null null

DECEMBER
1970
ristmas
!laying{ uide
When professionals
need a tuner,
they choose Scott
RF TEST SIGNAL (MV) AT ANTENNA
8
o
°
_p
"Your tuner means that for the first time we have
been able to monitor and rebroadcast stereo signals from WFCR in Amherst, a distance of over 110
miles. The signal quality is as clear as if it had
originated locally .. certainly a vast improvement
over our earlier rebroadcast efforts."
SENSI rIVl1
íi -w
IHF SE NSI
fIV T1
ao
C 0 M p ET ITIV E TU N E R
LL LIND TIN Gyp
.
s C DTT 312 D.
.50
TOT/
William Busick (shown below)
FM Engineering Supervisor
Lowell Institute Cooperative Broadcasting Council
Educational TV Channel 2 and WGBH-FM
Br ;ton, Massachusetts
EEE
DISTOR HOF
114
NDP. MOD AT
W
.80
(Tuner sensitiv'ty curve)
Scott tuner reaches full limiting at a much lower
signal strength than competitive high quality tuners
and receivers. Professionals agree, a Scott receives
more listenable stations with minimum noise...
in other words, more stations more clearly.
A
C3
SC OTT
H. H. Scott, Inc., Maynard, Massachusetts 01754
Dept. 01120
Check No. 100 on Reader Service Card
HEARD THE LATEST?
A- 2 4
4 -track, 2 -channel stereo
All -silicon transistor pre -amps
Pause control
Digital counter
Dual VU meter
Fast winding
Automatic stop at end of tape
0.2% wow and flutter (RMS)
Frequency response: 40 to 12,000 HZ
S/N ratio: 45 dB or more
Crosstalk: 40 dB between adjacent
tracks at 100 Hz
Microphone optional
This is what happens when a big name thinks small. It's the TEAC A-24, and it's making cassette
history. This deck is powered by a unique hysteresis synciror_ois outer rotor motor for compact
convenience, powerhouse performance. And it comes compte with all the craftsmanship
it takes to make a TEAC.
More exclusive features: a special end -of-tape sensing circuit which not only stops the cassette,
but completely disengages the mechanism releasing pushbuttons, pinch roller and idlers
to avoid "flats" and deformation of critical drive components. Two specially -designed heads for
outstanding frequency response. Just about the lowest wow and flutter that ever came out of a cassette.
Of course, no sound system is really complete without cassette
capability. So if it's time to round out your equipment, its time
to sound out our A-24.
-
-
T E ACa
TEAC Corporation of America 2000 Colorado Avenue Santa Monica, California 90404
Check No.
1
on Reader Service Card
say
SHARPE
for the
sound of
satisfaction
AUDIO
Successor to
DECEMBER 1970
RèP»,
Est. 1911
Vol. 54, No. 12
George W. Tillett
Editor
Jay Butler
Publisher
Edward Tatnall Canby
Sanford L. Cahn
Associate Editor
Marketing Director
Eugene Pitts
Assistant Editor
Ruth E. Napp
Advertising Production
Marlyn Rentschler
Jean Davis
Subscription Manager
Designer
Contributing Editors
Herman Burstein
Leonard Feldman
Richard Freed
Joseph Giovanelli
C. G. McProud
Alexander Rosner
Bertram Stanleigh
S. L. Weingarten
Bert Whyte
FEATURE ARTICLES
When you purchase SHARPE
Stereo Headphones, you get the
finest that money can buy.
Whether you choose the new
budget minded Model 7 or the top
rated MKII ... or any other
SHARPE Stereo Headphones,
you will experience presence,
fidelity, and brilliance unmatched
by any other brand. For example,
the MK If stereophones with their
smooth frequency response from
15-30,000 Hz (30-15,000 ± 3.5
dB) are the choice of the pros...
they should know quality when
they hear it.
Ask your dealer about "Stereo
Central:' SHARPE's new
development in stereophone
remote control convenience. The
ultimate in electronic design,
Stereo Central's unique phase
blending control extends two channel stereo to the full spectrum
of sound achieved from four channel stereo systems. Styled in
rich walnut wood grain, Stereo
Central will compliment your decor
and offer an ideal stereophone
storage facility.
Use the handy reader -service card
for the name of the SHARPE
franchised dealer nearest you.
20
22
28
40
59
78
96
Stereo Headphone Review
Christmas Buyers Guide
Constructing A Sound -Level Meter
Have You Heard Sinatra?
Canby Looks At The TV Discs
Music For Christmas
Annual Subject and Author Index
C. G. McProud
David Griesinger
Don Altobell
Edward Tatnall Canby
Richard Freed
EQUIPMENT REVIEWS
62
63
66
68
KLH Loudspeaker System
Model 33
Model 598 Troubador
Model 2040
Model TF -10
Empire Turntable
PE Turntable
VM FM Stereo Receiver
RECORD/TAPE REVIEWS
74
82
84
92
Classical
Canby's Capsules
"Now" Music
Tape Reviews
Edward Tatnall Canby
Edward Tatnall Canby
Sherwood L. Weingarten
Bert Whyte
AUDIO IN GENERAL
4
8
10
14
Audioclinic
Joseph Giovanelli
What's New
Behind The Scenes
Bert Whyte
Dear Editor ...
16
18
94
98
Tape Guide
Herman Burstein
Editor's Review
Classified
Advertising Index
AUDIO (title registered U. S. Pat. Off.) is published by North American Publishing Co., I. J.
Borowsky, President; Frank Nemeyer, C. G. McProud, and Roger Damio, Vice Presidents;
R. Kenneth Baxter, Production Director; Nate Rosenblatt, Promotion Director; Mary Claffey,
Circulation Director. Subscription rates-U.S. Possessions, Canada, and Mexico, $5.00 for one
year; $9.00 for two years; all other countries, $8.00 per year. Printed in U.S.A. at Philadelphia,
Pa. All rights reserved. Entire contents copyrighted 1970 by North American Publishing Co.
Second class postage paid at Phila., Pa.
REGIONAL SALES OFFICES: Jay L. Butler and Sanford L. Cahn, 41 East 42nd St., New York,
N.Y. 10017; Telephone (212) 687-8924.
Jay Martin, 15010 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, Calif. 91403; (213) 981-7852.
a
SHARPE
AUDIO DIVISION
SCINTREX INC.
390 Creekside Drive, Amherst Industrial Park
Tonawanda, N.Y. 14150
Export Agents:
Elpa Marketing Industries Inc.
New Hyde Park, N.Y. 11044
ALSO AVAILABLE IN CANADA
Check No. 2 on Reader Service Card
REPRESENTATIVES: United Kingdom: Overseas Newspapers (Agencies) Limited. Cromwell
House, Fulwood Place, London, W.C.1./Telephone: 01-242 0661/Cables: WESNEWS London
PS4. Continental Europe: John Ashcraft, 12 Bear St., Leicester Square, London W.C. 2. England. Tel. 930.0525. For Benelux & Germany: W. J. M. Sanders, Mgr. Herengracht 365, Amsterdam, Holland. Tel. 24.09.08. Japan: Japan Printing News Co., Ltd. No. 13, 2 Chome GinzaHigasi, Chuo-ku Tokyo, Japan. Phone 541-5795
,:,
^l'D[JIY
Y
/III
AUDIO Editorial and Publishing Offices, 134 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107
Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to the above address
Who can deny the majestic beauty of
the concert grand piano and the fulfillment of its promise as commanded
by the articulate fingers of a truly accomplished artist? So it is with the
Wharfedale W60E, the latest and finest
version of a loudspeaker system with
a reputation for excellence and a heritage of consummate pleasure going
back over 20 years.
And for good reason; for beneath
the appealing cabinet design, craftsmanship and fine furniture finish, the
W60E is the product of acoustical and
electrical engineers whose talents
and skill enjoy world recognition.
A 121/2" woofer is used, with heavy,
cast alloy chassis to maintain original
gap and cone suspension tolerances.
Its molded one-piece cone has a new
high excursion neofrene surround and
provides extended, distortion -free
bass; while a massive 91/2 lb. magnet
assembly ensures excellent transient
response.
A new 5"
midrange,
mounted in an isolated nonreflecting
cylindrical chamber, has a high compliance suspension with a four layer
voice coil for greater power handling
and exceptionally clean, smooth, uninterrupted response over a wider
range of octaves. The system is completed by a new 1" mylar dome super
tweeter with a phase compensating
diffuser and extra -heavy magnet for
properly balanced, crystal clear,
wide-angle dispersion of treble tones.
Measuring 24"x15"x12", the W60E
is ideal for both shelf or floor use. At
$153.00 list each, it is the same "best
buy" it has always been.
For catalog, write to Wharfedale
Division, British Industries Co., Dept.
HX-10, Westbury, N.Y. 11590.
ACHROMATIC SPEAKER SYSTEMS
The new W60E looks great...
sounds greater
Check No. 3 on Reader Service Card
Audioclinic
Coming
in
January
Driving two speakers From Two
Stereo Amps
Q. I have two amplifiers.
would like
to feed both of these stereo amplifiers
into two common speakers. How can I
make this connection and, at the same
time, eliminate the possibility of damage
to the components if both of these amplifiers are turned on at the same time?
I would like to make this connection
without using switches. -1st Lt. James
M. Rose, Peekskill, New York.
SPECIAL TAPE RECORDER
DIRECTORY:
Listing mono, stereo and quadraphonic reel-to-reel machines
TAPE RECORDER
MAINTENANCE:
A. I see no way by which you can
have two amplifiers connected to a single set of speakers without switching
unless you are willing to sacrifice some
power which otherwise would be available from the amplifiers as a possible
reserve margin. You could isolate the
speakers from either amplifier by connecting them to the amplifiers through
8- or even better, 16-ohm resistors. Power
will be lost across these resistors and some
additional power will be lost across the
amplifier which is not in use.
Part Seven in the series by H.
W. Hellyer
EQUIPMENT PROFILES
include:
Harman-Kardon Citation Eleven
Preamplifier
Advent 100 Dolby noise reduction unit
I recommend switching, even if the
switching is accomplished by a relay
system. By using a relay connected to
the convenience outlet on each power
amplifier, you can arrange matters so that,
when one amplifier is turned on, the other
amplifier is disconnected from the circuit.
If wiring has been done correctly, simultaneously turning on the two amplifiers
will result in neither amplifier being connected to the speakers. No damage can
result. (I could not have said that when
vacuum-tube amplifier circuits were king.)
PLUS
Record and Tape Reviews and
all the regular features.
About the cover:
Santa has apparently been tempted
by the warm fire and he could not
resist trying the Koss stereophones.
Talking about temptation, the attractive girl above-also wearing Koss
phones-is one of the Bunnies aboard
Hugh Hefner's private airplane . .
.
4
1
The relay for amplifier No. 1 will,
when energized, connect the speakers.
However, it will interrupt a possible
connection to amplifier two. If amplifier
two is turned on and amplifier one is off,
a relay associated with amplifier two will
connect the speakers to it, but will disconnect the speakers from amplifier one.
If both amplifiers are turned on, each
relay will attempt to connect the speakers
to their respective amplifiers, but contacts will interrupt the opposite circuit.
Thus, no amplifier will be connected.
This would call for two double-throw,
four -pole relays with 120-V a.c. fields.
Additional switch contacts might need
to be provided in the event that one or
both amplifiers do not use ground as one
of their output terminals.
JOSEPH GIOVANELLI
Dubbing Rented Tapes
Q. I am planning to purchase a stereo
dubbing deck. But before investing my
money I would like to know if it is legal
to rent tapes and copy them for home
use. What is your opinion concerning the
renting of tapes and then copying them
for one's own tape library? (Name withheld)
A. So long as one confines the use of
a tape copy to oneself, the legality of
copying a rented tape or rented phono
disk tends to be academic. It is when you
try to make commercial use of the copy
or start passing the copy among friends
that the trouble is apt to start. The above
statements are based on some articles on
the subject that I have read in the past,
and in no way constitute a guide to your
actions. For such a guide I urge that you
consult an attorney. My opinion about
renting tapes or disks and copying them
is that this is unethical, even if not illegal.
Using VU meters with
Disc -Cutting Systems
Q. I plan to install a VU meter across
the 16 -ohm output of my power amplifier,
to be used in conjunction with my disc cutting system. I would like to know if
there is any objection to using the circuit
shown in Fig. 1, to drive the vu meter.
Would installing a matching transformer between the output of the voltage
amplifier and the meter help the performance of the meter? See Fig. 2.
Walter Marion, Evergreen Park, Illi-
nois
A. The circuit you have shown in Fig.
should work reasonably well. However,
I do not like connecting a meter directly
1
FROM
16
2
1.0µF
TAP
OF POWER
AMP
vu
1008
METER
CAL.
1S
_
VOLTAGE
AMP
12AX7
Fig.
SIMPSON
#147
1
in the plate circuit of an amplifier. The
coupling capacitor will assume a sudden
charge when the amplifier is first turned
on, pinning the meter. Meters are, of
course, capable of handling a certain
amount of overload. However, there is no
reason to tempt fate. Rather than using
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
How crazy
are you about stereo?
No matter how deep your stereo
psychosis, there s a Panasonic
to bring you soo:hing relief
Because we star: with a receiver
for the stereo nut. And end ip
with one for the nut who's
completely out of his mind about
stereo.
Start with tour Model SA-40
and you're nct hinging home a
beginner's model. You're in.o
FM/AM and FM stereo. With FET,
four sensitive IF circuits,
built-in Ferrite antenna in AM,
anc a =requency response of 2e
Hz tc 30,000 Hz (-3db). And
direct coapl_ng.
And the specs get more
impre;siv-e the more you get into
and 70
our SA -50;
Then there's our SA -6500.
Wi:hdirect-coupled power amplifier No =nput transformer. No
output trans former. No output
0
capacitor. Which means more
"nc's' fcr distortion. With 200
wa:ts ( IHF: worth of power.
1.8 r i IHF; FM sensitivity.
Crystal flter and 4 -Pole MOS-FET
7.ront end.
When you fnally teach our
SA -4000. it's the end. Absolutely.
Because it contains eery recent
development ir_ rransis:or and
microc:reuit design. And then son -e.
Wads can tell you a lot
about these receivers. Ent your
ears can =ell you more. Take
them to your Panasonic Hi-Fi and
component dealer. And listen.
It could be the :rie sane moment
a stereo nut could ask far.
Approximate list pricesshcwrs.
S220
s,
40
S250
SF 50
$280
SA -60
$350
S4-70
$400
-6500
SA
$1000
.-n-4000
PANASONIC.
just slighlfy aaeai of our lime.
200 Park Avenue, New
fork
10017. For
raur nearest Panasonic H -_: deals'', call
8C0 &ì1-4299. In
N_., 80C 962-2803. We pay for the call. Ask akaut ou- receivers.
Check No. 5 on Re ace- Service Card
uNE ABSOLUTELY
NVARY ING
Audioclinic, cont.
CONSTANT
16
3.9
TAP OF
SPEED FACTOR
POWER
600
2
AMP
VOLTAGE
VOLTAGE
Of all the parameters
100 K
affecting tape
recorder perform
few are as important as constant speed.
Considering
the havoc even
comparatively
small speed variations
play with recorded
sound, it's rather surprising that
most tape recorder manufacturers
seem to give short shrift to this
vital, performance affecting feature. On the other hand, the
manufacturers of professional
recording equipment go to great
lengths and expense to insure both
short and long term speed stability
and constancy. And so do the
people who make the Revox A77.
The Revox A77 is the only
machine in its price class that
incorporates a servo -controlled
capstan motor that automatically
adjusts and corrects itself so as
to guarantee a maximum speed
deviation of less than .2%.
According to Audio Magazine,
"The electronic speed control held
the speed exactly 'on the nose' at
all inputvoltages from 135 down to
92... and at all frequencies from
40 to 70 Hz". Stated simply, this
means the Revox is unaffected by
those all too common fluctuations
thatoccurin both line voltage and
frequency.
When you consider the uncompromising design philosophy,
meticulous craftsmanship
and outstanding
performance
built into every
Revox, you begin
to understand
why we say.
RE VOX
DELIVERS WHAT
ALLpT¡NE REST
Revox Corporation
212 Mineola Avenue,
Roslyn Heights,
N.Y. 11577
PROR DSE.
Hollywood,
Calif. 90028
1721 N. Highland Ave.,
in Canada: Tri -Tel Associates, Ltd.,Toronto,Canada
Check No. 6 on Reader Service Card
AMP
AMP
METER
600
62052
Fig. 3
147
VU
11
SIMPSON
B-
CA L.
K
FROM
UTC
A-11
TAPE
MACHINE
00
Fig. 2
CUTTER
Fig. 5
Vu
3.9
FROM
AMP
16
K
_1_
POWER
16
3
600Si
TAP
T
VU
VOICE COIL -TO -LINE XFORMER
Fig. 4
(PROGRAM
RIAA
AMPLIFIER)
PRE -EMPHASIS
CUTTER
DRI VING
AMPLI FIER
both halves of the 12AX7 to provide gain,
why not use the second half of this tube
as a cathode follower? The meter is
coupled via a capacitor to the cathode
of this circuit. The capacitor feeding signal to the meter would charge very
slowly during the tube's warmup, as the
electron emission from its cathode slowly
builds up.
As an alternative you could use a
matching transformer in the plate circuit as mentioned in your question. The
meter should be connected in series with
a 3.9-k ohm, 1 -per cent resistor, with
this series combination being connected
to the 600 -ohm winding of this matching
transformer. This transformer should be
shunted by a 600-ohm resistor. See Fig.
3. The use of this resistor provides for
proper damping characteristics of your
VU meter. This is extremely important
when a number of meters are used, and
where they must all read alike when a
given signal is impressed on them. This
factor is not particularly important for
your application.
As I have said, a voltage amplifier can
be used to drive a VU meter. However,
it is possible to drive the VU meter directly from the output of the power
amplifier. Use a line -to -voice -coil transformer as shown in Fig. 4. Notice once
again that we are using the 3.9-k ohm
resistor. This improves meter damping,
but also isolates the meter from the power amplifier circuitry, thereby minimizing
distortion. What we have here is a basic
circuit, not calibrated to your needs. You
will have to devise an attenuator network
6
which can be used to calibrate the meter.
The amount of signal provided from the
line-to -voice -coil transformer will be far
too much when the cutting head is operated at normal recording level. When
using the circuits described thus far,
the VU meter "sees" the signal supplied
to the disc recording head. This signal
is pre -emphasized for proper RIAA treble
compensation. Some people do not use
a VU meter in this way. I, myself, have
the VU meters in the output of a program amplifier, which, in turn, feeds the
RIAA equalizer, whose output feeds the
input of the disc recording power amplifiers. See block diagram, Fig. 5. Under
these conditions the VU meter will "see"
the same kind of signal as read on the VU
meter in the tape recording chain. You
can see that this makes comparisons
between tape playback and disc recorder
feed more meaningful.
In the arrangement where the VU
meter is driven by the pre-emphasized
signal, the meter will often read higher
than it will with the arrangement shown
in Fig. 5. With practice, either system
can be used to advantage. The main
thing to remember is that good disc recordings can be made best when you
observe the VU meter in relation to
the sound you hear from your monitor
speaker. This implies that you must be
totally familiar with the characteristics
of your meter and those of your monitor
speaker. Further, you must understand
the relationship that these two factors
have upon the cutting process.
(Continued on page 89)
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
Music doesn't have
to be dead
just because it isn't live.
RCA tapes put life in your recordings.
And we have whatever kind of
tape it takes to do it.
Low noise mastering tape for the
pros. In 14-,1/z-,1- and 2 -inch widths.
Back -lubricated tape for Stereo 8
or 4 -track cartridges.
Duplicating tapes for cassettes
and reel-to-reel.
And Red Seal cassettes and Red
Seal reel-to-reel for personal recording.
These tapes don't miss a note.
Your music sounds alive on RCA tapes.
Sound us out. Write RCA
Magnetic Products, 201 E. 50th St.,
New York 10022.
RC"
Recording Tape
Check No.
7
on Reader Service Card
What's New in Audio
flutter meter
This meter uses a new circuit which
allows measurements to be made over a
2-4 kHz range of carrier frequencies.
Ampex 362 tape cassette
BHK F-1
Sansui AU 999 stereo amplifier
This new Sansui amplifier is a versatile,
integrated unit suitable for professional
use. It has a number of interesting innovations including independent control of
preamplifier and amplifier sections. This
permits the insertion of electronic cross-
overs or the facility of separate programs.
Three step -type tone controls are provided for each channel, and they can be
A new blank cassette having an extended
frequency response is now available from
Ampex. Response is said to be virtually
flat up to 10 kHz. Price: C60, $2.95. A
"library caddy"
is
given free to purchas-
ers of six cassettes.
Check No. 135 on Reader Service Card
Check No. 132 on Reader Service Card
Kenwood KA -4002
This is a very inexpensive amplifier with
many of the facilities of larger models.
Power output is said to be 95 watts
(IHF) with a harmonic and IM distortion of less than 0.5%. Features include
terminals for two pairs of stereo speakers,
*
Bandwidth is 0.5-6.0 Hz, 6.0-250 Hz, and
0.5-250 Hz with meter ranges of 0.3%
and 1.0% FSD. Price: $340; F-lA, with
built-in 3 -kHz oscillator, $350.
removed from the circuit completely if
required. Power output is rated at 70
watts per channel (rms), and signal-tonoise is claimed at better than 80 dB for
phono inputs. An unusual refinement is
the provision of a variable-resistance load
for one of the two phono inputs thus
allowing optimum matching. Another useful feature is the presetting of controls to
adjust phono and auxiliary input levels.
Price: $299.95.
Check No. 129 on Reader Service Card
Hartley loudspeakers
Two super woofers are now available
from Hartley-an 18 -in. and a 24 -in.
model. Both use 14-lb. Alcomax magnets,
laminated fiberglass spiders, double voice
coils, heat sinks, and magnetic suspension.
Catalogs
Telex has issued a new catalog, BI -2166-2,
covering more than 30 general communication and dictation headphones and
other private listening devices and accessories.
1
Check No. 128 on Reader Service Card
Stanford
center channel, two phonos, tape deck,
and two auxiliary inputs. Step -type tone
controls are used, and push -buttons select
high and low filters, tape monitor, and
loudness control. Price: $139; walnut
cabinet, $15.
International
offers
"Micro-
phones-How to Choose and Use," a free
booklet giving the fundamentals of microphones and the characteristics of each
type. Other information included covers
microphone placement, feedback, limiting
factors, impedances, techniques and applications.
Check No. 134 on Reader Service Card
Check No. 127 on Reader Service Card
Marantz 26 receiver
Marantz says this is their first budget priced AM-FM receiver, but it incorporates many of the sophisticated features of
These new speakers are ideal for music
groups, electronic organs, or other applications needing high acoustic power.
Price: 218 HS, $250; 224 HS, $300.
Check No. 131 on Reader Service Card
the top -of-the -line receivers, such as
Gyro -Touch tuning, individual controls
for bass and treble, three stereo inputs,
and the same type of advanced circuitry.
FM sensitivity is quoted at 3 µv, and
power output is 10 watts (rms) per channel. Price: $219.00, including cabinet.
Tapes for sound effects
Radio Shack have just introduced a sound
effect tape which includes a ping-pong
game, a DC -7 take-off, thunder and rain
storm, birds, fireworks, foghorns, ocean
sounds, a carillon and bagpipes. Ask for
51-4777 ( Cassette) 51-5777 ( Cartridge)
or 51-7777 (7) " reel-to-reel ).
Price, $3.95.
Check No. 133 on Reader Service Card
Check No. 130 on Reader Service Card
8
Allied Radio Shack has a new 460 -page
catalog which gives information on
Knight -Kit products, including amplifiers,
tuners, receivers, and test equipment.
Available for $1.00 from Allied Radio
Shack, 100 N. Western Rye., Chicago, Ill.
60680.
Rek-O-Kut parts
complete line of replacement and spare
parts for Rek-O-Kut turntables and tone arms is now available from two company
warehouses: 1568 N. Sierra, Fresno,
Calif. and 716 Jersey Ave., Gloucester
City, N.J. The parts are available from
either warehouse in individual or bulk
quantities.
A
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
JVC
NM
oro
artR.blc¿
FM
LM
SPEAKERS.
88
.
90
92
5
94
,o
HAi.AUi:E
96
98
80
VOLE-ORE
txvpMn
JC
100
S
102
104
106
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108
A. CONTROL.
-p--
SYBIHid--,
-
.._...-....# _....-.........
120140
t(i
SELECT
MON..
nr. es
;:d,
-
y ._....:
MIX3.4s
JVC proudly introduces the expensive stereo that
12
Effect Amplifier (SEA), JVC's exclusive ±12db, 5 zone
tone control that opens up new dimensions in sound.
SEA divides the sound spectrum into 5 frequency
ranges. Let's you compensate for acoustic deficiencies in almost any room. Highlight a voice or musical
instrument. Tailor sound to your own personal taste.
The chart at the right shows the difference between
SEA and conventional tone controls. But SEA is just
10
8
6
4
2
o
-2
-
-
"ANI
6
8
10
AEl
t
+-r
250Hz
-
kHz
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50kHz
Ordinary Amplifer Frequency Characteristics
ME_ 1111
:IiiuiIuid
*Suggested list price $229.95
JVC
4
-12
brochure.
JVC
60Hz
d8)
Its most outstanding feature is the Advanced Sound
Catching On Fast
:....
SEA Frequency Controlled Characteristics
isn't-model 5010.* Just look what it has going for you.
the begiinning.
There's a new FM linear dial scale. Sophisticated
FET. Wire wrapped contacts. 2-way speaker switch.
40 watts output at less than 1% IM distortion. A beautiful wood cabinet, and much more.
While you're at your dealer, also check out JVC's
Model 5020, 75 watts IHF; Model 5030, 140 watts IHF;
and our top of the line, Model 5040, 200 watts IHF.
Whichever you choose, you will be choosing the
finest. See them all at your nearest JVC dealer, or
write us direct for his name, address and color
..
America. Inc.. 50-35. 56th Road. Maspeth.. New York, N.V. 11378
Check No. 9 on Reader Service Card
ax
in
BEHIND THE SCENES
BERT WHYTE
Various business training and communications video recording applications are possible with video cartridge recorders, such as the
Ampex Instavision system. Here a skilled keypunch operator demonstrates correct procedures which are recorded for later viewing.
a year ago I reported on the
introduction of the Columbia
"EVR" television cartridge system. You
may recall that this is basically a playback
only system, in which Columbia-processed
pre-recorded material will be sold to the
owners of the cartridge playback unit.
Much was made of the impact this kind
of system would have in the industrial
and educational markets, where specially
recorded material on almost any conceivable subject would be offered. Columbia
even had a "tie-in" service with the New
York Times set up to cover the educational aspects of the system. The biggest
market envisioned of course, was John Q.
Public. Here again the variety of subject
About
material that could be offered was endless, but there was a distinct emphasis on
the possibilities of obtaining a library of
major company movies. Like many new
developments, things have not moved as
fast as Columbia had envisioned. However, the EVR concept got a good boost
with the recent announcement by 20th
Century Pictures that they would make
available to the EVR library their feature
films that were older than five years from
original release date. This automatically
provides a vast backlog of films that could
be offered on EVR cartridges.
Not to be outdone by Columbia, RCA
recently announced their "SelectaVision"
system, which is also a playback only
concept offering pre-recorded material to
the public and specialized markets. The
RCA system is one of the most technologically sophisticated devices ever contem-
10
plated as a consumer product. It is too
complex to go into detail here, involving
as it does such "far out" concepts as holograms and laser beams. The playback
unit employs a low -power gas laser to
"read" the pictures, and there has been
comment in some quarters about some
possible hazards of having such a device
in the home. Nothing has been proven
about this, one way or the other, and it
probably can be placed in the same category as radiation from TV sets. In any
case, in "laboratory format," the Selecta Vision system works as advertised. It
faces the same problems as the EVR system in respect to movie libraries and other
specialized material for pre-recorded release.
;Continued on next page)
AUDIO
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
Altec introduces a 4-foot control console
with up to 28 inputs and 16 outputs.
It's built to your specs...delivered ready to use.
is the all -new, all -solid-state Altec 9300A control
console. Only 51Y2 inches long, it features direct plug -in modular construction that lets you custom
tailor your own board by simply selecting the
specific modules you need.
The new Altec 9300A gives you up to 28 inputs
and up to 16 outputs. And any input may be
connected to any output by means of a switching
matrix on each input channel.
Here are some exclusive features designed into
the new Altec 9300A.
Channel Check provides an individual instant
check of all input lines without interrupting the
program.
A Pre Cue pushbutton transfers signals from the
output buss to the cue buss.
A Modulite' Visual Volume Level Indicator on
each module tells exactly how much level is
being fed to tape machines.
Echo Facilities permit selection of internal or
external reverb devices and a bright or soft timbre.
Color -coded knobs enable fast and easy
matching of input channels with correct output
selector modules.
22 dB of headroom.
Mal l this coupon for all the details on the
new Altec 9300A console.
Altec Lansing, 1515 South Manchester Ave.
Anaheim, California 92803.
Please send me all the details on the all -new Altec
9300A control console-including information on how its
unique modular design will let me simply plug in different
modules as need them.
G I'd like to hear more. Please get in touch with me.
To:
I
Name
Phone
Position
Studio
Address
State
City
Zip
C
ALTE
L ANSI NGA
A QUA. ITV COMPANY OF LTV LING ALTEC. INC
Check No. 11 on Reader Service Card
The SL -8
was the finest
phono arm
in the world
until
we designed
The SL -8E.
The new Instavision recorder-player uses standard half-inch wide
video tape enclosed in a circular plastic cartridge 4.6 inches in
diameter by 0.7 inches thick.
Several months ago, Audio reported on
the Teldec video disc system, and as I
write this, it has had its first demonstration in this country at the Audio Engineering Convention in New York. Apart
from the technical triumph of a video disc,
and its commercial advantages, there
exists the distinct possiblity of a discrete
four channel stereo disc. With 70khz
capability at 33% rpm bandwidth is cer-
How do you improve on the best?
Just add automatic cueing.
At the touch of a button the arm
lowers softly to the record.
Another touch of the button raises the
arm.
At the end of play, the arm automatically lifts with the same gentle
motion.
The FINEST POSSIBLE Sound Reproduction is still the same.
RABCO
Manufacturers of THE Servo Control Arm
11937 TECH ROAD,
SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND 20904
Check No. 12 on Reader Service Card
tainly not a problem. From the strictly
video aspects, we have here too a playback only system, and just because it is a
disc rather than a cartridge doesn't lessen
the ramifications of this concept.
The latest entry into the video cartridge
sweepstakes is the Ampex Corp. with
their "Instavision" system, and after seeing it demonstrated I must say that I am
very impressed. In my opinion the Insta vision system has several clear-cut advantages over competing systems, but quite
apart from that, this also appears to be
a system ready for production. There is
nothing ephemeral about this development! Target date for the Instavision system is mid -1971 and there would seem to
be no obstacles to its introduction at that
time.
The big point of departure between the
Instavision system and competing cartridge units is that it can record and playback video information. This is possible
because the Instavision system uses conventional half-inch magnetic tape. The
tape is housed in a 4.6 inch diameter by
.7 inch cartridge, which is self -threading
on Instavision recorder/players. The
complete Instavision system consists of a
miniature videotape recorder 11 x 13 x
4.5 inches that weighs less than 16 pounds
complete with common flashlight or re 12
chargeable batteries, a hand-held monochrome camera with zoom lens that
weighs less than 5 pounds and has a
electronic viewfinder which actually is a
tiny television receiver so that one can
frame scenes precisely and view what is
being recorded, and of course, the video
cartridge. Standard with each recorder or
player is a separate power pack that
houses an A/C power converter for plugin operation, a battery recharger and
optional electronics for color record or
playback. The power pack is designed as
a base for the recorder during any of
these operations and probably would sit
on top of the TV set in use. The recorder
is detached from the base for portable
use. The Tnstavision system is to be sold
in several formats. A monochrome playback only unit is expected to cost $800,
a monochrome recorder/player or color
player will be $900 and a color recorder/
player is ticketed at an even thousand
dollars.
The Instavision recorder/player operates on the helical scan basis and
conforms to "Type One" standards for
half-inch tape. The Type One standards
have purportedly been adopted by such
manufacturers of half-inch magnetic tape
equipment as Sony, Phillips, and Grundig.
As such, the Instavision cartridge is compatible with conventional reel-to-reel recorders embodying the Type One standards. The cartridge will permit 30
minutes recording time at the 7.5 ips
Type One standard, or 60 minutes in extended mode, which is 3% ips. Blank
cartridges are expected to sell for less
than $13.00. The cartridges permit fast
forward or rewind operation with the
(Continued on page 87)
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
4Dìmensional Stereo
FRONT
with the Dynaco SCA»80.
