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Not Evolutionary

Pioneer's Revolutionary C -90/M-90Elite High -Fidelity Components.AucLophiles, take note: The preamp and ampli-fier you've been waiting for are finally here.

IntrodLcing the Pioneer Elite Hi-Fi C -9CPreamp and M-90 Power Amplifier. Together,they combine the finest in both audio andvideo to retrieve every detail and nuance foundin in. cher:shed records, tapes, compact discs.LaserVision' discs and other software. Imaginea so-andstage spread throughout your entireliste:-.ing room! Stunning, transparent, three-dimensional music, the likes of which you'venever heard, aoart from a live performance.

We pak fantastic attention to detail to gainthis level of musical truth. One example: theC-9:: volume control is a motorized, high pre-cisicn rotary potentiometer. This permittedus to create tie world's first high -end preampwith a no -compromise handheldaSRTMremote -control unit.

The C -9C features three separate powertransformers-two to power left and rightaudio channels for vanishingly low crosstalk,and a third transformer to drive the preamp'sunique video capabilities, relays, display andmicroprocessor. All switching functions areaccomplished by electronic relays. Thus thesignal paths are as short as possible, improvingsignal-to-noise ratio and channel separation.Anti -vibration measures taken to further theC -90's sonic excellence include a solid alumi-num volume control knob, polycarbonatechassis feet, and rubber -cradled PC boards.Soft oopper-plztecl screws insure a snug fitof drssis, transformers, transistors, and helpto dampen vibration.

The C-90Preamp readies youfor the video revo-lution, with six videoinputs, a built-in

video enhancer, and two -buss switching(separate"Record" and"View" selectors). TheC -90's unique system remote -control unitfeatures volume adjustment, input sourceselection, and control of audio and videoinput devices such as Pioneer's"SK compat-ible VCRs, CDs, LaserVision players andcassette decks.

The M-90 is a superb high -power stereoamplifier, utilizing dual -mono construction.It is conservatively rated at 200 W/CH into8 ohms' and delivers 800 W/CH of dynamicpower at 2 ohms? The wide dynamic range ofdigital sources can now be reproduced effort-lessly, with any loudspeakers. The M -90's highcurrent capacity of 47 amps can handle thechallenge of the most complex speaker loads.To further enhance S/N ratio and channelseparation, relay -operated electronic switchesand a long shaft volume control keep the lengthof signal paths down to a minimum. Why in-clude a high quality volume control on a poweramp? Simple. To pursue the straight -wire -with -gain philosophy when using a CD playerconnected directly. Pure sound, redefined.

The exquisite finish of the M-90 and C-90reflects their quality. Elegant rosewood sidepanels and front panels with a deep hand-brushed lacquer finish emphasize the care ofcraftsmanship we've lavished on these twocomponents. The Pioneer C-90 Preamp andM-90 Power Amp. Evolutionary? Hardly.Revolutionary? Most definitely.

For your nearest Pioneer Elite Hi-Fidealer, phone 1-800-421-1404.

©1986 Pionee- Electronics (USA) Inc., Long Beach, CA !Based 3n FTC rules reprding measurement of amplifier power ratings.=Measured *-3). EIA method.

(y) PIONEER"CAI C H THE SPIRIT OF A TRUE PIONEER.

The one and only now offers you

the one -of-a -kind 10 disc changer

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and the only carousel 5 disc changer.

Sony's two new Disdockey CD changersgive you twice as much to choose from.

There are no two ways about it. OnlySony offers the incredible sound of compactdisc with the convenience of either a five orten disc changer.

Consider the CDP-C10. It lets you sit backand listen for over ten hours. And since it's theonly changer with a magazine compatible with

the Sony Car Disdockey;you can get even greatermileage from your CDmusic library.

Speaking of highperformance, the CDP-C10 offers advanced pro-gramming, shuffle playand direct disc and track

selection. Then there'sthe affordable CDP-05EIts unique carouseldesign gives you overfive hours of music, with32 -track programming,four repeat modes andthe fastest access time ofany changer anywhere.

Both changers feature remote control andrenowned Sony technology like the UnilinearConverter/digital filter and aspheric lens laseroptics for superior CD player performance.

So remember, only Sony offers a choice ofchangers that play for five or ten hours. Butyou'll hear how good they sound in seconds.

Disc.Jockey: S ONYTHE LEADER IN DIGITAL AUDIO'"

, 1987 Sony Corporation of America. Sony, Disclockey and The Leader In Digital Audio are trademarks of Sony.

HIGH F IDEL

Test Reports24272830353637

I "I V

ADS L-990 loudspeakerSiefert Research Magnum III loudspeakerBose AM -5 three-piece speaker systemParadigm !Ise loudspeakerDCM I rame TF-250 loudspeaker3D Acoustics Cube loudspeakerNEC AVD-700E surround -sound processor

Audio & Video42 "I Con Make You an Awesome Deal"

b) Kenneth L. KantorA speaker -shopper's guide to deceptive sales tactics

49 Surround -Sound Attractionsb) Robert B. SchuleinDistinguishing good surround -sound from the so-so andthe downright bad

MusicCLASSICAL

56 Very Model Records of the Major Gilbert & Sullivanby Paul KreshThe early electric D'Oyly Cartes are reissued.

POPULAR/BACKMEAT70 Ono, Two, Three, Feud

by Richard C. Walls, Jim Bessman, Jeff Nesin,Mark Moses, Ken Richardson. and David BrowneThe Beatles on Compact Disc and videocassette

Departments4 Front Lines Copy -coding misconceptionsS Letters

13 Currents Yamaha makes more than a bit of adifference; First VHS Hi-Fi camcorder

19 Scan Lines Rescuing Beta and the videodisc54 Medley A call -to -arms for human drummers;

RCA Red Seal revival59 The CD Spread Symphonies by Mozart, Shostakovich,

and Sibelius; Guitar recital from Prevost61 Classical Reviews Brendel plays Haydn; Solti

conducts Verdi; Tchaikovsky from Karajan and Maazel80 Advertising index and Reader -Action Page

VOL. 57 NO.6 JUNE: 1987

COVER DESIGN:ROBERT V. DELEVANTE, JR.. ANDMICHAEL O. DELEVANTE

COVER PHOTOS:NICHOLAS BASAION (EQUIP-MENT); UPI/BETTMANN NEWS -PHOTOS (BEATLES); COURTESY OF

TRUSTEES OF PIERPONT MOR-GAN LIBRARY ("PIRATES- POSTER)

ON THE COVER:FROM TOP ADS L-990 LOUD-SPEAKER; BOSE AM -5 THREE-PIECE

SPEAKER SYSTEM; NEC AVD-700FSURROUND -SOUND PROCESSOR

Mem Now (ISSN 00IS-145S) n pub-lohed monthly at 825 Seventh Ave NewSod. N '1 10019, by ABC Gossamer Magangles, Inc, a &moon of ABC Pubhshmg.Inc . and a subsidiary of Arnericon Brood -casting Comecon*, Inc © 1987 by ABCConsumer Magazines, Inc The des,gn ond

contents ere lolly Pro'ected by cOPYnghrand must not be reproctocd any manse,

Second-class postage paid at New York.New York, and at odd,' onal modmg officesAuthoozed os second -clots mad by the PostOffice Deportment. 0-tawo. and for paymeet of postage ,n cosh Yearly svbscr,phon,n the U.S A. ond Possens,ons $13 95, else.

where $20.95.Single cope, 12 50 (Cono.do 53 501 Subscribers. Send subscnat,ons.,nosnries, and oddness changes to HIGH1,0;;,?, P O. Box 10750. Des Moines. Iowa50340 Change of address Give old andnew oddtesses. mcludmq ZIP codes EncloseIddress label Iron, Hs. t,.e and allow Iwo

for chonge ..-ome elfectwePOSTMASTER: Send change of Warbleto HIGH ROOM, P.O. Box 10751, DesMoines. IA 50340.

FRONT LINECOPY -CODING MISCONCEPTIONS

ARI WRITE 1 HIS CULL MN, OUR TECHNICAL EDITOR, DAVIDanada, is in Washington, D.C., attending a joint hearing

before subcommittees of the House and Senate JudiciaryCommittees. The subject is legislation that would requireinclusion of CBS's copy -guard circuitry in any digital audiotape deck sold in this country, to prevent dubbing of appro-priately encoded commercial recordings. We've been dis-

B Y cussing this legislation for the last couple of issues (April"Currents" and April and May "Front Lines"), and the

M I C H A EL copy -coding system itself is explained in our April 1986"Currents" column.RIGGS Reader response indicates that there is some confusionabout the nature of the proposed copy -code system. Themost serious misconception is that the system is digital innature and therefore applicable only to CD and DAT. Infact, it is entirely analog. Any audio signal can be encoded,and any tape deck (including ordinary analog cassettedecks) can be fitted with copy -guard circuits that will pre-vent it from recording encoded material. In other words, ifthe legislation that would require copy -code circuitry inDAT machines is passed, you can expect record companiesto start encoding LPs, CDs, prerecorded cassettes-thewhole works. And I think that we will see them back in Con-gress next year, asking not only that the restriction on DATdecks be continued, but also that it be extended to analogrecorders (perhaps even VCRs), requiring that they, too, befitted with copy -code circuits. DAT is serving as their Tro-jan horse.

The other big misconception I find is that copy -codingwon't matter to people who don't tape. Unfortunately, itwill. There are indications that on some music the encod-ing-a sharp notch at about 4 kHz-is clearly and unpleas-antly audible. (CBS has so far refused to release certain keyinformation on the design of the encoding filter, hamperingour ability to draw firm conclusions.) We are working nowto determine just how severe this problem is, but any suchmutilation of recorded music is a blow against all that we'vestood for in the 36 years ofHIGH FIDELrrY's existence.

Again, we urge that you write your Senators and Con-gressmen without delay to oppose passage of copy -codinglegislation. (The relevant bills are, in the House, HR -1384,HR -1155, and HR -3 and, in the Senate, S-506, S-490, andS-635.) The future of high -quality music reproductionhangs in the balance.

MAN 'MUTT is published monthly by ABC Consumer Magazines, Inc., a division of ABC Publishing, Inc., and asubsidiary of American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. © 1987 ABC Consumer Magazines, Inc. Member, AuditBureau of Circulations. Indexed in Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. Current and back copies of HIGHFIDELITY ore available on microfilm from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48106. Microfiche copies (1973forward; ore available from Bell & Howell Micro Photo Div., Old Mansfield Rd., Wooster, Ohio 44691.

ADVERTISING OffICESNow Yorks ABC Consumer Magazines, Inc., 825 Seventh Ave., 8th fl., New York, N.Y. 10019. Tel. (212) 265-8360. Peter T. Johnsmeyer, Group Advertising Director; Andrew Eisenberg, Associate Advertising Director;James R. McCallum, Record Advertising Manager; Maria Manaseri, Classified Advertising Manager; AngeloPuled, Director of Production; Janet Cermak, Advertising Production Manager.Miolvirraatt HIGH FIDELITY, 580 WatersEdge, Lombard, III. 60148. Tel. (312) 691-1165/7. Starr lane, MidwestAdvertising Director.Los Almelo's ABC Consumer Magazines, Inc., 1888 Century Park East, Suite 920, Los Angeles, Calif. 90067.Tel. (213) 557-7587. Howard Berman, Western Advertising Director.Editorial corrospoadeara should be addressed to The Editor, HIGH FIDELITY, 825 Seventh Ave., New York,N.Y. 10019. Editorial contributions will be welcomed, and payment for articles accepted will be arranged priorto publication. Submissions must be accompanied by return postage and will be handled with reasonable core;however. the publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited photographs or manuscripts.

FtPublisher/Editorial Director

William Tynan

EditorMu had RiggsArt Director

"I. had O. )

Managing Editork.ohlt (.11.,11

Associate EditorWilted Lima, ho

Copy EditorStephen Calvert

Assistant Copy EditorLehr litlhg

Assistant Managing EditorJonathan I(...al

Assistant Managing Editor/Special Projects'Nighredo G.Fri-regal

Assistant to the PublisherITarleen D Edwards

TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT

Technical EditorDas id Ranaili

Assistant Technical EditorChi wapher

Consulting Technical EditorsEdward j Foster, Robert long

Contributing Editorstarn sleet. 1.11 ( I.. lot

Assistantlodulf \n hot.

MUSIC DEPARTMENTClassical Music Editor

I heodore latairs . Jt.Popular Music Editor

Ru

Contributing EditorsRobert E. BellS1,11. I eslic Berman. Pamela Bloom,

R. D. Darrell, Francis Das is, ResThomas I.. Dixon,Thor Eckert, r., Steve Futterman, Edward Greenfield,

Thomas Hathaway. Paul Hume. Joyce Millman.Paul Moor, ohn Morthland, Jeff Nesin, Robert R. Reilly.

Thomas W. Russell 111, Terry Teachout,Noah Andrc, Trudeau, Michael Ullman.

Richard C. Walls, James Wierzbicki

AssistantMin nuke, -Dumont

ART DEPARTMENT

Design ConsultantRobet Delt,inte. Jr.Assistant Art Director

Susan /.r pin

Technical ArtRos 111(1,1,111

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENTDirector of Production

Ang'1"1"c"Advertising Production Manager

Janet Cur mak

Typesetting Systems Manager\hawk Enka.

CIRCULATION DEPARTMENTVice -President, Newsstand Sales/Consumer Magazines

Dooloin,

Director, Circulation/Subscriptionslohn Rand

National Sales Manager/NewsstandInn Robins

Circulation Subscription StaffOra Dia( kmon-Delirov if. Charlotte Hart,

Andrei jamesi. SmithCustomer ServiceDr1,111. Randolph

ADC CONSUMER MAGAZINES, INC.James A. Casella. President

Richard j. Marino, Vice -President, AdvertisingLucian A. Parziale. Vice -President, Operations

Christopher M. Savinc. Vice -President, FiErnest G. ScarEone. Vice -President, Graphics/Production

ONE OF THE ABC PU3USHING i^ COMPANIESRobert (.. Burton, President

1330 Avenue of the Americas, New fork. N.Y. 10019

3I)A_MOM

111111.1 Magazine it

.m.,11.1,011=

E R S

PRO DATI WANT A DAT DECK, BUT NOT TO RECORD MY

CDs. Who needs Compact Discs? When pre-recorded DAT cassettes become available,they will definitely be cheaper than CDs.Tape duplication technology is mature, yetstill improving. Add to that the advantagesof smaller size, slightly better fidelity, andthe ability to play them in the car, and I can'tfind much reason not to go totally DAT inmy library. I'll tape all my LPs and toss them.Why would someone buy a $20 CD and re-cord it on a $4 tape when he could havebought the thing already on tape for $12?

As for copy protection, the record com-panies must be kidding. No scheme will stopme from copying if I go analog between ma-chines. The loss in fidelity will be minuscule;certainly the tapes will be good enough formy car or my digital Walkman. The recordcompanies should give up this copy -codingidea and sell prerecorded DAT cassettes. Idon't want to pay an extra $8 for a piece ofmusic just because Compact Disc is a moreexotic medium.DIN MoodilyBerwyn, Pa.

Unfortunately, the situation is worse than you sup-The CBS copy -protection system is analog, not

digital. It can be applied to LPs, prerecorded tapes,radio and television broadcasts, the soundtracks ofvideotapes-anything. And the chips can be in-stalled in analog tape decks just as easily as in digi-

tal ones. In other words, recording through the ana-log inputs of a DAT deck won't get you around thecopy -guard. (The DAT standard has always in-cluded digital copy protection, to prevent direct, bit -

level dubbing of CDs and other prerecorded digitalsources, so that's not what's at issue.) Most trou-bling, however, is the fact that the CBS system can

degrade the sound quality of the recordings to which

it is applied. That should alarm even nontapers.Also, your knock on CD seems a little hard.

Compact Discs can be played in the car, and theirfidelity is every bit as good as you'll get from DAT.Moreover, it's not clear that prerecorded DATs (ifwe get them al all) will necessarily be cheaper than

CDs -particularly in the absence of high-speed du-plicators. which may not be available forsome time.

CD prices will drop this year, and even blank DATcassettes will be expensive: in the S10 range.-Ed.

I AM A PERFORMING MUSICIAN AND AN AS YET

unpublished songwriter. In addition, I havebeen a music collector for more than 15years and have accumulated more than1,100 LPs, at least 100 prerecorded cas-settes, and a small but rapidly growing num-ber of Compact Discs. I have owned cassettedecks since the early Seventies and havespent many hours engaged in the very enjoy-able hobby of home recording.

When I go to a store and see the prices ofrecords and Compact Discs and the people

JUNE I 9 8 7

standing in line to buy them, I think how ri-diculous are the record industry's com-plaints of losing revenue to home taping.The attitude of the record companies (andtheir friends in Washington) is infuriating. Iresent being put in the position of having todefend my right to tape. When I record athome, it's almost always to combine previ-ously purchased music from various sourcesfor more convenient listening. Consequent-ly, I find the recent development of technol-ogy to prevent copying of prerecorded ma-terial onto tape very disturbing. If the recordcompanies can get this copy -coding technol-ogy accepted for DAT, they will next at-tempt to get it applied to analog audio tapeand probably videotape as well.

If the record industry is so concernedwith lost revenues, there are better ways itcould spend the hundreds of thousands ofdollars it is pouring into Congress to depriveconsumers of their right to tape. The moneycould go toward the construction of domes-tic CD factories, to catch up with a marketthat is growing so fast that there are waitinglists for many discs. (Amazingly, the industryseems to be making the same mistake withDAT that it committed in the early days ofCD: dragging its heels instead of gearing upfor production.) Or how about spendingsome money to improve prerecorded cas-

settes, many of which are of such poor quali-ty that better sound can be obtained by copy-ing a used LP on a $150 tape deck.

And I am tired of hearing lip service paidto the idea of "ensuring that the people whomake the music get their share" from rec-ord -company executives mainly interestedin lining their own pockets. One can onlyhope that equipment manufacturers andother supporters of consumer rights will beable to counter the powerful political pull ofthe RIAA (Recording Industry Associationof America) and prevent a few greedy execu-tives from destroying one of America's mostpopular hobbies.Derma MINKOrlando, Fla.

"I'M A TOUR? SAYS mans PANI'M WRITING THIS LETTER TO WARN YOURreaders not to fall into the trap that I have (ifthey haven't already). Like many others, Ihave waited four years for the Beatles to beissued on Compact Disc. Finally, the firstfour titles are released. I plop down my $60and take them home, thinking I'm going toget great sound. But when I load each oneinto the player, I find something's missing:stereo! What a ripoff! Nowhere on the pack-aging does it say that these CDs are mono;(CONTINUED ON PAGE II)

1. BUILT-IN DIGITAL SYNTHESIZEDAM/FM STEREO TUNER

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It's got everything. Including digital synthesized tuning with10 presets. Auto -reverse. Dolby*B noise reduction. An anti -roll mecnanism(so the tape won't shake, rattle or roll). And sound you won't hearfrom some home systems. In Touch with Tomorrow

The Toshiba KT -4066. We didn't leave TOSHIBAmuch room for improvement. M Dolby LaosToshiba America. 87 Totowa Road, Wayne, NJ 07470

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Matthew Polk's ultimate dream loudspeaker,the SDA-SRS, won the prestigious Audio VideoGrand Prix Speaker of the Year award last year.Stereo Review said "Spectacular... it is quite anexperience" and also stated that the SRS wasprobably the most impressive new speaker atthe 1985 Consumer Electronics Show. Thou-sands of man hours and hundreds of thousandsof dollars were spent to produce this ultimateloudspeaker for discerning listeners who seekthe absolute state-of-the-art in musical andsonic reproduction.

Matthew Polk has, during the last year,continued to push his creative genius to thelimit in order to develop a smaller, moremoderately priced Signature Edition SDA incor-porating virtually all of the innovations anddesign features of the SRS without significantlycompromising its awesome sonic performance.The extraordinary new SRS 2 is the spectacularlysuccessful result. Music lovers who are priv-ileged to own a pair of either model will shareMatthew Polk's pride every time they sit downand enjoy the unparalleled experience of lis-tening to their favorite music through theseextraordinary loudspeakers, or when theydemonstrate them to their admiring friends.

"Exceptional performance nomatter how you look at it"

Stereo Review

Listening to any Polk True Stereo SDA* is aremarkable experience. Listening to either ofthe Signature Edition SDAs is an awesomerevelation. Their extraordinarily lifelike three-dimensional imaging surrounds the listener in360° panorama of sonic splendor. The aweinspiring bass performance and dynamic rangewill astound you. Their high definition clarity

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allows you to hear every detail of the originalmusical performance; while their exceptionallysmooth, natural, low distortion reproductionencourages you to totally indulge and immerseyourself in your favorite recordings for hourson end.

Julian Hirsch of Stereo Review summed it upwell in his rave review of the SDA-SRS: "Thecomposite frequency response was exceptional...The SDA system works...The effect can bequite spectacular...We heard the sound to oursides, a full 90° away from the speakers...Asgood as the SDA feature is, we were even moreimpressed by the overall quality of the PolkSDA-SRS....The sound is superbly balanced andtotally effortless...Exceptional low bass. Wehave never measured a low bass distortion levelas low as that of the SDA-SRS...lt is quite anexperience! Furthermore, it is not necessary toplay the music loud to enjoy the tactile qualitiesof deep bass...Exceptional performance nomatter how you look at it."

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Stereo Review Magazine

operation and wide vertical dispersion. 4.) theuse of small active drivers in a full complementsub -bass drive configuration coupled to a large15" sub -bass radiator for extraordinarily tight,quick and three-dimensional mid and upperbass detail combined with low and sub -basscapabilities which are exceptional. The speakersare beautifully finished in oiled oak and walnut.

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L E T T E R

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5)not until you open them (at which point youcan't return them) do you find out. All ofthese titles are available in stereo: I know be-cause I have all the imported British LPs.

At the very minimum, Capitol shouldhave mentioned "mono" on the packaging.But there is no excuse for these CDs to bemono in the first place. Why has Capitoldumped these dinosaurs on an unsuspectingpublic? The best thing about the Beatles istheir stereo separation, and now Capitol hasrobbed us of it.J. E. ThainasReisterstown, Md.

We can't agree that the best thing about the Beatles

is their stereo separation, but we do agree that theCD packaging should have included a reference to

the mono sound. For full treatment of the mono vs.

stereo debate. see our comprehensive coverage of the

Beatles on CD and video in this month's BACK -BEAT section.-Ed.

NOISELESS MONACOI RECEIVED 9.1.1 FL A JOLT FROM MY VERY FIRST

subscription issue of HIGH FIDELITY. As a"serious" collector, I take exception toTheodore I ibbes si.ttement chat "impor-

tant Furtwangler reissues have infinitelymore appeal than Sills bonbons," from "ALittle Less Noise, Please" [March].

My interest in Furtwangler is not so insa-tiable when conductors like Walter, Tosca-nini, Bohm, and Solti are available on CD re-issues. As for Sills, her early recordings ofManon, Lucia, and the Donizetti queens, aswell as a few early recital discs, belong in anyserious collection. Furthermore, Ashkenazy,a musician to the core, has recorded somefine symphonic works (including Strauss's)in more straightforward, unmannered inter-pretations than many other "noted" con-ductors. Get off your high horse, Ted!David IllegtowerMonroe, N.Y.

ll'e agree that the Sills recordings you mention be-long in any serious collection. Unfortunately, theyare not the ones Angel has released on CD. Say what

you like about Ashkenazy; we continue to believethat he is one of the most overrated musicians cur-

rently before the public.-Ed.

IT WAS MOST INTERESTING TO RECEIVE Aletter from one of the many music loverswho enjoy the recordings that Philips Clas-sics issues and on the same day read Ted

Libbey's March article on his perceptions ofthe current state of Compact Discs. Whileour correspondent, Mr. Hayman, is also ask-ing for more reissues on CD, he is far moreobjective and positive in his approach thanMr. Libbey. The tone of the HIGH Finetrryessay was condescending to the point of be-ing insulting. It is disturbing to see Libbeyuse such a respected publication as yours tovent his very subjective and rather ignorantviews.

Both Philips and Deutsche Grammo-phon have carefully chosen to present onCD a broad array of performances of bothwarhorses and unusual repertoire. Mr. Lib -bey should not so lightly cast aside labelswhose CD catalogs together have not onlyall the Beethoven symphonies and pianoconcertos (the latter by an American orches-tra-hardly an inexpensive way to recordthese days), but also rarities like Haydn'sSeven Last Words or Rossini's riaggio a Reims (aStereo Review Record of the Month), not tomention Luigi Nono's Fragmente-Stille, anDiotima or Liszt's Via Crucis (also a Stereo Re-view Record of the Month). And as to playingtimes, for every short CD Mr. Libbey canfind, we would gladly point out extra longones. 10.

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More than 650 large -size pages inlength Fully indexed categorically and alpha-betically Lists every orchestra in the U.S. andCanada, including number of concertsgiven, Musical Director and Manager;seating capacity, phone, address, andmore Profile of Mstislav Rostropovich,"Musician of the Year" Complete listings of Choral Groups,Dance, Opera, and Performing ArtsSeries Opera companies' productions forthe next two years 850 facilities listed by state and city Music publishers, schools, agencies,contests, foundations, and awards Addresses, phone numbers of morethan 500 newspaper and magazinemusic critics

LETTERSLibbey objects to recordings by young

artists of frequently recorded basic reper-toire, lamenting the apparent insufficiencyof historical material (DG has six Furtwang-lers, Philips has 12 Mengelbergs). We wouldlike to point out that today's Semyon Bych-kov or Giuseppe Sinopoli, both of whom suf-fered sniveling abnegation from Mr. Libbey,might turn out to be Furtwangler and Men-gelberg to Mr. Libbey's successors. One ofthe best ways to help young artists acquiretheir place in recording history is to make re-cordings of their repertoire that can be com-pared with great performances of the past.And it has been necessary to record basicrepertoire during CD's infancy precisely inorder to establish the new medium with abroad, paying public (not generally as inter-ested in Via Crucis as in 1812). Incidentally,no record company catering exclusively tothe tastes of critics has ever stayed in busi-ness for long. DG has stayed in business fornearly 90 years.

From his opinion of the debut recordingof young Mr. Bychkov (the recording has yetto be manufactured, so we are uncertain asto the basis of his judgment), we deduce thatit's perhaps better that we simply adviseyour omniscient classical music editor of ourrecordings in future, but not bother to pro-vide copies for him to actually audition.

Postscript: It is interesting that a maga-zine that generally devotes so little space toclassical recordings can afford to expend somuch on a generalized diatribe againstthem.Alison AmosVice PresidentDeutsche GrammophonNome ZoossisdVice PresidentPhilipsPolygram ClassicsDivision of Polygram Records, Inc.New York, N.Y

MR. THEODORE LIBBEY'S ARTICLE "A LITTLELess Noise, Please" makes important pointsregarding the needs of the consumer in theCD era. However, may I say that in my opin-ion the "majors" have never been interestedin the collector's needs. We are hooked, andthey know it. They are interested only ingaining new converts via "crossover" discsof media people: Te Kanawa, Pavarotti, et al.

For decades, they have shortchanged uson the amount of music that could fit on ablack disc, and it certainly didn't take the CDera for them to purposely confuse, mislead,or ignore the record collector.

One infuriating example (among howmany?) is on an Erato (French RCA) disc.The front cover says POLICE in large black -and -white print. A full -color picture ofFrench actors Depardieu and Marceau stare

at each other in what looks like a visitingroom in a prison. In smaller letters, it saysthat this is Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Gor-ecki. On the back, they say that Police is a film,but they don't mention whether this is an ac-tual soundtrack! A few more lines state thatthe symphony has Chants 1, 2, and 3. That'sall. As to who Gorecki is or to whom this rec-ord is aimed . . . well, I leave that to others.

On another note, I am disappointed thatMr. Libbey uses a Sills/Furtwangler compar-ison to make a point. Those of us who ad-mire both artists (I happen to own the Fun -wangler Tristan) might consider his remarkthat Sills reissues are bonbons to be snob-bish-and a cheap shot to boot. Regardlessof his opinion of Sills, her reissues (exceptUp in Central Park and Music of Victor Herbert)are all of complete operas or opera excerpts.KIM N. WiseGoleta, Calif.

Actually, nearly all of the Sills reissues are colkc-tions of arias, which is why we describe them as bon-bons.-Ed.

CONGRATULATIONS TO TED LIBBEY FOR HIStrenchant analysis of the current CD scene.It's regrettable, though, that Libbey's dead-line prevented him from actually listening tothe new Philips Shostakovich Fifth Sympho-ny release (led by the "no -name" SemyonBychkov) before dismissing it so quickly.[WNED-FM, the station for which Mr. Goldsmithworks, broadcast the American radio premiere of thenew recording on March !S.-Ed. ] I can't speakfor Philips, of course, but I would suggestthat the company, rather than feeling "so lit-tle confidence in its new boy," is, in fact, su-premely confident that Bychkov and his de-but recording will win instant admirersamong critics and record buyers alike in spiteof the competition from other Fifths in thecatalog. If out-of-the-way repertoire is whatyou're looking for, there's plenty of it to befound on CD these days: Check out the en-terprising Records International label forlittle-known symphonic gems by Lachner,Spohr, Goldmark, Respighi, and others, notto mention the indefatigable Neeme Jarviand his Berwald, Tubin, and Glazunov cy-cles cited in your article; but Bychkov'sShostakovich Fifth simply deserves the wid-est possible circulation.

Those of us here in western New Yorkwho have been able to follow his careerclosely for some time (Bychkov is in his sec-ond season as music director of the BuffaloPhilharmonic) predict that you'll agree.Peter GoldsmithProgram Director, WNED-FMBuffalo, N.Y.

TED LIBBEY'S INTERESTING ARTICLE IN THEMarch issue, in which he discusses the ways

that record companies have, to a large ex-tent, bungled the CD format, makes onewonder what qualifies these decision makersto be in charge of the marketing of CDs. Iguess they are there to make money, but dowe really need 15 versions of The Four Sea-sons? However, I do believe things are chang-ing. As an example, EMI/Angel has digitallyremastered nearly all of Ralph Vaughan Wil-liams's nine symphonies. They have pack-aged them so that all but the Seventh appearon five CDs, each of whose playing time av-erages over an hour. Sir Adrian Boult's fineinterpretations of these hitherto unavailablepieces in the CD format are a welcome addi-tion to the catalog.

Finally, I think that some of the smallerindependent companies, such as BIS, Chan -dos, and Nimbus, are to be congratulated forthe excellent job they are doing in maximiz-ing the potential of the CD format with per-formances not readily available in any otherformat.Akre OldiesLansdowne, Pa.

We agree. By the way, there are now 24 versions ofThe Four Seasons available on CD, with moreon the way.-Ed.

TED LIBBEY'S CD PIECE IN THE MARCH ISSUEtold it as it was in a way that everyone couldunderstand, without flinching, without apol-ogy, without intimidation. It was a first-classpiece of journalism. For an essay that was lit-erate as well as lucid, thanks.!elms DeltoserSeverna Park, Md.

