tereo Review - americanradiohistory.com · The best way to appreciate the sound of the new...

104
tereo Review INCORPORATING HIGH FIDELITY' US $ /.50 UK £2.00 CANADA $2.95 JULY 1591 SMALL SYSTEMS HIT THE RIG TIME LABORATORY TESTS CD Enhancement Products: Do They Really Work? ALSO TESTED Yamaha Amplifier, Harman Kardon Dolby S Cassette Deck, and More CCCossette Wryer 1 Tflm.a lkolcrio ZLLL-ZVZOV AN 311IASI1131 LOMN$ 'Id (3COM M0113A 0063 109A fivmvEana S cattva HW Z6 111(14 Z6h02h$6 1.60A006814:84t ZZOV 1191a- ********y*866241 .4.44Why, f.

Transcript of tereo Review - americanradiohistory.com · The best way to appreciate the sound of the new...

Page 1: tereo Review - americanradiohistory.com · The best way to appreciate the sound of the new Virtually Invisible Acoustimass-5 Series II speaker system is to ask your dealer to demonstrate

tereo ReviewINCORPORATING HIGH FIDELITY' US $ /.50 UK £2.00 CANADA $2.95 JULY 1591

SMALL SYSTEMSHIT THE RIG TIME

LABORATORY TESTSCD Enhancement Products:Do They Really Work?

ALSO TESTEDYamaha Amplifier, HarmanKardon Dolby SCassette Deck, and More

CCCossette Wryer 1

Tflm.a lkolcrio

ZLLL-ZVZOV AN 311IASI1131LOMN$ 'Id (3COM M0113A 0063109A fivmvEana S cattva HWZ6 111(14

Z6h02h$6 1.60A006814:84tZZOV 1191a- ********y*866241

.4.44Why,

f.

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Introducing the new Bose Acoustimass'-5 Series II Direct/Reflecting' Speaker System

The part you see.

uccesMeasured in technical achievement

and customer satisfaction.

Succes

Introduced in 1987, the Bose Acoustimass-5speaker system simultaneously overcame theplacement limitations of large speakers andthe performance compromises ofconven-tional small speakers. Finally, it was possibleto generate pure, deep bass from a truly com-pact enclosure.

The Acoustimass system changed the waypeople think about loudspeakers, and quicklybecame the speaker system of choice formusic lovers around the world. Stereo Re-view said: "...side by side with speakers cost-ing three to five times as much, the AM -5[Acoustimass] consistently produced themore exciting and listenable sound..."*.

How has Bose celebrated this success?

By spending three more years in research,making Acoustimass speakers even better.

* Julian Hirsch, Stereo Review, 1987

Lke the original, once the new VirtuallyInvisible' Acoustimass-5 system is in place,all you see are the two tiny cube speakerarrays. The new cube speakers are smaller,

rmore powerful, and more fashionable. Youenjoy spacious, lifelike music reproductionfrom a system that blends easily into anydecor.

The result of continued research. Now let's examine the benefits of the newAcoustimass bass module, the easy -to -hidepart of the system you normally don't see.

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The part you dont see.Patented Bose Acoustimass speaker technology makes the difference.

Three acoustic masses instead of two.Benefit: 36dB/octave acoustic

crossover rolloff! Provides complete

freedom to hide the bass moduleanywhere in your room.

New elliptical toroid conduitfor the radiating air mass provides

for laminar air flow.Benefit: No audible noise caused

by turbulence, even at highloudness levels.

The technology of the Virtually Invisible® Acoustimassbass module is unlike that of any conventional speakersystem. The sound is launched into the room by an airmass, rather than directly by a vibrating surface.

The new technology introduced in the Series II bassmodule is detailed in the photograph above.

The benefits of the complete Acoustimass-5 Series IIspeaker system are:

Pure, deep bass that seems to come from the tiny cubespeaker arrays.

Full fidelity sound from a Virtually Invisible' speakersystem that blends into any decor.

A variable width sound stage that can be set by rotatingthe Bose Direct/Reflecting® speaker arrays.

Consistently high quality that you expect from Bose,achieved through Syncom` computer testing.

Improved technology is found in the new Series II less modde.New system protectioncircuit with twice the

energy dissipation

capability.Benefit: More system

4 protection at high outputvolumes. Increavd

P

reliability.

Three acoustic compressionchambers instead of two.

Benefit: Reduced cone motionproviding virtual elimination of

audible distortion.

(Plexiglass model for illustration purposes only)

Hear the difference yourself.The best way to appreciate the sound of the new VirtuallyInvisible Acoustimass-5 Series II speaker system is to askyour dealer to demonstrate it side by side with conven-tional systems costing much more. For the name of a Bosedealer near you, and to receive a brochure, call;

1-800-444-BOSE(1-800-444.2673) 8:30AM-9:00PM(ET)In Canada call 1-800-465-BOSE (2673) 9:OOAM-5:OOPM

Better sound through research.

ISCorynght IFAI Colvorarmss The Mourunn.Frarurgium. MA 017019168 USA (Setll 8Ni1k, FAX kW 871.511 NA, ,s111Att Jemburn1 sof Ws .s

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Regardless of how sophisticated your stereoand video system is, it may never achieve

its full performance if plugged directly into anAC outlet. Raw and unprocessed AC power canseverely diminish the clarity of audio signals andreduce the resolution of your video picture.

ADCOM's ACE -515 AC Enhancer significantlyimproves the performance capabilities of yoursystem by filtering and processing raw AC power,unveiling a pure, noise -free power source.

Listen To The Critics.. the effective suppression of AC '12F hash' by the

ACE -515 improved clarity and lowered noise in all three CDplayers. . . .the significant improvements in instrumental andvocal harmonic retrieval and hall ambience are superb. . . .

it simply appears to allow musical information to be passedthrough to the listener with less veil and electronic 'haze.' "

-Lewis Lipnick, Stereophile, Vol. 11 No. 4, April 1988.

Recommended accessory in Stereophile, Vol. 12 No. 4,April 1989.

Line Protection: It Pays For ItselfThe ACE -515 also protects your valuable

equipment from harmful high -voltage spikes andsurges. And, its sequential turn-on/turn-offcontrol circuit guards your speakers fromdisturbing, damaging thumps.

Again, The Critics Agree"Electronic equipment (especially digital audio gear) is

vulnerable to both annoying and catastrophic power -lineproblems. Your stereo gear should have line spike andsurge protection, with hash filters thrown in too. Lineprotection-you can pay a little for it now, or you canpay a lot for it later"

-Ken Pohlman, AUDIO, November 1987.

For a modest investment, the ADCOM ACE -515enhances both audio and video clarity whileprotecting your equipment from damaging linevoltage disturbances. Once again, ADCOMlives up to its reputation of offering superiorperformance at a reasonable cost. For completetechnical data, please visit your Adcom dealer.You'll discover the ACE -515 is more than anaccessory. It's a necessity.

ADCOM®details you can hear

11 Elkins Road, East Brunswick, NJ 08816 U.S.A. (201) 390-1130 Distributed in Canada by PRO ACOUSTICS INC. Pointe Claire,Quebec H9R 4X5 © 1989 ADCOM

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CoverThe four -piece Nakamichi minisystem is justone of many new solutions to the problem of

fitting high -quality audio equipment into a smallroom. For more, see "Small Systems, Big

Sound" on page 45. Lamp courtesy of Lee'sStudio Lighting, New York.

Photograph by Dan Wagner

LETTERS 6

NEW PRODUCTS 9

RODRIGUES CONTEST 14

SIGNALS 16

AUDIO BA 18

TECHNICAL TALK 20

POPULAR MUSIC 65

CLASSICAL MUSIC 79

THE HIGH END 96

COPYRIGHT C 1991 BY HACHETTE MAGAZINES.INC. All rights reserved. Stereo Review. July 1991.Volume 56. Number 7. Stereo Review (ISSN 0039-12201is published monthly by Hachette Magazines. Inc. at1633 Broadway. New York. NY 10019; telephone 1212)767-6000. Also publishers of Car Stereo Review. Sound& Image. Stereo Buyers' Guide. Compact Disc Buyers'Guide, and Video Buyers' Guide. One-year subscriptionrate for the United States and its possessions. $13.94:Canada. $18.94; all other countries. $21.94; cash ordersonly, payable in U.S. currency. Second-class postagepaid at New York. NY 10001. and at additional mailingoffices. Printed in the U.S.A. Authorized as second-class mail by the Post Office Department. Ottawa. Can-ada. and for payment of postage in cash. Canadian GSTnumber 126018209. POSTMASTER/SUBSCRIPTIONSERVICE: Please send change -of -address forms and allsubscription correspondence to Stereo Review. P.O. Box55627. Boulder. CO 80322-5627. Please allow at least eightweeks for the change of address to become effective.Include both your old and your new address, enclosing, ifpossible, an address label from a recent issue. If you havea subscription problem, write to the above address or call(800) 876-9011. PERMISSIONS: Material in this publica-tion may not be reproduced in any form without permis-sion. Requests for permission should be directed to: TheEditor, Stereo Review. Hachette Magazines. Inc.. 1633Broadway. New York, NY 10019. EDITORIAL CON-TRIBUTIONS must be accompanied by return postageand will be handled with reasonable care, but the publish-er assumes no responsibility for return or safety ofunsolicited art, photos. or manuscripts.

VOL. 56 NO. 7

ic rclin/ [-CINCORPORATING HIGH FIDEUTVA

EQUIPMENTHirsch -Houck Labs Equipment Test Reports 23Yamaha DSP-A1000 Integrated A/V Amplifier, page 23Harman Kardon TD4600 Cassette Deck, page 26Energy Model 4.1e Loudspeaker System, page 29MAS DCC-1 Digital Control Center, page 32Sennheiser HD 490 Headphones, page 35

CD Magic 38Can green ink, disc rings, special fluids, or isolation feet really makeyour CD's sound better? by Ken C. Pohlmann

Small Systems, Big Sound 45Today's shelf systems are packed with features and sizedto fit anywhere by Rebecca Day

All Around the House 48Making your audio or audio/video system work in more than one roommay be easier than you think by Daniel Kumin

Systems 54A lofty media room by Rebecca Day

MUSICPage 48

Thomas Hampson 43"Singing is not about throats, but about thought and air" by Katrine Ames

Best Recordings of the Month 57Big Daddy, Mozart Sonatas for Violin and Keyboard, Beethoven'sFidelio, and Peter Himmelman

Record Makers 94The latest from James Brown, Nadja Salerno -Sonnenberg, James Taylor,the Yellowjackets, and more

Page 94

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 3

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misaroimial ilk AL

Listen To The Next GenerationOf Loudspeakers

The new ITA 15TL is both a sonic andaesthetic breakthrough. It is also priced to create anew standard in value. Ask for a demonstration atyour authorized Polk dealer. You'll hear the detail,depth and excitement of a live performance.

You'll hear...and see... the next generation ofloudspeakers.

The Speer Specialist

5601 Metro Drive, Baltimore, MD 21215 USA(301) 358 - 3600

Where to buy Polk Speakers? For your nearest dealer, see page 8'.

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by Rebecca Day and William Livingstone

Environmentally CorrectPioneer Electronics has begunpacking its car electronicsproducts in a combination ofrecycled paper and paper pulpinstead of styrofoam. Thecompany is also shipping itshome and car stereoequipment in cartons made ofrecycled paper. . . . VectorResearch is printing all of itspackaging and owner'smanuals for its products onrecycled paper.

Audio Design ContestSony is sponsoring aninternational Audio Lifestyledesign contest, open tostudents of any age or anyonegraduating in 1991. Designsmust be AC -powered andincorporate an AM/FM radioand CD player, and they mustbe original works that havenot been previously presentedin public. The grand prize is a$10,000 scholarship and aSony camcorder; additionalprizes and scholarships willbe awarded. Entries must bepostmarked by July 31, 1991,and be received at Sonyregional headquarters byAugust 15. Entry kits areavailable from MarieBerardino, CRN, 8 Bond St.,Suite 200, Great Neck, NY11021; telephone (516) 487-5904.

Music NotesPro Set Super Stars Musicardsare a 265 -card set of tradingcards honoring such popularstars as Madonna, JanetJackson, Vanilla Ice, M.C.Hammer, and Alannah Myles.They are sold in wax packs often cards for 500 to 690 a packat comic -book stores and othertrading -card outlets. . . .

Commemorating its one -hundredth anniversary, theChicago Symphony Orchestrahas released a twelve -CD setthat contains forty-nineperformances by twenty

conductors. About 70 percentof the music comes from livebroadcast tapes never madepublicly available before.Price: $175 plus $5 for shippingfrom Chicago SymphonyFulfillment Center, 847 WestJackson Blvd., Chicago, IL60607. . . . On July 10, theopening concert of the twenty-fifth Mostly Mozart Festivalwill be televised by PBS in theLive from Lincoln Centerseries. The soloists will be theflutist James Galway and thepianist Andre Watts. GerardSchwarz will conduct. . . .

Billboard Books has justpublished an updated editionof Joel Whitburn's BillboardBook of Top 40 Albums, whichlists every album to reach theTop 40 of Billboard magazine'ssales charts from 1955 to thepresent.

Home of the FutureThe Bright Home, an exhibithome in Indianapolisconstructed by PSI Energy andIndiana Power & Light Co., isthe first working display oftechnology using the CEBushome automation standard.Developed by the ElectronicIndustries Association'sConsumer Electronics Group,CEBus enablescommunication throughout thehome among a variety ofelectronic products usingexisting power lines,telephone wires, coaxialcable, and infrared signals.Panasonic, Sony, andThomson/RCA contributedCEBus products to the exhibit.The home will be open to thepublic through September.

Home Shopping ChannelsAudio -Forum of Guilford,Connecticut, has published anew mail-order catalog ofmusical audio and videocassettes. It includes tapes forjogging, ethnic and children's

music, musical -instrumentinstruction, opera, andprograms on the history ofmusic. For a free copy of thecatalog call 1-800-243-1234. . . .

Cadence of Redwood, NewYork, claims to carry a largernumber of jazz/biues labels(more than 700) than any othersource in the world. Theyaccept Visa and MasterCardand ship by UPS within 24hours. Call (315) 287-2852. . . .

Tower RecordsNideomaintains a complete mail-order service for LP's, audiocassettes, CD's, VHS video-cassettes, and laserdiscs. Forordering information call1-800-684-4844 (U.S. only) or(212) 505-1500 (worldwide).

The Jams BeatTito Puente, the king of Latinmusic (especially Latin jazz),won this year's GrammyAward for the Best TropicalLatin Performance with hiscomposition LambadaTimbales from the ConcordPicante album "Goza MiTimbal." Concord Picante hasnow released Puente's one -hundredth album as a leader,"Out of This World," which isavailable on CD andcassette. . . . For theeighth year JVC issponsoringjazz festivalsin the UnitedStates andEurope. TheAmericanJVC jazzfestivalstake placein New YorkCity, June 21to 29, and atNewport, RhodeIsland, August 16 to 18.WC's jazz festivals in Europewill be held in Paris, July 5to 10, The Hague, July 11 to14, London, July 15 to 20, andNice, July 12 to 22.

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 5

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LETTERSDistortion

Ken Pohlmann's May "Signals" col-umn ("Hidden Distortion") and readerPhil White's letter in the same issuehelped me make sense of the seeminglyunreasonable demands of "audiophiles"when we expect our music -reproductionsystems, which are limited to the stimu-lation of only one sense, to produce afully satisfying experience. The absenceof a visual element in home music repro-duction unreasonably burdens the listen-er and is itself a form of distortion. I canfar more passionately connect to a live ortelevised or theatrical musical event(and memories of such) than to all but avery few of my many audio -only record-ings. My guess (hope) is that the mostsignificant audiophile development ofthe Nineties will be high -definition,wide -aspect -ratio television and the ex-pansion of hi-fi audio/video concert re-cording.

Meanwhile, I will continue to seekfrom my music system and from everydisc I bring home a totality of experiencethat is beyond their capacity to provide,

trying to get my ears to reproduce a vividvisual image.

GREGORY LAVINChico, CA

Digital EightIn May "Bulletin" it was announced

that manufacturers have agreed on a new16 -bit PCM digital stereo audio formatfor Hi -8 camcorders. You state that thenew system will be switchable between48- and 32 -kHz sampling frequencies,thus "eliminating the possibility of adirect digital recording from a CD orDAT." As I recall, the sampling fre-quencies for the CD and digital audiotape formats are 44.1 and 48 kHz, re-spectively. Could you clarify?

Tim GANNETTDavenport, IA

Recordings made through a DAT deck'sanalog inputs use the 48 -kHz samplingrate and thus could be copied directly, butcommercially duplicated DAT's use the44.1 -kHz sampling rate.

King's XRon Givens accurately and open-

mindedly evaluates "Faith Hope Love"by King's X in his May review, but he"warns" us that this is a Christian bandwith glowingly positive lyrics. He im-plies that non-Christian listeners toleratetheir religious views and simply focus onthe powerful secular music. That's iron-ic since we Christian rock fans have hadto "tolerate" decades of rock lyrics ele-vating drugs and alcohol, demon wor-ship, wanton sex, violent acts, and vari-ous asocial or perverted escapades. It'srefreshing to hear music supportinghigher aspirations. Maybe people cantolerate some values for a change.

TED ALEKELAlbany, OR

Subwoofer PositioningIn May "Audio Q&A," Ian Masters

states, "It's the nature of subwoofers,and bass drivers generally, to be verysensitive to position." For years I'vebeen reading in STEREO REVIEW that one

There's only one company out of thehundreds of speaker manufacturers that alsomakes musical instruments.

Yamaha.Our grand pianos grace the stages of the

major concert halls throughout the world.Yamaha, in fact, is the largest manufacturer

of musical instruments in the world.

For over 100 yearswe've been making music.

No surprise then that we're a bit particularabout how all that wonderful music getsreproduced.

Our new R/2 Series embody a simple,elegant design that optimizes the location of thedrivers and minimizes edge diffraction.

They also utilize Yamaha's exclusive Multi -

layer Microcell Tweeter. A new design that

YAMAHA

a.. dewommiimwompalime-owip-

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of the advantages of subwoofers is theirindifference to position. Have I misun-derstood something?

HERB GOLDMANTustin, CA

It depends on what aspect of reproductionyou're talking about. Subwoofers canusually be placed almost anywhere in aroom without disturbing the stereo imageestablished by the main speakers. On theother hand, the low -frequency response ofa speaker depends greatly on where it isplaced relative to room boundaries, suchas walls and thefloor. One advantage of athree-piece speaker system is that you canplace the small satellite speakers for goodstereo imaging and the woofer module forgood bass response-you don't have tocompromise one for the sake of the other.

Animal ActivistsAs a long-time reader of your maga-

zine, I was furious to see you evenmention (in May "Record Makers") thealbum "Tame Yourself," released to

benefit People for the Ethical Treatmentof Animals (PETA). Behind the name ofa perfectly legitimate -sounding causehides a self-serving organization basedon terrorism and deceit. Witness the factthat PETA serves as spokespersons forthe Animal Liberation Front-a recog-nized terrorist group responsible for mil-lions of dollars of damage to laboratoriesengaged in biomedical research thatbenefits animals as well as people. Wit-ness that co-founder Alex Pacheco ad-mitted under oath to faking photographsin the now -famous Silver Springs mon-key case. Witness the statement of theirphilosophy by co-founder Ingrid New-kirk, "a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy."This group is not pro -animal; it is anti-human!

NAME WITHHELD BY REQUESTSanta Barbara, CA

Mono CD'sYour response to reader John Blair in

December 1990 "Letters," that "Anyrecord company that adheres to any kind

of truth -in -labeling policy will identify amonophonic recording as such some-where on the package," is grossly inerror. As an inventor and researcher inthe sound -enhancement field, I fre-quently purchase mono CD's. Over 90percent of the hundreds in my collectionare either unlabeled or mislabeled.There is no such thing as truth -in -label-ing within the recording industry withrespect to marketing mono CD's.

RICHARD G. BROADIEPalm Springs, CA

CorrectionsWe recently learned that Proton has

decided not to go ahead with manufac-ture of its AP -600T preamplifier/tuner, aphoto of which appeared on page 61 ofthe May issue in the article "The Pream-plifier/Tuner."

The price of The Listening Room, acomputer program from Sitting DuckSoftware designed to aid in speakerplacement, is $34.95, not $30 as stated inApril "Letters." 0

ri

uses a remarkably light yet rigid microcelldiaphragm material. Creating a tweeter thatrecovers and responds virtually instantlyto any audio signal.

Resulting in a line of speakers with excep-tionally smooth tonal balance and superiorimaging characteristics.

Speakers as transparent to the ear as they

Introducing four new waysto appreciate it.

are appealing to the eye.Stop by your Yamaha dealer and hear the

remarkable new R/2 loudspeakers for yourself.But don't be surprised at how great they sound.

After all, we've been practicing for well over100 years. YAMAHA

Yamaha's R/2 Series Loudspeakers.Available in either oak or black finish.

Yamaha Electronics Co-ix,ration, P.O. Box 6600, Bueria Park, CA 90622( 1991 Yamaha Electronics Coronation,

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0 J5252 Components

iloUsually, you keep your four tires on theground. Suddenly, out of thin air comes a'wave of sound that prac-

tically sweeps you off yourseat. It's the latest magic from Jensen. A state-of-the-art CD player, new receivers and ourpowerful U.S. made speakers. They quicklydispel another illusion: that for sound thisreal, you need to spend a fortune. For JENsEN.free information and the name of yournearest dealer, cal11-800-67-SOUND. The most thrilling sound on wheels.

CD9500 CD Receiwr

RIM159400 Receiver

BUY JENSEN NOW AND FILL IN THE BLANKS.TWO FREE* MEMOREX CDX IV METALTAPES WITH ANY JENSEN PURCHASE.

Two new Memorex. CDX.IV C-90 metaltapes (a $6.00 value) are yours free by mail-ing in the Jensen coupon for each Jensenpurchase. Pick up your coupon at partici-pating dealers. Fill the tapes with yourfavorite music. And make magic of yourown.

Offer good on purchases made from May 1 -July 31,1991,in the U.S. only while supplies last.01991 Intemaisonal Jensen Incorporated °With coupon.

Stereo Review®

Editor in ChiefLOUISE BOU N DAS

Executive EditorMICHAEL RIGGS

Art DirectorSUE LLEWELLYN

Director, HirsehHouck LaboratoriesJULIAN HIRSCH

Popular Music Editor Classical Music EditorSTEVE SIMELS ROBERT RIPPS

Managing EditorDAVID STEIN

Senior EditorsREBECCA DAY, GLENN KENNY

Associate Art DirectorMINDY BALL

Assistant EditorsJAE SEGARRA, MARYANN SALTSER

Editorial AssistantsBARBARA AIKEN, ROCCO MATTERA

Senior Contributing EditorsWILLIAM WOLFE, ROBERT ANKOSKO,WILLIAM GOLDMAN, ELISE MARTON

Editor at LargeWILLIAM LIVINGSTONE

Contributors: Robert Ackert, Chris Albertson,Richard Freed, Phyl Garland, Ron Givens, David Hall,Bryan Harrell (Tokyo), Roy Hemming, Ralph Hodges,

Stoddard Lincoln, Ian Masters, Alarms Nuh,Henry Pheasants (London). Ken Pohlmann,

Parke Puterbaugh, Charles Rodrigues, Eric Salzman,Craig Stark, David Patrick Steams

Vice President, Group PublisherNICHOLAS MATAKAZZO

Consumer Electronics GroupAdvertising

Advertising Director: Charles L. P. Waken1212) 767-6038

Group Saks Manager. East: Scott Constantine1212) 767-6916

Regional Account Managers. East: Carol Berman.(212) 767-6292: Tom McMahon. (212) 767-6025

Assistant to the Publisher: Nadine L GoodyOperations Manager: Sylvia Correa

Advertising Coordinator: Linda NazweilerClassified Advertising: (800) 445-6066

Group Saks. Midwest: Arnold S. Hoffman.Jeffrey M. Planar. (708) 679-1100Group Saks. West: Robert Meth.

Paula Mayeri. (219) 739-5130Western Saks Assistant: Lisa Posen

Production Manager: Mkbek LeeProduction Director: Patti Burns

Business Services Director: Greg Ropers'Newsstand Saks Director: Margaret Hamilton

H Stereo Review is publishedby Hachette Magazines. Inc.

Chairman and CEO. Daniel FilipacchiExecutive Vice President/Editorial Director:

Jean-Louis GinibreExecutive Vice President/Publishing. COO & CFO:

David J. PeckerSenior Vice President. Saks & Marketing:

Anthony F. IncakateraVice President. General Counsel: Catherine Flickinger

Vice President. Circulation: Leon RosenfieldVice President. Manufacturing & D bution:

Anthony R. RomanoVice President. Magazine Development: Marcia Sachar

Vice President. Research: Susan Smolkns

ThAw.Wee.

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INXS-"X" (Atlantic)412-106

George Michael -ListenWithout Prejudice, Vol I

(Columbia) 411-181

Whitney Houston -I'mYour Baby Tonight (Arista)

411.710

Madonna -ImmaculateCollection (Greatest Hits)(Warner Bros /Sire) 414557

ZZ Top-Recycler(Warner Bros) 418491

Paul McCartney -Tripping Th I LiveFantastic-lighlights(Capitol) 417.477

AC/DC-The Razor'sEdge (Atc0) 41C662

Pat I Simon -The RhythmOf -he Saints(Wane,' Bros) 412.809

Vanilla Ice -To TheExtreme (58K) 413.203

The Slmpsons Sing TheBlues (Gefien) 413-971

George Thorogood AndThe Destroyers -BoogiePeople (EMI) 418-061

Jimi Hendrix -Radio One(Rykodisc) 412379Crosby, Snits, Nash AndYoung-Dela Vu (Atlantic)

404.202Alice Cooper -School'sOut (Warner Bros ) 402.644Ralph Tlesvant (MCA)

415.547

The Doors -OriginalSoundtrack (Elektra)

41'7.915Chicago -Twenty 1(Reprise) 414599Frank Zappe-Apostrophe/OverniteSensation (Rykodisc)

412. 395David Bowie-Changesbowie (GreatestHits) (Rykodisc) 412247

Crosby, Stills, Nash andYoung -So Far (Atlantic)

378.745Grateful Dead -SkeletonsFrom The Closet(Warner Bros) 378.406The Who -Who's Better,Who's Best (MCA) 376.657The Beach Boys -PetSounds (Capitol) 367.193Best Of The Doors(Elektra) 357.616/397.612Jlmi Hendrix -Are YouExperienced? (Reprise)

353.102Yes -Close To The Edge(Atlantic) 351.965Jesus Jones -Doubt(SBK) 417.691

George Strait -Chill OfAn Early Fall (MCA)

417.634Rolling Stones -StickyFi(Rolling

StonesStones Rec )

35°-645Van Morrison-Moondance (Warner Bros )

34Jethro TUII-Aqualung1573(Chrysalis)

Company-10Bad From 6(Atlantic)

a413Elton John -Greatest -Hi1ts3

319.541creeden(MCA)

ce ClearwaterRevival -20 Greatest Hits(Fantasy) 308.049Led Zeppelin IV (Atlantic)

29Eagles -Greatest Hits -4351971-1975 (Asylum) s

2The O'Jays-EmotionallyYours (EMI) 417.709Meat Beat Manifesto -99% (Mute/Elektra)417-618

Murray Perahla. Piano -The Aldeburgh Recital(Sorry Classical) 416.222

Isaac Stem & Jean-PierreRampal-Vivaldi- 6

'Double Concertos(Sony Classical) 417-535

The Cure -Mixed Up(Elektra) 413.492

Original Soundtrack -Dances With Wolves(Epic/Associated 417.436Screaming Wee -UncleAnesthesia (Epic) 417.402Roger McGuinn-BackFrom Rio (Arista) 416.149Various Artists -TheAmadeus" Mozart (CBS)

416-123Motorhead-1916 (WTG)

415.950

The Rembrandts (Atco)417.378

C & C Music Factory -Gonna Make You Sweat(Columbia) 416.933The Pogues-Hell's Ditch(Island) 415.661

John Williams Conducts-The Star Wars Trilogy(Sony Classical) 414.730Harry Connick,Jr.When Harry Met Sally -Music From The MotionPicture (Columbia) 386.821

r

Original Soundtrack -The Civil War(ElektraiNonesuch,415.828Nigel Kennedy -Vivaldi.The Four Seasons,English Chamber Orch.(Angel) 414.672Al B. Sure -Private Times

And The Whole 9!(Warner Bros ) 414.144Devo-Greatest Hits(Warner Bros) 415.455

Celine Dion -Unison(Epci 415-430

Carlo Maria Geulini-Mussorgsky. Pictures AtAn Exhibition, Stravinsky:The Firebird(Sony Classical) 413.625Lemon -Rope A DopeStyle (Atlantic) 413.575

Guy-- The Future (MCA)413-963

Fine Yourg Cannibals -The Raw &The Remo((I R S /MCA) 413-948

Edie &tetra & The NewBohemians -Ghost Of ADog (Geffen) 412.999The Replacements -AllShook Down (Sire/Reprise)

412.668The Traveling WIlburys-Vol 3 (Warner BrosNVilbury) 413.872

BUSINESS REPLY MAILFIRST CLASS PERMIT NO. 66) TERRE HAUTE, IN

POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE

CA CUMBI A HOUSE1400 NORTH FRUITRIDGE AVENUE

TERRE HAUTE, IN 47812-9202

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

NO POSTAGENECESSARYIF MAILEDIN. THE

UNITED STATES

Page 12: tereo Review - americanradiohistory.com · The best way to appreciate the sound of the new Virtually Invisible Acoustimass-5 Series II speaker system is to ask your dealer to demonstrate

Marish Carey. Vision Of Love:Love Takes Time, All In YourMind: etc. (Columbia) 407.510

Chris Isaak

Chris Issak-Heart ShapedWorld. Wicked Game, plusmany more. (Repose) 411.934

RollingStonesFlashpoint

Rolling Stones-Flashaoint.Highwtre, Brown Sugar etc(Rolling Stones Rec.) 418715

PLUS A CHANCE'TO GET EVEN MOREMUSIC-- FREE!See derails below.

Peter Gabriel -Shaking The Tree.Title cut plus Big Time. Red Rain,etc (Geffen) 415.968

NM

King's X -Faith HopeLove (Atlantic/Megaforce)

413.039

Gloria Estefan-Into TheLight (Epic) 415.943Freddie Jackson -Do MeAgain (Capitol) 413542Megadeth-Rust In Peace(Capitol) 412.148Gerald Alston -OpenInvitation (Motown)412-023Garth Brooks -NoFences (Capitol) 411.587Reba McEntire -RumorHas It (MCA) 411-538Asia -Then 8 Now(Geffen) 411.231Pixies-Bossanova(4AD Ltd /Elektra) 410 753Living Colour -Time's Up(Epic) 410357Brehm*: The 3 ViolinSonatas-Itzhak Perlmanand Daniel Barenboim(Sony Classical) 409.367Poison -Flesh 8 Blood(Capitol/Enigma) 408.963Joe Cocker -Live,(Capitol) 408.799Steve Winwood-Refugees Of The Heart(Virgin) 413-005

Dees-Lite-World Clique(Elektra) 412742Ball Blv Devoe -Poison(MCA) 406.819

Jeff Healy Band -Hell ToPay (Arista) 407.569

Paula Abdul -Shut UpAnd Dance (The DanceMixes) (Virgin) 406264Vladimir HorowItz-TheLast Recording(Sony Classical) 405.985

Heart -Brigade (Capitol)405-555

Depeche Mode -Violator(Sire/Reprise) 405.423Robert Plant -ManicNirvana (Es Paranza)

405-019Sinead O'Connor -I DoNot Want What I Haven'tGot (Chrysalis) 405001Alannah Myles (Atlantic)

404.475Eddie Money -GreatestHits Sound Of Money(Columbia) 403.428Midnight Oil -Blue SkyMining (Columba) 402-636Duran Duran -DecadeICaptoo 401.869

Pat Benatar-Best Shots(Chrysalis) 401-646Kenny G -Live (Arista)

401.505Chicago -Greatest Hits1982-1989 (Reprise)

401.166Warrant -Cherry Pie(Columbia) 411.389

Toto-Past To Present1977-1990 (Columbia)

411-371Paul Simon -Negotia-tions And Love Songs1971-1986 (Warner Bros )

400.721

Jane's Addiction -RitualDe Lo Habitual(Warner Bros I 407-098

Linda Ronstadt-Cry LikeA Rainstorm, Howl LikeThe Wind (Elektra) 389.874

ALL THIOriginal Soundtrack -The Hot Spot (Anttlles)

417-592The Chick CoreaAkoustic Band -AliveIGRPi 416.081

Diane Schuur-PureSchuur (GRP) 415-331

Mark Whitfield -TheMarksman (Warner Bros )

414.490Joe Sample -Ashes ToAshes (Warner Bros )

414.151Gerald Albright -DreamCome True (Atlantic)

414.003Take 6 -So Much 2 Say(Reprise) 413.310

George Benson -BigBoss Band Featuring TheCount Basle Orchestra(Warner Bros ) 412.478

Michael Brecker-NowYou See It (Now You Don't)(GRP) 411.769

S JAZZDavid Benoit -InnerMotion (GRP) 411.751

Branford Marsalls-MusicFrom Mo' Better Blues(Columbia/ 410.928The RippIngtons-Welcome To The St.James' Club FeaturingRuss Freeman (GRP)

410.498Michel Camilo-On theOther Hand (Epic) 408-682Michael Franks -BluePacific (Reprise) 408-328Larry Carlton -Collection(GRP) 407.825Spyro Gyre -FastForward (GRP) 407817Wynton Marsalis- TheResolution Of Romance(Standard Time, Vol 3)iCra.' -rail 406-637Chick Corea ElektricBand -Inside Out (GRP)

404.574

Eric Clapton-Journeyman (Reprise)

400.457The Vaughan Brothers -Family Style(Epic/Associated) 411.306

Aerosmith-Pump(Geffen) 388.009Billy Joel -Storm Front(Columbia) 387.902

Wilson Phillips (SBK)406-793

SEND NO MONEY -JUST MAIL POSTPAID CARD

COLUMBIA HOUSE, 1400 N. Fruitridge Ave.P.O. Box 1129, Terre Haute, IN 47811-1129Please accept my membership application under the terms outlined in thisadvertisement. Send me 8 Compact Discs and bill me only 10 plus shippingand handling I agree to buy six selections at regular Club prices in the comingthree years -and may cancel membership at any time after doing so.