()
A
C
OMNI"
SCA-80 ($169.95 kit, $249.95 assembled)
The Dynaco SCA-80 is a high quality two -channel
stereo control amplifier incorporating patented circuitry* so you can enjoy the Dynaco system of four
dimensional stereo (front and back as well as the
usual left and right) by adding just two more loudspeakers . . . just two more speakers.
In addition to recordings made specifically for the Dynaco system, many
of your existing stereo recordings (disc
and tape) already include the phase
relationships required for four dimensional playback. You can use present
stereo phonograph cartridges or tape
recorders without any modifications.
Four dimensional programs are now
being received by existing FM stereo
tuners.
The Dynaco four-dimensional system fully utilizes
material already on stereo recordings. It faithfully
reproduces in your own listening room the acoustical environment in which the recording was made.
Dynacp four-dimensional sound can be played
back through the SCA-80 (or the PAT -4
or PAS -3x preamplifier and any stereo
power amplifier) with a total of four
loudspeakers, connected as Dynaco
specifies. This configuration is completely compatible with playback of all
stereophonic and monophonic recordings, and enhances virtually all stereo-
phonic material.
Write for full details on how you can
connect four speakers to enjoy Dynaco
four-dimensional stereo.
*U. S. patent #3,417,203
Dynaco A-25 speakers ($79.95 each-assembled only)
dynraco
3060 JEFFERSON ST., PHILA., PA.
19121
IN EUROPE WRITE: DYNACO A/S, HUMLUM, STRUER, DENMARK
Check No. 13 on Reader Service Card
Dear Editor,
Dear Sir,
I am offering below a few comments on the subject of Doppler
effect in loudspeakers. I have studied this effect for several years
in a casual manner and have made a number of actual measurements on the sound field of long throw loudspeakers.
First we should note that it is relatively easy, if one uses
Massas charts, to see that the total distortion due to Doppler
effect depends not only on the amplitude of the modulating signal but on the frequency difference as well. Thus, very approxi-
mately
f_
Distortion = A percent
f,
Where A is about .33, f2 is the modulated, i.e. higher, frequency
and f, is the modulating, i.e. lower, frequency.
If the ratio of the higher to the lower frequency is 10, e.g.:
50 Hz and 500 Hz, which is not unreasonable, we get the following levels of distortion.
Frequencies
30
50
100
30
50
100
300
- 500
- 1000
- 300
- 500
-
-1000
Acoustic Output
0.1 watt
0.1 watt
0.1 watt
1.0 watt
1.0 watt
1.0 watt
Or if we hold the upper frequency at
vary the lower frequency, we get
K'
:
^oaa
3
5
12%
.056%
%
:
5
4
%
%
1.9
.66
.17
800 cps
3.5 %
1000 cps
4.4 %
.79%
.10%
10.5
2.5
.99%
.12%
13
%
3.1
.4
%
.32%
%
%
%
Some of the figures in the above tables seem rather large. However, be assured, that they have been measured and agree reasonably well with theory. Also, we may note at this point that
the distortion, or modulation phenomenan, if you prefer, is
clearly audible.
One must conclude that this form of distortion is real and of
significance now that we have extended bass response, small but
long throw cones, and substantial acoustic output demands.
There are two approaches we can use to minimize this type of
distortion. One is to use larger cones or several small cones to
make up the equivalent area. The second is to reproduce a limited frequency range with each cone. These rather obvious solutions have been used by many high quality systems such as
Bozak and others for over 25 years.
If we limit the low frequency cone to 200 cps maximum, we
find the following distortion figures.
15" cone
.62
.22
%
Acoustic Output for 10" cone
0.1 watt at 30 Hz
0.1 watt at 50 Hz
0.1 watt at 100 Hz
1.0 watt at 30 Hz
1.0 watt at 50 Hz
1.0 watt at 100 Hz
Acoustic Output
watt at 30 Hz
watt at 50 Hz
watt at 100 Hz
watt at 30 Hz
watt at 50 Hz
watt at 100 Hz
0.1
0.1
0.1
1.0
1.0
1.0
%
%
%
%
%
Hz and 1000 Hz but
Distortion for 10" cone
0.88 %
0.2 %
0.025%
2.7
0.62
0.08
%
%
%
These latter figures look much more acceptable since distor(Continued on page 93)
toward the newest shape in sound
Possibly some one has been bending your ear about the newest
shape in sound. It's called CELESTA! This speaker has a cast
chassis, functionally -formed under extremely high pressure for
lasting precision. A baked -on lacquer finish and slim profile
(8" model is only 31(6" total depth) are distinguishing features
of all SIX CELESTA models. Vibration -free, rugged CELESTA
frames assure added years of listening pleasure. So go on
bend some one else's ear about the newest shape in sound ...
CELESTA. Incidentally, free cabinet plans included with speaker.
...
See your dealer, or write UTAH
1
4
for complete information
i
HUNTINGTON, INDIANA
Check No. 14 on Reader Service Card
www.americanradiohistory.com
The voltage supply in your city can vary
as much as 10%. And even the slightest
variation such as that caused by a toaster
or an air conditioner will change tape
speed significantly. To deal effectively
with this situation, the Concord Mark Ill
is equipped with a hysteresis motordrive
which does not rely on line voltage but
rather on the 60 cycle power line frequency. It maintains constant speed regardless of voltage variation.
And the Concord Mark Ill offers far
more than just hysteresis -drive. 3 quality
heads: the record and playback heads
are made of a newly deyeloped, pressure sintered ferrite. Their diamond -hard characteristics make it possible for Concord
to offer a 25 -year guarantee. These heads
maintain their original high standard of
performance for rrrany, many years- no
significant head wear, no deterioration
in frequency response or signal-to-noise
write: Concord Electronics Corporation,
1935 Armacost Ave. Los Angeles, Calif.
90025, a subsidiary of Ehrenreich Photo -
Optical Industries, Incorporated.
kial
ratio.
Otherfeatu res: the tape transport mechanism assures a fast start-up; two tension
arms stamp out burble; a special filter
eliminates flutter due to tape scrape or
cogging action; a cue control; flip -up
head cover for professional editing; tape
monitoring; three speeds; sound -on
sound; variable echo control for reverb;
calibrated VU meters; stereo headphone
jack. Concord Mark Ill, a lot of value for
under $250.
Concord Mark Series decks start at
under $200. For free cómparison chart
-
It could turn
Concord Mark III with hysteresis motordrive
an allegretto into
an andante
Check No. 15
c
n
Reader Service Card
Tape Guide
Tape Speed vs. Quality
Q. Can you please tell me the difference in quality between operating at 7'á
and at 3% ips? (Joseph Torneo Jr., Scranton, Pa.)
A. If you are using the finest tape
machines that today's state of the art
can produce, and top quality tape, there
tends to be very little audible difference
between results at these two speeds. Perhaps there will be a little less noise and
a little more "transparency" at 73.1 ips.
Also, you have more "headroom" at 73i
ips: there is less chance of running into
distortion at high frequencies because less
treble boost is applied in recording at this
speed. The differences in general tend to
be more obvious to measuring instruments than to the ear-provided you are
using a top-notch machine and tape.
"Sour" Notes
Q. My problem is distortion in the form
of "sour" notes, most noticeably in the
high frequencies. I am unable to remedy
the problem despite the fact that I regularly clean and demagnetize the heads.
I would greatly appreciate your advice.
(D. V. Turner, Los Angeles, California )
A. The difficulty you describe appears
due to wow in your tape transport. And
this could be due to an out -of-round
idler wheel, belt slippage, oil or other
lubricant on the capstan or pressure
roller, and so on. I suggest that you clean
the capstan and pressure roller thoroughly with whatever fluid is recommended
by the manufacturer of your tape machine. Also clean all other parts, such as
guides, contacted by the tape. If this
doesn't help, I am afraid the problem
must be referred to an authorized service
center suggested by the manufacturer.
Microphone Selection
Q. I'm shopping for a new microphone
and I'm completely in the dark about the
rating of sensitivity and output. I have a
good tape recorder and a good microphone, but for voice and lecture recording the microphone is too sensitive. If it
is touched or moved while recording, the
recording sounds as though a train went
by. One evaluator of this microphone said
that it was great except that the output
HERMAN BURSTEIN
was low. The manufacturer's literature
gives a sensitivity figure of about
50
dB. What gives?
Specifically, what specifications do I
look for to obtain a microphone which
can be placed several feet, maybe as
many as 15, from the person speaking
and still get adequate pickup for recording? (Rex H. Shudde, Philadelphia, Pa.)
A. Rather than risk confusing you all
the more by trying to explain in limited
space the various methods of rating microphone sensitivity, let me state that the
figure you cited indicates that yours is
a highly sensitive microphone; that is, it
has relatively high output. The lower the
figure given (disregarding the minus
sign), the higher the sensitivity. Thus a
microphone rated at -50 dB has greater
sensitivity than one rated at -55 dB.
Incidentally, a rating of -55 dB is about
average for high -quality microphones.
As for picking up low -frequency noises,
this is a problem of mounting the microphone so that it is insulated from such
sounds. A boom type of mounting or
other shock mounting may be necessary
in your circumstances. A microphone
should not be moved or touched when in
use. Some microphones are available with
a switch that reduces bass response, and
this might help with your problem. If
you plan to use a microphone with no
more than about 15 feet of cable (low capacitance cable), a high -impedance
microphone is ordinarily satisfactory. For
longer cables, a low-impedance microphone is advisable; otherwise treble
frequencies are attenuated by the cable
-
capacitance.
Azimuth Alignment
Q. What is the proper procedure for
azimuth alignment of a 4-track recorder
with a full -track test tape. Should the
alignment method recommended by the
machine's manufacturer be followed with
the two channels strapped together, or
is it necessary to repeat the procedure
using first one channel and then the other
for playback of the azimuth test tone
while adjusting the head for a maximum
indictaion on a VTVM? (Robert Pearson,
Chicago, Illinois)
A. I think that the best procedure is
one which deals with each channel separately. If a single head position does not
16
maximize output on both tracks, then it
is necessary to find a compromise position which results in about equal performance on the two tracks.
Lack of Bias
Q. My tape deck is giving me some
difficulty; perhaps you can suggest some
corrective measures. The most annoying
and bewildering problem is the intermittent loss of the erasing and recording
functions on both channels. In attempting
to record during such losses, the input
signal does get far enough through the
record amplifier to drive the VU meters
to full level, and the RECORD indicators
light up when the RECORD buttons are
pushed. However, on playback the tape
is found to contain no signal unless the
input while recording was turned up to
a level which would register well above
the 0 point on the VU meters, and under
such circumstances the recording which
does result is of course severely distorted.
Previously recorded material is not erased
if a used tape is being employed in the
recording process. This difficulty comes
and goes unpredictably, disappearing for
weeks at a time, only to reappear suddenly and remain for similar lengthy
periods. (Theodore L. Purnell, Hammonton, New Jersey)
A. It appears that your difficulty lies
in the bias oscillator circuit. Loss of oscillator current would make the erase head
inoperative, and it would cause the recorded signal on the tape to be very low
and distorted. The trouble may be as
simple as a faulty oscillator component
(transistor, capacitor, or the like). It may
lie in an intermittent connection. Or it
may lie in a component, such as a resistor
or capacitor, leading from the oscillator
circuit to the heads. If you have a service
manual that gives operating voltages in
the record mode, you might check these
voltages in the oscillator and related
circuits.
/E
If you have a problem or question on
tape recording, write to Mr. Herman
Burnstein at AUDIO, 134 North Thirteenth Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107.
All letters are answered. Please enclose
a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
Check No. 63 on Reader Service Card
www.americanradiohistory.com
The Sony Model 850 is socretìing to compete with,
and our competition is really finding it tough.
The Sony 850 is a Professional Quality Stereo
Tape Deck that offers features the oompetitior- has
never even dreamed abotn.
True, the 850 features professional 10'/2 inch
reels for the maximum ir_ uninterrupted recording
time-so do the others. S -..t the Scny 850 has three
speeds, including 15 inches per second, unique
'logic controlled" push buttons which make it
impossible to break or damage tape and provide
Lawless tape handlir_. And a special APS
Frcgram Scanner that automatically locates and
plays your musical se_ections and eliminates
r?threading.
'LIS S.iperscope, Inc, Sgt Vineland
Ave., Sun Valley C, ht. 9I
The Sony 85C comes in two -track and quarter track record versions, each with a fourth head for
playback of both two -track and quarter -track
tapes. Each can a.so be converted from two-track
to cuarter-track record in seconds with Sony's
cptianal plug-in head block.
Stop running around in circles. Make .he oomF arson yourse:f. The Sony Model E50 professional
Quality Tape Deck is available at ycur nearest
Sor y: Supersc,r,pe dealer.
Also available: the Mc del 854-4 Quadradial
4-channel tape deck for recording and playing
4 -channel Quadradial sound.
EIEEE 91YAP:NPE.
You never kean3 it E good.®
2
www.americanradiohistory.com
The Recording Industry of America (RIAA) has
just issued an estimate of 1970 record and tape
sales. Here they are compared with the 1969
figures:
1970
1969
Editor's
Review
The AES convention attracts more and more
people every year and this year's attendance
was at least fifty per cent up on last year's.
There were sixty-seven exhibitors at the Hotel
New Yorker and although there were some complaints regarding the choice of venue, I imagine
everyone was well satisfied with the results.
Seventy-five technical papers were presentedthe most popular being the Teldec video record
demonstration, the recording session given by the
New York AES section, and John Chownings
"Simulation of Moving Sound Sources" using computer techniques. The `panning' of various electronic and other sounds round the room was most
effective. I myself was particularly interested in
Percy Wilson's talk on British contributions to
audio during the past years, as I had known many
of the people so well. John Eargle's talk and demonstration of quadraphonic sound derived from
existing two and three -track master tapes was also
worthy of mention.
Sound quality as a whole was very much better
than we have heard on previous years. (A lot of
truth in the old story of the shoemaker's children! )
The four large loudspeakers systems in the hall
were designed by Rectilinear and they used some
new Becker speaker units. Bernie Beck of the latter
company was in charge of the Public Address system, a duty he performed most efficiently. Upstairs
in the smaller rooms, the quadraphonic demonstrations by JVC, Electro -Voice and Scheiber proved
very popular.
At the annual banquet, several awards were
given out. The John H. Potts Memorial Medallion
went to Rudy Bozak, and Dr. Beranek in making
the presentation cited his "outstanding achievements in the field of audio engineering." Arthur
Haddy of the British Decca company received the
Berliner Award, and Citations were given to Marvin Camras and John D. Colvin.
(millions)
$1.17
$300
$21
$75
$21
Records (billions )
8-track cartridges
4-track cartridges
Cassettes
Reel-to-reel
(
millions )
$1.2
$400
$8
$105
$21
Records and eight -track cartridges show a healthy
gain -so do cassettes, with reel-to-reel just holding
their own and four-track declining. Next year will
undoubtedly see a further increase in cassette sales
due to the Dolby and Crolyn innovations, but
whether the demand for reel-to-reel tape will go
up or remain static is anybody's guess.
We must be doing something right!
Circulation of Audio increased from 47,966 in 1968
to this year's figure of 87,497 ( average monthly
sale). This is very gratifying and we hope to show
a similar increase next year. The larger the circulation, the more advertisers, and more advertisers
mean we can have a larger magazine. As I have
said before, we want to print more articles for
beginners as well as sophisticated technical articles for the knowledgeable. More space would also
allow us to publish even better equipment evaluations and reviews.
Opera lovers will be pleased to learn that the
opera record reviews by Richard Freed will become a regular feature. Another recent innovation,
the "London Letter" by Donald Aldous, was well
received and will appear from time to time.
0
o
0
It used to be fairly easy to make predictions
about the future-videophones, space travel and all
that. But now? lust look at what has happened
during the past thirty years or so with the development of atomic science, the invention of lasers,
transistors, computers and the vast complex technology of the Space Age.... In just 29 years' time,
it will be the year 2000-but I will not attempt to
make any prophecies. As the year 1971 is just
around the corner, we at Audio will content ourselves by wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year. Especially to R. F. of Washington, D.C., who meticulously annotates all our typographical errors; to J. C. of Silver Springs, Md.,
who is distressed when we use Latin -Greek hybrid
words, and to Robert Walker of Los Angeles
( where else?) who believes the moon is shaped
like a turtle and has written a book to prove it!
G. W. T.
AUDIO
18
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
IN MAKING RECORDS
STANTON IS THE STANDARD
Photographed
Whatever your requirements for recording and
playback, Stanton's Series 681 cartridges are
the calibration standard. And there is a 681 model
engineered specifically for each of these critical
applications.
The Stanton
681A-For Cutting Head Calibration
With Stanton's Model 681A, cutting heads can be
accurately calibrated with the cartridge,for it has
been primarily designed as a calibration standard in
recording system checkouts for linearity and
equalization. Frequency response is factory calibrated to the most rigid tolerances and the flattest
possible response is assured for precise alignment
of recording channels. Implicit in this kind of
stability and constancy is a reliability factor unmatched by any other cartridge for this application.
at
Capitol Records.
the present state of the art. It is designed for low distortion tracking with minimum stylus force,
regardless of the recorded velocity or the distance of
the groove from the disc center. High compliance,.
low mass and low pressure assure perfect safety
even on irreplaceable records.
All Stanton Calibration Standard cartridges are
guaranteed to meet the specifications with exacting
limits. Their warranty comes packed with each unit
-the calibration test results for that individual
cartridge.
For complete information and specifications write
Stanton Magnetics, Inc., Terminal Drive,
Plainview, L.I., New York.
The Stanton 681 EE-For Critical Listening
In
critical playback auditioning, whether a
sTaNTon
pre -production disc sample sounds too "dead" or
"bright" is largely a matter of cartridge selection.
Here too, Stanton provides the evaluation standard
in its model 681EE. In this application, the Stanton
681EE offers the highest obtainable audio quality in
www.americanradiohistory.com
Check No.
1S
on Reader Service Card
Stereo
Headphone
Review
HEADPHONES as we know
them today apparently made their
appearance in 1959, and while
there was only one manufacturer that year,
now there are many. John Koss introduced the idea of "Stereophones" and
has made a successful business of phones
ever since.
Earphones are not new, of course.
They have been used by radio "hams"
for at least fifty years, and before that
they were used for any listening that
was necessary. They were necessary
then because the signals were low in
level, and there were no amplifiers to
make them audible over loudspeakerseven if we had loudspeakers. And the
first loudspeakers were simply a single
phone coupled to a horn. This arrangement gave way in the 20's to the first
dynamic horn driver, introduced by Magnavox and still coupled to a horn. Even
though the cone loudspeaker had been
invented in about 1877, it did not become popular enough-or good enoughto enjoy general use until late in the 20's.
The first earphone was similar to the
telephone receiver, from which it derived, purely as a means to provide a
smaller device which could be worn on
a band over the head instead of being
held in the hand as one did the old telephone receiver. It consisted of a magnet,
a coil of wire, and a diaphragm. The
minute currents through the coil varied
the attraction of its core to the iron diaphragm, resulting in movement of the
diaphragm which moved the air in contact with it to create sound waves. The
field created by the coil alone would
attract the diaphragm on each half cycle
of the signal, so the magnet was necessary to provide a "bias" to the diaphragm. Then the diaphragm would be
attracted more on one half cycle and
less on the next half cycle, rather than
equally on both half cycles. Without the
magnet, the reproduced signal would be
twice the frequency of the applied current; with it, the sound would be equivalent to the signal current.
STEREO
Somewhat improved phones were
made with an armature inside a coil and
a small linkage between one end of the
armature and the center of a diaphragm.
J"l
C. G. McPROUD
This was the principle of the original
"Baldwin" phones, which were somewhat more sensitive than the earlier
types, and which could have better quality. Another type was the ribbon phone
of RCA manufacture. This was one of
the first really high quality headphones.
It consisted of a thin ribbon imbedded
into a diaphragm in such a way as to
be held between the poles of the coil,
together with the permanent magnet.
These phones were called "High Fidelity
Headphones," and canied the designation MI -3453 by RCA.
Dynamic headphones made their appearance in the 30's, and one excellent
type was provided by Western Electric.
They were used by mixers for location
recording in the early days of sound
movies. Later types consisted of tiny
hearing -aid devices which were worn
with molded plastic earpieces which effectively eliminated air leakage and provided excellent low-frequency response.
"Stereophones"
With the advent of stereophonic recording, the first listening was always
done with phones-hence the name
"binaural" became a part of the vocabulary of any knowledgeable audiophile.
In fact, it took some doing to eliminate
the word from our lexicon, and we still
haven't succeeded in eliminating "monaural" which is often used when monophonic is meant.
John Koss introduced his "Stereophones" during the 50's, employing a
3M -in. dynamic speaker in each of the
two earpieces. They created quite a sensation-so much so that many other manufacturers began to get into the market
with their products so that today there
must be upward of a hundred separate
models available. Koss alone lists nine
models, ranging in price from $150 for
the ESP-9 Studio Monitor down to a
lowest price of $19.95, which is simply
an improved model of his first Stereophones. Our September issue listed 35
separate models, and two more are listed
in the November issue. And for the Product Preview issue, we limited each manufacturer so that not every model could
Fig.
1-Koss artificial
www.americanradiohistory.com
portion
is
be listed. Furthermore, not every manufacturer was included in the listings.
Because of the many makes and models, we planned to cover the subject as
thoroughly as possible in this issue, giving
more details of the models selected by the
manufacturer, providing response curves
and comparing sensitivities and the sound
isolation effect of many of the popular
headphones on the market.
As a starter, we requested samples
from a number of manufacturers, and
soon we had an office full of headphones
-fifteen in all. And still not every manufacturer was included, and certainly not
every model they produce.
Performance Measurements
The measurement of headphone performance is relatively complicated. The
phones must be coupled to a microphone
by means of an "artificial ear" of specific
characteristics-and here there is a considerable difference of opinion. There are
U.S. standards, International Electrotechnical Commission standards, and the
British National Physical Laboratory standards -and they do not all coincide. The
basic artificial ear coupler consists of a
6 -cu. cm. volume between the phone and
the microphone diaphragm, while a 2.5
cu. cm. volume is used for hearing -aid
measurements. Various types are available commercially, and at relatively high
AUDIO
20
ear. Dark
molded rubber and provides the requisite
6 cm' cavity.
DECEMBER 1970
costs, so we borrowed the one used by
Koss, together with a Bruel and Kjaer
3i -in. condenser microphone, its cathode
follower and power supply. These we
used as standard, since they were used
by Koss in measurements on their ESP -9
Studio Monitor Stereophones, which are
in the category of highest quality. Then
to make sure that we could continue
headphone measurements after we returned the artificial ear and the B & K
microphone to Koss, we built our own
artificial ear, using an AKG C -451E condenser microphone. Our model consists
of a 5% maple body, 6% in. long with a
%-in. hole through the center for the
microphone. The 6 -cu. cm. volume was
retained as in the Koss model. The C 451E microphone is a %-in. condenser,
complete with an FET "follower" and a
bi -polar transistor as an amplifier driving
an output transformer. In addition, another transistor serves as an oscillator
which generates a high -voltage signal
which is rectified to supply 60 volts as
a polarizing potential for the condenser
cartridge. The FET and the two transistors are fed by simplexing a direct
current through the input transformer
of the following amplifier-as used for
recording, for example-and the output
transformer of the microphone. Any voltage from 73% to 52 can be used with suitable curreñt limiting resistors. With this
microphone, only two wires and the
shield are required, and when used in
the usual fashion with a transformer at
the input of a recording amplifier, it is
possible to interchange microphones so
that condensers or dynamics can be used
as the need dictates. A simple modification makes it possible to use this microphone for measurements without an
input transformer, and this model is
priced within the range of most users'
budgets. The calibration shows it to be
flat to 15,000 Hz, and reasonably flat to
over 20,000.
For a sound source, we used a CBS
STR-100 record, which has a swept signal from 40 to 20,000 Hz for both right
and left channels. The left sweep only
was used, and the output of the ADC 25
cartridge was fed to a preamplifier equalized to produce a signal flat within ±1
dB over the range. This was then fed to
the tuner input of a Dynaco SCA 80,
with the speaker output terminated in 8
ohms, and the phones were plugged into
the front -panel jack, which had the usual
100 ohms in series with each lead for
the phones. The signal was adjusted for 4
volts across the 8 ohms-a 2-watt signal.
The Koss ESP -6 phones require a different connection. The 4 -wire lead from
the E-9 Energizer is connected direct
to the speaker terminals of the amplifier,
and the speakers are connected to the
Energizer. The phones are plugged into
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
2-Artificial ear made for our tests. It consists of a maple block with a 3/4 -in. hole
through the center to accommodate the AKG C-451E condenser microphone used for the
measurements.
Fig.
ARTIFICIAL
EAR
ADC -25
EQUALIZED
DYNACO
SCA-80
PRE AMP
CBS STR-100
SWEEP RECORD
AKG C-451E
MICROPHONE
GRAPHIC
RECORDER
A
SPEAKER
OYNACO
SCA-80
SQUARE
NAVE
GENERATOR
400 Hz
ARTIFICIAL
EAR
Fig.
(B)
3-(A) Setup of equipment for making response curves
Setup of equipment for making isolation tests.
the socket on the Energizer, which in
turn is plugged into an a.c. outlet. This
provides both signal and polarizing potential for the electrostatic phones. The
polarizing voltage can be provided by
the rectified a.c. line voltage or by the
signal itself which is stepped up in voltage and rectified by a voltage tripler to
provide for self-energization. The two
methods are selectable by a switch on
the front panel of the Energizer. In addition, another switch turns the speakers
on or off as desired.
Using the ESP -9's connected properly,
we first ran several curves with the Bruel
and Kjaer microphone and the Koss artificial ear, recording the output on the
prototype instrument shown in Fig. 2.
After satisfying ourselves that these measurements were consistent, we next made
the same runs with our own version of
the artificial ear using the AKG C-451E
microphone with an omnidirectional capsule. Thus we had a comparison between
a standard measuring device and our
own version. Then we proceeded to make
curves on all the other headphones we
had accumulated.
Our next measurement was to determine the sensitivity of the various
A.F. VOLTMETER
on the headphones.
phones. We fed a 1000-Hz signal into
the SCA-80 and adjusted the level to an
output of 3 volts, which was held constant for the measurement of all the
headphones in our collection. Having a
known level for the ESP-9's, we could
readily compare the sensitivities of all
the phones.
Next we placed a loudspeaker near
the artificial ear and played a 400 -Hz
square wave through it, setting the level
to get a readable signal from the microphone in the artificial ear. Then we
placed each pair of phones consecutively
on the ear, settled it for a minimum signal output, and measured the difference.
This "isolation" figure is listed for each
of the models tested, and represents the
reduction of external noise when the
phones are on the head. It may or may
not be important, depending on the use
to which you plan to put the phones.
If you are recording in a location where
you can hear the natural sound directly,
you will want good isolation so that all
you really hear is that picked up by the
microphone. If it is for listening in your
home so you do not disturb others, the
isolation is not so important.
(Continued on page 24)
21
s the Dosix cassette "Carousel" made by the Double Sixteen
Co. Holding 25 cassettes, it comes
complete with labels and an index
card. Three models are available
and the deluxe version shown costs
Under $5
A. Shure
stylus gauge, model SFG -2.
Most readers will know that heavy
tracking weights will cause record
but too low a weight is
damage
just as bad! You can measure stylus
pressure with this new Shure gauge
with the arm in playing position.
Range is 1/2 gram to 3 grams and it
costs only $4.95.
...
B.
Nortronics tape head cleaner, available in both liquid and spray forms.
Don't risk head damage by using unsuitable chemicals! Price $2.75 spray
can. 8 oz. liquid $2.25.
C. Robins THC-9 Cleaner Cartridge.
Here is a different type of cleaner-
...
The
one that talks! Well, almost
tape has four pre-recorded 'beep'
tones that indicate when the heads
are well and truly cleaned. For eight track machines only, price $2.50.
$11.95.
I.
izing, units like the Advent FBC,
Altec "Voicette" or the Frazier Environmental equalizer are recommended-but they cost rather
than the SE -111.
N. Why not convert to 4 -channel? The
unit shown is the new Electro -Voice
decoder which will produce four
channels from a mono or two-channel program source. You will of
course need another stereo power
amplifier and a pair of speakers but
you will then be able to play quadraphonic tapes with the appropriate
deck. Price of the decoder is $50.
Another answer to the problem of
cassette storage-this one is from
Ampex and is called a cassette Library. Complete with six C-60 blank
cassettes the Ampex Library costs
$13.50.
Under $120
J.
Sony-Superscope MX -12 Mixer. This
is a six-channel stereo/mono unit
with provision for high and low level
outputs, center channel switch, and
many other features. Powered by internal batteries or AC adaptor the
MX -12 costs $99.50.
O.
K.L. How about reviving the system with
D. These new TDK blank tape cassettes
use a special type of ferric oxide
coating giving a response up to 20
kHz. Price C.90, $3.59.
E.
Here is a reel which will save frayed
tape and nerves. It features an ingenious automatic locking device
called the Autothread that really
works! Price 79¢ for 5 inch, 99% for
7 -inch reels. (Radio -Shack).
Under $20
F. The periodic use of a tape head demagnetizer will often improve signalto-noise and reduce distortion. This
unit is made by Duotone and is intended for cassette players. Price
$7.95 (model S.A. 75).
probably wondered what this
gadget is-well, it is a microphone
desk stand and it is made by Shure.
It is unusually versatile and will accept microphones with both swivel
adaptors and connectors. Thread
size is 27, % inch. Price $9.00.
G. You
a
new phono
cartridge? The
Pickering XV -15 is shown with the
'snap -in' mounting assembly which
greatly simplifies cartridge replacements. One of Pickering's engineers
says it is "the greatest thing since
the invention of the wheel or the
zipper or drip-dry shirts." We
wouldn't go that far but it certainly
does save a lot of time and cuss
words .
Another excellent cartridge is the ADC 25 which comes
complete with three different styliif you want the best results from
those difficult records, it might be
worth the extra cost. Price of the
top -of -the line Pickering XV -15 is $65
and the ADC 25 will set you back
$100. Alternatively, model 26 with
one stylus costs $75.
.
.
P.
.
M. Elektra-Amplidyne Speaker Equalizer. Reviewed in our June issue, this
unit was developed primarily to compensate for certain speaker deficiencies but it can improve room acoustics to some extent. It costs $149.50
but it may well make your system
sound $500 better! For room equal-
About those speakers for the rear
channels: Ideally, they should be
similar to the front pair but for reasons of cost and space it might be
necessary to compromise a little. In
practice, the sound degradation is
quite small-especially if the rear
two "come from the same stables" so
to speak. In other words, two AR.5's
will match up pretty well with AR.3's
and Rectilinear 10's will work quite
.
.
happily with Rectilinear Ill's
Shown is the Wharfedale W-25 which
measures 151/2 by 10 by 8 inches
and costs $58.75.
Another small speaker with aboveaverage performance is the $55
EPI 50 which measures only 13 x 10
x 8 inches. Also consider the ADC
404 at the same price or the larger
Dynaco A -25's at $79.95. You might
also try the effect of a single rear
speaker connected between the
other two channels as suggested by
David Hafler (Audio July, 1970). You
may like it or you may not-but it
certainly does not cost much to find
out...
Q.
Original heading for this section was
"under $100" but we increased it to
$120 so we could include the Advent
101 Dolby Noise Reduction System.
It can be used with any good -quality
home tape recorder-reel to reel or
cassette and effect a dramatic improvement.
AUDIO
22
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
Christmas
Buying Guide
CARTRIDGE
Oie
II
TT
iTiirfi:
IGICS-23
www.americanradiohistory.com
23
HEADPHONES
-
Continued
AKG K-60
Gray plastic shells; d.c. resistance, 550
ohms per phone; for 600-ohm circuits,
although usable with typical receiver
headphone jacks. Removable silver-colored vinyl pads 33íx43í in., foam filled.
Double flat steel headband, plastic covered. Right and left phones identified by
colored dots on band-yellow for left, red
for right. Gray plastic cord, split to
phones, 7 ft. long, detachable plug. Sensitivity: 95 dB SPL; isolation 19 dB.
Weight, 11 oz. Price $39.50.
98
100
IK
FREQ.
10K
Check No. 112 on Reader Service Card
82
Beyer DT -48s
\
108
100
10K
1K
FREQ. H
Aluminum shells, marked L and R;
d.c. resistance, 5 ohms per phone. Foam
filled vinyl pads 3x434 in. Adjustable steel
hand with plastic top, two vinyl -covered
foam pads. Cord 10 ft. long, split to each
phone, with yellow and red bands to
indicate left and right. Metal-shell plug,
detachable. Furnished with leather -like
vinyl zippered case. Sensitivity: 106 dB
SPL; isolation 21 dB. Weight, 16 oz.
