NOVEMBER 1985

POLK SDA-SRS 2, KEF 107, B&W MATRIX 2 WE TEST THESE AND MORE NEW SPEAKERS

TESTING SPEAKERS -

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Matthew Polk's Awesome Sounding SDA-SRS & SDA-SRS 2

SDA SRS 2$995 ea.

a

SDA SRS$1395 ea.

Digital Disc Ready

Matthew Polk, the loudspeaker genius, with his Audio Video Grand Prix winning SDA-SRS and latest technological triumph:the extraordinary SDA-SRS 2, honored with the 1986 CES Design & Engineering Award.

"The Genius of Matthew PolkHas Created Two Awesome Sounding

Signature Edition SDAs""Spectacular... it is quite an experience"

Stereo Review Magazine

ow the genius of Matthew Polk bringsyou the awesome sonic performance ofthe SDA-SRS in a smaller, more mod-

erately priced, but no less extraordinaryloudspeaker, the SDA-SRS 2.

Matthew Pollak own dreamspeakers can now be yours!

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

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

"Exceptional performance nomatter how you look at it"

Stereo Review

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

*U.S. Patent No. 4,489,432 and 4,497, 964. Other patents paneling.

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

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

The awe-inspiring sonic performance of theSDA-SRS 2 is remarkably similar to that of theSRS. Words alone can not express the experi-ence of listening to these ultimate loudspeakersystems. You simply must hear them for yourself!

"Literally a new dimension insound" Stereo Review

Both the SDA-SRS and the SDA-SRS 2 are highefficiency systems of awesome dynamic rangeand bass capabilities. They both incorporatePolk's patented SDA True Stereo technologywhich reproduces music with a precise, life-like three dimensional soundstage which isunequalled and gives you, as Julian Hirsch ofStereo Review said, "literally a new dimensionin sound". Each beautifully styled and finishedSRS 2 cabinet contains 4 Polk 61/2" trilaminatepolymer drivers, a planar 15" sub -bass radiator,2 Polk 1" silver -coil polyamide dome tweetersand a complex, sophisticated isophase cross-over system. It is rated to handle 750 watts. TheSRS utilizes 8-6W drivers, a 15" sub -bass radia-tor, 4 Polk tweeters and an even more complexcrossover. It is rated to handle 1000 watts.

Both the SDA-SRS and SRS 2 incorporate:1.) time compensated, phase -coherent multiple

driver vertical line -source topology for greaterclarity, increased coherency, lower distortion,higher power handling, increased dynamicrange and more accurate imaging. 2.) a mono-coque cabinet with elaborate bracing and MDFbaffle for lower cabinet read-out and lowercoloration. 3.) progressive variation of the highfrequency high-pass circuitry for point -source

"the best SDAs yet...impressive and worthy of

Matt Polk's signature"High Fidelity Magazine

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

Other superb sounding Polkspeakersfrom $85. ea.

No matter what your budget is, there is asuperb sounding Polk speaker perfect for you.Polk's incredible sounding/affordably pricedMonitor Series loudspeakers start as low as $85ea. The breathtaking sonic benefits of Polk'srevolutionary True Stereo SDA technology areavailable in all Polk's SDA loudspeakers whichbegin as low as $395. each.

"Our advice is not to buyspeakers until you've heardthe Polks" Musician Magazine

The experts agree: Polk speakers soundbetter! Hear them for yourself Use thereader service card for more informationand visit your nearest Polk dealer today.Your ears will thank you.

The Speaker Specialists

Where to buy Polk Speakers? For your nearest dealer, see page 14.

5601 Metro Drive, Baltimore, Md. 21215

Matthew Polk's Magnificent Sounding New SDA 2A

SDA 2A$499.00 ea

Digital Disc Ready

Matthew Polk stands proudly alongside the latest version of his Audio Video Grand Prix Award Winning SDA 2A

"The Magnificent Sounding New True Stereo SDA 2AAgain Demonstrates the Genius of Matthew Polk"

This revolutionary speaker is the most extraordinary value in high end audio!

atthew Polk's magnificent sound-ing new 3rd generation SDA-2Aincorporates many new advances

pioneered in his top -of -the -line SignatureEdition SRSs. It achieves stunningly life-like musical reproduction which wouldbe remarkable at any price but is simplyextraordinary at $499. each.

Polk's Revolutionary hueStereo SDA Breakthrough

The magnificent sounding new SDA-2Aincorporates Polk's revolutionary True StereoSDA technology. This patented, critically ac-claimed, Audio Video Grand Prix Award win-ning breakthrough is the most importantfundamental advance in loudspeaker tech-nology since stereo itself In fact, the designprinciples embodied in the SDAs make themthe world's first and only True Stereo speakers.

Why do Polk SDAs always sound better thanconventional speakers? As illustrated in diagram1: when conventional loudspeakers are used toreproduce stereo both speakers are heard byboth ears which causes a form of acousticdistortion called interaural crosstalk which cutsdown stereo separation, obscures detail andinterferes with the proper reproduction andperception of imaging, and spaciousness. Asillustrated in diagram 2: Polk SDAs are designedso that each speaker is only heard by the onecorrect ear (i.e. left channel/left ear, rightchannel/right ear), like headphones. The resultis dramatically improved stereo separation,detail and three-dimensional imaging. In orderto accomplish this (see diagram 3) each SDAincorporates a separate set of drivers whichradiates a special dimensional (difference) sig-nal which cancels the undesirable interauralcrosstalk distortion coming from the wrongspeaker to the wrong ear. High Fidelity calledthe results "Mind Boggling".

The Most Extraordinary Valuein High End Audio Today

The new SDA-2As, like all the current SDAs,incorporate the latest 3rd generation SDAtechnology developed for Matthew Polk's Sig-nature Edition SRS and SRS -2 including 1: fullcomplement sub -bass drive for deeper, fuller,tighter and more dynamic bass response; 2:phase coherent time -compensated driveralignment for better focus, lower -colorationsmoother, clearer, more coherent midrangeand improved front -to -back depth and; 3:bandwidth -optimized dimensional signal for

"The result is always betterthan would be achieved byconventional speakers..."

Stereo Review Magazine

ConventionalSpeakersReproducing Stereo

When conventional speak-ers reproduce stereo, bothspeakers are heard by bothears which reduces stereoseparation, obscures detailand interferes with properimaging.

Only RevolutionaryPolk SDAs ReproduceTrue Stereo

Only Polk SDAs reproduceTrue Stereo by allowing eachspeaker and signal (L or R) tobe heard by only the correctear (like headphones) whichresults in dramatically im-proved stereo separation,detail and three-dimensionalimaging.

Dimensional StereoArray Array

Stereo DimensionalArray Array

1.; ,UndersrableV. 5 Crosstalk\

How Polk SDAs Achieve True StereoEach Polk SDA incorporates a special extra set of drivers

which radiates a difference signal which cancels the unde-sirable signal going from the wrong speaker to the wrongear, (interaural crosstalk distortion) resulting in True Stereoreproduction.

smoother high -end and even better soundstageand image. The new SDA-2A is the finestsounding and most technologically advancedspeaker ever produced at its extraordinarilymodest price. It sounds dramatically better thanspeakers from other manufacturers that cost 4times as much and more and is, at $499 ea.,truly the speaker of your dreams at a price youcan afford.

"Breathtaking... a new worldof hi fi listening." Stereo Buyers Guide

The spectacular sonic benefits of SDAtechnology are dramatic and easily heard byvirtually anyone. Reviewers, critical listenersand novices alike are overwhelmed by themagnitude of the sonic improvement achieved

by Polk's SDA technology. One famous reviewerremarked that after hearing the SDAs his wifesaid that she heard such a dramatic improve-ment in the sound that she insisted that hereplace their current speakers.

"Mindboggling,Astounding,

Flabbergasting"Higb Fidelity Magazine

All Polk's SDAs, including the new 2As,produce a huge lifelike three dimensional sonicimage which will amaze you. You will hear forthe first time instruments, ambience and subtlemusical nuances which are present on yourrecordings but masked by the interaural cross-talk distortion produced by conventional speak-ers. Stereo Review said, "Spectacular...literallya new dimension in the sound...the result isalways better than would be achieved by con-ventional speakers". High Fidelity said, "MindBoggling...Astounding...Flabbergasting...wehave yet to hear any stereo program that doesn'tbenefit". With SDAs every instrument, vocalistand sound becomes distinct, tangible and alive;allowing you to experience the spine tinglingexcitement, majesty and pleasure of live musicin your own home.

Other Superb Sounding PolksFrom $85. to $1395. each

No matter what your budget is there is asuperb sounding Polk speaker perfect for you.Polk's incredible sounding/affordably pricedMonitor Series loudspeakers utilize the samebasic components as the SDAs and begin aslow as $85. each. The breathtaking sonicbenefits of Matthew Polk's revolutionary TrueStereo SDA technology are available in 5 SDAmodels priced from $395. to $1395 ea.

"You owe it to yourself toaudition them" High Fidelity

The experts agree: Polk speakers soundbetter. Use the reade6 service card or writeto us for more information. Better yet, visityour nearest Polk dealer today. Your earswill thank you.

polkThe Speaker Specialists

5601 Metro Drive, Baltimore, Md. 21215

Where to buy Polk Speakers? For your nearest dealer, see pagelit.

Not Evolutionary

Pioneer's RevolutionaryAudio/Video ReceiverNecessity. The mother of invention. And now fromPioneer comes a revolutionary invention madenecessary by the rapidly merging technologies ofdigital audio and high quality video.

Meet the Pioneer VSX-5000.A new product that should be first on your list

when you decide to get into a home A/V system,be it simple or complex.

A new product that takes all your audio andvideo components and consolidates them withcomplete central control.

I.aserDisc'D /I D) Players CD Players Cassette Decks

VSX-5000

_=VSX-5000SystemRemoteControl Unit

E

MonitorReceivers

A new product that gives you the same trueDolby Surround' Sound you find in first-classmovie theatres. As well as a choice of other sur-round sounds like "Stadium" for viewing spectatorsports or concerts, or "Studio" for watching Jazz orRock performances. There's even Simulated Stereothat adds ambience to mono sound sources, anda Dynamic Expander that adds impact and excite-ment to compressed music sources.

A new product that optimizes high qualitysignals like CD and LaserVision while sharplyupgrading the fidelity of lesser -quality signals likemono VCR sound, analog records or standardbroadcast TV.

A new product with a built-in video enhancer

and video noise filter to get maxi-mum sharpness and quality out ofVCRs, LaserVision prayers, videomonitors or projection TVE. AndPioneer's unique split-screen videoformat lets you enhance picture

quality during recording or playback whilecom-paring the processed picture side -by -side wIth theoriginal.

The features just listed make the VSX-5000 anincredible value. Yet you get even more. TheVSX-5000 is a complete 100 -watts per channerreceiverwith Pioneer's exclusive Non -Switching Type IIVari-Bias" circuitry to eliminate transistor switch-ing and reduce intermodulation distortion. AQuartz-PLL AM/FM tuner includes innovationslike a visual alphanumeric readout that identifiesyour favorite station formats-"Jazz','"Rock;' or by station call letters. Anda presettable 3 -position AcousticMemory remembers how you likeyour bass and treble set for particu-lar music styles, or different audiosources.

The VSX-5000 includes Pioneer's"SR'TM system. It stands for SystemRemote and assures complete com-patibility of each Pioneer SR prod-uct assembled into your system.In the VSX-5000, you get a59 -function SR remote controlunit that gives you unheard-ofcontrol and flexible operation rightfrom your armchair.

By now you can see just howindispensable the VSX-5000 is to acomplete audio/video center.There'spractically nothing it won't do toimprove audio and video. Andwhen the future brings new compo-nents to the market, the VSX-5000will be ready to handle them too.

The revolutionary PioneerVSX-5000. The heart and soul ofyour audio and video system..Both today. And tomorrow

0

© 1986 Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., Long Beach, CA 'Dolby is a registered trademark of Dolby Labs, Inc. "Measuredpursuant tothe Federal Trade Commission's Trade Regulation Rule on Power Output Claims for Amplifiers.

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HIGH NORM (ISN 0010-1455) Is ouolished monthly at 825Seventh Ave., New Yoh, N.Y. 10019, by ABC ConsumerMagazines, Inc, a division of ABC Polishing, Ina., and osubsidiary of American 3toodcasting Companies, Inc. C) 1986by ABC Consumer Magazines. Inc. The dew and contents wefully protected by copyright and must not be reproduced in anymanner. Second-class postage paid or Nane Yoh, New York.and of additional mailing offices_ Authorized as second-classmail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa. and for paymentof postage In cash. Yearly subscript on in the U.S.A. andPossessions $13.95; elsewhere $20.95. Single copies $2.50(Canada $3.50). Subscribers: Send subscriptions, inquiries, andaddress changes to 1-11G1-1 F1DELOY, P.O Box 10759. DesMoines, Iowa 50340. Change of address: Give old and newaddresses including ZIP codes. Enclose address label from lastIssue and allow foe weeks for change become eti,setwo.POSTMASTER: Send change at address to 141011FORITY,

Volume 36 Number 11 November 1986

37 Polk SDA SRS/2 loudspeaker38 B&W Matrix 2 loudspeaker40 REF 107 loudspeaker44 Deli 7 loudspeaker48 Acoustic Research Connoisseur 40 loudspeaker

AUDIO & VIDEO49 Lights, Camcorder, Action!

by Frank Lovece

Home movies '87: a buying guide to VHS, 8mm, VHS -C, and Beta camera/recorders

55 What's New in Speaker Testingby Kenneth L. KantorAiming for perfect predici iuus of sound in the home. Plus, "2001: A Speaker Odyssey."

Classical

65 Endangered Speciesby David RubinAmerican orchestras a e

82 Nouse of Horrorsby Noah Andre TrudeaiAliens and a fly not enoug

3 arw Drys tlne e rdin studio is there an hoe e

Special Classical/Popular Double Review

83 Glass Cuttersh' K. Robert Schwarz and Mark MosesPhilip Glass's Songs from Liquid Days from both sides now

Popular/Backbeat

enry anon' s space vampires on L

84 Outside South Africa, Glaring Inby Francis Davis

Pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and singer Sathima Bea Benjamin on jazz and apartheid

95 Teddy Wilson, 1912-1986by Steve Futterman

An appreciation of the groundbreaking pianist

DEPARTMENTS8 Front Lines9 Letters

14 Currents RCA's "digital" VCR; Sansui, Denon receivers; "Copyguard Killer"30 Crosstalk Bass desires; CD rumble; "Bookshelf" speakers, horizontal or vertical?33 Bits & Pieces RDAT vs. CD: Record companies draw the line.63 Medley Are you a fan or a critic?; Mr. Libbey goes to Salzburg.68 The CD Spread Mozart's Symphony No. 40, music for two pianos, and Coronation Mass71 Classical Reviews A detailed look at Rossini's Tancredt on the occasion of a new recording80 Critics' Choice90 Popular and Jas: Reviews Russian rock, smuggled out; Russian jazz, okayed for export96 Manufacturers' Comments

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Get a Great Pictureand Spectacular Stereowith Radio Shack's New VCRsHO System Plus Built-in Stereo TV Tuners

These new Rea list icj'' VHS decks have the HO system fcrsharper video, plus an MTS/SAP tuner for stereo TV andsecond -language brcad:asts. Just connect either model toyour stereo system as you wou d an audio deck.

Built-in Comb Fitters and VHS Hi-fi SystemModel 41 comtines the HO system and ccmb filters fcr

absolutely sensat.c nal video tape clarity and color accuracy.Aid VHS Hi-Fi gives you and o performance that rivetcompact Jisc! Th s VCF will also work as a long -play hgt--spec aud:o recorder It's tie heart of a superb audio/v deDsystem. Only $599.95 cr as lo.. as $213 per month*.

VHS Stereo With Dolby- Noise ReductionModel 31 has features that simplify operation. Auto-

fLnction bads a :ape, plays it -ewincis, and shuts off. Aninput selector mates it easy to tape TV/FM simulcasts. Youasc get a 110-chan lel cable -ready tuner and a 14 -Jay/5 -event timer. Only $499.95 or as low as $23 per month*.'Citt,ine revolving credit Muni CitibanV Actual payment may Amy depenoing upon balarce. Prices apt at paticapaltil Relic Shack stores ard cealer- tTM Laboratmes Lcensing C.rp

In Stock Today at Our Store Near YouBoth of these versatile decks include first-class owner's

manuals, an important item that many other brands sk mpon So come in today. See and I -ear fot yourself the Realisticdire"ence in our best -ever VCRs!

Rath. ithaeitA DIVISION OF TANGY CORFORATIOL1

Send for FREE 1987 Radio Shack Catalognail to Rac io Shack, Department 87.A-944,ZOO Ore Te ndy Center, Fort Worth, -X 7610?

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A speakerdesigned to onestandard:Live music.

f you have ever heard music live, you can appreciate what'sbehind the Bose° 901° Series V Direct/Reflecting speakersystem.

Live music is the complex interaction of direct and reflectedsound. Most speakers, however, are not designed with this inmind-which is why they sound more like speakers and lesslike music.

This was the conclusion reached years ago by a MassachusettsInstitute of Technology research team led by Dr. Amar G. Bose.Through extensive research, his team discovered the secret of livemusic: that it is the precise balance of direct and reflected soundheard during live performances that makes live music sound live.Finally, they designed a product that could put this discovery to workin the living room: the Bose 901 Direct/Reflecting system.

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

The introduction of the revolutionary Bose 901 system in 1968redefined the phrase "high fidelity." For the first time, a speaker wascapable of reproducing music with much of the impact, clarity andspaciousness of a live performance. The 901 system's concert hallsound and compact size made it an instant success with both audiocritics and audio enthusiasts.

Today's 901 Series V system incorporates some 350 improvementsover the original. The speaker's innovative audio technology turnsyour listening room into an essential part of your stereo system. The901 system works by reflecting most of its sound, instead of aiming all

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

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

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

available. The heart of the driver is the HelicalVoice Coil, which handles instantaneous peaksof up to 4,000 watts! Multiple HVC drivers give

the 901 system unlimited power handling inhome applications

The Acoustic Matrix TM enclosurehe ps the 901 system control

sound by precisely controllinga r. Made up of 14 separate

acoustic regions, it isc ates thedrivers and regulates internal airflow, resulting in increased bass

and lower distortion.

The Bose 901 active equalizer uses low -distortion electronics to contra the system'stotal frequency response, allowing a compactsystem to produce full-frequercy sound.Digital Dynamic Range circuitry makes theentire system ideal for use witt the bestsources available.

In the coicert hall (above left), listeners hear a complex mixture of direct and reflectedsounds, arriving from different directions and at different times. Bose Direct/Reflectingspeakers (enter) are designed to reproduce music in much the same manner, allowinglisteners tc hear greater realism and impact. Conventional speakers (above right), onthe other hand, reproduce primarily direct sound, causing listeners to miss many of thecritical accustic cues that make live music sound live.

the sound toward you like a conventional speaker. So, anything youlisten tc over a 901 system picks up a strong sense of concert hall real-ism, because the system is capable of reproducing the concert hall'snatural balance of direct and reflected sound. Best of all, the 901 sys-tem's u tra-high efficiency and unlimited power handling in home applica-

tions make it compatible with almost any stereo system.

The right speaker for the best in audio: digital.Obviously, a speaker system this exceptional deserves the best

possiole source of sound available. That's why for a limited time.Bose has a digital bonus when you invest in 901 speakers.

Wt -en you buy a Bose 901 system at a participating dealer betweenOctober 1, 1986 and January 15,1987, Bose will give you yourchoice o' eight free compactdiscs from a CBS' records specialcollection! And you'll hear yourCD's as close to live as possible,because the Bose 901 system hasbeen specifically engineered totake full advantage of their supe-rior sound. Digital DynamicRange circuitry and Direct/Reflecting® speaker design allow the 901 system to accurately repro-duce live music's impact, clarity and spaciousness.

FREE!Eight Compact Discsfrom a CBS Records spe-cial collection when you buya Bose 901 system!Details at left.

The right speaker for your entire systemWhether you're listening to digital audio or hi-fi video, the Bose 901

Series V System will let you get the most out of your entire equipment andsoftware nvestment-because it will let you hear all of the realism that atruly goad audio/video system is capable of producing. Audition theBose 901 Direct/Reflecting' speaker system at your authorized Bosedealer, and judge for yourself. Then take the next step-and invite alegend -lame.

There is an entire line of Bose speakers that incorporates much of theadvanced technology developed for the 901 system. For more informa-tion and an all product brochure, write Bose Corporation, Dept. HF, 10Speen Street, Framingham, MA 01701.

When you write for information, be sure to request a copy of Dr. AmarBose's Sound Recording and Reproduction. This paper describes theresearch effort behind the original Bose 901 system.

"F_.: Copyright 198E Base Corporatmn. All rIghts reserved Covered by patent nghts issued and/or pending.Features and spercificatons subtect to change wanoutnottce OrrectlRellechng, Syncom. 901 and Digital Dynamic flange are registered trademarks of Bose Corder awnAcoustic Mains tca trademark of Bose Corporator, CBS IS a registered trademark of CBS Inc

Better sound through research.

polkThe Speaker Specialists ®

Where to buy Polk Speakers?

MITHOPM3 KALB USTCANADA Call Evolution Technology. Torontotel nearest dealer 1-800-263-6395Al. Auburn: Audio Warehouse Birmingham (Homewood): Audition

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WarehouseIL Aemre: Stereo Systems Bloomingdale:Alan's Creative Stereo Buffalo Goya:Columbia Audio Video Carbondale: South-ern Stereo Champaign: Good Vibes SoundInc EleKalb: Audio Plus Modem Es-tates: Simply Stereo Highland Park: Co-lumbia Audio Video Joliet: Stereo Systems Lansing: Audio Clinic Mt. Prospect: Sim-ply Stereo Naperville: Stereo Systems, Ibrhbrook: Alan's Creative Stereo Peale:Team Electronics Riverdale: Simply Stereo Rockford: Columba Audio Video Slimm-ing:a: Alan's Creative Stereo. Hi Fi Hutch Springfield: Sundown One Sterling: Mid,west Hi Fi Venom Hills: Alan's CreativeStereo Villa Part: Hi Fi Hutch %flattop':Alan's Creative SlereoIN Bloomington: HOOsler Electronics Bluffton: Eley TV & Stereo Ft. Wayne:Classic Stereo Lafayette: Good Vibes SoundInc Marion: Classic Stereo Muncie:Classic Slereo South Bend: ClassicStereo Terre Haute: Hoosier ElectronicsIA Des Moines: Audio Labs Fairfield:Gorden Ear Audio Video Mason City: SoundWorld Sion City: Audio EmporiumKS Junction City: Audio Junction Over-land Park: Audio Electronics Wichita:Audio Visions Topeka: Nelson'sKY Bowling Germ Audio Center Lexington: Stereo Shopper Ovation Audio LA Gretna: Stereo Village Latreette: SoundElectronics Metairie: Stereo Village NewOrleans: Stereo Village Opelousas: SoundEiectronros Shreveport: Audio Fidelity West Monroe: Audio WestME Bangor Sound Source Conde.:Harbor Audio Video Westbrook: Hawkers TV -The Sound CellarMD Annapolis: Spaceways Sound Bal.More: Soundscape Frederick:Evergreen Audio Re Mile: Myer ErncoMA Bohm: Waltham Camera 8 Stereo Fitchburg: Fitchburg Music N. Dartmouth:Creative Sound Systems WorcesterO'CoinsMI Han Arbor. Absolute Sound Bk.mIngham: Armes Hi Ft Dearborn: Almas

F East Lansing: Stereo Shoppe Farmington Hills: Almas Hr Fi GrandRapids: Classic Stereo Ltd Ion Mountain:Sound North Pramual: Classic SlereoLtd Unstop: Stereo Shoppe POMP:Sound Room Royal Oak: Absolute Sound Saginaw: Audio Shopper Court St ListeningRoom Traverse City: Slereo ShoppeMN Brooklyn Center Audio King Bums-vele: Audio King Duluth: Met's IV & Audio (dim: Audio King Mankato: Audio King Mieneapolls: Audio King Minnetonka:Audio King Rochester Audio

King Roseville: Au!h o King SI. Peel:Audio KingMS Columbus: Audio Advanlage Gulfport:Empress Jackson: Walters Audio Pas-cagoula: Empress Tupelo: Audio Advantage110 Cape Girardeau: Stereo One Cofferhis: D 8 M Sound Lebanon: Sight& Sound St. Louis: Sound CentralMT Boxemen: Thirsty Ear Great Falls:Rocky Mountain Hi FiNC Asheville: Mr Toad's Stereo Video Chapel Hill: Stereo Sound Charlotte:Stereo Video. Tarts Gastonia: Tarts Greensboro Stereo Sound Klenepolle:Tarts Moorehead City: Anderson Audio New Bonn: Anderson Audio Piseville:Stereo Video Raleigh: Audio Buys, StereoSound Wilmington: Atlantic Audio Winston-Salem: Stereo SoundND Bismarok: Pacific Sound Minot:Midwest AudioN E Lincoln: Stereo West Norfolk: Mid CitySlereo Omaha: Stereo WestNH Concord: Audio of New England Lac-onia: Audio of New England Sew Wagon:North Star Electronics Salem: Cuomo'sN J East Bronswick: Atlantic Stereo Frank-lin Lakes: Franklin Lakes Stereo MapleShade: Bryn Mawr Stereo Mooklair Per-due Radio Renton: AC Audio Ridgewood:Sounding Board Shrewsbury: MonmouthStereo Toms River Rands Camera WestCalderon: Perdue RadioNM Albequergeo: Real Time Audio Al-mogordo: DAB Electron. CarlabetBeasontN V Las Vegas: Upper Ear Remo: The AudioAuthorityNY Albany: Clark Music Betavie: UnicornAudio Buffalo: Speaker Shop Coming:Chemung Electronics Elmira: ChenungElectronics Fredonia: Studio One GlensFoils: Audio Genesis Huntington: AudioBreakthroughs Ithaca: ChemungElectronics Jamestown: Studio One Manhasset: Audio Breakthroughs N ewburgh: Reneges Electronics New YorkCity: Audio Breakthroughs. Electronic Work-shop Rochester. JB Sound Scarsdale:Listening Room Syracuse: Clark Music Vestal: Hart Electronics WappingersRand:ins ElectronicsOH Cleveland: Audio Craft Cincinnati:Stereo Lab Colymber. Stereo Lab Fair-lawn: Audio Craft Findlay: Audio CrabLima: Classic Stereo Mrylield Height':Audio Craft Toledo: Audio Craft Westlake:Audio CraftOK LAMP: Hi Fi Shop Oklahoma City:Audio Dimensions lulu: Audio AdviseOR Beaverton: Stereo Superstores Eugene:BradfordS High Fidelity Portland: StereoSuperstoresPA Allenteem: Bryn Mawr Stereo Altoona:Sound Concepts Blakely: Hart Electronics Bryn Mawr Bryn Mawr Stereo Camp HIA:Bryn Mawr Stereo Erie: Studio One FrazerBryn Mawr SWIM Indiana: Sound Concepts Jenkintown: Bryn Mawr Stereo John -down: Gary's Entertainment Kingston: HartElecl roma Lancaster. G'n'T Stereo Montgomeryville: Bryn Mawr Stereo Natrona Heights: Stereo Land Phila-delphia: Bryn Mawr Stereo Pittsburgh:Audio Junction Quakertown: Bryn MawrStereo Reading: G n T Slereo Soling-raed..,Silerseoderop Williamsport:

PUERTO RICO Rio Piedras: Precision AudioRI K. Providence: Eastern AudioSC Charleston: Auk, Warehouse Colum-bia: Stereo Shop Greenville: Mitchel' sStereo Greemmod: Stereo Shop RackHill: Tarts Spertanshurg: Stereo ShopSD Rapid City: Team Electronics SiouxFoils: Audio KingTN Chettanoogs: College Hr Ft Cookeville: Network Entedammenl Johnson City: Mr. Toad's Stereo Video Kingsport Mr Toad's Stereo Video Knoxville: Lindsey Ward McMinnville:Network Entertainment Memphis: Opus IINashville: Hi Fr BuysTX Arlington: Sound Idea Austin: AudioVideo Beaumont Brock Audio CollegeStriae: Auto Video Corpus Christi: TapeTown El Paso: Soundqued R. Worth:Sound Idea Galveston: Island Audio Houston: Sheflield Audio Hurst: Sound Idea Longview: Audio Techniques Lubbock:Ultra Electronics Odessa: Harold's Elec-tronics Sherman: Worldwide Stereo Ample: Audio Tech Texaffurna: SoundTome Waco: Audio Tech UT Lope store only: Stokes Brothers SanLake City: Broadway Music YT Burlington: Audio DenVA Bristol: Mr Toad's Slereo Video Char-lottesville: Sound Machine Fall, Church:Myer Erna; Leesburg: Evergreen Audio Richmond: Gary's Stereo Roanoke: Au-dolronics Virginia Beach: Digital SoundWA Believer. Northwest Audio Video Bell-ingham: OC Stereo Learned: NorthwestAudio Video Llak Ha en SC Stereo Center Richland: Tin Ear Stereo Seater DetinthveAudio. Northwest Audio Video Spokane:vEleclideeracrall illa151 ltdcwila: Northwest Audio

WV Bedroom/lie: Pied Piper &odderPied Piper linellogton: Pled Piper Mewpritown: Sound Post Piedmont SoundGalleryWI Appleton: Sound Wond Eaa Claire:EME Audio Systems Green Bay: SoundWorld Lacrosse: Sound World Medium:Happy Medium Marinette: Sound Seller Milwaukee: Audio Emporium WeeperSound WorldWY Cheyenne: Team Fier:Vona Riverleo:Sound Room

CURRENTS

"Digital" VCR from RCANOW, ALMOST TWO YEARS AFTER THE FIRST

digital television sets were introduced,similar circuitry can be found in RCA'sVMT-400 VHS videocassette recorder.The new model, said to be the first of itskind to reach the consumer market, in-corporates nine dynamic random-accessmemories to provide both tape and tunerspecial effects.

The picture -in -picture function al-lows a tape and any TV station to beviewed simultaneously, with either onesuperimposed in a small box in any cor-ner of the screen. This feature can also beused in conjunction with a video camerato, for example, monitor a sleeping childor screen visitors at the front door. In ad-dition, a freeze frame can be made fromany off -air broadcast (including onewithin the picture -in -picture display)

while the sound continues to run. Tapespecial effects (slow motion, still frame,search) are said to be rendered virtuallynoise -free by the digital circuitry. Twodigital video effects can be applied toboth tape and off -air pictures: One is a"mosaic" effect (sometimes seen insports shows), and the other is a "mot-tled" look like that used in music videos.

Other features include a 119 -channeltuner, a four-event/one-year timer withon -screen programming, HQpicture cir-cuitry (three of the four available circuitsare used), and a full -function wireless re-mote control. The VMT-400 will workwith existing RCA Digital Command re-mote controls as well. It is expected tocost $700. For more information, contactRCA Consumer Electronics, 600 N.Sherman Dr., Indianapolis, Ind. 46201.

AR CAR PRODUCTSACOUSTIC RESEARCH'S NEW LINE OF CARproducts, the GCS series, consists of ninemodels, including a three-way modularspeaker system (the GCS -100), a pair ofdrop -in replacement speakers (the 4 -by -6 -inch GCS -1200 and the 3'/2 -inch dual -coneGCS -1400), and a power amplifier (theGCS -80/40) rated at 80 watts (19 dBW) perchannel when operated in the bridged two -channel mode and 40 watts (16 dBW) perchannel in the four -channel mode.

The GCS -100 comprises a 6 -by -9 -inchwoofer, a 4 -inch midrange driver, and a 1 -inch tweeter. A separate crossover moduleserves two systems and divides the audiospectrum at 220 Hz and 1.3 kHz. As with allthe other speakers in the GCS line, the GCS -100's driver diaphragms are made frompolypropylene, which is said to be affectedless by heat and moisture than are conven-tional materials and therefore ideal for con-sistent performance in mobile applications.

The black driver housings are scratch -resis-tant and have wire -mesh grilles. System im-pedance is given as 4 ohms, and sensitivity israted at 93 dB SPL (sound pressure level) at1 meter with a 2.83 -volt input. A pair ofGCS -100 systems costs $260. Details on theentire line of car products can be obtainedfrom Acoustic Research, 330 Turnpike St.,Canton, Mass. 02021.

PIONEER CD/VIDEODISCPLAYERFOR ITS SECOND COMBINATION CD/VIDEODISC

player, the CLD-909, Pioneer has considera-bly reduced the bulk of the player mecha-nism. As in the earlier CLD-900, the CLD-909 uses separate motors for playing CDsand videodiscs, but the same laser assemblyscans both. A newly developed pulse -countvideo FM -detector circuit contributes to theunit's rated 400 lines of horizontal resolu-tion and 45 -dB video signal-to-noise ratio. A

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

CAN YOUFIND THE

STEREOPHONECORD IN THIS

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

CIKOSSstereophones

CURRENTSwhite paper from Pioneer says that the play-er has "the highest performance level of anyvideo device in use by the general public," aclaim we are prepared to believe. In additionto Compact Discs, the unit will play video-discs with digital or CX-encoded sound-tracks. A multifunction wireless remote con-trol operates most of the player features,including numerous scanning and cueingmodes and a ten -track CD program memory.A CD subcode output is provided for con-

nection to as -yet -unannounced accessories.Price is $900. For more information, contactPioneer Electronics (U.S.A.), Inc., P.O. Box1720, Long Beach, Calif. 90801.

