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Volume 35 Number 11 November 1985

HIGH FIDELITYAUDI 0 & VIDEO

13 CurrentsNew products; Touring Denon's CD facilities; "Digital ready" car speakers

29 Super Beta: How Does It Work?by Peter W. Mitchell

A close look at the newest improvements in home VCR picture quality

29 39 Strictly Speakingby Michael Riggs

First-hand report on the latest from two leading British speaker manufacturers

ST REPORTS43 KEF 104/2 loudspeaker45 Allison CD -6 loudspeaker46 Bose 501 Series IV loudspeaker47 Velodyne ULD-15 subwoofer system49 Audiosource AV -One audio -video processor

MUSICClassical 39

52 CD Means Compact Delightby Irving KolodinA noted critic evaluates several titles on the new medium.

64 1985-A Banner Year in Music: Schutzby Michael Fleming

Another in our series of basic libraries of recordings

66 Notes from Undergroundby Mint Andras VargaHungarian Record Weeks celebrate anniversaries of this year and next.

Popular/Backbeat67 Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

by John PiccarellaThe punks in Liquid Sky, Repo Man, Smithereens, and Stranger Than Paradise don't playmusic. In fact, they barely listen to it.

DEPARTMENTS

Cover Desigur Robin Pelkki

Cover Photo: David My

On the Cover: KEF 10412 loudspeaker

(center). Allison CD -6 loudspeakers (left

and right)

4 Editor's Page7 Letters

20 Crosstalk22 Basically Speaking25 The Autophile51 Medley54 Classical Reviews58 Critics' Choice69 Popular Reviews73 Jazz Reviews80 Advertising Index 67

HIGH FIDHJTY (ISN 0018-14551os published monthly at 825 7th Ave.. New York. N.Y. 10019. by ABC Leisure Magazines. Inc.. a subsidiary of American Broadcasting Companies,Inc. Copy-

right © 1985 by ABC Leisure Magazines, Inc. The design and contents are fully protected by copyright and roust not be reproduced in any manner. Second-class postage paid at New York,N.Y.. and at additional mailing offices. Authorized as second-class mad by the Post Office Department. Onawa. and for payment of postage in cash. Yearly subscriptionin the U.S.A. and Pos-sessions 513.95: elsewhere 520.95. angle copies 51.95. Subscribers: Send subscriptions. inquiries. and address changes to HIGH FlOttliY, P.O. Box 10759. Des Moines. Iowa 50340.Change of address. Give old and new addresses, including ZIP codes. Enclose address label from last issue and allow five weeks for change to become effective. POSTMASTER: Send change

of address to HIGH FIDELITY. P.O. Box 10759, D. Moines. IA 50340.

HIGH FIDELITYPublisher Steven 1. RosenbaumEditor-in-Chief/Associate Publisher William TynanEditor, Musical America Shirley FlemingSenior Editor Michael RiggsSenior Copy Editor Ken RichardsonCopy Editor Patricia ReillyAdministrative Assistant Darlene D. Edwards

TECHNICALDEPARTMENTTechnical Editor David RanadaConsulting Technical Editors Edward J. Foster,Robert LongContributing Editor Jay C. TaylorEditorial Assistants Sandra C. Foster, Andrea K. Otanez

MUSICDEPARTMENTClassical Music Editor Theodore W. Libbey, Jr.Popular Music Editor Georgia ChristgauAssistant Editor Mildred CamachoAssistant Mark I. GarrisonContributing Editors Vince Aletti, Robert E. Benson,R. D. Darrell, The Reverend Thomas L Dixon,Steve Futterman, Edward Greenfield, Thomas Hathaway,Paul Hume, Joyce Millman, Paul Moor,John Morthland, Jeff Nesin, Thomas W. Russell III,RI Smith, David Patrick Stearns, Noah Andre Trudeau,James Wierzbicki, John S. Wilson

ARTDEPARTMENTArt Associate Robin PelkkiTechnical Art Roy Lindstrom, Nina Wallace

PRODUCTIONDirector of Production Angelo PuleoManaging Editor Kathleen GreenAdvertising Production Manager Janet CermakEditorial Production (Annuals) Paula BallanProduction Associate Jonathan TesserAtex System Manager Karen Walsh Asher

CIRCULATIONVice President, Circulation Stephen J. BernardCirculation DirectorN.P., Newsstand MarketingDominic MustelloNational Sales Manager/Newsstand Michael GerardoCirculation Director/Subscriptions Lillian GmitrukCirculation Subscription Staff Mary Beth Colucci,Barbara Donlon, Timothy Farrell, William Johnson,Janice RaifordCustomer Service Mary Losi

ABC LEISURE MAGAZINES, INC.James A. Casella, Vice President, Operations

ONE OF THE ABC PIBUSHING 0 COMPANIES

Robert G. Burton, President1330 Avenue of the Americas, N.Y., N.Y. 10019

HIGH FioEurt HIGH FiciEurevMuSICAL ANIMA are published monthly by ABCLeisure Magazines. Inc., a division of ABC Publishing. Inc, and a subsidiary ofAmerican Broadcasting Companies. Inc C) 1985 ABC Leisure Magazines. IncMember Audit Bureau of Circulation. Indexed in Reader's Guide to PeriodicalLiterature. Current and back copies of HIGH F1011 1r1 and HIGH FIDIIIT,MIISICAI

AMIHICA are available on microfilm from University Microfilms. Ann Arbor. Mich48106 Microfiche copies (1973 forward) are available through Bell & HowellMicro Photo Div., Old Mansfield Rd., Wooster, Ohio 44691ADVERTISING OFFICES

Nwv York ABC Leisure Magazines, Inc 825 7th Ave 8th Floor, New York, N Y.10019 Tel (212) 265-8360 Richard J Marino, Advertising Deem, MichaelH Goldberg. Eastern Advertising Manager. James R McCallum, Record Advertis-ing Manager, Mary McCormick, Network Advertising Manager, Candice Leyden,Classified Achremsing Manage, Janet Cermak. Advertising Production Manager.Midwest High Fidelity. Hitchcock Building. Wheaton. Ill 60187. Tel.: (312) 653-8020 Starr Lane. Midwest Advertising Manage(Les Awl= ABC Leisure Magazines. Inc 2020 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 245.Century City, Calif 90067 Tel (213) 557-6482 Rita Wrytzen. Western Adver-tising Manage,

Model corresporlam should be addressed to The Editor, HIGH FIDELITY, 8257th Ave New York, N.Y 10019 Editorial contributions will be welcomed, andpayment lot articles accepted will be atianged poor to publication. Submissionsroust be accompanied by return postage and will be handled with reasonable care:however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited photographs or manuaziopts

3P1

EDITOR'S PAGE

by William Tynan

Behind the scenes

One of the best parts of being an editor in the home electronics field is theconstant opportunity to go behind the scenes and see how products aremade. Most of us in this business have lost count of the white smocks andthe shoe -socks we've worn, the pellets of mysterious compounds we'veheld, and the stacks of raw parts we've seen ready to be assembled. Al-though these memories tend to merge after a time, the insight into thetechnologies involved does not.

Advancements in recent years in home audio componentry-especiallyamplifiers-have pushed the frontiers of further sound improvements outto the ends of the reproduction chain: the program source and the loud-speakers. With the advent of the Compact Disc, more emphasis has beenplaced on the latter. And while the search for the "perfect" speaker contin-ues, today's state-of-the-art models are designed with a combination oftechnology and subjectivity. In June we focused on several unique speak-ers, all of American design. This month we take you to England for a peekinto the factories and research headquarters of two of that country's lead-ing manufacturers: B&W and Celestion. Senior Editor Michael Riggs visit-ed both and is back with a report on British speaker technology.

We also take a look behind closed doors on the other side of the world.Classical Music Editor Theodore W. Libbey, Jr., recently returned fromDenon's Compact Disc facility in Japan. His piece in "Currents" tells of thecompany's updated plans for standard CD production and describes what'sahead in CD ROM and CD graphics.

On the video front, regular contributor Peter W. Mitchell explores theSuper Beta format, explaining how it works and pointing out what improve-ment you really can see. In an accompanying article, Technical Editor David

Ranada amplifies on what you can expect in enhanced video from the newgeneration of "High Quality" VHS VCRs, which we first reported on inSeptember's "Currents."

This month's test reports concentrate on loudspeakers of all shapesand designs, from the traditional -looking Bose 501 to the distinctiNie AllisonCD -6. And in "Currents" we cover new car -stereo models, many of whichare being touted as "digital ready."