Price: $98.00. Available with 50 -ohm
impedance for use with Nagra and Stellavox recorders as Model DT-48N, $98.00.
Check No. 113 on Reader Service Card
Olive plastic shells; d.c. resistance, 8
ohms per phone. Removable leather -like
black vinyl pads, foam filled, 3%x4% in.
Plastic headband, foam rubber head pad.
Coiled black cord to left phone, extends
to 6 ft., permanent molded plug. Sensitivity, 115 dB SPL; isolation, 6 dB.
Weight, 20 oz. Price: $29.95.
100
10K
1K
FREQ.
M2
Check No. 114 on Reader Service Card
Clark/100A
100
i
1FREQ.
00
oK
1K
Gray plastic shells; d.c. resistance, 20
ohms each phone. (Also available in 300
and 600 ohms.) Removable molded foam
pads 34x4 in., adjustable fiat steel band
with molded foam pad. Black coiled cord
extends to 10 ft., permanent molded
plug. Sensitivity, 98 dB SPL, isolation 10
dB. Weight, 16 oz. Price $50.00.
Check No. 115 on Reader Service Card
82
Fisher HP -100
106
'
100
1K
FREQ. 82
10K
Light gray plastic shells with molded
frame for flat foam pads over ears; d.c.
resistance, 50 ohms each phone. Plastic
covered wire headband. Gray cord split
to each phone, 8 ft. long, with permanent molded plug. Red plastic indicator
on right phone, yellow on left. Sensitivity, 104 dB SPL; isolation, 2 dB. Weight,
15 oz. Price $39.95.
Check No. 116 on Reader Service Card
AUDIO
24
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
100
1K
FREQ.
Koss PRO-4AA
White plastic shells; d.c. resistance 4
ohms per phone. Pads of g-in. foam, 33x
434 in., circumaural, dark gray in color.
Adjustable two -wire headband, plastic
top and foam head pad. Cord to left
phone, 8 ft. long, and fitted with permanent plug. No identification as to which
phone is intended for which ear. Sensitivity, 104 dB SPL; isolation, 2 dB.
Weight, 15 oz. Price $39.95.
10K
H2
Check No. 117 on Reader Service Card
Only electrostatic phones in group.
Black plastic shell, with removable vinyl
liquid-filled pads 3',4x434. Single wide steel
band, adjustable, with plastic cover and
foam head pad. Cord connected to left
phone, 6 ft. long, and fitted with 5 -prong
plug which mates with socket on E-9
Energizer, which plugs into a.c. socket,
and connected to speaker terminals by
4 -wire cable with spade tips. Switch on
energizer permits selection of a.c. or
signal -powered polarizing circuit, and a
second switch turns on speakers which
are connected to terminal strip on rear
of Energizer. Sensitivity, 88 dB SPL;
isolation, 11 dB. Weight, 19 oz. exclusive
of Energizer. Price, $150.00, including
Energizer.
Koss ESP 9
Koss PRO-4AA
Check No. 118 on Reader Service Card
96
"
100
1K
10K
FRED. H2
\
Tan plastic shells; d.c. resistance, 8
ohms per phone. Removable liquid -filled
pads 3fix4'4. Wide steel band, adjustable,
with plastic cover, foam head pad. Coiled
4-conductor cord, extendable to 10 ft.,
removable plug. Sensitivity, 96 dB SPL;
isolation 10 dB. Weight, 19 oz. Price,
$60.00. Check
No. 119 on Reader Service Card
Lafayette F-990
100
1K
10K
FREQ. 02
Pioneer
Check No. 120 on Reader Service Card
SE -50
100
IK
FREQ. H2
White plastic shells, 8 ohms d.c. resistance per phone. Round foam -filled vinyl
pads, brown adjustable plastic band,
foam filled vinyl head pad. Cord attached
to one phone, 7 ft. in length, and fitted
with removable plug. Sensitivity, 112 dB
SPL; isolation, 9 dB. Weight, 20 oz.
Price, $29.95.
12K
Plastic shells, white vinyl covered; d.c.
resistance, 8 ohms per phone. Each phone
fitted with level control for total signal
and a second control for highs. Phones
consist of 3 -in. cone low -frequency unit
and horn -type high -frequency unit, with
capacitor dividing network. Leather covered adjustable steel band, leather foamfilled head pad. Leather foam -filled pads
4x432 in., removable. Coiled black cord
extends to 16 ft., fitted with permanent
plug. Furnished in attractive black vinylcovered case with red and white lining.
Sensitivity, 103 dB SPL; isolation, 15 dB.
Weight, 20 oz. Price, $49.95.
Check No. 121 on Reader Service Card
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
25
Sennheiser HD -414
i
8
97
100
13K
1K
FREQ. H2
Gray plastic shells, 2000 ohms d.c.
resistance per phone. "Open -Aire" ear
pads of fine foam, 23 inches in diameter,
3 in. thick. Gray plastic band with no
head pads, unnecessary because of light
weight. Cord 15 ft. long, split to the two
phones. Left phone identified by yellow
plastic band on cord, right by red band.
Cord furnished with removable black
plug, and plastic "reel" furnished to wind
cord on. Sensitivity, 97 dB SPL; isolation, 2 dB. High impedance permits direct use with preamp output and with
tape recorder monitor jacks designed
for high -Z phones. Weight 5 oz. Price,
$29.95. Check No. 122 on Reader Service Card
Sharpe 7
+'\
103
Green plastic shells, d.c. resistance 16
ohms per phone. Removable plastic pads
33/4x5 in., liquid -filled. Green plastic ad-
±
100
10K
1K
FREQ. H2
justable band with plastic head pad.
Green coiled cord extendable to 15 ft.,
fitted with permanent plug. Sensitivity,
103 dB SPL; isolation, 8 dB. Weight, 18
oz. Price, $19.95.
Check No. 123 on Reader Service Card
e
94
±
100
10K
1K
FREQ.
H2
Check No. 124 on Reader Service Card
Superex PRO -4 -B -V
r
eg
97
100
1K
FREQ.
Telex Studio
10K
112
1
Telex Serenata
26
(Continued on page 88)
www.americanradiohistory.com
Plastic and aluminum shells, d.c. resistance 8 ohms per phone. Removable
,foam-filled vinyl pads 33íx43/4 in. Adjustable single steel band plastic covered.
Cloth covered 7 -ft. cable, removable
plug. Sensitivity, 94 dB SPL; isolation,
12 dB. Weight, 133í oz. Price, $27.50.
Dynamic cone woofer, ceramic tweeter; d.c. resistance, 8 ohms per phone.
Available with impedances of 60, 2000,
and 15,000 ohms. Dual steel band, adjustable, plastic covered, with vinyl head
pad. Green plastic shells. Removable
foam -filled vinyl pads 35x4 in. Black 4wire coiled cord extendable to 15 ft.,
detachable plastic plug. Sensitivity, 111
dB SPL; isolation, 20 dB. Weight, 23 oz.
Price, $59.95.
Check No. 125 on Reader Service Card
These models were not available in
time to include their performance characteristics, but they will be included in a
future issue. Ivory plastic shells; surgical
silicone compound ear pads. Adjustable
steel band, plastic cover, with head pad.
Slide -type level controls on each phone,
together with tone control for each.
Coiled cord, 25 ft. long, with molded
permanent plug. Weight, 24 oz. Price,
$99.95. Studio 2 (without controls),
$84.95.
Check No. 126 on Reader Service Card
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
Introducing the Ampex Extended Frequency Cassette
You no longer have to trade quality
sound for cassette convenience.
With Ampex Extended Frequency
Cassettes you can use the full range,
the maximum frequency response of
your stereo system. Record anything.
Rock to Pop to Classics. Enjoy better
listening with lower noise because of
super -smooth Ferrosheen® tape. Get
higher output with exclusive small
particle black oxide formula that produces more magnetic energy per
square inch of tape. Capture it all on
Ampex Extended Frequency Cassettes...cassettes that look as good
as they sound.
Packaging so handsome it complements any piece of fine equipment. Combined with complete
inside indexing and packaged with
gold leaf for elegant labeling.
Ask your Ampex dealer to demonstrate the difference.
Check No. 27 on Reader Service Card
Ask, too, about the special
sette caddy introductory offer.
6 C60 Extended Frequency
settes and get a handsome
nut grain storage case free.)
cas(Buy
CaswalYour
equipment deserves nothing but
the best-Ampex Extended Frequency Cassettes.
AMPEX
Ampex Corporation,
Magnetic Tape Division
401 Broadway, Redwood City,
California 94063
A Sound -Level Meter
How to Build and Use
a
SPECIFICATIONS
Sensitivity
Sound -Level Meter with One -Third Octave Filters
30 to 120 dB SPL when
used with microphone
having sensitivity of
Frequency
Range
DAVID GRIESINGER
Frequency
Accuracy
-60
dB re 1V/µbar
20 to 20,000 Hz in three
ranges
±10%
100 k ohms at Mic input
Input
Impedance 1.0 Meg at high-level
input
Power
Required
SERIOUS
RECORDED -MUSIC
listeners are aware that the sound
MOST
they eventually hear depends to
a large extent on the acoustics of their
listening room. Even after determining
the best possible placement for the speakers, and perhaps adding some drapes or a
rug, the system as a whole can sound
muddy, or lack the lifelike quality of the
more -fortunate systems. True realism depends on having a flat frequency response
where you listen, and most rooms will not
cooperate. Fortunately, frequency response is easy to vary electronically.
Several devices have appeared recently
which are intended to deal with this
problem, and simple electronic filters are
really quite easy to make. Unhappily, adjusting such a filter can be frustrating. It
is difficult to determine just what corrections to make by merely listening to
music. One of the most meaningful ways
of measuring the frequency response of a
hi-fi system is to measure the response of
the system to narrow bands of filtered
noise. The little instrument described in
this article, when combined with a high quality omnidirectional microphone, is
capable of making this kind of measurement as well as many others. The sound
level meter is not tricky to build, and
should cost less than fifty dollars.
All the meter needs to measure room
response is a calibrated preamplifier, a
tunable active filter, and a VU meter. To
measure the sound levels of music and
machines, a bass filter is included to give
the standard "A" weightings. The result
is a true sound -level meter, capable of
measuring sounds down to 20 dB SPL
and third -octave noise down to 0 dB
SPL. With a microphone sensitivity of
-60 dB re 1V/pbar, this corresponds to
a pure tone input of only 0.18 µV rms,
making it possible to measure the noise
output of almost anything.
Before describing the circuit, I think I
should say something about the way the
instrument is to be used, and how that
use determines the choice of microphone.
Figure 1 shows the response of my living
28
room to pure tones and to third -octave
noise, with the mike placed where I do
most of my listening. The wide variations
in the pure -tone response exist in all
rooms, and correspond to resonances or
standing waves similar to the ones in
organ pipes. The number of possible frequencies for these resonances or standing
waves is very large, since the sound wave
can bounce around the room in many
directions, using combinations of the
walls, floor, and ceiling as reflectors. We
hear the combination of all the reflecions. For some frequencies, these reflec20
50
100
9
V at 2.5 mA from tran -
sistor radio battery. Life
about 10 hours.
measure accurately how a room sounds to
music, one must use tones which resemble music in the way they waver.
Although music generally wavers about
a semitone, or a twelfth of an octave,
noise filtered through a third -octave filter
gives good results. Figure 1 shows that
the third -octave curve follows the response to pure tones. The noise curve
may look smooth, but it must be treated
with respect. A dip or a peak of three
decibels in a third -octave -noise curve is
almost always audible, especially if it occurs between 300 and 2000 Hz.
200
90
Fig. 1-Low-frequency response of the author's
room with AR-5 placed
near a corner and microphone at room center.
80
70
-lb octave
tones)
(-
noise;-pure
60
FREQUENCY -Hz
tions add up in phase, creating a peak,
and for others they cancel each other out,
giving us no sound at all. The ear is much
more sensitive to peaks in the response
than to dips.
Above 200 Hz the response to pure
tones looks similar, except that it becomes
rather difficult to measure. The variations
in the response get very close together on
the dial of the oscillator, and unless you
tune very slowly it is easy to miss them
entirely.
Fortunately, music sounds much better
in such a room than this curve would
seem to predict. Musical tones are continuously changing, and the individual
resonances do not have time to build up.
The response that we subjectively hear is
the average of nearby resonances, and is
a lot smoother than the pure -tone curve.
Unfortunately, it is still not very flat. To
The basic principle of this discussion
has been that sound in a room does not
simply come from the speaker to you,
but forms standing waves which surround you. To measure the intensity of
the sound correctly you must use an omnidirectional microphone. Cardioid microphones have a predictable response in a
very large room or in an anechoic
chamber, but when put into a standing
wave their output can vary widely.
Microphone Selection
The microphone used must be at least
as good as the system you are trying to
measure. Fortunately, there are many
high -quality omnidirectional condenser
microphones available. These microphones have been designed for recording,
but they can easily be used for sound
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
Which stereo hobbyist are you...
the listener or the experimenter?
Pioneer caters to both.
As a reader of this magazine, listening
to music is undoubtedly.one of your
more relaxing hobbies. In which case
the Pioneer SA -900 Integrated Amplifier and -X-900 AM -FM Tuner are for
you. Together, they produce the finest
stereo sound reproduction. And, if
you want to go one step further into the
realm o' stereo experimentation, this
is where to start.
For instance, the SA -900 permits
you to operate the pre and main amplifiers separately. You can connect an
electron c crossover and two power
amplifiers for 3 -channel multi -amp
stereo. And for added effect you can
patch in a reverb amp. The possibili-
ties are limitless. With music power at
145 watts IHF (50 t 50 watts RMS, at
8 ohms, both channels operating)
there's unbounded power to spare.
Harmonic distortion is less than
0.08%. Stepped tone controls provide
the finest precision adjustments.
As High Fidelity (July 1970) commented: "... For an amplifier as good
as this and with as many useful features, you'd expect to pay considerably more than the ($259.95)
price listed."
The TX -900 AM -FM tuner combines ideally with the SA -900 amplifier. Using three FET's and two RF
stages in the front end plus two crystal
West Coast: 1335 W. 134th St., Gardena, Calif. 90247
f
ID
PIONEER
Canada:
S. H.
filters and four IC's in the IF section,
IHF sensitivity (1.70V ), selectivity
(65dB) and captme ratio (1.5dB) are
superb. Tuning is precise with a bright
spot indicator and twin meters. A variable muting switch accommodates
weak signals while suppressing inter channel noise. $259.95
See and hear both units at your
local Pioneer dealer.
Pioneer Electronics U.S.A. Corp.,
178 Commerce Road, Carlstadt,
New Jersey 07072
Parker Co., 67 Lesmill Rd., Don Mills, On ario
measurement, especially if you do not
need to know the absolute level of the
sound.
There is a complication to using a recording mike. Any omnidirectional microphone is only really omnidirectional at
low frequencies. When the wavelength of
the measured sound becomes close to the
diameter of the microphone, diffraction
effects tend to reduce the response to any
wave which does not come from the
front. If the sound in your room comes
from all directions, some roll-off to the
measured sound will be noticed at high
frequencies. To compensate for this effect
some manufacturers build a treble rise
into the response of microphones designed
to measure noise. These mikes, such as
the B&K 4134, are flat to randomly incident noise (Fig. 2). Recording mikes are
usually closer to the B&K 4133, with a
flat on -axis response. Most people would
shudder at a treble rise in the on -axis
response, although when using an omnidirectional mike in a large live hall some
treble boost is often necessary.
Notice from Fig. 2 that diffraction
effects depend strongly on the diameter
of the microphone. B&K types 4131 and
4132 are one -inch microphones, 4133 and
4134 are half-inch, and 4135 and 4136
are quarter -inch. For a microphone of
%-inch diameter or less, these diffraction
effects occur mostly above 4 kHz, and
are serious only above 10 kHz. The sound
in a room is usually not omnidirectional
at those frequencies. Some loss of treble
will be noticed due to the nature of
the microphone, but if it is pointed directly at the speaker this roll -off is not
too serious. In any case it is not possible
to predict exactly how much it will be.
When making measurements at these
frequencies it is better to look for the
smoothness of the response. If you want
an exact number, the best way to get it
is to point the microphone 90 deg. from
the speaker, and correct the resulting
measurements for the response of the
microphone to randomly incident noise.
Some microphone manufacturers supply
such a curve with the mike. For those
which don't, it tends to be close to the
response to pure tones at 90 deg. incidence.
The condenser microphone chosen
should have a well known on -axis response, and be %-inch diameter or less. If
you intend to make a large number of
speaker measurements, a M -inch sound measurement microphone might be a
good investment. Otherwise it would be
wise to choose your microphone for its
use in other applications, such as recording. Remember that good omnidirectional
microphones of similar diameter and flat
on -axis response will sound identical.
Cardioid microphones are currently pop30
-40
TYPE 4131 (1")
-50
TYPE 4133 (1/2")
-60
-70
TYPE 4135
0/4")
/
80
10
TYPE 4132 (1")
90'
0°
/1
-50
R
TYPE 4134 (1. 2"
-60
10°
R
1
-70
90°
_
TYPE 4136
80
(1
i _`
90°
1
10
100
0°
4")
10K
1K
P
100K
Fig. 2-Typical frequency responses of some B & K condenser microphones. 0°=freefield response at 0° (normal incidence); 90°=free-field response at 90° (grazing incidence); R=random incidence response, and P=pressure response.
ular, but I prefer to use an omni wherever I can. They tend to add echo in a
natural way, and lack the increase in bass
when close to the source of sound.
Making the Measurements
Making speaker measurements is delightfully simple. You just feed some
source of broad -band noise into the
speaker system, and measure the resulting
sound with the meter. Noise which
sounds uniform in frequency content and
has equal energy content per third -octave
band is called pink noise. If you have
such a generator, use it. Otherwise, use
the interstation noise from an FM tuner.
You may have to disconnect the antenna
to get noise which sounds uniform
enough. This noise is not pink, but you
can correct your curves by measuring it
electrically with the meter.
The microphone should be placed in
the position you use for most of your
listening. If you get too close to the
speakers, interference between the drivers can give misleading results, although
you can test for high -frequency dispersion this way. You should occasionally
turn off the speakers to make sure that
the background sound in the room is
below the level you are measuring.
Measure each speaker separately, since
they usually require different compensation. If you insist on having a composite curve for the whole system, be sure to
set the tuner on stereo to get independent
noise in both channels. Otherwise interference effects can occur.
The measured response is usually less
than wonderful! What can you do about
it? Try moving the speaker first. The
standard things to try are lifting the
speaker off the floor or away from the
wall by a foot or so, to the long side
rather than the short side of a room, or
vice versa. You should avoid having two
reflective surfaces facing each other. I
prefer to make these changes by ear,
using a choral recording or a record of a
familiar voice.
Your response will probably still show
various slopes in the midrange. These
slopes are very important. Try varying
both the settings of the speaker balance
controls and the amplifier tone controls.
If you can't do much this way, you must
add some compensating networks between the preamplifier and the amplifier.
If your preamp has low output impedance
when compared to the input impedance
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
this is what the experts say
about the Astrocour/Marlux 407:
et
Every once in a while we come across a product which
so clearly stands out in its class that we must evaluate it
relative to much more expensive equipment, otherwise only
superlatives would be found on this page. The fact is that
Astrocom/Marlux has produced a terrific tape deck..." (AUDIO, DECEMBER 1959)
cc
Especially notable are its low wow and flutter,
low distortion, excellent signal-to-noise ratio, absolute meter
accuracy, and smooth extended response for both playback (01 pre-recorded tapes)
and for record/playback (of tape made on it)..." (HIGH FIDEEiTY, MAY 1970)
c!The
distortion was under 1.6% with record leVels as great as +10 dB
(far off -scale on the meters). In an A -B comparison of input and output signals,
the Astrocom- Marlux did a truly excellent job at 7.5 ips.
Even with FM interstation hiss as a "program" (one of the most severe tests
of a tape recorder) virtually no difference could be heard
between input and output signals....I9 (STEREO REVIEW, AUGUST 1370)
What more can we say?
Now hear and see the 407 yourself at your Astrocom dealer.
ASTROCOM
Oneonta, New York
13820
Check No. 31 on Reader Service Card
of the amplifier, simple networks of the
type shown in Fig. 3 will need no amplification. Often a simple network of this
type can improve the sound greatly,
especially when combined with changes
in the speaker controls. More complicated
filters can be built, but will require some
amplification. See the article on integrated -circuit preamplifiers in the June
issue of this magazine. When you are
through you should have sound that is
noticeably more natural. Don't hesitate
to readjust your tone controls for individual records. Some speakers may have
a hidden peak which makes the sound
unpleasant, and records are often made
with the treble boosted.
input, when used at gains over ten this
amplifier is capable of very -low-noise
operation.
The next stage is both an amplifier and
an active filter, and deserves some detailed explanation. Consider the circuit
with the function switch in the first filtered position. Q. then acts as a simple
emitter follower, and supplies signal from
the mike preamp to the top of the frequency -selecting network. This network
is called a Wien bridge. The top section,
with the resistor and the capacitor in series, functions as a high-pass filter. The
bottom section, with the resistor and the
capacitor to ground, acts as a low-pass
filter. Together the two networks form a
band-pass filter with a center frequency
given by f =1/27rRC. At the center of the
pass band, the output of the network is
in phase with the input, and has about
one third the amplitude. Since both the
high-pass and the low-pass networks
have only one section, the slope of the
sides of the band-pass curve is 6 dB per
octave.
We can make the filter sharper by adding positive feedback. The amplifier
which follows the bridge has a gain of
about ten. Signal from its output returns
to the input of the filter through the feedback mixing resistors R, and R,. When
we add positive feedback the gain of the
whole circuit is increased, but since the
Circuit Description
The circuit of the meter (Fig. 4) looks
more complicated than it actually is. The
original version of the device used integrated circuits, but it had more noise and
drew more battery current than this one,
which draws only 2.5 mA. The basic
amplifiers are very easy to build.
The first three transistors function as a
simple preamp. The gain is determined
by the value of the first emitter resistor.
Even though the overall gain varies from
200 to one there is no tendency to oscillate, since the first emitter resistor controls both the open loop and the closed
loop gains. Because of its single ended
"A"
NET WORK AND
POS. FEEDBACK MIXING
INPUT PREAMP
SEPARATE BOARD OR SPACED
APART FROM FOLLOWING CIRCUITRY
Cl
FUNCTION AND
FREQ. SELECT SWITCHING
C
TO
AMP
FROM
PREAMP
2F
1.3
f/2
f
27rxCxR1
RI
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2F
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WHEN RI
R0
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DEPTH IN dB = 20 LOG
RI
Fig. 3-Showing simple
boost circuits.
ACTIVE FILTER AMPLIFIER
+ R2
bass- and treble -
FINAL AMPLIFICATION AND METER
ON
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R9
¢-
1000
10,12
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C15
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POSITIVE FEEDBACK LINE
CC
T1003
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30K
TO BATT SW.
IIIII+SWITCH
SECT
9V
1000
C2
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1012
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44
FREQUENCY
INDICATOR--.
TO R17
OR
g
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g
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-.4.-.4.R51
R52
R53
R59
R60
R63
R55
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R62
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R64
R56
661
R66
1267
R68
R69
R70
2000
2700
3300
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5100
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8200
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GROUN
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FREQUENCY SELECTOR SWITCH (BOTH SECTIONS IDENTICAL)
Fig. 4-Overall schematic of author's third -octave sound-level meter. Both sections of frequency determining switch are identical The
two sections of the gain switch are shown independently.
32
AUDIO
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
To call it«an amplifier"
would be like
calling a Porsche
"Basic transportation':
There is unusual satisfaction that comes from
fulfilling a prosaic task in a far from prosaic
manner.
Hence this amplifying system: the Sony TA 2000 professional preamplifier and the Sony TA 3200F power amplifier. Together, they perform
all an amplifier's standard tasks in a satisfyingly
impeccable manner; but their 67 levers, switches,
meters, knobs and jacks allow you to perform
some interesting functions that are anything but
standard.
Dual-purpose meters.
The two VU meters on the preamplifier front
panel, for example, are no more necessary than
a tachometer on an automobile. But they do
serve the dual purpose of simplifying recordlevel control when the TA -2000 is used as a,
dubbing center, and of allowing you to test your
system's frequency response and channel separation (as well as those of your phono cartridge)
and to adjust the azimuth of your tape heads.
A broadcast/recording monitor console in
miniature.
The TA -2000 resembles professional sound
consoles in more than its VU meters. In addition
to the 20 jacks and seven input level controls
provided on its rear panel for permanent connections to the rest of your hi-fi system, the TA 2000 boasts a professional patch board in miniature on its front.
Thus, you can feed the inputs from microphones, electric guitars, portable recorders or
other signal sources into your system without
moving the preamplifier or disturbing your normal system connections in the least. And a front panel Line Out jack feeds signals for dubbing or
other purposes into an external amp or tape
recorder, with full control of tone and level from
the front-panel controls and VU meters.
The tone correction and filtering facilities are
also reminiscent of professional practice, allowing a total of 488 precisely repeatable response
settings, including one in which all tone controls
and filters are removed completely from the
circuit.
The amplifier-no mere "black box"
A power amplifier can be considered simply as
a "black box" with input and output connections,
a power cord, and an on/off switch; and such an
amplifier can perform as well (or poorly) as the
next one. But in designing the TA -3200F Sony
took pains to match the amplifier's facilities to
the preamplifier's.
Thus to complement the TA2000's two pairs of stereo
outputs, the TA -3200F has two
stereo pairs of inputs, selected
by a switch on the front panel.
Other front panel controls include independent input level controls for both channels, a speaker
selector switch, and a power limiter (in case your
present speaker should lack the power handling
capacity of the next one you intend to buy).
Circuitry unusual, performance more so
The single -ended, push-pull output circuitry of
the TA -3200F amplifier is supplied with both
positive and negative voltages (not just positive
and "ground") from dual balanced power
supplies. This system allows the amplifier to be
coupled directly to the speakers with no intervening coupling capacitors to cause phase
shift or low-end roll -off (A switch on the rear
panel does let you limit the bass response below
30Hz if you should want to, otherwise, it extends
all the way down to 10Hz.)
The individual stages within the amplifier are
also directly coupled with a transformerless
complementary -symmetry driver stage, and
Darlington type capacitorless coupling between
the voltage amplifier stages.
As a result, in part, of this unique approach,
the TA -3200F produces 200 watts of continuous
(RMS) power at 8 ohms, across the entire frequency range from 20 to 20,000 Hz; IHF Dynamic Power is rated at 320 watts into 8 ohms
(and fully 500 watts into a 4 -ohm load).
But more important by far is the quality of the
sound; intermodulation and harmonic distortion
levels are held to a mere 0.1% at full rated output,
and 0.03% at the more likely listening level of
one-half watt. The signal-to-noise ratio is an incredible 110dB. And the full damping factor of
170 is maintained down to the lowest, most
critical frequencies (another advantage of the
capacitorless output circuit).
The companion TA -2000 preamplifier also
boasts vanishingly low distortion and a wide
signal-to-noise ratio, but this is less unusual in a
preamplifier of the TA -2000's quality (and price).
What is unusual is the performance of the phono
and tape head preamplifier circuits; for though
they have sufficient sensitivity (0.06mV) for the
lowest -output cartridges (even without accessory
transformers), these preamplifier circuits are virtually immune to overload-even with input signals 80 times greater than normal.
Their sole vice: they are hardly Inexpensive
Of course, at a price of $329.50 (suggested
list) for the TA -2000 preamplifier, and $349.50
(suggested list) for the TA -3200F power amp,
this system cannot be considered other than a
luxury. But then, it was intended to be. For there
are those to whom fulfillment of prosaic tasks is
unfilling. And among them
are not only many of our
customers, but also many
of our engineers. Sony
Corporation of America,
47-47 Van Dam Street,
Long Island City,
New York 11101.
SONY®
Check No. 33 on Reader Service Card
Porsche is
a
trademark of Dr. -I ng.h.c.F.Porsche
KG
www.americanradiohistory.com
band-pass filter is inside the feedback
loop the amount of feedback, and thus
the increase in gain, is controlled by the
network. The center frequency, since it
has both the highest amplitude and the
correct phase, is boosted the most. Frequencies far down on the sides of the
band-pass curve get very little positive
feedback, and are not increased in amplitude. Obviously, if the gain of the
amplifier is set high enough to overcome
the losses in the feedback mixing network and the Wien bridge, the unit will
oscillate at the center frequency. By
using just slightly less gain, you can make
the filter as sharp as you want.
Setting the gain of the filter amplifier
is equivalent to adjusting the Q of an
LC resonant filter. You set the filter to
give a third -octave pass band by setting
an oscillator to the center of the pass
band in one position of the frequency selector switch, and then adjusting the
amplifier until the meter indicates 10 dB
less when the switch is moved one-third
octave either way. The resulting filter
shape is shown in Fig. 5.
Notice that the bottom of the curve
still has a slope of 6 dB per octave. Since
the frequencies down there have no positive feedback, the slope of the curve is
determined by the response of the Wein
bridge without feedback. The slope could
be increased to conform to the U.S. standard for sound level meters only by
adding two more independent Wien
bridges in series with the first, and that
would make the meter much more complicated. Fortunately, this filter shape is
adequate for measuring speaker response,
and will also give useful results when
used to measure most noises.
When you measure a noise in the flat
or "A" positions of the meter, and then
filter out all but a narrow band of frequencies, the power reaching the meter
is lowered. This device compensates for
this effect by raising the response of the
meter to pure tones by 20 dB when you
switch to a filtered mode. The addition
of positive feedback causes the pure -tone
gain to increase by about 14 dB, and the
additional 6 dB is obtained by lowering
the sensitivity when the meter is set to
"flat." In this position, the feedback line
is grounded, and R, and R, reduce the
signal. Q, is bypassed to improve the
signal-to-noise ratio. The "A" filter also
reduces the signal, as well as providing
the proper bass response for these measurements.
The amplifier which follows the filter
adds extra sensitivity to the unit, and
helps to keep the input preamplifier from
overloading when there is a strong signal
outside the pass band of the filter. The
rather strange way the gains of the two
amplifiers have been staggered represents
Fig.5 $-Filter shape of
sound -level meter comp a red with curve for:,;
standard third-octave filters. Note that skirts of the
curve do not continue at
the same slope, but instead decrease to a slope
of 6 dB per octave.
6-Completed sound level meter with condenser microphone and
its power supply.
Fig.
a compromise between optimum signal-
Construction
to-noise ratio and freedom from overload.
The output of the final amplifier goes
directly into a standard VU meter. These
meters are damped to have a relatively
fast response, and when measuring low
frequency noise the meter tends to jump
around quite a bit. However, I found that
it was not difficult to average the swings
by eye, and no attempt was made to give
the meter a slow response. Any standard
VU meter will work in the circuit, although the damping in the cheaper
models tends to vary from unit to unit.
Building the circuit is rather straightforward, and many alterations are possible from the parts listed. The suggested case is only 4 x 6 x 13í in., but it
is not too crowded if the PSA switches
are used. A larger case could be used,
but if it is plastic it should be lined with
grounded foil. The transistors listed have
very low noise, and are inexpensive.
Make sure you use Mylar capacitors in
the bridge. Ceramics types have too great
a power factor. No matter how you build
the circuit it will work for measuring
34
AUDIO
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
4
180 WATTSÌ\SANSUI POWER
SANSUI 5000A
180 (IHF) watts of Sansui power are built into the 5000A-an AM/FM stereo receiver that has been created for the connoisseur who demands the ultimate in tonal
magnificence and clarity of sound. The Sansui 5000A features a new FM Pack with
All -Silicon
linear tuning for greater selectivity and pin -point station selection
AM tuner for maximum stability
inputs for three separate sets of speaker sysjust a few of the features
tems
records up to 4 tape decks simultaneously
which will make the Sansui 5000A the nucleus of your most comprehensive hi-fi
music system for years to come. At your Sansui Audio Dealer. $399.95
.
...
...
Sli,___s_7.i,c
.
.
...
SANSUI ELECTRONICS CORP.
Woodside, New York, 11377
SANSUI ELECTRIC CO., LTD., Tokyo, Japan Frankfurt
a. M., West
Germany
Electronic Distributors
Check No. 35 on Reader Service Card
www.americanradiohistory.com
Los Angeles, California 90007
(Canada), British Columbia
SE
speakers, but the extra gain can be a lot
of fun. To keep the device stable at the
highest gains I was forced to add a
shield between the sections of the sensitivity switch. I simply cut a piece of
metal about 1 inch square from a can
and added it like an extra wafer to the
switch. A pair of 2-56 nuts on top of the
shield ensure that it stays grounded. Since
the works of a VU meter are conected
to the output of the final amplifier, you
may have to add a grounded foil shield
around the case of the meter. I built the
preamp and its power-supply-decoupling
capacitors on a separate board, tucked
behind the sensitivity switch. The input
jacks and wiring should be shielded. The
rest of the circuit can be built any way
you want, except that the output of the
final amplifier should be at least one
inch from any of the filter parts. I built
the rest of the circuit on a large board
which attaches to the meter terminals.
