Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
3 EXCITING NEW CASSETTE DECKS TESTED!
IGH FIDELITYAUDIO VIDEO TEST REPORTS MUSIC
FEBRUARY 1989
TAPE DECK SPECTACULAR!TESTED
Onkyo TA -2600, Pioneer CT -91, & Philips FC-566 Cassette Decks,Tera 629C Video Monitor/Receiver, Goodmans Maxim 2 Loudspeaker
Using Our Test Reports To Pick the Best Cassette Deck
Special CD Reports:Maria Callas &Charlie Parker
$2.50 USA$2.95 CANADA
J 8
02
t 1UP,R Philips Consumer Electronics Company A D. ry«rin ArTier(can PT411(1%( poration
Motorized main analog volume control Digitally synthesizedAM/FM stereo tuner with 19 presets 7 -band graphic equalizerwith Acoustic Memory feature Record out selector allowsseparate recording and listening Video and audio dubbingcapability Cable FM/TV ready Pre -out and connectons
Dolby is a registered trademark of Dolby Laboratories. Inc 125 watts RMS per channel, a; 8 Ohms. 20-20.000 Hz.01% THO
PHILIPS FR9 :4r,ADVANCED FEAT
FORTHE DISCERNING AAND VIDEOPHILE.
The engineers at Philips of the Netherlandssteadfastly refuse to accept the commonly accepted.The result: The Philips FR980.
Arguably the most sophisticated A/V receiveravailable today.
Not only does the FR980 provide the world's mostadvanced technology, it also offers an extraordinaryarray of options to mix and match audio and videosignals. The possibilities are virtually limitless.
Philips has designed and crafted an advancedreceiver that keeps you abreast of emerging technol-ogies like CD -V. Further, the FR980 incorporates threeaudiophile -quality listening modes to pamper youwith impeccable sonic authenticity.
Beyond the experience of true Dolby° SurroundSound, the FR980 features two custom equalization
PHILIPS
+
modes: Movie mode to make special audio effects comealive. And Music mode with a more gentle equalizationto bring out the best in the newest music videos alreadyencoded with Dolby Surround Sound.
With 125 watts' per channel to drive the mainspeakers, and 30 watts for both rear surround soundspeakers, the FR980 recreates the true theatricalexperience.
The world's most sophisticated A/V receiverdemands the most sophisticated remote control: a full
"learning" type user -programmable remote. It featuresan alphanumeric LCD screen, and system memory tohandle more than 74C different functions from virtuallyany infrared controlled component, audio or video.
Audition the new FR980 at your Philips audio/videospecialist. Call 1-800-223-7772 for the one nearest you.
WORLD -CLASS TECHNOLOGY. EUROPEAN EXCELLENCE.
PHILIPS-+2
orsc 'MACK 1,14.0.11BRI PPOOP..41
TN -SPOT SERVO SYSTEM
MARC. MAL 6.1/137401 0.,1/1.4111.1a
co-1mm CoMPKT DISC AUTCMATIC
For the Changing TimesThe New 6 -Disc Realistic CD Changer
Now there's a more convenient way to eno, thebest in sound-the new compact disc changerfrom Radio Shack. You can load up to six iiscs inits magazir e, sit back, and' enjoy hours superbdigital stereo. Or, program up to 32 se-lections from the six discs to play in anysequence. Either way, you can pause,replay, program and searcn, using thewireless infirared remote control.
The large LED display simplifies re-mote operation. Manual and automaticsearch make it easy to find selections.
This high-performance changer hasa heavily cJshioned deck mechanismand Tn-Spot laser pickup system foraccurate tracking. Two -tines oversampling pro-vides supe-ior sound. Anc Radio Shack stacks
DERI:111,
extra magazines so you can protect all of your CDsand have them loaded in you' prefer -Ed order,ready Far play anytime.
Come in and try the Realistic CE -600C. It's affor-dably priced at only $359.95-so you ::an enjoythe convenierce of a changer fcr less than thep -ice of some single -disc players. Sad only atRadio Shack. Low as $18 per rncnth*
Rath. MaekThe Technology Sto
A DIV'SION OF TANDY CORPOF'ATION
Prices apaly at participating Radio Shack stores and deale s Radic Shack ValiePlusRevolvinc Cnait. Actual payment nay vary depending u3on account balance.
HIGH FIDELITYFEBRUARY 1989 VOL. 39 NO. 2
O
Tested: Onkyo cassette deck, four more 19 Making the most o cassette -deck reviews 38 Maria Callas on CD
TEST REPORTSOnkyo TA -2600 cassette deck 19
Philips FC-566 bidirectional cassette deck 22
Pioneer CT -91 cassette deck 27
Tera 629C video monitor/receiver 30
Goodmans Maxim 2 loudspeaker 35
AUDIO & VIDEOReading Between the Lines. Interpreting the data in HIGH FIDELITY'Stape -deck tests./ROBERT LONG 38
MUSICCLASSICAL Maria Callas as We Remember Her? The soprano'sprime was short-lived: the studio recordings, now on CD, show her in it-and past it./THOR ECKERT, JR 46
POPULAR/BACKBEAT Parker's Brood. Seen the movie? Now hearthe music: jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker on CD. Of nine recent titlesfilling 25 discs, which Bird is best?/ittcHAno C. WALLS 52
On the cover: From the top, thePhilips FC-566 bidirectional cassette
deck; the Onkyo TA -2600 cassettedeck: and the Pioneer CT -91
cassette deck
Cover design: Joanne GoodfellowCover photo: Tony Pettinato
46
COLUMNSFront Lines Where is home recordingtechnology headed?/MicHAEL RIGGS 5
Crosstalk Cassette damage; woofer -cone movement./LARRY KLEIN 15
Tape Tracks Au revoir, Akai, thanksfor the history)/ROBERT LONG 17
Bits & Pieces More on 18 -bitconverters./DAVID RANADA 18
Medley Barber down under.THEODORE W. LIBBEY, JR.World music: a rebuttal.CHUCK EDDY 56
DEPARTMENTSLetters 6
Currents New Dolby system?: Sony"Camcorder Friendly" VCR; HeathHi-Fi kits: Pentax 8mm camcorder. _13Classical Reviews Angel EMI'sShow Boat makes a big splash: Bolcomdouble bill; opera old and new 57The CD Spread Mussorgsky andRavel favorites from Dallas; Boult's1976 Dream of Gerontius 65Pop Reviews Keith Richards;David Lindley: Richard Thompson;Sam Phillips: Randy Newman. 70Jazz Reviews Bobby Watson ontwo LPs; the Modern Jazz Quartetpays tribute to Ellington. 77In Short Order Luther Vandross:Steve Earle; Peggy Lee; AnthonyDavis; Bob Neuwirth. 78Advertising Index 79
HIGH FIDELITY (ISSN 0018-1455) is published monthly at 825 Seventh Ave.. New York. N.Y. 10019, by ABC Consumer Magazines, Inc.. Chilton Company, one of the ABC PublishIng Companies, a port of CapitalClint ABC, Inc C) 1988 by ABC Consumer Magazines, Inc. The design and contents ore fully protected by copyright and mutt no' he reprodurert .n Inv manner. Second-class postage paid at New York, New York. andor additional mailing offices. Authorized as second-class moil by the Post Office Deportment Ottawa, and for payment of pasta, -osh. Vt., . "o in the U.S.A.and Possessions $13 95. elsewhere $20.95.Single copies $2.50 ICanado $2.951. Subscribers: Send subscriptions, inquiries, and address changes to HIGH Ft0Elirr P O In. '.9 Des '.' .s : 51340 Change of address. Give old and new addresses, in-cluding ZIP codes. Enclose address label from lost issue and allow fire weeks for change to become effective POSTMASTER: Send change of a Actress to HIGH FIDELITY, P.O. Rea 10759, Des Moines, IA 50340.
tBRUAR Y 1989 3
US'TENING TOME ON ANOTHERCD PLAYER COULD BE THE REALTRAGEDY.
Technics SL -P999 - with 20 -bit, 4 DAC,8 times oversampling.
When you listen -to Madame Butterfly on ournew CD player, you'll not only be listening to a greattragedy. You could be avoiding one.
The Technics SL -P999 has a 20 -bit digitalprocessing system that can help reproduce soundwith greater accuracy than most conventionalsystems. And if that'snot enough,with 4 DAC'sand 8x oversamplingit all but eliminatesthings like crossoverdistortion. All of whichhelps reproduce soundso beautifully, you
would need a front row ticket to get any closerto the music.
Of course, our new CD player has featureslike an optical digital output, 32 -key random ac-cess programming and a special interactive editingsystem. But as impressive as all this sounds onpaper, it's not nearly as impressive as it sounds inperson. Just ask the Technics dealer in your area
to play an aria fromMadame Butterfly.
If you really enjoy agreat tragedy, come fully
Technics 20 -bit CD player.
prepared. Bring plentyof tissues.
TechnicsThe science of sound
Hi'
Editor In Chief, Michael RiggsAssociate Publisher Kathleen GreenArt Director Joanne Goodfellow
Managing Editor Jonathan TesserCopy Editor G. Donn TealAssistant Editor Annda J Segarra
TECHNICAL DEPARTMENTTechnical Editor David RanadaAssociate Technical Editor Beth C FishkindConsulting Technical Editors Edward J. Foster.ii Ton ,inyContributing Editor Larry Klein
MUSIC DEPARTMENTClassical Music Editor Theodore W. Libbey, JrPopular Music Editor Ken RichardsonAssociate Classical Musk Editor Patricia ReillyContributing Editors Robert E Benson. Leslie Berman.Jim Bessman, Pamela Bloom. Joe Blum, David Browne,Francis Davis. Rev. Thomas L Dixon, Thor Eckert, Jr.,Edward Greenfield, Thomas Hathaway, Paul Hume.David Hurwitz, Paul Moor, John Morthland, Mark Moses,Andrew Nash, Jeff Nesin, Robert R Reilly.K Robert Schwarz. Terry Teachout. Noah Andre Trudeau,Michael Ullman. Richard C. Walls. James Wierzbicki
ART DEPARTMENTAssistant Art Director Laura SutcliffeTechnical Art Roy Lindstrom
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENTProduction Manager Marina ParuoloAdvertising Production Manager Gina FladgerAter System Manager Mildred Richardson
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENTSubscriptions i iiiown. Harold Buckley.Maureen Buckley. Michelle Harrison. Beth Healy.Thomas D Slater. Raymond WardNewsstand Mitch Frank, Jana FriedmanCustomer Service S Adekemi-AdaralegbeSubscriber Service 1-800-666-3977
Vice -PresidentGroup Publisher/Editorial Director William Tynan
ABC CONSUMER MAGAZINES, INC.Senior Vice -President Richard D BayVice -President, Advertising Peter T JohnsmeyerVice -President, Circulation Robert I GurshaVice -President, Production Ilene Berson WeinerDirector, Financial Analysis Andrew LandisSenior Art Director John Ciofalo
ONE OF THE ABC PU3LISHING COMPANIES
President Robert G Burton1330 Avenue of the Americas. New York, N.Y.10019
Woo FIDELITY is published monthly by ABC Consumer Magazines. IncChilton Company. one of the ABC Publishing Companies. a pad of Cap,lal Cities/ABC. Inc 1988 Chilton/ABC Consumer Magazines. IncMember. Audit Bureau of Circulations Indexed in Reader's Guide to Penodical Literature Current and back copies of HIS.HE IN i n r are availableon microfilm from University Microfilms. Ann Arbor. Mich 48106 Micro-fiche copies (1973 forward) are available from Bell & Howell Micro PhotoDiv Old Mansfield Rd Wooster. Ohio 44691
ADVERTISING OFFICESNew Tort ABC Consumer Magazines. Inc . 825 Seventh Ave . 8th flNew York. N Y 10019 Tel 12121 265-8360 Peter T Johnsmeyer. VicePresident. Advertising. Walter Stolz. Associate Advertising DirectorJames R McCallum. Advertising Director (Music/Books). Maria Manaseri. Classified Advertising DirectorMidwest HIC-1 FIDE 111,, 191 South Gary Avenue. Carol Stream. Ili
60188 Tel (312) 691.1165/7 Starr Lane. Midwest Advertising DirectorLos AngeNs: ABC Consumer Magazines. Inc . 2029 Century Park EastSuite 800. Los Angeles. Calif 90067 Tel 12131284-8118 Howard Be,man, National Sales ManagerEditorial correspondence should be addressed to The Editor,FIN I IT V 825 Seventh Ave New York. N Y 10019 Editorial contrib.lions will be welcomed and payment for articles accepted will be arranged prior to publication Submissions must be accompanied by returnPostage and will be handled with reasonable care. however, the pub-lisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited photographs ormanuscripts
FrontLinesThe FutureOf Tape
By Michael Riggs
Looking through some back issues, I find that we've been talking about theintroduction of DAT (digital audio tape) in a very concrete way for morethan two years. We even tested one deck, thinking it was on the verge of ac-
tual introduction, only to be disappointed and a little embarrassed. It's a nicebit of technology, DAT, and with Copy Code now safely out of the way, you'dthink the stores would be full of machines.
Well, no such luck. We're still waiting. Professional DAT decks are avail-able here-at a stiff price-and you can find consumer machines that have ar-rived on these shores via "alternative" distribution channels (the so-called graymarket), but of genuine U.S. models with official U.S. warranties, there arenone. Nakamichi has announced a beautiful and exceedingly sophisticated unitthat is supposed to be available this spring. But the Model 1000 (named afterthe company's first illustrious and equally breathtaking cassette deck) has a listprice of $10,000, and having lived through a number of false starts, I am of amind to believe it when I see it. A persistent rumor that Sony will soon intro-duce consumer DAT decks in this country is vigorously denied by a companyspokesman. And that's all there is right now: one apparently solid announce-ment and one dubious rumor. Nobody else is even talking about DAT anymore.
I don't know whether we will ever have DAT in this country, at least in anyserious way. It has been something of a flop in Japan-usually a very receptivemarket for new technology. It is more costly than analog cassette technologyand always will be. And there is little indication that most people are signifi-cantly dissatisfied with the now extremely well entrenched analog cassette, de-spite its shortcomings. This is in marked contrast to the feelings consumers har-bor for the LP, which they have abandoned in droves for DAT's play -onlycounterpart, the Compact Disc.
So where does that leave those of us who do want a better home recordingmedium" Not completely out in the cold, I'm happy to say. For one thing, DATis not dead yet. If Nakamichi is at all successful with its deck, and if other man-ufacturers follow it in, and if the RIAA (Recording Industry Association ofAmerica) fails in any last-ditch attempt to ban the sale of uncrippled recorders,there is still hope for it. More immediately, DAT's very slow start seems to beinspiring a renewed emphasis on the development of analog decks-a processthat, if product introductions are any guide, had been on the back burner in an-ticipation of the new medium. There is talk of a new Dolby noise -reduction sys-tem for cassettes (see this month's "Currents"). And we recently have seen arash of new cassette tape introductions, most notably from TDK.
The dark horse in the race is recordable CD. Tandy has announced THORCD, which is supposed to be recordable and erasable on specially designed (butaffordable) machines now under development and playable on any CD player.This system is supposed to be ready in a year or two, but its success hinges part-ly on Tandy's ability to attract licensees for the technology from among the bigaudio electronics manufacturers of the Orient. So far, we haven't heard anynews on that front. But even if THOR CD doesn't make it as an audio medium,we know that other companies are working on their own recordable CD for-mats. Time will tell. The big appeal, naturally, is that you could have it all inone machine. One can even imagine a unit capable of playing laser videodiscsand CD -Vs and of both recording and playing audio -only CDs.
DAT still would enjoy certain advantages over recordable CD-maximumrecording time, for example-but they might not be compelling enough for bothformats to survive. If DAT doesn't establish a foothold soon, before recordableCD becomes available, it probably is doomed. Squeezed from the top by record-able CD and from the bottom by the popular and economical analog cassette, itmay find its only role as a tool for pro and semipro recordists. 1=1
F E BR U A R Y 1989 5
E R S
CAMBRIDGE AUDIO RESPONDSI understand that it probably is not thenorm to respond to test reports printed inHIGH FIDELITY (a shame that manufac-turers do not enjoy the privilege of re-sponding in the same issue as the review,as some other publications permit). I amnot going to disagree with your findings inthe review of the Cambridge CD -2 Com-pact Disc player [October 1988] or harpon "sour grapes." What is of considerableconcern to me is that from the secondparagraph onward, the review has severalinaccuracies that are very fundamentaland really rather inexcusable. I will gothrough them one at a time.
Contrary to what is said in the secondparagraph, the CD -2 is not based on an ex-isting chassis from Philips. It uses a Phil-ips high -end transport and one or two ICsmade by Philips, but the rest is a completeCambridge design. If the top had been tak-en off the machine, this would have beenimmediately apparent to anyone who hasdealt with CD players.
The fifth paragraph errs in stating thatthe CD -2 can be programmed from its re-mote handset. Had the reviewer picked itup, this would have been fairly obvious.
The final error is in the seventh para-graph. The play button on the front panelcan, in fact, be used to close the transportdoor and start playback. A reading of theowner's manual was called for here.
There are several, though lesser, pointsof concern that I would like to share withyou. First, there is the matter of communi-cation between magazine and manufactur-er to eliminate gross errors-such as thosementioned above-before going to print.This would prevent the manufacturerfrom looking unnecessarily foolish after apoor review and the magazine from look-ing unnecessarily foolish in the eyes ofdealers and consumers who are familiarwith the product.
Not only would a proof of the text bewillingly corrected for factual errors bythis office, but a little more communica-tion would have led to explanations forvarious condemnations within the review(it obviously would be at the discretion ofthe magazine whether to print the manu-facturer's comment or not). For instance,there are two explanations for the standbyswitch's operation. First, it turns on thedisplay and logic functions. (Yes, the ma-chine is on all the time. You could argue, ifyou wish, that having a "warmed up" ma-chine makes no audible difference, but anexplanation to your readers is warranted.)Second, if the standby switch is operatedin the play mode, it does exactly what thereviewer indicates: lowers distortion by
turning off the display. It also has theadded benefit of removing what many peo-ple consider a distraction when listening tomusic: flashing lights.
Another observation that might havebeen explained is the behavior of the dis-play. Several machines were producedthat exhibit the problems you describe.The reason is that in between preproduc-tion and final production of this player,Philips decided to change the specificationof the driving chip without telling anyone.Recent players do not have these prob-lems, and older ones can be modified verysimply to stop them.
All in all, the review was not, I feel, upto your usual high standards and was fairto neither consumer nor manufacturer.
Barry FoxMarketing Manager
Cambridge AudioHolliston, Mass.
We do not normally open up products beingtested. However, we are sorry if we overstat-ed Philips's contributions to the design ofthe CD -2. This undoubtedly reflects an in-terpretation (or misinterpretation) of an ex-planation by your office or your literatureof how the machine was designed. It is per-haps worth noting, however, that a typicalCD player these days consists ofa transport.a handful of ICs on a circuit board, a powersupply, a control and display panel, and ametal box to hold it all together. And thereview does detail the proprietary circuitsthat distinguish the CD -2 from other play-ers built around Philips components.
The statement that programming (aswell as program review) can be accom-plished from the CD -2's remote control ap-pears to have arisen from an editing error.Again, our apologies. However, the playbutton on the front panel of our samplewould not close the disc drawer. We tried itnumerous times.
Certainly you are correct that supplyingproofs of reviews to manufacturers ahead ofpublication would reduce the likelihoodof mistakes or misunderstandings on ourpart. On the other hand, it would result in alot of pressure from manufacturers to killor modify unflattering reviews. It alsowould open opportunities for spuriousclaims of sample defects or just -in -handimprovements, resulting in an increasednumber of expensive and time-consumingretests. Although there is no perfect resolu-tion to this issue, we feel that our approachof inviting response after publication is thebest compromise. We do contact the manu-facturer when something about the opera-tion of a unit under test is unclear or if itappears that the sample actually is defec-
live (that is, not operating according todesign).
As for the function of the standbyswitch, our explanation appears to be sub-stantially the same as yours. We merelynoted that the way it works is a little odd-which it indeed is. Calling it a display on/off switch might be more to the point. Also,we did not say that turning off the displaylowers distortion (we didn't test for that),only that some users apparently feel thatthe unit sounds better with the display off.If distortion really is higher with the displayon, this is a design flaw.
Finally, you knew which player you hadsent to us. If changes were made in laterproduction, why didn't you notify us ofthem before now? We didn't call you aboutthe peculiarities of the CD -2's operation be-cause, by and large, the user's manual ledus to expect them.-Ed.
B LAUPUIIIKT CLARIFIES
We were quite pleased to read your gener-ally favorable review ["The Autophile,"November 1988] of a Mercury Sable witha Blaupunkt tuner/CD player and Para-metric Sound Amplifier (PSA). However,when we saw that Mr. Esse thought thetonal quality was not as good as in otherPSA-equipped cars he had heard, we real-ized something was wrong.
As you surmised, the large rear head-rests adjacent to the back speakers do havea big effect on the tone of the system. Therecommended PSA module for the Mer-cury Sable is not equalized for carsequipped with rear headrests. It seemsthat we overlooked the fact that some Sa-bles do come with rear headrests. In fact,several other cars on our PSA list have dif-ferent modules for cars with and withoutthis feature. We have now alerted ourdealers not to install PSA in Mercury Sa-bles or Ford Tauruses with rear headrests.On those cars without the headrests, thesystem works great.
Thank you for bringing this problem toour attention. Your magazine has alwaysbeen notable for its outstanding service toits readers.
Glenn E. SchraderDirector of SalesBlaupunkt Div.
Robert Bosch Corp.North Suburban, Ill.
OPEN -REEL SQUEAL
In his October 1988 "Tape Tracks" col-umn, Robert Long discusses the problemof tape squeal. In my dealings with reel-to-reel tape, I've encountered similar prob-lems with Ampex, BASF, and Sony tape.The Ampex tapes were a total disaster,
HIGH FIDELITY
and the BASF did not fare much better.The Sony tape lasted a bit longer but even-tually started to squeal also. I would like tothank you for shedding light on this majorproblem that some of us have encoun-tered. Keep up the good work.
Roger AlbertMoncton, N.B.
Canada
INFO ON IDTV
In his article"Clearing the Picture" [No-vember 1988], Carleton Sarver says thatPhilips is introducing Improved -Defini-tion Television (IDTV) receivers in theUnited States. Where can I write for infor-mation on these sets? Also, where can Iwrite for information on Tera's IDTVsets?
Archie B. WoodPasadena, Calif.
For information on the Philips products,write Philips Consumer Electronics Co.,P.O. Box 14810, Knoxville, Tenn. 37914.Although Tera does make high-perfor-mance television receivers (one is reviewedin this issue), they are not IDTV designs.Tera's address is 209 W. Central St., Na-tick, Mass. 01766.-Ed.
UNRECORDED WORKS, OVERDUE REISSUES
Your September 1988 issue contained apreview of forthcoming releases by manymajor and independent labels. Good-asfar as it goes. Let's assume that it is 100 -percent accurate; that is, when a particu-lar company provides you with a list ofplanned issues, it will release every record-ing on the list and only the recordings onthe list. You still miss something, and I donot mean the labels you leave out.
Buyers of classical -music recordingscollect releases of works and not of artists:The few exceptions-Caruso, Furtwing-ler, Callas, for example-prove the rule.There will always be people waiting forcomposer X's symphonies to be recordedcomplete by conductor Y. But are peo-ple waiting for somebody-anybody-torecord the standard 1871 version of Tchai-kovsky's Festival Overture 1812? Certain-ly not. Are people waiting for the earlier1869 version? Not if they really hunt,because they will discover that it wasbrought out not long ago on Chandos andMusical Heritage Society. Are they wait-ing for the 1893 Tchaikovsky/Taneyevversion with the vocal duet? Yes, becauseit was recorded only once, on a long -de-leted Capitol album with Franz Waxmanconducting, and has never been reissued.
What I would like is for someone toprepare a list of works that everybody
talks about but that cannot be found on amajor, or even not -so -major, record label.Then delete works recorded but recentlywithdrawn, like the Haydn symphony cy-cle conducted by Antal Dorati, and someongoing cycles not yet completed, like theBach cantata series on Teldec-on the as-sumption that enterprising collectors can,in the former case, search them out or, inthe latter, wait until they are available.Then publish an article entitled "WorksTalked About but Never Recorded," withthe following caveat: "It is possible thatone can get recordings of the followingworks from a mail-order house, an importservice, or a pirate record producer, but toour knowledge they are not in the catalogof any major label."
Charles N. HubbellKenmore, N.Y.
Classical Music Editor Ted Libbey replies:We have long shared your opinion thatthere are significant gaps in the catalogand have often called attention to deletedrecordings that we feel are worthy candi-dates for reissue. We disagree, however,that collectors are interested solely inworks, not artists. Evidence suggests thatmost classical -record buyers are interestedin both. Surely this is one of the factors thathas led labels to undertake so many inte-gral cycles of works in the standard reper-tory-works readily available and, somemight argue, already overrecorded.
Now that the Compact Disc is estab-lished as the preferred sound carrier forclassical music, we don't take quite so dim
a view of things as we once did. Althoughenormous numbers of LPs have been de-leted in recent years-causing quite a fewworks to disappear from the catalog-itseems clear that the process of reissuingitems from the back catalog will continue.Moreover, the success of the CD has stimu-lated new recording activity, so that manyof the old gaps are likely to be filled, soonerrather than later.
LET THE READER u THE MOEI am writing to support Classical MusicEditor Ted Libbey's statement ["Letters,"June 1988] regarding questions that wereraised by several readers who were dis-satisfied by Thomas Hathaway's review oftwo solo recordings by pianist BarryDouglas [February 1988]. I would think itdifficult to define "a serious record collec-tor." I have accumulated some 5,000 re-cordings and an encumbering number oftapes and cassettes; consequently, I wouldconsider myself representative of many ofyour readers. Of necessity, I have had torely on reviews, applying to them my ownjudgment of the artist in question and thereputation of the publication. I look forsomething more reliable than the politeapproval, to varying degrees, offered bymany record reviewers. Therefore, I hopeyou will continue to publish frank opin-ions from your collaborators. It's for thereaders to assess what weight to put on thecritics' remarks: Let us be the final judge. Ifeel that most readers do not want an edi-torial policy that reduces everything to the
(Continued on page 12)
GETWI
v
nd bring back the soun& feel of live music.
Amazing! That's how most peoplereact when they hear the new LiveWirecables from AudioQuest. The music iscleaner and clearer - like a picture inbetter focus.
With eleven speaker cables and sixinterconnects to choose from, LiveWirehas a cable that's right for you. HearLiveWire cables at your local dealer orcontact Audioauestfor more information.
a PO. Box 3060San Clemente. CA 92672 USATel 714/498-2770
auchoquest Fax 714/498-5112 Tlx 205864
7
Cocktail -Original SoundTrack. (Elektra) 373779
Escape Club -Wild WildWest !AtI;Itt!c) 373787
Mendelssohn-ViolinConcerto: Saint-Saens:Intr. & Rondo Capriccioso:Massenet: Meditation.Nadia Salerno -Sonnenberg(Angel) 366872
Canadian Brass -Bach:Art Of The Fugue(CBS Master) 366740
The Smiths -Rank (Sire)374397
Dianne Schuur-Talkin''Bout You (GRP) 374298Ready For The World -Ruh 'N' Ready (MCA)
374124
Kronos Oualet373993
Mieczyslaw Horszowski-MozarUChopm/Schumann
ines))01) 373902Bangles -Everythingco. 373829
One Moment In Time1988 Summer OlympicsAlbum -Various Artists(Arista) 373811
Wynton Marsalis-Portraitof Wynton Marsalis(CBS Master) 373555Luther Vandross-AnyLove (E pic) 373399Ozzy Osbourne-No RestFor The Wicked (E plc)
373308George Benson -TwiceThe Love !Warne, Bros )
373258
Olivia Newton John -TheRumour (MCA) 373035A Tribute To WoodyGuthrie -Various ArtistsIC, timbal 372995Kenny Loggins-Back ToAvalon (Columbia) 372961
Sugar Cubes -Life's TooGood (Elektra) 372896Bob James -Ivory Coast(Warner Bros) 372789
UB40 (ABM) 372730Big Audio Dynamite -Tighten Up, Vol '88(Colombia) 372672Emanuel As -Chopin. 4Scherzos. Mazurkas(CBS Master) 372466
Gerald Schwarz, Cornet -Bach. BrandenbergConcertos/Suite In B Minor/Ransom Wilson. Flute/L.A.Chamber Orchestra (Angel)
372367-392365The Psychedelic Furs -Allof This and Nothing(Colombia) 372136
Willie Nelson -What AWonderful World (Columbia)
372128Little Feat -Let It Roll
373720
U2 -Rattle And Hum.ilsland) .374017
Luciano Pavarotti-Pavarotti in Concert(CBS Master I 373548Joan Jett And TheBlackhearts-Up Your Alley(CBS Associated/Blackheart)
368340Cheap Wick -Lap OfLuxury (Epic) 368050The Best of Eric Carmen(Arista) 367599
Grover Washington, Jr. -Then and Now (Columbia)
371476
Yehudi Menuhin-Handel.Orchestral Suites RoyalPhilharmonic Orch.(MCA Classics/APO) 371005
New Edition -Heart Break(MCA) 370882Randy Travis -Old 8 x 10(Warner Bros) 370643Michael Crawford -SongsFrom Stage & Screen(Columbia) 370411
Hank Williams, Jr. -WildStreak (Warrior Bros /Curb)
370320Wynton Marsalis Quartet-Live At Blues Alley(Colortn, it 370080-390088
Sergiu Comissiona-Schumann. Symphony No1 In B Flat "Spring" Op 38& No 1 In D Minor Op. 120Houston Symphony(Pro Ariel 369850Schumann -CelloConcerto. -Yo -Yo Ma:Davis. Bavarian Radio Sym.Orch. (CBS Master ) 369843
Bob James -The ScarlattiDialogues(CBS Masterworks) 369835John Williams -TheBaroque Album(CBS Masterworks) 369769Claude Bolling, Piano-Bolling's Greatest Hits(CBS) 369751
Ziggy Marley & TheMelody Makers -Conscious Party (Vi' 1,)
369512
Gold & Platinum VolumeFour -Various Artists(R(!(11,1( 369413Talking Heads -Naked(F ly 'Sire) 369397Michael Feinstein -Remember MichaelFeinstein Sings Irving Berlin(Elektra) 369322Prince -Love Sexy(Paisley Park) 369124
Poison -Open Up And Say...Ahh! (Capitol/Enigma)
368688Georgia Satellites -OpenAll Night (Elektra) 368480
Glenn Frey -SoulSearchin' (MCA) 373019
Metallica-And Justice ForAll (E 372805Johnny Mathis -LoveSongs (Columbia) 375220
The California Raisins -Sweet. Delicious, &Marvelous (Priority) 374454
Randy Newman -Land OfDreams (Reprise) 374405
Bobby Brown -Don't BeCruel '. 372045
Pat Benatar-Wide AwakeIn Dreamland (Chrysalis)
370528Branford Marsalis-Random Abstract(Colombia) 371849Kenny G -Silhouette(Arta) 371559
Patti Smith Group -Dream Of Life (Arista)
370478
David Sanborn -Close Up(Warner Bros 1 370304
Beethoven -SymphonyNo. 9. Norrington, TheLondon Classical Players(Angel) 365619
Vladimir Feltsman-American "Live" Debut(CBS Master )
365254-395251Richard Marx (EMI) 369611
Classics of the 50's, 60's & 70'sGrateful Dead -Europe 72(Warner Bros )
370064-390062Bob Dylan -Blonde OnBlonde (Columbia) 369942Jerry Lee Lewis -18Original Sun Greatest Hits(Rhino) 369108
The TUrtles-20 GreatestHits (Rhino) 369090Best of Ritchie Valens(Rhino) 369082Dion and The Belmonts-Their Best (Laurie) 369074
Jethro TUII-Thick As ABrick (Chrysalis) 367136
The Drifters -Golden Hits(Atlantic) 365841
Ttaffic-John BarleycornMust Die (Island) 364935Supertramp-Classics Vol.9 (A&M) 364471
Jimi Hendrix -The Cry OfLove (Reprise) 363556
Stevie Wonder-Innervisions (Tarnla) 362368Best Of The Doors(Elektra) 357616-397612
The Who -Who's Next(MCA) 357277Yes -Fragile (Atlantic)
351957Aretha Franklin -30Greatest Hits (Atlantic)
350793-390799Rolling Stones -StickyFingers (RollingStones Rec ) 350645
The Mamas & The Papas-16 Of Their Greatest Hits(MCA) 348623
Bob Dylan -Greatest Hits(Columbia) 138586
Buddy Holly -From TheOrig. Master Tapes (MCA)
348110
Best Of The Monkees-Then And Now (Arista)
346536The Beach Boys -Made InU.S.A. (Capitol) 346445Diana Ross & TheSupremes-25thAnniversary Album(Motown) 345454-395459
Chuck Berry -The GreatTwenty -Eight (Chess)
343657The Byrds-Greatest Hits(Columbia) 342501
A Decade OfSteely Dan (MCA) 341073Best Of Kansas'(CBS A,sor ) 327742Motown's 25 #1 Hits(Motown) 319996-399998
Creedence ClearwaterRevival -20 Greatest Hits(Fantasy) 308049Lynyrd Skynyrd Band -Gold & Platinum (MCA)
307447-397448Led Zeppelin -Houses OfThe Holy (Atlantic) 293597Jackson Browne -ThePretender (Asylum) 292243Woodstock-Orig.Soundtrack (Atlantic)
291864-391862Emerson, Lake & Palmer-Brain Salad Surgery(Atlantic) 291526
Led Zeppelin IV (Atlantic)291435
Sly & The Family Stone's-Greatest Hits (Epic)
196246
America -Greatest Hits,..,rIer Bros ) 291385
James Taylor's -GreatestHits (Warner Bros) 291302The Steve Miller Band -Greatest Hits 1974-78(Capitol) 290171
Eagles -Greatest Hits 1971-1975 (Asylum) 287003Fleetwood Mac -Rumours(Warner Bros ) 286914
Linda Ronstadt-GreatestHits (Asylum) 286740
Meat Loaf -Bat Out Of Hell(Epic) 279133
Billy Joel -The Stranger(Columbia) 277491
Best Of The Band (Capitol)269365
Boston (Epic) 269209
Peter Frampton-FramptonComes Alive!
262311-392316
Chicago.' IX- Greatest Hits(Columbia) 260638
Bruce Springsteen-BornTo Run (Columbia) 257279
Cat Stevens -Greatest Hits(ABM) 256560
Jim Croce -PhotographsMemories: His GreatestHits (Sala) 246868
Santana -Greatest Hits(Columbia) 244459
Janis Joplin -GreatestHits (Columbia) 231670Simon & Garfunkel -Greatest Hits (Columbia)
219477
Blood, Sweat & Tears -Greatest Hits (Columbia)
214650
Spyro Gyra-Rites ofSummer (MCA) 370767
Brahms-Double Concerto.Isaac Stern, Yo -Yo Ma;Abbado, Chicago Sym(CBS Master) 367250Julio Iglesias -Non -Stop(Columbia) 367094
Elton John -Reg StrikesBack 370536
Europe -Out of This World(Epic) 370403Robert Plant -Now andZen (Es Paranzal 366716Carly Simon -GreatestHits Live (Arista) 365874Daryl Hall & John Oates -ooh yeah! (Arista) 365775Robert Palmer -HeavyNnva ".^ hi 370395
Basia-Time And Tidesrf n'ii 368043
Vladimir Horowitz, Piano-Favorite Encores(CBS Masterworks) 355164
George Harrison -CloudNine (Dark Horse) 365494
Sade-Stronger Than PrideIF plc) 368027
REO Speedwagon-Greatest Hits (E pc) 367672
Wynton Marsalis-Baroque Music ForTrumpets. (CBS Master)
364695Foreigner -InsideInformation (Atlantic) 364018
Madonna -You Can Dance(Sire) 362657Andres SegoviaCollection, Vol. 1 MusicBy Bach(MCA Classics) 362293Belinda Carlisle -HeavenOn Earth(MCA) 362129Michael Jackson -Bad(Epic) 362079Sting -...Nothing Like TheSun (ABM) 361675
Introducing The HardlineAccording To TerenceTrent D'Arby (Col,; nbiai
36161810,000 Maniacs -In MyTribe (Elektra) 361600Tiffany (MCA) 361402Various Artists -World'sGreatest Overtures Strauss/Suppe/Brahms/Beethoven/Wagner/Tchaikovsky(Pro Arte) 361279Yes -Big Generator(ATCO) 361170
Claudio Abbado-Tchaikovsky SymphonyNo. 6 Chicago SymphonyOrchestra (CBS ;taster )
361022Bruce Springsteen-Tunnel Of Love (Columbia)
360115Billy Idol -Vital Idol(Chrysalis) 360107Debbie Gibson -Out OfThe Blue (Atlantic) 359927Kid Te Kanawa-SingsGershwrn (Angel) 359745Aerosmith-PermanentVacation (Geffen) 359075Tchaikovsky Waltzes-Comissiona. Houston Sym.(Pro Arte) 357871Beethoven -Piano Conc.No. 5. Perahia: Haitink.Concertgebouw Orch.(CBS Master) 357657Grateful Dead -In TheDark (Arista) 357087Heart -Bad Animals(Capitol) 356667Gloria Estefan & MiamiSound Machine -Let ItLoose (Epic) 356279Whitney Houston-Whitney(Arista) 356154
Keith Sweat -Make It LastForever (Flektra) 365544
Midnight Oil -Diesel AndDust (Columbia) 366153
The Movies Go To TheOpera -Various Artists.(Angel Studio) 372342
Tracy Chapman.(Elektra) 369892
Van Halen-OU812.(Warner Bros) 369371
Bobby McFerrin -SimplePleasures(EMI) 369306
Guns N' Roses -AppetiteFor Destruction.(Get fen) 359984
Huey Lewis And TheNews-Small World.1Chrysalis. 371419
smixskANI1SDwight Yoakam-BuenasNoches From A LonelyRoom (Reprise) 372078
Billy Ocean-Tear DownThese Walls(Jiver/18sta) 365825
Fleetwood Mac-Tango InThe Night(Warner Bros I 354902
U2-The Joshua Tree(Island) 354449Linda Ronstadt-'RoundMidnight with NelsonRiddle And His Orch(Ass iiim 348987-398982Pachelbel Canon-OtherDigital Delights Davis.Toronto Chamber Orch(Fanfare) 348649The Police-Every BreathYou Take The Singles(ABM) 348318Huey Lewis And TheNews-Fore,(Chrysalis) 347955
Peter Gabriel-So(Geffen) 345777
Best Of The Kinks -1977-1986 (Arista) 345314Copland-Rodeo Billy TheKid Slatkin, St Louis Sym(Angell 344184
Vivaldi-The 4 SeasonsMaazel. Members Of TheFrench Nat'l Orch.(CBS Masters) 343715
INXS-Kick rAii,iiiiiiti 361519
The greatest music is on CD-andhere's your chance to pick eight favoriteslisted in this ad. As a special introductoryoffer to the CBS Compact Disc Club, you canselect any eight CDs for 14 All you do is fillin and mail the application-we'll send youreight CDs and bill you 14 plus shipping andhandling. You simply agree to buy six moreCDs (at regular Club prices) in the next threeyears-and you may then cancel yourmembership anytime after doing so.How the Club works. About every fourweeks (13 times a year) you'll receive theClubs music magazine, which describes theSelection of the Month for your musicalinterest...plus many exciting alternates. Inaddition, up tO six times a year, you mayreceive offers of Special Selections, usuallyat a discount off regular Club prices, for atotal of up to 19 buying opportunities.
If you wish to receive the Selection of theMonth, you need do nothing-it will beshipped automatically. If you prefer an alter-nate selection, or none at all, fill in theresponse card always provided and mail itby the date specified. You will always have at
least 10 days in which to make your decision.If you ever receive any Selection withouthaving 10 days to decide, you may return itat our expense.
The CDs you order during your member-ship will be billed at regular Club prices,which currently are $12.98 to $15.98-plusshipping and handling. (Multiple -unit setsmoy be somewhat higher.) After completingyour enrollment agreement you may cancelmembership at any time; if you decide tocontinue as a member, you'll be eligible forour money -saving bonus plan. It lets you buyone CD at half price for each CD you buy atregular Club prices.10 -Day Free Trial: We'll send details of theClubs operation with your introductory ship-ment. If you are not satisfied for any reasonwhatsoever, lust return everything within 10days and you will have no further obligation.So why not choose 8 CJs for 14 right now?ADVANCE BONUS OFFER: As a specialoffer to new members, take one additionalCompact Disc right now and pay only $6.95.It's a chance to get a ninth selection at asuper low price!
George Michael-Faith362228
Tchaikovsky-EugeneOnegin Seiji Ozawa, Berlin
(Angel) 343244
Barbra Slreisand-TheBroadway Album
342097Enoch Light & The LightBrigade-The Big BandsOf The Tin dies I P,,sect
341263
The Cars-Greatest Hits339903
Gershwin-Rhapsody InBlue: etc Tilson Thomas.L A Philhsrmonic(=BS Master ) 339226
Mozart-Symphony No 40i G Minoc Kubelik.Bavarian Radio Sym(:)BS Maver I 339044
Sting The Dream Of TheBlue Turtles (ABM) 336669
Billy Joel-Greatest HitsVols 1 8 2 (Columbia)
336396-396390
AndreasVollenweider-Down To The Moon ,CBS,
346643
Dire Straits-Brothers InArms )))) 336222
Steve Winwood RollWith It 371211
Air Supply-Greatest Hits321307
Whitney Houston Aosta)334391
Carpenters-YesterdayOnce More iA&M)
334607-394601Elton John-Greatest Hits(MCA 319541
Michael Jackson-ThrillerI 318089
Squeeze-Singles-45'sAnd Under 317974
Stevie Wonder-OngMusiquarium I GreatestHits .1.1-1,i) 314997-394999Neil Diamond -12 GreatestHits. Vol II (Columbia)
314443Best Of Biondie (Chrysalis)
311811
Boz Scaggs-Hitst306571
Best Of Earth, Wind &Fire-Vol I (Columba/Arc)
290916
Barry Manilow-GreatestHits 288670Anita Baker-Giving YouThe Best That I Got (F ekta)
374058
Taylor Dayne-Tell It To MyHeart t 364711
SEND NO MONEY-JUST MAIL COUPON
ECBS COMPACT DISC CLUB, 1400 N. Fruitridge 57,1119
PO. Box 1129, Terra Haute, Indiana 47811-1129Pleose accept my memDer ship application under the terms outlined in thisadvertisement Send me the 8 Compact Discs listed here and bill me In plusshipping and handling for all eight. I agree to buy six more selections or regulorClub prices in the coming three years -and may cancel my membership at anytime after doing soSEND ME THESI8 CDs FOR
My main musical interest is (check on.): 8 - r. ;,... ..
D Hord Rock 0 Soft Rock ii JazzVon Haien, Steve Winwood, Kenny G,U2 Fleetwood Mix Spyro Gyro
0 Easy Listening/Pop 0 Classical'.Sorry Monilow, Barbra Streisand, Vladimir Horowitz,Johnny Mathis, Ray Conniff Yo -Yo Ma
Mr.MrsMiss Pont Fest Nome Maio, lost Nome
Address Apt
City
State ZipDo you hove o VCR' 104/ Yes 0 NoDo you have a credit cord' (031 ID Yes D No DWN/F6 DWP/F7
ADVANCE BONUS OFFER: Also send meone more CD right nowat the super low priceof just 66.95, which will be billed to me.Note tie right to tete(' any opplAotron or comet any membership These oilers not
rentable in APO FPO. Alaska Hower, Puerto Rico. swats for derails of olternofive of ler Canadianresidents serviced hom Toronto Appl.coble sale, to. added to all orders 'Classical member,serviced by the CRS Class.t al Club
Selections with two numbers contain 2 CDs and count as 2-so write in both numbers c 1989 CBS Records Inc.
CBS COMPACT DISC CLUB: ill rre Haute, IN 47811
The IM Series
"They provide smooth, fast and incredibly well detailed sound."
"Polk's RTA Tower Loudspeakers Combine' Legendary Polk Performance with Contemporary Style."
Big speaker performance with an efficient use of space.
RTA litThe RTA Ilt is the finest conventional (non-SDA) speakerthat Polk Audio manufacturers. Its extremely high powerhandling (250 watts) and high efficiency (90dB) provideremarkable dynamic range from both large and smallamplifiers. The RTA Ilt utilizes the same technologicallyadvanced fluid -coupled subwoofer design found in Polk'sflagship model. Dual 8" sub -bass radiators are coupled to
two 61/2" mid/bass drivers, resulting in a fast. powerful,deep, and ultra -accurate bass response. without the boomy,
undetailed sound of large woofer systems.
RTA 8tIn a slightly smaller package, the RTA 8t offers the samedriver complement as the larger. more expensive RTA Ill,and thus shares its benefits of superior imaging, musi-cality and detail.
THE PRINCIPLES OF COINCIDENT RADIATION
Both Polk RTA series loudspeakers achieve the extremely rare combination of good looks and state-
of-the-art performance. The tall, elegantly slender, and deep "tower" design cabinets allow for
substantial internal volume for high efficiency and powerful bass, while requiring less than onesquare foot of floor space. The small baffle surface area around each driver minimizes diffraction
(sonic reflections), thereby insuring outstanding imaging and low coloration.
Positioning the I" silver -coil dome tweeter between the two 61/2" trilaminate polymer bass/midrange
drivers achieves what is called "coincident radiation." This means that both the mid- and high -
frequencies appear to radiate from the same place on the baffle resulting in perfect blending at thecritical crossover point (See illustration, below).
Polk RTA speakers have an uncanny ability to perfectly reproduce the human voice, pianos, guitars,
and every other instrument whose faithful reproduction demands superlative midrange and high -
frequency performance. Bass and percussion instruments are accurately reproduced with fullvisceral power and realism, without the heaviness, boominess, or lack of detail that plaguelesser designs.
The discriminating listener who seeks state-
of-the-art performance and design will find
the quintessential combination of both inPolls RTA series loudspeakers.
--acoustic center
The perceived source of soundof two identical drivers is centeredin the area between them.
In the Polk RR loudspeaker.the tweeter is positioned atthe acoustic center of thedrivers.
polk audioThe Speaker Specialists
5601 Metro Drive, Baltimore, Md. 21215
The benefit of coincident waveformpropagation resulting in preciseimaging. uriform vertical dispersionand startling midrange accuracy.
Polk Audio's 101 St and RUA Ilt High Performancelbwer Speakers
L E
(Continued from page 7)lowest common denominator.
In addition to saying "Bravo!" to Mr.Libbey, as a subscriber of many years I'dlike to comment upon a marked and wel-come improvement in HIGH FIDELITY inthe past year or so. I realize that you haveto cater to a wide spectrum of those inter-ested in high -quality music reproduction,but the return to an extensive and more se-
rious coverage of classical music and ofequipment has brought the magazine backto its original eminence.
Ewen RankinQuebec, Canada
MYSTERY MUSIC FROM ZAIRE: CASE SOLVED?
In your September 1988 "Letters," Mr.Newell E. Cox, Jr., asks if other readerscould help him identify some "street
Where to buy Polk SpeakersAUTHORIZED HOME DEALERSCANADA . Toronto tor
AK Anchorage ''''" Fairbanks'
AL Birmingham Dothan: elem.,' Huntsville Mobile
Montgomery .
Tuscaloosa s .
AR Ft Smith 0,/, Little Rock Seamy: Wren,
AZ Flagslan r'l Pro Phoenix Mesa Tuscan , o Emporium Yuma .n.
CA Bakersfield .., Moore Campbell Canoga Part '.'" irvsChico
Corona Del Mar i x tic Coe '
Davis. : Eureka: Erimri000e0 Lancaster Falitothia Sounchvorks Moun-tain View: 0-15 Napa: FAN- r
Orange 5 Penngrove '
Redondo, Sacramento San Diego . San
Francisco & SuburbsSan Gabriel ' San Jose
San Luis Obispo s .; . SantaBarton: i o Santa Cruz. Nave Santa Maria nr ye Stereo Santa Monica:
' .. Sherman Oaks: 1. iesign Stockton Thousand Oaks ,,iive
Ukiah Upland qiven Ventura r . Vittoreille s,
Westminster . n
CO Boulder Colorado Springs Denver & Suburbs d'ask
Pueblo -
CT Avon r Danbury: iarstons Fairfield . Greenwich. A: Frank
Hartford ' New Haven: Audio Newington 'err House New
London Norwalk: Audiotronics WaterburyDE Wilmington '.'14' StereoFL Daytona Beach n ',des R. Myers:Stereo
Fl Lauderdale:. Advice Fl. Pierce Ft Walton Beach' A , 1
Garnsville S. Jackson-ville Key WestLakeland , . Merritt Island
Miami Naples - .. Orlando
Panama City r'r Pen-sacola Sunrise ' St
lahassee ' Tampa s s,iceW.Palm Beach AdviceGA Athens Atlanta & Suburbs: Hi
. Augusta Brunswick: HUH. Columbus . Macon:
SavannahValdostaHI HonoluluIA Davenport r, . '.' Des Moines' s Dodge City s. Dubuque Iowa City .