MUSIC ALBUMS ON IASERINSCVIDEODISC PLAYERS THAT CAN DECODEdigital soundtracks, such as the PioneerCLD-909, are the major beneficiaries of the"Compact Laserdisc AudioNideo Album,"

THESOUNDOF THEFL

COME TO WHERE THE MUSIC IS.MEET THE SYMPHONY I. $550/PR.The state-of-the-art speaker systemwith sound clarity unmatched at any price.By Tennessee Sound CompanyP.O. Box 1252 Bristol, TN 37621 (615) 878-4121Please call or write for further informationor direct sales. Dealer inquiries invited.MasterCard and Visa accepted.

a new format introduced by Pioneer's Laser -disc Corporation of America. Each 12 -inchdisc contains three or four video clips (withdigital audio soundtracks) followed by theaudio portion of the corresponding Com-pact Disc in its entirety. During the later por-tion, a still picture of the album cover is dis-played on -screen. Pioneer Artists hasagreements with a number of major recordcompanies to supply material for the discs,which are priced near regular CompactDiscs at $17. Contact Laserdisc Corporationof America, 200 W. Grand Ave., Montvale,N.J. 07645.

ABOUT A YEAR AGO, GENERAL ELECTRIC

introduced a hand-held remote con-trol that could be programmed totake on the functions of as many asfour existing infrared remote units ofvirtually any make. A second model,called Control Central 3, is a slightlytrimmed -down version that can di-gest the contents of as many as threedifferent controllers. Programming isdone one key at a time, with the GEremote placed head to head with theother unit to "read" its infraredpulses. A lock switch disables the pro-gramming mode to prevent acciden-tal overwriting of the memorized con-tents. Control keys are labeled for themost common audio and video func-tions. The unit operates on batteries

bnd sells for $100. Details are avail-

' le from General Electric Co., Ports-outh, Va. 23705.

, , ,... ., ,..4.,..4.........,....*,...6......,,,,.....44-

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 20)

crhe International Preview Society invites you to

accept a No Obligation Classical Music Membership and yourchoice of any.., DIGITAL RECORDINGS

for elonly kP

plus shippingand handling

Plus A

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RCA RED SEAL, DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON , LONDON, PHILIPS...AND MORE!Vivaldi

The FourSeasons

The English C-0.01

Pinnock

Vivaldi, The FourSeasons SimonStandage, violin.Trevor Pinnock leadsThe English Concert."Breathtaking."-Stereo ReviewArchiv 115356

TOMINOVSK V7.4i4.101.4 V 1,1;

'ISMESTE VINE

Tchaikovsky, Sym-hony No. 6 (Patie-igue) Chicago

Symphony Orch.rLevine. "A sound thatdazzles and sings."-Milwaukee JournalRCA 153939

Rimsky-Korsakov,ScheherazadeAndre Previn con-ducts the ViennaPhilharmonic Or-chestra in a lush,evocative interpreta-tion. Philips 115415

The CanadianBrass

High, Bright,Light And Clear

High, Bright, Light 8Clear The CanadianBrass plays Baroquemusic: Air On The GString, MasterpieceTheatre Theme, manyothers.RCA 144529

DVORAKNew WorldSymphony

Chicago

SymphonyOrchestra

Solti

Dvorak, SymphonyNo. 9 (From TheNew World)Chicago SymphonyOrchestra/Solti. "Theplaying is superlativelygood:'-GramophoneLondon 115168

SUNDAYin the PARKwith GEORGE

Original 474CantAlm

Sunday In The ParkWith George (Sand -helm) The Grammywinning originalcast album starringMandy Patinkin andBernadette Peters.RCA 154014

LUCIANOPAVAROTTI

MAMMAHENRY4ZiZigi

Pavarotti: MammaHenry Manciniarrangements of 16Neapolitan songs.Also includes Vienisul mar, Musica pro-ibita & Vivere.London 115310

MOZARTS{MPHONY No.40SYMPHONY NO.41

COUNTER -IOK., MM.,

Mozart, SymphoniesNos. 40 in G Minor &41 in C (Jupiter)James Levine leadsthe Chicago Sym-phony Orchestra instrong performances.RCA 104810

This remarkable $1 offer is being made to introduce you to anoutstanding classical music membership-with never anyobligation to buy.

You'll find hundreds of outstanding albums in each issue of the Socie-ty's magazine, which will be sent to you every 4 weeks. You will alsoreceive 6 special sale issues, giving you 19 opportunities a year toshop for fine music at home. But there is no obligation to accept anyoffering at any time.

You choose only the music you want!If you'd like to accept the Main Selection, you need not do a thing. Itwill be sent automatically. If you'd prefer an alternate selection or noneat all, just mail back the Notification Card by the specified date. You'llalways have at least 10 days to decide.

Substantial savings with our half-price bonus plan.For every regular purchase you do make, you may choose a bonusalbum for orly half of the members' club price! A shipping/handlingcharge is added to each shipment.

3 Records or cassettes for just $1!Begin your membership now by choosing any 3 digital albums shownhere for just $1 plus shipping and handling. Send no money now. Wewant you to judge for yourself before you decide to buy. If not delighted,return your 3 albums at the end of 10 days without obligation.

ATTENTION COMPACT DISC BUYERS!Now there's a Club just for you! The Compact Disc Club featuresthe latest CD albums from classical to popular/rock-with never an obligation to buy. And a Half -Price BonusPlan gives you even greater savings on Compact Discs.

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lizhak PerlmanMOZART

Violin ConcertosNos. 3 & 5

James Galway

Henry tiancini

In The Pink

HOROWITZ IN LONDON

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Gershwin, Rhapsody Mozart, Violin Galway & Mancini: Horowitz In LondonIn Blue; An American Concertos Nos. 3 8 5 In The Pink The Pink Schumann, Kinder -In Paris; Concerto in F Itzhak Perlman, violin. Panther Breakfast At scenen; Chopin,Andre Previn, pianist Vienna Philharmonic/ Tiffany's, Pennywhistle Polonaise-Fantaisie 88 conductor; Pitts- Levine. "Radiantly Jig, Two For The Ballade No. 1;burgh Symphony sumptuous." Road, Meggie's Scriabin, Etude in D -Orchestra. -High Fidelity Theme, more. Sharp Miner; more.Philips 115437 DG 115106 RCA 151758 RCA 162507

S

GEORGIRSOLTIConducts Orchestral

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The ViennaPhilharmonic

Wagner, OrchestralHighlights From TheRing ViennaPhilharmonic Orch./Solti. Ride Of TheValkyries, Magic FireMusic, moreLondon 115426

Bach, Organ WorksDaniel Chorzempaplays Toccata 8Fugue in D Minor;Prelude & Fugue inE -Flat; Prelude, Largo.4 Fugue in C.Philips 115193

BRA HMS

Brahms, HungarianDances ViennaPhilharmonic Or-chestra led by ClaudioAbbado. "Richly playedand vividly recorded."-FanfareDG 115408

MOZART

RequiemI ...den Mate

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Mozart, RequiemM. Price, Schmidt,Araiza, Adam. LeipzigRadio Choir; DresdenState Orchestraconducted byPeter SchreierPhilips 115039

NO OBLIGATION TO BUY EVER

rMMMMMMMMMMail To: The International Preview Society

P.O. Box 91406 / Indianapolis, IN 46291

Li YES! Please accept my membership in The InternationalPreview Society and send me, for 10 days' free examination,the 3 albums I have indicated below. I may return them after10 days and owe nothing, or keep them and pay only $1 plusshipping & handling.

Please send all selections on: El Records 1 Cassettes

Write selectionnumbers here:

Mr.D Mrs.t: Miss F,rst Name Initial Last Name (PLEASE PRINT)

Address Apt.

City State Zip

Telephone (Area Code

-LB-ssi _I 0

El YES, please enroll me, instead, as a member in the Com-pact Disc Club and send my introductory selection for only $1plus shipping & handling. Full membership details will followwith same 10 -day no -obligation return privilege. I reserve theright to return my CD if not satisfied, and owe nothing, with nofurther obligation.

Write Selection Number Here: ! D VLS53 0Limited to new members, continental USA only; one membership per family. We reserve the right

IPS 511 to request additional information or reject any application. Local taxes, if any, will be added.L

A centaur's horn cries hauntingly. A siren's song whispers

untold promises. For listeners with discerning ears, those

rare and magical sounds can be a reality. A reality evoked by

a speaker possessing a higher fidelity. Altec Lansing!

How did Altec Lansing bring this world to life? By creat-

ing the ideal materials to more perfectly recreate the timbre,

texture and power of every musical composition. Carbon

Fiber Woofers for soft passages that come across as dramat-

ically as loud passages. A Polyimide Mid Range and Tweeter for

rich, uncolored sound. And to coordinate these components

for remarkably true-to-life sound, we delivered the "art of

balance:' Even our hand-crafted cabinets have been specially

designed for optimum musicality. The result? Speakers so pure,

so uncompromising, they capture the very soul of sound.

If you have an uncompromising ear, measure it against our

new line of loudspeakers. And hear what others only imagine.

Altec Lansing is sold only by leading high fidelity retailers.

For informatior and the name of your nearest Altec Lansing

dealer, call 1-800-ALTEC 88. (In PA, 717-

296-HIF1). In Canada call 416-496-0587

or write 265 Hood Road, Markham,

Ontario, Canada L3R 4N3.

© 1986 Altec Lansing Consumer

Products, Milford, PA 18337

CURRENTSSANSUI RECEIVERSSANSUI'S TWO MIDPRICE RECEIVERS, THE S -X700 ($310) AND S -X500 ($250), ARE SAID TO

provide the dynamic power needed for proper playback of Compact Discs. TheS -X700 is rated at a nominal 40 watts (16 dBW) per channel (0.04 percent totalharmonic distortion from 20 Hz to 20 kHz) but can provide as much as 70 watts(18.5 dBW) dynamic power into 8 ohms. The S -X500 is similarly rated at 25watts, or 14 dBW (with 0.05 percent THD), and 50 watts (17 dBW) per channel.There are connections on both units for phono and CD player, with one of twotape inputs available for video sound hookup. The quartz-PLL (phase -lockedloop) tuners each have 16 presets for programming any combination of FM orAM stations. Both units are finished in black. Contact Sansui Electronics Corp.,1250 Valley Brook Ave., Lyndhurst, N.J. 07071.

SANSUI'S S -X700 (TOP) AND

S-XS0111 RECEIVERS EACH

NAVE A VARIABLE

LOUDNESS-COMPENSA

CONTROL

NOTE FROM JAPANFOR SOME TIME NOW, JVC HAS BEENmarketing a videodisc system in Japan calledVHD, or Video High Density. Although in-compatible with Pioneer's Laserdisc format(VHD does not use a laser: Its stylus ridesalong the disc's surface and transduceschanges in capacitance), VHD has been em-braced by a number of other Japanese manu-facturers.

The latest application for the homecrowd is three-dimensional VHD video-discs. The programs are recorded with twocameras (one for the left eye, one for theright), putting alternate fields from each(the cameras having recorded changes everysixtieth of a second) onto the disc master.But the silly cardboard -and -cellophaneglasses normally associated with 3-D havebeen replaced by a new high-tech version:These contain liquid -crystal shutters thatopen and close alternately in one sixtieth ofa second to synchronize (via a wire attachedto the videodisc player) with the two imagesrecorded by the cameras, thus creating theillusion of depth. So far, though, this tech-nique has been plagued by a constant visibleflickering.

The last word on VHD was that neither itnor 3-D VHD will come to these shores. But

CURRENTSif 3-D does, it will certainly mean new life fora recently redeparted friend: Mr. Godzilla,it's your agent on line two!

AKAI SURROUND -SOUNDPROCESSORTHE AS -P302 SURROUND -SOUND PROCESSOR

from Akai offers both Dolby Surround (formovie soundtracks) and matrix -type pro-cessing (for extracting ambience infor-mation from music recordings). It also con-tains a 25 -watt (14-dBW) rear -channelpower amplifier and comes with a wirelesshandset that controls power, volume, mut-ing, front/back and left/right balance, sur-round -sound mode, and AM/FM-preset se-lection (when used with the Akai AT -A102tuner). In addition, the remote has threememory buttons, each holding settings formode, balance, effect level, and volume.Connections and switching are provided fora videodisc player, two VCRs, an auxiliaryaudio -video source (the jacks for which areon the front panel), and an audio tape deck.Front -panel controls include balance, mode,volume, muting, and tone. Price is $300.Write Akai America, Ltd., 800 W. ArtesiaBlvd., Box 6010, Compton, Calif. 90224.(CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 4 )

ENON' S MOST AFFORDABLE ($300) AM/FM RECEIVER IN ITS NEW LINEUP, THE

DRA-3EV, shares some advanced technology with the company's series of sepa-rate components. For instance, the unit, rated at 40 watts (16 dBW) per channel,uses Denon's Non -Switching Class A circuitry, said to combine the efficiency ofClass 3 amplifiers with the low distortion characteristics of Class A designs. The

.preamp section has continuously variable loudness compensation and a speci-fied RIAA equalization accuracy of better than ±0.5 dB. Input switching, includ-ng the receiver's two sets of video -soundtrack inputs, is performed electronical-y to shorten paths on the circuit board and reduce chances of noise pickup. Theequency-synthesis tuner section has 16 AM or FM presets and a choice of man -al or scanned tuning.

Other Denon introductions include the DRA-55V (55 watts, or 17.4 dBW, perhanne:), the remote -controlled DRA-75VR (65 watts, or 18.1 dBW, per chap-el), and the remote -controlled DRA-95VR (85 watts, 19.3 dBW, per channel),hich has a simulated -stereo circuit for video applications. The DRA-95VR also

ncorpc.rates Denon's Pure Current power supply for improved performance'nto cifficult-to-drive low -impedance speakers. Prices for the 55V, 75VR, and95VR, respectively, are $400, $500, and $600. For additional information on all

f the receivers in the company's lineup, contact Denon America, Inc., 27 Lawr., Fairfeld, NJ. 07006.

DENON'S Of A -35V AM/FM RECEIVER

INCLUDES TIE COMPANY'S NON-

SWITCHISIGCLASS A CIRCUITRY.

Our new UX tapes deliverhigher highs, lower lows andwider dynamic range.

If you're going to listen to music at all,you may as well get it all. No matter howhigh or low, how loud or soft. Captured sofaithfully that trying one of these newtapes at least once is something you oweyourself And your music.

Each of these four new UX tapes rep-resents the kind of advancement of musicreproduction you've come to expect fromSony. UX-ES, for instance, offers the bestfrequency response of any Type II tapewe've ever formulated. Yet UX-PRO actuallygoes one better with a ceramic tape guidethat yields the most incredibly quiet tapehousing Sony has ever produced.

Sony UX tapes. Now when a musicianreally extends him- s oNyself, so will your tape.

THE ONE AND ONLY

1986 Sony Corporation of America. Sony and The One and Only aretrademarks of Sony.

A Denon amp

its only competition.

Denon PMA-900VIntegrated Amplifier

.3« G e.d, NJ 0700617 Den,son Street, Markham, Ont. 1B5 Canada

DRA-95VR: Remote Control; Video Capability; 85 W/ch.,both ch. driven, 8 Ohms, 2C Hz -20 kHz, 0.03% THD.

DRA-55V: Non -Switching Class A Circuitry; Video Capab55 W/ch., both ch. driver, E Ohms, 20Hz-20 kHz, 0.015% rs- D.

Denon DRA-95VRAM/FM Receiver

DRA-75VR: Remote Control; Video Capability; 65 W/ch.,both ch. driven, 8 Ohms, 20 Hz -20 kHz, 0.03% THD.

DRA-35V Non -Switching Class A Circuitry; Video Capability;40 W/ch., both ch. driven, 8 Ohms. 20 Hz -20 kHz, 0.05% THD.

Admittedly, it's tough to compete withDeinon's integrated amplifiers. In Japan,they've been praised for "a wide balanceaid richness in sound" and called "nothingshort of phenomenal" But now Denon ampsa--e getting a run for their money... from thenew Denon receivers.

Combining a separates -qualityamplifier and tuner on the same chassis is nota rew idea. But who else actually does it?I.Dak inside the new DRA-95VR Receiver andyaill find precisely the sane circuits thatmake Denon amps so highly acclaimed.

You'll discover the same Pure CurrentF--wer Supply for an amazing 60 dBr-aduction in dynamic IM d stortion. You'll seethe same discrete output transistors (notcheap IC "power packs") for superior sonicr?,solution. The same video inputs and out -parts. And the same MC cartridge head amp.

Beyond even this, Der on's top twoReceivers are supplied with an integratedremote control that also operates a DenonCassette Deck and any of three Denon CDPlayers.

So before you make your next high) fidelity purchase, get yourself to a Denon

doolec He'll show you the only receivers withh- guts to stand up to the world's finestin-egr kited amps.

DENONDESIGN IN':GRITY

CURRENTSTAKING ON BIG BROTHERMORE AND MORE MOVIES ON VIDEOTAPE ARE

getting the Macrovision copy -guard treat-ment, which prevents their unlawful duplica-tion. The issue of private copying of copy-righted video materials is unsettled at best(it has already been through the courts andmay be taken up by Congress) and is compli-cated by complaints that the Macrovisiontechnique makes the tapes unplayable oncertain television sets.

A device from DT Electronics Interna-tional is said to remove all interference thatmight arise from such copy -guarding. The"Copyguard Killer" includes a set of videoinputs and outputs, an RF output for con-nection to a standard TV, a vertical stabilizercircuit, and two picture controls: an imageenhancer for sharpening the overall pictureand a noise eliminator to reduce "snow"caused by the sharpening. The manufactur-er specifically warns that this device is not in-tended to facilitate duplication of copyright-ed materials but only "to improve homeviewing." This disclaimer has not dampenedthe ire of concerned software makers. Priceis set at $230. Additional information can beobtained by writing DT Electronics Interna-tional Corp., 100 E. 12th St., New York, N.Y.10003.

ii

UNUSUAL SPEAKER DESIGNTENNESSEE SOUND HAS TAKEN A DECIDEDLY

different approach to controlling speak-er distortion caused by deformation inthe center region of the woofer cone.The company's first product, the Sym-phony I loudspeaker system, uses adamper pad placed in front of the wooferthat is said to absorb this distortionbefore it can be heard. The cleanersound that emanates from the outer edgeof the woofer is not obstructed by thedamper pad.

Each speaker contains a 6'/2 -inchwoofer and a tweeter (type and size arenot specified), both rear -loaded, with thetweeter occupying a separate pod on topof the main cabinet. A pair of curved re-flector panels is mounted at either side ofeach driver in a winglike fashion to re -radiate the sound into the listening area.The speakers are designed to be placednear a wall in the room. According to thecompany, sound in the critical high -fre-quency range is dispersed over a wide an-gle to increase the effective listeningarea. Power requirements are given as 35to 250 watts (15.4 to 23.9 dBW) per

channel, and impedance is at a claimedminimum of 8.5 ohms at any frequency.

The "bookshelf " Symphony I speak-ers are formed of solid hardwood andcan be obtained in a choice of lacqueredfinishes for $550 per pair. Floor standsand wall -mounting brackets are optional.For more details on this speaker system,contact Tennessee Sound Co., P.O. Box1252, Bristol, Tenn. 37621.

Give us a foot...and we'll give you

a concert!We've packed more musical perfection into one square

foot than you may believe possible. The three-wayDesign Acoustics PS8a speaker system handles upto 200 watts of power, yet is sensitive to the mostdelicate sounds you can hear.

Part of the secret is our Point Source design, withthe smallest possible baffle to eliminate destructivesound diffraction by 40%. Plus a down -firing wooferthat delivers enhanced bass response. And our

Optimized Decade Crossovers" which insure clean,clear sound in the critical mid -range while improving

stereo im ing.Be prepared for a delightful surprise when you

hear the Design Acoustics PS'8a for the first time. Andanother surprise when you hear the low cost. Writetoday for your nearest Design Acoustics dealer.Great stereo is just two square feet away.

PS8a Three-way Point Source Speaker System

DESIGN'"ACOUSTICS

ti An Audio-Technica Company

1225 Commerce Drive, Stow, Ohio 44224

Panasonic puts more power in the dash thanmost cars have under the hood.

The 90 -Watt AM/FM Cassette Car Stereo.It goes 'Torn 0 to 90 watts in less than 1.0 second.It g ves you a choice of Dolby' B & C plus dbx: So you

not orly reduce tape noise, but eliminate it.And i13 Full Logic Control with easy glide in and out

loading v., II help keep your tapes from being jammed ordestroied. It's -he new Panasonic CQ-E650 AM/FMCassette Car Stereo with 90 watts of power.

Anc ji.st one of a new line of Panasonic car stereosthat come lc aded with state-of-the-art sophistication.

Example: electronic 7LIning that automaticallysearches lor and locks in the strongest signals.

A Hipertunar that uses three separate systems to

*Availabe models CQ-E452 and CQ-E352 only.tDolby is a :raderrark of Dolby Laboratories.

dbx isa -ecistered trademark of dbx, Inc

help eliminate interference.A built-in jack- allows you to play your portable

CD Player through your Car Audio System. And, of course,auto reverse is standard on most every Panasoniccar stereo.

There's even a multi -function display that onsome models actually changes from a soft orange togreen when you go from radio to cassette.

So the next time you take to the road, take along aPanasonic car stereo. You'll experience a power thatwill move you likenever before. Panasonic®

just slightly ahead of our time.

THE ARMY CALLS IT CARTOGRAPHY.HE CALLS IT THE START OF A CAREER.For SP4 Mario Canedo, Army skill training in cartography is helping set his career path for life.At first, Mario didn't know what kind of career to take up. His father always asked him what he

was going to do with his life, but Mario never really had any plans for his future. Then Army training helpedhim to focus on his abilities and interests.

Now he's an Army cartographer. He creates maps for the infantry and artillery which show thecontours and characteristics of the terrain such as the hills, valleys, lakes and rivers.

Mario has now built up enough confidence and experience to make cartography a career if hechooses. Even his father is surprised at how much Mario has grown.

Army experience is helping Mario feel better about his future. And it can help you or someoneyou know to do the same.

The Army provides the opportunity to explore any of dozensof technical fields. To find out more, visit your local ArmyRecruiter, or call toll -free 1 -800 -USA -ARMY.

ARMY.BE ALL YOU CAN BE.

The concertcontinues to get betterwith Ford JBL Audio Systems.Announcing another Ford first:The long awaited Compact Discfor the Lincoln Town Car.

Start with the very best high fidelity music systems weoffer: Ford JBL Audio Systems.

12 JBL speakers including 2-6" x 9" woofers, 2-31/2"midrange speakers and 2-7/8" tweeters located ir therear deck: 2-51/4" woofers mounted in the doors;and 2 tweeters and 2 midrange speakers in theinstrument panel. Selective frequency fading so allwoofers remain in operation at controlled levelswhen faded front/rear.

140 watts of total system power -4 amplifiers, 35watts per channel into 4 ohms at 1000 Hz with.07% THD. 105 dB SPL maximum acoustic output.Excursion control computer with continuouslyvariable loudness compensation and automaticoverload protection.

Then add the pure, unparalleled performance a' the

new Compact Disc player to digitally deliverfrequency response spanning the entire audiospectrum without distractions of noise or hiss.

The Compact Disc not only lets you experience thetotal capacity of a Ford JBL Audio System, itestablishes all new standards for clarity, realism anddynamic range in automotive sound.

Performance features of the Compact Disc playerinclude frequency response at 5 to 20,000 Hz withless than .05% THD, dynamic range greater than90 dB, signal-to-noise ratio greater than 90 dB andchannel separation greater than 85 dB.

Convenience features of the Compact Disc playerinclude direct loading, automatic reload, automaticand manual music search, dual repeat modes,instant return/replay with digital LED display andfully illuminated control symbols.

Hear for yourself just how much better an audiosystem can really be, exclusively at your Lincoln-Mercury dealer today.

AUDIO SYSTEMS

C R OS S T A L K

BIG BASS

MY SPEAKERS ARE PLACED ABOUT SIX FEET

apart against a common wall. I have noticedthat when I stand close to (and between) thespeakers, the low bass is good. When I backaway into the center of the room, the bass re-sponse increases (becomes very good).When I back further away and stand againstthe opposite wall, the bass is incredible (Ican feel it). Why is this so, and how can I getthe bass response in the center of the roomto be as spectacular as what I hear when Istand against the opposite wall?Gary C. Powell

East Orange, N.J.

What you're hearing is the room's influence on the

sound. Localized peaks and dips occur at all fre-quencies, but they are apparent only at the bottomof the range, where wavelengths are large (manyfeet) relative to the size of a typical room. (At highfrequencies, the variations are so closely spacedthat the sound field is perceived as being continu-ous.) One of the most obvious effects is that prox-imity to room boundaries-floor, walls, ceiling-emphasizes bass. This is why speakers usuallysound "warmer" when placed on the floor oragainst a wall than they do on a stand in the mid-dle of the room. The same thing happens when you

move close to a wall; if you were to stand in a cor-ner, you probably would be even more impressed.

Low -frequency boost from your equalizerwould enhance the bass in the middle of the room,but you still might not be able to get the soundyou're looking for. And you run the risk of over-loading your amplifier in the effort. A better ap-proach would be to combine equalization withsome adjustment of your listening position towardthe front or back wall or of the speakers toward thefloor or side walls. You might also consider wheth-er you really want such bass -heavy reproduction.

What sounds spectacular on first listen can some-times wear thin over time.

CD RUMBLE

I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH SEVERAL RECENT

Compact Discs that is driving me up the wall.During playback, through my M&K sub -

woofer and satellites, I can hear a low-pitched rumbling sound that is quitenoticeable even when the music is at moder-ate levels. Is this simply background noisepicked up in the recording process and ac-centuated by the subwoofer, and if so, whatcan I do about it?Richard B. McLaughlin

Salinas, Calif.

You are probably hearing "room rumble": very -low -frequency noise picked up by the microphones

at the recording session. (CDs can have much flat-

ter deep -bass response than LPs, which of ten arerolled off at the very bottom to minimize cuttingproblems.) It can be created by all sorts of things,

including air-conditioning equipment, outside traf-

fic, and so forth. You could try to attenuate therumble with an equalizer or tone controls, or youmight find that a slight repositioning of the bassunit will solve, or at least reduce, the problem.

However, the level of the noise suggests thatyou may have your subwoofer turned up too high.There's a quick and dirty test for this that you canuse if the crossover between satellites and sub -woofer is down around 100 Hz or below. Whileplaying a disc containing low -bass passages,switch the subwoofer in and out of the system. Ifyou hear a dramatic change in tonal balance, youprobably should adjust the subwoofer level to min-imize it. The proper function of a subwoofer is toextend response down to the lowest frequencies-not to bump up the entire bass range.

CARTRIDGE QUERY

WHAT SPECIFICATIONS SHOULD I LOOK FOR TO

know whether an induced -magnet or mov-ing -coil phono cartridge will need a trans-former or other type of step-up device toachieve adequate output? Also, is there anyevidence that the small brushes used onsome phono cartridges can damage recordsor increase surface noise?Fronds 0. MoneyYauco, P.R.

As far as we know, the effects of such brushes areentirely beneficial, and we can't think of any rea-son why they wouldn't be. Induced -magnet car-tridges have outputs comparable to those ofmoving -magnet pickups and normally do not re-quire any additional step-up device ahead of thephono preamp. "High -output" moving -coil car-tridges also can do without extra gain. Only low -output moving -coil pickups-which we woulddefine as those producing less than 0.5 millivoltper centimeter per second (mV/cm/sec)-requirea transformer or pre-preamp.

LONG LINES

WHAT IS THE MAXIMUM USABLE LENGTH OF

cables carrying line -level audio signals be-tween components? For example, if my TVreceiver and VCR are 25 to 30 feet awayfrom my audio system, can I run a standardaudio cable from one to the other withoutappreciable loss of frequency response orincreased noise? The cable itself would haveto be about 40 feet long (down through thefloor and back up again at the other end).Robert J. Richard

Fairfax, Calif.

The effect on frequency response will depend onthe input impedance of the device accepting thesignal, the output impedance of the componentsending it, and the capacitance of the cable. Inputimpedances should be high (preferably 20,000ohms or greater), output impedances low (prefera-

bly no more than 1,000 ohms or so). Cable capaci-tance also should be low, but that may be difficultto determine. Most ordinary audio interconnect

cable is 30 to 40 picofarads (pF) per foot, which isquite reasonable. (Special audiophile cables arenot necessarily better in this regard, by the way.)So you're talking about approximately 1,400 pi-cofarads total. Unless there's something unusualabout the input and output impedances of yourequipment, that should be fine as regards frequen-cy response.

Noise pickup is harder to figure. Your chancesof getting radio -frequency interference (RFI) aregreater with long cable runs than with short ones,

but it's difficult to be any less vague than that onthe subject without much more detailed knowledge

of your setup. If you do develop RFI problems, youmay be able to eliminate them simply by reorient-ing the cable slightly or putting some loops in it.

SPEAKERS ON THEIR SIDES

TIMOTHY HOLL'S ARTICLE ON IMPROVINGroom acoustics ( June) overlooks a consider-ation I believe to be important for "book-shelf " loudspeakers, which often are placedhorizontally rather than vertically. (All ofyour pictures of speakers show them withtheir drivers arrayed vertically.) What effectdoes horizontal mounting have on sounddispersion, stereo imaging, and so forth?Carl F. Mansfield

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

In most cases, there is interference between driver

outputs in the crossover region, causing some ir-regularity in the speaker's radiation pattern. Thisdisturbance normally is most pronounced along the

common axis of the two drivers. Consequently, itusually is best for the drivers to be oriented verti-cally, since this will result in the least disturbanceof the stereo image as your head moves from sideto side. However, you may hear the tonal balancechange as your head moves vertically, as in stand-ing or sitting.

DIGITAL FILTERS

I AM THINKING OF GETTING A PIONEER PD -M6

Compact Disc changer, which can hold asmany as six CDs at a time. But it doesn't havedigital filters. The company's PD -9010Xdoes use digital filtering, but it can accom-modate discs only one at a time. How impor-tant is it to have digital filtering in a CDplayer?Jerome H. Askanas

I'hilaticlphia. 1'a.

It's not important at all. The key question is per-formance, not how it is achieved. Good analog fil-ters can work every bit as well as the digital varietyand will not sound any different. In general, digitalfiltering has been an oversold feature. Its two prin-

cipal advantages-phase linearity and potentiallyflatter response-are not audible in practice com-pared with good analog filters.

Sr regret that the volume of reader mail a too great for vg to an,u,

all questions individually.

30 HI',H 1 ID

The new Boston T1000.A higher level of sonic architecture.Announcing the Boston Acoustics T1000 tower speakersystem. It elevates stereo music reproduction to a new,rarified level of realism. Yet its slender tower architec-ture requires very little Hoar space.

We engineered the T1000 in a distinctive new way. Ournew midrange driver is large, letting it reproduce farmore of the important mid -frequency information thara smaller driver can. In addition, we placed it - and owCFT-5 dome tweeter - in the highest porticn of thetower. As a result, all We directionally important midand high frequencies emanate together at ear level.Just as with live music.

This unique architecture also frees the dual woofers toconcentrate on bass reproduction alone. In fact, theBoston T1000 tower system lets you enjoy the entiretonal range of music, including the very lowest octave.With a wide dynamic range that does full justice todigital sources. And with stereo imaging that's pin-point precise.For a descriptive T1000 brochure, just send us your nameand address. Boston Acoustics, Inc.,Department HT,247 Lynnfield Street, Peabody, MA 01960. (617) 532-2111

tuff their stockingswith the perfect gift

& saveSPEOALI BASIC

GUIDE TO LARGE-SCREEN TVs

iiI6H FIDELITY

.1" mMOM

'WARMBETTER?

4

This year, give gift subscriptions to High Fidelity.You'll not only make their holidays happy, you'llspread cheer all year. Because they'll rememberyour thoughtfulness every time they receiveanother fresh and exciting issue.

Think of all the special people on your gift list(and, don't forget yourself!) who would like to getmore from their sound system. High Fidelity willbring them the latest information on compactdiscs and CD players, speaker systems, audio -video receivers, digital audio components, cas-sette decks. Classical, popular, and jazz CD, LPand tape reviews. And more.

It's so easy to give a gift of High Fidelity. A 1 -yeargift subscription (12 issues) is only $7.98. Yousave a full 7 3 % off the $30 cover price, and youwon't be billed until after January 1st. At thishappy Holiday rate, you can afford to make a lotof people happy - and wrap up your holiday shop-ping fast! An attractive gift card comes with eachgift subscription. Happy holidays to you.

To Order Call ibll-Free 1 -800 -247 -GIFTIn Iowa 1-800-532-1272

H 16H FIDELITY

B I T & P I E

DIGITAL HEGEMONY

ANNE BY ONE, AND FOR NO PARTICULARLY GOODVreason, leading executives of the world's largestrecord companies seem to be arraying themselvesagainst the introduction of the rotary -head digital au-dio tape (RDAT) system-indeed, against any formof home digital -audio recording. As reported in theJuly 26 issue of Billboard, for example, Jan Timmer,president of corporate management at Polygram In-ternational, "condemned the Japanese hardware in-dustry's 'arrogance and irresponsibility,' accusing itof 'cultural vandalism.' " You'd think he was afraid ofthe Yellow Peril, but he is just concerned with thepossibility that RDAT will be successful.