My main musical interest is (check one): (But I may always choose from any category)Hard Rock Soft Rock Modern Rock Light Sounds

David Lee Roth. George Michael, The Replacements, Carly Simon,Aerosmith Michael Bolton The Cure Bette Midler

Heavy MetalJudas Pnest.Warrant

R&B/Soul Easy Listening Dance PopGuy. Johnny Mathis, Stevie B,Freddie Jackson Ray Conniff Technotronic

Jazz Country Classical

r Mrs AgeMiss P.m! bra Nome

Address

City

State ZipDo you have a VCR? (04) Yes No 330/F91Do you have a credit card? (03) Yes NoH ew: wit wpm* ww nowt. awe any egokellon or cancel ere rrernberehe Ter dam MA MOM* in APO, FPO,Meeks, Hawse, Poore) Fko. write to Oetede ot anernellre oler Caned., resident. we be sereted horn TorontoAmicable maim Wedded lo ae MIME

Apt

Send these 8 CDs for 1CWnte one number in each box

1

Extra Bonus Offer:Also send one more CD

now, for which I will be billedonly $6.95.

and I'm entitled to getthis extra CD FREE!

9H4 -F 6- 59

Harry Connick, Jr. -WeAre In Love (Cuh bat

406-645Rolling Stones -SteelWheels(Rolling Stones Rec )

387.738Billy Idol -Charmed Life(Chrysalis) 386-789Don Henley -The End OfThe Innocence (Geffen)

383-802Michael Bolton -SoulProvider (Columbia)

383.083Tom Petty -Full MoonFever (MCA) 382-184Rosette -Look Sharp!(EMI) 381.939The Cult -Sonic TempleISire/Reprise) 381-798

Bonnie Raftt-Nock OfTime (Capitol) 381.087Beaches -OriginalSoundtrack (Atlantic)

379-669Journey -Greatest Hits(Columbia) 375-279The Bernstein Songbook-Selections from WestSide Story,On The Town,etc. Bernstein cond.(CBS) 371.088Billy Joel -Greatest HitsVols. 1 8 2 (Columbia)

336.396/396-390En Vogue -Born To Sing(Atlantic) 408-112

Damn Yankees(Warner Bros) 405-886

Pretty Woman -OriginalSoundtrack (EMI) 405-407Best Of Blondie(Chrysali.) 311.811

The Allman BrothersBand -Seven Turns (Epic)

407.692Bad Company -HolyWater (ATM} 406694

Bobby McFerrin -Medicine Music (EMI)

412.064Rush -Presto (Atlantic)

401.695Grateful Dead -Built ToLast Art,.1,0 388.025Elton John -SleepingWith The Past {MCA)

387-993Bed English ii pmt

383-463Fleetwood Mac -Greatest Hits(Warner Brost 375.782Pretenders -The Singles(Sire) 362.541U2 -The Joshua Tree(Island) 354.449M.C. Hammer -PleaseHammer, Don't Hurt 'Em(Capitol) 403-477

}Selections with two numbers count as two selections-write each number in a Septirste bob

HERE'S HOW TO GET YOUR 8 CDs FOR it... Just mail the coupon and we'll send your 8 CDs,together with a bill for 1c, plus shipping and handling. You agree to buy lust six more selections in the nextthree years, at regular Club prices (currently $12.98 to$15.98, plus shipping and handling)- and you may cancelmembership at any time after doing so. Free Music Magazine sent every four weeks (up to 13times a year), describing the Regular Selection for yourlistening interest, plus hundreds of alternates. And SpecialSelection mailings up to six times a year (total of up to 19buying opportunities). Buy only what you want! If you want the Regular orSpecial Selection, do nothing it will be sent automatically.If you'd prefer an alternate selection, or none at all, lustmail the response card always provided by the datespecified. You always have 10 days to decide; if not, you mayreturn the Selection at our expense. Half -Price Bonus Plan. If you continue yourmembership after fulfilling your obligation, you'll be eligiblefor our money -saving bonus plan. It lets you buy one CDat half-price for each CD you buy at regular Club once. 10 -Day Free Trial. We'll send details of the Club'soperation with your introductory package. If not satisfied,return everything within 10 days and you will have nofurther obligation. Extra Bonus Offer: you may take one additional CDright now at the super -low price of only $6.95 -and you arethen entitled to take an extra CD as a bonus FREE! Andyou'll receive your discounted CD and your bonus CD withyour 8 introductory selections a total of 10 CDs in all!

COLUMBIA HOUSE: Terre Haute, IN .17811

K. 1991. The Columbia House Company

Page 13: tereo Review - americanradiohistory.com · The best way to appreciate the sound of the new Virtually Invisible Acoustimass-5 Series II speaker system is to ask your dealer to demonstrate

NH

EposThe Epos 1 1 loudspeaker has rigid,

injection -molded front and rear bafflesformed from a polymer said to haveexcellent self -damping properties. Thetwo-way system consists of a 61/2 -inchpolypropylene cone woofer and a 1 -inchaluminum dome tweeter with minimalcrossover circuitry. Frequency responseis rated as 60 to 20,000 Hz, sensitivity as87 dB. Nominal impedance is 8 ohms.Biwiring is possible via two pairs ofsolid -brass terminals. The medium -den-sity -fiberboard cabinet is finished inblack -ash or walnut veneer. Dimensionsare 143/4 x 8 x 93/4 inches; weight is 171/2pounds each. Price: $850 a pair. Epos,distributed by Music Hall, Dept. SR, 108Station Rd., Great Neck, NY 11023.

PRODUCTSSoundstream

Soundstream's MC245 car stereopower amplifier has four 35 -watt chan-nels and a single 100 -watt subwooferchannel. The 35 -watt channels can beused for conventional front/rear speakersystems or for biamplified componentspeakers with two treble and two mid-range channels; they can also be bridgedinto two 90 -watt channels for use withmore demanding speakers. The amplifi-

er's output circuits are said to providecapacity far in excess of requirements sothat no current limiting is necessary.Smart power supplies protect againstoverheating by sensing the amp's oper-ating temperature and temporarily re-ducing the power supply's output.Price: $599. Soundstream Technologies,Dept. SR, 120 Blue Ravine Rd., Fol-som, CA 95630.

YamahaYamaha's CDC -615 five -disc CD

changer features the company's S -bittechnology, with four single -bit digital -to -analog converters, an 18 -bit four-times-oversampling digital filter, and athird -order noise shaper. The transportsystem features a floating laser -pickupmechanism, center support bar, andlarge vibration -damping feet to keep in-ternal and external vibrations to a mini-mum. The PlayXchange feature enablesusers to replace as many as four discs inthe carousel while a fifth is playing.Other features include repeat of a track,disc, or sequence of tracks, bidirectionaldisc skip, twenty -track programming,and a remote control. Price: $299. YamahaElectronics, Dept. SR, 6722 OrangethorpeAve., Buena Park, CA 90620.

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 9

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NEW PRODUCTS

PanasonicThe Panasonic SC-CHIO minicom-

ponent system features Dolby Pro Logiccircuitry, with variable digital delay, anda digital signal processor offering fouradditional ambience modes: Disco,Live, Concert Hall, and Dome. Includedare a preamplifier with a five -band equal-izer, dubbing cassette deck, power am-plifier, combination tuner/compact discplayer, and three-way front -channelspeakers. Rear- and center -channelspeakers are optional. The biamplifiedsystem has a 30 -watt -per -channel ampfor the bass frequencies and a 5 -watt -per -channel amp for the midrange andhigh frequencies. There are also tworear -channel amplifiers rated at 5 watts

each. The supplied speakers feature Tri-Chamber Bass construction, in whicheach driver has its own ported subenclo-sure for enhanced response. The cabi-nets measure 15'/s x 71/2 x 121/2 inches.The tuner has twenty-six presets and aprogram -timer function, which enablesusers to fall asleep listening to onesource at one volume level and wake upto another source at another volume.The CD player features Edit Guide andAuto Tape Level functions for recordingto cassette. The components are 81/2inches wide. Price: $1,050, plus $100each for rear- and center -channel speak-ers. Panasonic, Dept. SR, One Pana-sonic Way, Secaucus, NJ 07094.

MuseatexMuseatex has customized the circuit-

ry and completely re -engineered the CDmechanism for its Melior CD Deck. Thesuspension and damping are said to bebetter than in standard players, result-ing in minimal resonance and rattle andfewer data errors. The full -metal chas-sis is said to provide superior mechani-cal rigidity, isolation, and RF shielding.All critical circuits are protected byspecial copper shielding. There arestandard fiber-optic and coaxial digitaloutputs as well as a Museatex Bus out-put for use with future Museatex digitalproducts. A full -function remote con-trol is supplied. The companion out-board Melior digital -to -analog convert-er (not shown) uses Bitstream 1 -bitconversion technology along with aspecial anti -jitter input circuit. Prices:CD Deck, $1,650; converter, $800. Mu-seatex, Dept. SR, 6605 Thimens, St.Laurent, Quebec H4S 1W2.

Audio ResearchThe Audio Research D240 solid-state

stereo power amplifier is rated to deliver120 watts per channel into 8 ohms or 240watts into 4 ohms. Its fully regulatedpower supply is built around a heavy-duty transformer and 144,000 micro -farads of filter capacitance. The amplifi-er is protected against fault conditions bycircuitry outside the signal path. It hasboth normal and inverted -phase RCAinputs as well as balanced XLR inputs.Output terminals are custom machined,gold-plated binding posts that can ac-commodate biwiring. Price: $2,795. Au-dio Research, Dept. SR, 6801 ShingleCreek Pkwy., Minneapolis, MN 55430.

10 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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NEW PRODUCTS

MB QuartMB Quart's 490MCS bookshelf loud-

speaker, featuring the company's newMoving Control System technology, issaid to combine the best aspects ofacoustic -suspension and bass -reflexwoofer loading. The MCS system usestwo ducts: The larger one is said to makethe speaker react like a bass -reflex sys-tem and produce "tighter" bass; thesmaller duct vents the larger one toeliminate distortion. Besides an 8 -inchwoofer, the 490MCS has a 1 -inch titani-um -dome tweeter. Frequency responseis given as 37 to 32,000 Hz, sensitivity as

89 dB. Finishes include black, white,walnut, oak, and raw oak; cherry andpine are available for a 15 percent sur-charge. Dimensions are 11 x 171/4 x 111/4inches. Price: $849 a pair. MB QuartElectronics, Dept. SR, 25 Walpole ParkS., Walpole, MA 02081.

HitachiThe VIP-RX6, Hitachi's first combi-

player, can handle 5 -inch compact discsor CD -V's and 12 -inch laserdiscs. Cir-cuit features include an eight-times-oversampling digital filter and a 1 -bitdigital -to -analog converter with double -step noise shaping. Operating featuresinclude a digital tilt -servo mechanismthat automatically compensates for sur-

Forte AudioForte Audio's new line of power am-

plifiers employs insulated -gate bipolartransistors (IGBT's), which are said tocombine the high input impedance andwide bandwidth of metal -oxide -semi-conductor field-effect transistors (MOS-FET's) with the low output impedanceand high -current capability of bipolartransistors. The stereo Model 4 (left inphoto), rated at 50 watts per channel,

face irregularities, a disc stabilizer thatsecures each disc against vibrations, anda Compu Program Edit function thatselects tracks to fit the remaining time ona cassette. The VIP-RX6 also has ran-dom play, variable -speed search, directprogram search, and still frame. Price:$630. Hitachi, Dept. SR, 401 W. ArtesiaBlvd., Compton, CA 90220.

and the 75 -watt monoblock Model 7(right) are both designed for pure Class Aoperation. They have single -ended,Class A FET/bipolar cascode circuits astheir front ends, and they are entirelydirect -coupled from input to output topreserve phase integrity. Prices: Model4, $1,795; Model 7, $1,295. Forte Audio,Dept. SR, 7325 Roseville Rd., Sacra-mento, CA 95842.

FisherFisher's EQ-916 seven -band graphic

equalizer comes with a remote controlthat operates most functions. The unithas five preset response curves and fiveuser -programmable ones. An EQ-recordbutton sends the equalized signal to theoutput jacks of the tape -monitor loop.Other features include a display dimmer,a spectrum analyzer, peak -hold buttons,and a bypass switch. Price: $200. Fisher,Dept. SR, 21350 Lassen St., Chats-worth, CA 91311-2329.

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 11

Page 16: tereo Review - americanradiohistory.com · The best way to appreciate the sound of the new Virtually Invisible Acoustimass-5 Series II speaker system is to ask your dealer to demonstrate

OUR NEWESTDISCMAN

MAY HAVEAN EQUAL,

BUTNOT IN THIS

WORLD.

Come to where the horns are mellower, the flutes purer and the voices sweeter. We refer, of course, to ournewest Discman® CD player, the D-303. It's the world's first to bring the accuracy of 1 -bit technology to a CDplayer you can bring anywhere. With superlative low-level linearity, the 1 -bit system captures even the softest,subtlest sounds.Taking music to a higher plane of existence.6,1991 SONY CORPORATION Of *MIKA AU RIGHTS RESERVED SONY. DISCMAN AND MEGABASS ARE TRADEMARKS OF SONY

Page 17: tereo Review - americanradiohistory.com · The best way to appreciate the sound of the new Virtually Invisible Acoustimass-5 Series II speaker system is to ask your dealer to demonstrate

L. :0

E Sony

Sony's headphone cord remote control lets you operate the D-303 even if it's in a briefcase. Our MegaBass'circuit brings you thunderous low frequencies.There's a convenient Quick Charge rechargeable battery. As afinishing touch, you have a choice of titanium or black finish.There's only one portableCD player with 1 -bit technology. And only one conclusion. The D-303 is worlds apart. S

Page 18: tereo Review - americanradiohistory.com · The best way to appreciate the sound of the new Virtually Invisible Acoustimass-5 Series II speaker system is to ask your dealer to demonstrate

INE WINNER Of

The 7th RodriguesCartoon Caption Contest

CONGRATULATIONS to Kelly S.Mills, of Raleigh, North Carolina.Mr. Mills is the winner of thisyear's Rodrigues Cartoon CaptionContest, and his winning entry is

printed under the cartoon below.As we did in previous years, in our

issue of January 1991 we published adrawing by the cartoonist CharlesRodrigues and invited readers to sub-mit proposed captions for it. The prizefor the one the judges considered to bethe funniest is $100 and the originalRodrigues drawing.

The editors of STEREO REVIEW wishto thank Mr. Mills and the thousandsof other readers who submitted cap-tions. Entries came from all acrossNorth America; from U.S. troops inthe Persian Gulf area; from Utuado,

Puerto Rico; Kula, Hawaii; and suchfaraway places as Quezon City, thePhilippines; Santiago, Chile; Bucara-manga, Colombia; and three cities inNew South Wales, Australia.

We also thank the six previous win-ners-Thomas Briggle, of Wads-worth, Ohio, Michael Binyon, of Chi-co, California, Bruce Barstow, ofPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, MatthewMirapaul, of Evanston, Illinois, MarcWelenteychik, of Richmond, Virginia,and Douglas Daughhetee, of Augusta,Georgia-who served as judges.

Many proposed captions suggestedthat the speakers had to be destroyedbecause they were not digital -ready.Milli Vanilli was the pop group men-tioned most frequently, and the classi-cal composition named in the largest

"When we came in this morning, these were hangingupside down from the ceiling."

number of captions was Tchai-kovsky's 1812 Overture.

Mr. Mills is a computer programmerfor IBM. A long-time audiophile, hegot his first system when he was in theseventh or eighth grade. He has up-graded his equipment several timesand is now happy with an all -Philipssystem. The most recent addition isthe FC-60 cassette deck, reviewedhere in June 1990. According to Mr.Mills, the best thing an audiophile cando is "to find a dealer you like andtrust, one whose taste in sound issimilar to your own."

Mr. Mills and his wife have a rapidlygrowing collection of compact discsthat numbers around 140 at present."It's about 50 percent jazz, 20 percentclassical, 20 percent rock, and the restare musical shows, which my wifeespecially enjoys," he says. "We playthe stereo so much that when it's off,the dog begins to pace nervously aboutthe house."

The runners-up are printed below inno particular order. If your entry is notamong them, we wish you better lucknext time. We plan to announce nextyear's contest in January 1992.

-William Livingstone

Runners-up

"This is the only way we can get rid oftrade-ins with a lifetime warranty."-SidWilson, Knoxville, Tennessee

"Our first clue? We found them backin the packing crates every morning."-Wayne Salo, San Francisco, California

" 'Budget speakers and the men who hatethem' on the next Geraldo."-Erik Bunk,Windber, Pennsylvania"/ don't care if she is a vampire. It'sagainst company policy to lend out thestakes."-Mark Evans, Falls Church,Virginia

"I work for Plaza Stereo. He works forJesse Helms."-Roy Kratzke, Sparta,New Jersey

"Flag burning is mere politics-this isart."-Jay Bauerle, Galveston, Texas

"We've found that it's an effective exam -1 ple for the other, slower -moving speakers

on the floor."-Dennis M. Francis, Ak-ron, Ohio

"This drives the competition across thestreet crazy."-Lloyd C. Curry, Greens-burg, Kentucky

"These are the 'cosmetic flaws' you mighthave read about in our ad."-DavidHart, Oak Park, Illinois

"What did you expect us to do when yousaid you didn't like them?"-BryanFurse, Nashville, Tennessee

14 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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OWN YOUR MEE MOVES ON LASERDISC

4111.4- 4

*Letterbox©1991, Columbia House

ANNOUNCING THE COLUMBIA HOUSE LASERDISC CLUB

PRESUMED INNOCENT

DIE HARD

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Here's a great way to buld a colbctionof your favorite movies -on laserdiscs!Just write in the nunners of the 3laserdiscs you want for $1.00 each. plusshipping and handling. In exchang, yousimply agree to buy two more lasErdiscsin the next year, at regaar Club prices(currently as low as $29.95 plusshipping and handling) -and yoi maycancel membership at any tin, afterdoing so.

Every four weeks (u; to 13 tines ayear), you'll receive a Club rreiling,reviewing our Directors Selecticn-plusscores of alternate choices, includingmany iower-pnced lase,discs. Aid youmay also receive SpEcial Seectionmailings up to four times a year. (That'sup to '7 buying opportunities a year).

Ycu buy only what you wan-whenyou want it! If you wart the Di ector'sSelection, do nothing -it will to sentautomatically. If yoi'd pre er analternate selection, or ,one at 311, lust

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mail the response cat always providedby the date specified And alwayshave 14 days to decide, if lot, you mayreturn the selection al our Expense.

There's a money-savhg half-priceBonus P an. If you continue yourmembership afte- fulfill ng yourobligation, you'll be eligible for ourBonus Plan. With each selection youbuy at regular Club prise. the plancurrently allows you to ake anotherselection of equal value c- less at 50%off...so yoJ'll continue to save money foras long as you remail a member.

And there's a 10 -day rise -free trial.We'll send detai s of the Club'soperation with your introductorypackage. If not satisfied. returneverything within 10 days for a fullrefund and no furthe, oblication.

For 'astest servi:e. use yourcredit card and our tot -free number.Call 24 hours a day:

1-800-538-2233Co umbia House LASERDISC CLUBDept. z.?. P.O. Box 1112, Terre Haute, Indiana 47811-1112Ye:, please enroll ME under the terms outlined in th s advertisement. A: a member,I need buy only 2 mire select ons, at regular Club rites, within the coming year.Seed me these 3 laserdiscs for i 1.00 each plus St 50 ench shipping and ha. dling(total 57.50)

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CD: The NextGeneration

SOMETHING very exciting is aboutto happen to our old friend thecompact disc. Specifically, afterten years of research and devel-opment, manufacturers are readyto introduce the Compact Disc

Interactive (CD -I) format.A CD -I player will do everything a

regular CD player will do-namely,play back standard audio discs-andmuch, much more. In particular, aCD -I player will play a wide variety ofaudio and video recordings, both in-formational and entertaining in nature.A home CD -I player connects to botha stereo reproduction system and atelevision set. A CD -I disc contains acombination of audio and video data indigital form, as well as programmingthat makes the information "interac-tive." In other words, you don't justput a disc in the machine and play it.Using a remote control and an on-screen pointer, you make choices thatdetermine what information the playerpresents to you. The nature of thechoices and the way in which they arepresented are determined by the com-puter programs embedded in the par-ticular disc by its designers. Within theconstraints of that programming, youcan manipulate the presentation of therecorded information in any way youwant. The computer in a CD -I playerpermits tremendous flexibility.

For example, if you are a student ofmilitary strategy, you might enjoy re-creating the Persian Gulf War. Using

SIGNALSby Ken C. Pohlmann

the Time Warner disc "Desert Storm:The First Draft of History," you couldanalyze sounds, text, and full -colorphotographs collected during the con-flict. With battlefield sounds playedback at actual volume, you'll feel justlike Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf.

Maybe you're looking for the col-lege that's right for you. AmericanCollege Testing is developing a CD -Ithat catalogs all the four-year collegesin America. You can enter the charac-teristics you're looking for and getback a listing of appropriate schoolsalong with multimedia information ontheir curricula, costs, financial aid-and whether the dorms are coed.

Or you can just fool around. Gamesare being developed for both childrenand adults. Slip American InteractiveMedia's "Golf" into the player, forexample, and you can play an engag-ing and remarkably realistic eighteenholes right in your living room.

CD -I players will also work withKodak CD Photo discs-an ambitiousnew product to be launched next year.You'll be able to get your snapshotsdigitized and copied to CD, then viewas well as zoom, pan, and edit theimages on your TV screen throughyour CD -I player. And if you get tiredof interacting, you can simply kickback and listen to audio CD's; the CD -I player will even provide you with acomplete on -screen menu for findingtracks, timings, etc. If worse comes toworst and you have to hock your TVset to buy more CD's, you can still usethe CD -I player just as you would aregular CD player.

But that's not all. The technologythat makes CD -I possible will alsoenable movies to be released on CDand played back on CD -I players.That's right-by mid -1992 you'll beable to buy a feature film like Batmanon CD, slip it into your CD -I player,pop some popcorn, hang from yourheels, and enjoy the show. Even if youdon't like Kim Basinger (hard to imag-ine), you'll enjoy the S -VHS quality ofthe video. Thanks to extremely high-tech data -compression techniques, upto 72 minutes of full -motion digitalvideo with a stereo digital soundtrackcan be stored on a single disc. Mostfeature films could thus fit onto twodiscs, nicely packaged in a doublejewel box.

Full -motion video playback capabil-ity will be available either as a soft-ware upgrade for basic players or as astandard feature on more expensivemodels. CD -I video will be very com-petitive with prerecorded videocas-settes because CD -I's are cheaper tomanufacture. Moreover, portable CD -I players with flip -up color LCDscreens will enable convenient view-ing while you're on the go.

The price of a CD -I player? Initiallyabout $1,000-about the same as fora first -generation audio -only player.Prices of the discs? Between $15 and$50 for most titles, with a rental marketemerging later. Launch date? October1991. Hardware manufacturers? Phil-ips and Magnavox, followed by Fish-er, Fujitsu Ten, Panasonic, Pioneer,Ricoh, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony, Tandy,Technics, Yamaha, and others.

One more thing. Let's get a headstart on putting to rest a misconceptionthat is bound to arise. I'm sure a lot ofaudio purists will wrinkle their noses atCD -I players, maintaining that CD -I isa bastardized version of "pure" CD,with inferior sound. That is absolutelywrong. Although a CD -I disc may em-ploy reduced -bandwidth audio encod-ing, a CD -I player is 100 percent identi-cal with an audio -only CD player whenit is playing back audio -only discs.There is certainly additional circuitryin the chassis, but there is no reasonwhy the audio output section can't bedesigned to the same specifications asthe best audio -only players. In otherwords, a properly designed CD -I play-er will deliver all the sound fidelity ofcurrent CD players.

CD -I is the second coming of thecompact disc, bringing exciting newdimensions to an already revolution-ary format. I predict that, in time,most of the CD players sold will beCD -I -models, because no matter howmuch you love good sound itself, itwill grow harder and harder to resistthe siren song of interactive audio, notto mention music and art appreciation,music video, cartoons, children's sto-ries, video games, sports programs,self-help books, college catalogs, text-books, reference books, biographies,computer software, maps, novels, for-eign -language instruction, almanacs,Bible studies, digital photograph al-bums, feature films . . . .

16 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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On the 25th Anniversary of the Greatest Space SagaParamount Pictures Presents the Official

_sTA.Pa.

The greatest11 11y1P.S11

" space saga of alltime Is now the greatest chess setever. It's The Official STAR TREKk Chess

Set. Authorized by Paramount Picturesand authenticated by Gene Roddenberry,the creator of STAR TREK.

With this game, Kirk, Spock,"Bones" McCoy and the other members ofthe U S S ENTERPRISE face the forces thatwould oppose the Federation -the Romu-lans, the Kltngons,' even the mighty Khanhimself.

Each piece is an intricate sculpturerevealing all the detail of the original char-acters. And each piece is crafted of 24 -karat gold electroplate or sterling silverelectroplate on solid pewter and set on alead crystal base. The playing board iscrafted of aluminum and glass, depicting adimensional star map.

It's the only chess set of its kind.And it's unlike anything else in the entireuniverse. Available exclusively from TheFranklin Mint.

THIRTY DAY RETURN ASSURANCE PAIL'

If you wish to return any Franklin Mint purchase. youmay do so within 30 days of your receipt of that purchasefor replacement. credit or relun,

IM e & O 1991 Paramount Pictures Ad Rights Reserved STAR TREK US

ENTERPRISE and Sled MIJOES are Trademarks of Paramount Pour.

Crafted in 24 -karat goldor sterling silver electroplate

on solid pewter.

sat -

KIRK, JAMES T. FIRST OFFICER SPOCKKIN3 BISHOP

Shown actual size

The 25th anniversarymedallion apears on

ea:h of he chess-board's bur panels.

Playing bou rd shown smallerthan actual size cr 16 x 16 x 3

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Please mail tyStardate 9131.07(July 31, 19,:1).

The Franklin lAirtFranklin Cenbr, PA 19091Earth, Sol System

Yes! Send me The Official STAR TREK' ChessSet consisting of 32 imported playing pieces.I need send ro paymert now. I will receivetwo new playing pieces every other monthand will be billed for just one r iece at a time -$29.50* per month - beginr ing prior to myfirst shipment. I will also receive the custom -designed metallic and glass rnported chess-board at no additional charge.

Dius try state sales tax and$1.95 per piece for slipping and handling.

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Vinyl DistortionWith all my LP's, both old and new,can hear distortion in the form of a"ragged" sound quality when I'm

playing the last song on a side, particu-larly during loud passages. Does thishave anything to do with the distancebetween grooves toward the end ofa disc?

ANTHONY C. ACUNZOBranford, CT

AIf vinyl ever really dies, this effect willbe one of its least -mourned aspects.It's called "inner groove cramp,"

among other things, and it does havesomething to do with density-not thedensity of the grooves across the surface(called "pitch"), but rather the packingof data within the groove. Unlike a CD,an LP rotates at a constant rate, so thelinear speed of the groove at the outeredge is much faster than it is near thelabel-more than twice as fast, in fact.Nevertheless, the same amount of infor-mation must be contained in one rotationin either place, which means it has to becrammed closer together in the innerportion of the disc. The twists and turnsof the groove there are thus much closertogether and the "corners" much sharp-er; the effect is worse if the levels arehigh, as they often are in classical musicthat ends with a crescendo. The bestphono cartridges can negotiate ("trace")these curves with relatively little difficul-ty, but less ambitious ones often can'thack it and mist rack near the end of aside. This not only sounds terrible, but itcan damage a record permanently.

Taping DirectaWhen I dub a compact disc to tapeusing my integrated amplifier, doesthe setting of the tone controls affect

the recording, or is the signal flat? Wouldthere be a noticeable difference i f I hooked

AUDIO HAby Ian G. Mastersthe CD player directly to my tape record-er's inputs?

ANDREW KESSLERRochester, NY

Assuming your tape deck is connect-ed to the normal tape -monitor jacks,the amplifier's tone controls would

have no effect. The "tape out" jacks areplaced in the circuit after the input -selector controls but before everythingelse, so that neither tone controls noramplifier level controls affect the record-ing. The only difference there might bebetween this sort of "straight through"connection and a direct patch wouldoccur if there were poor contact alongthe way-in the input switch, say, or inany of the cables, jacks, or plugs con-necting the components. A direct con-nection reduces this risk to some extent;electrically there's no difference.

CD's via Tape DeckMy system includes an equalizer thathas only one pair of inputs. To be ableto feed both my cassette deck and CD

player through the equalizer, I have con-nected the CD player to the tape deck'sinputs. To listen to CD's, I have to pressthe record button and set the appropriateinput level on the cassette machine. Is thissetup likely to damage anything?

TIM ROBERTSONBattle Creek, MI

AYour arrangement will probably notcause damage, but such a convolutedsignal path may result in some degra-

dation of the sound. In most systems(but certainly not all of them), there areways to avoid what you have been doing.Some amplifiers and receivers providepreamp outputs and main -amp inputs,and the equalizer should be inserted intothe system at that point; all sourceswould then be equalized. Duplicate tape -monitor loops are also common, en-abling you to use one for the tape deckand the other for the equalizer. Mostsuch circuits allow the signal from one tobe fed to the other; the purpose is mainlyto allow tape duplication, but it is equallyeffective in letting you equalize both the"regular" inputs (such as a CD player)and the tape recorder. And many equal-izers contain their own tape -monitor cir-cuits to replace the ones on the amplifieroccupied by the equalizer itself.

If none of these options is available toyou, you would be better off to rig or buya simple external switch that would al-low you to select either the CD or tape -deck output to be fed to the equalizer.This would not preclude your repatchingto feed the CD player for those rareoccasions when you want to tape a CD.

Dull JacksOver the course of a few years, thejacks and screws on the back of myequipment have turned from a shiny

silver finish to a dull, rough one. Is thislikely to have any effect on sound quality?

WALTER J. WILSONPhiladelphia, PA

AEventually it might. Most such partsare made of aluminum, and that metalnaturally dulls with age as the sur-

face oxidizes. A small amount of thiscoating is unlikely to cause problems,but a large buildup could disrupt thecontact between the jacks and the cablesplugged into them, which is why somehigher -price components use connectorsplated with gold, which doesn't oxidize.It's easy to prevent or cure a contactproblem if it occurs, however: Simplyunplug and replug each jack a few timesevery so often to scrape off the coating.A quick rub with fine sandpaper or steelwool will do an even more thorough job.

Center -ChannelAmplifiers

aMy surround -sound system is based onan AIV receiver that delivers 125 wattsto each of the main stereo channels but

only 30 watts each to the two surroundchannels and the center channel. I havealready upgraded by replacing the receiv-er's main stereo amps with more powerfulones fed from its preamplifier outputs.Would it be possible to use one or both ofthe now -idle 125 -watt amplifiers to powerthe center channel?

JAY H. WALDWhippany, NJ

Yes, as long as the receiver has theappropriate connections. Some re-ceivers offer preamp outputs for var-

ious channels to make adding externalpower amplifiers simpler, but thatdoesn't necessarily mean that there arecorresponding main -amp -in connec-tions. Sometimes the signal from thepreamp section feeds to the appropriatebuilt-in amplifier even if it is not beingused. If your receiver does have main -amp -in jacks, however, connecting thepreamp-out signal for the center channelto one or both of these inputs would dothe trick.

If you have a question about hi-fi, sendit to Q&A, STEREO REVIEW,1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.Sorry, only questions chosenfor publication can be answered.

18 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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The Mirage M-ls have garnered their fair share of raves fromthe industry. They've invoked such comments as "...I'm com-pletely bonkers over this product2and "..The M-1 is and will befor many people their absolute reference'

Upon first listen, most people are astonished by their sonictransparency. The speakers virtually seem to disappear. In ourview, that's the mark of a good loudspeaker.

We've extended that philosophy to the Mirage 60 -Seriesloudspeakers as well. Each reflects an overall concern fornaturalness, genuine musicality and transparency.

