Modern mono pressing on "true" mono cart.

[Balifly]

Now, on a related note, the marketing phrase “high fidelity” was used by record companies in two different ways.

Originally it was used to differentiate LPs cut with the RIAA equalization curve, which was standardized in 1954; the curves used on pre-1954 records was all over the map.

By the 1960s, “high fidelity” was often used by the marketing department as a euphemism for mono, ie: “available in both stereo and high fidelity.”

I never really heard "stereo" till about 1965.

That just about the beginning sale of component stereo sets in the local Japanese stores.

 

[beatcomber]

I never really heard "stereo" till about 1965.

That just about the beginning sale of component stereo sets in the local Japanese stores.

I was still in diapers in 1965, but I'm guessing that's around the time that stereo phonographs became affordable to the masses (as you've implied), and mono cartridges ceased production. (Even mono portables were equipped with stereo-compatible cartridges.)

Within another three years or so, dedicated mono records would no longer be in production.

 

[jonnyglass]

One thing I wasn't expecting was the improvement in tracking that the new cartridge provides, not sure if its because of the vertical compliance, the slightly heavier tracking weight (3g) or the combination. I have a wonderful original copy of Dolphy's Outward Bound which has some manufacturing issue on the second side, first track. My old cartridge would wiggle all over the place and skip while playing; this one is planted solid and plays as it there is nothing there.

 

[woodj]

By the 1960s, “high fidelity” was often used by the marketing department as a euphemism for mono, ie: “available in both stereo and high fidelity.”

Record sellers used all manner of designations, sometimes assuming other specifications would be self evident.