Timmer and others claim that RDAT, with itshigh -quality dubbing capability, will be detrimentalto musicians. I believe that ultimately the oppositewill be true. RDAT will, for the first time, allow anyartist to enter the digital -audio era without having touse an unreasonably expensive professional digitalrecording system. Creativity and musical variety willbe spurred. not inhibited, by the availability of anoth-er music recording and distribution medium. Be-sides, the suffering -artist argument will-orshould-become moot if the recording industry ob-tains its long-awaited recording tax. Perhaps thelarge record companies feel threatened by thegreater independence RDAT may give small labels.(If Congress does impose a tape surcharge, I'd like tosee it give all collected moneys to the National En-dowment for the Arts. Even I would be willing to payin that case.)

For all his rhetoric about shielding artists fromthe depredations of RDAT, Timmer may be trying toprotect something else. Prerecorded RDAT cassettes maybe much easier to produce than Compact Discs, and Poly-gram has made the largest and most costly invest-ment in CD pressing facilities in the world. If RDATcatches on in a big way, that investment will be threat-ened long before it is amortized.

Software manufacturing has always been theAchilles' heel of the CD system. From the start, CDpressing has involved massive applications of expen-sive high technology, with not -always -favorable re-sults. This is likely to continue in the foreseeable fu-ture. Unofficial reports of low production yields (lessthan 80 percent) and tales of misleadingly optimisticofficial yield figures still abound. It even took Poly-gram about two years after the introduction of thesystem to confidently produce CDs with playingtimes of more than about an hour (the Japanese weredoing this almost from the outset). With RDAT, suchproblems may not arise.

If a high-speed RDAT duplication process wereperfected-and that's a very crucial if-a prerecord-ed RDAT would cost much less to manufacture (and,one hopes, to purchase) than a CD. For example, theSony contact -printing RDAT-dubbing system de-scribed in September's "Currents" makes copies atabout 270 times the normal RDAT playing speed:Dubbing a 75 -minute RDAT cassette (equivalent to a

maximum -length CD) takes about 17 seconds. Evenif an additional ten seconds needed to be added forpacking the tape into an RDAT housing-and itwould probably take less time in practice-this stillwould be faster than Polygram's CD pressing cycle,which, when I measured it several years ago, lastedabout 30 seconds (other CD plants have similartimings). A bank of RDAT dubbers could easily out -produce an equal number of CD presses with equiva-lent and probably superior yields.

Once an RDAT copy is loaded into its shell, it isfinished! There are no subsequent aluminum -depo-sition, lacquer -coating, or disc -by -disc defect -inspec-tion procedures, as in the CD system. Gone are ex-tensive clean -room facilities, expensive laser -baseddisc cutters, and tricky chemical -development andplating steps in the mastering process. Costs for en-ergy, raw materials, industrial plant, packaging, ship-ping, and labor will be lower. High-speed RDAT du-plication may eventually approach the blessedcondition of automated analog cassette duplication,in which, to paraphrase a representative of the CBSTechnology Center, plastic is poured in at one endand finished tapes emerge from the other.

RDAT's consumer benefits will undoubtedly becovered in numbing thoroughness once the system isunleashed, so I need not detail them all here. Sufficeit to say that on most counts other than long-term du-rability and speed of access, RDAT will be fully theCD's equivalent-and in a few areas, its superior. Forexample, a prerecorded RDAT theoretically has thesame audio performance as a CD, since it uses thesame sampling rate and quantization resolution. AnRDAT cassette's capacity for nonaudio subcode dataand its subcode data rate are greater than those of aCD, so any advanced CD feature not requiring nearlyinstantaneous access (such as a display of lyrics) willalso be feasible with RDAT. A prerecorded RDATwill be able to play for a maximum of 120 minutes, 45more than a CD offers. An RDAT deck will be farmore immune to external vibrations than a CD playeris: Witness the stability of 8mm camcorder tapes,which are recorded on mechanisms similar to thoseused for RDAT. Digital audio may finally catch on inthe car.

Polygram has reason to be upset. Abandoning theconstruction of CD pressing plants in favor of lower -cost RDAT duplication could perpetuate the indus-try -stifling CD shortage and preserve today's equallydetrimental CD prices. On the other hand, RDAT'sinitially higher cost and unfamiliar technology will domore to slow the growth of the system than all therantings of music -industry executives. For their part,the Japanese and many small record companies sen-sibly see RDAT as simply another medium for music.When all is said and done, the music industry'savowed purpose is to sell "product." It should hardlymatter whether the goods come out on LPs, 45s, cas-settes, CDs, videodiscs, or RDATs, as long as some-body is willing to pay for them.

R

B Y

D A V IDA N A D A

NOVEMEER 1986 33

UNPRECEDENTED INTRODUCTORY OFFER.

BUY A NEW SHURESV40 CD PLAYER.

GET A SHURE V15 TYPE IV -MRCARTRIDGE WORTH $180 -FREE.

Nobody else couldmake this offer

because nobodybut Shure

brings you apremier -quality

CD player and the legendary ShureV15 Type IV -MR Cartridge. It's the bestof two audio worlds.

The V15 Type IV -MR provides notonly superb sound reproduction, butalso excellent protection against wearand damage to your invaluable recordcollection. It will enable you to con-tinue enjoying albums that could beimpossible to replace at any price.

INTRODUCING THENEW CD PLAYER WITH

THE FAMILIAR OLD NAME.Two qualities made the Shure

name famous and our new SV40 CDPlayer has both. Flawless sound quali-ty. And long-term dependability. This

feature -packed player even offers theconvenience of a 17 -function remotewith volume control that lets you pro-gram up to 15 tracks in any order youchoose. All at a surprisingly afford-able price.

OUTSTANDINGSOUND.

Crisp, clear sonic quality comesthrough via full 16 -bit digital pro-cessing. The SV40 also offers sophisti-cated Dual Break Point" filter setsthat remove extraneous high frequen-cy energy without affecting the music.Our LONGLIFE' 3 -beam laser track-ing system automatically compensatesfor disc imperfections, to make cer-tain nothing interrupts the flow of in-credible sound.

LONG -LIFEDEPENDABILITY.

Unlike some competitive units

requiring air vents and cooling fins,the SV40 utilizes highly efficient,cool -running components designed toextend the operating life of its solidstate laser, digital processing circuit-ry, and mechanical systems. That'swhy you can expect more than 7,000hours of listening pleasure, free fromworry about the high cost of laserreplacement.

5 -YEAR LASERWARRANTY.*

It's the first and only one in the in-dustry. And another great reason toadd the SV40's superior transparencyand realism to your home entertain-ment system now. Purchase beforeJanuary 31, 1987 and get the ShureV15 Type IV -MR Cartridge FREE.For the name of your nearest dealer,call 1-800-257-4873. (In Illinois1-800-624-8522)

Offer ends January 31, 1987.

Shure Brothers Inc., 222 Hartrey Avenue, Evanston, IL 60202-3696"See your dealer for details.

SHURE®MAKING THINGS THE WAY THEY SHOULD SOUND

FOR OVER 60 YEARS:""

TEST EPORTS

Polk's Stereo Dimensional Arrayloudspeakers have been stirringaudiophile interest for a fewyears now. This month we reviewthe latest model in the line'sSignature Reference Series, theSDA SRS/ 2. Report follows. i

KEF 107 Loudspeaker

Report preparation

' supervised by

Michael Riggs,

David Ranada,

Christopher J. Esse,

Robert Long, and

Edward J. Foster.

Laboratory data

(unless otherwise

indicated) is

supplied by

Diversified Science

Laboratories.

Acoustic ResearchConnoisseur 40 Loudspeaker

RAW Mcdriz 2 Loudspeaker Dali 7 Loudspeaker

TD( also manufactures a quality lineof ideo cassettes and floppy disk products

1986 T3K Electronics Corp.

TDK BRINGS OUTTIE RECORDING ARTIST

IN YOU.Backspr al you volleys isgreat. Backspin

on your musrc Thatsw-ry TDK developeda series of hgroias audio .-3assettes that giveyou a power -re of pure kfesirne pelormance

TDK SA (1,. iv -3-s an unn- atted high endwith extra sensitivitv for al of "our mostsophistica-ed rnusioal favo-ities

For muEic tlat's all over he court, we'veclavelopee inoroved Mfg SA -X, .evh ch isrow the wor S lowest-noisel3pe. It reachesh gh and o de[ver crime, clear soundwithout diEtcr ion.

And for eror--'ree follow-lrough in recordingfrom compar cisc 3, we o' et TDK I -X -S. Itc3ptures aq -e dynamic pjrt,' of the original

sound ike no other.TDK hic.:h-tia3 audio cassettes. They sure

inprove tl-eray you play-your mLsic

:',AtTDK.THE ART OF PERFORMANCE.

O R

MEMMINOMMEMMENIMMX1111

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DIMENSIONS: 2W/, BY 501/2 INCHES (FRONT), 121/2 INCHES DEEP PLUS

CLEARANCE FOR CONNECTIONS. PRICE: $1,990 PER PAIR. WARRANTY:

"LIMITED," FIVE YEARS PARTS AND LABOR. MANUFACTURER: POLK

AUDIO, INC., 5601 METRO DR., BALTIMORE, MD. 21215.

ALITTLE MORE THAN A YEAR AGO, POLKintroduced a refinement of its SDA(Stereo Dimensional Array) technol-

ogy in the form of the SRS (Signature Refer-ence Series) loudspeaker (see "Currents,"August 1985). Although a definite step for-ward, the SRS was, and is, a very big loud-speaker, making a visual statement as largeas its sonic one. The company has now ac-commodated those audiophiles desiring theadvantages of the original SRS in a less cost-ly and, perhaps more significantly, less im-posing package.

This is not to say that the SRS/2 is small,however. It, too, is a floor -standing modeland carries a complement of two 1 -inchdome tweeters, four 61/2 -inch low -frequencydrivers, and a 15 -inch passive radiator. Thebasic principles underlying the speaker's de-sign are the same ones behind the originalSDAs. We discussed those extensively in ourreviews of the SDA-1 ( January 1983) andthe SDA-2 ( June 1984), so we won't belaborthem here.

Briefly, all the SDA speakers are de-signed to overcome a phenomenon knownas interaural crosstalk. Ideally, each earwould hear only the output from the speakernearest to it: left speaker to left ear, rightspeaker to right ear. In conventional stereoreproduction, however, there is consider-able "leakage." For example, the right earhears the signal from the right speaker, fol-lowed a fraction of a millisecond later by thesignal from the left. That tiny delay enablesthe proper signal to dominate, but there isstill some constriction of the stereo image.

The problem can be overcome by usingan extra set of signals to cancel the crosstalkat the listener's ears. In the SDAs, these can-cellation signals are delivered by an extra setof drivers placed toward the outside edge ofthe front baffle, approximately the width of ahuman head from the main drivers on theopposite side of the panel. The two speakersare linked together by a cable so that theircrossover networks can derive the necessary"dimensional" signals, as Polk calls them.

At the heart of the SRS models are twoimprovements to this basic scheme. The first(now incorporated in the rest of the SDA line

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AMMININIMMINIMMMINIMMIMMP MOM

as well) is a restriction of the dimensionalsignal to frequencies below 1 kHz. Polk saysthat it chose this limit because the band be-tween 200 Hz and 1 kHz contains 95 percentof the information we use for localization. Athigher frequencies, the wavelengths are tooshort relative to the distance between theears to provide useful cues; reverting to or-dinary stereo there helps forestall any ten-dency to "phasiness" or diffuseness in theimage and makes the listening position lesscritical.

What sets the SRS speakers entirelyapart from the rest of the SDA line is theiruse of driver arrays to control vertical dis-persion. To minimize tonal coloration andimage distortion, it is desirable that early re-flections be minimized, yielding a very purefirst -arrival signal from the speakers. Butthis is difficult to achieve with conventionalspeakers, which typically are mounted withtheir drivers relatively close to the floor(within a few feet). Polk's solution is to stackmatching drivers to create three vertical linesources: a main low -frequency array, a di-mensional low -frequency array, and a tweet-er array. Acoustically, they behave like singledrivers that are tall and thin, giving wide dis-persion horizontally while narrowing itsomewhat vertically. This reduces theamount of radiation toward the floor andceiling without adversely affecting the hori-zontal listening window. (To prevent exces-sive beaminess in the high treble, the signalis gradually shifted from two tweeters to oneas the frequency increases.)

As we've noted in our previous reportson SDA speakers, they are not easy to test.Since they are designed to work together inpairs and will not function properly if dis-connected from each other, it is impossibleto measure one strictly apart from the other.Our response curves, for example, weremade with the two speakers placed side byside against the wall behind them and drivenby a mono signal. Other configurations andtest signals give different results. In otherwords, though the published responsecurves correlate pretty well with what wehear from these speakers, they are nowherenear the whole story.

Another distinguishing feature of SDAspeakers is their impedance, which variesnot only with frequency but also accordingto the characteristics of the drive signal.With a mono signal (used to obtain the aver -

ROOM RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS

DB

+5

0

-5-10

HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K

boundary -dependent region

Ns

2K 5K 10K 20K

on -axis response

off -axis (30') response

SENSITIVITY (at 1 meter; 2.8 -volt pink noise) 91.5 dB SPL

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE (250 Hz to 6 kHz) 7.4 ohms

age impedance shown in our data column),the SRS/2's impedance peaks somewherebelow 20 Hz, dips to 3.6 ohms at 25 Hz, risesto a second resonant peak of 9 ohms at 50Hz, then drops to a low of 3.3 ohms beforesloping gradually up to a maximum of 11.3ohms at 20 kHz. The impedance curve with asingle -channel signal is similar except for abroad trough in the range covered by the di-mensional arrays, reaching a minimum of 2ohms at 350 Hz, with a wideband average of

NOVEMBER 1 9 8 6 37

just 4 to 5 ohms. This is caused by the di-mensional array of the opposite speakerworking essentially in parallel with the mainarray of the "driven" speaker. Most of thetime, the impedance will be somewhere be-tween these two extremes.

Because the impedance is so low in arange where much musical energy is concen-trated, this load probably will be trouble forsome amplifiers, and we certainly would notrecommend operating another pair ofspeakers in parallel with a set of SRS/2s.Best results will be obtained with an amplifi-er designed to deliver high currents intolow -impedance (2 ohms or less), reactiveloads.

Diversified Science Laboratories mea-sured sensitivity and distortion from a singlespeaker (moving the other as far away aspossible without disconnecting it) reproduc-ing mono test signals. Both are impressive.Sensitivity is on the high side of average, anddistortion (dominated by the second har-

monic) is notably low through the midrangeand treble-well below 0.5 percent at mod-erate drive levels and seldom breaching thatmark even at high levels. From 100 Hz down,total harmonic distortion is 1 percent ormore at 85 dB SPL (moderately loud) and isseveral percent higher at 95 and 100 dB SPL,which are our highest test levels. Nonethe-less, these are very good results, and we didnot detect any signs of distortion in our lis-tening.

We used the speakers in essentially thesame position that DSL employed for itstests (and that Polk recommends): againstthe wall behind them but away from any sidewalls. The first thing that struck us about thesound was its smoothness relative to that ofthe earlier SDA speakers we had tested. Wedid not detect any sign of roughness orharshness. Indeed, the reproduction tendsto be on the warm side of neutral: a little fatin the middle and upper bass. Low -frequen-cy extension is, as you would expect from a

T EST R E P O R T S

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PARTS AND LABOR. MANUFACTURER: BOW LOUDSPEAKERS, LTD.,

ENGLAND; U.S. DISTRIBUTOR: ANGLO AMERICAN AUDIO, P.O. BOX

653, BUFFALO, N.Y. 14240.

THAT B&W IS A CLASS ACT AMONG SPEAKER

manufacturers should come as nosurprise to any regular reader. In

radical technology and extravagant atten-tion to detail, B&W has been demonstratingfor some years that it need not make apologyto anyone. Both technology and detail arethe keynotes of its newest line, the MatrixSeries, built around a unique quasi -honey-comb enclosure -construction scheme de-signed to make a yet closer approach to agoal that B&W has shared with other topmanufacturers for decades: an ideal loud-speaker cabinet, one so "dead" that acousticenergy is radiated from the drivers alone.

The search for such a construction issomething of a British tradition. When thefabled G. A. Briggs was designing systemsfor Wharfedale (still called WharfedaleWireless Works during his tenure, followingWorld War II), he filled enclosure cavitieswith sand to that end. The results were enor-mously heavy, but panel vibration was signif-icantly damped by contrast with the then -

speaker of this size, very good.As with the other SDAs, the SRS/2's hole

card is its imaging, which is quite differentfrom that of any other speaker we know. Itgives a remarkable sense of bigness and so-lidity, and with the right material, it is capa-ble of quite spectacular feats. Instrumentsmay, for example, be localized well outsidethe area between the speakers, and the senseof depth often is enhanced. On somesouped -up pop material, the effects can bealmost surreal.

Polk's goal in developing the SRS serieswas to achieve these qualities while retainingas great a sense of overall naturalness as pos-sible. (The original SDA-1 could at timessound a little gimmicky, and each succeed-ing generation of SDA speakers has markeda significant improvement in this regard.)The result is the best SDA speaker we've re-viewed to date. Even if they're too rich (orbig) for your blood, we recommend that youtake the time to give them a listen.

standard plywood box with internal strutsand bats of glass wool. B&W itself experi-mented with acoustically dead plastic formsin the tweeter -midrange "head" of the Mod-el 801 monitor (test report, October 1980).

The Matrix construction, invented byLaurence Dickie, B&W's chief electronicsengineer, is built out of thin, interlockingpanels (made of a composite wood materialnot unlike Masonite) assembled into a hon-eycomblike structure. This in turn is slid intogrooves cut into the inside of the cabinet,thus stiffening it with essentially continuouscross bracing. The openings in the honey-comb are then filled with bars of acousticfoam to absorb acoustic energy. The result isclaimed to be a total structure that will storeand reradiate less acoustic energy than anycompeting construction. And it is this storedenergy that is believed to color the overallsound of loudspeakers.

There are three models in the series sofar. The Matrix 1 is a small two-way systemintended for bookshelf use or mounting on afloor stand; the Matrix 3 is a floor -standingmodel in which one woofer handles onlydeep bass while a second handles the mid -bass (making it a sort of two -and -a -half -waysystem). We chose the middle model-somewhat larger than the Matrix 1 but still aconventional two-way system intended for

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To begin with, the K-1020 has a speciallydesigned closed -loop dual -capstan transportsystem. There's one capstan on either side of therecord and playback heads. This insures that thetape is always in optimum contact for exceptionalfrequency response and low wow and flutter.And separate reel and capstan motors insurethat the tape drive stays isolated from the reeloperation for increased reliability and reducedmodulation distortion.

Each of the three heads in the K-1020 isspecifically designed to maximize its perform-ance. The pure Sendust record head has a 2 -micron gap for precise signal recording. Thepure Sendust playback head has a 0.7 -microngap for accurate reproduction as high as 23 kHz.And the double -gap erase head has an ion -plated0.3 -micron glass coating to insure that it eraseseven difficult metal tape formulations completely.

To set the correct bias for not only different

tape formulations, but each individual tape, theK-1020 has an Optimum Record Bias Tuningsystem. Just press the TEST button and adjustthe bias control until the ORBiT timing indicatorshows you the bias is precisely set. Then to pre-vent saturation, use the variable 0 -VU recordinglevel indicators to set the level for each tapeformulation/noise reduction combination.

Of course, a deck as advanced as the K-1020gives you a choice of Dolby* B and C as well asdbx** noise reduction. Plus full-time Dolby HXPro* to increase headroom by as much as 8dbat 20 kHz. Along with a full complement of con-venience features including a four -digit real-timecounter with auto memory.

And the K-1020 is just one in a completeline of new Yamaha cassette decks. Because his-tory has a way of repeating itself.

K-1020 shown with Yamaha YHD-1 Orthodynamic Headphones*Dolby and Dolby HX Pm are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories

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0 YAMAHA

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12

----j[pE-101-1110111111101111111!111114111111P11111!111111!1111111.111111y11111.

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ROOM RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS

DB tbm.25

0

- 10sad

HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

boundary -dependent region

on -axis response

off -axis (301 response

SENSITIVITY (at 1 meter; 2.8 -volt pink noise)

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE (250 Hz to 6 kHz)

87.5 dB SPl

5.6 ohms

use on a stand.The Matrix 2 itself is available in four

wood -veneer finishes: walnut, black ash, nat-ural oak, and rosewood. (A high -gloss lac-quer can be specially ordered, in a choice ofcolors.) The stretch grille is mounted on alow -diffraction fiberboard panel with metaltrim around the edge. Behind it, near thecenter of the front panel, is an approximate-ly 8 -inch bass/midrange driver with a homo-polymer polypropylene cone diaphragm.Immediately above it is a 1 -inch tweeter witha polyamide dome diaphragm and a ferro-fluid-filled voice -coil gap. The two speakersas a pair are matched for frequency re-sponse, as are all Matrix speakers. There areno controls. Connections are made to ba-nana jacks mounted in a shallow recess at thebottom of the back panel. B&W suppliesgold-plated banana -plug adapters that easilyand positively grip bared wire leads.

The stands we received, unassembled,may not be identical to those that will beavailable by the time you read this. The oneswe got have black marble bases mounted onblack -painted plywood. Four square blackmetal legs, filled with some sort of acousticdamping, are screwed to each base and sup-port a metal top plate on which the speakersits. Accessory spike feet can be screwed intothe plywood underlay to supply a betterfloor "grip," if you choose.

The unusually detailed (and utterly liter -

DIMENSIONS: SPEAKER, 46 BY 13 INCHES (FRONT), 17% INCHES DEEP

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ate) manual that comes with the speakersducks the question of exact recommendedplacement, contenting itself with repeatingthe standard truisms about bass propagationand proximity to room boundaries. Diversi-fied Science Laboratories chose to place thespeakers 36 inches from the back wall; mostof our listening tests were conducted withthem even farther out in the room. Theseplacements tend to help stereo imaging byavoiding early reflections but also minimizebass support from those reflections.

Measured this way, the on -axis frequen-cy -response curve is extremely flat (±1.5dB, we'd say) from the top of the hiss rise tothe top of the audio band, excepting only themoderate midrange dip (2.5 dB maximum,relative to average response in the -so-calledmusic band) centered on approximately 300Hz that presumably is a result of floor -reflec-tion cancellation of the direct radiation. Thisdip is a little narrower and a little deeper inthe off -axis measurement, which also dis-plays a slight (1- to 2 -dB) dip in the uppermidrange (centered a little above 1 kHz).The latter could be evidence of minor beam-ing at the top of the woofer's range; DSL'snear -field measurements suggest a cross-over frequency near 2.5 kHz. Nothing sug-gesting tweeter beaming appears until thevery top of the audio band. At the bottom,the curves roll off below 100 Hz, precisely asB&W's specs and response curves predict.

It is tempting to view such a curve as anear ideal match to that of a separate sub -woofer, crossed over at 100 Hz, and we haveno doubt that some owners will want to usethe Matrix 2s that way-or to move themcloser to the back wall in search of some bassreinforcement. But the sound is so excel-lently balanced that, even with the speakerswell out in the listening room, we almostnever felt an impulse to add a more substan-tial very -low -frequency underpinning in ourlistening tests, even in the big -orchestrapieces. Admittedly, however, more could bemade of such music if extra -clean deeper

T ES T R E P 0 R T S

DENUDED OF ITS GRILLE ASSEMBLY, THE

KEF 107 resembles a hybrid of twoprevious KEF flagship models. It has

the columnar shape (and Coupled Cavitybass -driver arrangement) of the 104/2 sit-ting beneath a phase -aligned, antidiffrac-tion-shaped, swiveling tweeter/midrange

bass were available.Measured total harmonic distortion is

not particularly low overall. At the minimumtest level of 85 dB SPL (sound pressure lev-el), it averages almost 1/2 percent from 100Hz up. The figures increase with level, asusual, reaching an average of about 2 per-cent in this range for the highest test level(100 dB SPL). These figures certainly aren'tout of line, but they do prove the obvious:Distortion figures alone tell you little aboutspeaker coloration. Here, the figures arehigher than average, though the audible col-oration is much lower than average-as youmight expect from the Matrix construction.

The Matrix 2's impedance curve is reallyremarkable: It is one of the most uniform ofany speaker we have ever tested. There areseveral minima of just over 5 ohms, the low-est (at around 150 Hz) measuring 5.2 ohms.The absolute maximum within the audioband (at 20 kHz) measures only 1.8 ohmshigher! And the flat impedance curve im-plies relatively constant phase relationshipsbetween current and voltage in the power itdraws from the amp. (The manual may beunique among those for models we've testedin that it specifies relative phase angle: 5 de-grees maximum.) All of this means that theMatrix 2 should be an exceptionally easyload for any amplifier to drive, even if speak-er pairs are hooked up in parallel, thanks toits unusual crossover design. That crossoveralso includes self -resetting overload protec-tion, by the way.

Imaging, too, is distinctly above averageand may be taken as yet more evidence of thedesign's effectiveness, since stored acousticenergy can disturb phase relationships aswell as sonic color. In fact, in every way inwhich we can assess the Matrix constructionprinciple, it seems to have contributed sig-nificantly and positively to the Matrix 2's de-cidedly neutral sound quality. We eagerlylook forward to more speakers using the Ma-trix techniques and heartily commend theone we've already tested.

"head" similar to the one first introduced inthe 105 (test reports, November 1985 andJuly 1979). That it sounds better than we re-member those already extraordinary speak-ers is due at least in part to the use of an out-board active equalizer called the Kube.(CONTINUED ON PAGE 43)

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Imagine. Controllirg a compact disc player. And a cassettedeck. And a turntable. All from across the room.

Then imagine expanding this remote control empire to includea compatible TV and VCR.

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The new SA -590 has also been engineered with a built-ingraphic equalizer/spectrum analyzer.* So you can make preciseadjustments to bass, treble and mid -range sound. There are even16 AM/FM station random access presets for instant recall.

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(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 0 )

Its name originally standing for KEF Uni-versal Bass Equaliser, the Kube is an espe-cially unusual device for a British speakermaker. One often gets the impression fromsome British manufacturers and audio crit-ics that active response tailoring via out-board equalizers or even tone controls is acolonial aberration inappropriate for thetruly civilised (with an s) loudspeaker. Thatmay be an apt description for some systemsbut not for the 107: The Kube is an integralpart of the speaker design. As KEF puts it inthe well -written and very complete owner'smanual, the Kube "contains importantequalisation and unit pair matching ele-ments. Model 107 will only operate correctlytherefore with Kube in circuit." The Kube ishooked into a tape -monitor loop or betweenpreamplifier and power amplifier via its at-tached cables terminated with gold-platedpin plugs. Since the cables are only abouttwo feet long and are wired into the Kube,make sure your system can accommodatethe device in close proximity to your centralamplifier, or be prepared to buy some exten-sion cords.

The Kube performs some uncommonfunctions. Most mundane is the fixed equal-ization providing midrange and high -fre-quency response shaping and sensitivitymatching between the two loudspeakers in asystem. The matches, says KEF, are to betterthan 0.5 dB. Less run-of-the-mill is the factthat the applied equalization is unique to thespecific pair of speakers the Kube comeswith; Kubes are not interchangeable be-tween 107 systems. The fixed equalizationfor the pair tested by Diversified ScienceLaboratories consists primarily of a broad-band response dip of about 3 dB (relative to1 kHz) centered at approximately 2.25 kHzand a dip in response at about 35 Hz. Thelatter varies in depth according to the settingof the much more novel Kube controls.

Those controls "allow you to optimiselow -frequency performance to suit both lis-tening environment and programme materi-al." The three knobs are labeled CONTOUR(for controlling low- to mid -frequency bal-ance), EXTENSION (to change the speaker'slow -frequency cutoff ), and 9.-EACTost (whichadjusts speaker damping). For best results,KEF recommends the controls be set in thatorder so as not "to end up with a confusedand incorrect result."

CONTOUR is supposed to optimize the107 for your listening room and preferredsound balance. It raises or lowers the fre-quencies below about 160 Hz by approxi-mately 3 dB and is set, as are the other twocontrols, by ear while listening to a recordwith extended bass material. DSL confirmedthis behavior, with the added datum that therange of variation increases at lower fre-quencies. At 160 Hz, for example, the maxi-mum contour setting produced a boost ofabout 0.5 dB, and the minimum setting a cutof 2.5 dB (relative to the marked zero set-ting). At 20 Hz, the maximum boost was

about 2 dB; the maximum cut, 4 dB.EXTENSION sets the speakers' low -fre-

quency cutoff at 50, 35, 25, or 18 Hz (thecorresponding Kube front -panel indicationsare respectively, and rather confusingly, la-beled 1, 2, 3, and 4). The 25- and 18 -Hz set-tings are used for music containing signifi-cant low -frequency information. The othersettings are best for "when the source mate-rial does not require extension or is of inferi-or quality." KEF also suggests they be usedfor high-level background music (an oxymo-ron, eh?), to avoid amplifier overload. DSL'smeasurements of the EXTENSION showedthat, relative to the 50 -Hz setting, the re-maining three raised the response at 20 Hzby about 4.5, 8, and 10.5 dB, respectively.The large boosts at the 25- and 18 -Hz set-tings probably form the basis of the warn-ings about possible amplifier overload.

QFACTOR normally is set at 0.5, the posi-tion at which the speakers have their mostaccurate low -frequency transient response(they are "critically damped"). Higher (up to0.7) or lower (down to 0.3) values may be ap-plied if the recording itself has deficient bassresponse or (in an unusual recommenda-tion) "if the recording acoustic is too dry ortoo reverberant." Higher, underdampedsettings increase low -frequency "overhang"or "boom," while lower, overdamped valuessound "drier" or "tighter." Lab measure-ments indicate that besides affecting speakertransient behavior, the Q-EAcTort also variedthe speaker response (by about ±1.5 dB at20 Hz when it is varied from 0.3 to 0.7).

Compared with the Kube and the novelfeatures it offers, the speakers with which itoperates are slightly more conventional, ifonly because their technology has been in-troduced in previous KEF models. There aretwo bass drivers in the lower cabinet, each acone woofer about 10 inches in diameter op-erating into its own sealed subenclosure.Bass energy radiates from a tuned port at thetop of the main enclosure, which is said to re-duce floor reflections that often lead to over -prominent bass. (For a more complete de-scription of this Coupled Cavity design, seeour test report on the KEF 104/2). The"head" in which the 4 -inch cone midrangeand 1 -inch dome tweeter are mounted isdamped to reduce mid -frequency colorationand rotates to permit precise focusing of thestereo image.

Connections are two gold-platedmultiway binding posts located toward thebottom of the rear panel. The removablehead cover is made of black stretch clothover a surprisingly massive wood frame.When installed, it makes the speaker com-pletely rectangular in shape. While the im-pression is still one of considerable bulk(and heft, if you need to lift the 99 -pound en-closures), the appearance is always elegant.Available finishes are walnut, rosewood, andblack ash. Screw -on plastic feet are providedfor use on wooden or tiled floors.

The visual prominence of the KEF 107 isreinforced by its recommended placement:

ROOM RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS

DB

+5

0

-5-10

HZ

111.11111111101MINIMIRMPREEMIIII111111NINIIMIIIM-----limompew

,rib791.411g

20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

boundary -dependent region

on-exis response

off -axis (30') response

SENSITIVITY (at 1 meter; 2.8 -volt pink noise)

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE (250 Hz to 6 kHz)

91 dB SPL

4.1 ohms

NOVEMBER 1 9 8 6 43

out in the room at least 1 meter (3 feet) fromside walls and at least 50 centimeters (about20 inches) from the wall behind them. DSL'stests and our listening were conducted withthem 32 inches from the rear wall. For thelab tests, CONTOUR was dialed to 0, EXTEN-SION to 4 (the 18 -Hz setting), and Q -FACTORto 0.5. As you can see from the graph, re-sponse flatness was unusually good, at leaston -axis above 1 kHz, where it varied by nomore than ±1.5 dB all the way up to 20 kHz.The 5 -dB peak at 500 Hz seems to be "real,"not an artifact of speaker placement or roomgeometry: It is present in both on- and off -axis responses, and the wavelength involved(approximately 2 feet) does not correspondclosely to anything in the test setup nor toany specific dimension of the speaker orspacing of the drivers. The peak was not au-dible as such, however. Off -axis responseabove 1 kHz was also commendably flat, al-though there is a slight high -end rolloff,probably caused by tweeter beaming. Re-sponse below about 300 Hz-and with thoseKube settings-was overall about 5 dB be-low the treble response, with small dips at100 and 250 Hz. Bass rolloff at this EXTEN-SION setting started at about 50 Hz.

At least for lower test levels, harmonicdistortion was just a little above average (be-low 1 percent from 100 Hz on up at 85 dBsound pressure level). But KEF's admoni-tions about amplifier overload apparentlyapply to speaker distortion as well. At 90 dBSPL, there was a distortion peak of about 3percent at 630 Hz, which remained a promi-nent distortion band as the level was in-creased. At the same level, distortion at 63Hz was still an acceptable 21/2 percent. At avery loud 100 dB SPL, the speaker was clear-ly in trouble, with 63 -Hz distortion of 591/2percent (!) and distortion between 200 Hzand 1 kHz running from 41/2 to 81/2 percent.

The Kube settings DSL used providevery extended bass response (especially con-sidering the speaker's distance from the wallduring the testing) but also apply consider-able amounts of bass boost to the signal.This may account for the rather high distor-

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tion levels: The drivers are being pushedhard. The low -end boost seems to continueinto the infrasonic region, so we'd recom-mend use of an infrasonic filter or dialing theEXTENSION to a higher cutoff.