Mason City Sr WaterlooID Boise .. Sandpoint Twin Falls : A:-'IL Alton kir Stereo Aurora Carbondale: Southern St. to Champaign
' Chicago& SuburbsDecatur SI Lloyds DeKalb ..1 Pius Highland Park: CnIumh Joliet: Stereo Systems Kankakee r:,"'" I-' ": Laneing:
Naperville ,Ltems NM-mai a Peoria leceorscs Rocklord Springfield: Sundown One Spring Valley " it Yemen Hills:' . WaukeganIN Bloomington: crrit' [Ws ALA 0 Bluffton:
sopianre Evansville' Ft.Wayne t Indianapolis .at on Lafayette Marion - :three Michigan City ' Muncie:' South Bend....... :is.-Terre Haute
KS Junction City: Audio Overland OH Akron CantonPark I lecennios Wichita . Cleveland & Suburbs i' Cincinnati
Columbus n ,at. Dayton.ToPkKY Bowling Green ' Lexington
' Louisville '
Owensboro. Paducah .
PikevilleLA Lafayette Metairie &New Orleans ' Opelousas.
MA Boston s.
Fitchburg N Dartmouth Pittsfield Worcester.
ME Bangor Camden Portland A ;..10(1
MD Annapolis Baltimore.,ours:-- College Park: Spaceways Gaithersburg:
MI Ann ArborBirmingham Dearborn
Farmington Hills - Flint Grand Rapids . Kala-
mazoo Lansing Midland Petoskey '.' Royal Oak
NOLoicit Tra-verse City '.'MN Duluth '.' MankatoK Minneapolis & SuburbsRochester , . SI Paul "
MO Cape Girardeau::,.. Columbia' - o Rolla: End al Ito i a St
Louis '1 CentralMS Hattisburg F, Jacksonii. ,: Pascagoula .
MT Billings n Bozeman.1' Great Falls '-
Missoula.' .
NC Boone Chapel HillCharlotte ' Conover
Herder. Greensborosonville Kinston urcepts Moorehead City " New Bern:A" r Raleigh iiLIVS Stereo
Rocky Mount '.minglon Wilson Modern Stereo Winston Salem
Fargo rayNO Bismarck
NE Keamey , ". Lincoln. n-eoOmaha sr York: drerst Audio
NH Concord '.. England LOCOOixtr New London: North Star
SalemNJ East Brunswick s Stereo MapleShade Mooklair rvrdueRa.: Raritan ' Ridgewood' Sound-
Shrewsbury' ..Toms River Wall Two ',"
'' West Caldwell. -
NM Alamogordo r " Albuquer-que - Carlsbad: neAsons Clovis 4 Santa Fe- ,'e'st Coast SoundNV Las Vegas -
NY Albany Batavia 5 - Buffalo ComingElmira Fredonia GlensFalls ." Goshen .. r
n Ithaca . Jamestown studior Manhasset "
r ' MSS.sena Newburgh , ExpressionsNew Hartford .' New York
Rochester Scarsdale: ListeningR Syracuse '' Vestal' RVEled, q, Woodbury r"' ins
a .: Findlay: krd,o LAP Lima:, Toledo gi o Dalt
OA Lawton - . Oklahoma City: Auoc Shawnee Sounds Still-
water. , . Tulsa ,..1(1:0 AdviceOR Beaverton Superstores Eugene:
Grafts PassPortland.
s Medford -
PA Allentown - Blakely: Hart
Camp Hill - . ChambersburgSunrise (lot' Erie Johns-town: Gary., KingstonElectronics Lancaster Long -home: Born Va., Montgomeryville ln,o
Natrona Heights - rd Philadelphia A SuburbsPittsburgh , Quakertown: Bryn
Reading Selinsgrove ... Slate College. &
Stroudsburg. '..' Vdeo Werlord: Aitt c osurs Williamsport: "sten
PUERTO RICO Rio Piedras: ResRI N Providence Eastern AudioSC Anderson Machine Charleston:
sr Columbia: M ....ichne Greenville '.' s Ste,. '.' ' "eGreenwood - Shad Spartansburg:
SO Aberdeen Ji.i Mos, Rapid City- learn Sioux Falls: ;
TN Chattanooga: RAP Tv Cookeville: C nclseyWA' : Jackson: Way. ! - Kings-
VcrIni'hny' ille Memphis Nashville:
TX Amarillo: sound Syste" Arlington:Sound idea Austin: Mar,..- CollegeStation: Audio Video Corpus Christi'
.
,.
Dallas: F+ sat , El PasoWe' FI Worth n - Houston: SheffieldAwl Hurst Laredo 'Sr.'. ,
intra , Longview , -
Lubbock San AntonioB. San Marcos .Video Sherman sr a TempleAudio lecr Texarkana WacoAudir Ti'UT Logan ' OgdenBr." Sall Lake CitySt. George -
VA Bristol " CharlottesvilleSr, ": Falls Church Manassas -
Bur Richmond RoanokeHo: :. Virginia BeachVT Brattleboro Essex Junc-tion: . Rutland '.' . '.'WA Bellingham- . Chelan "9,, Oak Harbor . ' Richland.T Spokane t-WI Appleton Eau Claire: E MEAL: . Green Bay rs
Lacrosse Madisona.- Milwaukee ., Wausau.
WV Barboursville. Beckley. Charleston: PiedPit,' Clarksburg .
Huntington PiedmontGm WheelingWY Cheyenne
Polk audioI he Speaker Specialists 1)
music from Zaire" he heard on the radio.If one of the four collections noted in theeditorial response does not have the ma-terial, perhaps the Compact Disc he islooking for is Zaire: Kinshasa City Music(Ocora C 559007; distributed by Harmo-nic Mundi, U.S.A.).
Matthew B. TepperLos Angeles, Calif.
SAVE THE PAGE: DONATIONS ACCEPTED
I had to write to thank Ken Richardsonfor the first true review of Jimmy Page'sOutrider [December 1988]. The intelligentcriticisms and praises are a welcomechange: All other reviewers were so busybashing Page for not making the New LedZeppelin record, they forgot to notice thatOutrider was the first genuine rock albumwe heard all year. Robert Plant may wantto follow the Mick Jagger road of pander-ing to Top 40 tripe, but thank god Pagegives us the true guitar rock that made uslove Led Zeppelin in the first place.
Incidentally, I saw Page's performancehere in Austin, and John Miles's vocalssounded much better than they do on thealbum. Fantastic show, too.
Michelle KruegerAustin, Texas
TOM PETTY IL MEAT LOAF: TWINS? NO, CDsI
As an avid fan of Tons Petty and theHeartbreakers, I was disappointed to dis-cover that MCA's first reissues of the bandon Compact Disc did not include You'reGonna Get It. Are there plans to releasethis album on CD? Also, which Meat Loafrecords are currently available on the digi-tal format?
.Michael L. HaydenAPO San Francisco, Calif.
In the time since you wrote to us, You'reGonna Get It has indeed appeared on CD(MCA MCAD 31171). As for Mr. Loaf (asThe New York Times likes to call him),CDs are available of 1977's Bat Out of Hell(Epic EK 34974) and 1986's Blind Before IStop (Atlantic 81698-2).-Ed.
VANGELIS, ANYONE?As your readers may be aware, it has beenextremely difficult-if not impossible-tofind the Vangelis recording of Antarcticaon Compact Disc. Anyone wishing to ob-tain a copy may write to me at the addressgiven below.
Joseph KasimP.O. Box 360
Bronx, N.Y. 10461
All letters should be addressed to The Editor. HIGHFIDELITY. 825 Seventh Ave.. New York. N. Y 10019.Letters are subject to editing for brevity and clarity.
12 HIGH FIDELIT Y
CUR R EN T S
New Dolby System?Ever since Dolby Laboratories introducedDolby SR-an extremely capable andcomplex analog -tape noise reduction(NR) system for professional applica-tions-rumors have been circulatingthrough the audio press concerning theuse of it, or some less complex SR deriva-tive, in home cassette decks. From conver-sations with persons at Dolby Labs whoare in positions to know about such things,it seems that the rumors have some basis infact: Dolby is working hard at perfect-ing an advanced home NR system. Nei-ther the state of the research nor a date ofintroduction has been released, but thebasic design objectives for such a systemhave been long established. There aresome unexpected twists to those goals.
One would think that cassette -deckmanufacturers-befuddled by the anti -digital -tape posturing of the record indus-try-would have provided the initial im-petus for a new NR system. Since productinnovation is ultimately what keeps theaudio industry profitable, if the hardwarefolks are stymied in attempts to sell DAT,then they might as well develop anothergeneration of analog cassette decks using anew NR system. Nevertheless, while logi-cal, this is not the scenario that has beenfollowed.
The demand for a new NR system hasinstead come primarily from the record in-dustry! Record companies are now enjoy-ing record -setting sales and earningsbecause of the success (and profitableoverpricing) of Compact Discs and, evenmore important, by the enormous world-wide consumption of music on cassette-which is by far the dominant medium forthe distribution of recordings. The recordindustry would like nothing better than toincrease the popularity of cassettes, if onlybecause that would further hasten the de-mise of the LP and thereby reduce thenumber of media a company has to pro-duce and distribute. But, thanks to thesuccess of the CD, the record industry isnow also feeling pressure from consumersfor better cassette sound quality. Better -sounding prerecorded cassettes will alsoreduce pressures for home taping, throughwhich the music lover presently can obtainsuperior -sounding tapes. Knowing thesefew facts, the basic properties of an ad-vanced Dolby system can be surmised. Since a primary goal is to firmly cementthe cassette's hold on consumers, a tapeencoded via the new system will be com-patible with nondecoded playback. Thishas been tried, to minimal commercialsuccess, with CBS's "compatible" CX sys-
tem for LPs. But a more complex encod-ing system, possibly using a multiband ap-proach similar to that in Dolby SR, standsa much better chance at sonic success. Amultiband system would help preventsuch telltale effects as noise modulation or"pumping" of the music signal. In order not to disenfranchise the mil-lions of cassette decks, car stereo units,boom boxes, and portable tape playersthat already contain Dolby B decoders,the consumer will obtain some noise -re-duction benefit from a newly encoded tapeby playing it back through Dolby B. It iseven possible that the "sliding band" thatforms the core of the Dolby B techniquewill be an integral part of the new system
car, personal -portable, and background -music playback). My only reservationswith these engineering objectives are pos-sible incompatibilities with Dolby C re-cordings and, unless adapters are manu-factured, that you will have to replaceyour cassette deck to get the new sys-tem. Then again, hardware companies-and audio magazines-do keep in businessthrough product innovations. Let's hopethat the new Dolby system will be as uni-versally applicable as the record industrywants, as stimulating to the marketplaceas cassette -deck manufacturers desire, andgood -sounding enough to at least partiallysatisfy those of us still waiting for DAT.
David Ranada
Sony made its new SLV-70HF videocassette recorder "Camcorder Friendly...
(filters with sliding frequency bands arealso used in Dolby SR). Full noise -reduction benefit will come tothose willing to pay for the new encod-er/decoder circuits in their cassette ma-chines. When completely decoded, theamount of noise reduction from the newsystem will at least equal that obtainedwith present-day Dolby C. The added costof the new system should be kept down byits being immediately available in full inte-grated -circuit form, unlike early Dolby Band C realizations.
This is a rather utopian list of designgoals, but they are not mutually incompat-ible, and I see no reason why they cannotall be met simultaneously. The biggest"fudge factor" is, of course, just how"compatible" nondecoded playback willbe. I wouldn't mind if nondecoded play-back sounded just slightly better thannondecoded CX playback-which did notsound nearly as bad undecoded as somecritics made it out to be. Besides, some de-gree of relatively benign compression isdesirable in many applications (such as
"Camcorder Friendly" VCRMaking a big production out of it is whatSony's new SLV-70HF VHS videocassetterecorder ($1,100) is all about. Recognizingthat home video has progressed from thepoint -and -shoot of Junior's first steps tofull-blown home video productions, Sonydesigned the SLV-70HF to operate witha VHS camcorder to make a mini editingsystem. This "Camcorder Friendly" de-sign features input terminals for a cam-corder's audio and video signals on thefront of the VCR.
Highlighting the SLV-70HF is "EditMonitor." Using picture -in -picture (PIP)technology, you can watch footage fromthe camcorder and VCR simultaneouslyon a single TV set. Both pictures appear asinserts against a blue background. VCRrecording status and all editing infor-mation can be seen on the screen. The digi-tal PIP feature can also be used to watch atape and a TV program at the same time.
The SLV-70HF has a flying erase headand special control terminals for "Synchro
FEBRUARY 198 9 13
CUR R EN TSEdit," which synchronizes record/play-back and pause with compatible Sonycamcorders, Beta and 8mm decks, andediting controllers. The unit also featuresVHS HQ picture circuitry, a stereo -TVtuner, Hi-Fi sound, and Sony's Dual Azi-muth four -head design. There is also 2Xfast play with sound for a quick review ofrecordings.
A remote control with LCD displaywindow can be used to program the SLV-70HF's timer. The remote also has ten -keydirect -access channel selection as well asthe usual complement of VCR functioncontrols, including picture search, slowmotion, frame -by -frame advance, andfreeze frame. Edit Monitor and other edit-ing functions can also be controlled re-motely. Sony Corp., Sony Dr., Park Ridge,N.J. 07656.
Heath Offers Hi-Fi KitsICs cold outside, so heat up your solderingiron and stay warm indoors with Heath'snew line of Heathkit build -it -yourself ster-eo components, designed for Heath byHarman Kardon. Available in kit form-
MAIL TO:
HIGH FIDELITYSUBSCRIBER SERVICEP.O. Box 10051 Des Moines, IA 50340-0051
Change of Address: Please advise as early aspossible. Attach label with your old address andwrite in new address below.
New Subscriber: Fill in your name and addressbelow. Use separate sheet for gift orders.
PLACE LABEL HERE
Renewal: Attach label.One year $13.95 Two years $26.00
(Foreign subscribers please add $7.00 per yearfor postage)
NAME
STREET
CITY,STATECZIP
Please bill me Payment enclosed
For other subscription questions or problems,please write a note and send entire form to theabove address, OR CALL TOLL -FREE:
1-(800) 666-3977
With Heathkit, you can build or buy hi-fi.
for the "intermediate hobbyist"-or fullyassembled are: a 100 -watt (20-dBW) pow-er amp ($449 kit, $499 assembled); pre -amp ($349 kit, $399 assembled); andAM/FM tuner ($229 kit, $249 assem-bled). A cassette player ($349), compactdisc player ($349), and JBL-built speakers(three-way floor -standing $399, two-waybookshelf $160) are sold assembled. Thestereo tuner, Kit AJ-2520, features digitalfrequency synthesis, quartz -locked tun-ing, 16 -station AM or FM memory, athree -segment LED signal -strength me-ter, and manual tuning. The power amp,Kit AA -2500, uses wide bandwidth andlow negative feedback for transient accu-racy and phase linearity and features fourdual -polarity powersupplies.
All kits and assembled components areavailable through Heath's catalog orthrough Heath/Zenith stores throughoutthe United States and Canada. Catalogscan be ordered by telephoning 1 -800 -44 -HEATH. After -sale support is availablefrom Heath/Zenith stores or direct fromthe factory. Heath Co., Hilltop Rd., St. Jo-seph, Mich., 49085.
The Eyes Have ItNow that your ears know the advantagesof a digital sound source, Philips wantsyou to treat your eyes as well-and allfrom one player. The company's newCDV488 ($1,300) plays 3- and 5 -inch au-dio CDs, plus videodisc formats including5 -inch CD -V gold discs, 8 -inch and 12 -inch Laserdiscs, and the new 8 -inch LDsingle. (The LD single is a thinner versionof the standard 8 -inch disc and can hold asmuch as 20 minutes of audio and video.)The CDV488 uses a Philips 16 -bit, four -times oversampling digital filter and dual16 -bit high -linearity digital -to -analog(D/A) converters. Additionally, the unit
incorporates a Philips -developed high -res-olution video circuitry with special chro-minance and luminance (Y/C) processingand an "S" -type output for monitors with"S" inputs. The CDV488 also featuresPhilips's FTS (favorite track selection)system, audio -track or video -chapter pro-gramming for 20 selections, and CX noisereduction for playback of Laserdiscs hav-ing only CX-encoded analog soundtracks.
Accompanying the player is a univer-sal programmable remote with an LCDdisplay and the ability to control ten dif-ferent types of equipment. Remote playerfunctions include jog dial for still -pictureand slow-motion control. Fast motion andhigh-speed scan can also be performedwith the shuttle dial; the angle and direc-tion in which the dial is turned controlsthe speed and direction of the picture play-back. Special effects include picture mem-ory, mosaic picture effect, strobe, andfreeze. Philips Consumer Electronics Co.,One Philips Dr., P.O. Box 14810, Knox-ville, Tenn. 37914-1810
Pentax's PV-C880A has time-lapse capabilities.
Hours Pass Like MinutesRemember high school biology, when,through the wonder of time-lapse photog-raphy, you watched in mere seconds thedaylong journey of a plant bending to fol-low the sun's light? (That biological phe-nomenon, we learned, is phototropism.)Now you can achieve these time-lapse spe-cial effects with Pentax's new PV-C880A8mm camcorder ($1,899). The unit's in-terval recording mode lets you record sub-tle movements over a period of up to 12hours. Follow the action with one -secondrecordings every 30 seconds, every min-ute, or at two- or five-minute intervals.Additionally, the PV-C880A has a man-ual setting that records four frames at thepush of a button-useful for creating ani-mation. Weighing in at 2.8 pounds withthe PV -BT 810 battery pack and P6-30
(Continued on page 80)
14 HIGH FIDELITY
Answers toReaders' Questions
Crosstalk
Dy Larry Klein
Fading PerformanceAfter I play cassettes on my portable cassette machine, themusic fades in and out when I play them again, either on myportable or on other machines. This has only started to hap-pen recently. Is the problem caused by a magnetized tapehead? If not, what else might be the problem?
Sydney GreenspanEl Segundo, Calif
Even a badly magnetized tape head (or guide) would eraseonly the very highest frequencies and, possibly, add a slightand constant overlay of hiss to your tapes, so that's proba-bly not the source of your problem. My best guess is thatyour portable player is causing some intermittent mechani-cal damage to your cassette tapes. Once damaged, the tapecan no longer make consistently good contact with a play-back head, and the playback level of the the damaged sec-tions will therefore tend to vary irregularly.
This kind of edge damage is likely to be visible in theform of either creases, ripples, or other roughening of thetape surface. When you start to hear a damaged passage,immediately stop the tape and remove the cassette from themachine. Look at the tape visible through the central open-ing, in front of the pressure pad. Particularly check the bot-tom edge (referred to the side of the easel -He you are play-ing), since this is where the the head gaps make contact inthe cassette format. If you find damage, and if your tapesplay okay until passing through your portable, then it is theguilty party. One final note: Given the high cost of repair-ing anything these days, it may be cheaper in the long (andeven short) run to replace your portable player than tohave it repaired.
Woofer FlapI am hoping that you can settle an argument for me. I'vebeen told that when a woofer cone is seen moving violently, itis due to some flaw in the recording or playback system. Buta friend says that woofers are supposed to do that. Who isright?
Terence PominekBarryton, Mich.
Woofers, like all other speaker drivers, create sound bymoving air. And, all other factors being equal, the lowerthe frequency involved, the further the driver diaphragmmust travel to create the same volume of sound. In fact,each time the bass response goes down an octave, a woof-er cone travels four times the distance-assuming that itcan-to reproduce it. You can see how cone movementmight well be visible at the very lowest frequencies if highsound levels are to be generated. However, you certainlyshouldn't see wild fluctuations on most program material,
and any movement you do see should produce and coincidewith audible bass notes.
The amount of spurious woofer -cone movement pri-marily relates to its enclosure's internal acoustic damping,but other factors certainly have a contributory effect. Aturntable with severe very low frequency (infrasonic) rum-ble, warped records, bouncy floors, low -frequency acous-tic feedback, and even misbehaving tapes and FM stationshave been known to cause excessive woofer -cone move-ment. Some recordings-particularly classical CompactDiscs-have built-in infrasonics from the recording studio(such as traffic and subway noise, or even air -conditionerrumble).
To a great degree, what actually reaches a speaker sys-tem at infrasonic frequencies depends on the engineering ofthe accompanying preamp and power amp. If either unithas a built-in low -frequency rolloff below 10 Hz-or evenslightly higher-then, obviously, the woofer won't haveto contend with excessive excursions and the distortionsprobably engendered by them. For this reason, many am-plifier designers feel that extending an amp's responsedown to DC (0 Hz), or close to it, buys nothing but trouble.
I once came across an article in a British technical jour-nal suggesting that the extended low -frequency perfor-mance of CDs would be extremely troublesome for con-ventional vented (hoes -reflex) enclosures. Unlike acoustic -suspension systems, whose sealed boxes "load" the rear ofthe woofer cone down to infrasonic frequenices, vented de-signs usually provide little or no cone control below thesystem's resonance frequency. However, given the sophis-ticated speaker -design computer programs that are nowavailable, I suspect that a knowledgeable designer canadopt any woofer enclosure scheme he wants without run-ning into infrasonic troubles.
Adequate PowerEven after reading several articles on the subject, I am stillnot sure what effect inadequate amplifier power has on thesound of an amp. I own speakers with a suggested minimumamplifier power of 45 watts per channel, and an integratedamplifier rated at 60 watts per channel-all set up in amedium -to -large, fairly `Plead" room. Although my systemsounds great to me, I suspect something may be missing.Some friends rate my power as "anemic" for my speakers.Yet, when I considered investing in a trade up to approxi-mately 110 watts per channel, I was told that such an in-crease is almost inconsequential! I would step up the power ifI were sure I'd be sonically justified in doing so.
K. J. HartmanWashington, Kans.
When there isn't adequate power available for a specificpair of speakers playing specific kinds of music at a desired
FEBRUARY 19E19 IS
loudness in a given acoustic environment, then, .*,pendingupon the precise combination of these variables,) ou mighthear a loss of openness or clarity, a raspiness in the highs ora mushiness in the bass, or possibly only some loss of dy-namic range. Your friends are correct in stating that an in-crease in power from 60 to 110 watts would provide a triv-ial improvement: Assuming similar amplifier design andrating techniques, your speakers will be able to play 2.63dB louder before the amplifier runs out of gas. This isan audible but not very substantial change. Raising youravailable power to 200 watts per channel could be more au-dibly significant: a maximum of 5.22 dB louder, to be spe-cific. With all the variables, and the fact that sonic prob-lems can arise from reasons other than a lack of amplifierpower, the best way to determine whether you really needmore power is to compare the sound of your existing ampli-fier in your present circumstances to one of substantiallyhigher dynamic headroom or continuous power.
If you can borrow a 200 -watt amplifier, for example,check to see if it sounds better than your present unit whenit's playing your music at your normal levels-don't turnthings louder for the purposes of the test. My article "Blaz-ing Tweeters" in the June 1988 issue goes into some detailon the sonic relationships between the power output of am-plifiers and the power requirements of speakers.
Four -ohm PowerSince most amplifiers can provide greater output at 4 ohmsthan at 8 ohms, can I get increased power by connecting 8 -ohm resistors across the terminals of my 8 -ohm speakers andthereby provide 4 -ohm loads to the amplifier?
Charles K. SaegerLittle Rock, Ark.
Yes, but half the new, higher power will do nothing butheat up the added 8 -ohm resistors. The net result would beless total power delivered to your loudspeakers.
Receiver RepairsI own a secondhand receiver that is probably 15 years old. Ithas worked fine since I bought it about two years ago, but itrecently developed a bad hiss problem and distorts at lowvolumes. I took it to my local repair shop, where they told methat the circuit board needed to be resoldered. When I got itback, most of the problems still remained. Where do I gofrom here?
Mike MaynesMoses Lake, Wash.
Where you should have gone in the first place. When youown an audio product that needs repair, always check withits manufacturer (assuming it is still in business and can belocated) for suggestions. You may be referred to a localwarranty station or advised to return your unit to the man-ufacturer's in-house repair service. If you are lucky enoughto have bought the unit from a local dealer with good ser-vice facilities, he should be a viable alternative to the manu-facturer since he may have access to the manufacturer'sparts and service data on your specific unit. A "local repairshop" is a risky choice, because its repair people arenot likely to have the expertise-or the instrumentation
or circuit diagrams-needed to handle audio repairsadequately.
But there's another aspect of your repair problem thatshould be discussed. Ask yourself whether your 15 -year -old receiver is really worth further investment. Even anominal repair bill is likely to run at least $50 or so ("justto look at it"), and any service shop can guarantee perfor-mance only in the specific problem area in which the repairwas made. Your receiver could well be harboring addition-al disasters waiting to happen. Today's receivers, asidefrom their multiplicity of controls and flashing lights, willoutperform their older counterparts in almost every re-spect. For that reason, I suggest that you consider savingup for a new receiver, rather than investing in (probably)an ongoing series of expensive nonrepairs.
Amplifier/Speaker OutputI often see ratings of power amplifiers that read: "x wattsinto 8 -ohm loads." Why is it that the power rating increaseswhen 4 -ohm loads are used? Also, the rear panel of the 80 -watt -per -channel amplifier I'm about to buy has terminals(and front panelswitching) for two pairs of speakers. Canyou tell me whether the 80 watts will be divided between thetwo speakers in each channel, or what?
Moses JacobsonAlexandria, La.
Ohm's Law can be applied to answer both of the abovequestions. A transistor power amplifier is what is calleda "constant -voltage" device-meaning that a given signalvoltage applied to its input will result in a certain signalvoltage across its output terminals, according to the gain ofthe amplifier. The output terminals usually have a "load"(such as a test resistor or loudspeaker) connected acrossthem. Ideally, the amplifier's output voltage will be inde-pendent of the characteristics of the load.
The relevant version of Ohm's Law is: Output power inwatts equals the output voltage squared, divided by theload impedance in ohms. For example: Take an amplifierwith a gain of 20, which generates a 20 -volt output from a1 -volt input. An 8 -ohm load across 20 volts, according tothe formula, dissipates (as heat or sound or both) a powerof 50 watts. However, if we substitute a 4 -ohm load, theamplifier would then be putting out 100 watts, assuming ithad the ability to do so. (Power -supply and output -transis-tor limitations usually limit the 4 -ohm output to somethinglike 150 percent of the full rated 8 -ohm output.)
As far as the division of power between speakers is con-cerned, if the two sets of connected speakers had identi-cal impedance characteristics over their frequency ranges,then whatever current the amplifier is putting out would bedivided equally between them. However, no two 8 -ohmspeakers of different make or model are likely to have im-pedance curves that match at all frequencies. If the twospeakers in each channel are connected in parallel (the usu-al switching arrangement), then the voltage across the pairwill be the same from moment to moment, although thecurrent through each (because of their different imped-ances) will vary with frequency. And as a result, so will thewattage.
We regret that the volume of mail is too great for us to answer all questions.
16 HIGH FIDELITY
TapeTracksAu revoir,Akai!
'II Dy Robert Long
Remember Akai? Yes, that Akai. By the time youread this column, it will be a name in history forU.S. tapeophiles. And what a history! I've often
considered it a little weird, but it's a brand that has givenus a lot to think about over the years.
Yet, as of the end of 1988, marketing of all Akai prod-ucts ceased in this country-though it continues to serveboth the domestic Japanese market and that in Europe,where recordists have always been, if anything, evenmore attracted to Akai products than they have here.Mitsubishi, Akai's parent company, says that it will con-tinue to honor all Akai warranties and supply parts, sodon't despair if you recently bought an Akai component.And if you encounter a good deal on leftover models,don't pass them up lightly. (Akai is a separate subsidiarywithin the Mitsubishi group and until only a few yearsago was run as a totally independent company.)
The underlying problem seems to be the falling valueof the dollar relative to the yen. Akai's basic product linehas always been somewhere between budget and premi-um. It has had so-called rack systems but, not being alarge company, didn't find it easy to achieve the econo-mies of scale that create profitability in such wares. Man-ufacturers who concentrate on premium models can es-sentially charge whatever they choose; however, thatapproach doesn't work in the medium and medium -highranges where Akai found its calling.
Caught in this squeeze, the company sold off someproduction facilities to make ends meet, I'm told. Whenthe dollar didn't recover, the reduced factory capacity ac-tually made matters worse: The most popular cassettedecks and receivers became back -ordered. Mitsubishitook, I suppose, the logical step when it eliminated themarket that was causing at least a part of the problem.Despite sales of more than $40 million, the United Statesstill fell several million dollars short of target for 1988and was gobbling up product that could profitably besold in Europe and Japan. So, sayonara!
I will miss Akai. I'll miss, above all, its experimental-ism. Not all the new things it tried worked, but it kept meon my toes as a reporter trying to understand what it wasup to. The most mysterious moment actually came on theeve of Akai's entry into the U.S. market under its ownname. Then, many Japanese components were sold hereunder names dictated by the American companies thatimported them. Following that pattern, Akai decks wereknown as Roberts tape recorders. Sony had led the wayin bypassing the middleman (or middlecompany-in thiscase, Superscope) by establishing Sony Corporation ofAmerica. Matsushita had stopped supplying Concordand brought the Panasonic brand to these shores.
Somewhere in the midst of this revolution in high fi-delity marketing, I received my first trans -Pacific phonecall, from an executive at Akai's advertising agency.
After some twenty minutes of struggling with a bad con-nection, I hung up still wondering what the purpose ofthe call had been. I think it was intended to establishAkai's precedence over Rheem-Caliphone (the owner ofthe Roberts name at the time) in the coming introductionof the Akai brand name to the American market. ButJapanese business ways were then so unfamiliar as to bequite inscrutable.
More scrutable was the company's subsequent habitof showing a massive lineup of new decks at the Consum-er Electronics Show each June. One year there were morethan 50 of them, if memory serves, and three differenttypes of cassette -reversing mechanisms were involved.Nobody had made a bidirectional transport that reallyworked, though Philips had come up with a delightfullyRube-Goldbergian device that ejected the cassette into achute to flip it over. But rotating heads or ones with mul-tiple gaps to accommodate the reverse tape directionwithout flipping the tape itself had been tried in open -reelequipment, and this appeared to be the route to the ulti-mate in hands-off cassette tape -playing efficiency.
Akai, evidently determined to see the conceptthrough, showed every design it could think of. Show -goers were polled, in effect, for their reactions. Only theentries that got the most favorable response went intoproduction; I don't believe its earliest attempts were evenclaimed to be marketable But ultimately it achievedacceptable ergonomics and recorded quality and was, Ibelieve, the first to do so. Akai certainly left no stone (orhead) unturned in the attempt.
Its forays into video recorders were, perhaps, evenmore remarkable. Akai made the only recorder I can re-member that was designed for both audio -only or videouse. Its reels of /.-inch tape were driven at much higherspeeds for video, of course. (Today, VHS Hi-Fi some-times is used for audio -only recordings, as well as video,but that wasn't an integral part of the design goal.)
Among its many unusual designs, the crossfield head(delivering bias independent of the separate recordinghead and from the "wrong" side of the tape) is one thatstands out in memory. Only Akai and Tandberg everused it in consumer equipment, although it achieved a re-markable improvement in recorded quality at slow trans-port speeds. The technology's shortcomings were costand, frequently, added awkwardness in threading theopen -reel tapes of the time. Eventually the crossfield headdisappeared from open -reel decks and, unfortunately, thedesign didn't work with cassettes. But it was a majortechnical achievement while it lasted.
In case you didn't notice, the head for this column bidAkai an au revoir, rather than a goodbye. Brand nameswith this kind of history usually don't go away forever.One day, I suspect, we'll be welcoming Akai backagain.
F EBRu A 99 1989 17
(161111---. Chipping InWith 18 -Bit DACs
bigarA By David Ramada
Regardless of wherever else in technology the UnitedStates may be faltering, thanks to Burr -Brown ofTucson, Arizona, this country has led the world in
the production of 18 -bit digital -to -analog converter(DAC) integrated circuit chips for audio applications.That lead has now been widened by the entry of thecountry's other leading high -end analog -IC manufacturerinto the wild and woolly consumer -product marketplace:Analog Devices of Norwood, Massachusetts-arch-rivalto Burr-Brown-has introduced its first 18 -bit audioDAC, the AD1860. The company is now shipping "largevolumes," it says, of both the AD1860 and its new 16 -bitaudio DAC (the AD1856) "to a company who must re-main nameless at this time [mid -November 1988]." It isinstructive to examine the data sheets and promotionalliterature for the 18 -bit chip, because they are publishedfor digital -audio designers, not consumers, and illustratewhat engineers actually look for in a DAC.
Listed under the heading "Features," the very firstline on the AD1860's preliminary data sheet proudlystates that the device has 0.001 -percent total harmonicdistortion (THD). This spec is excellent, since any audiocomponent with so little THD can safely be said to haveinaudible distortion (0.001 percent is below HIGH FIDEL-ITY'S reporting threshold for THD). However, the THDspec given does not indicate full 18 -bit behavior, whichhas yet to be achieved with an 18 -bit audio DAC fromany manufacturer.
Loosely speaking, a full -level THD specification for aDAC, as given above, can also be derived by calculationfrom a measurement of "differential nonlinearity error,"which itself is sometimes stated in "bits." For example, atop-quality DAC should have a differential nonlinearityerror of ±1/2 the size of the smallest bit (the least signifi-cant bit, or LSB). This guarantees that the DAC's outputvoltage will always increase or decrease as the input num-bers respectively increase or decrease. In a 16 -bit DAC,±%2 LSB means an error of 1 in 65,536, or about 0.00152 -percent THD. For an 18 -bit, ±1/2-LSB converter, the er-ror is 1 in 262,144, or 0.000381 -percent THD. As youcan see, the Analog Devices DAC, while it may have 18 -bit resolution (it should be able to put out 262,144 differ-ent voltages), is not accurate to a full 18 bits (not all thevoltage steps are where they should be) because its THDspec exceeds the theoretical ideal. My calculations showthat the AD1860 is accurate to a little better than 161/2bits (1 in 92,681.9, or 0.00101 -percent THD).
Should one worry about this? Absolutely not. TheCompact Disc system is, after all, a 16 -bit medium and,provided everything else in a CD player is done right,DAC performance exceeding 16 bits is simply frosting onthe cake. The AD1860's performance is actually typicalof all present-day 18 -bit audio DACs. However, better -than -16 -bit performance with these devices is usually
Dits&Pieces
available only with the most expensive grade of chip-here, the AD1860N-K. The less expensive AD1860N-Jand AD1860N grades both have THD higher than thatexpected from a "perfect" 16 -bit DAC (0.002 and 0.004percent, respectively, compared to the theoretical0.00156 percent), though both figures still represent goodaudi6 performance. Interestingly, the best version of the16 -bit chip, the AD1856N-K, costs less than he lowest -grade 18 -bit unit-$20.85 vs. $23.00 each, in tuantities of100 or more-yet the THD spec for the 16 -bit chip islower (0.0025 percent) than that for 18 -bit unit (0.004percent).
Why would any designer want to use the lowest -grade18 -bit DAC when Analog Devices' own best 16 -bit chipis measurably superior (at least in THD) and costs less.Although there are some theoretical advantages to pick-ing the 18 -bit DAC, it will be chosen probably becausethe marketing department of the manufacturer the de -
The AD1860 chipout of its protec-tive package. Inits center is alaser -trimmedresistor network
signer works for wants to sell "18 -bit" CD players, pref-erably ones having two-, four-, or eight -times oversam-pling digital filters-all this in order to bring the"benefits" of this technology to lower "price points."A designer will further cut costs and save space by takingadvantage of the AD1860's incorporation on -chip of sev-eral components that have to be supplied separately withcompeting Burr -Brown devices. In all, the price structurefor the Analog Devices chips concretely illustrates apoint I made in my last "Bits and Pieces" (December1988): Simply having 18 -bit converters in a CD playerguarantees neither superior measured performance norbetter sound quality.
Your best guide when seeking a superior CD player,in addition to sound quality, remains the measured audioperformance, specifically the results of various tests forlinearity. A mere counting of bits (or oversampling rate,for that matter) will not necessarily help you find a betterplayer. Besides, any obsessive bit counting will lead youastray when it comes to the latest technology being read-ied for introduction: 1 -bit (!), highly oversampled DACs.I hope to discuss this important development in a futurecolumn.
IS HIGH FIDELITY
Report preparation supervised by Michael Riggs,David Ranada, Robert Long, and Edward J. Foster.
Laboratory data (unless otherwise indicated) issupplied by Diversified Science Laboratories.
0 nkyo has pulled out most of thestops in creating the TA -2600,its next -to -top deck and a sort of
semiapotheosis of the company's con-cepts in the field. For the record, the re-maining stops that the top -of -the -lineTA -2800 pulls are automatic rather thanmanual bias -trim (Accubias) adjust-ment, the inclusion of a tape -sensitivity
time remaining on the cassette, a blank -seeking intro -sample feature (calledAMCS, for Automatic Music ControlSystem), an auto -space function to insertfive -second or longer blanks (needed, forinstance, for the AMCS), repeat func-tions that can be set to replay a user -des-ignated segment anywhere in the tape,automatic tape matching on the basis of
adjustment, dual -capstan drive, and adedicated wireless remote. Except forthe remote (a function that can be sup-plied for the TA -2600 via other Onkyogear sharing its Remote Interactivehookup feature), all of the conveniencefunctions are held over from the topmodel, which costs $170 more.
Among the features retained are a"real time" counter (it actually worksfrom the tape transport, although itreads in minutes and seconds) that canbe switched between elapsed time and
the shell's keyways, and (of course) theobligatory timer modes.
The performance features includeDolby B and C noise reduction plus HXPro recording -headroom extension (theindicator for which always remains lit), aswitchable multiplex filter, and the Ac-cubias control. This last is more care-fully documented in the above -averageowner's manual than it has been for mostpast models containing it: A diagram in-dicates where to set Accubias for a vari-ety of specific formulations. The list even
TestReports
Onkyo TA -2600Cassette Deck
Dimensions: 171/4 by 5 inches (front), 133/4inches deep plus clearance for controls andconnections.
Price: $480.Warranty: -Limited,- one year parts andlabor
Manufacturer: Onkyo Corp., Japan.U.S. Distributor: Onkyo U.S.A. Corp., 200VVilliams Dr., Ramsey, N.J. 07446.
FEBRUARY 19 8 9 19
Until now, separates this goodhad to be inconvenient.
Since time immemorial,dedicated audio buffs have beenforced to choose betweenall-out performance or all-outconvenience.
Such a decision is no longernecessary.
Introducing seriously sophis-ticated separates that not onlyoffer performance designed tobring tears to your eyes, but alsouncompromising remote controlcapabilities, as well.
The heart of this remark-able new stack is the CX-1000Udigital preamp.
You'll find audio and videoswitching with 10 audio and 4video inputs. 5 audio and 2 videorecord outputs.
Even optical and coax digital Iaudio inputs and outputs.
And Yamaha's Hi -Bit, 8 times oversam.piing digital filter moves unwanted digitalnoise so inaudibly far above your music, it can'tpossibly interfere.
While our Hi -Bit twin D/A convertersensure even the lowest level signals arereproduced with excellent linearity.
Anchoring the power portion of thetrio is the new MX -1000U power amp.
Featuring specs nothing short ofsensational, with a rather awesome260 watts RMS per channel. (Bothchannels driven into 8 ohms, 20-20,000
dynamic power to drive the greatest possiblerange of speakers.
And as a versatile comple-ment to the CX and MI1000U,we proudly introduce our newTI1000U tuner.
You'll find a 6 -way multi -statusmemory to lock in 6 different param-
eters to give you optimum reception.Plus 24 station presets. Even pro-
grammable station call letters. And more.Drop by your Yamaha dealer for a
demonstration today.Hz at no more than 0.003% THD.) Qumost
poteniteposstibly the The experience may be a bitremote
And dynamic power capable of to Tokegreamo.ur unnerving at first.delivering a phenomenal 1000 watts per All that uncompromised power andchannel into 1 ohm. performance. Plus the convenience of a
All made possible by Yamaha's exclusive full -function remote control.Hyperbolic Conversion Amplification (HCA) But we havecircuitry that eliminates crossover and switch- a feeling you'll geting distortion and provides extremely high used to it.
tr 1988, Yamaha Electronics Corporation, USA. P.O. Box 6660, Buena Park, CA 90622. For the dealer nearest you, call 1-800-662-6800.
includes settings for brands like Memo-rex, Realistic, and Agfa-which we'veseldom, if ever, encountered in a manualfor a Japanese deck.
Due to unannounced improvementsand discontinuations in tape formula-tions, such lists eventually become obso-lete, and none can list every tape youmight want to use on the deck. But sincethis is a three -head model, you can alsoset the bias by ear by listening-whileyou're recording a signal rich in highs,such as FM interstation hiss-for equalhighs in a source/tape comparison. Theprocess is slightly compromised by abrief (less than a second) hiatus in outputwhen you switch between the source andtape (even though the tape gets correctlyrecorded) and, with some tapes, by thelack of a sensitivity adjustment to matchlevels. Nevertheless, in comparison withmanual adjustment on a two -head de-sign-where real-time source/tapeswitching is impossible-the system isa marvel.
The number of features included putsa burden on the display -panel designbecause so many of the options requireindicators. Onkyo has kept the arrange-ment relatively neat, with counter -relat-ed displays located in the upper left,on/off mode indicators in the upperright, and level metering positionedalong the bottom.
For accurate time -remaining calcula-tion, the length of the cassette in usemust be entered by the user, steppingthrough the options: C-90, C-120 (use ofthis length is discouraged by the man-ual), C-60, and C-46. For the new in-be-tween lengths, Onkyo tells you to choosethe nearest option and be aware that thereadout won't be quite correct. As re-cording or playback progresses, you canfine-tune the calculation by steppingthrough the length options and back tothe correct one; the deck automaticallydoes its own recalculation when the dis-play shows six minutes remaining.
The meter is calibrated in 10 -dB stepsfrom -30 dB to -10 dB, 2 -dB stepsto -3, 1 -dB steps between there and + 3,2 -dB steps again to +7, and a final 3 -dBhop to + 10 dB. Depending in part ontape type, the deck's 0 -dB level lies be-tween 0 and -1 dB on the DIN scale,meaning that for all practical purposesthe metering conforms to the DIN stan-dard. This is quite unusual. There is nospecific indication for the range in whichoverload can be expected; the manualsays to keep maxima within +3 dB forType 4 tapes, + 1 dB for the other twotypes. Diversified Science Laboratories'measurements show these values to be 2dB below 3 percent distortion (4 dB be-
DB
0
-5
Playback Response (BASF test tape; -20 de DIN)
eft channelright channel
+0,+0,
1
-13/4 dB,-13/4 dB,
I
315 Hz315 Hz
I
to 18 kHzto 18 kHz
I ITA -2600 (1)
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
DBRecord/Play Response, Type 2 Tape (-20 dB)
0
5
-10
-15TA 2600 (21
left channel (no NR) +0, -3 dB, 31 Hz to 20 kHzright channel:
no NR -0,-3 dB, 32 Hz to 19.5 kHzDolby B +1/2, -3 dB, 32 Hz to 18 kHzDolby C +11/2, -3 dB, 32 Hz to 19 kHz
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
DBRecord/Play Response, Type 4 Tape (-20 dB)
0
-5
10
-15
- 1.-.-- 4i4-........
%1"'"'"
(no NR) +3/4, -3 dB, 31 Hz to 20 kHzleft channelright channel:
NR +0, -3 dB, 31 Hz to 20 kHznoDolby B +1/2, -3 dB, 31 Hz to 20 kHz
C +2, -3 dB, 31 Hz to 20 kHz- - - DolbyTA 2600 (31
I I I 1 1
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
DB
0
5
-10
-15
Record/Play Response, Type 1 Tape (-20 dB)
H-- F Ichanne (no NR)
channel:+1, -3 dB,
+0, -3+0, -3+11/2, -3
i
32 Hz
dB, 33 HzdB, 33 Hz
dB, 33
1_
to 20 kHz
to 20 kHzto 18.5 kHz
Hz to 19.5
1 1
leftright
no NRDolby B
- Dolby C
i 1
TA -2600(4)-
kHz
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 'K 2K 5K 10K 20K
DB
+5
0
Bias Adjustment Range (-20 dB; Type 1 tape)TA 2600 (51
maximum set:ingminimum setting
I I
HZ 20 50 11) 200 500 156 2K 5K 10K 20K
low for Type 1), which is an appropriatemargin for error if you monitor levelsfairly carefully.
For the record/play data the lab usedthree Maxell formulations suggested byOnkyo: XL -II as the Type 2 ferrichrome,MX as the Type 4 metal, and XL -I (theonly one of the three for which Onkyospecifies an Accubias setting away fromthe center detent) as the Type 1 ferric.The results overall are very gratifying,
Multiplex Filter (def eatable)0 dB at 15 kHz, -33 1/2 dB at 19 kHz
SIN Ratio (re DIN 0 dB; R/P; A -weighted)Type 2 tope Type 4 tope Type 1 tape
no NR 57 dB 56 3/4 dB 53 dB
Dolby B 663/4 dB 66dB 62 3/4 dB
Dolby C 72 3/4 dB 711/4 dB 69 dB
Indicator Reeding for DIN 0 dB (315 Hz)Type 2 tope 0 dB (with 1 4% THD)
Type 4 tape + 1 dB (with 3.7% THD)
Type 1 tope + 1 dB (with 0.33% THD)
F EBRuARY 1 9 8 9 21
Indicator Reading for 3% Distortion (315 Hz)Type 2 tapeType 0 tapeType 1 tape
+ 3 dB Or + 2 7 dB DIN;+5 dB (for +3.7 dB DIN)+5 dB (for +5.0 dB DIN)
Distortion (THD at -10 dB DIN; 50 Hz to 5 kHz)Type 2 tapeType 4 tapeType 1 tape
Erasure (at 100 Hz)
S 0 62%S 0 47%S 0.49%
65'/4 dB
Channel Separation (at 315 Hz) 50 dB
Indicator "Ballistics"response timedecay time
6 2 msec
800 msecovershoot 0 dB
Speed Accuracy (105 to 127 VAC) 0 7% fast
Flutter (ANSI weighted peak; R/P) 10.10%
Sensitivity (re DIN 0 dB; 315 Hz) 65 mV
Input Overload (at 1 kHz) 7.2 volts
Input Impedance 56k ohms
Output Impedance 870 ohms
Output Level (from DIN 0 dB) n e,:t volt
Philips FC-566BidirectionalCassette Deck
with exceptionally flat response for boththe Type 2 and Type 4 formulations. TheDolby C response has a tendency to em-phasize the midbass a bit, but aberra-tions this small go almost unnoticedwhen compared to the hillier curves formany other models.
The headroom curves (measured as"response" at DIN 0 dB) are generallygood, though not quite as good as youmight expect for a deck with HX Pro.The headroom curves for metal tape,however, are exemplary. With no noisereduction, the metal trace stays virtuallyflat to 10 kHz; with Dolby C, it's ex-tremely flat to beyond 18 kHz, outper-forming in this respect most deck/tapecombinations measured at -20 dB!
Playback response is not as flat andsuffers at the high end from what the labcharacterizes as a "poor" azimuthmatch to the BASF test tape. The result-ing response droop starts quite low, al-
though other factors pull it up againsomewhat at the top end.
Speed accuracy and flutter are withinthe ballpark for a good deck, and the re-maining specifics are typical of compo-nent -grade decks. I would question theinclusion of two features, however: thealways -on HX Pro indicator and theheadphone jack with no level control.Both increase the cost of manufacture,without adding anything significant.
Otherwise, Onkyo has displayed can-ny sense in choosing features. There is allsorts of glitz on some competing modelsthese days, and though the control panelmay look a little busy, this definitely isnot an overburdened design. Best of allis the TA -2600's emphasis on perfor-mance, which, in most respects, is betterthan usual for its price class. In the verypopular medium -price range, Onkyo'snew cassette deck is a model to take seri-ously. Robert Long
There's no doubt about it: A revers-ing deck makes life a lot simplerfor the casual recordist. Among
the designs aimed at the high fidelitycomponent market, the Philips FC-566is fairly typical of its genre in featuresand, as you will see, in performance.
