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Phase 4 Stereo
Phase 4 Stereo, launched by Decca UK in 1961, was the complete opposite of Deutsche Grammophon; not restraint, but spectacle. It was Decca’s bid to turn stereo into an event: lush, oversized, cinematic recordings designed to make hi-fi systems flex every driver. Using a 20-channel mixing desk and close-miking techniques unheard of in classical engineering, the label pumped out everything from light orchestral pop to bombastic classical crossovers. Phase 4 wasn’t about reproducing the concert hall — it was about inventing a new one in your living room. Brass sections leapt out of one speaker while strings shimmered from the other, all bathed in that signature wide, technicolor reverb. Some purists called it gimmicky, but collectors love its exuberance: it’s stereo with swagger. A well-cut Phase 4 pressing of Stanley Black or Ronnie Aldrich still sounds like the moment stereo discovered it could show off.
