or Slaughter Beach, Delaware.

The market from which any show draws its attendance is more likely to be encompassed in a circle with a radius of less than a hundred miles from the site of the show.

Be that as it may, there "is" to be a show in Los Angeles, at the Biltmore Hotel, beginning on February 26 and lasting through March 2. There is to be one in San Francisco, in the Whiteomb Hotel, February 14 - 16. And there is to be one in Denver - Cosmopolitan Hotel - February 7-9. AUDIO will be represented at all of them, and we trust we will enjoy them thoroughly.

Sometimes we wonder if there could be something wrong with a person who goes to six or eight of these shows every year and enjoys every one of them. We have found that to be the only way to see everything that's new, and we do enjoy them.