Like the M-ls, they're designed for optimum dispersion. Theperceived sound stage is dramatically extended without compro-mising center imaging. The specially -designed woofers repro-duce low frequencies with undaunted accuracy.

The mark that Mirage has made on the audiophile world issubstantial. From the flagship M-ls to the wide range offered bythe Mirage 60 -Series, you simply can't do better.

Just give them a listen. You'll hear what we mean.

For a free booklet of M-1 reviews from seven leadingaudio publications, write us or see your Mirage dealer.

mirageAUDIO PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL CORP.

3641 McN icoll Ave. Scarborough, Ontario, Canada MIX 105 (416) 321-1800

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Reading theMail

m\ IL from our readers providesa constant and valuable feed -hack on the "real world"questions that come up in thequest for better sound. Many( perhaps most) letters request

specific advice on the makes and mod-els of components to use, which issomething that we cannot give. Even ifa list of choices is provided, it is rarelypossible to advise readers on whichmodels to choose unless some of themare clearly unsuitable for the intendedpurpose.

My favorite reader questions con-cern approaches to equipment designthat may or may not offer concreteadvantages to the user but are vigor-ously promoted by certain manufac-turers or simply accepted as "the wayit is done." For example, one readerasked, what about the use of vacuumtubes instead of solid-state devices?Tubes are supposed to give improvedsound, sound that is sometimes de-scribed as "smoother," more "musi-cal" or "transparent."

I don't wish to get involved in thatquestion other than to point out that itis highly controversial. On the objec-tive side, it is unarguable that tubecircuit distortions are typically ordersof magnitude greater than those ofequivalent solid-state circuits. Insteadof the distortion ratings of 0.01 percentor less typical of transistorized com-ponents in all price ranges, tubed com-ponents of similar function are likely

TECHNICAL TALKby Julian Hirsch

to have distortion ratings of 0.5 per-cent or higher. They also cost more-from perhaps a couple of hundred dol-lars more for a hybrid component(mostly solid-state, with limited use oftubes) to many times more for a fullytubed model.

If you are convinced that a costliertubed component sounds "better" insome way, and you can afford to paythe price, by all means buy it and enjoyit. The higher distortion is of no impor-tance, consisting largely of second andthird harmonics, which are the leastobjectionable distortion components.On the other hand, I doubt that anypiece of hi-fi equipment sold today hasaudible levels of harmonic or inter -modulation distortion when operatedwithin its ratings.

Other characteristics of tubes in-clude higher noise levels, microphon-ics, and heat generation, which canreduce the life of other parts of theunit. Usually the frequency responseof a tubed product, compared withthat of a similar solid-state design, isnot quite as flat at the upper and lowerextremes of the audio range, whichmay be one of the reasons for thesupposed smoother or softer soundquality often claimed for tube equip-ment. Tubes also have a relativelyshort operating life, are quite expen-sive, and are likely to become moreexpensive as time goes by.

Frankly, I would not select an all -tube or hybrid component over a com-petitive solid-state component for myown use without a clear demonstrationof its "superior" sound. I have yet tohear such a demonstration.

A somewhat less controversialquestion was posed by another reader.Having bought a three-piece speakersystem of good quality, he wonderedwhy its bass module has two woofers,with separate inputs for each channel.After all, since we typically employhigher -frequency transient informa-tion to localize sound sources, whynot use a mono bass radiator?

To a great degree, the configurationis a matter of convenience in installa-tion. In many three-piece speaker sys-tems, the left and right amplifier out-puts connect to the bass module,which contains the crossover net-work. From there, the middle andupper frequencies are channeled to the

left and right satellite speakers. Some-times, however, each satellite has itsown internal crossover network, asdoes the bass module. That enablesthe signal to be routed independentlyto the various speakers.

Nevertheless, in every such systemthat I have seen, the bass sectionreceives a stereo input, even thoughits acoustic output effectively appearsin mono form from one or two driversor their corresponding ports. Usuallythere are two separate drivers, often inseparate enclosed volumes. Some-times a single driver is used, with adual voice coil; in effect, this sums thetwo channels to form a mono basssignal. All these designs, whether theyuse separate drivers or a single driverwith a dual voice coil, share the prop-erty of providing similar electricalloads to the two channels of the ampli-fier. I suspect that this is the actualreason for maintaining electrical sepa-ration between channels.

But let's get back to the question ofwhether there are directional proper-ties in the bass region-say, under 150Hz. Most directional clues are re-ceived from differences in the arrivaltime of the signal at the listener's ears.This effect is most significant below1,000 Hz (and this range can be nar-rowed considerably while retaining aconsiderable amount of directionalperception).

Stereo recordings, however, typi-cally depend on interaural amplitudedifferences, rather than arrival -timedifferences, to establish localization.Directional cueing based on intensityis effective primarily at higher fre-quencies, above the range normallyhandled by a subwoofer. That is onereason the subwoofers sold as supple-ments to a conventional stereo systemcan be (and usually are) used singlyand, in fact, can be placed almostanywhere in a room without dilutingtheir contribution to the overall sound.

Obviously, two subwoofers cangenerate more low -bass output thanone, and under some circumstancesthat might justify using two. Whilesome people also maintain that stereoqualities are more accurately pre-served by using subwoofers in pairs, Iam highly skeptical about that andhave seen (and heard) no credible evi-dence that it is true. 0

20 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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YOU WOULDN'TI WANT TO MISS

-$ THIS MUCII OFTHE PICIURE.

SO WHY MISSTHIS MUCH OFTHE SOUND?

raThe problem with so many

audio/video receivers is they

lack a powered center channel. It's a

lot like watching a movie and never

quite hearing all of its soundtrack.

The five new home theater receivers and integrated

amplifiers from Kenwood, on the other hand, feature ahigh-powered center channel. That way, every elementof a soundtrack, especially dialogue and sound effects,

comes through loud and clear.They achieve this by incorporating Dolby Pro -

Logic®, which accurately distributes the audio signal

over left, right, rear and center

channels for perfectly -balanced,

360 -degree surround sound.It's the technology used to

create the great sound you hearin movie theaters. Only now you can take it home.

For more details on our new home theater receiversand integrated amplifiers, call 1-800-4-KENWOODfor the name of the Kenwood dealer nearest yOu.

Because you should hear what you've been missing.

KENWOODC 1991 Kellwood U.S.A. Coeporaboo Dolby 1,. menterol rra.f. marls ol Dolby Laboratories twenurts Corp.

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0011' 20 200<oo

for PURE MUSICPure Music requires Pure Power and lots of it. The

McIntosh MC 7200 Power Amplifier, from gold platedinputs to gold plated 50 amp outputs, provides the

Pure Power for your choice of loudspeakers.

The MC 7200 Stereo Power Amplifier is rugged andreliable. The mechanical and electrical design is

the result of the many years of engineering andmanufacturing experience by the designers

at McIntosh. This "know-how", combinedwith meticulous attention to design and

production details, makes the MC 7200one of the finest products produced by

McIntosh Laboratory.The output signal is so distortion

free as to be beyond the measure-ment capabilities of convention-

al distortion analysis equip-ment. You'll get almost 50

amps of Pure Power withless than 0.005% of dis-

tortion.

MtIntoshMC 7200

POWER GUARD

DIGITAL DYNAMIC STEREO POWER AMPLII If

For information on McIntosh productsand product reviews, please sendyour name, address and phone number to:

McIntosh Laboratory Inc.Department S11.591PO Box 96 East Side StationBinghamton, NY 13904-0096

ndcrafted w ( jide in the United Stateshy dedicated, highly trained craftspeople.Copyright Mc Inloh11...lbocalory Inc. 1991

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TEST REPORTS

Yamaha DSP-A1000Integrated A/V Amplifier

Julian Hirsch, Hirsch -Houck laboratories

THE DSP-A1000, which Yamahacalls a Digital Sound Field Pro-cessing Amplifier, requires onlythe addition of signal sources andloudspeakers to serve as the coreof a versatile audio/video (A/V)

system. It combines refined digital sig-nal -processing circuits, a preamplifierproviding switching and control facili-ties for both audio and video sources,Dolby Pro Logic surround -sound de-coding, and no fewer than seven chan-nels of audio amplification.

The DSP-A1000's Dolby Pro Logicsystem uses digital circuitry, with anautomatic input -level balance controlthat maintains optimal surround -sound settings without user attention.It also has an "Enhanced" Dolby ProLogic mode said to create a sound fieldtypical of a standard (35 -millimeter)movie theater. When this mode is used

with the amplifier's Movie TheaterDSP program, according to Yamaha,it re-creates the broader sound fieldtypical of a 70 -millimeter theater. An-other special feature is a "directionalenhancement" circuit that can be usedwith the Concert Video and TV The-ater DSP modes to give the listener asense of being in the midst of theaudible action without making it sounddetached from the screen.

Despite its considerable versatility,the DSP-A1000 is surprisingly simpleto install, set up, and use. In normaloperation, the front panel has only twovisible knobs (volume and the inputselector), a power pushbutton, a tape -monitor button (labeled TAPE 2), and asmall LCD window. The input sourcesare identified as auxiliary, VCR 1,VCR 2, TV, LD (laser videodisc),DAT/Tape 1, tuner, CD, and phono.

Opening the hinged door that ex-tends across the bottom of the panelreveals three small knobs (bass, tre-ble, balance) and a REC OUT rotaryswitch that enables the user to recordaudio or video programs from anysource independently of the one beingheard or seen.

Several narrow bar switches, la-beled SET MENU, INPUT TRIM, EFFECT,and PROGRAM, provide a wide range ofcontrol over the DSP-A1000's digitalsignal -processing parameters. Theirsettings, and those of other operatingcontrols, are shown in the front -paneldisplay window or on the screen of avideo monitor connected to the ampli-fier's video output. Also behind thehinged door are a headphone jack, aBASS EXTENSION button, and auxiliarycomposite -video, audio, and S -videoinputs for connection of a camcorderor other temporary program source.

The seven power amplifiers in theDSP-A1000 include the main (left andright) front channels, rated at 80 wattseach into 8 ohms from 20 to 20,000 Hzwith no more than 0.015 percent totalharmonic distortion plus noise (THD+ N), a center front channel with asimilar rating, a pair of front channels

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 23

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TEST REPORTSrated at 25 watts from 20 to 20,000 Hzinto 8 ohms at 0.05 percent THD + N,and a similar pair of rear effect chan-nels. The amplifiers are also rated todrive 6 -ohm loads, with power limitsof 100 and 30 watts per channel for themain and center and the effects chan-nels, respectively.

The rear apron has phono jacks forthe inputs (and outputs, where appli-cable) of all sources, plus the video -monitor output. All video circuits arealso provided with S -video jacks. In-sulated binding posts for all speakeroutputs accept dual banana plugs orstripped wire leads. The center-chan-

FEATURES

Twelve preprogrammed primarydigital sound -field memories, elevenwith two modes; a total of twenty-threebasic selectable acousticenvironments

Additional user -adjustableparameters, including initial delay,room size, liveness, low-pass filtercutoff

Dolby Pro Logic decoder with normaland three -channel modes and optionalDirectional Enhancement feature

Selectable normal/wide/phantomcenter -channel modes

Bass and treble tone controls andbalance control for main frontchannels

Center -channel graphic equalizer withcenter frequencies of 100, 300,1,000, 3,000, and 10,000 Hz and-±6-dB range

Adjustment readouts in front -panelwindow; can view on video monitorwith adjustable color for screenbackground

Effects -mute button for listeningcomparison

Inputs for phono, CD, tuner, DAT/tape 1, tape 2, LD (laserdisc), TV,VCR 1, VCR 2, auxiliary video andaudio (front panel only)

Separate selection of sources for taperecording and listening or viewing

Tape 2 monitor button on front panel

Seven power -amplifier channels

Line -level outputs for effects andcenter channels and for externalsubwoofer amplifier (below 200 Hz)

Separate main -channel preamplifieroutputs and power -amplifier inputswith removable jumpers

All video inputs/outputs with bothphono jacks (composite -video) andS -video connectors

Supplied remote control for allprogramming functions;preprogrammed for compatibleYamaha components; can learncommands for other components

LABORATORY MEASUREMENTS(All figures for main channels only)

1,000 -Hz output power at clipping:134 watts into 8 ohms

Clipping headroom (relative to ratedoutput): 2.2 dB

Dynamic power output: 156 wattsinto 8 ohms, 242 watts into 4 ohms

Dynamic headroom (8 ohms): 2.9 dB

Maximum distortion (20 to 20,000 Hzinto 8 ohms): 0.025% at 20,000 Hz and80 watts output

Frequency response: + 0, -0.5 dBfrom 20 to 20,000 Hz

Sensitivity (for a 1 -watt output into 8ohms): CD, 20.5 mV; phono, 0.22 mV

A -w eighted noise (referred to a1 -watt output): CD, -81 dB; phono,- 77.5 dB

Phono-input overload (1,000 -Hz -equivalent levels): 113 to 148 mV from20 to 20,000 Hz

Phono-input impedance: 48,000ohms in parallel with 230 pF

Tone -control range: 100 and 10,000Hz, ±8 dB

Bass Extension response: + 5.5 dBat 70 Hz, - 20 dB at 20 Hz

RIAA phono-EQ error: +0.3,- 0.8 dB from 20 to 20,000 Hz

net speaker outputs can be switched todrive either a single speaker or a pair.Preamplifier outputs for the main andcenter channels can be separated fromtheir respective power amplifiers byremoving jumper plugs. There is aline -level mono (full -range) output andan adjustable line -level subwooferoutput (below 200 Hz) as well as frontand rear effects -channel line outputsfor driving external amplifiers. Two ofthe three AC outlets are switched.

The DSP-A1000 comes with a Ya-maha RCX remote control that canoperate virtually all of its many func-tions. In fact, the RCX controllershould be used from the listening posi-tion to adjust the DSP and other pa-rameters for the desired effect, withthe display of menus and control op-tions on the TV screen as a guide (thesame information is also shown in theDSP-A1000's front -panel window, butit is readable only at fairly short dis-tances). Both the volume and input -selector controls are motor drivenwhen operated remotely, with redLED index marks to show their set-tings at a distance.

The RCX remote control is alsopreprogrammed to operate compatibleYamaha tuners, tape decks, VCR's,videodisc players, CD players, andDAT decks. The control buttons aregrouped and colored according to theirfunctions to minimize confusion. Inaddition, the RCX can learn the basicinfrared command codes for most oth-er audio and video components thatmight be used in a system with theDSP-A1000. (We found that it learnedthe play and pause/stop commands fora couple of CD players but would notoperate their search and track -skip-ping functions.)

The Yamaha DSP-A1000 is, not sur-prisingly, a large and fairly heavy am-plifier. It measures 171/2 inches wide,181/2 inches deep, and 63/4 inches high,and it weighs 44 pounds. Price: $1,499.Yamaha Electronics Corp. USA,Dept. SR, 6722 Orangethorpe Ave.,Buena Park, CA 90620.

Lab TestsSince direct access to the DSP-

A1000's effects channels, without go-ing through its internal digital circuits,would require making alterations tothe circuit boards, we limited our am-plifier measurements to standard testsof the main left and right channels.

24 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

Page 29: tereo Review - americanradiohistory.com · The best way to appreciate the sound of the new Virtually Invisible Acoustimass-5 Series II speaker system is to ask your dealer to demonstrate

The Black Crowes:Shake YourMoneymaker 52142

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rt Palmer:

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ntro(0 00

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ght Yoakam, IfThere Was A Way(Reprise. 64310Bruce Hornsby & TheRange: A Night On TheTown INCA: 63689Boogie DownProductions: LiveHardcore Worldwide(Jivel 44584

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Page 31: tereo Review - americanradiohistory.com · The best way to appreciate the sound of the new Virtually Invisible Acoustimass-5 Series II speaker system is to ask your dealer to demonstrate

TEST REPORTSWith both channels driving 8 -ohm

loads at 1,000 Hz, the main amplifiersclipped at 134 watts output, corre-sponding to a clipping -headroom rat-ing of 2.2 dB. The dynamic output into8 ohms was 156 watts, correspondingto a dynamic headroom of 3 dB, andincreased to 242 watts into 4 ohms.With a 2 -ohm load, the amplifier'sprotective system shut it down on the20 -millisecond tone bursts of this test.Harmonic distortion at 80 watts (8ohms) was 0.015 percent over most ofthe audio range, with a maximumreading of 0.025 percent at 20,000 Hz.

Frequency response of the mainchannels was + 0, -0.5 dB from 20 to20,000 Hz. The Bass Extension circuitincreased the output below 200 Hz to amaximum of + 5.5 dB at 70 Hz, with asteep (15 -dB -per -octave) cutoff belowthat frequency. The bass tone controloperated below 400 Hz, producing amaximum boost or cut of 10 or 11 dB at20 Hz. The treble -control curves werehinged at 3,000 Hz, with a maximumrange of ±-11 or 12 dB at 20,000 Hz.

The RIAA phono-equalization errorwas a maximum of +0.3 dB at 32 Hzand - 0.8 dB at 20,000 Hz. Phono-input impedance was 48,000 ohms inparallel with a 230-picofarad (pF) ca-pacitance. The phono input over-loaded at 1,000 -Hz -equivalent levelsof 113 to 148 millivolts (mV) between20 and 20,000 Hz.

Sensitivity, for a 1 -watt output into8 ohms, was 20.5 mV through the CDinput and 0.22 mV through the phonoinput. The respective A -weightednoise levels were -81 and -77.5 dB,referred to a 1 -watt output.

CommentsConsidering only its basic amplifier

functions, the DSP-A1000 is an excep-tionally full -featured, versatile compo-nent that performs very well in respectto output power, distortion, and noise.Its most important functions, how-ever, involve its DSP capability. Itsdigital memories contain the dataneeded to re-create the sound -fieldcharacteristics of twelve basic acous-tic environments. Since eleven ofthese selections provide a pair of op-tions, the user has a choice of twenty-three preprogrammed acoustic envi-ronments at the touch of a button. Oneof the options, for example, puts thelistener either in a fairly live concerthall or on the stage, surrounded by the

orchestra. Similar options are offeredfor the Concert Video, TV Theater,and Movie Theater Environments.The instruction manual, which is thor-ough and easy to follow, includes de-scriptions of the various simulatedsound fields, including such informa-tion as the size and acoustic treatmentof the particular concert hall, disco,etc., that each one is based on.

Most of the preprogrammed envi-ronments can be modified by the userto suit his taste. Typical variable pa-rameters are the initial delay time, thesize and liveness of the room, and theupper frequency limit of the effectschannels. The basic Dolby Pro Logicsurround mode's standard 20 -millisec-ond (ms) delay is adjustable to as muchas 30 ms in steps of 1 ms. The option-al Enhanced Pro Logic mode in-creases apparent sound -field widthand adds room -size and room-live-ness adjustments.

We used the Yamaha DSP-A1000for a limited time in a home theaterinstallation that utilized all sevenchannels of audio, with a videodiscplayer as the program source. Over amore extended period, we used it in asix -channel system with audio pro-gram sources only.

The subjective results were, to put itsuccinctly, superb. Every sound -fieldenhancement system that has been

introduced, from the earliest, relative-ly simple rear -channel delay systemsto the DSP-A1000, has required care inspeaker placement and setup adjust-ments to obtain the best results. Withthe DSP-A1000, however, we ob-tained a reasonably believable simula-tion of the nominal acoustic environ-ments without undue difficulty.

That does not necessarily mean thatyou can use it to re-create any pro-grammed concert hall in your livingroom. The audio art has a considerableway to go before that will be possible.But you can add a considerable degreeof realism to most recorded programmaterial with the DSP-A1000. The so-phistication of its DSP circuits reflectsthe current state of the art in consumerproducts, and it is very good indeed.

With video material, and especiallyif the speakers are well chosen andlocated, the DSP-A1000 can providethe sort of surround involvementyou'd expect from a good movie -the-ater installation. And its all -in -one de-sign makes that result possible withoutthe complication of connecting andinstalling several components and ad-justing them to make their levels com-patible. The Yamaha DSP-A1000 doesit all in one manageable unit at a pricecomparable to that of the first genera-tion of digital signal processors. Avery impressive piece of equipment.

worL,/-SPEAKEaLA

R

CADLE

. . . and it's also bulletproof. -

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 25

Page 32: tereo Review - americanradiohistory.com · The best way to appreciate the sound of the new Virtually Invisible Acoustimass-5 Series II speaker system is to ask your dealer to demonstrate

TEST REPORTS

Harman Kardon TD4600Cassette Deck

Craig Stark, Hirsch -Houck Laboratories

THE Harman Kardon TD4600 isone of the first cassette decks toincorporate the highly sophisti-cated new Dolby S noise -reduc-tion system in addition to themore familiar Dolby B and Dolby

C systems and Dolby HX Pro head-room extension. Other features in-clude memory rewind and replay, in-tro scan, and remote control.

Since the Dolby S circuitry has notyet been reduced to a single VLSI(very large-scale integrated -circuit)chip, its inclusion imposes a signifi-cant premium in manufacturing cost.The Dolby electronics in the TD4600occupies its own 91/2 x 71/4 -inch circuitboard, which holds no fewer than sixlarge IC chips and a myriad of resistorsand capacitors. Harman Kardon hascompensated by economizing else-where in the $699 TD4800, using acombination record/play head insteadof the separate recording and playbackheads typical of most other decks inthis price class and a single -capstantape transport rather than a dual -cap-stan one. (These high -end features areincluded in the company's otherDolby S deck, the TD4800, but togeth-er with duplicate Dolby circuitry for

off -the -tape monitoring during record-ing, they drive up the price to about$500 above that of the TD4600.)

The TD4600's cassette well con-tains sensors that detect the tape typein use and automatically set the biasand equalization for average ferric,chrome (or chrome -equivalent), ormetal tapes. The well cover is easilyremovable for routine head cleaning.A four -digit fluorescent tape counterindicates elapsed time only (not timeremaining) in fast -wind as well as re-cord and play modes.

Recording levels are indicated on atwelve -segment -per -channel fluores-cent display that is calibrated from-35 to +8 dB. Sensibly, the 0 -dBmarking coincides with the double -Dlogo signifying Dolby level. The dis-play is supplemented with a METER

WEIGHTING switch designed to simpli-fy setting recording levels by provid-ing a "target" of + 3 dB for the loudestpassages, compensated according tothe tape type and the high -frequencycontent of the music.

Recorders equipped with Dolby Smust, as a license condition, provideuser -adjustable bias and tape -sensitiv-ity controls to accommodate the nor-

mal variations of tape formulationswithin the same type. Such calibra-tions are relatively straightforward ona three -head deck, since you can mon-itor the output off the tape as you makethe adjustments. On a two -head ma-chine, such as the TD4600, the proce-dure is more complicated. Repeatedrecord -and -replay trials, using twopushbutton tone generators and thelevel display, are needed to set the biasand the left- and right -channel tape -sensitivity controls for optimum per-formance. Fortunately, the center -de -tented positions of these controlsproved adequate for the center -lineTDK AD (ferric), SA (chrome -equiva-lent), and MA (metal) cassettes wenormally use for testing.

A conveniently large knob with sep-arate clutched sections for the left andright channels is used to set recordinglevels. A smaller knob simultaneouslycontrols the output level at the front -panel headphone jacks and at the rearterminals. A switchable multiplex fil-ter is included for use (if needed) whenrecording stereo FM broadcasts. Noprovision is made, however, for timer -controlled operation.

The Harman Kardon TD4600 mea-sures 173/a inches wide, 5 inches high,and 125/8 inches deep, and it weighs141/2 pounds. Price: $699. HarmanKardon, Dept. SR, 8830 Balboa Blvd.,Northridge, CA 91325.

Lab TestsThe TD4600's calibrated playback

response, measured with our BASF

26 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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The first CD Carouselwith Denon sound quality.

The sound quality and per-formance features that have madeDenon Single -play CD playerswidely regarded as the bestsounding have now been incor-porated in Denon's first CarouselCD player.

The 5 -disc DCM-350 fea-tures the same 8X oversampling,20 -bit digital filter and dualSuper Linear Converters found inDenon's top -rated models.Denon's dedication to perform-ance means that each SuperLinear Converter is hand -tunedfor lowest noise and best linearity.This advanced digital signal pro-cessing and conversion systemfully resolves musical detail andFor Product Information

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accurately reproduces all theliveliness and air of the originalrecording.

In multi -disc players, thetransport is an important key toperformance. The superior trans-port technology which has madeDenon famous in both CD andturntable categories is found inthe DCM-350. Its integrated lasertransport and disc carousel notonly provides outstanding acous-tic and mechanical isolation, italso allows uninterrupted playwhile two of the five discs arechanged.

If the essence of a CDchanger is convenience, theDCM-350 covers this base in

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spades. It offers a 32 track mem-ory plus programmable, discsequential and full random playmodes; all terrific features in amulti -disc machine. Plus, thereis a full -function remote controlwith direct track selection fromthe remote's keypad. Recogniz-ing that the DCM-350 will findits way into many of the mostsophisticated systems, Denonhas even provided a coaxialdigital output.

Carousel CD changers havebeen out for a while now. But theDCM-350 is the first to carry theDenon name. Which again provesDenon's belief that being best ismore important than being first.

DENON771e firvt name in digital audio.

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NR off 54.3 59.3Dolby B 60.4 68.5Dolby C 62.7 74.7Dolby S 63.0 75.4

+5

0

10

a

Eti

15

20

25

30

5

5

TEST R EP R TS

HAfURES

Dolby S, Dolby C, and Dolby B noisereduction

Dolby HX Pro headroom extension

User -adjustable bias and sensitivity

Four -digit fluorescent elapsed -timetape counter

Twelve -segment -per -channel peak -level indicators

Memory rewind and replay

Intro -scan

'witchable FM-mulitplex filter

Infrared remote control

LABORATORY MEASUREMENTS

Fast -forward time (C-60): 86 second.

Rewind time (C-60): 83 seconds

Speed error: + 0.3%Dolby tracking error: Dolby B,+ 1.2, -0.9 dB; Dolby C, -±0.7 dB;Dolby S, ±0.6 dB

Wow -and -flutter: 0.035% wrms,0.075% peak -weighted

Line input for indicated 0 dB: 54 mV

Line output at indicated 0 dB: 1.31volts

Meter indication at IEC-standard0 dB: + 1 dB

Tape: TDK AD (Type I, ferric)IEC 0 -dB distortion: 0.82%

Meter indication at 3% THD +noise: +5 dB

Signal-to-noise ratios (in decibels):Unwtd. A-wtd. CCIRIARM

56.166.676.077.2

Tape: TDK SA (Type II, chrome -equivalent)

IEC 0 -dB distortion: 1.7%

Meter indication at 3% THD +noise: +3 dB

Signal-to-noise ratios (in decibels):Unwtd. A-wtd. CCIR/ARM

NR off 55.4 61.9 59.5Dolby B 58.2 69.8 69.7Dolby C 61.2 76.7 78.2Dolby S 63.9 77.2 79.1

Tape: TDK MA (Type IV, metal)

IEC 0dB distortion: 1.4%Meter indication at 3% THD +noise: +3 dB

Signalto-noise ratios (in decibels):Unwtd. A-wtd. CCIR/ARM

NR off 57.1 61.9 59.0Dolby B 60.7 70.5 69.4Dolby C 63.6 78.2 78.4Dolby S 65.9 78.4 79.3

HARMAN KARCrON TD4E00 CASSETTE DECK

RECORD -PLAYBACK RESPONSES (WITH DOLBY HO PRO/

-TDK AD (TYPE I, FERRIC

-TDK SA (TYPE II, CHROME-EGIIIVAL NT)

--TON MA (TYPE IV, MEIAL1

- -TDK MA WITH DOLBY S

20 50 100 500 1k

PLAYBAC ONLY RESPONSESOEC-STANDARD 3AS= TEST TAPES)

10k 20k

-10 ors (TYPES II AND IV:

-120 P. (TYPE I)

FREQUENCY IN HERTZ

IEC-standard 120 -microsecond (fer-ric) and 70 -microsecond (chrome) testtapes, was excellent from the bassthrough the low treble, with a slightrolloff at the very highest frequencies(probably because of the gap lossescharacteristic of most combination re-cord/play heads).

Record -playback response at thecustomary -20-dB input level heldwithin 2 dB up through 16,000 Hz withthe ferric and chrome -type tapes andto 18,000 Hz with the metal tape. At 0 -dB recording level, the Dolby HX Procircuitry helped maintain the high -fre-quency response of all three formula-tions. Because Dolby S, like Dolby C,reduces the recording equalization'streble boost when the signal containshigh-level high frequencies, it also ex-tends the effective treble capacity ofthe tape, as is shown in the additionaltrace for TDK MA in the accompany-ing graph.

Midrange total harmonic distortion(THD) reached 3 percent at an indicat-ed level of +5 dB for the ferric andmetal tapes and at + 3 dB for thechrome -type formulation. Referred tothese levels, the figures for signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) given in the box at leftare very good, though not outstand-ing. You may find it surprising that theS/N's with Dolby S are not muchbetter than those with Dolby C noisereduction. The reason is that most ofthe additional noise reduction Dolby Sprovides is at low frequencies, whichthe standard weighting curves tend tode-emphasize. The audible benefits ofDolby S are greater than a simplecomparison with the Dolby C numbersmight suggest.

Measured with our usual flutter testtapes, the TD4600 registered 0.035percent weighted rms (wrms) and0.075 peak -weighted. On an overallrecord -playback basis, wow -and -flut-ter rose to 0.042 percent wrms and0.110 percent peak -weighted. Al-though these figures are within specifi-cation for the TD4600, they are some-what above average for a deck in thisprice class. Along with the relativelyslow fast -winding times, they un-doubtedly reflect the limitations of thesingle -capstan transport mechanismused to keep the TD4600's price withinbounds.

Input sensitivity was normal, andthe available output was higher thanmost of today's decks can achieve,

28 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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TEST REPORTSwhich is welcome news to everyonewho has a CD player in his system.Dolby tracking error was remarkablylow, measuring only +1.2, -0.9 dBfor Dolby B, ±0.7 dB for Dolby C, and±0.6 dB for Dolby S.

CommentsOverall, the TD4600 was quite easy

to use. The only significant exceptionwas the rather complex procedure re-quired for optimizing bias and sensi-tivity, but that is inevitable in a two -head deck. The rounded switchbuttons were a pleasure, and the sole-noid action of the transport had apositive feel. The deck did makesomewhat more noise than most whenswitching modes or fast winding, andthe dark color of the plastic coveringthe unilluminated cassette well makesit impossible to see the tape inside, butthese are minor points.

We found the TD4600 pleasant tolisten to, with wide frequency re-sponse and low noise on both prere-corded and homemade tapes. Thestepwise decreases in hiss as weswitched from no noise reduction toDolby B to Dolby C were, as usual,obvious, and going on to Dolby Seliminated some of the low -frequency"garbage" that often passes unno-ticed until it is magically strippedaway. With normal listening materialsand levels, however, the improvementwhen we shifted between tapes re-corded with Dolby C and Dolby S,though worthwhile, was not startling.The tapes using both systems hadgood frequency response and ade-quate, if slightly narrowed, stereo im-aging. Neither, however, had quite theringing purity of tone (in solo -pianonotes, for example) of the originalcompact disc.

On the other hand, Dolby Labs saysthat S -type noise reduction is morerobust than C-type-less finicky aboutdeck alignment (always something of asore point with Dolby C) and thereforemore transportable and better suitedto mass duplication of prerecordedcassettes. And its performance is un-equivocally superior to that of DolbyB. Without question, if the analogcassette has a long-term future in thehigh-fidelity world, Dolby S is a key toits continuing success, and if you wantto hear it for yourself you should sure-ly give the Harman Kardon TD4600 alisten.

Energy Model 4.1eLoudspeaker System

Julian Hirsch, Hirsch -Houck laboratories

THE Energy "e" series loudspeak-ers, designed and built in Canada,employ technologically advancedmaterials and construction tech-niques. Typical of these speakersis the Model 4.1e, a moderate -

size, two-way system with an 8 -inchwoofer and a I -inch soft -dome tweeterin a ported cabinet.

The internally braced enclosure isavailable finished in walnut or black -ash vinyl veneer. The front baffle, in

what Energy calls a Spherex design, ismolded of a highly rigid, nonresonantcomposite material in a shape that issaid to improve dispersion and mini-mize diffraction, which can affect ste-reo imaging.

The tweeter is at the top, and thewoofer is approximately in the centerof the panel, above the bass port. Thewoofer uses Energy's Quadcentric de-sign, with a ribbed plastic cone and arubber rim surround to help terminate

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 29

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TEST REPORTSsignals propagating within the dia-phragm and thereby improve mid-range detail and dispersion.

On the rear of the cabinet are sepa-rate multiway binding -post terminalsfor the tweeter and woofer, normallyconnected by jumper straps. With thestraps removed, the system can bebiwired (with separate cables connect-ing the two drivers to the same amplifi-er) or biamplified (with separate am-plifiers for each driver). Since thespeaker's crossover network is alwaysin the circuit, no external electroniccrossover is needed.

The cabinet measures 24 incheshigh, 12 inches deep (including thegrille), and 95/8 inches wide. It is fin-ished on all surfaces, including theback. The black cloth grille unsnapseasily, and the silver-gray finish of theSpherex baffle makes it aestheticallyfeasible to use the speaker without itsgrille.