For those of you who have not done
much construction of this type, I highly
recommend using Vector board and T28
subminiature clips. Make sure you also
use an insertion tool. Figure 6, A -D, shows
how I built the filter amplifier.
Calibrating the instrument is simple,
although there are some tricks to making
the device work properly at all settings
of the switches. First, the 8 k resistors in
the frequency-selecting network must be
matched to within 1 per cent. If the
selectivity (or the sensitivity to pure tones)
changes as the frequency-selecting switch
is rotated, these resistors should be
trimmed. Reducing R3 will increase the
selectivity at the high -frequency settings.
Since you will probably want to make
this resistor by putting two lower resistors in series, simply measure the resulting combination on a good ohmmeter,
and adjust it to 8 k. Secondly, the ratios
of the capacitors in the bridge circuit
must be matched to within 1 per cent.
If you can find a capacitance bridge, or
1 -per cent capacitors, use them. Otherwise, adjust the selectivity of the unit
with the multiplier set on the lowest
range. Then switch to the next range,
and add small trimming capaitors to one
of the .01 capacitors until this range has
the same selectivity. You may have to
readjust the oscillator to stay at the center of the pass band. Increasing the value
of the upper capacitor will increase the
selectivity, and vice versa. Then do the
same for the highest range. When you
are through, the meter should have the
same selectivity and sensitivity to pure
tones through the whole audio range.
The overall sensitivity of the unit is
adjusted by using the cal potentiometer.
6B-Layout of parts on Vector boards for final amplifier at left and filter amplifier at
right. Preamp section is similar to the final amplifier. All layouts are designed to be
maximally flat so cover can be slipped on barely over the parts, thus serving as a shield.
Fig.
6C-Start of construction, before Vector board is installed over meter terminals. Note
shield between sections of gain switch at lower left. Frequency -determining switch is
seen at upper left corner. Metal shield at left covers microphone input jack.
Fig.
6D-Vector board in place over meter terminals. Note similarity of parts layout to
drawing of Fig. 6B.
Fig.
36
AUDIO
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
Steel)
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that enables you gradually to overcome early
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Check No. 37 on Reader Service Card
To do this you will have to determine the
sound pressure which corresponds to a
voltage you can generate easily. Unfortunately, microphone specifications are
given in many ways. Figure 7 may be
useful. Sound measurement microphones
without built-in transformers tend to have
a sensitivity of about -60 dB re IV/
Aar, and the meter is designed around
this kind of input. Many recording mikes
have some 20 dB greater sensitivity due
to a matching transformer. If your micro -
PARTS LIST
Capacitors:
Cl, C2, C12
Resistors, Cond.
10 µF, 12 V, electrolytic Sprague TE -1128
.033 µF, Sprague
3339R8
.0047 µF, Sprague
C3
C4
C5
4929R8
330 pF, Sprague
3329R8
C6,* C7*
0.1
µF, 1%
C8,* C9*
.01
µF,1%
C10,* C11*
.001 µf, 1%
* Mylar. Suggest you buy four of each and
match, according to text.
C13, C15
20 µF, 10 V, Sprague
C14
.01 µF,
TE-1130
C16, C19
C17, C18
The author designed and built this microphone for use with his S-L meter. The
electronics are similar to an Altec 210.
phone is above -55 dB re 1V/µbar you
should reduce the level to about -60 dB
with resistors, or use the microphone
without a matching transformer. One
µbar is equivalent to 74 dB SPL, so a
microphone of -60 dB sensitivity re 1V/
µbar should have an output of .02 V rms
at 100 dB SPL. This corresponds to .05
V p -p, so a 1 -volt p -p signal into the
high-level input should read 105 dB on
the meter.
Sprague
1039R8
100 µF, 3 V, Sprague
TE -1402
100 µF, 6 V, Sprague
TE -1102
Resistors -1/4 -watt, 5%, except as marked.
R1
1.0 meg
R2
110 k ohms
R22, R23
10 k pot, Mallory
MTC-1
R28
R51, R61
R52, R62
R53, R63
4700 ohms
2000
2700
3300
If
3900
5100
6800
8200 It
R54,
R55,
R56,
R57,
R58,
R59,
R60,
R71,
R72,
R73,
R74,
R75,
R64
R65
R66
R67
R68
R69
R70
R76
R77
R78
R79
R80
13 k
16 k
R4
R5, R6, R27
R7, R8, R11, R12,
100
100
k
R16, R24, R29 10 k
R9, R10
1000
R17, R18
7.95 k,
R20, R32
51 K
R21
68
k
if
it
fi
62
2N3707 transistor
Q2, Q7, Q9
2N4058 transistor
Case
Bottom plate
Battery
Bud AC -1405
Bud BPA-1505
Centralab PSA-204
Centralab PSA-204
Centralab PSA-210
Switchcraft 903
VU, Calectro Dl -930
Eveready 226BP, 9 V
Battery Clip
transistor radio type
Cinch -Jones 5M
(N PN)
(PNP)
Sw
Sw
Sw
Sw
1, lA
2, 2A
3
4
"
"
If
Miscellaneous
Q1, Q3, Q4, Q5,
Q6, Q8, Q10
Meter
"1%
If
4700
1100
330
100
R3, R13, R14, R15,
R19, R25, R26,
R30, R31
30 k
If
11 k
0 dB SPL=
20 microNewtons/meterz=
2x10' µbar
(1µbar=dyne/cm')
Thus all the following microphones
have the same sensitivity:
60 dB re Iv/µbar
40 dB re Iv/10 dynes/cm'
-
1 my/µbar
When using a transformer, multiply
by the square root of the impedance
ratio.
Fig. 7 -Some comparative sensitivities.
When you are through you should
have a very useful instrument. Besides
making many speaker measurements, I
immediately used mine to shop for a
really quiet air conditioner. I have used
the meter to design low-noise mike pre amps, and for making signal-to-noise improvements in my tape recorders. One
can easily calibrate it in microvolts, and
use it as a very sensitive a.f. voltmeter.
/E
Use your imagination!
WA
"The full hundred watts really brightens up the brass, doesn't it?"
38
AUDIO
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
One
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There are differences among
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What makes Bogen clearly
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Crescendo Control,
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equal-volume -level playback.
Control Panel ... clearly
another Bogen stand -out. Convenient (and sensible) linear slide
controls and push -buttons replace conventional, old fashioned
knobs and switches. Adjusting is
definite, precise. Push a few and
see. Look at the styling around
(and over) the controls...Bogen
alone has escaped the "sameness rut." Walnut? Brushed
bronze? Black -leatherette?
Gold -tone? Modern orange -and white? Whatever turns you on,
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07E52
Check No. 39 on Reader Service Card
and more than a thousand records since
his first, that isn't as silly a question as it first sounds. Because I didn't ask if you ever heard of Frank Sinatra, or if you
know it's he when one of his records is played. I asked if you
ever heard him. And the difference is like seeing the sun go down
or watching a sunset: one is physical, surface; the other emotional, total.
To hear Sinatra, you've got to listen, immerse yourself in the
lyric and let him tell you the story of the song.
Sure he's made some ho -hum recordings and some downright
poor ones. But when he cares-and that's most times-he turns
out what is usually the truest vocal reading of the song he's
singing. That is not to imply there aren't any better singers than
he. I think Steve Lawrence is, and probably Vic Damone still is,
and some others too. And it doesn't mean that sometimes a good
record by Sinatra won't be done better by someone else. ( His
"Funny Valentine" is fine, but I believe Eydie Gorme's is more
dramatic; his "Wait Till You See Her" is excellent, but I like
. Sinatra's reading of a lyric is the
Damone's better.) But
reading of that lyric more often. Most often. And many times
besides being the best reading, it is so superior, you never want
to listen to anyone else's.
What makes the difference? I'll feebly try to put down on
paper some of the distinctive qualities that set Sinatra apart.
Allowing there are better singers, there is, nevertheless, his
trueness of tone. Depending on the sentiments of the particular
lyric, the timbre of his voice can be warm and loving or cold
and bitter; it can be bursting with joy or remorseful almost to
tears. A lot of this he does by his enunciation of the key words
of the key phrase of the song. And because of his good taste, he
invariably knows which are the key words and phrases.
EVEN AFTER 31 YEARS
.
.
When he sings "I love you," the vowel in "love" is prolonged,
yet subtle; the "ve" tagged on, yet never sounding like an afterthought. The "you" is intimate and personal: he means you,
young lady, only you. With words such as "heart" and "hold"
and "help," he often purrs the "h" to bring you right in close.
Here again though, he doesn't use this device everytime, with
every "h," but only when it's right for the mood of the song.
Sinatra's breath control lets him sing almost as many words
as he wants to without breaking a phrase to take a breath. He
does this so naturally you forget that other singers sometimes
indiscriminately gulp for needed breath. Maybe they can't
breathe the way he does or else they just don't realize they ruin
the word or phrase. Sinatra has both the breath and the feeling
to phrase better than anybody else!
More about his diction. You never have to guess what he's
singing. This is carefully accomplished, because even today when
he speaks you can hear more than a trace of his north JerseyNew York upbringing, and yet even his earliest records were
free of this. Another example of Sinatra's discipline to detail.
He always has had the benefit of the finest musicians. And
because, probably, of his three years with Dorsey at the start
of his career, he makes the most of these musicians. The Columbia records with Axel Stordahl in the forties were, for the most
part, rather stereotyped. But the orchestration was lush with
lots of strings and usually a harp which clothed well Sinatra's
voice and the love songs he usually sang. Kind of ordinary maybe,
but certainly never bad.
When he switched to Capitol Records in 1953, however,
Sinatra teamed up with a different arranger, Nelson Riddle, who
was highly imaginative and inventive. Riddle used fewer strings
than Stordahl, and many of his ballads had a hint of muscle to
AUDIO
40
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DECEMBER 1970
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them. This approach fit the new Sinatra voice perfectly. The
baby fat was gone from it; the tone and phrasing more commanding. On up-tempo tunes, which he'd never been consistently
good at until then, he often played with the beat while never
losing it. And Riddle orchestrated for him as no arranger had
ever orchestrated for any singer before. It was a totally new
and exciting sound for both ballads and rhythm.
Then in 1957. Sinatra cut his first album with Gordon Jenkins,
and as Frank described it, "It was 200 violins and one drum!"
Of course it was a lot more than that. "Where Are You" was
oboes and flutes and bassoons in a symphony of despair, and
Sinatra's voice took on a new and darker sound, more melancholy,
more remorseful. Then, two years later, they followed with more
of the same sound in their second album, "No One Cares."
Schmaltz? Sure! But when Sinatra sings it, you believe every
word; My Girl becomes your girl, and you love her like crazy!
One of his outstanding vocal performances is "You My Love."
This is from the film, "Young at Heart," and never got the play
of the title song. But Sinatra sings it flawlessly, and his breathing and phrasing are so good he sings the song all the way
through taking only nine breaths.
These are examples of his I love you/you love me artistry and
there are many more, but it is the songs of unrequited love, the
bittersweet lament of the tormented loser that he does best. Have
you ever been hurt by love? Just listen to "I'm a Fool to Want
You," or "A Cottage for Sale," or "What's New?" You'll cry your
"like
eyes out! And there's the lonely melancholy of "Dindi"
a river that can't find the sea, that would be me, without you
my Dindi," and the hopelessness of "Maybe You'll Be There"...
"Each time I see a crowd of people,
Just like a fool I stop and stare.
It's really not the proper thing to do,
But Maybe You'll Be There!"
There are dozens like these, scores even. And there are also a
few of the other side of sadness. You know, when the girl loves
you and really pours her heart out, but you don't love her anymore
"How insensitive I must have seemed
When she told me that she loved me.
How unmoved and cold I must have seemed
When she told me so sincerely... .
What was Ito say ... what can you say
When a love affair is over?"
He makes you hate yourself and everybody who's ever shunned a
...
.......
In the sixties, it was more Riddle, more Jenkins, along with
some others mostly good, and last year Sinatra used Don Costa
exclusively. Costa, who had done one album with him a few
years back using a lush ballad sound, added new excitement to
his orchestration with guitars and vibes and even a harpsichord.
Wild!
yet tasteful. And when it was needed, when it was
right
a ballad touch. For instance, when they did "By the
Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Little Green Apples," Sinatra made
these love songs sound like love songs and not just "catchy little
...
...
tunes."
These ingredients alone, however-tone, diction, phrasing,
breathing, and the right orchestration-do not a Sinatra make.
This is evident in the scores of vocalists who have tried through
the years to utilize these skills. They usually only sound like
Sinatra copycats and not very good. Because they are copying,
and more importantly because they lack his nonpareil good
taste in the interpolation of a lyric. This is, perhaps, the most
important ingredient: Good taste. Sinatra knows when to do
what he does and how to interpret the lyric to give it a personal
expression that transcends words.
"Come Fly With Me," for instance, is bursting with ebullience
and cock -o' -the-walk confidence, just like his "Mr. Success." And
in "Moonlight Becomes You," when he sings .. .
"You're all dressed up to go dreaming,
Now don't you tell me I'm wrong.
What a night to go dreaming!
Mind if I tag along?"
you can see your best girl looking prettier than she's ever looked
before! When he sings "Sleep Warm," you wish her the pleasantest of dreams, and there was "My Girl," the little known tune by
C. Freed that Frank recorded 20 years ago .. .
"Lucky heart to be part of a love like this
Where every single kiss is a short cut to heaven.
Heaven knows, she's everything that's dear to me .. .
She smiles ... and cloudy days are clear to me.
Yes, the world is my oyster and I've got the pearl .. .
I'm happy, 'cause I've got my Girl!"
lover!
Other artists have recorded most of these songs. But none like
Sinatra. None with his musicianship, his vocal honesty. None! So
ask yourself, "Have I ever heard Frank Sinatra?"
If you have some of his albums, listen to them again. And
really listen! By yourself, lights out, door closed. You'll hear him,
feel his artistry. And you'll never be the same again.
If your collection is lacking, start by buying "Wee Small
Hours," "Songs for Swingin' Lovers," and "Come Fly With Me."
These are all Capitol albums recorded some years ago, but they
should still be available. If not, shop around for them, or write
to Capitol. It's worth the effort.
l
Wee Small Hours
Songs/ Swingin' Lovers
Come Fly With Me
Only the Lonely
September of My Years
With Antonio Carlos Jobim
A Swingin' Affair
Where Are You
Songs/Young Lovers
Ring a Ding Ding
Swing Easy
Look to Your Heart
CAP W581
CAP W653
CAP W920
CAP W1053
REP FS1014
REP FS1021
CAP W803
CAP W855
CAP W1432
REP FS1001
CAP W1429
CAP W1164
i
And his latest album, "Watertown" REP FS1031, shows that
while the voice may no longer be The Voice, he still has no peer
in wringing your heart strings in a story of abject remorse. No
peer!
Lyrics quoted are from the following songs:
ASCAP Famous Music Corp.
"Moonlight Becomes You" Burke/
Van Heusen
"My Girl" Freed
"Dindi" Gilbert/Jobim/Oliviera
"Maybe You'll Be There" Bloom/Gallop
"How Insensitive" Jobim/Gimbel.'
De Morses
BMI
Ludlow Music, Inc.
ASCAP Ipanema Music Corp.
ASCAP Triangle Music Corp.
Duchess Music Corp.
BMI
Check No. 44 on Reader Service Card -31.-
42
www.americanradiohistory.com
Canby'
Loops
at the
TV Disc
EDWARD TATNALL CANBY
isn't about to die. It will
be reborn in a radically new format,
for a long new lease on life.
That was my instant conclusion as I
took in the astonishing details of the new
Teldec disk, described in AUDIO in September (p. 8). There it is!, every instinct
screamed at me, either this amazing disc
or another of similar aspect. Not merely
No -THE DISC
a disc for audio, this time. A disc for TV
with incidental sound and-more important to us-an audio disc with TV capacity. An enormous new signal potential, to
encompass everything in audio we can
now imagine and more. That's how the
new disc must be. In the near future
audio and video are going to be seen and
heard together more and more often.
Most new -generation media will have at
least the capacity for both sound and
picture, though sound alone will remain
important when we want to have it that
way.
As you see, I am in a predicting mood.
Mark my words, then, and roast me
whole if I'm wrong.
Let's survey the present background.
No doubt about it, our present disc is
approaching a kind of glorious dead end.
Not yet in terms of perfection for, miraculously, it is still advancing ( and-at
this writing-we have yet to hear the
Dolby B disc though Dolby B cassettes
are in production). The original LP -45
promoters of the late Forties, if they had
been in isolation all these years, would
be astounded at the elegant sophistication
of our present disc product with its wide
dynamic range, near -silent surfaces
( sometimes) and remarkably low distortion. Disc is still mass production quality
king. Reel-to-reel tape is unlikely to
catch up. Cassette will take a little longer
-the cassette does have the potential, as
we have found in this last year or so.
f
--Check
( Eight -track for autos is not really in
the quality sweepstakes. It seems OK in
its own special way.)
And so in present terms, assuming no
larger pressures, we find disc comfortably
established with room still left for technical polishing; we see cassette coming
along fast, rapidly taking up its own
larger potential for improvement; and
thus the two are ready to compete for
the quality audio-recording market as
equals, neatly sewing it up between them
with plenty of room for both in full
stereo.
But how much more there is to say!
Pressures. First, pressure of technological advances. Mass production requires a crystalizing of formats within
fixed limits, while technical know-how
moves inexorably onward. In time, these
limits become intolerable and internal
adjustments can no longer keep up. There
must be a Big Break. A drastic readjustment, like an earthquake that relieves
majar earth strains at a fault line. Today
is a time for Big Breaks, as we know,
particularly in areas involving electronics
and miniaturization. Like disc.
Not only disc. Magnetic tape, too, is in
trouble. That once -red-hot hope for new
audio and then video technology is now
working dangerously close to a technical
bind, even as it expands into brilliant
new formations. It's going too slowly.
Audio tape does improve, cassettes and
Dolby and chrome add new dimensions;
in TV the videotape system is still ex-
panding by contracting its information
density-more for less. But not fast
enough. New technologies are overtaking
all forms. of tape.
Second, two specific major pressures
are now battering both tape and disc,
like two hurricanes hitting a pair of overloaded freighters. One, the big one, is TV
itself, an enormous, overbearing monster
( to change analogies) which swallows up
audio, given half a chance, the way the
whale took in Jonah. ( The whale didn't
even notice until Jonah began fighting,
down inside.)
The thing about TV, right now, is that
it is invading the recording field-not
merely in professional video recording
but in the much more potent area of
consumer records, TV publications, mass
produced like LPs and 45s. That is a new
and enormous behemoth crowding in on
our little audio territory.
Present audio recordings-all sortsrelate to this coming TV somewhat as
radio did to earlier television broadcasting. Change fast, or be absorbed! Radio
did, and radio is still with us, perilously.
( Earlier,
the old acoustic disc went
through the same thing in the face of
early radio broadcast. It changed, radically, and managed to survive.) Radio
lives on because it responded with new
exclusives, unbeatable FM quality and
unmatchable stereo, but also by exploiting
new formats, idiomatic for sound alone.
59
No. 44 on Reader Service Card
www.americanradiohistory.com
Somehow, TV isn't yet very desirable,
say, on the beach or in a car, or walking
in the park. Nor for a Beethoven symphony, which is more sound than sight. )
Big challenge, big response. And so in
audio it's no longer merely which disc
vs. which tape. It's audio recording vs.
video. A new game. New rules. Big
(
Changes needed.
Television is the big hurricane. The
smaller one, a mean little storm, is this
new four-channel stereo, quadraphonics
(as I like to call it) . The impact of it is
particularly crucial at this moment because it throws the present audio scene
into the proverbial cocked hat; it is so
variably compatible with our present systems. Suddenly, audio disc is up against
it, right in its own domain. So, oddly, is
the new cassette, if for different reasons
( compatibility with present
cassettes.)
And lo! the lowly eight -track cartridge
gains an instant advantage by virtue of
its conservatism-lots of tracks on an old
fashioned quarter -inch tape! Crazy. Disc
and tape are thus caught in a frenzy of
uneasy cross -currents, with a dozen ways
to impress four channels into the space
where there are now two, or expand
present two -channel recordings into four
(it goes both ways); and none of them
seems really right though all have overlapping merits which we cannot afford to
ignore. Only one can win, in the end.
Which will it be? If you ask me, none.
Not in the long view. Our present media
are just too lopsidedly inadequate. This
second hurricane is too much.
I hate to say it, but to impose four
channels of sound via any system upon
the present disc is like installing integrated circuits in a trolley car. Wrong
vehicle. Even a PCC car, one of those
streamlined modernized trolleys. Wrong
vehicle!
And of course it is quite out of the
question to impose video capability on
present commercial discs. Even though it
has bravely been tried.
Technology, you see, while bringing
the disc to unheard-of perfection in its
present format, has simultaneously moved
on far ahead. Our noble disc is an outdated vehicle.
Remember how radical the microgroove record seemed when it first
appeared? An unbelievably tiny groove,
a tiny pickup and stylus, a vastly lengthened playing time at much slower speeds,
a new, flexible record to replace breakable shellac. Was that a compound Big
Break! It updated the disc process to
match the accumulation of sixty-odd
years of potential. Now, in a shorter time
(we move faster), there is again a vast
accumulation. And another Big Break is
absolutely in the works. Not instantly.
But inevitably. Big breaks are proliferating all over the place, and inexorably in
the new directions already noted abovethe combination of audio and video elements that will clearly be the Age to
Come. Mixed media! Multi -media! Already, these are normal terms in the language. New technologies! EVR, television
in published cartridges via a return to
photographic miniaturization, a picture
one quarter the size of the tiny super -8
picture, color coded in black and white
(it plays in color ), and two incidental
channels of audio-all in one miniature
cartridge film. RCA's coming alternative,
the "plastic wrap" TV recording made
with holographic techniques and cheaply
embossed on its medium. It's still underdeveloped but it will be coming along.
These, you see, are Big Breaks, into
brand new areas. And these TV records
will fly right in the face of our present
audio records-unless. Unless we adapt
and change. Teldec disc is the beginning
of that change. We will meet these challenges only with equivalently radical
new capabilities, new super -vehicles. This
is one of them.
But, you say, it's a TV disc so what's
the fuss. Please read again. It makes no
difference. It's a disc. And it has fantastic
new capabilities, for whatever you want
to do with it. Any disc that can accommodate TV in practical form can also
absorb, alternatively, all the audio you
can ever imagine at one gulp, with
miles of room to spare. Phew! You want
a twenty -channel stereo disc? Teldec can
do, if I guess right. Four channels, as the
Editor noted in September, offers no
problems. Hardly even notice them.
There is enormous audio reserve capacity,
to be slanted in any direction or combination of directions we may wantfidelity, length of play, number of channels, control functions, turning off the
house lights, setting the furnace thermostat and letting out the cat. Put it all on
this disc! Could be. ( Yes-incidental
problems. I blissfully by-pass them.
They'll get solved. )
Let me sum up the Teldec characteristics again, to give you a more vivid
sense of the degree of updating with
which we are now to be involved.
1. Tiny grooves-130 per millimeter,
less than a tenth the size of the big, fat
LP microgroove. ( See photo Sept. p. 96.)
An ultra -thin, pliable disc more like a
sheet of film, reproducible in the millions.
A speed, for TV, of no less than 1500 rpm.
Could run at any slower speed for audio
uses.
2. This thin disc can be tracked, even
with such grooves and at such a speed.
( Thin discs of standard microgroove type
often will neither turn nor track.) A new
Microphotograph of a hair compared with
the new record grooves.
overhead tangential system, with feedback, keeps the stylus where it belongs
under these extraordinary conditions. ( A
bit clumsy, with cords like an old fashioned dentist's drill, but remember the
early record changers?) The fragile disc
itself stays in place by being air suspended. It's an airfoil disc. It sits, turns,
on a cushion of air which flows out past
the edges. By a circular venturi action at
the outside edge, reduced pressure forces
the disc down. Atmospheric pressure
above is higher. Simple! An old idea in
an ingenious new application. (Is it a
venturi or an airfoil? I guess it's both. )
3. The grooves are vertical -cut and frequency modulated. Wow! An FM disc.
Is that revolutionary enough? This should
eliminate much unwanted noise ( goodbye
Dolby?) And it allows, more directly,
for a groove of constant width, so that
grooves may be packed densely side by
side, without variable land. Edison did
the same, to an extent, with his vertical cut discs of WW I vintage which played
much longer than their lateral equivalents.
4. The pickup system, to my mind, is
the most revolutionary aspect. At last,
after our years of fighting plastic's annoying elasticity and bounce, Teldec has
put this very factor to work. As you
could see in our illustration, ( Sept. p.
96,) the new stylus rides in the groove,
first compressing the vertical modulations,
then letting them snap back into place
to generate the signal. If I get this right,
it is a wholly new way of "reading" the
disc message. In one swell foop, as we
used to say, it converts a problem parameter of discs into a major asset. Enough
(Continued on page 90)
.
AUDIO
60
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
ATV commercial composer
talks about the new
VM pmtessionals.
.r
makes his
living in sound. He writes
and prances music for
televisi:n and radio
advertizas. Chevrolet.
Kraft. Oldsmobile and
Continrtal Airlines. He
pioneem 1 in the uses of
the Moog Synthesizer.
And ha= %mitten songs for
Peggy Lae Dean Martin,
Gordon MacCrea and
others. Over the years,
Bill pro&ized more than
5,000 sou _rd tracks for
radio a- d television.
Bill Ws=
"If you're a pro, you can't help but be impressed with the new VM PROFESSIONALS."
"I sure like the way my music sounds on them. Sensitive. Subtle. And yet this is the
kind of equipment you can play ten hours a day and not have trouble with."
"I am particularly impressed with the receiver. The VM PROFESSIONAL 1521.
It has a new type filter that really gives you great FM selectivity.
And the stereo separation! It's almost as good as some 8 -track
playbacks I heard in recording studios."
THE VM
"And I really like the VM PROFESSIONAL automatic
PROFESSIONAL 1555
Two synchronous motors
turntable. The "Synchro-Matic" 1555. It tracks beautifully.
-24 -pole for turntable, one
I can't pick up any tonal variation from the beginning to the end
for changer mechanism
Belt driven, completely
of a record. That's probably because the tone arm is longer.
isolated, low mass,
dynamically
balanced
is
photo
-electric,
so
And
the
tripping
mechanism
inches.
91/2
turntable Gentle
there's no mechanical distortion."
lowering spindle
Automatic record size
"It's really great at reproducing those nuances and shading you work
sensor system Photo cell
cycle-change sensor
so hard to get out of a vocal or an arrangement."
eliminates side pressure
"And the spindle! Really something to see. It gently lowers records
and trip noise Pistondam pped 2 -way cue control
all the way down to a motionless platter. That's what I call loving care."
9W' tone arm (from
They're
pivot to stylus); the
payoff.
VM's
"Of course the speakers make the whole outfit
longest on any automatic
new Spiral Reflex System speakers. Compact. And very efficient. Gives
turntable Piano-key
control center isolated
you really clean basses and horns. And none of the instruments ever
from turntable and pick-up
arm Quick-change,
sound strained or pushed, even in attack -passages."
plug-in housing accepts
"And another thing, about 95% of all the component parts in the
any standard magnetic
cartridge Rumble:
VM PROFESSIONAL line are made in America. And I know it isn't
-52 db (CBS weighting)
Comes complete with
fashionable, but to me that means better and tougher."
Shure magnetic cartridge
"The only problem 1 have
and attractive walnut
base with dust cover.
with my VM PROFESSIONAL outfit is, I can't
decide whether to leave
it at my studio o:take it home."
°I just may
have b buy
anther one."
For engineering specs on the complete VM Professional Series write:
VM CORPORATION
Dept. 74, P.O. Box 1247, Benton Harbor, Michigan 49022 or call direct, Area Code 616-925-8841. (Ask for Dept. 74.)
Check No. 61 on Reader Service Card
Equipment
Profiles
KLH Model 33 Loudspeaker System
62
Empire Troubador Turntable
63
Model 2040 Turntable
66
PE
VM Model TF -10 Receiver
68
ON AXIS
AVERAGE OF TWO, 45 DEG.
OFF AXIS
AVERAGE OF THREE-ON AND
OFF AXIS
40
10K
1K
100
FREQUENCY-Hz
Fig.
1-Frequency-response curves measured
4 feet
above the floor, horizontal position.
KLH Model 33
Loudspeaker System
MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS:
Impedance: 8 Ohms. Dimensions: 23-5/8"
12-3/4" x 10-15/16". Weight: 33 Pounds.
Price: $99.95.
x
KLH's Model 33 is an excellent new
speaker, which departs from conventional
acoustic suspension by incorporating a
2-in. diameter ducted port in the front
baffle. KLH calls it "controlled acoustic
compliance" and it is so heavily damped
that very little radiation occurs. What it
does is smooth the impedance and control
cone motion at the lowest frequencies.
The two-way system utilizes a 10 -in.
high compliance woofer having a 7 -in.
piston made of asphalt -impregnated paper
and a Di-in. tweeter with a ceramic magnet. A metal screen protects the tweeter
from prying fingers. The crossover frequency is just below 1500 Hz. A 3 -position high-frequency level control, recessed
into the rear of the enclosure, evenly
attenuates the high end.
The oiled walnut cabinet, which is
finished on all four sides, has a beaded
front molding and a brown grille cloth,
backed by black. These combine with the
nice proportions to give a really appealing
touch to this compact loudspeaker system.
The recessed input terminals and tweeter
level control permit use of the speaker
right up against the wall-either vertically
or horizontally.
We measured frequency response by
placing the speaker in a room horizontally, at sitting -ear height. The tweeter
level control was set to NORMAL position.
Test signals of ',á -octave pink noise were
fed to the speaker at a level which caused
the speaker to put out a SPL of 90 dB
on -axis at three feet.
A second set of test readings was then
taken at two 45 -deg. off-axis positions and
averaged. The third curve is an averaged
plot of three off-axis and the on -axis response. It most closely represents the
system's power response.
As seen in Fig. 1, the frequency response of the Model 33 is excellent, averaging to ±3 dB over the entire range
measured. The low -frequency variations
are room effects and are to be disregarded.
The unit's impedance curve is shown in
Fig. 3 and gives some clue as to the
speaker's smoothness confirmed by white
noise tests.
Harmonic distortion measurements were
made at 6.4 -volt and 9 -volt inputs, and
are shown in Fig. 3. These represent
approximate power levels of 5 and 10
watts, respectively, and show the low
distortion of the woofer. At 40 Hz, for
example, the distortion was less than 2
per cent at 5 watts. We consider 40 Hz to
be the low-frequency limit of this speaker.
Efficiency of the KLH 33 is average
relative to acoustic suspension speakers
as a whole. We recommend using an amplifier with 30 watts of available power
( rms) per channel. There is no problem
AUDIO
62
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
i,
111Leärj13114ii1
111111
II
YYY
Fig.
2-Toneburst response 300
Hz
1500 Hz
\
in using a much more powerful amplifier
either. In fact the speaker system can
handle 90 -watt bursts without noticeable
distortion.
Oscilloscope photos of tone bursts are
shown in Fig. 2. They confirm the fine
transient response of the speaker.
Listening tests conformed closely to
our test data. The high end was there
and evenly dispersed into most parts of
the room, resulting in a very transparent
quality, easy to listen to. Only the lowest frequency fundamentals present on some
materials were subdued. Otherwise the
bass was unusually clear and tight for
such a small box. We would favor this
speaker in a moderately priced installation. Another nice product from KLH.
Congratulations, Victor Campos. A.R.
Check No. 62 on Reader Service Card
10,000 Hz
5000 Hz
INPUT -9V
2.0
ó
INPUT -6.4
x
V
LO
10
Fig.
1000
100
FREQUENCY -HE
3-Impedance and harmonic distortion.
Empire Troubador Model 598
Turntable System
MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS:
Speeds: 331/3, 45, 78; Motor: Hysteresis Synchronous, outer-rotor type; Platter
Diameter: 12 in.; Drive; Belt, from
stepped pulley on motor shaft; Platter
Weight: 7 lbs.; Arm: Model 990, integral;
mounted on three -arm "star" structure
with turntable bearing at center; star is
flexibly mounted to motor board; Stylus force method: Balance and calibrated
spring; Max. Tracking Error: 0.7 deg.;
Wow and Flutter: .01%; Rumble: -55 dB
(NAB); Dimensions: 16 x 131/2 in.; Height
above mounting surface: 31/4 in.; Depth
below base plate: 31/2 in.; Finish: Swiss
ground gold. Overall Dimensions (with
base and dust cover: 171/2 in wide, 151/e
in. deep, 8 in. high. Price: $199.95. Optional walnut base and Plexiglass dust
cover, $34.95.