In CLASSICAL Music, venerable critic Irving Kolodin gives his thoughts

on some recent titles on Compact Disc, the newest of many recording inno-vations he has witnessed in his long career. And in BACKBEAT, feature writ-

er John Piccarella examines four popular midnight movies that have beenreleased on videocassette, movies that mimic the style and stance of punkrock but say little about the music itself.

Ikatil %maMaga.ine Publishers Association 4 HIGH FIDELITY

A slight improvement on perfection.Technics compact disc players.

Technics compact disc players. And the digital compact disc.Together they've given you what no conventional audiosystem can: the perfection of musical reality.

So with Technics, what you hear is not just a reproductionof a performance, but a re-creation of it.

But occasionally even the musical perfection of a compactdisc can be marred by fingerprints, dust or scratches. So theTechnics SL -P2 compact disc player has improvements like an

COMPACT advanced error correction system, designed toIIIIM compensate for those imperfections. To help ensureDIGITAL AUDIO that the sound you hear is still completely flawless.

You also get sophisticated, convenient controls. Such as15 -step random access programming so you can play anyselettion. In any order. And all of this can be controlled fromacross the room with Technics wireless remote control.

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CD PECCADILLOSIn your June "Letters," a reader complainsabout the lack of an output level control onhis Compact Disc player ["CD Overload"]. In

late 1983, I bought a (now outdated) AkaiCD -D1 player; it was 35 percent cheaperthan my turntable and only five times as ex-

pensive as my tonearm, and the sound defi-nitely was better than what my system hadbeen capable of before.

Since then, my CD collection has risen to

85, and though this number is small in com-parison to the number of records I own, it isthe CDs that I play all the time. It is sad tosee audio enthusiasts so quick to search forminor faults and to condemn this wonderfulnew music source.

Sutjahjo NgasekrinSingapore

I am writing in wonderment of one of yourJune "Letters," in which a reader complainsthat he bought a Compact Disc with linernotes printed in Japanese instead of English["Translation Needed"]. The same thinghappened to me a year and a half ago when Ibought Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moonon EMI. It's one of the best CDs I own. And

until U.S. manufacturers start pressingmore CDs, I'll buy them anywhere I can-even on the gray market. The labels can be inRussian, for all I care. I just want good,clean playback.

Christian CainKokomo, Ind.

REDISCOVERING GERSHWINAs one who has studied the life, times, andwork of George Gershwin for some decadesnow, I was most interested in David PatrickStearns's article "Discovering Gershwin"[June]. There are, however, a few slips in the

piece that I should like to touch upon.

First, the two larger works, chronologi-cally:

Of the Rhapsody in Blue, Mr. Stearnswrites: ''Gershwin had so little formal train-

ing at age twenty-five that [Ferde] Grofewas put in charge of the orchestration; it'snot surprising that the piece seemed to ca-reen out of the composer's control...." Attwenty-five, Gershwin had about as muchformal training in orchestration as he wouldever get, and at age twenty-six/twenty-seven he orchestrated the Concerto in F.This was accomplished without any formal

training in the interim. Nor did the Rhapso-

dy "careen" out of Gershwin's control. Hismanuscript and Paul Whiteman's conduc-tor's copy would bear this out. That he didnot reorchestrate it is evidently a compli-ment to Gra&

Concerning the Second Rhapsody, I donot understand where Mr. Stearns got theidea that Gershwin "never wanted it pub-lished" and that he "allowed only limited per-

formances until he could get back to it" [in

order to expand it]. In fact, he did begin ex-panding it. (The original Manhattan Rhap-sody, from the film Delicious, includes all of

the major themes and is about half thelength of the final version.) He did not hold

back performances; it was a bit difficult to[find] an interested conductor. Toscanini, for

example, admired Gershwin but was not in-terested in tackling the Second Rhapsody.

The claim is that Michael Tilson Thom-as's new recording of the work is the first in

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the composer's original orchestration. Notso. Shortly after completing the piece,Gershwin hired a hall and an orchestra andran through it, and a performance was re-corded by RCA-intended not for commer-cial release, but as a reference copy forGershwin. This rather rough performancewas released some years ago on the Mark 56

label in a set entitled Gershwin by Gersh-win. And in the late '40s, Columbia issued an

authentic (i.e., original) orchestration on 78s,

with Oscar Levant at the piano and Morton

Gould conducting; needless to say, it is excel-

lent. I must add that I admire Mr. Thomas's

performance, too, though in fact it is a third,not a first.

There are allusions in the article to themany unpublished pieces, some of which areincluded in the first disc of Mr. Thomas's all-Gershwin project. There are hints of thingsto come, possibly even undiscovered pianoand orchestral compositions.

The sole orchestral work that remainedunperformed for years was Gershwin's ownarrangement of Porgy and Bess (retitledCatfish Row by Ira Gershwin to distinguishit from the suite by Robert Russell Bennett).

This was found c. 1957 in the Gershwin Ar-chive, Beverly Hills, by Lawrence D. Stew-art and recorded soon after by the UtahSymphony for Westminster.

The numbered Gershwin melodies in the

Archive (beginning, curiously, with No. 17,"Sleepless Night") consist of songs and ofworks that might be considered piano pieces,

but are in fact, like No. 17, songs. They were

written for, but not used in, shows, or simply

discarded before being considered for ashow or a film. It would be fine if more ofthese songs could be heard (several are com-plete-some even with lyrics, good ones like"Ain't It Romantic" and "My Honor Was atStake"), but only if they are played as writ-ten. There are fragments as well, and wehave no idea how Gershwin might have "re-

alized" them had he the chance. I am not con-

vinced by Mr. Thomas's rendering of "ForLily Pons," though it comes off better with-out the orchestra that was used when he per-formed it in Chicago.

Besides the numbered material in theGershwin Archive (Nos. 17 to 106), there are

more pieces in Gershwin's tune books at theLibrary of Congress, and contrary to Mr.Stearns's assertion that Gershwin did notput ideas down on paper "until they werefully hatched," the books contain quite a few

sketches. One of the earliest volumes datesfrom 1921. In its more than 40 pages, thereare no complete songs-only melody linesand a few harmonies. Interestingly, at least

two songs conceived in 1921 were finallyused in 1924: "Isn't It Wonderful" in Prim-rose and "We're Here Because" in Lady, BeGood!

I've gone on so because of the variouslegends befogging Gershwin and his work. Ican understand the urge to be first, and I amhappy that Mr. Thomas is going back to the

manuscripts (others have thought of this,but he is indeed the first to do it). Yet thesemanuscripts have been available for years;it's just that no one got around to taking thetrouble until now.

Edward JablonskiNew York, N.Y.

David Patrick Stearns replies: I ampleased to hear of the existence of other Sec-

ond Rhapsody recordings in the originalorchestration, and I look forward to hear-ing them. Mr. Jablonski's letter raises anumber of points that I can't confirm ordeny, other than to say that I have obvious-ly been given information to the contrary.Though I don't doubt Mr. Jablonski's credi-bility, I also don't doubt the credibility ofmy sources-who, for the most part, wereMichael Tilson Thomas and Wayne Shir-ley of the Library of Congress-and myown observations of the Gershwin holdingsin the Library. Such contradictions havebeen typical of my experience in Gershwin

research. When I am unable to resolvethem in time to meet my deadlines, I amforced to weigh down my writing withqualifiers such as "appears to," "seems to,"and that old favorite, "perhaps." Yes, thisis the confused state of Gershwin scholar-ship, amid which I can only put forth mysincere effort and hope for the best.

WHO'S WHO, DURAN DURANIES?Let me applaud Havelock Nelson on his ex-cellent review of The Power Station [Au-gust]. In an era of supergroups, this one isunique, getting together not in the interestof fame or money, but to make good music.Many people have lambasted the group be-cause of the two "pretty boy" members,John and Andy Taylor. Thank you, Mr. Nel-son, for listening with your ears, not youreyes. . . . Finally, though, get your facts

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TEXAS Dallas. Garland: Arnold & Morgan Austin: Audio One Temple, Waco: AudioTech Longview: Audio TechniqueS CollegeStall011: MAO Video Beaumont: Brock

- Wichita Falls: Hamilton Bryan Galveston: Island Audio Houston: Sheffield

Texarkana: Sound ToWne EI Paso:Isoesl Lubbock: Ultra ElectronicS San

Angelo: Walker Audio

WESTERN

ALASKA Fairbanks Rohs Music Anchorage

ARIZONA Tucson IL EmPerrum Mesa:Flagstaff' Sound PTO Minn:

CALIFORNIA Orange. Absolute Audio Ar-cal,, LOS Angeles: Beverly

Sams Barbara Santa Marie. ThousandOaks Ventura Redding:

Walnut Creek:HIgn Sfelis ... Santa Monica. Wood-land Hills: Bakersfield'Sound Advice San DiegoNapa: Sounc Campbell

Is Berkeley Chicoby Dm. San Francis.)