The installation instructions for theEnergy Model 4.1e recommend thatthe speakers be placed on stands thatbring the tweeters to ear level, with thecabinets at least 15 inches from thewall behind them, equidistant from theside walls, and 6 to 10 feet apart.

Energy recommends using the Mod-el 4.1e with an amplifier rated between40 and 150 watts per channel. Thespeaker's nominal impedance is 6ohms. Price: $750 a pair ($850 a pairin Canada). Energy Loudspeakers,Dept. SR, 3641 McNicoll Ave., Scar-borough, Ontario MIX 1G5.

Lab TestsOur test speakers were furnished

with a pair of API SST -13 stands(API is Energy's parent company),which are suggested by Energy foruse with the Model 4.1e. The stands,made of heavy steel and spiked, putthe speakers about 13 inches from thefloor. We placed the stands about 30inches from the wall behind them and8 feet apart.

Combining the averaged room re-sponse of the two speakers with theclose-miked woofer response pro-duced a composite frequency re-sponse within ± 2.5 dB from 1,000 to20,000 Hz. The combined port andwoofer -cone response was within ±3dB from 30 to 1,000 Hz, and when wejoined this curve with the room -re-sponse curve, the result Was a com-posite frequency response of ± 5.5 dB

from 20 to 20,000 Hz. A moderate dipof about 3 dB at about 2,000 Hz wasvirtually the only clue to the crossoverbetween drivers at 2,100 Hz.

Our quasi-anechoic FFT frequency -response measurements confirmedthe essential features of the room -response measurement and showedthat the tweeter's horizontal disper-sion was very good up to 10,000 Hz,with typical differences of 3 dB or sobetween measurements made on -axisand 45 degrees off -axis. At higher fre-quencies the two curves diverged rap-idly, which is typical of 1 -inch dometweeters.

The system's group delay variedless than ±0.1 millisecond over mostof the tweeter's operating range.There was a distinct jog of about 0.2millisecond at 2,000 Hz, and the delaychange down to about 350 Hz was lessthan 0.7 millisecond, very good per-formance for a woofer.

The Energy 4.1e's sensitivity was 89dB sound -pressure level (SPL) at 1

meter with an input of 2.83 volts ofpink noise. We measured the wooferdistortion with an input of 3.2 volts,corresponding to a 90 -dB SPL refer-ence output. The total harmonic dis-tortion plus noise in the woofer cone'soutput was about 0.8 percent from 600to 100 Hz, climbing gently to 2 percentat 60 Hz (the effective acoustic cross-over to the port output). The portdistortion reached 3.2 percent at 40 Hzand was only 7 percent in the 25 to 30Hz range. In the pulse power -handlingtest, the woofer cone bottomed with

an input of 230 watts at 100 Hz into its4.4 -ohm impedance at that frequency.

The system's minimum impedancewas 4 ohms at 140 Hz. The upper -bassresonance was at 60 Hz, with a 15 -ohmimpedance peak, and the maximumimpedance was 19 ohms at 1,800 Hz.The lower resonance appeared to bejust below 20 Hz. The impedancephase angle remained within ± 35 de-grees, with several sharp jogs visiblebetween 20 and 120 Hz. We would notexpect any good amplifier to havetrouble driving the Model 4.1e.

CommentsThe Energy 4.1e had a smooth,

slightly warm sound character. It pro-jected a distinct stereo image, withaccurate lateral positioning and a goodsense of height, although there waslittle apparent depth dimension. Itsbass performance was perhaps itsclearest difference from most speak-ers of its size and basic type: It candeliver a useful amount of low -distor-tion output in the 35- to 40 -Hz range.

Although there are a number ofspeakers with finished front panelsthat can be used without their grilles,most of them present a somewhatraw appearance in that condition.The unique front panel of the Energy4.1e actually looks as though it weremeant to be seen, and the speakerlooks good either way. It also soundsgood, with a pleasing balance andstereo presentation that make it astrong contender among speakers ofits size and price.

"Roy, the cat jumped in the car and clawed your speaker grille. to .bred.."

30 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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TEST REPORTS

MAS DCC-1Digital Control Center

Julian Hirsch, Hirsch -Houck Laboratories

.i. HE High Technology Group com-ponents from Music and SoundImports (MAS) are designed toprovide state-of-the-art perfor-mance in audio and video homeapplications. The MAS DCC-1

Digital Control Center, designed andbuilt in the U.S., combines the switch-ing and control functions of a high -quality A/V preamplifier with built-indigital -to -analog converters, enablingit to handle either digital or analogsignal sources.

The DCC-1 provides front -panel se-lection of seven high-level analog au-dio inputs and three digital inputs. Italso has composite and S -video inputand output connectors for two videosources as well as composite and S -video monitor outputs. There is nophono input. The six analog outputsare identified as TAPE OUT I and 2, VCROUT I and 2, and MAIN OUT I and 2(volume -controlled signals from thepreamplifier section of the DCC-1 todrive power amplifiers).

The DCC-1 contains two 18 -bit,eight-times-oversampling D/A con-verters, which are designed for easyupgrading with future converter cir-cuits. It has three digital audio inputs:one coaxial, one optical, and the thirdswitchable for either a coaxial or opti-cal source. Two digital outputs supplysignals to a DAT deck or other digitalrecorder or processor.

Separate but identical ten -positionknobs handle source selection for lis-tening and recording. When a digitalsource is used, a vertical column offive red indicator lights at the left ofthe panel shows the sampling rate ofthe source (32, 44.1, or 48 kHz), aLOCKED indication when the signal iserror -free, and EMPHASIS if the pro-gram was recorded with pre -empha-sis. The only other front -panel con-trols are two knobs, for balance andlevel (volume) adjustment, and threetoggle switches, which insert an exter-nal processor (such as an equalizer)into the signal path, bypass or insert a

line amplifier for higher gain, and mutethe output signal. A remote control forvolume, balance, and muting is avail-able as an option.

The DCC-1's rear apron is well filledwith forty gold-plated phono-jack in-put and output connectors, five S -video input and output sockets (one isfor the monitor output), and two opti-cal digital input connectors. There is apower connector for the external pow-er supply, which provides filtered DCpower to the circuits. Since the DCC-1is designed to operate continuously, ithas no power switch; the power sup-ply must be unplugged from the ACoutlet to shut it off. A large, highlyvisible window in the center of thefront panel displays the model name inred letters when the unit is powered.

The black -finished MAS DCC-1measures 16 inches wide, 8 inchesdeep, and 2 inches high, and it weighs11 pounds. Its power supply is about 2x 21/2 x 3 inches, with 6 -foot AC -inputand DC -output cables. Price: $1,195;remote control, $150. Music andSound Imports, Dept. SR, 450B PikeRd., Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006.

Lab TestsWe measured the analog portions of

the DCC-1 in the conventional man-ner, from the Aux I inputs to the MAIN Ioutputs. Input sensitivity (at the maxi -

32 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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TEST REPORTSmum level setting) was 0.5 volt for areference output of 0.5 volt with theline amplifier bypassed. With the lineamplifier in use, the sensitivity was165 millivolts (mV), indicating a gainof 3.0. In both cases, the outputclipped at a very high 11.5 volts. Whenthe line amp was bypassed, the outputimpedance was 300 ohms; when it wasin use, the impedance dropped to 100ohms. The A -weighted signal-to-noiseratio (S/N) was 88.5 dB referred to a0.5 -volt level.

Frequency response (without theline amplifier) was an impressive 20 to20,000 Hz ± 0.01 dB. Total harmonicdistortion plus noise (THD + N) wasabout 0.0005 percent at 9 volts output,just below the clipping level. Throughthe line amplifier, the frequency re-sponse was the same and the distor-tion rose to a mere 0.001 percent at 9volts output.

Channel separation varied from 80dB at low frequencies to 50 dB at 1,000Hz and 30 dB at 20,000 Hz. The inter -channel crosstalk was clearly the re-sult of stray capacitance between thesignal wiring of the two channels, andthe separation improved by about 17dB when the undriven channel inputwas shorted.

To evaluate the performance of theDCC-1's digital circuitry, we drove itsDIG 3 input (coaxial) from the digitaloutput of a Denon DCD-1500 II CDplayer and measured the preamplifi-er's output with the line amplifier by-passed. We made a number of stan-dard CD measurements, first from theplayer itself and then with its own D/Aconverters replaced by the DCC-1'sD/A converters. The measurementsincluded frequency response, de -em-phasis error, low-level linearity, andchannel separation.

The response of the source CD play-er was +0.15, -0.1 dB from 10 to20,000 Hz. The response through theDCC-1's converters was almost per-fectly flat from 10 to 2,000 Hz but felloff at higher frequencies to - 0.4 dB at10,000 Hz and -1.3 dB at 20,000 Hz.De -emphasis error from 1,000 to16,000 Hz was less than 0.3 dB in thesource output and about 1 dB from theDCC-1. Most of the error occurred atthe highest frequency, as it did in theresponse measurements without de -emphasis.

Linearity error at a - 80 -dB levelwas approximately 1 dB for both units.

At -90 dB, the error in the rightchannel was about 7 dB from thesource and about 3.5 dB from theDCC-1; the error in the left channelwas less than 1 dB for both the playerand the DCC-1.

Channel -separation measurementsfor the source and the DCC-1 werequite different, though not to such adegree as to be audibly significant.The separation between the sourceoutputs was about 120 dB up to 1,000Hz, decreasing to 90 dB at 20,000 Hz.From the DCC-1's outputs, the read-ings were 90 dB at 100 Hz, 70 dB at1,000 Hz, and 46 dB at 20,000 Hz. Thestraight-line increase in crosstalk, likethat through the analog inputs, wasindicative of capacitive coupling be-tween the channels.

CommentsDespite its external simplicity, the

MAS DCC-1 is an extraordinarily ver-satile component whose design recog-

nizes and attempts to deal with thethree-way synergy between audio,video, and digital technology. Clearlyno mere reworking of a standard audiocomponent, it boldly assigns the vinylrecord to history (although one couldeasily feed one of its inputs from anexternal phono preamplifier).

To illustrate the potential versatilityof the DCC-1, a system -connectiondiagram in its instruction manualshows it connected to two standardVCR's, two S -VHS VCR's. threemonitors, two audio power amplifiers,a graphic equalizer, two analog tapedecks, two DAT decks, a CD/video-disc player, and a tuner. Just to inter-connect and control such an array ofcomponents is no small feat.

As our measurements show, theDCC-1's analog performance was out-standing. Its frequency response, byfar the flattest we have yet measured,taxed the measurement capabilities ofour Audio Precision System One test

FEATURES

Seven high-level analog inputs

Three digital inputs (optical, coaxial,and switchable)

Video switching for two VCR's,including S -video capability

Composite and S -video monitoroutputs

Separate listening and recordingsource selectors

Switchable external -processor loop

Bypassable line amplifier

Selectable balanced and unbalancedoutputs

Eighteen -bit, eight-times-oversampling D/A converters withupgradable plug-in chips

External power supply

Optional remote control for volume,balance, muting

EABORATO9Y MEASUREMENTS

Output level at clipping: 11.5 volts

Sensitivity for a 0.5 -volt output: lineamp bypassed, 500 mV; line amp on,165 mV

A -weighted noise (referred to a 0.5 -volt output): - 88.5 dB

1,000 -Hz distortion (THD + N):line amp bypassed, 0.002% at 1 volt,0.0005% at 9 volts; line amp active,0.006% at 1 volt, 0.001% at 9 volts

Frequency response: analog, 20 to20,000 Hz ± 0.01 dB; digital, 10 to20,000 Hz + 0, -1.3 dB

Channel separation: analog (lineamp bypassed), 80 dB at 20 Hz, 51 dBat 1,000 Hz, 30 dB at 20,000 Hz;digital, 90 dB at 100 Hz, 70 dB at1,000 Hz, 46 dB at 20,000 Hz

De -emphasis error (digital): 1 dB at16,000 Hz

Linearity error: at -80 dB, 1 dB inboth channels; at -90 dB, 3.5 dB inright channel, less than 1 dB in leftchannel

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 33

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In 1987, critics said Bose' changed the waypeople thought about loudspeakers.

"Superb sound and virtual invisibility."

`.`..side by side with speakers costingthree to five times as much, the AM -5

consistently produced the more excitingand listenable sound..'.'

Julian Hirsch,Stereo Review, 1987

Now, they're saying it about ourLifestyle music system.

"No visible speakers, no stack ofcomponents, nothing that looks

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"Hit the start button and suddenlythe room fills with music of exemplary

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Call us today to arrange for a personal audition at a participating dealer near you.Try the Lifestyle music system in your own home for two weeks. Then part with it, if you can.

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LoiT9.1 b, Ma.** 91191,d ...1k199.111,g F9 -119m ndrnoRriola tithret to change ether nom, 4:10apright 1990 by the N. Yet Tarim Comore Partrited by gammn,

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TEST REPORTSunit, as did its harmonic distortion.The noise level, if not the lowest wehave measured, was certainly inaudi-ble under any imaginable listeningconditions. Together with its excep-tionally high output -voltage capabili-ty, these results speak eloquently ofthe DCC-1's quality and potential.

Its digital circuits-D/A convertersand filters-had low-level linearityand distortion characteristics likethose of good CD players of a year ortwo ago, before the advent of 1 -bitconverter technology. The linearity ofthe DCC-1's converters was very gooddown to a - 80 -dB level and onlyslightly worse at -90 dB. Althoughtheir performance has been surpassedby recent 1 -bit converters, there isunlikely to be any audible distortionattributable to these circuits.

It was surprising to find the high -frequency drop in the DCC-1's re-sponse with a digital input signal. Al-though the effect is unlikely to benoticed in normal use, it probablycould be detected by a very criticallistener. It is hard to justify this lapsewhen even the least expensive CDplayers have far flatter response char-acteristics.

Another anomaly, common to boththe analog and digital signal paths, wasthe crosstalk between stereo chan-nels. Although it will almost certainlybe inaudible in listening to normalstereo sources (stereo recordings rare-ly have even this much separation tostart with), it seems slightly out ofcharacter for a component of theDCC-1's price and overall quality. Ourbest guess is that the high -frequencycrosstalk is associated with the bankof relays (and associated printed cir-cuit paths) that are used for signalswitching.

The bottom line on the MAS DCC-Iis that it could be a useful, perhapseven indispensable, part of a moderndeluxe A/V entertainment system. Ex-cept possibly for the slight treble roll -off, none of its measurable flawsshould have any effect on its audibleperformance (most would be difficultto detect at all without advanced in-struments like the Audio PrecisionSystem One). As digital recorderscome into common use, the DCC-1'sdigital -to -digital dubbing features willbe appreciated by many users, and thesame goes for the convenience of itsvideo -switching capabilities.

Sennheiser HD 490Headphones

Julian Hirsch, Hirsh-HoLck Laboratories

THE new Sennheiser HD 490 stereoheadphone was developed for useboth with home hi-fi componentsand with Walkman -type portableCD or tape players and radios,which have traditionally been

paired with distinctly different kindsof phones.

Headphones intended for use withhome high-fidelity systems normallyhave a moderately high impedance,from 200 to 600 ohms. Such imped-ance presents no problems with thedriving voltage available from anyhome audio source, such as a tapedeck, CD player, or receiver. Thesignal levels available at these compo-nents' headphone jacks are usually atleast several volts, sufficient to devel-op a high sound -pressure level (SPL)in the listener's ears.

Typically, home hi-fi headphonesattempt to provide wide frequency re-sponse and low distortion, consistentwith the quality of their signal sources.Obviously, they should also be com-fortable to wear for extended periods.In general, a low price appears to beless important than good sound, asbefits a component of a home audiosystem that may represent a sizableinvestment. In fact, some very high -

quality headphones can cost as muchas a good pair of loudspeakers.

Another broad category of head-phones is intended primarily for usewith small personal -portable tape orCD players or radios. Many of theirperformance characteristics and de-sign criteria are very different fromthose of home headphones. And. con-sistent with the cost of their programsource, these phones are usually rela-tively inexpensive.

Perhaps most important for suchheadphones is the need for high sensi-tivity-the ability to generate a fairlyhigh sound level with a very smallinput power. Since the signal voltageavailable from their usual sources issmall, these phones must have a lowimpedance, typically from 8 to 100ohms. Wide frequency response andlow distortion, which are important inhome headphones, are often sacrificedin the design of portable phones. Mostare also designed to be as inconspicu-ous as possible, which is achieved byusing small ear cushions that rest light-ly on the wearer's ears (sometimeseven fitting into the ears) and a slendermetal headband.

Sennheiser designed the HD 490 sothat it could be used easily with per -

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 35

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TEST REPORTSsonal-portable equipment and yetmeet the listening requirements of areasonably good home system. TheGerman -made phones have normal -size earpieces with replaceable foamcushions. The single -piece plasticheadband is cushioned at the top, andthe phones are light (135 grams, orabout 4 ounces). The 3 -meter (about10 -foot) straight cord, which joins theearpieces in a Y -junction, ends in astereo mini plug. The phones are sup-plied with a well -made metal adapterthat converts the plug to the quarter -inch size used in home components.

Like all Sennheiser headphones, theHD 490 is designed for full user re-placement of its basic parts, includingsignal cables, ear cushions, drive ele-ments, and headbands. The companymaintains a complete parts inventoryfor all headphones that it has ever soldin this country.

The HD 490 uses a diaphragmformed with a radial -ridge moldingprocess that is said to minimize dia-phragm breakup. It is driven by athree -layer aluminum voice coil in thefield of a powerful neodymium -ferrousmagnet. The signal cable features con-ductors of stranded steel, which isclaimed to have ten times the strengthof copper wire. A signal cable thatincludes a combination volume/bal-ance control can be substituted for thecable normally shipped with the head-phones.

The specifications for the HD 490,like those of most headphones, aresparse. Its rated frequency responseof 18 to 25,000 Hz has no stated toler-ance, and the sensitivity of 94 dB SPLwith less than 1 percent total harmonicdistortion plus noise (THD + N) is atan unspecified frequency. The ratedimpedance is 70 ohms per channel.Price: $129; optional cord with vol-ume/balance control, $43. SennheiserElectronic Corp., Dept. SR, 6 VistaDr., P.O. Box 987, Old Lyme, CT06371.

Lab TestsWe measured the performance of

the Sennheiser HD 490 headphones ona standard ANSI headphone couplerdesigned to simulate the acoustic loadthat the phones would "see" whenworn by a human being. The micro-phone replaces the eardrum in thismeasurement, which is capable of giv-ing a repeatable and reasonably mean-

ingful quantification of the bass andmidrange response of a headphone.Above several kilohertz, however, theresponse is affected to a major degreeby individual ear shape and size or bythe characteristics of the coupler.Therefore, the measured "frequencyresponse" of a headphone is not evenas meaningful as the measured re-sponse of a loudspeaker, though itdoes serve as a guide to some of theheadphone's characteristics.

The HD 490's response was verysmooth below 4,000 Hz, varying only±1.5 dB from there down to 100 Hz.The output fell off at lower frequenciesto -5 dB at 60 Hz and -10 dB at 41Hz. Above 4,000 Hz, there was a"hole" in the response, probablycaused by the interaction of the head-phone itself with the coupler cavity.The output dropped to -10 dB at5,800 Hz and returned to the midrangelevel at 7,500 Hz. There was a ± 3 -dBvariation from 7,500 to 14,000 Hz,above which our microphone's re-sponse fell off steeply.

The headphone's impedance variedbetween 61.5 and 70.5 ohms over therange of 20 to 20,000 Hz. The maxi-mum impedance was at 130 Hz, thediaphragm resonance frequency.

CommentsExcept for the 5,000 -Hz hole, the

Sennheiser HD 490's frequency re-sponse was excellent, and even thataberration was not at all unusual ina headphone -coupler measurement.The sound quality of the phones was

PLAZAU STc:"

INSUTALL/ATI

ONAD 10VIDEO

... 4\4ilP4.Y! / J44..00.144"

good, whether used with a home musicsystem or a personal -portable unit.The sound was well balanced and freeof any obvious colorations. The avail-able listening volume was much morethan adequate, even with our portablecassette player, which could generatea deafening level. It was not surpris-ing, therefore, that a home CD playerhad no difficulty in driving the phonesto high levels.

We compared the sound of the HD490 with that of a considerably moreexpensive conventional headphoneset. Played at any reasonable level, theHD 490 sounded as clean as the otherphones, with slightly less output athigh frequencies and possibly in thelow bass. Although the high -frequen-cy difference could be heard in an A/Bcomparison, it was not particularlynoticeable when listening to the HD490 alone.

The most obvious differences oc-curred at very high playback levels.The HD 490 overloaded more easilythan the other phones, which ap-peared to have larger diaphragms, butat any reasonable listening level therewas no evidence of dynamic compres-sion at high levels.

The HD 490 was a comfortable setof phones to wear, with very littlepressure on the ears and negligibleweight. We would agree with Senn-heiser that it is equally suited for usewith personal -portable players andwith any home system, and that itdelivers a sound quality fully consis-tent with its price.

_ w. .1..

36 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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ic

Can green ink, disc rings, special

fluids, or isolation feet really

make your CD's sound better?

you stop by a friend's house. He is listening to music.You notice that his discs are edged with plastic rings.His CD player is sitting on special rubbery pads. "Dothose things really make a difference?" you ask."Sure," he says. "Listen to how the bass response getsboomy and the highs become hard when I take them

away." He removes the feet and the disc rings and replays themusic. You are amazed. Just as he suggested, the soundseems boomy and hard. What is going on?

Some aspects of the compact disc system are easy to agreeon: the size of the disc, the way music is recorded on it, and soforth. Others are not so universally clear. In particular, somepeople swear by the system's sonic quality, while othersswear at it.

CD tweakers usually fall into the latter category. They maylisten to CD's, but they are not convinced of their fidelity;they perceive a need to enhance the sonic results somehow.Unable to redefine the format's standards (not a seriousalternative for an individual) or to embark on expensiveplayer modifications, many tweakers rely on simple methodsthat they believe will improve CD sound quality. They oftenview surface treatments, disc rings, and vibration isolators aspanaceas-universal remedies that help correct the presumedfaults of the CD.

More analytical listeners point to the remarkably impres-sive technical performance delivered by even modestlypriced CD players-frequency response flat to within a small

by Ken C. Pohlmann

)

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fraction of a decibel and extremely lownoise and distortion-and argue thatthe system is an essentially transpar-ent medium sonically and in little needof tweaking. Even if a small perfor-mance improvement could beachieved, they say, it would probablybe inaudible. These audiophiles alsotend to be skeptical about the unortho-dox remedies proposed by many in theother camp. They argue that tech-niques such as painting disc edgesgreen and applying wax to a CD'splaying surface are only placeboswhose perceived benefits spring fromthe user's imagination.

CON VENTIONAL wisdomwould support the analyti-cal listeners. Methods

that make no detectable change to thesignal emerging from a component areusually suspect. But when it comes tosomething as subjective as the enjoy-ment of music, there are many vari-ables, both physical and psychologi-cal. Even the placebo effect may playan important role.

Is there a placebo effect at workwhen some people claim to hear signif-icant audible changes brought on bydisc and player treatments that seemincapable of affecting the audio signal?Might listeners be persuaded that thesound has improved even when therehas been no change in the acousticalstimuli reaching their ears? After all,the ear may be the organ of hearing,but interpretation and evaluation arethe work of the brain. Or can it be thatsome of the peculiar techniques thathave been proposed really work, caus-ing sonic effects that are more thanmerely psychological?

Answering these questions to ev-eryone's satisfaction is not easy. De-bates have raged for years among au-diophiles about things like the audibledifference between types of speakerwire, with no resolution in sight. Buteven though we have little hope ofputting to rest the controversy overthe various CD treatments advocatedin some circles, we thought it would beworthwhile to see what effects wecould find by purely objective means.If any of them did turn out to have asubstantial measurable influence onthe audio signal retrieved from a CD, itwould give a big boost to the conten-tion that at least some of these nos-trums do make an audible difference.

The Rogues' GalleryWe selected a number of popular

treatments, both commercial andhomemade, for evaluation. Loosely,the treatments can be divided intothree groups: disc -surface treatments,disc -mass treatments, and vibration -isolation player treatments. We testedfive disc -surface treatments-twocommercial products sold specificallyfor use on CD's and three others thatsome people have used even thoughthey are made for completely unrelat-ed purposes. The two commercialproducts were Finyl, manufactured byDigital Systems and Solutions, Inc.,and a prototype fluid called Laser -guide supplied by Audioquest. Thethree other products were Turtle Wax,Armor All, and a green Sharpie pen.

Although the last three productsmake no claims about sonic efficacyon their packaging (that's not whatthey're sold for, after all), the first twodo. For example, the packaging forFinyl says that the fluid "improvesdynamics and transient response, im-proves bass articulation, improveslow-level detail, improves imagespecificity and depth, improves tim-bral accuracy, decreases harshnessand noise." A paper enclosed withLaserguide claims that it "fills in in-herent eccentricities in the surface ofthe polycarbonate with a materialwhose index of refraction is close topolycarbonate. . . . listen and enjoy!"

We tested just one disc -mass treat-ment, Allsop's CD Plus ProtectiveStabilizers, which are rubbery plasticrings that snap around the edges ofcompact discs. Allsop says that apply-ing one of these rings "stabilizes [a]rotating CD for maximum sonic per-formance. . . . Improves sound! . . .

less vibration allows the CD player'slaser to read data with better accura-cy, resulting in a truer reproduction ofsound for clearer, more natural sound-ing music."

Finally, we tested two vibration iso-lators-plastic feet that can be placedunder a CD player to isolate it fromstructure -borne vibrations and to helpdamp internal vibrations. The packag-ing on Audioquest's Sorbothane CDFeet states that the product "provideseffective damping and isolation for allvibration sensitive equipment. . . . avast improvement can often be heardin tube or solid-state electronics-with preamps, amplifiers, cassettedecks, CD players, turntables, VCR's-and [can] even [be] seen with videomonitors." The packaging for AllsopAudio Isolators says that they "isolate

all your audio equipment for maxi-mum sonic performance. . . . cleaner,more natural sounding music. . . . lessdistortion at higher volumes. . . . re-ducing vibration results in less distor-tion for tighter bass, clear sound andgreater overall sound quality. . . . CDplayers read musical data with greateraccuracy."

The Digital TestsThe tests designed to evaluate these

treatments were twofold, includingmeasurements of both digital and ana-log data output from a CD player. Theplayer we used was a Philips CD -80, aconservative design with four-times-oversampling digital filters and dual16 -bit digital -to -analog (D/A) convert-ers specially selected for their accura-cy. Its single -beam laser pickup iscarried by a swing arm mounted on adie-cast frame. The player providesboth digital and analog audio outputsand has a list price of $800.

We connected the coaxial digitaloutput from the CD player to a Digi-design sound processor built around aMotorola 56000 digital signal process-ing (DSP) chip, which in turn em-ployed a Macintosh II computer as itshost. Audio data from the player werecaptured by the computer and ana-lyzed using the DSP system. Thishook-up enabled us to examine thedigital audio data after the bit streamleft the laser pickup but before it wasprocessed by the player's output D/Aconversion circuitry. If a treatmentwere to affect the reading of data fromthe disc itself, the analyzer wouldcatch the change.

IcOR our comparisons, techni-ian Jean Bellefeuille

played an untreated disc onthe CD -80 and captured a portion ofthe digital data with the computer. Hethen treated the same disc, played it onthe same machine, and captured thesame portion of data. Using a compu-tation method suggested by my fellowUniversity of Miami faculty memberJohn Monforte, Bellefeuille was ableto synchronize the two data files ex-actly and compare them bit by bit. Ifany bit in a file from a treated discdiffered from its corresponding bit inthe file from the disc before treatment,the computer would identify it.

The results of these tests are easy todescribe. In every case-including all

40 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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five disc -surface treatments, the disc -mass treatment, and the two vibration -isolation player treatments-every bitwas the same after the treatment wasapplied as it was before. In otherwords, under the test conditions,which were quite normal, none of theeight treatments we tried had any ef-fect on the digital data output from theplayer.

These results strongly contradictthe theories offered in support of sev-eral of these treatments and the claimsmade for them. For example, the the-ory usually cited to explain the allegedbenefits of applying green ink to theperiphery of a CD is that stray lightinside the disc's polycarbonate sub-strate can diminish the ability of aplayer's laser pickup to correctly iden-tify pit edges (and hence the data theyrepresent). The green ink is said toabsorb stray light inside the sub-strate, thereby improving theaccuracy of the player'sdata acquisition. Inthis test, the data out-put from the laser pickup was identicalfor both inked and uninked discs.

Similarly, the theory be-hind Finyl is that the sur-face treatment providesan "optical impedancematch" between the disc andair. Again, the test shows that the datawere unaffected. In general, CD sur-face treatments are supposed to im-prove data readout from the disc. Wedirectly compared data readouts withand without treatment and found nodifference, and since these treatmentscannot affect the sound of a disc unlessthey alter the data picked up from it bythe player, the test results suggest thatthey are ineffectual.

Shaking Things UpIn our first series of tests, the disc -

mass and player vibration -isolationtreatments also failed to alter the dataread from CD's. But further testing isrequired to evaluate these treatmentsfully, as they are designed to reducevibration and presumably would deliv-er their greatest benefit under condi-tions less sedate than those of theinitial test run.

We therefore repeated the data cap-ture and comparison for these threeproducts, but with the CD playerplaced directly on top of a JBL Model4311 professional monitor loudspeak-er, which in turn was placed on acarpeted concrete slab. The speakerwas driven by a Crown D150A profes-sional power amplifier reproducing an82 -Hz square wave from a function

CD surface

treatments aresupposed

to improve digitaldata readout,

but directcomparison before

and afterapplication showed

no difference.

generator. (We chose that particularsignal because it generated peak vi-

bration in the CD player.) Thesound -pressure level (SPL) 1

meter in front of the loudspeak-er (and CD player) was 120 dB.Once again, music data werecollected by the DSP systembefore and after applicationof each treatment.

In every case, with or with-out a sound ring or vibration -

isolation feet, analysis showedthat all the bits in the compared

data streams were identical. In otherwords, these products did not affectthe digital data output from the CDplayer while it was being stronglyshaken by an 82 -Hz square waveplayed back at 120 dB SPL. Claimsthat these products improve data read-out are thus not substantiated by thisparticular test.

Dynamic testing such as this is not asimple matter, however. There aremany variables, such as the frequencyof vibration, how it is applied to theplayer, the design of the player, and,especially, the level of vibration. Man-ufacturers of disc rings and vibration -isolation feet have performed testingof their own to support their claims,often using vibration transducers at-tached to the laser transport or indus-trial shaker tables to create very highvibration levels at the pickup. Theyclaim that their disc rings and isolationfeet increase immunity to vibrationand that this is sonically significant.

There is no question that vibrationisolation is useful, if only to preventoutright mistracking. That's why carshave shock absorbers and sneakershave cushions in their soles. When itcomes to CD players, there is no abso-lute standard, only a question of de-gree, with regard to the effect of vibra-tion on data readout. Although thevalue of vibration -isolation treatmentswas not confirmed by our tests, itseems reasonable to believe that isola-tion feet will decouple a player from avibration source and permit validreadout at higher vibration levels thanwithout them, as their manufacturersassert. In practice, however, thesound levels at which the isolationbecomes useful may be quite high(more than the 120 dB SPL in ourtests), and in any case the effect willdepend on the mass and design of theplayer and its placement with respectto the vibration source.

The Analog TestsSo far, we've addressed the effect of

these treatments only on the digital

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 41

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data from a CD, but a player's job isn'tdone until that bit stream is convertedto an ordinary analog signal that can beamplified to drive loudspeakers. In thesecond phase of our testing, we triedto determine whether the quality of theoutput analog signal might be affectedby high vibration levels and whetherthe disc -mass or vibration -isolationtreatments (or even the disc -surfacetreatments) would yield any improve-ment. Manufacturers of the disc -massand vibration -isolation products claimthat they improve analog audio perfor-mance at vibration levels just belowthose at which mist racking occurs.

For this series of tests, we employedan Audio Precision analyzer to mea-sure harmonic and intermodulation(IM) distortion in the player's analogoutput. In half of the trials, we vibrat-ed the player the same way as in thedigital tests, using an 82 -Hz squarewave at 120 dB SPL. Although we hadfound no differences in the digital datastreams from the disc, we did finddifferences in the analog audio out-puts. For example, without vibration,total harmonic distortion plus noise(THD + N) from an untreated testdisc measured 0.0022 percent; withvibration it measured 0.0044 percent.IM distortion similarly increased,from 0.0032 percent to 0.0043 percent.All of these figures represent distor-tion levels far below the threshold ofaudibility, but clearly the vibration ofthe player did change the analog out-put signal, if only by a very smallamount.

This result is not a complete sur-prise. Although a CD player's audiopath is perhaps 90 percent digital, thefinal 10 percent is analog, and it haslong been known that analog compo-nents are often subject to what areknown as microphonics. That is, elec-tronic devices can sometimes act astransducers, converting mechanicalvibration into an electrical signal. Mi-crophonics are a significant problem invacuum tubes and can also be ob-served, though to a much lesser de-gree, in solid-state devices such ascapacitors and transistors. As onemight expect, the problem is mostsevere in high -gain circuits, which canconsiderably boost any vibration -in-duced signals, amplifying the effect ofthe microphonics.