DBPlayback Response (BASF test tape; -20 dB DIN)
0
5
-10
-15
-4.....i''
FC-566 (1)
forward direction:left channel +V4, -3 dB, 315 Hz to 9.5 kHz l\right channel +0, -3 dB, 315 Hz to 11 kHz
reverse direction:- - - left channel +1/4, -3 dB, 315 Hz to 15.5 kHz- - - - right
I
channel +1/2, -3 dB, 315 Hz to 17 kHzl I L I 1 I
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
DB
5
-10
-15
HZ 20
Record/Play Response, Type 2 Tape (-20 dB) 1
.i. . -
-----......---"'
i.--
channel (no NR) +21/2, -3channel:
dB, 20
dB, 20 HzdB, 20dB, 20
I
Hz to 18.5
to 18.5Hz to 17Hz to 17
.
leftright
kHz IIIno NR +2, -3
Dolby B +214, -3- Dolby C +314, -31 1 _1 I
kHzkHz
FC-566 (2)- - kHz
50 100 200 500 1K 2K K 20K
The front -panel layout puts the tape -counter controls, the counter itself, thelevel display, and various function indi-cators across the top. Beneath these arethe transport controls, and across thebottom are the electronic -function con-trols. All of these fill an area betweenthe cassette well and the recording -level
control. Located below the latter arethree phone jacks-a pair for micro-phones (unusual at this price level) andone for a headphone.
The bottom row of buttons containsthe controls for QMS (Quick MusicSearch, which will skip in either direc-tion over a number of interselectionblanks equal to the number of times youhave pressed the button-up to 15); In-dex Scan (ten -second samplings of eachselection); blank skip (in playback, ofunrecorded sections lasting longer thanten seconds); reverse mode (continuousplayback, out -and -back recording orplayback, and unidirectional operation);and Dolby B and C. Additional controlsoffer timer operation and memory re-
A QUICK GUIDE TO TAPE TYPESOut tape classifications, Types 1 through 4, arebased on the International Eleclrotechnical Com-mission measurement standards.
TYPE 1 (IEC Type I) tapes are ferries requiring"normal' bias and 120 -microsecond playbackequalization.
TYPE 2 (IEC Type II) tapes are intended foruse with 70 -microsecond playback EQ and higherrecording bias. The first formulations of this sortused chromium dioxide; today they also includechrome -compatible coatings such as the ferrico-balls and a few metals.
TYPE 3 (IEC Type III) tapes are dual -layeredlerrichromes, implying the 70 -microsecond("chrome") playback EQ. Approaches to their bi-asing and recording EQ vary somewhat from onedeck manufacturer to another, when they are ac-commodated at all. Formulations of this type are nolonger being made.
TYPE 4 (IEC Type IV) tapes are the metal -particle, or -alloy,- tapes, requiring the highestbias of all and retaining the 70 -microsecond EQ ofType 2
22 HIGH FIDELITY
wind. If you press the rewind buttonwhile a recording is in progress, the deckautomatically returns to the point atwhich recording began. In order to fa-cilitate the QMS and intro -scan func-tions, a recording mute button inserts afour -second blank during recording andleaves the deck in recording/pause. Youcan extend the muting interval for aslong as you want by keeping your fingeron the button.
ended, and then reverses.With practice, you can reverse the
transport direction manually during re-cording by pressing STOP, the oppositedirection of PLAY, STOP once again, andthen REC in rapid succession-but it'stricky. I could do it when I didn't needto, but invariably flubbed the job in try-ing to change directions in the few sec-onds between movements of classicalcompositions.
Recording can be started in twoways. If you simply press the recordingbutton itself, taping begins immediatelyin whichever transport direction waspreviously selected. If you want to adjustlevels first or wait for the beginning ofa selection, you can press PAUSE and,while you hold it in, then press REC toplace the deck into the recording/pausemode.
The quick -reverse mechanism takesjust under one second to change direc-tion, during which recording and outputare muted. If you use cassettes withtransparent leader (though some withtranslucent leader work equally well),this takes place automatically at the be-ginning of the leader. Otherwise, thetransport continues until the leader runsout, pauses for a few seconds while itmechanically senses that the side has
The metering is calibrated in 1 -dBsteps between -3 and +3 dB and in 2 -dB steps beyond this range to -7 and + 7dB; the steps grow progressively coarserbelow -7 dB (the lowest calibration is-30 dB). The meters' 0 -dB is about 2 dBbelow DIN standard, reminding us thatthis cassette deck didn't originate in Eu-rope. The metering is equalized: Its sen-sitivity complements the overload curveof a typical tape so that as signals ap-proach overload level, they read equallyhigh regardless of what frequencies areinvolved. This is usually a good ideabecause it saves you from having to"allow a little extra" on sounds (likecymbals) that may overload the highseven when the midrange is not readingvery high-as would be necessary onmost other models.
The manual says to let passages of
TestReports
Dimansiona: 161/2 by 41/4 inches (front),101/2 inches deep plus clearance for controlsarid connections.
Privy. $379.Warranty: "Limited," two years parts andlaoor.
Manufacturer: Made in Japan for PhilipsConsumer Electronics Corp., P.O. Box 14810,Knoxville, Tenn. 37914.1810
FEBRUARY 1989 23
WHAT MAKESOP/AUDIO BRAM
SOUND BETTER.RKBVERS actually combine a sep-
arate amplifier and tuner onto a singlechassis. So one clue to a receiver'ssound quality is the quality of the sepa-rates technology it incorporates.
At Denon, the new DRA-1025 andDRA-825 Receivers have the same Opti-cal Class A circuitry that graces Denonseparate amplifiers. Developed throughstatistical research into the playback re-quirements of CDs, this circuit makes thelegendary sound of true Class A modea practical reality. These receivers alsobenefit from the same Pure Currentpower supply that gives our separatessuperb transient response.
Every Denon receiver featuresthick, anodized aluminum front panelsand discrete output transistors. Selectedmodels offer Denon's Integral System(IS) remote control.
This unwavering consistency is aprime example of Design Integrity, theDenon philosophy that encompassesour eight decades of mastery in everylink of the music reproduction chain.
It's simply easier to make audiocomponents sound more like musicwhen you know what music sounds like.
Denon Americo Inc., 272 New Rood, Parsippany, NJ 07054 (201) 5 75- 7810Denon Canada, Inc., 17 Denison Street, Markham. Ont 13R IRS Canada
"average volume" reach 0 dB on the me-ters and expect that some peaks willreach +3 dB. With compressed rock,particularly that which is arriving viaFM, this advice may not be unreason-able, though most CDs should requiremuch more peak headroom, and livemusic can be vastly more demandingstill. Furthermore, of the tapes used byDiversified Science Laboratories formeasurement, only the Type 1 formula-tion had even this much headroom. It'sperhaps beside the point to say that acareful, knowledgeable recordist willwant to be considerably more cautiousabout recording levels than the manualsuggests.
Although, in theory, it should be pos-sible to build reversing decks that aresubstantially the equal of their unidirec-tional counterparts (at least one compa-ny has a solution to the problem that in-volves throwing great wads of expensivemotorized technology at it), this has nev-er been true in our experience of moder-ately priced decks. Azimuth alignment isone factor that regularly suffers, at leastin one playback direction. Our sample ofthe FC-566 is a poor match to the azi-muth of our BASF test tape in both di-rections, but is worse in the forward di-rection than in reverse.
Of course, this consideration does notand play
on the FC-566. The lab record/playbackcurves were made with three TDK for-mulations: SA for the Type 2 ferricobalt,MA for the Type 4 metal, and AD for theType 1 ferric. The Type 4 curves are es-pecially admirable, with high -frequencyheadroom equal to what you might ex-pect with many nonreversing HX Prodecks. The Type 2 setting appears to be alittle underbiased for SA, judging fromthe rising high end. This is even moretrue of the Type 1 curves, where a lesssensitive tape (as well as one requiringless bias) might have yielded flatterDolby curves. The FC-566 does tend tosound bright with premium ferrics, butthese curves are not at all extreme for areversing model.
Another problem area is flutter. Theworst -case figure here (0.26 percent) wasmeasured in the reverse direction, al-though the forward direction (at 0.19percent) wasn't radically better. Thesefigures are about par for reversing decks,but are not as good as what you'd expectin a top nonreversing model.
Outside of this, the data require littlecomment. Whether the sensitivity andheadroom of the mike inputs will be sat-isfactory depends on the mikes you planto use. The headphone jack is compro-mised by the lack of a level control, but
unfortunately this arrangement is nowthe rule in all but the best home models.Again, the salient fact about the FC-566is that it is thoroughly representative of
TestReports
DB
0
5
10
-15
Record/Play Response, Type 4 Tape (-20 dB) .-
FC-566 13)
left channel (no NR)right channel:
no NRDolby BDolby C
1
+1/2, - 3 dB, 20 Hz to 19 kHz
+1/2, -3 dB. 20 Hz to 19 kHz+1/2, -3 dB, 20 Hz to 16 kHz+2, -3 dB, 20 Hz to 16 kHz
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 K 2K 5K 10K 20K
DB
+5
0
-5
-10
-15
Record/Play Response, Type 1 Tape (-20 dB)
5
-01C-"-
left channel (no NB)right channel:
no NRDolby BDolby C
FC-566 (4)1 _L
+41/4, -3 dB, 20 Hz to 19 kHz
+4, -3 dB, 20 Hz to 1 8.5 kHz+43/4, -3 dB, 20 Hz to 1 7 kHz+121/2, -3 dB, 20 Hz to 17 kHz
HZ 2D 50 100 200 500 2K
its type. If you want a bidrectional mod-el, particularly one with mike inputs, forthe relatively casual approach to record-ing that the format presumes, you'll findit hard to do better than this at theprice-and not at all difficult to doworse. Robert Long
ABOUT THE dBW
We currently are expressing power in terms ofdBW--meaning power in dB with a reference (0dBW) of I watt. The conversion table will enableyou to use the advantages of dBW 1n comparingthese products to others for which you have nodBW floi_ res.
WATTS dBW WATTS dBW
1.0 0 32 15
1.25 t 40 16
1.6 2 50 17
2.0 3 63 18
2.8 4 80 19
3.2 5 100 20
4.0 6 125 21
5.0 7 180 22
6.3 8 200 23
8.0 9 250 24
10.0 10 320 25
12.5 11 400 26
18.0 12 500 27
20.0 13 630 28
25.0 14 800 29
5K 10K 20K
SIN Ratio (re DIN 0 dB; R/P; A -weighted)Type 2 tape Type 4 tape Type 1 tape
nc NR 57 dB 56 dB 53 dBDolby B 64 3/4 dB 64 dB 62 dBDolby C 70 ' 70 dB 67 1/4 dB
Indicator Reading fo DIN 0 de (315 Hz)Type 2 tape +3 dB (with 4.6% THD)Type 4 tape +2 dB (with 3.2% THD)Type 1 tape +2 dB (with 2.3% THD)
Indicator Reading for 3% Distortion (315 Hz)Type 2 tape +2 dB (for -1.4 dB DIN)Type 4 tape + 1 dB (for -0.3 dB DIN)Type 1 tape +3 dB (for +0.6 dB DIN)
Distortion (THD at -10 dB DIN; 50 Hz to 5 kHz)
Type 2 tapeType 4 tapsType 1 tape
Erasure (at 100 Hz)
5 0.79%5 1.08%5 0.57%
264dB
Channel Separation (at 315 Hz) 56 1/2 dB
Indicator "Ballistics"response timedecay timeovershoot
2.0 msec150 msec
Speed Accuracy (105to 127 VAC)
0 dB
5 0.9% fast
FiLtter (ANSI weighted peak; R/P) 5 ±0.26%
Sensitivity (re DIN 0 dB; 315 Hz)line inputmike input
Input Overload (at 1 kHz)
120 mV
1 00 mV
line inputmike input
Input Impedance
> 10volts27 mV
line inputmare input
Output Impedance
52k ohms6 Ok ohms
2,100 ohms
Output Level (from DIN 0 dB) 0 54 volt
IIBRUAR r 1 9 8 9 25
16ii Igo useyour car for pleasure,but insuring it isa business decision."
(.......
gb0IIndependentnusernce
nt
RAYMOND BURR
Here's why. 00 With the cost of autoinsurance, particularly with two or more cars, you mustmake informed decisions. The right insurance companywith the right coverages, with the proper limits atappropriate rates. Those are business decisions that requirethe advice and counsel of an Independent Insurance Agent.We represent several fine companies...not just one...soyou choose the right policy at the right price, with theright service. An Independent Agent - always a goodbusiness decision.
INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS OF AMERICAINCORPORATED...and the insurance companies they represent
In 1984, following a period of reorga-nization and retrenchment that was,well, not Pioneer's finest hour, we
tested its CT -A9 tape deck and found itto be an exceptional unit-"a Corvetteamong dune buggies," as we put it. Thenew CT -91 sits quite squarely in that tra-dition of excellence.
As an Elite Series model, the CT -91 isfitted with luxuriantly glossy, laminatedend panels, and the high -luster blackfaceplate is picked out with gold detail.It also impresses with its sheer mass. For
the cassette well and, when the motor-ized well door is closed (by pushing afront -panel button, any transport -con-trol button, or simply the door itself),the cassette housing is pressed againstthe pad by fixtures in the door. The dual -capstan drive is carefully "detuned":Resonances of important parts in eachcapstan's mechanism are different sothat they will not act cumulatively to ac-centuate flutter. Both Pioneer's techni-cal data and Diversified Science Labo-ratories' findings confirm that the trans -
the most part, this is attributable to theconstruction standards applied to allcurrent Elite Series products: rigid, hon-eycomb, copper -coated metal chassis el-ements, including compartmentaliza-tion of circuit elements to minimizemutual interference.
This monumentality of design alsoapplies to the casting that holds theheads and to the dual -capstan closed -loop drive assembly. The CT -91 incor-porates a "cassette stabilizer" systemthat evidently is intended to damp vibra-tion in the cassette, just as vibration isprevented or suppressed in the honey-comb chassis and its shock -dampingfeet. There is a rubbery pad in the back of
port design offers significant perfor-mance advantages over conventionaldrives, although the sonic implicationsof these and other innovations in the CT -91 aren't always easy to assess.
In basic description, the CT -91 isa three -head (erase/record/play) modelequipped with Dolby B and C, HX Proheadroom extension, and a switchablemultiplex filter. The recording and playheads are mounted in the same housing.There is no dedicated remote, but back -panel connections permit use of the CT -91 with appropriate components in aPioneer SR remote -control system. Theusual timer switch is present. And-atouch as welcome as it is rare-the front-
estReTports
Pioneer CT -91Cassette Deck
Dimensions: 18 by 51/4 inches (front), 14inches deep plus clearance for controls andconnections.
Price: $950.Warranty: -Limited,- one year parts andlabor.Manufacturer: Pioneer Electronics Corp.,Japan.U.S. Distributor: Pioneer Electronics (USA),Inc., P.O. Box 1720, Long Beach, Calif.90810.
FEBRUARY 19 8 9 27
Introducing theDelco/Bose Gold Series Music System.By now you know that the Delco/Bose music system is themost widely reviewed, and highly acclaimed, automotivemusic system available. For those who can truly appreciatethe quality of Cadillac and the experience of superb music,we invite you to audition the new Delco/Bose Gold SeriesMusic System.
The first Delco/Bose music systems earned their acclaimbecause they represented a bold newapproach to automotive musical repro-duction, made possible by the mostintensive research effort ever made inthis field. The new Gold Series MusicSystem builds upon this technologicalfoundation by incorporating the resultsof six years of additional research anddevelopment.
Better sound through research
Every critical system component is completely new:amplifiers, equalization circuitry, speakers, digital soundsource-even the wire that harnesses them together. Indeveloping them, we made full use of the latest advancesin electronic and acoustical technology, materials anddesign. The result: an automotive music system witheven more clarity, power and accuracy-one capable of
bringing you even closer to therealism of live music while sittinginside your car.
We submit that you simply mustexperience this new music system tobelieve it. The Delco/Bose Gold Seriesis an available option in Sevilles,Eldorados, Fleetwoods and DeVilles atyour Cadillac dealer
DelcotlectronicSubsidiary of GM Hughes Electronics *
panel headphone jack comes equippedwith its own level control.
There are three modes on the tapecounter: arbitrary numbers (like those ofa mechanical "turns counter"), elapsedtime (not operative during the fast windmodes), and time remaining. For the lastfunction, you can step through four tape -length settings: C-90, C -80L, C-60, andC -46L (the letter "L" stands for large -hub). There is a music -seek function forskipping to interselection blanks (acti-vated by pressing FAST FORWARD or RE-WIND while in play) and a mute -pausefor creating appropriate four -secondblanks (or longer ones, if you hold downthe control button) during recording.The music -search function cannot beturned off; if you go directly from PLAYto a fast -wind mode in cueing up a tapewith frequent soft passages, the systemwill misinterpret those passages aspauses and lurch into playback. To keepthe tape fast -winding, it is necessary topress STOP before pressing a fast -windbutton.
Switching to off -the -tape monitoringduring recording is automatic, but themonitor mode can be changed with atiny pushbutton to the right of the trans-port controls. It seems almost an after-thought, as does the similar meter -modebutton above it. They are almost flushwith the front panel, which quickly be-comes finger -marked when you use thesetwo buttons, undercutting the model'selegant appearance. Some owners maynever use either button, but I expect thatthe sort of serious user to whom the CT -91's technical excellence should appealwill use both switches frequently.
The meters' peak -hold cursors re-main a little longer than usual, whichperhaps makes them a little easier toread, though the behavior is otherwisesubstantially like that of typical meters.The meter -mode switch converts the lev-el -meter scale from a broad, slightlycoarse "wide range" (spanning a cali-brated - 35 to + 12 dB, with minimumsteps of 2 dB from -6 to + 12 dB) to afiner, "expanded range" scale (showing-4 to + 16 dB). The latter is calibratedin 1 -dB steps from -4 to +4 dB and in 2 -dB steps from there to + 16 dB. Thewide -range scale thus gives you an over-view of the signal's dynamics, while theexpanded range acts like a magnifier thatzeroes in on the critical levels around thetape -overload point.
For general use, I much prefer thewide -range mode because signals withany dynamic range, including much ofthe classical music I tried, simply dropoff the bottom of the expanded scalemuch of the time-which is a bit discon-
certing. But the expanded scale is valu-able in that it permits a more precise fine-tuning of levels for best possiblerecorded dynamic range, and this capa-bility, if taken advantage of, can contrib-ute to the quality of the tapes made onthe deck.
Another contributor is the bias -tun-ing knob. There are no calibrations orbuilt-in oscillator assists for it, however. 0.
TestReports
DBPlayback Response (BASF test tape; -20 dB DIN)
0
5
.........=.....
left channel +2, -0 dB, 315 Hz to 18 kHzright channel +11/4,-0 dB, 315 Hz to 18 kHz
CT -91 it)1 1 I I I
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
DB
+5
0
-5
-10
-15
Record/Play Response, Type 2 Tape (-20 dB)
...-0.-,...-
channelchannel:
---meawymmlajlaill..."(no NR) +31/4,
NR +33/4.B +4, -214C +7, -23/4
I I I
-23/4 dB,
-21/4 dB,dB, 20dB, 20
I
20 Hz to
20 Hz toHz to 20Hz to 20
leftright
20 kHz
noDolby
- - Dolby1
20 kHzkHz
CT 91 (21- kHz
i
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
DBRecord/Play Response, Type 4 Tape (-20 dB)
0
5
-10
-15
-.-...i.........-7
left
adi
channe (no NR) +1/4, -21/4 dB, 20 Hz to 20right
kHzchannel:
NR +0, -3 dB, 23 Hz to 20 kHznoDolby B +0, -3 dB, 23 Hz to 20 kHzDolby C +3/4, -3 dB, 23 Hz to 20 kHz-
CT -9113)I I I I I I
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
DBRecord/Play Response, Type 1 Tape (-20 dB)
0 ..........--sq
5 (nochanne
NR) +1, -23/4 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz:
left channelright
-10 +1, -23/4 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHzno NRDolby B +1, -23/4 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz
-15 Dolby C +11/2, -23/4 dB, 20 Hz to 20- - - kHzCT -91141
I I L I I I
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
DBBias Adjustment Range (-20 dB; Type 1 rape)
0
5CT -91 (5)
maximum settingminimum setting
- - - -
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
29
estReTports
Multiplex Filter (def ea ta ble)
- 1/2 dB al 15 kHz, -311/2 dB al 19 kHzit8/N Ratio (re DIN 0 dB; R/P; A -weighted)
Type 2 tape Type 4 tape Type 1 tapeno NR 56 3/4 dB 56 3/4 dB 53 3/4 dBDolby El 66 dB 651/4 dB 63 1/4 dBDolby C 71 1/2 dB 71dB 69 dB
Indicator Reading for DIN 0 dB (315 l* see text)Type 2 tape +4 dB (with 1 17% THD)Type 4 tape +2 dB (with 0 76% THD)Type 1 tape +4 dB (with 0.51% THD)
Indicator Reading for 3% Distortion (315 Hz)'Type 2 tape + 6 dB (for + 3.4 dB DIN)Type 4 tape +8 dB (for +6.2 dB DIN)Type 1 tape +8 dB (for +4.2 dB DIN)
Distortion (THD at -10 dB DIN; 50 Hz to 5 kHz)Type 2 tapeType 4 tapeType 1 tape
Erasure (at 100 Hz)
5 0.82%50.32%50.38%
2:64 3/a dB
Channel Separation (at 315 Hz) 47 1/2 dB
Indicator "Ballistics"response timedecay time, main cursordecay time, peak holdovershoot
1.6 msec
=320 msec1.3 sec
Speed Accuracy (105 to 127 VAC)
0 dB
0.2% fast
Flutter (ANSI weighted peak; R/P) 0.042%
Sensitivity (re DIN 0 dB; 315 Hz) 100 mV
Input Overload (at 1 kHz) > 10 volts
Input Impedance 49k ohms
Output Impedance 1.350 ohms
Output Level (line; from DIN 0 dB) 0 50 volt
Tera 629C VideoMonitor/Receiver
You are instructed simply to record onyour selected tapes and monitor sourceand tape alternately, adjusting the bias -level knob for most precise replication ofthe highs. The switching between sourceand tape is very fast and, although whatsounds like a relay click tends to distractyour attention, the sonic comparison isnot hampered by a break in output, as itis in some other models.
The lab always leaves bias controls attheir detents for its record/play tests(unless an objective routine-such asone assisted by a built-in oscillator-isprovided for the model under test) anduses the factory -recommended tape for-mulations. In this case, samples of therecommendations came packed with thetest unit: Sony UX-Pro as the Type 2("chrome -bias") formulation, TDKMA -X for the Type 4 metal, and MaxellUD-IS as the Type I ferric. Pioneer'secumenicism is to be applauded here,particularly in choosing a Type 2 tapemanufactured by a rival deck maker.Our blank -tape tests have shown thatSony is no slouch in this department, butother hardware companies seldom men-tion the brand, presumably for competi-tive reasons.
But it seems that UX-Pro isn't thebest choice for the CT -91, unless you'rewilling to reset bias by ear. By doing so, Iwas able to get excellent reproduction,without the audible high -end rise visiblein the Type 2 response graph. Brands
more representative of typical Type 2 be-havior (TDK SA, for instance) producedexcellent recordings with the bias con-trol at the detent.
The results with the other two tapesinvolve no caveats at all: They are top-notch. The lab's 0 -dB traces with theType 4 tape are just as flat as the - 20 -dBtrace shown, right out to 10 kHz. There,the trace without noise reduction startsto drop off, but that with Dolby C is vir-tually undisturbed even out to 20 kHz-that is, it is flatter than the response at-20 dB! Presumably HX Pro is to becongratulated for this phenomenon. TheType 1 traces are excellent in this re-spect, too; those with the Type 2 tape areafflicted by the deck/tape mismatch, butalso appear to confirm the helpful contri-bution of HX Pro.
The remaining data all are typicalwhere being average is desirable (as inimpedances) and excellent where "typi-cal" usually translates to "mediocre."Even when overloading, the CT -91's dis-tortion consists essentially of the thirdharmonic alone, confirming that it is thetape and not the deck that is running outof steam-which isn't always the case.Any way you look at it, the CT -91 is avery fine deck and one that concentrateson the interests of the very careful re-cordist. Pioneer evidently has spared notechnology in obtaining performanceworthy of a taping perfectionist.
Robert Long
Tera, a new company, hails fromTaiwan, the home of Proton. Infact, Tera was started by one of
the founders of Proton-a situationflaunted in Tera's product flyers. Thereis no connection between the two compa-nies now, but the lineage is obvious, rightdown to the inclusion in the new Tera629C monitor of a simple video noise re-duction (VNR) circuit and a defeatablecolor-subcarrier (3.58 -MHz) filter thatwe first met up with on Proton monitors.
But the 629C is no Proton clone. Itsteps out on its own in a number of re-spects, including a "dynamic aperture"circuit said to provide "vastly improveddetail" without the snow and and otherartifacts produced by conventional de-tail -enhancement circuits; a "double dif-ferential contour correction" system for"sharper outlines and crisper edge defi-nition"; and a system for sharpeningcolor edges. A further innovation isTera's two-way wireless remote control.The handset not only transmits to andcontrols the monitor, the monitor alsotransmits stereo audio back to the remote
so that two people can listen privatelyover earphones plugged into it.
The 629C is the largest and, argu-ably, the most fully equipped direct -viewmonitor/receiver we've tested. Thanksto its use of a Hitachi wide -deflectionpicture tube, the 629C provides a 27 -
inch, square -corner screen in a packageless than 20 inches deep. In addition toits cable -ready stereo -TV tuner, it hasthree sets of pin jack composite -video/stereo -audio inputs-two on the backpanel and one behind the flip -down frontpanel. One of the back -panel video in-puts is also fitted with an S -VHS inputconnector; plugging the appropriate ca-ble into it overrides the pin -jack in-put. For displaying computer outputs,there's an analog RGB input featuringautomatic polarity detection.
For outputs, the 629C has fixed andvariable video and stereo -audio pin jackson the back and a set of fixed outputjacks on the front below the input jacks.As to what "variable" means when ap-plied to a composite -video signal, I'mnot sure. I certainly couldn't discern any
30 H I G H f 10E11 T Y
Are you hearing only 4/5thsof Beethoven's Fifth?
BEETHOVEN
Symphony NO. S.n C minor. Op. 67
I. Allegro con Ono (7:14)
12 II. Andante con m0011018)
CD0103 1334
11
Photo represents sound without Monster Cable's CD SoundRinem
On data pits one millionth of an inch wide,
a compact disc stores all the music information
that's vital for accurate reproduction of a record-
ing. Due to disc speed fluctuations, and internal
and external vibrations, however, a CD player's
laser is not able to read every pit.
Which means you're prevented from experi-encing all the power, impact, and dynamics of
the original performance.
Take the -Tap Test".To demonstrate
how susceptible your
CDs are to vibration,
take the Tap Test.
Balance the CD with
your finger throughthe center hole.
Hold the disc close to
your ear and tap it. You'll heara sustained "ring-
ing" sound and fee/ vibrations with your forger.
CD Soundltingsrm solve CD problems.Mounted on the outer edge of a compact
disc, CD SoundRings by Monster Cable®
provide rotational stability and reduced disc
vibration while it is playing.
Based on a simple "gyro-stablilizer" princ-
iple (much like twirling a rock at the end of a
string), CD SoundRings' carefully measured
weight reduces laser to disc mistracking caused
by disc rotation speed irregularities and vibra-
tions from the player's motor, a poorly aligned
spindle-even your speakers.
With the laser now able to read audio bits
more accurately, digital data acquisition reaches
full potential.
Photo represents sound with Monster Cable's CD SoundRinem
The CD improvement anyone can hear.With a damped and precisely spinning
disc, you'll discover new depth and presence
in a recording. With greater overall clarity.
Extended frequency response. Smoother
highs and deeper lows.
Best of all, you'll experience more natural andrealistic music production. The gentle pluckingof violin strings. A rock solid bass. A feeling of
airiness in the vocals. And because there's
greater soundstage and imaging, you'll be able
to pick out individual instruments- bringing youcloser than ever to the original performance.
Attaches in seconds. Fits all players.Manufactured from a specially impregnated,
high density material, CD SoundRings are de-
signed to fit all home, car, and portable CD
players, including multi -play changers.
Simply use the built in centering device to
quickly and easily attach each ring onto the
outer edge of a disc's label side. CD SoundRings'
blue, green, red and yellow colors add an attract-
ive touch, and let you color code your compact
disc collection for easy identification.
Disc over how good your discs can sound.It's a fact. Compact disc performance at
its height is unprecedented in its power, range
and impact.
Now with CD SoundRings, you can fully
achieve that potential. Order the extraordinary
CD SoundRings today.
Order Toll -Free
1-800-888-211824 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week
Our Policy: We accept VISA, MASTERCARD, and
AMERICAN EXPRESS.
Your credit card is not billed until we shipyour order.
Your order will be shipped within 48 hours.
Your purchase is risk -free. If for any reason
you are not delighted with the order you
receive, just return it within 30 days for a
prompt and courteous refund.
Send CD SoundRings risk -free for 30 days
0 Package of 24 for $29.95 ($3.00 for Shipping)'
0 Package of 50 for $49.95 ($3.00 for Shipping)
I'm paying by: Check MC VISA AmEx
Acct. No. Exp.
Signature
Name
Address
City State Zip
Phone (Area Code) Phone
'CA & WA add appropriate sales tax.
Berkeley Soundab2515 Benvenue Suite 402, Berkeley, CA 94704
F tiF ' I"ftwir I I
'FE I
Advertising Contacts:
MUSICAL AMERICAJames R. McCallum, Associate Publisher, Advertising Director
Cinthya Orrala, Advertising Sales AssociateABC Consumer Magazines, Inc.
825 Seventh Avenue New York, New York 10019Telephone (212) 887-8383
Telex 237974ABC UR FAX (212) 586-1364
"%. A,
," I I \I
MUSICAL AMERICAVirginia Stewart, European Advertising ManagerSusanna Scott, European Advertising Representativec:o Fairchild Publications100 Faubourg Saint-Honore 75008 Paris, FRANCETelephone 33 (1) 42.68.19.74Telex 281 901 F FAX 33(1) 42.68.12.33
difference between the rear -panel fixedand variable video outputs, and the man-ual was of no help in this regard. Thefront -panel output jacks are always fedfrom the built-in TV tuner, so it is possi-ble to use the 629C to record a broadcaston a VCR connected to these jacks whileviewing another source. To me, this ar-rangement is a mixed blessing because itmeans those convenient front -panel out-puts cannot be used to temporarily hookup another VCR for dubbing tapes. Re-cording with the 629C is done on a VCRconnected to the rear -panel outputs,which are not affected by the monitor'saudio or video controls. An external
power amp can be connected to the vari-able audio outputs and be controlled bythe 629C's audio controls.
The poor grades that I give the man-ual stem less from its incredible numberof typos (these I can work around) thanfrom its failure to address clearly a num-ber of important points. These includethe purpose of the variable video outputsand the proper use of the TO CONVERT-ER F connector on the back panel. I as-sume the latter is to be used in conjunc-tion with the AUX F connector to loopthrough a pay -TV decoder; that is, con-nect the TO CONVERTER output to thedecoder input, connect the decoder out-put up to the Tera's AUX F connector,and then switch from the monitor's an-tenna input to its auxiliary input in or-der to watch a descrambled picture. Youwould be hard-pressed to tell this (if, in-deed, I'm correct) from the explanationin the manual: "By selecting ANT or AUXinput the selected input is available fromTO CONVERTER connector for use withyour VCR or with another VIDEO com-ponent. [The] TO CONVERTER connector
can be used as an additional permanentlyconnected input from your CATV con-verter box."
The remaining back -panel connec-tors are a third F unit for 75 -ohm coaxfrom a VHF antenna and a pair of screwterminals for 300 -ohm twinlead from aUHF antenna. Push -to -insert cable con-nectors are provided for the miniaturesatellite speakers that come with themonitor and latch to its sides. An inter-nal 10 watt (10-dBW) per channel am-
estReTports
plifier is provided to drive these.The most commonly used front -panel
controls (power, channel selection, vol-ume, input) lie flush with the door to thelower right of the screen. These, togeth-er with most other common operations,can be worked from the wireless remoteas well. Certain rarely used or setup -onlyfunctions are accessible solely throughswitches located behind the front -paneldoor. These include the master power,VNR, and 3.58 -MHz -trap switches andswitches that choose between the RGBand normal inputs, manual and auto-matic fine-tuning (MFT/AFT), TV- andcable -frequency reception (TV/CATV),and standard and HRC cable broad-casts. Also behind the door are controlsthat enable you to log into the tuner'smemory whatever channels are active inyour area. The tuner itself is cable -readyand capable of receiving 139 channels.
Dimensions: 28 inches by 25 inches (front),191/4 inches deep.
Price: $1,650.Warranty: -Limited,- one year parts andlabor (picture tube, two years).Manufacturer: Made in Taiwan for Tera,Inc., 209 W. Central St., Natick, Mass. 01766.
FEBRUARY 1 989 33
estReTports
Video Monitor Section
AU meaSurei)ii-,-, wi,e made through the composite (di-rect) videc, '
Horizontal Resolution > 335 lines
Interlace perfect
Overscanhorizontal 6%vertical
Centering
>4%
horizontal left z 0 6%vertical
Blooming
up >0 2%
none
TV Tuner Section
All measurements were taken at the direct audio and videooutputs
Up/down buttons near the MFT/AFTswitch control the manual fine-tuningcircuit. The last control accessible onlybehind the panel is the vertical hold.
The buttons for activating on -screendisplay of the received channel, for MTS(which cycles the audio program frommain -channel stereo to SAP reception tosimultaneous reception of both), and forCNR (which activates a color noise -re-duction circuit), are replicated on theremote, as are the picture- and audio -adjustment controls (black level, detail,color, tint, bass, treble, and balance). Areset function is available for returningthe unit to its factory settings.
With the exception of the setup func-tions, the handset controls all of theviewing/listening functions that areavailable on the front panel and even in-cludes a few functions not found on themonitor itself. The latter include RE-VERT (which returns to the previouschannel viewed), SLEEP (a "sleep timer"adjustable in ten-minute increments upto 90 minutes), audio muting, speak-ers on/off, and headphone on/off. Theheadphone amplifier in the handset isautomatically activated when you inserta mini -phone plug. Switching the head-phone off with the button saves battery
DB
0
-5
Audio Frequency Response (mono)629(
HZ 20
+v2, -3 JB, 43 Hz to 12 kHz
50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
Audio S/N Ratio (mono; A -weighted)best case (no color or luminance) 54 1/2 dB
worst case (multiburst signal) 25 I/2 dB
Residual Horizontal -Scan Component (15.7 kHz)-39 dB
Maximum Audio Output (100% modulation)36 volt
Audio Output Impedance 725 ohms
Video Frequency Response
at 500 kHzat 1.5 MHzat 2.0 MHzat 3.0 MHzat 3.511MHz
at 4.2 MHz
Luminance Level
AFT MFT
Vz dB - dB-4 I/4 dB -1 I/2 dB-53/4 dB -3 dB-91/4 dB -6 dB-11dB -73/4 dB
71'0a dB -133/4 dB
40% high
Gray -Scale Nonlinearity (worst case) >, 5%
Chroma Differential Gain =20%
Chroma Differential Phase ±3'
power while leaving the headphone con-nected. A ten -key pad on the remotepermits direct access to any channel.(Warning: The numerical -key layout canbe confusing to use.)
As a large -screen direct -view moni-tor, the Tera 629C acquitted itself verywell in Diversified Science Laboratories'tests. As received, it was somewhat mis-converged in the corners of the screen,but a quick visit by a Tera engineer setmatters right. I'm not too concernedabout the original misconvergence be-cause the set was delivered, without car-ton, in the backseat of a station wagonand probably had taken a good beatingon the way from Massachusetts to thelab in Connecticut. After the techni-cian's touch-up, the convergence was es-sentially perfect over most of the screenand off by approximately 'A° inch in thecorners. Considering the size of thescreen, this is very good performance.
Geometric linearity was essentiallyperfect-straight lines remain straight
over the entire screen-but overall, thepicture was tilted at a slight angle sug-gesting a small (less than 1 -degree) mis-alignment of the picture tube's deflectionyoke. The picture was quite well cen-tered along both axes, being displaced byabout 0.6 percent to the left and 0.2 per-cent toward the top. Horizontal and ver-tical overscan were well controlled, and"blooming" was virtually nonexistenteven at maximum picture (brightness)and black -level (contrast) settings-asituation that testifies to excellent pow-er -supply regulation. The three full -screen primary -color rasters were pure,and color accuracy ranged from verygood on red and green to excellent onblue. I found the green raster slightlypale and the red just slightly orangish,but less so than on most sets. The mostdisappointing raster was the washed-outyellow.
With the VNR and 3.58 -MHz trapswitched off, horizontal resolution wasgreater than 335 lines (the limit of theNTSC system) even at normal viewingbrightness. The detail control had a rath-er modest effect and only at the highestvideo frequencies. Although activatingthe VNR often produced a useful reduc-tion in graininess, it also resulted in a no-ticeable decrease in resolution, and addi-tionally switching in the trap (which isthere mainly to improve performancewhen using the monitor with a compu-ter) essentially eliminated the video fre-quencies around the 3.58 MHz burst.Black retention and vertical interlacewere both excellent.
Diversified Science Laboratories rat-ed the video transient response as verygood in that it produces a slight empha-sis of sharp edges but very little ringing(which can cause a fringing effect aroundvertical edges). Presumably this is thevery effect Tera sought to obtain with itsspecial video circuits, all of which at-tempt to provide sharper outlines andcrisper edge definition. DSL also notedsome distortion in gray -scale linearityand in its color equivalent (chroma dif-ferential gain). Again, these discrepan-cies may be by design, since Tera em-ploys measures to produce "blacker"blacks and to manipulate the gray scalein a manner that the company believes"brings out the subtle shadings thatwould otherwise be lost."
In our sample at least, the tuner'sAFT reference frequency apparentlywas poorly aligned, because perfor-mance was much more accurate in theMFT mode than in the AFT. With theAFT on, the tuner's video response wasdown almost 6 dB at 2 MHz, implying ahorizontal resolution of perhaps 170
34 ,IGH FIDELITY
lines-far less than the screen's poten-tial. With the AFT switched off, the -6 -dB point occurred at 3 MHz for a muchimproved resolution of 240 lines. Chro-ma level was several decibels higher andsubstantially more uniform with theAFT off, although there was no differ-ence in chroma phase accuracy betweenthe two modes. Luminance level was ele-vated in both modes, but gray -scale lin-earity and chroma differential -phase er-ror were excellent whether the AFT wason or off. The chroma differential -gainerror (which is relatively modest, in anyevent) occurs entirely at the highestbrightness level and so can pretty muchbe ignored.
The tuner's audio performance is rea-sonably good. Response rolls off at 6 dBper octave below 42 Hz and, more sharp-ly, above 12.2 kHz. The horizontal -scanwhistle is reasonably well suppressed,and the best -case noise level is very good.With the highly repetitive multiburstpattern, the audio noise increases quitenoticeably, but this is unlikely to occuron broadcasts of typical signals. Outputlevel and impedance are adequate, butTHD (total harmonic distortion) issomewhat higher than we have mea-
sured on other monitor/receivers. Audiomute, when engaged, provides an 18 -dBdrop in signal level-a useful amount.
When I hooked up the Tera 629C to avideodisc player in my viewing room, Iwas impressed. Although I found thefactory settings produced a darker,"richer" picture with browner fleshtones than I prefer, the effect was im-pressive and likely to be immediatelyappealing to a wide viewing audience. Icould easily correct the picture to mytaste by touching up the black -level, tint,and color controls. In my admittedlypoor reception area, I found the 629Csomewhat more adept at receiving thelower VHF stations (Channels 2-5) thanthe higher ones (Channels 6-13), but itwas reasonably proficient at all of them.Perhaps because of the reception condi-tions, the tuner's somewhat limited reso-lution was not as apparent on actualbroadcasts as it was in the laboratorytests. With the right source material, theTera 629C delivers an eye -pleasing pic-ture. With a few touch-ups to the tunersection and a thoroughly revised owner'smanual, the 629C could be a real winner.Even as it is, it's a propitious start.
Edward J. Foster
0 ut of curiosity, I checked our rec-ords and confirmed that wehaven't reviewed a Goodmans
loudspeaker in a long time-not since1965, as a matter of fact. Chances are,you have never heard of the company,which has only reopened distribution inthe United States, but the brand is wellknown in its native England. And if therest of the line lives up to the littleMaxim 2, it should develop a followinghere as well.
The Maxim 2 represents a class ofloudspeakers in which British manufac-turers have traditionally excelled, per-haps simply because they work hard atthem. It is a very compact and reason-ably priced two-way model with a 41/2 -inch woofer and a'/4 -inch dome tweeter.Diversified Science Laboratories' datasuggest that the crossover is in the vicini-ty of 3.5 kHz. The woofer is reflex -load-ed by a small rear -firing port located justabove a pair of color -coded five -waybinding posts (a real surprise on such anunassuming product). The posts are in-set and angled down in such a way thatyou can attach even banana plugs with-out requiring much clearance behind thespeaker. Bared wires and spade lugs willwork equally well.
Goodmans suggests that the Maxim2 be placed approximately at ear level
and anywhere between 1 and 20 inchesfrom the wall behind it (12 inches is saidto be ideal). Following these instruc-tions, DSL obtained the one -third -oc-tave room -corrected response curvesshown here. As you can see, the outputholds up down to about 80 Hz, fallingoff rapidly below that point. Responsebumps up a couple of dB in the octaveabove the cutoff-a common strategy inspeakers of this size to give a sense of
estReTports
Chrome Error (automatic fine tuning)level phase
red -71/2 dBmagenta -7 1/2 dB +3'base -7 I/4 dB +7cyan -8dB +6'rem -8dB +5pilaw -9 dB +4'median error -7 5/8 dB +4'uncorrectable error ± 1 3/8 dB ±
Chrome Error (manual fine tuning)level phase
rad -51/4 dB +3'magenta -5 1/4 dB +3*blue -5 dB +2'cyan -5 1/4 dB +6'gram -5 1/4 dB -F5*
mellow
median erroruncorrectable error
-5 1/4 dB +4'-51/8 dB +4'
t/8 dB ±2'
GoodmansMaxim 2Loudspeaker
IIMIMP----M1111111111MIPDB
Room Response Characteristics
+5
5
-10
Maxim 2
...
....,...40
boundary -dependent region Niresponse -(30°) response
on -axis- off -axis
HZ 20 50 100 00 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
body that the absence of true low basswould otherwise take away.
Treble response is smooth, with aslight dip in the two octaves between 4and 16 kHz. Overall response is moreragged off -axis than on-, but both aremore than respectable and the latter re-markably good, save for the hump be -
Sensitivity (at 1 meter, 2.8 -volt pink noise)
89 1/2 dB SPL
Average Impedance (250 Hz to 6 kHz)
14.9 ohms
FEBRUARY 19 8 9 35
TestReports
Dimensions: 63/4 by 101/4 inches (front), 8inches deep plus clearance for connections.Price: $229 per pair.Warranty: -Limited,- five years parts andlabor.Manufacturer: Goodmans Loudspeakers,Ltd., England.
U.S. Distributor: Teamco, Inc., 1225 17thStreet, Suite 1430, Denver, Colo. 80202.
tween 400 Hz and 1.6 kHz (evident inthe off -axis curve as well). This rise ismuch more apparent on paper than it isin listening, however, and it may be theresult of constructive interference from areflection off the floor.
Impedance is consistently high, rang-ing from a low of 7.3 ohms at 350 Hz to ahigh of 21.5 ohms at 2.1 kHz. Even par-alleled pairs should pose no problem fora normal amplifier. Sensitivity is aboutaverage for a modern loudspeaker, butthat is greater than one would expectgiven the Maxim's high impedance andsmall enclosure.
The format's limitations show upmainly in the power -handling and dis-tortion data, where the Maxim 2 cannotcompete with larger, more robust sys-tems. Nonetheless, in our 300 -Hz pulsetest its pint-size woofer accepted theequivalent of 23.5 dBW (226 watts) peakinto 8 ohms, delivering a calculated peak
sound -pressure level (SPL) of 113 dB atone meter. At our lowest test level of 85dB SPL, the Maxim 2's total harmonicdistortion (THD) averaged slightly lessthan ./1 percent between the 80 -Hz low -frequency cutoff and the 10 -kHz upperlimit of our testing. But at 95 and 100 dB,where THD averaged 1 percent or moreover the same range, it clearly was push-ing its limits, particularly at very lowfrequencies.
This is about what you'd expect froma speaker of the Maxim 2's size. Thereare physical limitations that no amountof technology or design ingenuity cancircumvent (at least, not at such a lowprice). If you want strong deep bass orhigh volume in a large room, a speakerlike this one is not for you.
If, on the other hand, you don't needthat kind of performance, and particu-larly if you are tight on space and money,the Maxim has a definite appeal. Its bas-ic sound is pleasingly neutral over therange covered. Although the absence ofthe very bottom end is clearly evidenton comparison with larger speakers, itis much less apparent when the littleGoodmans are heard on their own. Thesmall bump in the midbass and the com-plementary dip in the treble give thesound warmth and forestall any tenden-cy for the speakers to sound overlybright or shrill. I did notice a hint ofchestiness, and when compared directlywith our far more costly reference speak-ers, the Maxims sounded less open anddetailed. Stereo imaging is convincinglygood, though it lacks the sharpness offocus that can be obtained from someother systems.
In fact, there probably is not any sin-gle respect in which you can't find aspeaker that will outpace the Maxim 2.Finding a speaker of its size and pricethat betters it overall will be a challenge,though. For the rear channels of sur-round systems, for secondary systems,and for main systems of modest aspira-tions, the Maxim 2 is an excellent choice.
Michael Riggs
REPORT POLICYEquipment reports are based on laboratory mea-surements and controlled listening tests. Unlessotherwise noted, test data are provided by Diversi-fied Science Laboratories. The choice of equip-ment to be tested rests with the editors of High Fi-delity. Samples normally are supplied on loan fromthe manufacturer. Manufacturers are not permittedto read reports in advance of publication, and noreport or portion thereof may be reproduced forany purpose or in any form without written permis-sion of the publisher. All reports should be con-strued as applying to the specific samples tested.High Fidelity and Diversified Science Laboratoriesassume no responsibility for product performanceOr quality.
36 HIGH FIDELITY
"Th Were Designed TO PlayMusic-And Make ItSound Like Music.ThisTheyDoVeryWell/
In A Most UnobtrusiveWayAtA Bargain Price...Its HardTo Imagine Going\Atong\MAdtscEnsh-stereoeRel*seplt.e.4"
Cambridge SoundlAbrks has created
Ensemble'," a speaker system that can provide
the sound once reserved for the best speakers
under laboratory conditions. It virtually dis-appears in your room. And because we marketit directly, Ensemble costs far less than previous
all-out designs.
Haig Klass, creator of thedominantof the '505 (Acoustic Research), '60s ati..H), and '70s(Aatynt), brirgsyou Ensemble, a genuinebl new kind ofsprakenrystemfor the '90s, avdahlcfactoty direct
firm Cambn ri ,e Soundl4brks.
The best sound comes in foursmall packages.
Ensemble consists of four speaker units.1Wo compact low -frequency speakers repro-duce the deep bass, while two small satelliteunits reproduce the rest of the music, makingit possible to reproduce just the right amountof energy in each part of the musical rangewithout turning your listening room into astereo showroom.
Your listening room works withEnsemble, not against it.
No matter how well a speaker performs,at home the listening room takes over. If youput a conventional speaker where the roomcan help the low bass, it may hinder the upperranges, or vice -versa.
What Henry Kioss tells his fiends:Every time I came out with a new speaker at
AR, Klkl, or Advent, my friends would ask me,
"Henry, is it worth the extra money for me to trade
up?" And every time I would answer, "No, whatyou've already got is still good enough."
But today, with the introduction of Ensemble,I tell them, "Perhaps now is the time to give your
old speakers to the children:'
FnxmhleisaTrademarkof iambridwSoundtAbric_c. Inc.
Ensemble, on the other hand, takesadvantage of your room's acoustics. The earcan't tell where bass comes from, which iswhy Ensemble's bass units can be tucked outof the way-on the floor, atop bookshelves, orunder furniture. The satellites can be hungdirectly on the wall, or placed on windowsillsor shelves. No bulky speakers dominate yourliving space, yet Ensemble reproduces thedeep bass that no mini speakers can.
Not all the differences areas obvicus as our twosubwoofers.
