NOVEMBER 1987 $2.50 USA $3.50 CANADA ELITY AU DI OGH • VI D E OFl • TES T RE P O R T S • M U SI C DIGITAL VIDEO The Hype • The Facts • The Promise Which Digital TV and VCR Features Do You Really Need? THE EQUALIZERS 12 Ways They Can Perk Up Your Stereo THE LAB TESTS 6 Speakers— One Could Be For You! SgOOL V1 21-ANN3N 3111/ 31Ital (13IAA N:Ea3 EW AIH Z6DiA )4/cI flIAZ UVONV NI 4gIIVA0 4ATS9A 5900L RJRBOCHARGE YOUR CD MAYER, A 91{) „cs5L.ANALITAA CA- 2 1 Aci•PTCP \IQ BALAs a. 9 neitE THE ELITE A-91D INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER. Now that the compact disc has taken the world by storm, ordinary amplifiers are failing their driving test. Because or- dismrtion.What's more, dinary amplifiers simply can't critical signal paths are kept handle the dynamic range and extraordinarily short for less purer signal that digital sound electronic interference and delivers. cleaner sound. Fortunately, the A-91D is When it comes to digital far from ordinary. Because the sound, there's no such thing A-91D is built with one thought as go( x.1 vibrations. That's why in mind—to maximize the per- the A-9 ID uses a special anti- formance of digital sound. vibration honeycomb design With 170 watts per channel in the chassis frame. In isola- into 4 ohm speaker loads, and tion barriers between electronic 120 watts into 8 ohms, the sections. Even in all five insu- A-91D unleashes digital's full lator feet. A large aluminum dynamic range. Extra-large volume control knob with a capacitors and huge finned specially balanced brass shaft cast-iron enclosed transtbrm- also absorbs distortion-causing ers further contribute to the vibration, and printed circuit A-91D's high current capacity boards arc mounted in rubber and sability into speaker kmds kw the same reason. as low as 2 ohms. The A-91D is not only ready Along with all this power [or digital, it's ready for the comes unprecedented purity. future. With six digital inputs You can plug the latest CD (2 optical), and three digital players with optical outputs outputs (I optical). directly into the A-91I), and reap So if you want your digital the rewards of independent sound to drive you to new digital conversion circuitry— 1h:iglus, you need to drive your with twin, glitch-free D/A digital components with the convTrters, a digital filter with Elite A-91I). tburtimes oversampliiig, and For nitre intbrmation, call an analog lowpass filter made 1-800-421-1404. from quality discrete parts, Thk. A-911) also uses Pioneer's exclusive ELITE Non-Switching- Thx. ill amplifier circuit to totally BY PIO N EE R eliminate switching 01987 Pioneer Ekctronics (LISA) Inc.. long Beach. CA TH E A M P LIFIE R T H AT C H A N G E S lbtelrI'gtielaisbmleown=egefdlic!iocidae each amp then produces a signifi- candy beefed up 90 Watts RMS, 180 THE MEANING OF THE WORDS Watts Peak, to one speaker through one channel. Supplying you not only "PEAK PERFORMANCE with a tremendous source of power, but tremendous proof that the only thing IN AN AUTOMOBILE' better than one PLT Turbo amp is two With our new Phase Linear PLT 150 A reservoir of energy on which it can of them. Turbo amplifier, the mere act of sitting 400.00 AN AMP THIS POWERFUL 200 instantly draw, POT 150 TURBO DESERVES A STRONG SPEAKER. in your car can become an exhilarating rio DYNAMIC HEADROOM in times of need, 150 7 Luckily, at Phase Linear we build experience. 170 6 to swell from a 100 speakers rugged enough Because we build into each one the 60 norma130 Watts to handle the power of uncanny ability to boost its power, and 603 per Channel sustain that power, during those crucial 7 to an awesome our amps. 401 I moments when your music makes in- 150 Watts per Our Phase Linear 00 70 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 Graphite speakers. ordinate demands on your stereo system. holt Sorel Ourarnon 6 544: Channel. Each one, built with rigid graphite Thus, the Turbo ensures that every And because our amp sustains this musical peak, every rousing crescendo, burst of power 25 times longer than the cones, responds more quickly and accu- comes through flawlessly. industry standard, it produces a truer rately than paper cone models to intense sound than any amplifier in its class. fluctuations in peak performance music. Even truer than larger, costlier amps And because they tend to "break up" that depend totally on their brawn for less at higher volumes, you can blast lack of our turbocharged brain. away all day without the slightest hint of distortion. OUR AMP PROVIDES PLENTY OF POWER So if you've been thinking of buying TO PLENTY OF SPEAKERS. a car stereo amp, we suggest you try our The new Phase Linear PLT 150 is new PLT 150 Turbo. It may not help stable to 2 Ohms. Which means it can the way your car drives. But with the continue to deliver its awesome power right equipment, it will definitely get should you find yourself using it with you going. more than two speakers. M TN. El !.) 