In any event, our tests do seem toindicate that microphonics can exist ina CD player's analog output section(the circuitry following its D/A con-verters), and anything that can reducevibration in the player should diminishmicrophonics as well. After our con -

n the presence

of exceptionallystrong vibration,

isolation feetunder the player

slightlyreduced distortion

in the analog

output signal.

trol measurements, with no treatmentapplied, we put a disc ring on our testCD and tried again. The disc ring hadno measurable effect on distortion,which increased by the same amountwhen vibration was applied as it hadwhen the CD was bare. This is exactlywhat one would expect, since it is notdisc vibration that causes microphon-ics, but vibration of electronic compo-nents in the player's analog circuits.Similarly, disc -surface treatments hadno effect on the analog signal.

It wasn't until we tried the isolationfeet that we got something. When weput the Audioquest or Allsop isolationfeet under the player, they helped de -couple it from the vibrating speaker,and though distortion still increasedslightly in the presence of vibration,the change was smaller than it waswithout isolation. The decoupling ef-fect was easily verified: Lifting theplayer an inch above the speaker cabi-net completely eliminated the distor-tion increase. Other decoupling de-vices, such as crumbled newspapersand foam padding, also reduced the

magnitude of the distortion increase.On the other hand, distortion did not

increase under any circumstances un-til the sound -pressure level exceeded110 dB, which is very loud. A playerwith less mass or a lower -performancepickup mechanism might be suscepti-ble at lower levels, but since all it tookto eliminate the already inaudiblysmall distortion increases found in ourtests was to take the player off thespeaker, it's far from clear that any ofthis matters at all.

Listen for YourselfThe tests we performed were not

exhaustive. Indeed, further testing iscurrently under way at the Universityof Miami to study both the degradationof digital signals and microphonics inaudio circuits. But we can come tosome preliminary conclusions. Noneof the disc or player treatments affect-ed the readout of digital data fromCD's, even under conditions of ex-treme vibration. This result, however,presupposes the use of a well -manu-factured transport and laser pickup,such as that in the Philips CD -80 CDplayer we used for our tests. Playersthat are less well designed or lessruggedly built may be more suscepti-ble to data -readout errors (and thusperhaps derive more benefit from thetreatments we tested), but we did notexamine this question.

Our tests showed that in the pres-ence of exceptionally strong vibration,isolation feet reduced distortion in theanalog output signal. The amount ofdistortion involved was exceedinglysmall either way, however, and far, farbelow any level at which it might beaudible in a music signal. Becausetests under the same conditionsshowed no alteration in the digital dataoutput from the disc, we can surmisethat the changes in distortion were dueto the effects of vibration on the opera-tion of the analog output circuitry.Further testing would be required topinpoint the sources.

Let's suppose now that you stop bymy house. I am listening to music. Younotice that my discs are not edged withplastic rings and not treated with flu-ids. My CD player, however, is sittingon special rubbery pads. "Do thosethings really make a difference?," youask. "Perhaps," I say. "Listen foryourself." I remove the feet and playthe disc again. You are uncertain, butyou think you might hear a degrada-tion. You say, "I'm not sure, but Ithink the bass sounds worse." "Ah,"I say, holding up the pads, "but arethey panaceas or placebos?"

42 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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TTIOVIV

ITAMPSt"Singing is not about

throats, butabout thoughtand air."

with the careers of singers who tookHE musical landscape is littered

Tristan when he should have

on too much too soon: the sopranowho thought Salome was hers attwenty-six, the tenor who tackled

re-mained in the company of Rossini. BaritoneThomas Hampson is determined that this will nothappen to him.

Of course, when you are very talented, veryhandsome, and very tall-and Hampson is allthree-the world, particularly the country that isopera, offers plenty of temptations. But Hamp-son, who already has a ten-year engagementbook, is determined not to yield.

"It's the middle of the voice, not the top orbottom, that takes the beating," he told me whenwe spoke in New York recently. "The baritonevoice is very much in the place where you speak,and it's not necessarily a godsend to sing whereyou speak. I'll sing what I think it is necessary tosing. I would never do an opera role that batteredmy voice and would make lieder less accessible."

At thirty-six, Hampson already worries aboutbeing pigeonholed, and he won't tolerate that,either. He is working hard to balance his careerbetween lieder and opera, with a bit of popu-

lar American music as

1)y Katrine Amesa side dish. Hampsonknows his own mind and

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he's fearless about speaking it. Somecall it arrogance, some intelligence. Itis, more accurately, self-preservation,backed up by questioning and re-search. And if he occasionally mountsa high horse, he's also willing to knockhimself off it. He is capable of diplo-macy, too. Last winter Opera Newsasked several people to name theirleast favorite opera. Hampson's reply:"I haven't heard it yet."

Hampson is blessed with great stagepresence and a gorgeous, flexible lyricbaritone, particularly striking in mezzavoce, but what makes him a trulycompelling artist is the knowledge that

The Don Giovanni of his generation?

informs his work. He can talk at lengthabout, among other things, any char-acter he has ever played, naturalfoods, philosophy, Jugendstil, direc-tors, astrology, Mahler, and his favor-ite country-and-western musician.

He is, in short, a thinking singer,though he describes himself as notespecially intelligent. "There isn't anounce of genius in me," he said. "I'mnot brilliant, but I know how to availmyself of resources. I know how tolearn." When he embarks on a role, heconstantly picks it apart and puts itback together, devouring all manner ofwritten material. Before he sang DonGiovanni, for instance, he read notonly the musicologist Frits Noske butalso Jung and Kierkegaard.

"Don Giovanni dies of his own ego,like a snake who eats his own tail. Wesit and watch him consume himself,"Hampson explained. "He's not a

mythical character to me; he's aliveand well. So is the Count [in Figaro],so is Ulysses. My fascination withcharacters in opera is that they are re-creations or symbols of living, breath-ing human beings."

Hampson is as concerned with textas with music, and he may preserve hisvoice not only through careful reper-tory choice but by attention to dynam-ics. "Singing is not about throats, butabout thought and air," he said. "Ibelieve we're losing some acousticalsensitivity to 'expressiveness.' Thedecibel level in opera has risen dra-matically; the opera world wants to getlouder to be more 'expressive.' Sing-ing, expressing the human spirit, is apretty wonderful thing. But bigger isnot necessarily better."

Hampson didn't cut his teeth onopera, though he grew up in a musicalhousehold in Spokane, Washington."The surprise is that I'm a classicalmusician," he said. "I've always beeninterested in storytelling. My motherplayed piano very well. Music was apart of life, but it was Mantovani andPeter Nero. I was in choirs, played thetuba, took piano like every diligentAmerican kid. I did a lot of musicdabbling."

Eventually, Hampson stopped dab-bling. In 1980, after winning the Met-ropolitan Opera auditions, he chose totake a contract at Dfisseldorf. Helearned, quickly, that music is an ex-hausting business-and that a busi-ness is exactly what it is. "The busi-ness of music is diametrically opposedto the art of making music," he said. Italso keeps him constantly on themove. Hampson, who defines home as"the place where the music and booksare," is based in Vienna, but "myhometown is Spokane, and the IRSwrites me in Walla Walla."

In the last six years, Hampson'scareer has taken off. When he sangDon Giovanni at the Met last autumn,Donal Henahan wrote in the NewYork Times that "Mr. Hampson issurely fated to be the Don Giovanni ofhis generation."

THE baritone, on the otherhand, was troubled about an-other kind of fate. "I was verydistressed with the way Isang," he said. It was, per-haps, a warning sign, so hebegan to "reorder and restruc-

ture." As a result, he has become agreat advocate of natural foods, medi-tation, and "the beautiful connection"between Eastern and Westernthought. "My voice is not an instru-ment. I am an instrument. The moreawake, the more alive, the more awareI am of how I function as a psychologi-cal, biological, spiritual being, themore I understand how other peoplework. I believe thought patterns can be

affected by food. I'd like to do a studyof the eating habits of famous people."

IF only he had the time. Currently,he is co -editing the critical editionof Mahler's Des Knaben Wunder -horn and researching Mahlerianperformance practice. "My pas-sion," he said, "is to set the rec-ord straight on the singing of Mah-

ler." He is also immersing himself in awide variety of lieder (Carl Loewe is afavorite) and American song. His fu-ture operatic agenda includes EugeneOnegin (in Russian), Billy Budd, DonCarlos, and Hamlet. And he recordsextensively. Though he already hasseveral opera recordings to his credit,including La Boheme (DeutscheGrammophon) with Leonard Bern-stein and Don Giovanni (Teldec) withNikolaus Harnoncourt, Hampson ismore interested in recording song be-cause "it's intimate."

His eclectic list of forthcoming re-cordings reflects his background andinterests. Angel is releasing his ColePorter recital disc this summer; AnnieGet Your Gun will follow later in theyear. Cosi Fan Tutte (Teldec) is on thehorizon, along with three Mahler cy-cles with Bernstein and the ViennaPhilharmonic on DG. "I am so gratefulfor having worked with Lenny,"Hampson said.

What Hampson describes as "oneof the most exciting musicologicalevents of the last twenty years"-theopening of the recording archives ashistoric recordings are reissued oncompact disc-both thrills and en-rages him. "I'd be the first to devotemy life savings to hearing Vogl singwith Schubert," he said. But inevita-bly, the revolution has brought with itinvidious comparison. "Who's thebest? That's nonsense! We're not rev-eling in the art of making music,"Hampson complained. "We're revel-ing in competition. Does it bother methat my Don Giovanni sits on a shelfwith a dozen others? It bothers mebecause it's humiliating. But [music is]a calling, not an ego trip. What weshould be interested in is what Gio-vanni means . . . . It has nothing to dowith competition."

So what does Thomas Hampson ghave up his elegant sleeve? "Retire- iment," he said laconically, straining ncredibility if not his voice. And what ;does he really want? "I'd like to do a Wduet record with Randy Travis. I'd glike to meet Ella Fitzgerald." Hepaused. The high spirits suddenly van-ished. 'And I'd like to have one more 12dinner with Lenny." E

44 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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SMALL SYSTEMS

Yamaha's YST-C11

shell system (above,

S999) uses Active

Servo Technology to

create deep bass

from small speakers.

DIF you had the space (and budget) to accommodate any audio

system you wanted, chances are the loudspeakers would be as

big as your front door and they'd be driven by a massive power

amplifier whose volume control couldn't be set anywhere be-

yond eight o'clock without rattling glasses.

But big isn't always practical. More and more people live in

small apartments, for example. More of us are setting up

secondary stereo systems for other rooms in our houses, too, and

The Onkyo 1)7,S-05

(S1,000) inc udes

a receiver. CD player,

dubbing cas tette

deck. speakers, anc

a remote coitrol.

bi Kb[CCA DAT

..=11.

C

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 45

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The unique Robot five -

disc CD changer, the smallest

changer on the market, is

the heart of Sansui's MC -

3000 minicomponent system

(right, S900), which also has

a receiver, a dual cassette

deck, two-way speakers,

and a remote control.

Nakamichi uses color coding

and differently shaped

buttons to make its Compact

Receiver System 1 (5349)

and CD Cassette Player 1

(S449) easier to use.

The neutral gray finish is

smudge -resistant and

nonreflective. Two-way

bass -reflex speakers are

included with the 14 -

watt -per -channel receiver.

46 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

1:1:1.11=1:1P1111.-ZZI

At 141/4 inches wide, the

components in Sharp's CMS-

R300CD system (left, S400)

fall between mini -size and

full-size. A top -loading

five -disc CD changer tops

the stack, followed by a

receiver and a dual cassette

deck. Sharp's X -Bass circuitry

adds punch to the low end.

A remote control is supplied.

The attractively styled

400 Series from Proton

(right) includes the AV -445

AM FM receiver (S400).

the AC -422 CD player

(S300), and the AD -431

cassette deck (S300). The

AH-481 remote control

comes with the receiver.

The components in

Kenwood's UD-7 minisystem

(left) measure just 101/2

inches wide. In addition to

the standard receiver, CD

player, dual cassette deck,

and speakers, this 51.200

system includes an equalizer

with ten preset curves, five

of which can be adjusted

for personal taste.

A digital alarm clock that can

start a cassette or CD or

fade in a broadcast makes

Denon's G-05 Cellena (above,

S800) an upscale alternative

to the clock radio. Three

24 -hour single -event timers

enable recording from

any preselected source.

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Infrared magic opens the doors of Bang &

Olufsen's 14 -inch -high Beosystem 2500

(above) when your hand approaches it. The

biamped speakers are detachable, and

remote control is included. Price: S3,500.

for vacation homes and dormitoryrooms. Luckily, equipment makerskeep tabs on trends in American lifestyles, and they now manufacture mini -systems designed for small spaces.

An attractively styled minicompon-ent system-anywhere from about 9 to141/2 inches wide-can fit perfectlyinto places ill suited to conventionalstereo systems. Features, sizes, andprices vary, but a typical shelf system(as they are sometimes called) mightinclude a receiver, or an integratedamplifier and an AM/FM tuner, a cas-sette deck, a CD player, and speakers.Overall prices range from $400 to morethan $2,000.

Despite their diminutive size, mini -components are usually big on fea-tures-technological as well as conve-nience. Almost all come with remotecontrols, and some are expandable toaccommodate add-on components.Their low power ratings (usually fromabout 14 to 40 watts per channel) makethem well suited for secondary listen-ing areas such as an office, kitchen, orstudy. Quite often they are used asbedroom systems, and many havebuilt-in alarm clocks that make themsophisticated alternatives to an ordi-nary clock radio.

Compact audio systems are not like-ly to replace mix -and -match compo-nents as primary stereo systems any-time in the near future, but their sizeand design enable you to put musicwhere there wasn't any before. Dropin a CD or cassette, press play on theremote control, and you'll be con-vinced that good things do come insmall packages.

A 40 -watt powered

subwoofer gives bass a

boost in JVC's MX -1 compact

component system (above).

Six equalized responses are

preprogrammed for rock,

jazz. pop, and classical

music. headphone listening,

and dubbing tapes tor car

playback. Price: S1,000.

Dose's S2,100 Lifestyle

Music System enables

you to play a CD and the

radio simultaneously

in different rooms. An

Acous-imass bass

module (not shown)

is included.

Fisher hasn't forgotten

the LP in the DCS-750

(below, S755), which

includes a turntable. CD

player. tuner, dual

cassette deck. 25 -watt

integrated amplifier.

and speakers,

A DAT deck sets the Technics

Imagine system (S2,200)

apart. A full 171/2 inches

w de and 131/2 inches deep.

the recorder, CD player. and

receiver are each only 31/4

inches tall. The two-way

remote control has an

operating -status display.

L -

The amplifier in Sony's

MHC-3600CD system

(S1,200) includes inputs for

an optional turntable and a

DAT deck. Matrix surround

processing provides a wider

sound stage from the two

video -shielded. b:amplified

speakers. The am3 celivers

30 + 20 watts pe channel.

A Remote Commander with

LCD readout is included.

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 47

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41

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Making

your audio

or audio /video

system work

1

1 1 II

in more than

one room may

be easier than

you think.

11

ACK in the good old days, family entertainment meant

gathering around the Stromberg-Carlson in the el( 1 'or a

quiet night at home. But times have changed. The Lve ragr.

American houset.old is now habituated to 7-hc it CD

changers and an FM station to every taste-to say not- irg of

two or mare color TV's. So it's not very surprisir ; tha:

multiroom audio (and video) ;s hot these days. People %-ant to

have good sound wherever they are at home.

Wanting is one thing, getting another. Just distributing stereo

sound to multiple rooms arouid the house can be a chaienge.

sharing the music in a way that gives remote listeners a measure

of control over sources and sound is an even sterner task. But

the latest generation of hi-fi equipment is starting to tackle the

problem in a serious fashion.

First comes the oldest and simplest way of achieving multi -

room audio. extension speakers. Put an appropriate pair In the

remote room, wire them to your receiver or amplifier's Speaker

B connectors, and hit the correspondingly labeled front- panel

switch. Voila! Multiroom sound.

But be aware that when you connect additional speakers to

an amplifier, the electrical load it must handle usually becomes

more taxing. Two sets of identical 8 -ohm speakers wired in

parallel present a more difficult combined load of just 4 c lms,

which will demand more current from the amplifier; paralleling

two 4 -ohm speaker pairs reduces the load to a potemially

perilous 2 ohms. In most cases, you will wind up with a load

your amplifier can handle without undue difficulty, but if it

seems to be running very hot, shutting down or blowing fuses

BY DANIEL K U M I N

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 49

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for no apparent reason, or distorting atlow volumes, you may have a prob-lem. If in doubt, check the owner'smanual accompanying your receiveror amplifier for advice, or consult yourdealer or the manufacturer.

Some manufacturers sidestep thisissue by wiring their speaker switchesso that multiple speaker pairs are con-nected in series rather than in parallel,which means that the impedance goesup instead of down. Unfortunately,this approach reduces the maximumpower (and thus the maximum vol-ume) your amplifier can deliver, and itcan degrade fidelity by introducingfrequency -response errors. An easyway to check for series connection isto attach speakers only to the SpeakerA outputs and then switch the selectorfrom A to A + B (both outputs on)while playing music. If the speakers gooff, the connection is serial, and youmay want to consider using an exter-nal switch box rather than the switchbuilt into your amplifier or receiver.

Assuming there's no problem inhooking up extra loudspeakers, twoquestions remain: What kind of wiresshould you use, and how should youroute them? For runs longer thanabout 25 feet, you should use I6 -gaugeor heavier stranded copper cable. Thewire needn't be special in any way,and ordinary hardware -store "zip" or"lamp" cord will do quite well at verylow cost. The point is simply to keepthe resistance of the wire low relativeto the impedance of the loudspeakers,to minimize power loss and responseerrors. As the length of the run in-creases or the impedance of the speak-ers decreases, the wire used should getthicker (lower -gauge). Depending onthe circumstances, you may find itadvisable to go to 14-, 12-, or even 10 -gauge cable.

0

NE relatively easy way to copewith the extension wires is simplyto route them along baseboards,behind furniture, around doorframes, and so on, holding them inplace with cable staples, double -

stick tape, or whatever else you candevise. The drawback is that the re-sults are often unsightly, so you maywant to tackle the onerous task ofsnaking the wires inside your walls.

If you are building a new house, thejob is a snap, since you can do thewiring as the walls themselves go up.(And you probably should stop here toconsider mapping out extensive multi -room audio, video, and possibly evendata wiring throughout your newabode.) Otherwise, the situation istougher. Chasing wires through exist-

ing walls can be a real bear, or evenimpossible-particularly in insulatedoutside walls. (For ground -floor sys-tems, routing cabling through the floorand across basement ceilings is oftenan attractive alternative.)

IF you do go the in -wall route, thecabling may have to be certified tomeet local fire codes; Class 2 wire isoften specified. Check with yourcity or county clerk or building -codeoffice or with the fire department.

Although the likelihood of speakerwires starting a fire is minuscule, givencorrect connection without carelessshorts, codes are codes and shouldalways be followed to the letter. (Thisis no joke: If your house burns downfrom some other cause and investiga-tors find noncode wiring of any sort,the insurance company might thinktwice about paying up.)

If your current receiver or amplifierprovides only a single set of speakeroutputs, don't despair. Numerousadd-on components are available thatcan connect and select two, three, oreven more numerous speaker pairsusing just a single set of speaker out-puts. The simplest are plain A/B/A + Bswitch boxes, available at reasonableprices from companies such as NilesAudio and Russound; more elaboratemodels, such as the Adcom GFS-3($100), may include impedance com-pensation (internal resistors that auto-matically switch in to insure that theimpedance "seen" by the amplifiernever drops too low). Some, such asthe Niles SVC-2 and SVC-4 ($150 and$280, respectively), even have individ-ual passive volume controls for eachset of speakers. At least one manufac-turer, Soundstream, makes a moder-ately priced switcher (the $125 RSS-2)capable of remote -controlled speakerselection when it is used with thecompany's electronics.

Speaker DecisionsOnce a secondary room is wired, the

choice of speakers comes to the fore.Small, two-way bookshelf speakersare a popular and traditional choice forthis purpose, but virtually any modelyou like can be used. Recently, flush -mounted in -wall speakers have be-come very popular. They are designedto be built into wood, wallboard, orplaster walls and connected to wiresprerouted within the partitions.

In -wall speakers have some power-ful advantages: no floor -space require-ments, near invisibility, and generallyexcellent sound from small drivers.They have some liabilities, too. First,tonal balance and stereo imaging from

in -walls are occasionally somewhatunpredictable, given the variety ofpartition (baffle) materials and therange of air volumes behind them.Second, in -wall speakers are therepretty much for keeps: It's impracti-cal, if not impossible, to move themaround, experimenting with place-ment for the best sound or imaging.

For the most part, installing in -wallspeakers is best left to professionalcustom -audio experts. Nevertheless,several manufacturers (BIC, for ex-ample, with its Mum series) now offermodels specifically designed for easymounting by the do-it-yourselfer.

Extending theExtensions

Unfortunately, regardless of type,extension speakers are not by them-selves the perfect multiroom solution.For one thing, they always play at thevolume set at the main system: Chang-ing the level requires a trip back to thereceiver or amplifier. And switchingsources or even just selecting a radiostation requires another round trip.Finally, ordinary extension speakerscan play only the same source as themain pair-if you want Bach in theliving room and a ball -game broadcastupstairs, you're flat out of luck. Fortu-nately, there are solutions to all theseshortcomings of simple extension -speaker setups.

Addressing the first problem re-quires some sort of remote -room vol-ume control. Most common is the ba-sic L -pad, so called because of theshape of the attenuator's schematicdiagram. It consists of a knob and asimple circuit connected between theextension speakers and the wires fromthe source amplifier. Code-approv-able L -pads that fit the same standardwall box used for light switches andAC outlets are effective, inexpensive,and widely available.

The downside is that L -pads areinefficient, inevitably wasting a cer-tain amount of amplifier power;they're usually appropriate only formodest -power applications, and theycan degrade sound quality, particular-ly at low volume settings. An alterna-tive is a slightly costlier autoformercontrol, which uses transformers formore consistent -sounding, somewhatmore efficient volume adjustment.

An even better method from a per-formance standpoint is to equip re-mote rooms with their own subsys-tems, each comprising an appropriate -size integrated amplifier and a pair ofspeakers (or else just a pair of powered

50 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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Secondary Remote Room

Loudspeakers

0

0

L -pad(or equivalentvolume control)

00

0

Primary Remote Room

0

00

Loudspeakers

Infrared -Repeater"Eye"

A + B SpeakerSwitch Box

Main System ("Home") Room

Speaker Aoutputs

Speaker Boutputs(remote)

Multiroom Receiver (or Amplifier)

line inputs

input frominfrared -repeater "eye"

output toinfrared -repeater emitter

Remote -Controlled CD, Videodisc,or Combi Player

Remote -Controlled Audio Tape Deck

Remote -Controlled VCR 0 Infrared Emitter

00

Loudspeakers

The multiroom receiver (or amplifier) in the main system sendsaudio signals to the primary remote room via its Speaker Boutputs. It feeds the speakers in its own room and in thesecondary remote room from its Speaker A outputs via a switchbox. The primary remote room is equipped with an infrared"eye" that is connected back to the receiver in the main room,

speakers). This kind of setup requiresrunning lengthy, shielded, line -levelaudio cables to the remote rooms in-stead of extension speaker wires, so itinvolves substantially greater cost.Several custom and off -the -shelf mul-tiroom systems (the Soundstream Sys-tem1 and the Bose Lifestyle MusicSystem, for example) take the subsys-tem approach, integrating the soundsystems with various control schemesand even video. Often, balanced audiolines are used, greatly reducing sus-ceptibility to hum, noise, and radio -frequency interference. Unhappily,most of these are whole -system,ground -up undertakings.

thus enabling users in the remote room to control the wholesystem. If the main receiver has multizone capabilities, listenersin the primary remote room can even select a different programsource from the one playing in the main room. The secondaryremote room must share the same source as the main room, butan in -line level control can reduce the volume.

Remote RemotesOvercoming the second multiroom

challenge-providing more generalsystem control in remote locations-requires rather more magic, a bit ofsleight-of-hand called an infrared -re-peater (IR-R). An IR-R system can gobeyond simple loudness adjustment. Itcan bring full system control-vol-ume, source selection, CD and tapeplayback and track skip, and perhapseven tone or equalization control-toremote locations. Repeaters are avail-able from a wide variety of makers andusually work along similar lines.

A small sensor eye is mounted in theremote room-many of these, too, are

designed to fit a standard electricalwall box. The eye picks up commandcodes from a handheld remote control(usually, from any remote control) andconverts them to electrical signals,which travel along a single wire routedback to the room where the main sys-tem is located. There, the codes areconverted back to infrared light by anIR emitter, which transmits the com-mands to the source components. Theemitter may be a box that floods themain system with control -encoded in-frared light, or small, individual emit-ters may be placed in front of eachunit's infrared sensor (handy when theequipment is inside a cabinet).

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IR-R systems have a lot going forthem. They're relatively inexpensive($200 or so for a basic setup), veryeffective, and capable of reliably oper-ating equipment of almost any brand.On the other hand, they introduce yetanother long wire that must somehowbe routed to the remote room. Andadding an IR-R setup doesn't addressthe third multiroom challenge: the de-sire for discrete, simultaneous sourcesin different rooms.

Happily, in the last year or two anumber of manufacturers have comeup with "zoned" source compo-nents-receivers, preamplifiers, andtuner/preamps capable of selectingtwo (occasionally more) sources atonce, directing one program to one setof speaker or line -level outputs whilean entirely different signal is routed toa second set. Several designs incorpo-rate remote -controlled volume adjust-ment for the secondary outputs, elimi-nating the need for a remote L -pad oranother passive volume control. Mul-tiroom receivers, such as the PioneerVSX-DIS (a $1,350 full -bore audio/video model) and the Onkyo TX -904 (a$400 mainly audio unit), often includea second, lower -power pair of audiochannels to power the remote loud-speakers. (Most of these exploit theirexisting tape -output circuits to directthe secondary source, so you can'tsimultaneously record a third source.)

Quite a few of these zoned compo-nents can be connected directly to anIR sensor eye and pass commandsfrom the eye on to other componentsfrom the same manufacturer without aseparate emitter. So, with the additionof a set of speakers, an IR sensor eye,and some wires-lots of wires-youcan create a fully capable, remote -controlled, dual -zone audio system.

Cutting the CordAll that remains is to get rid of those

dratted wires. Impossible? Maybe not.Recent changes in FCC regulationshave opened up new radio -frequency(RF) bands for use by home electron-ics products. Among the myriad usesto which these FM channels (in the900 -MHz region) are being put, sever-al have direct bearing on the problemof multiroom audio and video.

Companies such as Videolink andHTS now offer reasonably priced IR-repeater systems that replace the cus-tomary wired control link betweenrooms with invisible radio communi-cations. A small transmitter box with abuilt-in infrared sensor eye is locatedin the remote room; in the room withthe main system, a matching receiver

--,,,"Zoned" source

components can

select two

sources at once.

picks up commands radioed from thetransmitter (through walls and from asmuch as a couple of hundred feetaway), remodulates them to infraredcodes, and re -emits them in the sameway as in a conventional IR-R system.Thus, an entire system can be directedfrom a remote room without the needfor any additional wires.

But you still have to run speakerwires between master and remoterooms. Or do you? Another way thenew RF bands are being exploited isby audio/video senders, availablefrom manufacturers such as Recoton.These systems can send audio andvideo signals from a source compo-nent (or system) to a remote roomentirely over the airwaves-no wiresrequired. A small transmitter unit atthe main room sends out an RF-modu-lated television signal, while a receiverin the remote room demodulates thesignal and then routes conventionalaudio and video signals through cablesto the room's TV set or amplifier andvideo monitor. At least one such de-sign goes further by incorporatingtwo-way radio linking: It transmitscommands from the remote room backto the main system and program sig-nals from the main system or compo-nent to the remote room.

These RF-links are sold mainly asVCR extenders ("Watch movies up-stairs from a living -room videodeck!"), but that means they have tohandle audio as well as video. Unfor-tunately, at this writing only one suchproduct claiming to send stereo audiois available (the others are all mono-phonic). And the fidelity of such sys-tems cannot compare with that of awired system, primarily because of thedifficulty of cramming all that audioand video information into an ordinarytelevision signal.

Another "wireless" technologyisn't, really. Systems that distribute

audio signals along existing house ACwiring have been available for someyears. Typically, these have offeredonly modest fidelity for casual listen-ing. The problem? The main job of ACwiring is continuous distribution of atremendous (115 -volt) 60 -Hz signal-that's one powerful bass note. So anyAC -carrier system must find someway of preventing interference withthe audio signal. This has usually ledto a substantial loss of response.

But at least one manufacturer iscurrently working on a new technol-ogy that it claims can use house ACwiring to distribute "serious" stereoaudio as well as remote -control codes.Components will include a remote -room IR controller, a remote head-phone amplifier, and miniature re-mote -room amplifiers that combinecontrol functions and power-justplug them into any convenient ACoutlet and add speakers to create afully capable remote -room system.Since this system has yet to come tomarket, however, its ultimate sonicperformance is still unknown.

For the ambitious, considerablymore elaborate, integrated multiroommedia hardware is available. The BoseLifestyle Music System, for example,is built around an integrated two -zonecontrol center with a built-in CD play-er and AM/FM tuner that distributesline -level audio signals to any numberof rooms equipped with powered loud-speakers. The system can be operatedfrom anywhere in the house by wire-less RF remote control. More than onemanufacturer can supply a wired sys-tem capable of distributing high -quali-ty audio and video to five or morerooms, with separate source selectionand full remote control of the mainsetup from each. And at the top of thepile are custom -designed and profes-sionally installed multiroom mediasystems-multikilobuck audio/video/security/lighting networks that doeverything but make coffee.

Perhaps the best feature of the latestmultiroom-capable equipment is itsmodularity. You can wire a simple pairof extension speakers now, add an L -pad later, and hook up a wired or RFIR-repeater system later still. Andwhen upgrading your receiver or am-plifier, you might consider models thatinclude multizone output and sourceselection. Eventually video might be-come a part of your distributed system.Keep all this in mind when choosingthe cables to install in new construc-tion or remodeled areas. However youslice it, home entertainment these daysis a multiroom affair.

52 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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Professional type, balancedoutput Jacks are grounded, andshirld t& signal against noise.

In airline pilots, brain surgeons, and CD

players, steadiness is a pretty

fundamental requirement.

In the case of our

newest CD player, the Elites PD -75,

its rock -solid stability has rocked the world of music lovers

and audio critics. As the reviews have rolled in and the

Next, the stable platter, by supporting the entire area

of the CD disc, minimizes wobble and chatter.

A wobbling disc presents a difficult target for the

laser, while a chattering disc creates resonance, distorting

the signal, which distorts the sound.

Another problem for CDs is gravity. Spinning above

the laser pickup and supported only in the center, the

[ HowA CONCEPT CALLEDTHE STABLE PLA1 1 ER

TURNEDTHE CD UPSIDE DOWN.awards have been bestowed, it is apparent that the standard

for CD players has been advanced dramatically. Behind this

success lies a principle that Elite has brilliantly exploited:

The mechanical elements of a CD player are just as critical

to its quality as its electronic components.

The first significant innovation to come out of this

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,Thr Elite PD -75 Compact Disc PlayerIts elegant knob finish reflects technical elegance within.

An advanced linear drivemotor moves the laser

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disc sags microscopically. Which to a

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We invite you to bring your favorite CD to an Elite

dealer and demonstrate the advantages for yourself. Give

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PD -75 for what one critic calledELITE

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And usher in a new era of stability.

For the name of the select dealers in your area carrying the full line of Elite Stable Platter CD Players, please call 800421-1606, ext. 623. 0 1991 Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc., Long Beach, CA

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U a

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ALofty media room

by Rebecca Day

OE ELLIOTT's stereo equipment used to sit awkwardly in a makeshiftstorage cabinet in his Long Island apartment. When he moved to a house,

job number one was to build a media room with a custom high-tech wall unit forhis audio/video components.

Using 150 feet of Monster Cable speaker cable, Elliott prewired the mediaroom, which is in a loft he built above the kitchen. He also ran cables high up onthe kitchen wall for the rear -channel in -wall speakers. Then he made a roughsketch of the wall unit as he wanted it to look, providing a nook for his 61/2 -footNovabeam screen, a few extra slots for future additions, and just enough spacefor his Infinity RS MA speakers. He took the plans to Summit HomeImprovement in Levittown, New York, which built a 16 x 61/2 -foot cabinet madeof particleboard finished with high -gloss mica. Sum-mit also built a matching coffee table that houses aHarman Kardon VPM5000 video projector. Elliottattached a Velcro strip to the back of the enclosureto hold all seven remote controls.

For uniformity, Elliott chose to put all the free-standing components on the right and the rack -mountable equipment on the left. He modified a fewpieces to fit into the rack, which holds a Pioneer RT-909 open -reel tape deck, a Sansui SE -9 equalizer, aYamaha T-70 tuner, C -SO control amplifier, and K-700 cassette deck, a dbx Model 222 noise -reductionsystem, and an SAE ASOl power amplifier for thefront -channel speakers.

On shelves at the right side are a Yamaha DSP-IDigital Sound Field Processor, a JVC HR-S8000US -VHS VCR, a Pioneer CLD-3030 combi-player, aFisher FVH-840 VHS Hi-Fi VCR, a Yamaha M-35 power amplifier for the rearand center -channel Boston Acoustics speakers, and a Fosgate DSM-3608 ProPlus surround processor.