8mm INCONSISTENCY

II IS IRONIC. 040I 10 MENTION INCONSISTENT)

that at the same time the electronics industryis encouraging us to upgrade our TV sets tostereo it expects us to pay a premium todowngrade our VCRs to mono ["Why8mm?," February]. I find it incomprehensi-ble that a magazine calling itself HIGH FIDEL-ITY is pushing the mono 8mm format. Youshould push for a stereo 8mm format (orchange your name to HIGH VIDEOFIDELITY/LOW AUDIO FIDELITY).Don SchmickAtlanta.

All of the consumer VCR format standards, includ-ing the one for 8mm, require a mono audio trackand offer stereo as an option. The system used for re-cording stereo audio on 8mm videotapes was de-scribed in the "Why 8mm?" article. And we are notpushing the 8mm format-just reporting on it.

-Ed.

Letters should be addressed to The Edator, Hum Fuserrn, 825 7th

Are., New Fork, .Y. I: 10019. All letters are subject to editing for

brally and clarity.

12 HIGH FIDELIT Y

C U R R

EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER J. ESSE

Yamaha's Hi bitCD PlayersSO FAR, THE SMALL DIFFERENCES IN MEASURED

audio performance among most of the Com-pact Disc players that we've tested have beenessentially undetectable in normal listening.But this has not stopped Yamaha's engi-neers from throwing in their two bits on atechnique that they claim makes an audibleimprovement.

Yamaha was an early proponent of over -sampling digital filters. Because they samplethe digital waveform at two or four times thestandard rate (44.1 kHz), the ultrasonic "im-ages" of the audio spectrum that are a by-product of the sampling process are cen-tered higher above the audio band (at 88.2or 176.4 kHz, respectively). A gentle, ratherthan a sharply sloped, low-pass filter canthen be used in the analog output stage toremove the ultrasonics, thus minimizing thepotential for distortion and phase shift of theupper audio frequencies. Yamaha says thatoversampling also increases the resolutionof the D/A converter (DAC), but it does soonly for high amplitude signals; and Yamahaengineers believe that the distortion per-formance of such a system at low signal lev-els is limited by I6 -bit operation. Their solu-tion is the Hi -bit digitalfilter, which uses four -times oversampling butis also designed for 18 -bit output.

In the CDX-5000and CDX-1100U, the18 -bit output of the Hi -bit digital filter is fed tothe inputs of twin 16 -bitDACs. The two mostsignificant bits of thedigital data stream areused only for transient,very high-level signals,so normally the input tothe DACs can be shiftedup by two bits, allowingthe bottom two "leastsignificant" bits fromthe 18 -bit digital filter'soutput to take theirplace. The analog out-

put is correspondingly reduced by 12 dB.This shifting means that these Hi -bit DACsare, in effect, accepting the entire 18 -bit out-put of the digital filter. When the most sig-nificant bits are needed, the DAC input isshifted back to the normal 16 bits and the 12 -dB attenuation removed. Yamaha claimsthat low signal levels are reproduced morelinearly and with reduced noise. Theclaimed signal-to-noise ratio is 115 dB; dy-namic range is given as 100 dB.

The CDX-5000 ($2,500) is Yamaha'sflagship CD player and is built from hand -se-lected, pretested parts. Aside from the newHi -bit technology, it has all the goodies, in-cluding internal optical coupling, gold-plat-ed digital and analog signal output jacks,and 46 pounds of heft. At a savings of about15 pounds and $1,400, the CDX-1100U($1,100) is functionally identical to theCDX-5000, giving away only the double -floating suspension system and perhaps themystique of a smaller serial number.

Two other models, the CDX-900U($650) and CDX-700U ($450), have new 16 -bit D/A converters (the latter uses a singleDAC) that Yamaha says are designed to take

THE TOP (CDX-5000) AND BOTTOM (CDX-7000) OF YAMAHA'S HI -BIT LINE OF CD 'LAYERS

advantage of the Hi -bit digital filter, al-though at this writing it is not clear whetherthe extra two bits from the Hi -bit filter out-put are truncated or rounded off into theleast significant bits of the DAC.

Each new Hi -bit CD player offers remotecontrol and a large complement of program-ming functions and is compatible with thesystem remotes of Yamaha RS Series com-ponents. For more information, contact Ya-maha Electronics Corp., 6660 Orange-thorpe Ave., Buena Park, Calif. 90620.

HI-FI STEREO CAMCORDERZENITH'S VM-7100 FUI I 1 ZE VHS CAMCORDER

differs from all other camcorders of that for-mat in one important respect: It records aVHS Hi-Fi stereo soundtrack, a welcome al-ternative to the often disappointing soundquality of standard linear -track VHS andVHS -C camcorders.

The Zenith is a bit heavier (5.3 pounds,without battery) and bulkier than typicalVHS -C or 8mm models, but it is designed torest on the shooter's shoulder for steadieroperation. Camera features include a 6:1

power -zoom lens with amacro (close-up) set-ting, automatic white -balance and iris open-ing (both of which canalso be set manually), afade control, and amonochrome electron-ic viewfinder that con-veys status, operation,and warning infor-mation through morethan 20 indicators. AI/2-inch CCD is used topick up the images inlight levels as low as 8lux.

The recorder sec-tion is best comparedwith that of a homedeck, as which it un-doubtedly will be usedsometimes, especially

JUNE 1 9 8 7 13

ZENITH'S VM7100 IS THE FIRST VHS HI-FI CAMCORDER.

to play prerecorded VHS Hi-Fi movies. It in-cludes HQcircuitry (white -clip level exten-sion and detail enhancement), automatic ormanual control of theHi-Fi audio recordinglevel, an audio dubfunction for supplant-ing a linear monosoundtrack (to add nar-ration to an existinghome video, for ex-ample), and a built-instereo microphone andexternal microphonejack. An LCD panelshows the tape counter,Hi-Fi audio levels, andtape -transport mode indicators. Audio -vid-eo inputs and outputs are provided to facili-tate connection to a monitor or for dubbingwith a second VCR.

Supplied accessories include a recharge-able battery and its charger, an AC adapter,an RF output converter (for connecting thecamcorder to a standard television), a shoul-der strap, an assortment of connector ca-bles, and a pair of mini -headphones for on -location monitoring. The VM-7100 retailsfor about $1,795. For more information,contact Zenith Electronics Corp., 1000 Mil-waukee Ave., Glenview, III. 60025.

REVOX ENCOREI FIE IS -2.2i, IS REA OX'S SECOND COMPACT DISC

player, replacing the B-225. It uses the latest"European" (i.e., Philips) 16 -bit, four -timesoversampling system along with adaptive er-ror correction, which continually choosesthe most appropriate method of correctionuntil interpolation is necessary (which, on anundamaged disc, is unlikely). The die-castdrive mechanism is mounted on a dampedsuspension that is said to lessen vibration -in-duced errors.

In addition to fixed and variable analogoutputs, the B-226 has two digital outputsthat Revox says are for future applicationssuch as CD -I (interactive CD) and CD-ROM(computer data), although interface stan-

CURRENTS

dards have yet to be fixed foreither of these CD derivatives.

Operating features include19 -selection programming, in-dex search, and repeat modes.An LCD panel shows pro-gramming and disc play status,including a bar graph that rep-resents time into a track.

As a Revox 200 Series com-ponent, the B-226 can be op-erated directly via the optionalB-205 ($145) remote controlmodule or from a differentroom through an optional B-

206 ($145) infrared transceiver. ContactStuder Revox America, Revox Div., 1425Elm Hill Pike, Nashville, Tenn. 37210.

REVOX

tortion" by performing RIAA equalizationwith a combination passive/active process.A CD -direct input allows a player's signal tobypass the preamp's filtering and switchingsections. And an unusual loudness -compen-sation circuit is said to eliminate the phaseshift of lower midrange frequencies that ac-companies standard techniques.

Last but not least is the Citation Twenty -Three Active Tracking AM/FM tuner($650), for which the biggest claims of per-formance improvements are made. The pro-prietary Active Tracking High Selectivitycircuit in the Twenty -Three is said to pro-vide ultrahigh selectivity with little loss ofstereo separation or high -frequency re-sponse and little increase in distortion.Translation: better reception of both weak

and closely spaced sig-nals. The digital fre-quency -synthesis frontend has 16 station pre-sets, a flywheel tuningknob, and an "analog"fine-tuning control. A

11* its CAMS RE VOX'S UNMOTAKAILE LOOSE.

NEW ORATIONSNEW POWER AMP AND TUNER DESIGNS ARE "IEEE

highlights of Harman Kardon's latest line ofCitation components. Two Dual Voltagepower amps, the Twenty -Two ($850) andthe Twenty -Four ($600), have a back -panelswitch for selecting a high or low output -voltage range: The high range is said tomore effectively drive loudspeakers with anominal 8 -ohm impedance, while the lowrange is for lower impedances or bridged -mono operation into 8 -ohm loads. Theamps are rated identically for 4 -ohm and 8 -ohm operation, with the Twenty -Two deliv-ering 200 watts (23 dBW) perchannel and its smaller sibling100 watts (20 dBW) per chan-nel. Bridged -mono operationin both models yields twicetheir stereo ratings. As in oth-er Harman Kardon designs.the Citation amplifiers have ahigh instantaneous current ca-pability and low negative feed-back and use discrete compo-nents.

A matching preamplifier,the Twenty -One ($550), alsofeatures discrete componentsand a low negative -feedbackdesign. The phono section issaid to reduce "dynamic dis-

wireless remote controlcompletes the package.

All of the new Cita-tion components haveanodized brushed -alu-minum faceplates withblue and black coloring

and molded rubber trim. For more infor-mation, contact Harman Kardon, 240 Cross-ways Park W., Woodbury, N.Y. 11797.

SANSUI'S TOP RECEIVERS()IAA 1'11M. I Rh I 01' 51'01 IN SANSIA'S NEW

line of receivers is the 120 -watt (20.8-dBW,into 8 ohms) S -X1200, which has connec-tions for a full complement of audio compo-nents as well as inputs and outputs for twoVCRs. The amplifier section is said to pro-vide dynamic power of 350 watts (25.4 dBW)per channel into a 4 -ohm load. A 24 -elementI I'D display shows the amplifier's power

THE SUBDUED LOOK OF HARMAN KARDON'S CITATION COMPONENTS

14 HIGH FIDELITY

SPEAKERS BUILT UPON THE BELIEFTHATMUSIC IS MEANT TO BE PLAYED,

NOT PLAYED WITH.When we built the first Adventk in 1968,

we believed music should sound exactly the waythe artist had intended. Nothing added. Nothingtaken away.

Just music.Since then, trends in speaker

design have come and gone. But theAdvent philosophy has remained thesame. You'll know why when you listento our current line of loudspeakers.They've been designed with the latesttechnology, yet preserve the clean,accurate sound Advent is known for.

All our speakers feature highefficiency long throw woofers, ferrofluid-filled tweeters and are compact discready. The Advent Maestro takes thisperformance even further with a mica -

filled polypropylene dome midrange, 750 wattsof power handling capability and a sound diffractionbaffle. (Designed to enhance stereo imaging

and broaden the musical soundstage.)Wherever you put an Advent,

you know it will look great. Our famoussolid hardwood tops and bases go per-fectly with any decor and there's anAdvent for virtually any size room.

If you want to hear music witha little something extra, listen to anyloudspeaker. If you want to hear thetruth, listen to an Advent.

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ranges. Bidirectional dubbing is possible be-tween the two sets of tape connections aswell as between the two VCR connections. Avariable loudness contour compensates forperceived frequency imbalances at low lis-tening levels, and two circuits are intendedespecially to enhance video sound: An ad-justable "sound attacker" adds punch totransients, and a subharmonic synthesizergenerates an extended bass response. Aswitchable processor loop allows access to aconnected equalizer or a similar device.

The digital frequency -synthesis AM/FMtuner section has a total of 16 station pre-sets, automatic and manual scanning, and apreset -scan function. A high -blend circuit issaid to reduce noise on weak stereo FM sig-nals. Retail price for the S -X1200 is $1,200.A similar model, the S -X900, provides 80watts (19 dBW) per channel into 8 ohms butdoes not include the special sound circuitsor the separate processor loop. It retails for$750. Contact Sansui Electronics, 1250 Val-ley Brook Ave., Lyndhurst, NJ. 07071.

tOHM TAKES THE EDGE OFF WITH ITS SOUND CYLINDERS, AVAILABLE IN

A VARIETY OF COVERINGS.

NEW AND IMPROVED OHMSTHE Sot \ \ R AND THE 3X0 BO I SE

Ohm's exclusive Walsh driver, an inverted -cone configuration designed to create an ef-fective stereo image over a large listeningarea. All but the highest frequencies are re-produced by the Walsh driver, with the re-mainder handled by a supertweeter that sitsabove it. The 3X0 (X0 stands for "extraoutput") is essentially a more efficient ver-sion of the Ohm Walsh 3, with a 6 -dB im-

16 HIGH FIDELITY

provement in sensitiv-ity and a minimumpower requirement ofjust 10 watts (10 dBW)per channel, accordingto the company. A pairof these speakers, avail-able in a number of fin-ishes, retails for $1,495.

The Sound Cylinderis-you guessed it-cy-lindrical in shape and,with the standard wal-nut -grain finish, isOhm's least expensive Walsh product, at$550 per pair. Seven custom finishes areavailable by mail order for an additional $76per pair. And if none of those matches yourcurtains, you can send any suitably flexiblematerial to Ohm and the company will (for$48) prepare it for wrapping around yourSound Cylinders. For more information.write Ohm Acoustics Corp., 241 TaaffePlace, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11205.

RHOADESCHANNEL-PLEXER

HIS IS AN UNUSUAL SOURCEselector that removes some of thelimitations of a conventionalswitch box. It has three RF inputs,one each for the Channel 3 andChannel 4 RF signal from, for in-stance, a cable box and a satellitereceiver, and one broadband in-put for a conventional antenna orstraight cable feed. It converts thepair of Channel 3 and Channel 4signals to a pair of unused UHFchannels (selectable by the user)and pumps the mixture through asingle RF output, which can bedistributed ("daisy chained") toall the televisions and VCRs in thehouse. The idea is that instead ofbeing limited to receivingone chosen source from amaster switchbox, each TVor VCR tuner has individualaccess to either source as aUHF station. And the broad-band input allows regular

VHF and UHF stations to be passedthrough the system as well. The Chan-nel-Plexer costs $230. Input expansionmodules, which contain one set of ster-eo -audio and video inputs, are avail-able for $100 each. They also convert asignal to an unused UHF channel fordistribution through the Channel-Plexer's main RF output. For more de-tails, contact Rhoades National Corp.,P.O. Box 1316, Dept. ZN6, Columbia,Tenn. 38402, or call 615-381-900 I .

JAMO'S LS -800 15-1000 AND 15-1400 LOUDSPEAKERS

DANISH SPEAKERSJAMO'S LASER SOUND SERIES INCLUDES THREE

three-way bass -reflex loudspeakers, eachwith a 1 -inch dome tweeter and a 5 -inch mid-range driver. The largest (231/2 inches high)is the LS -1400 ($520 per pair), which has adual -magnet 8 -inch woofer and is said tohandle continuous power of as much as 140watts (21.5 dBW). The slightly smaller LS -1000 ($440) has a dual -magnet woofer mea-suring 61/2 inches across, while the LS -800($360) has a standard 61/2 -inch bass driver.All three models have square honeycomb -pattern grilles covering each driver that areclaimed to counteract diffraction distortion;a black or white finish is available. For moreinformation, contact Jamo, 425 Huehl Rd.,Bldg. 3A. Northbrook, III. 60062.

ADJUSTABLE SPEAKER STANDSTHE SOUND DECOR SPEAKER STANDS HAVE A

cradlelike design that can angle a speaker asmuch as 25 degrees back from its upright po-sition. In addition, the width of the stands iscontinuously adjustable from 12 to 22 inch-es. Made of solid oak, and each capable ofsupporting 200 pounds, they are availablewith an oiled finish for $69 per pair or inblack, white, red, or gray lacquer for $89.Contact Montage Marketing, 419 Main St.,Suite 14, Huntington Beach, Calif. 92648.

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S C A N L I N E S

VAIN ATTEMPTS?

NARDLY HAD THE INK DRIED ON MY REPORT ON JVC'S

development of Super VHS ["Scan Lines," April]when Sony announced in Tokyo its latest attempt tosave, uh, improve the Beta format. And on the verysame day (March 17) came news from The Nether-lands of Philips's latest-one is tempted to say"only"-effort to inject life into the videodisc systemit invented.

Sony's ED (Extended Definition) Beta systemdoes what Super Beta should have done when it wasintroduced in 1984: make a clean break with the olderBeta recording formats in order to greatly increasevideo quality. The result is said to be a luminance res-olution of 500 lines, edging out both the 260 -linetheoretical maximum of Super Beta and the 400 linesclaimed by Super VHS. (A television broadcast's res-olution is limited-by law-to only 330 lines.) Al-though ED Beta machines will be able to play olderBeta -format tapes, ED recordings will not be play-able on any currently available standard -Beta or Su-per -Beta deck.

This "downward incompatibility" is a direct re-sult of what Sony calls the Ultra Hi -Band recordingsystem, in which the frequency bandwidth for the lu-minance signal has been raised from the 4.4 -to -5.6 -MHz range of Super Beta to between 6.8 and 8.6MHz. To record such high frequencies, an ED Betadeck uses newly developed sputtered-Sendust videoheads and takes special metal -particle tapes. A newtape stabilization system is supposed to reduce time -base instability (which results in jitter and a loss of ap-parent detail). And separate luminance- and chromi-nance-signal inputs and outputs eliminate crosstalkbetween those signals and permit multigenerationcopying without severe picture quality degradation(this is a feature of Super VHS, too).

Much of the rest of the system, at least on the basisof the preliminary information released by Sony, re-mains the same. Dimensions of the Beta cassette areunchanged, as are the Beta II and Beta III tapespeeds. Color is still recorded "under" the lumi-nance frequencies and with a carrier frequency of688 kHz. The prototype demonstrated in Tokyo alsoincluded Beta Hi-Fi stereo audio recording, but Sonysays that the use of metal -particle tape improves thesound quality of the Beta longitudinal audio track,giving it a wider -than -normal frequency response of50 Hz to II kHz.

Although ED Beta is certainly a convincing dem-onstration of technological prowess-not to sayspecsmanship and corporate vanity-Sony is by itsannouncement both sending mixed signals to theconsumer and painting itself into a corner. Until theannouncement of Super VHS, the Sony -backed 8mmsystem was the home VCR format holding the great-est potential for high -quality video (see "Why8mm?," February). ED Beta can do nothing at thislate date to recoup market share for Beta and, if it isindeed superior in picture quality to all previoushome VCR formats, it may further undermine 8mm's

current precarious position in the American market.Although no new products were announced inMarch, it is difficult to fathom the utility of such bet-ter -than -broadcast technology unless it were to beused in a camcorder, which could then tape live im-ages with quality equivalent or superior to that ofprofessional video recorders. But then Sony's over-whelming-and very profitable-domination of theprofessional VCR/camcorder market would bethreatened not only by Super VHS but also by its ownED Beta system. The best markets for ED Beta will beindustry, education, and other semipro applications,and this is the direction in which Sony's Beta market-ers should have headed long ago, if only to keepsome marvelous technology alive.

Another video marvel, the laser videodisc system,is also receiving a curious boost, this time in the man-ner of an exercise in Orwellian "thinkspeak.- Philips,inventor of the system that Pioneer has steadfastlypromoted here and in Japan under the name Laser -Vision, is renaming the entire format CD -V (forCompact -Disc -Video, notwithstanding the distinctlynoncompact nature of 8- and 12 -inch videodiscs).Philips also introduced a new format: a "5 -inch" (ac-tually a standard -size 12 -centimeter) Compact Discholding 20 minutes of CD -compatible audio near thecenter of the disc, with the rest of the disc filled withabout five minutes of Laserdisc-format video- (withaccompanying audio tracks). Yamaha, Sony and Mat-sushita (Technics and Panasonic) have also an-nounced plans to support the new format with com-bination CD/CD-V players.

Prime material for the 5 -inch CD -V will be thepromotional music videos seen on MTV and the like.Record companies have for years been looking for asalable medium for them. I was told by a Philips rep-resentative that the CD -V promotional push will alsobe accompanied by a general reassessment and im-provement of videodisc master -tape quality, espe-cially in the picture and sound obtained in film -to -disc transfers of movies. For example, all future CD -V pressings will have a digitally encoded soundtrackin addition to the standard analog one. CD -V record-ings will be pressed with gold -tinted plastic and willbe packaged in CD -like jewel boxes, in order to helpcreate for videodiscs the "collector mentality" thatexists for audio CDs.

Philips freely admits hoping the thus revitalizedvideodisc system will ride the coattails of the audioCD's popularity. Whether the whole rigmarole willreally be clear to the average consumer, who is al-ready being bombarded with tales of CD, CD-ROM,CD -I, and DAT, is not obvious to me. And whetherafter all these years Philips can persuade those couchpotatoes satisfied by the generally poor picture quali-ty of home VCRs to invest in the new -old videodisc isalso open to question. Goodness knows, we at HIGHFIDELITY (and the LaserVision stalwarts at Pioneer)have been trying to do just that for years. I wish themluck-the technology' deserves it.

B Y

D A V IDR A N A D A

JUNE 1987 11

ECOGWhy the Carver M -500t Magnetic Field Power

Amplifier has helped begin an industry trend and howit has stayed ahead of its inspired imitators.

Twice in the last decade, Bob Carver hastaught the high fidelity industry how to makeamplifiers that give you better performanceand value. Both times his bold lead hasattracted followers. Still, as evidenced by thecurrent release of the M -500t, Carver setsstandards yet unequaled in the audiocommunity.

With its astonishingly high voltage/high out-put current and exclusive operation features, itis a prime example of why Carver remains thedesigner to emulate:

Continuous FTC sine -wave output conserva-tively rated at 250 watts per channel.

Produces 600 to 1000 watts per channelof dynamic power for music (depending onimpedance).

Bridging mode delivers 700 watts continu-ous sine -wave output at 8 ohms.

High current Magnetic Field power supplyprovides peak currents up to ± 100 amps forprecise control of voice -coil motion.

Designed to handle unintended 1 ohmspeaker loads without shutting down.

Equipped with infinite resolution VU meters.

..........Conventional Amplifier. -Vag/Wile Had ZIMPlifier.

Solid line: audio output signalBroken line power supply voltage.

Shaded are¢ wasted powerl'ertical porn rto.cpcakerc

POWER EXPRESSED BY THEDEMANDS OF MUSIC.

The Carver M -500t Power Amplifier respondsto musical transients with better than 600watts per channel of instantaneous peakpower through 8 ohm speakers. Well over 900watts per channel into 4 ohm speakers.

And yet its Federal Trade Commission Con-tinuous Average Power Rating is 250 watts perchannel into 8 ohms.

The gulf between the two power ratings rep-resents Bob Carver's insistence that amplifierdesign should fit the problem at hand. Thatproblem is reproducing music with stunningimpact, not simply satisfying a sine -wave testwhich doesn't even include speakers or soundsources. Hence the seeming gulf between thetwo ratings.

Bob reasoned that since music is composedof three basic types of power waveforms,those types of waveforms are what an ampli-fier should be designed to satisfy.

MAXIMUM POWER OUTPUT OF TEE MEMINTO A 4 OHM LOAD

PE. POWER r0;4 TRANSIERTS ;GREATER THAN 900 WATTS

POOL -4TOO

-R FOR TOOT TONES

350 WATTS ROM

TOO

042 1 2 4

TIME Isaccoom

The Canvr M -500t delivers massivepower at three important output levels.

First there are instantaneous peak transi-ents - the sudden smash of cymbals, drums,or the individual leading edge attack of eachmusical note. While these waveforms last lessthan 1/100 of a second, they form the keenedge of musical reality which must be presentif you are to realize high fidelity. Thoughmomentary, they also demand a tremendousamount of amplifier power.

Directly following instantaneous transientsare combinant musical crests of demand thatcome from multiple instruments and their har-monics. These long term power demands maylast up to several seconds but usually comeand go in less than a second. And yet they cantax anything but an exceptionally powerfulamplifier.

The third type of power demand is repre-sented by the average power contained in themusic, and is approximately one third to onehalf of the FTC continuous power rating.

At extremely high output current levels, theCarver M -500t not only delivers over 700 wattsof instantaneous peak power for instantan-eous transients, but can deliver over 600 watts

RMS of long term power for demands lastingup to several seconds. The M -500t providesmore power, more current and more voltagethan any comparably priced amplifier everoffered.

THE MAGNETIC FIELD AMPLIFIERVS. CONVENTION.

Audiophiles, critics and ultimately othermanufacturers have each accepted the wis-dom of Bob Carver's fresh approach to deliver-ing power in musical terms. Yet only Carver hasso elegantly translated theory into practice.

Rather than increase cost, size and heatoutput with huge storage circuits, MagneticField Amplification delivers instantaneous highpeak and longterm power from a small butpowerful Magnetic Field Coil. The result is anamplifier capable of simultaneous high cur-rent and high voltage that can do sonic justiceto the dynamics of Compact Discs and audio-phile records in a compact, cool -runningdesign. An amplifier costing considerably lessthan the ultra -esoteric models which figuredsignificantly into the genesis of its circuitry. Fora reprint of the full story of its development aswell as a catalog of Carver high fidelity audiocomponents please call or write to us.

Figure 1

This SZ(100pair ,,I,N)leric ampli-fiers figure significantly into the heri-tage of M-500 r version circuitry.

Figure 1 above shows a $7,000 pair of ultra -

esoteric mono amplifiers. No expense wasspared on their admittedly magnificent but stillconventional design and construction.

Figure 2 shows the massive toroid outputtransformers contained in these presitgiousaudiophile designs. At 10% regulation, theiroutput current is ± 50 amperes.

All conventional amplifiers are condemnedto using this type of design.

Figure 2 also shows the patented MagneticField Coil employed in the Carver M -500t. Itsoutput current is ± 100 amps at 10%regulation!!!!

Figure 2

Over 40 pounds of toroid coils putout half the current of a single six poundfour ounce Magnetic Field Coil

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OFTHE CARVER M -500t.

Power is mandatory for dynamc impact andmusical realism. And yet power requires con-trol and finesse. While the Carver M -500t isn'tthe only amplifier to deliver adequate output, itis one of the few that tempers force with pro-tection circuits beneficial to both the amplifierand your loudspeaker system.

These include DC offset~ short circuitpower interrupt as well as two specialcomputer -controlled speaker monitor circuits which protect against excessive highfrequency tweeter input and an overallthermal overload.

The Carver M -500t continuously dis-plays power output through dual lightedinfinite resolution VU -ballistic meters.Meters which can react to musical tran-sients as brief as 1 millisecond.

The M -500t is quiet Inside and out Itscircuitry has the best signal-to-noise ratioof any production amplifier. Better than-120dB. And. in spite of its massive out-put capabilitg the M -500t does not requirea noisy fan to dissipate heat Thanks tothe cool running Magnetic Field Amplifiercircuitry. No other amplifier in the M-500ts priceor power ranges is capable of handlingproblematic speaker loads as low as 1ohm. Whether required by certain brandsof speakers, or inadvertently derived bypairing too many low impedance speak-ers at one set of output terminals, all con-ventional amplifiers simply shut down orblow their fuses when faced with thiscondition.

In stereo use, both channels of theM -500t can actually borrow from eachother during unequal output demands.In addition. Carver amplifiers have pio-neered phase inversion circuitry whichtakes advantage of the in -phase (mono)characteristics of bass to essentially dou-ble available power supply current at lowfrequencies.

Finally, the Carver M -500t can be usedin a bridged mode as a 700 watt RMS perchannel mono amplifier without anyswitching or modification.

MUSIC IS THE FINAL PROOF.Were you to buy a power amplify' solely on

features and performance specifications,painstaking comparison would inevitably leadyou to the Carver M -500t.

\RVER

But we are sure that your final judgment willbe based on musicality. It is here that theM -500t again distinguishes itself.

Bob Carver has carefully designed theM -500t to have a completely neutral signalpath that is utterly transparent in sonic char-acter. The result is more than just musicalaccuracy. It means a total lack of listenerfatigue caused by subtle colorations some-times exhibited by conventional amplifierdesigns, regardless of their power rating.

It means a veil is lifted between you and yourmusical source as the most detailed nuancesare revealed with realism, believability anddelivered with stunning impact.

VISIT YOUR CARVER DEALER FOR ASURPRISING AUDITION.

We invite you to audition the Carver M -500tsoon Against any and all competition. Includ-ing those who are only now embracing theprinciples which Bob Carver has refined overthe last several years.

We doubt that you will be surprised whenthe M -500t lives up to the claims made in thisadvertisement. What will surprise you is justhow affordable this much power, musicalityand accuracy can be.

SPECIFICATIONS: Power, 251 watts per channel into8 ohms 20Hz to 20101z, both channels driven with no morethan C.15% THD. Instantaneous Peak Power, 1000watts into 2 ohms, 950 watts into 4 ohms, 600 watts into8 ohms. Longterm RMS Power for Music, 500 into2 ohms, 450 into 4 ohms, 300 into 8 ohms, 1000 wattsbridged mono into 4 ohms, 900 watts bridged mono into 8ohms. Bridged Mono RMS Continuous Power, 700watts continuous into 8 ohms. Noise -120dB IHF Weighted.

Frequency Response,± 0-3dB 1Hz- 100kHz SiercFactor. 200. Weight, 25 lb. Finish, light brushed anthracite,baked enamel, black anodized.

POWERFUL

P0.Box 1237 Lynnwood, WA 98036

MUSICAL ACCURATE

Distributed in Canada by Evolution Technology

PLUSMEANS SO MUCH MOREdB PLUS EFFICIENCY Up to 120 dB in a typical sound room

(dB Plus 1212 full power)

dB PLUS POWER Up to 400 watts RMS (see specification sheetsdB Plus 1212).

dB PLUS DYNAMICS Astounding speed and dynamic range, virtuallyno ringing.

dB PLUS BASS Deep, tight, powerful, clean, bass response 23 Hz(dB Plus 1212).

dB PLUS TWEETERS Unique, fast, smooth, musically very accurate,dB Plus PolyfoamTM Tweeter

dB PLUS OPENNESS Wide dispersion for easy listening to a largesound stage.

dB PLUS ACCURACY Smooth, clean, low distortion, low resonance,high definition.

dB PLUS QUALITY Designs so pure that we curve and compare eachone !iq the original.

dB PLUS WARRANTY We're so confident, it's ten years.See Narranty cards.

dB PLUS CHALLENGE We challenge any speaker brand, any price range,to a sound comparison.

dB PLUS 135 Torbay Road, Markham, Ontario. Canada L3R 1G7 1-416-475-0050

dBPLUS

ST REPOSpeakers-of all shapes

andsixes-andsurround

scund are the focus of

this month's issue. Pic-

tured here are ADD's

new L-990 tii-wer loud-

speaker, thekthree-

pine Rote AllAtS, and

MSC's super-sophisti-

cried AYR -700E digi-

tal surround processor.

