Today I was reminded that one cannot take for granted the experience and knowledge of another. This lesson arrived via the stereo system we were setting up.
Of course, stereo systems have been around seemingly forever (although I do remember my brother purchasing a high-fidelity system when I was around ten years old). Today they are ubiquitous and commonplace. However, apparently the concept behind stereo sound seems not to have been widely disseminated.
I had four speakers to hook up from this two-channel stereo, two in the bar area and two in the salon. The cables were run from the stereo to the two speakers in the bar. So far, so good. Then the handyman began installing the plastic runners used to hide the cables. He ran the first cable to the salon speaker and hooked it up. Sound: good. But then, oddly, he began to run the second speaker from the first one so that both speakers would be on the same channel.
"You can't connect those together," I said. "It's stereo! They have to be on separate channels."
Both the handyman and my helper looked at me with a certain amount of confusion. An attempt to explain the concept of stereo using a Wikipedia page and Google Translate failed miserably. Even so, the handman complied and ran another cable to the second speaker.
I was never “taught” the concept of stereo. One day I decided to play a record on the stereo system in the living room. It didn’t sound as it normally did. Something was wrong. Some of the singers sounded faint and far away. A quick check of the stereo showed that I had accidentally moved the balance all the way to one side. When I corrected the balance, the sound was once again normal. The concept of stereo had been uncovered! I remember spending a good amount of time moving the balance button back and forth, amazed how I was able to isolate some sounds from others.
Once the handyman left, I selected a disc and took my helper into the salon area to listen to it. I explained to her that we had two ears, so two speakers. As the music played, we stood in the salon as I pointed in the direction of the sound: guitar here, piano there, voice somewhere in the middle. Finally, she seemed to finally grasp the concept. And I was happy.