The new Model 598 from Empire was
made necessary when the latest cartridge
-the 1000 ZE-was found to be limited
only by the turntable/arm combination
with which it was used. The cartridge
was actually capable of lighter stylus
forces than could be employed with
existing turntables and arms. So the en AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
63
gineers started out to improve the turntable/arm part of the record -playing
chain to take advantage of the performance possible with the new cartridge.
To begin with, the turntable itself had
to be driven by a belt from a hysteresis synchronous motor to ensure constancy of
speed and a minimum of rumble which
in many units is transmitted from the
motor to the platter by contact through
the idler. The platter had to be heavy,
and even at its relatively slow rotation it
had to be dynamically balanced. To avoid
interaction between the platter and the
magnets in the usual magnetic -cartridge,
the platter had to be of non-ferrous material-aluminum. To be heavy, therefore, it had to be large, with most of the
weight concentrated in the rim, which
meant that the rim had to be deep. But a
3-inch thickness of platter standing above
the chassis of a turntable would not look
very attractive, so it was made of two
parts-the heavy, deep aluminum platter,
and a "dress" ring of the same aluminum
proportioned attractively, which could be
left visible above the chassis, while still
leaving the heavy belt -driven platter as
it was, only now it would be obscured
unless the dress ring was removed-a necessity when changing speeds, for additional speed -changing "hardware" would
only complicate construction and lead to
possible increases in rumble. Then a large
customized rubber mat was added to
cover the platter and dress ring, resulting
in a handsome visible part of the turntable.
It is, of course, necessary that the arm
and the turntable be solidly attached to
each other-no compliance or relative
motion can be tolerated-and furthermore,
the entire structure must be flexibly
mounted to the chassis, which could then
be firmly mounted to a base, or into any
custom enclosure the user wanted. Consequently, the two were mounted on a
cast tripod -like structure, with the three
"legs" each suspended by a combination
of a spring and a piston which effectively
damp out any vibration or shock which
might be transmitted from the chassis to
the tripod. The shaft, integral with the
turntable, is of finely polished chrome
steel, and the oilite bearing honed to fit the
individual shaft with which it is to work.
The arm is mounted on a "shelf" on
one of the tripod legs, and electrical connections are made with a 5 -pin plug and
socket. Both vertical and horizontal pivots
are sealed instrument -type ball bearings,
and after balancing with the counterweight for the mass of the cartridge, the
stylus force is set by a calibrated hairspring, the dial being calibrated in one gram steps, each about % in. At the top
of the bearing structure, a vernier adjustment sets the anti -skating compensa -
Fig.
1-Showing arm mounting and "Dyna-lift."
tion. The counterweight axis is an extension of the stylus-to -pivot axis to eliminate
any unbalance from that source. The
cueing control lifts and lowers the arm
gently and exactly where you want it,
with no bias as the arm is lowered. The
whole arm assembly can be raised or
lowered over a range of 1% in. to permit
its use with any turntable when it is obtained as a separate unit. On its base is a
"Dyna-lift" which will raise the arm at
the end of a record, or if you want to
play a record with a smaller -than -standard
runout groove, you may tilt the lift away.
The head of the arm is permanently attached, with a cartridge -mounting plate
that is instantly removable by loosening
a thumbscrew in the center of the head.
This allows the cartridge and mounting
plate to be removed from the arm. Contact between the plate and the arm is by
gold-plated pins and springs.
The arm rest is attached to the chassis,
and fitted with a light which illuminates
the record surface where the stylus is to
be set down. A plastic ring can be rotated
to douse the light when it is not wanted.
The rest is fitted with a nylon hold-down
pin which is spring loaded to secure the
arm gently but firmly. The white nylon
pin serves also as a pilot light to indicate
when the power is on-which is done by
depressing a black push -push button near
the front of the chassis to turn power on
or off.
A die-cast cover plate protects the
motor pulley and the belt, and is removable when a speed change is desired. The
belt is simply moved from one step on
the pulley to another, and the platter
rotated by hand for a revolution or so to
get the belt in alignment with the pulley
step. An adjusting screw on the motor
mount provides a vernier speed control.
The chassis plate, arm, dress ring, and
arm rest are all in a Swiss gold finish, providing a handsome unit which could well
be mounted where it could be admired.
When used with the optional walnut base
and plexiglass dust cover, it is a truly
handsome unit. The dust cover has walnut end pieces, and is hinged to a walnut
back plate in such a manner as to stay
where you put it-either raised or lowered
or anywhere in between.
But enough for the description-let's
get to the performance.
Performance
The 598 is just about all it is claimed
to be. It does have a very low rumble, it
does have a very low wow-and -flutter
figure, it is almost impervious to jarring
or bumping of the base so you can use
it in a home where the flooring is not as
sturdy as you would like. The rumble
figure is probably the most important, and
we measured it as -54 dB by the NAB
method, which corresponds to about -74
dB by the ARLL (audible rumble loudness level), and even that -54 figure is
straining our measuring facilities. In short,
the turntable is practically silent-sort of
a Dolby-ized phonograph. Imagine
what
that will mean when we get more Dolbyized records. After a brief run-in, we
found wow -and -flutter to be .03 per cent
in the 6- to 250 -Hz range, with an increase to .06 per cent in the 0.5- to 6- and
0.5- to 250-Hz ranges, all of which are
excellent. The remaining important parameter is the arm resonance, which we
found to be well below 10 Hz, and from
observations of the response curve-on
which we found a tiny bump at 13 Hzto be at 6.5 Hz.
In view of these performance figures,
one can only conclude that the 598 is a
finely crafted and well designed record
playing device. And its sheer beauty
should make it acceptable to any homemaker who prefers equipment that does
not look like a broadcast station.
C.G.McP.
Check No. 65 on Reader Service Card
AUDIO
64
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
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658
J
Automatic Turntable,
Model 2040
PE
MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS:
Speeds: 33, 45, 78 rpm; Pitch Control:
Range of 6% at all speeds; Wow and
Flutter: 0.1%; Rumble: -58 dB (ARLL);
Tangential Tracking Error: 1.8 deg. max;
Vertical Tracking Angle: Adjustable to 15
deg. for 1 to 8 records; Stylus Force: Adjustable from 0 to 6 gms; Cartridge
Weight Range: 3 to 15 gms; Dimensions
of chassis plate: 14x12 in. Weight: 15-1/2
lbs. Price: $145.00.
The PE -2040 is the successor to the
earlier PE -2020 which was profiled in
these pages in May, 1968, and in many
respects is similar, but with a number of
refinements and improvements that come
in the normal course of manufacture. It
still retains the unique ability to be adjustable for a 15-deg. vertical tracking
angle for any particular record on a stack
from one to eight, with a compromise
setting of "4" when playing an entire
stack automatically, thus ensuring an
average variation in tracking angle for
the first and last records, and a correct
angle for the middle one.
The turntable operates at the three most
common speeds, and this is one of the
differences between the PE -2020 and the
newer PE -2040. The older machine also
operated at 16% rpm, but the only records
we have encountered at this speed are
"talking books"-none is apparently being
released with musical content, to our
knowledge.
The arm consists of an aluminum tube
with the angled head at the forward end,
a counterweight at the rear, the cross
pivot being angled in the favored manner. Stylus force is set by a calibrated
knob on the sturdy bearing structure, and
covers the range from 0 to 6 grams. The
counterweight is flexibly mounted on a
nylon sleeve which is threaded to permit
fine adjustment of balance for the particular cartridge in use-a set-up operation which is done with the stylus -force
knob set at "0" on its range. The desired
stylus force is then set by the knob.
Fig.
1-Showing head with Ortofon
cartridge.
Anti -skating compensation is controlled
by a knob at the left rear of the arm
bearing as well as by the setting of the
stylus -force control knob. If you are
using a conical stylus with a radius between 0.6 and 0.7 mils, you simply set
the anti -skating control to "4" and the
proper compensation is applied regardless
of the stylus -force selected. For other
styli-both conical and elliptical-you consult a table in the Operating Instructions
for the correct setting of the anti -skating
knob. All anti -skating compensation can
be removed by turning a screw in the
center of the stylus -force knob to its
maximum counter -clockwise position. The
compensation is returned to normal by
rotating the stylus-force control to "0"
and then resetting it to the desired value.
The operation of the turntable has
some interesting features. As in most
automatics, the cycling is provided by
a mechanism driven by a gear on the
hub of the platter, and in the PE -2040
this gear is nylon. The cycling operation
is inaugurated by the control lever, which
has four positions-from left to right,
they are MANUAL START, 0, AUTOMATIC
STOP, and AUTOMATIC START. When this
lever is moved to the AUTOMATIC START
position, a linkage shifts a small segment
of the gear on the main cam into engagement with the turntable gear, and as the
cam is rotated, the various functions are
performed. When the selected operation
is completed, the control lever returns to
"0" position.
The platter has a depression in the
center large enough in diameter to accept
a 7-in. record. If a 7 -in. record is in
place, it depresses a pin in the platter
which causes the set down position of
the arm to be at the proper place for
the 7 -in. record. If no record is on the
platter, the arm will not set down on the
rubber mat, thus avoiding possible damage to the stylus. This is a valuable protective feature.
If there is a 12 -in. record on the platter, a sensing pin which rises from the
chassis during the change cycle encounters the larger diameter of the record
and "sends a message" to the arm to set
down at the llfi-in. diameter as required
by the 12 -in. record. A 10-in. record
holds down the safety pin, but does not
get scanned by the sensing pin, so the
set -down position is correct for the 10-in.
record. This function is in effect for the
automatic operation only, since in the
manual position, the arm is free to be
lifted and set down on the record in the
usual manner for manual tables-with the
fingers-or by the "lift lever" located just
behind the operating control lever. You
can, however, place a single record on
AUDIO
66
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
Ute make the microphone/. too.
Since our job is to make your job easier, we've developed an entire line of
ingenious, low-cost circuitry devices that take the headaches out of tough
installations. For instance, Shure makes nearly a dozen different -type
modular add-on Mixers, including a professional mixer. They're the talk of
the industry. We offer an Audio Control Center to shape response to match
room acoustics. Our Level-Loc effectively controls audio levels. In -line
transformers, and plug-in problem solvers (such as phase reversers, attenuators, etc.) are instant cures for knotty
problems. Interested? Write Shure Brothers
Inc., 222 Hartrey Ave., Evanston, III. 60204.
u
Check No. 67 on Reader Service Card
SIHVFRE
the platter and start the unit in the automatic mode and have the arm set down
at the proper place without touching the
arm or the lift lever. At the conclusion
of play, the arm will lift and return to
its rest, and the motor will stop. In addition, the idler is retracted from contact
with platter and motor shaft.
In the MANUAL position, the unit can
be used to cue a specific point in a record
for such applications as dubbing onto
tape to create a musical background. The
cueing spot is found, and with the stylus
left in the groove, the platter is stopped
by moving the control lever to "0". Then
the platter is rotated by hand about half
a revolution backward-the stylus still in
the groove. To cue in the desired music,
the control lever is moved to MANUAL
START, and the level control on the recorder turned up to the correct position
for recording. This may sound complicated, but with a little practice you can
make cues as effectively as anyone can
with professional equipment.
The single-play spindle attaches firmly
into the mechanism with a quarter -turn
clockwise. A rotating sleeve on the spindle
turns with the record and avoids the
possibility of wearing the center hole.
The automatic spindle attaches in the
same manner, and will hold a stack of
ten records. By inserting the automatic
spindle and not rotating it, the unit will
play the record on the platter continuously over and over until stopped.
The motor is a dynamically balanced
four -pole induction type, flexibly mounted
to the chassis, which is a steel stamping
with an attractive dress plate of grained
aluminum. This plate is bonded to the
chassis to avoid resonance. The motor
pulley has three slightly tapered steps,
with the speed changes resulting from the
three steps, and the pitch -change feature
is provided by moving the idler up and
Fig
2-Showi ng anti -skate control.
down slightly on the tapers by means of
the lever at the left front corner of the
chassis.
Among the features we found most interesting are: the triple lead carrying the
two shielded signal cables and the single
third grounding wire; the jig for setting
the stylus to the proper position for the
15 -deg. vertical tracking angle, as well
as for correct overhang; projections on
the chassis to permit the unit to be used
on the bench off its optional base without
the possibility of damaging any of the
mechanism; the dynamically balanced
motor armature and the platter itself; the
attractive appearance of the dress panel;
and the overall ease of operation.
Performance
Wow and flutter measured .05% over
the range from 6 to 250 Hz, with an increase to 0.11% in the ranges from 0.5 to
6.0 and 0.5 to 250 Hz. Since the motor
is of the induction type, frequency variations in the supply caused no change in
speed over the range from 40 to 80 Hz.
Reduction of supply voltage to 80 caused
a decrease in speed of 5%; at 90 volts
the unit was 1% slow, while from 100 to
135 volts there was no change in speed
whatsoever. Arm resonance with the Orto fon cartridge used for the measurements
was 9 Hz. Tracking was consistent down
to 'z gram as far as tripping was concerned, although it is not likely that most
cartridges would perform well at that
value. Signal-to-noise measured 42 dB
by the NAB method, which is from 10 to
20 dB less than the ARLL figure often
employed. Cycling time was measured at
10 seconds at 33iá rpm.
We have used the PE -2020 regularly
for the past two years and found it completely satisfactory, even if a little slow
in cycling. With the PE -2040, any question we may have had about the 2020 has
been answered. The unit is very attractive, and an effective performer. Even the
shipping carton, with its separation of
components for their protection, is a good
indication of the quality of manufacture.
C.G.McP.
Check No. 68 on Reader Service Card
VM Model TF -10
Deluxe Component
Stereo Receiver
MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS:
FM TUNER SECTION: IHF Sensitivity: 1.9
µV. S/N: 75 dB. THD: 0.5%. Frequency
Response (Stereo): 20 Hz to 15 kHz
within 1 dB. Capture Ratio: 1.8 dB.
Selectivity: 75 dB. Spurious Response
Rejection: 100 dB. Image Rejection: 90
dB. I.f. Rejection: 100 dB. IM Distortion:
0.5%. AM Supression: 50 dB.
AM TUNER SECTION: IHF Sensitivity:
150 µV/Meter. THD: 2.2%. Image Rejection: 75 dB. I.f. Rejection: 60 dB. S/N:
40 dB.
68
8 -ohm load @ less than
GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS: Dimensions:
19" W x 61/2" H x 131/4" D. Walnut cabi-
0.5% THD. RMS Power Output/Channel:
40 watts @ less than 0.5% THD. Power
Bandwidth: 9 Hz to 30 kHz. Frequency
Response: 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz ±1 dB.
net enclosure included. Price: $500.00
There's a "new" company to be reckoned with by the serious-minded high
fidelity component receiver shopper
Damping Factor:
days. The quotation marks are
there because, in truth, VM Corporation
of Benton Harbor, Michigan has been in
the electronics manufacturing business
for just about as long as we can remember, but their previous efforts were
directed more towards mass-produced
popular -priced radio -phonographs and
AMPLIFIER SECTION:
put: 110 watts,
IHF Power
Out-
60. Hum and Noise:
Magnetic Phono: (10 mV reference): 60
dB. Aux 1 & Aux 2: 70 dB. Input Sensitivity: Magnetic Phono: 3.8 mV; Aux 1
& Aux 2: 130 mV. Stability: Stable with
all speaker loads. Input Impedance:
Magnetic Phono: 47K ohms; Aux 1 &
Aux 2: 150K ohms.
these
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
The AR-6.
A new speaker system from Acoustic Research.
The least expensive speaker sold by AR (the AR -4x, at $63) is also the most widely
sold of all high-fidelity speakers, because it has provided maximum performance per
dollar of cost. The new AR-S offers significantly better performance for $81. It adds
one-third octave of low -distortion bass, and also provides superior dispersion and
more uniform energy output at high frequencies. The seven-inch depth of the AR -6
adapts it ideally to shelf placement, or it may be mounted directly on a wall with the
fittings supplied with each speaker system.
Complete performance data, including measurements of total energy output and distortion, is available free of charge at the AR Music Rooms in Grand Central Terminal,
New York, and Harvard Square, Cambridge, or by request from our factory.
Acoustic Research, Inc.
24 Thorndilke Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141
Check No. 69 on Reader Service Card
www.americanradiohistory.com
record -changers. With the introduction
of two well -designed and excellent-performing receivers ( the Model TF -10/
Special differs from the TF-10/Deluxe
only in power output, which is 80 watts
IHF in the lower priced unit) VM has
successfully made the transition to "our
kind" of product design and production.
In terms of styling, VM was obviously
in an advantageous position. Not bound
by traditional concepts (and expensive
previous model tooling which still
had some economic usefulness), they
were able to come up with one of the
smartest looking front -panel designs it
has been our pleasure to examine. The
photo in Fig. 1 can hardly do it justice,
nor can the verbal description which
follows. Next to the recessed stereo
phone jack at the lower left is a power
on -off rocker switch which becomes uniformly illuminated when the switch is
in the oN position. Further along the
bottom of the gold colored panel is a
series of eight push buttons. The two
at the extreme ends of the bank are of
the push -push variety and are used for
FM muting and low-frequency filtering.
The others are interlatched and are used
for selecting FM, AM, Aux 1, Mic, Mag
Phono, and Aux 2. A single microphone
jack (also recessed) comes next (microphone use is limited to monophonic applications, regrettably), followed by four
large control knobs. Three are dual acting, , in that the volume control, when
pushed in, provides loudness contouring,
the balance control, when pulled out,
parallels both amplifier channels for
monophonic operation and the treble
control, when pulled out, introduces a
high -frequency filter circuit. The bass
control is located at the extreme right of
the lower section of the panel-a reversal
from usual practice which places bass to
the left and treble to the right.
The large dial scale, normally blacked
out in all but AM and FM functions, is
brilliantly illuminated with FM frequency numerals only when the FM
button is depressed and with equally
dramatic AM frequency numerals when
the AM button is pushed. There is no
dial pointer, per se. Instead as you begin
to tune from the low -frequency to the
high -frequency ends of the AM or FM
calibration, a brightly illuminated bar
moves progressively along the scale.
Visibility of this scheme is so good that
the tuned -to frequency is easily readable
from across the room. This system of dial
reading is reminiscent of speedometer
indication used in Buick automobiles for
several years, but as executed in the
VM TF-10 receivers it is extremely effective, practical, and a delight to use. To
70
the right of the dial scale area are two
rectangular windows. The lower one
illuminates in the FM mode to disclose
an oversize center -of -channel tuning
meter. The upper window becomes illuminated in the presence of a stereo FM
signal. The other rotary control in the
upper right section of the panel is a
speaker selector switch which has positions for main, remote, or both sets, or
with the speakers off.
The rear panel of the VM TF -10 receiver has the usual input jacks for lowlevel magnetic phono (2 -millivolt nominal
rating), high-level magnetic phono (7 millivolt nominal rating), AUX 2 and AUX
1 pairs, as well as a pair of RECORD OUT
jacks. VM did not provide tape -monitor
facilities on these receivers. FM (300 ohm) and AM antenna terminals are located directly over a ground binding
post. Next come speaker binding posts
which are of a high quality and designed
to prevent accidental shorts between adjacent wires. However, we found the terminal posts clustered too close together and
located in a position that makes it rather
difficult to "get in" to effect the necessary connections. This condition is further aggravated by the fact that a single
"common" post is provided for both the
"main" and "remote" speakers of the left
channel, and a similar arrangement is
used for the right channel, making it
necessary to wrap or insert two leads in
each of these ground terminals if two
sets of loudspeakers are used. The whole
area is a bit cramped, but when one
considers that these connections need be
made only once, the problem is relatively
minor. An a.c. convenience outlet comes
next, followed by a fuse holder and a
three -wire power cord ( the third wire
intended to serve as a local FM antenna
by capacitive coupling to the a.c. line).
Internal Construction and Circuitry
Figure 1 shows the top view of the re-
ceiver chassis. In addition to the sealed
FM front-end, there are separate printed circuit modules for the AM and FM i.f.
sections. The latter includes two integrated circuits as well as two phase linear 5 -pole sealed toroidal filters which
require no alignment. The FM front end
includes four tuned circuits, two dual gate MOSFET's (for r.f. amplifier and
mixer stages) and a bipolar transistor for
the local oscillator. The multiplex decoder section utilizes a single multipurpose integrated circuit plus one stage
of preamplification and isolation from the
i.f. output. Tone -control circuitry is of the
"losser" type, while the power amplifier
sections are transformerless, employing a
complementary -symmetry circuit which,
with the aid of positive and negative
35 -volt d.c. supplies, results in the elimination of any capacitive coupling to the
loudspeaker circuits. Heat -sensing diode
arrays affixed to the output transistors
limit driver current when and if the output transistors start dissipating too much
heat. These and the line fuse constitute
the only forms of circuit protection incorporated in the receiver, aside from
the very stable forms of bias regulation
and zener-diode control of critical supply
voltages. Mechanically, the layout is
logical and easy to service and the
chassis itself is rugged and well planned.
Heat sinks for the output transistors are
more than adequate in size and no unusual heating problems were encountered
during our extensive testing. The extra
hole clusters visible at the top of Fig.
1 are used in the lower -powered TF -10/
Special receiver mentioned earlier for
mounting less powerful output transistors
directly to the chassis in that case. All
r.f. and control facilities remain the same
in the alternate receiver, however.
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
When you know what it takes to make a TEAC, you know why professional people
wax lyrical about our A-7030.
This is a no-nonsense pro -quality tape deck, with unrivalled sound reproduction at 15 or
7112 ips. A.streamlined solenoid control system for effortless operation. A system that makes
cueing as easy as pushing a button. Automatic rewind and shutoff for built-in convenience.
The A-7030 is the sum of many systems, and the sum of our savvy in producing them.
It's the head of our whole fine family of tape decks.
So if somebody wants to write a sonnet on it, we've got a great line for them.
SOUNDS LIKE
POETRY TO
THE PROS.
A-7030
Dual -speed hysteresis -synchronous
motor for capstan drive
Two heavy duty 6 -pole capacitor-start
induction motors for reel drive
Tape tension adjustment
Massive inertial flywheel, over 1/ pounds
Instant off-the -tape monitoring without
interruption of recording
Sound -on-sound and echo with simple
external connections
Built-in mike-line mixer
Stainless steel panel reinforced with
13/64" aluminum base plate for assured
stable performance
T E AC.
TEAC Corporation of America
2000 Colorado Avenue
Santa Monica, California 90404
Check No. 71 on Reader Service Card
Performance Measurements
Beauty of external design is one thing,
is accompanied
by conservative specifications that are
more than met in production units, a
reviewer's job poses no conflicts at all.
To put it succinctly, the VM TF-10/
Deluxe Receiver met or exceeded every
one of its published specifications and
did very well by some of the specifications it failed to mention altogether.
Clearly, VM, intent upon conforming
scrupulously to IHF required specifications, failed to include some of the more
recent specifications that most manufacturers feel are important albeit they are
omitted in the somewhat antiquated IHF
standards for tuners and amplifiers.
Figure 2 is a plot of FM monophonic
performance characteristics. Note that
IHF sensitivity was measured at 1.8 µV,
as opposed to the 1.9 µV claimed. More
important, even, than the S/N of 75 dB
achieved is the fact that S/N with a
signal input of only 5 microvolts is already 57 dB, and 60 dB of S/N (the
best figure obtained at any input with a
great many receivers) is reached with a
mere 7 µV of signal input-with still a
ways to go for ultimate S/N of 75 dB
which is reached with a signal input of
only 50 µV. You couldn't ask for better
quieting! Full (1 dB) limiting is reached
at just about the same 1.8 µV as IHF
sensitivity and THD decreases to 0.4%
at any input signal greater than about
but when that excellence
25 µV.
While no "specs" are given for stereo
FM separation, we plotted this characteristic in Fig. 3. Best separation of 35
dB was obtained at mid -frequencies and
30 dB of separation was maintained all
the way down to 50 Hz with the high
end decreasing gradually to 20 dB at
15 kHz. Next time, publish these figures,
VM! They're nothing to be ashamed of.
THD and IM for the power amplifier
section are plotted in Fig. 4. With both
channels driven, we read 0.5% THD at
45 watts output as opposed to the 40
watts claimed. At rated output of 40
watts, THD was only 0.2%. At all power
levels below 30 watts per channel, readings were below 0.05%. IM distortion
reached 1.0% at an output of 45 watts
per channel, decreasing gradually to
under 0.1% at 1 -watt listening levels and
below.
Figure 5 combines plots of tone -control
range, loudness -contour action (at 20
dB below full volume setting), high- and
low-filter characteristics, and frequency
response. We felt that the low-cut filter
begins to "bite into" the mid -range a bit
too early while the high -cut filter is just
about where we like to see it.
Power bandwidth is plotted in Fig. 6
1-Showi ng
top view of VM
Fig.
receiver chassis.
1
dB LIMITING
-
l,Ei
dJ
10
- 20
-
30
- 40
Fig.
2-FM
-
50
-
60
&
monophonic
performance.
THD
NOISE
- 70
0.1
1.0
600.0
10.0
1K
ANTENNA INPUT SIGNAL -u;
7
á
Fig. 3-Stereo
FM separation.
"OLTPUTWITH "L-ONLY" SIGNAL A:PLIED
0
1111
-l0
PUT WITH
-20
-
1111111r67'",
40
0.8
SIGNAL A:PLIED
1111::
so
w
"1.-0tLY"
18Mg`
'
0.7
/
/
0.6
45 WATTS
Fig.
4-
Percentage of
THD and IM
/
a 1%
0.5
45 WATTS
/
0.4
0.3
(.+M LOAD
BOTH CHANNEL..
DEIWEN
0.2
distortion.
-
HD
-----im-
0.1
o
0.1
10.0
LO
100
TREBLE BOOST
TASS BOOST
Fig.
LIMITS
OF TEST
EQUIPMENT
POWER OUTPUT-WATTS
5-
Tone-control,
loudness contour, and
filter
characteristics.
10
100
1K
FREQUENCY
72
a
o
100
-H:
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
THE FIRST
CROWN
PREAMPLIFIER
Fig.
6-Power
10
bandwidth.
and extends from 9 Hz (as claimed) to
32 kHz (a bit better than claimed) .
Listening Tests
In listening to the FM section of this
receiver we were conscious of the excellent selectivity and overload characteristics of the design. We purposely used
both indoor and outdoor antennas, to
approximate all kinds of signal -strength
situations. Of the fifty four stations received clearly with the high -gain outdoor
antenna, only four were "disabled" when
we depressed the "mute" control. Since
the mute control threshold was measured as being at about 5µV, this suggests that the four stations previously
heard (with mute out) were providing
signal strengths at the antenna terminals
of 5 µV or less. Re-tuning to these four
stations, we found them, nevertheless,
quiet and listenable. That's what you get
when limiting takes place at less than
2 µV and when S/N rises as steeply as
it does in the TF -10 receiver. The stereo
indicator light, by the way, is absolutely
positive. It's either oN or OFF-no flickering between stations.
AM reception was good, but not exceptional, and dial calibration for both
AM and FM was extremely accurate
from the low end to the high end of each
respective band. In using the controls,
we wish the loudness -contour ánd volume settings of the master volume controls were reversed. That is, we would
have preferred to have to pull out the
control to introduce loudness contouring,
instead of the other way round, since, in
our view, loudness contouring is a "sometime" use, whereas normal volume control action is more often desired, but a
user would soon get used to this reversed
relationship. As long as VM went to the
trouble of creating such dramatic lighting for their AM and FM dial scale, it
might have been nice if they had some
visible ( illuminated) way of denoting
Aux 1 & 2, Phono, etc. During the use
of these facilities, the entire dial scale
goes dark.
As for the power amplifiers, they provided good, clean sound to two sets of
low-efficiency bookshelf speakers at dynamic levels which probably exceeded
anything you'd want in your listening
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
100
1K
l0K
100K
FREQUENCY -H'
area and there was no evidence of
"breaking up" at low frequencies. Transients were crisp, and there was no sign
of any muddiness with a variety of specially selected recordings which we used.
The 60:1 damping factor, though not
actually measured, certainly seems to be
present. The sections of the master volume control tracked well, in that we did
not require re -balancing by means of the
balance control even at "whisper" levels.
While we have always been concerned
with the completeness of customer instruction manuals, we learned a surprising lesson from VM's printed material
which accompanies the TF-10 series of
receivers. Instead of the usual "instruction manual," VM supplies just five
single sheets of attractively printed information. The first sheet tells about
installation ( speaker ànd antenna connections, etc.). The next sheet (printed
on only one side, mind you) tells all you
need to know about actually operating
the receiver and should be used with the
third sheet-a pictorial diagram of front
panel and rear panel with numeral -coded
explanations of all the controls, jacks,
and so on. The fourth sheet ( again,
printed one side only) tells about
speaker selection considerations, while
the final piece of literature, a single
sheet folded in half to make a four -page
brochure, lists features and specifications
for the more technically oriented user to
peruse at his convenience or leisure. A
useful Technical Glossary is also provided, offering some ninety-one clearly
expressed definitions of high fidelity
terms. We tried out this "instruction
sheet" approach with a couple of neophytes and, surprisingly, they were able
to hook up the receiver and get it going
in just a few minutes. Maybe the fresh
thinking which VM applied to this excellent receiver extends to "instruction
book" writing as well-and maybe VM,
long experienced in producing merchandise for mass consumption can combine
the best of both worlds as they enter the
inner circle of componentry-for enter it
they have-with the introduction of the
TF -10 receivers.
What would happen to a preamplifier
design, if the design engineer could free
himself from stereotyped ideas and start
fresh with only a list of customers' requests? Well, at CROWN that has just happened, and the result is the IC150, an
exciting "new concept" control center with
simplified circuitry, controls that are easy
to understand and use, several exclusive
features, unsurpassed quality, and
to top
it all off
a lower price tag.
Crown Engineers discovered that pre amp switches don't need to pop
that
there is something better than the stereo
mode switch
that the phono preamp
can be dramatically improved
and,
that by using IC's, a versatile high -quality,
advanced -performance preamplifier
can be priced to beat inflation.
Of course, the true uniqueness of such
an innovative design cannot be appreciated
by reading about it. The only answer is
to experience the IC150 yourself. Let us
tell you where Crown's "new concept" is
being introduced in your area. Write today
for a list of locations.
-
-
.
.
.
...
.
.
.
World's quietest phono preamp
Infinitely variable stereo panorama control
Silent switching and automatic muting
at turn -on and turn-off
Integrated circuit modules
Industry's lowest distortion levels
Full range tone and loudness controls
Guaranteed phase response
3 -year parts and labor warranty
Will drive any amplifier
$239, walnut enclosure $33
Ask your dealer also about Crown's new companion D150 power amplifier, which delivers 200
watts -IF output at 8 ohms or 350 watts at 4 ohms.
No amp in this power range - however expensive has better frequency response or lower hum,
noise or distortion. It offers performance equal
to the famous DC300, but at medium power and
price. It's worth listening into!
11
Exported as
AMCRON
L. F.
Check No. 72 on Reader Service Card
73
BOX
1000,
ELKHART,
INDIANA, 46514, US.A.
Check No. 73 on Reader Service Card
Classical
Record
Review''
EDWARD TATNALL CANBY
Berlioz: Les Troyens. Vickers, Veasey,
Lindholm et al., Wandworth School
Boys' Choir, Chorus and Orchestra of
the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Colin Davis. Philips 6709 002 (5
discs) stereo ($31.82).
I was in a way reflecting history when
I found myself unable to get through all
ten sides of this immense opera in one
evening. It was never performed in its
own time, a century ago; not until the
late 1950s was the whole thing produced
in a piece as Berlioz wrote it. Here, it is
recorded complete for the first time in
the notable Colin Davis Berlioz series. In
effect, this is a brand new Berlioz workhis last, a quarter -century after the familiar "Symphonie Fantastique."
The four -hour-plus span of the music
was actually normal for the modernist of
that day. "Les Troyens" is contemporary
with Wagner's "Tristan," which is longer,
and far from the first of Wagner's enormous productions. But what a difference!
-
74
For one thing, France was much more
conservative in its established national
opera. French opera styles have always
been rigid, as Mozart had found to his
cost some ninety years earlier. Wagner
too. "Tannhäuser" was a Paris flop at
about the time "Les Troyens" was completed, in spite of revisions to fit French
taste. (Wagner flatly refused to insert
the traditional ballet!) Thus we can
ascribe the failure to stage "Les Troyens"
( except in a truncated two-evening version) simply to French conservatism in
high places-which Berlioz himself had
predicted. But there are profound differences, even so, between this monster and
the parallel Wagnerian operas. In a sense,
Berlioz is much more difficult to take in
toto, so to speak, in one sitting. It has an
altogether different sort of continuity.