Unlike seemingly similarthree-piece systems, Ensemble usespremium quality components formaximum Dower handling,individual crossovers that allowseveral wirktg options and
Unhke satellite vsternswhich use a sitigk bige subwooferflasembicleatutrs separate compact bass units
for each stereo channel. Theyfit more gracefulb, frItoyotoliving environment, cold he0 mkIknize the effectsof thelistenegravmssuwdirg Kiva.
cabinets ruggedly constructed for properacoustical performance. V* even gold-plate allconnectors to prevent corrosion. An evenbigger difference is how we sell it...
The best showroom of all:your living room.
\Ak make it possible to auditionEnsemble the r(ght way-in your own home.In fact, Ensemb e is sold only by CambridgeSoundWoics directly from the factory. lis-ten for hours without a salesman hoveringnearby. If after 30 days you're not happy,return Ensemble fora full refund.
At only $499-complete with all hard-
ware and 100' of speaker cable-Ensemblecosts hundreds less than it would in aretail store.
Call 1-800-AKA-H1F1*(1-800-252-4434)
Our toll -free number will connect you to aCambridge SoundWorks audio expert. He orshe will answer all your questions, take yourorder and arrange surface shipment via UPS.Your Cambridge SoundWorks audio expertwill continue as your personal contact withus. knt think you'll like this new way ofdoing business.*In Canada, call 1-800-525-4434. Audioexperts are on duty Mon. -Fri., 9AM-10PM,Sat , Sun., 9AM-6PM Eastern Time.
CAMBRIDGE SOUNDWORK S154 California St., Newton, Massachusetts 02158
El Send more information and test reports.
El Send Ensemble risk -free for 30 days, for $499?
E Send an Ensemble Gift Certificate for $499!
I'm paying by Check D MC D Visa El AmEx
Acct. Number Exp
Signature
Name
Address
City State Zip
Phone (Area Code) Number
FOR IMMEDIATE SERVICE: 1-803-AKA-HIF1:IA residents add 5% sales tax'Plus freight. Call and ask.
L Suite 103F
READ111116- BET
Inter
ig
oreting the catc in High Fidelity's tcn a statisticians' utopia it would be possible tocome up with a single figure of merit for tapedecks, so you could simply pick the model withthe highest rating and know you had the best
available design. In the real world, however, it's not nearlythat simple. A host of considerations can be more impor-tant to one user than another. The source of the signal to berecorded, the nature of that signal, the tape used, and thetaste and technical expectations of the intended auditorsare all variables in exceedingly complex equations that, ac-cordingly, can yield radically varying solutions. Throwinto the mix a tape deck's features and price, as well asthe price and availability of the tape you prefer to use, andthe equations approach the difficulty of those for generalrelativity.
HIGH FIDELITY'S job, therefore, is to simplify mattersand focus on those areas where we can expect some sort ofreader consensus-for instance, that the signal to be re-
oe-ceck testscorded will be music of some kind, as opposed to, say,speech or bird calls-and then allow for the areas whereobjectives will diverge. A tape -deck test report's text inter-prets the lab data allowing for such a divergence, but itcan't expound every nuance of all the data for all possiblecombinations of variables. There is simply no space for acomplete analysis in every tape -deck test report. Nonethe-less, the data you need for a very complete evaluation of adeck appears in our pages, and by knowing how to readthat data you can add materially to the explicit, pertinentinformation available to you.
The first thing any of us tends to look at in a cassette-deck report is the collection of frequency -response traces.This is only proper, since such curves can reveal the mostabout those properties that audibly distinguish one modelfrom another. As you will see, the design and adjustment ofthe recorder's circuitry and the quality of its heads andtheir alignment all can have an effect on the response
3$ HIGH FIDELITY BY ROBERT LONG
MEM T I LIMEScurves, making them the most important items of tape -deck lab -test data we publish. Figure 1 shows what the re-cord/play curves look like when we get them from the lab.The lab records the responses of the various noise -reduc-tion options using pens of different colors; for clarity, wetranslate them into solid and broken curves.
he top lines represent output with a 0 -dB input;the sets below show response at -10 and -20dB, the top set having curves with and withoutDolby C, the middle one without noise reduc-
tion. The top curves don't represent frequency response inthe accepted sense and therefore are not represented in ourpublished curves (which are also redrawn for clarity).Rather, the behavior at 0 dB, in particular, indicates thedeck's headroom with the specific tape in use. When thecurve droops excessively at high frequencies, you're morelikely to hear that effect as squashed high -frequency tran-sients than as a simple absence of highs-which is whatwould be implied by a droop in response for an amplifier.The text of our report, rather than a graph, addresses thesignificance of such high -frequency anomalies whenfound.
For the -20 -dB curves, however, the audible conse-quences of high -frequency response anomalies do followthe usual rules: A peak here can make the sound bright,pinched, edgy, or whatever, depending on the nature of thepeak and its relationship to any aberrations elsewhere inthe frequency range. In the curve made with no noise re- /duction-and translated as the solid -line curve in Fig-ure 2 (note the relabeling of the - 20 -dB actual level as 0dB)-you can expect the graph to mean precisely what itwould if this were, say, a phono cartridge or loudspeaker:A rolloff means dulled highs, a rise means the reverse.
You must be a little more careful interpreting curvesmade with noise reduction turned on, because test signalsaren't music, and noise -reduction systems as well as yourears react differently to them. At any instant, the sweptsine wave used to create the curves we show is monotonal;music isn't. Even a single note played on an acoustic instru-ment will comprise a series of overtones as well as the fun-damental pitch and will excite various parts of the audiblefrequency range simultaneously. For this reason, whennoise reduction is functioning, certain types of narrow -band response anomalies can have a greater effect on thepublished curves than on music, much of the energy ofwhich normally will fall outside the range of the responseerror.
Here, the response falls off much more sharply at thetop end as the degree of noise reduction is increased, fromnone to Dolby B to Dolby C to DBX (the solid, dotted,dash -dot, and dash/double-dot curves for Figure 2, respec-tively). This is, at least in part, attributable to the fact thatall of the test signal is in the region of the rolloff, and this is"misinforming" the noise reduction. Were most of the sig-nal unaffected by the rolloff, as it would be in music, theattenuation would not be so severe. (Actually, Dolby C isless aggressive than Dolby B at extremely high frequencies
and therefore often exhibits less rolloff with swept testtones above 15 kHz. With the results shown in Figure 2,the rolloff is intrinsically severe enough to obscure thisdetail.)
The broader the frequency range over which a peak ordip is visible, the less likely it is to be exaggerated by anoise -reduction system. The midtreble rise in these curves,for example, probably is due to a less -than -ideal choice ofrecording EQ and bias for the tape used. Since HIGH FI-DELITY'S test lab uses the specific tape brands suggested bythe deck's manual (or by the manufacturer directly, if thatvital information isn't printed), you'd expect a perfectmatch of deck to tape. Nowadays, we're getting ever closerto that ideal, but in some cases the adjustments on the pro-duction line are less careful than they should be, in othersthe tape formulation has been changed since the factory'ssample of it was made.
If the change in formulation has involved a significantchange in sensitivity, the Dolby curves can "shelve" (reachan elevated or depressed plateau) by as much as a dB ormore-in the treble for Dolby B, and well down into themidrange for Dolby C. Tape sensitivity is now changingless rapidly than it was a few years ago, but these effects arestill definitely something to keep an eye out for. When the"recommended" premium formulation is used, if the Dol-by B trace begins to rise just below 1 kHz and then stays flat(though elevated) through the treble, you may be able toget flatter response simply by choosing a less premium(which usually means less sensitive) formulation from thesame company.
he curves in Figures 1 and 2 don't suffer fromthis syndrome, however, as you can see in threeways. First, the curve with no noise reduction(solid trace in Figure 2) also rises equally in the
2 -kHz range. If Dolby tracking were the only problem, re-sponse would be flat with the Dolby circuit off. Second, theDolby C curve doesn't remain on the "shelf" into the mid-range; it actually droops below 500 Hz. Third, the rolloff in
FEBRUARY 1989 39
READING BETWEEN THE LINESthe highs clearly suggests overbiasing (or, if there are sepa-rate record and playback heads, azimuth misalignment) asa contributing factor.
he no -noise -reduction curve and those for thetwo Dolby modes converge below 200 Hz,which is normally the case, but the DBX curvedoesn't follow them. Actually, the placement of
the DBX curve is arbitrary. Because that system worksrather differently from the Dolbys, the overall levelthrough it may not be perfectly matched to them. As longas it's not many dB away, the disparity will not have muchpractical significance, and we sometimes relocate the DBX
Fig. 1. Raw data: record -playback responses direct from the lab
curve from its position in the lab trace when we redraw itfor publication. Otherwise, we could have cases in which itnever rose as high as the 0 -dB line, making numericalcharacterization of its frequency response rather awkward.
Among the narrowband response anomalies that can beemphasized by noise reduction are the so-called "headbumps" in the low -end frequency response-which insome models extend well up into the midrange. They are aform of interference caused by interaction between thewavelengths recorded on the tape and the dimensions andgeometrical contour of the heads. Like standing waves in alistening room, they reinforce some frequencies while par-tially canceling others and often show up as a regular wavyappearance to the trace, beginning with large up/down re-sponse excursions in the extreme bass and disappearinggradually with rising frequency.
typically, this recorder seems to emphasize al-ternate "cycles" of this pattern (the downwarddips) and, further, has very small, tight ripples(too small to be followed accurately in the re-
drawn trace) continuing well up through the midrange.Though the bumps are exaggerated in the DBX trace, thisis, again, more an artifact of the measurement techniquethan something you would hear as such with music. If, as a
result of this "contour effect," you can hear any responseroughness in this range with music, which isn't likely, I canalmost guarantee that it won't sound any more pro-nounced with DBX than with the other options in thisdeck.
The head bumps pose proportionately more of a prob-lem when it comes to measuring playback response alone(Fig. 3). The most precise method for doing this is to use acarefully made test tape that contains spot frequencies. Inthe deep bass, the BASF tape used by the lab has test sig-nals recorded at only 31.5, 40, 63, and 125 Hz. From therecord/play response we can guess how the bumps may al-ter response at one or more of these frequencies-or be-tween them, leaving the impression of flat response if onlythese points are considered. But these considerations goundocumented by the test technique.
So our playback -response curves recognize only themeasured points and our numerical characterization ofthem extends only down to 315 Hz (the reference frequen-cy on these tapes, above which contour effect generally isnegligible). But you should be aware that the head bumpsyou see in the record/play curves probably would applyequally (or nearly so) to the playback response, were it tobe measured with a swept tone-which would, however,reduce the precision of the playback -only measurements athigher frequencies. Another low -end anomaly to look outfor is less a failing than an unfortunate design practice:Most decks, to reduce the possibility of tape overload fromvery low frequency signals (such as disc rumble or record-ed studio noises), deliberately roll off the low -end response.
olloff at the top end of the playback -responsecurve, which is visible only slightly and only atthe very top of Figure 3, is likely to be due toone of three factors. A slope that begins gradu-
ally (say, at around 2 kHz) and becomes progressivelymore severe as frequency ascends is probably caused by anazimuth disparity between the deck and the test tape.While the BASF test tape used by the lab is very carefullymade, not all test tapes from major suppliers match its azi-muth, which is a very tricky parameter to pin down. So,while we consider the BASF tape as definitive for our tests,we hesitate to say that the deck is wrong when we encoun-ter this problem-which we do less and less in home equip-ment (car decks are another matter).
When the playback -only curve remains flat to some-where above 10 kHz and then starts falling quite rapidly,the cause may be that the playback head gap simply is toowide to resolve shorter wavelengths-that is, higher fre-quencies. That is probably what we're seeing in this curve.Since it uses the playback circuitry only, the signal isn'tpassing through the filter needed to prevent ultrasonicsand residual FM pilot tones (at 19 kHz) from confusing thenoise -reduction systems during recording. Electrical filter-ing of the high end really is something to watch for in therecord/play curves, rather than in those for playback.
In all these curves-playback-only as well as record/playback-you want response that is as flat and smooth asyou can get. Particularly if you're over thirty years old,don't get very excited about the difference between a modelthat stays flat to 13 kHz and one that makes it "all the way"to 18 kHz. You're seldom likely to hear any difference. But
40 H I G H FIDELITY
you can hear peaks or dips in the lower treble, which colorthe sound by altering the relative loudness of the funda-mentals and their overtones. That is why smoothness is im-portant. Flatness (or "horizontality") affects the overallbalance: the brightness or richness of the sound. You canassess these factors only from the curves themselves; iden-tical numerical characterizations (such as ±X dB from YHz to Z kHz) may sometimes hide radical differences insonic properties.
f frequency response is significant, the mea-surements we print that deal with noise, distor-tion, and relative meter readings are almostequally important. Taken together, these three
factors determine the dynamic range you will be able toachieve with the deck-but only if you understand theirmeaning.
Of the three measurements, noise is the most "abso-lute." It is measured with A -weighting, for a rough approx-imation of the ear's spectral sensitivity at low sound levels,and is stated as so many dB below the standard DIN refer-ence level (a magnetic flux level of 250 nanowebers per me-ter; DIN is from Deutsche Industrie Normen, or "GermanIndustry Standards"). For instance, if the signal-to-noiseratio (S/N) is listed as 50 dB (without noise reduction), it
DO
means that the noise is 50 dB below DIN 0 dB and shouldsound as loud as noise from any other deck with a 50 -dBS/N once they are adjusted for equal output at a 0 -dB re-corded level.
But these two decks' dynamic range won't necessarilybe identical. The total dynamic range also depends on theamount of available headroom. In much music, the mostimportant place to examine headroom is in the midrange,where most musical energy lies. The lab uses the 315 -Hzreference frequency (near the fundamental of the E flatabove middle C on the piano) for this purpose, and the fig-ures will tell you both how good or bad the deck is if youkeep peak levels to 0 -dB DIN at this frequency (look forthe distortion figures) and how high above 0 -dB DIN youcan go before distortion reaches 3 percent, the accepted cri-terion for the onset of significant overload in analog tapesystems.
sually the 3 -percent overload point is some-where between 1 and 5 dB above DIN 0 dB.That is, there is a midrange headroom of 1 to 5dB. There always will be less headroom at, say,
5 kHz, and it will further diminish rapidly above 10 kHz(to negative values, which simply mean that the maximumrecordable level at these frequencies is below the DIN ref -
FEBRUARY 1989 41
-47
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
erence level). Depending on the high -frequency propertiesof the signal you want to record, this high -frequency over-load point may be the limiting factor. Cymbals, bells, andtrumpet solos-to say nothing of synthesizers, which cancreate waveform properties unknown with acoustic instru-ments-are notoriously demanding, and careful monitor-ing is indicated if you want to capture them without high-
frequency overload. Otherwise, the midrange figure is agood index of the likely overload threshold.
But how do you know when you've reached it? This istrickier than you might expect, because meter calibrationisn't at all standardized. So we give you not only the abso-lute (DIN) values of the overload points but the deck'sequivalent meter readings as well. On one recorder, thethreshold of overload may be at an absolute flux level of+2 -dB DIN and read +10 on the meters, while anotherreaches +4 -dB DIN but registers only +6 dB. Given a 50-
DB
0
-5
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
Fig. 2. In these redrawn record -playback curves, 0 -dB correspondsto -20 dB DIN.
DB
0
-5
HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K
Fig. 3. Playback -only response, plotted from readings of discretefrequencies on a standard test tape
dB noise floor for each, the dynamic range of these two ma-chines would then be 52 and 54 dB, respectively, but themaximum desirable meter reading would be 4 dB lower onthe meters of the latter.
t one time, the next point to examine wouldhave been meter ballistics, since they influencethe accuracy of the displayed level. With me-chanical, moving -needle meters, the levels of
transients are very difficult to assess. The needle tends toovershoot at the onset of a sustained tone. Increase the nee-dle damping to reduce the overshoot, and it won't respondto brief transients. So, depending on the meter's dampingand the peak's duration, mechanical meters can read bothtoo high and too low in trying to follow typical musicalwaveforms.
With today's peak metering systems-whether the ac-tual display is a fluorescent one or is made up of LEDs orwhatever-this no longer is a problem. Unless you're buy-ing one of the rare (usually portable) models that affect"professional" mechanical meters, you can pass right overthe ballistics figures. Any unusual behavior (say, a peak -
hold option of some sort) will be discussed in the text. But,aside from their 0 -dB calibration discussed above, the rela-
tive accuracy of the meter readings is a nonissue in typicalcurrent models.
Of vanishingly small importance much of the time arethe figures for speed accuracy and flutter. In typical cas-sette equipment, the flutter is not very far below the thresh-old of audibility when the deck is new, and it tends to growworse with time, as drive parts wear. So do look for the bestflutter figure you can get, but don't expect to hear anythingamiss even if the measurement isn't among the best.
wnd few listeners will hear anything wrong ifspeed accuracy is off by as much as 1 or 2 per-cent, though component -grade decks regularlyrun less than 1 -percent error-almost invari-
ably on the fast side. This is not nearly enough to cause youto run out of tape prematurely, because all major cassettebrands add enough extra tape to allow for this contingency.Remember also that a speed difference of around 6 percentis needed to alter pitch by a musical half -tone. Smaller dif-ferences can disturb those rare individuals afflicted withperfect pitch and certainly will annoy anyone trying to playalong with a tape that is "out of tune" as a result of a speedanomaly. Otherwise, this too is largely a nonissue today.
Erasure may not be. The figures in our reports repre-sent the degree of attenuation imposed on an existing signalby a single pass over the erase head. The actual value willdepend on the frequency of the "erased" signal, but the sin-gle -tone test we use is a good relative indicator. If the mea-sured value is only 40 dB or so, the residual tone could beaudible over the background noise and therefore intrudeinto pauses or soft passages in the music.
Almost all decks will do better than 40 -dB erasure,though most decks don't erase Type 4 metal tapes as thor-oughly as they will the lower-coercivity chrome (Type 2),ferricobalt (Type 2 and Type 1), and ferric (Type 1) formu-lations. Therefore, our lab measures with both the Type 4and the Type 2 tapes. If both figures are better than 60 dB(which is good), we report only the poorer of the two (in-variably, it's the Type 4) as better than or equal to the valueof that tape. Where at least one figure is poorer than 60 dB,we specify both values so that you can see how much moreprotection against unwanted residual signals you will gainby switching from the Type 4 tape to the Type 2.
The importance of the figures for input and output lev-els and impedances depends on the equipment with whichthe deck will be interconnected. In general, these parame-ters are well standardized today, and we comment on thevalues only when we perceive a potential problem due to anoddball value. Again, these values are largely a nonissueunless your ancillary equipment itself is oddball.
In sum, if you haven't looked carefully at the responsecurves and haven't studied the S/N and 3 -percent -distor-tion data, you haven't fully read our equipment report.And if you then buy a model on which we've reported, youwill know less than you might about its operation and howto get the best performance it can yield. The owner's man-ual usually won't tell you much about these things andsometimes can seem to go out of its way to obscure impor-tant considerations in tape choice and level setting. But thesalient data you need to know are right there in our test re-ports. Read on, and enjoy!
42 HIGH FIDELITY
SAVE MONEY, TIME AND FREIGHT ON FAMOUS BRAND STEREO EQUIPMENT =II
1111111141i1 4111U1r10 (800) 621-8042 / (312) 664-0020
12 E. DELAWARE PLACE CHICAGO, IL 60611
LOUDSPEAKERSTECHNICS SBL-36
PowerfulLoudspeaker System Linear Phase 2 WaySystem Large Diom 10Woofer Anti -resonancecabinet AttractiveWoodgroin Finish
CALL FOR PRICE
E.P.I. CD553 -Way Speaker
System 12 Boss Driver WideFrequency Response Constant DispersionDesign Specially De-signed High Ellic,encvCabinetL.st 5250 CIO,
SALE: $99.00 ea.TECHNICS SBK476
3 -Way SpeakerSystem
12 Woofer Horn Sup,'Tweeter High Heat Res,tonce Efficiency BassReflex Design HeavyDuty Anti -ResonanceCabinet
CALL FOR PRICE
E.P.I. T1E320Powerful 3 -WaySpeaker System
10" Bass Drive Amaz-ingly Accurate Frequen-cy Response Ultra -WideDispersion IntegratedMidrange Treble
CALL FOR PRICE
I
PORTABLES
TOSHIBA RT4048AMIFM Stereo Radio
Cossets Player Dolby B NI: AutoReverse 3 Band EQ e, it in Stereo Tuner Auto Shut,Olt Lightweight ieaclphones &
C Inc uded
SALE $55.00 SONY WMF100111Sony Super Walkman
---."" SALE $125.00
SONY D-15Discman Portable
CD Player
CALL FOR PRICE
CASSETTE DECKS.ill11.IIQ :74._i 1
TEAC V-285CHXStereo Caustic Deck
Dolby EL CS, HX PRO NR Bats Fine Tuning Full Auto Stop Meth Metal Tape Com-patible 3-Pos Tope Select 3Digit TapeCounterList 14995 SALE: $99.95
.IRE1111 =111111111111.
TEAC R435XAuto Reverse Cassette Deck
Br D,rectionai record and playback Dolby B C & db. Noise Reduction 3 -position tope selector Outputlevel controls
List $26500 SALE $149.95
ak;i:. jaw=. .
TECHNICS PST- 55RDouble Quick Reverse
Cassette Deck Auto R.-,.. or Bo, rope paves 24 HrConlin Jr Pack Spa Eating SynchroStott 5h.: 8. Mute db.. Dolby B & C
CALL FOR PRICE
TEAC W990RXAuto Reverse Double Cassette Deck
nuous Recording Playback.,,tor IC logic Wireless Remote Con
pev-,,e 7 Speed Dubbing 'rryt C db. NR
CALL FOR PRICE
RECEIVERS CD PLAYERS
$11U-sici MINIMAngir
TECHNICS SA -180Quartz Synthesizer
AM/FM Stereo Receiver 70 Watts (35.2) 16 Memory Presets TapeMon Switch Boss!! Treble Controls Quartz Clock Low Distortion
324r, 7 SALE: $127.00Mr.."
TECHNICS SAR-330Quartz Synthesized
Remote Controlled Receiver AM FEASIereo Receiver 143 Watts(704) Full Remote Control 24 Presets 7Bond EQ w Spectrum Anctlyzer 4 Aud Inputs plus 2 Aud Vid Inputs Station File
CALL FOR PRICE
JVC RX-777VSSurround Sound Receiver
AM FM Stereo Digital Receiver 160Watts 030.21 Dolby Surround Sound Buillin Synthesizer -Tuner 40 MemoryPresets 7 -Band EQ 2 PR SpeakerConnections
CALL FOR PRICE
JVC RX-999Remote Controlled Receiver
200 Watts 1100.21 Digital Do by SurrowadSound 3 Video Inputs Prod:0mm 7
Fo Dig Cynth Tt,r,, 30 presets
CALL FOR PRICE
HEADPHONES AUDIO TAPE CARTRIDGES
AUTO
IIlL
SONY ESS-936" x 9 3 -Way Car Speakers
iii.Powr-i . wPower Handle ,;
list 5109 95 Po SALE $66.00 Pair
SHERWOOD CRD350Car Stereo with Cassette Deck
AM Stereo IM Stereo Receiver Fun LogicControlled Dolby B C NR Auto Reverse Buill-In Amp w Balance & Fader Local Dist Switch Preset Scan Clock Security CoverList $32995 SALE: $182.00
ar.mr:1=1.101.400,a, mirwlmo:mor.mr MI 1110111111=1:11.a10:11.1.1M:I.WellIS1.1.1M61111411111:=14041111 11411:4=1411111.11410 IMIMI,O11411:4M:INI4= 411b:4Mal
KOSS PRO4X PLUS
SALE $49.95
SENNHEISERHD450
CALL FOR PRICE
SONY MDR CD6
SALE $79.00
TDK SD -90
$12.50SONY UX-PRO 90
$24.89MAXELL UDSII90
10,0 $16.95MAXELL MX90
$25.95
SURE V15-IVMR M ,ro Ridge Standard Mor:o Ultra Accurate Tracking Dynamic StabaLze,st 5110 7 SALE $69.95
AT 122LPDual Magnet Piug inConnector Linear Contact
,Imnna Shrrie,10 SALE: $49.95
SHURE V15MR
SALE $129.95
JVC XLM600CD Multi Changer
6 Disc Copao 1,, Remote Control Random Access Program up to 32 steps,om 7 discs Repeat Memory backup 3 Beam Loser PCk up led d gaol filter
CALL FOR PRICE
II
II
II
Il
II
II
II
II
! it
TURNTABLES
audio12 E. Delaware Pl., Chicago 60611
16 YEARS OF MEETING THE NATION'S STEREO NEEDS WITHTHE ABSOLUTE BEST PRICES ON TOP NAME NATIONAL BRANDSCall Mon. thru Sat. 10 to 5 (312) 664-0020 1 (800)621-8042
Prices in this ad are for mail-order onlyFreight charges not included in prices Allmerchandise shipped brand new. factoryfresh with lull warranty. Not responsible fortypographical errors.
NOTE: This is just a partial listing of our extensiveinventory, please call for quotes on additional itemsor to request a free price list.
L.±271:
11:,,n -meet
SHARP DX -45513Compact Disc Player
3 -Beam Laser Pickup ProgramrnobMemory Cue ReviewL,st 5249 95 SALE: $119.95
TECHNICS SLP-520Remote Controlled CD Player
Double Oversampling Filter Programup to 20 Selections 2 -Speed Search High Resolution Laser Pick -Up HighSpeed Transport Preset Editing Music Scan
LIST 5560 00 SALE: $259.95
11:3111 -11:1114_oov
SONY CDP-22Compact CD Player
Unihnear Convertor w Digital Filter En.DiR Detection Sys 16 -Track Random MusicSensor Auto Music Sensor 4 RepeatModes w Shuttle Ploy
5250 00 SALE: $179.00
TECHNICS SLP400CMulti -Disc CD Changer
PiogrammobleA Disc Changer Player Remote Control 36 Step Random AccessProgram Quadruple OversamplingDigital Filter High Resolution LaserPick -Up
CALL FOR PRICE
g
TECHNICS SLBD22Belt Drive Semi.
Automatic Turntable
Il
II
II
II
Il
CALL FOR PRICE IStTECHNICS SLDD33 ..i..Phase Locked Direct I.I
Drive AutomaticTurntable .
Highly Sensitiw3Gimbai I ISus Tonearm TAP Mount . ' _Cart Connector System 1'1 Front Panel Oper
CALL FOR PRICE illDUAL CS505-2
Belt DrivenSemi -Automatic
Turntable Lima Low Mass Tonearm interchangeable V] brow --Mount Pickbp Head Fine Speed Adlustment Anti -Resonance Mat Two Scale AntiSkate Device Floating Chassis
529900Lu SALE: S199.95
ICI
Home Body. This is your time. And you enjoy it most when your home e.nteTainmentsystem is performing at its best. Which is why Pioneer created the VS;K-9300 audio/video receiver.
It actually improves tie performance of all your components. The VSX-9.300Sfeatures the la:est innovation from Dolby Labs, Dolby Pro -Logic. This surround soundexperience rivals ever the most sophisticated movie theaters. There is also a split-screenvideo enmancer that sharpens and focuses every video image. And a "Smart Remote"'control that turns your existing component into a unified A/V system.
Pioneer's VSX-93COS audio/video receiver. There is simply no better way to get itall out of your system.
1988 Pioneer Electronics/D.1SM Inc. Long Beach. CA. For mo-e information, call 1-800-421-1404. Dolby Pro -Logic is a trademarx of Dolby Labs, Inc.
zi:/?;/..7/Wifin 1111 11.11111111%
%kM
\%%
\\/7/M
/ Af I
niiimm
\\\\\,.
1 10We B
ring The R
evolution Hom
e.'
ew legends have had such a tangible ef-fect on the way we hear opera, and onwhat we expect from its interpreters, asthe legend of Maria Callas. Few singershave made as many recordings that havesubsequently gone on to be branded-de-servedly or not-as classics. Yet few divashave had so short a prime, barely eightyears. And few were chronicled so often intheir times of trouble, and so rarely in theirprime, as she.
Callas came into her own at what canrightfully be called a fateful time-the ad-vent of the long-playing record-and hadthe particular good fortune to become as-sociated with producer/perfectionist Wal-ter Legge of EMI. Legge obviously had thegoods to work with: Callas was not play-ing Anna Sten to his Sam Goldwyn. Shehad already established her claim to star-dom, basing it on a rare blend of musicalintegrity, theatrical fire, and astuteness inthe portrayal of character. She possessedan utterly unique timbre fused with a vola-tile, seeking -the -good -life personality. To-gether these things made her at once anopera star of the first magnitude and adream subject for the gossip columnistsand paparazzi.
Now that Angel EMI has remasteredand reissued on Compact Disc all but three of Callas's 24 com-plete opera recordings, along with various recital collections, anentire new generation of collectors and voice mavens has access towhat she did in the studio-to dissect, scrutinize, and memorizeit, inflection for inflection, phrase for phrase, flaw for flaw. Seenfrom the vantage point of 25 to 35 years later-the recordingsspan the period from I puritani, taped in March 1953, to Callas'spenultimate complete opera recording, of Carmen, taped in thesummer of 1964-these reissues show that Callas was rarely ather best in the studio, particularly as many of her live perfor-mances are also available on record for direct comparison. Yetthe studio efforts are the vehicles by which Callas's artistry, her
5 voice, and her entire persona and legacy (or is it Legge-acy?) have
Generations to comewill know the divathrough her studiorecordings, most of
which-the good, thebad, and the ugly-
are now on CD.
become established in the ears of countlessmusic lovers.
For a good share of one or even two op-era -loving generations-those who cameinto their taste -forming years as the LPevolved into an indispensable item on thehome -music scene-Callas's recordingswere the first and, in many cases, the onlyperformances of the operas in questionthese listeners ever bought (unless, ofcourse, they had already been converted tothe cause of Renata Tebaldi). As with anyrecordings, the more they were listened to,the more tolerant one became of the im-perfections, the more one acclaimed thestrong points and excused the weak, untilfinally, the wobbles, squawks, and acidu-lous tones became expected, anticipated,and even praised as part of the remarkablevocal arsenal of expressive effects.
This embracing of the dark side of Cal-las's singing has been particularly evidentin British publications, which continue tohave a major impact on the way English-speaking peoples listen to and assess re-cordings and performances in general.British critics often evince a reluctance toappreciate a purely beautiful voice, andthis shortcoming has long underminedtheir ability to comprehend opera in its
Latin, voice -oriented aspects.Ironically, Callas always maintained that opera was, after all,
a Latin art form. Even when her voice, as chronicled on these re-cordings, became increasingly unable to sustain those intentions,she stuck with her instincts. But since the tone was rarely, if ever,truly beautiful and thrilling (as was so clearly the case with Te-baldi in her prime, whom Londoners tended to denigrate withsuch clever phrases as "A Tebaldi comes about once a generation,a Callas once a century . . ."), it created just the sort of intellectu-al conundrum the British feed on when it comes to experiencingopera. Because it was not always possible to bask in richness oftone with Callas, it was not necessary to surrender to vocal beau-ty, but rather to intellectualize the artistic effect through the
46 HIGH FIDELITY BY THOR ECKERT, JR.
01las in one of them
ks for which she is
best remem
bered,fr,m
Act II of the La
Scala production of
ll'zIlines "Norm
a"
47
thorns and barbs, and thereby distill a pe-culiar controlled reaction that would betranslated as an "operatic experience."
Although Legge was British throughand through, he could at least appreciate awide variety of performance styles and ap-proaches, which is why the conspicuouslylong list of records he personally super-vised remains one of the towering achieve-ments in the history of the medium. I be-lieve that in Callas he found the idealoperatic diva: a multifaceted singer whocould appeal to the prickly sensibilities ofthe British while at the same time beingthe idol of the fierce and voluble La Scalapublic, not to mention one of the few hur-ricane -force personalities accepted, tan-trums and all, on the American operaticscene.
As the vocal flaws began mounting, themiking became closer, the manner of sing-ing more in the Legge style of whispereddeclamation-though it never became asirritatingly hushed, cooed, and gurgled ason some of the later recordings of Elisa-beth Schwarzkopf, where whole phraseswould pass by with nary a genuinely vocal-ized tone to be heard. This becomes pain-fully apparent when comparing the firstCallas Norma, which has been reissued onCD, with the second, which has not. Thefirst one catches the soprano pretty much in her prime; the sec-ond, on the second terrifying dip of her decline. The earlier onefinds Callas in magisterial form, flooding a line with voice andmeaning; the second is more intimate, more psychologically nu-anced, as it were, and quite terrible vocally. Predictably, Gramo-phone magazine lamented that the earlier recording was chosenfor remastering over the later. But this fawning over faults is notjust a British phenomenon. Callas at her vocally most wretched iswidely treasured. Unfortunately, much of what has been ex-humed for the fanatics to pore over-from the EMI -originatedstudio recordings and the live material-is suitable only for thenecrophiliac study that opera fans too often devote to aging ordead idols.
ust what do the Callas operas tell us? They reveal a singer ofunusual perspicacity, with an innate gift for understandingtexts and why the composers set each word and phrase the
way they did. They show us a singer of genuine imagination, onewho had a complete affinity with the vocal idiom of each operashe sang, and who struggled to make an increasingly recalcitrantinstrument obey her intentions. They reveal to us an artist of re-markable intellectual insight trying to cast a new light on roles
_ she was familiar with from theatrical performances, and even onthose she would perform only in the recording studio. We hear asinger fully aware that the basic instrument was not always meant
b' for the role she was recording, so in her brainy way she would.
strive to make up for that lack.
The Callas operasshow us a singer of
genuine imagination.
Thus, we have a singer doing ManonLescaut in a lightened voice, trying to sug-gest a manner of approaching Puccini byway of Massenet. We have, near the end ofher vocal tether, a singer who tries to showus the truth in Lucia di Lammermoor'splight while evading every possible highnote save those few she knows must be at-tempted because tradition insists. We havea singer who can throw herself fully intoTosca's dilemma while-as she later con-fessed-never really caring for the com-poser's music for this opera in the firstplace. We have a seemingly serious divahaving a delectable romp as Rosina inRossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, showingusthat almost without question, the largerthe voice in this role (as long as it retainslegitimate coloratura flexibility), the bet-ter the vocal and interpretive payoff.
Even when Callas is rather far afieldfrom her ideal repertoire-as Cio-Cio-Sanin Madama Butterfly, for instance-theinterpretation is so compelling that it de-mands to be listened to and accepted on itsown terms. That Callas is so successful inthis opera has as much to do with Herbertvon Karajan's conducting as with Callas'sinsights. Indeed-although the voicesounds unwieldy, although she cannot at-tack the D flat of the entrance without a
huge wobble, although in consistent attempts to lighten her tim-bre, to keep it girlish, she thins it out to the point of anemia-Callas is so alert a projector of phrase and text, so attuned to thedrama of this fragile yet strong heroine that it becomes quiteeasyto put aside one's resistance. A fresh -sounding Nicolai Gedda,though equally wrong for the part of Pinkerton, particularly then,is nevertheless a splendid partner for Callas, and he fits into thisrecording with ease (Angel EMI CDCB 47959).
It also becomes clear that Legge's casting choices often leftmuch to be desired. For instance, in La Boheme (CDCB 47475),Callas sounds as if she is seated in the middle ofan otherwise rou-tine operatic run-through, trying to point and inflect and illumi-nate among colleagues who are much happier merely singing out,and with a conductor, Antonino Votto, delighted not to have todo much more than keep singers happy by beating to their time.And if colleagues are a problem on that Boheme, they are a disas-ter in Turandot, where Callas was herself not in the most gratify-ing voice (CDCB 47971). I have always thought that castingSchwarzkopf as Liu was Legge's perverse joke on Italian operatictraditions and a complete misrepresentation of the quintessential-ly Puccinian slave girl. Moreover, Eugenio Fernandi makes a bel-lowy, ugly -voiced Calaf, and Tullio Serafin is unable to weld thesedisparate elements into a coherent whole.
And what about those roles with which Callas is inextricablyassociated: Lucia, Gioconda, Violetta, Tosca, Amina, and Nor-ma? The stereo Lucia di Lammermoor (CDCB 47440) is possiblythe worst of Callas's studio efforts in terms of her sheer inability
46 HIGH FIDELITY
U
0
0
Above: Coffee and a role? Callas studies a score over espresso, with husband and manager Giovanni Battista Meneghini (left) and colleagues Elisabeth
Schwarzkopf and Wolter Legge, also husband and wife. Facing page: as Fiorillo in Rossini's "Il turco in Italia."
to get the role to fit the pitiful estate of her voice, and she has animpressive lineup of off -form colleagues, including FerruccioTagliavini and Piero Cappuccilli, whose involvement lends adrabness to the venture that Serafin can only occasionally shakeoff. The stereo La gioconda (CDCC 49518) also came too late.The voice had lost the weighty throb heard on the Cetra record-ing of a 1952 performance (Fonit Cetra CDC 9), and while it isamazing that Callas was able to suggest all the elements of agrand -scale account, and was in at least passable form by 1959standards, the entire production is swathed in hollow calculation.Pier Miranda Ferraro's gruff Enzo is suitably stentorian, Cap-puccilli gives a rote Barnaba, Fiorenza Cossotto is only on theverge of characterizing Laura, and Votto, the conductor of somany Callas recordings, is utterly blank interpretively.
he reasons why Callas never got to record Violetta in the stu-dio are known to many by now, and EMI has tried to com-pensate with its release of a 1958 live -from -Lisbon per-
formance that had circulated for years as a pirate tape. The soundis mediocre-although the CD has a presence that was lacking onthe initial vinyl issue-and at times the prompter is the loudestperformer on the set. This La traviata (CDCB 49187) represents agood, routine house standard-which is to say, normal for itstime, unusually accomplished and idiomatic for today. FrancoGhione conducts a fine, supportive performance. The Germont isMario Sereni: solid, unimaginative stuff. Alfredo Kraus is a bet-ter -than -usual Alfredo, sounding very much in 1958 as he would20 years later. But this is Callas's show, and it represents-as somany of her live recordings do-the singer in all her glory, andwith only a few of her troubles. Given that this is only ninemonths after her uneven Manon Lescaut studio recording andonly a year before her painful second Lucia, it is astounding whatgood form she is in overall.
And if her reading of the role does not supplant the celebratedLa Scala opening -night performance (now out on a Foyer CD in
unexpectedly acceptable mono sound), it is still a study in the Cal-las art in all its aspects, demonstrating why the Italians loved her,and why she and Riccardo Muti could never have performed to-gether had their careers overlapped. Everything she incorporateshere he would find anathema: She accepts standard cuts; she in-terpolates high notes; she honors traditional tempo fluctuations;she dares to makes a huge (and hair-raising) moment out of thecrescendo on the G in "Grand dio, morir si giovine." In fact, shegives us a traditional Violetta in all its thrilling array, only reallyfailing on the diminuendo at the end of "Addio del passato."
The Victor de Sabata Tosca needs no comment; it has earnedits niche in record history. But I must note that the CD remaster-ing has taken the edge off all the voices and rounded the tone outso completely that there is no bite to any of the singing, no sense offree ringing, but rather a smooth, muffled cloaking of those tim-bres. This may be considered an improvement over the old AngelLP issue, but it is not the classic Callas Tosco in all its glory-which has been stunningly transferred to vinyl by Toshiba EMI.
Moving to the soprano's Bellini rereleases . . . The remaster-ing of the first Norma (CDCC 47303) is handled very shrewdly. Itgives the mono sound a real presence, almost a perspective, andCallas's voice sounds quite large throughout. And such a per-formance: She is able to make all her points using the voice as themedium, without the tricks and evasions she had to resort to inthe as -yet -unreleased second (stereo) reading. Ebe Stignani is re-markable for a singer well into her sixties, though her Adalgisa israther matronly for all the admirable solidity of her sound. MarioFilippeschi fills the role of Pollione adequately, and Serafin is hisusual supportive self. La sonnambula (CDCB 47377; with Cos -sotto, Nicola Monti, and Nicola Zaccaria) has moments of great-ness, though Callas was in tetchy voice for the sessions, and hersupporting cast was uneven. Callas's I puritani (CDCB 47308;with Giuseppe di Stefano, Rolando Panerai, and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, conducted by Serafin) became an instant classic, and hercontributions to it remain provocative in the best sense.
FEBRUARY 1989 Al
Callas in 1969 as Medea (the Medea of legend, not Cherubini's heroine) from the film byPier Paolo Pasolini
I have never liked the recording of Cavalleria rusticana andPagliacci (CDCC 47981). Callas's timbre is not my ideal for San-tuzza, and her dramatic insights sound too controlled for the role.Nedda she finds difficult to manage, as do most sopranos, and sheadds an odd archness. Worse still, the transfer to CD is wretched.
Un ballo in maschera is Callas's finest Verdi performance, andprobably still the best studio Ballo available (CDCB 47498).Votto rises from his normal lethargy, and the cast performs thrill-ingly. This is one of Di Stefano's very finest recorded efforts; Cal-las potently re-creates Amelia's haunted anguish; Tito Gobbi is apowerful Renato; and Fedora Barbieri's Ulrica is practically aforce of nature. The Barbiere (CDCB 47634) is equally splendid,sparked by Alceo Galliera's conducting, by Gobbi's uproarious,inimitable Figaro, and Luigi Alva's fluent Almaviva. Callas isscintillating, and is a refreshingly larger -than -life Rosina. Gobbiis also the galvanizing force on the recording of Verdi's Rigo-letto-not exactly prettily sung by him or by Callas, but gut -wrenchingly vivid nonetheless (CDCB 47469). This is also one ofthe few recordings that gives one a sense of Callas's upper exten-sion in full cry, as we know it from the celebrated pirate record-ings made in Mexico City in the early 1950s, which, Gobbi oncenoted, found Callas at the very peak of her vocal and interpretivepowers. Serafin gives one of his most exciting performances ondisc, and Di Stefano also seems able to present a real characterrather than simply a great voice as the Duke.
Despite the thrills in these performances of Ballo and Rigo-letto. Callas the Verdi soprano was always more of an intellectualthan vocal artist. She adhered to all the right rules, and made herpoints scrupulously, but the voice almost never sounded prettyenough to make Aida, or either of the Leonoras (in La forza deldestino and Ii trovatore), more than curiosities. Oddly enough, thevoice had thinned out just enough by the time of the studio Aida(CDCC 49030) to rob Callas's singing of the visceral impact ofthe Mexico City performances, particularly the one with MarioDel Monaco from 1952. This Trovatore (CDCB 49347; with Pan-erai, Barbieri, and Di Stefano, and conducted by Karajan) gavemany people their first hearing of Leonora's Act IV cabaletta,and Callas does make many interesting points. But no matter how
you slice it, Trovatore is not about psychological insights; it isabout great, opulently beautiful singing, and there is not all thatmuch of it on this set, or in the Forza (CDCC 47581), notwith-standing Richard Tucker's very fine Alvaro.
The Carmen (CDCC 47312) is a love or hate affair, with littlemiddle ground. To these ears, Callas's hard-bitten approach is atall times interesting, though rarely seductive. She is a hellcat fromthe gutters, and as such uses her force of personality to grab andruin her men. Gedda, superlative musician that he is, makes Josean elegant, eloquent foil, and Georges Pretre's erratic, propulsiveway with the score is well matched with Callas's reading.
inally, a few words on the entire enterprise of rereleasingCallas on CD. I have always felt that the CD releaseswould be the best possible incarnation of the LP ver-
sions, which after all is what the original production team hadworked toward. Nevertheless, to remove tape hiss is a dreadfulidea because it usually removes room acoustic and the buzzyovertones of the voices as well. This is what ruins the Tosca in par-ticular. Some of the reissues sound thrilling (especially MadamaButterfly and Ballo), some sound different but effective (Normaand Rigoletto), some are disappointingly blunted (Carmen), andsome are downright unacceptable (the Cav and Pag).
More problematic is what all this costs the prospective pur-chaser. Though some of these operas have been put onto twoCDs, most of them were last available in Seraphim pressings, sothey have now gone from true-blue budget to premium items-which puts some of them out of competition altogether. In fact,the only releases I can recommend wholeheartedly-as perfor-mances of particular merit from an entire cast-are Tosca, Ballo,Barbiere, Rigoletto, and Puritani, with the arguable addition ofButterfly, Traviata, and Carmen. Of course, if the Callas bug hasbitten you, you'll get them all. But if you limit yourself to theabove recommendations, as well as the recital CDs devoted tomultifarious Italian arias (CDC 47282) and to arias by Pucciniand Bellini (CDC 47283), you will get a comprehensive and rep-resentative view of this remarkable artist who was controversialin her time and will always remain so.
SO HIGH F IDEL I T Y
FOC
US E
lectronicsM
EN
AC
E 19166
WH
ER
E H
IGH
EN
DM
EE
TS
R C
I( BO
TT
OM
!M
AG
NA
OX
PK
OC
LEPIO
NE
En
YA
MA
HA
JVC
AIW
AD
EN
ON
/
( OM
PA
(T D
ISC
MA
IMS
- MA
GN
AV
OX
-C
DR
473 MA
TV
OL
UM
E
CO
B 480 N
EW
CD
R 486 N
EW
ST
AC
KE
RC
OB
482 NE
W- DE
NO
N -
DC
O 3300 S
TU
D R
OI
1199 95D
C01700 29 S
UP
ON
CO
N699 95
DC
01400 RE
MO
TE
419 95O
CO
BO
O R
EM
OT
E829 9)
DC
O 610
RE
MO
TE
7499)080 600 R
OA
M21.9 9)
- YA
MA
HA
-C
DT
m0 T
OP
S7/9 9)
CD
s 'TM
NE
WI/9 95
[09 410N
EW
1599)- P
ION
EE
RP
OM
200T
OP
ST
AC
KE
RA
llP
OP
602 NE
W S
TIR
PIO
NE
ER
PP
M 500 N
EW
ST
IRIN
ST
OC
KP
OP
400 NE
W S
TA
RA
T T
HE
PD
1100 NE
W T
OP
SIN
GLE
BE
ST
P05100 N
EW
MA
T M
G)
PR
ICE
SR
D M
OO
NE
W S
ING
LEIN
TH
E1011111 LA
SR
0600OC
OU
NT
RY
--
LIM R
OO
61
ST
AC
KE
R579 9)
OE
M 100 M
AT
ST
AC
KE
R199 9)
KIM
300 6 DIS
C S
TA
R159 91
9u/555 NE
W T
OP
AU
1119 95M
I/ 444 NE
W R
EM
OT
E119.95
901221 NE
WI/9.91
- NA
D -
5240 TO
P C
O P
LAY
ER
579.955220 C
D P
LAY
ER
279.95- S
ON
Y -
OP
RE
MO
TE
Dun
9MT
CO
MU
LOL
199.95LO
W189 91
10*
;59.115181
SU
PE
R S
PE
CIA
LSP
INN
AC
LE P
N6 +
FA
NT
AS
TIC
SO
UN
D F
RO
M A
BO
OK
SH
ELF
SPEAKER.
GREAT FREQ. RESPONSE
TO
P R
AT
ED
0140179.95 PR
PN
) + T
OP
RA
TE
DIn
ST
ER
EO
MA
GA
ZIN
ES
MA
LLB
OO
KS
HE
LF S
PE
AK
ER
SR
EP
RO
DU
CE
AM
AZ
ING
BA
SS
ON
LY829.95 P
R
PIN
NA
CLE
YA
MA
HA
MR
S -1
MA
ST
ER
VO
LUM
EC
ON
TR
OLLE
RS
ELE
CT
OR
6 CH
. WIT
H f IN
.P
UT
SE
LEC
TO
RS
AF
TE
RS
ET
TIN
G V
OLU
ME
S O
NS
EP
AR
AT
ES
WILL U
NIF
OR
-M
ALIN
AD
JUS
T V
OLU
ME
ON
LY164.95
YA
MA
HA
RX
-1100 RE
MO
TE
RE
CE
IVE
R 125W
PC
. W F
ULL
RE
MO
TE
CO
NT
RO
L.M
OT
OR
IZE
D V
OW
ME
CO
N-
TR
OL
5 SP
KR
SE
LEC
TO
RA
UD
IO 4 V
IDE
O C
ON
TR
OLS
& P
RO
C. T
OP
S A
RO
UN
DO
NLY
/19 9)
MA
GN
AV
OX
CD
11-075F
EA
TU
RE
LAD
EN
CO
MP
AC
TD
ISC
PR
AY
ER
FM
16 BIT
C14
CO
NV
EIF
IOR
S, Q
UA
D O
VE
R -
SA
MP
LING
RE
MO
TE
WIT
HV
OLU
ME
CO
NT
RO
L &M
OR
ES
PE
CIA
ILVP
RIC
ED
199.95
AZ
DE
N D
M 90 B
RA
ND
NE
WT
OP
Of T
HE
LINE
DIG
ITA
LH
EA
DP
HO
NE
S. M
A S
IZE
4V
ER
Y C
OM
FO
RT
AB
LE D
AR
EIN
G O
f TH
E S
UM
ME
R C
ON
-S
UM
ER
ELE
CT
RO
NIC
SS
HO
W IN
TR
O S
PE
CIA
I 79 95
- 0.A.T
. -1T
C 577
1999.951599.9)
111 AN
N T
AP
ES
45411 AR
SE
13=15183121111133- Y
AM
AH
A3 H
OS
B.