,.?r, Santa Dm/ Re-dondo BeachFresno. Visalia - Davis. Sac-ramento Mill Valley.San Francisco .'.

COLORADO Arvada. Aurora. Boulder.Denver, Littleton ColoradoSmings, Pueblo ' BoulderWarl,nolh .

HAWAII Honolulu

IDAHO Twin Falls . Sandpoint Boise .

MONTANA Great Falls -P. I Missoula BozemanThusly

NEVADA Reno. S Mo Authority LasVegas: do,

NEW MEXICO Carlsbad: Beason s SantaFe: Candy fin r aelqy Shop

OREGON Eugene. Mown High Fidelity Pendleton: Royal Mobile Sound KlamathFalls: Sound Chamber Begygrion. port -

UTAH Salt Lake City 's %C.sic Verner Logan store only:

WASHINGTON Seattle: [Mind. Audio Spokane l',11 in.rr, Bellingham.

Bellevue Lynnwood. Seattle. Tukwila Richland

WYOMING Riverton.Cheyenne '

8 HIGH FIDELITY

SDA 1$875.00 ea.

Monitor Sir$129.95 ea.

SDA CRS$395.00 ea.

Matthew Polk 's total dedication to a philosopiy of u 'Kemp 'c rill.Siog quality esults in dramatically bette sounding speakers for you.

"The Genius of Matthew PolkCreates Better Sounding Loudspeakers:

Hear for yourseff why Polk is #1

finatthew Polk's speakers have wonthe Audio Video Grand Prix for the4 i li sear in a row and Polk has been

voted the #1 loudspeaker manufactureroverall for the last 2 years. What is thesecret? Polk speakers sound better! Polkbuilds each and every loudspeaker with thesame world class standard of construction,quality and uncompromised performanceaccuracy. Open, boxless, three-dimensionalsonic imaging in coinbination with theirremarkable clarity and high definition re-production has made Polk speakers thechoice of experts around the world.

Vastly superior to thecompetition"titrsicicfn Alagaz

"Mind boggling powers of,soniiD persuasion"

High Fidelity Magazine

"Literally a new dimensionin sound.

Stereo R!!17.elr;

"Our advice is not to buy speakers untilyou have heard the Polks"

Musician Magazine

If you're looking for lifelike musical soundquality, world class state of the art technologyand unexcelled value, Polk loudspeakers areyour obvious choice. You'll always be gladyou bought the best. Audition the revolution-ary TRUE STEREO SDAs, remarkable Moni-tors and the other extraordinary Polks today.High Fidelity Magazine says, "You owe it toyourself.'

polkThe Speaker Specialists

19 I; Annapolis Rd. Baltimore, Md 21230

oe,ioneteis In Canals by Evolution Toolsnolooy, Toronto.

REDEFINITION.THE CARVER RECEIVER: Redefines your expectations of receiver perform-

ance with the power you need for Digital Audio Discs plus virtually noise -freestereo FM reception. A receiver with astonishing performance incorporating twohighly significant technological breakthroughs: Bob Carver's Magnetic FieldPower Amplifer and his Asymmetrical Charge Coupled FM Detector.

ESSENTIAL POWER: Your system needs an abundanceofpower to reproduce,without distortion, the dynamic range of music on Digital Audio Discs and fineanalog recordings.

The Magnetic Field Amplifier in the CARVER Receiver gives you 130watts per channel* of pure, clean power with superbly defined, high fidelityreproduction.

The Magnetic Field Amplifier produces large amounts of power (absolutelynecessary for the accurate reproduction of music at realistic listening levels)without the need for heavy heat sinks, massive transformers, and enormouspower capacitors required by conventional amplifier design.

Unlike conventional amplifiers which produce a constant, high voltage levelat all times, irrespective of the demands of the ever-changing audio signal (Evenwhen there is no audio signal in the circuit at all!), the Magnetic Field Amplifier'spower supply is signal responsive. Highly efficient, it produces exactly and onlythe power needed to carry the signal with complete accuracy and fidelity.

The 130 watts -per -channel* CARVER Receiver is about the same size andweight of conventional receivers having merely 30 watts per channel!

NOISE -FREE RECEPTION: The AM -FM CARVER Receivergives you FMstereo performance unmatched by that of any other receiver.

As it is transmitted from the station, the stereo FM signal is extremelyvulnera-ble to distortion, noise, hiss and multipath interference.

However, when you engage CARVER's Asymmetrical Charge Coupled FMDetector circuit, the stereo signal arrives at your ears virtually noise -free. Youhear fully separated stereo with space, depth and ambience!

"This receiver combines the best elements of Carver's separatetuner andamplifier...The Carver Receiver is, without question,one of the finest productsof its kind I have ever tested and used. Bob Carver is definitely an audio and r.f.genius:" Leonard Feldman, Audio Magazine, June 1984

"I consider the Carver Receiver to be the "most" receiver I haveyet testedin terms of the quantitative and qualitative superiority of almostall its basicfunctions!' Julian D. Hirsch, Stereo Review, April 1984

The CARVER Receiver has been designed for fidelity, accuracy and musi-cality. You will want to visit your CARVER dealer for a personal audition of thisremarkable instrument.

*130 watts per channel RMS into 8 ohms, 20 Hz to 20 kHz with nomore than 0.05% total harmonic distortion.

VEROW CORPORATION P.O. Box 1237. Lynnwood. WA 98036POWERFUL MUSICAL

Distributed in Canada by Evolution Audio, Ltd.

ACCURATE

straight! The review should have read, "thebold intensity of Andy's guitar" and "John'sthrobbing bass," not the reverse. Can't foolus Duranies!

Cathy SlsonsoroHamilton, Ohio

Havelock Nelson's review of The Power Sta-

tion was acceptable (I guess), except for one

thing: John Taylor plays bass, and AndyTaylor plays lead guitar.JadeOrlando, Fla.

Who got his signals crossed in the review of

The Power Station? John plays bass, Andyplays lead guitar. Give credit where creditis due.

Use DoanTuscumbia, Ala.

Indeed, this was a Power Station failure.We stand corrected.-Ed.

WHERE'S THE SERVICE?A pedestrian collapsed outside my office to-day. Within five minutes, emergency vehi-cles arrived to assist him, and he was proba-bly delivered to nearby Stanford (California)

Hospital within minutes. When my automo-bile acts up, I deliver it to my dealer in themorning and pick it up in the evening, re-paired. When my Selectric acts up, an IBMserviceperson is on the spot within a fewhours to get it working on site.

But when my stereo or video equipment

malfunctions, I must disconnect it, cart it to arepair station, and listen to them tell me thatin two weeks they might get me an estimate,and within four to six weeks-if parts areavailable-I might get my equipment back.If parts need to be ordered (from Japan, nat-

urally), the boat will take at least twomonths to get them here; then it will take an-

other three to four weeks to get the partsinstalled. And I am not talking about localfly-by-night repair shops, but famous brand-name "service centers." Does the audio -video repair business have to he this way?Ted and Sylvia BlishakMenlo Park, Calif.

Letters should be addressed to The Editor, limos

Fiuw,iry, 82.5 7th Ave., New York, N.Y. 10019. All

letters are subject to editing for brevity andclarity.

10 HIGH FIDELITY

We get you back to what its all about

In 1967 we started makingloudspeakers in a garage withnothing to guide us but a know-ledge of physics and a passion formusic. Our first product was aninstant classic, a loudspeakercalled the Servostatic I, whichwas considered by many to bethe ultimate audio transducer ofits time.

Since then we've always hadan ultimate loudspeaker in ourproduct line, and we've usedthese dream systems to showcase

Music.a host of new speaker technologieswe've developed. We immodestlydubbed these systems ReferenceStandards -as indeed they mustbe since many aspects of theirdesigns have been widely copiedin the industry.

No company in audio canclaim a greater commitment tosignificant research, developingpractical and accurate polypro-pylene woofers, midranges,tweeters and state-of-the-artEMIT and EMIM planar drivers.

And we've used the results ofthat research to improve soundreproduction in a multitude ofapplications and at virtuallyevery price point - from under$40 a pair for our A32 autospeakers up to about $35,000 forour finest system, the InfinityReference Standard. Today we'rein the home, the automobile andnow in video.

But our research doesn't stop atthe laboratory. We still listen tomusic, and we still get excited by it.