Rlso tested this month

a -e the Paradigm

9se, DCM Timeframe

ff-250, Siefert Re-

search Magnum III,

sod 3D Acoustics Cube

loudspeakers.

REPORT PREPARATION SUPERVISED BY MICHAELRIGGS, DAVID RANADA, CHRISTOPHER J. ESSE,ROBERT LONG, AND EDWARD J. FOSTER. LABORA-TORY DATA UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED ISSUPPLIED BY DIVERSIFIED SCIENCE LABORATORIES.

som _____Emism_. summizim rimummomommiEmm Inummor 1 1 1, tialc i 1 I 1 wommismmummummommusor immiqmpousimmummuMINI MENNEN, ' I I 1'1 1 Ink ..1 I I 1111111111M1111111111=1111111111=111M11116dialm1616dioillIMIIIIIIIIMINIMIN IIIIIIIIIIIF11111111IIIIIIMIMIIfflIlMIIIIIIIINIIIMIIIMEM MEM= 1 i 1 I I d 12-41 i T . 1..) 1 ri . 1 diMIIMMIIIIIIIMIMI IIIMM '', 1 II l ' P I 1 1 '1 1 k 1, ri IMIN11111111111111111111111111111111M __________ .11111111111111111111111J111111011111111MMEM11111111111111111111E11111M INI Mil

ROOM RESPONSE CHARACTiRIST,C5

08.5 -

0

-5 --10 mid

HZ 20 100 200 500 1K

boundary-doputird rarese-szh ramie

2K 5K

L.990,

10K 20K

Of -axis (3r) newetse

SENSITIVITY (at 1 miler; 2.3-r0N pink noise:

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE (250 H: re 6 kit/

865 dB SPL

12 7 ohms

DIMENSIONS 10' BY 34Y, INCHES (FRONT), 11', INCHES DEEP. PRICE:

$899 PER PAIR. WARRANTY: "LIMITED," FIVE YEARS PARTS AND LA-

BOR. MANUFACTURER: ANALOG & DIGITAL SYSTEMS, INC., 1 PROG-

RESS WAY, WILMINGTON, MASS. 01887.

ITS ALWAN S ENCOURAGING 10 1.00K IN 771E

owner's manual that accompanies a newloudspeaker and find that it tells you pre-

cisely how the model is to be positioned inthe listening room. It implies that the speak-er has been engineered from the ground upfor that placement, avoiding the compro-mises of the usual all -things -to -all -rooms ap-proach. Right off the bat, the ADS L-990manual says to place the speakers two to fourfeet out from the back wall or to be preparedfor the possibility of overheavy bass, de-pending on room acoustics, if the speakersare set too near a wall.

The L -990's tower design itself helpsavoid compromise, as ADS points out. Un-like so-called bookshelf models that oftenend up on a table, mounted on speakerstands, or set directly on the floor, an inher-ently floor -standing design can be set uponly one way, which determines preciselyhow high off the floor all drivers will be.Then, the designer can not only calculatefloor -reflection characteristics, but he canbe sure that his tweeters won't end up verymuch higher or lower than the ears of seatedlisteners.

Accordingly, all three of the L -990's driv-ers are clustered toward the top of the frontpanel. The tweeter and midrange units forma sort of flush subpanel whose vertical axis isoffset about 1 inch to the left of the baffle'scenter. The tweeter is a %-inch woven softdome with "proprietary damping," as ADScalls it, apparently referring to the surroundcomposition and not to the magnetic fluid inthe gap around the single -layer, wet -woundvoice coil. The midrange driver is a 11/2 -inchdome of similar construction. Its crossoverto the tweeter is at 3 kHz, to the woofer at700 Hz, both transitions occurring with 12 -dB -per -octave slopes.

The 10 -inch woofer, which is centeredon the baffle's vertical axis, has a Stifflite (aproprietary air -filled cellulose compound)cone with a Butyl rubber surround. The two -layer Linear Drive voice coil moves in whatADS calls an extended -pole magnet struc-ture; that is, the company's driver designseeks to keep the forces on the cone linearthroughout the long "throw" necessary for

high levels of deep bass. The enclosure issealed, creating an acoustic -suspensionwoofer loading.

We tested the oak -veneer model (there'salso a matte -black option), which is finishedon all sides. The black, perforated -metalgrille is self-supporting and thus has noframe to threaten diffraction or reflection,either of which can compromise imaging.Connections are made on the bottom ofeach tower via heavy-duty color -codedmultiway binding posts (banana plugs willfit, but some may be too long for the limitedfloor clearance) with an opening at the backof the enclosure for the wiring; standing thespeakers out in the room doesn't result inthe inelegance of unfinished enclosurebacks spewing cables.

For its tests, Diversified Science Labora-tories set the speaker three feet out from thewall behind it. As shown in our graph, themeasured frequency response is exception-ally flat. Depending on which curve you con-sult, there is some dip in the range around250 or 300 Hz. This is presumably attribut-able to floor reflection, but it isn't nearly assevere as we often encounter. Even includ-ing this dip, on -axis response stays within±31/2 dB from the gradual bass rolloff (ataround 60 Hz) to the highest treble. Overmost of the midrange and treble it's withinabout ±11/2 dB, relative to average responseover the so-called music band.

Off -axis response emphasizes the bassrise a bit more, shows a narrower, lower -fre-quency dip, and rolls off at the very top in-stead of peaking a bit. Otherwise it's verysimilar to the on -axis response, suggestingconsistent sound distribution in the listen-ing room. The lab also measured the speak-er set against the wall. As expected, it pro-duced a heavier bass, peaking at around 60Hz (and thus emphasizing more the dipabove 200 Hz) and rolling off more steeplytoward the very bottom.

Sensitivity is well within the averagerange, though it is a bit lower than we mightexpect in a fairly large system. The mea-sured distortion proved above normal for asystem of this size, although not unaccepta-bly so. The figures average almost 1 percentat the lowest test level of 85 dB sound pres-sure level (SPL) and rise to well above I per-cent at the maximum (100 dB SPL). In thevery deep bass, however, distortion is un-usually low.

24 HIGH FIDELITY

He's good. But can he remember785 of you favorite songs?

This Magnavox compact disc player can.In fact, the top -rated CDB650 is the onty CDyou can program to play 785 selections Asyou build your library, just program in yourfavorite selections from each disc in anyorder you want. The CDB650 will neverforget them. Because it's the only CD with

Flawless sound. The ultimate memory

Favorite Track Selection. With FTS, thememory remains forewer, even during poweroutages, even if it's unplugged. And it comeswith full -function rerr ote control.

With 4 times over -sampling and digitalfiltering, all you hear is the absolutelyflawless reproduction of sound. What else

would you expect from the people whoinvented CD tec-Inology?

The CEB65(.. Unforgettable.

Nobody puts it together like MAGNAVOX.. vno N A.P.:onsumen Electronics Corp. A Nor h American Philips Company

Most speaker designers haven't changedtheir position in 30years.

Presenting the dbxSoundfield series:Reality Imaging and theend of the stereo"sweet spot."

For 30 years, speakerdesigners have believed thatthe only way to achieve bal-anced stereo is to sit directlybetween and in front of bothspeakers. II you move out ofthis "sweet spot,"the stereoimage collapses and the fre-quency response is anythingbut flat.

dbx Soundfield IA53000 per,'

At dbx, we took a revolu-tionary approach and developeda new speaker design thatachieves stereo balance andfrequency response so consis-tent from any listening position,SO close to the real thing, weneeded a new name to describethe experience: Reality Imaging.

Reality Imaging brings youright up to the stage. It's notonly the sound, but the actualspatial reality-the feeling ofbeing there. And it's an imagethat doesn't collapse if youmove around.

dbl Soundhold 1051099 I's,'

OR RIR!

Somndfield 100 dbx Sovidliold 70005899 pair $6991 pale

Ht.1

SlAr.; Mt I,

EVER IF YOU'RE WERE

OR HERE

Not only can you hear it,you can see it.

Ask your dbx dealer todemonstrate with a sound ana-lyzer (such as the dbx 14110)how consistently the flat andsmooth response-and RealityImaging-are maintained bydbx Soundlield speakers atevery point in the room. Thenask kin to do the same withany other speaker at any price.

You're in for a shock.

And we seriously suspectyou'll be changing your positionon stereo speakers for good

dbxBeyond stereo

'Suggested retail prices

For the location of the Oh speaker dealer nearest you. call us directly at 1617) 9643213 1.;E A division of 8SR North America lid c 1986 dbi. 71 Chapel Street. Newton. MA 02195

Impedance averages well above the nom-inal 8 ohms, but the actual values vary con-siderably with frequency. The bass -reso-nance rise reaches 14 ohms (at about 40 Hz);the following dip falls to 4.7 ohms at 100 Hz;a maximum in the midrange reaches 23ohms at 900 Hz; above 2 kHz, the curve liesbetween 10 and 6.5 ohms. If the L-990 isdriven in parallel with another speaker, avery fussy amplifier may have a bit more

trouble with it than the average impedancefigure implies, but we certainly wouldn't ex-pect any misbehavior with a competently de-signed amplifier when it is used alone.

Listening quality, following ADS's place-ment recommendations, turned out to bevery much what you'd expect from thesespecifics. The sound is very smooththroughout the range. In particular, the bassis extended and solid, without any hint of ex-

POR T

aggeration. Imaging is very good. The over-all balance is somewhat forward and slightlybright, as has tended to be true of ADSspeakers we've auditioned over the years.The effect is rather lean and silvery, so tospeak, with excellent transparency. We con-sider the L-990 very attractive in both ap-pearance and sound and can say nothingmore than: Listen for yourself-it's worthyour consideration.

mmmomommummommom mommummommmoiummEmmmumminimmr immummommommmommummumw/nrriTlirr, nor!. immummommmMMINIMMINIMMWOIAI;-AMIA4-;11MIMMMIMMMOMMOMMMINIMMEMMINMJAAA14.11611.WiliWilliWAIMMEMMINIMINImmmorrammummuffsimminummAmmummilmmmumo= Piiii111111110 Flu rtsiamumummNummumouipkiii pills III0,1111111 itry.1imummiriammummo immsommmoimemmimmoms mum irommummrnmoDIMENSIONS 13 BY 22 INCHES (FRONT), 14 INCHES DEEP. PRICE 5800

PER PAIR. WARRANTY "LIMITED," FIVE YEARS PARTS AND LABOR.

MANUFACTURER SIEFERT RESEARCH, 31212 BAILARD RD., MALIBU,

CALIF. 90265.

T,,.., IS THE FIRST SIEFERT SPEAKER WE'VE

tested. The stated design aims of thecompany's line are low group delay and

excellent imaging combined with low inter -modulation distortion and extended bassperformance. In the Magnum III, some ofthe means employed to achieve these aimsare fairly conventional, but others certainlyare not.

The unit's three drivers are alignedalong a vertical axis, offset somewhat to theleft of the baffle's center. At the top is a 1 -inch Hybri-Dome tweeter constructed of a"soft metal" (aluminum) diaphragm matedto a polyamide plastic surround, a construc-tion intended to supply an optimum combi-nation of dome stiffness and suspensioncompliance. Below it is a 4 -inch polypropyl-ene -cone midrange unit rated for six -octaveoperation but driven over only about 31/2 oc-taves of that range (250 Hz to 3 kHz) via athird -order (18 dB per octave) crossovernetwork. Last is an 8 -inch polypropylene -cone woofer, similar to that used in the mid-range, surrounded by a high -compliance ni-trile suspension. In addition to the enclo-sure volume (minus the space occupied by asubenclosure for the tweeter and midrangedrivers), the woofer is loaded by a ductedport venting through a slot running acrossthe bottom edge of the front baffle. It istuned to 33 Hz, following the Thiele -SmallBe alignment (which here theoretically ex-tends the bass to a -3 -dB limit of 36 Hz).

The wood -veneer enclosure is availablein three finishes: walnut, natural oak, andblack -lacquered oak. Front and back sur-faces are plain black lacquer (with no visiblewood grain) and there are felt feet on the

bottom. Three-way binding posts are re-cessed into the back panel and canted so thatbared wires can easily be inserted from oneside, banana plugs from the other. The grilleis fabric stretched over a cut-out pressboardform, with a slight bevel along the outeredge as the only obvious measure to mini-mize diffraction.

The drivers are all mounted flush in thefront panel. Their axial alignment and, inparticular. the design of the crossover aremeant to provide good imaging. Not onlyare the crossover slopes steep, to minimizethe ranges in which two drivers operate si-multaneously and thus tend to blur localiza-tion, but care has been taken to compensatefor phase anomalies introduced by the cross-over networks, as well. The latter measureno doubt contributes to the unusually flatimpedance curve, which falls between 8.1ohms (near the bottom of the tweeter range)and 3.4 ohms (near 100 Hz) throughout theaudio band in Diversified Science Laborato-ries' measurements. The low values are con-sistent with Siefert's 4 -ohm rating, as is the5.3 -ohm average value shown in our datacolumn. It should present an easier -than -av-erage load for most amplifiers to drive; evenparalleled pairs won't faze some amps. Sen-sitivity is fairly high for a system of this size.

Harmonic distortion measures much likethat of other excellent speakers. meaningthat it is very respectable but not extremelylow. It averages roughly V5 percent at thelowest test volume, a sound pressure level(SPL) of 85 dB, and 1 percent or more at thehighest, 100 dB SPL. In the 300 -Hz pulsetests, the speaker ran out of steam (specifi-cally, out of midrange suspension "throw"),for an input equivalent to 26.5 dBW (450watts) peak into 8 ohms. Since that drive lev-el represents a calculated output of 114 dBSPL (threshold -of -pain territory) and in-volves far more power than most amps can

ROOM REVONSE CHARACTERISTICS

De

+5

0-5

-10

HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K

bauralmy-dopondont rogIon

wads moans@

olf-oxis 1303 response

SENSITIVITY (at I meter; 2.8-voit pink noise) 87 5 dB SP!.

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE (250 Hz to 6 kHz) 5 3 ohms

2K 5K 10K 20K

JUNE I 9 8 7 27

deliver, this datum has little practical signifi-cance. In fact, Siefert's rating of 25 watts (14dBW) as minimum recommended amplifierpower strikes us as much more to the point.

Use of some sort of speaker stand seemscalled for, if only to raise the drivers closer toear level. The lab kept the speakers 16 inch-es off the floor; for the listening tests, we hadthem a little lower than that. For both, theywere out from the wall behind (though dataobtained with the test speaker near the walldidn't depart radically from the responseshown in our graph). We tried the speakerson the floor as well, but we judged the deepbass a little too heavy with that much floor

reinforcement.Ignoring the usual floor -reflection dip

near 300 Hz, the response graph is unusual-ly flat. On -axis response lies within about+1%, -3 dB from 80 Hz to 15 kHz, and thespread off -axis isn't much greater. For themost part, the sound was judged verysmooth and uncolored. In the context of thehigh -end speakers with which Siefert wouldhave us compare its products, some pro-gram material did seem slightly forward (theprominence of the lower treble in the overallresponse may account for this), and an occa-sional bit of flute or other high -frequencysource took on a slight stridency, suggesting

F S T R E P O R T

roughness in this region. There was also anoccasional hint of congestion in the deepbass.

But these considerations were largelyswamped by the overall excellence of theMagnum III 's sound, the unusual bass ex-tension for a model of its size (and price),and its superior imaging. It is, as Siefertclaims, one of those models that's easy toforget about, so that you end up simply "lis-tening through it" to the music. The pricehas gone up somewhat since the speaker wasfirst announced, but to our ears, it still rep-resents an excellent value. By all means, au-dition it.

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ROOM RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS

DB

5

0

-10

HZ 20

=MI ==IPIPMM114.1111ra

11111110111Fair MILIMMEMINM=MMIEll50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

boundary -dependent nosiss

on-musresponse

off -oafs 130 I response

SENSITIVITY lot 1 meter; 2.8 -volt pink noise)

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE 1250 H, to 6101,1

90 dB SPI

75 ohms

DIMENSIONS. SATELLITES 3' BY 7' INCHES (FRONT), 4' INCHES

DEEP, BASS MODULE, 20' BY 12'y INCHES (TOP` 7' INCHES NIG{

PRICE. $700, OPTIONAL TRIPOD SATELLITE STANDS, S50 PER PAM.

WARRANTY (SPEAKER SYSTEM): "FULL," FIVE YEARS PARTS AND LA-

BOR. MANUFACTURER BOSE CORP.. THE MOUNTAIN, FRAMINGHAM.

MASS. 01701.

LEAVE IT TO BOSE TO DO THINGS A BITdifferently from everyone else. Thoughthe basic concept of the AM -5 Acousti-

mass System isn't particularly novel-twosmall satellites plus a woofer module/cross-over-just about everything else in the sys-tem is. The configuration of the bass repro-ducers is, in fact, the subject of a Bosepatent.

Completely enclosed within the bassmodule are two 6 -inch woofers, one for eachchannel. The front waves of both radiateinto one vented cavity within the module,the back waves into a second. The cavitiesare different in size and effective ventlength, so their resonant frequencies are dif-ferent. Front and back diaphragm surfacesobviously are 180 degrees out -of -phase, sothe two waves would cancel each other if itwere not for the fact that the values of cavityand vent loading produce vent outputs thatare in phase in the range between the tworesonant frequencies. Equally important forthe AM -5, the resulting signal summationdelivers a band of frequencies, making thewoofer unit, in effect, an acoustic bandpassfilter.

The vents both open at one end of themodule, which sits on rubber feet and con-tains spring clips for connecting cables fromthe driving amplifier and to the two satel-lites. (Bose supplies color -coded cable for

both purposes, and the manual gives direc-I ions for choosing wire if longer runs areneeded.) Placement and orientation of themodule aren't supremely critical, accordingo Bose, though if the ports are very close to

any surface, the bass won't sound as itshould, and placement near walls or in cor-ners will emphasize bass output, as with anyspeaker.

Each satellite is comprised of two nearlyidentical miniature enclosures, each hous-ing a 21/2 -inch mid/high driver. Electricalconnections are made to spring clips at theback of the lower enclosure, which is intend-ed as the main radiator. The upper one canbe used in either of two ways. To reinforceand broaden the angular coverage of themain driver, you can swivel the two driversso that their axes diverge only slightly. Butyou also can aim the upper driver well awayfrom the primary listening area, turning theensemble into a traditional Bose Direct/Re-flecting design.

Several basic placement configurationsare suggested in the manual. If the speakersare well out from the wall behind, you can di-rect the upper satellite drivers back at thatwall (a scheme to which we gave a slight edgein our listening tests). If the speakers areclose to the rear wall, you can aim the upperelements outward to reflect from the sidewalls. A switch labeled DIRECT/REFLECTINGtailors the top end of the upper driver's re-sponse, either leaving it flat for reflectingoperation or rolling it off slightly for directradiation, which might otherwise sufferfrom an excessively hot high end.

The satellites can be set on any conven-ient surface, though careless placement will

26 DEL T

surely cause close -in reflections that cancompromise performance. To avoid this,you can use the optional adjustable tripodstands, which elevate the satellites by asmuch as a foot. In our listening tests, we con-firmed that these stands do make it easier toget good results.

Bose claims some technical advantagesfor the overall design (greater efficiencythan conventional ported systems and, espe-cially, the suppression of any high -order dis-tortion products by the woofer module'sacoustic -filter design), but the overridingconsideration is the creation of a "big"sound without corresponding enclosurebulk. Perhaps this is most important for ster-eo television (the satellites are magneticallyshielded for such use), where the tiny satel-lites are easy to position and their swivelsmake a range of acoustic possibilities avail-able at the twist of a hand.

Any listening system in a room where de-cor or practical considerations inhibit con-ventional speaker locations will also profitfrom the AM -5's compactness and position-ing flexibility. The woofer module, for ex-ample, is cloaked in a self-effacing black fin-ish: In an audio -video system, it might bestashed at the bottom of the TV rack. Bosesuggests hiding it under a chair and even in-dicates that it might be located behind thelisteners.

We found that such exotic placementscan be acceptably undetectable-we local-ized no sound at the bass module. Depend-ing on the program material, we could local-ize some sounds in the bass module when wemoved it out into the room, in front of thesatellites. However, this probably is theworst possible position psychologically be-cause of its visual obviousness-and more-over, it's one that defeats the AM -5's wholepurpose.

Because of the multitude of possible set-ups, Diversified Science Laboratories had touse a relatively arbitrary positioning for itsmeasurements. It placed the bass module onthe floor, 4 inches out from the wall, with thevents firing to the left. With the satellites onstands, 28 inches off the floor, the uppertweeters were turned 45 degrees outward, toreflect off the near side wall. The right -chan-nel satellite was located above the woofermodule and its main tweeter was aimedstraight out toward the "on -axis" micro-phone. This follows fairly closely one ofBose's suggested configurations for reflect-ed sound, and the satellite switch was ac-cordingly set at REFLECTING.

DSL's data and our graph show a decideddip in the crossover region, where the high -and low -frequency bands don't quite over-lap enough. Other setups could have re-arranged the contour of the dip somewhat,but near -field measurements of the moduleports and the satellite drivers confirm thatnothing is likely to make it disappear alto-gether. From the midrange (about 500 Hz)up, on -axis response remains ±31/2 dB or so,and off -axis response is very similar. There

THE AM -5'S SINGLE BASS MODULE PERMITS FLEXIBILITY OF PLACEMENT

is a noticeable prominence near 3 kHz inboth curves, but it isn't severe.

With the weak fundamentals in the cross-over region, we weren't surprised to findthat distortion in this region measures pro-portionately higher than it does in most ofthe rest of the frequency range. At the lowesttest level -85 dB SPL (sound pressure lev-el)-harmonic distortion at 200 Hz was 31/2percent. For the remainder of the range, dis-tortion averages only about 1/2 percent atthat level and is much lower than that in theupper treble. Distortion rises with test level,of course, but it still doesn't average muchmore than 1 percent at the highest measuredlevel of 100 dB SPL (again, ignoring thecrossover region, where it reaches almost 11percent). In most of the audible range,therefore, distortion figures are very good.

In the 300 -Hz pulse test, which in thiscase exercises the bottom end of a satellite,the system accepted an input of 22 volts (theequivalent of 17.8 dBW, or 61 watts, into 8ohms) but at that point showed marked signsof incipient overload. The crossover net-work includes a self -resetting overload -pro-tection circuit, and the lab could have beendetecting a by-product of this protectionrather than actual speaker misbehavior.Either way, even though a limit was encoun-tered, calculated output at that point was afairly hefty 107.8 dB SPL, a maximum levelhigh enough for most normal listening.

The AM -5 is rated at 4 ohms. Its imped-ance never actually drops quite that low:Through most of the range, it varies be-tween about 9 ohms (slightly higher at 20kHz, with the DIRECT setting) to 4.8 ohmsnear 175 Hz. Below 70 Hz, it rises sharply todual peaks: 11.9 ohms near 60 Hz and 20ohms near 28 Hz. Even so, the impedancevariation is not at all extreme, making this arelatively easy load for most amps to drive.Many would even accept an AM -5 in parallelwith another (preferably 8 -ohm) speakerpair.

For our listening tests, we could exploreonly a few of the possible system configura-tions, particularly since different source ma-terial tended to favor one or another of thepossibilities. As the manual suggests, imag-ing is tightest and most unequivocal in thedirect -aimed mode (which is suggested forTV use). But if you want the spaciousness

that is a hallmark of Bose speakers, you'lldoubtless choose a reflecting setup.

Either way, however, a sense of "big-ness" was among the factors that appealedto us in our listening. By contrast, most minior satellite models we've tested seem tocompress peaks somewhat, betraying howhard they must work in their little boxes toachieve high levels. Perhaps this highly sub-jective assessment is attributable to the AM -5's remarkably low distortion at high fre-quencies. Another contributing factor couldbe the unusually high sensitivity for such asmall system. But for whatever reason, thischaracteristic was frequently apparent.

Other traits appeared less consistently.The bass is quite extended for a speaker ofthis size, but, depending on source material,it usually isn't as clean and distinct as the tre-ble, which often is exceptional. Predictably,the weakest range is that around the cross-over frequency (which is near middle C, a re-gion where there is a lot of energy in mostmusic). Still, some instruments reproduceextremely well, with timbres (of the wood-winds, in particular) very forward and thrill-ingly alive. This same quality (which wewould attribute to the response prominencenear 3 kHz) can have a less stimulating effecton voices-especially high ones-whichsometimes sound a trifle "pushed."

It's a remarkable system. If you want toavoid the big, bulky boxes that usually gowith good sound, the AM -5 will do so morecompactly than many other three-piece de-signs. And thanks to the swiveling -satellitedesign, it also provides the Bose Direct/Re-flecting concept's spacious sound quality inan exceptionally flexible form.

REPORT POLICYEQUiPMFAIT REPORT, 6 -,ti' ,^4 :FF,RAIORY MEASURE

MENT1. AND CONTROLLED LISTENING TESTS UNLESS OTHER,

WISE NOTED. TEST DATA ARE PROVIDED BY DIVERSIFIED SCI.

ENCE LABORATORIES. THE CHOICE OF EQUIPMENT TO BE

TESTED RESTS WITH THE EDITORS OF HIGH FIDELITY SAMPLES

NORMALLY ARE SUPPLIED ON LOAN FROM THE MANUFACTUR

ER MANUFACTURERS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO READ REPORTS IN

ADVANCE OF PUBLICATION. AND NO REPORT OR PORTION

THEREOF MAY BE REPRODUCED FOR ANY PURPOSE OR IN ANY

FORM WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER All

REPORTS SHOULD BE CONSTRUED AS APPLYING 70 THE SPECIE -

IC SAMPLES TESTED HIGH FIDELITY AND DIVERSIFIED SCIENCE

LABORATORIES ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRODUCT

PERFORMANCE OR QUALITY

1 U N E 198 7 31

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ROOM RESPONSE CHARACTERIST1G

DB

+5

-5-10

-------NW--IlliZalliiiiiii%----s.--- -HZ 20 50 100 200 500

boonary-aponannt region

1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

on-iudi notions*

off-tuus (30') response

SENSITIVITY (in 1 oiler; 2.8.voit pink noise) 92.3 dB SPL

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE 1250 Hz to 6 kHs1 9 8 ohms

DIMENSIONS: 28 BY 11',7 INCHES (FRONT), 1Y., INCHES DEEP. PRICE,

SPEAKERS, 5599 PER PAIR, M-20 STANDS, 599 PER PAIR. WARRANTY

"LIMITED:. FIVE YEARS PARTS AND LABOR. MANUFACTURER. PARA-

DIGM ELECTRONICS, INC., 4141 WESTON RD., SUITE 5, WESTON. ONT.

M9L 258, CANADA; U.S. DISTRIBUTOR: AUDIOSTREAM CORP., BOX

1099, BUFFALO, N.Y. 14210.

S A RELATIVELY YOUNG LOUDSPEAKER

Company, Paradigm has not had time tostablish a reputation, at least in the

U.S. But if our reaction to the Model 9seloudspeaker is any indication, a good repu-tation should not be long in coming. Foronce, we wholeheartedly agree with the con-ventional puffery on the data sheet: The Par-adigm 9se is most definitely "a no -compro-mise two-way design capable of outperform-ing systems costing several times as much."

Actually, in electroacoustical design, theModel 9se is a rather conventional ventedsystem. The tweeter is a Ferrofluid-damped,1 -inch, polyamide-dome unit with a high -temperature voice coil wound on an alumi-num former. The tweeter diaphragm is saidby the data sheet to be "replaceable," al-though we cannot fathom any reason thatyou'd need this feature in normal use. Per-haps the most unusual aspect of the speakeris its use of two woofers driven in parallel toincrease speaker sensitivity and power -han-dling ability and to reduce low -frequencydistortion at high sound levels. Each is 7%inches in diameter and has a polypropylenediaphragm with a high -compliance syntheticABS Butyl suspension. The crossover is aButterworth network using air -core induc-tors and Mylar capacitors. Crossover fre-quency is 2 kHz.

The two ports for the woofers are locatedon the back panel, which on our samples waspainted black to match the black -ash vinylveneer of the rest of the enclosure. A naturalwalnut vinyl finish is available as well. Alsoon the back panel are the two binding -postconnectors accepting bare wire, lugs, anddual or single banana plugs.

Although it is tall enough to provide ac-ceptable results when sitting directly on thefloor, the 9se's instruction sheet recom-mends placing the speakers so that they aretotally freestanding-away from walls andthe floor. It also says that "speaker standsthat bring the tweeter to approximate earlevel are essential." However, Paradigm'sscrew -together M-20 metal stands elevatethe speaker only 8 inches above the floor,

whereas bringing the tweeters up to ear levelrequires a stand about 15 inches high.

Diversified Science Laboratories ob-tained its test results with the speaker on an8 -inch stand located 35 inches from the wallbehind. The on -axis frequency response is avery respectable ±2 dB from about 100 Hzup to about 20 kHz. Off -axis, the response isnot quite so flat, with a distinct dropoff in re-sponse above 10 kHz and with slight dips inthe crossover region and around 300 Hz (afloor -reflection aberration that does notshow up in the close-miked woofer or portresponses). The latter dip tends to make theslight rise centered at 160 Hz more promi-nent, both on the graph and to the ear. AtDSL, response rolled off at a comparativelygentle 6 dB per octave below 125 Hz.

The average measured impedance overthe audio band is 8.1 ohms. But because theimpedance curve dips to 3.8 ohms at 30 Hzand 200 Hz, the 9se's rated impedance of 4ohms is justified. The impedance curve alsohas peaks of 7.2 ohms at 70 Hz and 18 ohmsat 1.4 kHz. The measured sensitivity is, asclaimed, relatively high at 92.3 dB soundpressure level (SPL) with a 2.8 -volt pink -noise input. The speaker, providing the dy-namic range the data sheet promises, accept-ed a full -output (67 -volt) signal from the testamplifier during DSL's 300 -Hz pulse test.With this signal-equivalent to a 561 -watt(27.5-dBW) input-the speaker delivered adeafening calculated peak SPL of 119.9 dB.

Distortion at more sensible levels re-mained quite low. For frequencies above 60Hz, it averaged well below 0.6 percent at an85 dB SPL test level and well below 0.8 per-cent at 90 dB SPL. At the highest test level(100 dB SPL), distortion above 60 Hz was atworst 3.5 percent at 250 Hz. Even at 50 Hz,distortion was only 5.9 percent, and above500 Hz, it was still less than 0.7 percent.

All this backs up our listening -sessionevaluation of the 9se as a speaker that playsplenty loud and yet manages to avoid anysense of strain or diminution of clarity inloud, complex music. The only time weheard the effects of the measured low -bassrolloff was when the music had substantialamounts of signal in the lowest octave (say,20 to 40 Hz), but these frequencies are diffi-cult even for larger and costlier systems, inaddition to being somewhat rare in music.

