SURROUND SOUND -Ay SEPARATE AMPS ADD MUSCLE Nit to an A/V SYSTEM

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1 20 Hz. What does it mean?

The fact is, to the average person,

120Hz means diddly. What's impor-

tant is how a speaker sounds. But,

in truth, the sonic range around

120 Hz is a big deal when it comes

to the sound of the SubSat7. Here's why. After having a look at a ThenewSubSat7

The SubSat7 satellites come in two of the most popular colors in the history of hasnodipat120Hz. speakers. Black. And white. number of other three-piece systems, we found that many were Whoop-di-doo. using small midrange drivers- some as small as two inches. And we asked ourselves, "How can they use such small midranges and still hope to create a smooth transition between midrange and bass?" The answer: they can't.

In fact, several of the units we tested *** had an obvious dip in the 100 to

200Hz range-a range that, it so happens, contains much of your music's fundamental information.

So, in designing the SubSat7, Then we designed a mighty 4 -inch YOU need stereo -separated systems with an all -in -one sub - bass chambers. Really. our primary goal was to create a copolymer mid -bass driver with a woofer. Such systems typically Let us explain. Until recently, [Host system that didn't sacrifice sound more -than -ample frequency range. place left and right woofers in one bass info was mixed in mono. The PowerVent So it meets the Su3Sat7's chamber. When these two woofers bass unit, placed behind furniture, Bur then digital audio came along sounds fantastic Pow.erVent"14 Bass Unit without drawing encounter stereo -separated bass, attention away from anc made more realistic stereo your Picasso. with its two, powerful, they push against each other, bass possible. A great idea, but a quality for a convenient size. Or vice 7 -inch drivers. to create a smooth cancel each other out, and bass problem for ordinary three-piece versa. We started in the satellites transition. At the infamous '.20 Hz. becomes muddy and anemic. The with our famous 1 -inch, soft -dome The result: a tlree-piece system SubSat7, however, places left and tweeter, which plays lower than with seamless, natural, aud.ophile right woofers in separate chambers

Subwoofer drivers don't competitive 3/4 -inch tweeters and sound. And satellites so small, your play well with others So we in a push/pull configuration. So sent them to their own rooms. The result: clean stereo - has excellent dispersion. house guests will be dumblounded. separation in the bass. they work independently of each with dual active drivers. So everyone

gets the best seat in the house, not

just one person. The SurroundSat

To see how a large, flat TV screen can distort dialog from an ordinary speaker, have a friend talk to you like this. The SubSat Center Channel speaker is tuned to compensate for this effect.

rear -channel speakers look just like

the SubSat7 satellites and can be

mounted in the back of the

listening area facing up or to the

side using our optional mounting

bracket. The net result: a one -

room studio apartment becomes

a gigantic concert hall (we won't

tell the landlord if you won't).

railable now: Number, a new mini. rnizgazine about music, monies, sonic., and free ialmost) music on CO (does not contain perfume umplesi. To reserve a copy, writ to: Boston Acoustics, Dept. 113, 70 Broadway, Lynnfield, M 01940

It sounds good. Duh.

Actually, the SubSat7 doesn't just

sound good. We think it's the best

sounding system ever created for

other and give you tight, clean bass Most people watch about companions-the Sub:;ar Center the price. Three-piece. Or two. 40 hours of TV per week. with accurate stereo imaging. In But few actually hear it. Channel Speaker and a pair of But don't take our word for it (after

addition, the SubSat7's Bass Unit This kills us: people buy a bigger SurroundSats-each tonally all, we could be a tiny bit biased).

handles more power than other subs. TV to get a bigger, more dramatic matched and balanced to play with Bring your favorite CDs and your

So it can reproduce everything p.cture. And they listen through the the SubSat7 system. Tne Center ears to a Boston dealer and com-

scrawny speakers that Channel Speaker features our pare the SubSat7 to any speakers What's on TV? The SubSat7 Center Channel 1 -inch dome tweeter and a dual in the listening room. We think speaker. To the rear: come with it. But to get matching SurroundSat speakers. Now the only you'll find the SubSat7 to be amaz- thing missing front your sound that equals tne pic- 51/4 -inch active/passive mid -bass home theater is the gum stuck to the seat. ture in depth and emotion, driver system. It provides a broad ing. Especially around 120Hz.

from a triple fortissimo timpani roll all they need to do is add a Dolby' horizontal sound dispersion instead

to a slapped low B on a five -string Pro -Logic" eceiver to the SubSat7 of the beaming sound common BostonAcoustics

bass with ease and clarity. and its matching home theater with other center channel speakers Just what's important ciE SAVO

IEr

Winston ELECT

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SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy. 11 mg. "tar", 0.8 mg. nicotine av per cigarette by FTC method. Stereo Review INCORPORATING FIGR HMO' O

EQUIPMENT

Cover Equipment Test Reports More and more power amplifiers, like the NHT 34 MA -I, NAD Model 906, and Parasound HCA- Technics SA-GX650 A/V receiver, page 34 1206 shown here, are being designed with home MB Quart Quart Three loudspeaker system, page 45 theater in mind. See page 70 for details. Jamo 507 loudspeaker system, page 48 Photograph by Dan Wagner Yamaha DSP-A2070 A/V integrated amplifier, page 58 Car Stereo 66 In the lab and on the road with the Kenwood KDC-C800 CD BULLETIN changer by Ken C. Pohlmann

LETTERS 14 Amplifiers for Surround Sound 10 Separate power amplifiers add muscle and flexibility to home theater TIME DELAY 16 systems by Michael Riggs NEW PRODUCTS 17 Do CD's Cost Tee Much? 89 The impression that the record industry has engaged in predatory MUSIC MAKERS 24 CD pricing is widespread. Are we really getting our money's AUDIO B&A 29 worth? by Ian G. Masters

TECHNICAL TALK 32 1994 Autosound Preview..94 Automakers pump up the volume for POPULAR MUSIC 120 the new model year by Bob Ankosko

CLASSICAL MUSIC 134 Digital on the Air 102 CENTER STAGE 150 Digital radio is emerging as an exciting THE HIGH END 160 alternative to FM by Peter W Mitchell

COPYRIGHT t.1993 BY HACHETTE FILIPACCti I MAGAZINES. INC. All rights reserved. Stereo Review. November 1993. Volume 58. Number 11. Stereo Review (ISSN 0039-12201 is published monthly by Hachette Filipacchi Magazines. Inc. at 1633 Broadway. New York. NY 10019: telephone (2121 767-6000. One-year subscription rate for the United States and its possessions, $15.94: Canada. $23.94 (includes 7% GST. GST registration number 126018209. Canadian Sales Agreement Number 992361; all other coun- MUSIC tries. $23.94: cash orders only. payable in U.S. currency. Second-class postage paid at New York. NY 10001. and at additional mailing offices. Authorized as second-class mail Basic Tchaikovsky 10 by the Post Office Department. Ottawa. Canada. and for payment of postage in cash. POSTMASTER / SUBSCRIP- A critical discography TION SERVICE: Please send change -of -address forms and all subscription correspondence to Stereo Review. P.O. Box by Richard Freed 55627. Boulder. CO 80322.5627. Please allow at least eight weeks for the change of address to become effective. Include both your old and your new address, enclosing, if possible. Best Recordings of an address label from a recent issue. If you have a subscrip- the Month 113 tion problem, write to the above address or call (3031 447- 9330. PERMISSIONS: Material in this publication may not The triumphant return of be reproduced in any form without permission. Requests for permission should be directed to: The Editor. Stereo Re- Billy Joe Shaver, B.B. King's view, 1633 Broadway. New York. NY 10019. BACK IS- "Blues Summit," "Death and SUES are available. Write to Stereo Review -Back Issues. P.O. Box 7085. Brick. NJ 08723. Enclose a check for the the Maiden" meets "Black Angels" cover price of each issue you want plus $1.75 each for shipping and handling. For telephone credit-card orders, call via the Brodsky Quartet, and 909-367-2900. EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS must be cellist Heinrich Schiff gets in tune accompanied by return postage and will be handled with reasonable care, but the publisher assumes no responsibility with Schumann for the return or safety of unsolicited manuscripts, art. or photographs. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

Whosays youcant accomplish anything by sitting in front of a TV all your life?

In 1979, Mitsubishi introduced the world's first one-piece big screen projectionTV. Since then, we haven't been able to take our eyes off of it. Researching. Improving. Perfecting. So when you buy a new Mitsubishi big screen you're not just buying a new TV, you're buying 15 generations of techno- logical advancements. Mitsubishi offers themost Take the VS -5071 displayed on extensive line of the left. Like the rest of our 1994 big screenTVs featuring slim line of big screen televisions, its pre- cabinet design. Compact decessors include the world's first 50," internal lenses allow us to 60:' 70" and 120" screens. As well as build our the first slim cabinet big screens ever cabinets 30% slimmer without to be offered to the viewing public. compromising picture quality. Of course, for those more inter - ested in technology than genealogy, rest assured our latest models continue to offer innovations you won't find in any other big screen. Like selective -light lenses for purer color reproduction, dark -tint black matrix screens that absorb stray room light and enhance sharpness, and scandium oxide -coated electron guns, which keep our picture clearer and brighter over time. (In fact, after ten years of normal use, ours retains 90% of its original brightness. Others retain only 50%.) The final result is a family of big screens whose picture quality rivals even our best direct -view TVs. For more information about our highly evolved line of big screens, and the name of your nearest Mitsubishi dealer, please call us at 1-800-937-0000, ext. 102. You'll soon see that even if you just sat there for the rest of your life watching every movie from Annie Hall to Ziegfield Girl, it would be a very rewarding life indeed. MITSUBISHI THE BIG SCREEN COMPANY:

ROMANCING THE recent editorial, the Christian BUYER Science Monitor commented Manufacturers of MiniDisc that politics is often (MD) and Digital Compact described as an art and said, Cassette (DCC) hardware are "A politician does not have to engaged in a promotional conduct Beethoven's 'Eroica' war of sorts to win over in order to be a leader, but it prospective customers. For just might help." the rest of 1993, buyers of home and portable MD A/V ODDITIES machines from Aiwa, RCA, Casio's CMB-10B Wrist Sanyo, Sharp, or Sony Controller is being billed as receive an MD sampler and the world's first wrist watch/ RDS RADIO OPTION FOR '94 GM CARS thirty discount coupons, each universal remote control. A Delco Electronics cassette receiver equipped with a Radio of which is good for $2 off the Designed to operate TV's, Data System (RDS) decoder will be offered as a dealer - regular price of a VCR's, and cable boxes, the prerecorded MD. otherwise ordinary -looking installed option in GM vehicles beginning next spring. The Several incentives are $90 watch has a tiny panel decoder enables the tuner to receive RDS text and audio available to those who buy with four micro buttons that broadcasts, including automatic traffic and emergency DCC machines before the can be used to select end of the year. Buyers of channels, adjust volume, reports. Text broadcasts can include a station's call letters or Philips home and portable and turn power on and off. music format, or a longer message that scrolls across the decks receive twelve Dick Tracy, eat your heart receiver's LCD panel. Denon is the only company currently coupons, good for one out.. . . Soon -to -be mothers prerecorded DCC each can now hear what junior's selling RDS car head units, although Jensen, Sony. and month. Those who buy a up to without visiting the Blaupunkt have shown prototypes. Onkyo recently began Technics home recorder get doctor's office. Unisar of New selling the first home RDS tuner. About sixty U.S. stations are to pick ten free prerecorded York City is offering a DCC's from a list of about prenatal listening kit called now broadcasting with RDS. twenty-five titles, while FirstSounds ($60 with those who purchase external speaker, $40 grants" ($340,000) from the their World's Worst Guitarist

Panasonic's portable player without) that includes a MacArthur Foundation. . . . contest. At press time a receive a DCC sampler and built-in amplifier and Williams is also among winner had not been chosen, two free prerecorded tapes of microphone, a listening those scheduled to receive but the award is expected their choice. Buyers of Radio "cone," and headphones. .. . this year's Kennedy Center before the end of the year. Shack's Optimus home deck A line of Barbie Electronics Honors (for lifetime receive several coupons, products is now available contributions to American GOLD Sr PLATINUM each redeemable for a from KlDdesigns of Jersey culture), along with the TV Recent certifications by the prerecorded DCC. City. Highlights include the host Johnny Carson, Arthur Recording Industry BE 100 cordless -phone -style Mitchell (founder of the Association of America BANDLEADER MASUR walkie-talkie ($25) and the Dance Theater of Harlem), confirm Barbra Streisand's U.S. Presidents Harry heart -shaped BE 400 cassette the Broadway composer and place as the female Truman and Richard Nixon player with sing -along lyricist Stephen Sondheim, performer with the most both played the piano, and, microphone ($30). Each and the conductor Georg RIAA awards. Her "Back to as everyone knows, electronic device comes with Solti. . . . The innovative jazz Broadway" album brought in President Clinton plays the a miniature version of the artist Dizzy Gillespie was her thirty-first Gold and saxophone. Now there are product to add "extra fun to elected to the American twenty-first Platinum rumors that the conductor doll play." Ken's sure going Academy of Arts and Letters awards. . . . Michael Kurt Masur, the music to be jealous. only two days before his Jackson's "Thriller" got a new director of the Leipzig death at the age of 76. Also Platinum certification for Gewandhaus and the New PRIZES & AWARDS elected to the Academy this U.S. sales of 22 million, York Philharmonic orchestras, The gospel singer Marion year was the composer making it the highest - is being considered for the Williams is the first vocalist William Bolcom. . . . On certified title in RIAA presidency of Germany. In a to win one of the "genius Broadway, The Who's Tommy history. . . Jackson's "Bad" won five of this year's Tony reached total sales of 7 DINO-SOUND Awards, and Kiss of the million, and his sister Janet Jurassic Park, a $60 video game based on the hit movie of the Spider Woman (with music Jackson's "janet." went to and lyrics by John Kander triple -Platinum. same name. is the first U.S.-produced game to feature a and Fred Ebb), won seven, Newly certified Platinum F Dolby Surround -encoded soundtrack. Developed by Ocean of including the Tony for best albums include "Blind America for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. the musical. . . . Judges at House Melon" (Capitol) by Blind 7<' of Guitars in Rochester, New Melon and "America's Least action/adventure game features the sounds of man-eating York, are still struggling with Wanted" (Stardog) by Ugly dinosaurs from the movie soundtrack. the surfeit of awful entries in Kid Joe.

8 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1997 OFFTIIVILIS

WE'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE RE

YOU TO YOUR NEXT OE

STEREO SYSTEM '"<1AUTO REVERSE [>"- PLAYBACK The stereo system you buy for yourself (or someone EJ special) should be ready for the day when every recording is digital and all video has surround sound. Optimus' Pro- fessional Series components meet this challenge today. DECK AJLJTO TAPE SELECTOR COCECK SYNCHRO SYSTEM (M) Choose from high -power receirers with Dolby Pro Logic' Surround for thrilling cinema sound at home. Add a CD changer or player for flawless digital stereo, and a high-speed dubbing deck for crystal-clear recording and CIPTIMLIS CD -7105 COMPACT OSC AUTOMATIC CHAN playback. Top it off with speakers in traditional or new space -saving subwoofer/satellite designs. POVVEP Optimus components are top performers yet cost much less than competitors'. And they're backed by warranties honored at 6600 stores nationwide! Corre in and we'll

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CIRCLE NO 58 ON READEF SERVICE CARD Dolby and Pro Logtc are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratcrdrs Lionnarn, Corp a Stereo Review I Vice President, Editor In Chief I LOCISE. 130L NDAS Executive Editor MICHAEL RIGGS ArtDirector SUE LLEWELLYN Director, Hirsch -HouckLaboratories JULIAN HIRSCH aanduthetY Senior Editor TechnicalEditor BOB ANKOSKO DAVIDRANADA Managing Editor DAVID STEIN Popular Musk Editor Classkol Musk Editor STEVE SIMELS ROBERTRIPPS Assodote Art Director ast MINDY OSWALD Add the beauty of the P5.24 center channel Associate Editor Assistant Editor MARYANN SALTSER JAE SEGARRA and the power of the PS.SW subwoofer for Editor at Large the ultimate home theater experience_ WILLIAMLIVINGSTONE Call 1-800-693-3000 for a list of dealer; and Contributors: Robert Ackert, Chris Albertson. a free copy of Step -By -Step... Your Guide to Rebecca Day, Richard Freed, Jost Garcia (Buyers' Guides). Phyl Garland, Ron Givens, David Hall, a Complete Home Theater System. Bryan Harrell (Tokyo), Roy Hemming, Ralph Hodges. George Jellinek, Stoddard Lincoln, Ian Masten. Manna Nash, Henry Pleasance (London), Ken Pohlmann, Parke Puterbaugh, Charles Rodrigues. Eric Salzman, DESIGN Craig Stark. David Patrick Stearns DCIACOUSTICS Vke President, Group Publisher AnAudio-Technica Company THOMAS Ph. WITSCHI

DESIGN ACOUSTICS DIVISION 14C, 1225 Cc, Stow Oho 441, Consumer Electronics Group Advertising VP -Assoc late Publisher Tony Catalano Regional VP/Ad Director. East Coast: Charles L. P. Watson,(212) 767-6038 Regional Account Manager. East Coast: Christine B. Foritex,(212)767-6025 Regional VP/Ad Director, Midwest: Scott Constantine,(212) 767-6346 NoiseBuster Regional VP/Ad Director, West Coast: active noise reduction headset Robert Meth,(213) 954-4831 W Advertising Manager: Paula Mayeri,(213) 954-4830 Sales Assistant:Nikki Parker NoiseBustercan reduce annoying noise Nations! Record Label Sales Representatives: by 50-95%, while leaving desired sounds. The Mitchell Advertising Group (MAG Inc.) Mitch Herskowitz,(212) 490-1715 such as speech, music and warning signa s Steve Gross. (212)490-1895 clearly audible. Assistant to the Publisher:AlineJnPulley Operations Manager: Sylvia Correa Advertising Coordinator:Linda Neuweiler Trade Show Coordinator:Barbara Aiken Use the comfortable, lightweight NoiseBuster: Sales Assistant:Yvonne Teiesford -in the plane, car, bus, truck, boat, train, subway, city, home, office Classified Advertising: (800)445-6066 -with lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, home power tools,computers, fans Production Manager:Vicki L. Feinmel Production Director:Patti Burns -and in many other everyday situations where noise is a nuisance. Business Manager:Christine Maine( General Manager:Greg Roperti UseNoiseBusterin conjunction with your portable audio equipment or in-flight tch.e,ette entertainment system to reduce environmental noise, and enjoy better audio njStereoReviewis published quality. Niarazinas by HachetteFilipacchi Magazines. Inc.