Infinity Systems, Inc. 9409 Owensmouth Avenue Chatsworth, CA 91311 (818) 709-9400

NO OTHERHIGH -BIAS CASSETTE

CAN MATCH THESE NUMBERS:

111111011111001101&TDK HIGHPOSITIONEXTRA XS

90

EXTENDED HIGH END HIGH MOL HIGH OUTPUT

LABORATORY STANDARD CASSETTE MECHANISM

Other Type II (high -bias) cassettes are a longway from home when it comes to reproducingthe pure, dynamic sounds of digitally encodedmusic sources.

But, number for number, TDK HX-S audiocassettes are number one.

Their exclusive metal particle formulationreproduces a wider dynamic range and higherfrequency response. This enables HX-S tocapture all the crispness and purity of digitalperformance on any cassette deck with aType II (high -bias) switch.

With four times the magneticstorage ability of other high -bias cassettes, HX-S virtuallyeliminates high frequency

saturation, while delivering unsurpassedsensitivity throughout the audio spectrum.

Additionally, HX-S excels in retention of highfrequency MOL, which no other high -bias for-mulation attains.

And HX-S superiority is not just numerical.To maintain its dynamic performance, HX-S ishoused in TDK's specially engineered, trouble -free Laboratory Standard mechanism. It's yourassurance of unerring reliability and durability,backed by a Lifetime Warranty.

For optimum results with Type II (high -bias)and digitally -sourced record-ings, get TDK HX-S. You'll feelmore at home with it, wherever

THE MACHINE FOR YOUR MACHINE. you go.

¶9851 Elochonics Corp

CURRENTS

New Products

THRESHOLD'S SINGULAR AMPS

Threshold Corporation is known for its sin-gle-minded approach to amplifier design-notably its belief that for superior musicreproduction, circuit nonlinearities shouldbe addressed at their source, not correctedby feedback. The latest incarnations ofthis philosophy are (above right and left)the single -channel SA -1 and SA -2 poweramplifiers, rated at 160 watts (22 dBW)and 100 watts (20 dBW), respectively. Bothare noninverting, balanced, complemen-tary -symmetry designs using N -channelJFETs in the front end and Threshold'sproprietary Stasis output stage. All ampli-fying devices are operated Class A, includ-ing the output transistors. With custom -wound toroidal transformers feedinglarge, computer -grade electrolytic capaci-tors, the power supplies of the amplifiersare said to be capable of providing unusu-ally high current (40 amperes continuousand 60 peak for the SA -1, 30 amps continu-ous and 40 peak for the SA -2).

Such performance does not come insmall or lightweight packages. The SA -1measures 19 by 8% by 17'/4 inches deep;the SA -2 is 13'/I inches in depth. The for-mer weighs 78'/2 pounds; the latter, 56pounds. Prices per channel are $3,600 and$2,600, respectively. For more informa-tion, write Threshold Corp., 1832 TributeRd., Suite E, Sacramento, Calif. 95815.

A STEREO TV TUNER FROM PROTON

Incorporating MTS stereo -TV decoding,Proton's 601T video tuner also features139 -channel frequency -synthesis tuning;

volume, balance, bass, and treble controls;a plethora of audio and video connections;and a full -function remote control. The ca-ble -compatible unit's view/record functionallows one video program to be monitoredwhile another is being taped. A motorizeddrawer (see detail above right) containscontrols for broadcast/cable selection, au-tomatic/manual fine-tuning, numerical

channel selection, and stereo-TV/SAP se-lection. So that it might become the switch-ing center of an audio -video system, the$450 tuner offers three pairs of audio -vid-eo inputs and four pairs of A /V outputs,giving a total of five source selections(TV/cable, AUX, Video 1, Video 2, andDisc). The infrared wireless remote con-trol duplicates most of the unit's front -panel functions (including numerical

channel selection and source switching)and adds a couple of its own (audio mutingand previous -channel recall). Details areavailable from Proton Corp., 73'7 W. Arte-

sia Blvd., Compton, Calif. 90220.

NAKAMICHI INTRODUCESLOWER -PRICE CAR DECKS

At prices "comparable to [those of] con-ventional autosound front ends," Nakami-chi's TD -400 (above right) and TD -300 car

tuner/cassette decks both use the compa-ny's unidirectional dual -flywheel trans-port to eliminate "bidirectional azimuth er-ror," which can produce uneven trebleresponse in reversing decks. The drive sys-tem also incorporates a servo -controlledDC motor and a "non -pinching shoe" tapeguide that smooths the tape by supportingit across its entire surface and forcing acontrolled wrap around the supply-sideflywheel capstan. This configuration issaid to reduce modulation noise.

The playback head in the TD -400 has alaminated-Crystalloy core with a 0.8 -mi-crometer gap and is rated for a 10,000 -hour operating life. Playback response isgiven as ±3 dB, 25 Hz to 20 kHz. The headin the TD -300 has a hard-permalloy corewith a 1.2 -micrometer gap; rated responseextends from 30 to 18 kHz. Both unitshave Dolby B and C noise reduction andswitchable 120-microsecond/70-microsec-ond playback EQ.

The digital frequency -synthesisAM/FM tuner sections have automaticstereo -blend circuitry, local/DX switches,and a noise prevention circuit to guardagainst ignition noise and other electricalinterference. The $390 TD -300 has five AM

and five FM presets; the $475 TD -400 adds

Einahl

- -one preset per band, a quartz digital clock,separate front and back outputs withfader, program seek to find the next selec-tion on a tape in either direction, and auto-matic tape replay after rewind. Mountingdimensions of either unit are 7 by 2 by 61/2

inches. Write Nakamichi U.S.A. Corp.,19701 S. Vermont Ave., Torrance, Calif.90502.

WIRELESS MIKEFOR VIDEO CAMERAS

The traditional camera -mounted micro-phone has always created problems forvideo recordists: It picks up VCR noise andoften is too far from the sound source foreffective audio recording. Mikes with ca-bles, on the other hand, can be unwieldyand lack complete mobility. A solution isoffered in Nady Systems' 49VR wirelessmicrophone/transmitter and miniatureFM receiver (photo below, right). The re-

ceiver plugs into the camera's audio -injack and mounts on the camera or clips tothe operator's belt. The system incorpo-rates proprietary companding circuitry forwide dynamic range. Effective range isgiven as 100 feet. The 49VR comes in twoversions: a lavalier clip -on with transmit-ter bodypack (left, $150) and a hand-heldmicrophone/transmitter (center, $200).Write Nady Systems, Inc., 1145 65th St.,Oakland, Calif. 94608.

ILLUMINATING VIDEOCASSETTES

Organizing and protecting as many as 20Beta or VHS videocassettes in the mini-mum amount of space, Pompano's Casset-

NOVEMBER 1985 13

BASS THAT'S CLEAN.

POWERFUL.

PHYSICAL.

MEM

Announcing the VelodyneTMULD-15' Subwoofer System: atechnological breakthroughin bass reproduction!

There's an exciting new productawaiting audition at your Velodynedealer. Its called the Velodyne ULD-15Subwoofer System and it representsthe most significant advance in loud-speaker technology in well over adecade. Even if you are happy with thebass in your current speakers, you oweit to yourself to hear the ULD-15 andwhat it can do to improve your system'scapabilities.

In addition to its 15 inch cone,221b. magnet structure and 3/4" travel,the ULD-15 contains our proprietaryHigh Gain Servo" technology. Anindependent sensor attached to thecone reports cone motion informationto a comparator circuit within the 350watt Power Servo Controller (included),which instantaneously adjusts theoutput signal to correct for anyerroneous cone motion. The result isdeep, powerful, and perfectly accuratebass never before possible in any con-ventional loudspeaker. And since theULD-15 comes complete with its ownamplifier, the bass load from your satel-lite amp and speakers is removed.

The ULD-15 merits your attention.Call 1-800-VELODYNE for theVelodyne dealer nearest you. Don'tmiss the opportunity to hear for your-self the bass technology of the future.

Velodyne2565 Scott Blvd.

Santa Clara, CA 95050(800) 835-6396 (408) 748-1077

ter storage unit has a built-in battery-powered light, making tape selectionpossible in a darkened room. AdditionalCassetters are stackable, and a butyl rub-ber protection pad on the bottom of eachallows safe placement on delicate sur-faces. Molded of dark gray, high -densityABS plastic, they are said to protect tapesfrom dust, dirt, and ultraviolet rays. Spe-cial cassette end labels are provided. While

the model PM 62-01B is designed for Betatapes and the PM 63-01V for VHS, bothmeasure 101/2 by 121/2 by 9% inches andcost $70. Details are available from Pom-

pano Manufacturing Corp., 2501 N.W.17th Lane, Pompano Beach, Fla. 33064.