When the speakers were placed in our lis-(CONTINUED ON PAGE 35)

30 HIGH F I D E L I T Y

Your loudspeakers may well

have some of the most advanced

drive units and crossovers in the

whole world.

Even so, something is still

standing between all the natural

sound they produce

and your ears.

The loudspeaker

cabinet walls.

When the drive

units vibrate, they will

make the cabinets vibrate as

well Stopping the complete sound

spectrum that comes from the

drive units from ever reaching you.

This effect is known as colour-

ation. And it's the reason you're

always conscious that you are

listening to music produced by

two loudspeakers rather than a

truly live concert performance.

INSIDE EVERY BOX IS THE NATURALSOUND STRUGGLING TO GET OUT

Colouration is a great barrier

to pure sound reproduction. Loud-

speaker manufacturers all over

the world have been searching for

a way to break through it.

Now B&W have finally done

it. With an invention that's the

most exciting and important break-

through in loudspeaker technology

that even they have made in the

last 20 years.

Its the Matrix

series of new digital

monitors. The first

ever loudspeakers to

totally eliminate the

colouration from the

loudspeaker cabinet.

B&W Loudspeakers (UK Saks) Limited Marlborough Road Lancing

The bass has depth and body

and no resonant boom.

The mid- and high -frequencies

have a new sparkle and definition.

And, for the first time ever,

the natural decay of reverberation

is heard exactly as its heard in

a kw performance.

The familiar, but greatly

unloved hangover effect is dead.

Long bye the Matrix.

This revolution was achieved

with an idea so very simple that

B&W practically invented the

Matrix by accident.

They discovered that all that

is required to virtually eliminate

unwanted sound radiation from

the cabinet is a honeycomb -like

structure of unique design inside it.

They also discovered that

this so improved the performance

of the cabinet that they also had

to improve the quaky of all the

drive units.

Consequently, as well as the

drivers with homopolymer cones

manufactured under licence from

CBS Inc., Matrix also features a

newly designed ferrofluid tweeter.

The new Matrix series itself

features three digital monitors.

Matrix 1, 2 and 3.

Each has a different size,

maximum acoustical output and

bass ea -tension. All have the same

enhanced stereo imagery improved

transient response, low distortion

and total freedom from colouration.

The Matrix series takes its

place in the B&W range, succeed-

ing loudspeakers that in their time

have made history.

You just cannot miss

them at your Beew

stockist.

They are truly

the only loudspeakers

LISTEN & YOU'LL SEE :171;1;2 nseoetnizei;;. %WWII

West Sussex tv v o R Telephone (0903) 750750

WHY MANY OF SAY'S EXPENSIVE LOUDSPEAKERSTRAP ' 0 E MOST CRITICAL NOTES.

The music that goes into many of today'shighly priced loudspeakers isn't always the samemusic that comes out. Many of the finer notes andnuances are often trapped or lost. Why? Becauseadvanced recording techniques and digital pro-cessing demand a dynamic range of over 90 dBand an extended frequency response. Demandsthat are often beyond the limits of ordinaryloudspeakers.

The truth is, most people can't hear what'smissing from their music-like a broad frequencyrange-or what's been added-like coloring ordistortion. But there are a few who can.

For that select group, listeners with well trainedears, Altec Lansing has engineered a new line of

loudspeakers to recreate every subtletyof recorded music with a clear opensound and without coloring ordistortion. Even the accuracy of CDrecordings can be more fully appreci-ated on these Altec Lansing loud-

Akvimiderraaniumspeakers, prompting Stereo Review

Mid -range to remark "...the bass distortionwas among the lowest we have measured.The speakers have...very good bass, and a warm,extended and unstrained character."

The secret to Altec Lansing's consummate per-formance? Remarkably sophisticated technology.Like woofers of a woven carbon fiber material(instead of paper or polypropylene) that isextremely rigid yet sufficiently light for maximumtransient response and extraordinary low fre-quency definition. The result is a pure, clean, deepbass that beautifully complements the performanceof our mid and high frequency polyimide/titanium

domed drivers. Virtues likethese compelled StereoReview to also comment onAltec Lansing's "...high sensi-tivity and ability to absorblarge power inputs...aspeaker that can develop high sound pressurelevels in any environment." Even the hand craftedwalnut veneered cabinets utilize the latest com-puter aided design techniques, thick walls andextra bracing to eliminate resonance.

So come hear Altec Lansing loudspeakers.And discover just how much of your music hasbeen trapped by less than extraordinary loud-speakers. Call I-800-ALTEC 88 for informationand the Altec dealer nearest you. (In PA 717-2%HIFI.) In Canada call 416-496-0587 or write 265Hood Road, Markham, Ontario L3R 4N3.

Carbon Fibers in Woofer Cone

a

ALTEC LANSINGLOUDSPEAKERS FOR

THE WELL -TRAINED EAR

Even if college isn't for you,the G.I. Bill Plus the Army CollegeFund can be.

You can earn $17,000 for yourVo-Tech schooling with the Army'sspecial Two -Year Enlistment. Or$25,200 if you serve four years.

Of course, how much you earn foryour schooling depends on how longyou serve and which specialty you qual-ify and enlist for.

But you'll get a lot more out of yourenlistment than money. You'll have a

IF YOU WANTIT ISN'T ONL

chance to travel. To meet new people. Toget yourself into the best physical shapeyou've ever been in. And, you'll get theArmy's high-tech training that can help youin your Vo-Tech major and your career.

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ECHNICALCOLLEGE.

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30)tening room as DSL had them in its lab, wedetected a hint of upper -bass heaviness onmale vocals (probably due to the combinedeffects of the slight 160 -Hz peak and the300 -Hz floor -reflection dip). But this disap-peared when we raised the speakers up tothe recommended ear -level height and

moved them a foot closer to the wall. The9se then passed all of our standard frequen-cy -balance music tests with flying colors (in-cluding massed orchestral strings and fe-male vocals). The overall frequency balancein that position proved excellent, as did theprecision and depth of the stereo image.

Considering the relative youth of the

T ES T P 0 R TS

company, the conventionality of the design,the fine frequency balance, the very reason-able price, and the fact that the Paradigm 9secan be driven to levels of more than 100 dBSPL with a 20 -watt ( I 3-dBW) amplifier,there is no contradiction in saying that the9se is both a "sleeper" and a speaker thatwill make you sit up and take notice.

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ROOM RESPONSE CHARACTERIMES

ue

50

-5-10

HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K

bewirplopurbet wpm- milers*- - - - Olds (30) restore

soisrnvir (at 1 maim; 2.11-vapiik aN..)

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE 4250 Ns 166 Mb)

2K SK 10K

88 5 dB SR.

I5.2 awns

20K

DIMENSIONS: 12'., BY 33% INCHES (FRONT), SV, INCHES DEEP PLUS

CLEARANCE FOR CONNECTIONS AND STAND. PRICE. $249 PER PAIR.

WARRANTY: "LIMITED," FIVE YEARS PARTS AND LABOR. MANUFAC-

TURER: DCM CORP., 670 AIRPORT BLVD., ANN ARBOR, MICH. 41104.

THE TF-250 IS THE SMALLEST AND LEASTexpensive model in a line of five newDCM speakers called the Timeframe

Series. Until their appearance, the companyhad been known almost exclusively for itsTime Window loudspeakers, which wereamong the first designed to take phase aswell as frequency response into account.And as the name suggests, the Timeframesfollow in that tradition.

What distinguishes them is their shape:tall, slender panels, rather than columns(like the Time Windows) or boxes (like mostother speakers). The TF-250 is a remarkablylight two-way system with a 61/2 -inch woofernear the top of the front baffle and a S/4 -inchplastic dome tweeter just below. Crossoverappears to be at about 3 kHz. The woofer isloaded by a transmission line that terminatesin a port near the bottom of the panel. Anonremovable brown cloth grille wraps allaround the enclosure, which has dark oakendpieces. At the back are color -codedspring clips for the amplifier connectionsand a short (about 4 inches) piece of woodthat can either be rotated under the speak-er's base or turned to jut out behind foradded stability.

Diversified Science Laboratories triedthe TF-250 against the wall behind it andseveral feet out into the room. As expected,bass output goes 20 Hz or so deeper with thewall placement, but since the overall re-sponse was smoother when the speaker wasmoved forward. DSL left it there for the re-mainder of the measurements. The curves inour data column are for the away -from -the -wall placement. Under these conditions, theroom -corrected, third -octave response iswithin +3, -4 dB from approximately 80Hz to 20 kHz on -axis and is nearly as good

off -axis, though slightly more irregular. Theadvantage of using a very small -diametertweeter is evident in the excellent high -fre-quency extension of the off -axis response,which holds up to approximately 16 kHz.The bump centered at about 600 Hz proba-bly is the result of interference from a reflec-tion off the floor (an effect we commonly seein speakers whose drivers are mounted wellabove the ground); it is not evident in thelab's near -field measurement of the wooferresponse.

Sensitivity is moderate. Impedance is onthe high side for a modern speaker, with a 7 -ohm minimum at 17 kHz and a 24 -ohm peakat 2.2 kHz. Over most of the audio range, it isbetween 7 and 15 ohms. This should be aneasy load for any decent amplifier, and weexpect that most would accept a second pairof loudspeakers in parallel without any diffi-culty.

In our 300 -Hz pulse power -handlingtest, the TF-250 accepted the full output ofthe lab's amplifier, equivalent to 28.1 dBW(648 watts) into 8 ohms, for a calculatedpeak sound pressure level of 116.6 dB,which certainly indicates more than ade-quate dynamic range. Distortion, however,measures somewhat higher than average(perhaps because of the relatively small driv-ers). At 85 dB SPL, total harmonic distortion(THD) averages a little more than V, percentfrom 100 Hz to our 10 -kHz measurementlimit, rising to about 1 percent at 90 dB, 1%percent at 95 dB, and 3 percent at 100 dB.On the other hand, these figures are inflatedby a peak in the second harmonic between200 and 250 Hz (ranging from about 1%percent ai the lowest test level to around I 1percent at the highest), and we were neveraware of any distortion from the speakersduring our listening tests.

In fact, we were mostly quite pleased withwhat we heard from the TF-250. The overallsound is big and smooth, without even a hintof the brightness or harshness so common in

JUNE 1 9 8 7 35

speakers these days. If anything, it goes a bittoo far in the direction of mellowness, takingsome of the sparkle and aliveness out of in-struments that have lots of high overtones(such as cymbals and woodwinds), an effectprobably attributable to the small responsedip in the brightness range. The very deep-est bass is missing, but this is to be expected

from a speaker of this size and is not a greatloss with most music, which seldom containsmuch (or any) information that far down.The stereo image is broad, yet well focused,and exhibits good depth when the speakersare away from the wall. And though we didmost of our listening with the speakersplaced much the way they were for the lab

T ES T R EP OR T

tests, their performance held up nicely whenwe moved them to other positions in theroom.

In sum, the TF-250 is an attractive loud-speaker that delivers good sound togetherwith distinctive styling at a very reasonableprice. If you're looking for value, it's a fineplace to start.

MR MEM =ME MI MN MEMNM 1111Mmill MrfO

01 MMENEMEMOLAINI. .rmq FP9. moomil mow A I MI i I k I 11,A I 1 14l 19 H 1 1 AIM=NM IIIMENLA:411166&Alim6iWiA416461111MMEMMINEMEMum mmommommilimmummimmommommummmommummummormrINITILammommilmmommimmommumwiTilloliwolimmommommommommommumummummummummimimminimmummommummommommumm

ROOM RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS

DB

.5

-50

10

-----MBIW:MMIL-----111-11101

HZ 20 50 100 200 50(-)

bOunelorrelependent region

aseaxis response

off -axis (30) f0141011S.

SENSM V ITY (at 1 meter; 2.8-roh pink noise)

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE (250 Ht to 6 k r I

1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

88 dB SPE

185 ohms

36 H IGH F IDE L IT Y

DIMENSIONS 10 BY 9'., INCHES (FRONT), 9' , INCHES DEEP. PRICE:

$260 PER PAIR, OPTIONAL ST -3 STANDS, $65 PER PAIR. WARRANTY:

"LIMITED," FIVE YEARS PARTS AND LABOR. MANUFACTURER. 3D

ACOUSTICS (A DIVISION OF DAHLOUIST, INC.), 601 OLD WILLETS PATH,

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. 117611.

THL CUBE IS THE SMALLEST LOUDSPEAKER

made by 3D-and, for that matter, by itsrelatively high -end parent company,

Dahlquist-and the least expensive. In con-cept, the Cube is also the simplest, with just awoofer, a tweeter, and a crossover housed ina modest, nearly cubical space. But it is quitedifferent from the "quick and dirty" designsthat infest the bottom ends of many otherloudspeaker lines.

Cubes are sold in mirror -image pairswith tweeters near the upper outside cornersof the front baffles and the woofers nearerthe lower inside corners. (Left and rightspeakers are clearly marked on the back.)The tweeter diaphragms are S/4 -inch poly -carbonate domes with Ferrofluid damping;the woofers have 5 -inch laminated cones.The crossover frequency is 2.5 kHz. Thesealed (acoustic suspension) enclosures arefinished in satin black, with solid walnutstrips flanking the grille. The latter is fabricstretched over a thin pressboard form, heldin place with Velcro tabs.

Heavy-duty three-way binding posts forthe electrical connections are inset into theback panel in the usual fashion. The holesthrough the binding posts meant to acceptbared wires were all aligned differently inour test samples, making hookup a moreonerous task than necessary unless you usespade lugs or banana plugs. But this is a veryminor point for people who aren't equip-ment reviewers and therefore do not oftenhave to confront the inconvenience.

Diversified Science Laboratories' mea-surements show a fairly typical impedancecurve for a simple two-way sealed system.Impedance is rated-justly so-at 8 ohms,but it rises to 27 ohms at bass resonance,

drops to 7.2 ohms (neat 200 Hi), rises to 34ohms near the crossover (actually, around1.5 kHz), drops to 6.8 ohms in the upper tre-ble (around 7 kHz), and begins rising gradu-ally again at the very top end (to 8.8 ohms at20 kHz). The only quirk is the bass reso-nance frequency: just above 110 Hz accord-ing to the peak in the impedance curve. Thatis an unusually high frequency by compari-son to most speakers, though a high bass res-onance point must be expected with such asmall enclosure size.

That the speaker doesn't sound as bass -shy as that resonance would suggest is evenmore of a surprise. Obviously, the Cube isno match in the deep -bass department forcompetently designed larger systems, butit's always surprising when a relatively small,inexpensive model can deliver so plausiblean overall balance. The lab measured re-sponse with the speaker on a 30 -inch stand(similar in height to 3D's optional ST -3stand) and 4 inches from the wall behind it.The curves confirm that bass resonance isabove 100 Hz but show that bass rolloff isn'tas steep as it is in some other models. Exceptfor a trough centered near 300 Hz and pre-sumably attributable to floor reflection,on -axis response remains within ±3 dBthroughout the midrange and treble. Off -axis response is a good match over thisrange-even in the highest treble, wheredivergence between the two curves normallycan be seen as the tweeter becomes increas-ingly directive. Our listening tests confirmthat tonal balance does remain relativelyconsistent throughout the room.

They also confirm some weakness of thecrossover range relative to neighboring fre-quencies (particularly the octave between500 Hz and 1 kHz in the upper midrange andaround 4 kHz in the treble), which lendssome coloration to the sound. But we don'twant to overemphasize the matter-particu-larly in light of the Cube's modest price andthe ease with which we adjusted to it during

extended listening.Distortion measured about what you'd

expect for such a small system. At the lowesttest sound pressure level (85 dB SPL), thefigures average about 1/5 percent over mostof the range, except for the deep bass, wherethey are higher. At the highest test level (100dB SPL), the average over a similar range is 2percent or more, which is about par for a

very compact system. However, the lab dis-covered that the tweeter can't take steadytones at this level-at least, not up in therange above 5 kHz. But unless you like veryloud synthesizer rock (in which case, thisisn't a speaker you're likely to cherish any-way), the tweeter failure the lab experiencedis of almost no practical importance.

It's remarkable what 3D has done with

T F R F P OR T S

this very compact enclosure-only abouttwice the volume of many real minispeakers.It's also remarkable how low the price is-orrather, how high the price of some compet-ing ultracompact speakers can go. We wereeven surprised how sensitive the Cubesproved to be, despite the miniaturization. Soif you're looking for a compact speaker at amoderate price, don't pass this one by.

MMJMMIIIPM MUNIIMMENilriNMENE MEMMIIMMEMMEMENOM I. N I I I MEMEMEU1111111111111111111=111111 I El r 1 II Id 11 I I I IJ NIIIIIIM11111111M111111rn

MIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIMILLINQbAL R.16:464Q11111110==11111111111111illNommir:ummuminuTum Nolrumummmismul11111111111MINWIll'alialllailnOrillliTilll!iiiTjirtI4CIAIMISMIIIMMIN111111111110111111111'1IIIIIIIIIIIIILIFIrnrilijIMIIIIMIIII=1111111111111.1111111111111111111M111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111110111

11111111111=11011111M1111111111111M111111111M1111111MEIN111111111=1111111111111

DIMENSIONS 17 BY 37, INCHES (FRONT), 131/4 INCHES DEEP PLUS

CLEARANCE FOR CONNECTIONS. AC CONVENIENCE OUTLETS. ONE

SWITCHED (100 WATTS MAX.), TWO UNSWITCHED (100 WATTS MAX.

EACH). PRICE: $729. WARRANTY "LIMITED," TWO YEARS PARTS AND

LABOR. MANJFACTURER. NEC CORP., JAPAN, U.S. DISTRIBUTOR. NEC

HOME ELECTRONICS (U.S.A.), INC., 1255 MICHAEL DR, WOOD DALE,

ILL. 60191.

YOU CAN SPEND WEEKS EXPLORING NEC'S

AVD-700E surround -sound decoder.It's that versatile and that imposing.

We haven't seen a comparable consumer au-dio -video control center with as many in-puts, outputs, and connection possibilitiesas the AVD-700E. In fact, we think it wouldbe a rare application that would come closeto taxing the full capability of this device!

There are five stereo audio -video inputs(VIDEO I through VIDEO 4 plus one for a tele-vision tuner), four line -level audio -only in-puts (CD player, tuner, and two auxiliarysources), and connections for an audio tapedeck. Of the audio -video array, two inputs(VIDEO i and VIDEO 2) have correspondingaudio and video outputs so you can recordon two VCRs simultaneously or dub be-tween them in either direction. Further-more, NEC's switching arrangement is suchthat you can combine the audio from one

source with the video from another. Thepossibile applications of this are many, butsimulcast recording springs immediately tomind.

You can connect video -processingequipment to a set of adapter input and out-put jacks (which are activated by a rear -panelslide switch), and you can insert external au-dio -processing equipment into the systemby removing a pair of back -panel jumpersthat also allow direct access to the internaldelay circuits. There are two video -monitoroutputs, left and right front -channel audiooutputs (our I), two sets of left and rightback -channel audio outputs (our 2), and twomono center -channel output jacks. All con-nections are through pin jacks.

The NEC AVD-700E provides four au-dio -processing modes, in addition to bypass,which takes the processor out of the circuit.All four-Dolby Surround, Hall, Matrix, andCreation-make use of the AVD-700E'sdual 16 -bit digital delay lines. The delays ofthe left and right channels are independent-ly adjustable in 1 -millisecond incrementsfrom 1 to 92 milliseconds, except in theDolby Surround mode, where the delay timeis restricted (per Dolby Surround specifica-tions) to between 15 and 30 milliseconds.

Except where noted, all data are lot the Dolby Surround mode

01/TPIJI AT CUPPING le 1 kHz)

min drama 8.0 volts

center dawnsurround. Manna

MAXIMUM INPUT LEVEL

4.4 volts

6.2 volts

2.8 volts

SIN RATIO Ire 0.5 vett; A -weighted)

resin donna

center Moira

around charnels

DISTORTION (ND; 20 Hz to 20 kHz; 2 -volt kw)

102 d8-

98 dB'

?..75dEr

main channels

surround channels

FRIGUITIcY RESPONSE

5 0.042%

5 0.42%

min canals + 0, - 1/4 dB, 13 H2 to 24.1 kHz

+0, -3 dB, <10 Hz to 78.1 kHz

war domed + 0, - 1/4 dB, 16 Hz to 24.1 kHz

+0, -3dB. <10 Hz to 74.4 kHz

surround dont& +0,- 1/4113, <20Nzto 4 kHz

+0,-308, <20Hz to 87 kHz

CHANNEL SEPARATION (1 k112; Ito* &nods) 82 1/2 dB"

INPUT IMPEDANCE 34k ohms

OUTPUT IMPEDANCE

mm channels

cater cannelsurround channels

1.000 ohms

150 ohms

1.000 ohms

'All mode, 'Dolby Of Hall mode /5 dB 100 dB in Matti, mode 96 dB in Creation mode

' Bypass node

JUNE I9 8 7 37

THE AVD700E'S REMOTE CAN PRESET THREE

SETTINGS FROM THE LISTENING POSITION.

The independent adjustability of the twodelay lines offers some intriguing capabili-ties, especially in the Dolby Surround mode.The Dolby Surround standard provides foronly one "rear" (surround) channel; it ismono, though it is usually wise to use a pairof speakers to reproduce it. If you're willingto go the whole Dolby Surround route andinvest in a five- or, better yet, seven -speakertheater -style sound system, you can usethree in the front (left and right connected tootrr i and center connected to a mono out-put), a pair of speakers roughly flanking theviewing position and derived from, say, theleft channel of otrr 2, and a pair in the rear ofthe listening area driven by the right channelof otrr 2. By separately adjusting the delaytime in the "left" and "right" channels, youhave independent control over the arrivaltime of the sound from the side and rearspeakers. The unit, however, does not con-tain any "steering logic" circuitry used intheaters and some other home Dolby -Sur-round decoders.

Hall is the recommended mode whenviewing music videos or non-Dolby-Sur-round-encoded movies. In some ways, theHall processing is similar to that used byDolby Surround, in that a mono blend of the

front channels is delayed and applied to theback. However, in Hall you have the full 92 -millisecond delay range at your disposal,and you can simulate the reverberation timeof a concert hall by advancing the ECHO CON -not_ Also, the bandwidth of the back chan-nel is not limited in Hall as it is in the DolbySurround mode. The Matrix mode positionis recommended primarily for sports pro-grams.

We think you'll find, as we did, the im-posingly named Creation mode the mostversatile of them all. As the manual says,"This is the best position for music sourceand other high -presence reproduction."Creation brings to bear the full power of theAVD-700E system. It gives you completecontrol of the left/right mix, separately inthe front and back channels, via separatemix -level controls for the two main outputs.The maximum setting of each control pro-duces complete (1:1) blending of the twochannels; at minimum setting, you have nor-mal separation. The twist is that you can in-vert the phase of the mixed -in channel, againindependently for the two outputs, by press-ing either or both of the Out I -Inv and Out2 -Inv switches. The out -of -phase positioncreates a wider -than -real stereo effect at theexpense of precise imaging; the in -phase po-sition shrinks the image toward the center.But since the degree of opposite -channelblend is adjustable, you can create a widerange of effects. The Creation mode's back -channel outputs (our2) are processed by thetwo delay circuits, and simulated reverbera-tion can be dialed in, as in the Hall mode.

From the front panel, you can changemodes (round-robin fashion, by successivetaps of SURROUND SELECTOR), activate thedelay, and adjust the delay time of bothchannels simultaneously. If a function is un-available in the mode chosen, the switchcontrolling it has no effect and the appropri-ate LED indicators will not light.

The left and right delay times are indicat-ed by numerical readouts in the display. Thefront -panel input selector also works inround-robin fashion, and again, the choice isshown by legends in the display. The tape -monitor switch is for an audio deck only, andss (Sound Selector) permits independentchoice of video and audio sources. Thefront -panel volume rocker -switch affects allchannels (including the mono output) si-multaneously. The relative settings of theleft and right channels for the two main out-puts are shown by parallel seven -segmentindicators. FULL MUTE does what its nameimplies, while RESET turns all volume set-tings to -40 dB.

The final pair of front -panel controls ad-justs the input levels to prevent overloadingof the input analog -to -digital converters.LEDs above these controls are meant to sug-gest the danger level, although DiversifiedScience Laboratories did not find that theLEDs accurately indicated the clippingpoint: At some settings, they lit well belowoverload point; at other settings, clipping

occurred without warning. This is less of aproblem than it appears, since the minimuminput level for overload is 2.8 volts, whichshould be adequate for normal sources andprogram material.

The 42 -function infrared remote controlsupplied with the NEC AVD-700E provideseven more functions than are available withthe front -panel controls. For instance, thehandset can store favorite settings in one ofthree memory presets for system reconfigu-ration at the touch of a button. The remotealso permits direct selection of any modeand any input, simultaneous or independentadjustment of the left- and right -channel de-lay times, and volume adjustment of allchannels simultaneously (as on the frontpanel). Furthermore, the balance among thechannels can be adjusted either indepen-dently or in pairs (front, back, left, right).You cannot, however, control the mixing inof echo or the input levels from the remote.

Traditionally, noise has been the bane ofcomponents containing delay circuitry, butthanks to the digital approach adopted byNEC, the dynamic range of the AVD-700E isvery wide. A -weighted noise is at least 96 dBbelow our 0.5 -volt reference at all outputsunder all conditions except in the Dolby Sur-round and Hall modes, and then only in theback channels. Even in this "worst case"condition, the signal-to-noise ratio of 75 dBis more than adequate because of the nor-mally lower volume of the back channels.

Front- and center -channel frequency re-sponse is unusually flat and extended for anaudio signal processor, not only in the by-pass mode, but in the Dolby Surround andHall modes as well. Back -channel responsein the Dolby Surround mode follows theDolby specifications quite closely. Input im-pedance is perfectly adequate for connec-tion with any source, and the output imped-ances and maximum output levels are equal-ly well suited to drive any amplifier. Unlikemany other signal processors that, at most,provide unity gain, the AVD-700E providesas much as 16 dB gain to the front and backoutputs and 10 dB from one input to thecenter -channel output.

Distortion to the front outputs (in theDolby Surround mode) barely exceeds 0.04percent throughout the audio band and isentirely second harmonic. Distortion to theback (surround) outputs is an order of mag-nitude higher and contains some third har-monic as well as second, but this is at a high2 -volt level and, under normal conditions,cannot be heard in program material.

On the nit-picking side, we think a prod-uct as versatile as the AVD-700E deserves abetter manual than the one that accompa-nies it. This is one case where the multitudeof pictures could have been helped by thou-sands (well, maybe hundreds) of words.You're pretty much left to your own devicesto discover the effects you can get from mu-sic and video soundtracks, particularly whenusing the Creation mode. But that, after all,is part of the fun!

3S HIGH FIDELITY

There's only one other way toenjoy so many thrills for so little money.

CollsPACT DISC \( (("14)» 1 .

....__, ' c 1987, Internaeona Jensen Inc Jensen' is the registered trademark of Intim flat to rBEADY

Fast rides. Lots of excitement. A dayat the amusement park is a great wayto get your adrenalin going. For themoney, there's nothing quite like it.

Unless, of course, you're cleverenough to buy Jensen®

Classic car speakersor a JS car receiver

Classicspeakersgive youbig soundfor alittle price.

All the Jensen Classic speakers arecompact disc ready, a feature you'dnormally expect to find only on higherpriced speakers. Although they're shorton price, they're not short on power.Dynamic cone tweeters, long throwwoofers and 2W' dynamic conemidranges (on our 6" x 9" model)give you up to 150 watts peak power.What's more,they're madein the U.S.A.and there's amodel to fitany installation.

JS receivers give youfeatures you can really use.

Any car receiver gives you plentyof features. The Jensen JS receivers havefeatures you'll use plenty. Like AutoReverse. Dolby"B:' Seek. Scan. And40 watts system power.

Two JS receivers even have compactdisc player inputs. So, adding a CD playerto your system is as easy asplugging it in.

If you're ready forthrilling car sound, but notprepared to spend a lot ofmoney, there's only onething to do.

Put a Jensen in yourcar. Turn it up. Then hangon for the ride of your life.

JINSLIS

MEMU. ins mm

mi-E-9 JENSENWe make music a moving experience.

If you have ever heard music live, you can appreci-ate what's behind the Bose 901 Series V Direct/Reflecting speaker system.

Live music is the complex interaction of direct andreflected sound. Most speakers, however, are notdesigned with this in mind-which is why they sound morelike speakers and less like music.

This was the conclusion reached years ago by a Massa-chusetts Institute of Technology research team led by Dr.Amar G. Bose. Through extensive research, his team discov-ered the secret of live music: that it is the precise balance ofdirect and reflected sound heard during live performancesthat makes live music sound live. Finally, they designed aproduct that could put this discovery to work in the livingroom: the Bose 901 Direct/Reflecting' system.

The Bose 901 Series V speaker:a system of audio innovations.

The introduction of the revolutionary Bose 901 system in1968 redefined the phrase "high fidelity." For the first time, aspeaker was capable of reproducing music with much of theimpact, clarity and spaciousness of a live performance. The901 system's concert hall sound and compact size made it aninstant success with both audio critics and audio enthusiasts.Today's 901 Series V system incorporates some 350 improve -

The Bose 901 system's Direct/Reflecting speaker design turns your listeningroom into part of your stereo system. You'll hear full stereo throughout thelistening environment-no matter where you sit or stand.

The 901 system's nine full -rangeHVC drivers are preciselyarranged to re-create livemusic's natural balance of directand reflected sound. Each driveris matched and tested by theBose Syncom II computer.

The Bose -built HVC driver is made out of someof the strongest advanced composite materials

available. The heart of the driver is the HelicalVoice Coil, which handles instantaneous peaksof up to 4.000 watts, Multiple HVC drivers give

the 901 system unlimited power handling inhome applications.

0

The Acoustic Mgr x'" enclosurehelps the 901 sys erniconlrol

sound by precealycor trollingair. Made up of '4 separate

acoustic regions. it Isolates thedrivers and regulasintarnal airflow, resulting in rcreased bass

and live distortion.

The Bose 901 active equallir izes law-distprtion electronics to :onto' tie system'stotal frequency response, al owng a compactsyvem to produce full-frequanc,d sound.Dig tal Dynamic Range' circuitry makes theentire system ideal for u 3E with tie bestsources available.

(.,/ FA-y ow,

In the co nen hall (above left). listeners hear a complex m xture of direct and reflectedsounds, arriving from different directions and at different t mes. Bose Direct/Reflectingspeakers (center) are designed to reproduce music in much the same manner allowinglisteners -to hear greater realism and impact. Conventions speakers (above right) onthe other hand. reproduce primarily direct sound causing listeners to miss many of thecritical acoustic cues that make live music sound live

ments over the original. The speaker's innovat ve auciotechnology turns your listening room into an essentia partof your stereo system. The 901 system worKs by reflectingmost of its sound. instead of aiming all the sound toward youlike a conventional speaker. So, anything you listen to over a

901 system picks up a strong sense of concert hall realism,because the system is capable of reproducing the concerthall's natural balance of direct and reflected sound.

