“This was recorded in AM stereo mode about 20 miles from the transmitter and has excellent sound quality. I used a Sony SRF-A100 AM Stereo unit and a high-quality TASCAM recorder at Northwestern University Music Library.“
Thanks, Stan! This recording is audible proof that AM stereo worked just fine! Now, many people think “stereo” means “Hi-Fi”, so all listeners are reminded that (1) What you hear is subject to the speed of your Internet connection and the sound system connected to your computer; (2) What you hear, like all our exhibits, has been (conservatively) processed for encoding with our Orban Optimond-PC 1100 (V2); (3) What you hear, if it “sounds like FM”, is because of the frequency response of the receiver, NOT the fact that it is stereo.
In fact, the stand-out feature of this exhibit is the outstanding frequency response. The stereo separation is OK, but not exceptional. The point being: even Mono AM could sound “Hi-Fi”, but AM radios were not built that way. Thankfully, AM Stereo receivers were wide-band. Who wants to hear two channels of narrowband?
Those with slow dial-up connections will hear a bandwidth-challenged version of this exhibit, and it won’t sound as good as some of the monaural material on this site. But on a broadband connection, it’s a reminder of just how good AM radio could sound, particularly in the daytime, close to the transmitter.