When Elliott needs to get to the back panels of the equipment, he goesthrough a closet off the adjacent bedroom. He'll probably make several trips inthe next few months when he adds a DAT deck, subwoofer, and whatever elsestrikes his fancy. Keeping a media room up to date is a tough job, butsomebody's got to do it.

"Every time you buy something, you've gm to upgrade something else inanother month," Elliott says.

=IV

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 55

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Introducing Ensemble II."My newest design provides betterperformance, better clarity and morepowerful deep bass than -any compet-ing speaker system costing up to twiceas much. We guarantee it."

Henry Kloss

Three years ago, we at Cambridge SoundWorkschanged the audio world when we introducedEnsemble® by Henry Kloss. Designed to com-pete with expensive, high-performancespeaker systems, Ensemble offered no -com-promise performance...in a revolutionary dual-subwoofer/satellite speaker package that couldvirtually disappear in one's living room. Wethen sold this revolutionary system in a revo-lutionary way: factory -direct to the public. Byeliminating costly middlemen, we were ableto price Ensemble at a fraction of the $1,000price tag it would have carried in stores.

Price breakthrough...only $399!

We're now pleased to announce Ensemble II,a single-subwoofer version of the best-sellingEnsemble system. Ensemble II sounds virtu-ally identical to Ensemble (with its dualsubwoofers placed next to each other). In fact,the satellites in Ensemble II are the same aswe use in the original Ensemble. But the bignews is Ensemble II's price: only $399. En-semble II features quality components andcabinet construction normally found only invery expensive speakers. And sonically itoutperforms systems selling for well over$750 a pair. But it's priced in the same rangewith miniature bookshelf speakers.

The subwoofer isthe solution.

Your ears can't tell what direction bass notesare coming from. So Ensemble II uses asubwoofer with two long -throw woofers toreproduce deep bass, and two mini "satellite"speakers for the mid -high frequencies.

Audio Hall of Famemember Heng Kloss

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The subwoofer can be placed just about any-where in a room. It can go behind a chair, inback of drapes...or be used as a plant stand.The subwoofer uses a dual -chamber design.The first chamber consists of two long -throw6.5" woofers, sealed in a true acoustic sus-pension cavity. These woofers project thebass notes into a second cavity, which acts asan acoustic filter. This design is far moreaccurate than a conventional ported woofer.

The satellites.The satellites in the Ensemble II system areidentical to those in the original Ensemblesystem (which Audio magazine said "maybe the best value in the world"). Unlike ourcompetition, an Ensemble satellite is a truetwo-way system, using high-grade compo-nents normally found in more expensive sys-tems. With Ensemble II's dual -chambersubwoofer, they create spectacular sound.

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DI N0

Stereo Review's critics choose the

Big Daddy: Wise -GuyRock Critics You Can Dance To

THE concept behind Big Daddy,the Rhino Records smart -aleckswhose long-awaited (by listenersin some alternative universe)third album, "Cutting Their OwnGroove," is now before us, is

simple enough-in fact, it's so simplethat it's surprising nobody thought ofit before. Posing as an authentic Fiftiesrock band captured by the Commiesduring a 1959 USO tour of the Far Eastand only just released, the group per-forms contemporary Top -40 materialin the styles of the artists they suppos-edly heard before their imprisonment.

What it all sounds like, superficial-ly, is Sha Na Na on acid, and strictly aswise -guy satire "Cutting Their OwnGroove" is great stuff. But it's also apointed act of rock criticism that, at itsbest, works on several levels, strip-ping away the pomposity of decades ofRock -as -Culture by reducing familiarsongs to their primordial inanities ormodest virtures.

Big Daddy's covers can be simulta-neously savage and affectionate, as inthe album's centerpiece, TalkingHeads' Once in a Lifetime recast as anearly Harry Belafonte calypso novel-ty, complete with an unctuous Geof-frey Holder Uncola rap. Sure it's ridic-ulous, sure it deflates David Byrne'spretentious art -school angst. And yetit uncovers musical values and levelsof feeling and emotion in the song thatthe constipated Eighties -ironic origi-nal never dared hint at.

At other times the effect is simplysavage, as in the remake of Mike andthe Mechanics' The Living Years as aLeader of the Pack/Deadman's Curvemotorcycle -crash teenage opera. Thisone will make you laugh initially, nodoubt, but it will mostly make youcringe, because the band's pointcouldn't be clearer if they announcedit at the top-that a jukebox pop song(written and sung by millionaires,you'll remember) can't possibly dealwith an important subject like death onanything but the most sickeningly sen-timental level.

There are other great if less blind -

outstanding current releases

ingly transcendent moments here,such as the hilarious demolition ofWhitney Houston's Greatest Love ofAll, which nails the song's insufferableyuppie narcissism (a doo-wop chorusof "I love me so") the way it alwaysdeserved to be nailed. And there's anot immediately recognizable remakeof Hold On (in the style of JackieWilson) that proves how little songthere was in the Wilson Phillips origi-nal to begin with.

There are also some japes that arejust that (Andrew Lloyd Webber'sMemory done improbably a la theCadillacs' Speedo) and a couple oftracks where the songs emerge a trifleodd -sounding but otherwise un-scathed, as when Springsteen's Bornto Run is reborn as Ricky Nelson'sTravelin' Man (Nelson-not his kids-should have lived to hear it). And yes,inevitably, there are instances wherethe band suffers a failure of nerve anda song falls flat, usually when the jokeseems addressed to the listener orartist without ambiguity, like the jar-ring Madonna reference in the other-

wise wicked Frankie Avalon -styleversion of Like a Virgin.

Mostly, though, "Cutting TheirOwn Groove" comes across as themost subversive party record of theyear, vastly entertaining on a simpleaural -gag level and yet, dare I say it, alittle profound. Maybe it can't resolvethe central dilemma of contemporaryrock-that is, how do we, as fans,justify our emotional commitment to amusic now indistinguishable from beercommericals?-but at least it willmake us think about it. Plus it's got agood beat and you can dance to it.

Steve Simels

BIG DADDY: Cutting Their Own Groove.Big Daddy (vocals and instrumentals).Greatest Love of All; Like a Virgin;Graceland; Once in a Lifetime; The Liv-ing Years; Money for Nothing; Hold On;Ice Ice Baby; Welcome to the Jungle; IStill Haven't Found What I'm LookingFor; Born to Run; Memory; I Want YourSex; Nothing Compares 2U; Help MeMake It Through the Night (CD only).RHINO ® R2-70733 (47 min), © R41H-70733.

Meanwhile,back in theStates . . .

Sha Na Naon acid?

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 57

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Zukerman and T N E

Neikrug Play Mozart Sonatas

MOZART'S violin sonatas, wetend to forget, were labeled askeyboard works with violin ac-companiment. Usage has ac-customed us to regard theseworks differently, even though

we sometimes hear them played bytwo star performers instead of a prom-inent violinist with an "accompanist."In recording the sonatas for RCA Vic-tor, Pinchas Zukerman has chosen toperform them with his long-time recit-al partner, Marc Neikrug, who, atleast in the initial release in their cycle,is given equal prominence-in the waythe music is played and the way it isrecorded. There is really no questionof "accompaniment" in the conven-tional sense here, because Zukermanand Neikrug (whose compositions Zu-kerman has performed as both violin-ist and conductor) perform as truepartners. The mutuality of responsethey have developed over the last fif-teen years or more-a mutuality thatallows for plenty of individual breath-ing room-is an asset that can hardlybe overlooked.

The first issue in their series focusesmainly on Mozart's first few monthsas a Viennese, offering the Sonatas inF Major (K. 377) and G Major (K. 379)and the Variations in G Minor (K.360), all composed between April and

midsummer of 1781. Also included isthe piquant little Sonata in B -flat Ma-jor (K. 8), composed in Paris whenMozart was only seven years old. Therange of mood in the three matureworks, composed within two or threemonths of one another, is striking

00 when they are gathered togeth-er, and there can be very little in

any of them that does not reveal itselfin these uncontrivedly communica-tive, utterly winning realizations. Theunlabored poignancy in the openingmovement of the G Major Sonata isitself enough to make the disc irresist-ible, but Zukerman and Neikrug are justas much on the mark throughout theprogram, dealing with all the music onthe most direct and most involved level.

Zukerman does not eschew vibra-to-his tone is characteristically richand sweet, while never on display forits own sake-and there is nothing inNeikrug's playing that suggests anapology for not using a fortepiano.What they give us here is not a demon-stration of instruments or techniquebut honest and especially tasteful mu-sicmaking. As the sound itself couldhardly be better with respect to thebalance between the two instrumentsor the overall realism, this is a splendidlaunching of what promises to be adistinguished cycle. More to the point,it is simply one of the most enjoyablerecords of its kind, for the Mozart yearor any year. Richard Freed

MOZART: Sonatas for Keyboard and Vio-lin in F Major (K. 377), B-jlat Major (K. 8),and G Mcdor (K. 379). Variations in GMinor (K. 360). Pinchas Zukerman (vio-lin); Marc Neikrug (piano). RCA VICTOR@ 60447 -2 -RC (62 min), © 60447 -4 -RC.

Haitink's Vigorous New "Fidelio"BEETHOVEN's opera Fidelio, a pae-an to human freedom, is univer-sally acknowledged to be one ofthe great works of musical art.And indeed it is. Despite a weakdramatic start, the opera stands a

giant, suffused with the grandeur ofBeethoven's concept, at once simpleand universal, and sustained by someof the noblest music he wrote.

The new Fidelio on Philips, admira-bly recorded, gives a full account ofthe excellences of the score thanks tothe vigorous, tasteful, thoughtful con-ducting of Bernard Haitink. One couldnot ask for finer choral singing thanthat offered by the StaatsopernchorDresden or for more expressive play-ing than that of the Staatskapelle Dres-den. Their work bears witness to theunity of musical effort shared by con -

58 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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go roaring into the lot and bang!

I get hit with: '75 cents for each 20

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late now.' As I looked down I suddenly spotted it.

NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ARTICLES

LEFT IN VEHICLE. I laughed:'

Pioneer Detachable Face Security lets you remove the front panel of your car stere D renderingit useless to thieves. Another Pioneer industry first, this convenient form of security is availableon Pioneer AM/FM/Cassette and CD units. For further information please call 1-8C0-421-1605.C 1991 Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.. Long Beach. CA

Q) PIONEER'The Art of Entertainment

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ductor, chorus, orchestra-and cast.For the set is indeed very well cast.

As Leonore, Jessye Norman contrib-utes one of her most opulent -soundingand dramatically convincing perfor-mances to date. Her singing of "Ab-scheulicher! Wo eilst du hin?" is partic-ularly exciting, she is affecting inmuch of the dialogue, and she seemsinvolved in the story throughout.

As Florestan, Reiner Goldberg ismore than acceptable if not truly great."Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!" makes kill-ing demands on any tenor, written as itis in more of an instrumental than avocal line. If Goldberg brings to therole less brilliance of tone and lesspersonal intensity than did JonVickers, for example, his sincerity andidentification with the character arecommendable.

Kurt Moll sings a splendid Rocco,with a warmth of voice and personalitythat creates a wholly believable figure,always true to what one assumes wereBeethoven's intentions. He handleshis aria, a less than felicitous exposi-tion of Rocco's character, with hu-manity and humor, qualities that en-rich his entire performance. EkkehardWlaschiha is implacably steely as Pi-zarro; his voice has the right "edge"for the part, and he handles his charac-ter's malign demands with conviction.The Fernando of Andreas Schmidt, incontrast, is benign and noble. Thedissimilarity of their vocal qualities isan effective bit of casting.

As Marzelline and Jaquino, respec-tively, Pamela Coburn and Hans PeterBlochwitz perform with vocal assur-ance and refined musical taste. Byunderplaying, they make the naïve do-mesticities of the opening scene morepalatable than usual.

Although other fine recordings ofFidelio are available on CD, includingthe remastered EMI/Angel set led byKlemperer and the London versionunder Solti, I can enthusiastically rec-ommend this new one on Philips astheir equal. Robert Ackart

BEETHOVEN: Fidelio. Jessye Norman(soprano), Leonore; Reiner Goldberg(tenor), Florestan; Kurt Moll (bass),Rocco; Ekkehard Wlaschiha (baritone),Don Pizarro; Andreas Schmidt (bass),Don Fernando; Pamela Coburn (sopra-no), Marzelline; Hans Peter Blochwitz(tenor), Jaquino. Staatsopernchor Dres-den; Staatskapelle Dresden, BernardHaitink cond. PHILIPS ® 426 308-2 twoCD's (133 min), @ 426 308-4.

The StrengthOf Peter Himmelman

F there were any doubt before now,"From Strength to Strength" putsPeter Himmelman in the upper eche-lon of contemporary singer-song-writers-on the same plane as ElvisCostello, Graham Parker, and Bruce

Springsteen and nudging his way to-ward Dylanhood. Each of those writ-ers has something personal that heskillfully communicates. Himmelman'sspecial gift is for lyrics that search outwisdom, compassion, and moralityamid the wreckage of the modern age.He talks in metaphors and wrestleswith Biblical -scale paradoxes. "Theseare the times when white is black andblack is white/So you'd better studyyour road maps very well," he sings inOnly Innocent.

There's a palpable rasp to Himmel -man's voice now-a sign of hard-wonconviction as well as frustration-thatmakes "From Strength to Strength"more vocally aggressive than his pre-vious albums. At the same time, it'sone of his quieter works in terms ofdecibels; any of its fifteen songs couldstand on its own in an unclutteredacoustic arrangement. When he useselectricity, the effect is closer to thelow-key intimacy of early Dire Straitsor "Blood on the Tracks" -era Dylan.

In much of the album, Himmelmanoffers counsel to close friends andfellow travelers who've wandered offthe path. "When you need confession,I'm there to listen/When you're cross-ing the ocean, I've got a boat to row/When you need attention, your audi-ence won't be missing," he sings inMission of My Soul amidst the friendlychatter of acoustic guitars and swoop-ing bass. He confronts his share ofdisillusioning darkness, but he alwaysreturns to some message of indomita-ble strength.

Every lyric is worth quoting, everysong worth hearing. Measure, for in-stance, is a passionate protestation oflove that explodes in a sunburst oftwelve -string guitar. ImpermanentThings, the most beguiling song here,is beseechingly philosophical and mu-sically lovely, posing questions thathave obvious yet uncomfortable an-swers: "So why keep hanging on/Tothings that never stay?/Things that just

440,1111keep stringing us along/From day today?" Eventually, it all comes downto the message of perseverance setforth in Walk On, the song that opensand closes the album. "There can beno thought of surrender, humiliation,or retreat," Himmelman sings. "Walkon, you weary feet."

Parke Puterbaugh

PETER HIMMELMAN: From Strengthto Strength. Peter Himmelman (vocals,guitar); other musicians. Walk On (PartI); Impermanent Things; Woman with theStrength of 10,000 Men; Love of Mid-night; Phone Call from Chicago; OnlyInnocent; Whispering Days; Crushed;Mission of My Soul; Midnight Walk in theRuins; G -d Don't Have to Teach You ThisWay; This Too Will Pass; Measure; Run-ning Away; Walk On (Part 11). EPIC ® CK47073 (58 min), © CT 47073.

60 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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Popular MusicRecent discs and

cassettes reviewed by

Chris Albertson, Phyl Garland,

Ron Givens, Hoy Hemming, Alanna Nash,

Parke Puterbaugh, and Steve Simels

BIG DADDY: Cutting Their Own Groove(see Best of the Month, page 57)

THE BOX: The Pleasure and the Pain.The Box (vocals and instrumentals); oth-er musicians. Inside My Heart; ShineBlue Lady; Temptation; Closer Together;Now or Never; Crying Out Loud for Love;Carry On; One of Us; and four others.CAPITOL © C2 IS -94953-2 (44 min), ©C4 I H-94953.

Performance: SophisticatedRecording: Good

The members of the Box believe in thepower of their own music, and for goodreason-the songs in "The Pleasure andthe Pain" are mostly terrific. The lyricsmake you think, but not too much. Themelodies are pretty without being cute.The band knows their stuff is good, andthis confidence allows them to relax;they don't force the tempos or show offtheir technique. The supple perfor-mances, featuring ringing U2 -like guitarleads and atmospheric keyboard sound-scapes, are transparent. What you hearis what they wrote. The Box has hadthree best-selling albums in their nativeCanada. "The Pleasure and the Pain" isthe band's first U.S. release, but if we'relucky, it won't be the last. B.G.

THE FIXX: Ink. The Fixx (vocals andinstrumentals). All Is Fair; How Much IsEnough; Crucified; Falling in Love (CDand cassette only); Shut It Out; andseven others (eight others on CD). MCAO MCAD-10205 (52 min), © MCAC-10205, 0 MCA -10205.

Performance: Ecch . . .

Recording: Boomy

Hearing this album brings to mind aremark supposedly made by former firstlady Pat Nixon at the unveiling of anunflattering presidential portrait: "Well,Dick, it's not the ugliest thing I've everseen." The Fixx's latest album may notbe the ugliest thing I've ever heard, but it

Explanation of Symbols© = Tape cassette

= LP record= Compact disc (timings are

to the nearest minute)

The La'sF the Beatles were coming out withtheir first album today, they mightsound just like the La's. After all, thisnew Fab Four of British musicianscomes out of the same city, Liverpool,and offers the same kind of explosively

bouncy music that made the originalMop Tops so famous.

Of course, the comparison isn't entire-ly fair to the La's, who don't need to beburdened with all that historical freight.And the parallel doesn't work on alllevels, since the words the La's sing aresomewhat more cryptic than the earlylyrics of John Lennon and Paul McCart-ney. But when you hear, "If you look inyour mind/Do you know what you willfi-i-i-ind/Open your mi-i-i-ind" sung inhigh, nasal harmonies to a sweet, drivingmelody-well, it does seem like 1964 allover again.

Today, when synthesized, beat -heavymusic dominates the charts, this kind ofhypermelodic pop seems out of time, butthe La's are irresistible. They come atyou relentlessly, armed with two guitars(Lee and Niel Mayers), a bass (JohnPower). drums (Cammy), and enoughhooks to supply a fleet of anglers. ThereShe Goes combines eagerly strummedacoustic guitar with jangly electric -gui-

tar noodling, pushed along by a perkyrhythm section. The tune might be toocute for words if the tiny, piping vocalsin the verses weren't set off by a nastywhine in the chorus. The sour -sweetcombination sounds like a duet betweena British Invasion band and a garage-grunge punk outfit.

Not only do the La's cram a lot intoeach tune, but they don't waste any timedelivering the goods. With the exceptionof the final cut, only one song creepsover 3 minutes in length, and two of themstreak by in less than 2 minutes. Most ofthe tracks are programmed without anybreathing space, so the power pop slamsat you without a letup. At just over 35minutes, "The La's" may seem on theshort side, but it's a 35 minutes that canwear you out with its energy. And sel-dom has exhaustion been so much fun.

Ron Givens

THE LA'S. Lee Mayers (vocals, guitar);Niel Mayers (guitar); John Power (bass);Cannily (drums). Son of a Gun; I Can'tSleep; Timeless Melody; Liberty Ship;There She Goes; Doledrum; Feelin'; WayOut; 1.0.U.; Freedom Song; Failure;Looking Glass. Go!/LONDON © 828 202-2(35 rain), © 828 202-4.

3

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 65

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comes close. Always one of the moredubious entrants in that genre of mixedblessings known as New Wave, the Fixxplays heavily synthesized, overgroomedmusic that deflates to nothing underclose examination. Cy Cumin's blusteryvocals, the constipated, U2 -like strain-ing of the "meaningful" songs, and thecontrived MTV dance -party rhythmsgrafted onto them add up to an albumthat's both underwhelming and over-wrought. Even when the Fixx stumblesonto a good idea, such as the crisp,Hollies-style intro to Crucified, it de-volves into a heavy-handed plaint.Stranded in a post -New Romanticswasteland, the Fixx lumbers on, waitingfor a new trend under whose umbrella itcan take refuge. P.P.

GAZOLINE: Zouk Obsession. Gazoline(vocals and instrumentals). CarrementNews; Console Mwen; Bail Gaz; Obses-sion; Dechire; Manage Jeodi. SHANA-CHIE ® CD -64021 (35 min), © C-64021.

Performance: FestiveRecording: Good

Put on "Zouk Obsession," and it's festi-val time in the Caribbean. The six cuts inthis album are extended dance -party ex-cursions with all the zesty, polyrhythmicfervor of Carnival. Oddly enough, thesteady pulse at the heart of this musiccomes courtesy of a drum machine, butthe band serves up so many beats andcounter -beats, along with pealing guitars,chattering banjo, and saucy horns, thatthe tunes never sound robotic. Gazolineknows how to downshift into deeplysensual grind as well as how to explodeinto a frenzied dance fever. No matterwhat they do, it's hard to resist. R.G.

JOHN WESLEY HARDING: The NameAbove the Title. John Wesley Harding(vocals, guitar); other musicians. MovieTheme; The World (And All Its Problems);Fifty Fifty Split; The People's Song; TheMovie of Your Life; Bridegroom Blues;Save a Little Room for Me; Anonymous1916; and seven others. SIRE/REPRISE ®26481-2(59 min), © 26481-4.

Performance: Dejd vuRecording: Okay

Somebody must have put the wrongcover information on an Elvis Costelloalbum. You can hear the familiar nasalvoice singing in the usual exaggerated -crooning style. There's the same kindof clever wordplay. There are even someof the same back-up musicians. But some-thing doesn't seem quite right. The mu-sic doesn't have either the manic explo-siveness or the warped romanticism thatwe normally expect from the secondElvis. Maybe that's why some muchyounger, much cuter guy is shown on thecover. But, hey, the joke of the name isall wrong. From somebody with a handlelike John Wesley Harding, you'd expectmore of a Bob Dylan than an ElvisCostello. That's just another disappoint-ing thing about this album. R.G.

66 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

DON HENRY: Wild in the Backyard. DonHenry (vocals, guitar, mandolin, ukule-le); Ray Kennedy (ukulele); other musi-cians. No Such Love; Into a Mall; Mr.God; The Same Boat; Harley; L. Alien;and four others. EPIC ® EK 46034 (37min), © ET 46034.

Performance: Wacky geniusRecording: Good

Part Randy Newman, part John Prine,Don Henry is Nashville's newest courtjester, as liable to lampoon everythingfrom true love to part-time Christians ashe is to write poignant hits for suchmainstream singers as Kathy Matte,(Where've You Been?). In this debut soloalbum, the singer -songwriter proves tobe far wittier than Ray Stevens and notnearly as misogynistic as Lyle Lovett.

With tongue only half in cheek, Henrytakes an up -close -and -personal look atthe type of folks who show up in LosAngeles on the Greyhound, all theirdreams packed in a cardboard suitcase(L. Alien), and he offers a very wry songabout the adventures of a baby lost to hisparents when the sidecar comes off hismama's motorcycle (Harley). Things geteven stranger with White House Keys, asong that harks back to the kind ofroutines stand-up comics used to do onrecords like "The First Family," sketch-ing the fantasy of a departing U.S. Presi-dent who climbs into his helicopter anddrops his keys, leaving the First Man-sion open to a big bash by the homeless.And yet Henry, who sings in a kind ofrough -gruff Fred Koller voice, shows hisserious side here too with Beautiful Fool,an affecting tribute to Martin LutherKing, and Heart Cut in Half, a peepholelook at a conflicted young Catholic girland the path she regretfully chooses inlife. Produced by Ray Kennedy, one ofcountry's best new progressive talents,Henry's album gives full expression tothe wonderfully untamed animals of hisimagination. Here's hoping they breedlike rabbits. A.N.

PETER HIMMELMAN: From Strengthto Strength (see Best of the Month, page60)

HOODOO GURUS: Kinky. Hoodoo Gu-rus (vocals and instrumentals); othermusicians. Head in the Sand; A Place inthe Sun; Castles in the Air; Something:,Coming; Miss Freelove '69; 1,000 Mile.,Away; Desiree; and four others. RCA C_)3009-2-R (38 min), © 3009-4-R.

Performance: Retro gloryRecording: Fine

The Hoodoo Gurus would have made a

great British Invasion band back in theSixties: They've got killer hooks and a

good combo sound, they're brash andunpretentious, and, best of all, theyknow that while less is more, somehowtoo much is never enough. The tensionbetween understanding the inner work-ings of melodic pop and being able to tapinto that animal psyche whence great

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feedback -guitar solos and yelping vocalsspring makes for fantastic tunes that arerighteously ragged but cleanly mani-cured. In fact, although the album's titleseems an obvious reference to sexualcomportment, I suspect it also expressesa wishful similarity to that best of allpossible bands, the Kinks in their prime.

Head Guru Dave Faulkner has muchthe same wry, cynic's -eye view of theworld as Kinks leader Ray Davies, alongwith a disarming sensitivity and a fond-ness for both sweet balladry and brute

Teddy Pendergrass: magic

force. Faulkner comes out swinging inHead in the Sand, scowling at somesubstance -abusing acquaintance againsta backdrop of surging chords and wildfeedback that sounds like Cream's "Dis-raeli Gears" to the second power. Re-maining in an elemental vein, like theAquarian Age naturals they would havebeen if they were a quarter -centuryyounger, the Gurus move from earth(Sand) to fire (Place in the Sun) to air(Castles in the Air). They make like earlyStatus Quo in Place in the Sun (note theresemblance to Pictures of MatchstickMen in the use of phasing and the Les-lie'd guitar). Castles in the Air is down-right pretty, the vocal line croonedagainst the doubling of a guitar with alight touch of tremolo while falsettocounterpoint rises as gorgeously as inWaterloo Sunset (Kinks buffs take note).

Desiree is the sort of song (jauntyguitars, heart -tugging hooks, swell vo-cals) that shows all that Top 40 pop couldbe-and, in fact, actually was fromabout 1964 to 1968. Brainscan, on theother hand, is pure demented garage -rock, its grungy guitars and motivelesstempo changes gloriously redolent ofspeed and cheap thrills. All told,"Kinky" is a groovy detour from thewasteland of modernity, creating crassfun with simple, durable, time -testedtools: guitars, drums, and a good beat.How can you not like a record that runsfor a succinct 38 minutes with nary awasted note, or a band that recognizes in

its liner -note Hall of Fame not onlyBuddy Ebsen and Leonard Nimoy but"the King of Australian rock & roll,Johnny O'Keefe"? These guys are ascool as they come. P.P.

GEORGE JONES: Friends in HighPlaces. George Jones (vocals); RandyTravis, Emmylou Harris, Charlie Dan-iels, Vern Gosdin, Buck Owens, ShelbyLynne, Tim Mensy, Ricky Skaggs,Ricky Van Shelton, Sweethearts of theRodeo (duet vocals); other musicians. AFew Ole Country Boys; All Fall Down;Fiddle and Guitar Band; All That We'veGot Left; Love's Gonna Live Here; If ICould Bottle This Up; and four others.EPIC® EK 45014 (36 min), © ET 45014.

Performance: On cruise controlRecording: Good

In his second duet album in twelveyears, George Jones, country's premiervoice of doom and despair, seems to bejust marking time until he strolls over tohis new label, MCA. "Friends in HighPlaces" has him veering from his usualpose as the Teddy Kennedy of countrymusic, always getting into some kind oftrouble. He comes across instead as thetamest sort of crooner, harmonizinggamely with a bunch of labelmates andother notables.

With a few exceptions, particularlythe pairings with Emmylou Harris (AllFall Down) and Vern Gosdin (All ThatWe've Got Left), the performancessound routine, tossed -off, as if producerBilly Sherrill had lined everything up andJones just came in to do his part withoutever having had a say in who he mightsing with. There's also some marginalmaterial, and not all of these guest voicessound that great next to their host's.

But what really kills this project is thatthere's no real energy between Jonesand his guests, the usual result of a duetalbum made without the singers everhaving been in the same room at thesame time. Long-distance relationshipsare never very satisfying, after all. A.N.

EARL KLUGH: Midnight in San Juan.Earl Klugh (guitars, keyboards); othermusicians. Midnight in San Juan; EveryMoment with You; Kissin' on the Beach;Mobimientos del Alma; Jamaican Winds;Theme for a Rainy Day; and two others.WARNER BROS. C) 26293-2 (42 min), ©26293-4.

Performance: Very goodRecording: Excellent

Earl Klugh's willingness to experimentwith various rhythms and musical stylessets him apart from those crossover jazzartists who prefer to settle into a singlegroove. His versatility, combined with afirm sense of melodic and harmonic in-vention, has made his recordings consis-tently refreshing.

In "Midnight in San Juan" Klughserves up a most appetizing mix of sam-ba, salsa, and soul, presenting his origi-nal compositions with the kind of virtu-

osity we have come to expect of him.The infectious Kissin' on the Beachsounds like it could be a hit, it's thatirresistible. So is the delicate and lovelyTheme for a Rainy Day, where Klugh'sguitar is backed by a string ensemble andthe inimitable Jean "Toots" Thielemansoffers a lyrical harmonica solo. Klugh'squiet, unobtrusive talent doesn't attractas much attention as it should, but withmore recordings of this quality, that situ-ation might well change. P.G.

THE KNACK: Serious Fun. The Knack(vocals and instrumentals). Rocket o'Love; I Want Love; Serious Fun; One Dayat a Time; River of Sighs; Let's Get Lost;and five others. CHARISMA ® 91607-2 (48min), © 91607-4.

Performance: Serious dragRecording: Grating

Just because Don Was produced "Seri-ous Fun" doesn't mean the Knack is anymore listenable or likable than it wasback in the quartet's My Sharona days.A ten-year hiatus hasn't exactly hum-bled or matured them. The cover of theirnew album, for instance, depicts a short -skirted girl encircled by a fiery hula -hoop. On the disc, lead singer DougFieger runs through numerous clichésthat mean "My libido is aroused," from"I'm a rocket of love" and "I'll be yourmau-mau oh oh yeah" to the unforgetta-bly clever "I'm a dog for your love, babyyeah yeah." Meanwhile, the bandbashes out hamfisted big -beat pop rockcoated with sugary, high -harmony glam-rock choruses. Although they attempt tocombine everything from Sixties popto Seventies hard rock to the chart -busting lite-metal of the past few years,the collision of influences cancels outany coherent identity. Berton Averre'sfleet, encyclopedic guitar rifling is stillthe best thing about the Knack. Other-wise, the group sinks neck -deep in aswamp of derivations. "Serious Fun" willmake you want to forget the Knack. P.P.

TEDDY PENDERGRASS: Truly Blessed.Teddy Pendergrass (vocals); vocal andinstrumental accompaniment. SheKnocks Me Off My Feet; It Should HaveBeen You; Don't You Ever Stop; It'sOver; Glad to Be Alive; How Can YouMend a Broken Heart; I Find Everythingin You; and four others. ELEKTRA C)60891-2 (60 min), © 60891-4.

Performance: Soul master at workRecording: Very good

Turning tragedy into triumph, TeddyPendergrass has pushed himself to ahigher level of artistry since the automo-bile accident that left him paralyzed sev-eral years ago. Building on the sensualr -&-b that first earned him acclaim aslead singer with Harold Melvin and theBlue Notes back in the early Seventies,Pendergrass has recast himself as amuch broader -based artist. The raw, as-sertive, sometimes abrasive macho pos-turing that accounted for much of his

68 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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original popularity has been tempered bythe mellowness of personal strugglecombined with maturity. His new musichas a deeper reach and leaves a morelasting impression.

"Truly Blessed" is Pendergrass'smost ambitious album yet. He producedit himself and co -wrote five of the elevensongs, four with his long-time associateTerry Price and the title song with Gabri-el Hardeman. The set mixes tuneful,spirited numbers with sensitively inter-preted ballads. The reshaping of the BeeGees' How Can You Mend a BrokenHeart is outstanding-Teddy the oldsmoothie at his very best. We Can't KeepGoing On (Like This) represents an unex-pected turn toward social commentary,touching on such themes as war, hunger,and drug addiction. The real gem of thealbum is the riveting title track, TrulyBlessed, a personal anthem featuring agospel -chorus effect and some sanctifiedpiano riffs by Patrick Moten. In all thetracks, however, it is the personal mag-netism and vocal magic of Teddy Pen-dergrass that hold your attention. P.G.

MIKE REID: Turning for Home. MikeReid (vocals, keyboards); Albert Lee(guitar); other musicians. Walk on Faith;Till You Were Gone; I'll Stop Loving You;I Got a Life; Turning for Home; As Simpleas That; and five others. COLUMBIA C)CK 46141 (38 min), ©CT 46141.

Performance: Star playerRecording: Very good

Forget that Mike Reid rips off DireStraits in the guitar opening of Walk onFaith, the hit single from this debutalbum. That misjudgment aside, "Turn-ing for Home" is worth your attention.The former Cincinnati Bengals footballstar has been a respected Nashvillesongwriter for some time now, turningout a passel of tunes for Ronnie Milsap(Stranger in My House, Lost in the FiftiesTonight) as well as Born to Be Blue for theJudds and other hits for Don Williamsand Willie Nelson. Here, in a bluesy,rough-hewn voice-it signals that he's a"real guy," not a slick drugstore cow-boy-Reid moves through eleven origi-nal songs that, for the most part, confinethemselves to familiar subjects: the needto be spiritually and physically centered(I Got a Life), the anguish of unrequitedlove (Everything to Me), and the impor-tance of roots and family (This Road).Reid may recall a lot of country singer -songwriters who find a safe haven withsentimental themes and down-home val-ues, but he writes with such candor andthoughtfulness that he never seems to bepulling an emotional shuck -and -jive.Both uplifting and direct, his songs strikea balance that's still too rare in countrymusic: They're affecting nuggets of hon-esty and snappy radio fare. Keep an eyeon this guy. A . /V.

