In the 1950's there were no digital products it was all analogue and the mono to stereo was done analogously and the equipment then had vacuum tubes.
On stereo records there is a inner grove for the left channel, and outer grove for the right channel. In other words the record will play two grooves at the same time, because of the inner grove a stereo record cannot be played on a mono record player, you will be only hearing just the right channel.
However, mono records can be played on stereo record players but there will be no separation just the same sounds coming from both speakers but some people say it gives it more depth.
Columbia invented the 12 inch 33 1/3 RPM records and RCA invented the 7 inch 45 RPM records. RPM means revolutions per minute. One more note records are played clockwise while compact disks are played counter-clockwise.
Why does the 45 RPM have a big hole ? At that time Columbia and RCA were also making record players and they did not want them to be compatible with each other.That change later of course when record players came with 45 RPM adapters for their turntables and with 3 to 4 speeds. 16 2/3, 33 1/3, 45 and 78 RPM.
There was even a "N" function meaning neutral which kept the idle wheel under the turntable from going flat on one edge when the record player was turned off. Set at the "N" setting the idle wheel did not touch the turntable.
So what is high fidelity ? Well it is the frequencies from 20 cycles per second (Hertz) to 20,000 cycles per second the normal range of human hearing (20 Hz to 20,000 Hz). Compare it to the sounds of an antique 10 inch 78 RPM record it sucks.
Below are two videos (rare mono electronically change to stereo).First one is titled "A White Sports Coat And A Pink Carnation" sung by Marty Robbins and the second titled "Love Is Strange" sung by Mickey and Sylvia.
click here for A White Sports Coat..>
click here for Love Is Strange
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