........... -­_"............... ... \tI:~ 'ht_tli..........•• . llluttU+\II _i.t~ wa_Mltl.........-...... •• "" ."-'''iII\1 Hermon Scott faced a basic choice ... bring out his new Yes . .. Hermon Scott cou ld have made the LK·48 to sell LK-48 amplifier kit at $124.95 or make it to sell for $30 less for $30 less . but it would have meant compromising li ke many other amplifier kits. All his engineering depart­ life· long standards. This is something he would never do. ment had to do was make a few compromises. You can choose any Scott kit with complete confidence The LK-48 is rated at 48 watts. By using a smaller power - the LK·48, the LK-72 80 watt complete stereo ampl ifier, supply, ordinary output transformers, and pu shing the the LK-150 130 watt stereo power amp lifier, the LC·21 pro­ output tubes to their li mits, the amplifier might stil l pro­ fessional preamplifier, the L T·11 0 mu ltiplex tuner, LT-10 duce 48 watts at 1000 cycles w here many amplifier kits FM tuner or the LM ·35 mu ltiplex adaptor. These superb are rated. But measured at 20 cycles, where Scott en ­ kits have all the features and performance you've come gineers feel power is really important, output wo uld be to expect from the world's leader in audio engineering. down consid erabl y. No compromise was made. The LK-48actual/y produces 28 watts per channel at 20 cycles, H.H.SCOTT and delivers full power throughout the audio range. H. H. SCOTT I NC .. 111 Powd ermilJ Rd., Maynard , Mass. Dept. 245-06 Many kits use a one co lor instruction book. Hermon Scott Pl ease ru sh me your new fu ll·color brochure telling decided to continue to use ful l co lor to insure factory­ .about Scott's full line of superb stereo kits. built performance, even at the hands of a novice. Important Scott engineering extras like the all-a lu min um N ame . •• __ . ... ....•••••.•.•• ~, ..•.. • ..• • •.•••••••.•• chassis, DC operated preamp heaters and unique hu m­ - null balancin g could have been el iminated. Hum would Address . .... .. ....•..... .. • : .•••.••••••••.•••••••• have been audibly hi gher and distortion at levels normal Cily ............ ...... ....... .. .. State .. ... ..... to many kits, but Hermon Scottfeltthatthe kit builder was entitled to the same performance he has come to expect Export: Morhan Exporting Corp., 458 Broadway, N.Y.C. Canada: Atlas Radio Corp., 50 Win~old Ave., Toronto .. from Scott factory-wired un its. Prices sli ghtly higher West of Roc;kles. JUNE 1962 CIRCLE NO. 32 ON READER SERVICE CARD 1 Always playing, always tracking ... right side up or upside down. The sensational Empire Troubador demonstration of a continuously rotating turntable amazes the crowds at hi fi shows across the country. Right down the line, America's music magazines have been using some well-turned phrases in editorial evaluations of the Troubador. High Fidelity, 'turning to the United States Test­ ing' Company for its report, found the Troubador to be a " precision-engineered product of the highest quality . .. wow, flutter and rumble completely inaudible." Audio said: "precise ••• world's performance ... an excellent buy .. no acoustic feedback." American Record Guide: " ... these (performance) figures have not been bettered by any turntable I have tested." most perfect If you think you 've never heard the Troubador, think again. More stereo FM radio stations across the country use the Troubador than any other record playback system. As Don record playback Hambly, station manager of KRE AM / FM said: " The Empire tables have all the basic requirements of design and simplicity of operation and maintenance." system The Empire Scientific Corp. turns out a limited number of Troubadors for the music lover who appreciates the very finest in record playback. Com plete price $200. empire troubadour JUNE 1962 VOLUME 8 NUMBER 6 RiFi Stereo• reV.lew THE MUSIC 20 THE BASIC REPERTOIRE Schubert's " Trout" Quintet . ... .. .. .. .. ... MARTIN BOOKSPAN 29 CARL ORFF: THE SOUND OF WORDS A visit with that C a rmina Burana man . .... FREDERIC GRU NF ELD 34 CRITICS' CHOICE The outstanding recordings oj th e past season 51 A LITTLE HAYDN AFTER BREAKFAST Amateur music-m aking in the Berkshire Hills . JOHN J. STERN. M.D. 55 BEST OF THE MONTH R eviews oj the outstanding new releases 69 MUSIQUIZ T esting your musical knowledge . .... .. ... W ARRE N D EMOTTE THE EQUIPMENT 16 BEGINNERS ONLY A basic approach 10 audio . ... ... ... ... HANS H . FAN T E L 25 TECHNICAL TALK Comment on current hi-fi de velopments . .... .... JULlAN D. HIRSCH 39 HOW TO CHOOSE A MICROPHONE A guide jor the prospective purchaser . ... .. .... J . GORDON H O LT 45 INSTALLATION OF THE MONTH Accommodating the second speaker 46 SOUND AND THE QUERY Prerequisites jor hi-Ii sound . ... .. ... .. .. 