The Wagnerian music drama is one
huge, muscular whole, an architectural
super-construction welded into a piece
out of interwoven themes, the famed
Leitmotiv fabric that unites voices and
orchestra into one huge, continuous -flow
mass of suggestive sound, carrying the
senses along hour after hour in a vast
sonic flood, a veritable Mississippi river.
Mixed metaphors! No matter. For Wagner, one needs a dozen metaphors all at
once. Typically Germanic.
But France has never really tuned itself to these gargantuan workings, in any
of its arts. Where Bach wrote vast orchestral suites and huge variation structures like the Goldberg Variations for
keyboard, Rameau and Couperin composed their French suites as assembled
collections of beautifully made miniature
pieces, and the same with variations. So
too, oddly enough, with the great Berlioz
in the heyday of immensity in music. A
huge Berlioz work is huge in length and
cumulative impact, but not in its structure, which is classically French, an assembled series of smaller pieces.
Indeed, "Les Troyens" is almost compulsively classical, for a last work by such
a composer-it harks back to the jointed
recitative and aria format of earlier operas, avoiding any show of Leitmotiv
structure, scarcely even allowing a continuous flow; the music still breaks up
into separate "numbers" approximately à
la Gilbert & Sullivan (if we may take a
musically poles -apart example). Thus"Les Troyens" isn't easy to follow in its
grand lines. It is a vast variety show, yet
deadly serious, a long sequence of "scenes"
each more or less independent of the
others; the inner continuity is a matter of
subtlety and will not really hit you until
the numberless recitatives and arias are
familiar and in the memory. How long
will that take? All the time you can spare!
Fortunately, the recorded medium is
ideal for this type of music. Play as much
as you want at a time, with the libretto
in hand (the language, again unlike
Wagner, moves along smartly; the action
is expanded naturally, at a normal "living" tempo, rather than by slowing-down
as in Wagner). Quit when you must-it's
OK in this music. Take it up again later.
The impact does not depend on cumulative, unbroken, hypnotic listening as in
Wagner. It will hit you just as well with
intervening breaks for relief.
To tell the truth, I found a good deal
of the music somewhat väpid in impact,
the intensity not really backed by enough
sheer musical content. It often happens,
or seems to happen, in Berlioz, whose
harmonic pallette was, actually, as rigidly
limited as that of Mendelssohn. I found
that the big, climactic scenes-the holocaust of the fall of Troy with the Trojan
women committing suicide right and left,
the final immolation of Dido, forsaken by
Aeneas in Carthage-left me cold, or lukewarm. Much horror, many diminished seventh chords, more melodrama than
most of us can take these days, though
not a fault of Berlioz since this sort of
thing went down well in the nineteenth
century. The quieter scenes are more
easily digested, and those of glorious
pomp and circumstance. The horror
scenes are overdone, as we hear them.
A superb, if unique, performance, out
of that curious British affinity for French
music that goes back through Sir Thomas
Beecham, who did great Berlioz in his
day. It is hard to imagine a better -tailored rendition of the sense of the huge
work, with a classic restraint which is
precisely right for French music (would
we ham it up!) and yet enough tension
to project everything that Berlioz has
to offer. Even the vocal sounds are somehow French, though the French accents
are a bit dim, to put it mildly. The two
chief ladies, Cassandra in the first part
(Bent Lindholm) and Dido in the second ( Josephine Veasey) are triumphantly
good. Their joint foil, Aeneas ( Jon Vickers) is a somewhat nasal disappointment
-but perhaps only too accurate to the
conception of that hero, a rather colorless
pawn of the gods (exactly as in Purcell's
"Dido and Aeneas" of the middle 1600s ),
who shows very little character of his
own.
The album is winning every known
prize for excellence, and surely deserves
it on every ground, both musical and
technical.
-
Sound:
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
Performance: A
A-
r
Handsome is
as handsome does
Reliable silicon power
transistors deliver 200 watts
of clean, pure music power
1 ceramic and 2 crystal filters
provide greater sensitivity and
higher selectivity
FET booster strengthens
received signal at the antenna
Spring -loaded connectors
eliminate the need for tools
when changing speaker or
antenna connections
Un que FET demodulator in
AM section increases sensitivity
and reduces spurious response
Muting circuit eliminates
between -station background
noise and hiss
and cross modulation
4 FET's in FM front end
minimize spurious response
and cross modulation
Computer -type plug-in
circuit boards
Dual headphone outputs
and microphone inputs
Black-out glass panels
light up asfunctions are selected
Separate AM and FM tanning
eliminates needless d al spinning
Nikko 1101 AM/FM
Stereo Receiver
200 watts $399.95 list
Professional separate slide
controls for volume, bass,
and treble of each channel
Separate stepped volume control
for remote speaker system
If that handsome brute is a bit much, check these beauties:
.-
1
NIKKO
1111.111111111111
1
_
-.
.Min
Nikko 701 B AM/FM
Stereo Receiver
90 watts $239.95 list
.
Nikko 501S AM/FM
Stereo Receiver
64 watts $189.95 list
Nikko 301 AM/FM
Stereo Receiver
40 watts $159.95 list
Check No. 75 on Reader Service Card
Nikko Electric Corporation of America, 5001
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91601. Manufacturers of a full range of receivers, pre-amp/amplifiers and tuners that deliver
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Backhaus-Beethoven Sonatas
Nos. 16, 22, 27. London CS 6639 stereo
($5.98).
Wilhelm Backhaus Memorial (1908, 1927,
1938). Parnassus 3 mono (130 Arnold
St., Staten Island, N.Y. 10301).
Wilhelm
Readers of Our October issue (p. 64)
will note that I used the present tense
in describing Wilhelm Backhaus as "the
grand old man of the recorded Beethoven
Sonata." No-he did not die between the
writing and the publication of those
words; he was already dead. But his records were still coming forth, brand new.
Like the Columbia discs of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the RCA discs of the
Boston Symphony.
As has often been observed in these
columns, recordings are in a special sense
timeless. 99 per cent of them have no
specific connotations of any particular
moment in time (or, for that matter, in
space) as we actually listen. They exist
basically in the present; for that is their
impact on us. They are happening as we
listen. And they happen again as we listen again.
Thus the "present" in terms of new
recordings is always to some extent the
past and, more often than not, we listeners do not even know-or care-how far,
or in what circumstances. Reviewers often
thus refer to the past in the present tense,
because that is the way we listen. Do we
say "Shakespeare is the greatest English
dramatist," or "Shakespeare was. . . ..?
Does it make much difference?
Welhelm Backhaus died in mid-1969,
with his record -making career (in both
senses of that term!) still up to date in
full ffrr stereo. It covered ( covers) a
time span of more than sixty years, the
longest ever. The first of the above records is a new release-Backhaus is still
coming out with new material and his
career in its disc form is not yet completed. The second disc, the Memorial,
includes an item from his first set of
recordings, put down into wax by the
acoustic process in the year 1908. Unbelievable! He was then 24.
For general comment on the current
London ffrr Backhaus in stereo see again
my review of October. It applies to the
sense and "feel" of this later issue in the
series, the sonatas No. 27 (Op. 90), No.
22 (Op. 54) and No. 16 (Op. 31, No. 1)
-the same elderly Backhaus, in his
eighties, a bit clumsy but astonishingly
vigorous and Beethoven -wise in an elder statesman way.
The Memorial album is, of course, an
LP reissue of early electric and acoustic
78s. In sonic quality the recordings
aren't too good, as old piano recordings
go; one hears little distinction between
the Brahms of 1927 and the Schumann
of 1938. But the sense of the playing is
easy to get, and the quality of the
younger Backhaus pianism. Yes, his finger technique was fabulous in those
years, rivalling perhaps Hoffman. Top
musicianship, too, a sense for the grand
line and flow, as in the later recordings.
Also a few mistakes here and there ( they
were let pass on 78s, remember), again
as in later recordings! The mannerisms
of an earlier time are also apparent-
young Backhaus takes "liberties" with
strict printed time values in the style of
the day, reminding us of Cortot, of
Mengelberg, or any number of pianists on
the restored player -piano recordings. Nobody plays that way now. Styles of
playing do change.
The fluency and "rightness" of the very
early Chopin (Fantaisie Impromptu Op.
66) and the big Schumann Fantasia in
C (Op. 17) are immediately striking. It
was an age when such music could be
played naturally, within the still-modern
Romantic movement. The 1927 recording
of the Brahms "Paganini" variations, still
a pianist's showpiece today, is played
with an almost French lightness and
speed-Brahms with a touch of Chopin.
Enlightening.
The LP restoration, obviously a labor
of love ( with pages of typed -out annotation), may or may not be "authorized"but who can object to a reissue that
otherwise might never be made? I'd ask
for a bit more scratch and a bit less
filtering. Some of us prefer a faithful
rendition of the older discs, even including the scratch. ( The 1908 Chopin has
a curious ringing background sound
which must be from the original turntable's mechanism, judging from its frequency range.)
Performances: A
Sound: B
-; C
Zukerman Barenboim. Mozart Violin Concertos No. 4 in D, No. 5 in A ("Turkish"). Pinchas Zukerman; English Chamber Orch., Barenboim. Columbia M
30055 stereo ($5.98).
"Genius meets genius" says Columbia
in its best pompous style. Two of today's
"most acclaimed" musicians. Perhaps
these inspired words put me off to begin
with. Ugh. Who isn't acclaimed, these
days?
But there is more that is disturbing
here, perhaps because, just maybe, our
older ears are all wrong and this newstyle Mozart is nearer to the "original"
than the Mozart we have been accustomed to. I'm frankly in two minds about
it. I recognize the change, and recognize
what it gets away from-the old "neoclassical" way, the too-precious Mozart,
making of his music a sort of miniatur-
76
ized collection of gem -like bits, as compared to "real" music like, say, the Tchaikowsky Violin Concerto. That, surely,
was a false approach ( and we must remember that Tchaikowsky worshipped
Mozart). But what do we have instead
of the old gem -like miniature perfection?
We have what seems to me a lack of
any real style. These youths (22 for the
violin, 28 for the conductor) bring Mozart up to full size and bigger. Not a
bad idea in itself. They bring out every
bit of implied emotion, overtly. Not so
good. But even more, they somehow
apply an indeterminate mixture of playing styles, now suggesting Tchaikowsky
or Lalo, now Beethoven, now what -have you. Mozart's undeniable innovations are
played up relentlessly-the slow introduction, ultra -slow, played for all its worth,
for instance, the cadenzas drawn out
unconscionably and all out of proportion,
each of the undoubtedly serious bits of
sudden chromatic expression done up
like Brahms, portentously, pointing up
the Significances. And yet that over-all
tension of melodic shape and of harmonic
structure which makes fine music out of
these concerti is lamentably missing; the
phrasing of the melodies is for my ear
haphazard and unconsidered, therefore
lax. ( Long notes in the violin, short ones
in the orchestral repeat of the same
phrase, for instance). And there is the
matter of tempo. Yes, perhaps it used to
be too fast; now it goes snail -like. The
"Turkish" minuet lumbers like a Bach Stokowski fugue, the opening movements
which should sparkle are merely neutral,
neither sparkling nor heavily serious, the
intense successions of key -change harmonies in the development sections seem
slack and casual, as though they weren't
going anywhere. The whole slowed -down
flow lacks shape and continuity.
Generally, the new Romantic approach
is a healthy reaction to past excesses in a
lot of classical music, I'll admit. We covered up too much, resorted to a kind of
refined, rarified polish that younger musicians find as distasteful as so much
else in the older point of view. The
trouble here, again, is that a definite approach is replaced by a fuzzy one in
terms of artistic coherence. Merely being
honestly, openly, unashamedly Romantic
isn't enough-even for Romantic music,
let alone Mozart.
I probably exaggerate. You'd better
try out this Mozart for yourself. After all,
both young artists are top technicians and
the English Chamber Orchestra is England's best.
Performance: B(
Sound: B
Continued on page 83
)
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usic fo
Don Quixote is said to
have inspired at least 50 works of
music and Shakespeare's Romeo
and Juliet almost as many, but no theme
in literature, history, or religion has given
rise to anything like the quantity of music
brought forth by Christmas. Joyous holiday pieces abound, as do settings of the
Christmas liturgy, secular works in Virtually every form relating either to the
story of Christmas or the celebration of it,
and, of course, the famous carols, some of
which are by unknown authors.
There is certainly no scarcity of Christmas music on records, with more than a
dozen current versions of Handel's Messiah, as well as substantial representation
of other titles ranging from the Christmas
Oratorios of Heinrich Schütz and J. S.
Bach and the Christmas Concertos of
Corelli and his contemporaries to TchaiCERVANTES'
kovsky's ballet The Nutcracker and
Humperdinck's opera Hänsel and Gretel
both created as Christmas entertainments
for children) to latter-day classics such as
Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors,
Irving Berlin's White Christmas, and
Johnny Marks' Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Reindeer. There are also, of course, countless collections of the great carols-Silent
Night and all the rest, in various arrangements, some simple, some elaborate, for
voices and/or instruments. I would not
attempt to evaluate or even to catalogue
the many recordings of these durable
favorites, which is neither possible in the
space available nor in any way necessary,
(
but intend to expatiate instead upon
some of the less conspicuous of the really
exceptional discs for Yuletide listeningthe best of which, of course, are no less
welcome in July than in December.
Some of the records on my own list of
unhackneyed Christmas music will not be
found in the Schwann Catalog for one
reason or another, and some are not really
Christmas material but nevertheless seem
to fit the spirit beautifully-a spirit exemplified in large measure by the descriptive
pastorales of the Italian baroque and by
the traditions of "English good-fellowship"
( to borrow an apt expression from Sir
Edward Elgar) which antedate Dickens
and survive gloriously in the Britain of
Britten. I see that what I regard as the
most attractive record ever made of
Christmas carols in their ( more or less )
original state was deleted last year, but
that one of the least -known but most ingratiating of all the Italian pastorales has
just made its belated first appearance on
microgroove. Neither one is too easy to
find at the moment, but both are very
much worth a hunt. Let's begin with the
carols, for many of the more elaborate
works begin with them, too.
In the spring of 1966, Columbia introduced a new low-priced label, Crossroads
( nominally a subsidiary of Columbia's
full-price subsidiary label, Epic, but such
details are undoubtedly more meaningful
to the people at CBS than to us), created
expressly for the release of recordings
made by Supraphon in Czechoslovakia.
A year ago that affiliation was allowed to
expire, and Columbia not only withdrew
all its Supraphon material ( there was
some on the Epic and CBS labels too ),
but deleted the entire Crossroads catalogue, which by then numbered about a
hundred items. In many ways the most
notable of those cut-outs was the collection titled "The Christmas Carols of
Europe," in which Miroslav Venhoda
conducted the Prague Madrigal Singers
and a small instrumental ensemble, with
the great tenor Beno Blachut as soloist in
two of the Czech songs and the English
Good King Wenceslas. One side was devoted entirely to Czech carols -15 of
them, in arrangements by Miroslav
Klement-the other to a total of 16 from
no fewer than 14 lands, among which
only the German Es ist ein' Ros' ent-
sprungen and the aforementioned
Wenceslas were likely to be at all
familiar. The remaining 14 were gems,
all of them, but especially the Yugoslav
Rajsko strune zadonite, a duet for soprano
and alto with bagpipes, the French
!bristnias
Nous étions trois bergerettes, sung by
two sopranos and an alto with clip-clop
accompaniment, the vivacious Spanish
Los animales ante el Nacimiento, sung by
alto Marie Nemcová with tambourine
and ( evidently) krummhorn, Blachut's
lively solo in Pásli ovce Valasí, with recorders and fiddles, and the rousing
Czech Gloria for the whole chorus of sixteen voices and most of the instruments.
The other countries represented were
Belgium, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Sweden,
Norway, Austria, and Poland. The number was Crossroads 22 16 0054 ( also
issued in mono, 22 16 0053): a record
absolutely not to be missed, should you
be lucky enough to find a copy.
Another victim of the scuttling of
Crossroads was a pairing of Britten's
Ceremony of Carols, sung by the Prague
Radio Children's Chorus under Bohumíl
Kulinsky, with Honegger's Christmas
Cantata, in which Serge Baudo conducted the Czech Philharmonic Chorus
and the Prague Symphony Orchestra.
Both sides were exceptionally well done,
and this disc, too (Crossroads 22 16
0154), is worth picking up if you come
across it, but there are, of course, several
very attractive current versions of the
Britten, and the late Ernest Ansermet left
us a splendid account of the Honegger,
packaged with his performance of the
same composer's Second Symphony (the
one for strings and trumpet) on London
OS -25320.
Une Cantate du Noel was Arthur
Honegger's last completed work, and
it well may prove to be the one by
which he is best remembered. It is
invariably moving in its apparently artless
swirl of German, French, and Latin
hymns ( including Es ist ein' Ros' entsprungen, Vom Himmel hoch, Il est ne
le divin enfant, and Stille Nacht), and
Honegger's imaginative use of the
children's chorus with the adult chorus,
baritone solo, and an orchestra smaller
than the listener might imagine. Although
fairly straightforward in construction, this
AUDIO
78
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is no mere jumble of familiar tunes, nor
is the adjective for it "colorful"; it is
a mysterious, exultant, and exalting work,
one of the really great examples of Christmas music and perhaps, after all, Honegger's true masterpiece. The instrumental
component of this performance, of course,
is the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande,
the baritone is Pierre Mollet, and the
overside symphony, with its overtones
of spiritual affirmation, is an appropriate
companion-piece.
Making use of actual carols is an old
and happy tradition. During the Renaissance, dozens and perhaps hundreds
of composers made successful blends of
"popular" and "serious" music in this
way, some using only the words of the
carols and creating new musical settings
for them, others using the melodies of
the carols (and, for that matter, other
popular songs) in their masses and other
sacred works, One of the most fascinating
of all Christmas records is one released
in Deutsche Grammophon's Archive series
seven years ago under the title "Ten
Christmas Carols in Arrangements from
the Time of Praetorius." Thirteen composers are represented, some of them
more than once and seven of them by
their settings of the respective verses of
a single carol. One of the ten carols is
performed by a huge group composed of
four choirs, a wind quartet, four each
of recorders, trombones, and viole da
gamba, a lute, harpsichord, two organs,
and offstage trumpets and drums.
Another is given in an affectingly simple
setting for solo soprano and krummhorn.
Among the performers are soprano
Margot Guilleaume, tenor Helmut Krebs,
a boys' choir from Eppendorf, the Town
Choir of Hamburg, and an instrumental
ensemble under Adolf Detel. Aside from
its Christmastime appropriateness, this
disc (SAPM-198816)
is a
brilliant
sampling of Renaissance music, its vitality
and its sounds, studded with interludes
and' fanfares played on such instruments
as the zink, pommer, dulcian, clarino,
rauschpfeife, krummhorn, and bassbumbarde.
The final selection on that Archive
record is Michael Praetorius' setting of
In dulci jubilo, from his collection Polyhymnia caduceatrix et panegyrica; four
other excerpts from that collection may
be heard on a new Nonesuch record in
performances by a similarly vast array
of vocal and instrumental forces under
the direction of Wilhelm Ehmann. These
elaborate settings (Praetorius and his
contemporaries called them concertos )
represent the peak of Praetorius' achievement; the four on the Nonesuch disc
(H-71242) are Puer natus in Bethlehem,
Vom Himmel hoch, Omnis mundus
jocundetur, and Als der gütige Gott.
The reverse principle is demonstrated
exquisitely in Marc -Antoine Charpentier's
Midnight Mass for Christmas, constructed on the themes of several of the
best -loved French carols of the 17th
century. Two recordings of this work
are listed in the Schwann Catalog, but
the most effective one is not: it is the one
issued by the Musical Heritage Society,
in which Louis Martini conducts the
Jean-François Paillard Orchestra, with
soprano Martha Angelici and Edith Selig,
counter -tenor André Meurant,.tenor JeanJacques Lesueur, bass Georges Abdoun,
and the chorus of the Jeunesses Musicales de France; the organ interludes are
played by Maurice Duruflé (MHS-522).
Another MHS release is of interest
here, even though none of the music on
it has anything to do with Christmas,
according to its titles for I can think
of few records of any kind whose
character is so eminently well suited to
the kind of listening one tends to favor
at this season. On this new record
( MHS-1060) Paillard conducts his own
orchestra in three works each by the
German composers Johann Pachelbel
(1653-1706) and Johann Friedrich Fasch
(1688-1758). The first of the Pachelbel
pieces is the Canon in D major by which
that composer is most likely to be identified. To be sure, it has been recorded
before, but never with so striking an
effect. It is radiant in its simplicity, with
the violins carrying the serene, long breathed melody over an uninterupted
pizzicato accompaniment by the violas,
a droning cello, and a harpsichord whose
contribution is imaginative but unobtrusive. The word "enchanting" is bound
to turn up sooner or later in a discussion
of Christmas records, and it could not
be more fittingly applied than to this
recording of the Pachelbel Canon-only
seven minutes long but more than enough
on its own to make this disc downright
irresistible.
There is more to it, though, and, while
perhaps less stunning than the Canon,
the other pieces are in every way worthy
companions to it. The Fasch side opens
with a jubilant little Concerto in D for
trumpet (played by Maurice André), two
oboes (Pierre Pierlot and Jacques
Chambon ), strings and continuo, followed by a four -movement Sinfonia in
G which is in everything but nomenclature a Christmas Concerto. One might
almost say as much for the Sinfonia in
major which concludes this side and
the two five -movement Partias on the
Pachelbel side. Everything on this record
exudes a Christmasy air of peace,
warmth, confidence, and good cheer.
Musical Heritage Society records are
not listed in Schwann because they are
sold by MHS itself by mail instead of
being offered in stores. ( Music Masters
in Manhattan and perhaps one or two
other shops do stock MHS discs, but
they are not otherwise distributed to
retailers.) No serious collector can be
without this company's catalogue, which
represents the largest single collection
of high-quality, low-priced discs, with
emphasis on the less familiar repertory.
MHS produces some of its own recordings but most are derived from such
prestigious European sources as Erato,
Amadeo, Supraphon, and Angelicum.
The Italian baroque Christmas Concertos everyone knows are those of
Corelli ( the best-known of all), Torelli,
Locatelli and Manfredini, all four of which
have been packaged together on a single
disc more than once. One of the loveliest
though, if one of the least -known, is
the Christmas Symphony of Gaetano
Maria Schiassi (1698-1754), a work
recorded by the Arthur Fiedler Sinfonietta some thirty years ago, when the
conductor of the Boston Pops was recording Bach, Mozart, Telemann, and Hindemith with his hand-picked group. This
was, in fact, one of the 78s reissued by
request in Victor's "connoisseurs' series"
shortly after World War II, and it was
hoped for 25 years that it would be transferred to LP or that Arthur Fiedler would
rerecord it. Neither happened, however,
and it has taken until now for the Schiassi
to be recorded again.
The new recording is not yet in the
Schwann Catalog, but it happens to be
on the Schwann label, in the "Musica
Mundi" series issued by the Düsseldorf
publishing house L. Schwann. Under its
original title, Pastorale per it Santissimo
Natale di Nostro Signore Jesu, the
Schiassi is part of a collection headed
A
"Festliche
Weihnachtsmusik grosser
Meister," performed by the Cologne
Chamber Orchestra under Helmut Müller-Brühl. Also on the disc (VMS -806)
are the "Shepherds' Christmas Music"
from Bach's Christmas Oratorio, an orchestral arrangement of the Chorale
"Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" from
Bach's Cantata No. 147, excerpts from
Handel's Messiah, the aria "Et incarnatus
est" from Mozart's Mass in C minor, and
the little interlude "Nuit" from Charpentier's oratorio In Nativitatem Domini
Jesu Christi. Soprano Sylvia Meinardus is
heard in the Mozart and Handel arias.
AUDIO
80
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
The Schwann "Musica Mundi" records
are in very limited distribution in this
country as imports ( this one may not
even have arrived here yet), at the hefty
price of $6.98 per disc. Since this catalogue includes so many other interesting
titles not otherwise available, such as the
Dvorák Notturno for Strings, Mendelssohn's early Violin Concerto in D minor,
Beethoven's Musik zu einem Ritterballett,
and several symphonies and concertos of
Haydn (the slogan on the label is "Un-
bekannte
we call our cartridge
77
LL
Kostbarkeiten"-"Unknown
Treasures"), it would be gratifying if
some U.S. company were to make the
Schwann productions available on a
domestic label (perhaps Nonesuch, Vanguard, Victrola, or MHS). In the meantime, the Schiassi is probably worth the
price.
The last record on my list has only
the most tenuous connection with Christmas, but it will suffice to justify its inclusion, for it is one of the most unusual
releases of 1970 or any year in many
ways. Though it may not be among the
most "important," its uniqueness and
charm could make it the most appealing
to listeners of various musical persuasions.
It is London's "Salute to Percy Grainger,"
in which Benjamin Britten is heard either
as conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra or as pianist in 14 of Grainger's
marvelous settings of British folk music,
abetted here and there by tenor Peter
Pears, baritone John Shirley -Quirk, pianist
Viola Tunnard, and the Ambrosian
Singers.
The Ambrosians are heard unaccompanied in the one "Christmas" piece, There
Was a Pig Went Out to Dig ("on Christmas Day in the morning"). The most
exciting piece in the collection, as well
as the longest, in the Scotch Strathspey
and Reel, a free-wheeling fantasy for
chorus and orchestra on What Shall We
Do with a Drunken Sailor and several
other Irish and Scottish tunes. The
loveliest, without doubt, is the haunting
Shallow Brown, sung by Shirley -Quirk
with the orchestra, but Peter Pears in
Willow Willow is hardly less touching.
The orchestra alone plays Shepherd's
Hey, My Robin Is to the Green Wood
Gone, The "Duke of Marlborough" Fanfare, and Lisbon. Chorus and orchestra
are heard together in The Lost Lady
Found and I'm Seventeen Come Sunday;
Pears and Shirley -Quirk each sing one
more song with the orchestra, Pears
sings two with Britten at the piano, and
Britten and Viola Tunnard play Let's
Dance Gay in Green Meadow. Far more
than the mere titles or any description
can possibly suggest, this record ( London
CS -6632) is desert island stuff, and
Christmas Day is the perfect time to get
acquainted with it.
you should read
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AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
81
7;13U0Qa o 0
TITLE
CONTENT
SOUND
Grieg: Magic of Norway (Symphonic
Dances Op 64; Norwegian Dances Op
35). New Philharmonia, Morton Gould.
RCA LSC 3158 stereo ($5.98).
Grieg didn't like being typed as a miniaturist, wrote these larger pieces, out of
collected folk dances, partly to show his
symphonic stuff. Not too good-nice tunes
but the connective tissue is over -blown,
dated in its fussy harmonies, dreadfully
pompous. Gould tastelessly exaggerates
the pomp in a driving performance. Quiet
parts are nice.
The sound is absolutely enormous, matching Gould's interpretation. Hi fi and all
that; but vast dynamic range and big
reverb make relaxed listening difficult.
Good example of hi fi energy gone to
waste! (Unless, of course, you ignore the
music and just listen to the fi.) (Op. 35
was orchestrated by Hans Sitt, in Grieg's
style but not nearly as well.)
Victoria de los Angeles-Songs of Catalonia. Orq. Ciudad de Barcelona, Lamoureux Orch., Ros-Marbá. Angel S 36682
stereo ( $5.95)
A dream
disc-even if the music isn't too
profound. De los A. is at her finest, sensuously beautiful, marvelously true in
pitch, the music old fashioned, opulent,
impressionist (cf. "Songs of the Auvergne" of Cantaloube) but lovely of its
sort, with a fine, sad Catalan atmosphere.
The E.M.I. (Angel) stereo technique
somehow remains conservative, the orch.
at a mellow over-all distance and blend,
stereo mostly in the room sound, the
voice fairly close but with space. Good
for this impressionist atmosphere.
Rosa Ponselle as Norma. (And other
items.) 1924-1929. RCA Victrola VIC
1507 mono ( $2.95)
Whether you go for this depends on your
operatic stance. Ponselle is an American
opera saint, and for opera lovers she did
no wrong. Others may find her singing
something less than neutral in terms of
pitch, diction, general accuracy. Suit
These are all, I think, very early electrics,
from 1924 to early 1929, with that curiously dead acoustics which makes them
sound like non-electrics. Two have never
been released before.
yourself!
Franck: Symphony in D Minor. Orch. de
Paris, von Karajan. Angel S-36729 stereo
( $5.98) .
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7. New York
Philharmonic, Toscanini (1936). RCA
Victrola VIC 1502 mono ( $2.98).
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7. London
Symphony, Dorati. Mercury SR 90523
stereo ( $5.98) .
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9. Harper,
Watts, Young, McIntyre, London Symphony Orch. & Chorus, Stokowski. London Phase 4 SPC 21043 stereo ($5.98) .
Britten: Songs from the Chinese. Dodgson: Four Poems of John Clare. Elizabethan Songs (Dowland, Pilkington, etc.)
Wilfred Brown, tenor, John Williams,
guitar. Odyssey 3216 0398 stereo ($2.98).
82
The Austrian yoga -swim -ski -mountaineering maestro, so un -French, does a splendid job with this old war horse, thanks in
part to a crack French orch. that knows
the tradition. Best Franck in years!
The Angel conservative stereo is good
for Franck, too-a big space, the music
at a distance, much stereo room sound,
not much separation. Suits the Franck
mistiness perfectly.
The most famous of recorded Sevenths
in its fifth release format. Surprisingly
like the Dorati, above, but faster, more
furiously intense -Toscanini at his middle -period best, super -Italian, high-powered, mesmerizing his orch., driving the
music forward. It is "definitive"-for this
particular approach to Beethoven, at least.
A
very dead -sounding Carnegie Hall, as
in most oldies. Mike placement? ? Done
in two straight run-throughs (alternating
78 wax cutters) without usual 4 -minute
breaks, unusual for the time. The musical sense is clear but the sound is thin,
unfocussed, ugly in loud parts, lacking
in detail. We've come far since 1936.
Two splendid recordings, newly alive thanks to impetus of the 200th anniversary.
Both are in super-modern close-up stereo, wide dynamic range, ultra-clear-taking
maximum advantage of this to project Beethoven's tremendous contrasts. The Dorati
Seventh is the finest I know, expressive, accurate, full of life, beautifully recorded
for inner details in the over-all. Stokowski's Ninth is a laugh-a superb one. Huge,
portentous sound, vast space, close-up details. Heavy drama but fresh and effective.
making the most of the music's potential for show. Last movement is cornily glorious!
curiously mis -cast record. The two Britishers do two modern tenor -guitar piecesgreat success, and good listening! But the biggish, quavery modern tenor voice is
all wrong for the Elizabethan songs, which need a small, simple, accurate voice to
match the proper lute sound. (Not guitar.) Brown's voice, like Peter Pears', is fine
for the modern music, impossible in the old. When will the English vocalists discover this? (The Germans long since have. They match voice to music.)
A
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
Thorens TD -125
3 -Speed Electronic
Transcription Turntable
Salute to Percy Grainger from Benjamin
Britten. Peter Pears, John Shirley -Quirk,
Ambrosian Singers, Viola Tunnard, Engl.
Chamber Orch., Britten. London
6632 stereo ($5.98)
CS
Here's one of your Anglophile friends
or your own British self, a curious ( from
the American viewpoint) reverence by a
top group of pros in the British musical
world for one of their own. Percy
Grainger is "acclaimed" over here mainly
for that dreadfully sprightly little tidbit
the "Shepherd's Hey," but in his long
life Grainger produced a great deal more
than that, though virtually all of it was
concerned with British folk music of
one sort or another. The assorted settings
on this record-with no less than Benjamin Britten in charge-range from "Shepherd's Hey" itself sounding remarkably
insignificant, to a grandiosely humorous
"What Shall We Do with the Drunken
Sailor?" and a sorrowful "Willow Willow," that superb song which inspired the
G & S satire, "Tit -Willow" in "The
Innovation in design is the keynote
to the remarkable performance of the Thorens TD -125.
But then, you expect innovation from Thorens.
And you get it.
THE LAST STRONGHOLD
FOR THE RUGGED INDIVIDUALIST
Mikado."
Grainger was an early folksong enthusiast, of the Vaughan -Williams, Holst,
and Cecil Sharpe generation. His "innovations"-they need quotes today-were
in the use of assorted chamber -sized instrumental groupings for the setting-forth
of country folk tunes in proper concert music garb. He is wholly of the school
that took it for granted folk song must
be transformed into "classical" format, and
it is precisely this which so thoroughly
dates him, at least for Americans. The
more so in that his very professional
settings are, nevertheless, somewhat
derivative, over -lush, overdone (as we
hear them) and out of that Elgar-Delius
school of British music which has never
made much headway with our ears, here
on the American continent.
society that tells you what books to read, what records to listen
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the TD -125 "...as the best three -speed manual we've yet tested."
