Stereo, but in a different way
This late nineteen-fifties Emerson model 908 table radio received stereo broadcasts years before the current FM multiplex stereo standard was adopted. Some AM&FM broadcast stations were starting to experiment with stereo broadcasting by using their AM signal for the left channel and their FM for the right, or vice-versa.
This radio allows you to listen to AM and FM simultaneously for a stereo broadcast. AM and FM can be tuned separately and you can have the AM playing through the internal speaker, while an FM station is playing though the external speaker. In fact, you can even have AM and FM playing simultaneously through the same speaker! There is even a stereo input for a ceramic stereo cartridge and dial lights that light according to mode of operation.
This radio wasn’t very needy, requiring only the replacement of a burned out light bulb. I don’t have the external speaker and I’m not sure if it was an option or came with the set. I doubt that most owners ever had a use for the features on this set, but it’s an interesting footnote in the development of stereo broadcasting.
3 Responses to Stereo, but in a different way