C. 089
BC
. HI P
RO
A84 400 R
CP
RO
0X200 2 M
OT
OR
DO
ER
OW
900 TO
P D
OU
BLE
CA
SS
100.1500 DM
8C A
R
5/9.95179.95249.95219.91
LOW
149 45
85 260* PC
PW
8 AM
P449.95
48900130W P
C N
M A
MP
009.95A
x500 85W P
C N
IL AM
P179.95
49300 30W P
C N
IG A
MP
IOW
185 HI E
NU
TU
NE
R189.11
84(30 A V
CO
NT
RO
LLER
149.954w
C50 A
9 CO
NT
RO
LLER
459.91S
R 50 S
UR
R P
RO
C219.95
101100 GE
WM
IC529.85
OS
P -urn
NE
W G
SP
MO
NE
W
MIS
SIO
N149 95 P
R949 95
tsv vs PR
.2/G
699 95
= - K
OS
S H
EA
DP
HO
NE
S -
1C1t-200 T
WO
PIE
CE
CO
RD
LES
SH
EA
DP
HO
NE
S W
ITH
RE
CE
IVE
RB
UILT
INT
O H
EA
DS
ET
TR
UE
HI -F
lR
EP
RO
DU
CT
ION
%V
NO
CO
RD
RE
ST
RIC
TIO
N O
NLY
II) 95JC
A100 3
PIE
CE
CO
RD
LES
S99.95
- SO
WS
IN S
TO
CK
--P
OR
TA
BLE
DIS
( PLA
TE
RS
N7188 S
MA
LLES
T P
LAY
S
-
LOW
03 SM
AII
003 SM
*RA
DIO
0160 FO
R C
AR
1310S
AA
AP
ER
OT
TO
SM
*RA
MO
Dna N
EWC
AR
ST
ER
EO
S
-1905
728071/93223639462066258
ALP
INE
669 9)169 vs)99 95iav vs
PI/11995P
R ./.1 95
PR
69 95
10%IO
WIO
WLOW
IOW
IOW
519 no(29 95aiv vsilst vs
1.1? 159 91P
H 129 vs
I'llI P
o vs- S
059C
OO
A20 N
EW
Ruhr S
i,S
TA
CK
ER
*EIT
HE
R luT
hit UH
RE
MO
TE
IOW
MR
88 TO
P R
AT
ED
(DR
AM
LOW
CD
, BO
C4P
CD
4)49(4LO
W88 )300 P
O H
i PO
WE
R10%
OR
1200 PO
SA
ME
Too
IOW
OE
7150 PO
FE
AT
uR! F
ULL
IOW
XR
7050 NE
W P
OI O
UT
IOW
906300 AR
5)6H
r PW
RIO
W918 T
AP
E M
T F
OR
CO
8R138
LOW
- DE
NO
N -
DO
C199.95
Drk
5E9 95
1/9 95I59 95
HS
I" 429 vs
MA
GN
AV
OX
( DB
-413F
eature laden Co-.
,er FT
S16 B
it
OA
Convertors. Q
uad, R
emote W
ith
Volum
e Control A
nd Moo9 99"
SP
EC
IALLY
PR
ICE
D
NE
W1
PIN
NA
CLE
PN
6aniastic S
ound From
A B
ookshelt Speaker
Great F
requency Response T
op Rated
ON
LYsl 7995 P
AIR
MA
GN
AV
OX
CD
B-486
SIX
DIS
C, C
D C
HA
NG
ER
Muth C
O P
layer Works O
H 01 A
rrD
isc Magazine G
ives Hours O
f Urunteitupled C
O
Lislenum P
leasureIncludes R
emote C
ontrol
527 55M
ON
TH
S
AD
LAS
T
0:0AC
IAIS
1D
OIT
IOM
AL
SC
OT
T D
DS
'SH
igh Speed O
ubbrng Cassette D
eckD
olby 8N
oose Reduction
Synchro D
ubbing Function
Continuous P
lay 5 1E0 R
ecord level Meter N
orron) C
hrome T
ape
5 9 9 95S
ALE
PR
I( I
FO
R O
RD
ER
S O
NLY
1-800-223-3411F
OR
NY
S &
INF
O (718) 871-7600
HO
UR
S: M
ON
.-TH
UR
S. 9-7 F
RI. 9-3 S
UN
. 10-6
AZ
DE
N D
M 90
..od New
Top 01 T
he Line Cholla! H
eadphones.11 S
ine And V
ery Com
fortable Darling O
f The
nutter Consum
er..-t, n.88 S
hnw Intro
SP
E (
I.11$7995
PA
RS
EC
LS -4
BR
AN
D N
EW
CIR
CU
ITR
YO
ne Of T
he Biggest P
roblems F
acing FM
Stereo
Is Poor R
eceptionT
his Am
plified Antenna Im
proves FM
Signal S
trengthB
y Up T
o 180,,W
Y/
$ 5 4"
PIN
NA
CLE
PN
5T
op Rated B
y Stereo M
agazine Sm
all Bookshe
Speakers R
eproduce Am
azing Bass
Si 29"
PA
IR
KO
SS
JCK
200 "KO
RD
-LE
SS
ST
ER
EO
PH
ON
ES
"C
losed Ear D
esign. Modal R
eady Clovers
In
eludes Transm
ute, Wireless S
tereophones And
AC
Adaptor
True H
r Fr S
ound
ON
LY9159s
"CO
MP
AC
T D
ISC
CA
MP
AC
KA
GE
"O
il Dust &
Sm
udges On A
Disc C
an Cause P
onC
licks Or O
ther Annoying S
ounds The I
A C
O P
layer Needs C
leaningC
lean,
)7grlr,I A
.(1,
Rr
54 9 9 5
FR
EE
!! FR
EE
!!W
ith Any P
urchase From
This list R
eceive Any
One 01 T
hese Three Item
s Absolutely F
ree."A
PA
IR O
f AZ
DE
N D
SR
-6/H
EA
DP
HO
NE
S O
RA
DE
MO
N H
D -4
AU
DIO
CA
SS
ET
TE
OR
A 1 C
AS
SE
TT
E S
TO
RA
GE
CA
SE
Pia M
K W
V 61 410845110 A
T F
AH
Of M
AIM
S*
SC
OT
T R
S -30
AM
FM
Stereo R
eceiver 75 Watts P
er Channel
IluattrD
igital Synthesizer
Tuner
16 AM
FM
Presets P
ower O
utput Meter Inputs F
ru MM
P^nno T
ape CU
OA
T
S9 9 9,
%A
lf PR
ICE
CR
OW
N C
D -2000
All
In One S
hed System
With C
O Includes
Turntable. R
eceiver With 10
Double C
ass, ".W
ith HS
Oubbm
g A C
O P
la.,eS
peakers
ALL O
HIO
5249"
YA
MA
HA
84111311125 W
AT
T R
UT
89 900 85 WA
TT
MA
TR
A T
OO
60 WA
TT
RU
T80500 50 W
AT
T M
ITR
S 300 M
EE
CH
RE
CR
9020 W
AT
T R
EM
OT
ER
A85 W
AT
T
WH
EN
IN N
EW
YO
RK
, VISIT
US IN
OU
R N
EW
LY
EX
PAN
DE
D SO
UN
D R
OO
M A
T 4523 13T
H A
VE
NU
E !!
799.9/619.95
LOW
519 9)249 95/19.95149.11
- AR
C -
RX
1001 NE
W S
UR
R120 A
EM
OT
E119.91
80 999 NE
W 1004 M
IT519.91
RA
711 NE
W R
OW
MA
T419.95
RI 555 N
EW
60* MIT
279.95R
I 333 NE
W 454 R
IO119.95
RI 202 N
EW
35W M
AT
119.95- P
ION
EE
R -
VS
X 9300 N
EW
1254 PR
O S
UM
ALL
VS
L 7300 NE
W 25* M
AT
PIO
NE
ER
619 5300 NE
W 100W
MA
T IN
ST
OC
KS
O 2300 N
EW
60W P
C A
T T
HE
BE
ST
50I300 NE
W 4019 P
CP
RIC
ES
- DE
NO
N -
OR
A 95 8599 R
EM
OT
ELO
WO
RA
625 654 RE
MO
TE
449.95O
RA
425 454 PE
R C
HM
989.95D
RA
35 40W P
ER
CH
NI
299.91D
M 25 304 P
ER
CH
M221.11
- NA
DP
E M
ST
EV
ER
5011LO
W7175 P
E H
I0511 P
C4119.9/
7240 PE
Hi 4098 P
C119.15
- DE
NO
N -
OR
M 94118 C
OM
P 3 H
OE
159 95D
RM
3010 MA
T 390 H
A P
RO
.119 95O
RM
2411 NE
W 8 C
HA
PR
O1(114
DA
M N
M H
O P
RO
MIT
1)9 95O
RM
1211A H
O P
RO
001189 95
OR
M T
OM
DO
EH
e PR
O1)9 95
OR
ME
)] DO
LBY
8C
109 VS
- AR
C -
rov In NE
W 3 H
EM
) TO
PS
ING
LE
109611 NE
W A
R S
NC
itT
OR
411 NE
W A
R B
CT
OR
311 NE
W D
OT
SN
G1
TO
W 999 N
EW
TO
P 081
TO
W 777 N
EW
DB
EA
R
TE
M 444 00 A
UT
O R
EV
TD
W222 O
D A
R B
C- P
ION
EE
R -
(3W9008 N
EW
TO
P O
ILA
LLC
TW
OD
OR
NE
W N
I A R
PIO
NE
ER
CT
W 500 N
EW
D81
BC
IN S
TO
CK
CT
W 300 N
EW
DM
HI S
PA
T T
HE
CT
S 800 N
EW
3 90 RC
. HA
PR
O B
ES
TC
TS
600 NE
W B
C 98 P
RO
PR
ICE
SC
IS 200 N
EW
SIN
GLE
AR
OU
ND
- AIW
A -
110194 909 TO
P D
OU
BLE
LOW
AO
WA
806 A:R
081H
A P
RO
129.95A
IM 707 A
R O
BE
IC219.95
AD
P 30 A
RL
119.95
- YA
MA
HA
-O
SP
) DIG
SO
UN
D P
RO
C759.91
M 3540W
AM
P F
OR
OS
P!
219.95
499 9)419 95189 95169.95529.95249.95201.91189.95
IRE
-119 9, P
R1,1120 299.9%
PR
199 95 PR
L 6707 119.95 PR
-5597) P
R. 1 M
OT
999.91 PR
- BO
SE
-J W
AY
PO
RT
ED
729.95 PR
.B
OO
KS
HE
LF229.95 P
R.
- AD
VE
NT
-V
SIN
ST
OC
KabE
TW
OO
FE
RIN
ST
OC
KB
AB
Y e
IN S
TO
CK
PR
OD
IGY
TO
WE
RIN
ST
OC
KLE
GA
CY
IN S
TO
CK
MA
ES
TR
OIN
ST
OC
K- P
INN
AC
LE -
MO
NE
W T
INY
. EX
O99.91 P
R.
PN
5 8T
OP
RA
TE
D S
HE
LF 129.95 P
R.
PN
6 + LA
RG
ER
,B
ET
TE
R179.91 P
R.
PN
8 LAR
GO
-189 95 P
RP
N M
OI
199 or PR
HE
AD
PH
ON
ES
- AZ
DE
N -
DM
90 BR
AN
D N
EW
. TO
P O
fto?
DIG
ITA
L HE
AD
PH
ON
ES
. TH
E O
AR
ING
Gi
Yt
SU
MM
ER
CE
S S
HO
WIN
TR
O S
PE
CIA
L79.95
DS
R 50 D
IGF
ULL S
IZE
49.91O
SR
48 DIG
ITA
L LT191
14.95
DE
NO
N A
LDIO
TA
PES
20H
O8 M
O 4.39 E
A. 808 901.19 E
A.
808 601.19 E
A. 807 905.19 E
A.
HO
T 80
2.69 EA
.
1159.95
.1
159 95- 1S
t -.299618
149.11 ItS(14518
109.95esR
x418269.95 K
SR
X408
LOW
4SR
X308
Low K
SR
A2138
LOW
KS
R18
159.95 ALC
30499.95
8SA
20219.95 K
SE
75149.91
tla PIO
NE
ER
'IN
ST
OC
K!!
- BO
ST
ON
-AC
CO
US
TIC
S -
L70011 PR
149.91 741 PR
129.99797 A
WA
RD
WIN
6093 WA
Y ig9 95 P
RK
AU
104 PM
. AIW
A. C
OM
MO
NV
Yip' ',C
199.95 8814501 19 95
19 95,
199 91
- BO
OM
BO
XE
S -
HE
AD
PV
ION
IF W
ITH
AN
Y11001400S
PU
NC
HA
SS
1,,!
I CD
PA
YE
R A
u-
TA
CH
SP
EA
KE
RS
9599)P
CV
2S
ING
LEC
AS
SE
TT
EC
DA
u
DE
TA
CH
SP
AR
S G
I ON
LY129.95
PC
17 CA
SS
ET
TE
WIT
H D
IG T
UN
E R
OW
TO
PS
111.95- S
ON
Y -
CID
444 AM
EN
CA
SS
VIIC
DP
lAIT
HD
ET
AC
H S
PA
RS
& G
RP
HC
ED
LOW
CE
O 66 A
HE
M C
AS
S C
OLO
WC
10 77 AN
ON
A R
CA
SS
CD
low
PR
O P
OIN
T T
WO
Am
plifiedS
peakersF
orU
seW
ithC
O.
Or
Cassette D
ecksD
oes Not N
eed A R
eceive?S
eparate Volum
e Controls
ON
LYS
i 39"I 77111)
AT
C B
RA
ND
"BO
OM
BO
X"
This P
ortable Sound S
ystem F
rom A
TC
Features
110 220 Voltage S
election For
Travel. O
oubleC
assette HS
Dubbing. A
M F
M S
tereo Radio 80
Separate R
ight & left V
olume C
ontrols & Is
AC
OC
Pow
ered
ON
LY5 9 95
CO
UG
AR
10 BA
ND
SH
OR
TW
AV
E R
AD
IOListening T
o Short W
are Broadcasts Is B
oth Inform
ative & F
un113 B
and Radio P
icks Up B
roadcasts F
rom C
ountries You w
e Read A
bout AC
DC
Pow
ered
54995O
NLY
)VC
PV
C 300
lungD
ouble Cassette. H
S D
ubbingT
M S
tereo. Com
pact Disc P
layer With P
ro
ramm
ingG
raphicE
qualizerD
etachable,oeakers. E
nhanced-r A
SS
110220. AC
DC
53 5 995O
NLY
AIW
A ( I W
/00;S
ystemW
ithA
uto
keyeTse P
layback On B
oth Wells A
M F
M S
tereoN
adio WIth E
D &
Spectrum
Analyzer
TO
770volt
AC
OC
Pow
ered
ON
LYS
i69"
CO
MP
AC
T D
ISC
CA
BIN
ET
S.dore T
OW
Valualci
:7 Collection
Cla,
,a11
Toll N
o Plyw
ood Curnoosites. O
r Veneer, 'land
Rubbed B
eechOr
Teak F
inishes Holds 36 D
iscs
CA
SIO
MU
SIC
SY
ST
EM
51 100A
Great S
ystem A
t A G
reat FT
urntable.R
eceiverW
ith 10A
HS
U.:,
Cassette D
eck & T
wo S
helf Speakers F
etter rF
or The D
en Or
Kid's
Room
ON
LY9 79"
SO
NY
D-88
Sony s S
mallest E
ntryInto
The P
ortable CO
Market. Is T
he Biggest N
ews A
round Plays 3
& 5
CD
's So Y
ou Can H
ave The B
est 01 Both
Worlds
Program
mable &
Is AC
DC
Pow
eredJacks &
Cables
To H
ook Into Hom
e Stereo
Included CA
LL FO
R LO
W P
RIC
E.
SA
LE5399s
AIW
A C
TS
-1100C
AR
ST
ER
EO
PA
CK
AG
EC
omplete
Audiophile
Car
System
Analoge
AM
FM
Cassette S
tereo Head U
nit 50 Wait
Auto R
everse. Graphic E
qualizerP
rM
atchingS
peakers & C
ables51
4995A
LL FO
R O
NLY
FO
CU
S E
LEC
TR
ON
ICS
- norm 4521 1191. A
TE
., WR
ITN
., NT
11219; MA
R O
RD
ER
1221 59.1. ST
., BK
LYN
., fa 11216O
RD
ER
S O
NLY
igDo 2233411 F
OR
WO
RM
/ME
W 0
NE
W Y
OR
K S
TA
TE
OR
DE
RS
PLE
AS
E C
ALL 17188/17600 T
OR
CU
ST
OM
ER
SE
RV
ICE
PLE
AS
E C
ALL
I 118 654 5017 HO
ND
AY
TH
UR
SD
AT
TW
A 4P
M V
ISA
. NC
AM
EX
AN
D C
OD
GLA
DLY
AC
CE
PT
ED
SO
ME
UN
ITS
CA
RR
Y A
N E
XC
LUS
IVE
NA
TIO
NA
L ON
E Y
EA
R P
AR
TS
AN
O LA
BO
RW
AR
RA
NT
Y T
HR
OU
GH
10CU
5 ELE
CT
RO
NIC
S O
TH
ER
S C
AR
RY
ST
AN
DA
RD
MA
NU
FA
CT
UR
ER
S W
AR
RA
NT
Y ()T
IER
CE
WA
RR
AN
TIE
S A
RE
MA
KA
BLE
SO
ME
ALLO
CA
TE
D P
RO
OU
CT
S M
AY
TA
KE
26 WE
EK
S O
R M
OR
E F
OR
DE
LIVE
RY
PLE
AS
E A
SK
AT
TIM
E 0
PU
RC
HA
SE
FO
UR
TE
EN
DA
Y R
ET
UR
N P
OLIC
Y A
RE
ST
OC
KIN
G F
EE
MA
Y B
E C
HA
RG
ED
TO
R IT
EM
S R
ET
UR
NE
D A
FT
ER
1.4 DA
Y P
ER
IOD
All U
NIT
S A
RE
stump N
EW
ITE
MS
TH
AT
AR
E A
men° (0g
RE
TU
RN
MA
T B
E C
HA
RG
ED
A R
ES
TO
CK
ING
TE
EIF
P C
IAG
ING
MO
OR
ITE
M IS
NO
T A
S N
EW
WH
EN
RE
TU
RN
ED
SH
IPP
ING
HA
ND
LING
AN
D IN
SU
RA
NC
E A
RE
EO
TR
A A
ND
NO
NR
EF
UN
DA
BLE
/MT
RE
SP
ON
SIB
LE F
OR
TY
PO
GR
AP
HIC
AL E
RR
OR
S. P
RIC
ES
AN
O AV
AILA
RT
ITY
SU
BJE
CT
TO
CH
AN
GE
WIT
HO
UT
NO
TIC
E A
PP
LICA
BLE
FR
EE
GIF
TS
MU
ST
BE
RE
QU
ES
TE
D A
T T
IME
DT
(gluon(
WE
'VE
BE
EN
IN B
US
INE
SS
FO
R 11 Y
EA
RS
AN
D O
UR
MA
NY
SA
TIS
FIE
D C
US
TO
ME
RS
AR
E O
UR
BE
ST
AD
VE
RT
ISE
ME
NT
.
A flock of CDs for the dedicated ornithologistas well as the novice Bird watcher
(lint Eastwood's Bird, the film biography ofCharlie "Yardbird" Parker, may precipitate awide interest in the legendary jazz innovatordespite itself: The musical sequences are thatcompelling, and record companies, hoping totake advantage of the publicity surrounding
the film, have just made huge chunks of the Bird cata-log more readily available than ever. Still, it's hard toimagine this dank and dolorous depiction of the altosaxophonist's latter years encouraging large numbersof people to seek out the music they've managed toignore for so long.
In truth, it's not quite accurate to call the film a biog-raphy, as it deals mainly with those last horrendousyears of Parker's life: from the late 1940s to his death,at age thirty-four, in 1955. This story -joined -in -progress feeling is abetted by a tricky nonlinear narra-tive that sometimes makes it difficult for even aficiona-dos to tell just where or when events are taking place.There is, though, an admirable fealty to the knownfacts, and many of the oft -told incidents that consti-tute Bird lore are faithfully presented. The film's onlyreally craven bit of fictionalizing comes when it resortsto that hoary biopic convention, the composite char-acter-in this case, one "Buster Franklin," who justhappens to be on the scene each time our belea-guered hero reaches another Life Landmark.
More bothersome than the content of the film is itsforeboding texture, the way it proceeds from dark todarker to darkest. By the time Bird expires in the flat ofBaroness Nica de Koenigswarter, his death seemsredundant: Sitting in this sinister woman's gothic digs,with mysterious movie -lamps casting deep shadowsbut little light, he's already entombed. Bird's life didhave its film noir aspects: the drugs and booze andbouts of madness, the racism, the incredible talentignored/neglected/squandered. But these horrorswere real and complicated-which is to say at timesmitigated, ambiguous-and to have your Art Directionserve as an unrelenting metaphor for your protago-nist's worst feelings is to paint monochromatically.This may be apt for one of Eastwood's urban crimethrillers (which also tend to be depressing), but it's anunsatisfying slant for an actual man's actual life.
Forest Whitaker's Bird is definitely an Oscar -caliberperformance, which is not wholly a compliment:There's nothing subtle about his immersion in the role,and the Academy tends to like a showy display, onewhere the character's turmoil and the actor's effortmerge. This Bird is a sometimes appealing, some-times appalling, mercurial man -child, and Whitakerconvinces as a committed artist, though one missesany trace of the poise that would certainly accrue to aliving legend. (Greeting some hipsters on the street,Whitaker comes on like a boyish junior member of thebop counterculture; there's no indication that this Birdis even a little aware that he practically invented theseguys.) Bird's wife Chan and trumpeters Dizzy Gillespieand Red Rodney are well enacted, though there havebeen complaints that the white Rodney is featured
while the black Gillespie is downplayed But Diz is pre-sented as the philosophical, responsible counter tothe hapless Bird, whereas Red is a well-meaningpatsy: The one prolonged "lighter" secpence of thefilm involves a Southern tour where, to circumventsegregationist policies, the red-haired 1-umpuerposes as an albino blues singer.
However one feels about the dramatic structureand content of this two-hour-and-40-mnute fi m,director Eastwood's haidling of the musicalsequences, his realization of his stated desire to showthat bebop was and is hot," is superb. If only he hadput the music into some kind of context, one thatwould have made clear just what the nature ofParker's revolution a scene of Bird jamming withhis predecessors in a Jazz at the Philharmonic settingmight have made the point. To Eastwood aid scenar-ist Joel Oliansky'scredit, there is awell -handled mo-ment where Parkertries to explain toRodney how im-provising on thechords to "Chero-kee" led to his mu-sical breakthrough.
The music of thefilm, heard on theCD release of Bird:Original MotionPicture Sound-track (ColumbiaCK 44299), alsoarouses ambiva-lent feelings. Hav-ing decided to gowith the originalParker recordings-and thereforefaced with qualityof sound rangingfrom so-so to exe-crable-Eastwooddecided that Bird'splaying should beextracted. The process, according to Columbia,entailed "the use of selective EOing, e dynamic noisefilter, and other devices" that "took opt all theunwanted frequencies leaving only th sound ofBird." The newly freed Parker could then be placed ina freshly recorded stereo setting, surrounded by con-temporary but sympathetic musicians.
This process has been compared with the coloriza-tion of classic movies, but it's not that bad. not theleast because the new players here are, generally,musicians of substance, and their contribitions aren'treally a parallel to Ted Turner's sickly pastels. Alsounlike colonization, a few of the original tapes unques-tionably benefit from the process, particularly the
D VISrauri PIET
ROACH
JORDAN
TOMMY POTTE
By Richard C. Walls
Back in 1948, thereal -life Mayor of52nd St hawksthe saxophonistand bard at theThree Deuces
53
PARKER'S
1
:hree cuts ("LE ster Leaps In," "This Time the Dream's:n Me, "Coo Blues") recorded at the Rockland Pal-ace in -larlem n late 1952. Past issues of this datelave been a most unlistenable (though there's a cer-E in co lector's macho that makes it bad taste to pointf is ou-) because the band is poorly recorded and the
crowd -rases sound like a riot in a train station. For thesoundt-ack recording, the babble has been toneddown to a tamer blur of continual chatter, while Bird'ssolos we slightly slowed and brought to the front ofthe mix. Because the altoist was in an exultant moodduring -his set, the rescue effort here is a success.
Finker an! Rodin v '948. watching Gillespie. Clyde Lombardi (reflection)
Elsewhere, t le whole project seems more a noveltyef-ort. And though only pianist Monty Alexander'sarachroiistic s -ring of funk clichés on "I Can't BelieveThat Ycu're in Love with Me" (evidencing a very '60skind of gi bness) and the addition of strings on'Parker'= Mooc" seem ill-judged, the following ques-tion arises: Why not, especially in light of the manyCompact Disc collections released in time for :ne film,take your Bird straight?
You could start, for example, with the three -CDboxed set The Complete Savoy Studio Sessions(Savoy Jazz ZC6 5500). First issued as a five -_Pboxed set a decade ago and running just over threehours aid 20 m nutes, this collection of maste- anda rnat:_z. takes, as well as incomplete takes and falses:arts, ctvonclogically covers 1944-48 and gathersmore grzat Parker in one place than any other currentco lector. The packaging is exemplary, and the infor-mation on the box manages to improve on the originalLD issue by listing times and types of takes. Theaccomprdiying 24 -page booklet contains a musicallyknowleCgeable olow-by-blow of the sessions, makingtl e whole. package the ultimate Bird documentary.
This E bop al its most succinct-tight quintets
working hard to get that nearly perfect three -minutemaster take. Bird is at his peak here, alternately andoverlappingly the virtuoso formalist, the cry -from -the -heal bluesmaster, the harmonic adventurer, the iron cabstractionist. Most often, his co -horn is a very youngMiles Davis, already working on his antiflash aes-thet c. Though many of the retakes are due to Miles'sdifficulties with Bird's fiendishly clever melody lines,the -.rumpeter's persistence in honing his own visionand voice is one of the fascinations of the collection.
Understandably, this may all be a bit much for thebeginner: It does take a well -developed appreciationof Parker to fully savor the pleasures offered by 12consecutive takes (including four false starts) of"Marmaduke." And so neophytes are directed to thetwo -CD set The Complete Original Master Takes:The Savoy Recordings (ZDS 8801), which containsthe boxed set's 30 "official" versions. The soundhere, as on all of these Savoy studio CDs, is animprovement over that of the LPs, but one must stilladjust expectations: This is, after all, the work of alow -Budget studio from the bad old mono days. And ityou'i prefer to be even more cautious, or frugal,there's a single -CD collection called Original Bird:The Best of Bird on Savoy (ZDS 1208), which whit-tles :he tally down to 14 nonchronological takes,including all the acknowledged classics. Playing time,though, is a rather skimpy 39:02.
Savoy also has reissued its complete catalog of liverecordings made by Bird at New York's Royal Roostjazz club. These four separate single -CD releasesshare the title Bird at the Roost: The Savoy Years(Vols. 1-4: ZDS 4411-14), and they collect in chrono-logical order performances that were originally seg-ments of deejay Symphony Sid's late -night radioremotes from the club between September 1948 andMarch 1949. The gigs are a different breed of cat fromthe studio sets: Not only is the sound rougher (but nottoo bad, as these things go), but the whole ambienceis changed, and wonderfully quaint. There's Sid, theself-proclaimed "all-night, all -frantic one," with hisreal -gone bop talk and periodic reminders that youcan come down to the club and hear six hours ofmusic for 95 cents (!); the hyper but attentive crowdsand the responding quintets, eschewing studio perfec-tion for one -take bop bravura; and even a few com-mercials (Snow White face powder -25 cents a box).
01 the 15 dates here, Bird has nary an off night(except for the 1/29/49 oddity where only one song isplayed and he doesn't solo), though after a while youbegin to notice that he arrives on the bandstand inone of two distinct moods: either smooth and mellow,effortlessly unraveling his complex inventions, or moreagitated, given to breaking the spell of his flow withdisjunctive cries. It's all very good (start with Vol. 2,which has a credible bop version of "White Christ-mas' and a raucous New Year's Eve date), with con-sistently fine contributions from trumpeters Miles
S4
Davis and Kenny Dorham, drummer Max Roach, andthe always underrated pianist Al Haig.
Aside from his years at Savoy, Bird's most produc-tive associations were with the Dial and Verve labels.The Dials are likely to show up in the most unlikelyplaces (though Warner Bros. has many of them), whilethe Verves have just been released on CD asBird: The Complete Charlie Parker on Verve (Verve837 141-2), a ten -disc boxed set running more than 11hours and including more than 11/2 hours of previouslyunissued material. (This set, minus the new material,was released on LP a few years back: See "Parker'sElegant Insouciance," by Francis Davis, in the March1985 issue of this magazine.) This is a very differentaffair from the Savoy box, covering as it does a period(1946-54) when producer Norman Granz and a willingBird were constantly casting about for alternatives tothe conventional bop quintet format. In retrospect,these matches-Bird with Machito's Latin band, withstrings, with voices, with strings and big band-seemforced. Time has been harsh to the pop garnishings ofthat era, and one has to tolerate a lot to dig out thetimeless Parkerisms.
That said, the extremely popular -in -their -day stringsessions, though unimaginatively arranged, do displayParker's amazing melodic facility, his ability to play"pretty'. without becoming goopy. Likewise, the Latin -percussion sides, while something of a rhythmic strait-jacket, show the altoist modifying the bop concept in awholly coherent way. Even on a flat-out disaster likethe session with Gil Evans and voices (the inanematerial partially redeemed by a remastering thatbrings out the rhythm section), Bird plays with concen-tration and feeling, integrity intact.
There is plenty here that one can enjoy unambigu-ously: the Bird/Diz and Bird/Miles quintet sides (muchof the previously unissued stuff is small -group out-takes), as well as several long and jolly Jazz at thePhilharmonic jams, featuring giants like Lester Young,Coleman Hawkins, and Johnny Hodges-primers inprebop and bebop sax styles (just as Bird's solo onthe JATP "Oh, Lady Be Good" is a primer on develop-ing an improvisation). The sound throughout is some-what better than that of the Savoys, and the packag-ing is exceptionally attractive-though the 36 -pagebooklet, despite some very striking photographs, is adisappointment, taking as it does an anecdotalapproach to the sessions when some specific musicalguideposts would have been more helpful.
Like Savoy, Verve has anticipated its boxed setoverwhelming both the newcomer and the budget -conscious and has therefore issued a single -CD dis-tillation of this material, running almost 50 minutes,called Bird: The Original Recordings of CharlieParker (837 176-2). Wisely concentrating on thesmall -group sides, supplemented by three tracks fromthe strings sessions (including "Just Friends," Bird'sbiggest -selling single) and one JATP jam ("Lester
Leaps I-i"), this is highly recommended.Because Parker was so often recorded on tie job
by amateur enthusiasts, a significant pplion of his dis-cography remains a sort of free-floating undargrcundphenomenon, emerging periodically on Dbscurelabels, disappeareg, reemerging.... The qual ty ofthis material is va-iable, the sound often abysmal Onecan expect, during the cpming months, -nuch of it toemerge yet again. Meanwhile, already aut a -e twpsepara-e single -CD releases dubbed Bebop 8 Bird(Vols. 1 and 2: HiDsville, Rhino R2 70197 and 70198),which present a t odgepodge of live anc Dial se& -
"Just Fraends," 1949: 3uddy Bch. Ray Brown, Ettri, Maca Millar, strings
sions-including. on Vcl. 2, the infamous RocklandPalace set, with is healache-inducing low-fi crcwdnoises. You also get a grotesque example of Bid athis worst, "The Gypsy" (Vol. 2), recorded just hoursbefore the brealocown fiat landed him n a Californiamental hospital; a gooc but poorly reccrded Birdlanddate with trumpeter Fats Navarro and some exoellentBud Powell on p ano (Vol. 1); and a sanpling of one ofBird's most feliclous collaborations, that with pianistErroll Garner (Vol. 2). But there's no mime or reasonto these two collections-except the hppe of cashingin on the event of Bird-and though tiere are pointsof interest, this is certa nly no place to start.
Nor is The Bird You Never Heard (Stash STCD10), an hour-long collector's miscellaw of ive ses-sions. Much of tiffs sands perfuncto-y (i.e , only mild-ly inspired), and pluses and minuses_end to balanceeach other out .% good Birdland session w th Powelland bassist Chales Mingus amply features Candido'sannoying conga. and an intriguing Umersity of Ore-gon set with trumpeter Chet Baker has all the nan-Birdsolos edited out For We hardcore only. Wou d-je Birdfans who go from Eastwood's melodrama straight tothis mess are liable to quit before they begin.
55
Medley
Edited by Ted Libbeyand Ken Richardson
Barber Down UnderWhile our heads were turned in an easterly direc-tion-the better to keep an eye on such recentdevelopments in the classical recording field as
the launching of Virgin Classics and the separation ofGunther Breest from Deutsche Grammophon-impor-tant things were going on right under our noses ... anddown under as well. Specifically, New Jersey's own Stra-divari Classics, with Michael Fine in charge, was in NewZealand in mid -October for a lightning round of record-ing sessions devoted to Samuel Barber's long -suppressedSymphony No. 2.
The Second Symphony was a product of Barber'sWorld War II stint in the U.S. Army Air Force, most ofwhich he spent in Fort Worth composing music ofa suit-ably patriotic and optimistic cast for wartime perfor-mance. The symphony was completed in 1944 and re-ceived its premieres in Boston and New York with SergeKoussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orches-tra. Barber revised the score in 1947, and later made arecording of it, but he remained dissatisfied with thework-as, by and large, did its audiences. In 1971, Bar-ber withdrew the score, destroying the manuscript andasking his publisher, G. Schirmer, to see that the per-formance materials were likewise destroyed. One ofSchirmer's European associates failed to carry out the in-struction and thus the work survived unbeknownst to thecomposer, who died in 1981.
Quite recently, conductor Andrew Schenck obtainedpermission from the Barber estate to record the sympho-ny, and Fine and Stradivari jumped at the opportunity.The issue of whether the estate will permit future publicperformances is unresolved. Fine, who describes the sym-phony as "a patriotic gesture comparable to Shostako-vich's Leningrad Symphony," says his label will make ad-ditional Barber recordings in the near future, of the operaThe Lovers and the choral work Prayers of Kierkegaard.
In other news, the piano duo of David Bradshaw andCosmo Buono has been tapped by Connoisseur Society torecord the complete four -hand and two -piano works ofFranz Liszt-the first time an integral recording of thisrepertory has been attempted, and the largest recordingproject in the history of duo piano playing. Bradshaw andBuono already have two releases to their credit on Con-noisseur Society, one devoted to opera paraphrases ofLiszt, the other to works by Debussy and Ravel. The up-coming Liszt project is expected to span ten years.
Meanwhile, another partnership that has spanned adecade-that of BMG Classics (RCA) and Erato-willbe terminated at the end of the year because of divergentinterests. But the French label continues to produce win-ning releases. More on that next month. Ted Libbey
It's Zouk to MeJoe Blum's article in the November 1988 issue of thismag was interesting and informative, but I can't helpbelieving this world -pop fad is getting silly. Blame the
Ugly American guilt complex, but given high ticketprices and cosmopolitan condescension, there's some-thing dilettantishly nose -in -the -air about the context ofappreciation, now more noticeable than the music itself.
This is, let's remember, a cyclical event: We hadcalypso and Astrud Gilberto at the turn of the '60s, RaviShankar at the turn of the '70s, reggae (via punk) andsalsabeat (via disco) at the turn of the '80s. Today we'vegot soukous, mbacianga, rai, and whatnot as supposedescapes from what Newsweek calls "the paint -by -numberspredictability of most hit records," but said predictabilityis a lazy, jaded myth: Madonna and Poison have as muchlife and surprise in them as anyone presented by Shana-chie, Elektra/Nonesuch, or Earthworks/Virgin in 1988.
I've heard ten or twenty '88 American dance LPs fun-nier, wilder, and sexier than Hurricane Zouk, and mostWestern fans of Ofra Haza's Shaday would blanch at thenew Olivia Newton -John set, which succeeds on the sameingratiatingly schlock -ridden level. I'd be wrong to guessthe effect this exotica has on Algerians, black South Afri-cans, or Yemenites, but for this college -educated Mid-western white guy, there's something missing (loathing,maybe, or pronounced lust). Most of the music haswords, but not words I understand; I'll never get the fullimpact of Francky Vincent's allegedly pornographic raps.So my favorite recent globalism is instrumental (BlackUhuru dub) or sung in English (Shaday, Shinehead).
To me, Kassav' sounds tepid, Joao Gilbertoschmaltzy, Ruben Blades pompous, David Rudderpedestrian, Ziggy Marley parched. Theoretically, I appre-ciate the boundless possibility of this glut; already, I likethe everything -up -for -grabs subjectivity it makes inevit-able in "rock" criticism. And when the mailman brings anew zouk record, I'm more likely to spin it than a newmetal one. Problem is, the novelty still wears off, fast.
Though world rhythms may well be pop's "future"(planet replaces nations, just like nation previously re-placed regions), that makes them only "important," not"good." And history often confounds wagers on futureheavens, and rock 'n' roll has never been about submit-ting to the inevitable anyway. In the end, I'm convincedthat most eager cultural -relativist prognosticators careless about rhythms than about some vague agenda: Weare the world, it's a small world after all, we've got thewhole world in our hands. Swell ideas. So how come theonly American city where global pop has made real head-way is New York, the one place whose population acts asif the rest of the country doesn't exist? Chuck Eddy
56 HIGH FIDELITY
a
KERN and HAMMERSTEIN: Show Boat.Von Stade, Hadley, Stratas, Hubbard,various artists; Ambrosian Chorus,
London Sinfonietta, McGlinn. John Fra-ser, prod. Angel EMI CDS 49108 (D, 3).0 (3). co (3).Angel EMI's new recording of JeromeKern's Show Boat, featuring Fredericavon Stade, Jerry Hadley, and Teresa Stra-tas, is a direct descendant of LeonardBernstein's star-studded 1985 recording ofWest Side Story for Deutsche Grammo-phon. That recording, which sold by thetruckload, convinced other labels to startcranking out their own versions of clas-sic Broadway musicals as sung by operastars-a practice which, as the DG West
bers and recorded them in an hour-longappendix that also contains new materialsubsequently inserted by Kern and Ham-merstein into the 1936 film version and1946 Broadway revival of Show Boat.
Unfortunately, McGlinn has chosen todisregard the fact that the material deletedduring Show Boat tryouts was cut not byFlorenz Ziegfeld, the producer, but byKern and Hammerstein, who felt that thework had to be shortened in order to holdan audience. By opening up their cuts,McGlinn has produced a version of ShowBoat with a musical running time of wellover two and a half hours. Although theKern and Hammerstein estates have al-lowed this version to be recorded, they ap-
1960. This proved controversial with someof the artists EMI had engaged to makethe recording, including the all -blackchorus that sang in the recent Glynde-bouine production of Porgy and Bess; to-gether with them, solo baritone WillardWhite withdrew from the recording whenMcGlinn refused to delete the word "nig-ger" from Hammerstein's libretto. Theirsensitivity is understandable, but it wouldbe no more appropriate to cut the word"nigger" from the libretto of Show Boatthan to cut it out of Huckleberry Finn."'Nigger' is a hateful word," McGlinn ad-mits, "but it's there for shock value, tostun an audience and make them thinkabout what conditions were like in those
NEW COURSE CHARTED FOR
Side Story proved, frequently makes moresense on paper than in the studio.
That this recording of Show Boat ismore than just another glossy celebrityshowcase is due in large part to the effortsof John McGlinn. McGlinn served lastyear as conductor for two albums of songsand overtures by George Gershwin. EMIsubsequently engaged him to reconstructand record authentic versions of Broad-way musicals, beginning with Show Boat.A smart move, that. McGlinn is deadly se-rious about musical comedy, and the realstar of this superlative recording is the per-forming edition of Show Boat that he haspainstakingly assembled.
"The aim of this recording," McGlinnexplains in a detailed essay accompanyingthe libretto, "is to present, to the fullest ex-tent possible, all the surviving music writ-ten by Jerome Kern with Oscar Hammer-stein 2nd for Show Boat. This means notonly recording the complete score as itopened on Broadway in 1927, but also re-instating those sections of the score de-leted during the tryout period on theroad." In addition, McGlinn has collatedall surviving variants of the original num-
From left to right:Frederica von Stade,Bruce Hubbard, andTeresa Stratas
parently do not intend to allow it to beperformed in public. Nor should they. Toperform McGlinn's version instead of theone heard at the work's Broadway pre-miere would be like performing, say, theoriginal four -act Billy Budd instead ofBenjamin Britten's later, definitive two -act version.
In justice to McGlinn, it should be not-ed that two of the "lost" numbers-thechoral scena "Mis'ry's Comin' Around"and the original overture-are of the high-est musical quality. Moreover, McGlinn'sediting involved not merely the opening ofcomposer -sanctioned cuts but the restora-tion of Robert Russell Bennett's originalorchestrations. Bennett's 1927 instrumen-tation, with its prominent parts for banjoand tuba, gives Show Boat a distinctive pe-riod flavor that was lost in his 1946 rescor-ing for a more "modern" pit band, andone hopes that future productions of ShowBoat will use the original orchestral parts.
The authenticity of this recording ex-tends to the original, uncensored libretto,a copy of which was given to musical -com-edy scholar Miles Kreuger by Hammer-stein shortly before the librettist's death in
days." So it does-and so it should.What about the performance? In a
word, it's fabulous. John McGlinn is not agreat conductor, but he is a highly compe-tent one, and he has brought together thecream of London's musical crop for thisrecording. The London Sinfonietta, whichhas already recorded to brilliant effect themusic of Gershwin, Kurt Weill, and PaulWhiteman, is no less impressive here, andwhile the English accents of the membersof the Ambrosian Chorus are noticeable,their singing is in every other way highlysatisfactory.
For once, the use of opera singers in amusical comedy recording poses no prob-lems. Indeed, it seems altogether likelythat Kern, whose musical style was rootedin European operetta, would have been de-lighted by Frederica von Stade's warm-hearted portrayal of Magnolia Hawks. Asusual, Von Stade's diction is fuzzy, but hersinging is consistently beautiful and deep-ly affecting. (Is there a more sincere singerthan Von Stade? Dame Janet Baker is theonly other artist currently performingwho comes to mind.) Jerry Hadley, bycontrast, enunciates elegantly, and he
FEBRUARY 1989 57
brings off the role of Gaylord Ravenalwith considerable flair. If Hadley ever de-cides to move over to Broadway, he willdoubtless be welcomed with open arms.
The matchless Teresa Stratas is everybit as effective as Julie La Verne as she wason the two Kurt Weill albums she record-ed for Nonesuch a few years back. Stratassings "Bill" and "Can't Help Lovin' DatMan" with the same high seriousness andintelligence that she once brought to Lu-lu and La traviata. Bruce Hubbard, whostepped in at the last minute to play Joe,sings "01' Man River" with firm, rich toneand without a trace of hamminess. All ofthe smaller parts are more than respect-ably cast. Two performers deserve specialmention: Nancy Kulp, Mr. Drysdale'ssecretary in The Beverly Hillbillies, isParthy Ann Hawks, Magnolia's mother,and Lillian Gish is heard in a small butcrucial speaking part at the very end of thework.
Whether you should invest in thisthree -CD set probably depends on how in-terested you are in musical comedy as atheatrical genre. The historical signifi-cance of Show Boat is, of course, un-deniable. In it, Kern and Hammersteinbrought an unprecedented degree of dra-matic intensity to the Broadway musicalstage. (Miscegenation and alcoholismwere not exactly the stuff of your typicalP. G. Wodehouse libretto, of which Kernset a dozen in the decade prior to ShowBoat.) This was the work that opened thedoor to Porgy and Bess, to Rodgers andHart, to Bernstein and Sondheim, and itwill retain a permanent place in the annalsof musical comedy for that reason alone.
But how has Show Boat held up as awork of musical theater? Surprisinglywell, all things considered. The book,which was adapted by Hammerstein fromthe best-selling novel by Edna Ferber, along -forgotten member of the AlgonquinRound Table, is by now a quaint periodpiece. Kern's music and Hammerstein'slyrics, on the other hand, remain fresh andvital to this day. Though the work is noPorgy and Bess, it is full of marveloustunes, excellent choral writing, and utter-ly engaging period orchestrations. ShowBoat, in short, is as good as traditional mu-sical comedy gets-which is very goodindeed.
In any case, this is not merely a big -budget recording but also a scholarly edi-tion of a key work in the history of Ameri-can music, and McGlinn has carried offhis duties in both areas with exceptional
skill and aplomb. Suffice it to say thatEMI has backed him up with a first-rateproduction by John Fraser and a lengthylibretto booklet containing fascinating es-says by McGlinn and Miles Kreuger. Suf-fice it also to say that EMI and McGlinnwill be back. Their next project is ColePorter's Anything Goes. And after that?Nobody is saying, but it's easy to think ofother shows that deserve this treatment-starting with Leonard Bernstein's On theTown. Playing time: 3:41:31.
Terry Teachout
BEETHOVEN: Sonatas for Piano: No. 13,in E flat, Op. 27, No. 1 ("Quasi unafantasia"); No. 14, in C sharp minor,Op. 27, No. 2 ("Moonlight"); No. 23,in F minor, Op. 57 ("Appassionata").
Watts. Marc Aubort and Joanna Nick-renz, prods. Angel EMI CDC 49264
(D).Like so many young American pianistswho initially knock their audiences coldwith flashy pyrotechnics, Andre Wattshas turned more and more away from theLisztian roulades and cadenzas thatbrought him sensational early celebrity.On this recording he plays very solid Bee-thoven indeed, and an occasional burst ofLisztian fire merely enhances the sub-
stance of his musicianship.Beethoven gave both the sonatas of
Opus 27 the subtitle "almost a fantasia,"and that applies especially to No. 1. Itsseven sections, played without pause, havesharply contrasting tempos that createproblems of cohesion, but the piece givesWatts no trouble here, and the final Alleg-ro vivace (contrapuntal after the mannerof a Bach two-part invention) comes viva-ciously alive. The Appassionata, as youwould expect, gives Watts the chance toshow how Liszt himself might have playedit. He makes the most of the opportunity,but remains unusually faithful to thescore-as he does generally in his playing.He does the thoroughly hackneyed Moon-light Sonata the favor of not trying to ap-proach it from some novel perspective; hemerely plays it as the score shows Beetho-ven wanted it. A curmudgeon might quib-ble over a few wisps of trivia-a couple ofslow, unilinear passages deliberately butinexplicably veiled by the pedal (with nocall for it in the score); a "traditional" butunindicated change of tempo in the Appas-sionata; an occasional immature tendencyto rush-but they do little to diminish thepleasure one can derive from these admi-rable performances. Playing time: 59:03.
Paul Moor
Andre Watts: very solid Beethoven. with an occasional burst of Licztian fire
IS HIGH FIDELITY
BOLCOM: Symphony No. 4*;Session I.
Morris*; St. Louis Symphony Orches-IP tra, Slatkin. Elizabeth Ostrow, prod.
New World NW 356-2 (D). oBOLCOM: Twelve New Etudes.WOLPE: Battle Piece.
Hamelin. Elizabeth Ostrow, prod. NewWorld NW 354-2 (D).
Unless they sell out or go off and shootsomebody, American composers rarelymake the front pages more than once ayear, usually on the day when the PulitzerPrizes are announced. William Bolcomhad his fifteen minutes of fame last springwhen his Twelve New Etudes won the 1988Pulitzer for music. By chance, the first re-cording of Twelve New Etudes was in thestores a few days later. The pianist isMarc -Andre Hamelin, a young Canadianwho won the Carnegie Hall Internation-al American Music Competition for Pia-nists in 1985.
One of the prizes Hamelin capturedwas funding for this recording. He makesthe most of it, romping through Bolcom'sfiendishly tricky etudes and Stefan Wol-pe's equally demanding Battle Piece withimpressive technical command and sensi-tivity. These qualities are for the most partwasted on Battle Piece, an ugly, monoto-nous composition that, like most of Wol-pe's work, sounds suspiciously like a cari-cature of all the bad things to which com-posers like Philip Glass and John Adamshave made a career out of overreacting.