Chairman: Daniel Filipacchi President. CEO, and COO: David). Pecker How does "active" noise reduction work? Executive VP and Editorial Director: Jean-Louis Ginibre Microphones in both headset earcups listen to the offensive noise, Senior VP, Global Advertising: Paul DuChanne Senior VP. Director of Corporate Sales: Nicholas Matarazzo //, VP, Director of Strategic Planning, Advertising. feed that information to theNoiseBusterelectronic controller & Circulation: Patrice Listfield where it is analyzed, and an anti -noise wave is generated. When VP. Chief Financial Officer: Paul DeBenedictis the anti -noise meets the offensive noise, that noise is reduced. VP. General Counsel: Catherine Flickinger VP, Manufacturing & Distribution: Anthony Romano $149 +shipping/hand ing VP, Circulation: Leon Rosenfield To order. call toll -free: VP. Research & Marketing Services, Susan Smollens VP. Communications & Special Propects, Keith Estabrook VP, Magazine Development, Marcia Sachar net- NOISECANCELLATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC 800-228-3141 row BOO Summer Street, Stamford, If 06901 Visa/MasterCard accepted an... Take that divers watch to 200 players feature a lightweight laser including meters deep. Run a pick-up to ensure accurate amplifiers marathon in those reproduction of sound. and speakers world -class shoes. Max Silicon -filled damping have been engineered so your CD's out the speedometer in cushions to prevent digital sound is pure and precise your sports car. Capture every bit of skipping even under the most severe throughout the system. sound from your favorite CD. road conditions.Plus advanced Obtaining your CD's full potential is

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How Long Will CD's Last? Stereo Digital film soundtracks and is being Having It Both Ways gn theScience and Technology Desk Refer- extended to consumer formats.Dolby Sur- CanI buy an audio system that will provide encefrom Gale Research (1993), it says that round Digitalwill identify the consumer soft- excellent conventional stereo sound as CD's may last only "three to five years" ware and hardware that will use the AC -3 well as surround sound? Or are these capabili- because "the aluminum substratum on which coding to provide the home equivalent of ties mutually exclusive? DAVEA.KOENIG the data is recorded is vulnerable to oxida- Dolby Stereo Digital film sound. This parallels Beavercreek, OH tion." Is there any way to stop the oxidation? the current use of the term Dolby Surround to P. E.LILEY identify the home equivalent of Dolby Stereo You can very definitely have both. A good Lafayette, IN analog film sound. surround -sound system should provide fine ste- The confusion, however, did nothing to reo music reproduction. Many A/V receivers, In general, CD's have a very long lifespan. Most detract from the important message about bass integrated amps, and surround processors in- properly made discs that have been well cared and surround channels. By the way, the listen- corporate ambience -enhancement circuits for for seem to last indefinitely. Any defect or er will instruct a Dolby Surround Digital de- music as well as Dolby Pro Logic decoding for damage that exposes a disc's aluminum reflec- coder as to which of the system's speakers are Dolby Surround movies and 7V. tive layer can lead to destructive oxidation, full -range and whether there's a subwoofer. however, especially in tropical environments or The decoder will route bass below 100 Hz near oceans. accordingly, much as today's Pro Logic decod- Levine's Secret? ers can route center -channel bass to left and TheSeptember "Bestof the Month" review right full -range speakers to enable the use of a of a Wagner recording by James Levine Dolby vs. DTS limited -range center speaker. JOSEPH HULL and the Met Orchestra praises Mr. Levine for gwas about to buy a Dolby Pro Logic AN Marketing Communications Manager transforming the orchestra from a "workman- receiver for my planned home theater sys- Dolby Laboratories like" ensemble to "one of the best." If I can tem, but here comes the incredibly successful San Francisco, CA believe the photo, I know how he accomplished Jurassic Parkencoded with a surround system it. Maestro Levine conducts with his baton in called DTS. Is DTS compatible with Dolby the "wrong" hand, and his string players play Surround? Will existing Dolby -equipped re- B illy Ray's People their instruments "backwards." To do this ceivers need an outboard accessory to decode n her "review" (to be generous) of Billy Ray must require great concentration from all in- movies recorded with DTS? Are the thou- Cyrus's "It Won't Be the Last" (Septem- volved, and thus we get superb playing. sands of Dolby A/V receivers or the millions of ber), Alanna Nash isn't satisfied to trash his If you merely printed the photo backwards I Dolby -encoded tapes in danger of becoming second album but has to take "cheap shots" at will be disappointed, as that will shatter my obsolete? HERB GOLDMAN Mr. Cyrus. Not satisfied with that, she says he theory. RICHARD A. FERRIS Tustin, CA is an embarrassment to Nashville. Not content Edison, NJ with that, we have a condescending "put Digital Theater Sound (DTS), which is intended down" of those who like and purchased his Sorry, but the photo was 'flopped." for commercial theaters, puts the soundtrack on albums. Whether he can sing or write to her an optical disc synched to the film. Jurassic standards is irrelevant. Ten million people Park will undoubtedly be released on video with think he can. IAN G. DARRACH Corrctions a Dolby Surround soundtrack, just as movies Halifax, Nova Scotia We reported erroneous power measure- with Dolby Stereo Digital soundtracks have ments for the Onkyo TX-SV515PRO in been (the conversion is not difficult). Eventually AsAs I read through Alanna Nash's thoroughly October's comparison tests of three $500 Dolby Surround Digital, using the same AC -3 and poisoned article on surround -sound receivers. The results on encoding system as Dolby Stereo Digital, will Billy Ray Cyrus, I kept wondering: Why? It is page 86 forI -kHz output at clipping should probably be incorporated into video media, but so waspish at thepersonallevel that one gasps have been 112 watts into 8 ohms and 171 that will take some time, and the new format will at the indignities. LARRY L.STONE watts into 4 ohms -0.4 and 3.1 dB better, coexist with analog Dolby Surround. DTS and Bluefield, WV respectively, than shown. We have also dis- Dolby Stereo Digital use essentially the same covered that the TX-SV515PRO can generate six -channel layout, so moving soundtracks Nash's recent article on Billy Ray a very impressive 297 watts continuously from one system to the other should be straight- HannaCyrus is absolutely disgusting and an into 2 ohms. forward. insult to our native singer from Kentucky and There were some minor inaccuracies in to our State of Kentucky. I suspect [Ms. Nash] "Thirty -FiveYearsof Tape Recording" sits in her New York office, with four walls (September). The first recorder to use Dolby B Dolby Names Names surrounding her, a computer or typewriter to noise reduction was the KLH Model 40 open - was some understandable confusion key in dead -head, trash -one's -life negative ar- reel deck (not the Model 42), which was intro- whereabout Dolby nomenclature in the "Sur- ticles such as this. Billy Ray is a human being! duced in 1968 (not 1970). And the first cassette round -Channel Bass" sidebar to the Septem- Is she? Kentucky is beautiful horses and blue- deck to feature both Dolby B and Cr02 capa- ber article "Speakers for Home Theater." grass and friendly people, not concrete walls bility was not the Advent 201 but its predeces- Dolby "SR -D"is not a film -sound format but with a negative writer behind the pen. sor. the Advent 200, introduced in 1970. 0 identifies 35mm release prints that carry both ROBERTA TIPTON a Dolby Stereo SRanalog soundtrack anda Ashland, KY Dolby Stereo Digital opticalsoundtrack. When We welcome your letters. Please address referring just to the digital soundtrack and its For the record, long-time country -music fan correspondence to Editor, Stereo Review, presentation in the theater, only the term and critic Alanna Nash is a "born and bred 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. Dolby Stereo Digital should be used. Southerner from Tennessee hillbilly stock on You should include your address and Dolby 'AC -3" isthe multichannel perceptu- both sides" who has lived in Louisville, Ken- telephone number for verification. Letters al -coding algorithm that is used for Dolby tucky, all her life. may be edited for clarity and length.

14 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 ShockiNciFy DEEP BASS

For a deeper appreciation of your favorite music and movies, add a DCM powered subwoofer to your audio or home theater system. -0 Our top -of -the -line SUB -712 and compact SUB -710 both unleash the full power of low frequencies encoded in today's digital software and broadcast signals. Plug a DCM powered subwoofer into your audio system and feel the gut -level energy of bass guitars, synthesizers and kick drums. Or savor the fundamental tones of pipe organ, acoustic and symphonic music. Hook up a DCM powered subwoofer to your home

theater and experience the bone -rattling roar of airplanes, car chases, starships and explosions, just like at the movies.--) The SUB -712 (pictured) includes an 8 -inch active woofer and a 12 -inch passive radiator. The compact SUB -710, measuring only 15"H 9"W x 19"L, includes two active 6.h -inch woofers. Both systems provide user -adjustable sensitivity, direct line inputs, pass -through connections, and limiter p-otection circuitry. For more information, call DCM at 1 -800 -878 -TIME. Or ask for a SUB -712 or SUB -710 demonstration at your DCM retailer today. The difference in deep bass is electrifying.

DiC/\/1® Loudspeakers The difference is clear"'

Enter No. 33 on Reader Service Card TIME DELAV

metal bowls for 360 -degree tweeter dispersion.

Wait till he hears the CD: Reviewing RCA's stereo LP of Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony performing Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, critic John Diana "Touch Me" Ross, 1972 Thornton wrote. "Take good advice-get the recording. Peter Reilly. mindful that the take it home, turn out the cover of Bonnie Bramlett's lights, take the phone off the latest pictured her holding a hook, and lock the door. Listen shotgun, concluded a pan of to it several times and gain a the album by noting, "Noel memorable music experience Coppage-got that? C-o-p-p- you are not apt to forget- a-g-e-wrote this review." ever." being defined as someone who New products this month drowned in a lake with an included the Shure 3009 Series average depth of one foot." 35 Years Ago II Improved tonearm. the .11010111111 In his "The Flip Side" column AMI MAIM /014113Wilifil 11ALCID ALI ror Kirksaeter RTX 85.55 stereo New products this month in the November 1958 issue, receiver (65 watts per included the Technics SL -P8 Editor Oliver P. Ferrell channel), and the Advent/2 second -generation CD player: pondered the gerontological speaker "for use in audio Sanyo's VCR73(X) portable implications of loudness systems of moderate cost and Beta Hi-Fi VCR. which could power." Meanwhile, in test record up to 5 hours of high - standardization. "How would reports, Julian Hirsch quality audio (without video) the engineer, as well as the examined the Kenwood KA- on an L-830 cassette: and the originator of standards, 8004 integrated stereo amp Niles Audio MM -I Music compensate for gradual loss of and "found nothing significant Minder, which shut off your hearing?" he asked. "Frankly. to criticize in its design. and entire system 5 minutes after a we need an amplifier with an no unhappy surprises in our record or tape ended. In test Age Compensator rather than a listening tests." loudness control." Someone call Stevie Wonder: Among the new products Editor William Anderson. noted this month were the lamenting the dearth of truly Altec Lansing Model 307A 20 Years Ago "golden ears" involved in FM tuner ($96), the Scott In Best of the Month, George quadraphonic sound research. Model 209 36 -watt monaural Jellinek minced no words in suggested recruiting them amplifier. and the Heathkit his review of London's from the ranks of the blind. The Niles MM -1 Music Minder RP -3 build -it -yourself record Sutherland/Caballe/Pavarotti After all, he noted, "for many changer. complete with G. E. recording of Turandot ("The of them, music is already a reports. Julian Hirsch thought phono cartridge. Equipment best Tttrundot ever available profession." highly of Sennheiser's very tested this month included the on records"), and Peter Reilly sensitive. lightweight MS 100 Gonset 3239 car FM adaptor, was equally enthusiastic over headphones. but he cautioned described as "the first realistic Diana Ross's "Touch Me in against using them at extreme attempt at mobile FM the Morning" ("a stunning 10 Years Ago volumes. "Prolonged listening reception." and the Kingdom performance"). Elsewhere in Letters to the Editor: Outraged at the highest levels these Compass -1 speaker system. the review sections. Richard readers continued to respond phones can develop." he which employed two shallow Freed compared dueling to Laurence Greenhill's warned. "could he dangerous records of Prokofiev's August article about listening to your hearing." complete Romeo aml tests showing that expensive ballet-Lorin Maazel on speaker cable had no sonic Dude, take your lithium: London versus Andre Previn advantages over zip cord. A Reviewing Quarterflash's on Angel-and declared typical reaction came from "Take Another Picture." a Maazel's the winner. Chris Gilberto Regules of depressed Steve Simels called Albertson raved over a live Montevideo. Uruguay. who it "a metaphor for everything Charles Mingus album on dismissed Greenhill's findings that's wrong with the record Columbia ("A rousing artistic as "a statistician's business, and maybe even the Altec Lansing's 307A FM tuner success!"). And a nervous conclusion-a statistician world." -Steve Simels

16 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Columbia House. The face of jazz.

Thisis the place where the biggest names in jazz come together. From the soaring classics of John Coltrane to the virtuoso styling of Chick Corea, only Columbia House has the expertise and heritage to bring you face to face with today's greatest artists. Look to Cclumbia House -where the jazz is.

When paying homage to Duke lia.:(1lcadcr, soloist, student of the Ellington, only the best will do. Dave classical...the talent of Branford assembled top musicians to create an 8 CDs Marsalis is multi -faceted. In innovative musical tribute without Bloomington, you'll meet the serious peer. Unexpectedly, Dave departs jazz musician. This live concert from big band orchestrations with the album of one of his trio's finest and poetic simplicity of for 10 most searing his flawless piano. PLUS A CHANCE TO GET ONE MORE FREE! performances Details on other side. captures Branford's Nnenna Freston - Dave Brubeck-Trio Joe Williams -Ballad And true jazz essence. Heritage (Columbia) Brubeck (Musicmasters Blues Master (Verve) 462.051 Jazz) 460.279 442970 Joey Defrancesco-Live Milt Jackson -ReverenceNalee-Just An Illusion John Scofield -What We At The Five Spot (Repnse/ Owest) 460.238(EMI) 442.251 Do (Blue Note) 454442 (Columbia) 461.251 Dave Grusin -Homage Phillip Bent -The Dwight Sills -Second Branford Martens - Best Of Jonathan Butler To Duke (GRP) Arturo Sandoval - Pressure (GRP) 459.925Wind (Columbia) 441457Bloomington (Columbia) (Jive) 459.560 Dreams Come True (GRP) 460089 Bob Berg -Enter The 458.331 Billy Taylor -Dr. T Cheryl Bentyne- Mark Whitfield (Warner Spirit (Stretch Records) (GRP) 459.917Something Cool New Vora Voices - Bros.) 458.752 Michel Petrucciani- John Lucien -Mother (Columba) 441.782 461.772 Bobby Watson 8 What's Inside (GRP) Art Porter -Straight To Promenade With Duke Natures Son (Mercury) 460.907 Horace Silver Quartet - (Blue Note) 458.125 459.685Horizon -Tailor Made Spyro Gyra-Three The Point (Verve Ifs Got To Be Funky (Columbia) 458729Wishes tiGRP) 440.990Eric Marienthal-One Forecast) 461495 (Columbia) 00709Dave Valentin -Red Sun Grover Washington, Jr. Touch (GRP) 460.899 (GRP) 458467-Mister Magic (Motown) Rachel Z -Trust The The Best Of Fattburger Dinah Washington -The Cab Calloway -Best Of 452.003Universe (Columbia) (Manhattan) 440.642 Dinah Washington Story Eddie Daniels -Under 458404 (Verve) 461412 Big Bands (Columbia/ Harry Connick, Jr. -25 Tom Scott -Born Again Legacy) 460.683The Influence (GRP) (Columbia) 451.443Incognito -Tribes, Vibes (GRP) 440436 458059 Saibes (Talkin Benny Goodman -Best Of GRP All -Star Big Band Big Bands (Columbia/ Hubert Laws -My Time Bobby Lyle -Secret LoudNerve) 454.918 C::R:STMAS FAVOR:TES Island (Atlantic Jazz) (GRP) 440.503 460.675Will Come (Musicmasters) A Jazz Christmas -Hot Take 6 -He Is Christmas 458.026 451.393Marion Jordan -The Undaunted (Columbia) Jazz For A Cool Night (Reprise) 438.002 Tower Of Power-T.O.P. Al Dimeola-Heart Of The 454.371 (Musicmasters Jazz) (Epic) 456.616Immigrants (Mesa) 460.501A Jazzy Wonderland 4560380The DirtAyy Dozen Brass (Columbia) 418.947 Randy Breaker -In The Band -Jelly (Columbia) Manhattan TransferThe Idiom (Devon) 456.236Acoustic Alchemy -The 454.355 Christmas Album Wynton Natasha - New Edge (GRP) 457481 (Columbia) 459.172 Jack DeJohnette-Fifth Richard ElliotSoul Crescent City Christmas World (Manhattan)455.824Jimmy Scott -All The Embrace (Manhattan) Ella Fitzgerald ChristmasCard (Columbia)405.613 Way (Sire) 450.734 454.140 (Capitol) 440.123 Nancy Wilson -Nancy Mormon Tabernacle Wilson/Cannonball Charlie Haden Quartet Wynton Marsalis-Cik Lou Rawls - Choir -Silent Night/The West -Haunted Heart Diane Schuur-Love Merry Chrstmas Adderly (Capitol)455.295 Movement (Columbia) Songs (GRP) 458.323 Grt. Hits Of Christmas Rippingtons-Live In L.A. (Verve) 450.726 453.910/393418 I Capitol) 440107 (GRP) 463471 (CBS Mast.) 356.527 Dr. John-Goin' Back To Special EFX-Collection Wynton Mansell* Septet Stephen 11111 Singers - New Orleans (Wamer (GRP) 453.506-Blue Interlude Radio City Music Hall A Canadian Brass Bros.) 450.718 (Columbia) 439463Songs Of Ohnstmas Christmas (CBS) 344.010 Chick Corea-Light As A (Epic) 439.968 David Benolt-Letter To Feather (Polydor) 452.045Al Jarreau-Heaven And Vince Guarsldl-A in 1( I// Evan (GRP) 450.288 Earth (Reprise) 439.240A GRP Christmas Vol. II Jean Luc Ponty-Aurora Charlie Brown Christmas Ells gerald-The Cole (GRP) 439.927(Fantasy) 295.824 Porter Songbook, Vol I (Atlantic) 452.029 (Polydor) 426.692 Chet Baker/Gerry 0 Contairs explicit lyrics which may be objectionable to some members. Mulligan-Camegie Hall Concert (CTI) 423.251 r Nat King Cole- Jumpin' At Capitol (Rhino) 421.982 The Best Of Horace NO POSTAGE The Genius 01 Charlie Silver (Blue Note) 419.416 NECESSARY Parker (Savoy Jazz) Miles Davis -Birth Of The 456.160Cool (Capitol) 414425 IF MAILED The Thelonious Monk The Best Of John IN THE Quartet -Discovery At Coltrane (Atlantic) The Five Spot (Blue Note) 412014 UNITED STATES 459.909Sarah Vaughan -The Dizzy Gillespie -The Divine (Columbia) BUSINESS REPLY MAIL Champ (Savoy Jazz) 374480/394.288 FIRST CLASS PERMIT NO 660 TERRE HAUTE, IN 456.210Duke Ellington -Ellington The Modem Jazz QuartetAt Newport (CL Jazz (Savoy Jazz) 456.202Masterpieces) 354.662 POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE Curtis Fuller-Bluesette Glenn Miller Orchestra - (Savoy Jazz) 456.194In The Digital Mood (GRP) 347492 Dinah Washington - Dinah Jams (Emarc-y) 441.709 Betty Carter -'Round Midnight (ATCO) 436.980 The Best Of Count Basie (Roulette Jazz) 435.990 1400 NORTH FRUITRIDGE AVENUE The Artistry Of Stan Getz (Verve)4397061393.702 TERRE HAUTE, IN 47812-9202 Erroll Gamer -Body And Billie Holiday -From Soul (CI Jazz Masterpieces)Original Decca Masters 427465 (MCA) 354.965