Here are some of the reasons: 3 speeds (162/3, 331/3, 45 rpm)... Wien
In a
Performance:
Sound:
B
B
Thomas Schippers-Carl Philipp Emanuel
Bach. (Concerto in For Two Pianos;
Concerto in G for Organ and Strings.)
Thomas Schippers, Barbara Biegen, pianos; T. Schippers, organ; N.Y. Philharmonic, Vienna Baroque Ensemble.
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record-he both conducts and performs, in
both concertos-puts old Bach's somewhat introspective middle son into
modern concert -hall perspective, à la
Philharmonic Hall, a setting that is
unusual for this composer, who doesn't
often nib elbows with Brahms, Rach-
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
83
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Check No. 83 on Reader Service Card
SHERWOOD
HoW s your HYPOCRISY LEVEL this
season? How many times have
you, all of a sudden, thought
about "peace on earth" or "good will
toward men"? Amazing, isn't it, how the
bulk of the year can slip by without
once thinking seriously (at least seriously enough to be prodded into some
positive action other than tossing pennies into a cannister) about helping,
really helping, someone outside your
immediate family or circle of friends.
Somehow, though, the Christmas season
causes just enough guilt to make us want
to rectify our apathy, or non-involvement, for the past 11 months. Which is
okay, or would be, if we don't backslide
next month, retreat into our plastic
shells once again.
Maybe that's what "Now Music" is
all about, making our self-image a wee
bit more real, more honest, helping us
through chords and lyrics to understand
the simplicity-complexity of the world
around us . . and doing it 12 months
a year. Maybe that's why the blues,
stemming, of course, from the depths of
the black experience (but by no means
limited to that color skin), have reached
new heights of popularity. Perhaps that's
why lyrics that deal with issues rather
than moon -June-spoon platitudes and
niceties are again coming to the fore.
Perhaps that's why performer -writers
such as Dick Holler, who was reared in
the Bayou country of Louisiana, are
pressing discs.
SD
( Atlantic,
SOMEDAY SOON
8268) is Holler's first LP for the label.
On it are 10 tunes he wrote himself,
then arranged in conjunction with Phil
Gernhard. There's a strange sort of magnetism in his gruff voice (with its distinct country flavor), despite it not being
trained or particularly good, but the real
appeal is in his lyrics, compelling by
their candidness. Often, the listener finds
the folksy album, with its overtones of
soft rock, difficult to take. But then,
truth frequently is.
.
84
L.
WEINGARTEN
Most of Holler's songs seem to combine the lyrical beauty (and meaning)
of a Tom Paxton with the caustic wit of
a Phil Ochs. The result, naturally, is that
the troubadour gets through to the listener, even if the latter doesn't wish it.
Case in point: "Little Joe ( They're
Out to Get You)," which neatly portrays
the trap that many consider life to be.
The tune is a poignant tale of a man
pursued, in quick succession, by a girl,
the government ( which teaches him to
kill, in Vietnam), and the cops (after he
kills a man in a bar, almost out of habit
resulting from his war experience). Obviously, it is also a commentary on the
violence in our society. Not the kind of
thing you like to think about at Christmas, but, then, can we stop future
Vietnams if we don't expend some mental energy in that direction?
"Walk With My Friend" also is timely,
for it explores how our hypocritical attitudes allow us to exploit others under
the guise of friendship, our real goal all
the time being a selfish one.
"Mother, Where's Your Daughter"sung in medley with "Where Will the
Love Come From?"-deals with the communications and generation gaps, pointedly aiming at the lack of touch between
parents who seek a "green and gold
existence" and offspring who speak "of
love and peace."
"My Friend Joe" takes a potshot at
bigotry via a ballad in which "a token
spade" is hired by a company to avoid
the loss "of federal aid." Joe, the hero
of the piece, is a pleasant, soft-spoken,
efficient worker (who ultimately is replaced by two men) passed over for
promotion because of his color. "They'll
start him at the bottom, and make damn
sure he stays there," sings Holler.
Revolutionary, but in low-key, is "Fat
Daddy," which tells of exploitation by
Big Money men and the inevitability of
a new wave taking over. In country -rock
format, it hammers away at the theme:
"Big Daddy, you got your people
"Established up on the wall.
"But every time one of your people
dies,
"You will find one of my people rise
"Up to take his place laughin' in
your face."
And Holler's biggest success, the
poignant "Abraham, Martin, and John,"
of course, is one more anti -violence plea,
this time directly lamenting the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
the Kennedy Brothers, and Abraham
Lincoln.
But the writer's best number is
another country -rock opus, "Hey -HeyHo," which blasts the many double
standards extant in American life:
"You bringin' me down with your
preachin',
"While your eyes give me bloodshot
looks.
"You just voted down a school bond
bill
"And you're tellin' me to hit the
books.
"You're knockin' my clothes, but
you ain't showed me
"One damn thing to do with a tie.
"I'd really like to believe you, man,
"But it's a well known fact that you
lie.
"Hey -Hey-Ho, let's all go
"Get drunk at the football game,
"Make a little with your secretary,
"And tell me who's to blame.
"You pop more pills than I've
ever seen,
"Your doctor says it's all right.
"You run straight for your medicine cabinet
"Everytime you're gettin' uptight.
"You wring your hands and curse
the Jew
"And the black and the yellow
and red.
"You blame everything on the
hippies,
"Look in the mirror instead."
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
Oh, yes, middle class America, it's a
game of mirror, mirror on the wall, tell us
who's most hypocritical of all.
Your answer, of course, is the same as
it always is-and highly appropriate to
the season: Bah, Humbug!! But why
worry, Christmas comes only once a
year, and Christ was removed from the
season a long time ago. Just listen to
those cash registers play "Jingle Bells."
CAPSULE CRITIQUES
EARL GRANT (Decca, DL
.
.
.
75223) is the organist-pianist -vocalist's
final disc of new material, for he died in
an accident only a few days after taping. The liner notes say he considered it
"the best work he had ever done," and
this time the flacks may be right. Among
the ten tunes are two calypsos, "Elizabethan Reggae" ( with classical overtones) and "Model 'A' Reggae," an
interesting combination of soul and
country & western (Joe South's "Walk a
Mile in My Shoes"), and a couple of
vocals that sound much like Nat King
Cole, "Looking Back" and "My Cherie
Amour."
See Nobody," "A House Is Not a Home,"
"Storybook Children" and "Breaking Up
Is Hard to Do."
. . . WANTED
(Metromedia, KMD
1029) shows that The Cates Gang, aided
by a background chorus, can combine
blues and rock and country and pop
music successfully-but not with enough
flair to stand very far above the multitude. The quartet-Earl and Ernest Cate,
Bill Wright, and Terry Cagle, uses
standard rock instrumentation. Best tunes
are "We All Got to Help Each Other,"
which lies somewhere between heavy
and bubble gum music, and
"What's the Use in Lovin' You," a
mournful, slow-tempoed contrast.
.
.
.
GAS MASK: THEIR FIRST
ALBUM ( Tonsil, T-4001), produced by
Teo Macero, epitomizes the mediocrity
that exists on the rock scene. Sounding
like a thousand other groups, Gas Mask
offers ten tunes that are mostly a jazzrock amalgamation. The hard stuff, however, is blues -oriented; the soft material
is pop -leaning. Vocals are by Bobby
Osborne; David Gross wrote "The Immigrant" and "The I Ching Thing," and
rock
MARK VI
provides
FULL RANGE
even at
low volume
FULL
DYNAMICS
at any
volume
.
.
.
BILL COSBY `LIVE' (UNI,
73082), recorded at the Madison Square
Garden Center in New York City, is a
tour de force by the comic who, because
of an instantaneous rapport with the
audience, tossed away his prepared material and "winged it." Highly effective
use of the mike for vocal sound effects
is combined with hilarious story-telling
about "Bill's Marriage," "His First Baby"
and "Bill Takes His Daughter to the
Zoo." Side Two slows down a bit, but
you get your money's worth of laughs
anyway.
DON'T CRUSH THAT DWARF,
HAND ME THE PLIERS (Columbia,
C30102) is the third recorded effort of
The Firesign Theatre-unfortunately, the
worst. The quartet's attempt at contemporary satire evokes a few chuckles at
best, failing perhaps because of a scattergun technique, hop -scotching from
subject to subject, that doesn't focus
long enough on any one thing. The four
-Philip Proctor, David Ossman, Philip
Austin, and Peter Bergman-aim simultaneously at radio preachers, take-out
foods, middle-class America, high school
life, TV movies, politics, and justice.
.
.
. THE MARBLES (Cotillion, SD
9029) is both an album and a group
name (the latter being a duo, cousins
Graham Bonnet and Trevor Gordon).
Offering good pop -rock, middle-of-theroad stuff that always seems to find its
way to Top 40 airplay, the two lean
heavily on tunes by the BeeGees ( 5count 'em-5). Best numbers are "I Can't
...
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DECEMBER 1970
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85
the other songs were penned by Nick
Oliva. Whole outing rates one large
ho -hum.
.
.
.
STEAMHAMMER (Epic, BN
26552) is an electric quintet that started
as a straight white blues band and now
incorporates touches of jazz (with classical injections now and then). Part of
the so-called Second British Invasion,
the group performs on ten cuts that
would ring up a 50 on a scale of 100.
BLOOMSBURY PEOPLE (MGM,
SE -4678) includes a lyric sheet with the
LP. It's the only extra that album pur-
...
chasers get, for the eleven cuts are absolutely routine. There is Latin influence
(not as potent as that from any of a
dozen groups). Lyrics "are ordinary, and
the straight rock sound features the normal instrumentation. Even "Lake of
Sand," which utilizes the old-time megaphone gimmick, suffers from copy cat-itis.
.
.
.
THINKING OF WHAT THEY
DID TO ME (Arhoolie, 1053) spotlights blues from one of the best, Big
Joe Williams of Crawford, Miss. The
70 -year -old singer -guitarist provides 14
tunes, all self -penned, that reek of au -
'Scotch" Brand,the professional
recording tape.
In disguise.
There's the
This
innocent looking
little cassette
is no teenybopper's toy.
It's loaded with
same quality
combination
in "Scotch"
"Dynarange"
recording tape, the
overwhelming
choice of professional
sound engineers-and
serious hobbyists.
On reel-to-reel equipment,
"Dynarange" offers flawless
full -fidelity performance. High
S /N, superb sensitivity across
the whole sound spectrum. And
this tough polyester tape has
permanent silicone lubrication for
maximum tape life plus minimum
head wear.
Brand 8 -Track
Cartridges, too.
Professional savings:
Get up to 40% off on
tape -related premium
items with tabs from
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products. Ask your dealer
for free catalog, plus helpful
booklet of recording tips.
Or send 25¢ in coin to:
3M Company, P.O. Box 3146,
Saint Paul, Minn. 55101.
thenticity. Assisted on four tracks by
Charlie Musselwhite's harmonica, Williams, whose high-pitched voice occasionally drops with unexpected power,
sticks to traditional sounds that work
and wear well. Only "Throw the Boogie
Woogie," a throwback to the rock 'n'
roll of the '50s, escapes the pattern. Best,
though, are "The Death of Dr. Martin
Luther King," "Army Man in Vietnam,"
"Thinking of What They Did to Me,"
"King Jesus" and "Trouble for Everybody."
Sorry-in spite of a stellar cast of soloists and top-flight ensemble. I find this an
outrageously bad "Creation" and you can
... GINGER BAKER'S AIR FORCE
(Ateo, SD 2-703), a two -disk package of
big band rock -jazz a la Blood, Sweat &
Tears. The supergroup, which includes
Steve Winwood, Rick Grech, and Graham
Bond, swings and swings and swings. But
it's hard stuff, not intended for the
over -30 crowd. A gimmicky cover encloses the vinyls, opening in reverse
fashion from the usual (and advertised
as the first "left-handed album").
... ENTRANCE (Epic, BN 26503),
with Edgar Winter offering a dozen tunes
backed by a big group that includes his
brother Johnny on harmonica and guitar.
Winters, as flaxen -haired as his brother
(with whom he composed most of the
songs), sings and plays piano, organ, and
alto sax. A blues motif runs through the
LP, but the frenzy in recordings by
Johnny is missing; so is the radiance that
makes the audiophile want to listen again.
.
.
.
CRICKLEWOOD GREEN
(Derain, DES 18038), with eight tracks
of hard blues rock by Ten Years After.
Acoustics are particularly fine; liner notes
contend that "we have recorded this album in layers of sound rather than absolute separations." It's obviously the
truth. More fans should flock to this
group after this one.
...
Yet cassette systems need all these
qualities even more. And they get it.
With the same dependable "Dynarange"
tape in cassettes carefully
engineered for smooth, jam -free
performance. "Scotch" Brand
Cassettes deliver the highest
possible fidelity at cassette speed.
MAE WEST (Decca, DL79176),
subtitled "original voice tracks from her
greatest movies," gives the audiophile
one lesson in nostalgia and another in
how to laugh despite the seriousness of
the times. The LP, which includes a
poster, combines sex and comedy as only
the comedienne could. All her best lines
(and five songs) are here: "When I'm
good, I'm very good . . but when I'm
bad, I'm better," "It's not the men in
your life that counts, it's the life in your
men," "When I'm caught between two
evils, I generally like to take the one
I never tried," and, of course, "Come
up and see me some time."
/E
.
magnetic Products Division
SCOTCH
3m
DONA DANCE'' AND PLAID DESIGN ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF 3M CO.
Check No. 86 on Reader Service Card
86
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
pre-recorded
Behind The Scenes
(Continued from page 12)
complete run through of the tape in less
than a minute.
The recorder/player may be miniature,
but it has a full complement of controls.
Pushbuttons control motion with Play,
Stop, Rewind, Fast Forward. There is an
audio/video record button, volume control, tape tracking control and a meter for
video level and battery check. There are
secondary controls for tape tension, head
clean, extended play switch, and camera
trigger. Stereo playback is possible with
two separate audio channels. Some performance figures for the system are video
resolution on monochrome of 300 lines
and for color, 240 lines. Signal-to-noise
ratio is 42 dB. Both slow motion and stop
action are possible. The monochrome
camera, which is expected to cost about
$400.00, has a trigger grip which activates
camera and recorder simultaneously.
How good is the record and playback
quality? What I saw in New York was by
far the best in terms of clarity, good contrast balance, brightness ratio, of any
video cartridge system I have encountered
thus far. This smallest and lightest video
cartridge looks like a cinch to use. At the
demonstration Ampex had a typical
skinny New York model, and she had the
recorder slung over her left shoulder with
the strap provided with the unit. She held
the camera with her right hand and
steadied it with her left hand as she
photographed another model. We could
see the head and shoulders of the girl
being recorded in the tiny receiver screen
of the viewfinder. It took just a few seconds for the tape to be rewound 'and the
unit placed in the power pack, which was
attached to a large screen TV set through
the aerial input. The picture quality was
really excellent. A cardioid mike is furnished with the camera, which of course
records the sound synchronously with the
video. Ampex then played back cartridges
of several color shows that had been copied from the master video tapes and the
results were just sensational. It was just
about the best video color I have ever
seen . . . with great color balance and
fidelity, clarity and brilliance.
Ampex looks at their cartridge Insta vision system as functioning in the area
of closed circuit TV for industrial and
educational applications, and for repetitive programming in the same areas; for
instantaneous response, in the use of
material just recorded and for home entertainment via either pre-recorded
cartridges, or from portable recordings,
or from "off -the-air" recording. As far as
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
material is concerned,
Ampex has to deal with suppliers in the
various media, just like any of the competing systems. They state they have been
having "fruitful" conversations with Columbia Pictures, so one would assume
eventual availability of feature films.
Special new high speed tape duping
equipment is now being designed and it
is expected that the cost of the prerecorded video cartridges will be competitive with that of other systems. Of
course the big plus for this Instavision
system is the ability to record. With the
top model, the thousand -dollar recorder/
player, one can record color "off-the -air,"
although it will be necessary to get a
TV service man to connect your unit to
the video output of your TV set. One
can certainly envision that the more alert
manufacturers of TV sets will furnish a
jack on their sets for this purpose. One
can think of endless uses for video photography with the black and white camera.
The real breakthrough will come when
relatively inexpensive color cameras become available. Present color cameras
are very big and range in price from about
$50,000, to the least expensive unit
recently announced by SONY at about
4500-5000 dollars. The goal is a color
camera around 500 to 800 dollars, which
I am told will probably be feasible in a
few years. Ampex has stated that the
thousand dollar cost of the top Insta vision unit is predicted on a certain
initially small volume, and that substantial reductions in price can be anticipated
with increased volume. Thus the day may
not be far off when one can take along a
portable unit and record in color and in
synchronous sound, the joys of a vacation,
and on returning home, there is no wait
merely confor films to be developed
nect the unit to your TV set and you are
ready to relive the big moments of your
vacation. Or take the Instavision recorder
to your son's Little League game, and
later the same day, view in "living color"
on your TV set, your little hero knocking
in a few runs. And if he whiffs instead
of hitting, you can record him over and
over, play it back until he learns to correct his mistakes. This is another advantage of the Instavision system in that if
what you have recorded is only of transitory value to you, you can erase and reuse the tape repeatedly without any
diminution of quality.
Even with the Instavision system as
presently constituted, with monochrome
camera, "off-the -air" color recording, and
the facility to play back pre-recorded
cartridges, Ampex has unquestionably
come up with a real winner. I, for one, am
looking forward to using the Instavision
equipment at the earliest possible
/E
moment.
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The 404 shares the same uncompromising standards common to all
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HIRSCH-HOUCK LABORATORIES HAD THIS TO
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In other words, it tailors sound to suit your
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5
(Continued from page 26)
program
Frequency response
0.3dB from
Headphone Review
-±
to 500,000 Hz
...The output clipping level
occurred at 9.0 volts..."
*HERE'S WHAT WE HAVE TO
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The Graphic Stereo Tone
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monitor switch. The system
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See your dealer or send a
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Why 700 watts?
Listen.
A
Word About Right and Left
By and large, most of the headphones
described in these columns have some
form of indication as to which is intended for the left ear and which is for
the right. But we found that there is
not much consistency in the way the
plugs are wired to the phones. The custom of wiring the jacks in receivers
seems to be that the right channel feeds
to the tip and the left channel feeds the
ring, with the sleeve being common to
both channels. About half of the phones
tested were connected in accordance
with this "standard," and the others were
connected with the tip to the left phone
and the ring to the right. Not that it
makes much difference, except that if
you are accustomed to hearing the violins
on the left in real life, you may be surprised to be hearing them on the right
when you plug the phones into your
receiver or amplifier. With removable
plugs, you could change the connections
at the plug; with permanent molded
plugs integral with the cord, you couldn't
-you would need to make the change
at the phone jack on the receiver or
amplifier-or put the phones on "backward."
When listening to loudspeakers, both
ears hear the two channels-but with
headphones, the channels are isolated.
With the usual recording methods, the
sound is unnatural-although many people
prefer it! In order to restore correct
"balance," crosstalk of appropriate phase
and amplitude must be introduced between channels. One circuit which does
this is the Bauer crossfeed arrangement,
which is reproduced below ( see AUDIO
November, 1962).
1oo.
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1,000. Distortion is so low that it cannot be accurately measured, even with the
finest laboratory test equipment. We know only that it is typically less than
one one-hundreth of one percent. For brief time periods, power in excess of
four hundred fifty watts per channel can be delivered into eight ohms all the way
down to zero cycles per second. The Phase Linear delivers 350 watts/channel
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Original Bauer cross -feed network.
ERRATUM: Parallel Speakers
In the November issue, it was stated in
the third column of page 24 that an increase of 10 decibels would result in an
increase in power output of an amplifier
from 20 to 60 watts. This increase in
power would result from an increase of 5
decibels, instead of 10.
88
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
THE HEADPHONE
Skillfully designed to audio perfection, IZUMI's Model CIS -300 stereo headphone
reproduces exciting sound and mood of Hi-Fi amp throughout 20 to 20,000 Hz
frequency response range. Deluxe appearance in black and white, fully adjustable
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comes in beautiful and elegant display box.
AUDIOCLINIC
(Continued from page
6)
Record Cleaning
Q. I am writing in the hope that you
can solve a serious problem. Some time
ago, I was given some electrostatic record detergent as a gift. I assumed from
the blurb on the container that this fluid
would reduce the surface noise, remove
the problem of dust attracted by static
electricity, lengthen record life, etc. As
my investment in recordings is not inconsiderable (a library of about 1,000
albums), I thought that the use of the
cleaner would materially prolong the
value of my discs.
Unfortunately, I have discovered that
the effects of the detergent have been
quite the opposite of those claimed.
Many of my recordings now have an irritating level of surface noise. My problem,
therefore, is what can I do about it?
I'm hoping that you can advise me of
some method by which I might remove
the "glue" from my valuable recordings.
-Douglas Purkis, Toronto, Canada.
A. First, get rid of remaining "cleaner."
If the material you used to "clean"
your records has attacked their surfaces,
changing them chemically, there is noth-
ing which can be done to restore these
discs to their original condition. However, if the detergent has only deposited
a surface film, this should be removable.
I suggest that you rinse your discs
in warm water, NOT HOT WATER. If
you have a sink spray, this is ideal because it will provide sufficient water
pressure to really wash out surface deposits. If you do not have a sink spray,
use a garden hose.
You will next want to dry the records
with a lint free cloth.
If you ever wish to try another type
of cleaner advertising its ability to do
all sorts of wondrous things, my general
thought is, "don't do it." However, if
you want to try it for "kicks," try the
cleaner on just one or two discs, discs
which you are not particularly interested
in. If these discs are ruined, the loss will
not be serious. Do not clean an entire
collection until you know that the product you are going to use is safe and, of
Æ
course, effective.
If you have a problem or question on
audio, write to Mr. Joseph Giovanelli
at AUDIO, 134 North Thirteenth Street,
Philadelphia, Pa. 19107. All letters are
answered. Please enclose a stamped,
self-addressed envelope.
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
89
IZUMI ELECTRONICS IND.CO.,LT].
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Canby looks at Video Discs
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(Continued from page 40)
to take an engineer's breath. How long
will it take fully to explore the implications of this breakthrough? Years, I'd
guess.
the magnitude
of the changes in the system, the enormous widening of reserve potential. As
you must have read with astonishment,
the Teldec's information content rates at
100 to 1 as compared with present disc!
That's the order of magnitude we need
in a Big Break. The new bandwidth, for
TV, is 3 megahertz-it's more dramatic to
call it three million cycles. "Flat from 3
to 3,000,000." How does that sound?
for
4NiALIiIN °ccordc
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recasti 3g
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Check No. 91 on Reader Service Card
e
JOHN NcCR3
introductory
Perhaps the Teldec isn't the disc in our
future, but it is important because it
shows us the substance, the scope, of
what's to come. If the disc is to be a
different model, it'll still be radical, on
the same scale of enormity. That's for
sure. Teldec shows us in the only way
that counts-by example.
Meanwhile-please don't renounce the
LP and the cassette overnight! Those
high -quality end-products of an era will
be around with us for a long time before
we get any mass-produced start in these
wild new dimensions. I suspect they'll
last even longer, being so useful, before
they finally fade away or merge in to
some
semi -compatible
super -medium.
More likely, we'll get a new multi -speed,
multi-player
console, that will cope
with everything at once, from shellac to
cassettes, LP to EVR, RCA-and Teldec
TV. We've seen worse.
/E
Cl
free
A bit of Canby dream -arithmetic, for
unimaginable audio. If you get twelve
minutes out of the present Teldec disc
with the 3-meg bandwidth for TV, then
maybe we could use four times that
length, at 375 rpm, with a quarter of
the bandwidth. Or make it eight times,
or sixteen. Or thirty-two-that would
about cut it down to present audio size.
If I dream rightly, this disc would be
flat to 18,250 cycles or "above 18 kHz".
But the d-nd thing would play six -and-a half hours! So go back one step, for a
doubled bandwidth and maybe four nice
channels, pulsed or multiplexed. Three
hours -plus. OK, back again, for an hourand -a -half disc and channel after channel.
That's what I mean. Keep in mind the
100:1 information -density figure. Room
to play. Room for development, anywhere, everywhere. That's what we don't
have on present disc or even tape.
EAST SIDE
940 3rd Ave.
at 57th St.
please
write
You can understand, then, the scope of
a Big Break such as this,
copy
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Classical Record Reviews
(Continued from page 83)
maninoff & Co. It works well, even if
the proverbial purists will wince at some
of the Romanitcized playing and the
theatrical piano style in the double concerto. C. P. E. Bach can take it and
even benefits. For many ears, this big concert sound will for the first time bring
out the essential seriousness and profundity of the composer.
The two-piano Concerto is a glossy
product of the New York Philharmonicall mink, so to speak. The Organ Concerto comes from Vienna and a palpably
less -grand, more -intimate orchestra of
the sort that in fact is technically right
for the music. The organ, too, is of a
Baroque sort. But the Schippers touch
is enough to tie the two performances
together in style and approach.
Performances:
B
Sound:
B
-
Golden Jubilee Edition
LAFAYETTE 1971
3 "Rhenish";
Overture to Goethe's "Faust." New
Philharmonia Orchestra, Klemperer.
Angel S-36689 stereo ($5.98)
Schumann as conducted by the grand
old maestro, Otto Klemperer, is as we
could anticipate-largely conceived, solid,
massive, and very Germanic. It is also
slower than I seem ever to remember
hearing this "Rhenish" music. Altogether
an unusual treatment, since for many a
year the trend in Schumann has been
towards streamlining the old fashioned
Romanticism for a newer century.
The Klemperer Schuman makes an interesting comparison with that of Bernstein, who in his own special way has
restored a good deal of the old-time
Romantic feeling. Bernstein, a few years
ago, resurrected the original ultra -dense
scoring of this symphony, long since put
aside in favor of pared -down and simplified orchestration. Klemperer's version
aims at somewhat the same end, a
legitimately massive, thick sound, as
ponderous as the 1850s could make it.
Bernstein's is warmer and more impulsive
in detail. Klemperer sticks to the grand
lines and the ineffable poetry.
A dividend, worth hearing, is one of
those not-too -successful Schumann overtures which, mostly, lie unplayed around
the central Schumann literature of symphony and concerto. First recording of
the "Faust" opus.
Performance:
AUDIO
B+
DECEMBER 1970
Sound: B
91
.
Catalog 710
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Schumann: Symphony No.
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Check No. 93 on Reader Service Card
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piano playing by the nimble -fingered
Floyd. Backed by some nice arrangements, and by excellent sound from RCA's
Nashville Studio, it is easy listening to
such as "The Shadow of Your Smile," "A
Taste of Honey," "Yesterday," "The Summer Wind" and others of hit chart status.
Nothing world-shaking, but a fine thing
to accompany an icy cold martini.
Recorded
Tape
Reviews
Chacksfield Plays The Beatles' Song Book
-Frank Chacksfield and Orch. Ampex/
BERT WHYTE
London
Only The Big Ones-Floyd Cramer, piano
(with orchestra) RCA TP3-1048, open
reel, 33/4 ips ($6.95)
reel,
71/2
Beethoven-The Complete Overtures
This is one of those Phase Four recordings with engineer Arthur Lilley at the
controls, and that is a virtual guarantee
of high quality recording. Versatile man,
Lilley. I have heard some fine symphonic
work from him too. The music is of course,
anaº
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ut the, WCYtfti Wlte
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Cut out Iijg
...
ips
($6.95)
As implied by the title, this is a collection of top hits, chosen so they say, by
Floyd Cramer himself. Whatever, this
tape adds up to a tasteful potpourri of fine
Ewe
L74142, open
one of the reasons that the Beatles have a
reputation as the premier rock group, and
why they are admired by people who generally can't stand rock music of any sort.
I suppose it is true what some critics say
about this music
that it isn't really in
the rock bag at all. Whatever, there are
some clever arrangements of the top
Beatle tunes, played exceedingly well by
Frank Chacksfield and his orchestra, and
brought to a high sonic gloss by the magic
microphoning of Mr. Lilley. As top background music, this can't be faulted
unless you like the blander variety.
peaker co8ts!
Mail coupon and pay less for latest high -compliance cone -edge
speakers for hi-fi stereo. Factory -to -you from CTS, pioneers of air suspension speakers. Also available-rugged speakers for bass and
lead guitar and other musical instrument amps.
Herbert von Karajan cond. the Berlin
Philharmonic Orch. Ampex/Deutsche
Grammophon, K7046, open reel, 71/2
ips ($14.95)
This tape was obviously issued as part
of the Beethoven birthday celebrations
we are being overwhelmed with this
year. It is a good thing Herr Beethoven
is so durably listenable, else we could
become utterly sated with his music. For
the unregenerate Beethoven fanatics, this
tape will be high on the list of "must
have," as von Karajan does an altogether
admirable job of conducting and the great
Berlin Philharmonic gives him some inspiring playing, that is as ravishing in its
sound, as it is precise in its execution. I
thought I knew all the Beethoven Overtures, but I found an unfamiliar one in this
recording, the Opus 115 "Zur Namens feier" (name day). It is, of all things,
considered as part of Beethoven's preliminary work for the 9th Symphony!
Playing it through a few times does evoke
some responses similar to that great work.
As is usual with most of the von Karajan/
Berlin Philharmonic recordings, the DGG
engineers have managed to give us an
orchestral sound that is nicely detailed,
yet preserves the spacious ambience of
the concert hall. Strings are very clean on
this tape, and deserve special mention for
their realism. All other elements are well
recorded too, and except for a moderate
amount of tape hiss, and a hint of print through, this is a most exemplary tape.
Falla-Nights in the Gardens of Spain
131
Saint-Saens-Piano Concerto #2
nu um am mil
Artur Rubinstein, piano; Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orch.
CTS of Paducah, Inc.
1565 North 8th Street
Paducah, Ky. 42001
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J
If my memory serves me right, Rubinstein recorded the Falla work many years
ago, and it was a very popular recording.
I'd like to hear that old disc, because I
can't imagine it being more vital, more
imbued with romantic warmth, than this
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
splendid version. That Rubinstein can
perform these pianistic miracles at his
age is something to ponder. This work is
supposed to belong to Alicia de la Rochas,
and while taking nothing away from that
estimable lady, this performance seems
equally and authentically Iberian.
The Saint-Saens #2 concerto is familiar ground for Artur, and he tosses it
off with great bravura, emphasizing the
rich sonorities of this popular concerto.
Ormandy gives fine support for Rubinstein in both works. The overall sound is
nice and clean, with a good balance between piano and orchestra in a broad
acoustic perspective. A fine recording on
all counts, thus it pains me the more to
tell you that throughout this cartridge,
there are a series of low frequency sounds
bumps and thumps and such, which
are most annoying. It is possible of course,
that I just happened to get a defective
copy. It is also likely that many speaker
systems will not have the low frequency
response to reproduce these sounds. Anyway, if you get this cartridge, have a
listen, and let's hope you don't hear anything but beautiful music.
...
Dear
Editor...
(Continued from page 14)
tion of less than 1% is quite hard to hear
unless it is of a very peculiar or oboxious
type.
We must of course ask the question,
is all this audible in real, music; program
material? Since the distortion can be measured, it ought to be audible or are we
perhaps less perceptive than we like to
think. The following experiment was performed. Three acoustic suspension. 10"
long throw speakers of very high quality
were used in an A -B test. One speaker,
with a 1000 to 1200 Hz crossover point
was used in the regular manner. It was
considered to have some faults in the midrange sound. That is, the 400 to 1000 Hz
voice range was not considered as perfect
as it might have been. Two identical
speakers were connected with two amplifiers and a variable electronic crossover.
When the crossover was set at 1000 Hz
AUDIO IS A
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CHRISTMAS
GIFT!
cently been greatly improved by changing
the crossover frequency to 500 to 600 Hz.
This has reduced the modulation distortion possibilities by a factor of about two.
Sincerely,
R. A. Greiner,
Professor,
University of Wisconsin
M 1600 series
TV audio
production
console
IN
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relative for a year-long remembrance. A beautifully -engraved gift
card in your name will be sent before Audio is mailed.
the two speaker and single speaker systems sounded identical. As the crossover
frequency was lowered to 800, then 400
Hz, etc. the sound of the two speaker
system changed appreciably. There was a
clear difference between the systems when
the crossover was set at the 200 to 500 Hz
range. And in fact the two speaker system
was judged to be much more natural in
sound. The hollow sound of the single
speaker had vanished. The only reasonable interpretation of this experiment
seems to be that the lower frequencies
were somehow distorting the 500 to 1000
Hz range of frequencies in the single
speaker. When they were removed and
reproduced by a separate speaker an immediate improvement was noted.