NICK ROBERTSON: Bullet Proof Boy.Nick Robertson (vocals, guitar); RobbieBlunt (guitar); Maria McKee (vocals);

other musicians. Mind Reader; Show Mea Sign; Pride & Joy; Love, Life andHappiness; She's Looking Tired; Slice ofHeaven; Kiss of Forgiveness; Reach Outand Touch the Moon; and three others.CHARISMA © 2-91422 (50 min), © 4-91422.

Performance: Celtic rockRecording: Very good

Damn, but I really like the way thisyoung Scot sings. Nick Robertsoncouldn't croon in a straight line if his lifedepended on it, and considering the mys-tical quality of many of these songs, hemight think his immortal soul is at stake.You might note a resemblance to VanMorrison. For example, in Show Me aSign-or, as Robertson twists it, "showme a si-yi-yi-yi-i-uhn"-words fail him.As the Great Van has done many times,Robertson goes into the "na" zone, anda major chunk of the chorus becomes,"Na nana nanana na na na na na."Robertson never goes completely into aVan trance (a Vance?), but he clearlygets lost in the music-a lot. Whetherhe's describing the amorous attentionsof a very shy young man (Show Me aSign) or rhapsodizing spiritually about

Mike Reid: blues), candor

existence (Love, Life and Happiness), hehas the eager intensity of a novice in areligious order.

At one moment this album sounds likea hymn, at the next like an r -&-b revue,and at the next like blue-eyed Caledo-nian soul. The ethnicity is reinforced bysuch rootsy instruments as the harmoni-um, dobro, bouzouki, guitaron, pipes,whistle, and violin. The rock 'em, sock'em side comes from your basic electri-fied guitar, bass, and keyboards togetherwith some rifle -shot backbeats. Thatmay sound like a dichotomy, but itdoesn't sound like a dichotomy at all,because Nick Robertson believes whathe sings and plays. What's more, hemakes us believe it, too. R.G.

THE ROLLING STONES: Flashpoint.The Rolling Stones (vocals and instru-mentals); Eric Clapton (guitar); othermusicians. Continental Drift; Start MeUp; Sad, Sad, Sad; Miss You; Rock and aHard Place; Ruby Tuesday; You Can'tAlways Get What You Want; FactoryGirt: Can't Be Seen; and eight others.ROLLING STONES © CK 47456 (77 min),© CT 47456.

Performance: No satisfactionRecording: Good

Today's question, class: What advan-tage does Jim Morrison have over theRolling Stones? The answer: death. Forin death comes freedom-escape frommaintaining the body beautiful, escapefrom living up to an image, and, mostimportant with such figures as Morrisonand the Stones, escape from inevitablemusical deterioration.

Case in point: the Stones' live albumfrom their 1989 "Steel Wheels" tour-so sloppy, so uninspired, so mediocrethat it sounds like the work of a groupthat passed on while no one was looking.It's the over -the -hill gasp of a band that,for the sake of its legend, should havegone out with a blast on the order of aplane crash.

Of the seventeen songs in "Flash -point," four are from the band's "SteelWheels" album, two are new studiooriginals (Highwire and Sex Drive), andthe rest are overly familiar standardsculled from the Stones' long and remark-able career. And yet, there are no greatvocal or instrumental performanceshere. The only real surprise is the inclu-sion of Factory Girl, from the 1968 "Beg-gar's Banquet," and the eye-opener isnot the performance, only that theStoles have chosen to resurrect a songabout their former (fantasy) lives asworking-class heroes. The perfor-mances were clearly drawn from a seriesof shows on the tour (standard routinewith live albums these days), but if theyare the very best of the lot, it must havebeen a lackluster tour, indeed.

The band still has not learned to playPaint It Black totally in sync, and theinstrumentation throughout is often sohit-and-miss as to suggest that RonWood and Keith Richards could not hearthemselves or each other on the moni-tors. Otherwise, the performances sufferfrom two principal faults: lack of emo-tional involvement in the playing or sing-ing (Mick Jagger, especially, seems to beon automatic pilot) and an overall draggi-ness. In fact, the appropriate energylevel really kicks in only twice, bothtimes when two songs mesh together ona roll. In the pairing of Miss You andRock and a Hard Place, the former isthrilling even though the tension, para-noia, and ominous brooding of the studioversion are almost obliterated, and Rockand a Hard Place throbs and aches like asplit lip. It's largely the Uptown Hornsand the background vocalists who nudgeJagger and drummer Charlie Watts topush the tempo up where it belongs, and

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 69

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TO ORDER BY MAIL:SEND MONEY ORDER. CERTIFIED OR CASHIER'S CHECK, MASTERCARD, VISA, AMERICAN EXPRESS or DISCOVER CARD (Include Interbank No,expiration date and signature.) TO. JAR MUSIC WORLD, DEPT. SR079I, 59-59 QUEENS -MIDTOWN EXPRESSWAY, MASPETN, QUEENS, NYII378. Personal and busine$s checks must clear our Authorization Center before processing. Shipping, Handling & Insurance Chargeis 5% 01 Total Order with a $4.95 minimum. (Canadian Orders Add 15% Shipping, with a $9.4.5 minimum charge.) For shipments by air,please double these charges. $25 MINIMUM ORDER. DO NOT SEND CASH. SORRY, NO C.O.D.'!" NEW YORK RESIDENTS PLEASE ADD SALES TAX.

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the fast tempo is precisely what makesthe second song pairing, Jumping JackFlash and Satisfaction, such a welcomerelief at the end of the lackadaisical liveprogram. Neither of the tacked -on stu-dio tracks comes close to tearing up theplace. The exhaustion of the RollingStones, as artists and performers, be-comes pathetically obvious in the ironiclyrics of one of the new tunes, whereJagger, the shiny, slithering snake of old,boasts, "We walk the high wire." Well,you used to, fellas. You used to. A.N.

DAVID LEE ROTH: A Little Ain'tEnough. David Lee Roth (vocals); vocaland instrumental accompaniment. A Lil'Ain't Enough; Shoot It; Lady Luck; Ham -

Rod Stewart: singles -bar rock with soul

merhead Shark; Tell the Truth; Baby's onFire; 40 Below; Sensible Shoes; and fiveothers. WARNER BROS. ® 26477-2 (53min), © 26477-4.

Performance: Larger than lifeRecording: Good

The clown prince of hard rock is backwith a vengeance. For those whothought David Lee Roth had become aliving parody of pop metal, more con-cerned with his hair and biceps than withhis music, "A Little Ain't Enough" willcome as a tonic shock. This album fairlyoozes with the over -the -top qualitiesthat made Roth and his former band,Van Halen, famous: beefy vocals, luriddouble entendres, slashing guitars,pumping rhythms. The title may be themost understated thing about it-for thisdude, clearly, too much ain't enough.

Roth has always had the glibbest of

tongues. His lyrics display all the re-serve of a frat boy on a Saturday night,but they're often outrageously funny.For example, in the title track Rothsings, "Vaccinated with a phonographneedle one summer break/Same summerthat I kissed her on her daddy's boat/And shot across the lake." And-wink,wink-how about this bar flirtation fromShoot It: "I heard you like to play withguns/And I see ya got a vacancy!!" If heweren't so clever, Roth would be entire-ly too sleazy to take. On the other hand,he might also make music about genuinefeelings-other than lust, of course.

"A Little Ain't Enough" moves Rotha little more into the musical main-stream. Oh, he still likes his rhythmsection to whomp and his guitarists torip, but he keeps the players under afairly tight rein (the guitar solos herewon't satisfy metalheads craving longbursts of window -shattering special ef-fects). Keyboards provide syntheticsweetening throughout, and Shoot It getspunched up by a full horn section. Thatbrass is the only metal you'll hear in thisalbum. Roth rocks just as hard as ever-some of these songs are close relatives ofVan Halen hits-but overall there's alittle more pop sensibility. Maybe Rothis ripening, not maturing, as a musician,or maybe he's just aiming for old VanHalen fans now settling into careers. Itdoesn't really matter. Whatever the rea-sons, "A Little Ain't Enough" is good,semi -clean fun. R.G.

DARDEN SMITH: Trouble No More.Darden Smith (vocals, guitars, percus-sion); vocal and instrumental accompa-niment. Midnight Train; Frankie & Sue;All the King's Horses; 2000 Years; Ashesto Ashes; Fall Apart at the Seams; andfive others. COLUMBIA OO CK 45289 (37min), © CT 45289.

Performance: IngratiatingRecording: Good

Long a mainstay of the Austin musicscene, Darden Smith is a master of theimpressionistic school of songwriting.Unfortunately, he's a little -recognizedmaster.

For this second solo album, Smithhas, wisely, left Columbia's country di-vision and now labels his music "acous-tic rock," although much of his materialdoesn't mind rubbing shoulders withfolk, blues, gospel, or almost any otherstyle he can coax out of a wooden guitar.The best way to describe his music is tosay that it's interior monologues set tosubtle musical shadings.

Sinith finds his inspiration in situa-tions of struggle. He's haunted by rela-tionships that never get resolved, one ofseveral themes that dominate the folk -blues of Midnight Train, though the BillyJoel -like pseudo bebop of Frankie & Suehas a happier ending. Smith likes to tellstories in song, but more often than not,as in Fall Apart at the Seams, he merelysketches the broad strokes and lets thelistener fill in the details. That's where

he either loses you or reels you in for life:He's singing about himself, but he'ssinging about you, too.

Most of the time, Smith sounds likeone of the best of the British folkies-certainly he has more of an English-man's approach to romantic mood than aTexan's. Listen to My Own Voice, forexample, weds a Bruce Hornsby -likemelody to a kind of Bert Jansch sensibil-ity. And Johnny Was a Lucky One, a taleof two soldiers who went to Vietnam,only one returning, examines the luck ofthe dead, who no longer have anything toprove and can never disappoint us.

"Trouble No More" had a time get-ting to the final mix. Martin Lascellesproduced seven cuts, and Pete Anderson(Dwight Yoakam, Michelle Shocked)came on board for four. Their differentapproaches may explain why the albumpaddles along a little aimlessly at timesand doesn't seem quite sure what kind ofrecord it wants to be. Nevertheless,"Trouble No More" is filled with memo-rable insight and images, and it establish-es Darden Smith as one of our mostalluring cockeyed poets. A. N.

ROD STEWART: Vagabond Heart. RodStewart (vocals); vocal and instrumentalaccompaniment. Rhythm of My Heart;Rebel Heart; Broken Arrow; It TakesTwo; When a Man's in Love; You AreEverything; The Motown Song; Go OutDancing; and four others. WARNERBRos. O 26300-2 (55 min), © 26300-4.

Performance: ImprovedRecording: Very good

The past fifteen years of Rod Stewart'scareer were tidily summarized on CD'sNos. 3 and 4 of his boxed retrospective,"Storyteller." Maybe two or threetracks from each of his last who -knows -how -many albums hold up as art or asentertainment. The albums themselvesseem to pass into the cutout bins almostas quickly as they go Platinum, victimsof their own lack of consequence. "Vag-abond Heart" finds Stewart working toreclaim some of his soulful interpretivetouch without completely letting go ofthe synth -inflected singles -bar rock thathas become his bread and butter. Onbalance, it's his best piece of work since1981's "Young Turks."

On the plus side, Stewart approachesRobbie Robertson's enigmatic BrokenArrow in more of a Gasoline Alley than aSunset Boulevard state of mind. Similar-ly, he breathes life into Van Morrison'sHave I Told You Lately with an aching,reverential vocal. Rhythm of My Heart,reverberant with bagpipes and massivedrums, is the closest thing to a classicsingalong he's cut since Sailing. Fromhis own pen, Go Out Dancing zips alongat an infectious clip, and If Only is apotent ballad of lost love that other sing-ers will be moved to cover. Then again,the album is marred by some awful silli-ness (a fluffy pick-me-up called RebelHeart and a Richard Perry -produced tri-fle entitled The Motown Song) and a

72 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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compulsive K -Tel Records mentality(pro forma cover versions of It TakesTwo, sung with a bored -sounding TinaTurner, and the Spinners' You AreEverything). Still, if "Vagabond Heart"is a mixed bag, it's worth hearing if youlike the lad. P.P.

THE TRAGICALLY HIP: Road Apples.The Tragically Hip (vocals and instru-mentals); other musicians. Little Bones;Twist My Arm; Cordelia; The Luxury;Born in the Water; Long Time Running;Bring It All Back; Three Pistols; and fourothers. MCA ® MCAD- 10173 (49 min),

MCAC- 10173, al MCA -10173.

Performance: CrunchyRecording: Good

When the Tragically Hip get riled, theymake music as sharp as a pistol crack.Their guitars are nice and stingy, theirrhythm section knows how to crunch itup, and their vocals are full of sound andfury. But most of "Road Apples" signi-fies nothing to me, thanks to wildlyoverwritten lyrics, including referencesto "prideless loans" and "spider -webalphabets." Back in their native Canada,the Tragically Hip have been very suc-cessful with their no -holds -barred style,but I wish they showed a little morediscipline. R.G.

KELLY WILLIS: Bang, Bang. KellyWillis (vocals); Steuart Smith (electricguitar); Richard Bennett (guitar); othermusicians. I'll Try Again; Too Much toAsk; The Heart That Love Forgot; Sin-cerely (Too Late to Turn Back Now);Baby, Take a Piece of My Heart; Bang,Bang; and four others. MCA ® MCAD-10141 (37 min), MCAC-10141.

Performance: Branching outRecording: Good, but . . .

Kelly Willis's debut album zippedthrough the country -music scene lastyear like a convertible caught on fire andracing toward the river. Recorded withher band, Radio Ranch, it showcasedWillis as a wild and libidinal go -get -'emgal out for the ride of her life. She hadone mode and one mode only: full tilt.

In "Bang, Bang," her follow-up al-bum, Willis has ditched her band in favorof far stronger studio players-SteuartSmith, Paul Franklin, and Richard Ben-nett on guitar, Lamle Londin on drums,and Lee Sklar on bass. She's alsolearned to vary her delivery, tighteningher belt a notch or two for the ballads andreining in her hell -bent -for -leather per-sonality when the material demands.

Still, at twenty-two, Willis possesses agreater range and more lung power thanalmost anyone else in or on the fringes ofcountry music, and she continues to callon her rock influences-as well as PatsyCline-to sell her songs of anxious ro-mance. With a smart repertory courtesyof Joe Ely and Steve Earle, among oth-ers, Willis stirs up a sound-part pro-gressive cowpunk, part retro-Nashville-that suggests Patsy Cline hopped up

on speed and recording with a WestCoast band. Cline, of course, for all herhard language in private, was never thisfiercely independent or modern in pub-lic. But Willis, despite her excellent tastein songs; doesn't really sing these tunesas much as use them as costumes inwhich to wrap her fantasies. Nowhere isthis clearer than in the title song, credit-ed to a writer with the cryptic name ofIsnard. Rockabilly to the core, the tuneis as jumpy as a death -row inmate com-ing up to his last appeal. It cooks likecrazy, but who knows exactly what Wil-lis means to say with it?

Unlikely as it may seem, Willis justmight be a less sophisticated and philo-sophical version of the Cowboy Junkies'Margo Timmons-a sort of blank slateon which the listener projects whateverhe wants. As with the Junkies, there'ssomething happening here. But what-and how hard you're willing to work tofind it-is up to you. A . /V.

TOM ZE: The Best of Tom Ze. Tom Ze(vocals and instrumentals); other musi-cians. Md: 0 Riso e a Face; Toc; To;Cademar; Hein?: Augusta, Angelica eConsolacia; So (Solida); and seven more.LUAKA BOP/WARNER BROS. ® 26396-2(41 min), © 26396-4.

Performance: ExperimentalRecording: Very good

Prepare for the unexpected with TomZe, who has taken popular Brazilianmusic as we know it, broken it into itsparts, and created an eccentric but high-ly appealing style of his own. He becameknown in his own country back in theSixties as part of the tropicalismo move-ment, a surge of creativity that spannedall the arts. While others such as Cae-tano Veloso and Gilberto Gil went on tointernational acclaim, Ze has held to hisown experimental course, emphasizingsatirical commentary and a fusion of thevarious elements that contribute to therich Brazilian culture.

The selections here are drawn fromseveral albums Ze made during the Sev-enties. While an ample number repre-sent the bittersweet melodicism thatmakes Brazilian music so irresistible,the most interesting pieces are thosewhere Zd lets his imagination run ram-pant. In one of these, Md, which opensthe set, what sounds like an Africanchant is sung against a weirdly ominoussamba background. It seems to be musicfor a baptism ritual, but the lyrics (pro-vided here in translation) are so odd thatthe intent remains indeterminate. Ze'sinstruments include not only guitar butalso a typewriter and something he con-structed from vacuum cleaners, door-bells, and blenders, among other things.Even when he croons Antonio CarlosJobim's Felicidade (a highlight of theclassic French film Black Orpheus), healters the meter so that the whole thingseems just a little askew. It all adds up toa fascinating excursion into the world ofa highly creative artist. P.G.

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 73

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ANDRE JAUME: Something Old, Some-thing New, Something Borrowed, Some-thing Blue. Andre Jaume (tenor saxo-phone, clarinets); Joe McPhee (sopranosaxophone, valve trombone); ClydeCriner (piano); Anthony Cox (bass); BillStewart (drums). 872; Devotion; TheCoaster; God Bless the Child; Love andHate; and four others. CELP/HARMONIAMUNDI ® C15 (64 min).

Performance: Something fineRecording: Excellent

I don't know anything about AndreJaume-where he came from, how hegot here, where he's going, or what hedid before making this album. All I knowis that what I hear on "Something Old,Something New, Something Borrowed,

IFats Waller: Come and get it!

Something Blue," recorded in NewYork in 1990, makes me want to hearmore. Jaume plays tenor saxophone andclarinets with equal authority, makingsmooth transitions from one stylistic en-vironment to another. For this set heassembled a superb group of playerswho share his obvious penchant for tak-ing the music down a variety of windingpaths. For example, his own Gin Fizz atfirst has a decided Fifties West Coastfeel, but it soon modulates almost imper-ceptibly into the Nineties.

Also featured here is multi -instrumen-talist Joe McPhee, and I have neverheard him play better. His smooth trom-bone work on the opening track -872,his own composition dedicated to his latefriend and co -player, Clifford Thorn-ton-is a revelation, and hearing his saxo-phone engage Jaume in weaves of in-triguing invention made me wonder whyMcPhee is not as appreciated at home as

Jazzhe is in Europe. I must also praise pianistClyde Criner, bassist Anthony Cox, anddrummer Bill Stewart, who collectivelyprovide a superb rhythmic foundationthat helps to insure this album a promi-nent place in my collection. C.A.

LES McCANN: Les Is More. LesMcCann (piano, vocals); other musi-cians. Maleah; With These Hands; Sa-rnia; Little Blue Volkswagen; Clapforma-tion; Bird Story; Compared to What; andfour others. NIGHTNIRGIN ® 2-91591 (57min), © 4-91591.

Performance: RepresentativeRecording: Okay live tapes

This offbeat album showcases LesMcCann in many roles, from that ofpianist and singer, for which he is bestknown, to that of raconteur, talentscout, and jazz aficionado. The materialis culled from more than five hundredtapes McCann made of his own liveperformances over the years, along withbits from radio interviews and perfor-mances he taped of other artists whosecareers he fostered. It is thus more likean aural documentary than a conven-tional music album.

The selections featuring McCann asperformer date from the Sixties and arerepresentative of the accessible, gospel -flavored style that made him such afavorite during those years. Maleah, inparticular, evokes the mood of that peri-od by McCann's use of Ahmad Jamal'sfamous Poinciana rhythm pattern. Othertracks are live versions of McCann'sbest-selling recordings, including Com-pared to What and With These Hands(which established McCann as a vocal-ist). There is also a montage of fragmentsby other artists under the title Les byNight, featuring Stanley Turrentine,Cannonball Adderley, and CarmenMcRae taped during performances inLos Angeles clubs and a live recording ofthe then little-known Roberta Flacksinging All the Way in Washington, D.C.,just before McCann helped her get herfirst contract with Atlantic Records.

The sound of these nonprofessionalrecordings lacks depth at times, but thatcan be overlooked because of the elec-tricity of the performances. Overall,"Les Is More" makes for an interestingtime capsule of Sixties jazz. P.G.

FATS WALLER: The Last Years (1940-1943). Fats Waller and His Rhythm (vo-cals and instrumentals). Old Grand Dad;Fat and Greasy; (You're a) Square fromDelaware; Eep, Ipe, Wanna Piece of Pie;Stop Pretending; I'll Never Smile Again;Dry Bones; Fats Waller's Original &flatBlues; Stayin' at Home; Hey! Stop Kissin'My Sister; Everybody Loves My Baby;I'm Gonna Salt Away Some Sugar;'Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do; Aber-crombie Had a Zombie; My Melancholy

Baby; Mamacita; Shortnin' Bread; IWanna Hear Swing Songs; You're GonnaBe Sorry; All That Meat and No Potatoes;Let's Get Away from It All; Come and GetIt; Rump Steak Serenade; Ain't Nothin'to It; and forty others. BLUEBIRD/BMG© 9883-2-RB three CD's (194 min), @9883-4-RB three cassettes.

Performance: The one and onlyRecording: Excellent mono transfers

There was no one quite like Thomas"Fats" Waller, and while his music isgenerally pigeonholed as swing, it reallydefies categorization. As a pianist, Wal-ler looked to James P. Johnson for inspi-ration, and if Johnson was the father ofthat rollicking, two-fisted Harlem styleknown as stride, Waller was the manwho popularized it. A superb pianist, heinfluenced many other jazz performers,especially Count Basie, whom he taught.During a recording career that spannedtwenty years, Waller made hundreds ofsides-mostly for Victor and its subsid-iary label, Bluebird-that focused onanother aspect of his talent: humor. Hehad a way with words, and while heloved and often wrote tunes with wittylyrics, he could also take a trite Tin PanAlley song and mock it in a manner thatmade it quite palatable. Unfortunately,Waller's humor and showmanship oftenobscured his musicianship-audiencesexpected him to be a comic all the time.

"I think that really frustrated him,"sideman Eugene Sedric told me during a1961 session reuniting several Walleralumni. "He loved to clown, but I'veseen him when he wanted to get moreserious. But people wanted to hear hishits, so we always ended up doing thefunny numbers."

This three-CD/tape reissue set con-tains sixty-three songs recorded by FatsWaller and various versions of his bandbetween April 1940 and July 1942. Be-cause reissue producer Orrin Keepnewswanted to concentrate on the band sides,the set does not include Waller's five1941 piano solos, and it also omits theeight band recordings made at a January12, 1940, session, probably for lack ofspace.

As might be expected, the emphasishere is on novelty, and it's a delightfulromp, full of salient instrumental state-ments and good ensemble passages.Waller's small -band regulars, like saxo-phonist Sedric, trumpeter HermanAutry, guitarist Al Casey, and drummer"Slick" Jones, are on hand for most ofthe proceedings, but there are also ses-sions with larger bands. Novelty tunestend to date quickly, but Waller's vitalityand musicianship make these spiritedcuts sound as fresh today as they werefifty years ago. Let's hope BMG reissuesall of the Waller material with the sameattention to sound quality obviously giv-en to this superb set. C.A.

74 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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Recent discs and \__

cassettes reviewed by

Robert Ackart, Richard freed, David Hall,

Eric Salzman, and David Patrick Stearns

ARENSKY: Variations on a Theme byTchaikovsky (see TCHAIKOVSKY)

ARNOLD: English Dances, Sets I and II,Opp. 27 and 53. Solitaire: Sarabande; Pol-ka. Scottish Dances, Op. 59; Irish Dances,Op. 126; Cornish Dances, Op. 91. LondonPhilharmonic Orchestra, Malcolm Ar-nold cond. LYRITA C) SRCD.201 (61min).

Performance: IngratiatingRecording: First-rate

This disc, marking the seventieth -birth-day year of Malcolm Arnold, is a collec-tion of all of Arnold's British dances,with the composer himself conductingthe London Philharmonic (in which or-chestra he played first trumpet back inthe Forties). Nowhere do all of Arnold'sgifts come together more ingratiatinglythan in these altogether sparklingdances. There are five sets, all in fours,composed between 1950 and 1986. In1956 the eight English Dances were usedfor a ballet called Solitaire for whichArnold composed two additional pieces,a sarabande and a polka, that are alsoincluded.

The same program, played by the Phil-harmonia Orchestra under BrydenThomson, is on a recent Chandos CD,but the Lyrita disc under Arnold himselfis clearly more fetching. Arnold, after all,knows what he wants to express in thesedances-which moods he wants to cap-ture-and his somewhat more expansivetreatment gives them the breathing spacedenied them by Thomson, who, whilenever seeming coldhearted or indifferentto their essential charm, does tend to rushsome of them off their feet.

Arnold recorded the Irish Dances andthe two Solitaire pieces digitally lastyear, while all the other material on thisdisc goes back to 1979 analog sessionsand was issued on LP. There is a littlemore brightness in the 1990 material, butthe sound is really first-rate throughoutthe disc. A splendid introduction to thiscomposer's music. R.F.

Explanation of Symbols@=o=@=

Tape cassetteLP recordCompact disc (timings areto the nearest minute)

Classical MusicBACH: French Suites (BWV 812-819).Davitt Moroney (harpsichord). VIRGIN® 91201-2 two discs (144 min).

Performance: OutstandingRecording: Outdoorsy

As usual, the harpsichordist Davitt Mo-roney delivers numerous surprises inthis recording, but not the sort that haveearned him a reputation with some crit-ics as an eccentric. Instead of the usualsix French Suites, there are eight-thesame as in Christopher Hogwood's re-cording for COiseau-Lyre, based onprevious versions Bach wrote during thelong metamorphosis of these suites. Ofcourse, Moroney has made his own tex-tual decisions among the many possiblevariants, such as augmenting the fourthsuite (BWV 815) with a second gavotte-recorded here for the first time-that heuncovered from an early version of thepiece. Though not a major find, it'slonger, more substantial, and more fugalthan any of the other gavottes in the set.

All of this might seem like academichairsplitting were it not for the convic-tion of Moroney's playing. His musico-logical investigations have evidentlyadded to the richness of his interpreta-tions. In fact, this is one of the finest andmost satisfying recordings of the FrenchSuites on harpsichord available. Mostmodern musicians (with the exception ofthe pianist Andras Schiff) interpret Bachfrom a metrical standpoint-no matterhow independent the individual linearvoices are, they must strictly line up tocreate a vertical sonority. Moroney is atruly polyphonic player. He gives eachstrand the character, independence, andflexibility it requires, even if it meansusing flexible tempos, which, in anycase, bring the music a certain warmth.Add in his generous ornamentation andpractice of breaking chords, which un-fold at a natural, leisurely tempo, and thelistener has the pleasant sensation offloating on a buoyant salt sea. The re-cording, made at the Chateau de Creulletin Normandy, is resonant but clear. Ob-viously, the engineers left the windowsopen, because between movements youcan hear birds twittering outside. A nicetouch. D. P. S.

BEETHOVEN: Fidelio (see Best of theMonth, page 58)

BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonata No. 28, inA Major, Op. 101; Piano Sonata No. 29,in B -flat Major, Op. 106 ("Hammer-klavier"). Andrew Rangell (piano).DORIAN ® DOR-90143 (74 min).

Performance: ContemplativeRecording: Close-up

Andrew Rangell comes across here as athoughtful musician, more concerned

about the music's essence than its medi-um, yet aware of how much a part of thatessence the medium can be. How unaf-fected his personal view is by tradition ispowerfully apparent in the openingpages of the B -flat Sonata. There is animpression of unlabored depth and in-tensity, but with no sacrifice of momen-tum or regard for tone. The remarkablebalance of internal elements and techni-cal strength draws the listener in to alevel of absorption perhaps approximat-ing the pianist's own.

Rangell takes a fairly expansive, in -

Andrew Rangell: every note counts

ward view of both works on this disc,and at the extremely deliberate tempo headopts for the adagio of the B -flat Sonatathe momentum does threaten to thin outa bit-but somehow it never does. Everynote is unselfconsciously made to count,and the more one listens, the more allnonessentials seem to fall away, untilonly the bare -bones intellectual andemotional core of the music remains.This kind of playing is clearly not intend-ed to appeal to the casual listener.

Despite the vaunted excellence of theTroy Savings Bank Music Hall (in up-state New York), where the recordingwas made, and the note about the use ofshort microphone cables, fiber-optictechnology, etc., the hall's reverberance

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 79

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Mikhail Rudy: Jana'ek by way of Ravel

sets up an occasional blur. Crispnesscan, perhaps, be exaggerated to antisep-tic levels, but the sound here becomes alittle fuzzy; perhaps it is an inevitableconsequence of the close-up focus,which contributes to an otherwise agree-able warmth and full body. In any event,these performances are definitely worthhearing-not only hearing, but very spe-cifically listening to-even though theymay not displace established personalfavorites. R.F.

BERLIOZ: Milodies. Les Nuits d'Ete; LeJeune Pdtre Breton; La Captive; Le Chas-seur Danois; Zalde; La Belle Voyageuse;Aubade; La Mon d'Ophelie. BrigitteFournier (soprano); Diane Montague,Catherine Robbin (mezzo-soprano);Howard Crook (tenor); Gilles Cache-maille (baritone); Orchestre de l'Operade Lyon, John Eliot Gardiner cond. ERA -

TO ® 45517-2 (65 min).

Performance: Unusually rewardingRecording: Excellent

The thirteen songs here, comprising allof those that Berlioz orchestrated, makefor an uncommonly unified collection.But there is no lack of variety, for eachperformer brings to his selectionsthoughtful, elegantly phrased interpreta-tions and impressive singing. Comple-menting the vocal performances are thesensitive and contemplative conductingof John Eliot Gardiner and the involvedplaying of the Orchestre de l'Opera deLyon, one of France's finest ensembles.

Of special interest is the celebratedcycle of six songs called Les Nuits d'Ete(Summer Nights), which is customarilyperformed by a single female singer butis here shared by a tenor, two mezzos,and a baritone, as was apparently Ber-lioz's final intention. The only overtly"happy" piece in the cycle is the open-ing Villanelle; the rest are either pensive

or sorrowful, yet each is presented witha freshness that differentiates it from theothers, and all are sung with unaffectedand moving simplicity. The seven addi-tional songs are somewhat more variedin mood, although each has an underly-ing Romantic tristesse . In each case thehaunting music is so sharply honed, sodeftly orchestrated that every note isinstantly recognizable as Berlioz, andone comes away from the recording witha fuller appreciation of his unique gifts.Warmly recommended. R.A.

JANA(EK: Sonata, October 1, 1905; Onan Overgrown Path; A Recollection; In theMist. Rudolf Firkusny (piano). RCA @60147 -2 -RC (70 min).

Performance: Gritty and eloquentRecording: Sumptuous

JANAtEK: Sonata, October 1, 1905; Inthe Mist; A Recollection; On an OvergrownPath; Three Moravian Dances. MikhailRudy (piano). EMI @ CDC -54094-2 (79min.)

Performance: SleekRecording: Excellent

However popular Leog Janadek's pianomusic became after being used in thefilm The Unbearable Lightness of Being,his handful of keyboard works tend tobe the exclusive property of Czech pia-nists in general and Rudolf Firkusny inparticular. Firkusny has made two su-perb recordings of them, one in 1972 forDeutsche Grammophon (recently rere-leased on CD) and an even better setrecorded by RCA in 1989 and recentlyreleased. He captures the music's aston-ishing emotional range in all its transcen-dent beauty and shocking ugliness, itsimpulsive rhythms and bold color.

Matching these performances is a tallorder for any pianist, even one as richlytalented as the young Russian Mikhail

Rudy. Though Firkusny's more richlycolored, rhetorical style is idiomatic,Rudy presents a different view in perfor-mances that are more suave, less person-al, and more attuned to the purely musi-cal aspects of these programmatic, evenconfessional works. Having lived muchof his adult life in France, Rudy tends toview Janatek through the coloristicprism of Ravel, an often appealingthough somewhat limited approach.

Rudy's program isn't built as skillfullyas Firkusny's RCA set, and neither discincludes the early, inconsequentialZdenka Variations, which does show upin Firkusny's DG recording. In fact,none of the three contains all of Jana-dek's piano music. But Rudy's is theonly one that has the Three MoravianDances, which show the emotionallyoverwrought composer in an uncharac-teristic light, humorous vein. D.P.S.

MOZART: Three Sonatas for Keyboardand Violin; Variations in G Minor (see Bestof the Month, page 58)

MOZART: Symphony No. 40, in G Minor(K. 550); Symphony No. 41, in C Major (K.551, "Jupiter"). Vienna PhilharmonicOrchestra, James Levine cond. DEUT-SCHE GRAMMOPHON © 429 731-2 (77min).