Fortunately, Bolcom is neither a her-metic modernist nor a simpleminded Min-imalist, and his latest compositions consti-tute a welcome new attempt to developwhat Bolcom calls "a musical speech thatis at once coherent and comprehensibleand in constant expansion." Bolcom'sTwelve New Etudes achieves this goal on amodest scale. Beautifully laid out for thekeyboard, these witty pieces, which beartitles like "Scene d'opera" and "Butter-flies, Hummingbirds," are more exercisesin compositional style than in sheer me-chanical dexterity. Bolcom originally in-tended the etudes for the late Paul Jacobs,but it is hard to imagine anyone else play-ing them with Hamelin's flair.
New World Records has also broughtout an equally accomplished performanceof a far more ambitious work, Bolcom'sSymphony No. 4, composed in 1986 formezzo-soprano Joan Morris, conductorLeonard Slatkin, and the St. Louis Sym-phony. The symphony is in two move-ments, the first an instrumental scherzocalled "Soundscape" and the second alengthy setting of Theodore Roethke'spoem "The Rose." "Soundscape," a cun-ningly paced succession of large, unforcedinstrumental gestures, serves as prelude toa richly Romantic vocal movement de-signed on a Mahlerian scale and scored
with comparable delicacy (Shostakovichalso comes to mind from time to time).
To be sure, Roethke's words frequentlyresist musical setting, even by a composeras sensitive to verbal values as Bolcom. Inone section of the second movement, thecomposer even resorts to unpitched decla-mation-a "solution" that merely drawsattention to the resolutely unmusical linesthe singer is called upon to speak. Still,Bolcom's Fourth Symphony sounds forthe most part like a flawed but major state-ment by a composer who is wonderfullyunafraid to please, and repeated hearingssuggest that the symphony has real stayingpower. The filler is a recording ofSessionI, an instrumental nonet composed in1965 for Luciano Berio's Domaine Musi-cal ensemble; the clever but ultimatelyarid avant-garde techniques used in itdemonstrate how far Bolcom has come asa composer in the last two decades.
Joan Morris, usually heard in recitalsof American popular song with Bolcom atthe piano, here proves herself able to sus-tain a far more substantial musical rolewith absolute assurance. It's time for herto branch out into more ventures of thiskind. Pierrot lunaire in English would dofor a start, but a recording of Bolcom'sSongs of Innocence and Experience wouldbe just as welcome, and New World oughtto start scraping up the money to produceone. Judging by this recording, St. Louis isthe place to make it. Under Slatkin, the St.Louis Symphony has become a top-drawerensemble that plays modern music as wellas any orchestra in the country, and Slat -kin and his players give Bolcom's Fourththe deluxe treatment.
These two new works, together withthe equally exciting music of composerslike Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Libby Lar-sen, suggest that American music is finallyabout to emerge from a dismally long badpatch. If Bolcom and his contemporariescan keep it up, the Minimalists had betterrun for cover. Playing times: 47:27 (356-2); 60:51 (354-2). Terry Teachout
FORMAT KEY0 LP OD VideocassetteCI Cassette (Si, Videodisc
Compact Disc
RECORDING INFORMATION(A) Analog original (D) Digital original
Large symbol at left margin indicates reviewedformat. Small symbols following catalog num-ber of reviewed format indicate other avail-able formats (if any). Catalog numbers of for-mats other than the reviewed format areprinted only if their basic numbers differ sub-stantially from that of the reviewed format.
Arabic numeral in parentheses indicatesnumber of items in multi -item set.
DEBUSSY: Preludes (Books 1 and 2).Gieseking. Geraint Jones and Walter
uP Legge, prods. Angel EMI CDH 61004(A).These interpretations stand high on thatrarefied list of recordings one can legiti-mately and accurately call unique. Al-though he was German, Walter Gieseking(1895-1956) rarely missed an opportunityto remind people of his French birth-place-Lyon-and when it came to play-ing Debussy and Ravel, he had little seri-ous contemporaneous competition. Forone thing, Gieseking rejoiced in a tran-scendental technique, and although henever brandished it, it stood him in indis-pensable stead in some of the bravurapieces where Debussy's debt to Liszt man-ifests itself.
In homage to Chopin, Debussy did callthe contents of these two volumes Pre-ludes, but he gave all but one of them pro-grammatic titles. Gieseking treats themlike miniature tone poems for piano, andtime after time he turns them into miracu-lous little revelations. As Pierre Boulezwould do later with the orchestral works,Gieseking proves that the more faithfullyone adheres to Debussy's richly detailedprinted score, with no pseudo -Impression-istic horsing around, the better one real-izes the music's full measure of genius.
In this music, the pianist set a standardthat no one since has matched. He record-ed the first dozen Preludes in London in1953 and the second group in 1954, but asrejuvenated for CD they sound far morerecent. In Angel EMI's "Great Record-ings of the Century" series you also getthem at a bargain price, but with a woeful-ly inadequate leaflet that tells nothingabout the individual pieces except their ti-tles-and in French only. Even so, the CDrelease of these performances amounts toa public service to music. Playing time:69:45. Paul Moor
DVORAK: Symphony No. 9, in E minor,Op. S5 ("From the New World");Carnival, Op. 92.
0AmsterdamConcertgebouw Orchestra.
Chailly. Andrew Cornall, prod. Lon-don 421 016-2 (D).TCHAIKOVSKY: Manfred, Op. 58.
Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra,Chailly. Paul Myers, prod. London 421
441-2 (D). mThese are the third and fourth releases bythe Concertgebouw Orchestra under thedirection of its newly appointed chief con-ductor, Riccardo Chailly, to appear on theLondon label. The first two, recorded inAugust 1986, were a coupling of Franck'sSymphony in D minor and Symphonic Va-riations, with pianist Jorge Bolet (417 487-2), and a traversal of Mussorgsky's Pic-tures at an Exhibition, with Ravel's Boleroand two short pieces of Debussy as the fill -
FEBRUARY 1989 S111
er (417 611-2). The Franck disc offered anexpansive reading of the symphony, butthe variations received one of their mostboring recorded performances, with Boletin a particularly pedantic frame of mind.The Mussorgsky and Ravel showpieceswere given somewhat staid readings (withsome fine individual touches in Pictures),and the reprc_wction was poorly definedand blurred in the bass -a far removefrom the sonic spectacle one would expect.
The two new recordings are hardly ma-jor additions to the CD catalog. Chailly'saccount of Dvotak's Symphony From theNew World is easygoing and devoid of ex-citement, even in the finale; the CarnivalOverture fares better, but Chailly's is un-inspired Dvotak, in spite of the orchestra'sfine playing. Manfred, which containssome of Tchaikovsky's most vivid ideas, istreated to a performance that is prosaic, tosay the least. Those familiar with Toscani-ni's blazing interpretation will barelyrecognize the piece, through which Chail-ly ambles placidly and unimaginatively.Even the "bacchanale" of the finale is se-renely stated.
The engineering is best on the Manfredrecording, although the bass is rather un-defined and the strings sound less thanfull. The Dvoffik is particularly disap-pointing, with thin strings, horns that are
too distant, muddy bass, brass lacking inbite, and little bloom to the sound. Lon-don's early -1960s stereo recordings ofMahler and Tchaikovsky with the Con-certgebouw sound much better than theseefforts. Playing times: 55:13 (421 016-2);55:37 (421 441-2). Robert E Benson
HINDEMITH: Sonatas for Viola (4);Sonatas for Viola and Piano (3).
Kashkashian, Levin. Manfred Eicher,prod. ECM 833309-2 (D, 2). 0 (3). c)
(3).Sonatas for Viola: Op. 11, No. 5; Op. 25,
No. 1; Op. 31, No. 4; Sonata (1937). Sona-tas for Viola and Piano: in F, Op. 11, No. 4;Op. 25, No. 4; in C (1939).Paul Hindemith was, among other things,a sufficiently distinguished violist to haveplayed the world premiere of WilliamWalton's Viola Concerto in 1929. "Histechnique was marvelous," Sir Williamlater recalled, "but he was rough -nononsense about it. He just stood up andplayed."
Between 1919 and 1939, Hindemithcomposed a lengthy series of works for vi-ola, including four unaccompanied sona-tas and three sonatas with piano, thatforms the core of the instrument's modernrepertory. Violist Kim Kashkashian andpianist Robert Levin have now recorded
Low -Price AccessoriesFor CD PWyersAO 'Sims' CD Stablizer Rings
Starter IN 15 *locatorComplete Kt 25 w1ocatorBolus Kt 50 . freelOCaliar
AO CD Isolabon Feet 14)
CD Interconnects See Cables
AcurekwItteDB Passive CD prearnp 99 95Magnavox CD Players
CDB480CD64132 w/remote
CDB582 sr/remoteCDB473 wirernoteCDB486 16 bit CD ChangerCDV474 CD.VMSO Law
Mod Squad CD doper Al
Mird9b4Ind Audiophile UkCD'e:Cheeky Recalls RC10 LL Kie c 13.99
RC11 Reim Sound 1399RC -8 Owstrain. RC -9 Spike (p's) 13.99CP-A Brahms 6 Tchak (ol4p) 13.99CR-7 Bizet 8 Tdmit (WV 13.99
Prcpnus Cortege COMM (criep) 17.95Jazz at Pawn Slurp cd:16.95 Ip's:34.95
Reference Recardrege LP or CDRR12 Dabs, RPQO Serer.** ' 5 99RR25 Nome pbys Ltsit 15 99RR26 Redheads (Jazti 15.99R R27 Fuler days RW1103.1 15.99
ShetRekleAoscow Sessions Wr'p (sett 39.95Kcdollums or Test Revd WV] 14.99
Fr Tuntatiai
ZEITtunable. armless
hao arm lilt
ES -1 w/AO PT -5 breamES -I Precut roes =boardsix AR IT. RI3930
Cale* /Armed Protract=D9 SysIents ProlracDemesen Sounderactor
Glatt Cartidges: Grado ITE.tGrade so 8M2. MCI. TLZ
111 tSIZingnsuredCINStaiesAccessories one twoEach Extra kern'Turntables Stands"Electroncs
19 9529 9549 9519 95
"139.96"149.95"199 95"249.95"249.95
Cal23 50
Record Doctor vacuum -powered recordcleaning machine "169 95
LAST Record Care Productsitt Power Cleaner 11 95*2 Preservabve 14 95.4 Stylus Cleaner 7 95t5 Stylast Treatment 16 95
Headshells. AO -161a MC s 39 95Sun k° HS12 for MMT 29 95
Healshe6 wires livewee Sunk° 9 95SUE la BEST AVAILABLE 21 95
Record Brushes IQ a NG 9.95Record Om% Sokoons
NORM 80¢. 14 % 16oz 24 95TorumaillA-7914. 1 hoz 14.95
*wanner 16 oz. 12.95 32oz 1695r pat 2495 ' SU;411129 2 5 gal '49.95
Revd Mab. AO mat 29.95Sala littliC mai 129 95Sumba wyk mat 84 95Sala Reflex Clamp 89 95Stylus Gauges Shure Gauge i 495
8edrores Syus Gauge 99 95SwIrcroc Shews Gamer 39 95Sunk F9-1 MC Demagnetizer 149 95
VTA.16 VTA tor hart arm 74 95Tp Toes kr lunettes C3 -AR 4 95
C.37.So4, G10- able 8.95Turntable Stands: Load Balloon '239.95
Target TT -2%4 e've.es "139.95Turnable Wel Shakes TT.1 "9995
Target PS -I. for large Odes "149.95VPI Record Cleaning Mad** CallVPI PLC Power Line Cm:Romer Call
29 95'419 95 AwdeoNldeo PcrwerstrIps:'649 95 Deluxe DaVrI 6 outlet stnp
TnppIrte ISOBAR Are Fibers34 95 IB4 4 outlets 2 -stage Menne
IB-8 8 outlets 3 -stage MengTripp* regulator tale condthoner
LC -1200 4 outlet voltage repLC -1800 6 outlet voltage reg
24 50
149 9519 95
Call 1 available er 220volt 5090 HZ and
Speaker SlandsEquIpment RocksCncago 'Hercules' speaker stands
17 '12995 IF '134 9520"134 95 25' '139 95
ARCICI Riad Baer alustable stand '119 95ARCICI Quad Mani '16995
Sound Andur stands for VS IIC '219 95Target Speaker Stands (black or wheel Call
Target BT -1 al wort bracket 24 95Target Egucment Rads (black a camel
A1131 amp Soo stand. 4. 69 95TT3 33' tal. 3 sheNes 't99.95PS -3 33' w large sheNes '245.00TT -5T IP Oa, 5 sheNes '259.95
Cetoe end Cable AccosoriesInlerccrined Cables'
As -One. Carlos. P885 Mech. tree/ere.MIT. Mrxwar, VerdltU Call
Custom longer Iwo cables wade CallSpeaker Cables: Aural. Carlos. FMS,
LIvernre. MIT, Monster, VardenHul CallBanana Connedas. Kap Sae 8 go 7.95
Monster Xiermsnators Or) 24.95Trttarry RCA s 4 5 5, 7.9mm or) 13.50Silver Solder Wonder Solder I 5oz. 9.99
KT 2509 29.95500g 59 95
Ye Accreawanee
ADC Tube Trap roan dampwsAO Sort:done KOte.011 Far. Law
Small (CD) Feelcto 200 XG tape routing selectorSoles Juniors. 212x2' Osseo
Repula, Sonex productsSpeaker Switching' Niles SPS.1
0ED UHSS4 for heavy cableTen "Pr FM AntennaTip Toes to speakers 1 17Tubes RAUGold Aero PremumSobotnane Tube Dampers
.. Twos. contact reaenentVPI thrY5ct 'Max Bock""289 00
tO X Pomo sza5pcu o change
49 95
69 95199 95
Call(4) 34 95(4) 19.95
"99 95(4) 49%
Call74 95
114.9574 95
895Call
2.50
14.95
34.95
3 95125
12 95
8 95
UPS As b WOW Etrope. Far EastAuss NZ -most shaments under 550and less ten 5 days
1-800-669-4434MasterCard Visa Amer Desoto.*
CDaudioadvisa, inc.
225 Oates SW Grand R. MI 49503FAX 616-451-0709 Savo: 616-4513968
these works for ECM, a jazz label bestknown for recordings by Keith Jarrett andGary Burton. Together, these seven sona-tas -two of which are still unpublished -eloquently illustrate the development ofHindemith's musical language. They alsogive the lie to the popular image of Hinde-mith as a dry, compulsive craftsman.
Violists rarely have the opportunity toundertake this kind of large-scale record-ing project. Kashkashian, a handsome,lyrical performer, makes the most of it.Her richly assured playing could hardly bebettered. A new recording of Der Schwan-endreher is overdue, and Kashkashian isclearly the woman to undertake it. Levin'splaying is highly competent but somewhatmonochromatic.
This set, by the way, serves as a usefulreminder that Hindemith recorded exten-sively as a violist during the 1930s. RCAVictor could put together a very niceCompact Disc containing the composer'sown recordings of the 1939 viola sona-ta, Der Schwanendreher, and the 1937Trauermusik, with the recording of thefour -hand 1938 Piano Sonata made byHindemith and Jesus Maria Sanromathrown in as a bonne bouche. All of theseperformances have been out of print fordecades. Playing time: 127:50.
Terry Teachout
LULLY: Atys.De Mey, Laurens, Mellon, Gardeil,various artists; Les Arts Florissants,
Christie. Michel Bernard, prod. HarmoniaMundi France HMC 901257/59 (D. 3). o(3). c)(3). (Distributed by Harmonia Mun-di, U.S.A.)This extravagant production commemo-rated the tercentenary of Jean -BaptisteLully's death in 1687. To make it possible,two important French opera companies -in Paris and Montpellier -joined forceswith the Teatro Comunale in the city ofFlorence, where the composer (who cameinto the world as Giovanni Battista Lulli)was born in 1632. Lully probably got hisfirst French gig from the Duc de Guise,then joined Mme. de Montpensier's stringband but got fired because of some "scurri-lous" verses and music he composed. In1652, Lully joined the violin section ofLouis XIV's court band, where his talentfor brazen, merciless intrigue won him ameteoric rise and enabled him to developinto the most important French court andoperatic musician of his century.
Just imagine a court where Molierewrote plays and Lully provided them withincidental scores. . . . Moliere had nothingto do with Atys, though: Philippe Qui-nault, Lully's librettist for the last 15 yearsof his life, provided the text. Instead of thecustomary commentary, Harmonia Mun-di's generous and handsome text bookletprovides five gossipy contemporaneous
60 HIGH 1101111r
letters that sketch the work's genesis. Theunidentified writer noted at that time: "M.Quinault has prepared the outlines of fivegreat subjects suitable to the tragedy; hehas taken them to the King for him tochoose one of them. Then he gave the out-line to Lully, and Lully, seeing what it wasabout, set his imagination to work on de-vising divertissements, dances, and airs tobe sung. . . . The entire drama will evolvein this way, in half -tints: no impressiveshowpieces for the singers, no big airs; butsmall airs de cour and recitatives, all withcontinuo; and only their alternation togive movement to the action. . . ."
Don't look here for sumptuous ariassuch as "Bois epais" from Lully's Amadisde Gaul. This recording nonetheless pro-vides the most important presentation ofLully's music in many a year, or even dec-ade. It also provides a particular triumphfor the American who conducts it. Eversince he founded the ten -member Paris -based Baroque ensemble called Les ArtsFlorissants ("Les Arts Flo" to the incrowd), William Christie has brought to-gether some of Europe's finest performersof French music of the 17th and 18th cen-turies. Harmonia Mundi has already is-sued a number of their impressive record-ings, but for several reasons this one topsthem all.
The strings-exclusively gut, certain-ly, and of course entirely without vibra-to-sound a bit whiny in crescendos atfirst, but you soon get used to hearing allthe instruments sound the way we assumethey did in Lully's day. The woodwindshave a softness and mellowness of timbrethat modern instruments cannot emulate.All four of the main singers stand out intheir roles, as do several of the supportingcast; Gilles Ragon, for instance, who singsthe role of Sleep, has a strikingly beautifultenor voice, with unusual flexibility, andhe executes impeccable ornamentations.
The plot (apparently from Ovid'sFasti) involves an amatory triangle, fatallycomplicated by the surreptitious illicit dal-liance of gods and goddesses with mortals.Forget about realism in a libretto whereexposition takes such lumbering forms as"However fortunate you may be, are youenvious of him, you, whom today the fairbonds of marriage must unite with theKing of Phrygia?" It all ends with unusualhorror-Atys castrates himself-but Lul-ly, who knew how to please his boss if heknew anything, reverts at the very end tosome exceptionally jolly music, and thewhole shebang winds up with thunder,lightning, and an earthquake. Throughoutthe work, in fact, at the drop of a chapeauLully puts the action on momentary holdso that the orchestra and ballet can whipinto a little incidental gavotte, ritournelle,or symphonie.
Quinault and Lully lead off with a
'Arr fr; - ' *1i E11;31 717
NEW YORK WHOLESALE
Prices subject to change Prices exclude
shipping charges Not responsible for
typographical errors
FOR FASTEST (212) 684-6363 ?A (212) 684-8046SE CALLHOURS: MONDAY -FRIDAY, 9AM-7PM EST SATURDAY 10AM-5RMor Write Direct 2 PARK AVENUE, DEPT. 15, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10016
We sell authorized U S branded merchandise and parallel imports All products covered by manufacturer's warranty or New YorkWholesaler's exclusive limited warranty Manufacturer's rebates may not apply Ask for full details at the time of purchase
CD PLAYERS
YAMAHACDX119)coxsioCOX710
COX410
C00510CDC610
DCM555DENON
DC01520 New
DC01400 SpecialOCD910 NewDC0810DCD610
SONY
COPC70
COPC100 449
299359
CDP950..
CDPC50
CDPC30 New 269
M700PIONEER
499POM600PD
COP750 279CDP570 New 199CDP370 New 179
CDPC20 New 249
409329POM500
POM400399PC17103229P05100
P04100 169
NAD52205240530051005170
749
559389
249279499
449
429329269
289379
729479
JVCXLM400 329XLV250 189
XLV444 249MAGNAVOX
CD13486 New 269C08482 New 169
C0B480 New 139
ME1=a1.1YAMAHA
F011100
MGMRX700 Spec alRX500RX300
DENON0801025080825080625080425ORA35V
SONYSTRAviCO3STRAV900
STRAV700STRAV500STRAV300STRAV200
JVC8022280250 Special11)(333
11)(555
RX777RX999
PIONEERVSX9300SVSX7300VSX5300VSX3300VSX3300SSX2300SX1300
NAD7220724071007400
199
149
229299429579
649529449279329199
169
259429649869'199
COMPONENTSYSTEMS
SONY 1/1404SONY FH606SONY FH909
Ly
499629
PORTABLECD PLAYERSPANASONIC
SONY D4SONY DT4
SONY 0110SONY D2SONY 015TOSHIBA 089TOSHIBA 9437
209239289189
309199
259
699599399339229
749
649439359269
OUDSPEAKERS
MISSION
AMPS A T JNE RS
YAMAHAArgonaut 1249 M0600 New 429Freedom 749 MX800 New 679Renaissance 559 MX1000 New 949707 409 00900 489700LE Special 229 AX700 39970 199 CX600 New 359
CELESTION CX800 New 559SL600 1549 CX1000 New 949
0110L6 11
01,8111,
DL6 IIDL4 II
88WMATRIX3
769649409329259
1699
1)(900TX50000110000500DSR100PRO
DSP1
249199
469249479689
MATRIX2 1179 AVC50 439
MATRIXIMATRIX1600
979799
AVX100
NAD559
MATRIX1800 Call 3225 199DM550 329 3240 329DM560 439 3400 6390M570 519 3300 509DM580 729 1300 429CANTON new models,KARAT20 579KARAT30 699
1700
DENGN649
KARAT40 1029 PMA920 499
KARAT60 1289 PMA720 369
CT80 1349 PMA520 2990190PLUS 5
1949279
PMA1520P042200
749
549PLUS C 479 P0A6600 599
ADVENT PRA1100 399MAESTRO 469 Nast) 169LEGACY 349 TU550 259PRODIGY 249 TU600 2795100 479 TU800 3895170 589 0E70 379BABY 159 PMA300 Spec,a1 189MINI/SUB 139
ARea
VIDEO RECORDERSPARTNERS 259ROCK PARTNERS 179
PINNACLEPN50. 139
PN6. 189PN8 239
JBL52T
62T82163078307
139199
279389519M=En.
YAMAHAKX1200KX500 NewKX400KX200K0800KXR700 New
519 KXVV202369 KXVV302319 DENON279 ORM24mX229 ORM30HX159 ORM12HR
ORMIOHR0111417
NAD6155 3796240 2596300 729
AIWAA0WX909 499ADWX505 139ADWX808 299ADS15 89ADS460 129ADWX707 199
PIONEERCTS600 259CTS800 529C1W300 159CTW500 219CTW700R 309CTW900R 459
579319259209469489279349
379429289239179
1111=EllDENON
DP59L 479DP47F 349DP35F 239DP7F 159
DUALCS503 189
CS505 249C52215 219CS5000 349
TECHNICSS11200 II 349S10033 109SLEI022 89
SLD010 69S10022 119
THORENS Cili For Prices
JVCHRS8000HRD440HRD750Other Models
PANASONICPV4870P04860PV2812
PV4800
NECOX966002500DX3500
RCAVPT390VPT294VPT200vP1695
995349499
Call
Call
Call269319
499629699
329269249
969
CAR STEREOS
NAKAMICHIR035080450T D700
TO500TD400PA400P4.350PA201)
PA150
5P300SP200
7907
79057385
728472807256715671797180
33213505351735233525352862656394
COXA20COOR88XR6100XR7050xR7300XR6300X86150XR7150XR7200XE8
ALPINE
SONY
349449789629429389359209199
299209
699649499469359309219
299329219
69169
209249299129
179
549509159259529229199
349469249
CAR STEREOS f AX
PIONEER6262TRKEH8050KEH605ORGMA2000DEXM3000OXM100
KENWOODKRC2000AKRC555KOC80KRC757KRC858KRC959KDC9OR
KAC820
SHARP
189
319489 TOSHIBA
399479
649699259
279 00140339 UX160279 FO 300249 FO 420779 CANON
FAX8
FAX20FAX25
BLAUPUNKTDENVER 219
PORTLAND 259 PANASONICLEXINGTON New 419LOS ANGELES New 369SAN FRANCISCO New 319
3010033003700
89910991129
1259
7991079
1759
9991059
1349MURATA
1600 859
DENONDCR5520 469DCR5425 399DCR5220 279DCA3280 249OCC8920 699
N/FON/CSTHOR Please
GEMINIODINVULCAN
EUROPAPLUTO
CALLISTO
can
or
our
lowlow
gnces
SOUNDSTREAMTC308TC305
SF90D600200TC301
TC303
539439279189399
269339
JVCKSRx618 359K58X518 329K58X418 279KSR48 199
ADS320, 389300, 279P010 389P08 189PH15 519PS5 219P020 589S87 299
INFINITY95A52K 1098S06925 149
85.0693K 189C51K 299
BOSTON7741 149
179
761 189
767 99C700 159
C793 259
POLK SPEAKERS6902 199
MM1A 79MM4A 189MM104 149
CONCORD CXC070 549CX60 449CX50 349CX40 289CX30 269CX20 239CX10 199
C=111111101SNOOPER D4SNOOPER 06COBRA3110
COBRA3120COBRA3170SPECTRUM IIWHISTLER 2BEL 876BEL-VECTOR
BEL 644SUNIDEN RD9XLUNIDEN RD9
Call
Call99
99179
175
SO
129189
189
15
139
CANON COPIERS
PC3 SpecialPC5PCSL
1=1KXT2321 35
KXT2325 39
KXT2342 43KXT3204 59
KXT3150 129
KX73160 159
KXT1423 69(011427 105
KXT2620 114
KXT2622 149
VA8400 69VA8405 79
SONY174550 179
1TA650 194
ITK300 59ITK500 89SPP100 149
SPP110 169
SPP80 139
PHONEMATE9500 119
8050 1259700 145
9750 165
7650 159
CODEAPHONE3530 114
3100 109
3200 129
3750 139
FREEDOM PHONE1100 991250 120
1700 1094000 119
5000 229
TYPE WRI TI RS
CANONS58 129TVPESTAR7 159
TYPESTAR6 139TYPESTAR5 129
SMITH CORONA008500 399005500 229
XL2500XL6200006700FWP6
PANASONICRKT55RKT45 SpecialRKT400KXR250KXR210KXW1500RKT37RKT30RXU60
BROTHERWP15000022AX24AX26AX28AX33WP4U
199219
319409
379279229199
185
559312167
154
559149
189259319199
629
PE 1111,11NA1
STEREOS
SONYWMD6CWMF 100 inWMF73WMAF64ALL MODELS
AIWAHSJ800 189
349 HST800 169529 HSJ360 99689 HST380 109
F EBRU AR Y 1 9 8 9
2991299985
Can
41
scene -setting prologue, aimed directly attheir employer, which leaves them bothlooking like sycophants, but with that outof the way the quality picks up. The fourthscene of Act III seems to me the work'shigh point, both theatrically and musical-ly. While Atys sleeps, his dreams-good,bad, and ominously prophetic-peoplethe stage, and bring the work vividly tolife, even here with the visual elementmissing. For some reason, Jean-Marie Vil-legier, who staged the original, has Ber-nard Deletre play the river god Sangar forcomedy, almost for farce, but that inter-jects the only comic relief in a story of oth-erwise unrelieved tragedy.
Lully's music itself contains numeroussurprises. Already at the end of the pro-logue he startles us with a passage markedby four beats plus five, and during thecourse of the work he shuffles meters as hemight a deck of cards. Little wonder thatLouis himself had to defend his innovativeprotégé against his court's musical fuddy-duddies.
The thirty-three choristers (trained byOlivier Schneebelli) sound especially won-derful, and so do the acoustics of Studio103 of the Maison de Radio France. Lov-ers of the French Baroque will probablyhave to wait a long time before anythingremotely comparable to this gem comesalong again. Playing time: 170:39.
Paul Moor
MACHOVER: VALIS.Mason, Felty, Edwards, Azima, King,
L. various artists; Ciampolini, Stephen-son, Machover. David Starobin, prod.Bridge BCD 9007 (D). m BCS 7007. (Dis-tributed by Allegro Imports.)VALIS is an acronym that stands for VastActive Living Intelligent System. It's thetitle of a 1981 science -fiction novel by thelate Philip K. Dick, a semi -autobiographi-cal novel supposedly based on Dick's ownexperience of such a system in 1974 (whena revelatory "pink light" was beamed intohis brain by some unknown entity). Andnow it's also the title of a one -act operaby Tod Machover, an American composerwho recently spent five years as director ofmusical research at Pierre Boulez's IR-CAM (Institut de Recherche et de Coordi-nation Acoustique/Musique) facility inParis and who currently is on the facultyof the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-nology. Machover's VALIS was commis-sioned by the video division of the Pompi-dou Center, of which IRCAM is a part, tocelebrate the center's tenth anniversary.With accoutrements by French video art-ist Catherine Ikam and stage direction byJean-Louis Martinelli, VALIS received itspremiere performances in the Pompidoufoyer during the first week of December1987. Machover subsequently revisedboth the score and the libretto (originally
by Machover, Ikam, and the American ac-tor/director Bill Raymond); the versionpresented here, which the composer says is"definitive and complete," was recordedat MIT's Experimental Media Facility inFebruary 1988.
As befits its subject matter, and as onewould expect of an opera born in thedepths of IRCAM, VALIS relies heavilyon computer technology for its sounds.Some of the material-mainly the narra-tions by Phil, the more lucid half of themain character's severely split personal-ity-is prerecorded. The bulk of it is per-formed in "real time" by the cast membersand an instrumental ensemble consistingonly of percussionist Daniel Ciampoliniand keyboardist Emma Stephenson. Thevoices are often shaded with echo effectsor submitted to computerized transforma-tions of timbre and pitch, and the accom-panying duo is typically turned into an or-chestra of "hyperinstruments"-richlycolored and dramatically vibrant, with anemphasis on resonant metallic sonori-
later, in a final soliloquy, Phil says: "Thesedays, I have a sense of the goodness ofmen. I don't know where this came from,but I feel it." Indeed, whether by extrater-restrial aliens or by mundane insanity,Fat/Phil has been changed. AlthoughMachover's music graphically illustratesthe alleged cause of the change, it servesprimarily to document the change itself; inthe long run, VALIS's glittery sonoritiesseem like mere decorations on music thateven unadorned would constitute a psy-chological opera of considerable power.
Like the "inter -connected dreams"that both trouble and pacify Fat/Phil, Ma-chover's score is wildly eclectic. The open-ing monologues are set over pedal pointsembellished with explosions. The first ex-tended episode of singing, an aria from anenigmatic psychiatrist called Dr. Stone,resembles the chanting of Tibetan monks.Toward the opera's end, when the deadGloria appears to Fat/Phil in a sort ofapo-theosis, the music has an innocent coun-try -western flavor. At the start of Part II,
Tod Machover with video images from the December 1987 Paris premiere of "VALIS"
ties-via IRCAM's enormous 4X com-puter and a battery of standard MIDI(musical instrumental digital interface)devices.
Machover's futuristic sound palette isimpressive, and arguably essential to awork that depicts a close encounter with asuperintelligent, superhuman life -form.As fantastic and fascinating as they are,however, the sounds are not the main fo-cus of VALIS. Ultimately, the opera isconcerned less with creatures from outerspace than with the spiritual transforma-tion that occurs within the inner space ofthe protagonist's disturbed consciousness.The opera's first words, spoken matter-of-factly by Phil, are: "Horselover Fat's ner-vous breakdown began the day he got thephone call from Gloria asking if he hadany Nembutals." An hour and a quarter
when Fat/Phil meets the VALIS-inspiredrock 'n' roll singers Eric and Linda Lamp-ton, the dialogue is propelled by obnox-ious high-tech disco rhythms. And in PartI, after Fat/Phil babbles out an "exegesis"in computer -accelerated French, an off-stage Heldentenor sings the blessing ("Ge-segnet sei dein Leiden, das Mitleids hochsteKraft . .") from the finale of Wagner'sParsifal.
But as often as the music shifts gear, itsdramatic movement stays relentlessly oncourse. The vocalizations grow increas-ingly lyrical-to the point of being utterlyrhapsodic at the appearance of an angelicsoprano named Sophia-as Fat/Philmoves deeper and deeper into his VALISreverie. In terms of dissonance, rhythmicanimation, and sonic razzle-dazzle, the ac-companiment climaxes at the halfway
U
62 HIGH FIDELITY
point-when the Lamptons crypticallyexplain the nature of VALIS-and thenbegins a steady descent as Fat/Phil's stateof mind returns to a kind of enlightenednormalcy.
At the conclusion of his extensive andinformative liner -note essay, Machoverwrites that he has tried to create "a workwhich would speak its message on the firsthearing" but which "would reveal moreand more of itself on greater acquaint-ance." He's succeeded, I think. I've spentnumerous hours with VALIS, savoring-with libretto in hand-its fine perfor-mances, its sonic richness, and its manymusical and textual subtleties, hoping itwon't be too long before I can see the operain the touring production that is now beingprepared. But my first VALIS experiencehappened while I was driving down thehighway; even then, with my eyes on theroad and with the music covered by thehum of automobile noise, its dramatic es-sence came through loud and clear. Play-ing time: 77:31. James Wierzbicki
NYMAN: The Man Who Mistook His Wifefor a Hat.
Be!court, Leonard. Westcott; ensem-1/41 ble, Nyman. David Cunningham andMichael Nyman, prods. CBS MasterworksMK 44669 (D).Oliver Sacks's story of "The Man WhoMistook His Wife for a Hat" is strange buttrue. The lead and titular anecdote inSacks's 1985 collection of medical casehistories, it documents a neurological dis-order suffered by one Dr. P., a "musicianof distinction" who late in life suddenlyand inexplicably lost his ability to makesense of the visual stimuli he received.There was nothing "clinically" wrongwith him, Sacks writes. Yet instead of arose, Dr. P. saw only an object "about sixinches in length," "a convoluted red formwith a linear green attachment"; instead ofa glove, he saw only "a continuous surface,infolded upon itself," that "appears tohave five outpouchings ..." After a visitto Sacks's office, Dr. P. reached not for hishat but for his wife's head.
As disturbed as his visual perceptionswere, Dr. P.'s musical powers remainedunimpaired. Indeed, after hearing himsing excerpts from Schumann's Dichter-liebe, Sacks was moved to write: "Dr. P.was an aged but infinitely mellow Fischer-Dieskau, combining a perfect ear andvoice with the most incisive musical intel-ligence." Sacks surmised that it was pre-cisely this musical intelligence that en-abled Dr. P. to manage from day to day.Aided by a dutiful wife who made his lifeas organized as possible, Dr. P. "musical-ized" his world and sang his way througheating, bathing, dressing himself, and allthe other mundane activities necessary forsurvival. "I think that music, for him, had
taken the place of image," Sacks con-cludes. "He had no body -image, he hadbody -music: this is why he could moveand act as fluently as he did, but came to aconfused stop if the 'inner music'stopped."
British composer Michael Nymancame across the story and immediatelyrecognized its possibilities as the basis fora music -theater piece. He worked quickly;with Christopher Rawlence as librettistand Michael Morris as director, The ManWho Mistook His Wife for a Hat was pre-miered at London's Institute of Contem-porary Arts in October 1986, less than oneyear after Sacks's book had been pub-lished. The one -act opera was presented ayear later at the American Music TheaterFestival in Philadelphia, and in July of1988-simultaneous with the release ofthe recording-it was the opening produc-tion of the "Serious Fun!" series at NewYork City's Alice Tully Hall.
When all is sung and done, the storymakes for a more worthwhile experiencethan does the opera. The libretto is quitefaithful to Sacks's 15 -page account, andwhen it veers from the source material itdoes so in the direction of expanding thecharacter of Dr. P.'s wife (ill-defined bySacks, she is changed by Rawlence intoa flesh -and -blood woman whose mixedemotions include large portions of defen-siveness and fear). The score is not withoutcleverness; the Dichterliebe song in the op-era is "Ich grolle nicht," chosen, Nymansays, partly for the appropriateness of itstext but largely for its musical resources("unbroken sequences of repeated quaversare meat and drink to me," the composerexplains). Other Schumann songs ("Die
Rose. die Lilie," "Der Nussbaum," "Rlit-sel," "Hochliindisches Wiegenlied," "Liedeines Schmiedes") make their presenceknown in more subtle ways.
But Nyman's music-sort of Minimal-ism a la pop-gives an at least slightly ba-nal flavor to even the cleverest referencesto Schumann and to the most poignantepisodes of Rawlence's libretto. WhereasSacks's patient evidently had no problemswith speech, Nyman's stutters quite a bit;asked to identify platonic solids, for ex-ample, he tells the neurologist that one ofthem is "a te-te-te-te-te-te-tetrahedron."Whereas Sacks informs us only that Dr. P.did sing little ditties to himself, Nymanshows us exactly how they went; they'renot included in the libretto, but the typicallyric is "bum-bitty-bum-bitty-bum-bum-bum-bum"-ad nauseum. Whereas Sacksgives us his conclusions about the case insensitive but dry prose, Nyman-in hisprologue and epilogue-turns them intosyrupy melodrama. There are, to be sure,moments of genuine passion and compas-sion written into the parts of Mrs. P. andDr. P., respectively, but not enough ofthem to outweigh the musical simplicity ofthe opera as a whole.
The recording is uneven. In manyplaces, but not always, the seven -piece ac-companying ensemble of strings, harp,and piano severely covers the baritonevoice of Frederick Westcott's Dr. P., andthrough most of the performance, sopranoSarah Leonard seems to be struggling tomaintain proper breath support. The bestsinging-consistently clear in tone, pre-cise in diction-comes from tenor EmileBelcourt as the neurologist. The best mu-sic is to be heard midway through the op-
TASKAMICHI AUDIO, FOR ORDER 0,11 1-800-622-HIFI,' tAx 1-206-562-8720 2-14rs
'This Toil Free number is for orders only No other brand names are offered This ad is our total product line and noprice list is mailed out. For customer service or product availability information CALL 1-206-747-9999P.O. Kos 25911 Seattle, WA 98125 All equipment are 1'.S. A. %lodets. Brand New with 1 S i warrant .We ship most orders within 24 hours; receive orders withki 1-7 dais. 2 weeks damage and defect replacement period."Sr accept V1S i 'MC. AMEX, Discover. Diners Club, Price are subject to be changed without notice
Receivers Rotel 569 M401
657919 PAIOONakamiChi
DA.510CX
309 RDEL5,369 EC2co, ,Yamaha RX875 $519 DA410CX299
P49951 349 PAIS°
SIESRXII000109S799 RXEI55 /Tour: 589 PAACCA4F0(00UFIX700U V9, CDIetzers
449 0431000
530016AD
$729
189439
RX500U 329 5240 393
649 AVC5OV
ha Luarnan $PIO 149
FIX300U$449 SP40 109
239 CDXsonno 51799 5170COXIIIOU 979 AVX10011E99 SP50 119
Carver CassetteAVR-100 CDX910U 559249S949 AX900U
1249 SP66439599 L1LvvV..-111050917
209Rec-153 639 CDX900U 529
419 K%12000 $569 Ax400uAx5mAX799(/209 SF300
6200 589 CDX7IOU319249509
R1ASP.-7156253 739 COX7000 369 KX800U 329 1-11122'3 1.117
75
CDX510U 269 K640UL5919 csemoca00uCX1000U
CALLWorsen COX410U 259 KX500U 959 T407 309 Turntables
R -F"11157
499 Kxiiimu
rt-113
5959 COX610U649 KXR700U
559359
DenimDAP55C0 $1249 Vanish'
3.3901150 CanMW 5459 Kx,,,t,"W9C°U
469559 DSP-1 799 PA4A1520 799 P4630 $479
Dimon 359 PMA720 TT500 199558 1.34 359
DRA10250 5789 I0M202UDTL2C0 N
LU10111111711800 ei9
DRA825RDRA95A
679 unmin 279 kueo!lc5ics3DSP3C°0111000: 499TUE00 329
13-90 . 499 "dinallerS529 6393289 K-105 $489 TU550 233,104,0422DRA625
233
DRA425 369449 13:11112 419 K-106 499
LOC1030
429 P4AD 1 499
0.113 549 239 679 1240 $219 299
Kyocera 449 1300 399 1063 1 039969
R-861 391300-107 729
1,-.1111;
Dentin 1700 639 102 649119
R-116611
7290-109 1249
DROA301-1X 5409389 MVSS4150.5001 279 22000E 479 095 978
529 Damn279 TX -900
269 2600A 075639 ,. 578
NAD 0000.0 $1.349 D8,4240x1 199 DFINA,21-1X
2/39 TX -1000329 3220 219 ,-... 418
C35 3387e00 $1299 669 DRIAI2HR 449 3300 27874C0
0001533 229 Calvet 4220 219 C25
7250PE 529DC131503 II 499 CfreMOPX
3899 43:90R487068"81
499 C15 1%
7240PE 429DC01400 399 DRIAIOHR 239 40001
KyooereDCCeio a39 CI 499 11 W 61069MOPE 259 DC0e00 5599 a7100
149800 239
7175PE369 1 199
699 439 ce 209
43943A EoloseTann°Y$219255
829 2279 8 211 11
NAD 01-7 659Paliernicle
Danecorrio
COAT 469 woo9729249 Mk.? 057T
369 Mi 5T
459FIC87060
SR3A 1669389 114710Criwa Se69
6240 499I:60850SR2A 6155 699R6350 669
FEBRUARY 1 9 6 9 63
SAVE YOUR COPIES OF
HIGH FIDELITYThese custom-made titled casesare ideal to protect your valu-able copies from damage.They're designed to hold ayears issues, constructedwith reinforced board andcovered with durable leather -like material in flag blue. The title is hot -stamped
in gold. Free personalization
foil included forindexing year.
Cases areV -notched foreasy access.
Cases: 147.95 3-521.95 6-539.95
HIGH FIDELITYJesse Jones Industries, Dept. HF499 East Erie Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19134
Enclosed is $ for Cases;Add $1 per case for postage & handling. OutsideUSA add $2.50 per case (US funds only). PA resi-dents add 6% sales tax.
Print Name
AddressNo P.O. Boo numbers, please
City/State/Zip
CHARGE ORDERS (Minimum $15): Am Ex, Visa, DC,MC accepted. Send card name, 8, Exp. date.CALL TOLL FREE 7 days, 24 hours 41-800-972-5858
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
ADDIO AND VIDEO AT WHOLESALE PRICES!
HIG V@ TAGRECEIVERS + AMPS
Pioneer VSX-9300S NewPioneer VSX-5300 CallPioneer VSX-3300 249Pioneer VSA-910. .. CallSony STR AV1000 489Sony STR AV900 369Sony STR AV290 199Nikko Alpha 650 949Nikko Alpha 450 579Technics SAR 530 485Technics SAR 430... 385Technics SU AV55 520Technics SU AV44.. 199JVC RX 1001V CallJVC RX 777 399JVC RX 333 199JVC SVA30 175
SSI 4000 Pro Logic NewSSI 360 II 299
AZDEN HEADPHONESDSR-90 Pro Digital 75DSR-50 Digital . 49
CASSETTE DECKSPioneer CT W900R NewPioneer CT W700R CallPioneer CT W300 145JVC TDW 999 BK 325JVC TDW 444 BK 205Technics RST 33R 249
CD PLAYERSPioneer PD M700 CallPioneer PD M600 LowestPioneer PD 7100 PricesPioneer PD 4050 135JVC XLM 600 369JVC XLM 400 295JVC XII 444 220JVC XLV 222 159
Sony CDP C70 335Sony CDP 350 189Magnavox CDB 650 289Magnavox CDB 473 249Technics SLP 770. .NewTechnics SIP 550 ....... 325Technics SLP 350 269
Kyocera 's KD-3010U8mm CamcorderMOON RESOLUTIONNIGH SPEED SHUTTER.POWER ZOOM0+4 Fl AUDIO.ONLY 2 4 Ds
Fa pea'COI
CAMCORDER SPECIALSPanasonic PV S350 1689Panasonic PV 420 989RCA CPR 300 1049RCA CPR 250 899Sony CCD V9 CallSony CCD F40 1099Minolta V2000 CallOlympus VX 802 999JVC GRC 55U 1289JVC GRC 25U 949
VCR SPECIALSPanasonic PV S4864 699Panasonic PV 4860RCA VPT 695 899RCA VR 595 NewRCA VR 475 CallJVC HRS 8000U 995JVC HRS 7000U 799Mitsubishi U-70 NewMitsubishi U-50 CallQuasar VH 5677 CallQuasar VH 5485 439PERSONAL STEREOSSony WMF-10011 115Sony WMF-77 89Sony WMF-45 69Sony D-15 Call
CAR STEREOWe Carry a Full Line of
Sony and PioneerCall Us For Your Best PriceRADAR DETECTORS
Passport Equiv 189Under, RD9 139Cobra RD -3170 175
800-654-7787NHIGNVOLTAGEL 39 W. 32nd St., New York,0001
VISA, MC and 0013 Accepted All ProductsFactoryY 1
Freshand Subject to Availability Customer Service Call 212-564-4410
era, when the unfortunate Dr. P., accom-panied only by piano, sings Schumann's"Ich grolle nicht." Playing time: 57:03.
James Wierzbicki
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 5, in B flat,Op. 100.
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra,Janson. Brian Couzens, prod. Chan -
dos CHAN 8576 (D). o ABRD 1271. rz)ABTD 1271. (Distributed by Koch ImportService.)This should be cause for celebration: thefirst Western -made recording in years ofthe legendary Leningrad Philharmonic.Unfortunately, the operative term here is"legendary." It goes virtually without say-ing that a Soviet orchestra on tour, in rep-ertoire it knows by heart, won't sound bad.But this isn't the Leningrad ensemble thatthe late Yevgeny Mravinsky raised to stel-lar heights.
The Leningrad Philharmonic alwayshad somewhat sour winds and wateryhorns, but it redeemed itself in the match-less precision of its string playing. Nolonger. To cite just one example, the violinchatter after figure 81 in the finale nowcomes out as a smear. Mravinsky wouldhave insisted on, and obtained, clean six-teenth notes, however improbable thetempo.
It is always a sop to a critic's vanity tohave a hunch confirmed. Yuri Temirka-nov, named to succeed Mravinsky as theLeningrad's music director, did just thatin a remarkably candid interview pub-lished in The New York Times in earlyJune, 1988, when he described the currentsorry state of his new orchestra. Mra-vinsky's age and infirmity, wedded to avery limited repertoire, precluded strongleadership for over a decade. Emigrationcost the group some 30 string players overthe same period. Say what you will aboutthe politics motivating Temirkanov's thin-ly veiled dislike of Mravinsky, but 30string chairs opening up in a relativelyshort time spells disaster.
Perhaps the situation would have beenimproved had Mariss Jansons, conductingthe orchestra on this occasion, proved amore convincing interpreter. His heartlessrushing through the first and third move-ments makes the symphony seem breath-less and lacking in poetry, just as his sup-pression of the heavy percussion robs theclimaxes of impact. This, combined withthe orchestra's decent but decidely unvir-tuosic response, results in a sort of vague,Mravinskian caricature, sadly underscor-ing the passing of an era. No one canblame Chandos for wanting to capture thisorchestra while it had the chance, and thelabel's engineering team has done so inhandsome sound. But that's not reasonenough to acquire this performance. Play-ing time: 38:14. David Hurwitz
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Symphony No. 5,in D; The Lark Ascending*.
Davis', London Symphony Orchestra,4 Thomson. Brian Couzens, prod. Chan-
dos CHAN 8554 (D). o ABRD 1260. cmABTD 1260. (Distributed by Koch ImportService.)VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: PastoralSymphony*, Concerto in A forOboe and String Orchestrat.
Kenny*, Theodoret; London Sympho-ny Orchestra, Thomson. Brian Cou-
zens, prod. Chandos CHAN 8594 (D). oABRD 1289. (z) ABTD 1289. (Distributedby Koch Import Service.)Ralph Vaughan Williams's Fifth Sympho-ny is one of the greatest orchestral worksof this century, a work of uncompromisingnobility and beauty. If it is unknown toyou, I strongly suggest that you make itsacquaintance via this performance, in thecourse of which nothing comes betweenthe music and the listener. I can think ofno higher praise than that. The accountflows inevitably along, thanks in no smallmeasure to the London Symphony Or-chestra's gorgeous string playing, and toBryden Thomson's unobtrusive yet mas-terly guidance. The coupling here, the vio-lin romance The Lark Ascending, main-tains the mood of the symphony and isequally well done, and Chandos's record-ing is well-nigh perfect.