1111 11111111111111111111111111 11 1111 I 1111111111111111 Any 8 CDs fortAisea, PLUS A CHANCE TO GET ONE MORE FREE! Diane Schuur-in TributeNatalie Cole- (GRP) Lincoln Center Jazz 438.097 Unforgettable (Elektra) Orchestra -Portraits By Holly Cole Trio -Blame It 422.279 POPULAR HITS Ellington (Columbia) On My Youth (Blue Note) The Quintet -Jazz At Dr. ore -The Chronic Sting -Ten Summoners 449.18 435.982 Massey Hall (Debut) (DeathRow/ Interscope) Tales (ABM) 454461Dfango Reinhardt/ Grover Washington, Jr 421.719 461.970 Stephan. Grapeili- -Next Exit (Columbia) Silk -Lose Control Spyro Gyre -Collection Natalie Cole -Take A (Keia/Elektra) 453415Souvenirs(London) 435.396 (GRP) 420.950Look (Elektra) 460.741 448.83 Yellowlackets-live The Manhattan Transfer Bette Midler-The Sleepless In Seattle" Clifford Brown/Max Wires (GRP) 435.388 -The Offbeat Of AvenuesDivine Collection Sndtrk. (Epic Roach -At Basin Street Soundtrax) 458430 Legendary Lou Rawls (Columbia) 420.208(Atlantic) 460.386 (Emarcy) 44848 His first album in three years is a diverse, (Blue Note) 435.248 Paul McCartney -All TheSade-Love Deluxe (Epic)George Duke -Snapshot Best (Capitol) (Warner Bros.) upbeat project that fully expresses his Best Of Miles Davis (Blue 459.776 449.439 448-67 Note) 435.206 Donald Fagen-Kama- "The Bodyguard" - The Brecker Brothers - favorite styles -jazz, pop, and latin. Michael kinad (Reprise) 458463Original Soundtrack Return Of The Brecker Joe Henderson -Lush Brothers (GRP) joins forces with top musicians, presenting Lite (Verve) 434.696 Aerosmith-Get A Gnp (Ansta) 448.159 448.19 (Geffen) 458.075 Betty Carter -Its Not duets with Peggy Lee and Dan Hicks. Paco DeLucia With Chick Bell Blv DeVoe-Hoote About The Melody (Verve Corea-Zyryab (Verve) Luther Vandross-NeverMack (MCA) 450.312 Dragonfly Summer 434.605 Let Me Go (Epic) 457.176 44740 Spin Doctors -Pocket Bela Fleck & The gives Michael a place Compact Jazz Eric Clapton-UnpluggedFull Of Kryptonite (Verve) Jeff Lorber-Worth Flecktones-Ufo Tufo in the sun as a jazz 434.456 Waiting For(Verve) (Repnse/Duck) 446.187(EpiciAssoc ) 428.482(Warner Bros.) 445.80. Bobby McFerrin & Chick 458.299 great. Corea-Play (Blue Note) Louis Armstrong -The George Benson -The Larry Carlton -Kid 434.381 The Crusaders -Healing Hot Fives And Hot Collection (Warner Bros.) Gloves (GRP) 44546' Micheal Franks - The Wounds (GRP) Sevens.Vol 2 (CI Jazz 312492Tony Bennett -Perfectly k Preservation Hall Jazz Dragonfly Summer Band -Live! (Sony 419.952 The Best 01 The Frank (Columbia) 445481 (Reprise) 457.028 Master.) 434043 Best Of The Gerry Manhattan Transfer Branford Marsalls-I Mulligan Quartet (Capitol, (Atlantic) 312.009Heard You Twice The Firs Stanley Jordan -Stolen Pacific Jazz) Time (Columbia) Moments (Blue Note) 4194389 Ramsey Lewis -Ivory 445.461 433.417 The Best Of Cannonball Pyamid (GRP) 450.213 The Cole Porter Adderley Quintet -The Macao Parker -Life On Songbook, Vol 2 (Verve)Capitol Years (Capitol) Planet Groove (Verve) 419471 449.991 Best Of Earl Klugh Shakatak-Open Your (Blue Note) Abbey Lincoln -Devil's Eyes (Verve) 430.413 419.655Joe Sample -Invitation Got Your Tongue (Verve) (Warner Bros.) 454.900 Joe Sample -Collection The Best Of Freddie 456.905 (GRP) Hubbard "Menace 11 Society 430.280(Blue Note) 419.465 Masterpieces) 377.507 Sndtrk. (Jive) 131 Fourpley (James, Rit- Best Of Herbie Hancock 459.586 enour. East & Mason) (Blue Note) 419.408R. Charles -Genius . Soul Joshua Redman (Warner Bros.) 428.334 = Jazz (DCC Compact Kenny G -Breathless (Warner Bros.) 458.778 (Ansta) Lee Ritenour Collection Dianne Reeves -I Classics) 3713485 448.142 (GRP) 425476Remember (Blue Note) Miles Davis -Milestones Arturo Sandoval - The Rippingtons- 418.756 I Remember Clifford Weekend In Monaco David Sanborn- Another (CI Jazz Masterpieces) The Best Of Art Blakey 8 365.379(GRP) 436.105(GRP) 445.296 Hand (Elektra/Musician) The Jazz Messengers - 423.103 Nalee-Naiee's Theme Yellowfackets-Like A Pat Metheny-Secret The Blue NoteYears (Blue(EMI) River (GRP) 454.165Story (Geffen) 444.422 le rte Note) 416.016 353417 Kirk 1Nhalum-Cache Stanley Turrentine- Take 6 -So Much 2 Say Kenny G-Duotones In 30 years as a writer and performer (Ansta) 346.544(Columbia) 453.928More Than A Mood of pop, jazz, and soul, George has (Reprise) 413.310 (Musicmasters Jazz) Th. Bob James 8 Earl KlughAlex Bugnon-This Time 444.059 rt.), Manhattan Project -Cool (Warner Bros.) Around (Epic) 449.751 revealed his many sides. Now he returns (Blue Note) 410.290 439.232 Keith Jarrett -Silence to his jazz roots in Love Remembers. The Rippingtons- Patti Austin -Live (GRP) (GRP) 444-034 Moonlighting (GRP) Miles Davis-Doo-Bop 445404 Two years in the making with an all-star (Warner Bros.) 439.224 Nnenna Freelon 408.272 Lyle Mays--Fictionacam(Columbia) 443.978 supporting cast, this album gives us Shirley Horn -Here's To (Geffen) Basis -London Warsaw Life (Verve) Lee Ritenour-Wes New York (Epic)401.752 439.190 a Benson to Bound (GRP) 456.756 The advantages of jam at Columbia House. Kenny G Live (Ansta) David Sanborn -Up -front remember. Earl KlughTrio -Vol. II, 401405(Elektra) 438.994 By choosing any 8 CDs for only a penny Soundsnd Visions The Dave Grusin George Howard -Do I (plus shipping and handling), you become (Warner Bros.) 454488 Ever Cross Your Mind Collection (GRP) 378.398(GRP) a member of the Columbia House Jazz George Benson -Love Kim Pensyl-Eyes Of 438.564 Club. Once you're enrolled, you agree to Remembers (Warner Steve Laury-Keeping Wonder (GRP) 460., The Faith (Denon) 456477John McLaughlin-Oue buy just 6 more CDs at regular Club prices Bros.) 439.265 Alegna (Verve) 438.473 Lou Rawls -Portrait Of Joe Henderson -So (currently $12.98 to $16.98, plus shipping/ Hiroshima -Providence The Blues (Manhattan) Rim And The B.B.'s- (Epic) 443.945 4544134Near,So Far (Verve) This Is A Recording handling) within the next three years. You 455.535 (Warner Bros.) 435.192 may cancel your membership at any time 13 Contains explicit lyrics which may be objectionable to some members. after doing so. Selections with two numbers contain 2 CDs and count as 2 -so write in both numbers. © 1993,The Columbia House Company. Free Music Magazine: As a member we'll keep you current with the best jazz by sending you the Columbia COLUMBIA HOUSE, 1400 N. Fruitridge Ave. Send these 8 CDs for 1c House Jazz Magazine about every four weeks (up to 13 P.O. Box 1129, Terre Haute, Indiana 47811-1129 Write one number In each box. times a year). Inside, you'll find descriptions of Regular Selections plus hundreds of alternatives to choose

Please accept my membership application under the terms outlined in this 1 from. Well also send you 6 Special Mailings. In a year, advertisement. Send 8 Compact Discs and bill me only 1c, plus shipping and you'll enjoy a total of 19 convenient opportunities to handling.I agree to buy six selections, at regular Club pnces, in the next three 2 select your favorite music. years -and may cancel membership anytime after doing so. Buy Only What You Want: If you choose the Regular My main musical interest is (check one): (But I may always choosefrom any category) 3. or Special Selection, it will automatically be sent Or, if Jazz Soft Rock Classical Light Sounds Rap you prefer an alternate selection -or none at all -

Branford Marsalis. Michael Bolton. V Horowitz. Neil Diamond, L L Cool J. 4. simply mail the Response Card always provided by the Yellowlackets Manah Carey K. Battle Barbra StreisandNaughty By Nature date specified. You'll always have 10 days to decide. If 5 not, you may return the Selection at our expense. Country R&13/Soul [ Easy Listening Hard Rock Dance Pop Reba McEntire. Luther Vandross, Frank Sinatra, Van Haien, CSC Music Factory. Bonus Offer: Join right now and get an additional CD George Strait Boyz 11 Men Ray Conniff Aerosmith En Vogue 6. at the super -low price of only $6.95. That allows you to

take another CD for FREE. That's 10 CDs in all. And if 7. you're not satisfied, just return everything within 10 Mr. days -with no further obligation. 8 CI Mrs. Age Pent First Name Initial New "Buy More -Pay Less" Bonus Plan: Remain LI Miss Last Name a member after fulfilling your obligation and take 1 -(Extra Bonus Offer: Address advantage of our money -saving Bonus Plan. It lets you _ Apt. I 'also send one more CD now, for which I will be billed get a single CD for as little as $3.99 (or a single only $6.95. cassette free) for each CD you buy at regular Club City price. For selection, convenience and price, Columbia House is the best place for jazz. So get in the groove. 9 State Zip Sign up now. Do you have a VCR? (04)CI Yes El No A telephone? (01) 0 Yes 0 No ..and I'm entitled to get Have you ever brought anything by mall In the past? (27)([1 Yes ID No this extra CD FREE! How have you paid for your mall order purchase? Check below all that

EICash (28) [ . Check (30) ; Credit Card (29) Money OrderIVIT 10 *Me we ru.aene the right to reiect any application of cancel any membership These otters not availablein APO. FPO, mow. Hawar Puerto Rica write la details of alternative offer Canadian resslents veil be Sennced from Toronto 1400 North Fruitridge Avenue, Tem. Haute-. Indiana 471411 11211 Amicable saes tax added to all orders 596/F93 QYW-F6-59 NEW MO ICS

SENNHEISER Sennheiser's HD 435 headphores feature a 10 -foot cable with an 1/4 - inch miniplug and user - replaceable ear cushiors and cups. A '4 -inch plug adaptor is included. Bandwidth is given as 20 Hz to 22 kHz and inredance as 32 ohms. Price: S59. Suinheiser. Dept. SR, P.O. Box 987 Old Lyme, CT 06371. Circle 120 on reader semi e :ard BOSTON ACOUSTICS Boston Acoustics' first THX- a midrange tweeter on each side certified speakers include the and a forward -firing woofer. and Model 555x (S300), a front - the Model 595x subwoofer channel system that combines (S500). about 18 inches square V NHT aluminum texture. The speaker's two woofers and two tweeters in and rated down to 20 Hz. All are The Model 3.3, NHT's new front baffle is angled to improve an 1814 -inch -tall cabinet, the avai able in black -ash vinyl. flagship speaker, combines a 12 - clarity, stereo imaging, and tonal wall -mountable Model 757x Boston Acoustics. Dept. SR. 70 inch side -mounted wcoter, a V2 - balance. in -room fiequency surround (S500 a pair), which has Broadway. Lynnfield, MA 01940. inch mid -woofer, a 4 -inch response at 1 meter is given as midrange. and a 1 -inch 23 Hz to 26 kHz 1.- 2 dB. Price: aluminum -dome tweeter in an S4,000 a pair. NHT, Dept. SR, asymmelrical 42 -inch -high 535 Getty Ct., #A, Benicia, CA enclosure finished in in Italian 94510. laminate with a brusher - Circle 122 on reader service card

MARANTZ The Marantz SR -73 A V receiver speakers. There are four audio

is equipped with a Dolby Pro and three video inputs, five I ne- Logic decoder and five amplifier leve outputs. and a Bass ED channels: three rated at 75 watts contol. Price: 5649. Marantz each for the front left, right, and USA. Dept. SR, 1150 Feehanville center speakers and two at 35 Dr., Mount Prospect, IL 60056. watts each for the surround Circle 121 on reader service card NEW PRODUCTS

a PARASOUND Parasound's AWM-380G two-way

II g outdoor speaker features a 9'./8 - inch -tall, hermetically sealed SHERWOOD aluminum enclosure. Frequency Sherwood's DD -6030 dual -well memory -stop function for response is given as 48 Hz to 20 cassette deck automatically quickly locating the beginning kHz t 3 dB and maximum power switches from one transport to the or end of a recorded segment, handling as 80 watts continuous. other to simplify the process of and high-speed dubbing. Available in creamy white or dark making an extended recording. Price: S325. Sherwood, green. Price: S345 a pair. Features include autoreverse in Dept. SR, 14830 Alondra Blvd., Parasound, Dept. SR, 950 Battery both wells, Dolby B and C. an La Mirada, CA 90638. St.. San Francisco, CA 94111. electronic tape counter, a Circle 123 on reader service card Circle 124 on reader service card

SANUS SYSTEMS V PSB Sanus uses a steel frame and PSB's Model 100C center -channel fiberboard shelves finished in speaker has a',2 -inch black -ash vinyl or oak veneer tweeter flanked by two 4 -inch for its Basic Audio and Basic drivers in a 17 x 71? x 6 -inch Video racks. Respective prices cabinet designed for TV -top are 5229 and 5209 in black. placement. Frequency response S269 and 5239 in oak. Casters is given as 95 Hz to 21 kHz 2 dB. are optional. Sanus Systems, Price: 5179. PSB. Dept. SR, Dept. SR. 1973 W. County 633 Granite Ct., Pickering. Road C2. Roseville, MN 55113. Ontario, Canada L1W 31(1.