The right speaker for the best in audios digital.The 901 system's ultra -high efficiency and unlimited power

handling in home applications make it an ideal speaker to usewith almost any stereo system. It will help you cet the mostout of the best sources of sound available as well. For exam-ple, you'll hear digital compact discs sound as close to live aspossible, because the Bose 901 system has been specificallyengineered to take full advantage of their supe-ior sound.Digital Dynamic Range circuitry and Direct/Reflectingspeaker design allow the 901 system to accurately reproducelive mi_sic's impact. clarity and spaciousness.

The right speaker for your entire system.Whether you're listening to digital audio or hi-fi video. the

Bose 901 Series V system will let you get the most out of yourentire equipment and software investment-because it willlet you hear all of the realism that a truly good audio/videosystem is capable of producing. Audition the Bose 901 Direct/Reflecing speaker system at your authorized Bose dealer.and judge for yourself. Then take the next step-and invite alegend home.

There is an entire line of Bose speakers that ncorporatesmuch of the advanced technology developed for the 901 sys-tem. For more information and an all -product brochure., writeBose Corporation, Dept HE 10 Speen Street. Framingham.MA 01701.

When you write for information, be sure b request a copy ofDr. Am ar Bose's Sound Recording and Reproduction. Thispaper describes the research effort behind the original Bose901 system.

Copy, gen 99730.. Coma., N.own. ,OSODN, CvD.IVOC Dv WHO', v11 a,ctD*6141.14 one unalicomons DI/0013 ID ~CP *DWI P0.00

CD,DDDRDOBvncom90' 0910' r,"*^n,r w'Ip. .n .hogrna,.. celk 00.2,010" .0090 Mon. raciamor Boo Canoommo,

Better sound through research.

"I CAN MAKE YOU AN

AWESOME DEAL"THIS IS A STORY OF DECEPTION AND GREED,of tragedy and wasted dollars. It is a storyof painted -on tweeters, two -ounce woofermagnets, and devious hi-fi store demos.Yes, this is the story of SPEAKERSLEAZE!

A LIFE GONE WRONG

THERE WAS A BITTER COLD STORM THATnight in Boston, ten years ago. I had justsettled in at the local dive, a nondescript

punk hangout on the verge of selling outand going new wave. I remember it like itwas yesterday: The Talking Dead were onthe jukebox as this guy slides up next tome at the bar and shakes off enough snowinto my drink to make a margarita. He wasa strange one for that neighborhood, letme tell you. A tie and everything, a pen inhis shirt pocket. Weird.

I guess it wasn't his first stop of theevening; he seemed pretty well on the

Real -Life Devious Speaker Selling Practices42 HIGH FIDELITY

road to cowboy heaven as he laid his goldcard on the bar and ordered up. I caughtthe name Joe Tinear. Well, I figure Joeain't much for rock trivia, so I turn away tocheck out the local action when he bellowsout at the top of his lungs, "I KNOWHOW TO SELL SPEAKERS!"-anddrops his head onto the bar, sobbing."Hey, Mac," I said, "wanna talk about it?"What I heard for the next five hours, I'llnever forget till the day I die.

A FEW ROTTEN APPLES

Dos.. I K 01%, M BI- II'S I HE MoNI1,maybe it's the pressure, maybe it's justhaving to listen to audiophile records allday, but it seems like some people dosome pretty nasty things to sell speakers.Joe told me every trick in his book andthen some. Ways to pervert our free will.Ways to distort the truth, bend the facts.Worst of all, ways to sell us the wrong pairof speakers.

BY KINNETH L. KANTOR

I was getting scared, I admit. Whowouldn't be scared? You think you knowthe real stuff from the junk, right? Youthink you can sit down in a hi-fi store forten minutes and choose which high -quali-ty speaker sounds best? I hope you can.jor and 1.1,, hncldies won't makt it eas% .

TRICKS OF A SORRY TRADE

LET ME TELL YOU SOME OF THE TRICKS Ilearned from Joe. Some of them seem sosimple that they could never work ... butthey do. Like loaded dice, they tip theodds just enough. Let's suppose you're asalesperson trying to sell one particularpair of loudspeakers-we'll call themModel A. In your showroom, you alsohave another pair, Model B, which arebetter speakers at a similar price. How canyou appear to give your customers a fairdemonstration while secretly steeringthem toward Speaker A? Here's what youmight do:

The "don't give 'em any choice" rou-tine. This approach is based on the ideathat a hungry stomach will be satisfiedwith junk food, if no feast is in sight. For-get Speaker B. Forget comparisons alto-gether. Play some flashy music, loud,maybe with the bass cranked up, throughSpeaker A. You confidently announce,"Sounds pretty awesome. Check it out!"The customer replies, "Yeah, wicked awe-some!" "I can make you an awesome deal,but like, it has to be before my managergets back. OK?" "All riiiight! Thanks,dude!" Presented here in West Coast dia-lect, this approach has been successfulwith many customers when applied withspeed and subtlety.

The "don't give 'em much of a

Kenneth L. Kantor is a well-known designer ofnonsleazy loudspeakers (AR MGC- I, ProtonAL -300, NHT Model 1). He is an eye- and ear -witness to the practices exposed in this article.

JUNE 1987 43

"LET ME PLAY YOU A

REALLY EXCELLENT

RECORDING TO HELP

YOU BEST EVALUATE

THESE SPEAKERS."

choice" routine. Here the customer hasthe illusion of free will. Announce an "ob-jective" comparison (under your control,of course) and play some catchy musicthrough Speaker A long enough for thecustomer to get used to the sound, a fewminutes if possible. Now quickly switch toB for a maximum of 20 seconds, prefera-bly while talking over the music. This canbe very effective if done smoothly, sincethe second pair will tend to sound"wrong" after a reference has been estab-lished in the listener's ear.

The "loud is beautiful, if it sells"routine. If you can make Speaker A playlouder than Speaker B without the cus-tomer catching you, you're home free.They can compare all they want. UnlessSpeaker A is a real loser, or B is far superi-or, you have the sale. Sometimes thingswork out easily, as when Speaker A is a 4 -ohm unit and very efficient and B is 8ohms with low efficiency. Lower imped-ance or higher efficiency will automatical-ly play louder, all other things beingequal. If conditions are not naturally fa-vorable, simply adjust the appropriatevolume control settings.

The "I always wondered what goodall those knobs were" routine. In additionto volume controls, others-such as loud-ness -compensation buttons, balance con-trols, noise filters, mono switches(!), andeven equalizers-can really help screw upa formidable competitor.

The "special demo disc" routine.Open up with "Let me play you a reallyexcellent recording to help you best eval-uate these speakers." Next, pick the kindof recorded sound you need to make theright sale. If you've done your homework,you're all set. For example, play someharsh -sounding discs and the speakerwith the treble rolloff will be the winner.Or use some thumpy old disco tracks tohelp out the speaker with no low end.

The "apples and oranges" routine.An even more advanced form of demomanipulation can sometimes be applied.Under the guise of providing the bestshowcase for each model-or even underno guise at all-you can actually use a dif-ferent recording for each pair of speakers.Always credit all that amazing imaging

and wonderful top end coming from A tothat speaker's inherent high quality. Neveradmit that the source material has anybearing on the demo. An inexperiencedlistener will be either very confused orvery impressed-or both.

The "location is everything" rou-tine. If Speaker A needs more bass, put itin a corner. If it needs better stereo imag-ing, angle it in toward the customer. PutSpeaker B too high up or too far down.Better yet, carefully arrange A for the bestsound, while placing B's left -channelspeaker in the corner on the floor and theright -channel speaker at the center ofyour demo shelf. If the customer com-plains, just say, "Hey, you want 'em towork anywhere in your room, don't you?"

The "hidden wire" routine. ConnectSpeaker A with a short run of high -qualityspeaker cable. Connect Speaker B withabout 75 feet of cheap 22 -gauge stuff.Easy. Just be sure to hide the extra wire.

The "now tell me that the imagingdoesn't stink" routine. Simply connectthe left and right units of Model A in -phase and those of B out -of -phase. Yourcustomer would have to be stone-deaf notto hear the superior bass response andimaging of Speaker A.

THE BIG GUNS

OF COURSE, THE GREA I LK "I FIE DIFFERENCE

in quality between the speakers, the moreammunition you must use to turn the ta-bles. If Models A and B are very similar,you can readily influence all but the mostexpert listeners. If B really is much better

and your customer has a functioning audi-tory system (not all do, especially the oneswho've OD'd on disco), extra effort iscalled for. When the basic approachesabove are not enough to overcome the in-adequacies of the brand you're trying tosell, here are some additional methodsthat are actually being put to use success-fully. Remember, all these approachescan be used alone or in combination-whatever it takes to get the job done.

The "grille cloth" scam. Carefullyremove the grille frame from Speaker Band replace it upside down, or swap leftand right grilles in such a way as to blockthe tweeter sound. While this is not possi-ble with every model, when it is, the ap-proach is guaranteed to work. If thespeaker manufacturer has thoughtfullyprovided individual driver -level controls,ruining the highs of Speaker B can be sim-plicity itself.

The "precooked" scam. Early in themorning or late at night, connect a 300 -watt (24%-dBW) amplifier to the Model Bspeakers and play a CD of Cyndi LauperSings Aida at a gradually increasing vol-ume until the drivers (especially thetweeters) are properly "broken in" for lat-er demos.

The "subwoofer" scam. This one isobvious. Connect a good subwoofer to Aor a bad one to B, whichever is moreconvenient. They never notice.

The "gee, I didn't know these wereconnected" scam. This effective methodis a variant of the subwoofer ruse. Placesome small speakers in the back or at thesides of the listening room and connectthem to a surround -sound processor. Ifyou don't have a surround processor, sim-ply wire them into the system howeveryou can. The important thing is to havethem go on while A is playing and go offfor B. Care must be taken not to overdo itwith experienced listeners.

THE PAYOFF

You MAY BE WONDERING WHY SPEAKER -sales types might not want you to buywhatever you want. After all, money ismoney, right? A good salesperson doeswant you to be happy, even if that meansless short-term profit for the store. But

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44 HIGH FIDELITY

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ONE STEP IN THE MAKING OF A KEF

All loudspeaker designers makeassumptions about amplifier power,room location, and desired bass exten-sion. Unfortunately, these assumptionscan never hold true in all cases. Andwhenever the assumptions are wrong,so is the sound.

'That's why we supply ourReference Series speakers with this

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device: the KEF User -adjustable BassEqualiser or "KUBE." For the first time,you can tailor bass rolloff frequencyand contour to match your listeningconditions perfectly.

'With our KUBE-equippedspeakers, you can do more thansimply hope for the best. You can beassured of it'

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REFERENCE MODEL 102The SpeakerEngineers

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there min be other, hidden factors. Pickone or more of the following true-to-lifedeals:

The store may have so many pairs ofSpeaker A in the back room that the rest -room door is blocked.

The salesperson's boss might be eli-gible to win a new Corvette from speakercompany A if the store sells 250 pairs amonth for four months.

Speaker A might be made by thesame company that makes a very popularand profitable amplifier. This companywill provide the store with only one ampli-fier for each pair of Speaker A that thestore sells.

The salesperson might get a free pairof Speaker A for every five pairs he sells(this is called a "spiff"). The next time asalesperson says to you, "These aregreat-I've got 'em at home," rememberthat he might really be saying, "The man-ufacturer gave me one of these so I wouldtry to sell more."

Selling Speaker A might give thestore more net profit (more "points")than Speaker B, even if the list price is thesame.

Any one of a dozen other ways thatall audio companies use to encouragedealers to sell their products. With literal-ly hundreds of speaker brands available,can you blame them?

DEVIOUS DESIGNS

DID YOU KNOW THAT A FAIR NUMBER OFspeakers don't even have real tweeters inthem? According to Joe, they're justpainted on behind the unremovable grillein hopes of fooling some dumb sucker.And other times, you see these monstersthat seem to have more drivers than a pi-ano has keys, usually with cheap -looking,shiny tweeters and plenty of chrome -col-ored plastic trim. It seems like sleazysalespeople are not the only ones aroundtrying to rip off customers. There aresome pretty desperate manufacturers outthere selling what I would have to call fakespeakers. I'm not talking about the estab-lished brands here. I mean those boxesthat seem to be too inexpensive and light-weight to be real, the ones that never tellyou very much about themselves, except

that their printed -on frequency responsealways seems too good to be true. I figurethey oughta have a law like the one for thecontents of a box of cereal: "This speakercontains one real 8 -inch woofer, one real2 -inch cone tweeter, and a third -order,linear -phase crossover. BHT added topreserve the highs." Or something likethat. Uust what is BHT anyway?)

Joe told me that some of the "bargain"speakers have these flimsy fiber backs onthem that don't even make an acousticseal! "How can you possibly avoid rear -wave bass cancellation like that, Joe?" Ineeded a reassuring answer, but Joe hadnone. "A 'passive woofer' might just be anexcuse for a more impressive appearance,and a bass -reflex port can be disguised asa midrange or tweeter unit," he said."Good speakers are expensive to make,and it's easy to wreck the sound trying tocheat in critical areas, like drivers, cross-overs, cabinets, grilles, and connectors."

It seemed to me that, in some ways, wecustomers have only ourselves to blame.After all, we keep proving to manufactur-ers that 12 -inch woofers sell better than10 -inch woofers, and three-way systemssell better than two-way systems, even ifthe true quality suffers. I can understandsome beleaguered company giving peo-ple what they seem to want: big wooferson the outside with tiny (and cheap) mag-nets hidden away-especially since somany audio customers seem to trust any-thing that has "20 Hz to 20 kHz" printedon it.

The last point hit home with Joe.

"Yeah, speaker specs are a sleazy can ofworms. Even the big names get into theact. The trouble is that there are no stan-dards. You can find ways to make specssay just about anything you want. I recent-ly saw a small two-way speaker from apretty high-class manufacturer that wasspec'd down to 20 Hz." "That's impres-sive," I said, "and I don't think it's impos-sible.The was not convinced. "This one ahad a 4 -inch woofer. Seriously, whoknows how anyone measures thesethings? Every company is different. Thenumbers and curves you see, it's like com-paring Pavarotti and Pink Floyd." I beganto see his point.

EPILOGUE

"HEY, FRIEND, MAYBE I SHOULDN'T TELLyou this, but the next time you shop forspeakers, do yourself a favor: Use yourears and eyes. The tricks I told you aboutreally are used-all too often. Look outfor them." Joe stood up, glassy -eyed."You wanna be safe, stay away from guyslike me. OK? Go find yourself a store thatwill let you take the time to really examinethe products you're considering buying,and take all the time you need to really lis-ten. Track down a place that will let youcontrol the demo arrangements. Ask thesalesperson to briefly explain the individ-ual advantages and disadvantages of eachof the models you're listening to. This willhelp you decide, and it may give you someclues about the salesperson's biases. Ihate it when they ask me that." That wasthe last thing he said to me before heturned and walked out of the place. I nev-er saw Joe Tinear again. I never evenfound out where he worked.

The word on the street is that mostcompanies really do try to sell a betterproduct than their competition. They tryvery hard to offer the best performanceand value possible. I believe that. I alsobelieve that most salespeople are honestand knowledgeable and want to help. Butit only takes one rotten apple like Joe Tin -ear to spoil your party. I mean, what ifyour friends found out that your pert littletweeters were just decals? Or that yourmammoth 15 -inch woofer was short onmagnetic flux?

"HEY, YOU WANT 'EM TO

WORK ANYWHERE IN THE

ROOM, DON'T YOU?"

46 HIGH FIDELITY

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'Yamaha has just redefinedthe compact disc.

The new Yamaha CDX-1100U brings a wholenew definition to the term definition.

It does so by simply integrating the most in-novative and advanced CD technologies ever. Nodoubt exactly what you expect from the leader indigital audio sound reproduction.

But if you think that's all we did to improveour new CD player, listen carefully. Because theCDX-1100U also employs HI -BIT technology noother manufacturer has even thought of.

Like quadrupling the sampling rate to 176.4kHz, then combining it with our exclusive 18 -bit

digital filter and 18 -bit dual digital -to -analog con-verters.This unique combination produces wave-form resolution accuracy four times greater thanany other CD player on the market today.

What does all this accuracy mean? For start-ers, a more precise interpretation of the musicthat was always on your discs to begin with. Atruer, more realistic soundstage, articulated with-out sacrificing musical warmth or smoothness.

Of course, there are other design featuresthat put the CDX-1100U at the forefront of CDperformance. Including a floating suspensionsystem that eliminates vibration -induced signalmodulation, and photo -optical couplings for anoise -free digital signal transmission.

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BY ROBERT B. SCHULEIN

SURROUND -SOUND

ATTRAPIONSGETTING THE BEST HOOD HAS TO OFFER

STIMULATED BY TECHNICAL MPROVEMENTS IN VIDEOTAPE

and videodisc hardware and a growing number of excitingmotion picture soundtracks, surround -sound is rapidlygaining in popularity. As with any new home entertain-ment concept, however, there will be some degree of con-sumer confusion until formats and component configura-tions become well established and better understood.And with confusion is likely to come disappointment: Theviewer/listener may be expecting something that neithersurround -sound hardware nor software can deliver. As I

Robert B. Schulein is Chief- Development Engineer of Shure Brothers, Inc.

Still don't see it? That's the wholeidea behind Koss' revolutionaryinfrared stereophone system TheKoss Kordless Sterecphone.Now, you can enjoy all the bene-fits of stereophone listening withno strings attached. And whilethe cord may be missing, thegreat Sound of Koss isn't. TheKordless system is so advancedit provides a full 20-20KHz fre-quency response at less than1% distort on. Plus enough signalto fill a large room. Yet it's as easyto use as conventional stereo -phones. Just plug the Kordlesstransmitter into virtue ly anyreceiver cr amplifier anc turn it

CAN YOUFIND THE

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PICTURE?on. Roam around the room listen-ing to a record Dance to a CD.Enjoy stereo or mono TV broad-casts and videos in bed. Orwhatever else moves you. Soundimpressive? You bet it does.. Andthe best way to appreciate thismajor advance in 4:echnclogy isto visit your nearest Koss Kord-less Stereophone dealer Onelisten, and you'll never sit stillfor ordinary headphones again. Koss Stereophones. 4129 N.Port Washington Rd., Milwaukee,WI 53212. Koss Limited. 4112 S.Service Rd., Burlington, OntarioL7L4X5. Koss -Europe: CH -6855,Stabio-Switzerland.

n KOSS'stereophones

hope the following will show, confusioncan be lessened by learning some basicsurround -sound terminology (mainlyconcerned with the word "Dolby"). Dis-appointment can be reduced by knowingthe effects that surround -sound tech-niques can provide, as well as which pro-gram material to seek and which to avoid.

.;>SURROUND PHILOSOPHIESBEA- 0E0 DE,I. \ 0 1\fU 1111 DE 1 \ 11.S OF

surround -sound programming, it is im-portant to distinguish between the twomain surround -sound philosophies: en-hancement and decoding. If you are inter-ested simply in increasing the impact andexcitement of the audio portion of a video(or music -only) program, a number oftechniques and products are available. Ingeneral, they involve extra amplifiers andspeakers, delay networks, equalizers, orphase -shifting circuits. Regardless of thedetails, these processes-properly re-ferred to as "surround synthesis"-donot depend on the special encoding ofprogram material. "Stereo synthesis"from a mono source is a familiar exampleof such techniques. It typically involvessplitting up the audible frequency bandand sending selected portions of it to theleft and right reproduction channels. Butbecause the results of any of these synthe-sis techniques are under the listener'scontrol only, none of them is capable ofconsistently and accurately re-creatingthe sonic experience intended by the pro-gram producer, although they may oftenprovide very effective enhancement.

In contrast, the decoding of speciallyencoded surround -sound programs is aprocess by which the original sonic expe-rience can be re-created. Although it doeshave its competitors, there is only one en-coded surround -sound format readilyavailable today: Dolby Surround. Thisformat has its roots in the four -channelmatrix technology developed by PeterScheiber in the early 1970s, but it hasevolved considerably during the past tenyears, first in the motion picture industry

and, within the last three years, in the con-sumer home audio -video market. In itsmost basic form, the process involves twochannels of sound reproduced from infront of the listener and one channel frombehind. More complete systems consist ofthree channels in front, one behind, andan additional (mono) subwoofer. Knownin the motion picture industry as DolbyStereo, this process has been used in theproduction of more than 1,000 movies,and because of its inherent compatibilitywith present-day two -channel videotapes,videodiscs, and broadcast -TV formats,Dolby Stereo program material is nowavailable at home.

`SURROUND TERMINOLOGYDOLB\ STEREO, DWAIN SI ItROL ND, ANDDolby noise reduction are related tech-nologies, but aside from their names,their interrelationship is not obvious."Dolby system" is most commonly usedto describe various noise reduction tech-niques developed by Dolby Laboratories(including the professional Dolby A andSR systems and the consumer Dolby Band C configurations). "Dolby Stereo" isspecifically a cinema process that grewout of the use of Dolby A noise reductionto lower the distortion and noise of a mov-ie soundtrack and to extend its frequencyresponse. In addition to these improve-ments, Dolby Stereo involves an encod-ing technique that is capable of increasingthe number of effective audio channels ona movie soundtrack from two to four.Other forms of signal processing areadded to Dolby Stereo productions tocompensate for the deficiencies of motionpicture optical recording and of movietheater acoustics.

Since many of these Dolby Stereo pro-cesses are unique to motion pictures,Dolby Labs defined another term, "DolbySurround," to describe those portions ofDolby Stereo that apply to home play-back. Specifically, these include the four -channel matrixing process, equalizationand delay for the surround channel, and a

variation of the Dolby B noise reductionprocess. All licensed home componentscarrying the Dolby Surround logo meetor exceed Dolby Labs' minimum perfor-mance requirements for each of theseprocesses. You can choose between basicdecoders meeting the minimum stan-dards and more -sophisticated decoderscapable of more accurately duplicatingthe performance of the professionalDolby Stereo decoders used in theatersand production studios.

Software derived from motion pic-tures produced using the Dolby Stereoprocess has, unfortunately for consum-ers, not been consistently labeled as such.Proper identification, which has only re-cently been appearing on videocassetteand videodisc packages, consists of a rect-angular box containing the Dolby double -D logo followed by the words "Dolby Sur-round." Another form of notation thathas appeared on some videodiscs is "Thisvideodisc contains a matrixed surround -sound audio track." Many programs actu-ally containing surround material are notmarked as such and are simply identifiedas being in stereo.

Some VHS tapes containing stereo lin-ear (longitudinal) soundtracks (as op-posed to VHS Hi-Fi soundtracks) aremarked only with the double -D logo. Thisrefers to the use of Dolby B noise reduc-tion on the linear soundtracks and shouldnot be confused with the Dolby Surroundprocess. The fact that the stereo sound-track may contain Dolby Surround mate-rial is a separate issue altogether. Howev-er, if the original movie was produced inDolby Stereo and the software copy is instereo, then the original encoded sur-round information usually has survivedthe transfer.

, -PERFORMANCE CAPABILITIES

ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING ASPECTS OFthe Dolby Stereo and Dolby Surroundprocess is the surround channel, whichcontains sound meant to come from thesides and behind the listener. It is not

JUNE 1987 51

commonly known, however, that theatersequipped with a full Dolby Stereo systemare capable of producing additional local-ization, ambience, and motional sonic ef-fects. These capabilities depend greatlyon the use of three loudspeaker channelsbehind the screen as well as speakers inthe surround locations. With the right de-coding and loudspeaker setup, the DolbyStereo process can produce:

1. Discrete image localization from thethree front loudspeaker positions (left,center, right) and one rear location (sur-round). Used for principal dialogue, off -screen voices, music, and sound effects.

2. An interior -scene or "all around"image produced simultaneously by allloudspeakers. Environmental sounds(wind, rain, surf) intended to create an at-mosphere or mood or to establish a loca-tion (building, car, or airplane interior,for example) are sometimes encoded inthis way.

3. Sounds in motion across the frontsoundstage or from front to back speak-ers. This is commonly used for rapidlypassing objects, like cars, trains, air-planes, and, of course, spaceships of theRebellion being chased by those of theEmpire.

4. Simultaneous left and right or frontand back sounds. Stereo music and soundeffects, simultaneous dialogues, andbackground sounds are often encoded inthis format.

Without getting into the technical de-tails of how these effects are encoded anddecoded from a two -channel soundtrack,suffice it to say that the decoding processuses the amplitude and phase differencesbetween the two soundtrack channels.For example, sounds that are supposed toappear directly in front of the listener arerecorded with identical amplitude andphase on both channels, whereas soundsfrom behind are recorded with equal am-plitude but opposite phase. The functionof a Dolby Surround decoder is to cor-rectly interpret such signals and assignsounds to the proper loudspeakers. De-pending on the sophistication of their de-coder circuitry, various surround -soundunits differ primarily in localization accu-

racy. The most sophisticated are capableof creating very discrete images over awide listening area, whereas basic unitslimit the size of the ideal listening areaand produce more diffuse images.

GOOD SOFTWARE

FROM 1 \ I BRIEF TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION,it is logical to conclude that excellent sur-round -sound software not only must havewide dynamic range and low distortionbut must maintain the precise amplitudeand phase relationships of the originaltwo -channel production. Indeed, errorsin relative amplitude and phase are themost common problems limiting the per-formance of Dolby Surround software.

But a fundamental difficulty in judgingsurround -sound software is establishing apoint of reference: The engineer respon-sible for mixing the final soundtrack is sel-dom available for comments. In addition,the excellence of many soundtracks is di-minished in the process of duplication byequipment errors and miscalibration.And, depending on the accuracy of theconsumer decoding equipment beingused, many software problems are diffi-cult to perceive.

Movie -based software does have onething going for it, however. If the sound-track mixer has done his job well, the di-rection and location of any sound effectshould usually be obvious from the pic-ture. Poor performance anywhere alongthe line usually ends up being heard as alocalization error, with the sound notmatching the picture. Center -channel di-alogue provides the most common ex-ample. With a properly configured DolbySurround system, using a decoder capa-ble of matching the motion picture expe-rience (in this case meaning a surroundsystem with a front -center -channel speak-er), dialogue should be tightly focused atthe middle of the stereo image. Extreme-ly low level speech should not be repro-duced by the surround channel even ifyou put your ear near the surround loud-speaker. In addition, very little dialogueshould be reproduced by the front -leftand front -right channels. Even for listen-

ers seated at an extreme left or right, dia-logue should originate from the centerloudspeaker.

If this is not the case, and dialogue isheard coming from different locations, anumber of factors may be responsible. Avery common source of error is a mis-match in the amplitude or phase charac-teristics between the two soundtrackchannels somewhere in the duplicationchain. Without proper calibration, theprofessional equipment used in thevideodisc or videocassette duplicationprocesses can create these problems. Amore subtle but nonetheless disturbingproblem has been found in some softwarein which Dolby A noise reduction hasbeen used on the master tapes. SinceDolby A decoding must be performed justbefore such a master is copied onto a con-sumer format (videocassette or video-disc), dynamic localization errors occur ifone of the two channels is not decoded.On programs with this fault, low-level dia-logue tends to shift toward the undecod-ed channel and then jump to the centerwhen it gets louder. Movies that sufferfrom these problems-and many that de-cidedly do not-are listed in "The Good,the Bad, and the Ugly," p. 53.

From both subjective and theoreticalstandpoints, the matrix audio technologythat is an integral part of the Dolby Stereoprocess has a lot to offer the consumer.Based upon laboratory studies and a largenumber of demonstrations to profession-al and consumer groups, I believe thatthis process, properly decoded, has con-siderable potential for growth beyondmotion pictures. Made -for -television dra-matic productions, sports events, on -lo-cation news reporting, and music videosare several genres that could gain im-mensely from the creative use of sur-round -sound. All of this is possible todaybecause of the widespread availability oftwo high-performance audio channels onvideocassette, videodisc, and cable andbroadcast television, and of cost-effectivematrix -processing techniques. It's only aquestion of time before consumers willregularly benefit from this logical and ex-citing extension of two -speaker stereo.

THE GOOD, THE BAD,lTIR UGLYEACH DEMO -QUALITY ILM LISTED AT Back to fhe Fufure

right is available on both videotape andvideodisc, and some have even beenbroadcast in stereo or transmitted instereo over cable. Those films markedwith an asterisk are available on video-disc with both digital and analog sound-tracks. The most impressive audio -videodemonstrations are those stemmingfrom such videodiscs. In all cases, the vi-deodisc version (the one on which thelisting here is based) is to be preferred tothe equivalent tape, if only for its lowervideo noise and greater resolution.

It is possible that different mastertapes have been used for disc and tapeversions. It is also possible that best-sell-ing titles might, as a result, be remas-tered, which could either improve or de-grade the sound or the picture. For acomplete list of movies that have beenproduced in Dolby Stereo, write to Dolb%Laboratories, 100 Potrero Ave., SanFrancisco, Calif. 94103.

Brewster's MillionsD.A.R.Y.L.

The Empire Strikes Back

Fletch

Gremlins*Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom*

Ladyhawke*

The Last Starfighter*

Miami Vice*

The Never -Ending Story

Out of Africa *

Prizzi's Honor*Raiders of the Lost Ark*

Return of the Jedi*

Rocky IV

Rustlers' Rhapsody*

Sturman

Stick

Streets of Fire

Witness

Not all Dolby Stereo productions are as well done as those listed above. Inatten-tion to detail in the software -mastering process has led to problems with the followingmovies:

Twilight Zono-The Mori*: Severe phase error between channels makes it diffi-cult to localize individual sounds.

Ghostbustors and Body Booblot They suffer from a right channel recorded with-out Dolby A decoding during the duplication process. Dialogue localization varies,depending on signal level, from right channel to center channel.

Slivered* and Poo Vfoo's Big Advonturet A mild phase error between channelscauses the dialogue to be less firmly focused than it should be.

For Your Eyes Onlys Excessive phase errors at high frequencies result in dialogueleakage into the surround channel during sibilant program peaks.

Escape from Now York and Tim Molloy Pitt Their channels were reversed duringthe transfer process.

