Next, RCA Victor wanted long playing records. Since Columbia was using 80 rpm and Victor was using 76, they settled on a compromise of 78. ![]() The (US) National Association of Broadcasters demanded one uniform speed so the DJs didn’t have to tune each record. But once the patents had all expired, there was no need. It’s simply called a “45 rpm record adapter.”įirst, the history of why 78 rpm became the standard speed: Before 1928, each record manufacturer used a different speed to avoid patent infringement. The larger hole allowed the sudden rotational force to be distributed over a longer path-pi x 1.5 = about 4.712 inches-reducing wear and allowing the hole to stay round longer.Īnd while we’re on the topic, what do you call that plastic piece that snaps into the hole allowing it to be played on a regular turntable spindle? Sorry to disappoint anyone looking for an exotic name. This torque tended to cause the small holes to go out-of-round very quickly, causing record to wobble as it spun. When a new 45 dropped from the spindle onto the turntable, it was required to spin up from a dead stop to 45 RPM very quickly. It was just like the future VHS/Beta and Blu-ray/HD-Video wars.īut there was a more scientific reason for the larger hole. The thinking was that once someone bought one of these turntables with the fat spindles, they were theoretically locked into buying music in that format from then on. RCA wanted their new format to crush Columbia’s LPs, so they began selling turntables that could only play 45s. With the ability to stack up to ten 45s on the RCA spindle, it was theoretically possible for the music to continue for a full hour without human intervention. The tone arm then swung back into place and the music would continue. Once a side of a 45 finished playing after five or six minutes, the tone arm moved away long enough for the next record to drop down onto the platter. While the LP promised up to 22 minutes of uninterrupted music per side, RCA’s crowed that their 45s could be stacked on the special tall, fat spindle-about 6 inches high-that was exclusive to RCA-manufactured turntables. Why would they do something like that? Two reasons. Rather than license Columbia’s technology for their releases, RCA introduced their own new record, the 7-inch single that spun at 45 RPM and had a center hole that measured 1.5 inches in diameter. However, Columbia’s archrival, RCA, was most annoyed at this new format. When Columbia Records introduced the 33 1/3 RPM long-playing album in 1948, they kept the hole in the center the same size. That was also the size of the hole drilled into all records. Here is a fundamental question that every vinyl lover has asked: why is the hole of a 7-inch single so big?įor the first fifty years of the turntable’s existence, the spindle on which you placed the record was a standard size: approximately.
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