Circle 125 on reader service card Circle 126 on reader service card

CLIF DESIGNS Clif Designs' Sottdome CoAxial fiber woofer. Respective prices line of car speakers includes 4-. (per pair) and peak power 5-. and 6 -inch round models and handling are 5139 (60 watts), 6 x 9 -inch oval sizes-all S169 (100 watts, 5199 (125 designed to fit standard cutouts. watts, and 5219 (150 watts. Clit Each speaker features aa -inch Designs. Dept. SR, 1602 Babcock silk -dome. neodymium -magnet St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627. tweeter suspended over a carbon - Circle 127 on reader service card

18 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 The American Dream Is Less Remote

For the past few years, Acurus has been our Acurus RL11 is so simple and ergonom- foreign made product hiding behind an redefining audio components. Last ically correct, it can easily be operated American name. As the Audio Critic year, we introduced the Direct Input by feel alone. Magazine wrote "Acurus is an acronym for 'AcCURacy in the US,' a well chosen Amplifier's'. It has less circuitry between The RL11 never passes the music signal name. If we could get GM to build the the source and the loudspeakers than through an I.C. op amp. In fact, the fully same quality, value and reliability... any other system in the world. discrete Class A signal path is so pure then the USA would be Number One This straight forward and elegant and accurate, it needs only 1/50th of again." simplicity is the hallmark of our the signal correction of most pre amps. American engineering approach. Our simple and straight forward When combined with the simple and approach is so respected around the This year, we introduce the Acurus elegant engineering of the Acurus A250 wo'ld, that almost 50% of our annual RL11 Remote Line Preamplifier. Our power amplifier it places 250 watts of production is exported. At Acurus, the American straight forwardness is again power at your fingertips. very evident. Acurus has created less American dream of achieving pride remote for more convenience. Unlike Acurus is designed, engineered and, in honest workmanship and quality is all the typically complicated remotes, manufactured in the U.S. It is not just alive and well. MONDIAL DESIGNS LIMITED

2 Elm St. Ards13y. NY 10502 914-693-8008 Fax 914-693-7199

CIRCLE NO 50 ON READER SERVICE CARD NEW PRODUCTS

SIGNET Signet's 151, -inch -tall SL260B U speaker (rear. S450 a pair) and 25 -inch -tall SL28CB U (S701) a pair) team the same aluminum - dome tweeter with a 61/2 -inch woofer and an 8 -inch woofer, respectively, in vented enclosures. Low -frequency limits are given as 45 and 35 Hz. Signet, Dept. SR, 4701 Hudson Dr., Stow, Ohio 44224. Circle 129 on reader service card SONANCE Designed for home theater and that switches it on whenever a custom installations. Sonance's signal is detected at its input. Sonamp 2120 stereo power amp Dimensions are 163/4 x 53/4 x 125/e Li. LOC OD LD CIP is rated to deliver 120 watts per inches. Price: S575: rack -mount r. nim channel with no more than 0.05 version, S585. Sonance, Dept. F111111 percent distortion from 20 Hz to SR. 961 Calle Negocio. San nri 20 kHz. It features input -level Clemente. CA 92673. Qq1 controls and an auto -on mode Circle 128 on reader service card JENSEN Jensen's JS9335BBE car cassette frequencies. The head has a four - receiver features a detachable channel amp that delivers 60 faceplate to deter thet: and a watts total, four preamp outputs, defeatable BBE processor that is and two subwoofer outputs. Price: said to enhance musical clarity by 5370. Jensen, Dept. SR. 25 Tri- correcting phase anomalies and State Intl Office Center, restoring the proper balance Lincolnshire, IL 60069.

between midrange and high Circle 130 on reader service card

GEMINI Gemini's SMART15 is a hybrid universal learning remote control. In addition to being able AQUA TUNES to "learn" the infrared control The Aqua Tunes belt from type tape players, patented commands of audio video SportValise is for water -sports earphones that fit snugly into the components. the unit is enthusiasts and swimmers who ear canals, and an adjustable preprogrammed to control most don't want to leave their music nylon waistbelt. Price: S45. TV's, VCR's, and cable boxes. behind. It features a waterproof SportValise, Dept. SR, 1020 Price: S40. Gemini, Dept. SR. plastic pouch that is said to Berea Dr., Boulder, CO 80303. P.O. Box 1115, Clifton, NJ 07014. accommodate most Walkman - Circle 131 on reader service card Circle 132 on reader service card

20 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 PURE PERFECTION

The unique Celestion 3110 Transmission Line balanced high fidelity sound, makes this floor standing loudspeaker with its slim and beautifully finished cabinet, loudspeaker a unique fish. g experienoe. transcends expectations. The new Celestion 300 joins the award w. ' The newly desigred Celestion Transmission Line Celestion 10)) to create pure perfection in two exceptional system-C.T.L.*- produces a deep extended and dynamic loudspeakers. bass response, which, combinA with its perfectly U lllll istalcably Celestion.

1 0 03 0 0

Patent applied for CELESTIOn 89 Doug Brown Way Holliston, Mass. 01746 Voice: (508) 429-6706 Fax (508) 429-2426

CIRCLE NO 11 ON READER SERVICE CARD FOR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN MOTION PICTURE SOUND. fr.-110w, A Sony A/V Receiver brings the magic of movie soundtracks home. With a Dolby Pro Logic® system that literally wraps you in sound bigger than life. So we ask, heard any good movies lately?

For your complete personal guide to all Sony consumer electronics, we're introducing Sony Style magazine. To receive your copy for $4.95, plus $1.50 shipping and handling, call I -800 -848 -SONY. Visa and MC. Offer expires 4/94. 01993 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Sony and Sony Style are trademarks of Sony. Dolby and Pro Logic are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corp. Columbia Pictures and the Lady and Torch design are trademarks of Columbia Pictures Industries Inc.

BY ROBERT RIPPS,

MARYANN SALTSER, MUSIC MAKERS ft> AND STEVE SIMELS

SOCIAL NOTES FROM ALL OVER Glimpsed recently at a Man- A WOMAN IN CHARGE hattan performance by avant - The conductor Marin Alsop rock avatars Pere Ubu: Actor founded Concordia, afifty - George Wendt, famous for his piece orchestra whose con- portrayal of calorically chal- lenged barfly Norm Peterson certs combine classic Ameri- on the in -reruns -forever sit- can symphonic works with com Cheers. Turns out that orchestraljazzandnewly Wendt (pictured here back- commissioned music, back in stage with Ubu singer and 1984. Concordia's first Angel Norm lookalike David Thom- § as) is a long-time fan of the CD, conducted by Alsop, fea- I band. In fact, he was slated tures the world -premiere recording of Gershwin's Blue Monday, his Piano Concerto in F (in the Ferde Grofe arrangement) with Leslie Stifelman as soloist, and Oscar Levant's Caprice. New York -born,Juilliard- trained Alsop also founded TAKE THAT, MICHAEL CRICHTON String Fever, a fourteen -piece swing band (she plays violin), Japanese pop star Nokko may want to make it here and the band's CD "Fever in America-her new Sony album "Nightlife" is in Pitch" is available on Koch In- English, after all-but apparently there are limits to ternational. Alsop has con- what she'll do. For instance, she drew the line at ducted numerous American appearing with Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes in orchestras and made her Eu- to appear in the first video the hit film adaptation of the (allegedly Japan- ropean debut this summer at from Ubu's current "Story of bashing) novel Rising Sun. Seems that Nokko, the Schleswig Holstein Festi- My Life" album, until some- whose late -Eighties albums with her band Rebecca body at Ubu's label-Imago- val in Germany. remembered that Wendt had went multi -Platinum in her homeland, was offered already appeared in Michael a major role in the picture but turned it down after Jackson'ssplashy Blackor reading the script. "I don't want to focus on prob- White video, rendering him, in lems between Americans and Japanese," she said. Imago's judgment, "too main- "That's for car companies and governments." stream" for Pere Ubu.

The CATALYST FOR CHANGE conductor According to Tim Page, executive producer of BMG Classics' Marin new Catalyst label, "... the only excuse for creating yet another Alsop record label in the 1990's is to take a fresh approach. ..," and that's just what he and BMG seem to be doing. Committed to expanding the public's perception of the contemporary -music scene, the first Catalyst release contains eleven world premieres on five CD's. One disc represents the recording debut of the violinist Maria Bachmann, the first artist signed exclusively with Catalyst. Titled "Fratres," it includes works Bachmann commissioned from Paul Moravec and Albert Glinsky, as well as pieces by John Corigliano, Arvo Part, and Olivier Messiaen. Other discs in Catalyst's first release feature the percussionist Evelyn Glennie, the organist Donald Joyce (performing music of Philip Glass), the composer/performer Alvin Curran presenting a multimedia solo work, and the Musics Sacra chorus in an a cappella program conducted by The violinist Maria Bachmann Richard Westenburg and recorded in Dolby Surround.

24 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 All the audio techno-wizardryany serious musiclover could wantfroma stereo system.

Ditto.

Simplicity. Many people Relentless research. And an integrat- technologies - and all the lifelike think it's the antithesis of high perfor- ed approach that compels the 200 performance - any serious music lover could want. And mance stereo. That no easy -to -use watts of bi-amplified power to deliver while you're at the stereo could possibly perform as well clarity and dynamic equalization. And Take homea store, you allows Direct/Reflecting.Acoustimass as the mega -systems they're used to. new-- can also Until they hear the Bose. Lifestyle speaker technology to produce the Lifestyle enter to win music music system. spaciousness and deep, rich bass system a free Bose car stereo - and Then they wonder how all this associated with a live performance. the sporty new car it's built into. For detail, clarity, fidelity, and range could All from a system with Virtually details, call toll free: come from something so small. So Invisible speaker design, an elegant beautiful. So simple. one-piece AM/FM tuner and CD 1-800-444-BOSE One of the secrets is the fact that player, and a remote control that (1-800 /II 2673) Ext. 287 the amplifiers aren't where you might works around corners and through expect - they're in the speakers. walls. NIonday I-nday 9ANI - 9PNI; Saturday 9AN1- 5PNI Why? So they can take into consid- Once you see it and bear it, eration the unique characteristics of we think you'll be convinced. ___17121ME" Better sound through research the transducers and work better Visit your Bose dealer and listen to with them. a Lifestyle. 5 music system. We think U199I Bow Lorporation. Lovered by patent rights issued How do we know? you'll find it has all the advanced and/or pending. JN93767- IOffer ends January 2, 1994. MUSIC MAKERS,

LEARNING AS YOU LISTEN Dudley Moore is the host of RCA Victor's new audio video "Concerto!" series on VHS and laserdisc. The recordings capture several of the label's top artists as they rehearse andperform famous-what else?-concertos. Featured are the flutist James Galway, the pianists Alicia de Larrocha and Barry Douglas, the clarinetist Richard Stpltzman. the cellistStevenIsserlis,the harpist Marisa Roples, and the violinist Kyoko Takezawa, all with the London Symphony conducted by Mi:hael Tilson Thomas. BRAIN DAMAGE, Each "Concerto!" presenta- AMERICAN STYLE tion combines an .nformal dis- Back in 1977, you may recall, cussion of the music by Moore punk pioneers the Ramones with the soloist and conduc- sang the praises of destroying tor, followed by a complete A c DUE ES GONZALO RUBALCABA? performance. Hoping the se- their cerebellums with "Car - bona, not glue." These days, Yet another reason to be glad the Cold War is over: ries would appeal to young viewers, the Learring Channel however, the venerable quar-6 Cuban jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba-who's aired it in late August. A three - tet is waxing nostalgic about been compared to Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum, CD set with the performances headiersortsof substance and Bill Evans-can now perform in the United only is also availaole. abuse. The group's latest al- States. In fact he did, for the first time, on May 14, bum-"Acid Eaters," on Ra- as part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center series. Prior to dioactive/MCA-findsthem that the twenty -seven -year -old Havana native, like covering some of their fave most Cuban musicians, had been denied entry to songs of the psychedelic era, America due to a 1968 decision by the Reagan - including Love's Seven and Bush state department. But music -biz heavy- Seven Is, the Who's Substi- weights, including Wynton Marsalis, urged the Clin- tute, Ted Nugent's Journey to the Center of the Mind, and ton administration to change the rules and grant Max Frost and the Troopers' Rubalcaba a visa. "It's very important-and not just immortal Shape of Things to for my own sake-to create the link between the 0 Come. Guests along for the 0 United States and Cuba," says the pianist, whose trip include the suddenly ubiq- latest album, "Suite 4 y 20," is out on Blue Note. "I uitous Pete Townshend and, in 0 z hope I'll be the person to start it off." an inspiredbitof casting, porn -star -turned -miniseries - actress Traci Lords subbing for Grace Slick on Jefferson GOODE FOR BEETHOVEN Airplane's Somebody to Love. When 1.1elstra Nonesuch released Richard Goode's ten - Meanwhile, on the literary CD set of the Beethoven so- front, St. Martin's Press has natas in September, Goode be- just released the group's au- came the first American -born thorized biography, Ramones: pianistto record the com- An American Band. Written pletecycle. To celebrate, by rock critic Jim Bessman Goode will perform all thirty- and illustrated with scads of two sonatas in concert this black -and -white photos, the seasonin San Francisco/ Berkeley (November and book is unlikely to be con- February), Chicago (Decem- fusedwithDavidMcCul- ber), Berlin, Frankfurt, Bonn lough's Truman, but we found (Beethoven's birthplace), and it as intellectually challenging London. as any Ramones album. Panasonic introduces DCC To Go. Portable and car units that play the new digital cassettes. Cool. And your old cassettes. Groovy. Now you can listen to the new dicital compact cassettes and your favorite old cassettes* just about anywhere. With the new tra.--- -,,,,,_. 4rt': .:. 7 RQ-DP7 ASK s'tigt.VIVITE" portable DCC ' \ 41!. STEP player and the new IMONTER RESET DIRECTION N .. :

POORER OFF CO-DC1 DCC car deck. DCC to go is skip resistant. So yo.1 can run DCC or drive DCC an i still enjoy the fidelity of digital sound with all the advantages of a cassette. And like the Technics® DCC home deck, both the portable and 441 thecar deck have an LCD readout that shows the name of the album, artist, song title and more. Plus, hwdreds of your favorite albums are available now. The portable comes with a built - 4in -echargeable battery that gives you about 21/2 hours of playback. TAPE- C There's even a wired remote for = 1_111Lroo-w J LUVI ni,r: ccntrolling all major functions, 4TM V' IMMO NW. W.W.I...N.11. 4,0 LW.. including tape direction. SC AN TRECALL SANDCM The car deck has a removable frc nt panel for extra security. It also hE s a wireless remote control and CD changer control capability. So if you're looking for DCC to go, the choice is obvious. is

PILys back analog cassettes ,n analog format

Panasonic. just slightly ahead of our time:

CIRCLE NO 67 ON READER SERVICE CARD IIlittle voice tellsyou to hug I1HT. Gun shots and screeching tires don't tell a story, story, from spoken word to subtle sound effect. And they're just the punctuation. Movies are mostly dialog. when the script calls for a nuclear blast, you'll think So before you buy your home theater speakers, audition you're sitting at ground zero. NHT home theater - you NHT. Our critically acclaimed systems deliver the whole really should hear what people are saying.

USE Y8011HERO. Now Hear This. Inc.. 535 Getty Court. Bldg. A. Benicia. CA 94510 For the NHT dealer nearest you: (U.S.) call 1-800-NHT-9993; (Canada) Artech Electronics Ltd.. (514) 631.6448

CIRCLE NO 53 ON READER SERVICE CARD 111111111111 WIO A Complete NHT ANIOD&A Super Zero/ BY IAN G. MASTERS Sibwoofer Combination

One Grand Prize DCC vs. DAT cate juggling act, matching drivers, enclosure, NHT SWP: retail S1.225 /'m trying to determine which digital re- and crossover circuits; second-guessing al- cording format would be best for me, but I most always results in worse sound. Thirty First Prizes 0haven't been able to find an answer to one Stereo Review CD holder: retail S15 question. Why does a DCC of 120 minutes duration have to use data -reduction technology Vinyl EQ while a DAT of the same length does not? / collect Beatles records, and I have read JOHN PRICE that the master tapes recorded at EMI used Pasadena, CA 0the /European/ CCIR equalization curve, so they sounded terrible when the band worked AThe two are very different beasts. Basi- at other studios that used the /American/ NAB cally a DAT recorder is a miniaturized curve. I remember that some early preamplifi- video transport, using a rotating head ers offered a range of equalizations-RIAA, drum to realize a high tape -to -head writing NAB, CCIR, AES, Ortho, and so forth. If I had speed while maintaining a slow linear tape one of these, would it make some of the early speed. That enables you to fit a very wide Beatles LP's sound better? KEN SMITH bandwidth onto a small tape, so it's suitable Hamilton, Ontario for recording a standard I6 -bit digital audio signal without data reduction. The downside AMaybe, but it would be accidental. Ana- EVERYTHING YOU HEAR IS TRUE. is a complex-and thus inherently fragile and log audio is full of instances of pre- and expensive-mechanism. post -equalization being applied to signals, The aim of DCC is. in part, to be compatible mostly to reduce noise. In the case of profes- with ordinary analog cassettes in terms of sional tape recorders, the standards were set shell dimensions, tape width, tape speed, and by the radio industry: the National Associa- soon, so that analog cassettes can be played in tion of Broadcasters (NAB) in the United Simply answer the questions below on a piece of a DCC deck. But if it had been possible to fit a States and the International Radio Consulta- paper and mail it with your address and phone tive Committee (CCIR) in Europe. The main CD -type digital conventional number to: cassette, there would never have been DAT. difference is that the NAB standard calls for a As it turns out, even using multiple tracks and bass boost when recording and a correspond- NHT Sweepstakes highly refined tape, the developers of DCC ing cut in playback, whereas the CCIR curve Stereo Review Magazine is flat at the low end. Because of that, a CCIR could fit only about a quarter as much data on 5610 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500 a DCC as there is on a CD. By deleting all the tape played with NAB equalization would lose data pertaining to sounds we can't hear, how- most of its bass, as the Fab Four discovered. Los Angeles, CA 90036 ever, it is possible to encode a signal virtually But theoretically that should have no effect indistinguishable by ear from that on DAT, on the commercial version of a recording. A but in a quarter of the space. master tape is supposed to be equalized prop- 1. How many teeth are in the mouth on erly to a flat signal before being fed to an LP the NHT ad on the adjacent page? cutting lathe; then a new equalization curve is DUY Crossovers applied. For more than thirty years. the equal- I took a look inside the cabinets of my ten- ization for vinyl records has followed a stan- 2. Who is your nearest NHT dealer? (Hint: year -old "state-of-the-art" speakers and dard set by the Recording Industries Associa- Call the 800» found at the bottom of the ad.) 11found that the crossover networks con- tion of America (RIAA), but during the LP's sisted of just a couple of capacitors. Is that first decade-well before the Beatles-there common practice? And isthere any way were competing curves, and some preamplifi- All entries will automatically be entered in a ran- I can upgrade the crossovers to improve ers made provision for them. dom drawing. performance? RAYMOND FENTON Baldwin, NY No F'urchase Necessary: Only one entry per per- Cable Direction son allowed. No entries will be returned. Winners I purchased an expensive pair of intercon- will be selected from all entries received with the AA speaker designer does what he must to correct answers, in a random drawing to be held match the various drivers and to make nect cables for my CD player and noticed on or about January 15, 1994. Sponsors not sure that each reproduces only what it's directional arrows on them. The salesman responsible for late or lost mail. Sweepstakes intended to, and that almost always involves cautioned me to install them the right way open to residents of the U.S., 18 years or older, except employees of Stereo Review Magazine, the use of some kind of a crossover network. around, but an electrician friend laughed and NHT, their subsidiaries and affiliates, and mem- But a basic principle is that simpler is usually said that the direction of the cable couldn't bers of their immediate families. Void in Puerto better, and it is sometimes possible to achieve posssibly make any difference. Is there any Rico or wherever prohibited. Prizes are non -trans- evidence that direction matters? ferable and no substitutions or cash redemptions smooth crossover transitions mainly, or even allowed. Prizes must be claimed within 14 days of entirely, with the natural rolloffs of the driv- JEFFREY S. BERENDS notification attempt or winner is subject to forfei- ers. In such cases, there may be no need for Grand Rapids, MI ture, in which case a substitute winner will be any intervention beyond some capacitors to selected. All taxes are the responsibility of the ACable directionality is one of those con- winner. Winners may be required to execute an keep low frequencies out of high -frequency affidavit of eligibility and release. Odds of winning drivers that might be driven into distortion or cepts dear to the hearts of audio's outer depend upon the number of correct entries damaged by them. Your chances of improving fringe, but it strikes me as goofier than received. For a winners list, please send a self- most. As your electrician friend knows, an addressed, stamped envelope by January 15, the speaker by tinkering with its crossover are 1994 to: STEREO REVIEW Magazine, NHT Sweep- slim in any event. Speaker design is an intri- audio signal is a form of alternating current, in stakes Winners, 5670 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500, Los Angeles, CA 90036. STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 29 which the electrons move through the cables purchase back simply because it sounds lousy in one direction about half the time and in the in your room. Many dealers will, however, USE MIS. other direction the rest of the time. It seems and that might be worth the extra money it hard to imagine creating a type of wire that would take to buy locally. would not be correct for both halves of an audio signal, even assuming that direction plays some role. Amplifier Magnetism I recently bought a Carver amplifier and Digital Vidoocassiottss? preamplifier, and the instructions suggest 0that, because of the magnetic field pro- I'm confused about the labeling of the duced by the amplifier, the preamp should be at videocassettes I rent and buy. For in- least 3 inches away. I know that a TV monitor 0stance, if a cassette says "Dolby Stereo" can be affected by the magnetic field radiated rather than "Dolby Surround," can it be decod- by a speaker, but /'m not sure about an amplified by a Pro Logic decoder? And what does er. I have very limited space; could I damage "digitally mastered" mean? FRANK A. CRESCI my TV if it's too close to the amplifier? Walnut Creek, CA BRIAN TODD River Forest, IL HEARTHS AI admit that videocassette labeling is one of life'slittle annoyances. Not only is AI've never encountered this as a problem, there no consistency to the designations but the Carver amps are unorthodox, and given to various processes (Dolby Stereo and there is a chance that your TV picture Dolby Surround are identical, incidentally, might be affected. The only way to find out is FREE. and can be reproduced in mono, stereo, or, to try it-put the amp where it's most conve- with a Dolby Surround or Pro Logic decoder, nient and see whether it disturbs your picture. surround), but the labels are printed in the If it does, move the amplifier; it won't have smallest possible type, if at all. And if you rent permanently affected your monitor, even if a tape, chances are you take it home in a plain the color impurities take a while to go away box with no description on it; if you forgot to (up to a day, sometimes). If there's no immedi- look at the original box in the store, the label ate disruption, fine, but keep your eye on it on the cassette itself will certainly not tell you over time-sometimes the effects are very the process. gradual and take months to show themselves. That rant over with, let me point out that almost all tapes issued in the last five years or so (of movies, anyway) are encoded in some- Long -Distance Radio