During the 300 -Hz high-level pulse test,DSL found that there was an audible changein sound quality, accompanied (and perhapscaused by) clipping visible in a display of themicrophone waveform. The speaker did ac-cept, however, 48 volts peak, which is equiv-alent to 24.6 dBW (288 watts) into 8 ohmsand 27.6 dBW (576 watts) into 4 ohms, todeliver a calculated peak sound pressure lev-el of 115.6 dB at 1 meter.

It's interesting to note that nothing weheard out of the speaker at any reasonablyloud listening level indicated that it wouldperform the way it did in the distortion mea-surements. In contrast to some precedingKEF flagship models, the 107 does not havea tendency to sound bottom -heavy or boomyon some types of program material. In fact,at times this speaker sounded just a bit tooclean and "civilised." We missed a little ofthe richness and oomph provided by cellosand double basses in orchestral material andthe viscerality of a kick drum in popular mu-sic. We believe this effect to be the result ofthe overall depression-averaging 3 dB asseen on the graph-in the bass and lowermidrange between about 80 and 300 Hz.The Kube varies only overall response be-low 1 kHz and is evidently unable to correctfor this. Also,the speakers did reach into the deep basswith organ pedal tones and very -low -fre-quency sine waves, all of which were audiblyundistorted.

Don't misinterpret us here. There isnothing "wrong" with the overall balance ofthe sound, which, on some material, struckus as unusually lifelike and well judged. It'sjust that our tastes would have preferred abit more body to certain recordings. Yourtastes, and your listening room, may notagree. Some of the Kube's effects, likechanging the speaker damping, are quitesubtle and were audible as such only when

TES T R E P O R TS

MANUFACTURED IN DENMARK BY

Audionord, the Dali line of speakershas been represented only once

before in these pages-by the Dali 3 (June1985). It was a compact two-way system;

playing test signals. But it does allow veryfine adjustment of speaker response to thequalities of the listening room and yourtaste. Perhaps we just never found the bestKube settings for our room and music.

A considerable virtue of the 107 is itsmeasured sensitivity of 91 dB SPL. This is atleast 3 dB higher than the sensitivity of manyother comparable high -end systems, mean-ing that the amplifier power (measured inwatts) necessary to drive the 107 is half thatnecessary with speakers having sensitivitiesbelow 88 dB SPL. Any amplifier driving the107 will be additionally pleased by the sys-tem's very uniform impedance curve. Itsmaximum is 5 ohms at 20 Hz, and its mini-mum is 3.1 ohms at about 75 Hz. Above 150Hz, the impedance varies only between 4.6and 3.9 ohms all the way up to 20 kHz.

This speaker's best quality, in which itseems to surpass our recollections of previ-ous KEF models, is its stereo imaging. Notonly is the left-right instrumental position-ing startlingly rock solid (when listeningfrom the ideal center position), but per-ceived depth, when the recording permits, isconsiderable. This is where KEF's com-puter -controlled driver and crossovermatching have really paid off, inasmuch asimage quality and stability are crucially de-pendent on the similarity of left- and right -channel signals. The precision of the 107'simaging allows all sorts of recording faults tobe discerned. It also permits the full enjoy-ment of a well -made stereo recording andprovides, at times, a realistic image we neverwould have expected from what we thoughtwere mediocre discs.

Distortion measurements have nevercorrelated well with speaker sound quality.That has never been more apparent thanwith the KEF 107, whose test results are soout of line with the excellent distortion mea-surements we obtained with the similar KEF104/2 that we are totally mystified as to theircause. We certainly urge an audition of the107. The extraordinary quality of its sound,especially its clarity and nearly palpable im-aging, demands no less.

here we address a three-way model dubbedthe Dali 7, a so-called column loudspeakerdesigned to stand directly on the floor.Again, it offers good value for money, as the(CONTINUED ON PAGE 47)

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More than 630large -format pages!

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Music: publishers,contests, festivals,and magazines!

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MUSICAL AMERICAINTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY OF THE PERFORMING ARTS

Our 89thconsecutive year!

e Soorce!) Over 900

orchestra listings!

AmbassadorInternational

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(includes musical directors and managers, auditorium size, andnumbers of concerts given)

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Last year's edition of the directory sold out just weeks after publication. Toreserve your copy of the 1987 edition - and save 25% - mail the couponbelow before October 30th. Do it right NOM

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THE DALI 7'S DRIVERS ARE DELIBERATELY OFFSET FROM THE CENTER

OF THE FRONT PANEL.

(CONTINUED FRONT P \GE I I )

British say.Each enclosure in a matched, mirror -im-

age pair has its drivers closer to the innerthan to the outer edge. Near the top is a %-inch double -magnet dome tweeter. Nextcomes a 3 -inch dome midrange driver. Be-low it, and centered on the vertical axis ofthe baffle, is a 10 -inch cone woofer whosebass -reflex loading is vented near the bot-tom of the back panel. Nominal crossoverfrequencies are 900 Hz and 3 kHz.

The baffle, as well as the four adjacentsurfaces, is finished in walnut veneer. Theremovable stretch -fabric grille is angled onthe inside bottom corner, dramatizing thatone enclosure is meant for the left channeland the other for the right (the grilles are in-terchangeable, however, so you can switchthe indicator notch to the outside corner ifyou want). There are no controls. Connec-tions are made to multiway binding posts setin a shallow recess on the back panel and an-gled to make hookup exceptionally easy.

The speakers can be used near the backwall (not right against it, if the vents are tohave adequate "breathing space") or out inthe room. Since the back is not finished inwood veneer (it's painted black, though thebottom of the speaker is veneered), Dalidoesn't seem to expect that the speakers willbe placed out in the room. But we preferredboth the tonal balance and the stereo imag-ing with the speakers completely freestand-ing. Diversified Science Laboratories, how-ever, measured the Dali 7 as its designimplies: with the wall six inches behind it.

Its frequency response measures excep-tionally flat, lying within about +3.9, -2.1dB from the 50 -Hz band to that centered on12.5 kHz on -axis, relative to average re-sponse within the "music band." Dependingon how you view the data, this can representa very broad, shallow midrange response sag(some of which might well be attributable tofloor reflection) or a moderate bass promi-nence coupled with a very gradually risingresponse characteristic through all but thevery highest treble. Off -axis response is evenflatter ( +3.2, -1.1 dB on the same basis)

but otherwise almost identical, displaying ROOM RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS

nothing that could be construed as seriousevidence of beaming.

Even away from the wall, the Dali 7's bassstruck us as being slightly heavy with someprogram material in the listening tests. Wealso found the entire upper range consis-tently a hair on the bright side. Neither prop-erty could be regarded as cause for com-plaint, and some tastes will consider thesubtle emphasis of these regions a sonicplus. Overall, we found the sound generallywell balanced and often excellently delineat-ed, with crisp instrumental textures and col-ors. This last quality enhanced-and wasmore than a little enhanced by-the excel-lent stereo imaging, attributable in part tothe symmetrical driver placement and, per-haps, to the company's professed care withphase relationships.

The impedance curve is fairly typical of athree-way vented system. But the vent reso-nant frequency evidently is infrasonic, be-cause the curve slopes steeply away from itsinitial 25 -ohm value at 20 Hz (the beginningof testing), drops to a 12 -ohm minimum,rises to 27 ohms at woofer resonance (about60 Hz), drops to a 6.8 -ohm minimum in themidbass, rises to 20 ohms at about 1 kHz,drops again to 6.8 ohms, and wanders grad-ually upward to 10.4 ohms at 20 kHz. Aver-age impedance values (11.4 ohms over themusic band, 12.6 ohms for the full audioband) are relatively high even for an "8ohm" system like the Dali 7 and should en-sure that you have no problems even if yourun parallel speaker pairs.

Total harmonic distortion over most ofthe frequency range averages about 1/4 per-cent at the lowest test level, 85 dB SPL(sound pressure level), increasing to morethan 1 percent at the maximum level, 100 dBSPL. These figures aren't as low as thespeakers' relative freedom from colorationmight lead one to expect, but they aren't ex-cessive either. Sensitivity is about averagefor a speaker of this type, and the Dali 7 ac-cepted the full peak output of our test ampli-fier (equivalent to 512 watts into 8 ohms) todeliver a calculated peak sound pressure lev-el of 115.1 dB SPL at 1 meter.

In sum, the Dali 7 is an attractive optionat an attractive price. At $644 per pair (in-cluding shipping), it would be hard to domuch better, easy to do much worse.

c O NTINT'ED ON P A (; I, 481

REPORT POLICY

MENTS AHD I e,11,, .1' CI 111,

WISE NOTED, TEST DATA ARE PROVIDED BY DIVERI,IHED SCI-

ENCE LABORATORIES. THE CHOICE Of EQUIPMENT TO /1

TESTED RESTS WITH !HP EDITORS OF HIGH FIUEfll

NORMALLY ARE SUPPLIED ON LOAN FROM THE MANUFACTURE

ER.MANUFACTURERS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO READREPOkl,, IN

ADVANCE Of PUBLICATION, AND NO REPORT OR PORTION

?HEREOF MAY BF REPRODUCED FOR ANY PURPOSE OR IN ANT

FORM WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER AD

REPORTS SHOULD BE CONSTRUED AS APPtYiNG TO THE SPECIE

IC SAMPIES TESL ED HIGH HOEIITY AND DIVERSIFIED SOTNE f

LABORATORIES ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR PRODUCT

PERFORMANCE OR GUAIITY

DB

+5

0

-5-10

mommmmiformiimarzigradismommnormsommumHZ 20 50 100 200 500

boundary -dependent region

1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

on -axis response

oIT-axis (30') response

SENSITIVITY (at 1 meter; 2.8 -volt pink noise) 88 dB SPL

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE (250 Hz to 6 kHz) 11.4 ohms

NOVEMBER 1986 47

T ES T R E P OR TS

Acoustic Research Connoisseur 40Loudspeaker

ROOM RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS

LB

+5

-5

50 100 200 500

boundary -dependent region

1K

on -axis response

off axis (301 response

SENSITIVITY (at 1 meter; 2.8 -volt pink noise)

AVERAGE IMPECANCE (250 Hz to 6 kHz)

2K 5K 10K 20K

89 dB SPL

7 ohms

DIMENSIONS: 12Y, BY 27% INCHES (FRONT), 13 INCHES DEEP PLUS

CLEARANCE FOR GRILLE; 31 INCHES HIGH ON SUPPUED STAND. PRICE:

$1,000 PER PAIR, INCLUDING STANDS. WARRANTY: "FULL," FIVE

YEARS PARTS AND LABOR. MANUFACTURER: TELEDYNE ACOUSTIC RE-

SEARCH, 330 TURNPIKE ST., CANTON, MASS. 02021.

SEVERAL QUALITIES DISTINGUISH THEConnoisseur Series from other AcousticResearch loudspeakers: All of them

have polypropylene diaphragms, and all arefinished in real wood veneers-two featuresthat aren't necessarily included in the regu-lar AR line. But most important, surely, isthe extra care that has been taken in the de-sign of the crossover and dispersion patternto improve imaging.

Insofar as the listening tests for the Con-noisseur Series are conducted in Englandand with European listening priorities inmind (final tuning of AR's standard productline takes place in the United States), wemight be tempted to conclude that Ameri-can tastes will be better served by other ARmodels. If so, our taste must be European,because we were very taken by the sound ofthe Connoisseur 40, a tallish three-way sys-tem in an enclosure only slightly larger thantraditional bookshelf size. The speakers areintended for vertical placement on the sup-plied floorstands, which cant them slightly,firing the treble upward toward the listener.

The drivers are arrayed along the verticalaxis of the baffle panel. The woofer, at thebottom, is a 10 -inch cone in a sealed (acous-tic suspension) enclosure. Its diaphragmand that of the 61/2 -inch midrange cone aremade of filled polypropylene. The 1 -inchtweeter, at the top, is a liquid -cooled dome.The nominal crossovers are at 350 Hz and 5kHz.

Regular readers of these reports willnote that the midrange driver is a little largerthan average for a three-way system. Thereason is not only that the woofer crossoverfrequency is lower than average, requiringthe midrange to handle longer wavelengths,but that some reduction in dispersion angletoward the top of the mid frequencies wasdeemed desirable for purposes of imaging-a consideration that, according to AR, is par-ticularly dear to European audiophiles. Inother words, reflections from the listeningroom's side walls are deliberately inhibitedin the range below 5 kHz, which is critical forgood imaging, so that directly propagatedsonic information can maintain its primacy.

(The larger a diaphragm is, the lower the fre-quency at which it will begin to beam-thatis, propagate directionally.)

At times in audio history, this sort ofthinking has seemed to characterize the dif-ference between European and Americanspeaker designers. Broad dispersion-par-ticularly in the highs, and even to the extentof so-called omnidirectionality (thoughoften in the horizontal plane only)-has sel-dom obsessed Europeans to the degree ithas many American engineers. On%The con-trary, "controlled" dispersion, as opposedto sonic scattering, has been a stated objec-tive of some British designers whose prod-ucts have impressed us mightily. This is thetradition to which the Connoisseur Seriesseeks to belong.

The finely finished cabinet (in oiled wal-nut) gives every indication-with one excep-tion-of the careful detailing that AR says isa hallmark of the series. That exception,which is hardly a major one, is the placementof the multiway binding posts at the back ofthe speaker: They are recessed in a well toosmall to make hookup really easy with any-thing but banana plugs.

Foot prongs are provided to help thematching speaker stands "grip" the floor.Theoretically, the prongs aid in convertingmore of the driver energy into radiatedsound and less into cabinet motion, but theymay play havoc with carpets or finishedfloors unless the speakers are left perma-nently in one place.

The instruction folder accompanying theConnoisseur 40 suggests placement near awall, which is how Diversified Science Lab-oratories tested them. Response was mea-sured with the test speaker on its stand and 3inches from the wall behind it. The curvesare quite flat but for a marked dip in the mid-range-presumably attributable to a floorreflection-flanked by slight prominences.Within the 30 -degree angle between our on -and off -axis measurements, there is very lit-tle difference between the two curves, mean-ing that dispersion is essentially even withinthat angle, right up to the top of the treble.

In the listening room, we preferred thespeakers away from the walls, which appar-ently reduced the prominence of the rangebetween 60 and 200 Hz from the level shownin the graph. With the speakers in that posi-tion, the bass was full and true and the bal-(CONTINUED ON PAGE 96)

SURPRISE: MAKING

HOME MOVIES IS EASY!

WE EXAMINE THE FEATURES

OF MORE THAN

45 CAMCORDERS.

LIGHTS,

CAMCORDER,

ACTION!

BY FRANK LOVECEAMCORDERS-COMBINATION VIDEOcamera/recorders-have supplantedthe bulkier two-piece camera/portable-VCR setups, offering a lightweight,integrated package almost as easy tooperate as a "point and shoot" 35mm

film camera. Consequently, and despite their being among the costliestitems any video buff could want short of a satellite dish system, cam-corders have rekindled the home -movie craze. Unit sales may top one mil-lion by the end of this year.

Prices still have not strayed far downward, but home videographersnow have a much greater choice for their money than when Sony intro-duced its seminal Betamovie camcorder three years ago. Since then, threeother video formats have jumped in: full-size VHS, the compatible subfor-mat VHS -C (which uses a smaller cassette), and 8mm. (Beta camcorderscontinue to be produced by Sony, which backs them up with a full line ofBeta -format home recorders.) Models within each format usually are verysimilar to each other, as most are made by just one or two manufacturers.(CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 0

Frank Lovett es a free-lance wrner sproatizing in video.

NOV EMBE It 1V 6 6 49

KYOCERA KO -208 8mm CAMCORDER

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 49)This resemblance does not extend acrossformats, however: A VHS -C camcorder, forinstance, may have features that are very dif-ferent from those of a full-size VHS model.All four formats are represented in thecharts accompanying this article.

LESS IS MOREALL CAMCORDERS SHARE CERTAINadvantages over two-piece systems, themost obvious being size and weight.

The smallest 8mm camcorder is almostpalm -size, and other models range in weightfrom less than three pounds to a maximumof just more than six. (For uniformity,weights mentioned here and in the charts donot include battery or videocassette; batteryweights can vary by type and the length ofcharge they hold.) Another welcome advan-tage is ease of use: There are no cables toconnect between the camera and the record-er, and you don't have to carry a separate(and heavy) VCR over your shoulder. A cam-corder can be called into action quicklyenough to catch Baby's first steps.

On the down side, you get fewer play-back effects than in a conventional portableVCR: Slow motion and frame -by -frame ad-vance usually are missing, for example. Andwhile portable VCRs normally are sold with

SONY BMC-660K BETA CAMCORDER

a companion tuner/timer for recordingfrom broadcast or cable TV, camcorders in-clude only the connections for recording froman external source. To play back tapes, mostinclude an RF adapter (for connection to aTV set's antenna terminal) as well as directaudio -video outputs for hookup to a moni-tor. Some videographers may find that acamcorder's playback capabilities are suffi-cient to eliminate the need for a regularhome VCR.

TAKING AIMTHE CAMERA PORTION OF A CAMCORDER IS

where the action is. Most models usevarious sensors to automatically adjust

focus, iris opening (aperture), and white bal-ance (color temperature). A power zoomlens usually is standard, as is a setting formacro (close-up) focusing. Many cam-corders enable you to do one -button fadesand include simple character generators thatcan superimpose the time and date on-screen. In addition, most models have portsfor hooking up more sophisticated charac-ter -generating devices that might be usedfor titling your creations.

There are two kinds of viewfinders. Themore common (and more expensive) elec-tronic viewfinder is actually a tiny video mon-itor that displays exactly what you're shoot-ing, including the light conditions. A "quickreview" feature will back up the tape a fewseconds and then play it, making it even easi-er to judge the need for a retake (and there-fore reducing the amount of editing). Manycamcorders include a backlight -compensa-tion control, which permits manual adjust-ment of the otherwise automatic iris so thatsilhouetted subjects don't get blacked out.

A few models have optical viewfindersthat look through a separate lens mountednear the camera lens. These viewfinders in-troduce parallax error (caused by the cam-era and your eye seeing the subject fromslightly different angles), which makes veryprecise aiming difficult. But even more trou-blesome is the fact that an optical viewfind-er, unlike its electronic counterpart, doesn'tshow errors in focusing (if the autofocusshould somehow get fooled) and contrast.Indicators can warn of low lighting, but see-ing exactly what you're shooting (albeit inblack -and -white) makes electronic viewfind-ers easier to use.

Most camcorder autofocusing systemsbounce an infrared beam off an object toprovide range data that a microprocessoruses to adjust the lens. Most VHS -C cam-corders, however, use a through -the -lens(TTL) focusing system (as in some autofo-cus film cameras), also with a lens -adjustingmicroprocessor. Sony's ultralightweight8mm Handycam uses a manually selectedthree -position fixed -focus lens, but tightshots can be difficult to set up because theunit's optical viewfinder can't verify properfocusing.

JVC GR-C7 VHS -C CAMCORDER

The image -pickup device in a camcorder,as in any type of video camera, is either a vac-uum tube such as a Saticon or a Newvicon-sometimes with "high band" technology de-signed to improve the picture-or a solid-state microchip. If the latter, it is usuallycalled a charge -coupled device (CCD) or ametal -oxide semiconductor (MOS) imagesensor. The principal advantage of a solid-state pickup is its immunity to "burn -in," orstreaking from bright picture highlights(such as reflections of the sun). Tube pick-ups are more sensitive to such exposure andmust be aimed with discretion. On the otherhand, they usually produce more accuratecolor balance and work better in low light(though the newest chips are about as goodin the latter respect). So each kind of pickuphas distinct benefits.

FOR THE RECORDISTSUPER BETA AND H(1 -THE BETA AND VHS

versions, respectively, of recent picture -enhancing technology-are now widely

used in camcorders. Completely missing,however, are their audio counterparts: BetaHi-Fi and VHS Hi-Fi. In fact, only one cur-rent camcorder offers stereo sound record-ing: Kodak's top modular 8mm unit, theMVS-5000, can record a PCM digital stereo(CONTINUED ON PAGE 54)

MITSUMS111641OUR VIK CA/MOM

SO HIGH FIDELIT Y

IO

GENERAL ELECTRIC

9-9606

GENERAL ELECTRIC

9-9608

GENERAL ELECTRIC9-9610

rSTARGVM-70AF

HITACHIVM-2100A

HITACHIVM-5000A

4.*re

4: ik4

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (9-54mm)power zoom w/macro

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (9-54mm)power zoom w/macro

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 8:1 (8.5-64mm)power zoom w/macro

Yes

Yes

Yes

'/2 -inch high -

band Newvicon

'/2 -inch high -

band Newvicon

CCD

61/2 lbs. f/1.4; 6:1 (11.5-70mm) Yes CCD

power zoom w/macro

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (8-51mm) Yes '/2 -inch high -

power zoom w/macro band Saticon

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1(11.5-69mm) Yes MOSpower zoom w/mocro

672 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (9-54mm) Yes 1/2. -inch

66-1T3 power zoom w/macro Newvicon

INSTANT REPLAY92-11-3

INSTANT REPLAY93-1T3

MAGNAVOXVR 829:

MAGNAVOXVR-8293

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (9-54mm) Yes '/2 -inch

power zoom w/macro Newvicon

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 8:1 (8.5-68mm) Yes CCD

er zoom w/macgimift,51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (9-54mm) Yes 'A -inch

power zoom w/macro Newvicon

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 8:1 (8.5-68mm) Yes CCD

power zoom w/macro

44,*... 46

41. qr044,

.4.V. 1.I4

044Z.V.

Yes Freeze frame; Auto fade-in/out; Yes

forward/reverse quick review; time/scan date generator;

audio dub; light shoe

Yes Same as above Same as above Yes

Yes Same as above Same as above Yes

No Freeze frame; Light shoeforward/reversescan

Yes Freeze frame; Auto/manual iris (no Yesforward/reverse separate backlightscan control); quick

review; light shoe

Yes Same as above Same as above, plus Yestime/date generator

No Freeze frame; STCAM- and Yes

forward/reverse NTSC-compatible;scan quick review; time/

date generator;audio dub;light shoe

Yes Same as above Same as above Notavail.

Yes Some as above Same as abolikeilk

Yes Freeze frame; Quick review; time/ Withforward/reverse date generator; optionalscan audio dub; light shoe V-80071

RF adapter($190)

Yes Same as above Same as above Yes

7lux

7lux

7lux

$1,500

$1,600

$1,800

7lux $1,600

7lux $1,800

10 lux $1,600

7lux $1,900

20 lux $2,00041

7 lux Notavail.

7 lux Notavail.

7lux $1,550

'MINOLTA, 5'/2 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (11.5--69mm) Yes iv,05

power zoom w/macroYes Freeze frame; Auto/manual iris (no Yes

forward/reverse separate backlightscan control); quick

MITSUBISHIHS -F1 OUR

51/4 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (8.5-51mm) Yes 1/2 -inch high -

power zoom w/macro band SaticonNo Freeze frame; Auto iris (no override Yes

forward/reverse or separate back -scan light control); video

gain; audio dub;light shoe

NEC

V -20U

ir51/1 ; 6:1 (8.

for zoom w/Freeze fforward/scan control); video gain;

quick review; lightshoe

;Yes

OLYMPUSVX-403

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 8:1 (8.5-68mm) Yes CCD

power zoom w/macroYes Freeze frame; Auto fade-in/out; Yes

forward/reverse quick review; audioscan dub; light shoe

7lux Notavail.

PANASONICPV -210

PANASONICPV -220

51/2 ; 6:1 (9-54mm)power zoom w/macro

Yes inch We frame; WWith 7 lux $1,500ewvicon and/reverse qu optional

scan date generator; PV-A22M

Same as PV -210, but with RF adapter and wired record/pause remote control.

audio dub RF adapter($190)

$1,700

VHS

04"

0 4;

44/

44,0

4 4-4o 4+ A

ir 4 474. 44 44.. 4,444/ 4

41'V40 4r04... 4

410 4

PANASONICPV -300

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 8:1 (8.5-68mm) Yes CCDpower zoom w/macro

Yes Same as PV -220 Same as PV -220 Yes 7lux $2,000

PENTAXPV C33A

PENTAXPV C.55A

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 powerzoom w/macro

Yes inch

Saticon

51/2 lbs. f /1.2; 6:1 power Yes MOSzoom w/macro

Yes Freeze frame; Auto/manual iris (no Notforward/reverse separate backlight avail.scan control); quick

review

Yes Same as above Same as above Notavail.

7lux $1,700

7lux Notavail.

PHILCOVCR -801

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (8-48mm) Yes 1/2 -inch

power zoom w/macro NewviconYes Freeze frame; Quick review; time/ With 7 lux Not

forward/reverse date generator; optional avail.scan audio dub; light shoe V-80071

RF adopter0190)

QUASARVM 11

QUASARVM 20

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (9-54mm) Yes 1/2 -inch

power zoom w/macro Newvicon

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 8:1 (8.5-68mm) Yes CCDpower zoom w/macro

Yes Freeze frame; Auto fade-in/out; Yes

forward/reverse quick review; time/scan date generator;

light shoe

Yes Some as above Same as above Yes

7lux $1,770

7lux $1,970

RCA

CMR-200

RCA

CMR-300

51/2 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (8.5-51 mm) Yes 1/2:inchpower zoom w /macro Saticon

51/2 lbs. f/1.2;6:1 (11.5-69mm) Yes MOSpower zoom w/mocro

Yes Freeze frame; Auto/manual iris (no Yesforward/reverse separate backlightscan control); quick

review; time/dategenerator

Yes Same as above Some as above Yes

7lux $1,300

7lux $1,500

SEARS 5 lbs. f 1.2; 6:1 (8.5 51 mm)Yes 1', -inch53721 power zoom w macro Newvicon

Yes Freeze frame; Auto/manual iris (no Yesforward/reverse separate backlightscan control); quick

review

7lux $1,290

SHARPVC -C I OUAH

SHARPVC-C2OUAH(availablelate '86)

524 lbs. f /1.4; 6:1 (9-54mm) Yes

power zoom w/macro1/2 -inchNewvicon

51/4 lbs. f / 1.4; 6:1 (11-66mm) Yes CCDpower zoom w/macro

Yes es

f fscan control); quick

review; dategenerator; light shoe

Yes Same as above Linear -track stereo; Yes

stereo mike; quickreview; dategenerator; audio

10 lux Notavail.

Not Notavail. avail.

SYLVANIAVCC 151

51/2 lbs. f /1.2; 6:1 (9-54mm) Yes '/2 -inch

power zoom w/macro NewviconYes Freeze frame; Quick review; time/ With 7 lux Not

forward/reverse date generator; optional avail.scan audio dub; V-80071

light shoe Rf adapter($190)

TEKNIKAC-6010 power zoom w/macro Newvicon

Yes Me frame; Aulli11111111111111MIFforward/reverse quick review; time/scan date generator;

audio dub; light shoe

7lux $1,7,

Audio Note: Unless otherwise noted, all VHS, VHS -C, and Beta camcorders record a monaural linear soundtrack, and all 8mm camcorders record monaurally us-ing AFM (see text).

Charts by Frank Lovece

52 HIGH F IDEL IT V

0471

AIWACV -80

0 44is

tif 4' 0 4,esix ,46 444!) 4rie

AL*

.17 gr

51/2 lbs. f/1.4; 6:1 (12-72mm) Yes CCD

power zoomSP/SP, LP; freezeframe; forward/reverse scan

At.

Wr

Light shoe

4.4:4qrt J't 4"041.* eYes 19 lux $1,800

2 lbs f/1.2; 6:1 (8.5-51mm) Yes

power zoom w/macro1/2 -inch high- SP/SP, LP; freezeband Saticon frame; forward,

reverse scan

Auto/manual iris (no Yesseparate backlightcontrol); auto fade-in/out

19 lux $1,600

GOLDSTARGS-8AF

5 lbs. f/1.4; 6:1 (11.5-70mm) Yes CCDpower zoom w/macro

SP/SP, LP; freezeframe; forward/reverse scan

Light shoe Yes 19 lux $1,700

1.6; manual, 3 -position fixed focusw/macro

No CCD y) IMIllrlder, Nobut transm: RF

signals ( picture only)wirelessly to user -supplied monitor/TV; price includesmodified Sony EV-C.8U VCR

20 lux $1,400

KODAK'MVS-440camera

KODAKMVS-460camera

KODAKMVS-3000docking VCR

KODAKMVS-5000docking VCR

21/4 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (9-54mm) No 1/2 -inch

power zoom w/macro Newvicon

23/4 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (9-54mm) Yes

power zoom w/macro

2 lbs.

2 lbs.

'/2 -inch

Newvicon

SP, LP/SP, LP;

freeze frame;frame advance;slow motion; for-ward/reverse scan

Same as above

Auto fade-in/out;positive/negativeimaging

Same as above

PCM digital stereoaudio with video(requires optionalstereo mike[s]);audio dub

10 lux $700

101ux $1,000

With $800optionalMVS-52RF

converter

($60)

Same as $1,000above

KYOCERAKD-200

51/2 lbs_ f /1.4; 6:1 (12-72 mm)power zoom

Yes CCD SP/SP, LP; freeze Quick review; edit- Yes

_ mod amp;

19 lux $1,750

NEC

EM-A8U5 lbs. f/1.2; 6:1 (9-54mm) Yes CCD

power zoom w/macroSpeeds not avail.;freeze frame; for-ward/reverse scan

Auto/manual iris (no Yesseparate backlightcontrol); quickreview; edit -modesignal amp;light shoe

7 lux Notavail.

IMPUSVX-801

3'/4power zoom w/mac

CCD SP/SP; freezeframe; frameadvance; forward/reverse scan

Auto fade-Wout;light shoe

SANYOVM-8

51/2 lbs. f/1.4; 6:1 (12-72mm) Yes CCDpower zoom

SP/SP, LP;freeze frame; for-ward/reverse scan

Quick review; edit Yes

mode signal amp;light shoe

19 lux $1,470

SONYCCD-M8LPHandycam

SONYCCD-M91)HandycarrSports

SONYCCD-V8AFU

No CCD Vrd only)

Same a; CCD-M8U but with heavy -plastic, water-resistant shell for outdoor (but no

5V2 lbs. f /1.4; 6:1 (12-72mm) Yes CCD

power zoomSP/SP, LP;freeze frame;forward/reversescan

Opt er;,no miearphone jacks

t underwater) shooting

Quick review; edit- Yes

mode signalamp; light shoe

VHS -C

JVC

GR-C7

A40*wt 414 4"to V' 4

4 044,

4- 44,4.0 ,,, Cf t., 4/ 40 4 44, V% A 44,... 4' 4 4 ,It 0. V" 1rA. 44,

...ir 444.4*

* A. , 44*A 4` 4

3 lbs. f/1.6; 6:1 (9-54mm) TTL/ CCD Yes Freeze frame;power zoom w/mocro CCD forward/

reverse scan

Wy

44444-

0

*

44'

Auto audio/video Yes

fade-in/out; quickreview; carryingcase standard

; : power of es reeze rame; Not avail.SK -60 zoom w/macro avail. forward/

reverse scan

Yes 15 lux Notavail.

ZENITHVM-6200

3 lbs. 1111i) CCDpower zoom wfmacro

Yes Fr

forveg.1reverse scan

Auto audio/video Yes

fade-in/out; quickreview

15 lux Notavail.

BETA

Wa

Zr*

4,4-0

tv494 *4.1 4A,ii4 V44i44, 4,4

A4 a, 4A 4 4kV V4 , 4,4 0

SONY 51/2 lbs. f/1.4; 6:1 (12-72mm) Yes CCDBMC-660K power zoom

Yes Beta II (record Optical viewfinder; Noonly) time/date gen-

erator; light shoe

25 lux $1,500

'Not including battery or videocassette.

'Unless otherwise noted, all have automatic iris with backlight compensation control; manual fade-in/out possible.

'All have manual override.

All have play, record, rewind, fast -forward, and pause controls.All VHS models record and play back in Standard Play (SP) only; all VHS -C models record and play back in SP and Extended Play (EP).SP provides two hours with T-120 VHS tape or P6-120 8mm tape; 20 minutes with TC-20 VHS -C tape. Long Play (LP) is double time.EP is

triple time. Beta II provides three hours and 20 minutes with L-830 tape.

'Unless otherwise noted, all have automatic color/white-balance with manual override; tape counter with zero -reset memory; standby mode;viewfinder indicators; microphone; and mike and earphone jacks. The 8mm models have a "flying" erase head for cleaner edits than withconventional stationary erase heads. Unless otherwise noted, all models have electronic viewfinders.

'With supplied RF adapter.

'In video, "minimum illumination" is a nonstandardized specification, supplied here only as a general indication of low -light shootingcapability. Data given by manufacturer and not independently confirmed by HIGH FIDELITY test reports.

°Kodak's MVS-440 and MVS-460 modular video cameras can each dock with the company's MVS-3000 and MVS-5000 modular VCRs, foratotal of four camcorder combinations.

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 50)soundtrack when used with a stereo micro-phone setup. (See our August test report onKodak's MVS-5380, comprising the MVS-5000 recorder and the MVS-380 tuner/timer.) This model can also be used as an au-dio -only machine, recording as many as sixtwo- or four-hour tracks (depending on re-cording speed). Standard 8mm camcordersrecord a mono AFM soundtrack (multi-plexed into the video tracks in the same wayas Beta Hi-Fi or VHS Hi-Fi) that offers betterperformance than the linear mono tracks onBeta and VHS models. One Sharp VHS unit

to be introduced soon will record a linearstereo soundtrack, but not VHS Hi-Fi.

