Pentatone label

PentaTone Music B.V. was founded in 2001 by three former executives of Philips Classics together with Polyhymnia International (the former recording centre of Philips Classics).

The founders of PentaTone believe that 5-channel surround sound will gradually replace today’s stereo sound, because surround sound provides an extra dimension to the musical experience.

PentaTone plans to create a new classical catalogue starting with the most famous works, performed by top classical artists.

All PentaTone’s new recordings are made by Polyhymnia International, a recording studio specialising in high-resolution 5 channel surround sound recordings of classical music. It has a stellar reputation for the quality of its recordings. It has made many demonstration recordings for Sony and Philips, the inventors of the Super Audio CD format.

PentaTone has also licensed the quadraphonic recordings made in the seventies by Philips Classics and remastered them for release on SACD in the RQR series. The quadro system was not successful because of flaws in the playback equipment. However today's SACD equipment is capable of reproducing these spectacular recordings the way they were originally intended.