Photo P1993 Chris Lee thing that can be decoded by Dolby Pro Logic. I have a portable AM/FM radio, and some They're nearly all digitally mastered, as well, It's easy. Just by using the Optima' Card you time ago I noticed that I could pick up 0foreign stations on the AM band. Is there can automatically earn points and redeem them digital videotape, instead of analog videotape, any reason this happens only at night? Are for your choice of more than 80 OPTIMA' as was the previous practice. Digital recording radio waves somehow restricted during the REWARDS - from New York Philharmonic at that stage preserves the quality of the film daytime? JAVIER A. GONZALEZ image better. What you rent is. of course, Miami, FL concert tickets to a selection of compact discs analog. from J&R Music World.' AAh, youth! Those of us who grew up in the pre -FM era know that AM signals really Best of all, OPTIMA REWARDS are free. Every Mail -Order Speakers travel at night. The fascination of the time you make an eligible purchase you receive The speakers I am considering have only a phenomenon is that you can sometimes hear a point for every dollar you charge. You don't few local authorized dealers but are avail- stations thousands of miles away. The down- able by mail order at somewhat lower side is that the signal from the transmitter even have to increase your spending to get the prices. The mail-order houses / have talked to across town might be screwed up by that most from OPTIMA REWARDS - all you need say that the speakers are factory -fresh and distant signal if the frequencies are the same- do is use the Optima Card instead of other credit carry full manufacturers' warranties, but my only a handful of stations are on "clear chan- local hi-fi dealer says that this isn't so. In any nels" and have their frequencies all to them- cards like VISAor MasterCard. event, he won't service what he doesn't sell. Are selves. the mail-order products the real thing? Of course, you already have excellent reasons to The effectis caused by the ionosphere, CHAD A. RHOADES which is the part of the atmosphere about 30 prefer the Optima Card. It's the only credit card Medina, OH miles up that is made up of ions and free that recognizes financial responsibility with low electrons. This layer has the ability to reflect interest rates and the unsurpassed benefits and AEquipment from a reputable mail-order back to earth radio waves that would other- house is almost always straight goods, wise be lost to space, and sometimes these service of American Express. and if it carries the manufacturer's war- come down very long distances from their ranty, you can count on it. The lower price is OPTIMA REWARDS: points of origin. Only relatively low -frequen- usually possible because the company can sell cy waves-such as AM signals-are affected; Just for using the Optima Card. in large volumes and doesn't have to bear the higher -frequency FM and TV signals simply See terms and conditions of the OPTIMA REWARDS program high overhead of a retail store serving a rela- pass through and disappear into space. The for complete details of that program. Certain transactions such tively small market. ionosphere tends to hang out on the dark side as cash advances are not eligible. Enrollment in the OPTIMA About the only defense the local dealer has of the planet, which is why the effect is more REWARDS program is required. Cardmembers whose Optima against your buying by mail is to refuse to fix pronounced at night. account is enrolled in the Membership Miles' program are not your purchase if it breaks, which means you eligible for OPTIMA REWARDS. For more information, or to will have to go through the hassle of returning enroll in OPTIMA REWARDS, call 1-800-6355955. To apply it to an authorized service center that might be If you have a question about hi-fi, for the Optima Card call1 -800 -OPTIMA -6. halfway across the country. Another disad- sand it to Q&A, Stereo Review, vantage of buying by mail is that you will be 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. stuck with what you choose-it's very unlike- Sorry, only questions chosen Cards ly that the mail-order house will take your for publication can be answered.

' 1993 American Express Centurion Rank 30 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Optirnas" Cardmembers expect less.

When it comes to interest rates, expect less from the Optima Card. In fact, you can currently have a rate as low as 12% for purchases.* Just pay your American Express bills on time and spend at least $1,000 in a year with the Optima Card. You see, with the Optima Card, you control your interest rate. Even if you don't have our lowest rate, it's easy to get a rate that's lower than most-currently 14.25% for purchases.* Most credit cards give the same high interest rates to everyone. But we think you deserve mote individual treatment-like the ability to control your own rate. And whenever you use the Optima Card this holiday season, you'll help provide a meal for someone who is hungry, through the Charge Against Hun- ger campaign." The Optima Card also provides you with the array of American Express benefits, and personal service. Clearly, it's the credit card that offers you more. And less.

'To quality for ar APRwh-ch is currently 12% for purchases (1E90% for cash advances), Cardmembers must also have at least one year of tenure ortheir American Express and Optima Card Acoountz Cptima Cardmembers in god sanding receive an APR for purchases that's currently 14.25.v (16.90% for cash advancer) Al other recounts receive an APR that s orrertly 18 25% for purchases (1890% for cash advances) All rates ae adjusted semiannually based on the Prime Rate as listed inThe Wall Street Journal. The annual fee for thy. Optrrna Card is $15 ($25 for non -American Express' Cardmernberst For more information or to apply call 1 -600 -OPTIMA -6Competitive data according to RAM Research's Ba-kari Jpdate. August 1993. *American Express will guarantee a minimum donation to Shale Our Strength of $1,030)00 and enll donate up to an adc.itional $4000,000 based or Card purchasesbetween 105,93 and 12/31,93 at 2t per Card pruchase. Donabon is not tax deductible for Cardmembn. © 1993 American Express Centurion bank. PKLAcousiics TECH TALK ROOM BY JULIAN HIRSCH DESIGNED LOUDSPEAKERS loudspeakers to do to, with. or for the recorded performance as heard over Good, Better, our own system? Can we be satisfied with the sound we have been living factory- with, or should we perhaps smash the orBest? family piggy bank and start looking for better speakers (which are always out direct sales iiaveyou ever wondered what there to be bought, if you have the THE ADVANTAGES of RDL qualitiesjustifydescribing a wherewithal). loudspeaker as"good,""bet- Like many of you,Ihave often factory -direct sales are: ter," or even "best"? Obvious- wondered about that question. Re- 1. You audition RDL speakers at ly, I have to face that question (or cently our speaker -testing schedule your leisure, playing recordings somewhat similar ones) regular- found me in simultaneous possession you are familiar with. You have 30 ly. I rarely feel justified in calling any of several pairs of loudspeakers shar- days to decide whether to keep product "the best," however, espe- ing fairly comparable driver comple- the speakers. cially when its perceived qualities are ments (one or two 6 -inch woofers and 2. Speakers are likely to sound mostly subjective and therefore not a single I -inch dome tweeter) but with quite different in your room, definable in rigorous terms. Different widely dissimilar price tags. All were placed where they will actually be people have different tastes, after all. from reputable, well-known compa- This is especially true in the case of nies, although their prices ranged from used, than in a showroom. (Our loudspeakers, by far the most impor- less than $500 a pair to more than consultants will suggest which tant component of ahi-fisystem. $1,200.Some werefloor -standing RDL speakers are best suited for (There are some who would challenge models, others were small enough to the positions they will occupy in that statement, but I'll leave that dis- be used on shelves or on stands. your room.) Your buying decision cussion for another time!) Most of us, We listened to and measured each of is based on maximum informa- when we listen to sound reproduced these speakers independently of the tion. through loudspeakers, form some sort 3. Without a retail markup, of opinion of what we are hearing. For there is a substantial saving; prices me. the first impression of the sound is whether it is believable-does it sound What can we expect range from $198 to $549 a pair. like it is being performed and heard in THE DISADVANTAGES are: some sort of hall or other space that our loudspeakers 1. Unless you have a friend who is commonly used for musical per- owns RDL speakers, or you visit formances? On that level,I am not to do to, with, or for the factory showroom in Belling- considering whetheritsounds the way it would in a specific seat of a the sound of a ham, you can't hear them before specific hall (even if it was actually you order. recorded there). I am not concerned at recorded performance? 2. If you decide you don't like that point with the actual program them, you have to go to the material or whether it appeals to me or trouble of calling UPS and send- turns me off. ing them back. Personally, I think most of that as- others. They all acquitted themselves pect of the program has already been admirably, with remarkably similar re- For your free catalog of RDL established by the recording engi- sponse measurements and other per- speakers and complete systems: neers. The speakers (and the listening formance data. When I compared the Call 1-800-227-0390 or room-the two cannot really be sepa- test data, I was struck by their similar- Fax 1-800-227-9047 or rated) can, and do, modify the record- ity (the measurements were not identi- RDLON-LINE(BBS) ed characteristics but (assuming these cal, mind you, but definitely more 1-800-227-0391 or mail coupon were reasonably good inthefirst alike than those of most speakers I to RDL Acoustics, 26 Pearl Street place) cannot improve on them to any have tested). No. 15, Bellingham, MA 02019. significant degree. Any changes in the Surely, speakers whose measured sound are likely to be in the wrong performance was sosimilar must r direction. sound pretty much alike. It was easy Please send product information to: But let's assume we have a CD (or a to find out, and to this end I did a fair good LP or tape) of music we enjoy amount of comparative (A/B) listening Name listening to and play it through a sys- with various sources of program mate- tem formed of competent electronic Address rial, including "real world" sources components. What can we expect our such as FM radio (scorned by the most

32 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Exclusive Designs by Roy Allison Pat Metheny: The Road To Clint Black: YoL-Live In Europe No l'ime To Kill 111%tiri. Genen111059 (RCA) 24858 AI RIP Bryan Ferry: Taxi Inner Circle: Bad Boys IVEY 42. (Repnse101426 (Bin Beat/Atlantic) 14867 BSERVICE- Michael Franks: Radlohead: Pablo Honey (Capitol) 15318 Dragonfly Summer Taylor Dayne: (Repnse) 01427 Jot n Williams: The Very Soul Dancing Porno For Pyros Best Of The Boston Pops (Arista) 53498 (Philipsi 15319 (Warner Bros. I 014291 House 01 Pain Bally: Star Kronos Quartet: Goreck (Tommy Boy) 254161 String Quartets1 & 2 (Repnse/Sire) 01449 Donde! Fawn: Kamaidded Katie & Manelle Labeque: (Nonesuch) 15563 Green Jelly: Cereal (Reprise( 11330 Mendelssohn & Bruch, The Artistry of Concertos For 2 Pianos KItier/Sdtrk. Foreigner: The Very Christopher Parkening (Philips) 25436 (Zoo( 01499 Best...And Beyond (E dl Classics) 15570 David Crosby: (Alantici24722 Mary J. Bilge: Nirvana: Nevermind What's The 411? Thousand Roads Toots Thielemans: (Geffen) 15600 (Uptown MCA: 30846 t (Atlantic) 01510 The Brasil Project II Buddy Holly: From The (Private Music) 24861 George Benson: O iginal Master Tapes Love Remembers Guru: th(CA) 20069 (Warner Bros 133823 Jszzniatazz Volume 1 Jescha Heifetz: (Chrysalis) 25063 Smokey Robinson & The B-ahms & Tchaikovsky. Miracles: 18 Greatest Hits U2: Achtung Baby Violin Concertos (Motown) 33878 Depeche Mode' (I ;land: 25174 Chris !mak: (RCA Living Stereo) 20592 Songs Of Faith Dave Grusin: San Francisco Days Styx: The Grand Illusion And Devotion Kathie Lee Gifford: Homage To Duke (Reprise: 01428 (A&M) 25245 Reprise Sire, 01362 Sentimental (GRP) 33925 Garth Brooks: Lee Ritenour: Wes Bound (Warner Bros20598 The Best Of Cameo The Chase Eric Clapton: Unplugged (Mercury 25267 (GRP) 01327 Eurythmics: Greatest Hits (Liberty) 00141 (Warner Bros ) 23690 The Best Of Joe Cocker ,,cstal 20611 Elton John: Greatest Hits Silk: Lose Control ,Captoll 01338 Kenny 0: Breathless Since Gill: 1976-1986 (Kera/Elektral 00353 I Still Believe In You (MCA) 00150 Nandi Griffith: Other (Arleta) 14317 Best Of Dire Straits, (MCA) 21063 Voices, Other Rooms Anthrax: AC/DC: Live Money For Nothing rElektra , 01258 (Atlantic) 00201 (Warner Bros. I 00713 Sound Of White Noise James Brown: :Elektral 01517 Shal: ifI Ever Fall In Love Nell Young: Harvest Moon 20 All -Time Greatest Hits (Reprise) 00208 (Gasoline Alley/MCA1 :reedence Clearwater I Polydor I 01342 00757 Revival: Chronicle: The Doors: L.A. Woman Levert: For Real Thu 20 Greatest Hits Fleetwood Mac: (Elektra) 00215 (Atlantic) 01356 (Fantasy( 01520 Greatest Hits Neneh Cherry: Warner Bros. I 00796 Joe Sample: invitation Jimi Hendrix: Homebrew (Warner Bros I The Ultimate Experience )Virgin) 00239 Buffalo Springfield: (MCA) 01527 Retrospective 01358 ATCO) 00844 Dire Straits: On The Night (Warner Bros I 01566 Brooks & Dunn: Hard Workin' Man Chris LeDoux: (Arista: 00857 Under This Old Hat Cecilia Bartoli: If You (Liberty) 10003 Love Me - Arie Antiche Erich Kunzel: Reality (London) 00862 Eln Straussfest (Telarc) 10777 Bon Jovi: Keep The Faith (Mercury; 00868 Erich Kunzel: Offenbach. Richard Elliot: Gaite Parisienne FOR (Telarci 10783 CDs Soul Embrace 8 (Marmattani 00871 Boyz II Men: Sting: AereamIth: Got A Grip Madonna: Erotica Cooleyhlghharmony OF Ten Summoners Tales (Gallen) 20114 (Motown) 10930 IME PRICE (A&M) 01334 (Sire Maverick) 00879 t Dwight Yoakam: Best Of Miles Davis - MORE Chieftains: Jethro Tull: This Time \WM NOTHING Thick As A Brick The Capitol/ Blue The Celtic Harp (Repnse) 01360 (Chrysalis) 01023 Note Years Kiss: Alive 3 RCA) 00323 TO BUY, EVER! Big Daddy Kane: (Blue Note) 11000 (Mercury) 01515 Dr. Ore: The Chronic Phil Collins: Looks Like A Job For... (Interscope) 01241 t Jackson Browne: Eric Clapton: Time Serious Hits...Live! (Repnse,Cold Chillin I Running On Empty pieces -Greatest Hits (Atlantic) 00324 Moody Blues: 01361 (Elektra) 11056 (Polydor) 23385 A Night At Red Rocks Erasure: With The Colorado Robert Plant: Peter Gabriel: The Eagles: Kansas: Pop! The First 20 Hits Symphony Orchestra Fate 01 Nations Shaking The Tree -16 Greatest Hits 1971 1975 Sliver/Sdtrk. Live At The Whiskey (Reprise: 00328 (Polydor) 01339 (Es Paranza) 01409 Golden Greats (Asylum) 23481 Virgin) 25280 (Intersound) 33961 (Geffen) 11089 Lenny Kravitz: Are You Bruce Hornsby: iron Maiden: The Beach Boys: The Kenny Barron: Kathleen Battle At Gonna Go My Way Harbor Lights A Real Live One Prince & The N.P.G. Best Of The Beach Boys Sambao Carnegie Hall (Virgin) 34834 (RCA) 01262 (Capitol) 01419 (Warner Bros 111136 t Capitol, 23946 (Verve) 25333 (DG) 35091 HOLIDAY HITS r Nat "King" Cole: The Christmas Song 04667 Amy Grant: Home For Christmas 10804 1.11K.G. NO POSTAGE Mel Torme: Christmas Songs 11025 Ala BBL* NAP NECESSARY Michael W. Smith: The Christmas Album 11036 IV1 QUI glia IF MAILED SERVICE Home Alone 2 - Lost In New York: Sdtrk. 11115 IN THE The Mantovani Orchestra: UNITED STATES The Great Songs Of Christmas 20719 Sounds Of Blackness: The Night Before Christmas -A Musical Fantasy 21082 A Jazz Christmas 21179 BUSINESS REPLY MAIL Russ Taff: A Christmas Song 21987 FIRST CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 5071 'NDIANAPOLIS IN Frank Sinatra: The Sinatra Christmas Album33873 Lorne Morgan: POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE Merry Christmas From London 35197 Barry Manilow: Because it's Christmas 43487 Carpenters: Christmas Portrait 43732 Bing Crosby: Christmas Classics 43771 Garth Brooks: Beyond The Season 93578 Erich Kunzel: Christmas With The Pops 60863 Elvis Presley: Elvis' Christmas Album 62875 BMG MUSIC SERVICE The Paul Winter Consort: Wintersong 63365 P.O. Box 91300 The Beach Boys: Christmas Album 63992 INDIANAPOLIS IN 46209-9254 Reba McEntire: Merry Christmas To You 64184 Travis Tritt: A Travis Tritt Christmas - Loving Time Of Year 71349 The Best Of Billy Ray Cyrus: Yanni: In My Time The Doobie Brothers It Won't Be The Last (Private Music) 63900 (Warner Bros.( 43738 1Mercury: 84179 Blind Melon Pets Townshend: Bob Marley: Legend (Capitol) 54234 PsychoCierelict (Island) 53521 (Atlantic) 442001 MC Lyte: Ain't No Other Marvin Gaye: (First Pnonty) 54325 k.d. lang: Ingenue 15 Greatest Hits (Warner Bros /Sire) 44370 :Motown: 53534 Uptown MTV Unplugged (Uptown) 54441 Robin S: Show Me Love The Steve Miller Band: (Big Beat/Atlanbc) 44552 Wide River Dave Grusin: /mkt% The FinntSdtrk. (Polydor) The Very Best Of The IMCA:GRP1 54569 Righteous Bros.. 53541 Slone Temps Mote: Core Unchained Melody En Vogue: Funky Divas (Atlantic) ODOM (Verve) 44658 (East West) 61717 Neil Young: Unplugged Yes: Classic Yes Guys And Dolls/New (Reprise) 64125 (Atlantic) 50248 Broadway Cast (RCA Victor) 61964 Lionel Richie: New Order: Republic Reality Back To Front (OwestANarner Bros.( 52039 RuPsul: Supermodel 01 (Motown) 35210 The World (Tommy Boy) 63236 Johnny Gill: Provocative (Motown) 35214 The Eagles: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 Diana Ross: (Asylum) 63318 CDs Live -The Lady Sings... FOR Jazz 8 Blues Duran Dunn: Megaderth: (Motown) 35228 (G011)012115 Countdown To Extinction (Capitol) 63340 SHE Jurassic Park/Sdtrk. The Pharcyde: Bizarre PRICE MCA, 35316 Ride II The Pharcyde Chicago: WITH OF (Delicious Vinyl) 536031 Greatest Hits 1982-1989 Guns N' Roses: NOTHING Tool: Undertow (Repnsei 63363 mom Use Your Illusion I 10 BUY, (Geffen) 354691 (Zoo) 53661 1 Marc Cohn: EVER! The Rainy Season The Cars: Greatest Hits Guns N' Roses. (Atlantic) 63888 Use Your Illusion II (Elektral 53702 N.Y. Voices: (Geffen) 25534 1 IIVIV: It's About jlme The Best Of Howard Jones What's Inside 4 Non Blondes: (RCA) 00161 (Elektra) 53758 Whitney Houston: The Chivies Dutolt: (GRP) 63959 Bette Midler: Bigger. Better. Pergolas', Stabat Mater Enya: Shepherd Moons Patsy Cline Experience The Divine - Bodyguard Soundtrack Faster, More! (London) 35488 (Reprise) 53190 12 Greatest Hits Greatest Hits (Ansta) 54213 (Interscopel 53593 Atlantic 64291 Motley Criie: (MCA: 53849 Van Morrison: The Police: Every Breath Decade Of Decadence Alan Jackson M000dance You Take - The Singles A Lot About Uvin' (Warner Bros i 64585 (Elektra) 40298 Bulletboys: (ABM ) 73924 (And A Uttle 'Bout Love) Za-Za Barry Manilow: (Ansta) 74074 The Judds: Merrier Bros164044 Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 Greatest Hits. Vol. 2 Matthew Sweet: The Best Of Roberta Flack: (Arista) 72863 RCA) 74054 Softly With These Songs Altered Beast The John Lennon (Atlantic, 64294 George Howard: (Zoo) 70310 Collection When Summer Comes Patti LuPone: Glenn Frey: Live (Capitol) 73627 IGRP) 64374 (MCA) 64311 Live (Highlights) Dave Koz: Lucky Man Tony! Toni! Tone!: floliciaNc (RCA Victor) 64067 Wynonna (Capitol) 64060 Sons 01 Soul (MCA/Curb) 64540 ZIggy Marley 8 The Melody Mulgrew Miller (Wing/Mercury) 74193 Makers. Joy And Blues Robin Zander Hand In Hand Steely Dan: Gold 1Vvfp, 64112 loterscope) 64557 IhovAs173649 ,MCA) 74339