U N E 9 8 7 53

M D L E Y

EDITED

BY

K E N

RICHARDSON

WANTED: SNARE DRUMS

WI THE GO-GO'S WERE ABOUT

) make their final album, TalkShow, producer Martin Rushentsuggested that drummer GinaSchock give way to a drum ma-chine. Schock promptly told himwhere to go: back to the board toget a tough sound out of her kit. Inmy book, that makes Gina a musi-cal Joan of Arc: Her rebel yellagainst the occupying army of Linnmachines was a rally cry for fellowdrummers. Three years later,there's evidence that her revolu-tionary idea is taking hold. PeterGabriel: "When I hear so many

bands basing their music on drum machines, I long to hearsome human imperfections." Jimmy Bralower, program-mer for Gabriel and Cyndi Lauper: "When the music isfighting the technology, then it's time to say to yourself,'Maybe we should use a real drummer.' " Music critic Ste-phen Holden: "The relentless mechanization of pop is adisquieting example of how, once a quicker way of dis-charging a task is devised, it is put to use, regardless of howwell it really works." But it's a long way yet to the corona-tion of the drummer. Gabriel still employs a host of ma-chines on So-and even when he uses real drummers, theproduction often makes them sound as metallic as their me-chanical counterparts. Meanwhile, drummerless bandscontinue to flourish: The Dream Academy, for example,prefers to have someone playing oboe and cor anglais.

To be sure, there's an important economic issue here,what with untold numbers of drummers reduced to drum-ming their fingers while machines get all the work in thestudio. But the main reason I'm writing these lines is be-cause, quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of the sound of explo-sive drum machines keeping time. I long for the swift, hol-low crack of a snare drum. Listen to Jerry Marotta on thesecond Peter Gabriel and Ian Paice on Machine Head, andyou'll hear how a lively drummer on a snappy snare com-mands a band. Even the heavy-handed John Bonham, on apercussive tour de force like Physical Graffiti, sounds betterthan anything governed by an on/off button. Listen also topeak Ringo Starr on Abbey Road and peak Charlie Watts onExile on Main Street, two musicians who defined the art ofrock drumming for generation upon generation. Some cur-rent American bands are listening, thankfully. Producerslike Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis should, too. Throw awaythose machines, turn off those effects. Let's hear sticks andskins. Let's hear somebody play. Ken Richardson

RED SEAL REVIVAL

THERE HAVE BEEN ENCOURAGING

signs of life at Red Seal sinceMichael Emmerson took over aspresident of RCA's classical divi-sion eight months ago. A numberof projects are under way, and theeagerly awaited reissue on Com-pact Disc of treasures from the RedSeal vault is taking place at an ac- EDITEDcelerated tempo. In some ways,however, the most significant de- B Y

velopment of recent months wasthe signing in March of the Danish T EDrecorder virtuoso Michala Petri toan exclusive long-term contract. L I B B E Y

Petri thereby became the first es-tablished recording artist since the new regime took chargeto leave a major label for Red Seal. Emmerson emphasizedthat Petri's recordings with RCA would reflect the fullscope of her activity as a recitalist and orchestral soloist-inparticular, that her large repertoire of contemporary works,many of which were written for her, would be tapped in up-coming recordings, along with the Baroque and Classicalitems for which she is best known.

To start things off, Red Seal will record Vivaldi's TheFour Seasons with Petri and the Guildhall Strings this sum-mer in London. Emmerson intends to have the recordingon the shelves by September. Other Red Seal plans call forthe violinist Joseph Swenson, also recently signed, to debutwith the Beethoven Concerto in D, with Andre Previn andthe Royal Philharmonic. The symphonies and piano con-certos of Rachmaninoff are on the way from Paavo Berg-lund and the Stockholm Philharmonic, and Martinfes sym-phonies and piano concertos will be newly recorded in EastBerlin with Rudolf FirkuinY as the soloist, Claus Peter Florconducting. A number of important Heifetz reissues areslated for CD release, and there will be a steady stream ofToscanini as well . .. once the masters are found. "There isa problem with the Toscanini masters," Emmerson admits."We are going back to try to find the best originals we can."Finally, William Kapell's accounts of the Chopin Sonatas inB flat minor and B minor (recorded live by the AustralianBroadcasting Company shortly before the pianist's death)will soon be out on CD.

Meanwhile, Deutsche Grammophon has renewed itscontract with violinist Anne -Sophie Mutter. On tap are cou-plings of the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius concertos with Kara-jan and the Berlin Philharmonic, the Berg and Bartok withOzawa and the Boston Symphony, a Paganini concerto disc,and a LutosYawski/Stravinsky pairing. Ted Libbey

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SN,e

BY PAUL KRESH

V.F,-11111911iGILBERT & SULLIVAN

The celebrated early electric D'Oyly Carte performancesare reissued by Arabesque

PART OF THE FOLKLORE OF SERIOUS RECORD COLLECTING IS THAT OLDis always better. I met a collector once who was still spinning 78s onan ancient record player, not only because he believed that no com-pany had made a conscientious recording of anything since 1925,but because he was also firmly convinced that the energy he ex-pended changing the discs every four minutes helped him to con-centrate on the music. Otherwise, he insisted, it would be too easy.

When it comes to Savoyards-which Ithink is how Gilbert and Sullivan addicts stilldescribe themselves [The Savoy was theLondon theater into which the D'Oyly Cartecompany moved in 1881 and in which thepremieres of The Mikado and The Gondolierstook place-Ed.]-they are always talkingabout how much better, say. Sir Henry Lyt-ton was as the Duke of Plaza Toro in The Gon-doliers or as the Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter,K.C.B., in N.M. S. Pinafore than anybody whofollowed him. (After all, they tell you, it wasLytton who played Robin Oakapple in theoriginal production of Ruddigore, toured inPrincess Ida back in 1884, and took over allthe comic leads originated by George Gros -smith himself!) They are always asking if youhave heard Nellie Briercliffe's Lady Angelaor Bertha Lewis as the silver -haired LadyJane at her cello in Patience or whether anyMikado today can hope to terrorize the gen-tlemen of Japan as could Darrell Fancourt.Yet the old records they still talk about haveonly grown scratchier with age-and harderto replace. And all the while (until its un-timely disbandment a few years ago), from

acoustic to electric shellacs to LPs and ster-eo, D'Oyly Carte kept right on recordingand rerecording the works of Gilbert andSullivan, sometimes even with complete dia-logue. Ultimately, under Roysten Nash,even the unfairly neglected final G&S ef-forts-Utopia Limited (a political satire moretimely today than when it was first per-formed in 1893) and The Grand Duke-madeit onto disc, released in the U.S. on the Lon-don label. These two crowning achieve-ments, which the pundits still dismiss as neg-ligible, are in reality utterly delightful works.

With each technical advance, from onerecorded version to the next, Sullivan's scin-tillating orchestrations came to resoundmore brilliantly. I remember one day whenthe chorus of peers in lolanthe sprang to lifeand marched across my living room fromone loudspeaker to another with a hauteur tomake the lower middle classes cringe formiles around; another time when the casta-

Paul Kresh reviews recordings of classical musicand the spoken word for The New York Timesand other publications.

JUNE 1987 57

nets in the "Dance a Cachucha" clicked andclacked through the halls of the Palace ofBarataria in The Gondoliers with such ear -bracing vigor as to frighten my terrier undera table; and yet another when the ghosts ofSir Rupert Murgatroyd's ancestors steppedout of their frames in Ruddigore and sent astereophonic scare through the whole apart-ment building. Moreover, in its later record-ings, the D'Oyly Carte company maintainedthe style, precision, elegance, and timing ithad developed over the course of a century.IfJohn Reed as the comic lead in the later al-bums could never hope to match the élan vi-tal of a Martyn Green, a Peter Pratt, a GeorgeBaker or-let's face it-a Sir Henry Lytton,he certainly was able to stand up to them as amaster of the tongue -twisting lines in thepatter songs, and he managed somehow togrow into his roles with the years. If it wasfine singing I wanted, there were always theexcellent EMI recordings under Sir Malcolm

For authenticity and sheer

Gilbertian edge, the vintage

D'Oyly Carte recordings have

been dear to tradition -bound

collectors .

Sargent (still available on the Angel labelover here); but for authenticity and sheerGilbertian edge, I stuck-and still stick-with the D'Oyly Carte.

Recently, the vintage electrical record-ings that the company made between 1927and 1932 "under the supervision of RupertD'Oyly Carte himself"-the very ones solong dear to tradition -bound collectors-were reissued on both vinyl and cassette byArabesque. [H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado,and The Pirates of Penzance are also availableon CD, with the rest of the series to follow ata later date.-Ed.] I have been listening,transfixed, to one after another. To pretendI didn't enjoy the experience would be tosacrifice simple honesty in order to maintaina proper critical stance. Granted, with theexception of the digitally remastered Ruddi-gore, the sound is as scratchy and click -riddenas I feared it would be. Still, 1 must confessthat Sir Henry-especially as the misan-thropic King Gamma in Princess Ida-lives upto his legend; Nellie Briercliffe vindicatesthe claims of her doddering fans as the dear-est lolanthe ever to rise from a well; Wini-fred Lawson-with that little catch in hersweet little voice-oozes English charm inthe role of Elsie Maynard, the "strollingsinger" in The Yeoman of the Guard; and ElsieGriffin proves a masterly mistress of colora-tura as the Major General's coy daughterMabel in The Pirates of Penzance. Also impec-

THE PAIR WHOSE MISCHIEVOUS MUSICALS MADE THE D'OTITCAIIII

FAMOUS: SIR WILLIAM S. QUINT AND St ARTHUR SAILUVAII

cable are Bertha Lewis, Dorothy Gill, andfo-sephine Curtis, the women who portraythose forbidding, indomitable ladies of un-certain age who were frequently the butt ofGilbert's sometimes rather sadistic skill atcaricature.

As for the clowns in the company-Syd-ney Granville, Darrell Fancourt, GeorgeBaker, Leo Sheffield, and Martyn Green (asKodo in The Mikado, a role he was to recordover and over again, seemingly forever)-well, they are all superb. Even poor DerekOldham no longer sounds to me quite sostrangulated in his tenor roles as I remem-ber him from my earlier, more fanatical andexacting days of devotion to this repertory.

The singers in this series (perhaps be-cause they were closer to 19th -century Ital-ian opera and shared more readily the Eng-lishman's amused contempt for its emotion-al excesses) also seemed to comprehend bet-ter than the performers who succeededthem the element of parodistic humor inSullivan's scores-in "A Nice Dilemma"from Trial by Jury, for example, where thecomposer is twitting the florid complexitiesof the quartet in Verdi's Rigoletto. On theother hand, the orchestra-whether under

Sir Malcolm Sargent, Isidore Godfrey, orHarris Norris-sounds to these pamperedears cramped, dry, and constricted, and thechoruses never exactly reverberate. Oddly,though, the closer one gets to the periodwhen Gilbert himself was imposing his per-sonal directorial imprint on the company,the more distinct the enunciation of the prin-cipals seems to sound. Even though hewrote, in Ruddigore, "This particularly rapid,unintelligible patter isn't generally heardand if it is it doesn't matter," Gilbert reallywanted every word to be comprehensible.Seldom with the present recordings is it nec-essary (as it often is with the more recentstereo recordings, for all their sonic realism)to consult a libretto. Nevertheless, completetexts are supplied with each recording, andthe new cassette packaging from Arabesque,far less cumbersome than the earlier card-board contrivances with the unmanageableflaps, provides a neat pocket for the text andnotes-drawn from Reginald Allen's divert-ing and informative volume The First -NightGilbert and Sullivan-as well as room for dis-cographic documentation. In a number ofthe albums, a side is devoted to selectionsfrom another G&S score in some alternativeversion. With Ruddigore, besides the im-proved digital sound, you get a generouspotpourri of highlights reaching all the wayback to acoustical times, when Isidore God-frey was probably still in knee pants. AndPinafore not only comes with Trial by Jury asthe curtain raiser-as it frequently does onstage-but leads off with the voice of Sir Ar-thur Sullivan himself, expressing to ThomasEdison his astonishment over the inventionof the phonograph and "the wonderful pow-er that so much hideous and bad music maybe on record forever." He need not havefeared for the future of his own music.

GILBERT AND SULLIVAN:

The D'Oyly Carte Recordings(1927-32).Rupert D'Oyly Carte, original producer;Ward Botsford, reissue producer.

The Gondoliers.

Lytton, Sheffield, Oldham, Baker, Lewis,Bennet, Lawson, Davies; Norris. Arabesque

8058-2 (2, A). a (2)

Plooferef Trial by foryt.Lytton, Granville, Baker, Oldham, Lewis;Sargent*, Norrist. Arabesque 8052-2 (2,A). 0 (2). CI (2)

lohuttlie.Lewis, Oldham, Fancourt, Granville, Baker;

Sargent. Arabesque 8066-2 (2, A). CI (2)The Mikado.Green, Fancourt, Oldham, Rands, Bennett,Granville; Godfrey. Arabesque 8051-2(2, A). 0 (2). CI (2)

lMleose; The floodeliers (excerpts)t.Oldham, Baker, Lawson*, Rands*, Brier -cliffs*, Fancourt*, Bootht, Gronvillet,

Walkert; Sargent. Arabesque 8095-2 (2,A). CI (2)

The Pirates of Penzance;The Sorcerer (abridged)i.Dawson, Oldham, Griffin, Baker*; Sar-gent. Randst, Fancourtt, Bethelt; God-freyt Arabesque 8068-212, Al.312). CM (2)Princess Ida; Pirates of Penzance(abridged).Oldham, Lytton, Dickson, Fancourt, Lewis,

Granville, Baker, Briercliffe; Sargent. Ara-besque 8129-2 (2, A). n (2)Ruddigore; Various Works (highlightsfrom The D'Oyly Carte acoustical re-codings).Foncourt, Green, Oldham, Baker, Rands,Granville, Briercliffe; Sargent. Arabesque6548-2 (2, A). CI (2)

The Yeoman of the Guard;The Mikado(excerpts)t.Oldham, Baker, Sheffield, Lawson,Griffin*, Briercliffe; Sargent*. Fancourtt,Oldhamt, Griffint; Norrist. Arabesque8067-2 (2, A). C1(2)

Sa HIGH FIDELITY

WNW

THMINI -REVIEWS OF THE LATEST COMPACT DISCS

BY ROBERT E. BENSON, PAUL MOOR, ROBERT R. REILLY, TERRY TEACHOUT, AND JAMES WERZBICKI

ESHOSTAKOVICH "BABI YAR":CONCERTGEBOUW, HAITINK

SHOSTAKOVICH'S 13111 SYMPHONY'(19621, ONE

of a handful of artistically successful musicalworks with an overtly political aspect, com-bines early poetry of Yevgeny Yevtushenkowith a starkness borrowed from the musicallanguage of Mussorgsky to create an ex-traordinarily moving testament to the powerof the creative spirit under oppression. Ber-nard Haitink's new account with the Con-certgebouw Orchestra is in certain ways thebest recorded performance of the symphonyyet. Although Marius Rintzler's handling ofthe bass solo is somewhat phlegmatic attimes (this is a "role" for a Kipnis or Chalia-pin), the men of the Concertgebouw'schorus provide a plausible simulation of thedepth and fervor of a Russian choir, and Hai-tink's interpretation is direct and unaffected.Andrew Cornall's digital sound is very good.Playing time: 64:30. (London 417 261-2.)

T T

fDELIUS VIOLIN WORKS:NOLMES; ROYAL, HANDLEY

ALTHOUGH I IIE. WORKS OF FREDERICK DELIUS

aim at native English ears, Delians of any na-tionality won't want to pass this rare collec-tion by. Recorded under the auspices of theDelius Trust, it offers Delius's Violin Con-certo (1916), the Suite for Violin and Or-chestra (1888), and the Legende for Violinand Orchestra (1895).

I confess ignorance up to now of the Eng-lish violinist Ralph Holmes, who died soonafter making this 1984 recording. But in hisown country, he enjoyed acclaim not only inthe traditional repertory but also as a cham-pion of such resident composers as Hamil-ton Harty, Arthur Bliss, Andrzej Panufnik.and William Sterndale Bennett.

Using a 1736 Strad borrowed from Lon-don's Royal Academy of Music, Holmesplays without flash but with true proficiencyand tenderness. Vernon Handley and theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra collaboratewith him handsomely. We shouldn't expectanother good recording of the Delius con-certo any time soon, and will probably neveragain see one of all three works together.Playing time: 53:25. (Unicorn-KanchanaDKP 9040. Distributed by Harmonia Mundi,U.S.A.) P.M.

I SIBELIUS SYMPHONY NO. 1:1 _ _ PHILHARMONIA, ASHKENAZYSIBELIUS NOTED IS. HIS DIARY IN SEPTEMBER

1915, "God opens his door for a momentand His orchestra plays the Fifth Sympho-ny." The composer was already knocking atthat door with his audacious Symphony No.1 in 1899. Whatever traces of Tchaikovskyhe may have assimilated, they are subsumedby the confident, heroic, heaven -stormingidiom that he forged in this work. VladimirAshkenazy and the Philharmonia Orchestragive an exhilarating performance withsound from London that is absolutely viscer-al. This may not be the most organic Sibeliusever recorded, except in the sense that thesound will shake you to your bones, but theclarity and detail of the orchestral textureare stunning, making this a revelation for Si-belians and a plum for audiophiles. The dischas as a bonus a fine performance of the Ka-

relia Suite. I venture to say that this, the lastinstallment in Ashkenazy's Sibelius cycle, isalso the best. Playing time: 56:20. (London414 534-2.) R.R.R.

LARAVEL WORKS:LONDON, ABBADO

THIS NEWLY RECORDED RAVEL COLLECTION IS

only intermittently successful. Best of all isthe evocative treatment of Ma mire l'oye, a

gentle score for which Abbado seems tohave a special affinity. The haunting Pavanepour une infante defunte is also sensitivelydone. But Bolero is taken at too fast a clip (it'sover in 14:20). and the performance of theRapsodie espagnole barely suggests the sensu-ous beauty of the score. DG's sound, whichis very close-up and unatmospheric, offerssurprisingly subdued brass, but the soundtends to blast during loud passages. Forsome reason, the important castanet partin the Feria is barely audible. Playing time:64:50. (Deutsch( Grammophon 415 972-2.)

R. E. B.

SAUGET, MIGOT GUITAR WORKS:AMAIN PREVOST

THERE IS NO DE. NY INF. 1 IIE %ALI F 01 I IIE

enormous amount of music for classical gui-tar produced by Iberian and Latin Americancomposers; indeed, where would the instru-ment be today without the likes of FranciscoTarrega, Joaquin Turina, Fernando Sor, et

al.? Yet the typical guitarist's bread-and-but-ter repertoire is so overloaded with Spanish -flavored works that one is sometimes lulledinto forgetting that composers of other eth-nic backgrounds also wrote effectively forthe instrument. I first encountered AlainPrevost's fine new CD recording of worksby the French composers Henri Sauget (b.1901) and Georges Migot (1891-1976) aftergetting massive doses of the Spanish stuff inthe concert hall, and doubtless that's why itseemed such a balm for the ears. But this in-triguing music held up long after its noveltywore off.

Migot's 1924 Pour hommage a Claude De-bussy is an intensely introspective tombeauwhose deliberate tempos belie its extraordi-nary technical challenges. His 1960 Sonar is

equally probing, but it is occasionally leav-ened with dance rhythms and is often illumi-nated with Messianesque harmonies. TheSauget selections consist of the 1958 Soli-

loque (an homage to Falla), the 1970 Preludes,

two sets of incidental music (Musique pourClaude!) from 1973, and a 1985 Cadence writ-ten for Prevost. In general, this is haunting,detached music that stands in sharp contrastto the effervescent ballet scores for whichSauget is best known. As with the Migotpieces, Prevost responds seriously and beau-tifully to its very considerable interpretiveneeds. Along with substantial musical vir-tues, the disc features some of the mostnoise -free guitar sound lately recorded.Playing time: 54:05. (Cybelia CY 811. Dis-tributed by Qualiton Imports.) J. IV

O MOZART SYMPHONIES:CLEVELAND, SZELL

GEORGE SZELL AND "I "HE MEMBERS OF THECleveland Orchestra played Mozart with adistinctive blend of precision and restraintthat listeners raised on Bruno Walter typi-cally found tight and overcontrolled. Youn-ger listeners who have grown up with moremodern approaches to Mozart (particularlythat of Christopher Hogwood and the Acad-emy of Ancient Music) will doubtless findthese performances of the G minor andJupi-ier symphonies far more sympathetic-if al-most as anachronistic. The digitally remas-tered analog sound is clean and luminous.Playing time: 53:11. (CBS MasterworksMYK 37220.) T T

JUNE 1 9 8 7 MP

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NOT VERY MANY

new commer-cial recordings qualifyfor inclusion in a timecapsule. I rather thinkthat this set does.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau did not, ofcourse, originate theLieder recital. Earliergreat practitioners,saved from auditoryoblivion by their 78 rpm recordings (some ofthem in LP reissues), included Elena Ger-hardt, Heinrich Schlusnus, Lotte Lehmann,Aksel SchiOtz, Kathleen Ferrier, and PeterPears. After World War II, though, Fischer-Dieskau-even in Germany, the homelandof the Lied-gave the Liederabend (evening ofsongs) a new lease on life. He was born inBerlin in 1925 and, as a teenage Germanconscript, was taken prisoner by Britishforces in Italy. where his song recitals as aP.O.W. impelled his captivated captors topostpone his release and repatriation just aslong as they feasibly could. Wilhelm Furl -wangler, an early discoverer and admirer,conducted at Fischer-Dieskau's SalzburgFestival debut (in Mahler's Songs of a Wayfar-er) in 1951, when the baritone was only twen-ty-six. Beginning in 1955, a Fischer-DieskauLiederabend at Salzburg's hallowed Mozar-teum became an almost annual high point ofthe summer festival programs, and for thefirst ten years, he sang them only with Cana-da's unique pianist Gerald Moore as his part-ner. [As this review went to press, HIGH Fi-DELrry learned of Gerald Moore's death inLondon. He was eighty-seven.-Ed.] Thesefive CD releases, made from the AustrianRadio's tapes of live performances between1957 and 1965. preserve five of those eventsin all their vibrant immediacy.

Between 1951 and 1981, I attended theSalzburg Festival a number of times, and in

DETRICH FISCHER-DIESKAU. WITH THE LATE GERALD MOORE AT THE PIANO. PRIOR TO A 1956 SALZBURG FESTIVAL RECITAL

LIEDER EVENINGS

WORTH REMEMBERING...spite of theextraordinarily high artistic stan-dards, one aspect of the festival troubled myliberal American social conscience, in thesame way such kindred phenomena as Bay-reuth or opening nights at the Met do. En-gaging the greatest talents in the entireworld makes it necessary to sell tickets at as-tronomical (or, as some Germans would say.whorehouse) prices, within the reach only ofa social class substantially less rich in intel-lect, cultivation, and the spontaneous, sym-pathetic ability to appreciate music than inmaterial, worldly goods. Remembering myown impoverished Juilliard days, I wishedthat some miracle could have replaced thosesociety page jet -setters and phonies in Salz-burg with the genuinely deserving, under-standing auditors musicians prefer. A Salz-burg Festival performance-at the pinnacleof the entire musical world-usually bringsout the very best in a musician, who (pre-sumably for the cosmopolitan army of criticson hand) will take extra risks and press to theabsolute limit, much more so than in the rel-ative sterility of a recording studio. TheseCDs convincingly document that importantdifference, that little bit extra that comesacross in the best live performances, for hereboth singer and pianist truly give their all.Because of that quality, these discs (availableindividually) offer the next best thing to Mo-zarteum tickets on the evenings these pow-erful performances took place.

Gottfried Kraus's ac-companying notes mer-it quotation: "Fischer-Dieskau's accomplish-ments as a Lieder sing-er are a result of hisparticular 'talents': hisvoice, whose essentiallyimbalanced timbre be-tween dark lows andbright highs he is ableto tailor to the special

demands of Lieder singing with the inimita-bly skillful alternation of registers; his musi-cality and his versatile musical intellect,which go far beyond the narrow field of vo-calism; his cultural heritage and his familiar-ity with the tradition of German musical cul-ture, which enable him to recognize andsolve stylistic problems; and certainly also aparticular gift for pointed expression andeven occasionally exaggerated dramatic ef-fects that help to unveil the imaginary scenefor the listener."

Native German speakers will hardly needto refer to the printed poems, thanks to thesinger's exemplary diction, and others with aknowledge of German will derive enormousbenefit from paying close attention to thetexts, for Fischer-Dieskau's remarkably ex-pressive transmission of poetry evokes thatof even such a dramatic magician as JohnGielgud when he recites poems from memo-ry. Even if you have no German at all, I urgeyou (in spite of a typeface to put your eyesout) to follow the translations line by line,for it will make a vitally important differencein your aesthetic reward. Unfortunately, thequality of the translations here varies widelyfrom disc to disc. In some instances, Orfeoseems to have chosen the lazy solution of re-producing whatever happened to appear inthe vocal score, which means that it showsprimary fidelity to prosody rather than to thepoet's meaning.

J U N E 1 9 8 7 1

DIETRICH FISCHER-DIESKAU:

Salzburg Festival Live Recordings.,,scher-Dieskau; Moore. Jorg Polzin,production editor. Orleo C 140 101*,

201T, 301*, 401, 501** (5, A). 0 140 855

15)

Vol. I (1957)*: SCHUBERT: Dem Un-endlichen; Der Kreuzzug; Wehmut; Toten-grObers Heimweh; An Schwager Kronos;Meeresstille; Prometheus; Uber Wilde-mann; Der Wonderer an den Mond;Nachtyiolen; Der Zwerg; Rostlose Liebe;Geheimes; Fruhlingssehnsucht; Im Friihling;Abschied.

Vol. II (1958)1: BRAHMS: Vier ernste

Gesiinge (Deno es gehet dem Menschenwie dem Vieh; Ich wandte mich urn und sahe

an alle; 0 Tod, wie bitter bist du; Wenn ichmit Menschen- und mit Engelszungen re-dete); Wie rafft' ich mich auf in der Nocht;Es treiumte mir; Der Strom; Herbstgeflihl;Auf dem Kirchhofe; Wehe, so wilst du mich

wieder; Abenddeimmerung; Salamander;Geheimnis; Wir wandelten; Der Gang zumLiebchen; Steindchen; Meerfahrt; Mon-denschein; Auf dem See; Wie bist du,meine Konigin?; Botschaft.

Vol. III (1959)°: SCHUMANN: TwelveSongs, Op. 35, to poems by Justinus Kerner

(Lust der Sturmnacht; und

Freud.; Wanderlied; Erstes Griin; Sehn-sucht nach der Waldgegend; Auf dasTrinkglas eines verstorbenen Freundes;Wonderung; Stille Liebe; Frage; StilleTreinen; Wer machte dich so krank?; AlteLaute); liederkreis, Op. 39, to poems by Jo-

seph von Eichendorff (In der Fremde; Inter-

mezzo; Waldesgesprach; Die Stille; Mond-nacht; SchOne Fremde; Auf einer Burg; Inder Fremde; Wehmut; Zwielicht; Im Walde;FrUhlingsnacht).

Vol. IV (1961(: WOLF: Twenty Songsto poems by Eduard Morike (1888): DerGenesene an die Hoffnung; In der Friihe;Fussreise; Neue Liebe; Der Feuerreiter; Anden Schla f; Urn Mitternacht; agerlied;Storchenbotschaft; Im FriThling; Auf einerWanderung; An die Geliebte; Peregrina I;Peregrina II; Lebe wohl; Begegnung; DerJager; Bei einer Trauung; Zur Warnung;Abschied.

Vol. V (1965)**: BEETHOVEN: Inquesta tomba oscura; An die Hoffnung;Sechs Gellert-Lieder (Bitten; Die Liebe desNeichsten; Vom Tode; Die Ehre Gottes;Gottes Macht und Vorsehung; Busslied);Der Wachtelschlag; An die ferne Geliebte;Adelaide; Wonne der Wehmut; Mailied;Sehnsucht; Neue Liebe, neues Leben; Me-phistos Flohlied.

Fischer-Dieskau's own writings havelong since established him as probably themost intellectually searching major singer ofhis time, and that musicological diligencemanifests itself in his programming here.Unless you are an expert on one or more ofthese five composers, you will almost cer-

tainly encounter some songs here for thefirst time ever-an important bonus.

Seventeen of the 20 Wolf songs hereoverlap the 18 that Deutsche Grammophonrecorded at Fischer-Dieskau's 1973 recital inInnsbruck with the remarkable SviatoslavRichter as his pianist (DG 2530 584), andSchwann lists a two -CD, three -LP set (2 -DG415 192-2 and 3 -DG 2530 584, respectively)with an audibly older Fischer-Dieskau sing-ing all of Wolf's settings for male voice ofMorike poems, with Daniel Barenboim a su-perb partner at the piano. Moore, for all hismusicality, for all his phenomenal ensemblesense and ability, simply could not competepianistically with Richter, or even with Bar-enboim, in such taxing songs as Der Feuer-redsr or, for that matter, in the mischievous,nose -thumbing Viennese waltz conclusionof the Abschied. The Innsbruck LP seems tohave lapsed out of print. If you love Wolf,you ought to try to track it down.

The degree of perfection shown here-no retakes, remember-makes the mindboggle, particularly in view of Fischer-Dies-kau's admirable recital custom of singingeven the long strophic songs from memory.One heaves a sigh of relief over a very fewreassuringly human lapses (in Beethoven'sSehnsucht, for instance, at "Die scheidende Son-ne . . . Die sinnende Schiine," he interchangesGoethe's adjectives, resulting in nonsense),but they will probably go entirely unnoticedexcept by those of us who pick such nits pro-fessionally.

Orfeo's packaging doesn't flaunt thefact, but the Austrian Radio, astonishingly,recorded all these recitals monaurally. Idoubt that this will bother you; it certainlydoesn't me, particularly as the tapes havebeen digitally remixed and mastered intosuch brilliant CD form.

At the Munich Festival one year, withonly two days intervening, I heard Fischer-Dieskau and Jorg Demus in a Schumann re-cital and Hermann Prey and Alfred Brendain Schubert's cycle Die schone Miillerin-a rareoccasion for comparing those two fine sing-ers, the one so refined, studied, and Apollo-nian, the other so natural, spontaneous, Dio-nysian. I concluded from that occasion (andmany others) that, generally speaking, live, Iprefer Prey, and recorded, Fischer-Dies-kau-by the slightest of margins. And here,superbly recorded, you have Fischer-Dies-kau in his prime . . . and at his very best.

Paul Moor

HAYDN:Sonatas for Plano (3); Andante andVariations, In F minor, Hob. XV1I:6.1=1 Brendel. Philips 416 365-4 (D(. 00

Sonatas: in E flat, Hob. XVI:52; in G, Hob.XVI:40; in D, Hob. XVI:37.

Comparisons: Sonata in E flat, Bilson (Nonesuch78018); Variations in F minor, De Larrocha (London7008).

ALFRED BRENDEL IS JUST ABOUT THE ONLYpianist who can shake my faith in the forte-piano as the most rewarding medium for the

AIRED BR OM HAYDN PLAYING THAT IS A PARADIGM OF WELL.

NIGH IDEAL PIANISM AND INTERPRETATION

performance of Haydn's keyboard music. Asin his four earlier Haydn recitals, Brendel'splaying here is a paradigm of well-nigh idealpianism and interpretation, captured ingleaming, ultrarealistic recorded sonics. It isa sheer delight to hear such attractions en-hancing those of the music itself.

