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Record ChangersThe limited playing time of 78 rpm gramophone records led to the development of record changers, which allowed stacks of several records to be loaded on a spindle and automatically played in sequence. The purely mechanical mechanisms were ingenious, and most of them were capable of automatically measuring the size of each record as it dropped and positioning the tone arm in the lead-in groove, so that stacks of 7", 10", or 12" records could be played automatically. This also led to the invention of the jukebox. Record changers were provided in most mid-priced consumer phonographs of the 1950s through 1970s. They typically had a extended central spindle that the records were stacked on, and an extra arm designed to hold the stack steady and detect the width of the record. They were met with disdain by Audiophiles because of the compromised fidelity resulting from changes in tone arm angle with the height of the stack, and concerns about changers' seemingly rough treatment of discs, particularly slight but cumulative damage to the spindle hole, as the records were effectively dropped from a height of a few inches onto the record platter. Changers became rarer in the 1980s. The numbering of the sides of the discs in albums and boxed sets of LPs is explained by the fact that they were designed to be played on changers. After the discs were stacked and one side of each disc played, the stack would be turned over together as a unit and replaced on the changer. Thus, to be heard in the proper sequence, the discs of a four-disc set would contain, respectively, "sides" 1 & 8, 2 & 7, 3 & 6, and 4 & 5. External links - http://www.thevoiceofmusic.com/rec_chng.htm
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