5 1.4i rh...4 Imre • a Inlarnan.mal len.... In. Pilaw. Linear • n a regmered 11S&ITIallk In.renanonal lensen OUR TURBO AMP INCREASES YOUR CAR'S And if you need even more power, MOW DYNAMIC HEADROOM. (rare as the case may be), whether for Our new Turbo amp achieves its speakers or subwoofer applications, power boost— its dynamic headroom — we've planned for this as well. GRAPHITE - with what we call a "smart" power supply. We've designed our PLT 150 Turbo Making the best of sound technology. HIGH FIDELITY NOVEMBER 1987 VOL. 37 NC. 11 9. JBL 830 and five more speakers aestcd 23 Making the most of an equalizer 62 International Record Critics Award% 72 TEST REPORTS COLUMNS JBL 830 loudspeaker 23 Front Lines Is the rational audiophile American Acoustics PS W-20() powered subwoofer 27 an endangered species? M ICHAEL RIGGS 5 Advent Maestro loudspeaker 31 Bits & Pieces Optical links—do Infinity RS-7 Kappa loudspeaker 35 they really provide advantages? Jamo Compact 90 loudspeaker 41 DAVID RANADA 13 TSC Symphony I loudspeaker 43 The Autophile The whys and hows Multivision 1.1 digital video controller 46 of the Big Three automakers' custom- equalized systems. CHRISTOPHER J. ESSE 14 AUDIO & VIDEO Crosstalk Component wear: Video and the Digital Revolution. Digital technology is improving picture midrange distortion./LARRY KLEIN _ 18 quality and breaking new ground in special effects./GoRDoN BROCKHOUSE 51 Tape Tracks Tricks and traps of The Joys of Equalization. What a graphic equalizer can and can't do for you, editing cassettes./ROBERT LONG 20 and how to get the most out of it. /LARRY KLEIN 62 Medley White nights, northern lights /THEODORE W. LIBBEY, JR. MUSIC Remembering John Hammond. RICHARD C. W ALLS 71 CLASSICAL 20th Annual H IGH Fum mv/International Record Critics Awards. Finland played host as the jury chose the best records of the year/THEODORE W. LIBBEY, JR 72 DEPARTMENTS POPULAR/BACKBEAT Glimpse the Truth. More Beatles on CD: Letters 6 Help!, Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 94 Currents Camcorders may be the catalyst for the new Super VHS format. _8 On the cover, left to right: NEC's The CD Spread Heifetz and DX-5000 VCR, Multivision's I. I Horowitz reissues: Copland, Elgar, digital video controller, Infinity's Falk, Faure Walton, and Stravinsky. _78 RS-7 Kappa loudspeaker, and Classical Reviews Van Cliburn Advent's Maestro loudspeaker. concerto performances on CD: Chausson's Le Roi Arthus; works by Bernstein and Mozart 82 Advertising Index and Reader-Action Page 103 Cover design: Joanne Goodfellow Cover photo: Kenneth Schroers MON FOR M' (ISSN 00111-1455) s published monthly at 825 Sever', Ave , New York. NY 10019, by ABC Consumer Magazines, Inc . a division ol ABC Publishing. Inc., and a subsidiary of American Broadcasting Companies, Inc C) 1987 by ABC Consumer Magazines. Inc The design and contents are fully protechriby copyright and must not be reproduced ir any manner. Second-class postage paid o- New York, New York, and at additional moiling offices Authorized as second doss moil by the Post Office Deportment, Ottowo. and for payment ol postage in cash Yearly subscription in the U.S.A and Possessions $13 95; elsewhere $20.95. Single copies $2.501Conada $3 50). Subscribers. Send subscriptions inquiries, and address chongv-s •ID FiDEOT,. P 0 Box 10759. Des Mon , s, Iowa 50340 Change of address. Cue old and new addresses, ir • cluding ZIP codes. Enclose address label from ast issue and allow I cue weeks for change to become ef -achve POSTMASTER: Send chom p of oddross to HMI FMIRITT, P.O. Boo 10759, Doi Moin m, IA 50340. NOVEMBER 1 9 8 7 3 Until now, car stereo systems let you equalize sound through two speakers, at best Which is hardly best, if you have four speakers. The highs and lows you control in only two speakers are virtually cancelled out by the levels you can't control in the other speakers. But listen to Sherwood. Listen to the CRD-350 stereo cassette receiver combined with the EQA-280 equalizer/amplifier. Listen to full equalizer control of all four speakers at 20 watts per channel. A total of 80 watts. The experts did at this past summer's Consumer Electronics Show.