Finally, there's the matter of video heads,the tiny electromagnetic components that"write" on and "read" back the videotape.Virtually all VHS camcorders have fourvideo heads. However, because a smallerhead drum is used, the multispeed playbackeffects usually associated with four -headhome units are not possible. VHS -C modelsand most 8mm units have just two videoheads. The latter also have a "flying" (ratherthan stationary) erase head-a trickle -downfrom professional VCRs-for cleaner edits.

Because of the geometry of the Betacam sys-tem, the Sony Beta model shown in ourcharts uses only one double -gap video head.

With the proliferation of camcorders to-day and with industry figures showing an al-most completely eroded market for two-piece systems, these all -in -one moviemakersrepresent not the future but the present. Al-though the retail prices shown in our chartsare quite high, most stores sell at a discount(albeit not to the same extent as on homeVCRs). If the traditional pattern continues,however, even lower prices are on the way.At last.

54 HIGH FIDELITY

BY KENNETH 1. KANTOR

WHAT'SNEW INSPEAKERTESTINGA COMBINATION OF COMPUTERTECHNOLOGY AND PSYCHOACOUSTICRESEARCH WILL LEAD TO TESTS THATTRULY EVALUATE SPEAKER QUALITY.

MEASURING THE PERFORMANCE OF Aloudspeaker has never been easy.Engineers drag speakers into

special echo -free rooms, shove them intoecho chambers, wheel them into "nor-mal" living rooms, and hoist them up flag-poles (to get them far away from any re-flecting surfaces). Calibrated testmicrophones are placed within 1/4 inch ofthe woofer, positioned exactly 1 meteraway, or whirled around the room like abola swung by a gaucho (so as to reducethe effects of room resonances on themeasurement). Mikes also get mountedinside speaker cabinets, built into modelsof human heads, or even inserted into theear canals of (presumably) willing listen-ers. Speakers are fed clicklike impulses,pure sine waves, bursts of sine waves,square waves, white noise, pink noise, andeven rock 'n' roll.

Why this variety? Audiophiles andspeaker designers have learned over dec-ades that a few simple measurements can-not predict speaker sound quality, espe-cially in the home. Why is this so? And isthis situation permanent? To understandwhy the answer to the second question isno, you must carefully examine some an-swers to the first.

SPEAKERS IN ROOMSBETWEEN THE TIME A SIGNAL REACHES A

speaker's terminals and the instantyou hear the corresponding sound,

several things happen. First, the sound isdivided by the crossover network and fed

to the various drivers of the speaker sys-tem. Each of these drivers then radiates itsassigned vibrations. These recombine inthe air and travel to the listener's ears. Be-cause the drivers are usually spaced apartand emit different signals, every point inthe space surrounding the speaker re-ceives a different combination of driveroutputs. The speaker's measured and au-dible response can therefore be differentfrom place to place in the room.

A large portion of the energy radiatedby the loudspeaker is reflected (from thewalls, ceiling, floor, or furniture) at leastonce before reaching the listener. Whenthe reflections arrive at the ear, their lev-els and timings will, for several acousticand psychoacoustic reasons, significantlyaffect the perceived frequency response,not to mention other aspects of speakerperformance, such as imaging precision.

Figure 1 shows the frequency re-sponse of a woofer as measured from vari-ous points in a listening room. The topcurve was made very close to the cone(within 1 inch), the bottom curve at about1 meter. As the microphone moves away,the sound level decreases (shown by theoverall lowering of the curves); just as im-portant, room reflections begin to alterthe woofer's apparent response, as can beseen by the lower curves.

Reflections also develop and changeon their own, with a time scale deter-mined by the acoustics of the room. Theresult is a blurring of the exact details ofthe original speaker signal. Figure 2 docu-ments a significant, but usually ignored,

speaker-room interaction of this type. Itshows what happens in a typical listeningroom when a 300 -Hz sine wave is sudden-ly applied to a speaker. Instead of appear-ing instantly and continuing evenly, thesound varies in level as room reflectionsbuild up, adding to and subtracting fromthe direct sound in a haphazard fashion.After about 250 milliseconds (1/4 second,which is a very long time in psychoacous-tic terms), the level stabilizes.

Because of room -related effects likethis one, short musical sounds can seemto have a tonal balance different from thatof longer ones. These phenomena may,for example, explain why a certain speak-er might sound just right on cellos butbottom -heavy and boomy on bass drums.

TEST METHODSTHE FEW EXAMPLES MENTIONED ABOVE

demonstrate that simply measuring aspeaker in a listening room-the in-

tuitively obvious way of testing it-willprovide few clues as to what the speaker,as opposed to the room, is doing to thesound. Designers get around this prob-lem by one of two means: eliminating theroom reflections or compensating forthem in the measurement technique.

One important method of testingspeakers makes use of a special reflection -free room called an anechoic (no echo)chamber. Such a space enables a speakerdesigner to examine the behavior of thespeaker without such hard -to -controlvariables as room reflections. Anechoictesting is very useful for designing driversand crossovers and is almost always thefirst step in testing a speaker system. Fre-quency response, radiation pattern, dis-tortion, and efficiency can all be mea-sured in this environment. Any type oftest signal can be used in anechoic testing,but sine waves are used most often.

Because the listening room does havean important effect on speaker sound,most speaker designers also include a va-riety of "real room" tests in their reper-toire. However, a room -response graphcan be so complex that it correlates poor-ly to the perceived performance of thespeaker and is therefore "unreadable" (asin the lower traces of Fig. 1). This makes itnecessary to find ways to remove someroom -related effects.

A common way of doing this is to use arandom -noise signal (such as pink noise),together with a spectrum analyzer. Noisesignals are less likely to stimulate roomresonances than discrete -frequency sine(CONTINUED ON PAGE 58)

Kenneth L. Kantor is president of Product Designand Evaluation Services in San Francisco. Previ-ously, he worked for Acoustic Research, where hewas director of research and principal designer ofthe MGC-1 loudspeaker.

NOVEMBER 1986 55

2001A SPEAKER ODYSSEY

-

HE FOLLOWING FANTASY REVIEW OF THE

Percept IM -1 loudspeaker includes re-sults from five unconventional tests-

unconventional because they have not yetbeen invented. Two are based on extrapo-lations from present-day methods. The oth-er three are the predicted result of a combi-nation of psychoacoustic research withcomputerized instrumentation. Before weget to the review itself, here are descrip-tions of these five tests.

Critical -band rood' response beginswith a conventional in -room frequency -re-sponse measurement (perhaps made bypink -noise or impulse testing). The data arethen smoothed out by computer to a sim-pler curve that approximates the tonal bal-ance that the human ear will perceive. Criti-cal -band filtering has the advantage ofproducing curves that are as easy to"read" as anechoic measurements withoutexcluding the effects of the listening roomon tonal balance. It is likely that subtle ton-al differences between speakers will showup in this kind of measurement, which is sel-dom the case with the more traditional fre-quency -response tests.

Stereo image precision is depicted bya graph showing the angular width of asound source reproduced at various loca-

S6 HIGH FIDE

tions between the two speakers. This testcan be made using actual listeners or bymathematically comparing signals receivedat microphones placed in the ear canals ofartificial heads. If the reproduction wereperfect, the sound sources would appearfocused at every point across the soundstage. The inherent "localization blur" ofhuman hearing is on the order of 1 or 2 de-grees, so a reading of 3 degrees in this testis indicative of a speaker capable of veryprecise imaging.

Coloration of an audio signal resultsfrom several factors. Harmonic and inter -modulation distortion, excessive (not all!)phase errors, delayed resonances, and ear-ly reflections can cause sonic degradationwithout showing up in a conventional fre-quency -response measurement. For thisreason, it is important to devise a test tech-nique that integrates these factors. To ar-rive at a single coloration curve, echo -weighting results could be combined withphase, distortion, and impulse -responsedata. It eventually will be possible to esti-mate what amounts of coloration are toler-able or even desirable.

Re-creation of source location can bedetermined by a simple and useful tech-nique first used back in 1934. A humanvoice is recorded at nine positions around aroom. This recording is then played throughthe speakers being tested, and a listeningpanel indicates from where each of thevoices is heard. This can then be directlycompared with the original locations. Caremust be taken to choose a "neutral" roomand a microphone technique representa-tive of those used in commercial recording,but the tests can be very enlightening ifdone properly.

An acceptable listening area can bedetermined by combining localization andfrequency -response tests made at variouslistening positions. For example, the resultsof the source -location test described abovemight work perfectly at a central listeningposition but not at all when a listener isseated closer to one speaker than the oth-er. One speaker designer might want tosacrifice coloration performance to achievea wider listening area. Another designermight want to restrict the listening area toget better localization accuracy. Buyersneed to know about these decisions in or-der to choose the best speakers for theirneeds.

DIMENSIONS, 10 BY 215 INCHES(FRONT), 11.5 t,ICIIES PEEP. PRICE.

$330 PER 'AIR, INCLUDINGSTANDS. WARRANTY:

"LIMITED," FIVE

YEARS PARTS AND LABOR.MANUFACTURER: PERCEPT LOUD-

SPEAKER' , POST -QUAKE ISLAND,CALIF. 913765 4321.2.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MICHAEL KLEIN

IM -1 lOUDSPfAXTHE IM -1 IS THE FIRST PRODUCT FROM

Percept Loudspeakers, a small Califor-

nia company. Despite its relatively

modest price, the IM -1 incorporates some

interesting design features intended to im-

prove both its tonal balance and its imag-

ing characteristics. The compact two-way

system uses an 8 -inch acoustic suspension

woofer loaded by an innovative elastic res-

onance -tuned enclosure, which together

provide a low-frequency cutoff of about 35

Hz. Frequenciesabove 1 kHz are radiated

by a flexi-planar constant -directivity

tweeter. The system is optimized for place-

ment within 1 foot of a wall and sits about

30 inches off the floor on its stands.

Diversified Science Laboratories mea-

sured the room responseof the IM -1 as be-

ing within a commendable ±2 dB from 33

Hz to 18 kHz, after critical -band filtering.

A broad depression is visible in the cross-

over region, but we consider this to be of

minor importance.Sensitivity is on the low

side, at 86.5 dB, but power handling and

distortion proved to be a bit better than av-

erage for a speaker of this size.

Distortion runs less than 0.5 percent at

100 dB SPL from 60 Hz on up, increasing to

3.0 percent at 30 Hz. The elastic enclosure

allows controlledcabinet vibrations to aug-

ment the woofer response at low frequen-

cies. Altnough this does provide excellent

response from such a small driver, you pay

a price in distortion in the extreme bass re-

gion. Impedancereaches a minimum of 2

ohms at 80 Hz, with well -controlled phase,

so the speaker should present no problem

to contemporary amplifiers. The manufac-

turer lists the continuous power rating of

the IM -1 at 55 watts, and although we did

t1,1,..GE SIZE VS. LATERAL POSCrtor..

not wish to damage the speakers by verify-

ing this, it seems a realistic figure given that

we measured a 50 -millisecond pulse -han-

dling ability of 1,350 watts for a calculated

peak output of 117.8 dB SPL. While these

figures are notstate-of-the-art for 2001,

the dynamic range of the IM -1 should

prove sufficient for all but the most de-

manding applications.The flexi-planar

tweeter is designed to

provide a constant radiation angle over

most of its operating range. This is said to

reduce reflection -induced coloration and to

improve imaging while maintaining a wide

4(I

(5/,4' 4yi

V 2 I *

-4,.)

I

49,6

SOoRC. E LOGAT,Or, r iiA2T

listening area. Measurements provided by

DSL verify thisclaim. The image size vs. lat-

eral position curve is excellent, showing

both a well -focusedcentral image of 3 lat-

eral degrees and a spread of only 6 de-

grees across the entire sound stage. Color-

ation vs. frequency is also very low: less

than 10 percent, with the exception of a

small region just above the crossover point.

This probably is caused by the tweeter's

failure to maintain constant directionality

below 2 kHz. The source-location chart

shows goodcorrespondence to the record-

ing, including proper image width and

depth. The acceptablelistening area is

somewhat more restricted than that of oth-

104

°

,Reaver,cy

er speakers we've tested recently, as can

be seen. Clearly,the IM -1 is not designed

for close -in, large -group listening.

Our listening panel liked the sound of

the IM -1. It has the smooth response and

detailed presentationthat we have come

to expect from good loudspeakers-and

this at a very reasonable price. The ambi-

ent field is good, although not fully sur-

rounding the listener. Some of our panelists

would have preferred a more ambient mu-

sical presentation,but that's really a mat-

ter of taste. Besides, the most realistic am-

bience can be obtained only through the

use of digital ambienceprocessing and ex-

tra speakers orwith a pair of the new psy-

choacoustic-processingspeakers just com-

ing on the market. On some program

material, particularlyvocals, the slight mid-

range depression was audible, but overall

the sound was verysmooth and uncolored.

With the exception of the distortion in the

very deepest bass and a fairly average dy-

namic range, there is little to criticize about

the IM -1. At $330 per pair, these are well

worth a listen.

ABOUT THE OM

Forget it-we finally gave up on it about ten

years ago.

10

2 ps

COON',

100

95

90

85

80

75

70

65

6020 00 1k 10k 23k

FREQUENCY IN Hz

FIGURE 1. AS A MICROPHONE IS MOVED AWAY FROM A WOOFER, THE MEASURED WOOFER RESPONSE ROUGHENS CONSIDERABLY

DUE TO THE INFLUENCE OF ROOM REFLECTIONS.

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 55)waves and thus will not produce such jag-ged response curves. And narrow re-sponse peaks and dips can be inaudible,depending on their width, amplitude, fre-quency, and spacing across the audiblespectrum. So by careful adjustment of thebandwidth of the analyzer, a rough curvecan be smoothed enough to find responseslopes and peaks more truly characteristicof the speaker's sound.

A more recent addition to the batteryof in -room tests is the FFT impulse re-sponse. FFT stands for Fast FourierTransform, which is a mathematicalmethod useful for calculating frequencyresponse from a speaker's reaction to veryshort clicks (impulses, typically of a fewdozen microseconds in duration). FFTsallow separate analyses of the direct andthe reflected sound and give valuableinformation about transient response thatcannot be determined using noise or sine -wave signals. Combining an FFT with aprocess called "windowing" enables theengineer to reduce the influence on theresponse curve of reflections consideredunimportant (usually the later ones). Ineffect, windowing quickly and automati-cally cuts the test microphone output im-mediately after the speaker's difectsounds (and maybe a few early reflec-tions) are captured.

A further extension of the FFT con-cept, called "transfer function analysis,"is made possible through the use of a so-phisticated computer called a signal ana-lyzer-in our case, a Hewlett-Packard3562A Dynamic Signal Analyzer used tomake the graphs for this article. A signalanalyzer is really two FFT analyzers in onebox, and then some. One FFT analyzercalculates the properties of the test signal,while the second works on the speakeroutput. The computer can display one orboth or the difference between them.

This gives all the functions of a regularFFT analyzer, without requiring the useof clicks as test signals. A state-of-the-artanalyzer like the Hewlett-Packard pro-vides a variety of digitally synthesized testsignals. The engineer can select whichsignal will best pinpoint the informationdesired. In fact, actual music signals canbe used to test the speaker response whilestill separating the effects of room reflec-tions, because the system uses a before vs.after comparison technique.

A somewhat more convenient test sig-nal than music is a short burst of noise.The top trace of Fig. 3 is such a test signal,and the bottom trace is a speaker's re-sponse to it, complete with lingeringroom reflections after the pulse ends. Fig-ure 4 shows the speaker's room responsecalculated from these two signals by theanalyzer. Pretty messy. To make thingsmore understandable, the analyzer can

apply windowing to yield the resultsshown in Fig. 5. Windowing makes it easi-er to see important aspects of the speak-er's performance, such as the rising high -frequency response and the tweeterresonance at 16 kHz.

NEW DIRECTIONSGRAPHS LIKE THESE ARE USEFUL ONLY IF

they help tell what you will hearwhen the speaker plays music. More

and more attention is now being focusedon ways to relate speaker measurementsto sound quality. To do this, engineersare turning for help to the field of psycho -acoustics. Because it concerns how the earand brain process sound together, psy-choacoustic research can suggest ways toprocess or evaluate measurement data tobetter correlate with the listening expe-rience. The main problem to be solved isthat simple microphones do not "hear"like the ear-brain system; the solution willinvolve the creation of computer -aidedmeasuring systems programmed to simu-late parts of the human hearing system.

One important technique that sprangdirectly out of psychoacoustic research iscalled critical -band filtering. This is amethod of reprocessing frequency -re-sponse data to smooth out, in a mannersimilar to that used by the human ear, atypical curve's multitude of peaks anddips. In this way, it is possible to deter-mine just which frequency -response aber-rations are likely to be audible and whichare not. Measurements made on a %-oc-tave basis are a crude approximation ofcritical -band filtering, because the widthof a critical band (essentially the band-width to which each sound -detecting haircell of the inner ear responds) is about 1/3octave.

A second psychoacoustically based( C ONTINUED ON RAGE 60)

0.1

0.05

-0.05

-0.1-100 --50 0 50 100 150 200

TIME IN MILLISECONDS

FIGURE 2. THE LEVEL OF A 300 -HZ SINE WAVE TAKES TIME TO STABILIZE IN A LISTENING ROOM BECAUSE REFLECTIONS ALTERNATELY

ADD TO AND SUBTRACT FROM THE DIRECT SOUND.

250 350 300 400

Si HIGH FIDELITY

The Energy 22 Pro Monitor hasbeen hailed by critics as one of themajor loudspeaker designbreakthroughs of the last decade.

In fact, the Energy 22 may wellrank as a standard against whichother speakers should be judged.Audition either the Energy 22 ProMonitors or the ReferenceConnoisseurs and we think you'llagree that they are not only themost exciting speakers you've everheard, but "a stunningachievement" indeed!

"A STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT"Top Retail ExpertsPersonal Views AboutThe Energy 22

New York, New York, The Listening Room, Ron Mintz - Owner. "As one of theFirst dealers in the U.S. to realize the quality of the E-22, we continue to be amazed bythe imaging and spaciousness of this speaker of such compact size & price."

Hicksville, Long Island, New York, Designatron, John Thomas - Manager."Never before have we experienced a speaker system which exhibits the level of realismthat the Energy 22 provides. The excitement generated by Energy speakers is onlyexceeded by the pleasure of owning them. The Energy 22 sets a reference standard bywhich all other speakers must be judged"

Washington, D.C., Audio Associates, Mike Zazanis - Owner. "The ENERGY22 is a very musical speaker at a very inexpensive price that easily could cost a lot moremoney."

Chicago, Illinois, Pro Musica, Ken Christianson, John Schwarz -Co -owners. "The Energy 22 Reference Connoisseur & Pro Monitors simplyoutperform the competition. Musically satisfying to the most demanding listeners."

Miami, Florida, Audio By Caruso, Don Caruso - Owner. -The REFERENCECONNOISSEURS are among the most neutral, uncolored, speakers we have found!!!They provide very relaxing listening."

El Paso, Texas, Sound Room, Mark Pearson - Owner. "Energy 22 pro monitor isthe most three dimensional speaker ever."

Phoenix, Mesa, Arizona, HI Fl Sales, Dave Ross - G. Mgr. "ENERGY 22. One ofthe most accurate, best imaging speakers we have ever heard,"

Los Angeles, California, Christopher Hanson Ltd., Christopher Hanson-Owner. "The Energy 22 is very musically involving - 'Absolutely Brilliant."

San Diego, California, Stereo Sound Co., Bob Kokley - Owner. "Over theyears we have heard many promises of new breakthroughs in speakers withdisappointing results. The ENERGY 22 is one of the only products which performedbeyond those promises. A job well done!"

Berkley, California, The Sounding Board, Jeff Smith, Jim SerenaCo -Owners."The Energy 22 is an outstanding speaker. What's incredible is the value, compact sizeand its performace level"

THE DEALER'S #1 CHOICE

EITEZE722Copyrights API 1985, Energy Loudspeakers

Energy Loudspeakers, 135 Torbay Road, Markham, OntarioL3R 1G7 - (416) 475-0050 TLX 06-986689

+1

+14

12 16 20 24 28

TIME IN MILLISECONDS

12 16 20 24 28

32

32

36

36

40

40

FIGURE 3. A SPECIALLY GENERATED BURST OF PSEUDORANDOM NOISE CAN BE USED TO TEST A SPEAKER (TOP). A MICROPHONE WILL

PICK UP THE NOISE PLUS ROOM REFLECTIONS (BOTTOM).

100

95

90

85

80

75

70

65

6

20 100 1k 10k 20k

FREQUENCY IN Hz

FIGURE 4. A COMPUTING SIGNAL ANALYZER CAN EXTRACT FROM A NOISE SIGNAL THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF A LOUDSPEAKER.

REFLECTIONS CAUSE MUCH OF THE CURVES ROUGHNESS.

100

95

90

20 100 1k 10k 20k

FREQUENCY IN Hz

FIGURE 5. WINDOWING REMOVES THE EFFECTS OF ROOM REFLECTIONS FROM THE RESPONSE CURVE AND LEAVES THE AUDIBLY IM-

PORTANT DETAILS OF THE MEASUREMENT VISIBLE.

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 9 )testing technique is an advanced form ofwindowing sometimes called echoweighting. Rather than simply eliminat-ing room reflections from a frequency -re-sponse measurement, it is possible to in-clude them to the degree that theyactually effect the perceived sound. Aswith critical -band filtering, echo weight-ing requires the latest in computationalsignal -analysis hardware and so is just be-ginning to catch on with loudspeaker de-signers. There is also some debate as tohow exactly one should add the reflec-tions to the direct -sound data so as to bestindicate the reflections' influence onsound quality.

Another area in which psychoacousticslends a hand is the evaluation and controlof stereo imaging. Though a well-knowneffect, imaging is still somewhat of a mys-terious process to designers, and until re-cently there were few good perceptualtheories about what makes a speaker bet-ter or worse in this respect. Today, someengineers are using special microphonesbuilt into the ears of a plastic model of ahuman head, combined with signal analy-sis and psychoacoustics theory, to createspeaker designs that specifically addressstereo imaging.

Not all recent developments rely com-pletely on new psychoacoustic theories.For example, Dr. Floyd E. Toole, workingat Canada's National Research Council,recently published the results of a majorresearch project linking loudspeakermeasurements to listener preferences.Dr. Toole's work suggests methods forobtaining and evaluating detailed, butstraightforward, frequency -responsecurves that appear to relate very well tolistener reactions.

We are, I believe, poised at a turningpoint in the history of loudspeaker devel-opment. Engineers are ready to take thenext big step toward unraveling the com-plexities of speaker sound: how a speakerinteracts with the room and the humanhearing system. For an illustration of howsome of the new ideas might be devel-oped, take a look at HIGH FIDELITY'S ar-chives for the year 2001 and examine thetest report of an imaginary loudspeaker(see "2001: A Speaker Odyssey," whichaccompanies this article). The review in-cludes five unfamiliar speaker measure-ments, and although none of these tests isin use today, they are not far-fetched fan-tasies-some may be in use by the end ofthis decade. Rather, they represent sever-al directions loudspeaker testing and de-velopment may take in the coming yearsand show what a combination of new mea-surement technology and a better under-standing of human hearing might hold forspeaker testing and evaluation. Ultimate-ly, we will reach a state wherein better -looking test results will (finally) alwaysmean better sound quality.

60 HIGH FIDEL1T Y

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EDITED

BY

KEN

RICHARDSON

FANS VS. CRITICS

COME TIME AGO, A VETERAN MUSIC

ajournalist and I sat listening tothe Beatles' Christmas messages.To my amazement, my companionsaid she had never heard thembefore. When I voiced that amaze-ment, she replied in utter serious-ness, "But Ken, I'm not a fan, I'm acritic."

Funny, but I've always believedthat critics are fans. Certainly, theywere fans before they were pub-lished. The idea that critics areunique, solemn people only servesto widen the unnecessary gap be-tween them and their readers. To

me, "critic" simply means "a fan who writes about music."And it's obvious that no single critic's word is law. After all,critics disagree amongst themselves, and some recordingsare multifaceted enough to elicit different opinions fromdifferent points of view.

Note, for example, "Glass Cutters," the double reviewof Philip Glass's Songs from Liquid Days . this issue. The re-cording is neither entirely classical nor entirely popular,but something of each, so it seemed appropriate to reviewthe song cycle from each perspective. Naturally, such dia-logue can sometimes turn into argument. Notice the oppos-ing appraisals of the Roches' performances. K. RobertSchwarz: "Only Perry .. . and the Roches are entirely suc-cessful, partly because they sing Byrne's lyrics. . . . TheRoches contribute the ethereal and witty vocal harmoniesof 'Liquid Days (Part One).' " Mark Moses: "The Roches'choirgirl chirping misses all of the humor of Byrne's lyrics."Is Schwarz "right" and Moses "wrong" (or vice versa)? Ofcourse not two minds, two opinions.

All of the foregoing is admittedly very elementary, but itbears repeating, especially if we are to erase the "fans vs.critics" mentality. We need more critics who remembertheir origin as fans-and more fans who aren't afraid tohold up their own opinions in the shadow of critical pro-nouncements.

This is where you come in. From here on, this portion of"Medley" is an open column. Are you angry or enthusiasticabout something in rock, jazz, country, or what -have -you?If so, send a 425 -word article to Ken Richardson, PopularMusic Editor, HIGH FIDELITY, 825 Seventh Ave., 8th floor,New York, N.Y. 10019. (Remember to make a copy foryourself; original manuscripts will not be returned.) We'llpay $100 for each article we publish. Let's hear from you!

Ken Richardson

LETTER FROM EUROPE

CO YOU THINK COMPACT DISCS ARE

aexpensive? Well, think again.Making the rounds of record shopsin both Salzburg and Paris, I foundCDs selling for the equivalent of$21, or about $5.00 to $6.00 morethan they sell for in the UnitedStates. Are the CDs we buy in theStates being dumped in an effort to E D I I EDbuild the market, or are the ones inEurope-where CDs are made- B Y

being priced artificially high? Sincethe demand is so great in the U.S., T E D

the latter explanation is more like-ly. And common sense indicates I I B B E

that U.S. prices may soon be rising.What is going onto the discs is another matter. EMI,

stung perhaps by criticism of its short measure on severalreleases, is recoupling a significant percentage of them,now that it has its own manufacturing plant in Swindon.EMI's Peter Alward told me in Salzburg that the plant hasbeen on line for two months and that the label's chronicallytight CD supply will at last be easing. He noted with amuse-ment that his forthcoming recording of Wagner's Ring withBernard Haitink, announced on this page in the May issue,will have as its Sieglinde the same soprano who is engagedto sing the role of Brfinnhilde on the new Deutsche Gram-mophon recording of the Ring : Hildegard Behrens. (Al-ward has engaged Eva Marton as his Briinnhilde.)

Deutsche Grammophon was also very much in evidenceat the Salzburg Festival, touting its new recordings of Bee-thoven's Missa Solemnis (with Herbert von Karajan conduct-ing the Berlin Philharmonic and the Wiener Sangverein,joined by soloists Lella Cuberli, Trudeliese Schmidt, Vin-son Cole, and Jose van Dam), the live performances ofwhich were the big event of this summer's festival, and Mo-zart's Don Giovanni (Karajan/Berlin, with Samuel Ramey inthe title role and a cast including Anna Tomowa-Sintow,Agnes Baltsa, and Kathleen Battle), which will be the high-light of next summer's festival. Karajan will perform the op-era without Mozart's vaudeville ending; the recording, how-ever, will have the finale Mozart wrote and presumablywanted. By all odds, though, the performance next summerwill not have the Donna Elvira who made the recording andwhom Karajan presumably wanted: Baltsa. She and themaestro had a run-in prior to this summer's performancesof Carmen, and she disappeared from that show. A lamenta-ble loss, for Baltsa is the Carmen of our day . . . but not asurprising loss in view of Karajan's history with singers.

Ted Libbey

NOVEMBER 198 6 63

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Or perhaps the more compact ESM-3will better suit you - it is "definitely anexcellent value"

On a student budget? Try the newESM-4 bookshelf monitor - veryaffordable!

Audition any of the ESM monitors. We0 -ink you'll agree with what StereoReview, High Fidelity and Audio Ideassay below.

ALL ESM MODELS COME IN MIRROR -IMAGEDPAIRS AND ARE AVAILABLE IN EITHER WALNUTGRAIN OR BLACK ASH.

"AMAZING AT THE PRICE""response varied only ± 1.5 dB from 180 to 18,000 Hz which is unquestionably one of the smoothest responses we have yet encounteredfrom a speaker... dispersion on a par with response flatness ... phase shift highly linear... excellent peak power -handling ability ... only at100 Hz did we manage to reach the speaker's (power handling) limits: with 990 watts (using single cycle bursts followed by 128 cycles ofsilence) ... smooth midrange and high frequency response, excellent dispersion and group delay, and exceptional short-term power -handling ability ... definitely an excellent value" Stereo Review February 1986, on the ESM-3

"a fine loudspeaker and an excellent value ... very smooth and quite tiat, falling within ± 31/2 dB on -axis throughout the range above the 50Hz band ... in the lab's 300 Hz pulse test the ESM-2 accepted without noticeable complaint the full output of the test amplifier... (470 watts,peak into 8 ohms), for a calculated SPL (Sound Pressure Level) of 114 3/4 dB. Loud transients thus should be handled well... bass soundsmore extended than the response curves might suggest, with surprising heft at the very bottom ... Stereo imaging, too is very good ... Even ifyour budget can accommodate twice the ESM-2's price - you owe it to yourself to audition Energy's latest design."

High Fidelity January 1986, on the ESM-2

"exceptional overtone balance ... imaging was just about the best I've heard ... excellent dynamic range ... it sounds great ... no realcompromises in its design ... anyone looking fora $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 system would be foolish not to carefully audition the Energy ESM-2 ... amazing at the price." Audio Ideas, 1985 edition, on the ESM-2

Copy right API 1986, Energy Loudspeakers THE #1 CHOICE KYSYITEAA ANZIINITOi byEnergy Loudspeakers. 135 Torbay Road. Markham, OntarioL3R 1G7 - (416) 475-0050 TLX 06-986689

American orchestras are disappearing from the recording studio. Is there any hope?

THE INDUSTRY FOCUS ON SELLING CONDUCTORS, NOT ORCHESTRAS, FINDS AMERICAN ENSEMBLES AT A DISADVANTAGE. THE SINGLE EXCEPTION

IS GEORG SOLTI WITH THE CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (ABOVE).

VI 1111Will liar III 11616 ma.

AT A BACKYARD BARBECUE A DOZEN OR SO

years ago, Peter Pastreich and JamesCain, the executive director and

manager, respectively, of the St. Louis Sym-phony Orchestra, were glumly searching forsolutions to two seemingly distinct prob-lems. First, their board was offering only asmall salary increase to the players, and theyfeared this would precipitate a long strike.Second, despite some memorable record-ings under Vladimir Golschmann and AndrePrevin, record companies showed little in-terest in hiring the orchestra. Cost factors

B Y DAVID R U B I N were persuading the labels, both foreign anddomestic, to engage orchestras in Europe

David Rubin is chairman of the journalism depart- for recordings. Pastreich and Cain fearedment at New York University ands noted writer on that their orchestra would disappear entirelythe business of the performing arts. from the recording studio and become just a

memory for record buyers.In one of those creative bursts that can

sometimes reshape an industry, Pastreichoutlined to Cain a single solution to bothproblems: the electronic media guarantee,or EMG. The orchestra players would be of-fered a fatter paycheck than managementhad intended-an additional $40 a week-inexchange for which they would provide aspecific number of hours in the recordingstudio. With session fees thus underwrittenby orchestra management, a record compa-ny could save $30,000 to $40,000 (morethan half the cost of a typical record) byworking with St. Louis. The St. Louis man-agement would eventually recover some ofthis EMG in record royalties, and their or-chestra-an American orchestra-would

NOVEMBER 1 9 8 6 65

once again be recording.With the board -approved EMG in his

quiver, Pastreich avoided a strike and signeda contract with Vox that resulted in suchlong-lived budget sets as Gershwin's orches-tral works and the complete symphonies ofRachmaninoff and Schumann. Orchestras inCincinnati and Minnesota also adopted theEMG for a while, and it is currently being putto good use by orchestras in Houston andAtlanta, among other cities.

Clever as the EMG is, however, it has notenabled American orchestras to remainastride the classical record industry as theywere in the days of Leonard Bernstein,George Szell, Eugene Ormandy, CharlesMunch, Arthur Fiedler, and Fritz Reiner.While the EMG has permitted some second -tier orchestras to gain at least a temporaryvisibility in the marketplace, and has givenlife to such smaller record labels as Vox andPro Arte, it has not been able to halt theeclipse of the American orchestra in the stu-dio. Indeed, American orchestra managersmight as well be selling overpriced Ameri-can steel or automobiles as their own or-chestras, so competitive has the world mar-ketplace become.

To determine just how total this eclipseis, HIGH FIDELITY closely examined its 1984through 1986 annual listings of forthcomingreleases, identifying which orchestras wereemployed in the making of all new orchestralrecords and all new records requiring an or-chestra and soloist. Of 702 such releases an-nounced by 58 labels, American orchestraswere used in just 161, or 23 percent.