Here's How Your Club Works: Start with 4FREE Compact Discs now The WAG Music Service 4-1-3 Formula. Myths First, choose 4 FREE CDs from this ad. Then buy Buy only1at the regular Club price Just 1 selection at the regular Club price and you'll THAN TORECEIVE within a year get 3 more selections FREE! That's a total of 8 for miTTER TO GIVE the price of 1 (plus shipping and handling for each Then get 3 moreCDs of selection). You have a full year to buy your 1 -0(4- your choice, FREE selection, currently priced at $14.98 and up. TRUNK It's that easy' \AEIREE WILL FIT IN THE 10 -Day Free Trialt Enjoy 8CDs for the price of 1 Enjoy your first 4 selections for 10 days. If you're W4 Y.F not completely satisfied, you may return them at CIVE.ta MUSIC DEALS AL SHIPPING MID HANDLING CHARGES ADDED TO ALL SELECTIONS our expense without further obligation. Complete N\ ME A CATCH. Club details will arrive with your first four Nothing more to buy, ever! selections. Club Mailings - About every three weeks (19 times a year), you'll receive our exclusive Club catalog filled with =M, hundreds of choices, plus a Featured Selection from your preferred music category. OPleaseaccept my membership in the BMG Music Service and send my 4 FREE selections as indicated. Under the terms of this offer. - If you want the Featured Selection, do nothing. I agree to buy just It will be sent to you automatically. one selection at the regular Club once within a year. I will then receive 3 more choices FREE! That's 8 for the price of 1,n#P nothing ropret Puy, evff 1 I understand that a shipping and handing charge WA be billed for each selection). - II you prefer an alternate selection from the catalog. or none at all, simply return the Rush me these 4 tuts now Notification Card. enclosed with each issue of your (Indicate by number) catalog, by the date specified. 40 I am always tree to choose fromany category, but I am most interested in the music category checked here INSTANT - We give you at least 10 days to return the (check one only). Notification Card. tf you end up with less time, and as a result. receive an unwanted Featured 1.O UGHT SOUNDS 2. COUNTRY 3 HARD ROCK 4. POP/SOFT ROCK 50% OFF Selection, you may return it at our expense. Dionne Warwick Reba McEntire Aerosmith Madonna BONUS Save with Instant Bonuses. Frank Sinatra Brooks & Dunn Bon Jovi Sting THE BMG MUSIC From day one, every time you buy one CD at the SERVICE DIFFERENCE regular Club price. you're entitled to buy another 5 CLASSICAL", 6. O JAZZ 7 HEAVY METAL one of equal or lesser value at half price. And the Luciano Pavarotti Pat Metheny Iron Maiden From day one you re Itzhak Perlman Yellowjackets Megadeth savings don't stop there' entitled to buy a CD at The longer you stay, the more you save. half price every time You'll enjoy additional sales and discounts on your Mrs you buy one at the favorite music, the longer you remain a member. Ms. First Name Initial Last Name (PLEASE PRINT) regular Club price. But it's up to you. After you pay for your one ith other clubs regular -Club -price selection, you may cancel your Address Apt. ally you must first membership simply by writing to us. Day 6 or more at full II the reply card is missing. please write to: City State Zip price to qualify for BMG Music Service, P.O. Box 91001. Indianapolis,

Phone ( ). savings. ',IN 46291-0002. Area Made Parental Advisory - Contains explicit lyncs and/or Signature ork. Dog and horn are trademarks of General CLDNN AS I Inc Company. USA The BMG Logo is a @ Have you bought anything eke by mail Inthe last: - 6 months 7 year C never mark of BMG Music. BMG Music Service. 6550 Members woo choose CLASSICAL as their Weaning merest will be serviced by the BMG Classical Muse Service 30th St , Indianapolis IN 46219-1194. -Photocopies or this reply card are acceptable. MAIL TO, BMG Music Service. P 0 Box 91001. Inesanapoks. IN 46291-0032. REMARKS USED IN THE ADVERTISEMENT ARE We reserve the nght to request addrtional reormation, raged any application or cancel any membership Loaned to new AI III L.1110 PROPERTY OF VARIOUS TRADEMARK OWNERS members Local taxes, d any. will be added Offer available in continental USA and under spaced arrangement in ITS I. 41, Tt Alaska and Hawaii Offer not available in Puerto Rico, APO of FPO SERVICE= 1993 BMG Direct selective audiophiles, but still a staple source for most of us). Although most MCM Electronics of the speakers had similar sensitiv- Has a Constant Flow of New Products ities, our switching comparator was able to match them precisely to elimi- for You to Choose From nate level changes. Today's tough marketplace To my amazement, they sounded so makes the ready availability of similar that it was usually difficult (or quality electronic parts more impossible) to judge by their sound important than ever. That's never a concern when you deal which was being played. This depend- with MCM Electronics. Just go ed on the program material, of course, with the flow -our constant but the differences were principally of flow of new products for two types. Some of the speakers were audio, video, computer and a tiny bit brighter than others-not to telephone repair work. With the point where one could say that each catalog, we add hundreds either was better-merely different of new products to our current stock of over 20,000 top quality (often the case with speaker judg- items. And since they're ments, if the listeners' minds are as stocked they're ready for open as their ears). immediate shipment, within 24 There were also some differences in hours from your telephone the bass, not surprising in view of the order. fact that some of the speakers had two woofers instead of the single one in So call our experts toll tree at others. This sort of difference was We're proud usually detectable only on program 1-800-543-4330 to announce the material with real deep -bass content or FAX 1-513-434-6959. opening of our new (below 40 Hz). And ask for our new MCM Electronics catalog. distribution facility But, frankly, 99 percent of the time in Reno, NV! the quality differences among these MCM ELECTRONICS speakers were quite negligible, if not 650 CONGRESS PARK DR. CENTERVILLE. OH 45459-4072 totally undetectable. Do I hear you A PREMIER C0171,,,, SR -06 saying the listener has a "tin ear"? Perhaps, but in that case so does our 'CF CARD Bruel & Kjaer 4133 microphone and Audio Precision System One test set, which first revealed the amazing similarities among these speakers. NORDWPOWER IS 4 WAYSgal Does this mean that no one should spend more than $500 for a pair of speakers? Not at all-every one of BETTER THAN SOLOFLEX! YaTssiSoloflex these products was clearly worth the asking price. For a low price, you 1. BETTER WORKOUT! usually get speakers with limited low - Research proves that the isokinetic resistance offered by bass capability in rather plain black the NordicPower' strength trainer develops lean muscle wooden boxes that should be placed Faster than isotonic resistance machines like Soloflex®. on stands (not included). At the other 2. FASTER RESULTS! end of the spectrum are pieces of Our patented isokinetic resistance mechanism automatically adjusts finely finished furniture, usually capa- to match your strength level and maximize your strength training ble of being placed directly on the results. And that means your changeover time between NordicPower floor. The latter are also likely to deliv- exercises is 40% fcster than Soloflex. er an additional half -octave or more of 3. SAFER RESISTANCE SYSTEM! bass extension and less low -frequency NordkPower provides resistance only during the positive (the pushing distortion. or pulling) phase of each exercise. By eliminating resistance during the As usual, you get pretty much what negative (the return) phase, it minimizes the training injuries and you pay for. So, for a piece of hand- muscle soreness you get wth isotonic strength -training systems. some furniture that sounds as good as 4. SUPERIOR PAYMENT PLAN! it looks and shakes the room with deep Now, for the first time, you can own a NordicPower for bass, be prepared to pay more-and just 12 monthly payments of $58.33!" enjoy the results. For very similar 111110w_ CALL FOR A FREE VIDEO AND BROCHURE! sound on most material from a less 1111 N.die elegantly finished box, you can pay 30 -day in -home trial!Best of all...it's from NordicTrack! substantially less (the cabinet is the major expense item in most speakers). IIIIINordicPOWER1-800441.7890 Alm Even at rock -bottom prices, there are r or write: NordicTrack, Dept 1K I K3, 104 Peavey Road, Chaska, MN 55318-2355 still some fine -sounding speakers to be J Send me a FREE brochure J Also a FREE VHS videotape had. Give them a listen-you'll be IName Street I City State Zip Phone I ) pleasantly surprised! 1.5 \rdl.Ira, k. (.1,inpans %11nOtt re.er.ed t. a regamerrd trademark ol md, A. x 1th 1 omp at, hused m 'tom. I.., eralum uttlt bllcx repre a.mame At .1, 2, 1.0,1 Ott' t." at,a, Lt1r1 mix and kltil har rued at 899i. slipping and handltne and applt, ahlt tax .1111K. Akted r

CIRCLE NO 54 ON READER SERVICE CARD TEST REP HIS

Logic center -channel mode (Phantom, Technics SA-GX650 A/V Receiver Normal, or Wide), adjust the Pro Log- ic delay line (from 15 to 30 millisec- JULIAN HIRSCH HIRSCH-HOUCK LABORATORIES onds in 5 -ms increments), and switch the loudness compensation on and off. Small round buttons select AM or FM HeadingTechnics' new line of more than 0.05 percent total harmonic and stereo or mono reception (the audio/video receivers, the SA- distortion (THD). reception mode is normally set auto- GX650 is a powerful and versatile The SA-GX650 is a fairly large re- matically). component that should be equal- ceiver whose front panel contains a Large square buttons near the bot- ly at home in surround -sound, central display window and a consid- tom of the front panel select the pro- home theater, or conventional erable number of pushbutton controls. gram source. Inputs are provided for stereo applications. The eleven preset buttons, in a row two VCR's (one of which is also acces- The SA-GX650 has three 100 -watt just below the window, can store and sible from the front panel), audio re- amplifiers, for the front left, center, retrieve the frequencies of up to thirty cording (with monitoring), CD, and and right speakers, and a 45 -watt am- FM or AM stations. Underneath is a phono. There are also a front -panel plifier for driving a pair of rear (sur- second row of buttons that select the headphone jack and small knobs for round) speakers in a Dolby Pro Logic operating mode (Dolby Surround, the bass and treble tone controls and surround -sound setup. There are also Dolby 3 Stereo, or stereo), activate the balance adjustment. line -level outputs for driving one or Dolby Pro Logic calibration tone, ad- Although there are quite a few but- two subwoofers through an external just the relative levels of the center tons on the receiver's panel, most are amplifier. In the Dolby 3 Stereo mode, and surround speakers, select the Pro small and inconspicuous, and they are thesurround -channelsignalof a arranged in a logical pattern, making Dolby -encoded soundtrack is folded the SA-GX650 more comfortable and into the front and center speakers. DIMENSIONS less confusing to operate than most This mode is recommended for home 17 INCHES WIDE. 61/4 INCHES HIGH. other A/V receivers we have tested. theater systems with a center speaker I3'/$ INCHES DEEP The display window is .exceptionally but without surround speakers. In the DEICE clear and informative, providing all receiver's conventional stereo mode, 5530 relevant information on the receiver's O only the left and right front channels MANUFACTURER operating status without unnecessary are operative, and their power rating TECHNICS. DEPT. SR. ONE PANASONK WAY. confusion. increases to 125 watts per channel into SECAUCUS. NJ 07094 The receiver's two most conspicu- 8 ohms from 20 Hz to 20 kHz with no ous controls, which overshadow the

34 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Adcom designed the GSP-560 torivalany surround sound systemonthe t. PerhapsNA, earned

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concert hall ms nightclub 30 ms model GSP-560 5 -channel matrix 20 ms

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-- A new reason to be afraid of the dark. Award- Crunching footsteps behind you. Laser beams shooting winning '// over your head. Just a typical night at home with Adcom's technology takes new GSP-560 Surround Sound Processor/Amplifier. At you to the outer -limits. Adcom's level of critically acclaimed performance it doesn't just produce surround sound. It creates effects that The GSP-560 features a high -current 80 watt center are out of this world. channel amplifier and a pair of high -current 40 watt The GSP-560 expands your two -channel audio system amplifiers for the rear channels. It will accurately drive the into a full five/six-channel home theater. Multiple surround com,,,most demanding loudspeakers, even those modes, user selectable time delay and a full -featured s with impedance ratings less than 2 ohms. remote give you the control and convenience to create a The GSP-560 gives you a choice of sonic experience that surpasses anything you've ever heard 4iumi. Dolby Pro Logic, Concert Hall, in a movie theater. !,;-,1aMINT,,,P,M,Z.2 Nightclub, and Five -Channel Matrix gotalittle awa

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surround modes Surround yourself now at so you can select your Adcom dealer. the listening Preview the new GSP-560 at your authorized Adcom environment that best suits dealer today, but be careful, you might want to leave the your source and your mood. lights on. Selectable time delay lets you optimize the surround performance precisely for the acoustics of your room. Additional 5 -Channel Stereo and Bypass modes assure optimum enjoyment of audio -only sources. The GSP-560 Surround Sound Processor/Amplifier A details you can hear follows in the footsteps of other critically acclaimed Adcom components. Its award -winning, life -like sound captures the 11 Elkins Road, East Brunswick, NJ 08816 U.S.A. (908) 390-1130. Distributed in Canada by PRO ACOUSTICS INC. Montreal, Quebec (514) 344-1226 attention of audio/video lovers throughout the universe. "Dolby" and "Pro Logic" are registered trade marks of Dolby Laboratones Licensing Corporation.

