[Mag]

  Listening to Petula Clark- Downtown, the song brings a tear to my eye and what a stellar recording. They knew how to record back in the '60's that IMO was lost somewhere. Downside though is damn near everything was in mono.

[S Clark]

Most pop music was mono because the market was reached by AM radio broadcast.  Teens were playing LP's on their mom and dad's consoles.
Classical and jazz were mostly available in stereo after 1958, and usually very well recorded.  In classical they refer to the Golden Age of RCA, Columbia, and Mercury during that 58' to 68' decade.  For Jazz the same years but include Blue Note, Impulse, Epic, Atlantic, Riverside, and Verve lables. 

[FullRangeMan]

Great recordings were taped at 15ips what was a rare feature due the tape price, tô my know only Sheffield recorded at 30ips.

[S Clark]

Around 1960 RCA, Mercury, and Command had moved away from standard tape and were using 35mm tape.  At that point, the 15 ips or 30 ips wasn't much of a factor.   

[FullRangeMan]

Celluloid had not audiophile sound as magnetic tape.

[newzooreview]

I assume the reference is to 35mm magnetic tape. Celluloid, used for movies, was optically encoded. As you say, it definitely did not allow for audiophile sound.

I would have to imagine that RCA, Mercury, and Command were moving to a wider magnetic tape not celluloid.

[FullRangeMan]

I suppose that tape was for 8 tracks and more expensive.

[S Clark]

I assume the reference is to 35mm magnetic tape. Celluloid, used for movies, was optically encoded. As you say, it definitely did not allow for audiophile sound.

I would have to imagine that RCA, Mercury, and Command were moving to a wider magnetic tape not celluloid.

Yes.  It was sprocketed 35mm magnetic tape.  Cured  wow and flutter issues.   Also the tape is thicker ... less saturation and no print through.  Just a better process.   

[kd4ylq]

I didn't know that 35mm magnetic sprocketed tape was ever used. Live and learn! Do you know how many channels were implemented? Of course  once multi-track mono became the rage (for production mixing purposes) heads and electronics proliferated, lots of money flowed into the business and 2" tape eventually became the standard for studio recordings.

[rollo]

  Listening to Petula Clark- Downtown, the song brings a tear to my eye and what a stellar recording. They knew how to record back in the '60's that IMO was lost somewhere. Downside though is damn near everything was in mono.

  Tubed all analog everything in the recording chain. Less complicated mixers and Engineers. Using a mono cartridge of today with a mono LP will give ya goosebumps.

charles

[S Clark]

Most of the great recordings of RCA and Mercury used a three channel mixed to two for stereo.  Not sure what Blue Note, Command, Everest, or  Impulse used. 
And Charles and I agree on the impact of a good mono cartridge with older mono vinyl. 

[kd4ylq]

I've long felt that good mono recordings beat the heck out of poorly recorded "stereo". When I spent an afternoon listening to Mr. Miyajima's eponymous hand-build speakers, electronics and MC cartridges in his showroom in Japan a couple of years ago, he played mono jazz LPs exclusively (a wonderful host he and his son were indeed, real audiophiles). Yeah, they sure could produce goosebumps! A coincident (or close to it) pair of mics will produce a solid mono-compatible signal and a really convincing true stereo with only two channels, but it is almost always used by recording purists, and not practical for mass market commercial recordings.