While the Vienna Philharmonic in thisperiod was releasing a dozen new records ayear, and the Royal Philharmonic, Philhar-monia, and Concertgebouw were all averag-ing eight apiece, the best American show-ings were five or so a year from the ChicagoSymphony and four from the Cleveland Or-chestra. The New York Philharmonic, Phila-delphia Orchestra, and Boston Symphonycombined released about the same number ofnew records as did the London Philharmon-ic alone. The recording heartbeat in Los An-geles, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Minnesotawas barely detectable, while orchestras of nogreater stature in Rotterdam, London (theLondon Symphony Orchestra), Dresden,Leipzig, and Berlin (the Radio SymphonyOrchestra, not the famed Berlin Philhar-monic) were each pumping out three or fournew records annually.

Opera and vocal recital records were notincluded in this survey. Otherwise, the fig-ures would have been even more alarming,because European orchestras are almost al-ways used in such projects.

Angel EMI, Philips, and CBS have beendoing most of their recording in Europe.RCA has gradually dropped out of the busi-ness altogether. Though it abandoned itswork in Chicago last year, Deutsche Gram-mophon has maintained a modest Americanpresence in New York and with Orpheus, thechamber ensemble. Of the international la-

bels, Decca/London has been the most ac-tive in the U.S., recording regularly withChicago, Cleveland, and, for a while, De-troit. Only Minneapolis -based Pro Arte,Cleveland -based Telarc, and New York -based Nonesuch are, on the evidence, com-mitted to American groups for the majorityof their releases.

Confirmation of these findings, drawnfrom a different data base, comes from Al-bert K. Webster, managing director of theNew York Philharmonic. A 1977 private sur-vey of 15 major American orchestra manag-ers revealed that their orchestras spent 553hours in the recording studio. By 1982,Webster says, that figure had dropped to284 hours.

How have European orchestras managedto drive their American cousins from the re-cording scene? Any explanation must startwith the cost of labor. The current contractnegotiated between the record companiesand the American Federation of Musiciansstipulates that a player be paid $208.17 for athree-hour recording session and $277.59for a four-hour session. These fees are stan-dard across the country, regardless of thequality of the orchestra. They are at leasttwice the price of hiring European players.The fees have been increasing five percent ayear in each of the last three years, and theymoved up faster than that in the inflationarylate 1970s and early 1980s.

While some in the music business claimthat American orchestras offset this consid-erable differential by working faster andproducing usable material more quickly,others challenge this. One doubter is Chris-tine Reed, vice president for artists and rep-ertoire at CBS Masterworks. "I have seenone American orchestra," she says, "con-sciously make mistakes to force us into over-time and another that blatantly screwedaround at the beginning of a session anddidn't get down to work. You really can'tgeneralize about it," she says. "Some or-chestras just work better than others."

The union contract also requires that or-chestra members not called to play be paidfor two hours of studio work. This sort offeatherbedding makes recording Mozart,Haydn, Schubert, and other composers whodid not write for the 100 -plus players of amodern orchestra particularly expensive inthe U.S. (For confirmation, check the June1986 SCHWANN record and tape guide list-ings for available recordings of Mozart'sSymphony No. 41, for example. The onlytwo current [made in the last decade] Ameri-can products are from the Chicago Sympho-ny and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.By contrast, more than a dozen relativelynew recordings are listed from Europeangroups.)

High session fees are not the whole story,however. Reed points out that record com-panies today are selling conductors, not or-chestras. "It's the Berlin Philharmonic withHerbert von Karajan that sells," she says, "andnot necessarily the Berlin with Daniel Baren-

boim or with Seiji Ozawa." This emphasison conductors does not work to the advan-tage of American orchestras. The only bank-able conductor on the American scene whois associated with a particular orchestra isGeorg Solti in Chicago. The other hot com-binations are all abroad: Karajan and Berlin,Charles Dutoit and the Montreal SymphonyOrchestra, Neville Marriner and the Acade-my of St. Martin -in -the -Fields, Bernsteinand the Vienna Philharmonic.

"We are in a period where conductingtalent is at a low ebb," says Robert Woods,president of Telarc. "American orchestrassuffer from the Mehta/Muti/Mata problem.The public can't sort these guys out."

A third obstacle is that European -basedlabels are making the majority of the new re-leases, so logistics dictate selection of a Eu-ropean orchestra. In the 1984-86 period un-der study, for example, Decca/London, DG,Angel EMI, Philips, and Erato released 265new orchestral records; by contrast, CBS,RCA, Telarc, Nonesuch, and Pro Arte, allbased in the U.S., produced just 131.

The European and Japanese markets arealso much more important than they used tobe, accounting, in the case of CBS, for morethan 60 percent of sales. Their wishes can-not be ignored, and Reed detects consumerresistance to American orchestras. Shemaintains that CBS ended its longtime ex-clusive agreement with the New York Phil-harmonic in 1980 because the label"couldn't give away the orchestra and ZubinMehta in Europe." By contrast, Americanbuyers, rather than support their own, arestill impressed by imports (which is why somany records prominently display an importsticker). Call it the Volvo syndrome, al-though American orchestras are certainlybetter performers than American automo-biles.

With all these obstacles, the wonder isthat American orchestras record at all. Patri-otism is one factor. "I'm an American label.I'm based here," says Pro Arte's vice presi-dent, Steve Vining. "And the playing rivalsthat of the Europeans on their good days."Telarc's Woods agrees: "We are devoted tothe [local] Cleveland Orchestra, and wemade a corporate decision to support it."Some conductors, such as Solti and Ric-cardo Muti, have sufficient clout to con-vince, respectively, Decca/London and An-gel EMI to record them with their Americanorchestras in certain repertory.

But the cost of recording must be at theheart of such deals. Through creative financ-ing, some orchestra managers can competewith Europe despite the high musicians'fees. The EMG is one way. (The HoustonSymphony, for example, is underwriting 30hours of recording each year.) Another solu-tion is to fiddle with royalty payments. Ken-neth Haas, general manager of the Cleve-land Orchestra, explains: "We do notdirectly subsidize the cost of the recordingsessions. But we do take a reduced royalty sothat the recording company can recover all

66 HIGH FIDELITY

or part of the session costs over a specific pe-riod of time. If the record is a big seller, thecompany can recover all these costs-a smallseller, they cannot."

In St. Louis, orchestra manager JoanBriccetti maintains a small EMG fund andalso negotiates royalty deals. "The recordcompanies pay as much up front as I can getthem to," she says, "and then we work out aroyalty agreement to recover the rest of theircosts. We negotiate the price [for a record]upon which they calculate the royalty,whether it applies from the first record sold,whether the company can also recover thecosts of taping, and other issues. Each nego-tiation is different."

It is now clear to the top orchestra man-agers in the U.S. that this is how the gamemust be played. The days of the record com-panies paying all session costs plus a royaltyare over. So why isn't everyone playing?

"We're basically in the business of losingmoney wisely," says the New York Philhar-monic's Webster. "How wise is it to losemoney on recordings? I don't know the an-swer to that."

Now that making records is, at best, abreak-even financial proposition, no orches-tra is going to do it for the money. Even withroyalties still coming in from recordingsmade 15 and 20 years ago, Webster reportsincome of only $400,000 to $500,000 in a to-tal budget of $19 million, and that figure willdecrease as the catalog continues to age (al-though Compact Disc reissues should helpfor a while). The Chicago Symphony's exec-utive director, Henry Fogel, puts royalty in-come at a mere $125,000 in a budget of $20million; Cleveland's Haas says it is $183,000in a budget of $21 million.

In today's environment, there clearlymust be other reasons to record, and eachorchestra manager has his or her favorites.

Gideon Toeplitz in Houston: "I learnedover the years that orchestras need chal-lenges. It is a challenge to go into the studioand produce a good record. It brings up thelevel of the playing, and this level will be-come the new standard for the orchestra. Sowe do it for artistic reasons." Toeplitz addsthat recordings also can encourage contrib-utors to the orchestra. "Recording is a pointof pride for our supporters and an easy wayto measure how well we're doing."

Fogel in Chicago: "Music directors makerecords to document what they've done withan orchestra. If you don't record, they won'tcome. You'll lose the best conductors." Healso believes that regular recording, and thesession fees that come with it, act as a re-cruitment tool for new players. "I just got abrass player away from Philadelphia, andone factor was our level of recording andhow that would supplement his salary."

Briccetti in St. Louis: "New recordingshelp to reverse the decline in interest in clas-sical music. It's an audience -building issue.Plus, if you don't record, you lose some ofthe finest performances in the world."

Vining of Pro Arte is rather more blunt.

LEONARD SLATKIN, MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THE ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (RIGHT), WORKS WITH PRODUCER DAVID JAY SAKS. ST. LOUIS

RECORDINGS ARE SUPPORTED BY A SMALL EMG FUND AND ROYALTY DEALS NEGOTIATED BY ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT.

"The best orchestras have to record becauseit won't take very long for the image of TheBig Five to become just a memory for theconsumer." By extension, how long willAmerican orchestras be asked to tour Eu-rope and play at major festivals if foreign au-diences cannot buy their performances orhear them on the radio?

In contract negotiations in November,the American Federation of Musicians is un-likely to lower its session fee in any meaning-ful way without guarantees of more workfrom the record companies, and such guar-antees will not be made. The union fears thatif it negotiates a lower fee, European orches-tras will respond by cutting their fees, so thatAmerican players will end up making lessmoney for the same amount of work.

The union has made other types of con-cessions in the last few years, however. It isnow somewhat cheaper to make live record-ings and to record new music. A specialchamber -orchestra provision lowers thefour-hour session rate for 24 or fewer play-ers from the standard $277.59 per player to$216, which helps Orpheus. Any additionalrelief to come from the union in the currentnegotiations is likely to be of this nature.

The record companies are not about toalter their bottom -line approach, particular-ly since they are holding the most importantnegotiating card: More orchestras wouldlike to record than they, or the marketplace,can possibly accommodate. "We're runninga business," says CBS's Reed-a revolution-ary statement in the often dreamy world ofclassical music. "I know that some of the or-

chestras are resentful that we're not throw-ing money at them. But it was an oversight atCBS that we were involved with the NewYork Philharmonic for so long and ridicu-lous that we weren't recording with the Ber-lin Philharmonic or the Concertgebouw."Neither sentiment nor history will changethis view.

That leaves the orchestra managers.They will have to decide if they really want torecord, how much, and how willing they areto meet European terms. Deals can be made,but they will require significant underwrit-ing with an American orchestra or else a veryhot conductor who is closely identified withan American orchestra and who can sell theproduct.

Short-term handicappers trying to dopeout any American recovery might keep theireye on the following developments. Howsuccessful will Angel EMI be with its project-ed Beethoven symphony set starring Mutiand the Philadelphia? With Andre Previn asthe bait, can Ernest Fleischmann, executivedirector of the Los Angeles Philharmonicand a man widely respected for his financialacumen, lure the record companies back tothe West Coast? Can Telarc make moneywith Christoph von Dohnanyi in Cleveland?Will Pro Arte's philosophy of recording popand standard pieces with lesser -known or-chestras and conductors in Houston, Dallas,Rochester, Atlanta, and Utah work?

"The American orchestras have missedthe CD boom, or at least a major part of it,"says Reed. This is no time for the faint ofheart.

8

NOVEMBER 1986 67

THMINI -REVIEWS OF THE LATEST COMPACT DISCS

BY ROBERT E. BENSON, THOMAS L. DIXON, IRVING KOLODIN, ROBERT R. REILLY, K. ROBERT SCHWARZ, AND JAMES WIERZBICKI

ir)MOZART, BEETHOVENASYMPHONIES

AS FLUTIST AND RECORDER PLAYER, FRANS

Briiggen is famous for the radical phrasingsand intonational shadings he applied to Ba-roque music long before such devices werefashionable among champions of "authen-tic" performance practice. As conductor ofthe mainstream Classical repertory, he's notnearly so eccentric. In fact, his newly record-ed interpretations of Mozart's SymphonyNo. 40 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 areremarkable mostly for how straightforwardthey sound when compared with perfor-mances by several of the English early -musicorchestras. Uncluttered and unaffected,these are nonetheless powerful readings-recorded as they were immaculately deliv-ered by Brilggen's own Holland -based Or-chestra of the 18th Century before live butquiet audiences in Amsterdam and Utrechtin May 1985. Playing time: 56:32. (Philips416 329-2.) J. W.

SMETAKA (ORCH. SZELL):A LONDON SYMPHONY, SIMON

GEORGE SZELL FELT THAT THE EMOTIONALcontent of Smetana's Quartet No. 1, in E mi-nor, subtitled From My Life, could better berealized by a full symphony orchestra. In1940 he orchestrated the work and later re-corded it with his Cleveland Orchestra-aperformance available on an early Epic LP,which long has been a treasure in my collec-tion. Now Szell's orchestration has beennewly recorded with Geoffrey Simon con-ducting the London Symphony Orchestra; itis coupled with orchestral excerpts fromSmetana's opera The Bartered Bride. From MyLife is highly autobiographical, written twoyears after the composer lost his hearing andduring the same period in which he wrote hismasterpiece, Ma Vlast. Smetana called thequartet "a remembrance of my life and thecatastrophe of deafness," the latter well de-picted in the final movement.

There is some superb music here. Manylisteners doubtless will enjoy the secondmovement polka; the exquisite, tender lovescene of the third movement; and the bois-terous finale that is interrupted by the pro-longed high E, Smetana's chilling evocation

of the tinnitus that foretold the loss of hishearing. Simon's performance is more lei-surely than Szell's (about two minutes long-er overall), and a little more tension wouldbe welcome. But it is beautifully played.From The Bartered Bride we have the familiaroverture, polka, furiant, and "Dance of theComedians" plus two excerpts that are lessfrequently encountered: "Dance of the Vil-lagers" and a brief fanfare. Chandos's repro-duction is typical of the company's usualhigh quality. Playing time: 55:08. (ChandosCHAN 8412.) R. E. B.

ra STRAVINSKY WORKS:LONDON SINFONIETTA

ALTHOUGH STRAVINSKY NEVER REACHEDPoulenc's level of preternatural whimsy, hisDivertimento, Suites Nos. 1 and 2, and Octetcontain delectable terrestial delights. Col-lected on a new London CD, they receiveperformances from conductor RiccardoChailly and the London Sinfonietta that nev-er strain the material, but unfold its full fan-cy with a charming and natural ease. The Di-vertimento is a suite extracted from Le Bailer dela fie, Stravinsky's ballet based on pianopieces and songs by Tchaikovsky. As onemight imagine from its source material, thisis Stravinsky at his most mellifluous. Themusic of the two Suites is alternately tenderand spiky, quickly changing gears with aneasy exuberance. Suite No. 2 has one of themost delightfully infectious, quirky calliopetunes I have ever heard; indeed, the spirit ofboth Suites recalls E. E. Cummings's line:"damn everything but the circus." The Oc-tet, from 1922, inhabits the same world andsupposedly was composed after Stravinskyheard the piece in a dream. Two short bo-nuses on this CD are Three Pieces for solo clar-inet (1919), the last of which is vaguely remi-niscent of the solo in Copland's Concerto forClarinet, and the very short Fanfare for a NewTheatre, the only selection not from Stravin-sky's neoclassic period, written for the open-ing of Lincoln Center's New York State The-ater in 1964.

For anyone whose acquaintance withStravinsky skips from the musical meltdownof Le Sacre du printemps to the dodecaphony ofAgon, this delightful potpourri of his roman-

tic neoclassicism will be a revelation. Thosewho know these masterful miniatures will beentranced by Chailly's deft touch and thevery beautiful playing of the London Sinfo-nietta. Recorded in 1980 (why the six -yearwait?), the sound is simply superb. Playingtime: 52:38. (London 417 114-2.) R. R. R.

O MOZART, SCHUBERT:LUPU, PERAHIA

THE PERFECTION EVEN OF MOZART'S GALINTmusic provokes longings that can belie itssparkle and lightness. Although Alfred Ein-stein tells us of the Sonata in D for Two Pi-anos, K. 448, that "no cloud obscures its gai-ety," the delight it induces creates,ironically, the sense of loss that the imper-fect feel when faced with the perfect. Thismusic, if you will, is untouched by originalsin. It is the music Karl Barth suggested theangels play en familk.

Schubert clearly did not escape originalsin, as the sometimes overwhelming melan-choly in his music tells us. (Certainly his lasttwo piano sonatas, D. 959 and D. 960, areamong the most sublime, heart-rending mu-sical utterances ever composed.) Onlyslightly lower on the slopes of music'sMount Parnassus is his Fantasia, Op. 103,featured here, another product of his lastyear (1828), and one of the greatest worksever written for piano four hands. Thisdeeply ruminative music keeps ingeniouslyfolding back on itself through the repeatedstatement of the opening F minor motif, cre-ating a moving sense of fatality and resigna-tion.

Compositions of this caliber are beyonddefinitive performance. Yet Murray Perahiaand Radu Lupu succeed by bringing singinglines and, most remarkably, exquisite tonalshadings to both works. The Mozart is par-ticularly successful and conveys a nearly su-perhuman perfection. If I slightly prefer it tothe Schubert, it is from wondering whetherthese two artists may not lack the final pro-fundity that pianists like Wilhelm Kempffand Ivan Moravec would bring to the Fanta-sia. That speculation need not deter anyonefrom enjoying this superb CD, which has ex-cellent sound to match. Playing time: 42:04.(CBS MK 39511.) R. R. R.

e$ HIGH FIDELITY

gpig AMSTERDAM LOEKI STARDUST:VIRTUOSO RECORDER MUSIC

THE SOURCE OF THE "STARDUST PART OF THE

ensemble name is not given in the linernotes, but at least we know they borrowed"Loeki" from a character: a lion that latelyfigured big in a Dutch television commer-cial. Just as the players' collective name sug-gests a vital interest in nonconformity, sodoes their performance style. To be sure,the four young artists who make up the Am-sterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet know exact-ly what they're doing when it comes to thescholarly details of the 16th-, 17th-, and18th -century pieces (by Vivaldi, Frescobal-di, Palestrina, Locke, Gibbons, and Byrd)that make up their Virtuoso Recorder Music de-but CD. Their delivery, though, is spicedwith more insouciance than the early -musiccamp has ever known: The embellishmentsseem utterly fresh even on third or fourth lis-tening; the super -fast, super -crisp articula-tions, like the sonics, are always dazzling.Playing time: 52:53. (Oiseau-Lyre 414 277-2.) J. W.

1-i MOZART WORKS' FOR TWO PIANOS

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR THE YOUNG LADIES

of the Lodron family of Salzburg, the Con-certo in F for Three Pianos, K. 242, subse-quently was reduced by Mozart to a versionfor two pianos, which is offered on this newrelease taken from Alfred Brendel's travers-al of the complete Mozart piano concertos.This beautiful, flowing piece is well per-formed by Brendel and his able English part-ner, Imogene Cooper, as is the even better,but brief, Concerto in E flat for Two Pianos,K. 365. Both are admirably accompanied byNeville Marriner and the Academy of St.Martin -in -the -Fields. Playing time: 46:34.(Philips 416 364-2.) L K.

O MOZART, SCHUBERT MASSES:SLOVAK PHILHARMONIC

MOZART'S CORO:V.1710A MASS IN C, K. 317 (1779).

and Schubert's Mass in G, D. 167 (1815),make an ideal pairing, for both are speci-mens of church music written when theircomposers were still youthful prodigies. Butthough the Coronation Mass is an unques-tioned masterpiece, the Mass in G is distin-guished only intermittently by typicallySchubertian lyricism and harmonic color.Otherwise, it can seem pompous and mock -sincere, hampered by rather cavalier andperfunctory text setting.

Only soprano Magda Kalmar makes thisrecording impossible to recommend with-out reservation. Her vocal tone is pinchedand thin, and she demonstrates an almostunbearable tendency to sharpen pitches,which distorts not only her solos but the en-sembles as well.

Yet it would be wrong to dismiss this oth-erwise fine release. The Slovak Philharmon-ic Chorus and Orchestra, under Janos Fe-rencsik's skilled direction, offer lusty andfull-throated performances that never fail to

capture these masses' wide dynamic andemotional range. The choral tone is variedand well -blended, the other three soloists-Jut ta Bokor, Attila Ffilop, and Kolos Ko-vats-are excellent, and the large, conven-tional instrumental and vocal resources arepowerful without seeming anachronistic.Moreover, Schubert's Mass in G is otherwiseunavailable on CD. Playing time: 48:33.(Hungaroton HCD 12513-2. Distributed byQualiton Imports.) K. R. S.

O ROUSSEL ORCHESTRAL WORKS:FRENCH NATIONAL, PRETRE

THE MAJOR AND CONSIDERABLE ATTRACTION

of this new release is that it contains the com-plete Bacchus et Ariane ballet of Albert Rous-sel, not just the more frequently encoun-tered Second Suite. Roussel, like Delius, hasfor far too long been considered a kind of"cultivated taste." But even a listener com-ing to this score for the first time should findit an absorbing experience, for the music isat least on a par with Ravel's more famousDaphnis et Chki.

There is, however, a darker note forthose already familiar with the work. Thisperformance of the ballet by Georges Pretreand L'Orchestre National de France, it mustbe said, in no way eclipses the account re-corded by Jean Martinon for Erato. Nor isMartinon's two -decades -old version of theSecond Suite, on a stunning RCA LP,matched in any way. Charles Munch also re-corded the suite, once in the 1950s on amono LP and later on an all -but -impossible -to -find French Lumen disc. All these ver-sions deserve fresh life on CD; if that everhappens, they would rank above the accountunder consideration. However, lacking bet-ter, one must recommend for the momentPretre's version, which is paired with Le festinde l'araignie and Fragments symphoniques. Thesound is fine, but it misses the overallwarmth that would so enhance both master-pieces. All in all, with the best will possible, ahighly qualified recommendation. Playingtime: 53:51. (Angel EMI CDC 47376.)

T. L. D.

[A recording of the complete Bacchus etAriane, performed by L'Orchestre de Parisunder the baton of Charles Dutoit, is due forrelease this season on an Erato CD.-Ed.]

row SHOSTAKOVICHSYMPHONY NO. 11

LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI AND THE HOUSTONSymphony gave the American premiere ofShostakovich's Symphony No. 11 (1905) inApril 1958 and recorded it for Capitol short-ly thereafter. The notes accompanying thisnew Angel CD reissue of that album quoteR. D. Darrell as hailing "this historic pre-miere recording of the Shostakovich Elev-enth," which is not true; EMI had already re-corded it with the French National RadioOrchestra conducted by Andre Cluytens,with the composer in attendance. Stokow-ski's account originally was issued on twoLPs, later appearing on a single budget -

priced Seraphim disc (and losing much of itsdynamic range in the process).

In recent months, the recording has beendigitally remastered and issued on bothblack disc and cassette. Presumably this CDis from the same new master. It sounds won-derful, with plenty of bass, and the remaster-ing seems to have clarified the sound a bit. Italso seems to have taken some of the bite outof the brass and readjusted balances as well.Surely the forte horn statements at the endof the finale are more pronounced on theoriginal LP, which remains, for those fortu-nate enough to own it, a sonic marvel. Onemight question issuing on a full -priced CD aperformance that currently is available on ablack disc with a list price of $6.98, no matterhow fine or historic the content might be.But surely all admirers of Stokowski will wishto have this highly individual, resplendentperformance. Playing time: 62:39. (AngelEMI CDC 47419.) R. E. B.

O STRAVINSKY WORKS FORVIOLIN AND PIANO

THE BEST-KNOWN FRUITS OF THE WORKINGrelationship between Igor Stravinsky and vi-olinist Samuel Dushkin are the 1932 Duo con-certante and the 1933 Suite italienne, both ofwhich are offered by violinist Cho-Liang Linand pianist Andre -Michel Schub on this newCD. There's no attempt here to duplicatethe spikiness of Stravinsky's and Dushkin'sperformance style. These smoother, moreglossy readings are in their own right abun-dantly stylish and effective, though onehopes Lin and Schub will not wait longbefore addressing the familiar duo versionof the Pastorale and the rarely heard arrange-ments of selections from The Firebird, Mavra,and Le Rossignol that also figured on the Stra-vinsky-Dushkin recital programs. An addi-tional selection on the CD is the 1932 Diverti-mento based on music from the ballet LeBaiser de la fie. Playing time: 53:13. (CBSMasterworks MK 42101.) J. W.

LAHOUSTON SYMPHONY:AMERKANA

SERGIU COMISSIONA AND THE HOUSTONSymphony have a new Pro Arte release enti-tled Celebrate America that starts off with arousing account of our national anthem.Other Americana follows: Gould's AmericanSalute, Bagley's National Emblem March, asuite from Richard Rodgers's Victory at Sea, aGeorge M. Cohan medley, Ives's Variationson America, and-perhaps in honor of the or-chestra's origin-Deep in the Heart of Texasand Yellow Rose of Texas. There is room for aCD such as this, and Comissiona shows realimagination in his treatment of National Em-blem and The Stars and Stripes Forever. (Addi-tional selections: America the Beautiful, GodBless America, and Meredith Willson's Seventy-six Trombones.) Engineers and recording siteare not indicated, and perhaps for good rea-son: The reproduction is shallow, character-less, and lacking in impact. Playing time:52:16. (Pro Arte CDD 263.) R. E. B.

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ROSSINI'S

"TANCREDI"

REVISITEDRSSSINIE

Horne, aped, Pala: c Zoccoric, Marco di0Nisso, Sdhincr; Tect-c. la Fenice Orcl-estro

and Chorus qi'Velike t. Covid Motley, prod. CBSM3sterwooks 13%435.075 D, 3).

'MOSE WHO ALREADY D...121W %ANC:RFD/ WILL BE

nrerested t3 bar-) tFat he performanze inthis album vesur-es the opera's recently re-covered tragic :caduding scene.

The ac :ion o the libretto, Aker Tasso'spoem Ge:wsdkamm, liberataa (1575 and Vol-ta -re's play Faitelde (I 763). takes ?lace in an1 lth-centn7 Syracuse besiegec by Sara-cens. The 12adet of she Senate has com-manded his daughter, Annenaide, to marry0-bazzanc, a noble what has agreed to leadthe army agairst :he Lutacsers. Armenaide,however, bees :he Crasader Tancredi,whom Orbwzanotban_shed as a child. ran-

lovrs her, 1.krmen.ide sends. him antrkliquely wailed letter urging him to liber-ate the c_ty_ Orbazzant3 intercepts it, and

MAR Y% .1 NNE HER FACILITY FOF both he and her 'ather misinterpret it as aORNLAEMIATION W 3.1 SUITS HEF betrayal of the ci.7 to the leader o-Ethe Sara -TO DE RO.E OF TANCF DI. tits (who a so wants to marry Armenaide,

although he makes no appearance in the op-era). Armenaide's father is compelled tosentence her to death.

Armenaide, meanwhile, comes uponTancredi within the city, unrecognized as anadult except by her. She urges him to flee forhis safety, but because she is unable to bringherself to tell him that she is marrying Or-bazzano only in obedience to her father, hebelieves she is betraying him, too. Althoughhe has Armenaide's death sentence lifted byduelling Orbazzano for her honor, he ig-nores her pleas for understanding; embit-tered, he goes into battle against the Sara-cens on behalf of Syracuse and is slain.

As Julian Budden observes, most opera se-ria of the period in Italy, with the exceptionof those drawn from classical literature, con-cluded with the happy resolution of suchmisunderstandings between characters. ForTancredi, then, Rossini originally wrote ahappy ending: Tancredi's victory was fol-lowed by Armenaide's revelation to him ofher dilemmas and subsequently by theirmarriage. Until recently, this conclusion wasthe only one that was known. However, for arevival a few months after the premiere, Ros-sini substituted an ending truer to Voltaire'splay, one in which Tancredi had matters ex-plained to him only as he lay dying after hisvictory over the Saracens. This departurefrom tradition displeased the audience, soRossini discarded it. By the time he came towrite Otello, three years later, he was suffi-ciently famous to do as he liked: to end atragedy with the deaths of the principals (al-though even then he was asked, for a revivalin Rome, to compose a final duet in whichOtello and Desdemona patched things up).

Those who do not know Tancredi, butwho do know Rossini's later operas, bothcomic and tragic, as well as the Italian comicoperas of Mozart and the dramatic operas of19th -century Germany, Austria, France, andItaly-operas in which the musical numbersarise, at least ostensibly, out of the develop-ments of the plot-may wish to be alerted tosome of the conventions of opera seria in or-der to be prepared for what may seem to bethe comparative dramatic stasis of Tancredi.

In Le Nozze di Figaro, for example, Mozartuses the formal a -b -a structure of an aria like"Dove sono" to heighten the effect of the dra-matic situation. The quietness of the aria'sbeginning, the outburst in the middle, andthe subsequent repetition of the calm open-ing music serve to reflect the aristocraticcountess's initial outward composure in theface of her husband's infidelity; her momen-tary conquest over pride, which enables herto address her anguish; and her gaining ofthe inner composure that enables her to act.The countess, then, immediately engagesour interest because of the way Mozart con-trives to use musical form for dramatic pur-poses. In Violetta's "Sempre libera" in La Tra-viata, Verdi employs the traditional cabalettato the same end.

In Tancredi, on the other hand, the seriesof solo and concerted numbers on texts

Format KeyO LP

CD Cassette

3 Compact Disc

CSO Videocassette

Videodisc

Open reel

RECORDING INFORMATION

(A) analog original

(D) digital original

Large symbol nenewn title indicates reviewed format.Small symbols following catalog number of reviewed or -mot indicate other available formats if any).

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

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

about hope, despair, anguish, courage, de-votion, and the like does little more thanprovide vehicles for the deployment of im-pressive voices in varied displays of stylized,melodramatic expression. There is no char-acterization, no narrative development, andlittle cumulative or cohesive musical struc-ture between numbers (even when they fol-low one another without pause). Even in thereflections of Armenaide in prison and ofTancredi as he goes into battle, Rossini'smusical invention does not rise above thepretexts the situations offer for composingthe formal airs and duets the public expect-ed to hear. The object in Tancredi, it seemsto me, was for the listener's attention to re-main undiverted from the brilliance of thesinging.

I say "it seems to me" because my friendPhilip Gossett (the Robert W. Reneker Dis-tinguished Service Professor of Music at theUniversity of Chicago, member of the Edito-rial Board of the Edizione critica delle opere diGioachino Rossini, and the writer of the notesfor this album-to give him all the titles heowns up to whenever he writes taking um-brage at something I have said) finds thework more affecting than I do. More thanthat, he senses in the later operas, such as LaDonna del lago, Guillaume Tell, and Semiramide,which I find musically and dramatically moreinvolving, "a nostalgia for the classical art ofTancredi. . . . [It] represents youth, senti-ment, vitality; whatever his other achieve-ments, Rossini could never again recapturequite so perfectly these elusive qualities."

But it must be remarked that Prof. Gos-sett also said of La Donna del lago, when hecame to write the jacket notes for a record-ing of it, that in this, "perhaps Rossini's mosttuneful opera," the composer "embraced allmusical techniques known to him, pushedinto dramatic and structural territory largelyuncharted in Italian opera, explored theriches of the orchestra, redefined the nature

of the chorus, created, in short, a tradition towhich later composers . . . could only lookback in awe." And the same was true, he said,of all Rossini's Neapolitan operas. Thishardly sounds like the work of a composerwho felt nostalgia for the classical traditionsof Tancredi.

At moments like these, Prof. Gossett,who knows more than almost anyone elseabout Rossini, writes as an advocate makinga case for restoring his operas to the reper-tory. Anyone not similarly immersed in theproject may find it hard to be carried alongwith his enthusiastic response to each one.On the other hand, listeners who cannothear in Tancredi the "strong dramatic action"I do not believe Rossini set out to provide,may find instead, as I do, that its separatenumbers, particularly those for Tancrediand for Armenaide in the second act, are im-pressive enough if they are simply taken forwhat they are: opportunities for beautifulsinging. Rossini's orchestral introductionsand interludes are engaging as well.

Given the sort of opportunities offered,Marilyn Home's sensitivity, rhythm, intona-tion, and accuracy in ornamented passagessuit her for the role of Tancredi. Without de-tracting from those qualities, one may notethat the warm luster of her middle and uppernotes contrasts with the hollow timbre of herlow ones. Some may find the wobble in herupper register at high volumes, and in herlower register at all levels, disturbing in theslow numbers (though not in all: Her singingof "Ah! the scordar non so" in Act II is beauti-ful) and not always attractive in duet withLelia Cuberli, the Armenaide. Yet it is hardto imagine anyone today articulating thefio-rature more brilliantly than she does, andthose are an important feature of Tancredi.

Fiorature-the embellishment of a line ofmelody by rapid figuration, particularly towork a variation on a passage's repetition-had as their purpose the intensification ofthe emotional sense of the music. The agilityof the singer was admired, but at its best itwas admired for its use in expanding uponand dramatizing what had just been sung.

Because operas in the 18th and 19th cen-turies were written on commission from spe-cific theaters and for specific casts, compos-ers wrote embellishments that fell withinthose particular singers' capabilities. Oftenthis was done at the rehearsals. When a suc-cessful opera was transferred to another the-ater, it was altered for the smaller or largerforces available. If the composer had a handin the new production, he himself rewrotethe arias and ensembles to suit the varioussingers (the melodic lines as well as the em-bellishments); he might rewrite the orches-tra's parts, too, which even in Verdi's timewere likely to have been scored initially onlyat the rehearsals for the premiere.