CIRCLO NO 1 ON READER SERVICE CARD Definitive Technology0 Authorized Dealers AK- Hoill's rairbanks Pyramid: Anchorage. AI; In Con:ert Huntsville Likis Audio Birmingham gji. Leisure Electronics: Little Rock. a- Jerry's Audio Video: Phoenix, Tucson. LA- Audio Concepts. Long Beach, San Gabriel. Coast Satel- lite TV: Atasadera Creative Stereo: Sta. Barbara, Ventura TEST REPORTS David Rutledge Audio: Palm Springs Henry Radio. Los An- geles. Peel: Coast AN: Corona del Mar Paradyme Sacra- mento Performance Audio San Francisco Sound Co Es- many smaller ones, are the large knobs down infrequency depending oi condido, San Diego Sound Goods: CampbeN, Mtn. View Systems Design: Redondo Beach. Wilson AN: Woodland flanking the window. At the right is the which way the knob is turned, until a Hills. volume control, which is motor -driven stationis acquired.In the manual ca.- Listen Up: Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs. crj Al Franklin's: Hartford Carston's AN: Danbury when operated from the remote. A mode, the tuning action resembles that Robert's Music. New Londorr Sound Playground. Newing- muting button next to it reduces the ton, Orange, Norwich. of an analog tuner (very few of which pc,aukubj- Audio Associates. volume by about 20 dB. To the left of approach the smoothness of the SA- Lg. - Sounc Studio: Dove' Newark, Wilmington. the window is the tuning control, easi- EL Absolute Sound. Winer Park Audio Ctr.: Ft Lauderdale GX650), with a very light "feel" and a Audio Video: Tallahasee Audio Video Interiors: Mebourne. ly the handiest we have seen on a swift coverage of the entire tuning Invisible ALcio Pensacola Hoyt Stereo: Jaclsorwile Sound Idea: Gainesille Sound Insight Ft Pierce Stereotypes: receiver in recent years.It can be range. Since the slightest touch cam Daytona Stereo World: Ft Myers, Naples- Stuart AN: Stuart operated in two distinctly different shift the tuning knob's setting, a third .Cig- Stereo Shop: Martinez Stereo Video Systems Marlette EU- Maui Audio Center Kahului. modes, selected by a nearby button. In mode (lock) disables it when desired. A- Audio Logic. Des Moines Camera Corner Davenport the automatic mode, a slight move- Custom AN: Cedar Rapids Hawkey. Iowa City, Cedar Falls. A single small button next to the knob I12- Good Ear : Bose. ment of the knob initiates a scan of the toggles between the tuning modes, United Audio Centers Chicago & Suburbs Cars & Stere- os: Rocldord Jon's Home Center Quincy. Stereo Studio: currently selected radio band, up or which are clearly identified in the win- Palatine Select Sound: Naperville Sterling Elect.: Sterling. Ovation Audio: Clarksille, Indianapolis Ed- Accent Sound Overland Park Advance Audio Wichita Audio Junction: Junction City. Icy- Ovation Audio: Lexington, Louisville. 1.A- Alterman Audio: New Orleans, Metairie MEASUREMENTS la- Goodwin. Audio' Boston, Shrewsbury Nantucket Sound: Hyannis O'Coins: Worcester. MD- Audio Assoc.: Annapolis, Laurel, Rockville Cumberland TUNER SECTION Elec.: Cumterand Gramophone- Bat, Ellicott City. Sound - All figures are for FM only except frequency scope. Batt Sound Studio' Salisbury. AE- Cookin' Portland. response: all measurements referred to 300 - MI- Nicer's: Detrot, Troy Classical Jazz Holland Front Row ohm input. AN: Flint F inure Sound: Ypsilanti. Listening Room Midland, Saginaw. 50 -dB quieting sensitivity MN- Audio Perfection: Minneapolis. j&Q- Independence Audio Video Independence Sound Cen- mono 19 dBf tral. St. Louis stereo Audio Video Systems: Charlotte Stereo Sound: 37 dBf Durham, Greensboro, Raleigh, Winston Salem Tri City Elect.: Signal-to-noise ratio !at r,d Bf Conover. mono 11E- Custom Electronics- Dmaha, Lincoln. 75 dB tthi- Cookin : Nashua, Marchester, Newington, Salem, S. stereo 70dB Nashua. 111- Sound Waves. Northfield Sassafras: Cherry Hill Wood- Distortion (I 11D+Nat 65 dBf bridge Stereo: W. Caktwel, W. Longbranch, Woodbridge. mono 0.25% Kw West Coast Sound' Albuquerque, Santa Fe. Iv- Upper Ear Las Vegas stereo 0.29% Audio Breakthroughs Manhasset Audio Den' Lake Capture ratio at 65 (1131 Grove Audio Expressions: Newburgh. Chemung Elect. I dB Corning, Elmira. Clark Music: Albany, Syracuse Stereo Ex- AM rejection 37 dB change: Manhattan. Hart Elect.: Vestal. Innovative Audio. Brooklyn Listening Room Scarsdale Rowe Camera Selectivity Rochester Sound Mill: Mt. Kisco, Yorktown Hts. Speaker alternate -channel 46 dB Shop: Amherst, Beak,. K Labs Premium Auclo. Tulsa adjacent -channel 3 dB Dynamic headroom (8 ohms, relative to 21:1; Audio Craft: Akron, Cleveland, Findlay, Mayfield Hls,, Pilot -carrier leakage rated output) Westlake, Toledo Audio Etc.: Dayton Speaker Shop: N. Lima. 1.8 dB Qfl- Bradford's HiFi: Eugene Chelsea Audio Video: Port- I9 -kHz -40dB Distortion at rated power 0.015% land, Beavercir Kelly's Home Cl,,:Salem. 38 -kHz EA- GNT Stereo: Lancaste- Hart Electronics: Blakely, -50 dB Sensitivity (for a I -watt output into 8 ohms) Kingston Listening Post Pittsburgh & suburbs Num - 76 dB CI) 18 mV Sassafras. Bryn Mawr, Montgomeryville, Whitehall. Stare- oland: Natrona Heights Studio One. Erie. Channel separation phono 0.32 mV III- Eastern Audio: North Providence 100 Hz 31 dB A -weighted noise 5.C.- Dashboard Charleston Stereo Video: Greenville Up- stairs Audio: Columbia. I kHz 50.5 dB (referred to a I -watt output) 111- Hi Fi Buys Nashville Lindsey Ward. Knoxville Modern 10 kHz 42 dB CD Music: Memphs New Wave Elect.: Jackson. Sound Room -78.5 dB Johnson City. Frequency response phono - 76.8 dB IA- Audio Tech: Tensile, Waco Audio Video: College I'1 30 Hz to 15 kHz +0.2, -0.65 dB Station- Brock AN: Beaumont Bunkley's Sd. Systems Abi- Phono-Input overload lene Bjorn's: San Antonio Don's Hi Fi' Amarillo High Fideli- \M 90 Hz to 2.8 kHz +0.7, -6 dB ( I -kHz -equivalent levels) ty: Lubbock home Entertainment Dallas, Houston. Marvin Electronics: Ft Wcrth Sound Towne: Texarkana. 20 Hz 165 mV AudioWorks: Sat Lake City. Stokes Bros.: Logan. I kHz 180 mV yA- Audio Associates Arlington, Fairfax Audlotronics: Roanoke Digital Sound V rginia Beach. Ear Food: Winches- AMPLIFIER SECTION 20 kHz 210 mV ter Stereotypes: Charlottesville Except as noted, all figures are for main front Phono-input impedance !NA -Audio Waves: Everett DESCO Electronics: Oympia channels only. Evergreen Audio: Silverdale Pacific Sight & Sound We- 44.000 ohms in parallel with 94 pF natchee Sound Mart: Spokane Tin Ear Kennewick Output at clipping 11 kHz) yLyA- Sound Post: Princeton. Tone -control range Absolute Sound & Sheboygan. Audio Empori 8 ohms 165 watts 100 Hz +9, -10dB um: Milwaukee. Puerto Ricg- Precision Audio: Rio Piedras. Clipping headroom 10kHz +9. -10dB caste a- Advance Electronics: Winnipeg. Audio Ark Edmon- (relative to rated output) 1.2 dB RIAA phono-equalization error ton. Audio Ctr.: Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City. Bay Bioor Toronto CORA: Quebec City. Great West Audio: London. Dynamic power 120 Hz to 20 kHz) +0.5, -0.8 dB Kelly's: Vernon B.C. Peak Audio: Halifax Sight & Sound: 8 ohms 188 watts Prince Georges B.C. Smith's TV: Lethbridge Ab Sound Ad- Frequency response (with tone controls vice: Calgary Sound Hounds: Victoria B C. Sound Room: 4 ohms 2M watts centered) 20 Hz to 20 kHz +0.2. -0.3 dB Vancouver Sound Station Courtenay B C West End Elect. St Johns N F. &Aso- Contact Grupo Volumen: Mexico City. 38 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Definitive Technology® "Definitive's Absolute Sonic Superiority Proves America Does It Best!" Experience the Miracle of Bipolar Technology with Definitive's Revolutionary BP8,10 & 20!

"Truly Outstanding" The dramatic result is superb - Stereo Review music and movie reproduction so real that it has been called, Experts agree that Definitive's "a sonic miracle!" revolutionary bipolar BP8, The Ultimate Home Theatre BP10 and BP20 are three of the Combine the BP8s,10s, or 20s world's finest speakers and are with our C/L/R 1000 or Cl cen- sonically superior to speakers ter channel and BP2 bipolar selling for many times their surround speakers for the ulti- remarkably affordable cost. mate in home theatre sound. These American -made, Visit your nearest Definitive advanced technology bipolar dealer and experience the (front and rear radiating) sys- absolute sonic superiority of tems combine lush spacious these truly extraordinary ViVA soundstaging, lifelike depth -of - Gold Product -of -the -Year and field, razor-sharp resolution CES Design & Engineering and pinpoint 3-D imaging with Award winning loudspeakers. powerful subwoofer-like bass (to below 20 Hz), high efficien- Definitive Technology® Itl's - ,1399 k cy, wide dynamic range and RPM - $550 cu. 1 .105 Valley Heights Drive Baltimore, MD 21117 easy -to -position convenience. liP20-s7u9c:1. See dealer list on facing page (410) 363-7148 CIRCL, NO 15 ON READER SERVICE CARD TEST REPORTS

dow. Another button lets you tune in a mote can "learn" to control TV's and frequency by sequentially pressing the VCR's from other manufacturers. numbered preset buttons. SURROUND The performance of the FM tuner Finally, there are two small speak- PERFORMANCE section was comparable to that of er -selector buttons. In stereo mode, many moderate -price stereo tuners they channel the signals to either or All measurements are referred toI -kHz lev- and receivers. Although its distortion both of two pairs of main speakers. els at the VCR2 input of 200 millivolts for the was not particularly low, it should not Normally, the SA-GX650 is rated for front channels and 141.4 mV for the center be audible with music (and wasn't, in operation only with loads of at least 8 and surround channels, all producing 2.83 - our tests). Interstation muting is on ohms. But if you wish to use one pair volt outputs into 8 ohms 11 watt). All mea- during FM tuning, but while a station of 4 -ohm speakers (which require surements in Normal center -channel mode. is tunedin,a reduction of signal more operating current), the receiver Frequency response strength or removal of the antenna will can be set for this heavier load by left, right20 Hz to 20 kHz +0.37. - 0.6 dB produce the familiar hiss of an unmut- simply pressing and holding one of the center 100 Hz to 20 kHz +0. -3 dB ed tuner. In stereo reception, the 19- speaker -selector buttons (it is not pos- surround -3 dB at 65 Hz and 6 kHz kHz pilot -carrier leakage into the au- sible to use two pairs of 4 -ohm speak- A -weighted noise dio was very high (evidently there is ers simultaneously). left, right - 73.6 dB little or no filtering), inflating stereo As our test results show, the SA- center - 74.7 dB noise and THD plus noise measure- GX650 can deliver very high outputs surround - 76.2 dB ments. The leakage could also cause under some conditions. In addition to Distortion ITHD + N) problems if you record stereo FM electronic overload protection, which left, right 0.06% broadcasts onto analog tape or re- instantly shuts down thereceiver center 0.04% duced -bit -rate digital media such as when its survival is threatened, a cool- surround 0.61% MD or DCC. ing fan draws outside air in through Surround decoder input -overload levels Most other FM -tuner performance slots on the top cover, passes it over left, right +17 dB characteristics, including image rejec- the fins of the internal transistor heat center +17 dB tion and selectivity, were typical of sink, and exhausts the hot air from the surround 21.7 dB receivers today. Interestingly, the SA- rear apron. The fan is thermally oper- Surround -channel -delay indicator GX650's best and worst measure- ated and comes on only when needed, error 2 milliseconds short ments were of the two characteristics so that its noise (which is audible, Surround -channel noise -reduction having the most to do with an FM though not to an annoying degree) will calibration error tuner's ability to reject interference on not be intrusive. Normally, the fan will at 1 kHz +3dB the same frequency. The AM rejection operate only when the system is play- at 3 kHz +5 dB was a mediocre 37 dB, and the capture ing at a level that would completely Separations (100 Hz to 7 kHz) ratio was a superb 1.0 dB, as rated. mask its sound. But even at lower left from right >45 dB The AM frequency response, like that levels, when it is not operating, the top left from center >30dB of almost every tuner and receiver we of the cabinet becomes quite warm. center from surround >51 dB have tested, was very limited at both Although the rear apron of the SA- surround from left >47 dB low and high frequencies. GX650 has all the necessary input and left from surround >34 dB The tone controls had good charac- output connectors, it seems almost surround from center >37 dB teristics, although the tiny knobs and sparsely populated in comparison with center from left >44 dB the lack of clear index markings made other A/V receivers we have tested. In it difficult to determine their settings. addition to the obvious input jacks Particularly for the treble control, we (and outputs for one of the VCR's and AC outlets on the rear of the receiver. found that turning the knob halfway up the audio recorder), there is a TV - The SA-GX650 comes with an AM or down had an insignificant effect on monitor output, two subwoofer line loop antenna that mounts on the rear the response. The loudness control outputs, and an output for a remote - apron and can be pivoted over a 180 - boosted the frequencies below several control connection to a compatible degree arc. Binding posts are provided hundred hertz by about 10 dB at vol- Technics tape deck or CD player. for 75- and 300 -ohm FM antennas, but ume settings of - 20 dB and below. Surprisingly for a receiver of its there is no F connector. The main (left and right front) power power capabilities,allof the SA- The receiver has a versatile remote amplifiers easily met and surpassed GX650's speaker outputs except the control that not only duplicates most their ratings. Their I25 -watt stereo one for the center speaker are snap of its key front -panel features but rating is conservative: We measured clips that accept only stripped wire serves as a system control for associ- 165 watts into 8 ohms at the clipping ends. The center -speaker connector is ated compatible Panasonic or Tech- point, and at 125 watts into 8 ohms the a spring clip. Although these connec- nics components, including CD play- distortion remained well below the tors are probably adequate, they don't ers, VCR's, and TV receivers, as well rated 0.05 percent from 20 Hz to 20 allow the use of heavy -gauge wire, as VCR's and TV's from Zenith and kHz. If the receiver is used with spadelugs,or other conventional RCA. (We tried it with an RCA TV we speakers having much less than 8 high -power connectors such as ba- have had for a number of years, and it ohms impedance, however, it should nana plugs. There are two switched worked perfectly.) In addition, the re- be set for low -impedance operation.

40 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Definitive's Award -Winning Center Channels and Bipolar Surround Speakers for Your Ultimate Home Theater Absolute sonic superiority and unequalled value make Definitive loudspeakers your obvious choice.

