ResonantLive Sound Archive

Equipment file · Wired stereophonic theatre relay

Théâtrophone network

Clément Ader · 1881; commercial service 1890

Evidence status · documented

Identity and core specifications are documented; some historical fields remain unavailable.

Clément Ader demonstrated telephone relay from the Paris Opéra at the 1881 International Exposition of Electricity, with transmitters across the stage front feeding paired receivers, giving listeners a sense of performers' positions. He patented it in the US in 1882 (US 257,453), and the Compagnie du Théâtrophone ran it as a subscription service from 1890 to 1932.

Introduced
1881; commercial service 1890
Category
Wired stereophonic theatre relay
Intended use
Live relay of opera and theatre to listening rooms and home subscribers
Production
Clément Ader; Compagnie du Théâtrophone, Paris, until 1932

Equipment photographs · 1

Théâtrophone listening arrangement, Paris Electrical Exhibition 1881

1 / 1 · Théâtrophone listening arrangement, Paris Electrical Exhibition 1881

Théâtrophone listening arrangement, Paris Electrical Exhibition 1881·Clément Ader (1841-1926)·Public domain

Why it mattered

  1. 01

    Regarded as the first two-channel stereophonic transmission.

  2. 02

    Its subscription model was copied by London's [[electrophone-service|Electrophone]].

Engineering record

Stereo pickup
Transmitters across the Opéra stage front fed paired receivers, so performers' apparent positions changed as they moved[1]
Patent
US 257,453, 'Telephonic Transmission of Sound from Theaters', granted 9 May 1882[2]

Original pricing

No reliable period price located

2026 equivalent

Not calculated without a reliable original price.

Public price evidence was not sufficient to publish a defensible original figure.

Use in the field

Relayed the Paris Opéra to listening rooms at the 1881 Palais de l'Industrie[1]

Manuals & original documents

Sources

  1. 1The Telephone at the Paris Opera (1881)Early Radio History (Scientific American reprint) · archive · 1881
  2. 2US257453A - Telephonic Transmission of Sound from TheatersUSPTO (via vieuxtelephone.com) · patent · 1882

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