[Trevor]

On 10/02/2017 1:50 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
Note that if you wanted to, you could build the emphasis and
de-emphasis mechanically into the cutting head and phono cartridge.
It would have all manner of mechanical issues because physical
materials are imperfect, but folks did it back in the early days.

Of course, the RIAA curve was designed to approximate the natural slope
of crystal/ceramic cartridges, using simple EQ networks. As often
happens, things are chosen as much for compatibility reasons than for
ultimate performance.

Trevor.