The Pastoral Symphony was the weak-est link in Andre Previn's Vaughan Wil-liams cycle for RCA, and EMI botchedthe transfer to CD of Sir Adrian Boult'sotherwise excellent version (coupled withan even more severely sabotaged Fifth).As a result, this newcomer fills a signifi-cant gap, and it does so with complete suc-cess. In the first movement, Thomson con-veys the sense of awesome power, barelyrestrained, better than either of his prede-cessors. He never lets the predominantlyslow tempos bog the music down, and hemakes the scherzo's fast coda somethingabsolutely enchanting. David Theodoreplays the Oboe Concerto very well; it's afinely written and underrated work, veryidiomatic for the instrument, and as a cou-pling it again complements the mood ofthe symphony.
It is unfortunate that most of this love-ly music has yet to enter the internationalrepertory. But if the dreary conservatismof major symphony orchestras in thiscountry deprives us of live exposure tothese extraordinary pieces, at least we canexperience them at home. This Chandoscycle may well become the most recom-mendable set available of Vaughan Wil-liams's symphonies, assuming the remain-der of it is as successful as these firstinstallments. As it stands now, Thomsonand the London Symphony bury the com-petition. Playing times: 54:28 (8554);56:07 (8594). David Hurwitz
64 HIGH FIDELITY
THE (CD SPREADMINI -REVIEWS OF THE LATEST COMPACT DISCS
By Robert E. Benson, David Hurwitz, Paul Moor, Christopher Rothko, Terry Teachout, and James Wierzbicki
MUSSORGSKY, RAVEL WORKS:DALLAS SYMPHONY, MATAThese performances of Mussorgsky andRavel orchestral works by Eduardo Mataand the Dallas Symphony Orchestra wereamong RCA's earliest and finest digital re-leases, and now they have been reissued at"budget price" on the company's Victrolaline. Anyone wanting Pictures at an Exhi-bition need look no further than Mata's ex-citing, thoughtful, and individual inter-pretation. RCA has substituted first-rateversions of Ravel's La Valse and Valses no-bles et sentimentales for the original cou-pling (a superb Le Tombeau de Couperin),making for more than an hour of music. Interms of both technical and artistic qual-ity, Mata puts the highly touted Dutoit/Montreal performances of this music firm-ly in the shadow. And at RCA's price, thisdisc is worth owning even if it duplicatesrepertory already in your collection. Play-ing time: 64:44. (RCA 7729-2.) D.H.
B EETHOVEN NINTH SYMPHONY:D RESDEN STATE OPERA, BLOMSTEDTDresden and its Staatskapelle have a Bee-thoven's Ninth tradition matched by fewcities and orchestras even in Germany orAustria. It goes back to the work's ratherdaring local premiere in 1838; even whenRichard Wagner conducted the Ninththere on Palm Sunday eight years later,the orchestra's conservative bosses regard-ed it edgily as bad for the box office. On the1927 centenary of Beethoven's death, itwas Richard Strauss who conducted Dres-den's traditional Palm Sunday Ninth.Ever since the Wagner performance, it hastaken war to keep Dresdners from theirannual celebration with this symphony.
The live performance recorded herecelebrated the reopening of Dresden's glo-riously restored Semper Oper on the forti-eth anniversary of the city's barbarousobliteration shortly before the end ofWorld War II. Palm Sunday 1985 fell onthe last day of March, and you can hearthat a few in the audience had colds, butthe vibrancy and tension of the perfor-mance, with all participants rising noblyto a great occasion, more than make up forany intrusion of ambient sounds. HerbertBlomstedt takes a rigorously Classical ap-proach, letting Beethoven speak for him-self. The soloists (stalwarts of the DresdenState Opera) distinguish themselves, theorchestra lives up to its reputation as one
of the world's greatest, and the chorus(also from the opera) sounds especiallythrilling. Playing time: 71:42. (CapriccioCDC 10060. Distributed by Delta Music,Inc.) P.M
FAURE PIANO WORKS:JEAN-PHILIPPE COLLARDJean -Philippe Collard's marvelous ac-count of Faure's Barcarolles was reissuedin 1987 by Angel EMI (CDC 47358), andnow the label has repackaged the rest ofthe pianist's Faure solo recordings in amidprice, two -CD set. This collection con-tains the complete Nocturnes; the Themeet variations, Op. 73; the Preludes, Op.103; and the solo version of the Opus 19Ballade. The performances are exquisite,the music subtle and passionate. Anyonewho loves Faure will want these record-ings. Now it's time for EMI to issue a CDversion of the wonderful Faure recital thatFrederica von Stade and Collard recordeda few years ago. Playing time: 138:10. (An-gel EMI CDMB 69149.) T T.
MARTINU CHAMBER WORKS:DARTINGTON ENSEMBLEThis is one of the most delightful chamber -music discs currently available. Martini 'sstylistic range was simply astonishing.The Nonet (1959)-for flute, oboe, clari-net, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello, anddouble bass-taps a vein of folk -inspiredpoetry that is uniquely Czech, especiallyin the delicate slow movement. By con-trast, the Trio in F for flute, cello, andpiano (1944) bubbles with neoclassicalenergy. The Kitchen Revue (1927), the ear-liest work on the disc, is a jazz balletscored for clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, vio-lin, cello, and piano. It sounds like thework of an entirely different composer,with a memorable, wacky Charleston tourde force in the third movement. The Dart-ington Ensemble plays each work verywell, and Hyperion's sound is excellent. Ajoy from start to finish. Playing time:49:10. (Hyperion CDA 66084. Distribut-ed by Harmonia Mundi, U.S.A.) D.H.
DVORAK PIANO TRIOS, OPP. 65, 90:AX, KIM, MAIt is a pity to have such fine performancesruined by such a poor recording. EmanuelAx, Young Uck Kim, and Yo -Yo Ma givedeeply felt accounts of two of Dvotak'sstrongest chamber works, but unfortu-
nately we hear as much of their breathingand bowing as we do of their playing,thanks to CBS's exceedingly close record-ing. The sound is also poorly integrated,which makes the strings appear to wanderabout the stage, while the piano seems tobe in a different acoustic altogether.
The Trio in F minor, Op. 65, receivesan especially loving treatment from theseplayers. The opening Allegro is passionatewithout becoming syrupy; the performersnever shy away from the molto espressivomarking, yet they also allow the music tosigh. They capture the perky folk flavor ofthe Allegretto as well as the lyricism of theAdagio. The finale is intense and directand dispatched with panache.
The Dumky, a more ambivalent work,is still the best loved of Dvoffik's trios. Theperformers are somewhat less successfulhere, however, in penetrating the work'sdark colors and communicating its mys-tery. Highly Romantic in their approach,these three musicians follow the Dumky'smany mood swings from melancholy toexuberant, but their playing is less direct-ed and their manner less animated than itis in Opus 65. Violinist Kim is at timessomewhat hesitant, but this is more thancompensated for by the forceful sensitivityof Ma's cello. Perhaps the LP would be thewiser choice here, where surface noisemay actually be a benefit, masking dis-tracting performer sounds and boostingenjoyment of this otherwise excellent re-lease. Playing time: 72:27. (CBS Master-works MK 44527.) C.R.
VERDI "LA TRAVIATA":NBC SYMPHONY, TOSCANINIThis two -CD set contains a complete per-formance of Verdi's La traviata culledfrom three rehearsals for Arturo Toscani-ni's 1946 NBC radio broadcasts of the op-era with Licia Albanese, Jan Peerce, Rob-ert Merrill, and the NBC Symphony. Itbears out the long -held contention of Tos-canini's colleagues that he was at his bestin rehearsal: more relaxed, more assured,more meaningfully intense. The singing isalso noticeably better than in the broad-cast performance, especially in Albanese's"Sempre libera." The sound is tolerable,given the condition of the lacquer discsfrom which it derives. The labels andpackaging make no mention of the NBCSymphony, presumably to escape the
(Continued on page 68)
FEBRUARY 1989 OS
S
4/1 9.
DEO TAPES/VIDEO ACCESSORIES/PER ONAL COMPUTERSE/CAR STEREO RADAR DETECTORS/CAR SECU
AL PORTABLES CLOCK RADIOS PORTABLE
ORBUSINESS
Cassette Decks
Teac V-285CHXStereo Cassette Deck
Dolby B & C Dolby HX Pro headroomextension system Two tape head design DC motor Tope bras control Black finish
SaleCI 599" Retail$160
Teac R435XAuto Reverse Dolby B/C and dbx $149"Technics RSS29RAuto Reverse Dolby /C, Music select518995Teac V770 3 -HeadTape monitoring. Dolby B/C /MX Pro ,269"Teat V570Dolby B/C /MX Pro 2 motor/head . 5219°'Teat R616XAuto Reverse Dolby B/C Mx Pro, dbx 5299°'Teac R919XA/R. 3-head/motor. Dolby B/C/MX Pro5499"
More CD Specials
REMOTE CD/CASSETTE_ .
Teac AD -4CD Player/Cassette Deck Combo
Wireless remote Control of born CLcassette sections 16 -track random programdubbing & ploy Dolby B & C Auto reverserecord play Synchro start dubbing
i,°ilcee $27995Teac PDSOOM6 disc changer, remote, 32 track prog5239"Magnavox CD11582 NEWDual I6 -bit D/A s 20 hock wog . $199"Teat AD7Powerful remote cassette/CD combo539995
Nikko CD500Direct access remote 999"Shure D6000 "UtIra"IA -bit dual D/A s. 2x oversompling. 5249"Technics SLP150dx oversornpling, dual D/A s, 20 -track 974"
Portables
Sharp QT-CD20Portable AM/FM/Cassette/CD Player
Big sound from a compact system 20 trackprogrammable CD player 3 -band graphicequalizer Easy CD to cassette dubbing 10watt output
sale $19995 n"Price
Sony WM-AF64 MegalassAM/FM/auto reverse cassette walkman $99"
Panasonic RXSR39AM /FM /cassette stereo -to -go recorder511995
Toshiba KT4568Digital AM/FM/auto rev cassette. . $119"Technics SLXP6CD Player ultra compact . . . $259"Sharp JCI3OPortable AM /FM cassette. black . 99"Sony CFSW5O1Double cassette AM/FM. 5 -bond 10 513995
Double Cassette Decks
0
Teac W-6608Double Auto Reverse Cassette Deck
Dolby B and C One touch high speedcassette dubbing Continuous play Memoryplay Search dubbing Full logic control Black
Sole $.19995 RetailPrice ra $519
Teat W350CHigh Speed Dolby B Bias fine tuning $99"Sherwood S289RDRDouble auto reverse. Dolby B/C . . $199°'Technics RSTBORAuto reverse. Dolby B/C. dbx . . .
$459"Technics RST230Dolby B/C Feather touch logic transporr517995
Sharp RI111800Hi Speed Dual auto reverse. Dolby B $159"Teac W990RXRemote. Dolby B/C dbx. 3 -motor . $499°'
Receivers
Sherwood S-2770CP-11Remote Control Audio/Video Receiver io watts OMS per channel 7 bandequalizer 2 video inputs Surround soundcircuit Spectrum analyzer display 16 presetdigital AM FM tuner Black
it'lce. ;12,t'$249951
JVC RX950VIIK120 watts/channel. remote. A/V inputs544995
Harman Kardon HK795170 watts/channel, uWowideband amp544995
Technics SA13OAnalog. 35 watts/ch. speaker Ate . . $89"Technics SA290Digital 50 watts/channel, 16 presets $149"Sherwood 52730CPSurround A/V features. 35 watts/ch . 919"Sherwood S2750CPDigital A/V surround system. 55 watts/ch5149"
Audio Add-Ons
Terk FM -8500Electronic Indoor FM Antenna
Omnidirectional design improves reception Adjustable gain control Amplifies incomingsignal by up to 24 times AC operated
1 -year warranty
iZcl. $3495 `r"Terk 9500FM Antenna Electronic 24db gain . 559"Nikko CO231 way stereo. 3 way mono, Crossover ,299"
Terk 9600FM Antenna 30db adlustable gain. whlte57995
dbx 200XGControls 3 processors. 3decks & NR $79"Parsec LS4IM Antenna. 32db gain. great FM . . ,49"dbx 111XDSExpander/compressor 979"
Compact Disc Players
1311=11coLL.
ADC CD16/2RRemote Control Compact Disc Player Look al these features 3 beam loserpickup 16 track programming Convenientwireless remote Advanced error correction Black finish
Sale 5/4995 RetailPrice $329
Sharp DX6503 Beam 20 track prog.1x oversampling511795
Teac PD425Remote. 3 -beam 15 track memory . 959"Technics SLP23O16Bit 4x oversompling, Dual D/A s . $19995Technics SLP35018 Bit dx oversampling. CD edit & peak525995
Teac PD450Remote 16 Bit 20 track memory . . 974"Technics SLP400CChanger 6 -disc magazine. remote 5269°'
Speakers
1..
L ENCLOSURE
The Bose Acoustimass AM -5Speaker System
tor the home Cleansound & low distortion system contains 2mirsature sotelktes & 1 sob -woofer for big sound,n a small package Block satin finish
Pillcee 569995 ;74"Bose 101High quality sound. black ...Cro $179°'Pinnacle PN+2 way 515- woofer 50 watts . . CO. $139"Technics SBL3610 woofer 2 tweeter. 100 wals ro,, $99"Technics SBLS610" woofer. 4' midrange, tweeterook 5149"Bose RM2 RoomMate ItBuilt in amps & active FO . . . Poi, 5299"BSR 828' system with 2" tweeter walnut . poir $59"
Turntables
Dual CS -2110ABelt Drive Turntable
Convenient semi -automatic auto returni,peration leatunng easy -to -use top -mountedcontrols Hinged dust cover Europeonstyling
iltee $9995 ;r1)91"
Dual CS505-3Semi auto bell drive. heavy platterTechnics SLQD22Quartz direct drive accept P mount . 919"Technics SLBD22Belt drive semi auto. pitch & strobe .
$89°'
Dual CS5000/X3MCTurntable with Ortoton X3MC cart . s 449"ADC LT34Full auto belt drive. linear tracking $79"Technics SLJ33Auto Convenient LP locket size . . 5179"
1.
Tlii3 IgetithLP/Cassette/CD Specials
I -
Arista BUS
Your Choice
7799 69°wa; LIZ ST01<1
SPLU.Crilfeatures
Forgiven*. Wicaene neerMine oats
500115 3037
Cartrid es
Shure V-15 Type V -MRDeluxe Micro Ridge Phono Cartridge
Micro ndge stylus tip Excellent trackobility Dynamic stabilizer Side -guard stylusprotection Duo -point alignment gauge
ilcee 59$12995 Reta"19
Shure V15 -Type IV MRHypereiliptical stylus standard mount $6905Shure M11IHEUniversal Nyperelliptical stylus . . . $49"Audio Technlca AT231LPUniversal mount linear contact stylus 539"Audio Technics AT221EPUniversal mount biradial stylus . . . $29"Audio Technica AT152MLPP Mount square shank microline stylus 599"Shure V15HRPP Mount New hyper ridge stylus . . .
$
4995
UMMUORtS1CWD ORDER TOLL -FREE 1-800-221-8180Mail Order Hours: Monday To Friday 8 AM to 8 PM, Saturday 9 AM to 6 PM, Sunday 10 AM to 4 PMDealer & Institutional Inquiries Call Toll -Free 1.800-221-3191 - In New York 1-718-417-3747AR Music World, Dept. HF0289, 59.50 Queens-Midtwn Expressway, Maspeth, Queens, NY 11378
/VI EO P OR /PUTERS PRINTERS ONITORS/COMPUTER SOFTWARE/FLOPPY DISKS/COMPUTER SOF
CHINES/TELEPHONE BUSINESS SYSTEMS/HOME SECURITY/PERCULATORS ITERS RECORDS COMPACT DISCS PRE-
SupeA *dubVHS Video Movie Specials
Mt AfAHOME VIDEO
GIRL NF.
HAPPY
V or e'er %Ai
Your Choice
1895Girl Happy
Kissin' CousinsLive A Little,
Love A LittleSpinout
Stay Away, JoeTrouble With Girls
Headphones
BeyerDynamic DT990Pro Stereo Headphones
Open air style headphone with unbelievablewide dynamic driver Excellent transient aridfrequency response Unique moving coilassembly
Price5/9995 MrKoss Pro4AAA +Digital ready closed ear Comfort , . $38"Sennheiser HD250Dialler ready closed ear design . . 949"Sennhelser HD4110Digital Open air dynamic design . . $69"Beyer CIT8410STUDIO ProFor the true audiophile 484"Sony MDRV6Digital ready closed ear monitor drivers$74"
Koss Pro450Dual Driver Dynamic closed ear desIgn$138"
Nikko Alpha -230Professional Power Amplifier
120 watts RMS per channel High speednon -switching design MI speaker selector LED power display 19" rock mountable
Sole $34995 RetailPrice $499
Nikko NAIO5OIntegrated 105 watts/channel. black$229"
Nikko Gamma3OAM /EPA Tuner Quartz lock. 14 presets $179"
SAE TIO1AM/FM tuner, Fully electronic . $249"Nikko A130100 watts/channel, rock mount . 5249"Nikko A450220 watts/channel. Non switching arnp$499"
Nikko NT950AM/FM Tuner Quartz lock. 20 presets '159"
Video Specials
Akai VS -565UAudio/Video Hifi Video Recorder
DX4 head system r-iQ circuitry MIS stereocable ready tuner Remote control *On-screen programming & displays 10 wattstereo amp built-in 14 day 6 event
IS.Irdicle. $44995 Retail$649
Sony KV27SXR1O17 Stereo XBR monttor/receiver mis$999"
JVC HRS8000U S -VHSTop -Of The. Line digital effects HiFi MISCALL
Toshiba SV970 S -VHS4 head, MI5. HiFi stereo digital etlect,CA ILSamsung VR2000VHS HQ Cable ready. 14 day/4 Event 119"Panasonic PVS4864 S -VHSMIS stereo tuner. Hai bar code . . $779"Panasonic PVS44S S -VHSSuper VHS corncorder,13 I power zoomCALL
Auto Accessories
Monster Cable ZapttOptical Remote Control Power Booster Mounts on the front of any remote control Powerful infrared light amplifier Specialmultiple lens system tilt operation slantscontrol for easy view of buttons
lce.? $1995 'V"Pri
AudioSource LLC1 CleanerActually cleans your CD player laser 524"Discwasher DisckitRecord/stylus cleaners, Zerostat case II"Audioquest Sorbothane FeetImproves isolation, 4 pack
Naiad RF2Stackoble record cabinet, hold 65 LPs $17"
Naiad CD2All wood construction trackable. 65 CD'sSir
Memorex CS4OCordless operation of headphones . stir
$3495
DJ Equipment
Gemini MX -4200Disco Mixer with Echo
lizoiwes 3 phono inputs 3 line Separate faders rhputs 1-rnicrophone nput Peak reading VU meters Echo marry Block finish
Sole $70995 RetailPrice $139
Atus AMIGODisco Mix 2 phono & 2 aux inputs . 18"Gemini DA1500Direct driver manual turntable . . $259"Stanton 6808LDJ Cartridge Standard mount, ellIpticol$54"
Stanton SOOALDl Cartridge Standard mount. spherIcals119"
Stanton 390ALHigh performance elliptical cartridge $84"Pickering 6250JStandard mount, elliptical stylus . . $29"
Scanners/Radar
Uniden Bearcat 560XLTMobile Scanner
Exciting 0-conct radio scanong on the rood 16 programmable channels Weathersearch Direct channel access Frequencyreview key Mobile mounting bracket
Sole MA 95 RetailPrice I ,1, $199
Uniden Bearcat 76OXLTHand held labond prop scanner . '268"Uniden RD9 RadarUltra comoact. superheterodyre Whistler Spectrum 2Triple conversion variable flHe., LED $114"Cobra R03170 TalkingRecord your own message. X&K bands$168"
Cobra RD3120 RadarX&K band dual A /V alarms. compact$109"
Bel 976 "Vector 3"X /K/Xa band. GaAs diodes viscr/dash966"
$122"
Blank Tape
Maxell XL1I-100Audiophile High Bias Cassette Tape
100 rrvnutes for extended length aridcompact disc recording New resonance -proof cassette mechanism for improvedperformance
SateP Ice$24,91,-Sony UXPRO60High Bias Special purchase . . io-Pack
Sony MetaI90Perfect for live & digital sources 10 -Pack 34"
7DK SD90New high *las dynamic cossettesio-Pwck .3"
Fuji FRMETAL90Wide range ultra low noise . . 10 -Pock 219°
Moxell XLIIS9OThe premier high bias cassettes r0 -Pack 22"
TDK MAXG90Metal blot. precision metal shell . loch 85"
Equalizers
lir1111111111.1dabidi.... ...... ..
ADC SS -525XComputerized Graphic Equalizer
12 bands per channel Automaticroom speaker hat equalization Wirelessremote AnaNzer EQ display Pink noisegenerator Microphone Black ?mash
Sale $24995 RetailPrice sr, $599
Nikko EQ30 Pro1/3 Octave 3 band single channel $229"Teac EQAS10 Band/Channel LED display . . . $69"Tem EQA30EQ/Analyzer 10 bands/channel . . $199"ADC SS300SLEQ/Analyzer 10 bands/channel . . $159"AudioSource EQ810 Band LED Illuminated sliders . . . $99"ADC SS325X12 band/channel.5 memories . . $269°'
/1111.Ong
Musical Instruments
Casio DH -100Digital Horn
An at new wind instrument teatunrk2 6 Drew''ones polornento effect and a built-inspeaker MIDI output Key transpose Requires 5 AA batteries
Sale $00 95 RetailPrice 7 7 5)49
Yamaha DD5 Drum PadsElectronic 30 presets. MIDI in/Out
Yamaha PSS13OMini Keyboard 32 keys
Yamaha PSS14O MIDI100 presets sounds. 5 drum pads. 37 keys'/ 2"
Casio DG2O Guitar20 sounds 4 drum pads . $284"Casio C7600061 key lull We. 20 sounds . . . . $349"Yamaha PSS480 MIDI49 keys 100 sounds/rhythms, . . . '149"
$99"
$3495
AUDIOMORECORDSWESCDsand MORE
COMPUTERS
ON atGSCOUNT
MUMNAV=FREE CATALOGUE
For a FREE catalogue call toll -tree800-426-6027. or WaleJ&R Music WorldDepartment HF028959-50 Queens -Midtown ExpresswayMaspeth, NY 11378
Name
Address
City State Zip
TO ORDER BY MAIL:SEND MONEY ORDER, CERTIFIED OR CASHIERS CHECK, MASTERCARD VISA, AMERICAN EXPRESS or DISCOVER CARD (Include Interbank No.expiration date and signature.) TO. JAR MUSIC WORLD, DEPT. MF0289, 59-59 QUEENS -MIDTOWN EXPRESSWA r MASPEIN, QUEENS, MYELITISPersonal and business checks must clear our Authorization Center before processing Shipping. Handling & Insurance Charge is 5%of total Order with a $4.95 minimum. (Canadian Orders Add 15% Shipping. with a $9 95 YORKg
) For shipments air. peasedouble these charges $25 MINIMUM ORDER. DO NOT SEND CASH. SORRY, NO C.O.D.'s. NEW RESIDENTS PLEASE ADD SALES TAX WEARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. ALL PICTURES SHOWN FOR VISUAL REPRESENTATION ONLY
ALL MERCHANDISE SHIPPED BRAND NEW, FACTORY FRESH, AND 500% GUARANTEED.
MN&
(Continued from page 65)wrath of RCA's corporate lawyers. Morepower to the folks at Music and Arts. Theguys in suits at RCA would never havetaken the trouble to put together a reissuelike this-the inimitable sound of Toscani-ni hoarsely cheering his musicians onwould have sent them running for cover.Very highly recommended. Playing time:103:52. (Music and Arts Programs ofAmerica ATRA 271. Distributed by Al-legro Imports.) T T
IBERT ORCHESTRAL WORKS:BIRMINGHAM, FREMAUXThe centerpiece of this disc is a frothy,spirited performance of Ibert's Divertisse-ment by Louis Fremaux and the City ofBirmingham Symphony Orchestra. Eachof the work's six brief sections is banded,which makes it easy to find that poundingpiano part that practically anybody canplay-it's at the beginning of band 6, justbefore the exhilarating ga/op finale. Theother four works are of varying interest.Bacchanale is immediately appealing-avigorous, intense, wild short dance repletewith stunning brass glissandos that welllives up to its title. The shortest work onthe disc is the product of a historical com-mission: Charles Munch requested Ibertto write a symphony for the Boston Sym-phony Orchestra's 75th anniversary(1956); the composer did not live to com-plete it, but the first movement survivesand is known as Bostoniana. Anothershort work is the Louisville Concerto, aconcerto for orchestra that dates from1953. Symphonie marine is Ibert's lovingtribute to the sea, and at 14 minutes, it iswithin seconds of the longest work in thiscollection, the Divertissement.
This CD is perhaps not for the intro-spective, substance -craving listener, yet allof the music is delightful to hear. The or-chestration throughout is brilliant, andthe recordings, which date from the mid -1970s, are rich and reverberant, yet withsufficient clarity and impact. It is unfor-tunate that Ibert's best-known work, Es-cales, was not included; it easily couldhave been accommodated. Playing time:55:19. (Angel EMI CDC 49261.) R.E.B.
BERIO "LABORINTUS II":ENSEMBLE MUSIQUE VIVANTE, BERIOLuciano Berio's status as a leader of thepostwar European avant-garde, more orless on the same level with Pierre Boulez,Luigi Nono, and Karlheinz Stockhausen,automatically makes this release interest-ing. Unfortunately, Harmonia Mundi haspartially botched things by not showing itscustomary respect for a work's text-andin a work by Berio, of all people, for whomthe vocal element figures so importantly.
The French national radio commis-sioned this work to commemorate the
700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri'sbirth, and for it Berio turned to the poetryof Edoardo Sanguineti, who serves herealso as speaker. He has crystal-clear enun-ciation, but unless you are completely flu-ent in Italian, you will collide with a stonewall, for the leaflet fails to provide even asummary, let alone the complete text. Be-rio's own participation-as conductor ofthe Ensemble Musique Vivante, the Cho-rale Experimentale, and three female vo-cal soloists-makes the performance itselfdefinitive. Playing time: 33:01. (HarmoniaMundi France HMA 190764. Distributedby Harmonia Mundi, U.S.A.) P.M.
ELGAR "DREAM OF GERONTIUS":NEW PHILHARMONIA, BOULTSir Adrian Boult's 1976 recording of El -gar's The Dream of Gerontius has nowbeen transferred to CD, with The MusicMakers, Op. 69, thrown in for good mea-sure. The New Philharmonia Orchestra,London Philharmonic Choir, and JohnAlldis Choir are in splendid form in Ge-rontius, and Boult conducts with just theright combination of dignity and intensity.Simon Rattle's new recording with theCity of Birmingham Symphony Orches-tra, on the same label, simply isn't in thisexalted interpretive league.
The only fly in Boult's ointment is ten-or Nicolai Gedda. Cardinal Newman'swords were not designed for easy enuncia-tion by a foreign singer, however conscien-tiously coached. Gedda gives it his bestshot, but the results are sufficiently unidi-omatic to detract from the overall effect.Perhaps Britten's fascinating recordingwith Sir Peter Pears as Gerontius willbe transferred to CD by London at somepoint-not to mention the even more fas-cinating live excerpts conducted by Elgarhimself and most recently reissued onblack disc by Opal. Playing time: 104:57.(Angel F:114! CDCB 47208.) T T
TELEMANN QUARTETS:QUATUOR RICERCARIt seems like only yesterday that I was re-viewing the initial installment of whatpromises to be the "first complete record-ing"-by the Paris -based Pariser Quar-tett, on Adda [December 1988]-of the 12so-called "Parisian" Quartets that the pro-lific composer Georg Philipp Telemannwrote in 1730 and 1738. Now here's an-other CD treatment of some of the sameworks, by a Belgian early -music group, theQuatuor Ricercar. As was the case withthe Pariser recording, the pieces areplayed on only four instruments-violin,flute, viola da gamba, and harpsichord-even though it is known for sure that Nos.6-12 of the set (that is, the six that were ac-tually composed in Paris) were premieredby an ensemble that consisted of those in-struments plus a cello. Here, too, the bass
line seems diminished in both importanceand effect by its confinement to the non -dynamic left hand of the keyboard player.Otherwise, these are fine performances,although not nearly so adventurous inphrasing or ornamentation as those con-tained in the Pariser album. Playing time:66:25. (Ricercar RIC 043020. Distributedby Harmonia Mundi, U.S.A.) J. W.
RESPIGHI "ANCIENT AIRSAND DANCES": BOSTON, OZAWADespite their popularity and charm, Re-spighi's Ancient Airs and Dances have re-ceived remarkably few complete record-ings since the late Antal Dorati'spioneering Mercury set (available on Mer-cury Golden Imports, a Philips midpriceseries). Now Seiji Ozawa's performancewith the Boston Symphony has been reis-sued on Deutsche Grammophon's Galle-ria line. This account has the advantage ofupdated (analog) recording techniques,and Ozawa's interpretation leaves little tobe desired. It's an interesting historicalfact that Respighi's first set of these pieces(1917) predated Pulcinella, Stravinsky'sgreat neoclassical pastiche, by two years.Both composers were pupils of Rimsky-Korsakov, and though it's not likely thatStravinsky was directly influenced by hisItalian contemporary, there certainly wassomething in the air, some attraction tomusic of antiquity, during the first decadesof this century. This delightful midpricedisc makes an ideal introduction to thistrend, one of the most appealing and ap-proachable in modern classical music.Playing time: 51:25. (Deutsche Grammo-phon 419 868-2.) D. H.
ENGLISH ORGAN AND BRASS MUSK:WILLS; CAMBRIDGE COOPERATIVEHelios, son of Hyperion-literally as wellas mythologically. Hyperion, that admira-ble small British firm, has now broughtout its own low -price label, and this tastyhelping of good, clean fun gets the new en-terprise off to a promising start. Two ofElgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marchesand the "Nimrod" section of the Enig-ma Variations are teamed with Walton'sCrown Imperial coronation march and anexcerpt from the Henry Vfilm music, all inarrangements by organist Arthur Wills.Wills's The Fenlands suite is the coupling.
This recording features the CambridgeCooperative Band, a brass ensemble of re-markably high quality, plus the mighty or-gan of Ely Cathedral. As a composer,Wills hardly measures up to Elgar andWalton, but at the organ console he comesinto his own. Three works stand out here:the marches. The rest may not have a greatdeal of musical substance, but all of it doesindeed radiate a joyful noise. Playing time:47:20. (Helios CDH 88005. Distributed byHarmonia Mundi, U.S.A.) P.M.
68 HIGH FIDELIT Y
S
COMPETITIVE PRICING . . . CALL NOWFOR YOUR BEST DELIVERED PRiev
SUPER VHS CAMCORDERS 8mm CAMCORDERS HI-Fl STEREO CAMCORDERS
gLdOql&AddWHOLESALERS
1o!CANONF1000 10:1Z
SONYPANASONIC
Call AIM 445420
OLYMPUSVSX405VX406
OLYMPUSVX802Call
111.:
MINOLTA 8200PENTAX 850KVKD1700V- MOST POPULAR FEATURES -
SUPER VHS 8 1 ZOOM w FLYING ERASE HEAD 8mm 61 ZOOM 5 LUX INCLUDES ALL ACCESSORIES
5799
INCLUDES ALL ACCESSORIES$1199 VHS -C 6:1 ZOOM 7 LUX INCLUDES ALL ACCESSORIES
sggg
SAME AS ABOVE w CHARACTER GEN Cali VHS FULL-SIZE TAPE 7 LUX 6:1 ZOOM TIME, DATE (w HARD CASE) . . 5799
SAME AS ABOVE w DIGITAL 51399 SAME AS ABOVE w -FLYING ERASE HEADsggg
TOSHIBA SKS80 - Call for the BEST PRICE!
ITACHIRCAMIS OLTA
BEST VALUE:OLYMPUS VX406
OLYMPUS VXS405
KYOCERA KD5010
RICOH R620
PANASONIC PV420
-CANON E708
CANON E77KIT
CANON F1000S
CANON CG9825
and MANY MORE!
SUPER PRICE REDUCTIONS:
HITACHI 3100TOSHIBA SKS80 GR25U SONY CCDF30 PANASONIC PV460 PANASONIC PV330
GE CG9810 GE CG9806 GE CG9806 MINOLTA 1400 MINOLTA C50 MINOLTA 8200
VCR's- VHS&BETA
-4 HD VHS-4+2 HD Hi-Fi ST MTS-4+2 SUPER VHS Hi-Fi MTS
SUPER & FLY ERASE-4+2 SUPER VHS Hi-Fi MTS
SUPER & FLY ERASEwCIGITAL
-VHS RECORDER
5259$359
$699
s985$200
-BETA DECK 5300-PLAYER ONLY $159-AC/DC $198-8mm & STEREO PCM HI-FI
PORT.-13" TV VCR PANASONIC-5" TV PLAYER ONLY
$700$550$399
SPECIAL EFFECT& CHARACTERGENERATORS
NEWAIARKVIDEO MIXGEN LOCK
ZENITH Source Selector RCA 5 rn-3 out
ZENITH Character GeneratorSANSUI Character Generator VCG99NEWMARK VAM20C0 DOW DisolvJVC JXW9 Special EffectsJVC Color CorrectorSANSUI VX99VAC301 $099.AZDEN or NADY Wreless M s
SUN PAKVIDEOLIGHT
. 1150 (88 .13oo 511900
NP77 568 P61208mm SONY s6s°'SUPER VHS TAPE (7120) $1000
'98.219CallCall'319.199'350
VAC3I 2 '199Call
CANONE708E70 & E77
Ca // ForLowestPrice!
TV's20" REMOTECOLOR TVMTS STEREO
$2999" AC -DCCOLORZENITH
$219SUPER30" TV
$1199
AUDIO HI-FI RECEIVERS
LASER DISC COMPACT DISCPioneer Magnavox Pioneer Magnavox JVC Teac
RECEIVERS
CAR STEREOSJVC SONY - Call
ze..11111ME.M_ 7.1
. -- r -
r
ZLdtic?alit?WHOLESALERS
26" SUPERINPUTWHITE
BALANCEMTS
11101.0...
700 LINE 50"w/MTS SURROUND
46" PNPTOSHIBA,
PIONEERSONYJVC
FAX MACHINESSHARPUX80 CallUK140 Call
MUMTAM1200
$675
1160 HAMBURG TPK., WAYNE, N.J. 07470Convenient FAX #: (201) 628-8069
I
- FOR MORE INFO. Call: WE WILL MATCH OR BEAT ANY LEGITIMATE PRICE(201) 696-6531 FEDERAL EXPRESS AVAILABLE I
Call Toll -Free: 1 (800) 444-6300 We ship within 20 hoursAll pnces Quoted included
Orders: 1 (800) 247-4654 accessories & U S War -manufacturer s standard
i
rarty All units are factory
1 1 NSW 1, Day"
_....,
lag Inir I- - - - - ding extra Not responsi.ble for typographical er-rors S&H non.refundable
sealed Shipping & han-
Prom vand thre 2/21/89.
L. 114J CKEITH RICHARDS: Talk Is Cheap.
Keith Richards and Steve Jordan,prods. Virgin America 90973-1. ma
In the course of his many interviews insupport of this project, Rolling Stonesguitarist (and rumored auteur of thegroup) Keith Richards has made it clearthat this, his first "solo" effort, can betaken as a rejoinder to bandmate MickJagger's two attempts at same. Jagger, yousee, has failed to live up to the rock tenetsestablished by 20 -plus years of Stonesmusic -making: His records have strayedfrom basics and used synths and mechano-percussion effects, have preached an un-hip upbeatism (Effort No. 2, anyway), and(one suspects this offends most) have used,in lieu of Richards's functional grungeguitar, such masters of the cheap thrill asthe musically loquacious Jeff Beck. Rich-ards has promised a set that is a little moreto the point, and that's what he delivers.
True, the pervasive modesty of Talk IsCheap may have as much to do with abilityas with conscious effort, but the recorddoes stick closer to the Stones mode thanJagger's have, giving credence to the viewof Richards as main shaper of the group'smusical persona. In fact, the songs (all co-
written with drummer Steve Jordan) oftensound like additions to the Rolling canon,still more not-unsatisfying-recyclings ofsuccessful moves: "Big Enough" revisitsthe riff from "Hot Stuff"; "Take It SoHard" features a "Start Me Up" guitar,the solo quoting "Tumbling Dice"; thebridge to "Whip It Up" harkens backto "Can't You Hear Me Knocking";"Locked Away" is "Coming DownAgain" reworked; "You Don't Move Me"is a composite I've yet to unravel.
But if Richards has delivered on hispromise of treading in familiar territory,he also has given us a Stones -like recordwithout a proper vocalist. There's no get-ting around it, folks: Even given the greatrock tradition of expressive non -singers,Richards comes up short. Veering fromhoarse whisper to straining near -tenor, hisvoice leaves a noticeable hole in thearrangements-though after a while, itdoes start to appeal to your sympathy forthe underdog (c'mon, Keith, you can doit!). Fortunately, his musical method-to find a groove and kick it repeatedly, dis-
70 HIGH FIDELITY
play his unpretentious but earmark guitarstylings clearly, use his supersessionguests discreetly-makes for a decententertainment. Mild praise, perhaps, butmore would he hype, less would be untrue.
Richard C. Walls
DAVID LINDLEY AND EL RAYO-X:Very Greasy.
Linda Ronstadt, prod. Elektra 60768-1.mo
Perhaps the best way to describe DavidLindley is to say that he's rock 'n' roll'sequivalent of a Keebler elf. He certainlylooks the part: With bushy sideburns run-ning down his neck and mounds of hairfalling down his shoulders, the diminutiveLindley gives the appearance of someonewho just fell out of a tree, having gottenlost in the woods(tock) 20 years ago. And
he certainly sounds like an elf, too: Be-tween all the instruments he masterfullymanipulates-if it's got strings, he canplay it-and the almost for -dog's -ears-
only high-pitched voice in which he sings,Lindley seems to have sprung right out ofthe pages of some pipes -of -pan songbook.Whatever he is, the solo albums he hasbeen making since he stopped riding shot-gun for Jackson Browne at the end of the'70s have featured some of the most de-lightfully wacky music made by anybodylately, elfin or otherwise. Very Greasy,the newest in Lindley's ongoing series ofreggae-meets-Tex-Mex-meets-r&b roust-abouts (like I said, wacky), is no exception.
To understand the Lindley process,one need go no further than the BobbyFreeman '50s classic "Do Ya WannaDance?," which Lindley and El Rayo-X,
2111 -11.Ahis merry band of marauders, turn into arum -soaked jalapelio pepper stuffed withcheesy organ, tasty timbales, and Telstar-like guitar mini -symphony. Twisting oldtunes into weird new shapes is somethingLindley is especially good at: If youthought Warren Zevon's "Werewolves ofLondon" was funny before, you'll be dev-astated by Lindley's hysterical rendition,which includes heavy -breathe -alongchoruses and allusions to both LonChaney and Jack Nicholson. Not every-thing here is played strictly for fun,though. "Never Knew Her" is a hauntingsoul song with a knife -edged slide solo thatsearingly underscores the torment in thelyrics, and both "I Just Can't Work NoLonger" and "Talk About You" showthat Lindley is just as at home withstraight r&b as he is playing a bouzouki.
Can eclecticism this cockeyed find aplace in the tunnel -visioned music worldof the late '80s? Don't ask me. I'm the onewho believes in elves. Billy Altman
RICHARD THOMPSON: Amnesia.
L.Mitchell Froom, prod. Capitol CDP
L. 48845. .)0CLIVE GREGSON ANDCHRISTINE COLLISTER: Home and Away.
Clive Gregson, prod. Flying Fish FF473. m (1304 W. Schubert, Chicago,
111 60614.)CLIVE GREGSON ANDCHRISTINE COLLISTER: Mischief.
Clive Gregson, prod. Rhino R2 70842.o
His latest collection is called Amnesia,but Richard Thompson has forgottennothing about writing clever songs and
We three strings(from left to right):
Richards, Lindley, Thompson
playing eccentric guitar. His second col-laboration with producer Mitchell Froomis in fact a memorable release, even if it is atouch slicker than the preceding DaringAdventures. Again poised for mainstreamsuccess, Thompson will probably continueto slip through the cracks of American ra-dio, as he follows no formula but his own.
The package's fun photos of Thomp-son as both juggling jester and chainsaw-wie'ding guitar hero contradict the al-bum's cynicism (in the same way that hisdroll stage patter belies a gloomy vision).Even the snappy toe -tappers ("Turning ofthe Tide," "Jerusalem on the Jukebox,""Yankee, Go Home") tell stories of per-sonal, social, or political evil. Other tunesare more blatantly vicious ("Gypsy LoveSongs," "Don't Tempt Me"), sullen("Reckless Kind," "I Still Dream,""Waltzing's for Dreamers"), or hopeless("Can't Win," "Pharaoh"). Throughout,Thompson's distinctive non -blues guitarbites harder than all the metal on MTV.
Meanwhile, Clive Gregson and Chris-tine Collister, the guitarist/keyboardistand backup vocalist in Thompson's tour-ing band, have been stepping out for someduo work. The 1988 domestic releases ofHome and Away and Mischief bringAmericans up to date on this team, whohave had modest success in England for afew years. The 15 live acoustic tunes onHome and Away include gentle balladspenned by Gregson along with spiritedcovers ("Slow Down," "Mama Tried").Primarily unadorned folk, the album ismost interesting for a few new interpre-tations of numbers originally done byGregson's earlier new -wave band, AnyTrouble-especially "As Lovers Do,"once fast and spunky, now stretched outwith an Eastern moodiness.
Backed by a full band on Mischief,Gregson and Collister enter territory onceexplored by Richard and Linda Thomp-
3 son, and they compare admirably withoutsounding unoriginal. Collister contributes
smokier -than -Christine McVievoice, but lead vocals are shared equally,and the perfect harmonies are the mostcompelling element of this couple. Greg -son carries it all with proficient guitar,smooth production, and thoughtful lyrics(which, like Thompson's, are sorrowful, if
F EBRu AR Y 1989 71
Ii
419.00A1"e°
10"
Wisconsin D
iscount Stereo
2417 W. B
adger Road
Madison, W
I 53713N
EW
HO
UR
S: M
-F 9-8 S
AT
9-5O
R C
OD
JVC
VH
S$239
e offer over 20 models
ander 7269 -CA
LL!
RC
A 4 -H
EA
D$269
We offer over 20 4H
ead Models
under '329 -CA
LL!
VH
S H
IFI
$349
On -screen program
ming w
ith 6/21day and 27 function rem
ote
4 -HE
AD
MT
S H
IFI
$389
Over 20 4 -H
ead MIS
Nil M
odelsunder 7549 -C
ALL!
PA
NA
SO
NIC
PY
41160 CA
LL!
4 -Head M
IS H
MI w
ith 0 SP
WE
ST
OC
K M
OS
T B
RA
ND
S.
JVC
HR
D750 G
UA
RA
NT
EE
D
laimpO
W PR
ICE
Top rated 4 -H
ead MT
S
SP
EC
IAL P
UR
CH
AS
E.
RC
A 4 -H
EA
DM
TS
HIF
I$479
SP
EC
IAL P
UR
CH
AS
E.
A nam
e you can trust.
PA
NA
SO
NIC
PV
4862 CA
LL!
111114 -H
ead MIS
HF
wen bas
codeprogramming.
JVC
GR
C11
$599A
UT
O -F
OC
US
ZO
OM
LEN
S
Zenith 9M
6300G
UA
RA
NT
EE
D
LOW
PR
ICE
PA
NA
SO
NIC
PV
400
CA
LL!
GE
CG
9808G
UA
RA
NT
EE
D
LOW
PR
ICE
PA
NA
SO
NIC
PV
420
CA
LL!
GE
CG
9810G
UA
RA
NT
EE
D
LOW
PR
ICE
JVC
GR
S55
GU
AR
AN
TE
ED
LOW
PR
ICE
RC
A C
MS
CA
LL!
JVC
HR
S5000 G
UA
RA
NT
EE
DLO
W P
RIC
E
BE
ST
BU
Y!
JVC
HR
S8000 G
UA
RA
NT
EE
DLO
W P
RIC
E
Digital S
uper VH
S E
AT
S H
ifi
BE
ST
VC
R M
AD
E!
GU
AR
AN
TE
ED
KV
27SX
R10
1
AV
2658
GU
AR
AN
TE
ED
iJJV
C
Clinjj
SO
NY
-
LOW
PR
ICE
LOW
PR
ICE
,B
est:-."
'hicir.':''ece .e,
Bes* at" -c-or 'ese +
erW
E S
TO
CK
A W
IDE
VA
RIE
TY
OF
SIZ
ES
AN
D B
RA
ND
S-C
ALL!
SO
NY
SO
NY
CF
D444
TW
O C
FS
W500
$225$129
PO
RT
AB
LES
WIT
H C
D P
LAY
ER
S
Sharp °M
HO
'113111!V
C, S
AN
YO
, TO
SH
IBA
, AN
D M
OR
E
WE
ST
OC
K A
WID
E V
AR
IET
Y O
F P
OR
TA
BLE
S C
ALL!
It6
041C
zcccoCL
043 8
O;;
In 0
Discount H
otline1-809:360§§6:89514
ST
ER
EO
RE
VIE
W B
UY
ER
'S G
UID
ES
: Send $3.95 for S
TE
RE
O - $3.95 for V
IDE
O - or $7.00 F
OR
BO
TH
TE
CH
NIC
S S
LP200 $169
OIM
ME
111,,etsam
t3,9 with dual
A convertors
TE
AC
PD
500
TO
SH
IBA
XR
P9
$159S
ON
Y D
4
IW
ireless
Rem
oteP
OR
TA
BLE
Portable
DIS
CM
AN
Disc P
layer
Sony D
2'149
Sony D
TI
$249
$179
'222
TE
CH
NIC
S S
LP350 $249
TE
AC
AD
4$275
ax oversarcr, cs wcr- d.a
D A
conve,ursC
omb ca
Cassese
Pi r.c.
f u r HO
T B
UY
!
SO
NY
D15
GU
AR
AN
TE
ED
LOW
PR
ICE
SM
ALLE
ST
DIS
CM
AN
Sony 0160 ....
CA
LL!
TE
AC
AD
7$355
P..C
+.17.. H
OT
BU
Y!
TE
AC
V670
$265
3 Head, 2 m
otor cassette deckw
ith Darby B
+C
taX P
ic
JVC
TD
R611
GU
AR
AN
TE
ED
LOW
PR
ICE
Quick auto reverse cassette
with D
olby B+
C+
HO
Pro
AU
DIO
SO
UR
CE
55-1 II $169
Dolby surround sound w
ith 30W
atts /Oh and fader
SH
ER
WO
OD
CR
D210 $159
41,!7aim
Auto -reverse w
ith CD
inputs
Dolby B
/C ecd
;ow,
'"At.A
..t.4141M22.1:S
..atittititutAtaA
LtiA?
It
"no t1
'6 9z
3.. ID ,:.
.L.."4;
.; i6
'"ur °
'01 ".
. ' '''' 14x
.:g8
1,t:3
21., 9-.. 0 t
0 ;:i ::i
3..
24.I
z.2 .1.t
Le
,,,,1L
uCk i;
a o>
Z12,
t g 1:4E
l"'T
cl.C
'C
7bl
L..
'--- 0:4'
...in
1Z
'3-g. '
O=
zif
2-I
c.o
e),
ct:1:1
wC
'
a ,,,i3t, ;
2,;,
PgA
6l"
.7.
L--
go.E
:2tan 1."
0 2A
Y, 2
r,-,--, L
12 `0 18 a C
I f,i E
Ez.
.5.13
=2 Y
1'ta vs
i5f,'5 2 °t
° K i
5';2 2'
03
18;_:-..2 i
---Y
i
E ts 1
Y. 0IAL
1
r.,X
,'6,;i3eEl
2.t'?1 '11:4..
a.
1
..,
*W
* **
* **
*W
ileCL
DoO
4iirlr'4#0""rar""1
JVC
RX
550$259
Rem
ote contra 50 We! C
.'JA
:
SH
ER
WO
OD
S2770 II
$239
HIT
AC
HI
AM
/FM
RE
CO
RD
ING
WA
LKA
LON
G
$59
SH
AR
PU
X50
$7881.
FA
X M
AC
HIN
ES
Pastel 3300
'1069C
one!: 6- a,ere -eo&
e,e- art -r",M
urata M1200
CA
LL!
RE
CO
TO
NW
IRE
LES
S
100
$176 SE
T
Extends your stereo to virtually any
room in your house.
EP
I
T/E
320 II
$142 E.