The program features the last (and argu-ably the greatest) of Haydn's solo pianoworks, along with two charming lighter -weight examples. The great Sonata in E flat,Hob. XVI:52, long has been a recording andconcert favorite, but rarely if ever have itsbold impetuosity and imaginative daringbeen articulated so eloquently. Only theodder but more authentically pungent forte-piano timbres-like those in Malcolm Bil-son's admirable Nonesuch recording-aremissing. The great Andante and (double)Variations in F minor are perhaps even moresuccessful here, at least in contrast with thetoo numerous versions in which the music'sseeming simplicity has trapped performers,professionals as well as amateurs. Amongthe few really goodearlier readings, my per-sonal choice, the idiosyncratic one by Aliciade Larrocha for London, is now supplantedby Brendel's more radiantly expansive ver-sion, especially notable for its fluidity and itsfreedom from the usual ponderousness inthe funeral march rhythms.

One of three sonatas dedicated to thePrincess Maria Hermenegild Esterhizy in1784, the Sonata in G, Hob. XVI:40, is ahighly ingenious exercise in double -varia-tion techniques and the sophisticated devel-opment of contrasting semplice material. Thefirst movement is marked Allegretto e inno-cent', a characterization perfectly realized byBrendel. Even the more orthodox (but withHaydn, never entirely so) Sonata in D, Hob.XVI:37, dating from 1780, is delectably sur-prising in its seemingly limitless verve andhumor. Its high-speed finale, like that of theG major Sonata, suggests what superb filmscores Haydn could have written for theKeystone Kops and Charlie Chaplin.

The presentation includes stimulatingnotes, "Haydn As a Master of Surprise," byMonaca Mollering. R. D. Darrell

62 HIGH FIDELITY

H

HEAR TODAY.

EAR TOMORROW.

CClarion® Madetolastinthefirstplace.Clarion Corp. of America, 5500 Rosecrans Avenue, Lawndaie, CA 90260 (213) 973-1100

MARTINU:Polni mitt (Field Mass).JANACEK:Amarus.

NemeEkoki, VodiEka, Zitek; Czech Philhar-monic Chorus and Orchestra, Mackerras. Su-

praphon 33C37 7735 (Di.

LEo§ JAmlitEK HAD A PENCHANT FOR BIZARRE

subjects, as his operas show. His relativelyearly cantata Amarus (1897) already points inthe direction he would take later on. It isbased on a poem about an illegitimate child,sequestered in a monastery, whose adoles-cent heart is fatally stirred by the loss he feelsupon seeing, for the first time, two loversembrace. As with the other strange subjectsJanacek set to music, this one succeeds beau-tifully, albeit not on the grand scale of his lat-er masterpieces.

The composition is well beyond the

SIR CHARLES MACKERRAS DEMONSTRATES ONCE AGAIN THAT HE IS A

SUPERB INTERPRETER OF CZECH MUSIC, ESPECIALLY JANACEK'S.

Dvoiakian idiom of JaniZek's youthful Idyll(1878), but it does not quite carry the stampof his later, inimitably bold and beautifulstyle. It comes close enough, however, to beindispensable to any admirer of JaniZek'smusic. Indeed, the cantata's wonderful epi-logue is almost the stuff of the Sinfonietta.

While Bohuslav Martinfes Field Mass is ahybrid that I admire, I have never beenmoved by it. Written in 1939 in tribute to theCzechs who volunteered for the Frencharmy, it is really an outdoor cantata, scoredfor the interesting combination of baritone,chorus, wind and percussion instruments,bells, and harmonium. Only occasionallydoes Martinfi's highly individual languageseem to emerge from the proceedings;strangely enough, several passages sound asthough Kurt Weill had gotten religion andwritten a Mass. Listen to "0, Pune mrtj r (0,my Lord) for those Weill -like syncopations.In spite of its originality, the work does notachieve as moving a statement as one wouldexpect, given the subject matter.

Sir Charles Mackerras demonstratesonce again in the present recording what hehas proven many times: that he is a superla-tive interpreter of Czech music, especiallyJanalek's. Thanks to him, the superb sup-port of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestraand Chorus, and the excellent work of Su-praphon's recording team, this release is aclear winner. Playing time: 54:29.

Robert R. Reilly

MESSIAEN:

Turangahla Symphony'.LUTOSLAWSKI:

Les Espaces du sommeil, for Baritoneand Orchestrat; Symphony No. 31.

Shirley -Quirk), a Orchestra*, LosAngeles Philharmonict, Salonen. David Mal-

ley, prod. CBS Masterworks M2K 42271 (2, D). 0(2). CI (2)

OLIVIER MESSIAEN'S MASSIVE TURANGALFL4

Symphony (1946-8) is a work that almostdrowns in its own contradictions. A sprawl-ing, ten -movement, 75 -minute canvas, Tur-angalila functions within a grandiose Wagne-rian time span and embraces a Tristanesqueattitude toward the transfiguring power oflove. Its ecstatic climaxes revel in rather un-French excesses, and at times its cloying dia-tonic themes turn embarrassingly sentimen-tal.

Against this voluptuous background,however, Messiaen projects a distinctly non-

Romantic sonic and aesthetic message. Stat-ic, repetitive, polyrhythmic sections con-structed of densely layered, unrelatedmaterials betray Messiaen's non -Westernleanings, as does his penchant for nondevel-opmental juxtaposition. And the score's fe-rocity and angularity remind one that duringthe very years of Turangatila's composition,Messaien-in a more modernist guise-wasbusy extending the rigors of serialism to ar-eas other than pitch.

Given its inherent fragmentation, it is noeasy matter to create a coherent view of Tur-angalila. Remarkably, Esa-Pekka Salonensucceeds in achieving precisely that. Sa-lonen is able to negotiate the symphony'scomplex tempo relationships convincingly,and he communicates Turangatila's rhapsod-ic edge without ever losing headway. ThePhilharmonia Orchestra offers a virtuosoperformance, and the recorded sound isboth painfully brilliant and of astonishingdynamic range.

After the onslaught of Turangalila, the fargreater subtleties of Witold LutosYawski de-mand special attention. Both Les Espaces dusommeil (1975) and the Symphony No. 3(1983) inhabit the same coloristic world asearlier works by Krzysztof Penderecki andGyorgy Ligeti, with their intertwining, swirl-ing sonic densities. LutosYawski's effects aremore delicate, however, and his rhythmicanimation and sense of line create a clearermelodic and metric profile. Although thesymphony seems to lack a clear goal and toooften lingers over textural details, muchgrim power and impassioned lyricism is con-tained within its pages. John Shirley -Quirk isthe emotionally gripping baritone soloist inLes Espaces. Playing time: 124:38.

K. Robert Schwarz

MOZART:

Concertos for Violin and Orchestral No. 1,In 11 flat, K. 2071 No. 4, in D, K. 218.

Zimmermann, Wiiraemberg Chamber Orches-

jP tra, Faerber. Gerd Berg, prod. Angel EMICDC 47431 (DI.

MOZART:

Concertos for Violin and Orchestra: No. 2,in CI, K. 211; No. 4, in D, K. 218.

0Perlman,Vienna Philharmonic, Levine. Steven

Paul, prod. Deutsche Grammophon 415 975-2(D). 0 0MOZART'S FIVE INDISPUTABLY AUTHENTICviolin concertos were written in rapid suc-cession between April and December 1775.During those few months, the nineteen -

year -old composer, then concertmaster tothe Archbishop of Salzburg, underwent re-markable growth in his approach to the con-certo: The form developed from a quasi -Ba-roque to an almost Classical one, and thethematic substance blossomed from theconventional into the intensely personal.

This recording by the twenty -two -year -old West German violinist Frank Peter Zim-mermann combines the Concerto No. 1, in Bflat, K. 207, with the famous Concerto No. 4,in D, K. 218 (playing time: 45:39). Accompa-nied by the small and lively WurttembergChamber Orchestra under Jorg Faerber,Zimmermann offers polished readings thatavoid burdening this music with excessiveinterpretive mannerisms. Articulations arecrisp and precise, and textures remain amodel of clarity.

Yet Zimmermann's approach is uncom-fortably inconsistent. Into this reserved, un-derstated context, he injects a wide vibrato(disturbingly throbbing in the Adagio of No.1), needlessly audible shifts, and (in No. 4)the Romantic, overblown cadenzas by Jo-seph Joachim. The result is jarring ratherthan refreshing.

At least Itzhak Perlman, whose cycle ofthe concertos for Deutsche Grammophonreaches completion with this latest release,is consistent in his stance. He remains a Ro-mantic, although never a tasteless one. Per-forming the Concerto No. 2, in D, K. 211,and the Concerto No. 4 (playing time:42:38), Perlman and conductor James Le -

FORMAT KEY0 LPl3 Cassette

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Large symbol beneath title indicates reviewed format.Small symbols following catalog number of reviewed for-mat indicate other available formats lit any)

Catalog numbers of all formats of a particular record-ing usually are identical except for differing prefixes orsuffixes. Catalog numbers of formats other than the re-viewed format ore printed only if their basic numbers dif-fer substantially from that of the reviewed format.

Arabic numeral in parentheses indicates number ofitems in multi -item set. Unless otherwise indicated, allmulti -LP sets are in manual sequence.

64 HIGH F IDELIT Y

vine turn occasional stylistic anachronismsto their advantage in personal, insightfulreadings. The Vienna Philharmonic's state-ment of the opening ritornello of No. 4 hasmore character than an entire movement inFaerber's account, which only proves thatsupposed historical accuracy is no substitutefor interpretive personality. In this context,Perlman's lush portamentos, occasionallybrusque articulations, and elaborate caden-zas seem entirely appropriate. It may not beMozart for purists, but at least it is Mozartwith a unified point of view.

K Robert Schwarz

MOZART:Onartos for Piano and Strings: No. 1, in

oninr, K. 471; No. 2, in E non, K. 493.Solti, Members of the Melos Quartet. MichaelHaas, prod. London 4 1 7 190-4 (D). 00

THESE ULTRABRILLIANTLY PLAYED ANDrecorded versions of the Mozart Piano Quar-tets remind us that Sir Georg Solti began hiscareer as a pianist and prove that he has lostnone of his keyboard technique. There is anold tradition of famous conductors doublingas piano soloists; in these particular works,the long -preferred and near -definitive ac-counts were those by George Szell and theBudapest Quartet for Columbia. Thesemore dazzling readings by Solti and mem-bers of the Melos Quartet will no doubt beprized by the conductor's fans, but Mozartconnoisseurs will be far less satisfied.

Because I have just had my first, bewitch-ing encounter with period -instrument re-cordings of these works (featuring JamesWeaver's c. 1795 Dulcken fortepiano), I findthe present, modern treatment about as farfrom what the composer must have had inmind as is possible where the same scoresare concerned. R. D. Darrell

MOO:NANO Six Marindons.

0SteveReich and Musicians, Nexus, Manhattan

Marimba Quartet. Steve Reich, prod. None-such 7 9 1 38-2 (A). 00COMPOSER STEVE REICH IS BACK-AND WITH A

vengeance. Not that he ever disappeared; itwas simply that some members of his audi-ence were alienated (I was not) by the gran-diose pretensions of The Desert Musk, seem-ingly far removed from his austere minimal-ist heritage. With Sextet (1985), Reich has re-turned to his roots, yet his music has beenvastly enriched by the lessons that The DesertMusic taught.

Sextet, scored for four percussionists andtwo keyboardists, focuses on the primalforces that have long been the hallmark ofReich's musical language: repetitive rhyth-mic patterns, steady pulse, and interlockingcontrapuntal processes. Although the long -spun melodies and timbral variety of The Des-ert Music are absent, the piece has inheritedthat work's pungent, dissonant harmoniclanguage, its arch -shaped structure, and itspulsing chordal cycles. Sextet still refers toReich's earlier music in its unflagging rhyth-

J U N E 19 8 7 41

mic energy and percussive exuberance, butwithout sacrificing the harmonic enrichmentof recent years. It is a sheer joy to hear,sounding as if Reich-fresh from the exer-tions of The Desert Music-had approachedhis familiar percussion ensemble with a mix-ture of relief and renewed enthusiasm,which seems to have been contagious. Sextetis Reich's finest chamber work since Octet(1979), and its performance by members ofSteve Reich and Musicians and of Nexus is alabor of love.

Sextet is paired with Six Marimbas, a re -

scoring of Six Pianos (1973). Six Marimbas is agenuinely minimal work-shunning melod-ic or coloristic development and possessing

very little harmonic movement-and itserves to demonstrate both the long roadthat Reich has traveled and the satisfyinglinks his more recent music retains with itspast. For despite the fact that Sextet can nolonger be described as minimal-its har-monic language, tonal range, and melodicexpansion are too complex for that-it re-mains faithful to the minimal idea of clarityof contrapuntal process that is broached sosuccessfully in Six Marimbas. Ultimately,Reich's greatest achievements may lie insmall chamber works such as these, whichallow his innate tendencies to blossom in anunforced manner. And it is always a pleasureto watch those very personal inclinations de -

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velop, yet remain identifiably Reichian. Play-ing time: 42:43. K. Robert Schwan

TCNA1KOVSKY:

Symphony No. 1, In G minor, Op. 13 ("WinterDreams"); Waits and Polonaise from EugeneOnegin, Op. 24; Marche slave, Op. 31.

Berlin Philharmonic, Korojon. Deutsche Gram-(.1 --nhon 419 176 2 ASymphony No. 2, in C minor, Op. 17 ("LittleRussian"); 1812 Festival Overture, Op. 49.

Berlin Philharmonic, Karajan. Deutsche Gram-Lir ,nohon 417 177-2 (A).

Symphony No. 3, la 15, Op. 24 ("Palish");Capriccio Italian, Op. 45.

Berlin Philharmonic, Karajan. Deutsche Gram-jir mophon 417 178-2 (A).

HERBERT VON BARMAN'S WAY WITH THE FIRST

three Tchaikovsky symphonies will appeal tothose who do not like their Tchaikovsky in-tense; under his baton, the Berlin Philhar-monic gives magnificently played, but ratherplacid, interpretations. Symphony No. I( Winter Dreams) unfolds in a leisurely fashion,and in the delightful Symphony No. 2 (theso-called Little Russian), Karajan succeeds incapturing the folksy playfulness of the score.But the account of Symphony No. 3 (Polish)never catches fire, in spite of the extraordi-narily fine playing of the Berliners; even thefinal polacca fails to excite. It is unfortunatethat Karajan was not in a more vigorousmood in 1979, when all three were recorded.

The couplings are fairly generous (Sym-phony No. 1, etc.: 66:10; Symphony No. 2,etc.: 50:38; Symphony No. 3, etc.: 63:33),but I find this rendition of the 1812 FestivalOverture disappointing. The Don CossackChorus sings the opening chorale impres-sively, but the cannon in the final pages areblurred and ineffective. All of the fillers datefrom 1967, and like the three symphonies,they did not seem to have particularly out-standing sonics when originally issued. TheCD transfer has helped slightly. All threediscs would have made fine entries in a bud-get -price series; at full price, they're harderto recommend. Robert E. Benson

TCHAIKOV SKY:

Symphony No. 2, In C minor, Op. I 7("Little Russian").RIMSKY-KORSAKOV:Symphony No. 2, Op. 9 ("Antar").

P,ttsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Maazel. Rob-ert Woods, prod. Telarc CD 80131 (D).

Futs IS LORIN MAAZEL'S FIRST RECORDING AS

music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony,and one scarcely need add that he has come along way in the four decades since he was aviolinist in the same orchestra. He presidesover solid, capable performances of both ofthese Russian Romantic symphonies, withTchaikovsky's Little Russian the more suc-cessful of the two, moving at a brisk pace thatseems just right. The /War Symphony, how-ever, requires more imagination than Maa-zel possesses if it is to succeed. The secondmovement ("The Delight of Vengeance")would have benefitted from a more mvsteri-

118 HIGH FIDEL IT

ous, menacing treatment; the third ("TheDelight of Power") plods excessively; andthe finale ("The Delight of Love"), while asexotic as any of the pages of Scheherazade,here seems decidedly unsensuous.

The orchestral playing is excellent, how-ever, and Telarc's reproduction offers a newsonic approach for the label. Recorded inCalvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh,these performances have a very resonantacoustic, with more "air" around the orches-tra than is usually heard on Telarc discs. Be-cause of this, there is some loss of clarity andsolidity in the low percussion, but the overalleffect is very pleasing. I look forward to fu-ture Pittsburgh/Maazel/Telarc recordings.Playing time: 67:31. Robert E. Benson

VI11111

UN belle I. onstschows.

0M. Price, Battle, Ludwig, Pavarotti, Bruson,Lloyd, King, Weber; London Opera Chorus,

National Philharmonic Orchestra, Solti. Christo-pher Raeburn, prod. London 410 210-2 (2, D). 0(3).D(3)EVEN THOUGH VERDI'S UN BAILLO IN MASCHER4

has been frequently recorded-ten commer-cial releases come to mind-few can beheartily recommended. It is not for lack ofstellar names. Beniamino Gigli's extraordi-nary performance (Seraphim 6026) is wellworth having, both as an example of the ten-or in his top form and for Fedora Barbieri'simpressive Ulrica. Among the others whohave sung the role to great acclaim, and re-corded it at least once commercially, areGiuseppe di Stefano (with Maria Callas andTito Gobbi), Carlo Bergonzi (first with Bir-git Nilsson, Cornell MacNeil, and GiuliettaSimionato, later with Leontyne Price andRobert Merrill), Luciano Pavarotti, PlacidoDomingo, and Jose Carreras. Alcohol and,finally, death, kept Jussi Bjoerling from re-

cording the role on two different occasions(first with Toscanini, whose performance isstill the best conducted, then later withGeorg Solti). And yet, the whole of most ofthese sets is considerably less than the sumof their often illustrious parts.

Thus, this new Solti-led performance-with Luciano Pavarotti, Margaret Price, Re-nato Bruson, and Kathleen Battle, all in rep-resentative form-is particularly welcome.This third try at the opera for London is notexactly definitive, but it has the flavor of afull-fledged operatic venture, a flavor that israpidly being chased out of the studios andeven the opera houses by directors and con-ductors (and in the case of recordings, pro-ducers) who believe that all that matters isnote -to -note accuracy.

Solti is not known for being the warmestof maestros, and surely his early account ofthe opera (London OSA-1328) was a perfectspecimen of his sort of over -emphatic stress-ing that lent a brutal edge to so many of hisrecorded performances. He has relaxed tosuch an extent that some moments lack thegrand sweep we expect to hear. But there is amellow, sensitive ear at work here, stressingthe orchestral marvels of Verdi's score,while at all times allowing the singers tomake their individual musical points andsing thrillingly.

Of course, the major reason for this set isthe second go -around for Pavarotti as Ric-cardo. His earlier London set (released in1971) had very little to recommend it, apartfrom his impetuous, rather small-scale con-tributions. London was far more careful,even thoughtful, in its casting this timearound. Also, Pavarotti has hundreds moreperformances of the role under his belt, andthough the voice no longer has the exuber-ant sheen and heady abandon of the earliereffort, it has gained weight and a very specif-

SIR GEORG SOLTI STRESSES THE ORCHESTRAL MARVELS OF VERDI'S "UN BALLO IN MASCHERA," WHILE AT ALL TIMES ALLOWING THE SINGERS TO

MAKE THEIR INDIVIDUAL MUSICAL POINTS AND SING THRILLINGLY

is communicative thrust.Margaret Price had not as yet performed

the role of Amelia on stage, though onewould hardly know it, so committed andthoroughly worked into the throat is her per-formance. Her ripe, effulgent lyric sopranohas rarely sounded more appealing and se-ductive on records. If Verdi is now in thecards for a singer who made her career as anoutstanding Mozartean (everywhere exceptat the Metropolitan Opera, which has be-come interested in her only very recently),the future looks promising indeed.

The impact Solti had on these sessions isnowhere more evident than in the Renato ofRenato Bruson. His earlier performance forClaudio Abbado (on Deutsche Grammo-phon) showed up all the unappealing facetsof the voice-the throttled, dry top and theinability to expand into a phrase and infuse itwith the grandeur the music demands. WithSolti, the performance has a candor, a di-rectness, that makes it deeply satisfying. Hisvoice sounds even more congested than usu-al, but the sense that Bruson is being allowedto give his own performance of the part, tai-lored to his strengths and weaknesses, is ev-erywhere tangible.

Kathleen Battle's soft -grained sopranoprevents her from really commanding atten-tion throughout Oscar's ensembles, but herinnate soubrette charms hold her in goodstead throughout the performance. OnlyChrista Ludwig's Ulrica is out of the run-ning. Even in her prime, hers would havebeen the wrong voice and temperament forsuch an unstintingly Verdian mezzo role;nowadays, she simply can't find a way tomake the character project.

The recorded sound is natural and un-fussy, and the voices-especially those ofPrice and Pavarotti-have been well caught.The National Philharmonic Orchestra re-spOnds well to Solti's guidance and prod-ding, though at times a certain lack of theat-rical tenseness belies its non -opera -orches-tra status. It is a pity that so few operaorchestras are brought into the studio any-more. The loss of minute details of ensem-ble, awareness, and the vibrancy that onlycome from a group that feels this stuff fromyears of playing it is considerable.

Compact Disc buyers need search no fur-ther for a Ballo. Surely DG's with Abbado,the only other account currently available, isone of that conductor's worst efforts in thestudio. If Philips gets around to reissuing itsColin Davis read -through with Carreras andMontserrat Caballe, it may appeal to diehardfans of those singers, though only Carrerasis worth a hearing, and Davis's way with Ver-di is, when all is said and done, distinctly un-interesting.

The Callas/Di Stefano/Gobbi readingfor Angel EMI will surely be out before toolong, and while it is an interesting perfor-mance, I would recommend it only as an al-ternative, rather than as the sole Ballo in acollection, since Antonino Votto's conduct-ing, wedded to the thin mono sound of the

period, cannot do full justice to the specificriches of this score, no matter how dramati-cally effective the singing. Playing time:130:29. Thor Eckert, Jr.

VIVALDI:Concertos for Bassoon, Strings,and Continuo (6).

Thunemann, I Music:. Philips 416 355-4 (D).00Concertos: in F, RV. 485; in B flat, RV. 503; in E

flat, RV. 483; in A minor, RV. 497; in C, RV. 473; in

G, RV. 492.

As A ONE-TIME AMATEUR BASSOONIST WHOSE

supreme moments were as third bassoon in aBoston settlement school pro/am orchestraperformance of the Prelude to Act I of Lohen-grin (in which the lowly third is entrustedwith the score's bass line for a dozen or sobars), my enthusiasm for the instrument bi-ases my reporting on any program that fea-tures a bassoon soloist. But Klaus Thune-mann is an extraordinary one, apparentlythe leading European practitioner nowa-days. And although he has been featured in anumber of earlier recordings, including sev-eral with the Academy of St. Martin -in -the -Fields, this is the first major solo program ofhis that has come to my attention.

It's a fine one: From his first notes,Thunemann demonstrates a mastery of hisungainly but versatile instrument, as well asa notably big and eloquent tone. He com-bines with effortless skill its dual roles to be,as Michael Talbot's perceptive notes put it,both a songful tenor instrument and a bassinstrument that doubles the continuo part,with occasional elaborations that demandthe agility of a heavyweight gymnast.

Effectively, if a bit heavy-handedly, ac-companied by I Musici and exceptionallywell recorded, this set of six of the best of Vi-valdi's 39 bassoon concertos is surely one ofthe very finest in the discography to date.And if you cling to the notion that Vivaldidid not write countless individual concertosbut only innumerable versions of the sameone, the variety of materials and treatmentshere should speedily teach you better!

R. D. Darrell

WELL:Solis (13).

Straws; Y Chamber Symphony, Schwarz. Rob-

ert Hurwitz, prod. Nonesuch 79131-2 (A). ImoANDERSON: Knickerbocker Holiday: It Nev-

er Wos You. BRECHT: The Rise and Fall of the City

of Mahagonny: Havonno-Lied; Denn wie man sich

betel; Happy End: Surabaya -Johnny; Dos Lied von

der horten Nuss; Der kleine Leutnont des liebenGottes; The Threepenny Opera: Dos Lied von derUnzacinglichkeill menschlichen Strebens. DEVAL:Marie Galante: J'ottends un navire; Le Roi d'Aqui-taine; Le Train du ciel. GERSHWIN: lady in theDark: One Life to live. HUGHES: Street Scene:lonely House. KAISER: Silverlake: Id bin eine armeVerwandte (Fennimore's Song). NASH: One Touch

of Venus: I'm a Stranger Here Myself; FoolishHeart.RIGHT AFTER TERESA STRATAS RELEASED HER

first Kurt Weill album, one hardly could

have imagined a real competitor to surface.Tiny, tortured, and driven, she emerged,with Latte Lenya's blessing, as the quintes-sential Weillian female: a whirl of destruc-tive vulnerability momentarily sanctified bythe classical technique that encased it. Likethat of George Balanchine's Gelsey Kirk-land, Stratas's energy fed on the tension be-tween the sacred and the profane-a cuttingedge that Hal Willner's rock musicians in hisWeill-redux sampler, Lost in the Stars [seeJune 1986 review], had to discover from adifferent perspective. Stratas's first Weillcollection was shocking and erotic, disturb-ing yet somehow liberating. And it pointedto wells of inner Weillian wisdom that per-haps even Lenya herself hadn't fully fath-omed.

Sequels, however, are often disturbing inother ways. Stratas Sings Weill, 15 show tuneswith instrumental accompaniment, containsglorious singing-Stratas has perhaps neversounded so beautiful. But what's generallymissing is the almost paralyzing emotion-the Anna Karenina calm cum hysteria-heard in the first edition's "Wit lange noch?"There, Stratas lived dangerously; here, shemakes choices, brilliant ones maybe, butchoices that tend to clothe the very thingwe've come to long for in her. "Surabaya -Johnny" is chock-full of color changes, verseto verse, but they don't add up to onefleshed -out character capable of surviving inthe imagination. Superficially charmingsongs like "One Life to Live" and "FoolishHeart" are merely petticoat patter for Stra-tas-an affront to her savage soul-while thehumor of an Ira Gershwin line like "This ismy thesis: Why go to pieces?" completelypasses her by.

Stratas, however, is full of other strata,and she remains the mistress of the smallgesture and the big swell. In "Tattends un na-vire" ("I'm Waiting for a Ship"), she paintsthe rise and crest of ocean waves with the ex-quisite pianissimo glissando that is the se-cret of her legato, while in "Lonely House"(a masterful composition), she hugs theword alone to her breast as if it were her lastcrumb of bread. "Le Train du ciel" ("TheTrain from Heaven"), however, is one of thefew songs here that seems to hurl itself for-ward, beginning to end, from inside thesinger. A mixture of Gershwin gospel, Mah-ler morbidity, and Schubert terror, it istransformed by the Stratas fever into a time-less hymn of salvation from hell.

Perhaps Stratas's real competition is herown ghost-past, present, or future. On theback of the album cover is the saltiest, mostintimate and intelligent interview she hasever given; her performance inside almostpales by comparison. This artist is an ele-mental force, and to listen to her has neverbeen safe. But on this disc, one feels herstanding above the abyss of intuition, sowide-eyed and haunted, holding on to intel-lect by one small thread. How I long for herto let go-and jump. Playing time:53:58. Pamela Bloom

J U N I 1987 7

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ne,Two,Three,

Four!And the way they sound is way beyond compare?

Our critics rate the Beatles on CD and video.

JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY, GEORGE HARRISON, RINGO STARR:no introduction necessary. Suffice to say that, at long last, the Bea-tles have entered the digital age. Accordingly, we are devoting thissection to reviews of their first four Compact Discs. We also take afresh look at their first two films, now on Hi-Fi videocassette. Staytuned for complete coverage of additional Beatle CDs and videos inthe coming months-a splendid time, indeed.

COMPACT DISCS"PLEASE PLEASE ME"

THE FIRS] THING YOU NOTICE IS THE BASS.On cut after cut, there is a distinct soundwhere before there had often been littlemore than a subliminal presence. Rock his-tories may have to be amended, as the prop-er study of Paul McCartney, bassist, can onlynow begin.

The second thing you notice is that itreally is possible to hear these chestnutsanew. The Compact Disc of Please Please Me(Parlophone CDP 46435) is a replica of the

Beatles' I4 -song British Parlophone debutLP, which was released in March 1963 andwhich showed up in the U.S. four months lat-er on Vee-Jay as Introducing the Beatles, minus"Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You." Onecut from the original release, "I Saw HerStanding There," turned up on the group'sfirst American Capitol album, Meet the Bea-tles! ( January 1964), and 11 more cuts endedup on Capitol's The Early Beatles (March1965). The two remaining songs from theoriginal release, "Misery" and "There's aPlace," effectively disappeared from theAmerican market with the Vee-Jay LP. If thistypically labyrinthine sampling of the Bea-tles' discography hasn't confused you alto -

J U N E 1987 71

leatlesBeatlesBeatlesBeatlesBrictJ N-leatlesBeatlesBeatlesBeatlesi19"11"

gether, consider also this: Though originallyrecorded for mono, the Please Please Me mate-rial was released in both the U.K. and theU.S. in both mono and stereo-and a ratherprimitive stereo at that, usually with the vo-cals coming out of the right speaker and aglob of instrumental backing coming out ofthe left speaker. Furthermore, the AmericanLPs have a thicker sound, with more reverb,as if someone thought the tunes should betarted up a bit for the loutish Yanks (thoughthe decision was made Stateside by Capitol).Comparing the stereo Please Please Me LPwith the stereo Early Beatles, however, onehesitates to cry desecration. Sometimes, ason "Please Please Me" and "Twist andShout," where forcefulness is appreciated,the trashy American sound is better; on oth-er cuts, like the close -harmony "Chains" or"Boys," where clarity of accompanimentgives a song added oomph, the cleaner Britwins hands down.

The CD of Please Please Me has producerGeorge Martin's original mono mix as wellas the rational song order that was lost withthe American dispersion of these earlytracks. It's a set that begins with the one -two -

three -four pow! of "I Saw Her StandingThere," moves through several rock andpop covers and originals, and ends with twosongs that perfectly sum up the two impulseswhose attempted synthesis would soon be-come a major ingredient in the Beatles' orig-inal contributions: the introspective, incipi-ently psychedelic "There's a Place" and theparty -hardy rave-up "Twist and Shout."

Then there's the sound, which revealssuch you -are -there delights as the tingling ofthe little metal thingees on the tambourineon "Love Me Do," the slap of Ringo's brush-work on "A Taste of Honey," the rounderguitar sound on "Anna (Go to Him)" and"Do You Want to Know a Secret," and,throughout, the blending of the lead vocalswith those backing harmonies, which tend tohang in a kind of limbo on both the Britishand the American stereo versions. Anothernew pleasure is the familiar voices madericher: John the rough but also romantic(though in retrospect, one can't help buthear the intended irony in some of the melo-dramatic poses he strikes); Paul the smoothcrooner (exquisite on "P.S. I Love You");George, revealing an adeptness at singingmelody ("Do You Want to Know a Secret")that pretty much lay dormant until AbbeyRoad; and Ringo, whose voice, heard from

E our postmodern perch, now sounds like agreat conceptual coup, its emotional effect

L.7k, (a pleasant poignancy) generated by thespace between what it attempts and what itachieves.