CDs:

Report from JapanI've been listening to Compact Discs forthe past three years and have generallyliked what I've heard. On a recent visit toJapan, I got to watch a CD for the firsttime-and I was impressed by what I saw.

The demonstration was among thehighlights of a tour through the Tokyoheadquarters of Denon (Nippon ColumbiaCompany, Ltd.), a venerable firm that hasbeen a leader in Japanese audio for eightdecades. In a small room across the hallfrom a fully -equipped video editing studio,

Denon's engineers have set up a CDgraphics center. The apparatus consists ofa conventional Compact Disc player andaudio system, a special prototype graphicsadapter unit, and a standard color televi-sion monitor. A CD with a graphic displayencoded on it (in addition to a standard au-dio program) can be played through thesystem, the video content appearing on theTV monitor as the music is heard. Myguide, Takeaki Anazawa, Denon's chief ofengineering, said that it is not yet possibleto encode a live TV picture on CompactDisc, only computer -type color graphics.But even with that limitation, the educa-tional applications are fascinating. Thesystem employs a video -signal grid of 288by 192 lines, which can display as many as16 colors at one time-and the number ofcolors available is a staggering 4,096. The

production model will have 16 -channel ca-

pability, meaning that a user will be able tochoose a display in English, Japanese, Ger-man, or whatever.

"It is very difficult to adjust the move-

ment of the graphics to the music-in fact,almost impossible," Anazawa remarked."And it is very time-consuming to put in 16

channels of simultaneous text." From thelooks of the demonstration disc I heardand saw of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, Iwould say that Anazawa and his crewhave done a splendid job of overcomingthe difficulties.

I was even more impressed by what Isaw of the second -generation CD graphics

Denon is now developing-not yet demon-strable on CD, but stored on computerdisk. The playback produced fabulous,high -resolution pictures of nearly photo-graphic quality on a color monitor screen."It is very much improved," Anazawa said

Inside Denon's CD plant

modestly, as I gaped. The technologyshould be ready for demonstration onCompact Disc this month.

Also under development at Denon is aCD ROM (read-only memory) image-re-trieval system that uses a special Hitachi -built player and decoder. Anazawa in-formed me that a CD ROM has a600 -megabyte capacity and that one kilo-byte of memory is required for a single pic-ture. Thus, a Compact Disc can hold 6,000pages (or screens) of information, a phe-nomenal amount of data. (It's interestingto consider that the information containedin Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, fittingon one CD, is actually greater than thatcontained in an entire 6,000 -page encyclo-pedia.) There is interest in devising a navi-gation and road -map system using the CDROM process, and many other applica-tions will doubtless be found.

Two days later, I paid a visit to Den-on's software plant in the industrial city ofKawasaki, outside Tokyo. There I ob-served the process by which CompactDiscs are manufactured, and I looked in onthe production of LPs, 45s, and cassettes,

14HIGH FIDELITY

A new!taniad forc gitalaudiois here:SI-en/cod CDP-200and CDP-220. Co-ipact Discperbrma-ce 3t theunp-ece-dertec leI of Hie- Purity.

TI-REE LASER BIAMS.Un ike ot ler CD pliyers withonl >I one aset beam, ourthree t- ea i sstem virtuallyelimi sates distortici causby cp.rious data kin adjatracks.

TWO F FITE RI N C SYSTE

Sherwood's new H li Pqritydual fikerings-yster combinesdout le over-nampingdig talfilzs nd lir .?.ar panalog titers or th finestsot nd ever.

IC IA TECH FEATURES.

The "smart" motorized trayknows if a disc is loxied, evenif it's in upside down. You havefull fliedb lity n programmingplay sequenc rig, randomaccess of selection, disc andsection repeat, and high-speed cue and review, indexingnd multi -function digital

lay that tells you all sortsc rmatic n, like trackber totA timc, elapsed

time, program seqr ence,and n- ore

INFRARED REN'OTE.Ful-frinctior digital wirelessremote cont-ol is standard onthe C DP -220. Now you canen loy sound of the highestput-i. with the luxJiry of arm-chair

Sherwood has spent overthirty years nakinsound itsfirst p io ty. It's brought us toHigh 'unity, and pure soundenicyment.

ci!Ill I V14 )4 )4Qt .ii .1Ill .11i01 '.t1 III Alford

12.845 Antesia Boulevard,CcrriLas, Cahhrnia M701

1

. 5

as well. The total Japanese CD productioncapacity is an astonishing three milliondiscs per month, of which about 900,000come from Denon (which runs three shiftsa day to do it). Demand for the discs hasincreased more rapidly than expected, andwhile Denon has no plans to expand itsproduction facilities (at least, not in Ja-pan), I was told that the firm could makeuse of additional means if it had them. Ap-

proximately 70 percent of the company'sCD pressing is custom work, the remain-ing 30 percent appearing under its own la-bel. Of interest to classical buyers is thefact that classical titles account for be-tween 60 and 70 percent of the total CDspressed by Denon, compared with aboutsix percent of the LPs and a minuscule onepercent of the cassettes.

Twenty injection -molding machinesform the heart of Denon's CD productionline. There is a clean room for the applica-tion of reflective coating to the blank discsby an evaporation process and a very busi-nesslike laser -cutting chamber where themasters are made. But the single most im-

pressive element in the chain is the humanone. The key to efficient CD production isinspection, and Denon's visual inspectionarea had the look and feel of a thoroughlyprofessional operation. I was asked to lis-ten to a variety of rejected discs, all ofwhich sounded fine, but none of which-for reasons of the tiniest of flaws-had es-caped the inspectors' eagle eyes.

Perhaps to keep me from getting theimpression that things are too business-like at Denon, I was ushered out of the fac-tory just in time to catch the employees inan animated game of baseball during theirlunch hour. But as in CDs, so in sports:The Denon contingent plays for keeps.

Theodore W. Libbey, Jr.

Car Stereo: Get Ready for

The "Digital Ready" SpeakersWith the digital technology of the Com-pact Disc making its way into the automo-bile, can "digital ready" speakers be farbehind? The answer is no. For 1986, manymanufacturers have taken a clue from

Concord's CS -400: separate crossovernetwork with tweeter controls

their success with digital -ready loudspeak-ers in the home audio market and are up-grading the final link in the car stereochain by introducing a new generation ofspeakers.

Noteworthy models include Jensen's6x9s, the triaxial JTX-300 ($149) and the co-

axial JCX-200 ($119). Efficiency and highpower -handling capacity are said to be thehallmarks of these units. Pioneer also hasa new speaker claiming "digital ready"status. The TS -207 ($169)-an angled,bridgeless tweeter/midrange assembly-

What other audio tapes fail to hear.

aims to provide the punch of an 8 -inchwoofer while fitting into a 6x9 opening. Amatching 8 -inch component woofer, theTSW-204 ($139), also is available. The Tsx-

4 ($74), a two-way surface -mount unit, and

the TS -458 ($58), a two-way, 4x6 dash -mount model, round out Pioneer's latestadditions to the Maxxial line.

Other entries designed with CompactDiscs in mind come from Magnum Loud-speakers, whose nine -member MagnumOpus line includes the 6912-D ($170), a 6x9

model. Also new is the 41/2 -inch full -range

4506. Kenwood's KFC-5050 midrange/woofer ($150) and KFG1010 tweeter ($120)

likewise are tied to digital sound. The 5 -inch 5050 uses aluminum honeycombcones for low distortion at high power lev-els. The 1010 includes a protection circuit,which monitors power level and shutsdown the driver at the overload point. Op-eration resumes about five seconds afterpower levels have been reduced.

From the company that has spurredthe CD revolution in cars, Sony, comes theXS -700 ($500). Containing three APM (Ac -

First car speakers by Design Acoustics

curate Piston Motion) drivers, this sealed -enclosure system is built for high power -handling capacity and has a speciallymatched crossover network. Denon isfleshing out its previously announced lineof mobile electronics with three newspeakers, including the three-way, 6x9DCS-691 ($200). All the models are de-scribed as "installer friendly" and are dis-tinguished by polypropylene woofers. TheDCS-691 also sports a soft -dome midrangeand an exotic boron -diaphragm tweeter.