1. GORDON HOLT 47 THE WHY AND HOW OF CUSTOM INST ALLA TIONS Projessional ad vice jor th e do-it-yolII·selfe r . .. .. .. JOHN MILDE R THE REVIEWS 60 HIFIISTEREO CLASSICS 79 HIFIISTEREO JAZZ 85 HIFIISTEREO REEL AND CARTRIDGE 89 HIFI/ STEREO ENTERTAINMENT THE REGULARS 4 EDITORIALLY SPEAKING 8 HIFI SOUNDINGS 12 LETTERS 14 JUST LOOKING 98 INDEX OF ADVERTISERS COVER DESIGN B Y ROBERT T UCK ER JUNE 196 2 (For information on faCing advertisement 3 circle no. 40 on reader service card. ) EDITORIALLY SPEAKING PUBLISH ER PHILLIP T. HEFFERNAN EDITOR FURMAN HEBB by FUR M A N HESS MUSIC EDITOR DAVID HALL M ANAGI N G EDIT OR HANKS to the genius of the late and truly great Major Arm­ ROBERT CAMPBELL T strong, we enjoy today the most marvelous medium for the ART EDITOR ROBERT TUCKER propagation of music that has ever been devised. FM radio, which ASSOCIA T E EDITORS the inventor always regarded as the favorite of his electronic brain­ HANS H. FANTEL children, is virtually an ideal system for transmitting and receiving JAMES HINTON, JR. music broadcas ts. ASSISTANT EDITORS And it is this very potential for perfection that makes all the more JILL BENGELSDORF BARBARA GLUCK disturbing the fact that the sound quality of so many FM stations is CONTRIBUTING EDITORS substandard; and I base this on conditions as they are in the New CHRISTIE BARTER York City area, which I assume is one of the more favorable areas MARTIN BOOKS PAN insofar as the general level of program quality is concerned. WILLIAM FLANAGAN STANLEY GREEN At one time or another I have heard almost every hi-fi failing on NAT HENTOFF the air: turntable rumble, wow, and flutter; misadjusfed equalization JULIAN D . HIRSCH GEORGE JELLlNEK or tone controls; fluctuating volume levels; distortion caused by lint­ IGOR KIPNIS clogged playback styli ; faulty contact between tape and playback EDIT ORIAL CONSULTANT heads; and so on. It is not too surprising, perhaps, that these faults, OLIVER READ caused by inadequate equipment and sloppy control-room work, ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER could occur on some of the smaller, shoestring-operation FM sta­ LAWRENCE SPORN tions. But recently I tried to listen to a taped broadcast of the New ADVERTI SING York Philharmonic playing Bruckner's Ninth Symphony on CBS, a SERVICE MANAGER ARDYS C. MORAN network that one would assume to be in little danger of going bank­ rupt. Not only was the sound so distorted as to make listening entirely ZIFF-DAVIS PUBLISHING COMP ANY Editorial and Executive Otftce (ORegon 0·7200) One Park Avenue. New York 16. Ne w York unpleasant, but its restricted dynamic range made a mockery of the WiIJiam B. ZitI, Chairman of tho Board (1946.1953) William :liff. l' res iclent music's dramatic contrasts of loud and soft. \V. Bradford Briggs. Executive Vice Pres ident He r s he l B. Sarbln. Vice Preslfl C' nt and General Manager l\l. '1'. Birmingham, Jr. , It used to be that I would complain to the station in question when Vice Pres ident and Treas u rer Hobe rt P. nreedlng. CiI'eulaUan Director Ch:ll'lcs BOlls mnn . Financial Vice Pres ident its program quality was objectionable, but this never had much effect, SL:mlcy R. Greenfield, Vice Pres ide n t Midwes tern and eil'culallan OHicc (WAI):ls h 2-4911) ·1:14 Sou t h Wabas h Avenue. Chicago 5. Illinois so far as I could determine. Then I conceived the idea to hit the sta­ Mi dwes t ern Ad vertising Manager: Jack Tierney W estern Office (CHcstvle w 4-0265 ) tions where it hurts-in the pocketbook-and I recommend it to yo u 9025 \Vlls hh'e Boulevard. Bevel't~· Hill s , California Westcrn Ad\"cl'tls lng Manager: Bud Dean Southern Re presentative if yo u are annoyed by programs that are below standard in audio Willi a m G. BI'ownln~ BOti First N<ltional Bank Bulldlng Temple, 'l'c;S:lIS quality. Simply take pen in hand and write not to the station, not to PRos pect 8-331 1 Foreign Aclve l·tiSlng Representative D. A. Good<lll Ltd., London, England the FCC, but to the sponsor of the program. T ell him you would like SUBSCnfPTION SERVI CE: All subs cl·!pt.lon corre­ s pondence shOUld be addressed to HIFI / Stcl'eo to listen to his radio program, but that its sound quality is so poor as ~~~:l~ :~: <t11~fc~11:~105, ~~ft~;I~~;:.enJje~t: ~I~g~!l ~ial,;~si ~ s ix weeks for change of addl'e ~s_ Inc lude you r o ld ;utdl·css. as well as n ew-enCl osing It possible an to make listening unenjoyable. This procedure is almost guaranteed .uldl'ess label (r om a recent Issu e , ED ITORI AL C ONTRIBUTIONS mus t be accompa n ied to get res ult .