Forced Mono is better than 'stereo' in some cases

Could part of the reason for the extreme stereo effect stereo be due to the fact that the gear of the day didn't have the separation to which we have become accustomed? It may have sounded much different (better?) on that old Philco "Hi Fi' set with its ceramic cartridge and sapphire needle.:scratch2:

btw, +1 on the theory dewdude. doubt anyone will like mine as much.:no:
 
I perfer mono recording of even stereo releases of songs. I have a 45 of Rolling Stones Brown Sugar and Bitch that is in mono. I find I like that 45 more than the stereo release. The fake stereo that is on the early Beatles recordings are annoying. I prefer the mono versions.
 
+1 on early Beatles. Unfortunately, my main rig hasn't got a mono switch. Never thought I would need one...

UK With The Beatles (US Meet The Beatles with the classic black and white photos) MUST be heard in mono. The unjudicious spread of one vocal on one side and everything else on the other is absolutely absurd. Useless, and if the music weren't so iconic (truly; this album changed my life when it first came out) and historically significant I'd eschew the recording altogether:thumbsdn:.
 
I perfer mono recording of even stereo releases of songs. I have a 45 of Rolling Stones Brown Sugar and Bitch that is in mono. I find I like that 45 more than the stereo release. The fake stereo that is on the early Beatles recordings are annoying. I prefer the mono versions.

I'm pretty sure that your 45 is the stereo mix folded to mono. Not too many dedicated mono mixes were done in 1971.
 
Back in the late 70's a friend of mine had a rack full of Crown Equipment. On the pre-amp it had a Large variable Mono to Stereo dial that I thought was a joke. Now I understand fully. On many tunes there is too much seperation for my tastes, and if I had such a dial now I would use it. My NAD Preamp/Tuner has an FM blend switch which would be usefull, But my new Dynalab Tuner has an auto blend circut.

I didn't Know they could simulate more seperation into the music and make mono - stereo. I wonder if that would produce the drop out effect of some notes in one speaker sometimes. I've got some new rather reveling speakers and thought pehaps their defective, but close listening, and the fact that only some music does it has left me baffled. Meanwhile the jury is still out on the defective speaker theory, they have a 5 year warrenty if I need it.

The Crown panoramic Stereo separation adjustment on the IC 150 preamp was well thought out. I wish other pre amplifiers had that feature.
 
UK With The Beatles (US Meet The Beatles with the classic black and white photos) MUST be heard in mono. The unjudicious spread of one vocal on one side and everything else on the other is absolutely absurd. Useless, and if the music weren't so iconic (truly; this album changed my life when it first came out) and historically significant I'd eschew the recording altogether:thumbsdn:.
Rubber soul is the same way, I found this out when sharing earphones with someone, either I couldn't hear the vocals on Yellow Submarine, or I couldn't hear the drums, depending on which earphone I had.

My apt has a great knob that switches gradually between L+R to L-R depending on which way I turn it. It's very useful for some of the weirder early stereo mixes, and some of the really weird early dead recordings. (read the liner notes of two from the vault for interesting details)

To be honest, for everything except sitting in the sweet spot (99% of my listening is far, far away from the sweet spot) a mono signal into a single speaker would work better and be a lot less clutter. I contemplated doing this very thing before I found that 12 way speaker switcher, (make everything mono and then use L for one room and R for another room)

It is cool in my backyard, however, I have three sets of speakers and they are set up one pair in the furthest U of the south, then R in the furthest south corner, L in nearly the middle, R of the second pair in the furthest north corner and L around the corner (my yard is a big U shape) so I can sit nearly anywhere and still get a stereo image, only it's a flipped stereo image if I'm between the L of one speaker set and R of the other.
 
In this case CCR's Suzie Q (8:34min) LP version

In stereo it is distracting to listen to after the awe effect of drums/vocals only in the R ch & guitars in the L ch. - Some of the early Beatles stereo LPs were the same as were a few others.

After spinning Suzie Q as it was meant to be heard I switched to mono (L+R) and played it over... The forced mono version was much better! The musicality :music: was there something lacking in the stereo mode.

My 2cents
I would prefer to say forced mono is usually better than fake stereo.
 
I just recalled Beach Boys did something similar to this.

Most of their stuff was mono...Brian Wilson is deaf in one ear? Him or the producer was.

Anyway...they released a bunch of 45's with vocals on one side, insturmental on the other. They did this delibrately so people with stereo could have a "full-mix", just vocals or just the backing track. The mono folks would get a mono 45.
Most early Beach Boys was mastered in mono, some of it later remixed to duophonic, which is a horrible fake stereo.

Blame Capitol Records for this, not Brian Wilson.
 
Many of Bruno Walter's recordings are in mono and sound better with the mono control activated, especially his Mozart.
 
I have also eyed with some jealousy those old sixties amps with the "blend" control.

My, a variable control taking you from full-on stereo to mono. What a brilliant idea:)

The most egregious offender that I have found is Sonny Rollins' Way Out West. Sax HARD panned to left, bass/drums the same to right. For the entire album! I always find it difficult to get through.
 
I'd mention one good example of this. Ventures - Walk Don't Run. Bought the original 60s album in mono with yard mowing money, played it to death. Got the new heavy disc stereo version and the original dynamics are gone, just doesn't sound right. Good stereo and smoother sound I guess, but, well, it sucks. That was a good solid rock guitar album, in mono.
 
Some preamplifiers of the early stereo era were very versatile. An excellent example is the Harman Kardon Citation IV. Notice the MODE switch functions and the BLEND control; the best of all worlds.

Citation IV - Mode & Blend.JPG Citation IV - Blend.JPG
 
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