An interesting side comment might be
the fact that the test speakers have re-
Audio consoles tailored to your needs
no noise or cross talk
Balanced circuitry
to keep you on -air
Two power supplies
Building block additions include fold -back,
-
equalization, added monitoring
Illuminated pushbuttons error free operation
-
Special Gift Rates:
1st Order (can be your
renewal)
Each additional order
$5.00
$3.00 (1st year)
$5.00 (2nd year)
Use post-paid card opposite page 98
for further information write:
VISUAL ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
356 West 40th St., New York, N.Y. 10018.
Check No. 98 on Reader Service Card
AUDIO
9
DECEMBER 1970
www.americanradiohistory.com
3
CLASSIFIED
FOR SALE
Rates: 25¢ per word per insertion for noncommercial adver-
tisements; 50¢ per word for commercial advertisements. Fre-
quency discounts
20%; 12 times,
as
follows:
2
times, less 15%; 6 times, less
less 30%. Closing date is the FIRST
of the
second month preceding the date of issue. Payment must
accompany all orders under $10.00.
FOR SALE
HIGH FIDELITY SPEAKERS REPAIRED
AMPRITE SPEAKER SERVICE
655 Sixth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10010
CH 3.4812
CONSUMERS CASSETTES and Accessories.
500, C-60
Blank Cassettes as low as C-30
$1.22. All
99¢, C-120
540, C-90
by North
control
Cassettes licensed quality
WRITE
guarantee.
Lifetime
Philips.
American
FOR FREE CATALOG! CONSUMERS ELECTRONICS CO., 103 Park Avenue, Dept. AM,
New York, N.Y. 10017.
RENT STEREO TAPES $1.25 week. Catalog
250, Tape Library, Box 8126, Washington, D.C.
20024.
CUSTOM STYLUS and cartridge re -tipping, repairing. (Weathers, Ortofon, Edison, Shure,
etc.) Box 322A, Tuckahoe, N.Y. 10707, 914 -SP
9-1297.
CUSTOM RECORDING SERVICE. Tape and
disk. Stereo and mono. Live and copies. Editing. Masters and pressings. High quality at
reasonable rates. Joseph Giovanelli, AudioTech Laboratories, 2819 Newkirk Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. IN 9.7134.
LEARN Electronic Organ Servicing at home.
All makes including transistors. Experimental
kit-trouble-shooting. Accredited NHSC. Free
Booklet. Niles Bryant School, 3631 Stockton,
Dept. 1D, Sacramento, Calif. 95820.
FREE LITERATURE: Address labels, business
cards, printing, rubber stamps. JORDAN'S,
552 West O'Connor, Lima, Ohio 45801.
MAKE FRIENDS WORLDWIDE through inter-
national correspondence. Illustrated brochure
free. Hermes, Berlin 11, Germany.
PROTECT YOUR LP's. Poly sleeves for Jackets
50, Inner sleeves 4¢, Poly lined paper 10¢,
White Jackets 254 Minimum order $5.00.
House of Records, Hillburn, N.Y. 10931.
MAKE FRIENDS: Write Worldwide Tapespondence. 907 Locust St., Phila., Pa. 19107.
ELECTRONIC TUBES, Semiconductors, Equipment and Parts. Lab -matched tubes. Finest
quality. Serving TV/Hi-Fi Servicemen, Engineers, and industry for 3 Years. Advise your
needs. Send 250 for Catalog. A Barry Electronics, 512 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10012.
(212) 925.7000..
ACOUSTECH AMPLIFIER REPAIR. Original
performance or improved specifications. BKM
Associates, Box 22, Wilmington, Mass. 01887.
FOR SALE
HARPSICHORD-Completely new design six
feet long with either one, two, or three sets of
strings. Kits from $175; also completed instruments. Clavichord kit from $100. Write for
free brochure. Zuckermann Harpsichords, Inc.,
Department R, 115 Christopher Street, New
York, N.Y. 10014.
FILIGREE WOODWORK. Custom-made precision product for speaker cabinets, etc. Send
500 for sample to the Winchester Co., Box
937, Pacific Palisades, Calif. 90272.
...
...
...
OLDIES -45 RPM. Original hits. Over 4000
available. Catalog 500. C & S Record Sales,
Box 197, Wampsville, N.Y. 13163.
Name Brand Audio Equipment; Tape At Wholesale Prices; Free Catalog. TONES, 3719 Elm,
McHenry, Ill. 60050.
Old radio programs on tape for sale or trade.
Send 350 for current 1970 catalog. Bob
Joseph, 1250 La Baron Circle, Webster, N.Y.
14580.
KLIPSCH, TANNOY, BOZAK, MARANTZ, THODiscounting-Superior
RENS, RABCO-No
Sound, 1801 Brewerton Rd. (Rt. 11) Syracuse,
N.Y. 13211.
SYMPHONION STEREO MUSIC BOX recording.
A fifty minute concert of music-box favorites.
12" stereo LP $3.98 post paid. Music Box, 685
South Roys, Columbus, Ohio 43204.
-
Fit Revox, Crown,
NAB HUB ADAPTERS
TEAC, Roberts. $3/pair postpaid. No C.O.D.
Qty prices available. John Kountz, 1065 Van
Dyke Dr., Laguna Beach, Ca. 92651.
OLD time radio, all your old favorites. Send
50¢ for catalog. R. Mussehl, Route 1, Brooklyn, Wis. 53521.
frequency speaker system, is designed to
improve the performance of AR and KLH
speakers. Write for detailed brochure. MicroAcoustics Corp. Box 302, White Plains, N.Y.
10602.
Turntables, Tonearms, and Replacement Parts are now available. Contact
our Main Plant at Rek-O-Kut, 1568 North
Sierra Vista, Fresno, Calif. 93703. Phone:
(209) 251-4213 or our Parent Company CCA
Electronics Corp., 716 Jersey Avenue, Gloucester City, N.J. 08030, Phone: (609) 456-1716.
REK-O-KUT
Box
18026,
Seattle,
FIDELITY CABINETS? Ask your dealer
about Toujay designs or visit our factory
showroom. 146 E. 53rd St. N.Y.C. 10022.Tues. thru Sat. 10 to 5:30. Full -line brochure
& colored chart. Send 250.
HI
REVOX RECORDERS,
Wash. 98118.
Box
18026,
ples. DICTATION PRODUCTS, P.O.
DPN, Hallandale, Florida 33009.
Box 87,
DYNA FM-3 stereo tuner w/custom Marantz
or original panel $50.00. Fred R. Hermann,
USAFH, Rt. 1, Box 119, Sanborn, N.Y. 14132.
(716) 731-9325.
ADVENT Frequency Balance Control $215,
Dolby System $250 Prepaid with Free CBS
LP "Seven Steps to Better Listening." ReVox,
Crown Recorders. PML Condenser Microphones. Radex Electronic Studios, Freeport,
Illinois 61032.
OLD Radio Programs on tape. 6 hours for
$8.00. Catalog 500. Don Maris, 1926 Cherokee,
Norman, Okla. 73069.
SCULLY Professional Tape Recorders, from 1
to 24 tracks, complete recording studio package designed to order featuring W.A.L. console systems and other leading professional
audio products. Phone (201) 681-6443, Weigand Audio Laboratories, 3402 Windsor Road,
Wall, N.J. 07719.
OLD RADIO programs catalogue 250. Steve
Monaco, 1306 Park Ave., Des Moines, Iowa
50315.
INFINITY SYSTEMS-The finest reproduction
possible today. CROWN-so pure-DC-300
IC -150 tape. Phila. area (609) 854-3448, Mid
Penna. area (717) 273-6314.
KARLSON X-15 speaker, Sony 104A recorder,
Bell Howell 295 cassette. JBL LE85 midrange
and horn lens assembly, 075 supersonic
tweeter and 7 -kHz network, 14 -in. woofer with
500-Hz network. Klipsch K-55 midrange with
600-Hz horn and K-77 tweeter. Dr. Lopez,
Station A, Wingdale, N.Y. 12594.
EQUIPMENT: Complete
RECORDING
mono and stereo cutting systems featuring
rebuilt Scully, Neumann, Van Eps, and Fairchild lathes and new W.A.L. amplifiers. Priced
from $2500.00. Wiegand Audio Laboratories
3402 Windsor Road, Wall, N.J. 07719.
DISC
IMPROVE YOUR AR or KLH.
Microstatic, the first Total -Coverage high -
WORLDS BEST TAPE,
Washington 98118.
increase dynamic range, reduce distortion,
tape saturation and head wear-in short you
will make recordings better and cheaper than
you could at 71/2 ips.
Please write us. We will send information on
these products and where to buy them.
ADVENT Corp. Department YY, 377 Putnam
Ave., Cambridge, Mass. 02139.
CASSETTES-Cash in on a tremendous all year-round market. Send for lowest pricing
and details. Include $1.00 for 2 cassette sam-
SERVICES
.
WORLD FAMOUS DOLBY SYSTEM, used by
every major record company, now available
for home use. ADVENT Model 100 ($250) and
ADVOCATE Model 101 ($125). Connect one of
these devices to a good tape recorder and the
recordings you make will have 90% (10 dB)
less noise than before. NOW you can make
perfect copies at 33/4 ips. You cut tape costs
in half, double uninterrupted recording time,
Seattle,
RADIO YESTERYEAR! Biggest and best in the
industry we created. Over 7000 of those great
old-time radio shows. ANY program you remember, drama, bands, serials, comedy, etc.
Higest fidelity possible with Ampex duplicators. Free catalog. Radio Yesteryear, Box H,
Dept. A, Croton -On -Hudson, New York 10520.
Member Better Business Bureau.
VINTAGE RADIO on LP records at last. Highest
Fidelity, most reasonable prices. Free catalog.
The Radiola Co., Box H, Dept., A, Croton -On Hudson, New York 10520.
The record cleaning
machine-Initial offer for
audiophiles. Professional custom-made Koda color prints: 50e. HB Associates, 11861 Cynthia, Bridgeton, Missouri 63043.
CATALOGS Broadcasts, soundtracks, Personalities of Thirties, Forties. Box 225, New York,
N.Y. 10028.
AUDIO
94
www.americanradiohistory.com
DECEMBER 1970
FOR SALE
FOR SALE
IMF Studio and Hartley speakers; C/M and
Electronic Industries professional quality elec-
ADVENT Model 100 Dolby Noise Reduction
Unit ($250.00); Model 101 Noise Reduction
Unit, less flexible ($125.00); Frequency Balance Control ($225.00); Model 200 Dolby cassette deck ($260.00); C60 Crolyn (chromium
dioxide) cassettes ($35.88 per dozen). Walnut
loudspeaker system ($116.00) and Utility
loudspeaker system ($102.00), in stock for
immediate shipment. Units are fully tested
and auditioned, by Opus One, 400 Smithfield,
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222 (414) 281-3969.
tronic equipment; Futterman custom tubed
200 -watt amplifiers; RTR speakers with electrostatic tweeters; Hadley solid-state amplifiers; PML professional quality headsets and
microphones; Morris -Futterman custom tubed
amplifiers to 500 watts; lonofane speakers
with electrostatic tweeters; Roman 8 -track
FM -stereo car radios with record. "You will
be satisfied most with the best." Audiocraft,
So. Rockwood, Mich. 48179. Telephone evenings (313) 379-9945.
RANGE EXPANSION can restore
inert undulating sensitivities into spectacular
the HARMONIC
stereophonic realism
WAVEFORM PROCESSOR is $119, postpaid,
connects easily, and is completely guaranteed.
Information free. AUDIO ENGINEERING LABORATORIES, INC. Box 36, Mechanic Falls,
DYNAMIC
.
.
.
Me. 04256 USA.
REVOX A77-1104 tape deck; stainless steel
plate; alum. reel decks, $395. Ampex Micro
50 cassette deck $70; both for $425. Reply to
Box ADO -1.
BUY DIRECT FROM ENGLAND'S HI-FI MAIL
ORDER SPECIALISTS! Save money on SME,
Leak, Quad, Goldring, Decca, Bowers & Wilkins, Thorens, Ferrograph, Tandberg, Revox,
Gold Speakers, Transmission Line, Garrard,
BSR, Dual, Lowther, Wharfedale, KEF, Celestion, Transcriptors, Radford etc. Insured shipping; quotes free, or send $1.00 in include
specified leaflets. Goodwin Ltd., 7 Broadway,
Wood Green, London N. 22. 6 DU. Visitors
welcome to showrooms.
COLOR CONVERTER for black and white television. New patented color television system.
An electronic do-it-yourself kit for hobbyists
and experimenters. Plans, instructions and
brochure only $2.50. Bele Electronics Corp.
111 Northeast Second Avenue. Miami, Florida
33132.
MICROPHONES -CONDENSER, RIBBON, dynamic, precision -built in West Germany, top
value. performance and appearance. Write
for distributor costs, catalog and FREE booklet, "HOW TO CHOOSE AND USE MICROPHONES." Stanford International, San Carlos,
CA. 94070.
MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE equalizer. Adjustments for maximum playback performance
with any recorded material. Passive circuitry,
zero distortion. $95.00 F.O.B. Information:
ADVANCED ACOUSTICS/DESIGN, 4185 Neil
Rd. Reno, Nev. 89502. Dealers invited. More
coming!
BACKGROUND MUSIC without commercials available on many FM stations! MUSI CON Adapter plugs into your FM Tuner, deFM
livers continuous music through your amplifier
and speakers. Line-cord operated. No adjustments or tuning, ever. New design breakthrough guarantees optimum performance
(15 -day refund for any reason). Lowest price
ever-$39 postpaid to K -LAB, Box 572A, S.
Norwalk, Conn. 06856.
model M-9 recorder w/
battery charger, spkr/amp, manuals. 7t/2 ips.
10 hours. $225. Phone (703)
V2 -track. Used
522-7717. Gary J. Alley, 1541 Key Blvd., Arlington, Va. 22209.
STANCIL-HOFFMAN
PATENT RIGHT for sale-Tonearm. Servo controlled strait-line tracking. U.S. inquiries.
J. Jeles, Box 182, Chemainus, B.C., Canada.
S. A. E. equipment -unquestionably the finest available. Send for brochures, other components. Paul Heath, 81
Big Tree St., Livonia, N.Y.
BUY -SELL -TRADE: AR, Altec, Advent, Marantz,
Sony, Dynaco. SHURE V15 -II improved, $47
and old cartridge, shipped prepaid. STEREO
Shop, 1201 Ellis, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52405.
..
4 TRACK PRE-RECORDED STEREO
BASF
TAPES, Lowest Prices. Postpaid U.S.A. Free
brochure. Write STEREOTONE TAPES, Box
657, Sterling, Illinois 61081.
.
REVOX G-36 two -track stereo tape recorder.
Portable case 71/2 x 15 i.p.s. New, still in
crate. $400.00. Ray Tatro, 7212 Elphick Rd.,
Sebastopol, Calif. 95472.
SONY components available
incl. three tape decks. Also other Japanese
brands. Write for details to D. G. Driver, Dir/
Maint, Sagami, APO San Francisco 96343.
QUADRISONIC
MARANTZ 10-B tuner, immaculate. Best over
$700.00. Bill Hagara, 1745 Cutler Road,
Tempe, Arizona 85281.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
-
MARANTZ mod. 9 amp. (2) Marantz mod. 7
pre amp. All components in superb condition.
Michael L. Rogersen, 160 Jeniford Road, Fairfield, Conn. 06430.
TAPES-Reels, cartridges, cassettes. Lowest
prices anywhere. Send for particulars. Alan
Enterprises, 5023 Lee St., Skokie, Illinois
60076.
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
York 10931.
TWO JANZSEN 130 electrostatics, any finish.
Two AR -1 or AR -1W, any finish. One Marantz
15 amplifier. State age, price and condition.
Fred R. Hermann, USAFH, Rt. 1, Box 119, San-
born, New York 14132. (716) 731-9325.
WANTED: Acrosound Audio output transformers -one TO -350 and one TO -300. Reasonable.
Dave Turner, 110 East 30th St., Cocoa Beach,
Fla. 32931. (305) 783-4308.
Source for metal reels: 7" with
standard 2t4" and 4'/2" NAB hubs, and 8"
with NAB 41/2" hub -Also reliable non -warping plastic 7" reels with large and small hubs.
David Yost, MSM, 120 Claremont Ave., New
WANTED:
York, N.Y. 10027.
WEATHERS electronic speed control. SC -1 or
KSC-1 or copy of its schematic. Reply to Box
ADO -2.
WANT condenser microphones; JBL N -1200's;
GAC electronic X -over. State condition and
price. D. Gibson, 1359 Ridge Highland Park,
III. 60035.
RECORDS
"HARD To Get" records -all speeds. Record
Exchange, 842 Seventh Avenue, New York,
N.Y. 10019.
EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION
EXCITING OVERSEAS JOBS. Directory $1.00.
Research Associates, Box 942 -EA, Belmont,
California 94002.
Build this magnificent
Schober Theatre Organ
for only
*1730!
THE ORIGINAL AUDIOPHILE PRESSINGS.
These famed wide -range recordings featuring
jazz, rece classics, sound effects, now available direct from the laboratory. Write for free
catalogue, Audiophile Records, P.O. Box 66,
San Antonio, Texas 78206.
SUPER -8 Titles -Deluxe Sample: $1.00. Vega,
Box 14172, Las Vegas, Nevada 89114.
WANTED -REAL HI-FI ADDICTS -those who
really appreciate music and sound. For your
habit, we can supply Infinity, Crown, Revox,
Decca, Audio Research Corp., Quad, I. M. F.
International, Rabco. Personal attention
mail consultations invited. Music and Sound
Limited, 413 Johnson St., Jenkintown, Pa.
19046. (215) 885-4214.
CASH FOR YOUR unwanted LP's and prerecorded tapes. Record House, Hillburn, New
INFINITY AND
SONY electronic X -over: like new $145.00. Bill
Schubert, The Barn, N. Ferrisburg, Vt. 05473.
SPECIALIZING taped radio mysteries. Reels or
cassettes. Catalog $1.00, refundable first
order. Detective House, 218 Orangeview Lane,
Lakeland, Fla. 33803.
EQUIPMENT WANTED
'Includes
finished walnut
console. Ampliter,
speaker system,
optional accessories
extra. Only
$1256 If you
build your own
console.
MAKE BIG MONEY raising chinchillas, rabbits,
guinea pigs for us. Catalog 250. Keeney
Brothers Farms, Inc., New Freedom, Pa. 17349
or Summerfield, Fla. 32691.
HELP WANTED
couldn't touch an organ like this In a store for
less than $3500 -and there hasn't been a musical
instrument with this vast variety of genuine Theatre
Organ voices since the days of the silent movies! If
you've dreamed of the grandeur of authentic big -organ sound in your own home, you won't find a more
or no kit.
satisfying instrument anywhere
You can learn to play It. And you can build it, from
Schober Kits, world famous for ease of assembly
without the slightest knowledge of electronics or
music, for design and parts quality from the ground
up, and -above all
the highest praise from
You
-kit
-for
musicians everywhere.
right now for your copy of the full -color
Schober catalog, containing specifications of the five
Send
ADDRESSERS (Commission Mailers) Wanted.
Everything Supplied. Details 250. Smyre's, Box
953-D, Newark, N.J. 07101.
Schober Organ models, beginning at $499.50. No
charge, no obligation
but lots of food for a healthy
musical appetite!
-
SITUATION WANTED
Thee(
VIBRAHARPIST seeks alliance with recording
studio equipped with electronic music synthesizer to produce, record, and explore the
world of rhythm and tones. Reply to Box
AOO-1.
Organ Corp., Dept.
AE
NAME
Check No. 95 on Reader Service Card -0.-
ADDRESS
CITY
www.americanradiohistory.com
-36
43 West 61st Street, New York, N.Y. 10023
Please send me Schober Organ Catalog and
free 7 -inch "sample" record.
Enclosed please find $1.00 for 12-inch L.P.
record of Schober Organ music.
STATE
ZIP
SUBJECT
INDEX/1970
ACOUSTICS
The listening room. Edward Tatnall Canby.
Apr., 24.
Dynaco stereo power amplifier kit, Stereo
80. Feb., 48.
Electro -Voice integrated music
Landmark 100. Nov., 68.
system,
Elektra-Amplidyne loudspeaker equalizer,
Annual Directory and list of manufacturers. Sept., 28.
Additions to annual product directory.
Nov., 43.
AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY
AES convention views. Jan., 68.
AES exhibit preview. May, 8.
West Coast AES convention program and
papers. May, 42.
Christmas buyers guide. Dec., 22.
Computer in sound reinforcement system
design. Don Davis. I, Aug., 20. II, Oct.,
24.
SE -111.
June, 58.
Empire turntable, Model 598 Troubador.
Dec., 63.
Empire stereo cartridge, 1000 ZE. Nov., 72.
Epicure loudspeaker, EPI-100. May, 46.
Ferrograph tape recorder, Series Seven.
June, 55.
Fisher stereo headphones, HP -100. Jan., 66.
Garrard automatic turntable, SL -95B. Mar.,
52.
Harman-Kardon basic amplifier, -Citation
Twelve. May, 52.
Harmon-Kardon stereo FM receiver, Eight
Twenty. Feb., 52.
Heathkit FM/AM stereo receiver, AR-29.
Aug., 44.
lensen loudspeaker system, TF-25. Feb., 58.
KLH loudspeaker system, Model 33. Dec.,
62.
Marantz console amplifier, Model 30. Oct.,
CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Adding a woofer to an electrostatic
speaker. Nathan M. Garfinkle. Mar., 26.
The function generator. Norman H. Crow hurst. Nov., 22.
One-third octave sound -level meter. David
Griesinger. Dec., 28.
Building a variable -frequency power
source. C. G. McProud. Jan., 30.
dB's, A practical view of. George H.
O'Donnell. Feb.,
R.
38.
46.
Marantz stereo FM/AM receiver, Model 22.
Apr., 54.
Nikko stereo FM receiver, STA -501S. Mar.,
50.
turntable, Model 2018. Jan., 65.
turntable, Model 2040. Dec., 66.
Pickering stereo phono cartridge, XV15/
PE
PE
750E. Jan., 64.
Pioneer auto -reverse tape deck, T-600.
Mar., 58.
Pioneer reverberation amplifier, SR -202.
June, 62.
Pioneer stereo FM/AM receiver, SX-990.
EQUIPMENT PROFILES
Acoustic Research receiver. May, 48.
Acoustic Research loudspeaker system,
AR -5. Jan., 62.
ADC loudspeaker system, 303AX. Jan., 64.
Advent frequency balance control. May,
56.
Advent speaker system. July, 45.
Ampex stereo cassette deck, Micro 52.
Apr., 60.
B&O stereo cartridge, Model SP 12. Oct.,
58.
Decca phono pickup system, Mk 1. June,
60.
Dual turntable, Auto -Professional 1209.
Oct., 54.
Dynaco integrated stereo amplifier, SCA80. Aug., 48.
Jan., 60.
Pioneer two-way stereo headphones,
SE -
50. Feb., 58.
Roberts stereo tape recorder, 420XD. Feb.,
46.
Sherwood stereo FM/AM receiver,
SEL -200.
July, 38.
Shure stereo phono cartridge, V-15 Mark
II, Improved. Mar., 54.
Sony stereo headphones, DR -6A. Apr., 53.
Sony stereo power amplifier, TA -3200F.
Nov., 62.
Sony/Superscope stereo tape deck, TC-366.
Aug., 50. Additional comments, Oct., 59.
Tandberg tape deck, 6000 series. July, 34.
TEAC integrated stereo amplifier, AS -200U.
Apr., 50.
TEAC stereo tape deck, A-12000. Oct., 50.
96
www.americanradiohistory.com
University bookshelf loudspeaker, Project
M. Apr., 58.
VM stereo receiver, TF -10. Dec., 68.
FM, FM -STEREO TUNERS AND RECEIVERS
An integrated circuit FM detector. Eugene
T. Patronis, Jr. Feb., 44.
FM probe unit. Leonard Feldman. Nov., 52.
FM tuner alignment guide. Arthur Boynton. I, June, 20. II, July, 20.
HI-FI SHOWS
Consumer Electronic Show. July, 6.
Evanston High School hi-fi show. June, 12.
New York hi-fi show. Nov., 32.
Headphone review. C. G. McProud. Dec.,
20.
Integrated Circuits, The wonderful world
of. Edward J. Gately, Jr., June, 36.
LOUDSPEAKERS
response vs. cabinet size. Victor
Brociner. Mar., 20.
Another look at damping factors. Paul W.
Klipsch. Mar., 30.
Doppler distortion in loudspeakers. Roy
V. Childs. Aug., 26.
Choosing a loudspeaker. Mar., 24.
Layman's guide to loudspeaker specifications. Victor Brociner. III, Jan., 52.
Loudspeakers -past and present. Robert
Berkovitz. Apr., 36.
Another look at parallel -connected loudspeakers. Dick Crawford. Nov., 24.
The Mud Factor. Paul W. Klipsch. Oct., 38.
Speaker systems directory. Mar., 32.
Bass
Manufacturers' Listing-names
and ad-
dresses. Sept., 34.
MUSIC
Beethoven is 200! Edward Tatnall Canby.
Mar., 76.
Rosemary Brown. Edward Tatnall Canby.
Nov., 28.
Canby the DJ -Canby at Carnegie Hall.
Edward Tatnall Canby. July, 42.
Getting hooked on chamber music. Richard Freed, I, Apr., 22. II, July, 22. III,
Oct., 36.
Is classical music dead? Greg Morrow.
Oct., 66.
Ethnic recording. Edward Tatnall Canby.
Jan., 74.
Keyboard immortals.
Oct., 12.
George W. Tillett.
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
Subject Index, Continued
Mahler at length. Edward Tatnall Canby.
AUTHOR
Feb., 62.
Moogs and Moondog. Edward Tatnall
Canby. Aug., 14.
Music concrete. Edward Tatnall Canby.
May, 60.
Have you heard Sinatra? Don Altobell.
Dec., 40.
INDEX/1970
Altobell, Don
Negative Feedback. Norman H. Crowhurst.
I, Feb., 22. II, Apr., 18. III, May, 34.
PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS
Electronics for public address. Norman H.
Crowhurst: Aug., 36.
Line radiators for public address. Aug., 10.
Have you heard Sinatra? Dec., 40.
Berkovitz, Robert
Loudspeakers-past and present. Apr.,
20.
Boynton, Arthur
FM tuner alignment guide.
Jan., 22.
The QUART broadcasting system. Michael
Gerzon. Sept., 26.
A new quadraphonic system. David Hafler.
July, 24.
The four -channel disc. Bert Whyte. Jan.,
10.
Four -channel phones. Jon Fixler. June, 4.
Quadraphonic report. April, 25.
Quadraphonic News. Nov., 48.
Recording studio, The. Dr. Donald Huns berger. June, 28.
RECORDING, MAGNETIC
Cassettes and the Dolby system. Edward
Tatnall Canby. May, 40.
The 8-track/cassette cold war get warmer.
Don Humphreys. Jan., 50.
Splicing tapes and their application. Andrew H. Persoon. Jan., 28.
Tape deck maintenance. H. W. Hellyer, V,
April, 40. VI, Oct., 30.
Tape recorder directory. Jan., 38.
RECORDING, VIDEO
The ultimate disc. Edward Tatnall Canby.
Dec., 59.
Video on discs. Sept., 8.
SOUND AND DECOR
Sound and decor. June, 42. Nov., 50.
STEREO SYSTEMS
How many channels? Duane Cooper. Nov.,
36.
pair of wires. C. G.
McProud. May, 20.
Stereo receiver lexicon. Leonard Feldman.
I, Sept., 22. II, Oct., 20.
Transient power of a stereo system. Osamu
S. Goda. Feb., 26.
15 channels on one
Synthesizer. A new
Mayer. May, 28.
electronic. Alfred
Transistor Oscillators. Norman H. Crow hurst. June, 48.
AUDIO
DECEMBER 1970
26.
Goda, Osamu S.
Transient power of
a
stereo system. Feb.,
26.
I,
June, 20.
II, July, 20.
Brociner, Victor
QUADRAPHONICS
Quadrisonics on the air. Leonard Feldman.
Gerzon, Michael
The QUART broadcasting system. Sept.,
Bass response vs. cabinet size. Mar., 20.
Layman's guide to loudspeaker specifications. III, Jan., 52.
Canby, Edward Tatnall
Beethoven is 200! Mar., 76.
Rosemary Brown. Nov., 28.
Canby the DJ -Canby at Carnegie Hall.
July, 52.
Cassettes and the Dolby system. May,
40.
Ethnic recording. Jan., 74.
The listening room. Apr., 24.
Mahler at length. Feb., 62.
Moogs and Moondog. Aug., 14.
Music concrete. May, 60.
The ultimate disc. Dec., 38.
Childs, Roy V.
Doppler distortion in loudspeakers.
Aug., 26.
Cooper, Duane
How many channels? Nov., 36.
Crawford, Dick
Another look at parallel -connected
loudspeakers. Nov., 24.
Crowhurst, Norman H.
Electronics for public address. Aug., 36.
The function generator. Nov., 22.
Negative feedback. I, Feb., 22. II, Apr.,
18. III, May, 34.
Transistor oscillators. June, 48.
Davis, Don
The computer in sound reinforcement
system design. I, Aug., 20. II, Oct., 24.
Fixler, Jon
Four -channel phones. June, 4.
Feldman, Leonard
FM probe unit. Nov., 52.
Quadrisonics on the air. Jan., 22.
Stereo receiver lexicon. I, Sept., 22. II,
Oct., 20.
Freed, Richard
Getting hooked on chamber music. I,
Apr., 22. II, July, 22. III, Oct., 36.
Garfinkle, Nathan M.
Adding a woofer to an electrostatic
speaker. Mar., 26.
Gately, Edward J., Jr.
The wonderful world of integrated circuits. June, 36.
Griesinger, David
One-third octave
sound -level
meter.
Dec., 28.
Hafler, David
A new quadraphonic system. July, 24.
Hellyer, H. W.
Tape deck maintenance. V, Apr., 40.
VI, Oct. 30.
Humphreys, Don
The 8-track/cassette cold war gets
warmer. Jan., 50.
Hunsberger, Dr. Donald
The recording studio. June, 28.
Klipsch, Paul W.
Another look at damping factors. Mar.,
30.
The mud factor. Oct., 38.
Mayer, Alfred
A new electronic synthesizer. May, 28.
McProud, C. G.
15 channels on one pair of wires. May,
20.
Headphone review. Dec., 20.
Building a variable -frequency
power
source. Jan., 30.
Morrow, Greg
Is classical music dead? Oct., 66.
O'Donnell, George H. R.
A practical view of dB's. Feb., 38.
Patronis, Eugene T., Jr.
An integrated circuit FM detector. Feb.,
44.
Persoon, Andrew H.
Splicing tapes and their application.
Jan, 28.
Tillett, George W.
Keyboard immortals. Oct., 12.
Whyte, Bert
Ampex Instavision video cartridge.
Dec., 10.
Dolby "B" system in the KLH recorder.
June, 10.
Equalization. Mar., 12.
Four -channel disc. Jan., 10.
Four -channel news. July, 10.
Hackett interview. Sept., 12.
Hi-fi shows & Dolbyized cassettes. Oct.,
8.
Pop recording with the Dolby "B" system. June, 10.
Recording at the Brooklyn Paramount
theater. Nov.,
8.
97
you re
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MORE and BETTER
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MAGNETIC TAPE CASSETTE
90 MINUTES TOTAL RECORDING TIME
rip
There are any number of magnetic recording cassettes
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But only one of them is the sound to go with. The Sound -
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And that's as it should be. For only a Soundcraft cassette
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The Soundcraft cassette. It's the one that captures all the
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From the specialists in professional and consumer and
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At leading stores everywhere.
SOUNDCRAR4
the soúnd to go with
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Kin
uRntAblEs
The only rec'rd playback system engineered for
stereo cartridges that can track as low as 0.1 gram.
New Troubador Model 598
HERE is a
turntable sys-
tem designed exclusively for the
new low tracking force cartridges-the
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This unbelievable record playback device exceeds every
.broadcast specification for professional playback equipment.
Driven by the world's finest turntable motor (hysteresis synchronous type) the system reaches full speed
in less than 1/3 of a revolution, locks in on A.C. line
frequency and maintains speed accuracy with zero error,
(built in strobe disc and pitch control provided).
The 12 inch turntable
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ball bearings for horizontal as well as vertical
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drive fly -wheel are both
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The Troubador will track the
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The extraordinary Troubador system features the
Empire 990-the world's most perfect playback arm.
This fully balanced tone arm uses sealed instrument
°
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 3 speeds -33-1/3, 45, 78 rpm
Push-button power control
Built-in 45 rpm spindle Rumble -90 dB
(RRLL)
Wow and flutter .01% Overall Dimensions (with base and dust
Dimensions (without base and
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Troubador 598 playback system. $199.95 less base and dust cover.
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For your free 1971 Guide to Sound Design", write: Empire Scientific Corp., 1055 Stewart Ave., Garden City, N.Y. 11530
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