Soft dom
e tweeter
DD
IYID
,OD
VIC
AC
mid
range and wader
II
WE
. ST
OC
K11
WE
MO
3T M
AJO
R B
RA
ND
SW
HY
PA
Y M
OR
E'
WE
ST
OC
K M
OS
T M
AJO
R B
RA
ND
SW
HY
PA
Y M
OR
E?
WE
ST
OC
K M
OS
T M
AJO
R B
RA
ND
SW
HY
PA
Y M
OR
E?
WE
ST
OC
K M
OS
T M
AJO
R B
RA
ND
SW
HY
PA
Y M
OR
E?
V
less cynical). Generally more mature thanthe simple pop of Any Trouble, most ofthese songs are well worth hearing (best:"This Tender Trap"), though some are alittle lifeless (worst: "I Wonder WhatWent Wrong"). Two CD -only tracks-the jaunty "Lost at Sea" and the lyriclessfiller of "Farewell Note"-are culled fromthe British LP version. Andrew Nash
SAM PHILLIPS: The Indescribable Wow.T Bone Burnett, prod. Virgin America90919-1. (Do
This is a smart woman who believes insomething, knows what she wants, is un-afraid to take major chances . . . and is nota candidate for anything. Well, perhapsshe's a reform candidate for top of thepops in an era of safe, calculated singles.Entering music several years ago throughher church as Leslie Phillips, she madetwo obscure records and then began to loseor break faith with the modern Christianmusic business. Certainly no one couldhave mistaken her for Amy Grant on1987's spare and compelling The Turning,an unheralded folk -pop effort with fellowadventurer T Bone
Moving from Word to Virgin, fromLeslie to Sam, and from a "Christian con-text" to the world, Phillips has keptT Bone and crew, turned up the electricityand surface snap, and delivered The Inde-scribable Wow, one of the very best recordsof 1988. It's chock-full of dazzlinglyarranged and executed pop songs redolentof the '60s-not just in instrumentation(comping harpsichord, electric sitar, or-gan of both the drone and the "Incenseand Peppermints" varieties, even reversetape), but in a willingness to experiment,to push farther, that just hasn't been heardmuch since those hybrid, halcyon days.Her attractive, flexible voice can projectsmoky intimacy on "Flame," an acousticsamba reminiscent of "And I Love Her,"or echoed stridency on "Remorse,"another Beatlesque track-out of "She'sa Woman" by Ram-about a Brazilianmatricide/mass murder . . . she reads thenews today, oh boy! As these flatteringresonances might indicate, Phillips is adeft lyricist, a sophisticated and resource-ful melodist, and a daring, intuitive masterof pop hooks and structure.
Most of all, the artfully conceived anddeployed backing vocals (all hers) and thedense and rich playing of T Bone's teamare focused entirely on the essential 21/2 -minute mission: the effective imprinting ofSam's songs on the listener. And they im-
Phillips: Beatlesque pop with lyrics, melodies, and hooks of the first order
print like crazy. I count a minimum of fivehits here (given adequate promotion andappropriate video support), including thecool acoustic kiss -off "Out of Time" aswell as "What Do I Do," all gorgeous suf-fused longing girded by Van Dyke Parks'spostmodern Shirelles string arrangement.Get The Indescribable Wow before itgets you. Jeff Nesin
RANDY NEWMAN: Land of Dreams.Mark Knopfler, James Newton How-ard, Tommy Lipuma, and Jeff Lynne,
prods. Reprise 25773-1. moOn Randy Newman's first album of songsin nearly five years, the most interestingand surprising character he conjures up isnone other than himself 40 years ago, or soit would seem. The first three tracks incor-porate childhood memories both remem-bered and revised to create specifically ob-served scenes about moving to NewOrleans during the Second World War("Dixie Flyer"), moving back to Los An-geles ("New Orleans Wins the War"), and
enduring the first day of school ("FourEyes"). The first two are undercut by thecareer -long obsession with the vagaries ofrace and class that have yielded someof Newman's most complicated work. Apained detail like "Drinkin' rye whiskeyfrom a flask in the back seat/Tryin' to dolike the Gentiles do" (from "Dixie Flyer")lights up the awkwardness and newfoundstrangeness that the now -grown-up narra-tor felt at the time and, judging by thewobbly tone of his voice, still feels today.
Most of the rest of the grab bag of ma-terial here rises or falls according to eitherthe law of averages or Newman's ability tostay awake throughout the entire song. Ofthe three love songs that finish off Side 1,only `mad News from Home," with its bit-ter repetition of "You said you love me butI know you lied," has anything more tosay beyond the empty romanticism bestleft to a lesser songwriter. The assembledcast of Reagan -era jerks and dispossessedon Side 2 seems more impressive taken as a
(Continued on page 77)
FEBRUARY 1989 73
HIGH FIDELITY CLASSIFIEMAIL TO: 825 7th Ave . 9th floor, New York, N.Y.10019 Phone 1 -800 -ABC -NAGS. In New York call (212) 887-8458 GENERAL: allcopy subiect titil,her approval Users of PO.Box MUST supply permanent address and telephone number before ad can run CLOSING DATE: 1st of second month preceding cover date 15 Word minimum No charge for Zip Code.CLASSIFIED RATES: regular type. per word t x 57 95 3x-$2 85. 6x--$2 75. 12x-$2,65 Words in caps -15y extra each IMPERIAL type, per word: lx-S3.95; 3x-S3.85; ex -3.75; 12x-$3.65. Words in caps -15. extra each. ,m 15 words Box numbers. $3.00 additional per insertion to cover cosi of handling and postage Display. per inch: lx-$365;3x-$355, 6x-$345. 12x-$330 PAYMENT WITH ORDER: Send rheri. M 1-) MASTERCARD or VISA No and expiration date to Maria Manasen, Classified Dept.. HIGH TIDE- l !Ty 5-r,7th Ave.. 91h Floor. New York, NY 10019.
ACCESSORIES
SUPER FM ANTENNA, SURROUND DECODERS, PHONOonly preamp, headphone amps., dynamic noise reduction,factory direct literature, 1-800-637-6695. ext. 2012
AUDIO/VIDEO SPECIALTY SHOPWE HAVE THE FINEST SHOWROOM IN OUR AREA WITHthe widest selection of Audio/Video components on displayand in stock Adcom, Infinity. Thorens. Dual, Jamo. Yamaha,Canton. Luxman. Sony ES. Klipsch, Allison, NEC, Bose.Proton. CONTINENTAL SOUND. 98-77 Queens Blvd . RegoPark. NY 11734 (718) 459-7507
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
GET PAID for mailing letters. $200.00 daily Write. PASEM02. 161 Lincolnway. North Aurora. IL 60542
CLUBS/SINGLESCLASSICAL MUSIC LOVERS' EXCHANGE. Nationwide LinkBetween Unattached Music Lovers. CMLE, Box 31, Pelham,NY 10803.
COMPACT DISCS
COMPACT DISC -at low warehouse prices.Now in our fourth year. Over 6,000 titlesavailable. Free Catalog plus regularupdates and monthly specials starting at$10.99. OZ Warehouse, 1575P Hwy. 29Lawrenceville, Ga 30244.
low COMPACT DISC prices-LARGE inventory-mini-Cala-logs $1-DUWARS. PO BOX 6662-F, GREENVILLE, SC29606
WE'VE SLIPPED OUR DISC PRICES TO FITyour budget, prices start at $8.99! Write;Laser Locker Box 8611 Somerville, N.J.08876.
MAGNAVOX CD PLAYERS CDB480 $148.00. CDB482.$168.00 CDB582 $195 00. CDB486. changer $259.00.Phillips/Mod call, CDB473, deluxe $229,00. CDB650.reconditioned $259.00 Trades, electronics, warranties.Digital Sound, (312) 674-8024
CD MATE - The 10 Pack CD Storage Wallet, ideal for auto$14.95. at The Accessory Shop. 12246 Hesby. NHollywood. CA 91201 800-999-5260
CABLE TV
CATV CONVERTERS & DESCRAMBLERS.Quality Products. Professional Service. Call1-800-541-5487. Visa/MC Accepted.Mountaintech, Inc., Box 5074, Mt. CrestedButte, CO. 81225.
CABLE TV CONVERTERS. Jerrold. Scientific Atlanta. Allmajor Brands available. Visa/MasterCard Call forinformation 1-800-638-6898. E&O Video. 9691 1 East 265ThStreet. Elko. MN 55020
ikvDESCRAMBLERS & CONVERTERSYour best buys and warranty's start with afree catalo from M.D. Electronics call tollfree or write us today!
M.D. ElectronicsAll products guaranteed we
115 New York Mallaccept Visa, M C_ C 0 D Ste. 133H1-800-624-1150 Omaha. NE 68114
Cable TV descrambler& Jerrold combo w/remote $165.TRIBI $90, Zenith SSAVI $145, TOCOM VIP call for $$S.Hamlin combo w/remote $160 quantity discount. Please callfor anything not listed Dealers wanted. 702-887-3894.
CABLE CONVERTERS & DESCRAMBLERSU 30 DAY TRIAL
NEW NEWCHANNEL LINK REMOTE EXTENDER
Transmits UHF signal Extends use or any
*pig.weal
eying'ow tee V.. roan eta n,v serer l;sSattinarange
VIDEO HOPPER Removes copyguaro Use between two VHS recorders 1111101W1 Excellent stabilizer/enhancer
Arelletde ixVMS or SETA
Now $89VIDEO CASSETTE REMINDER
WITH TAPE CLEANERRegular 49
NOWS3S
WIRELESS REMOTE SWITCHERNafpgar SIM
iskstst,---7-- One year warr,r, ,,,medrate delivery -30 day 'nal
Toll Free 1-800-826-7623B & B Incorporated
0 BOX 2t-32/ST PAUL, MN 55121
Se)
CAR STEREO
HOW TO BUY CAR STEREOWHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU BUY. GETTHE FACTS NOT A SALES PITCH 250 PAGES WITHILLUSTRATIONS AND PHOTOS. SEND 514.95 TO.
GRAY PUBLISHERS703 E. BROADWAY. SUITE 1KTUCSON. AZ 85719
OR VISA. MC DISCOVER CALL
1 800 BE 4 U BUY
EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
CABLE TVConverters / DescremblersGUARANTEED LOWEST PRICES IN U.S.
Jerrold. Hamlin. Zenith-Many Others, Lowest DealerPrices' Orders shipped within 24 hours. Complete FREEillustrated catalog. MasterCard -VISA -COD accepted
PACIFIC CABLE CO., INC. (800) 345-8927ireseda. CA 913.35
Buying and selling new and used audioequipment! Including high -end. AUDIOAMERICA (Virginia). Call 1-703-745-2223.
DISCO UGH I INC.. DJ SUPPLIES, FOG MACHINES, STAGE
lighting effects at wholesale prices. Send $1 00 for catalog.P.O.B. 20395. Bowling Green, KY 42101
ELECTRONICS
"STEREO WORLD" IS YOUR DISCOUNTmailorder source with super deals onAudio/Video & Car Stereo. Lines like:Magnovox, JVC, TEAC, AIWA, Technics,Pioneer. Uniden, Zenith, Sennheiser.Blaupunkt, Pinnacle, TDK, Maxell,Panasonic, Advent, Blaupunkt, AIWAG & S Amps, Technics, ADC. Car Stereo:Pyle, Clarion, Sherwood, Philips, Sony,Pioneer, Canon, Precision Power Amps,JVC, Jensen, Panasonic & more! Call orwrite for FREE catalog! Call for closeoutspecials! FREE shipping each order! P.O.Box 596, Monroe, NY 10950. 914-782-6044,M -F till 6:00 pm, Wed. till 9:00 C.O.D.accepted. FULL U.S.A. WARRANTIES
FOR SALE
BANG & OLUFSEN FULL LINE, ADS, B&WAND BOSE SPEAKERS AND OTHERQUALITY PRODUCTS AT REASONABLEPRICE, SOUNDCREST, INC., (201) 756-4858
THE FINEST IN HOME AUDIO,CAR STEREO & VIDEO EQUIPMENT
ADSADVENTAKGALTEC-LANSING AUDIO CONTROL AUDIO DYNAMICS B & Wdbx DE NON
GULHAFIERINFINITY (CAR)JVC KEN WOODKICKER
MINOLTA MISSIONORION OLYMPUS POLK AUDIO (CAR)PROTONSAESANSUISURROUND SOUNDSNOOPERSONANCE SOUND
CRAFTSMENTERK ANENNASCLESTION CERWIN VEGA
smut CgEliT MagaiMead -town Shopping CenterRoutelom23 Sout 8384444kirine N.J.
h201)(
74 HIGH FiL:01 1 I 1 Y
YOU CAN AFFORDSOMETHING BETTER
AT HIFI BUYSWE CARRY THE BEST STEREO & VIDEO AT THE BEST PRICE!
Advent Infinity Monster Cable Sony. Bang & Olufsen KEF Nakamichi Stax Bazooka Ken wood NEC Toshiba Belles Kicker Pickering Velodyne Carver Magnavox Sharp Yamaha Denon Mitsubishi Signet AND MORI
14 ATLANTA LOCATIONS (404) 436-1231awamwd,
WL SELL SLC,UNU RAND IIIGH QUALITY AUDIU-VIULL)with money back guarantee! Send your name and addressfor FREE monthly inventory. Ross' Stereo & VideoExchange. 2423 Morena Blvd San Diego, CA 92110(619)275-3632.
LOW PRICESIII YAMAHA DENON CARVER ADCOM'BOSTON ACOUSTICS LUXMAN HAFLER A/D/S 'B&K KEF ONKYO PROTON BOSE SNELL DCMSPICA M&K P S AUDIO ' AR & 17`
SOUND ADVICE (414) 7270071
CimIA IMAAMODIFICATIOCK6Our speaker cables and interconnects bring the music back to you'
Upgrades for Thorens turntables & Grado cartridges
Corktone Platter Mat. F-1 Dustcover Weight and more
Complete catalog $3.00. refundable with purchase.
1925 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, MA 021401617135444933
ORDER: 1-800-622-HIFI (4434), NAKAMICHI,YAMAHA. KYOCERA, DENON, HARMANKARDON, JBL, NAD, CARVER, DBX.MISSION, LUXMAN, KEF, ADCOM, ONKYO.B&O. Manufacturers USA warranty, factoryfresh, 15%-35% off list. Tax free (expectWash. Res.). Most equipment receivedwithin 2-7 days. 7 day defective exchange.VISA/MC, Discover, Diners, Amex, COD.Warranty information, service or order.please call: 1-206-747-9999, TASKAMICHIAUDIO. See ad page 71.
PAUL Hi Atli AUDIOfor 34 years only the finest products in the worn;KNOWLEDGE is everything, and your best investnicilt uisound is this number 716 :'67 4310.
CALL USLAST
WE WILL
BEAT ANY PRICEPRINTED IN THIS MAGAZINE ON
AUDIO & CAR STEREO
The SOUND Approach6067 Jericho Tpke., Commack, NY 11725FAST DELIVERY ,cia,FULL WARRANTY ' -499-7680
LOWEST PRICESOn over 150 brandsCar - Home - Video
For Specials List OnlyCall 800-233-8375
HIGH QUALITY BRANDS - Car, Home, Videoincluding esoteric. Audio Unlimited, 1203DAdams Ave La Grande, Oregon 97850 (503)963-5731
CARVER, NAKAMICHI, BANG & OLUFSEN,A.D.S., CROWN, REVOX, HAFLER, ADCOM.MISSION, MERIDIAN, N.A.D., HARMAN/KARDON. KYOCERA, YAMAHA, LUXMAN,DENON, KLIPSCH. B & W, POLK. KEF.D.C.M., E -V J.B.L., INFINITY, D.B.X., AKG,BEST PRICES PROFESSIONALCONSULTATION, AMERISOUND SALES,INC. EAST: (904) 262-4000: WEST (818) 243-1168.
i'14to
A SINGER'S DREAM!wilniii
illillki.-
it 6
REMOVES VOCALS FROM RECORDS!Now You can sing with the world'> best bands!
The Thompson Vocal Eliminator can removemost or vial ally all of a lead vocal tram a standardstereo record and leave most of the backgrounduntouched! Record with your voice or perform livewith the backgrounds. Used in Profesiional Perfor-mance yet c 3nnects easily to a hom' componentstereo system. Not an equalizer! We can prove itworks over the phone. Write or ca I for a FreeBrochure and Demo Record.LT Sound, Dept. HF-3, 7980 LT ParkwayLithonia, GA 30058 (404) 482-472424 HOUR PHONE DEMO LINE: M041482-2485
SERIOUSAUDIOPHILES
DESERVESERIOUSSERVICE.
And that's %fiat you'll getat Reference Audi() Sys-tems We offer the hestin hi 4h -end audio andthe test in friendly ser-vice ly our knowledge.able itaff. From the latestCD placer to a classicmeg: watt amplifier.t'ou't like our surprising-ly all irdable prices andfast slipping.
REiiJA=JBL HAft",ONKYO JSEHAFLER PR.DAHLOUIST AUDIOOUES.)ACOUSTAT DCM OHM _
PHILIPS DISTIMOD SQUAD SASUPERPHON AK,CAMBRIDGE KFOSGATE EMINEMAGNAVOXDBTHORENS NICELE5710141 RAUNSTAR AIJOIOPSONANCE
naPzrzentcaAudio Systems
Call Us... (213) 719-1500Member Better Business Bureau
18214 Dalton Ave, Dept. D,Gardena, CA 90248Hours: M -F 9 to 6, Sat. 9 to 1 Pacific Time
EXPERIENCED FRIENDLY ADVICE!THOFENS, FRIED, STAX, CWD, PS,MONSTER CABLE. GRADO, AUDIRE,SPICA, MIRAGE, SUPERPHON,STRAIGHTWIRE, QUAD, more. Immediate.FREE shipping. READ BROTHERS STEREO,593-C King Street, Charleston, SouthCarol na 29403. (803) 723-7276.
For the Musical DifferenceAuthorized Dealer For:
Acoustat CWDAidio Control dbxNi ty Gritty FriedM&K Harman KardonOracle 3DPFOAC OnkyoProton GradoSTAX AudioquestThorens CelestionDahlquist DCMHafler NilesMonster Cable KinergeticsNAD DuntechBelles Citation
1706 Main St.Marinette, WI 54143
1715) 735-9002800-826-0520
75
HIGH FIDELITY CLASSIFIED
ThE SpEAkER EXCIIANqE
We Repair Speakers
E.V. JBL Infinity AR AdventKLH C.V. OHM ALTEC
And Many More!
1-800-782-1288804 W. Fletcher AvenueTampa, Florida 33612
DIRECT SIGHT AND SOUND. America'sbest kept audio and video secret, continuesto please.... Five years and over 40.000customers later, we still offer the best inaudio, video, including esoterics atincredible prices! We sell and service onlyU.S. warranty merchandise! Our staff is notonly knowledgeable, but helpful andcourteous in choosing the right componentfor you. Become one of the ELITE! Call 404-436-5611. Direct Sight and Sound, 3095Bolling Way, Dept. H. Atlanta, Ga. 30305.MC/VISA/AMEX. COD with deposit.
ATTENTIONDENON CUSTOMERS
Not everyone offering Denonproducts for sale is an authorizedDenon dealer. This has greatsignificance to you as a potentialDenon customer.
Denon America's warranty appliesto the original purchase only. Denonproducts sold by non -authorizeddealers are not covered under this orany other warranty.
Additionally, some of this equipmentmay have been designed for foreignmarkets and therefore will not meetDenon America's specifications.
So look for the Authorized DenonDealer Sticker before you buy.
To find your nearestAUTHORIZED Denon Dealer call:
1-201-575-7810 (9:OOam-5:OOpm EST'
CAUTION. YAMAHA BUYERS!! Somedealers are offering Yamaha products forsale that are not designed for use or sale inthe U.S.A. These units may not carry the ULapproval for safety nor are they designedfor usage on 110 volt U.S. current. YAMAHAELECTRONICS CORPORATION, USACANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FORTHESE UNITS MEETING U.S.PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS NORARE WE RESPONSIBLE FOR WARRANTYSERVICING. For the name and location ofyour nearest authorized Yamaha dealerwrite, Yamaha Electronics Corporation.USA, P.O. Box 6660, Buena Park, CA 90622.
HELP WANTEDcVUHh L I PAr Mkit E PRODUCTS
at home. Call for information. 504-641.8003 Ext. A-5037
INVENTIONS
IS IT TRUE JEEPS FOR $44 THROUGH THE
GOVERNMENT") Call for facts, 1-312-742-1142 Ext 4671
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
, . itiSl AIM wai i NTIONS. NEWproducts Improvements on existing products. We presentAp,p, Cr'sofirlenlIal.ty ciictranteed Call in
, information kit.
MISCELLANEOUS
WI 1[ IS Top $. Send INF.Rayburn Music, ,pj Huntington. Boston. MA 02115 (617)266-4727 Emilio or David
SCHOOL 8. INSTRUCTION
BE A RECORDING ENGINEER, New classes quarterlyInstitute of Audio/Video Engineering. 1831 Hyperion Ave .Hollywood. Ca 90027 213-666-2380 or outsi s 00
551-8877 - approved by NATTS
BE A RECORDING ENGINEER; Train athome for High Paying - Exciting Careers.FREE Information. AUDIO INSTITUTE, 2174Union St. Suite 22 G. San Francisco, CA94123
SPEAKER COMPONENTS
SAVE 40°. ON HIGH -END HOMESPEAKERS. subwoofers, amplifiers. FREECATALOG! RTRD-1. 3021 Sangamon Ave.,Springfield, IL 62702. (217) 529-8793.
AUDIO PRO POWERED SUBWOOFERS -The most accurate Powered Subwooferavailable today. Call for the dealer nearestyou. Sonic Research. New Milford. Conn.1-800-243-2673.
SONUS CARTRIDGE OWNERS! Looking fora replacement stylus? Call 1-800-243-2673.Also complete reconditioning of all Sonuscartridges with a new 2 year warranty.
SPEAKERS - SPEAKERS - SPEAKERS. BestSelection, Best Prices - All types. 88 pagecatalog - 1,000's of values. Send $2.00McGee Radio - 1901 McGee, Kansas City,MO 64108 Dept 2G
STEREO EQUIPMENT
AUDIOPHILE'S TURNTABLE-Kenwood KD 500 turntable.suspended arm, emerald needle. Rolla. Inc . Los Angeles.Ca (213) 827-3396
FIND OUT WHY WE SELL MORE HIGH PERFORMANCEspeaker kits than anyone in the U.S.For free catalog call 1-
A00-346-9183.AUDIO CONCEPTS INC 901 South 4th St La,sse. WI 54601
WANTED TO BUY
MARANTZ. 8 MCINTOSH TUBE EQUIP, all late model high -end items - vintage speaker systems Charlie Dripps (818)444-7079 fax (8181-444-6863
CASH PAID FOR CLASSICAL ALBUMS,RCA LIVING Stereo, Mercury LivingPresence Stereo, 1955-70. Also, Audio FileAlbums, Mobile Fidelity, Nautilus, Japanese,CBS Mastersound, etc. Chad, P.O. Box2043, Salina, KS 67402-2043, 913-825-8609.
TAPES & RECORDS
07.95 SHIPPING ANY SIZE ORDER, UPS 1-100-245-6000
TDIt
010 'Do Mall 1,4 4 60TALVO 144 TIM MIT ,
'2 IIMILL 1. ELT, S
SA SO 14 SOPM In 4 /VS40 MT SA innSO f0 MAD 00 1 T0 00
F. VW/ TIOOAS! 001rTAL 1n 4 0.
VISA MCNO EXTRACHARGE
O
1,141011 SO TIn111.V.2,11.11 100 2 41
TAPE 1WORLD
MAUI
/44 211040.3 10 2 TIL1410 1111YO11.0UM la 10S
ll0 004 L61101.5. sp eve. Auoto O. .COOP.P.10
Men .4.4,..1MriTine motor*, TTAPE WORLD 220 SPRING ST BUTLER PA 16001
THUD DAT GALL
Mr 6 30-S 00412 261.0621SW 24S-0000
O
SOUNDTRACKS. SHOW, NOSTALGIA 8 JAZZ-SENDyour want list-A-1 Record Finders. P 0 Box 7507I -H, L ACAL 90075
SOUND OF NAKAMICHI REFERENCE CASSETTESIndividually duplicated in Real- Time on the finest TDK MetalTapes from the finest analog and digital masters. The onlychallenge to the Compact Disc and the finest source forhigh -end mobile cassette systems Labels representedWINDHAM HILL, SPINDLETOP, GRP. TELARC. MM.DELOS, GOOD VIBES AND SHEFFIELD LAB All titlesavailable in Dolby B or C For a catalog or more informationcontact PACIFIC CASSETTE LABORATORIES, PO BOX6248 -SP. Torrance, CA 90504, (213) 618-9267 Dealerinquiries welcome.
SHOW ALBUMS-Rare. out -of -print Os 64 -page list $1 00Broadway -Hollywood Recordings Georgetown, CT 06829
RECORD COLLECTORS SUPPLIES. REPLACEMENTpackets, inner sleeves, 78 rpm sleeves. opera boxes. CL Dsupplies. etc Free brochure. Cabco. Room 301-6. Box8212, Columbus, Ohio 43201
FROM EDISON TO ELVIS (AND BEYOND) LP's. 78's. 45's.etc Visit or mail in wants. The Olde Tyme Music Scene, 915Main Street, Boonton, NJ 07005 201/335 -5040 --Tuesdaythru Sunday
RARE CLASSICAL AND JAZZ 250,000 LP's The RecordCollector. 1158 N Highland, Los Angeles. CA 90038 (213)467-2875
7151A1(pH flpf [ITS
HIGH FIDELITY CLASSIFIED
AMPEX OPEN REEL TAPE -USED ONCE;1800' or 2400' (boxed) -10 Reels: S25.00.Sample: S2.50. Also: New MAXELL Reels/Cassettes. AUDIO TAPES, Box 9584-TAlexandria, VA 22304. (703) 370-5555.VISA/MC.
NDTRACKS, BROADWAY, IF I . .
CABARET. JAZZ. BANDS LIST $1 50 Doerr 39/3Glenfeliz, Los Angeles, Calif 90039
FREE RECORD, CASSETTE AND COMPACT DISC
CATALOG. Features a tremendous selection ofremaindered LP and cassette values in all musicalcategories Compact disc, cassette and I P new releases atdiscount prices Many imports and smaller labels offeredPrompt delivery Rose Records. Dept. H. 214 SouthWabash Avenue. Chicago, IL 60604
SEARCHING FOR OUT -OF -PRINTS'? Try for Discontinued
Records. 444 South Victory. Burbank. California 915021213) 849-4791
LIVE OPERA TAPES, CASSETTES Incredible selectionFree Catalogue. Live Opera, Box 3141 Steinway Station,L IC. NY 11103
OLDTIME RADIO PROGRAMS Classic broadcasts onhigh quality tapes Mystery, Adventure, Comedy, Music.Free catalogue Carl Froelich, 2-H Heritage Farm. NewFreedom, Pennsylvania 17349
BUY -SELL TRADE USED CDs. Videodiscs. VHS video Allclassical and opera Tues-Fn 3-9 Sat 10-4 EST MC/VisaPro Musica t Id 716-693-5150
MAGNUM OPUS 50.000 classical deletions 1960 onwardsWrite IRC 90 Deans Lane. Edgware, Middx. HA8 9NP.U K
COLLECTORS' SOUNDTRACKS. MINT TOP TITLES.speedy Service List $1 00 (refundable) Jemm's PO Box# 157. Glenview. IL 60025
IN PRINT 8 OUT OF PRINT RECORDS All.CATEGORIES 8nostalgia video tapes Spectacular Catalog,' $2 00 USA$4 00 Foreign Serendipity Records. 4775 Durham Road.Guilford. CT 06437 USA
PROTECT YOUR L PS
Poly sleeves for iacketsPolylined paperCardboard JacketsPostage $3 00House of Records PO Box 323, Millburn. New York 10931
13r Poly sleeves for records 8e
17r
50r
CASSETTES 1 1 Real-time. RECORDS (DMM) ANDCOMPACT DISCS. Classical only Free catalog GasparoCO. PO. Box 120069 Nashville. TN 37212 (615) 254-8460
SERIOUS JAZZ COLLECTORS! A newservice for discriminating collectors of Jazzrecordings. Also: Gospel, Folk, Ethnic andAmericana, Classic Pop, Entertainment.Quarterly issues. Jazz Antique, P.O. Box6567, Dept. HF, Bloomingtoa, IN 47407.
RECORD STORAGE
Hk hi n I AN1i MICA
Stackable. portable. oak unitshold LP's. CD's and tapes
Free Mailorder Brochure(please mention High Fidelity)
Per Madsen Design (415) 928-4509I' 0 !Mx 330101, San Francisco, CA 94133
(Continued from page 73)whole than track by track. When you lis-ten closely, you hear Newman straining tounderstand rap culture ("Masterman andBaby J") and the bottomed -out ("RedBandana"), barely bothering to inhabitthe voices he has brought to life. "It'sMoney That Matters" is a coarse rewriteof "It's Money That I Love" from 1979'sBorn Again that misses the casual crueltyof its forbear. He works better with the in -your -face intolerance of "Roll with thePunches," even though it's sung by such astock Newman character that you sense hecould have written it, like the weakesttracks here, in his sleep.
It takes two of the most unsettlingtunes Newman has ever written to remindyou of the ugly perfection he's capable of."Follow the Flag," with its blankly patri-otic cliches, is all the scarier for the sub-missiveness in the singer's voice. Just whodoes he mean to be? An idealized averagecitizen? Oliver North? And what differ-ence is there between the two? In "I WantYou to Hurt Like I Do," the outrageoustitle phrase starts out being sung to thefamily that the narrator is leaving andends up as a perverse kind of universal wis-dom. The hushed gospel chords give thesong a grace that its words have no claimupon; the singer caps the choruses withrepetitions of "Honest I do" straight out ofSam Cooke's angelic "You Send Me." Inanyone else's hands, the song would seema joke, but Newman neither laughs at norflinches from what he has summoned up.
Mark Moses
JAZZ
BOBBY WATSON QUARTET:Love Remains.
Bobby Watson, prod. Red NS 212 (123212-1). (Do (Distributed by Polygram
Special Imports.)BOBBY WATSON AND HORIZON:No Question About It.
Michael Cuscuna, prod. Blue Note B190262. mo
Love Remains is Kansas native Robert"Bobby" Watson's fourth record for theItalian label Red. No Question About It,the alto saxophonist's tenth and most re-cent album, is his first project for thedomestic Blue Note-as well as the firstmajor -label appearance of his new sextet,Horizon, which includes the still -teenagedtrumpet sensation Roy Hargrove and alsointroduces Texan trombonist Frank Lacy.Both records contain finely tuned and bal-anced selections, all of which swing, eachpassage delivering a particular message.Indeed, these masterfully conceived ses-sions should establish the leader (andmember of the 29th St. Saxophone Quar-tet) as one of the premier mainstream alto-
ists and composers of the day.Watson travels in wonderful circles:
The last time I caught him on the band-stand, he performed with guitarist PeterLeitch and bassist Cecil McBee. Sur-rounded by the personnel on these two re-leases, the already quite seasoned Watsonis encouraged to develop even further.Pushing everyone is the ebullience of pian-
Watson: playing with both drive and majesty
ist John Hicks and bassist Curtis Lundy,who play on both LPs. Marvin "Smitty"Smith completes the rhythm section onLove Remains, and with all his maturity atsuch a young age, he is certifiably one ofthe best drummers in the world. Four ofthe seven tracks on No Question About Itfeature Victor Lewis, an impressive drum-mer from his days with Woody Shaw inthe late '70s right up to his recent outingswith Art Farmer, Clifford Jordan, andFrank Morgan. The Blue Note set's otherdrummer, Kenny Washington, is noslouch either, having earned respect asjazz's youngest leading historian, not tomention having worked with Hicks andLundy for five years backing Betty Carter.
Watson epitomizes lyricism, andthroughout these albums his satiating,loping runs exhibit a keen musicality. On
(Continued on page 79)
FEBRUARY 19 8 9 77
N SHORT ORDERPOP AND 1AZ7
LUTHER VANDROSS: Any Love.0 Epic OE 44308.
Luther Vandross is black pop's best malesinger. Period. More original than FreddieJackson. More consistent than JeffreyOsborne. And on his sixth LP, Vandrossapproaches the progressive r&b aesthetic,pioneered by new -jack crooners KeithSweat and Al B. Sure!, without panderingto a rent -a -rapper mentality. His voice isthe sound of seduction: a creamy, sinuoustenor that strokes lightly at the senses untilthey open up. When Vandross begs for"Any Love" or for a lover to "ComeBack," I can't imagine any woman resist-ing. And on the Major Harris standard"Love Won't Let Me Wait," Vandrossstill knows how to prolong the ecstasy;though not as intricate as his debut's "AHouse Is Not a Home," it will turn yourblood to milk. Havelock Nelson
STEVE EARLE: Copperhead Road.0 Uni 7. (Distributed by MCA.)
. . . in which our hero grows a beard, laysdown his Dukes, gets behind the boardhimself, and "finally" rocks out. ThatSteve Earle has doubts about this shows inthe neatly schizoid sequencing: The A-side offers all the drawn-out, overblownstuff before the flip returns to the head-onapproach of yore. For all its sleek newappearance, Side 1 is actually '70s -miredAOR that's-sorry, man-D.O.A. Thetrademark work on Side 2 at least benefitsfrom the pumped -up sonic punch (only fixthat drum sound next time, huh?). So howto keep recharging a great but potentiallyconfining style? Damned if I know, Steve.
Wayne King
PEGGY LEE: Peggy Sings the Blues.Musicmasters CIJD 60155E (1710Route 35, Ocean, N.J. 07712.)
Miracles can happen, and this recording,Peggy Lee's first in years, proves it. Six ofthe songs are indeed blues ("See SeeRider," "Beale Street"), the other sixbluesy standards ("Squeeze Me," "BabyPlease Come Home"). The history bookssay that Lee is sixty-eight, but the cool.fresh -voiced singer heard on Billie Holi-day's "Fine and Mellow" couldn't be aday over forty. Pianist Mike Renzi leads amarvelously supple backup quintet. GeneLees provides superb liner notes. The sing-er's classic Capitol LPs of the '50s and '60sbelong on CD, but until they get there,Peggy Sings the Blues will do very nicely.
Terry Teachout
ANTHONY DAVIS: The Ghost Factory.Gramavision 18-8807-1. (Distributedby Gaia/Polygram.)
Pianist/composer Anthony Davis is a dif-ficult artist to pigeonhole, and that's theway he likes it. Drawing on jazz and classi-cal influences, Davis has in the past (withhis small group, Episteme) devised piecesthat have managed to be suggestive of bothminimalism and Ellington, post-Ornettejazz avant-garde and Balinese gamelanmusic. The two sidelong pieces on TheGhost Factory, performed by the KansasCity Symphony Orchestra, reflect his on-going interest in blurring the line betweenrecent improvisational developments andcomposition: "Maps" leads us into andaway from an interlude similar to the ArtEnsemble of Chicago's percussion experi-ments, while the dramatic plateau of"Wayang No. 5" is a Cecil Taylor-ishpiano passage. But Davis is more than justa mixer of borrowed innovations, andthese new pieces, agilely shifting the tex-tures of a large aggregation, are asstamped with his questing and somewhatmelancholy conception as are his earliersolo -piano recordings.
Richard C Walls
BLACK UHURU: The Positive Dub.ROIR A 159. (611 Broadway, Suite
X411, New York, N.Y. 10012.)Unlike most dub stuff, this keeps its barefeet in the soil at all times. For starters,you get one of the planet's earthiest bass -and -drums duos, plus somehow (see DubSyndicate, Ruts DC, Mute Beat) thesound of the cassette -only label ROIR al-ways has a knack for sunbaking dub thickso that it won't float flimsily toward thetwilight zone like the latest Augustus Pab-lo LP. But this is even creepier and morecrazed than I'd have wagered. The bestparts ("Dub Town" especially) are somepantheistic high mass, real ritualistic, withGregorian chants done backwards, andbells. And even the worst parts echo a lot.
Chuck Eddy
REVIEWS
BOB NEUWIRTH: Back to the Front.Gold Castle 171 015-1. (Distributed byPolygram.)
Back in the mid -Sixties when Bob Dylan(Lucky Wilbury to all of you youngstersout there) actually meant something,Bob Neuwirth was his semi -legendaryharmonica -bearer -cum -confidante, whohad kicked around the folk scene quite abit already. Back to the Front is Neu-
wirth's first record in 14 years, an all -acoustic all-star album brimming withripe picking and overripe sentiment. From"Eye on the Road," a virtual Alpha Bandreunion, all the way to "Akron," an auto-biographical meditation from a guy whohas been a lot of places in his life and times,the breathy, reaching vocals are honestlytouching and the sensitive -tough -guy -who's -seen -too -much lyrics are a matterof taste. Effectively produced by SteveSoles, with help from notables DavidMansfield, T Bone Burnett, Bernie Lea -don, and designated harp player MickeyRaphael. Jeff Nesin
DICKEY BETTS BAND: Pattern Disruptive.0 Epic FE 44289.
Dickey Betts packs this album with hotguitar licks and hard -driving drums, buthis gear -shifting arrangements lack the re-fined thoughtfulness that sparks his previ-ous work. Muffled vocals mask clichedlyrics behind the all-clout/no-style rock.A repetitive one -line chorus sabotages"The Blues Ain't Nothin'," and the acous-tic charm of "Loverman" degenerates intothe full -blast format. The meticulouslysculpted instrumental "Duane's Tune"should receive the airplay allotted thepointless "Rock Bottom," the kind of dis-appointing AOR mulch that keeps FMradio entrenched in the "Golden Age" ofthe '60s and '70s. Richard Price
DEFUNKT: In America.Antilles/New Directions 90911-1.
® (Distributed by Island/Atlantic.)Punkjazz sub -Contortions of yore, quar-terbacked by Lester Bowie's blow-bro Joe,crunch up the fonk thang harder thanyou'd guess, softer than you'd hope.They're more overweight than muscular(and they drag too much, and the ham-mer -locked horn charts are too corny, andJoe's Jimi-rap bravado is numbskull stuff,and the Caucasians in the group shouldabandon the wet -look), but at least thebass -beefed butt -to -butt resuscitation ain'tcompletely arty, and when the tempopicks up and Ronnie Drayton wanks hiswah-wah, the mess kicks in. Only absolutestinkeroo is the title cut: willed "political"copout crapola ("We're all puppets inAmerica"; speak for yerself, buster),with sampled speech -texts from past -and -present presidents in it. Wonder if theyrealize how fascist -worthy that JFK"Ask not ..." idea is. Probably not.
Chuck Eddy
7111 HIGH FIDELITY
(Continued from page 77)Love Remains, he bebops you big timewith the drive of "The Mistery of Ebop";he scales new heights and attacks withconfidence on the uptempo journeys of"Blues for Alto," "Ode for Aaron," andLundy's "Sho Thang." Equally pleasingare No Question's high-powered title trackand "Country Corn Flakes." Meanwhile,the title track from the previous recordcaptures Watson and friends in a most sen-sitive mood-only to be outdone by theimpeccable sextet arrangement andsweepingly majestic delivery of BillyStrayhorn's Ellingtonia, "Blood Count,"back on No Question. I'm so used to hear-ing Hicks burn a la Bud Powell that, onfirst listening to these two tracks, I wascaught by surprise-elated, to say theleast. And Hicks is genuinely moving inhis extended solos on "Dark Days(Against Apartheid)" (Love) and twosongs written by Watson's wife, Pamela:"And Then Again" (No Question) and"The Love We Had Yesterday" (Love).
Watson has always had a terrific senseof harmonic structure. He also can bespontaneously adventurous. These albumsshow him accentuating both gifts intelli-gently and together offer us Watson's bestwork to date. Jon W. Poses
FORMAT KEYO LP/EPCD Cassette
Compact Disc
OD Videocassettee Videodisc
Large symbol at left margin indicates reviewedformat. Small symbols following catalog num-ber of reviewed format indicate other avail-able formcts (if any). Catalog numbers of for-mats other than the reviewed format areprinted on'y if their basic numbers differ sub-stantially from that of the reviewec format.
"In Short Order-: Note that these mini -reviews provide only the reviewed format andits catalog number.
Arabic numeral in parentheses indicatesnumber of items in multi -item set.
MODERN JAZZ QUARTET: For Ellington.Nesu hi Ertegun, prod. East-West90926-2. et= (Distributed by Atlantic.)
The Modern Jazz Quartet's latest album isdedicated to Duke Ellington and largelydevoted to his music. In fact, three of thetracks here are not only Ellington bandclassics but Ellington arrangements, moreor less. Pianist John Lewis has taken threecelebrated charts from the book of the1940-42 Ellington band-"Jack theBear," "Ko-Ko," "Sepia Panorama"-
and deftly rescored them for MJQ's piano-vibraharp-bass-drums lineup.
It's fascinating to hear the gaudy in-strumental colors of Ellington's fabledgaggle of musical misfits slimmed down tothis quartet's minimalist proportions.Bassist Percy Heath, despite moments ofuncertain intonation, is a perfectly credi-ble stand-in for Jimmy Blanton; ConnieKay's crisp timekeeping and Milt Jack-son's fat -toned vibes are, as always, deeplysatisfying. But it is Lewis who most closelyrecaptures the spirit of Ellington in hisdry, witty piano solos and contrapuntalcomping.
"It Don't Mean a Thing," "Prelude toa Kiss," and "Rockin' in Rhythm" aregiven more recognizably MJQ-like treat-ments, in which Ellington's familiar melo-dies are passed through the refractingprism of the Lewis -Jackson front line tostriking effect. The only weak cuts areLewis's tepid, gospel -flavored title trackand Jackson's polite little riff tune, "Mae-stro E.K.E." If you buy the CD version,however, you also get to hear Lewis,Heath, and Kay play an exquisite trio ver-sion of "Come Sunday," Johnny Hodges'sfeature number from Ellington's 1943suite, Black, Brown, and Beige. Highlyrecommended. Terry Teachout
ADVERTISING INDEXMan) ad% ci users will scud you additional product literature free of charge. Write them in care of Dept. FIF2/89, unless otherwise noted, at the address below. If no address appears, literature is available only throughdealers. Bold -face numbers by company names are page numbers for ads in this issue.
American IntlAudio Video (80)
1 North Main Street
Medford, NJ 08055
609-683.7700
Audio Adviser (60)225 Oakes S
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
1-800-669-4434
Audio Quest (7)P.O. Box 3060
San Clemente, CA 92672
714-498-2770
CambridgeSoundwerks (37)154 California Street
Newton, MA 02158
1-800-252-4434
Demon AmericaInc. (24)222 New Rd.
Parsippany, NJ 07054
201/575-7810
ElectronicWholesalers (69)1160 Hamburg Turnpike
Wayne, NJ 07470
1 800 444 6300
Nigh Voltage (64)39 West 32nd Street
New York, NY 10001
800 654-7784
Illinois Audio (43)12 E Delaware Place
Chicago, IL 60611
1-800-621-8042
JAR MusicWorld (66, 67)23 Pork Row
New York, NY 10038-2302
212/732-8600
Mazoll Corporation ofAnsorica (Coy. IV)22-08 Route 208
Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
20' 794-5900
NEC Nome Electronics(Coy. III)1225 Michael Dr.
Wood Dale, IL 60191
312 860-9500 ext. 3210
New YorkWholesalers (61)2 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10016
212/684-6363
North AmericanPhillips (Coy. II, p. 1)1-40 Straw Plains, Pius
Knoxville, TN 37914-1810
615/521-4316
Pieseer Ifortronics(44, 45)2265 E. 220th Street
long Beach, CA 90810
213/865-6177
Polk Audio(10, 11, 12)5601 Metro Dr.
Baltimore, MD 21215.
301 358-3600
Radio Shack (2)300 One Tandy Center
Ft. Worth, TX 76102
817/390-3672
Taskamichi Audio (63)Box 25583
Seattle, WA 98125
206 747-9999
Uchida (4)One Panasonic Way
Secaucus, NJ 07094
201/348-7000
Wisconsin DimmedStereo (72)2417 W. Badger Rood
Madison, WI 53713
1-800-356-9514
Yamaha ElectronicsCorp. (20)6660 Orangethorpe Avenue
Buena Park, CA 90620
714 522-9105
L. A R 79
C U R R E N T S
(Continued from page 14)cassette tape, Pentax's newest features a'Am -second shutter and a 6X power -assist-ed zoom lens that also has a macro settingso you can move in as close as one centime-ter. Other highlights include three videoheads and a flying erase head. PentaxCorp., 35 Inverness Dr. East, Englewood,Colo., 80112.
A "Sensible" Car AlarmIf you're tired of having to run and turn offyour car alarm after a jet roars low over-head or a truck rumbles by, Clifford Elec-tronics says its OmniSensor car -alarm sen-sor ($69 uninstalled) is the answer. Clif-ford says that by analyzing the amplitude,frequency, time constants, and other crit-
* LEGAL DAT TODAY *
RE EQUIPMENT AND=
Both Portable and Professional
DAT Equipment for the Home,
Office, Studio or Car.
::VZ $99All Merchandise Includes:
USA Written Warranty English Operating Manuals
Nationwide Service Centers All Connecting Cables
AC Converters Pro User Extended Warranties
CHOOSE FROM THE FOLLOWING:
ony Panasonic Technics TascamS
Kenwood Pioneer Akai Sharp
Alpine NakaMichi
Knowledgeable,Friendly Customer Service.
FLEXIBLE LEASING PROGRAMS
$rib9 NO moNve DOWN
. OUICK APPROVAL
IV
COMMERCIAACC TS
START AT)))) 44
AVAILABLE
American 60e-888-4414 .
International AIM 609-888-2930I
Audio Video FAX ORDERS
127 ROUTE 206 TRENTON,NJ 08610
ical components of all registered signals,OmniSensor can distinguish between thehoodlums out to nail your car stereo andhood ornaments nailed to a passing truck.Setting the sensitivity on the all -electronic,microprocessor -controlled device is easy:Just flick a switch in the passenger com-partment and whack your hand againstthe windshield, window pillar, or any oth-er part of the vehicle. OmniSensor report-edly works with all makes of car alarms.Clifford Electronics, 20750 Lassen, Chats-worth, Calif, 91311.
Crossovers High and LowTo help ease you into the big leagues of carstereo, Alpine offers a new two-way activedividing network with unlimited system-expansion possibilities. The 3653 ($120) isdesigned to work with a basic biampedsystem. If you decide to go triamp some-where down the road, all you need is an-other 3653 with its multiplier switchflipped to the X20 position. And if that'snot enough, by adding more 3653s in se-ries and parallel, any system combinationup to four -channel, eight -way, eight -am-plifier with constant subwoofer output canbe configured without losing any features
Alpine's 3653 two-way active crossover for "entrylevel" autophiles
or system components. Front -to -rear fad-ing can be adjusted via the head -unitcontrols.
For the initiated, there is Alpine's fullyconfigurable six -way electronic active di-viding network, capable of running a fullsystem with front and rear channel fading.The 3656 ($350) has six outputs, two forthe front (mid and high), three for the rear(low, mid, and high), and one for the sub-woofer, as well as separate front and rearinputs. All component speakers can beadjusted in level and independently fromany other speaker used in the system. Aswith the entry-level 3653, front -to -rearfading can be adjusted via the head unitcontrols.
so
The NEC DS8000U VCR
is the most advanced snow
removal system on the
market. Because it's the
first super VHS with Digital
Video Noise Reduction.
It gives you over 400 lines
of horizontal resolution for
dcComputers and Communcatuons
PLOW.
finer picture detail.
But what's really special
is the DS8000U reduces
video noise by digitally
processing and correcting
both the luminance and
chroma signals.
So whether it's live broad-
cast or tape playback, you
get the sharpest, clearest
picture you've ever seen.
How much of a difference
can a VCR really make? Take
a look at the DS8000U. It
will become very clear.
NEC. Because certain
things in life simply cannot
be compromised.
For more information call (312) 860-9500 x 3210 NEC Home Electron cs (USA). Inc NEC
COMPROMISING WITH YOUR TAPE IS LIKE COMPROMISINGWITH ANY OTHER COMPONENT IN YOUR SYSTEM.
Even the most advanced system is only as good as the tapeyou put into it. That's why Maxell has created XLII-S.
Its unique Epitaxial formula combines gammaferric oxideand cobalt ferrite for superior response at all frequency levels.The resulting superfine particles offer unprecedented clarityand brilliance. And make XLII-S the perfect tape for record-ing your most demanding sources.
So match your tape to the other components in your sys-tem and use only XLII-S from Maxell. Anything less is justkid stuff.
maxellThe Tape That DeliversHigher Performance.
01101 Maui! Corporation of America, 2441/1 Route 211$. Fair Lawn, NJ. 117410