Performance: Nicely styledRecording: Good

With this release, James Levine and theVienna Philharmonic complete their tra-versal of the Mozart symphonies fromNo. 21 on. This CD of the last twosymphonies might be described as re-plete with repeats. The G Minor, which aquarter -century ago would have runabout 25 minutes, here clocks in at nearly38 minutes, and the "Jupiter," whichonce took 26 minutes, now runs 38:40.For me the full complement of repeatsworks fine in the "Jupiter," but when theG Minor's andante is extended to twicethe length of the opening movement, itthrows things a bit out of proportion.

Nonetheless, these modern -instru-ments performances come off in finestyle, with Levine taking a Bruno Wal-terish lyrical approach to the G Minorand giving the "Jupiter" a splendidlyexpansive treatment, moderated by abeguilingly tender slow movement andan easy -gaited menuetto. Sonically, oneis aware of a fairly close microphoneplacement in a large hall, but the audi-ble decay time is not obtrusive. Theorchestral performance is fine-grainedthroughout. D.H.

MUSSORGSKY: Khovanshchina. AageHaugland (bass), Prince Ivan Kho-vansky; Vladimir Atlantov (tenor),Prince Andrei Khovansky; Vladimir Po-pov (tenor), Prince Vasili Golitsyn;Paata Burchuladze (bass), Dosifei; Mar-jana Lipovgek (mezzo-soprano), Marfa;others. Slovak Philharmonic Choir; Vi-enna Choir Boys; Vienna State OperaChorus and Orchestra, Claudio Abbado

80 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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cond. DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON ® 429758-2 three CD's (171 min).

Performance: CommittedRecording: Cavernous

Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina is an op-era that seems to loom large on every-body's rehabilitation list. Obviously,there's a great work somewhere in theunfinished, dramaturgically messy ma-terial that the composer left behindwhen he died of alcoholism in 1881.

Ever since Rimsky-Korsakov put theopera into performable shape, whilealso removing some of the music'smore interesting peculiarities, impresa-rios from Serge Diaghilev to James Le-vine have struggled to make thissprawling drama about mass suicideamong seventeenth -century religiousfanatics more than endless mumblingabout the fate of Mother Russia.

Such endeavors are helped immenselyby the 1959 edition of the opera byDmitri Shostakovich, which was basedon the original manuscripts, including agood deal of material Rimsky had dis-carded. Characters that had little or noreason for coming or going in Rimsky'sversion make far more sense withShostakovich's restorations, and se-quences that previously seemed vaguelymotivated come into focus in his sparer,more harmonically biting orchestration.

Claudio Abbado's new recording ofKhovanshchina basically uses the Sho-stakovich edition, which was first re-corded by the Sofia National Opera un-der Emil Tchakarov in an excellent setfor Sony Classical. It is a thrill to hear theopera given the deluxe, Vienna StateOpera treatment with a distinguishedinternational cast. There are, however,some textual differences from the previ-ous recording. Abbado has respected thecomposer's cuts, leaving slightly lessmusic than in the Sony Classical set, andhe has used fragments of Mussorgsky'sown orchestration wherever possible.And for the ending he chose the orches-tration that Stravinsky prepared in 1913

for Diaghilev's production. The Stravin-skian harmonies take some getting usedto after the profound somberness ofMussorgsky's own style. At first itseems maddeningly anachronistic, butafter repeated listening it makes sense.While Mussorgsky would never haveused anything like these harmonies, theyeloquently convey the combination ofspiritual ecstasy and utter horror in theritual suicide of the final scene.

Interpretively, Abbado is slightly lessthan ideal in the way he fusses over thescore and underscores points that areotherwise perfectly obvious. And thedepth of the Vienna State Opera's stageresults in a cavernous sound quality attimes and some awkward balances in therecording. Neither drawback keeps thisset from being the best Khovanshchinaavailable, but those who already own theSony Classical set, which rises wellabove its provincial origins, probablyneed not invest in this new one. D.P.S.

PROKOFIEV: Piano Concerto No. 2, in GMinor, Op. 16; Piano Concerto No. 3, in CMajor, Op. 26. Horacio Gutierrez (pi-ano); Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra,Neeme Jarvi cond. CHANDOS ® CHAN8889 (59 min).

Performance: StunningRecording: Excellent

One of life's lessons some of us mustlearn over and over again is, "Neverassume." Although Boris Berman is re-cording all the Prokofiev sonatas forChandos, his disc of the Concertos Nos.1, 4, and 5 with Neeme Aryl was not theindication I took it to be, in reviewing itlast January, that he would complete theconcerto cycle. The two more familiarconcertos have been given to HoracioGutierrez, and there can be no questionthat Prokofiev is as much his meat asBerman's. These particular works suithim down to the ground. He and Jarviproject an image of utter delight in work-ing with each other, and the recordingitself is Chandos at its awesome best. Ican't recall any previous recording, infact, that has made quite so strong a casefor the Second Concerto (and there havebeen some fine ones, by the likes ofBolet, Ashkenazy, and Beroff) or a moreall-round persuasive case for the popularThird. If it's these two works you'reafter, you really couldn't do better. R.F.

REICH: The Four Sections. LondonSymphony Orchestra, Michael TilsonThomas cond. Musk for Mallet Instru-ments, Voices, and Organ. Steve Reichand Musicians. ELEKTRA NONESUCH ®79220-2 (43 min).

Performance: NeatRecording: Beautiful

Steve Reich's Young Person's Guide tothe Orchestra? The title The Four Sec -

Cecilia Bartoli: fluent Rossini

Lions refers to the four sections of theorchestra, the four movements of thepiece, and the four harmonic parts intowhich the movements are divided (sug-gesting the mystic "golden section" ofantiquity). The idea for the piece camefrom Michael Tilson Thomas, who con-ducts it here in a recording that wasmade during the 1988 Reich retrospec-tive in London.

The piece certainly shows off thestring, woodwind, and percussion sec-tions of the orchestra-less so thebrass-in a highly schematic fashion.Reich has stuck to his minimalist gunseven as he has extended his ideas ofpattern and structure into orchestraland.The themes are striking fragments ofCoplandesque Americana (a little Jewishsounding in one or two places). Thetreatment is rigorous-like swatches ofhomespun examined under a micro-scope. The result is not soft at all but ahard -edged mosaic, one unyielding bitplunked down next to another. The over-all effect is colorful, with rhythmic linksbetween the parts, a constantly increas-ing tempo, and, at the end, a sort of rerunof earlier elements. Not lovable but cer-tainly impressive.

Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices,and Organ is, by contrast, classic Reichfrom the mid-Seventies-pulsing, mellif-luous, even lovable. I like Reich betterwhen he writes for his own ensemblethan for the big orchestras. Either way,however, everything here is neatlyplayed and beautifully recorded. E.S.

ROSSINI: La Pastorella; Belk, Crudele;II Trovatore; La Regata Veneziana; MiGagner() Tacendo; Il Risentimento; LaGrande Coquette; Ariette d l'Ancienne;L'Orpheline du Tyrol; La Legende de Mar-guerite; Nizza; L'Ame Delaissee, Canzon-ette Spagnuola, En Medio a Mis Colores;Cantata, Giovanna d'Arco. Cecilia Bartoli(mezzo-soprano); Charles Spencer (pi-ano). LONDON © 430 518-2 (71 min).

Performance: DelightfulRecording: Clear, well-balanced

This graceful recital album, which in-cludes both the well-known (La Pastor-ella and La Regata Veneziana) and thelittle-known (the cantata Giovannad'Arco), has much to recommend it.Cecilia Bartoli's singing is fluid, finelyphrased, stylish, and accurate. The well -engineered recording maintains a happybalance between voice and piano, andthe accompaniments are sympathetical-ly played by Charles Spencer. The songsthemselves, which span nearly twentyyears of the composer's career, are ap-pealing, if innocent of emotional depth.

Of particular interest are the five treat-ments of Metastasio's poem Mi LagneroTacendo, each different and affecting inits individual manner (Rossini wrotenearly fifty settings of this poem). Otherhighlights are La Grande Coquette, anamusing account of a lady not to be takenlightly; L'Orpheline du Tyrol, a sweet -sad song of loneliness; the spirited

82 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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Nizza, in praise of the sun -swept city ofNice; and, finally, the cantata Giovannad' Arco, which is musically the mostsearching offering here. R.A.

TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake, Op. 20.Orchestra of the Royal Opera House,Covent Garden, Mark Ermler cond.ROYAL OPERA HOUSE C) ROH 301/3three CD's (153 min). Excerpts on ROH001 (69 min).

TCHAIKOVSKY: The Sleeping Beauty,Op. 66. Royal Opera House Orchestra,Mark Ermler cond. ROYAL OPERAHOUSE © ROH 306/8 three CD's (173min). Excerpts on ROH 003 (73 min).

TCHAIKOVSKY: The Nutcracker, Op.71. ARENSKY: Variations on a Theme byTchaikovsky, Op. 35a. Royal Opera

Conductor Mark Ender

House Orchestra, Mark Ermler cond.ROYAL OPERA HOUSE ® ROH 304/5 twoCD's (106 min). Nutcracker excerpts onROH 002 (55 min).

Performances: Brilliantly idiomaticRecordings: Sumptuous

This first Royal Opera House Recordsrelease, produced by Conifer Records,comprises nothing less than completerecordings of the three Tchaikovksy bal-lets, all conducted by Mark Ermler. Allare more than impressive.

Ermler, who conducted at the BolshoiTheater in Moscow for more than twen-ty-five years before being named princi-pal guest conductor of Britain's RoyalBallet in 1985, is obviously at home inthis repertory, but he is no mere routi-nier. Every phrase breathes life and sug-gests self -renewing enthusiasm and af-fection on his part, and it would be hardto imagine any orchestra anywheresounding more brilliant than his playersdo in this music.

Ermler presents every note of SwanLake and The Sleeping Beauty, and histempos, apparently unchanged fromthose he uses in actual dance perfor-

mances, tend to be on the expansive sidein several numbers. (Animation is neverwanting, though, and there are sectionsthat dazzle with their velocity.) As aresult, both of these works take up threevery well -filled discs, while every othercurrent CD recording of Swan Lake fitssnugly on two, as do two versions of TheSleeping Beauty. The economies of otherrecorded versions are effected in twoways-first, by judicious omissions, andsecond, by an approach that makes themusic flow like a symphonic poem or"program symphony." This approachgenerally involves brisker tempos in,say, the big Act I waltz in Swan Lake andthe "Panorama" in Sleeping Beauty, andmany listeners will be more comfortablewith it. But just as many others, perhaps,may prefer tempos that enable them toclose their eyes and see the dancers inthe staged versions dear to their memo-ries; this, among other virtues, is whatErmler offers in those two ballets.

His Nutcracker is much closer to thenorm (I would only have wished for alittle more lilt from the children's chorusin the "Waltz of the Snowflakes"). Thiswork, unlike its predecessors, is actuallywritten in a way that seems to leave lessroom for variances-and, of course,there is no problem at all in accommo-dating it in full on two discs. ROH, infact, has generously included an addi-tional work in this set, Anton Arensky'sonce popular Variations on a Theme byTchaikovsky, for string orchestra,played with appropriate warmth.

The sound quality is a big plusthroughout these sets. The recordingswere produced by Michael Woolcock,remembered for the stunning MaazellCleveland recording of Prokofiev's Ro-meo and Juliet on London. The onlydisappointing element is the documenta-tion-pithy synopses and no more. R.F.

VIVALDI: La Stravaganza, Op. 4. SimonStandage (violin); the English Concert,Trevor Pinnock cond. DEUTSCHE GRAM-MOPHON ARCHIV © 429 753-2 two discs(99 min).

Performance: PowerfulRecording: Very good

It was not very long ago (1987) thatCOiseau-Lyre brought out its splendidrecording of La Stravaganza by Christo-pher Hogwood and the Academy of An-cient Music, with Monica Huggett assoloist. The arrival of this new set onDeutsche Grammophon Archiv provid-ed an occasion to hear all the musictwice-a not at all unwelcome experi-ence, but an impossibly frustrating onefor anyone trying to decide between thetwo sets. Both were most thoughtfullyprepared, observing the same generalconventions; both conductors alternatebetween harpsichord and organ contin-uo in the various individual concertos;and, more to the point, both teams exudethe most infectious vitality, a sense ofunrestrained joy in bringing these piecesto life. There are some very pronounced

differences-hardly a movement in thecycle is given the same way in bothsets-but these only tend to persuade thelistener that both sets are indispensable.

In general, Hogwood is the more ex-pansive of the two conductors, showinga greater sense of warmth and intimacywhere the music allows, and Huggett,his soloist, makes more of the opportuni-ties for expressiveness in the slow move-ments. Pinnock is the more extroverted,conveying a driving energy in some ofthe fast movements that leaves the lis-tener breathless but definitely smiling,and his soloist, Simon Standage, seemsto relish this dashing approach. The veryopening of the first concerto in the twosets will illustrate the difference: Hog -wood is enlivening, but Pinnock is apowerhouse, setting up a near -baccha-nalian excitement. In the next concerto,though, it's Hogwood, with his crisperphrasing and more pointed rhythm, whosends out more sparks. In Nos. 6, 8, and12 Pinnock and Co. are downright irre-sistible, for the same qualities they showin No. I, while Hogwood and Co. arejust as irresistible in just as many concer-tos for the same qualities they show inNo. 2 (No. 4, in A Minor, is a clearwinner for them). Moreover, Hogwoodmay have more to reveal to listeners whoregard Vivaldi's slow movements as lit-tle more than bland interludes betweeneruptions of exuberance.

Does anyone really need two record-ings of Vivaldi's Op. 4? Maybe not, andyou can't go wrong with either set. Butthe two do seem to complement ratherthan compete with each other, and nei-ther leaves anything to be desired interms of vivid sound. R. F.

CollectionAMERICAN ELEGIES. Ives: The Unan-swered Question; Five Songs (arr. Ad-ams). Marshall: Fog Tropes. Feldman:Madame Press Died Last Week at Ninety.Adams: Eros Piano. Diamond: Elegy inMemory of Maurice Ravel. Dawn Up-shaw (soprano, in Ives songs); PaulCrossley (piano, in Adams); Orchestraof St. Luke's, John Adams cond. NONE-SUCH ® 79249-2 (49 min), © 79249-4.

Performance: MovingRecording: Mostly beautiful

This recording was inspired by a televi-sion program about John F. Kennedythat used Ives's The Unanswered Ques-tion as background music for the funeral.Morton Feldman's piece was written inmemory of his piano teacher, and JohnAdams's Eros Piano was, in turn, writtenon Feldman's death. Ingram Marshall'sstriking Fog Tropes, for brass set againsta tape of foghorns and crying gulls, ismournful in a more generalized sort ofway. It all sort of adds up to a totalitythat is somewhat odd but mostly quitebeautiful. Not exactly a jolly listen butthoughtful and often moving. E.S.

a

2

84 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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Encores.i. wo of the most successful labels of

the LP era, Mercury and Vox, bothdisappeared into the collector's -item category some time ago. Nowthey are being brought back on CD,by Philips and the Moss Music

Group, respectively, with all their origi-nal impact and then some-and at pricesthat will make them all the more appeal-ing to today's collectors.

Both series began in the early Fifties.Mercury made music lovers of audio-philes and audiophiles of music loverswith its Living Presence recordings.Howard Hanson conducted Americanmusic, Frederick Fennell and the East -

Pianist Eugene List

man Wind Ensemble revolutionized theway the concert band was regarded, andsuch conductors as Antal Dorati, RafaelKubelik, and Paul Paray brought similarauthority to an imaginative orchestralrepertory-all enhanced by exceptional-ly vivid sound that was itself a large partof the excitement.

Five years ago Philips brought out ahandful of CD reissues on the Mercurylabel, among them Dorati's matchlessaccount of Respighi's three suites ofAncient Airs and Dances with the Phil-harmonia Hungarica. Those discs werehugely disappointing-apparently theywere not made from the original mastertapes but from the doctored ones usedfor Mercury's short-lived Golden Im-ports LP series-and the project wasstopped dead in its tracks after a singlerelease. In 1988 Philips brought in thekey individual from the original LivingPresence operation to do it right, WilmaCozart Fine, who was recording directorfor the original LP series from its incep-tion (when STEREO REVIEW critic DavidHall was Mercury's musical director)until 1964 (after which time Harold Law-rence continued the series). Fine wasgiven Dennis Drake (now PolyGram'svice president for studio and technicaloperations) as her associate, and theywere given everything they felt they

needed in the way of resources andequipment.

Fine and Drake not only rounded upthe original master tapes but found andreconditioned the actual tube amplifiers,tape decks, and 35mm film machinesused for the original recording and mas-tering. A little more than two years later,last fall, they brought out the first re-lease: ten generously filled CD's with asuggested list price of $9.99. Significant-ly, the rubric "Living Presence," whichdid not appear on the ill-fated 1985 discs,is on the new ones, and it is fully justi-fied, for the sound is indistinguishablefrom that of the original LP's. Indistin-guishable, that is, except for the advan-tages of the new medium: freedom fromsurface noise and greater ease in han-dling the wide dynamic range of theoriginal recordings.

Standout items in this initial batch, allprime stereo recordings that had notbeen on CD before, are the disc on whichHanson conducts his First Symphony("Nordic"), his Second Symphony("Romantic"), and his choral Song ofDemocracy (432 008-2); the one on whichParay conducts the Detroit Symphony inIbert's Escales and five works by Ravel,including a knockout performance of LaValse (432 003-2); and four Dorati discswith various orchestras. One of the Do-rati CD's has works of Bartok and Ko-daly, including the latter's Hdry JdnosSuite and two sets of orchestral dances(432 005-2); another is a Respighi pack-age of The Birds, Brazilian Impressions,The Pines of Rome, and Fountains ofRome (432 007-2); the third has music ofSchoenberg, Berg, and Webern, with thesoprano Helga Pilarczyk in the LuluSuite (432 006-2); and the last holdsconcerted works by Dyadic, Bruch, andTchaikovsky with the cellist JanosStarker (432 001-2). The second batchshould be in the stores by now.

"Vox Box" was the name the lateGeorge H. de Mendelssohn-Bartholdygave his budget -price sets of three LP's,a concept he introduced not long after hecreated the Vox label. It was a naturalformat for Baroque concertos by thedozen, complete sets of Haydn quartets,the Schumann and Rachmaninoff sym-phonies, all of Gershwin's concertworks, and the Complete Piano Music ofEverybody. Among the performers werethe pianists Alfred Brendel, WalterKlien, Peter Frankl, and Abbey Simon;the conductors Stanislaw Skrowaczew-ski, Leonard Slatkin, Maurice Abrava-nel, and Jerzy Semkow; and numerousensembles in both Europe and America.The new CD reissues put the contents ofthe original three LP's that were in eachset on two compact discs, at a suggestedlist price of only $11.99.

Most Vox recordings in the mid -Sev-

enties used the QS quadraphonic stereosystem, which was not really as compati-ble as it was supposed to be with two -channel playback. When Alan Silverleased some of that material for his In -Sync cassettes, however, Marc Aubort,who had produced many of the record-ings, mixed the four channels down intotwo so effectively that some of themcould pass for new digital productions.This process was used subsequently intransferring material to early Moss CD'sand now is being used again for the newVox Boxes.

Not all the material in the twenty VoxBoxes of the initial release is of such highquality sonically, but there is nothingthat does not sound appreciably betterthan it did on LP. Eugene List's "Gott-schalk Festival" (CDX 5009) is a uniquegem. List not only performed as pianistbut dug up much of the material andcommissioned orchestrations of the"symphonic" pieces and a 13 -minute"opera"; only his spoken remarks onthe original LP's are missing from thereissue. Harold Farberman's perfor-mances of eight symphonies by MichaelHaydn (CDX 5020) add up to one of themost attractive items on the list, bothmusically and sonically.

Other fine buys, in an assortmentranging from Gregorian chant to Ameri-can choral songs, are Abbey Simon'saccount of Ravel's piano music (CDX5012); the set of all of Dvotak's concert-ed works played by Zara Nelsova (cel-lo), Ruggiero Ricci (violin), and RudolfFirkusny (piano), with Walter Susskindand the Saint Louis Symphony (CDX5015); and Leonard Slatkin's set of Pro-kofiev film music with the same orches-tra (CDX 5021), in which the spokennarration is deleted from Ivan the Terri-ble but both Alexander Nevsky and theLieutenant Kije Suite are the same as inthe LP version. Richard Freed

C luetor Antal Dorati

86 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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-JOE -RX 777 80W rec covet was 349.991110531 3 Head tape deck was 269 99TD X321 tape ,Dolby +am 179 99XL V311 CD Player rmi was 199 99

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STEREO REVIEW

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STEREO REVIEW Index to Advertisers

MAIL ORDER MART. Prices subject to change

Prices excludeshipping charges

Not responsible tortypographical err3rs

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E

by MaryannSaltser &Robert Ripps

HE violinist Nadja Saler-no -Sonnenberg, whose

EMI/Angel recording of Vi-valdi's Four Seasons contin-ues to be a best-seller, recent-ly completed recordings ofviolin concertos by Shostako-

Nadja Salerno -Sonnenberg

vich and Barber with the Lon-don Symphony conducted byMaxim Shostakovich. In con-cert, she has been performingduo recitals with the pianistCecile Licad, a friend and col-laborator since their days to-gether at the Curtis Institute ofMusic in Philadelphia. The

Henderson:Berlin to Bernstein

C 0duo is currently representedon CD by a recording of theBrahms and Franck violin so-natas on EMI/Angel, for whichSalerno -Sonnenberg recordsexclusively.

Lso recording for EMI/Angel are Skitch Hender-

son and his New York Popsorchestra. They signed a five-year, five -record deal with the

label last year, and the firstCD, "From Berlin to Bern-stein," has just been releasedhere (it was available in Japanlast December when the Popstoured there). It features mu-sical tributes to two compos-ers who were long-timefriends of Henderson, IrvingBerlin and Leonard Bern-stein, along with selections byJimmy van Heusen, HoagyCarmichael, and others.When Henderson's not busymaking guest appearanceswith orchestras all over thecountry, he and the New YorkPops offer concerts in theirhome base, Carnegie Hall.

R E than just kid stuff:Walt Disney Records

scheduled for May 28 release"For Our Children," a star-studded compilation benefit-ing the Pediatric AIDS Foun-dation. The album features amix of traditional and original

children's songs performed bysome of today's biggest re-cording artists, includingBruce Springsteen. Paul Mc-Cartney, Bette Midler, JamesTaylor, Debbie Gibson, PaulaAbdul, Brian Wilson, andSting. Selections range fromBob Dylan's version of ThisOld Man to Little Richard'sinterpretation of lisy Bitsy Spi-der to Barbra Streisand's AChild Is Born. Other highlightsare a duet by Jackson Browneand Jennifer Warnes, Spring-steen's Chicken Lips and Liz-ard Hips, and The Pacifier, anew instrumental compositionby Elton John.

The Pediatric AIDS Foun-dation was co-founded byElizabeth Glaser (wife of ac-tor/director Paul Michael Gla-ser) in 1988, after her daughterAriel died of the disease at theage of seven.

HE 1991 Avery FisherPrize was awarded to the

pianist Yefim Bronfman in aceremony at Lincoln Centeron March 4 that marked notonly the fifteenth anniversaryof the Avery Fisher Artist Pro-gram but the eighty-fifth birth-day of the renowned philan-thropist who endowed it. TheFisher Prize recognizes Amer-ican solo instrumentalists foroutstanding ability and excep-

tional contributions to theworld of music. The Russian -born Bronfman, an Americancitizen since 1989, joins suchdistinguished past winners asMurray Perahia, Andre Watts,

R

Bronfman and Fisher

and Yo -Yo Ma. Bronfman re-cords exclusively for SonyClassical. His next record-ings, to be released this fall,are Mussorgsky's Pictures atan Exhibition, with works byTchaikovsky and Stravinsky,and Rachmaninoff's Secondand Third Concertos.

unlikely group of popstars got together recent-

ly to pay tribute to theGrateful Dead. "Deadicated"(Arista) is a collection of clas-sic Dead songs, includingTruckin', Uncle John's Band,and Friend of the Devil, rein-terpreted in a wide range ofstyles by such artists as ElvisCostello, Suzanne Vega, LosLobos, Midnight Oil, DwightYoakam, Jane's Addiction,and Bruce Hornsby. The al-bum was designed to show-case the Dead's superior song -writing, too often overlookedamidst all the tie-dye. Horns -

Taylor: rockin' for the kids

by, who recently served astemporary pianist for the band,has said, "These guys are greatsongwriters, and there are a lotof people who feel that way."Proceeds from the sale of

94 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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M A K

"Deadicated" will benefit theRainforest Action Networkand Cultural Survival.

41) ONY CLASSICAL has re-leased a recording of the

Berlin Philharmonic's historicjoint concert with the IsraelPhilharmonic in Tel Aviv onApril 18, 1990. Climaxing theGerman orchestra's first tourof Israel, the concert was con-ducted by Zubin Mehta, whois the Israeli orchestra's musicdirector. The program includ-ed Ravel's La Valse and Bee-thoven's Fifth Symphony,and it began with Psalm by

Berlin to Tel Aviv

Paul Ben -Haim, who left hisnative Germany in 1933 to set-tle in what was then Palestine.The work is inspired by apsalm in which King Davidprays to God to bring peace toIsrael and the entire world.The concert recording is avail-able on CD and cassette, and avideodisc version will follow.

41)ames Brown should cer-tainly be feeling good.

The Godfather of Soul wasrecently granted parole afterserving two years of a six -yearprison sentence for aggravat-ed assault. To celebrate hisrelease, PolyGram has re-leased "Star Time," a four -CD boxed set spanning hisentire thirty-five year career.The seventy-two tracks in-clude all of Brown's majorhits as well as previously un-released material, includingthe original, unedited version

1 of Papa's Got a Brand New5 Bag, a live medley from a

1971 Paris show featuringBootsy Collins on bass, andnew stereo mixes of classicslike Super Bad and Soul Pow-er. The accompanying sixty-four -page booklet containsrare photos, a complete dis-cography, and an introduc-tion by Brown himself.

More than half of the mate-rial in "Star Time" has neverbeen on CD before, and plansare already under way to reis-sue some of Brown's long out -of -print albums. In the mean-time, the Hardest WorkingMan in Show Business, whowas seen last month in a pay -per -view cable -TV special,plans to return to the record-ing studio, with a new albumexpected by fall.

411) HE first new opera re-cording on RCA Victor

Red Seal in more than a dec-ade is Mozart's The Marriageof Figaro conducted by ColinDavis, released last month.Upcoming releases, all tapedin Munich in conjunction withthe Bavarian Radio, includeVerdi's Falstqlf, also conduct-ed by Davis; Puccini's La Fan-ciulla del West with Eva Mar-ton, conducted by LeonardSlatkin; and Massenet's comicopera Cherubin with Fredericavon Stade, Samuel Ramey,June Anderson, and DawnUpshaw.

OT summer nights pro-vide the perfect setting

for the cool sounds of "JazzAspen," a new jazz festivalscheduled for June 21-23 in

Brown: a brand-new bag

E

Yellowjackets: jazz for the trees

Aspen, Colorado. The three-day extravaganza will benefitGlobal ReLeaf, a nationaltree -planting program of theAmerican Forestry Associa-tion. According to festivalproducer James Horowitz,there couldn't be a more suit-able beneficiary, because"the positive spirit of plant-ing connects naturally withthe positive spirit from whichjazz springs." Headliners in-clude Nancy Wilson, Tuck &Patti, the Modern Jazz Quar-tet, the Original Ramsey Lew-is Trio with Stanley Turrets -tine, and the Yellowjackets,whose latest recording, the

S

ecologically minded "Green-house," reached No. I onBillboard's contemporary- .jazz chart. Free daytimeconcerts will showcase up-and-coming musicians. Broad-cast and recording plansfor the festival are underdiscussion.

RACENOTES. WarnerHome Video has just re-

leased Prince's 1990 film Graf-fiti Bridge (described by somecritics as the worst movie mu-sical of all time) on tape andlaserdisc. . . . Dorian Record-ings has announced a three-year agreement to record theDallas Symphony led by its mu-sic director, Eduardo Mata.The first sessions, held in Feb-ruary in Dallas's newly inau-gurated Eugene McDermottHall, featured Stravinsky'sRite of Spring. This is Dorian'sfirst foray into the symphonicrepertory. . . . Impulse!, there -activated MCA jazz label,is celebrating its thirtieth anni-versary by releasing double -disc CD retrospectives of sev-eral of its artists, includingJohn Coltrane, whose "Livein Japan" album is augmentedby a 57 -minute version of MyFavorite Things. 0

STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991 95

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ArchitecturalLoudspeakers

SPEAKERS built into walls and ceil-ings have been around since thedawn of the electroacoustical era,and for many of us they comeburdened with some prettyless associations, such as grim

institutional settings and relentless el-evator music. Nevertheless, they didenjoy a fleeting hi-fi vogue in the Fif-ties, especially when an importantmember of the household ruled in fa-vor of people rather than big boxes inthe living room. But then speaker box-es became manageably small, and thearchitectural loudspeaker faded fastthereafter.

Now it is back, with a vengeance,and with a difference. Formerly just acompromise in a multipurpose envi-ronment, the architectural speaker istoday being suggested as a superiorreproducer. Some very serious andknowledgeable people believe that,with a given set of drivers and cross-over characteristics, you might well bebetter off in the wall than in a box.

This near -heretical idea seems tohave arisen through a grass -rootsmovement. In recent years, consum-ers planning multiroom installationsbegan considering in -wall speakers forrooms where merely adequate soundwas needed, often adapting the platespeakers they knew from car audio.Observant dealers, realizing that a fa-miliar product was being redefined,duly advised manufacturers, and thesupply side got interested. During this

THE HIGH ENDby Ralph Hodges

process, more and more people be-came aware that such modest devicescould often yield more satisfactionthan the ambitious free-standing sys-tems in the main listening area.

There are good, established reasonswhy a built-in speaker can have theedge on a free-standing, enclosed one.Andy Petite of Boston Acousticspoints to diffraction, secondary ema-nations from cabinet edges that acous-tically interfere with the primary out-put of the drivers, roughening thefrequency response, and smear arrivaltimes at the listening position. Diffrac-tion is virtually impossible to preventwith conventional enclosures, where-as it almost ceases to exist with flush -mount wall speakers.

Roy Allison of Allison Acoustics, acompany deeply concerned with theeffects of reflected sound on loud-speaker response, notes anotherunique benefit: If you integrate aspeaker driver with one of a room'sacoustical boundaries (a wall), that

mensely simplifying the problem ofspeaker -room interface. "We have aprogram that can show you what hap-pens to a speaker when you put itanywhere in a room at all," Allisonsays. "If you reduce the distance froma boundary to perhaps one -thousandth[of a room's axial dimension], thecurve smooths right out. So in -wallinstallation is the way to go, if you caneliminate the structural problems ofthe wall itself."

These structural problems are anontrivial concern. Nobody makesspeaker enclosures of gypsum boardlightly braced by 2x4's; rap yourknuckles on a wall and hear why.Bass reproduction will be the mostadversely affected, and there are twoways around the difficulties: Build aproper woofer enclosure within thewall (most easily managed during newconstruction), or use a free-standingwoofer module. In the latter case, thelowest crossover frequency thatdoesn't let the wall get involved inmaking sound will be best, althoughdetermining that frequency may in-volve experimentation.

Other questions arise about archi-tectural loudspeakers as soon as thematter is given some thought. How,for example, do you experiment with

speaker placement? You can't moveholes in the wall around. You can,however, attempt some trials withconventional box speakers before youcut the holes and reasonably expectthe results with wall installation to beeven better. Furthermore, many au-thorities find wall -speaker placementless critical than the placement of free-standing speakers, as long as spacingis appropriate for a good stereo imageand a respectful distance from bound-ary junctions is maintained.

How do you audition architecturalspeakers in the store? By having thedealer cut holes in his wall and mountthem, Petite replies, but your dealermay not be so obliging. Yet buyingsuch speakers unheard entails risk.John Bishop of a/d/s/ has identifiedthree distinct types of architectural -

speaker supplier: 1) the legitimatespeaker manufacturer who has a large,enthusiastic following in the U.S.; 2)the legitimate speaker manufacturerwho doesn't have a following but whohopes that a new product category willboost his chances; and 3) the illegiti-mate whoever who has never designeda speaker but recognizes opportunity.The risk of getting involved with thelast type of supplier is all the greaterbecause so many architectural speak-ers are similar in appearance, designedto look more like a wall than a triumphof audio engineering.

Is there a place for architecturalloudspeakers in the high -end enthusi-ast's scope of interest? Perhaps not amajor place, but I agree with RoyAllison that there is an important one.A properly equipped dedicated mediaroom calls for some seven loudspeak-er systems, and seven channels usinglarge, enclosed systems will be neitherpractical nor acoustically desirable inmost such rooms. The speakers sup-plementing the front channels can andprobably should be less muscular, butthey must be just as revealing andneutrally balanced over the frequencyranges they are intended to reproduce.Here is a role the in -wall speaker ofgood quality can be expected to excelin, while still leaving some room forthings other than cabinets and cables.That should be enough-until some-one comes up with the properly con-figured in -wall electrostatic speakerthat will leave us all gasping. 0

i4-

96 STEREO REVIEW JULY 1991

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