If the composer was not involved, thesingers altered the notes to suit themselves;the more willful did so even at the premiere.And what the singers did for themselves was(CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 6 )

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(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 72)sometimes done only to indulge their vocallimitations and poor taste, as well as to satis-fy that portion of the audience that wouldapplaud any display, however grotesque, bya favorite artist. The recent discovery that in18th- and 19th -century practice singers in-serted embellishments of their own, notfound in the printed parts, has brought withit the interpolation of anything and every-thing by singers with no understanding thatfioriture were meant to be governed by dra-matic purpose.

Rossini came to abhor the liberties sing-ers took with his music (his complaints aboutthis practice can be found in his letters). Ear-ly in his career, he broke with tradition andbegan to write out embellishments in hismanuscripts without regard for specificsingers, embellishments he could reason-ably ask any competent artist to follow withlittle deviation. The fwriture in the new, re-vised score of Tancredi are less extensive thanthose Home sings, but in his notes for thisalbum, Prof. Gossett slithers away from re-vealing which he would have preferred. Hemerely observes, "Whether modern singersadopt Rossini's ornamentation or providetheir own, they must use it for expressiveends. When properly applied, it adds an im-portant and absolutely authentic dimensionto Rossini's score." For a recording for one'slibrary, Rossini's own notes would seemto have been the best choice. However,Home's interpolations are less excessivethan is usual with her, and I do not find thatthey encumber the music.

As Armenaide, Lella Cuberli sings withbeauty of voice and cohesive musical phras-ing in her first scene in Act I, but she singsless impressively later. (She is the Arme-naide in a Fonit-Cetra studio recording, too,with Fiorenza Cossotto and the CappellaColoniensis.) The voice of tenor Ernesto Pa-lacio (Argirio, Armenaide's father) is attrac-tive, except when he strains after the highestnotes. His delivery does not have the light-ness and ease Luigi Alva's singing had in LaCenerentola and 11 Barbiere di Siviglia, whichdemonstrated that this was not only possiblebut probably what Rossini expected. Theother principals are adequate. The orches-tra, with the exception of the English horn inArmenaide's scene in prison, plays animat-edly and well under the direction of RalfWeikert.

The singers are accompanied here by asmall ensemble of players, as they mighthave been in Rossini's time, although it isnot an ensemble playing early instruments,as is the case on the Fonit-Cetra set. I cannothear any disadvantage. Because the record-ing was assembled from live performances(and from a few rehearsals or make-up ses-sions, judging by those passages in whichsuddenly there is no sound of an audience),the soloists do not sing at a consistent dis-tance from the microphones. Otherwise, therecorded sound is agreeable, if not as cleanor spacious as it might have been from a stu-

dio recording. On my equipment, the voicesand strings have a slight, unnatural, elec-tronic gloss, removable by reducing the tre-ble. Texts are provided. Thomas Hathaway

ALWYN:Rhapsody for Piano Quartet*; String Trio;String Quartet No. 3.

D. Willison*; Quartet of London. MartinCompton, prod. Chandos ABRD 1153 (D).

THE BRITISH COMPOSER WILLIAM ALWYN DIED

on September 11, 1985, just two monthsbefore his eightieth birthday. He accom-plished much in his long career. Along withproducing more than 60 film scores and araft of works for orchestra and chamber en-semble, he was an influential radio commen-tator, a respected teacher at the Royal Acad-emy of Music, a poet and translator ofFrench poetry, an essayist, a painter.

What is presented here complements therecordings of song cycles, piano pieces, andother chamber works that Chandos has late-ly issued. The chronological range is broad,but one need not listen too carefully to hearin the lyrical and often tonal Third Quartetof 1984 the same communicative urgency,or feel the same warmth, as that which comesthrough so convincingly in the unashamedlyromantic Rhapsody of 1938. Indeed, evenduring those years when he went the serialroute, Alwyn never lost sight of his humanis-tic goals; for all its manipulations of the ger-minal twelve -note row, the 1962 String Triosimilarly remains at every moment the workof an artist for whom heartfelt expressionwas the ultimate concern.

In terms of the performance by the Quar-tet of London, sonically, and in every otherway, this is an extraordinarily beautifulproduct. James Wierzbicki

BERWALD:Symphonies: No. 1, in G minor ("Serieuse");No. 2, in D ("Capricieuse"); No. 3, in C("Singuliire"); No. 4, in E flat.

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, iiirvi. Deut-sche Grammophon 415 502-2 (D, 2).0(2). I=1

(2).

NEEME JARVI SURELY MUST BE ONE OF THEbusiest conductors of the day, both in theconcert hall and in the recording studio.With the Scottish National Orchestra, he hascompleted an integral recording of the Pro-kofiev symphonies and has started a Shosta-kovich symphony cycle. With the Gothen-burg Symphony, he is busy recording all ofSibelius's orchestral music, as well as Niel-sen's and Stenhammar's. He has also startedto put on disc the ten symphonies by his Es-tonian countryman Eduard Tubin. As if thatweren't enough, here is a complete set of thefour symphonies of Franz Berwald.

These wonderful scores have been re-corded several times, and one remembers apioneering Deutsche Grammophon LP byIgor Markevitch and the Berlin Philharmon-ic Orchestra containing the Singuliere and theSymphony in E flat, a similar coupling onDecca/London under Sixten Ehrling, a pair-

ing of the Serieuse and the Singuliere underHans Schmidt-Isserstedt, and a lone Capri-cieuse on a small Swedish label. Then, in1977, came an EMI album of four discs gath-ering practically everything Berwald wrotefor orchestra: the four symphonies, the fivesymphonic poems, two overtures, and theconcertos for piano and for violin. The per-formances, by the Royal Philharmonic Or-chestra under the Danish conductor UlfBkniin, were fairly good but did not reachthe exceptional quality of the old Markevitchrecord. There obviously was room for some-thing better, and this-as far as the sympho-nies (Berwald's masterpieces) are con-cerned-has arrived in the form of thepresent set of two Compact Discs, recordedin Gothenburg in May 1985, and its superla-tive technical quality.

Written within a short period of hardlyfour years, between 1841 and 1845, whichmakes them roughly contemporary with thesymphonies of Schumann and Mendels-sohn, Berwald's four essays stand quiteapart from any other music of the period.

In sheer concision and formal balance,they are the works of a true classicist. Theyall last between 25 and 30 minutes, and theirunique mixture of healthy vigor, fiery pas-sion, exquisite humor, and gossamer, quick-silver lightness brings Haydn to mind-aHaydn, however, who would have knownboth Mendelssohn and Berlioz. There isnothing in them that recalls the sombre,brooding moods usually associated with theNorth; on the contrary, one finds a lean vital-ity, a straightforwardness, and a smiling ex-troversion that seem to foreshadow anothergreat symphonist of the North: Carl Nielsen.Just compare the opening of Berwald's Sym-phony No. 4 to that of the Dane's SymphonyNo. 3 (Sinfonia Espansiva). Berwald's musicwas far too bold and original to gain appreci-ation during his lifetime, and in fact only theSerieuse was played (once) before his death.No doubt had he received more encourage-ment, he might have written several moresymphonies after 1845.

By common consent, Berwald's ThirdSymphony (Singuliere) is the most remark-able of the lot, the most strikingly original:The very opening is music of unsurpassedmagic, and the middle movement encom-passes a scherzo within two slow sections in away that Rachmaninoff, 90 years later, was torevive in his own Symphony No. 3. It is alsothe most frequently performed and record-ed. The noble Serieuse, sometimes lookingforward to Bruckner, is perhaps a deeper ut-terance (its magnificent slow movement wasplayed at 'Berwald's funeral), and the Sym-phony No. 4 is the lightest and most Haydn-ish of the bunch-a true comedy, like Bee-thoven's Eighth.

The Capricieuse, lastly, has come down tous in a sketchy form, the full score havingbeen mysteriously removed from the com-poser's shelf a few days after his death, and ithas always been considered the weakest ofthe four. Admittedly, it suffers from some

76 HIGH FIDELIT Y

repetitiveness, but a performance as fine asthe one under review raises it to a level al-most equal to that of its companions.

In general, these are exceedingly beauti-ful performances, by and large the best everrecorded of these marvelous works. Listento the somber vigor of the outer movementsof the Shieuse or to the bubbling sparkle ofthe last two movements of the E flat! Onesmall idiosyncrasy should be mentioned: Atthe end of the SinguliereJaryi chooses to playthe penultimate hymnic bars twice ratherthan once as indicated by the composer, andthis is followed by a broadening of tempo inthe very last bars. J aryl thinks Berwald'soriginal ending to be too sudden andabrupt, but in my opinion, this is preciselywhat the composer wanted. The effect onmost of the older recordings mentioned isquite shattering, more so than J aryl's at-tempted monumentalization. But don't letthis very slight quirk deter you from gettingan album that by any standard is one of themost successful of the year and the definiterecommendation as far as Berwald's sym-phonies are concerned. Harry Halbreich

B LISS:

String Quartets: No. 1, in B flat;N o. 2, in F minor.

Delme String Quartet. Edward Perry, prod. Hyperion A 66178 (A).

THESE PIECES DATE FROM 1941 AND 1950,respectively. They are not, in fact, the first

and second quartets to come from ArthurBliss's prolific pen: They were preceded byat least two other essays in the medium (onefrom c. 1915 and the other from 1923-24),which were withdrawn even though their ini-tial reception might have been regarded by aless self-critical artist as encouraging. Whenlistening to the "mature" quartets recordedhere, one can't help but wonder about thecontent of those works from Bliss's almostforgotten enfant terrible period. These are se-rious, meticulously crafted statements froma composer well on his way to being namedMaster of the Queen's Music (the appoint-ment came in 1953), yet they seem ratherstolid as well as solid, lacking both the lyricfreedom and rhythmic drive characteristicof, for example, the 1920 Conversations forflute, oboe, and string trio or the 1927 Quin-tet for oboe and strings. In any case, the per-formances by England's Delme Quartet areas impassioned as the music allows them tobe, and the sonics meet Hyperion's usualvery high standards. James Wierzbicki

DVORAK:Piano Trio, Op. 90, "Dumky."

Francesco Trio. Wilson Audio W 8416 (D). (2(:) Sinaloa Ct., Novato, Calif. 94947.)

DVORAKIPiano Trio, Op. 90, "Damky."3 Suk Trio. Denon CD C37-7057 (D).

THESE TWO RELEASES TOGETHER HAVEconspired to break, if not a critic's preju-

dices, then definitely his inclinations. Ifasked to define my ideal rendering of Dvo-fak's autumnal Opus 90, one of the summitsof the chamber repertory, I'd have describedsomething very like what the Francesco Trio(violinist David Able, cellist Bonnie Hamp-ton, and pianist Nathan Schwartz) offershere: a performance most often whispered,nocturnal. As the piano meditates on its re-peated chords at the start of the secondmovement, the cello can barely find thestrength to begin. That kind of hushed hesi-tancy is where this threesome most excels, ina performance that reminds us how much ofthe string writing is marked con sordino.

The version by the Suk Trio (led by thecomposer's great-grandson, Josef Suk, withcellist Josef Chuchro and pianist Jan Pan-enka) reminds us how often the strings arerequired to play full out. This is a perfor-mance of enormous energy, the Czech trioreveling in the contrasts between each dum-ka's fast and slow sections. I hadn't anticipat-ed the benefits of such urgency, but they arestartling. If the Francesco is more contem-plative, the Suk has a special affinity for thework's frequent ride -the -wind vivaces. Itsmembers play throughout with a frank andgorgeous freedom, a generous rubato madepossible by their truly splendid technique:Suk's runs upward are just that much easier,his rhythms sharper, than those of hisFrancesco counterpart, and the pianist com-mands a wider range of effects than does his

BALANCRINEA Balanchine Album features four of George

Balanchine's most enduring ballets: Tchaikovsky'sSerenade, Hindemith's The Four Temperaments,Stravinsky's Agon, and Emeralds (with music fromFaure's Pelleas and Shylock), performed by the NewYork City Ballet Orchestra, Robert Irving, conductor.'Just as there is a Balanchine style in choreographyand in dancing, there is a Balanchine-or Balanchine)Irving-style in the performance of music. Irvingbrings to the music years of watching the balletsbeing created, reshaped, rehearsed and performed...and so the scoire for him is not only a cluster of blacknotes on white paper, but the images of dancersdancing as weN:' (from the liner notes)Nonesuch 1791351

photo credits: Henn Cartier-Bresson Iletth Beth Bergman © 1986 Irightl

STRATASSINGSWEILLStratus Sings Weill is Teresa Stratas' longawaited

follow-up to The Unknown Kurt Weill Only the second solo recording in her career, it features fifteenof Weill's greatest American, French and Germantheatre songs in the composer's original orches-trations, with Gerard Schwarz conducting the YChamber Symphony.

Nonesuch 1791311

ON NONESUCH RECORDS, CASSETTES AND COMPACT DISCS01986 Elolcoof.,yloodlAonesodf Records. o Doovon of Warner Common9ofion, Inc .0'

opposite number. The Suk account, in Den-on's firm and focused sound, is enormouslycompelling. Hats off to the Francesco, andan even deeper bow to the Suk.

Thomas W. Russell III

GERSHWIN:Works for Piano (29).

Pennario. Patti Laursen, prod. Angel EMI 4DSII37359 (D). 00 CDC 47359.

"Song -book": Swanee; The Man I Love; I'llBuild a Stairway to Paradise; Do It Again; Fascinat-ing Rhythm; Lady, Be Good; Nobody but You;Sweet and Low-down; 'S Wonderful; Clap Yo'Hands; Somebody Loves Me; Do, Do, Do; My One

and Only; I Got Rhythm; That Certain Feeling.

Strike up the Band; Who Cares?; Liza. Porgyand Bess: Jasbo Brown Blues. Three Preludes: in B

flat; in C sharp minor; in E flat minor. Promenade("Shall We Dance": "Walking the Dog" se-quence). Two Waltzes in C. Merry Andrew. Prim-rose Ballet. Three -Quarter Blues. Rialto Ripples.

THE ONLY TROUBLE WITH GEORGE GERSHWIN'S

elaborate song transcriptions as publishedin his Song -book is that they are tantalizinglybrief: Too often, just as they grip one, theystop. The composer's private performancesmust have gone on at far greater length.Leonard Pennario's don't, but his steely -fin-gered virtuosity enables him to cope with thepieces' technical demands better than mostwho have tackled them on or off records.Nevertheless, I feel that the 1973 Nonesuchversions by William Bolcom, while certainly

exhibiting less bravura pianistically, capturemore of the essential Gershwinian lilt and in-souciance of these eternally haunting melo-dies.

Pennario does well with the more extro-verted remainder of the program, perhapsparticularly so with the rambunctious JasboBrown Blues and the early, raggy Rialto Rip -pies, written in collaboration with Will Don-aldson. Throughout, the digital technologycopes realistically with the severe demandsof the soloist's somewhat hard -toned pian-ism. R. D. Darrell

HARRIS:Choral Works.HANSON:Choral Works.SOWERBY:

A Liturgy of Hope*.Harbach*; Roberts Wesleyan College Cho-rale, Shewan. John M. Proffitt, prod. (A). (Mu-

sic Dept., Roberts Wesleyan College, 2301 West -side Dr., Rochester, N.Y. 14624.)

Harris: Symphony for Voices; When JohnnyComes Marching Home; Three Songs of Democra-cy on Poems of Walt Whitman: To Thee, OldCause; Year That Trembled; Freedom, Toleration.

Hanson: A Prayer of the Middle Ages; "HowExcellent Thy Name"*; "I Will Lift Up MineEyes"*; "Praise Ye the Lord*."

AT LAST, ROY HARRIS'S SYMPHONY FOR !VICES

has been given a modern recording. Aptlydescribed by producer/annotator John

Proffitt as "a choral Mount Everest," Har-ris's setting of texts from Whitman's Leaves ofGrass demands a near orchestral range of ex-pression from its a cappella vocal forces. It isperformed effortlessly by the Roberts Wes-leyan College Chorale conducted by RobertShewan. Two other Harris choral pieces,plus the Hanson and Sowerby offerings(most with organ accompaniment by Barba-ra Harbach), round out this most welcomedisc. Noah Andri Trudeau

JANEQUIN:Ch (9).SERMIST:

Chansons (8).Clement Janequin Ensemble. Harmonia Mundi

HMC 901072 (A).

JANEQUIN: Voulez ouir les cris de Paris; Ungmarl se voulant coucher; Du beau Tepin; Or vien ca,

vien, m'amye; La guerre; La Meusniere de Vernon;

L'Amour, la mort, et la vie; Martin menoit son por-ceau; Au joly jeu du pousse avant. SERMISY: Lan-

guir me fais sans t'avoir offensee; Je n'ay point plus

d'affection; La, la, Maistre Pierre; Secourez moy,ma dame, par amours; Dont vient cela, be'lle, jevous supply; Jouyssance vous donneray; Au jolyboy; Tu disoys que j'en mourroys.

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wonderful selection of four-part chansons byClement Janequin and Claudin de Sermisy,both of whom flourished over 400 years ago,performed here by a superb French malequartet-France's answer, in a way, to TheKing's Singers. They make this marvellous,sometimes robustly bawdy music come as vi-brantly alive as if they were singing newworks with the ink still wet on the page.

Hail to all four and to Claude Deboves,who from time to time lends a hand on thelute. Generally speaking, the eight Sermisyselections tend toward the contemplative,the nine Janequin pieces toward the jolly,the lusty, the downright pornographic. Theensemble savors them all with impartial en-thusiasm and artistry. A leaflet providestexts, but in archaic French only, which willprobably drive you to a French-English dic-tionary-a big one-to find out what getsthese four bucks so invigorated. Anythingthat this extraordinary group performs de-serves particular attention. Hurrah!

Paul Moor

MOZART*

Fantasia in C minor, K. 475; Sonatas forPlano: No. 1, in C, K. 279; No. 12, In CK. 457; No. 17, in D, K. 576.

Uchida. Philips 412 617-4 (D).OG

I'M ASHAMED TO CONFESS THAT THIS IS THE

first recording I've heard of the Japanese pi-anist and Mozart specialist Mitsuko Uchida. Ishan't miss any from now on, for few Mozart

MITSUKO UCHIDA: POWERFUL MOZARTEAN IMPRESSIONS

interpreters make so immediately powerfulan impression. Uchida's greatest talent maywell be her remarkable independence of fin-ger control and powers of precise articula-tion and differentiation of line. But she hasgenuine gifts of graciousness and eloquencein addition to sheerly technical expertise.The sometimes somber drama of the famousC minor Fantasia/Sonata combinationemerges more movingly here than in mostrecorded versions I've heard lately; herssurely ranks alongside the great ones by the

likes of Walter Gieseking and Lili Kraus.Uchida is convincing, too, in the more naive-ly endearing Sonata No. 1 of 1775, as well asin the great last one of 1789.

If you have been as slow as I was in catch-ing up with Uchida's Mozart sonata series(this is the fourth release to appear in thiscountry), I can assure you that it will be wellworth your while to make up for your tardi-ness as soon as you can. R. D. Darrell

MOZART:Sonatas for Piano: No. 8, in A minor, K. 3 10;N o. 14, in C minor, K. 457.(=I Brendel. Philips 412 525-4 (D).O3HAYDN:

Sonatas for Piano: No. 30, in B minor,Nob. XV1:32; No. 39, in E minor, Nob. XVI:34;N o. 42, in D, Nob. XV1:42; Fantasia in C,N ob. XVII:4; Adagio in F, Nob. XVi1i9.(=I Brendel. Philips 412 228-4 (D).03ALFRED BRENDEL'S NEWLY RECORDEDversions of Mozart's two great minor -key pi-ano sonatas, K. 310 and K. 457, are likely tostrike the unprepared listener as graceless,needlessly emphatic, and marred by awk-ward rhetorical gestures. Beneath this unat-tractive surface is a musical conception ofgreat intelligence and strength: Brendelhere is worlds away from the old-fashioned,superficially "pretty" Mozart of such old -school pianists as Walter Gieseking. But acasual comparison with, say, Dinu Lipatti'svery beautiful recording of K. 310 (Odyssey

M TSB A 1, AM Elt It AI IInternational Directory of the Performin g ArtsUSE THIS FORM TO RESERVE YOUR COPY OF THE1987 EDITION ...Please reserve The 1987 Directory -as checked below-

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Critics' ChoiceThe most noteworthy releasesreviewed recently

B ACH:

Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin,B .W.V. 1001-6.Mintz. 0 Deutsche Grammophon 413 810-2, May.

B ERIO:

Sinfonia; Eindriicke.The New Swingle Singers, Orchestre na-tional de France, Boulez. 0 RCA Erato ECD

88151, June.

COPLAND:

Billy the Kid; Rodeo.St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Slatkin.Angel EMI 4DS 37357, July.

HANDEL:Solomon.Watkinson, Argenta, Hendricks, Rodgers,Jones, Rolfe Johnson, Varcoe; MonteverdiChoir, English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner.O Philips 412 612-4, June.

HAYDN:Symphonies Nos. 94 and 96.Academy of Ancient Music, Hogwood.Oiseau-Lyre 414 330-4, June.

MAHLER:

Symphony No. 5.Philharmonia Orchestra, Sinopoli. 0 Deut-sche Grammophon 415 476-2, June.

RAVEL:

Songs (complete).Bacquier, Berganza, Van Dam, Lott, Mes-ple, Norman, Baldwin; Orchestre du capi-tole de Toulouse, Ensemble de chombre de

l'Orchestre de Paris, Plasson. 0 Angel EMIDSCX 3965, July.

SCHUMANN:

Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4.Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernstein.

O Deutsche Grammophon 415 274-2, July.

SCHUMANN:

Symphony No. 3; Concerto for Pianoand Orchestra, in A minor, Op. 54*.Frantz*; Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,Bernstein. 0 Deutsche Grammophon 415358-2, July.

TIPPETT:

Sonatas for Piano, Nos. 1-4.Crossley. 0 CRD 1130.31, June.

RECITALS AND MISCELLANY

THE RECORD OF SINGING, VOL. 3.

Various vocalists, orchestras, and accom-panists. ()Seraphim IM 6143, May.

20

The Mozart album, in short, is for Brendelfans, the Haydn for Haydn fans.

Terry Teachout

STILL:

Symphony No. 3 ("Sunday Symphony")*;Instrumental and Choral Works.

Umiker**t, Tollefson**t, Garrisont, Magillt;North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra,

Woods*. Schola Cantorum of the University of Ar-kansas, Grohtt. North Arkansas Symphony Or-chestra NASO 1001 (A). (P.O. Box 1724, Fayette-ville, Ark. 72702.) n (William Grant Still MusicSociety, 26892 Preciados Dr., Mission Viejo, Calif.92691.)

Instrumental works: Romance for Saxophoneand Piano**; Folk Suite No. 4 for Flute, Clarinet,Cello, and Pianot. Choral workstt: Three RhythmicSpirituals (Lord, I Looked Down the Road; Hard Tri-

als; Holy Spirit, Don't You Leave Me); I Feel Like MyTime Ain't Long.

DEAN OF AFRO-AMERICAN COMPOSERS, WILLIAM GRANT STILL

HERE'S A HOME-GROWN PRODUCT STRAIGHT

from Arkansas that features loving accountsof music by William Grant Still. One side isdevoted to Symphony No. 3 (Sunday Sympho-ny), one of Still's facile, colorful, naive, yetattractive evocations of his warmly humanis-tic and pacifistic world view. The students,faculty, amateurs, and professionals thatmake up the North Arkansas Symphony ob-viously rehearsed a lot for this performance.which is polished enough to pass muster.Side 2 contains a mix of Still's chamber andchoral works, providing a nicely balancedtribute to the "Dean of Afro-American Com-posers." Noah Andre Trudeau

RKITALS AND MISCELLANY

CARMINA BURANA(original version).

Clemencic Consort, Rene Clemencic, cond.

Harmonia Mundi HMC 90335 (A). 0 CITHIS WONDERFUL COLLECTION, WHICH Ienthusiastically recommend to all who love

music, will have a particular appeal to twogroups: those with a special interest in an-cient music (in this case, 11th to 13th centu-ry) and those who have fallen under the spellof Carl Off 's boisterous, glorious work ofthe same name, which owes its existence aswell as its title to the collection of manu-scripts excerpted here. They first came tolight in 1803 in Benediktbeuren, that ba-roque jewel of a monastery not far fromMunich.

Pious, roistering, contemplative, ribald,these carmina originated mostly from the Go-liards: lapsed monks who roved Europe,"drinking, gaming, lazing, indulging in or-gies and prostitution," according to Dr. Cle-mencic, who describes some of the amatoryditties as "definitely immoral."

These solo singers and instrumentalistsperform the carmina with superb lustiness,and it annoys me that I can't tell you theirnames and the fascinating instruments theyplay with such virtuosity. In those respectsand others, the accompanying bookletleaves much to be desired-in order to com-pare the English translation with the original(usually Latin) text, you have to flip about 17pages back and forth, and four texts go com-pletely untranslated-but I commend themusic and performances to you as some-thing very special indeed. This disc contin-ues Harmonia Mundi's exceptional series,which should win many new friends for"old" music. Paul Moor

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House of HorrorsScary soundtracks reviewed by our cinema specialist

"A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, PART 2": SLASHDANCING TO THE BEAT OF CHRIST3PHER YOUNG'S SCORE

GOLDSMITH:The Final Conflict.

National Philharmonic Orchestra, Newman.Varese Sarabande STV 81272 (A). 0G VCD

47242.I CAN THINK OF NO SERIES OF SEQUELS IN THE

annals of Hollywood that has enjoyed such asuccession of utterly superb scores as has theOmen trilogy. Jerry Goldsmith wrote all threeand won an Oscar (justifiably) for the first.All share some common thematic materialand occupy much the same harmonic andcoloristic world. Yet each is distinctive andeach a decided achievement. This is power-fully evocative music, expertly written andwonderfully performed. You better believethat this is a treat.

0

YOJEG:A hIlshtmare on Elm Street, Part 2.

Studo ensemble, Witt. Varese Sarabande STV

81275 (A). 1=3 O VCD 47255 (Compact Discalso contains Part 1).CHRISTOPHER YOUNG IS ONE OF A NEW BATCH

of film composers working his way upthrough the slice 'n' dice school of cinema.He does not overreach himself here andmanages a predictable but satisfying mod-ern horror score. Using an ensemble con-sisting mainly of strings (with an emphasison eerie slides instead of Herrmannesqueshrieks), Young adds the requisite numberof dissonant climaxes, ominous thuds, andweird sounds. No surprises here, and per-haps that's the nicest one. A treat.

BY NOAH ANDRE TRUDEAU

BERNSTEIN, E.:

The Black Cauldron.,.., Utah Symphony Orchestra, Bernstein. George

Korngold, prod. Varese Sarabande STV81253 (D). 00 VCD 47241.PURE MAGIC. VETERAN FILM SCORER ELMER

Bernstein is back with a full symphonicsoundtrack showing that this "old timer"has still got the right stuff. Propelled by a vi-tally American rhythmic sense, Bernsteinenters the fantasy realm with nary a blinkand deftly unfolds a score at times heroic, attimes mock-heroic. Never a dull moment,even when the music is marking time. A spe-cial treat.

NOLDRIDGE:

Transylvania 6-5000.Zagreb Symphony Orchestra, Holdridge.rase Sarabande STV 81267 (A).

IT IS DEVILISHLY HARD-SOME WOULD SAYfiendishly impossible-to write music that isfunny. Lee Holdridge gives it his best shot inthis symphonic concoction replete withquotes from horror classics and the inevita-bly twisted setting of the Glenn Miller stan-dard. Suffice it to say, Holdridge's best shotis not enough. A trick.

MANCINI:Lifeforce.

London Symphony Orchestra, Mancini. Varese

L.) Sarabande STV 81249 (D).SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY, HENRY MANCINI

got tagged as a film composer fit only for ro-mantic comedies. This typecasting neatly ig-nored such fine dramatic scores as Experimentin Terror, The Molly Maguires, and now Life-force. Headed by one of the most engagingmain titles in recent memory, Mancini'sscore expertly delves into the sound re-sources of the London Symphony Orchestrato create a serious soundtrack that amply re-pays repeated listening. A treat, a decidedtreat.

A CLOSING NOTE: LEST I UNDERSTATE THEtechnical achievement here, all these VareseSarabande pressings were quiet and first-rate, with recorded sound uniformly excel-lent. How this "little" label can consistentlyserve up quality sonic cuisine while the ma-jors deliver Rice Krispies is perhaps theneatest trick of all. A deal with the audio dev-il, perhaps?

S2 HIGH F I D E t IT Y

GLASS CUTTERSGLASS:

Songs fom Liquid Days.Fowler, Pendarvis, Perry, the Roches, Ron-stadt; Philip Glass Ensemble, Kronos String

Quartet, Riesman. Kurt Munkacsi, prod. CBS MK39564 IA). OCI

CL A S S I C A L

SONGS FROM LIQUID DAYS MARKS PHILIP GLASS'S

first foray into songwriting. That in itself issurprising, for Glass's music, full of allusionsto popular culture and easily packaged insmall time frames, would seem tailor-madefor songs. Here he has assembled an emi-nent group of lyricists-David Byrne, PaulSimon, Laurie Anderson, and SuzanneVega-and an equally remarkable assort-ment of performers: Linda Ronstadt, theRoches, the Kronos String Quartet, DouglasPerry, Bernard Fowler, and Janice Pendar-vis. The result should have been as differentand startling as the talents of these artists.

Much of the blame must go to Glass forhis insensitive setting of the texts. Lyrics arefragmented arbitrarily, violating the accen-tuation of the words and working againstboth dramatic content and musical phras-ing. And since all the texts are set in virtuallythe same manner, the vocal lines do not dis-tinguish between the widely varied subjectmatter. In Einstein on the Beach and Satyagraha,the linguistic distance and the non -narrativecontent negated most of these problems,but here the narrative settings are no lessthan embarrassing. Only in Byrne's stream -of -consciousness poetry does Glass's vocalline perfectly complement the lyrics.

Ironically, the music on this recording isunquestionably inspired and effectivelylinked to the meaning of the text. A richoverlay of strings, brass, winds, and key-boards is put to the service of Glass's famil-iar shifting arpeggios and repeated bass pro-gressions; despite their familiarity, however,Glass's expressive range continues to ex-pand. The minor -key chorale that opens"Changing Opinion," the leaping bass lineof "Lightning," the portentous pianochords of "Open the Kingdom (Liquid Days,Part Two)," the introspective string quartetin "Freezing" and "Forgetting"-all indi-cate an emotional diversity within the cyclicunity.

Fowler, Pendarvis, and Ronstadt seem tostruggle against the unnatural phrasing ofGlass's vocal lines. Only Perry (Gandhi ofSatyagraha) and the Roches are entirely suc-cessful, partly because they sing Byrne's lyr-ics. Perry sustains the phrases and communi-cates the drama of "Open the Kingdom";the Roches contribute the ethereal and wittyvocal harmonies of "Liquid Days (PartOne)." In these non -narrative settings,Glass and his performers achieve that symbi-otic relationship between text and musicthat elsewhere in the cycle proves so elusive.

K. Robert Schwarz

P 0 P U L A R

BEFITTING A SERIOUS MODERN COMPOSERwhose dramatic simplicity makes him mostattractive to the pop audience, Philip Glasshas chosen for his album of songs pop col-laborators who have a conventional corn-

RONSTADT (SECOND FROM RIGHT) AND THE ROCHES: NO STRANGERS TO THE DISCIPLINES OF CLASSICAL VOCAL TKINNOUE

Two critics examine the

composer's song cycle

on Compact Disc.

mand of craft agreeable to a classical audi-ence. While there's no reason to expectGlass to come up with a commercial album,Songs from Liquid Days is stiffer and more awk-ward than it needed to be.

David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, Paul Si-mon, and Suzanne Vega have contributedsome of their most ghostly, elliptical lyrics,which seem especially suited to the repeti-tive dreamscapes of Glass's arrangements.But his melodies, which are more rounded,even tuneful, than those of his earlier work(like North Star), often overshout the words,forcing Bernard Fowler to boast on Simon's"Changing Opinion." The song is about thequiet fears of a man listening to a hum in hishouse, but the gratuitously grand peaks ofthe trilling synthesizers and voice get noneof that across. On most of the numbers, thesingers don't pull against the settings; rath-er, they're swept up by Glass's thickly lay-ered pulses and huge keyboard washes. Fur-thermore, a dusty aesthetic of whatconstitutes "classy" singing permeates mostof the performances. The Roches' choirgirlchirping misses all of the humor of Byrne'slyrics for "Liquid Days (Part One)," and theoperatic Douglas Perry bellows lines inByrne's "Open the Kingdom (Liquid Days,Part Two)" that should have been tossed offas asides. Only Linda Ronstadt brings a tem-pered grace to her performances, Vega's"Freezing" and Anderson's "Forgetting."

All of the lyricists here are singers in thepop world, and one wonders how their moreimpressionistic vocals might have worked inGlass's settings. Perhaps the fractures andmeanderings of these less perfect voiceswould have cut deeper. By splitting up theroles of lyricist and singer, Glass has re-moved the exploitation of persona that liesat the center of a pop auteur's performanceand replaced it with the less interestingproblem of the credible interpretation of atext. Underlying the approach is the shakypremise that, say, Byrne's lyrics are (of allthings) poetry, when in fact it's only in hiswild-eyed performances that the fragment-ed phrases take on meaning.