SFI Sawafuji is marketing two ul-trathin digital -ready systems. The CA -2020 ($450) comprises four 6'/2 -inch -square

by 1 -inch -thick full -range rear -mount driv-

ers, four 4 -inch -square by 1 -inch -thick rib-

bon tweeters, and two specially matchedcrossover networks. The CA -1010, which is

intended for small cars, has half as many

drivers. Meanwhile, Panasonic checks inwith two dual -cone models, the EAB-S40($40) and the EAB-S60 ($45), both designed

for easy installation.A new face in the field this year is De-

sign Acoustics, which has been makinghome loudspeakers for many years. Firstup is the three-way, 6x9 DA -693 ($149),which was demonstrated at the SummerConsumer Electronics Show mounted inthe rear deck of an Audi 5000S and puttingout an unbelievable amount of solid bass.For tighter budgets, the two-way DA -692($129) has similar qualities. The 6 -inch DA -

602 ($109) rounds out the line.

Another company making its first carspeakers is Jamo, with its eight JAMO-CARs. Four are door -mount designs, threeare shelf -mount, and the top -of -the -lineModel 305 ($220) can be installed eitherway. The 305 is a two-way biamplified sys-

tem with front -panel volume and tweeterlevel controls. Other models range fromthe 30R ($56) to the 90 ($180), which is athree-way 6x9 with an angled tweeter.

"Huge headphones" aptly describes

One audio tape is so sensi-tive it can hear a pin drop.Or the full crash of a cymbal.

To no one's surprise, it'smade by Sony.

Designec_ with our widestdynamic ra:tge ever, theUCX-S can pick up the soft-est softs ycri've never heard.

Or the loudest louds.Without dis-.ortion.*

And since we packsmaller, more uniform parti-cles on our :ape, you canpack more :music in it.

And go from one extremeto the other.

So pick Sony. And hearwhat you've been missing.

SONYTHE ONE AND ONLY" y 1995 Sony Corp of America Sopy m a registered tl adernat k of Sony Corp "The One and Only is a rea-red trademark ofSony Cop off:1,c, fTtod ha r mom, ,ifstorinan

awn'

You're looking at what's ahead for the te_evisionset. At Proton, we call it "eye-fi:

The Proton 625, above, is a video monitor/receiver. It's the evolu:ion of American TV. Enjoyits absolutely superior performance just as it is.Or enhance its great sound by making it a com-ponent part of your present audio system.

A demonstration will convince you of the star-.g difference between Proton and what you'red to. You'll see deep, rich black, not wEshed-

pec-

While Proton has features of other sets like in-frared remote control, 139 channel tuning range,and a built-in stereo tuner, our monitor/receivergees beyond any other brand's "state-of-the-art"technology. Even beyond, in resolution capability,the signal quality TV stations presently broadcast*

In short, Proton is what TV should be. Butsomething this superior isn't irte ere:rienther what vour dad awaywhat you pay fog"Pratort ou get a

the new Challenger Top Sound speakersystem ($249). Of Swedish design andmanufacture, it houses a pair each of Phil-ips 5 -inch woofers and 2 -inch cone tweet-ers, all of which fit neatly overhead in justabout any vehicle but a convertible. An ex-pandable center section allows for a uni-versal fit and makes the Challenger arrayparticularly well suited for installations inwhich back speakers are usually preclud-ed, as in pickup trucks.

Alpine is offering another folded -hornsubwoofer system, the 6491 ($140), whichis a dual -voice -coil version of the 6490. Al-

though it takes up less space than the6490, the new model is still very efficient,making it an excellent choice for a modest-ly priced biamp system. In fact, the 6491 isspecifically designed to be used with the3211 amplifier/crossover ($130). When in-serted into the processor loop on the latestAlpine receivers, the 3211's built-in amp,rated at 10 watts (10 dBW) per channel,can be used to drive the 6491 while thefront end devotes its amp strictly to themid- and high -frequency drivers.

Three systems and a subwoofer com-prise Sparkomatic's new biamplified carspeaker line. An unusual styling allowsthe tweeters to be detached from thewoofer units for optimum placement. Aslide control enables you to fine-tune tre-ble response for different setups. Makingup the Sparkomatic series are the door -mount ASK -3000 ($80), the deck -mountASK -3010 ($100), and the surface -mountASK -3015 ($100), as well as the ASK -3030

subwoofer ($60). Latest from Visonik isthe two -driver David 7200 ($234) and thetwo-way flush -mount David 5202 ($160).

EPI's LS -80X ($250) employs the same

woofer cone material and tweeter dia-phragm that are used in the company'sTime/Energy home loudspeaker line. Itssmall size and push -to -connect terminalsmake for easy installation. A three -posi-tion tweeter level control (flat to -6 dB) isprovided.

Concord's first component speakersystem, the CS -400 ($250), comprises a setof 5Yeirich woofers, 1 -inch tweeters, and aseparate crossover network with tweeterlevel controls. The CS -300 ($200) is an 8 -ohm integrated two-way system; the CS -400 is a 4 -ohm unit. Also in Concord's newline are three coaxials, ranging in pricefrom $80 to $60.

Three surface -mount speakers areSansui's latest. Topping the line is the S-1540 ($229), a four -driver, self-containedsystem. The three-way S-1630 ($175), likethe S-1540, is intended for rear -deckmounting. The three-way S-1030 ($89) canbe mounted either in the rear deck or ina door.

Expanding its line, Acoustic Researchhas added the AR-6CS ($80), a two-way,6x9 coaxial, and the AR-3CS ($40), a 4 -inch,

full -range, dual -cone design. The 6CS'stweeter is ferrofluid-cooled. And fromKraco comes the Turbo -Pro Series, a four -model line with a "calibrated frequency -response maximizer" control to adjustspeaker response for different interioracoustics. Two of the entries-the four-way, 6x9 TPS-694 ($130) and the three-way, 6'/Z inch TPS-653 ($120)-incorporatea rotatable midrange/tweeter array.

Jay C. Taylor and William Tynan

ALLS061World Leaders in Hi -Tech Care Products

NOVEMBER 1985 19ALLSOP, Inc.; P.O. Box 23; Bellingham, WA 98227 U.S.A.; (206) 734-9090

CROSSTALK

REMOTE POSSIBILITYMy Harman Kardon CD -401cassette deck has a multi -prong jack labeled "remote"on the back panel. Does H/Kmake a remote control? Couldit possibly be for an externaltimer?

Erick ValkIngburgPhoenix, Ariz.

It conforms to a Japanesestandard for such jacks thatmany companies follow.(Harman Kardon, which of-fers none of its own, men-tions Nakamichi as onebrand whose accessory con-trols will work.) A timercould be built to operate viathis jack, but the timer func-tions in the 401 (like those ofvirtually every other compo-nent -grade deck on the mar-ket) don't depend on it. Justplug the deck's AC cord intoa standard timer, set the tim-er switch appropriately, andit will automatically beginrecording (or playback)when the timer turns on thepower.

THROWING A CURVE?In your reports on the OnkyoTA -2090 and Ultrx RD -C61cassette decks [February], thehigh -frequency response withDBX lags surprisingly far be-hind that with Dolby B and C.Using a graphic equalizer, Ichecked my Yamaha K-1000[test report, August 1983],which has both DBX andDolby B, and found that DBXrecord/play response is per-fectly flat at 16 kHz, whilethat with Dolby B is downabout 3 dB. Also, I have madecareful comparisons with a

Compact Disc player, Telarcdiscs, DBX noise reduction,and chrome tape. To my ears,which I believe to be impartialand relatively accurate, thecopy was virtually identical tothe source.Tom AndersonCharleston, S.C.

Perhaps nothing else in au-dio is so hard to pin down.Under some circumstances,compander noise reducers-including all of the above-can behave quite differentlywhen presented with discretefrequencies or sweep tones(which excite only one fre-quency at any given instant)than when they are repro-ducing music (which invari-ably involves groups of fre-quencies).

Furthermore, behaviorat high frequencies can be al-tered radically by switchingtapes or by minor differencesof bias or EQ adjustment.Then there's the question ofhow the necessary band-width -limiting is handled inone deck vs. another; withoutit, the addition or removal ofultrasonics (FM's 19 -kHz pi-lot, for instance, or tape'sself -erasure) between encod-ing and decoding can com-promise the accuracy of thelatter. And 16 kHz is not onlybeyond the hearing range ofmany adults, but beyond thespectral range of much mu-sic as well.

At least, the 16 -kHz con-tent is well below -20 dB (ifyou're not overloading thetape in the midrange), whichis where we test cassette -deckresponse. If you used a high -

by

Robert

Long

er level, self -erasure proba-bly lowered the high -frequen-cy output; if your test levelwas lower, it might haveavoided some self -erasurethat shows up in our tests,particularly with DBX. Inany event, the choice of tapeand methodology (aboutwhich you aren't specific)certainly would influencethe results.