No doubt there will always be some poi-gnancy involved for my generation in listen-ing to the Beatles. Still, the overall mood

z here is youthful optimism: Even "Misery" is

a happy -sounding song, and if the Mobiusstrip of joy and pain that emerges from theklutzy lyrics of "Ask Me Why" is a testamentto youth's determination to suffer gtiandly,one is struck more by John's cheerful saluteto heroes Gene Pitney and Roy Orbison ashe rushes toward his own identity. It's aprogress that, thanks to this and future CDs,we can follow for the first time, once again.

Richard C. Walls

"WITH THE BEATLES"LISTENING 10 HMI IIIL BLAILLS ON COMPACT'

Disc (Parlophone CDP 46436), its BritishParlophone stereo LP counterpart (original-ly released in November 1963), and theAmerican Capitol stereo LPs that include its14 tracks (Meet the Beatles!, from January1964, and The Beatles' Second Album,from

W1 SIGIAElflROM 'Mt

1964 FILM"(t111121) OM'S

worn

April 1964), two things come quickly tomind: the clear advantages of the CD in itscleanliness and in its mono sound, the soundthat was originally intended for this secondBeatles collection.

Start with the CD's lead track, "It Won'tBe Long." After absorbing the punch ofJohn's bare introductory vocal phrase, one isstruck by the perfection of George Martin'scompressed twin -track recording: Every ele-ment seems to fit in its own designated spacein the mono mix with absolute clarity. Onthe other hand, a quick switch to the Parlo-phone stereo LP shows obtrusive surfacenoise and a marked depreciation in cymbalbrightness and sharpness. Because Ringo'scymbal ride was so enormously important tothe Big Beat, this is a big loss.

Then there's the issue of stereo itself. Onboth the British and American LPs, "stereo"takes the form of vocals on the right channeland instruments on the left. On Meet the Bea-tles!, this simplistic split sounds quite silly,especially with the vocals: You expect them

to be upfront center and become annoyed todiscover them cast off to one side. Furtherexamination finds a slight echo of the vocalin the opposite channel, which becomesmore pronounced and more irritating as lis-tening proceeds.

Three-way comparisons are revealing.Paul's voice on "All My Loving" soundscloudier on the stereo Meet the Beatles! thanon the mono CD, and the instruments have aflatter tone; the same song is mushier as wellas noisier on the Parlophone stereo LP.John's singing of "Little Child" may soundjust as great on the LPs as it does on CD, butonly with the latter can you get alongside theindividual reeds of his harmonica. There'salso a weird situation on the LPs where theharp jumps to the vocal channel during thebreak, then back to the instrumental channelwhen the singing resumes. Paul's acoustic

rendition of "TillThere Was You" pro-vides one of the bestthree-way tests of thelot. The guitar on theParlophone LP lacksthe CD's vibrancy. Andwhereas the CD alsoshowcases the beauty ofPaul's phrasing, Meet theBeatles! strands his voicein one channel, where itseems alone in an emp-ty room.

Over on the stereoLP of The Beatles* SecondAlbum, the blazing gui-tar intro to "Roll OverBeethoven" just doesnot have the CD'szing-nor the hand-claps its bite, nor the

bass drum its expansion. The ParlophoneLP version is likewise wimpier. The remain-ing Second Album tracks sound washed out,not only next to the CD but also next to Meetthe Beatles! On "Devil in Her Heart," for in-stance, the cymbals have lost specific beatsand instead make a continuous hiss that ap-pears to float from channel to channel.Group vocals on "You Really Got a Hold onMe" and "Money" are separate and distincton CD, but they run together on LP, where"Money" is further marred by a loss of rich-ness in John's lead vocal. It seems there's al-ways something on vinyl that sounds hiddenbehind a sheet.

True, there are spots on the CompactDisc where voices and instruments could bemore strictly defined. And it should be not-ed that even on the CD, there are instanceswhere the dynamic fullness of the soundsuddenly contracts or expands a degree ortwo. (Both changes inexplicably occur in asingle song, "You Really Got a Hold onMe": At the start of the first verse, the instru-

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atlesBeatles13

mental backing thins out behind the vocals,only to regain full width and volume a fewmoments later beside "Woa, woa, woa.") Insum, however, the mono CD of With the Bea-tles proves far superior to its stereo LP coun-terparts. Jim Bessmnn

"A HARD DAY'S NIGHT"TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, THE BEATLESprecipitated an unprecedented, and thus farunrivaled, explosion of pop energy and cre-ativity. Joyously irresistible bursts of opti-mism were unexpectedly leavened withraunch (the Beatles were seasoned rock 'n'roll veterans by the time they first recorded),wit, pop passion even unto pop paranoia,and exceptional skill. Dissonance and self -mockery undercut much of the schmaltz, thesaccharine, and the other somewhat -less -than -revolutionary conventional ingredi-ents. And could they sing.' And could theywrite! Etc., etc., etc.

This superabundance of gifts also pre-cipitated an unprecedented and unrivaledmarketplace feeding -frenzy. Because recordcompanies, like nature, abhor a vacuum,Capitol filled the breach with a bizarre andseemingly indiscriminate barrage of prod-uct -reshuffled, remixed, and repackagedspecially for the American Beatlemaniac.The original recordings were so wonderfullydurable -indestructible, actually -thatthose who even noticed the substantial dif-ferences between the American and the Brit-ish releases responded by creating a smallbut significant demand for U.K. imports.Though EMI subsidiaries Capitol and Parlo-phone pretended discomfort, it was literallya no -lose situation.

So sweet a deal, in fact, that it is only now(several neo-repackages, neo-reshuffles,and Japanese imports later), with the long-awaited release of Beatles material on Com-pact Disc in sacred and remunerative obser-vance of the 25th, that Capitol is attemptingto untangle the artless marketing mess itstarted all those years ago by proclaimingthe canonical rectitude of the ParlophoneLPs (while not quite renouncing the Ameri-can vinyl versions . . . but that's anotherstory).

Cleaving hard to the new dictum, the CDof A Hard Day's Night (Parlophone CDP46437) pays curious attention to archival re-production of the original British package,right down to the vapid, uninformative linernotes. This is a bit vexing because the 13songs here, originally released on British LPin July 1964, are found on four differentAmerican LPs from the same year: April'sThe Beatles' Second Album ("You Can't DoThat"), June's A Hard Day's Night (the formerUnited Artists half -instrumental soundtrack;the CD mercifully does not include "Ringo'sTheme," the movie -music version of "This

lesBeatlesBeatlesi

Boy," to which wistful accompaniment thebeloved doofus goes paradin'), July's Some-thing New, and December's Beatles '65 ("I'llBe Back"). Since all that stands between theconsumer and some functional discographicinformation is a modest budget for researchand writing, I'm immediately confusedabout the priorities, not to mention sincer-ity, of the anniversary -reunification -reissueproject.

But wait, it gets worse: For reasons thataren't entirely clear or sensible, this CD -infact, all of the first four CDs -can now beheard in crisp, flawless mono. The fact thatthe LPs, particularly A Hard Day's NightandBeatles for Sale,have been available in quitereasonable -sounding stereo since Day Onemakes the historical imprimatur of the CDproject thoroughly suspect. Careful com-parison of the CD of A Hard Day's Night withboth British and American stereo LPs dem-onstrates that though noise reduction, clar-ity, bass response, and vocal and instrumen-tal presence are clearly superior, as theywould be on almost any CD, songs as differ-ent as "And I Love Her," Paul's sweet, most-ly acoustic samba, and "Can't Buy MeLove," a blast of bass -heavy Mersey Beat,still lack the vivid dimensionality they havein even the scratchiest stereo pressing. Whatwas the point, then? After more than 20years, why go to this trouble and still not getit right?

None of this, it must be said, has muchimpact on the ultimate efficacy of the music.My daughters, both born long after the Bea-tles era, stop whatever they're doing anddance whenever I play A Hard Day's Night.But that would have been true even if the re-cordings had been reissued on Edison cylin-ders. Obviously, any effort that brings mean-ingful, historically accurate order to such anessential body of work is certainly com-mendable. But serious scholarship, forwhich there are very few models in the non-classical major -label world, is an absolute re-quirement for such a project. The PolygramHank Williams chronological reissue seriesis pretty much the only exception thatproves the rule. And A Hard Day's Night, fornow, is no exception. Jeff Nesin

"BEATLES FOR SALE""OH -HO -HOLD ME," LAUGHS JOHN IN THEmiddle of "Eight Days a Week," and hislaugh seems to encompass both the absurdi-ty of the romantic bliss the song describesand his delight in being caught up in it any-way. That chuckle, knowing and jubilant,can stand as the emblem of Beatles for Sale(Parlophone CDP 46438). On this collec-tion, the Beatles bid a long goodbye to theirstorehouse of freewheeling early rock coversand the release they provided, while theiroriginal songs show a new maturity and

74 HIGH FIDELITY

tlesBeatlesBeatles

skepticism that point toward the watershedof Rubber Soul. As increasingly comfortablecreatures of the recording studio, the Bea-tles were collaborating more with producerGeorge Martin on ways to stretch and adapttheir sonic vocabulary. Perhaps the mostbrash example of this aspect of their career isto be heard off the record, on the ground-breaking feedback of "I Feel Fine," the sin-gle that was released in England one weekbefore the December 1964 appearance ofBeatles for Sale. But the album holds richerand subtler joys in its breathtaking dynam-ics: Just one listen to the way the slowlybuilding charge of drums and guitar in"What You're Doing" explodes into thesong's cry of "Look!" tells you that.

Listening to the songs in the distortion -less clarity afforded by their mono mixes,little details that had sunk from your memo-ry reassert their primacy. Paul's double -tracked vocals on "I'll Follow the Sun" shim-mer against the plucked guitar notes.Entrances and exits of instruments gain dra-ma: "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" gets asudden lift from the introduction of Ringo'stambourine during the bridge, and the al-ready explosive "What You're Doing" iskicked up a notch by the intrusion of somebluesy piano chords. Also surprising, yettaken for granted, is how many perfor-mances are propelled by acoustic guitars,with George's trusty Gretsch electric usedfor spare embellishment. Then again, that'sentirely appropriate on an album whereLennon -McCartney nod frequently to thepathos of c&w: "I Don't Want to Spoil theParty," the Everly-ish melodrama of "Baby'sin Black," John's harrowing "I'm a Loser.""No Reply," with its countryish theme of be-trayal, strikes light and deep, its acoustic gui-tars chomping down at the singers' heels,John's voice shifting from a rational purr toan enraged yelp.

Besides the added grain the CD brings tothe vocal harmonies and guitars when com-pared with its Parlophone stereo LP coun-terpart, it also rectifies the slight overmixingof the lead vocal that is present on the eightcorresponding cuts on Capitol's Beatles '65(released in December 1964) and the six cor-responding tracks on the American label'sBeatles 17 (June 1965). (To be fair, most mid -Sixties pop productions favored a song'sgrabbiest aspects-usually lead singing andguitar hooks-just to get it across on AM ra-dio.) The gratifying result is that the CD re-tains the integrity of the ensemble perfor-mances, reminding you of what you mayhave forgotten: that the Beatles were aworld -class rock 'n' roll band. John's vocal onChuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music" isshoved along by some abrupt guitar licksand intermittent piano throbs. And those ofus who forgot that Paul once rocked out candelight in the vocal yowl and slashing guitars

eatles BeatlesB

of the medley of Leiber (not "Lieber," as theCD package has it) and Stoller's "KansasCity" and Little Richard's "Hey, Hey, Hey,Hey." (The latter song is now credited.)

There are a couple of subpar moments,which, in the case of this recording, simplymeans moments that don't quite touchheaven. John's vocal is the sole interestingthing supporting the version of "Mr. Moon-light." And the amount of echo maskingGeorge's voice is the sole interesting thingabout the version of "Everybody's Trying toBe My Baby." As for what's not on this CD,you could wonder what is to become of Bea-tles '65's "I Feel Fine" and "She's a Woman"and Beatles 17's "Yes It Is" and "Bad Boy,"which do not appear on regular -release Brit-ish LPs. But to reassure yourself of the possi-bility of a perfect world despite such things,cue up "Every Little Thing." John sings thelyrics of everyday contentment without atrace of a boast; what you hear in his clear,ardent voice is an almost prayerful gratitude:"When I'm with her, I'm happy/Just to knowthat she loves me." Behind him-or, moreprecisely, with him-instruments enter andadd their assent to his. Loose flecks of elec-tric guitar, a piano's descending bass notes,the rumble of timpani-each one speaks its"yes" so surely yet unostentatiously that youcan imagine no other configuration for themexcept the one you are hearing. "Every littlething," John and Paul repeat in twined har-mony as the song fades, as if all along thesong itself were the utopia they were de-scribing. Mark Moses

AN OVERVIEWWHEN THE FOUR COMPACT DISCS COVERED IN

these pages first arrived at the offices ofHIGH FIDELITY, there was certainly no short-age of reviewers eager to pass judgment onthem. As editor of the magazine's BACKBEATsection, I decided to distribute the titlesamong four critics, not simply to include asmany writers as possible but to elicit as manyopinions as possible. As a Beatle fan since theage of seven, however, I wanted to have mysay, too, I confess. And realizing that thefour -for -four scheme might not provide anoverall statement on the CDs as a set, I re-solved to assign myself a piece on (braceyourself) What It All Means.

The dominant issue brought up by therelease of the Beatles' first four Parlophonealbums on CD is the question of mono vs.stereo. EMI chairman Bhaskar Menon, Bea-tle producer George Martin, and other prin-cipals have given varying explanations as towhy these CDs have mono sound, but thebasic facts appear to be as follows: PleasePlease Me and With the Beatles were recordedon two -track equipment, primarily with vo-cals on the right channel and instrumentalbacking on the left. Martin then compressed

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eatlesBeatlesBe

the tracks together to, in his words, "get ahard impact sound for mono." A Hard Day'sNight and Beatles for Sale were apparently re-corded on four -track equipment but similar-ly compressed to create a powerful mono.Comments Martin, "The first Beatle recordswere mono records; they were never intend-ed to be stereo." Nonetheless, mono andstereo versions appeared simultaneously onthe British Parlophone label and the Ameri-can Capitol label. To this day, Martin has noidea who "made" those stereo LPs: "Cer-tainly, I didn't mix them in stereo," he toldThe New York Times, "nor did the Beatles."

But when EMI contacted Martin in De-cember 1986 for his input on transferringthe four LPs to CD, he discovered the com-pany was planning to use the stereo mixes.Martin disliked the stereo CD test press-ings-his language ranges from "I didn'tthink they were very good" to "I thoughtthey were awful"-and advised that the firsttwo titles be mono and the second two, ifthey had to be stereo, be "re -equalized" forCD to approximate modern stereo. Appar-ently, there was no time for such re -equaliza-tion, so EMI released all four titles withmono sound.

It seems to me that any new stereo mixeswould have to be radically different from theold ones, for Martin has told Billboard thatthe old unintended stereo has been "thebane of my life for the past two decades."And since Martin has also said he is "delight-ed" with the mono CDs, the following ques-tion comes to mind: With mono and stereoParlophone LPs, mono and stereo CapitolLPs, and now mono worldwide CDs alreadyout there, do we really need yet another wayto hear the Beatles? I say no, as do RichardC. Walls, Jim Bessman, and Mark Moses intheir separate reviews. But Jeff Nesin, noshabby critic he, says yes, as does Beatle ex-pert Allan Kozinn, who believes the oldstereo mixes of A Hard Day's Night and Beatlesfor Sale are "bright, spacious, and really quitelovely." We critics never all agree-andthat's good. The more opinions, the better.After all, it was Allan himself who compiled aJanuary 1983 HIGH FIDELITv article entitled"HF's Music Critics Take On the CompactDisc," wherein a pack of reviewers launchedthe magazine's coverage of the digital medi-um by debating the merits of such titles as52nd Street and Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Don't get me wrong: The reason I'd balkat stereo CDs of the first four Beatle record-ings is not because I want to keep the Beatlemarket from becoming any more clutteredthan it already is, but because I think themono CDs sound wonderful on their ownand considerably better than their stereo LPcounterparts. The Beatles did not experi-ment with stereo effects and heavily exoticinstrumentation until later in their career;what's most important on these four CDs is

atlesBeatlesBeatle

the song, not the studio. Martin's monomixes help us focus on the Beatles' burgeon-ing creativity in writing sensational melodiesand harmonies, like those of "Please PleaseMe," "If I Fell," and the bridges of "Baby'sin Black" and "I Don't Want to Spoil the Par-ty." (And remember: The 55 tracks repre-sented here were originally released in thespace of 20 months.) Listening to the BritishParlophone stereo LPs, however, I moreoften than not jotted down in my notes thevery same word that Jim Bessman calls uponto describe their mixes: "silly." The stereosplit is especially bothersome on the Beatlesfor Sale LP, where the vocals and instrumentsof songs like "No Reply" and "Mr. Moon-light" seem to emanate from differentrooms, leaving a gaping hole in the middle.Furthermore, the right channel-the vocalchannel-is frequently louder than the leftand effectively drowns out the instruments.Prepare yourself for even more trouble ifyou slap on your American LPs. Capitol didindeed alter production values: Some of itsLPs even say the recordings were producedin England by Martin "and in the U.S.A. withthe assistance of Dave Dexter, Jr.," so let'sblame Dave. In some cases, the results aredownright excruciating. "What You're Do-ing" is unbelievably steely and harsh on Bea-tles with jacked -up opening drums thatsound like the advent of Godzilla, and "YouCan't Do That" is an out-and-out mess onThe Beatles' Second Album.

It's a safe bet that some listeners are out-raged over the mono CDs because they re-member growing up with the Beatles instereo and resent having something differ-ent forced upon them. Well, I'd suggest thatthese listeners go back and check their oldCapitol LPs; when I did so, I was surprised todiscover that all of my titles up to Rubber Soulare in fact mono. Take yourself back: It'strue that record stores of the Sixties did haveseparate displays for mono and stereo ver-sions of the same LP, but I'll wager that mostkids bought their Beatle LPs, as I did, in drugstores or the tiny record sections of sprawl-ing department stores, where if any stereo ver-sions were to be found at all, they were likelymixed in with the mono versions. ("Was hedown in the boondocks?" you ask. No: Igrew up in Skokie, a large suburb of Chica-go.) Besides, what did we kids know of monovs. stereo? We grabbed the first LP we saw.All of which means that if you do indeedhave mono Capitols and you factor out thecompany's tinkerings with sound, then whatyou grew up with is what's now on CD.

Except that the CDs still sound better.Crystalline details are numerous: the hand-claps on "I Saw Her Standing There,"George's vocal rasp on "Chains," the de-scending guitar lick on "It Won't Be Long,"the guitar break on "You Can't Do That,"the tambourine on "I'm a Loser" (stop me!).

7S HIGH FIDELITY

ltlesEleatlesEleatlesBeatles Be

Meanwhile, as Richard C. Walls points out,the fullness of Paul's bass is a revelation-throughout. And the almost total absence oftape hiss is nothing less than astounding.Each of the four CDs does have its own soniccharacter-A Hard Day's Night, for example,is the richest, with the most consistently ac-curate balance, while With the Beatles is quiteerratic, with several thin tracks-yet a checkof the corresponding LPs shows that thesevariations are products of the original re-cordings. Not so the mysterious dropout on"You Really Got a Hold on Me," however,an anomaly that JimBessman also noticedand that we verifiedwith different CDcopies auditioned on

SP

different CD players.During the first two vo-cal lines-and thosetwo lines only-the in-struments lose signifi-cant strength, as if theperson in charge of re -mastering for CD fellasleep on a switch andwas quickly roused byan alert assistant. EMIshould check the origi-nal master of With theBeatles. Also on the neg-ative side, the wisdomof reprinting only the NOow"original liner notes inthe CD packages is questionable, as Jeff Ne-sin contends-especially when it is donecarelessly, as is the case with Beatles for Sale,to wit: "For those who like to know who[sings] precisely what, there are detailsalongside each title." On the LP, yes; on theCD, no. As for the issue of playing time, whatcan I say? Sure, it's dumb that more than halfof each CD is empty. Sure, EMI should havedoubled up the titles or added singles andthe "missing" Capitol LP tracks. But honest-ly, asking for such things in the pop marketseems like asking for Presidents to apolo-gize. One could make a stronger case fordoubling up the Rolling Stones' 30 (count'em) CDs, compared with the mere 12 regu-lar -release Beatle titles.

For those who wish to know just exactlywhich Capitol tracks are missing from theseCDs, here's the list: "I Want to Hold YourHand" (the German "Komm, Gib Mir DeineHand" is no loss, though), "This Boy,""Thank You Girl," "Long Tall Sally," "ICall Your Name," "I'll Get You," "SheLoves You," "Slow Down," "Matchbox,""She's a Woman," "I Feel Fine," "BadBoy," and "Yes It Is." Great stuff, that. ButEMI promises to cover this material andmore (including Magical Mystery Tour) in atleast two compilations later on. What is hereon these four CDs is marvelous. I especially

JUNE 1987 79

ozvisl

galik7..1- ^

eatlesBeatlesBeatlesBeatlesBei

enjoyed reacquainting myself with a few"obscure" masterpieces: "There's a Place,""Don't Bother Me," "I'll Be Back," "EveryLittle Thing." And the original track order-ings enable us to fully appreciate how theBeatles' LPs were crafted, particularly in thearresting three -track openings for With the

Beatles ("It Won't Be Long," "All I've Got toDo," "All My Loving") and A Hard Day'sNight (title track, "I Should Have KnownBetter," "If I Fell"). In the transition fromstylus to laser, the music remains timeless.

Hungry for more? By the time you read

this, Help!, Rubber Soul, and Revolver shouldbe available on Compact Disc, too. On thefirst of this month, coinciding with the 20thanniversary of its original release, Sgt. Pep-per's Lonely Hearts Club Band is slated to hit thestands. EMI's remaining schedule calls forThe Beatles and Yellow Submarine to be issuedin August, followed by Abbey Road and Let ItBe in October. Videophiles can expect The

Making of "A Hard Day's Night" from MPIHome Video and It Was Twenty Years Ago To-

day (a Sgt. Pepper documentary made for tele-vision and planned for home video). As of

now, Magical Mystery Tour is still available(Media Home Entertainment), but both Yel-

low Submarine and Let It Be are not-a situa-tion that may very well change in the climateof Beatlemania '87. Ken Richardson

VIDEOCASSETTES"A HARD DAY'S NIGHT"

"HELP!"ALTHOUGH IT HAS TAKEN 20 YEARS FOR THE

first two Beatle films to appear on videocas-sette, you'll have to wait just a little longerafter popping the tapes into your VCR. In aheavy-handed attempt by MPI Home Videoat milking even more nostalgia from the oc-casion, A Hard Day's Night (MP 1064, Betaand VHS; originally available in 1983) is pre-ceded by a montage of film clips and c. 1964publicity stills, all to the accompaniment of(what else) "I'll Cry Instead." Meanwhile,the just -released Help! (MP 1342, Beta andVHS) is bracketed by the charming originalmovie 'railer for A Hard Day's Night and athankfully brief ad for MPI's documentaryThe Fabulous Sixties. And just in case anythick-skulled people out there missed thepoint, the tapes' packaging screams outpseudo -hallucinogenic lines like "Let thefun -filled memories of a lost era flood yourmind and soul."

Yet the folks at MPI have a point. A HardDay's Night and Help! are prized baby -boom-er mementos, and their unveiling on homevideo, after many years of legal wranglingand bidding involving the Beatles' estateand film producer Walter Shenson, is some-thing of an event for Beatle freaks. And to itscredit, MPI has done a commendable techni-cal job: The prints of both films are sharpand vivid, and the audio has been digitallyremastered and transferred to videocassettein Beta or VHS Hi-Fi. Yet just as sunlightbrings out the worst in a white -paintedroom, so the video medium reveals particu-

DIMENSIONAL PURITY VANDERSTEEN AUDIOVandersteen Audio was founded in 1977with tha commitment to offer always thefinest in music reproduction for the dollar.Toward this goal there will always be ahigh degree 6' pride, love, and personalsatisfaction inwolved in each piece before itleaves our faclities. Your Vandersteen dealershares in this zommitmecit, and has beencarefully selected for his ability to deal withthe complex task of assembling a musicallysatisfying system. Although sometimeshard to find, he is well worth seeking out.

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lar flaws in the two films.With its Technicolor production values,

Help! seems a natural candidate for homevideo. Indeed, the film looks magnificent,especially in its brilliant greens and reds. YetHelp! has aged much less gracefully than themiddle-aged, ever cherubic Paul. Its flawssimply become more apparent on the smallscreen: the inane nonplot, the interchange-able use of the Fab Four, the lame attemptsat spoofing James Bond movies. And as withany big -budget film, Help! appears physicallydiminished on TV: In particular, John'sforehead looks suspiciously cropped during"You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." Onecan enjoy Help! as a period piece, a brassy,lively remembrance of mid -Sixties ModLondon. But we expected more of the moviein 1965, and now it has let us down again.

How ironic, then, that the low -rent andharried A Hard Day's Night-shot quickly inorder to get the most mileage from what theindustry perceived as the group's fleeting

fame-fares better on home video. Themovie may not live up to its time -inflatedlegend (esteemed film critic Andrew Sarriscalled it "the Citizen Kane of jukebox musi-cals"), yet it has retained all its charm. Theviewer is immediately struck by the quartet'syouth (compare this Ringo with the grizzledshow -biz veteran hawking Sun Country winecoolers on TV), the group's charmingly am-ateurish acting, and the quirky, deadpanBritish humor that predates the similar sen-sibility of Scottish filmmaker Bill Forsyth'sLocal Hero and Gregory's Girl. Even the film'smore elaborate "production numbers"-forexample, the boys breaking loose from theirbackstage hell and running down a fire es-cape to the accompaniment of "Can't BuyMe Love"-haven't lost their power on thesmall screen.

Ultimately, though, one fact makes itharder to choose between A Hard Day's Nightand Help! on video: Despite its deficiencies,the latter has better tunes. While the earlier

film includes "I Should Have Known Bet-ter," "All My Loving," "If I Fell," "And ILove Her," and the title track, the songs inHelp! come from the Beatles' more hard -

edged, pre -Rubber Soul era: "You're GonnaLose That Girl" (presented in an unusuallysmoky "studio" ambience that looks betterthan many of today's music videos), "You'veGot to Hide Your Love Away," "Ticket toRide," "I Need You," "The Night Before,"and "Another Girl."

Still, there is more to these films thanmere rock 'n' roll. For those who want topreserve their memories, paying a grand to-tal of $110 may seem a worthwhile invest-ment; others not so financially blessed maybe content to let the $30 price difference be-tween the tapes dictate their preference, as AHard Day's Night lists for $39.95, Help! for$69.95. That's not so bad, though, for whenit comes to the Beatles' first two films onhome video, less is indeed more.

David Browne

READER -ACTION PAGEMany advertisers will send you additional product literature free of charge. Write them care of Dept. 6/87,unless otherwise noted, at the addresses below. If no address appears, literature is available only through deal-ers. Bold -face numbers by company names arc page numbers for ads in this issue.

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Wayne, N1 07470

201/628-8000

ATTN: Dept. HF 6/87

Vandersteen (79)) 116 W FoJrttl Street

Hanford, CA 93230

209/582-0324

ATTN: Dept. HF 6/87

Wisconsin Dimmest (73)2417 W. Badger Road

Madison, WI 53713

800/356-9514ATTN: Dept. HF 6/87

Tonsehe (4$)660 Orongethorpe Avenue

Buena Park, CA 90620

7 14 5 2 2-9 10 5

ATTN: Dept. HF 6/87

Advertising OfficesNOW Verb ABC Consumer Magazines, Inc . 825 7th Ave.. 8r6 Floor. New York, NY 10019. Tel: (2121 265-8360. Peter T.

Johnsmeyer, Group Advertising Director; Andrew Eisenberg. Associate Advertising Director; James R. McCollum, Record Advertis-ing Manoger; Mona Monaseria, Classified Advertising Manager; Angelo Puleo, Director of Production; Janet Cermak, AdvertisingProduction Manager. Allidweett KOH Fiotur.,580 Waters Edge, Lombard. III. 60148 (312) 691-1165. Starr lane. MidwesrAdvertising Manager. Let Moslem ABC Consumer Magazines. Inc., 1888 Century Park East, Suite 920, Century City. Calif90067. Tel: (2131 557-7587. Howard Berman, Western Advertising Director. Telma Japan Aavertising Communications, Inc..New Ginza Building, 7-3-13 Ginza Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104, Japan. Tel.: 1031 571-8748. Stringers Kobayashi, President.

SO HIGH FIDELITY

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;UNIFIERToday's modern home enter-

tainment systems consist of anaudio receiver, CD player, cas-sette tape deck, turntable, MTStelevision with cable TV access,and VCR or Laserdisc player, allof which operate with theirown remote controls. Unfor-tunately, this creates a seriousproblem. What do you do withall the different remotes?

Introducing "The Unifier',Onkyo's RC-AV1 Universal Pro-grammable Remote that putsan end to all of this clutter andconfusion forever!

The RC-AV1's comprehensiveand complete learning

CONTROLSEVERYTHING.

PRESS MATCHING FUNCTION KEYS

INPUT AGAIN

FUNCTION LEARWED/ SENDING

LEARNING RELEALE

ERROR BATTERY LOW

AUDIO VIDEO AUK

OM

EQUIPPOwFR

b

PHONO

41 DOWN VOL UP

AMP/TVMUTING

TUNER TAPE -1

2 3 4

VCR VDP TAPE -2ee

PHONDPLAWREIECT

TUNERDOWN PRESET UP

141111DOWN CH UP b.

TAPE/VCRPLAYOw+II PAUSE REC

REC4F4

A

.4 DOWN CH

11

STOP

CD/CATVN44 144

11 PAUSE

-71111

N

10.- PLAY

S -OP

MC DE

ONKYO RC-AV1M

UNIVERSAL PROGRAMMABLE REMOTE

Artistry ATSound

CONIEVO

capabilities allow it to replaceevery infrared remote on themarket. Regardless of maker.Regardless of brand.

The heart of "The Unifier"is an on board microcomputerthat reads and copies all thefunctions of other remotes,eliminating inter -brand incom-patibility forever. Over 100functions can be stored intoaudio, video, and auxiliarymodes, and it's as easy to pro-gram as pressing the matchingfunction buttons.

The real marriage of audioand video equipment hasarrived with "The Unifier",the Onkyo RC-AV1 UniversalRemote. See your Onkyodealer or write for full details.

200 W !hams Drive, Ramsey, N.J. 07446 201-825-7950

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