On CD, Glass's settings seem less prede-termined and flat, primarily because of theshocking prominence of the synthesizedbass compared with its sound on LP. The vo-cals are also more intimate in tone, especial-ly Ronstadt's tender high notes. At such mo-ments, Songs from Liquid Days has anearthbound grandeur that makes you hearits songs as hymns for the godless. Maybe onhis next collaboration-and this is a laud-able idea worth getting right-Glass willgive us something more substantial to be-lieve in than mere perfection. Mark Moses

NOVEMBER 198 6 83

r

Abdullah Ibrahim and Sathima Bea Benjamin:

pianist and singer, husband and wife, exiles from apartheid

EVERY INDIVIDUAL IN SOUTH AFRICAis traumatized by apartheid-theoppressors perhaps more so than thevictims," said Abdullah Ibrahim, theSouth African pianist and composer

formerly known as Dollar Brand. "At least wehave hope for the just society to come: aSouth Africa that belongs to all of its peoplesregardless of origin. The oppressors' onlyhope is to forestall the inevitable. The onlywisdom they can teach their children is to al-ways carry a gun."

I visited Ibrahim and his wife, singer

Sathima Bea Benjamin, on June 12, themorning that South African President P. W.Botha declared a nationwide state of emer-gency in anticipation of the tenth anniversa-ry of the Soweto uprising. Kneeling in frontof a video monitor in his living room in NewYork's Chelsea Hotel, Ibrahim tried withoutsuccess to tune in C -SPAN for its live cover-age of Botha's address to the South AfricanParliament. "The police have rounded up allthe opposition leaders," he told me in amelting -pot patois that is British in its ca-dences but African in its lilt. "What is the

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logic of that-to remove from circulation theonly people who can say to the masses, 'Holdback'? The confrontation is near. It is just amatter of time."

Born in Cape Town in 1934, Ibrahim hasspent most of his adult life in voluntary exilein Europe and the United States. He is a cul-tural eclectic-no different from most globalwanderers in that respect, though his beingborn member of a colonialized people un-doubtedly gave him a running start. (More-over, his mixed racial heritage, which classi-fies him as "colored" rather than black bySouth African law, put him in an assimila-tionist position remarkably similar to that ofthe New Orleans Creoles and mulattoes,who played a seminal role in the gestation ofjazz.) But like most political exiles, Ibrahimis also a displaced cultural nationalist whoselongings for home filter his perceptions ofnew surroundings. The South African soundhe once eloquently described as being a syn-thesis of "the carnival music heard everyyear in Cape Town, the traditional 'colored'music, the Malayan strains, and the rural la-ment" remains the thread that keeps his mu-sic from seeming crazy quilt despite itspatchwork of cross-cultural borrowings,which include West African ceremonial andpopular rhythms, Moslem incantation, Brit-ish military -brass -band concord, gospelsanctimony and minstrel sanguinity, Frenchimpressionist and modal reverie, Monkiandissonance, and Ellingtonian Cotton Clubpanache. A mesmerizing pianist whoserhythms come splashing across the keyboardin thunderous ostinato waves, Ibrahim istruly "beyond category," to borrow a petphrase from Duke Ellington, one of his earli-est admirers and the producer of his firstAmerican LP.

Over the last 20 years, Ibrahim's solo pi-ano recitals have evolved into lengthy con-tinuous medleys of his own attractive themesand those of favored composers like Elling-ton, Thelonious Monk, Billy Strayhorn, andEubie Blake. (This aspect of Ibrahim's workis most faithfully documented on Autobiogra-phy, a two -LP set recorded live in Switzer-land.) But although sturdy and intricate inthemselves, Ibrahim's solos are the blue-prints for larger designs: As with Ellington,one can hear the colors of an orchestrableeding together or separating in the voic-ing of each chord.

Ekaya, the fluid septet that Ibrahimformed in 1983 and that graces his two mostrecent albums (1984's Ekaya ( Home) and thenew Water from an Ancient 1Vell), represents acompromise between the huge ensemble hedesires and the compact unit that economicsdictates. "The ideal situation would be tohave on stage as many people as possible,"he says. "Not just more instrumentalists, butsingers, painters, sculptors, poets, nutrition-ists, physicians, and martial artists, to showthat music can provide a conductive atmos-phere for all other daily activities, the way itdoes in more traditional societies."

Despite his harmonic sophistication,

BENJAMIN: "SOUTH AFRICA WILL ALWAYS EXERT A PULL."

Ibrahim's approach to improvisation is morestraightforward than that of most of hisAmerican and European contemporaries."Improvisation is not standing up thereplaying 20 choruses," he once told jazz criticDon Palmer. "It is using what's at hand."With Ekaya, he finally has sidemen percep-tive enough to shun chordal rhetoric andcrest on his rhythms. Perhaps the truestproof of his genius as a bandleader is hisability to coax trim, inspired improvisationsfrom trombonist Dick Griffin and baritonesaxophonist Charles Davis, two usually pro-lix journeymen. Tenor saxophonist RickyFord and Panamanian altoist and flutist Car-los Ward, who complete Ekaya's front line,are to Ibrahim as Paul Gonsalves and JohnnyHodges were to Ellington: It is impossible toimagine a composer finding two more sim-patico interpreters. Ibrahim likens his rap-port with Ward, in particular, to the empathyhe once enjoyed with the late Kippy Moe-ketsi, "the Charlie Parker of South Africa,"in Ibrahim's estimation, and the father fig-ure in the Jazz Epistles, the Cape Town com-bo that begat Ibrahim and trumpeter HughMasekela in the late '50s.

"Kippy was the first to insist that we rec-ognize the wealth of musical influencesavailable to us as South Africans and notlook exclusively to America for inspiration.He was a pillar of strength against those whowould have us believe that we were inherent-ly inferior."

Ibrahim describes the seaport of CapeTown as "a cosmopolitan mixture of Xhosa,Zulu, British, Dutch, Khoisan, and Malayantraditions. As musicians there, we heard ev-erything and we played everything. Therewas even a Cape Town Symphony Orchestraand an opera company. My early pianoteachers were well versed in the Europeanclassical tradition.

"American merchant vessels would dockin our harbors, and we would run to meetthese ships, because the Afro-American sail-ors on board would have American jazz rec-ords to sell to us. It was from these sailors

that I got the nickname 'Dollar' Brand; myname was really Adolf. My grandmother wasa founding member of the first AfricanMethodist Episcopalian church in South Af-rica, and my mother was the church pianist,so I was also exposed to the black Americantradition through the so-called Negro spiri-tuals I sang in the choir. I was familiar withIslamic customs long before embracing Al-lah, because the Christian and Moslem com-munities were very close in Cape Town, as aresult of so much intermarriage. The Mos-lems would know when we were celebratingChristmas or Easter, and we would knowwhen they were fasting for Ramadan. Manyfamilies observed all the religious holidaysacross the board."

SATHIMA BEA BENJAMIN ALSO WAS BORN IN

Cape Town, in 1936. She remembers it as a"beauteous place, with mountains, sea, per-fect climate, exotic birds, and gorgeous sun-rises and sunsets. There seemed to be musicin the air, always."

Benjamin and her husband requested tobe interviewed separately. "I am Sathimaand he is Abdullah, and although we loveeach other very much, we have separate ca-reers," she explained.

"I don't perform as often as I would like,because I cannot. I have three roles, themost important of which is running thehouse and looking after our children [sonTsawke, fifteen, and daughter Tsidi, ten].Second, there is my music, and third, therecord company [both she and Ibrahim nowrecord for Ekapa, the small label she runsout of their living room]. I guess I actuallyhave four jobs, because Abdullah and I act asour own agents.

"I was raised to be a dutiful sort of per-son. My parents were separated by the time Iwas five, and I was raised by my [paternal]grandmother, who was very strict, veryproper, very British in her ways, though shewas quite African -looking. I was a lonelychild, and along with daydreaming, which Iindulged in constantly, music was my solace.I listened to American singers on the radio:Ella Fitzgerald, Nat `King' Cole, Joni James,Doris Day. When I joined the choir in highschool, I noticed that the director never as-signed me solo parts, even though I had avery strong voice. 'You sweep,' he ex-plained. 'You slide up and down the note in-stead of staying directly on it.' That meantnothing to me at the time, but in retrospect itshows that I was unconsciously trying tophrase like the black American singers Iheard on the radio.

"After completing college, I taughtschool. But on the weekends, I sang in thenightclubs in the white areas, where blackand so-called colored musicians were al-lowed to perform but were not allowed tomix with the audiences. We had to sit in thekitchen during intermissions, just as blackmusicians were having to do in the AmericanSouth. There wasn't such a strong ban onU.S. literature then, so I was able to read a

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lot about black Americans, and I felt a bondwith them, with their yearning to be free."

Lighter in complexion than her husband,she too was classified as colored. "Some-times people ask me, 'Oh, Sathima, why doyou call yourself black?' Black is not a color,it's an experience. And in South Africa,there are only two possible experiences. Iwas never privileged to know what the whiteone was. That makes me black."

She and Ibrahim first left South Africa tolive in Zurich in 1962, and it was there thatthey encountered Ellington, "the first Amer-ican either of us had ever met-and thankGod it was him. To this day, I still marvel athow truly grand he was." In addition to pro-ducing Duke Ellington Presents the Dollar BrandTrio, the maestro also supervised Benjamin'snever -released debut. "Duke and BillyStrayhorn took turns at the piano. I remem-ber Duke standing in the control room atone point and saying to Strayhorn, 'Can Ihear some birdies?'-meaning could he playsomething sweeter than the wild things hewas playing behind me. And Strayhorn an-swered, 'I am playing birdies: condors.' "

Benjamin is contemplating an album ofStrayhorn compositions as a companionpiece to her 1979 Ellington homage. Aboutten years ago, relatively late in her career,she began to write her own material as well."At first, I was hesitant even to show mysongs to instrumentalists, because I knowI'm not a schooled composer like Abdullah.But the musicians I work with encourageme." She still "sweeps": There is a catch inher voice that would be easy to mistake for acoquettish affectation, if not for the sob itholds in check.

DESPITE LIVING IN THE CHELSEA HOTEL FORalmost a decade, Benjamin took the oath ofU.S. citizenship only last year. "For most ofthose at the swearing -in ceremony, it was ajoyous occasion. And it was for me, too, but Iwent through a period of soul-searching thatI can hardly begin to describe, becauseSouth Africa will always exert a pull."

"I am still a citizen of South Africa," pro-claims Ibrahim, who nonetheless will applyfor U.S. citizenship later this year. "I alwayswill be. Sathima and I are now in strategic re-treat, but we expect to return.

"For years, we were free to leave SouthAfrica and return as we pleased, so long aswe did not make overt political statements.Soweto changed all that. The struggle hadreached another level, and it was importantfor us as artists to play a more visible role."

For Ibrahim and Benjamin, the home oftheir childhood no longer exists-at leastnot as they remember it. "Perhaps the mostnotorious of all the government removals inthe urban areas was the destruction of Dis-trict Six, home of 30,000 people classified as'colored' in the heart of Cape Town," writesFrancis Wilson in the preface to the recentlypublished The Cordoned Heart, a collection ofphotographs from South Africa. "DistrictSix was a diverse society established over a

SelectedDiscographiesABDULLAH IBRAHIMDuke Ellington Presentsthe Dollar Brand Trio.Reprise RS 6111; 1963. (Out of print.)

Ode to Duke Ellington.Inner City IC 6049; 1979. (Recorded in1973.)

African Marketplace.Elektra 6E 252; 1980. (Out of print.)

Autobiography.Plainisphare P1 1267-6/7 (2); 1983. (Re-corded in 1978. Available only as import,)

Zimbabwe.Enja 4056; 1983. 0 3112-12. (Distributedby Muse.)

Live at Sweet Basil, Vol. 1.Blackhawk Ekapa Series BKH 50204-1;1984. (525 Brannan St., Penthouse, SonFrancisco, Calif. 94107.)Ekaya (Home).Blackhawk Ekapa Series BKH 50205-1;1984.

Water from an Ancient Well.Blockhawk Ekapa Series BKH 50207-1;1986.E

SATHIMA BEA BENJAMINSathima Sings Ellington.Blackhowk Ekapa Series BKH 50201-1;1979.

Dedications.Blackhawk Ekapa Series BKH 50202-1;1982.

Memories and Dreams.Blackhawk Ekapa Series BKH 50203-1;1983.

Windsong.Blockhawk BKH 50206-1; 1986.

period of 200 years. . . . At one time or an-other, it had been home to musicians likeAbdullah Ibrahim, writers like RichardReve, political leaders like Cissie Gool...In 1966, the district was proclaimed white.The order setting in motion the removal ofthe citizens there and the destruction oftheir homes was signed by the then Ministerof the Department of Community Develop-ment, P. W. Botha. .. . Virtually every build-ing was broken up by bulldozers. Hundredsof strong brick houses, some of them over acentury old, were reduced to rubble. The vi-brant world of District Six became an emptywasteland. It was as if there had been a war."

"Allah says, 'Fight injustice whereveryou find it, or you will become one of the in -just,' " Ibrahim responds. "I am homesickfor South Africa, but not for the home that isthere. Allah says, 'I do not burden a soul withmore than it can bear. Those who leave theirhomes for my sake, I will provide for them abetter home.' "

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BACKBEAT

THE LEADERS OF FOUR SOVIET PACKS

(FROM LEFT): STRANGE GAMES'

VITIA SOLOGUB, AQUARIUM'S BORIS

GREBENSCHIKOV, KINO'S VICTOR

TS01, ALISA'S KOSTYA KINCHEV

From Russia with GuitarsPOP

VARIOUS ARTISTS:

Red Wave: 4 Underground Bandsfrom the U.S.S.R.

Joanna Stingray, prod. Big Time 6008-1 (2).(Distributed by RCA.)

OSTENSIBLY OFFERED AS PROOF THAT ALLaround the world, rock 'n' roll will never die,etc., this double album proves instead thatit's still waiting to be born in most places. Iam no cold warrior, nor am I an Old Leftyparanoid enough to suggest that this is partof a CIA plot to discredit Soviet youth. Butboy, is this music bad.

The four Leningrad bands on Red Wavewere secretly recorded, and their tapessmuggled out of Russia, by twenty -five -year -old Los Angeleno Joanna Stingray. Not sur-prisingly, the chief influence seems to be thespacey, quasipsychedelic extended jams ofthe late Sixties and early Seventies, whenrock was indeed exploding into an inescap-able international force and also being con-fused with Art. This is urban music full of ur-ban imagery but with few specific referencesto Soviet life per se, though there are

oblique allusions, especially from Alisa.(The bands sing in Russian, by the way, buttranslations are provided.) However noblethe intentions of these groups, their work islimpid and utterly forgettable; like rock'sharshest critics, ironically, they fix on thesimple surface novelty of the music withoutreally getting to its heart and soul, and all arecrippled by lack of a decent drummer. Theyare said to represent four distinct strains of"underground" or "nonofficial" Soviet mu-sic, but you coulda fooled me. Let's try tolook at each band individually:

Aquarium is led by Boris Grebenschi-kov, the first Soviet rocker to write and re-cord his own songs in his native tongue. Themusic is fairly hard folk-rock, with guitarsnaking through the rhythm section beforesettling on top of it via feedback and soundeffects. There also are little baroque touches.from keyboardist Sergey Kuryokhin.

Kino claims reggae influences, but Iswear the band sounds pretty much the sameas Aquarium, with more emphasis onslurred, druggy ballads. Otherwise, Kinouses identical song structures and arrangingtechniques, albeit with more percussion.(CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 1)

JAZZ

IGOR BRIL:

Before the Sun Sets.East Wind MC 20646. (3325 17th St. N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20010.)ALEXEI KUZNETSOVI

Blue Coral. East Wind MC 20648.

JAZZ, WHETHER SANCTIONED OR NOT, HASexisted in Russia since the time of the Roma-novs. If we are to believe published reports,Rasputin was poisoned to the accompani-ment of American popular music, Shostako-vich played ragtime piano in silent -movietheaters, and the cakewalk was the rage in St.Petersburg as early as 1910. Since then, So-viet musicians have eagerly followed all sub-sequent developments in American music;unfortunately, whatever we know of Sovietjazz has generally been the result of hearingexpatriate musicians play with Americangroups. So it is with great pleasure that Igreet these LPs by pianist Igor Bril and gui-tarist Alexei Kuznetsov, both of whom re-cord in Russia for the state label, Melodiya.(CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 2 )

10 H I G H FIDELITY

III

itLILI

1:1

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE90 Geez, now I swear Alisa sounds so

much like the two previous bands that I for-get I've put the second album on. So why isthis music described as "Soviet boogie"? Ac-tually, the members of Alisa do include aslightly tough drummer and a sort of punkylead singer. They also have a little more feelfor primal rock, though "Bad Boy," their at-tempted anthem, is awfully quaint.

Strange Games is ska-influenced and,to my ears, the most interesting of the batch.Drummer Alexander Kondraskin plays withsome finesse, if little power. There's catchysax rifling on "Chorovod Song," and "NoTelephone" has a loose feel that none of theother bands can master. Singer/bassist VitiaSologub's lyrics, which apparently areFrench poetry translated into Russian, oftencreate tangible ambience early on, even ifthey do tend to deteriorate halfway through.

I wish all these bands well, of course, butultimately there's one reason, and one rea-son only, why their work has been releasedin this country, and it has little to do withmusic. Ah, Hollywood; ah, show biz. Thyname is still gimmickry and exploitation.

John Morthland

JEFFREY OSBORNE:

Emotional.0 Various prods. A&M SP 5103.0G

IN THE MIDDLE OF JEFFREY OSBORNE'S SHOW

at Radio City Music Hall during his previous

tour, his road band broke into the openingbars of "When Doves Cry." The audiencecracked up. Then, standing mock -amazed,Osborne muttered, "Oh, yeah, Prince. Weall know Prince, right?" We certainly do.He's the megastar whose shoes Osbornewould like to fill. But Osborne lacks at leasttwo of His Royal Badness's important attri-butes: slick moves and a made-up videolook. I want him to become a superstarnonetheless. Anyone who can provide ninetracks of musical enjoyment on one LP (Jef-frey Osborne) and then follow up with twomore vinyl victories (Stay with Me Tonight andDon't Stop) certainly deserves to be one.

A pint-sized Albany, New York, nativewith a creamy firm tenor, Osborne began asa drummer with the '70s band L.T.D. Afterthe other members discovered he couldsing, he poured his heart out on such classicsas "Love Ballad," which still brings tears tothe eyes of many grown women, and "(EveryTime I Turn Around) Back in Love Again,"a tough bit of footstompin' music. Osbornewent solo in 1982, hooking up with key-boardist George Duke, the poor man'sQuincy Jones. Duke's production was per-fect: It did everything to spotlight the voiceand not the producer's own ego.

Feeling the pressure of one who walks towin new fans while cementing old ones withCrazy Glue, Osborne added a funk -rocksparkle to his next two Duke -produced al-bums. The ballads remained gorgeous, as

Osborne transformed what could've beensentimental tripe into honest passion. Still,despite going platinum, those LPs weren'tenough to put him over. If it's still aboutsongs, Emotional must. And it is! The sum-mer smash "You Should Be Mine (The WooWoo Song)" has become Osborne's biggesthit. Produced by Richard Perry, who directsalongside Michael Masser, Duke, and "Oz"himself, this tune about female pursuit andconquest is a terse essay in contemporarysongcraft, a lilting groove that turns stompyin the chorus.

Emotional 's electro-smooth tracks snap,crackle, and say "pop," too, but they're nothoney -dripped crossover attempts. In fact,the vocal performances are unashamedlysoulful: Osborne reaches into his gut for themuscle to blast his voice skyward. And listento "We Belong to Love": You'll visualize ablack gospel choir swaying reverently as yousing along.

Surprisingly, the speed -freak numberalso fits Osborne. Overseen by the singerhimself (not Perry, as one might expect),"Love's Not Ready" bops and jives like adude pretending to lose his cool, and it's go-ing on my next party tape. Right next to itwill be "Soweto," an antiapartheid chunkerin the first person. Over circular bass andvigorous, chop -chop drums, children'svoices beg, "Freedom, freedom, all we wantis freedom." The message is straightfor-ward: Show support for "your brothers in

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South Africa." Osborne may be an ambi-tious performer, but he's no sucky Negroscared of alienating members of the star -making (white) masses. He isn't going to bea yo -boy with pop clout. Havelock Nelson

RANDY CRAWFORD:

Abstract Emotions.

OReggieLucas, prod. Warner Bros. 25423-1.

v." CIWHEN CANNONBALL ADDERLEY TABBED RANDY

Crawford for a pivotal role in his 1974 musi-cal, Big Man, her fleeting soprano made a siz-able impact alongside the husky baritone ofprincipal vocalist Joe Williams. But beforeshe could be categorized as a jazz singer,Crawford hit the pop charts with the Crusad-ers, doing a blistering vocal on the 1979 hit"Street Life." That song not only gave hername recognition for the first time but alsocreated exaggerated expectations that shewould become the next big female star inblack pop.

Instead, a series of erratic and poorlypromoted albums has kept Crawford miredin near obscurity, a situation that her newestrecording, Abstract Emotions, won't eradicate,even though it's a decent effort overall. Reg-gie Lucas, once one of the industry's hottestproducers when he worked with Mtume, haswisely chosen to accentuate Crawford's ver-satility; unfortunately, he couldn't findenough songs with clever or striking lyrics,and thus Crawford has to try to make eachsong a captivating classic through vocal

tricks. Not even her shimmering tone orhigh drama can make turgid entries like"World of Fools" and "Desire" palatable,and the result is simply wasted energy andemotion.

However, the album's good moments doallow Crawford's formidable assets toemerge. The catchy beat and slippery tex-ture of "Betcha" are ideal for both the low-est and highest points of her voice. In "Can'tStand the Pain," she works hard to make themood as bitter as possible; while she's cer-tainly no blues singer, her delivery does con-tain enough of an ache. "Actual EmotionalLove" and "Higher Than Anyone CanCount" feature confident performances,with Crawford's soprano never fading orlosing its edge. Sadly, you can't say the samefor the musicians. There are big names listedon the jacket, including bassist AnthonyJackson and Lucas himself handling the bar-rage of synthesized equipment, but theydon't provide Crawford with much of any-thing except standard electronic bottom andho -hum accompaniment.

Abstract Emotions isn't a terrible album,but it's not a very good one either. Crawfordhas too much genuine ability to keep makingLPs that do little except barely keep her inthe public eye. In a year when jazz -based pophas proven appealing and successful for thelikes of Anita Baker and Sade, it's strangethat a singer who started out making thatkind of music hasn't decided to return to it.

Ron Wynn

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(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9 0 )Before the Sun Sets is pleasant enough, but

the liner notes go a bit too far in touting Brilas a composer. Although his scoring covers alot of territory, the solos are what make thisalbum work. The title track, for example,highlights Alexei Nabaton's thoughtful andmodern tenor sax against a carefully layeredbut fairly dull impressionistic background,while "Our Samba" tends to be a routineLatin -jazz takeoff until Bril's solid piano andAlexander Oseichuk's sprightly alto give itlife. The drummer has a good grasp of con-temporary percussion and a great pair ofhands, but no one else in the rhythm sectioncan match him. Still, this group producessome convincing music. At times, you prob-ably will forget that this is Soviet jazz anddrift off into reveries of Southern California.

Kuznetsov, on the other hand, will notallow you to drift off at all. He plays guitarthe way Oscar Peterson plays piano -relent-lessly -while his devilish brain adds new di-mensions to such overworked pop standardsas "Basin Street Blues" and "Summertime."He chords all over the neck at rapid tempos,accompanies his own solos with unexpectedbass lines, and propels his not too talentedrhythm section with an inexorable sense oftime. Unfortunately, he cannot always com-bine all his assets properly within a singletune, so you are apt to be treated to virtuosochording on one cut, dazzling melody on an-other, brilliant accompaniment on the next,and so on. But the overall message is clear:Kuznetsov not only compares favorably withthe best guitarists in American jazz, he is ut-terly unique. Joe Blum

SHEILA JORDAN:

The Crossing.

O-Herb Wong, prod. Blackhawk BKH 50501-1.

vd no (525 Brannan St., Penthouse, San Francis-co, Calif. 94107.)A DARING AND INVENTIVE SINGER, ONE OF THE

greatest individualists in jazz, Sheila Jordanhas been on the scene since 1962, when sherecorded a startling "You Are My Sunshine"with George Russell. In her best work, sheexploits the harmonic advances of CharlieParker without sacrificing the pathos shefound in her other early model, Billie Holi-day. Jordan has a small, flexible voice, withgirlish highs and dramatic chest tones. Herfast, lyrical vibrato often appears suddenlyin the middle of phrases, and in a single takeshe might move from a sweet whisper to ametallic cry. She is jovial on uptempo blues,but ballads are her strength. Other singerstake a popular song and slap it around; Jor-dan gets inside it and makes it dance.

The Crossing is one of her most enchantingrecords, notable for the brilliance and vari-ety of the accompaniment -Jordan has oftensaid she just wants to be a member of theband -and for the autobiographical flavorof the performances. "Sheila's Blues" is di-rectly autobiographical: Accompanied by pi-anist Kenny Barron, bassist Harvie Swartz,(CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 5 )

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and drummer Ben Riley, she sings the storyof her birth (when her mother was just six-teen), her upbringing in a Pennsylvania min-ing town and Detroit, and her early experi-ences with the music that she says saved her.It's a good-humored performance. The titletrack, written by Jordan and backed exqui-sitely by Swartz alone, is more intense, de-spite its gospelly melody. The masterpiecehere may be the inward -looking "It NeverEntered My Mind," but I wouldn't want tobe without her scatting on "Little WillieLeaps" or her portentous intoning of thefirst chorus of "The Inchworm."

At ease with the repertoire of both DannyKaye and Charlie Parker, Jordan has a radi-ant sincerity that makes us believe her whenshe sings, "It's the music that sets me free."Coming from another singer, the line wouldsound like a cliche. lit hap(I llman

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Teddy Wilson, 1912-198IF PIANIST TEDDY WILSON HAD NEVERplayed with Benny Goodman or BillieHoliday, he'd still be remembered as oneof the Swing Era's most formidable musi-cians, but his association with the classicbandleader and the innovative singergranted him musical immortality. Wil-son, who died on July 31 at the age of sev-enty-three, refined an understated, fluidstyle that brought a new sophistication tojazz piano. Throughout the Thirties andearly Forties, he fronted sparkling smallgroups in the studio, established himselfas a brilliant sideman and accompanist,and even led a highly touted big band-personal triumphs that are inevitablyovershadowed by his simpatico workwith Goodman's trio and quartet and onHoliday's early recordings. Wilson alsomade extramusical history with Good-man as the first black to break into theworld of the white big bands.

Classically trained when he was achild-an influence that left its mark inhis formally precise solos-Wilsonchanged directions as a teenager, and bytwenty-one he had already toured withLouis Armstrong and made attention -getting recordings with Benny Carter.Two years later, in 1935, he was hired byGoodman, an audacious move by thebandleader, considering his commercialbreakthrough had taken place only a fewmonths earlier. Wilson was featured in apopular trio alongside Goodman anddrummer Gene Krupa, later expanded toa quartet with the addition of vibist Lio-

nel Hampton. Wilson's blendflowing swing, graceful musical desigand faultless technique quickly elevathim to the same league occupied by EaHines and Art Tatum, the premier piaists of the day.

During his stint with Goodman, Wison gathered other star soloists from thtop big bands-Lester Young, BuckClayton, Roy Eldridge, and Chu Beramong them-to make a series of excellent small -group recordings. It's herethat Holiday, then a virtual unknown, enters the picture. Wilson's sessions oftdispensed with strict arrangementsstriking the perfect balance betweestructure and improvisation, which alowed Holiday freedom to experimenThese recordings are generally consid-ered to be her greatest. In 1939, Wilsonformed his own short-lived big band thathighlighted his talents as an arranger.

From the Forties until shortly beforehis death, when illness forced him to stopperforming, Wilson was a model of con-sistency, delivering pithy solos and everexact accompaniment. He wasn't a heat-ed player; you listened to him for his sen-sitive touch and constant tunefulness.His measured pianistics helped usher ina reflective intelligence to jazz; the leapfrom his groundbreaking work in theThirties to Bill Evans doesn't seem thfar. With the death of Teddy Wilson, thmusic has lost one of its greatest soloistsand probably its finest team player.

Steve Futterman

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(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 8 )ance excellent (if slightly bright and "for-ward"), with eminently smooth, uncoloredsound throughout. Moreover, the imagingwas exceptional: not particularly broad in its"stage," but unequivocal in any programmaterial we threw at it. Both to give the im-age Lebensraum and to keep the bass in excel-lent balance, we'd suggest you experimentwith the speakers away from the wall insteadof accepting what evidently is intended asadvice for any Acoustic Research floor mod-el, rather than for the Connoisseur 40 specif-ically.

Impedance is unusually flat, never ex-ceeding 10.8 ohms (at bass resonance, near50 Hz) nor falling below 3.7 ohms (at thenext minimum above bass resonance, near100 Hz). The curve essentially confirmsAcoustic Research's rating of 6 ohms nomi-nal and 4 ohms minimum. Actual averageacross the entire audio band is 6.5 ohms;within the so-called music band, it averages7 ohms. The speaker should present noproblem to any competent amp.

The speaker had no trouble with thehigh-level test pulse, even at the test amplifi-

er's full output-in this case, equivalent topeak power of 26.8 dBW, or about 475 watts,into an 8 -ohm load. Calculated sound pres-sure level (SPL) with that drive was 115.8dB. On steady tones, distortion measure-ments were satisfactory, averaging about 1/2percent across most of the band for a drivelevel of 85 dB SPL and increasing to about 1percent for 100 dB SPL. Sensitivity wasabout what you might expect for an acoustic -suspension system of this size; AR's sugges-tion that the speaker be powered by an am-plifier capable of putting out somethingbetween 15 and 150 watts (11.75 and 21.75dBW) per side seems eminently sane,though good amps are hard to find today atthe bottom of that range.

The Connoisseur 40 is exceptionalenough, in our judgment, to deserve a goodamplifier. Over and over during testing, wewere struck by the freshness of the soundfrom our favorite recordings and the con-vincing nature of the stereo image. And thesound (if not the image itself) can achievemassive dimensions when driven by an ap-propriate amp with really clean program ma-terial. We are very impressed.

MANUFACTURERS' COMMENTSHigh Fidelity routinely submits copies of test reports(after publication) to the manufacturers for reviewand comment. And from time to time, we get a re-sponse. For the past couple of years, we have beenrunning manufacturers' comments as letters to theeditor. In this issue, we are reviving our traditionalformat for presenting these replies.

SHURE NTS-5000 SURROUND -SOUNDDECODER (SEPTEMBER 1986)

WE WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT ON TWOquestions raised in your review of the HTS-5000. The first concerns the decoder's out-put impedance. Although it is high com-pared with that of other consumerelectronics products, we do not feel this is apractical limitation. With typical connectingcables having a capacitance of about 33 pico-farads per foot (like those supplied with theproduct), the high -frequency response ofany particular output channel will be lessthan 0.5 dB down at 20 kHz for cable lengthsof as much as 12 feet. For a more typical 6 -foot run, the response will be down less than0.2 dB at 20 kHz.

The second item is the sibilant spittingyou sometimes heard from the surroundchannel during your listening tests. We alsohave heard such effects, but on all occasions

we have been able to identify the problem asprogram -related and not a limitation of theHTS-5000 itself. Our measurements haveindicated that in the many duplication stepsbetween a motion -picture audio master tapeand a consumer videodisc or videocassette,imbalances between the left and right chan-nels often arise from amplitude and phaseerrors. Often these imbalances are a func-tion of signal amplitude, occurring only atlow or high levels. Because dialogue usuallyis mixed or panned to be in the center of thescreen, it is originally recorded with thesame amplitude and phase on both programchannels. Small mismatches that arise laterin the duplication process appear in varyingdegrees as difference information and areconsequently properly decoded as part ofthe surround channel.

If you are in doubt about the quality of aspecific program, you can use an oscillo-scope to display the left and right audiochannels as a Lissajous pattern. The dia-logue portions of the program should be inphase at all signal levels, appearing on thescreen as a narrow diagonal line. Examplesof videodiscs that are particularly free ofsuch problems include Back to the Future,Gremlins, Ladyhawke, and Return of the fedi.Mawr. S. IkkelelaChief Development EngineerShure Brothers, Inc.

Sansui's AU-G77XII amplifier is rated superior for CDreproduction.Sansui X-cels in digital performance. Our new AU-G77XII am-plifier reproduces digital signals more accurately because ourX -balanced circuitry delivers more headroom-without clipping.With ordinary amplifiers you need massive amounts of powerto react to the pulse -like transients produced by digital discs.But with Sansui's X -balanced circuitry, our AU-G77XII handlesdigital peaks and low impedance loads with no problem.

It features virtually distortion -free power* (0.008 THD) anddynamic power is 160 watts -per -channel into 8 ohms; 220watts -per -channel into 4 ohms; and 260 watts -per -channelinto 2 ohms.The AU-G77XII also features input for phono MM/MC (select-able), CD, tuner, tape 1 and tape 2, line 1 and line 2. Plus aspecial adapter input/output loop for EQ or processor for addeddubbing capabilities. When it comes to optimum performancewith digital music sources, Sansui's AU-G77XII is an amplifierthat's past digital ready. Hear it today and you'll know we're notdistorting the truth.'110 walls -per -channel minimum RMS. both channels driven into 8 ohms from 20-20.000 Hz

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