Looking back at the threereports in question, I'd con-sider most of the curves torepresent very good or excel-lent response for cassettedecks in their respectiveprice ranges. (The Ultrx, atless than $300, is far less ex-pensive than the other two.)The most worrisome curveprobably is that for the Ya-maha with DBX and metaltape because it includes afairly sharp high -frequencypeak. But switching to ahigher-coercivity brand (weused TDK MA) or recordingat a higher level could easilyhave flattened it out. So I seeno significant area of dis-agreement between our re-ports and your findings, andI certainly wouldn't agreethat DBX response in ourtests "lags far behind" thatwith Dolby noise reduction.

CHEAP FIX?I bought my Luxman/Yama-ha/Mission/Sonus system in1984. I keep seeing ads for"Litz" cables, Compact Cas-sette cleaning systems, a fluidto reduce electrical resistancein contacts, a bulk eraser forcassettes, and preparations toincrease stylus or disc life. Allclaim to "eliminate" problems

or to improve performance"significantly" or "greatly."If spending $20 or $30 willreally improve my system asmuch as buying a significantlybetter cartridge or speakersfor much more, I'm interested.But, in your personal opinion,can these products make allthat much difference?James E. Holloway, Jr.Baton Rouge, La.

Some of them can make a dif-ference, and as long asthere's any perceptible difiference, I suppose it can becalled "significant." Thequestion is whether youwould hear it in the firstplace.

If you allow your CDs toget dirty, for example, theywill progressively stress yourplayer's error -correction sys-tem until you eventuallyhear something amiss. Bulkerasure can reduce the levelof a previous recording oncassette tapes to below the al-ready good -60 or -70 dB thatcan be achieved by mostdecks' erase heads and leaveeven less residual noise thanrecording heads will gener-ate with no input signal.And so on.

In many cases, the fun oftrying products to see wheth-er you will benefit from themis worth the price even if theanswer proves to be no. But Iagree that the descriptionsregularly applied to theirbenefits are often excessivelyvivid.

We regret that the volume of reader

mail is too great for us to answerall questions individually.

20HIGH FIDELITY

ADVENT INTRODUCES

LEGACY?BUILT ON A SOLID FOUNDATION.

Here's the new edition ofthe famous larger" Advent'speaker that sold more thana million units-literallyrevolutionized the stereobusiness. Built in the heritageof legendary Adventtechnology, this new, super-power speaker is floor -standing with a 10" wooferand 1" ferrofluid-filled, soft -domed tweeter. It is digital -ready, and provides the kindof dynamic -range, separationand frequency -responseappropriate for compact disc,audiophile records, dbx, andDolby® C recordings. Thesteep -sloped crossovernetwork contributes to

C 1985-International Jensen

Legacy's incredible 500 -wattpeak pos.c;er capability, andimprovements in linearity.

All this remarkableperformance in handsomecabinetry finished off with

z oiled, said pecan wood on thetop and along the base of thespeaker. Real wood, becoming\ an Advent trademark.

See the new Legacy. andsee the other great speakersin Advent's complete line:Baby Advent. Proclikv, and

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BASICALLY SPEAKING

A Question

Of Size

All else being equal, most peo-ple would prefer their speak-ers to be as small as possible.And nowadays, this desire canbe accommodated, to some ex-tent, without extreme compro-mise: A speaker doesn't haveto be big to be good. In fact,smallness can even have sonicadvantages. Unfortunately,good deep -bass response sel-dom is among them. This is aconsequence of the basic phys-ics of the situation and istherefore difficult to get

around.Nonetheless, a designer

does have some leeway, whichis why speakers of similar sizemay have different low -fre-quency performance. For ex-ample, it is possible to extendbass reach by reducing effi-ciency. This is a reasonable ex-pedient up to a point, but if toomuch efficiency is sacrificed,the system will need largeamounts of power to play atreasonable volumes. One wayof getting it is to reduce thespeaker's impedance. Regret-tably, this strategy can be car-ried only so far, since mostamplifiers will stop delivering

by

Michael

Riggs

more power when the loaddrops below a certain imped-ance. And there is an ultimatepractical limit imposed by thewoofer's ability to dissipateheat: If too much power is re-quired, it eventually will meltthe voice coil.

Another approach is to re-duce the size of the woofer,which lessens the cabinet vol-ume required to obtain a givenlow -frequency cutoff. Thecatch here is, again, powerhandling. A small cone mustmove farther than a largerone to generate any given vol-ume level. Consequently, itwill tend to produce higher dis-

tortion and to have a lowermaximum output level. That'swhy you don't see 4 -inch woof-

ers in boxes big enough to ac-commodate something larger.There's just no point in striv-ing to reach a frequency thatcan be safely reproduced onlyat volumes so low as to be al-most inaudible.

The last approach to get-ting more bass out of smallboxes involves the way thewoofer is loaded. The twomost common methods areacoustic suspension and bassreflex. In the former, thewoofer is mounted in a com-pletely sealed cabinet de -

You're looking at the three drivers fromour new NS -75T speaker. We took them apartso we could tell you how they're put togetherto meet the higher demands of compact discs.

The 12" woofer is made from speciallydeveloped carbon fiber material. Lightweightyet very rigid, carbon fiber has superior sonicclarity and low -end definition. Even underthe increased dynamic range and high powerdemands of digital audio.

Both the dome midrange driver and thedome tweeter are made from a unique titanium

carbide composition. The result is outstand-ing transient response, wide sonic dispersion,and three-dimensional, transparent imaging.So you hear all the live in -studio or on-stagesound compact discs were recorded with.

The NS -75T is just one in a completeline of Yamaha NS T speakers. They're readyfor digital when you are.

Yamaha Electronics Corporation, USA, P.O. Box 6660,Buena Park, CA 90622

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signed to absorb all of the ra-diation from the back of thecone. It is a technique withmany nice qualities. Cone mo-tion is well controlled at all fre-quencies, and the rolloff belowresonance is just 12 dB per oc-tave. Another advantage isthat acoustic suspension woof-

er systems are easier to de-sign correctly than are theirbass reflex cousins.

But a bass reflex speakertheoretically has a 3 -dB effi-ciency advantage over an oth-erwise identical acoustic sus-pension model. This isachieved by making use of thewoofer's backwave (the out-put from the back of the cone),rather than throwing it away.The means is a hole, or "port,"in the enclosure that turns itinto what is known as a Helm-holtz resonator. When such aunit is correctly designed, the

radiation from the back of thewoofer cone excites the reso-nator over a band of low fre-quencies. If the enclosure istuned to resonate at the samefrequency as the woofer itself,the combined resonance peakwill split into two smaller onesabove and below the tuningfrequency. In effect, the reso-nance of the woofer is movedup and damped enough to flat-ten its response, while the out-put from the port, represent-ing the lower resonance peak,maintains response below thetuning frequency. Thus, theport both smooths and ex-tends the speaker's low -fre-quency response.

The key to a good bass re-flex system is correct tuningof the enclosure, achieved pri-marily by adjusting the size ofthe port according to the di-mensions of the cabinet and

the characteristics of thewoofer. It's a fairly complicat-ed balancing act that used torequire a lot of cut -and -trywork, with mixed results.Since an improperly tunedbass reflex speaker can soundquite boomy, the whole genredeveloped a rather soiled repu-tation. In the last decade, how-ever, the work of RichardSmall and A. N. Thiele has giv-en engineers the mathemati-cal tools necessary to designported models to order withthe same consistency of per-formance obtainable usingsealed enclosures.

A common variation onthe bass reflex principle uses apassive radiator, or "dronecone," as a vent substitute. (Apassive radiator is essentiallya speaker diaphragm drivenby the backwave from thewoofer rather than by a voice

coil connected to the amplifi-er.) This widens the designer'soptions by enabling him tovary the mass of the resonantsystem, which in a straight re-flex design is simply theacoustical mass of the air inthe port.

Although it might seemthat ported and passive -radia-tor enclosures are definitelythe way to go, the situation isnot that clear-cut. Disadvan-tages include a much fasterrolloff below the cutoff fre-quency (24 dB per octave) andgreater susceptibility to exces-sive cone motion in the pres-ence of infrasonic signalsfrom warped records. And itdoes not seem to me, based onour tests of a wide variety ofspeakers, that vented designsconsistently achieve the effi-ciency advantage attributed tothem by theory.

What's bestnext to your TV?

New Design AcousticsPS6V Video Speakers

Stereo 'IV is here. On MTV Cable. On video tape anddiscs. And now over the air. To hear it best,Design Acoustics has created new PS6V VideoSpeakers. Specially designed to complement the verybest video monitors and receivers.

PS6V speakers are efficient, for room -filling soundfrom even small built-in TV amplifiers. Yet they canalso handle the full power of a 100 watt stereo amplifier.

Unlike ordinary speakers, PS6V speakers areinternally shielded. You can place them right next toany TV set or monitor without magnetic distortion ofthe color or picture.PS6V speakers employ unique Design Acoustics

Point Source Technology' to create the idealstereo image for every listener by minimizing thespeaker front surface and reducing acoustic diffrac-tion of the sound.

PS6V speakers sound great. With deep bass fromthe long -throw 6" woofer, and smooth peak -freeresponse from the 3/4" soft -dome tweeter. Whetheryou're into music videos, classical concerts, movies,or just plain TV, everything sounds cleaner, clearer,richer with Design Acoustics PS6V speakers.

Write today for a list of dealers and literature onthe innovative speakers from Design Acoustics. Hearproof that there's far more to TV than meets the eye.

DESIGN."ACOUSTICSAn Audio-Technica Company

1225 Commerce Drive, Stow, Ohio 44224

THE AUTOPHILE

Which Features

Are Most Useful?

"I'm getting ready to buy anew car stereo. What featuresshould I get?" As car stereoproduct manager at Crutch-field, I'm frequently askedthat question. With the new1986 product lines reachingdealers now, it's a good timefor an update on the most com-mon features and a fewthoughts on how useful theyare.Digital tuning: It's a bitmore precise than analog, andas an added bonus, you'll getas many as 24 station presets

by

Jay C.

Taylor

and possibly a clock. I preferLED readouts to LCDs, whichare often difficult to make out.Seek or scan tuning:These find the next listenablestation at the touch of a buttonand definitely are a plus, par-ticularly when you are drivingin unfamiliar areas. The twomethods differ in that scansamples each successive sta-tion for about five seconds be-fore moving on, unless youpush the button again, where-as seek moves to the next lis-tenable station and staysthere. I find seek easier to use,because scan forces you to lis-ten to a weak, noisy station forfive seconds unless the button

is pushed twice. Very sensitivetuners can be annoying to op-erate in either mode, sincethey tend to stop on fringe sta-tions, which usually are quitenoisy. A local seek or sensitiv-ity switch is a helpful optionon such models. The termsseek and scan often are usedinterchangeably by retailers.If you have a preference,make sure you get what youwant.Autoreverse: Strictly a con-venience feature, this usuallyresults in a loss of high -fre-quency response. When thetape changes direction, the an-gle between it and the headusually is altered slightly, un-

less you have some way to cor-rect it, as with Sony's Dual Ad-just Head or Nakamichi'sNAAC. On autoreverse frontends without logic controls,it's also more difficult to fast -forward or rewind the tape,since the controls switch func-tion when the tape changes di-rection. Autoreverse makessense only for people who do agreat deal of long-distancedriving.

Automatic eject When atape finishes, it will eject auto-matically. A variation on this,power -off eject, kicks the tapeout when the ignition isswitched off. Both serve thelaudable purpose of prevent-

Discwasher.The clear choice for video care.Tape oxides can build upon your VCR tape heads.Result? Fuzzy picture,mushy sound. Theanswer? DiscwasherVideo Head Cleaner. Ifsa revolutionary, patent -pending, non-abrasive dry

©1985 DiscwasherA DIVISION OF INTERNATIONAL JENSEN INC.

cleaning system. Thecleaning is thorough,removing impurities fromboth video and audioheads along the entirepath-safely. With noharmful chemical solvents.Use Discwasher regularly

to maintain picture andsound clarity-and to pro-tect your VCR from costlyrepairs. You can trustDiscwasher, leader in thetechnology of audio andvideo care.

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ing flat spots on the tape andthe pinch roller, and thus tome are more desirable thanautoreverse. Key -off pinch -roller release holds the tape inplace while preventing thesame damage. If your deckdoesn't have one or the otherof these features, I'd suggestconnecting the power lead di-rectly to the battery. Other-wise, when you turn the igni-tion off, the music stops, andsooner or later you're going toforget that you were listeningto a tape.

Tape search: This is anoth-er popular convenience fea-ture that goes by any numberof different names, dependingon the manufacturer. It findsthe blank spots between songson a cassette, assumingthey're long enough, and isgreat for skipping over mate-

rial you've gotten tired of orjust don't want to listen to.Tape equalization: Youneed this to get the flattest re-sponse possible from high -biastapes. The only front endsabove $200 that wouldn't havetape EQ might be factory -in-stalled radios.Noise reduction: The sys-tem in your car stereo shouldmatch the one you use at hometo encode your cassettes.Dolby B is finding its way into

an increasing number of low-cost name -brand decks. DolbyC is usually reserved for frontends costing more than $300,and DBX is found on a limitednumber of mainly higher -priced models. The long -since -

discontinued Jensen RE -530had both Dolby B for encodedtapes and DNR for nonencod-ed sources, which I thought

was an excellent idea. Appar-ently nobody else did.Local/distant switching:This keeps very strong FMsignals from overloading thefront end. It's my least favor-ite feature, but I don't live inNew York. With it inadver-tently activated, you coulddrive around for a week herein rural Virginia with very lim-ited reception and be blamingit all on the weather. The pointis obvious: Local/distantswitching is recommended foruse in urban areas only.Mono/stereo switching:Infinitely more useful thanlocal/distant, this lets you con-tinue listening to a station formiles after stereo receptionwould have become unbear-ably noisy.Fader: This feature is uniqueto car stereo, functioning to

Its double CD player lets you playthe hits and skip the misses.

Toshiba's mini stereo system offers an optional double CD player thatlets you program up to 30 selections at a time. The system includes a dualcassette deck with double -reverse, AM/FM stereo receiver, automatic turn-table, 2 -way bass reflex speakers and a 5 -band In Touch with Tomorrowgraphic equalizer. The Toshiba System V-11. It TOSHIBAnot only sounds great, it even takes requests.

Toshiba America, Inc., 82 Totowa Road, Wayne. NJ 07470

balance sound between frontand rear speakers, assumingyou have four. But not allfaders are the same. For in-stance, one type fades only be-tween the speaker outputsand the preamp outputs. Anexternal amp would be re-quired to make it work. An in-creasingly common arrange-ment is for the fader tobalance between the frontspeaker outputs and both therear speaker leads and thepreamp output. Better still arethe new high -power receiverswith four -channel amps thatcan be used to run both frontand back speakers or that canbe bridged for much higheroutput into the front speakersonly, with the rear pair drivenby an external amp; the faderis set up to work properly in ei-

ther configuration. Such afront end is the most versatilesystem building block you canbuy. If you plan to upgradesometime in the future, it's afeature you don't want to bewithout.

Preamp outputs: This pair(or two) of low-level outputsmakes your front end moreversatile when you get readyto upgrade. It simplifies theaddition of an external amp orequalizer/booster and pro-vides a much cleaner signalthan anything you might addto the speaker leads. The lat-est trend is an input/outputloop, which facilitates addinga passive equalizer or Com-pact Disc player.

Separate bass and treblecontrols: Something you'dtake for granted on a home re-ceiver, they may be omitted infavor of a single tone controlin cheap car decks. Don't dowithout them.Loudness compensation:This feature is perhaps moreuseful in a car than at home,especially to overcome roadnoise at low listening levels.

26 HIGH FIDELITY

TVstereo.VCR stereo. AM/FM stereo.And you were going to settle

for an ordinary receiver.Technics introduces the audio receiver that's also

a video switching center.Now Technics allows you to channel your audio and video

into one advanced component. To give you not only anextraordinary audio experience, but an astonishing televisionexperience as well.

It's the new Technics SA -560 audio/ video receiver. More thanjust AM and FM stereo, it also gives you true stereo TV soundwith an ordinarylV.' All coming through your stereo systemwith 70 watts of power-

In addition, there's VCR stereo: i And cable TV sound. -;-;- Plusinputs for a compact disc player, cassette deck and turntable.All with one remarkable receiver.

Beyond that, Technics also gives you Stereoplex circuitry. Toexpand monaural sound into a spectacular stereo -like effect.

So why settle for an ordinary stereo receiver, when you canhave one extraordinary audio/video receiver. The choice isyours. The receiver is Technics.

TechnicsThe science of sound

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THE NEW JBL"L SERIES"

SETS THE STAGE AT HOME

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JBL. the most respected name in profession-al sound for over 40 years, is today's speaker of

choice. At live concerts, where 500,000 Wattsdrive over 600 speakers, and in 70% of the world'srecording studios, JBL is the speaker chosen by

professionals-performers, engineers and producers-who depend on the highest quality sound and reliability.

Now. for those who demand the same superio