(.71./R 1000 8450 c a. - The C/L/R 1000, the world's finest cen!er, is c iso a superb left and right wain speaker Enthusiasts and world renowned high definition articulate clarity and Voted #1 for Quality & experts acknowledge the high power handling (C/L/R 1000: 300 Reliability dramatic sonic superiority of watts, Cl: 200 watts). Definitive speakers are Definitive loudspeakers for both the consistently top -rated and were superb reproduction of music and the The BP2's Bipolar Advantage BP2s are unique ultra compact chosen by experts inStereo Review dramatic special effects and dialogue for their home theater "Dream of home theater surround sound. high resolution bipolar (front and rear radiating) systems intended System." A survey of U.S. dealers World's Finest Center primarily for use on the rear/side voted Definitive speakers #1 for Channel Speakers surround channels of the finest quality and reliability among all Optimum surround sound home theater systems. Experts agree speakers sold in the U.S.! reproduction places heavy demands that Definitive's bipolars provide a Visit your nearest Definitive on the center speaker, the most perfectly diffuse sound source which dealer today and hear why our important speaker because it handles is ideal for these applications. superior sounding loudspeakers have 50% or more of the program material. The use of BP2s results in a won the industry's most prestigious It is no place to settle for second best. much more lifelike, dramatic all - honors, including the CES Design & Definitive's C/L/R 1000 and Cl are the enveloping listening experience than Engineering Award,VideoMagazine's finest shielded, low profile, high is possible with conventional ViVA Gold Product of the Year Award resolution center channel/main speakers. In addition, because of and the AudioVideo Grand Prix. speakers available. They use superior their superb performance state-of-the-art components and characteristics, the BP2s also make nitiveTechnolo technology for extraordinary ultra exceptional main channel speakers. 11105 Valley Heights Dr. Baltimore, MD 21117 CIRCLE NO 15 ON READER SERVICE CARD See dealer list on page 38 (410) 363-7148 TEST REPORTS

We succeeded in blowing an internal number of acoustic environments. In a fuse near the clipping point with a 4 - normal room, with reasonably good ohm load (evidently the electronic stereo recordings (not specially en- protection did not take effect in time). coded ones), there was a worthwhile Fortunately,thereceiver was not amount of ambience enhancement. damaged by this abuse and required We did not use the receiver with only a fuse replacement (it is not con- Dolby -encoded movies (which pre- sidered "user replaceable" since that sumably would be a major application involves removing the cover). for it), but the sound with a Dolby We used the SA-GX650 with very Surround -encoded CD clearly demon- good results in a surround system with strated its suitability for home theater two frontspeakers and two side - use. And its ease of operation-a qual- mounted ambience speakers. Unlike ity notably absent in many more elabo- some considerably more elaborate rate receivers-is a significant bonus. Back by popular demand, (and expensive) receivers, the SA- At its moderate price, the SA-GX650 Road & Track Specials once GX650 makes no attempt to simulate a again presents every en- is certainly an excellent value. thusiast's dream come true, an Exotic Cars Special Edition. This 112 -page, full - SECONDOPINION color 10th Anniversary col- lector edition is packed with the hottest -looking, PROVIDED you don't want or need our videodisc -oriented tests on the ultra -high-performance, any synthesized -ambience music - receiver's surround circuits. most spine -tingling con- enhancement modes, the Technics SA- Our first set of new test procedures veyances on four wheels - GX650 is a nice, easy -to -use AN for Dolby Pro Logic mostly showed 17 cars in all. receiver. But don't assume that the lack very good results. Of particular note are * * of a specific button for music the high signal-to-noise ratios and low From Europe, we've gath- enhancement means it can't supply any. distortion. Separation and frequency - ered together the Aston Dolby Pro Logic decoding of some types response figures were all adequate. Martin DB7, Ferrari 456GT, of music can be very entertaining, if not Surround overload levels, while not Jaguar XJ-220 & D -Type, true high fidelity. It would have been stellar, were par for the course, as was McLaren's Formula -One -in- relatively easy for Technics to include the surround -channel calibration error spired supercar, sensuous one "pure" enhancement mode using (it is not yet clear how audible new Bugatti EB112 4 -door the Pro Logic delay line (other calibration errors of this magnitude are sedan, other -worldly manufacturers have), so it's strange with normal program material). Bertone-built B.A.T. Alfa there isn't one. Listening tests turned up no anomalous Romeos, AMG-prepared To my surprise, I didn't find the sound -steering behavior while Mercedes-Benz 5005L and cooling fan-which is necessary in order simultaneously demonstrating that the the comeback -kid Porsche to reduce the size and cost of internal low measured noise levels produced Boxster. heat sinks-as audibly distracting in this audible benefits. * * * case as I usually do, probably because it As is customary with A/V receivers, Here in the States, we go doesn't even turn on unless the receiver the SA-GX650's remote control is full retro with Mitsubishi's is putting out about a steady I watt or overloaded with buttons for other hot Aluma street rod and more in any channel. With speakers of components. Although there was an Plymouth Prowler. Get 90 dB sensitivity, that means there's admirable attempt to differentiate behind the wheel of the going to be about 90 dB of sound in the buttons by shape and size, the remote is Chrysler Thunderbolt, Ford room before the fan starts turning. At still difficult to master. Receiver -related Mustang Mach Ill and those sound levels, the fan noise is buttons are located in clusters separated Dodge Viper GTS Coupe, completely masked. by controls for a CD player and fresh off the concept car Interestingly, the SA-GX650's audio - surrounded by buttons for an audio show circuit. In a battle of recorder input also bears a designation recorder and only one VCR (no hint of a American Gladiators, for DCC. promoting the new format of videodisc player here, either), and the Reeves Callaway's awe- which Technics' parent company, overall layout is too regular, without some Corvette CR-1 Matsushita, is co -developer. But MD enough tactile distinction between Supernatural coupe takes recorders and analog cassette decks will sections. Also, the button for muting is on the production Dodge hook up just as easily to this input. too prominent in relation to the more Viper RT/10. Another input on the vertically important buttons for volume and ************* arranged rear panel, VCR2, is less fully channel selection. Exotic Cars 1994 is equipped than might be hoped, since it Still, you'll eventually learn to available on newsstands is an A/V input only and has no navigate around the remote, and October 19, 1993, for 54.95 corresponding A/V outputs for because it has all the controls necessary U.S. Or you can order it recording. This input might have been for Dolby Surround adjustment, it will postage paid by sending a better labeled "laserdisc." which is help you take full advantage of the SA- check or money order for what it's best suited for, and I hooked GX650's high power and high -quality $6.70 U.S. to Exotic Cars up our test equipment there to perform surround decoding. -David Ranada 1994, P.O. Box 7085, Brick, NJ 08723. 42 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Most of the World's Finest Sounding Loudspeakers Cost Over $5000. Only Two Sell for Under $299 Each: Definitive Technology's Astounding DR7s!

"Incredible" How does Definitive do it? - Peter Moncrieff, IAR Advanced technology and superb components, like cast magnesium When Peter Moncrieff of basket drivers, transmission line International Audio Review,one bass tuning, low diffraction of the world's most well respected monocoque cabinets and Linkwitz- high end audio journals, heard Riley crossovers, all help. But most Definitive Technology's DR7s, he importantly, we hear very well and had only one word for them, we care. "Incredible." Perfect for home theatre. Priced under $299 ea. (DR7 Combine either DR7 with our Tower- studio finish) and $249 award -winning Cl ultra center ea. (DR7 Bookshelf Monitor), channel and BP2 bipolar surround these extraordinary handcrafted speakers for a sonically stunning loudspeakers have breathtaking home theatre which is clearly three-dimensional imaging, superior sounding to other manu- dynamic lifelike clarity, natural facturers' systems selling for musicality, astounding bass, and thousands more. elegantly sleek designer styling which make them simply the - Definitive Technolo 1/10null' DIC Bookshelf best value in the history of hi fi. 11.05 Valley Heights Drive Baltimore, MD 21117 's299 ca. ',..249 See dealer list on page 38 1410) 363-7148 CIRCLE NO IS ON READER SERVICE CARD RESTORE FAMILY HARMONY. udie Like mother, like son. Into seven categories: choose from Right. preprogrammed ones like rock or You tryto compare SCHOOL'S OUT jazz or classical. Or make up with IN THE MOOD. your own. Fisher Studio 24 CD Management System Which brings us to Studio 24, the And up to twenty-four subcategories: 0 24 -Disc System 0Vertical Auto new Fisher CD Management System. organize your collection by title or07 Pre -Set Loading System Categories and 0 Bi-Directional It not only plays twenty-four CDs. artist or even mood. 24 Programmable Radial Transport It arranges them. Your way. Her All at the touch of a button. Categories and 01 -Bit Dual Subcategories Digital -to -Analog way. Any way. Peace. 0 Alpha -Numeric Converter Stores them. Vertically. Instead of At last FISHE 16 -Digit (8 + 8) 0 8x Oversampling Scrolling Display Digital Filter horizontally. ...Trust your senses. 0 Remote Control And organizes them. Call 800-209-2424* for the dealer nearest you.

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The products of MB Quart, a major point of the panel, with a vent opening 241) FIFTH PRIZES German loudspeaker manufactur- below it. Alice Cooper/Fisher Souvenir T -Shirt er, have been well received in the The installation instructions sup- United States since their intro- plied with the Quart Three (and the No purchase necessary. duction here a number of years To enter sweepstakes, complete an ago. The Quart Three, a recent official entry form found at participating Fisher retailers and at Musicland and addition to the company's line, is as- DIMENSIONS Sam Goody stores and deposit in sembled in the United States using 8 INCHES WIDE. 36 16H. ID INCHES DEEP sweepstakes entry boxes at partici- inboth pating Fisher dealers. Or to enter by components made North FINISH mail, print your name, full address and daytime America and Germany. BLACK VINYL, REMOVABLE BLACK GRILLE phone number on an official entry form or a 3" x 5" piece of paper song with the words "Fisher FamiN Harmony" and mail ina The Quart Three is a floor -standing PRICE i stamped. hand -addressed envelope to:Fisher Family Harmony 2 columnar loudspeaker with two 6 -inch 5,99 4 P111, Sweepstakes, P0. Box 6780, Monticello. MN 55561-6780. Entries must be woofers. One is at the top of the speak- receivec by 12/31/93. Limit one entry per envelopeNo mechanical MANUFACTURER reproductions. Void where prohibited. Sweepstakes open to residents of er panel, with aI -inch metal -dome MB QUAR EL.ECI RONICS USA, INC., LEM SR. the U.S. 12 and older Entrants bound by additional restnctions contained in P tweeter immediately belowit. The 25 WALFOLE PARK S.. WALPOLE, MP. 02081 the official rules, which may be obtained at entry boxes or by sending a stamped, sell -addressed envelope to: Fisher Family Harmony Rules, Dept. i other woofer is just below the mid- T, P.O. Boo 6717, Monticello, MN 55561-6717. Odds of winning depend upon number of eligible entries received. Sweepstakes ends 12/31/93. STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 45 © 1993Fisher Audio/Video. Have you ever gotten a call on your tel

Have you ever bought concert tickets from a cash machi W'm a DAT machine in the TEST REPORTS AT&T Future smaller Quart Two and Quart One) are minimal, consisting only of general Technologies placement suggestions. The only tech- The Quart Three Sweepstakes. nical information furnished is on a label affixed to the bottom of the speaker's response was speaker cabinet, which indicates a rated impedance of 4 ohms, a power- extraordinarily flat handling capacity of 90 watts (170 watts of music program), and a fre- and had very good Test your knowledge of the latest developments in audio technology. quency range of 33 Hz to 32 kHz. The input terminals, recessed into deep -bass extension. Call 1-800-233-2347 the bottom of the enclosure, are gold- on a touchtone phone to enter. platedbindingposts,butthey're Q Perceptual coding techniques spaced too widely for use with dual are utilized in what format banana plugs (they will accept single middle and high frequencies, where it banana plugs, however). A clearance is possible to effectively exclude room DCC gap is provided for the connecting reflections from the measurement, the wires, though it is not large enough to on -axis response was within ±1.5 dB DAT pass most specialty speaker cables from 500 Hz to 17 kHz. The tweeter's other than flat ones. high -frequency dispersion was also CD Our initial measurements indicated excellent, with less than 2 dB drop in Q: Digital Audio Broadcasting will somewhat unusual impedance and re- output at 6 kHz measured 45 degrees be more efficient than AM and FM sponse characteristics, which led us to off its central axis, increasing to 3.5 dB transmission because the power it makeseparatefrequency -response at 10 kHz and just 7.5 dB at 20 kHz. uses wM be: measurements of the two woofers. The system impedance remained 4Increased Those revealed that the upper cone between 3.5 and 7 ohms from 20 Hz to had an effective range from well below 20 kHz except for a rise to 11.5 ohms at er-Th Reduced 100 Hz to at least 2 kHz. Its response 70 Hz. Sensitivity was high, 93 dB fell off at a steady 12 dB per octave sound -pressure level (SPL) at 1 meter below 100 Hz, indicating that it was with a 2.83 -volt input of pink noise. At Unchanged operating in a sealed enclosure. The 2 volts (corresponding to a 90 -dB ref- CD's are now being mastered output of the lower cone, on the other erence SPL), distortion remained be- from: hand, reached its maximum at 100 Hz tween 0.7 and 2 percent from 2 kHz and rolled off both above and below down to 45 Hz, increasing to about 9 16 -bit master tape: that frequency. A response null at 36 percent at 30 Hz. In single -cycle burst Hz showed that this driver was operat- tests, the Quart Three absorbed the E; 20 -bit master tape ingin conjunction with thevent, full output of the amplifier (1,240 Both whose output augments that of the watts) at 1 and 10 kHz without damage cone below about 50 or 60 Hz. or significant distortion. At 100 Hz, The room -response curve had the however, the woofers began to sound \ 11 siIII IFS usual (and unavoidable) fluctuations slightly "hard" at about 30 watts in- I. F. mi r.all the 11.t o ding the qu,stion opdon- ab.er ,end a 3- cant. rape' or Prin1M,cr tram,. addnv, rip and in the midrange but was extraordinari- put, bottoming audibly at 280 watts. area code:. and telephrine number. \o purthase, are necessary ly flat between 2 and 11 kHz (roughly 2. brie: ma be calk,) in or poslrnarted no kiler II= SM. 15.1993, The Quart Three's measured perfor- and sent In Stereo Rolex Magazine's Innovative Technologies ±0.5 dB over that range). When we mance essentially confirmed the man- %xritstakes, Steno Revkv. %pane. 1633 Broadway. New York, NY 10019 Stow Retire %game will not he responsible for lost misdi- joined the room response with the ufacturer's somewhat sparse specifi- reCrei or tan entries. The 'bier will he selected in a random dewing combined close-miked responses from cations. hears all toll free calk (answering question is optional) and Wri01111 This moderately priced entries. The droing will he oonducted In an outside agend, under the both cones and the port, the resulting speaker not only had one of the flattest dirodion of Bathe* Filipacchi Maginnm The Ridges decision is fwd. 3. The Weiner will he noded hy Mad (won the phOgic 111' Nov. 311. 1993. curve was within ± 2.5 dB from 40 Hz overall response characteristics that 4. The rim oil he a DAT molder. vahted S 1.1(4)15) NO to 20 kHz, with the output slightly pre: airnwd we have measured, but combined that (micais .pio to dl n5.4.k.nt,6 the 1 S 21 or nick mart the emphasized from 100 to 200 Hz and at with bass extension rarely found in its emplowe. and thtir Eonahe> it I kalfillk. libroctin %wino. 111(.. \T&T, or atheneang anti polite rekoomagtoom about 13 kHz, where there was a small price range. Organ pedal notes were 6 Crimea to all direst She. and load rondatiorn. %out .111.11` tweeter -resonance peak. A slight level reproduced at useful levels down to pmhiMed In En, Tao, an. the clamed,* of the winner. 1,,r the RAMC the pox winner. oaia murar.11-altbmsal alo eine- change at about 2 kHz suggested that the 30 -Hz region. At the other end of lore to Steno Rrsieu %twine's blamable Tedmologus Sweepstake, the crossover from the upper woofer the spectrum, the tweeter (which has Slam Reiiew Magazine, 1633 Broadway, New Sok 1011i9. to the tweeter was in that vicinity. A what appears to be a diffusing plate in group -delay measurement showing a front of its dome) had unusually wide pronounced jog at 2 kHz reinforced angular dispersion at the highest audio that conclusion. frequencies. Together with considera- Quasi-anechoic MLS measure- bly higher than average sensitivity, ments confirmed the remarkable flat- these qualities make the Quart Three a ness of the Quart Three's response. At strong contender in its price class. 0 AT&T

STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 47 TEST HITS quencies above 150 Hz, with a 3 -kHz crossover between them. The range below 150 Hz is handled by a pair of specially developed 61/2 - inch cone woofers mounted between two chambers within the enclosure. One chamber is closed, while the other radiates into the room through a ducted port on the rear of the cabinet. The two woofers are mounted in a push- pull arrangement, which Jamo says enables them to work as though they were in a much larger enclosure. Also on the back of the cabinet is a recessed connection panel containing two pairs of gold-plated binding posts suitable for use with single or double banana plugs, lugs, or wire ends. They are normally strapped together with removable jumpers for conventional connection to the amplifier. With the jumper straps removed, the bass and upper -frequency drivers can be fed via separate cables from a single stereo amplifier (biwiring) or from two separate amplifiers (biamplification). Jamo rates the Model 507 for operation at power levels up to 150 watts (200 watts for short-term peaks). Its nominal impedance is 4 ohms, its frequency range 40 Hz to 20 kHz. We measured the room response of the two Jamo 507's with the speakers installed about 7 feet apart, I foot from the wall behind them and 4 feet from thesidewalls. Jamo recommends placing their backs close to a wall for best bass performance and points out that their narrow front panels mini- Jamo 507 loudspeaker System mize high -frequency diffraction that JULIAN HIRSCH HIRSCH-HOUCK LABORATORIES could cause response irregularities. The averaged room response of the two speakers was very smooth and .1. he Danish -made Jamo 507 is next tion black cloth grille. The lower pail, uniform over most of the audio range. to the top of the company's new which is purely decorative, is not re- The woofer response spanned just "07"line of loudspeaker sys- movable. The upper grille, retained by over one octave, from approximately tems. That it is not just another small built-in magnets at its sides, lifts 40 to 115 Hz, falling at 24 dB per me -too design is immediately ap- off easily to reveal two 4 -inch cone octave below 50 Hz and at about 30 dB parent: Standing 36 inches high drivers flanking aI -inch soft -dome per octave above 100 Hz. The output and weighing a solid 42 pounds, the tweeter. These drivers handlefre- of the two midrange drivers joined the speaker has front and back panels only woofer output at 110 Hz, and their 5 inches wide. Curved sides, finished combined response was ±4 dB from 40 Hz to 3 kHz. in mahogany, give the cabinet a maxi- DIMENSIONS mum width of 83/4 inches, and a 1/4 - 83/4 INCHES WIDE, 36 INCHES HIGH, The system's composite response, inch -thick glass plate covers the top. 141/2 INCHES DEEP based on close-miked measurements The speaker is supplied with spikes PRICE of the low -frequency and midrange whose use is optional but recommend- SI.200 A PAIR drivers and the total room response of0 all of the drivers, was flat within ± 2.5 O ed by Jamo. Rubber feet are also fur- MANUFACTURER nished for installation on hard floors JAMO H1-11 L SA. IN( .. DIP. 112.4:n Hiiii KO.. dB from 700 Hz to 20 kHz and ±1.8 such as wood or stone. BLDG. 8. NORTHBROOK. IL 60062 dB from 700 to 46 Hz. There was a The front is covered by a two -sec- (Continued on page 57)

48 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 I COULD HEAR MY HEART POUNDING IN MY EARS, THEI WAS VOICES DRAWN OF TO MY A FAMILYWARM, FADINGBRIGHT LIGHTIN THE THAT DISTANCE SEEMED AS TOWHAT FILL HAPPENED, THE ENTIRE I WAS ROOM. ON THEN, BEFORE I EVEN KNEW rimmierw, THE OTHER SIDE.

LaserActive- images shown on actual TV screen. SEARCHING THE STREETS OF LONDON FOR A MAN I'D NEVER EVEN MET.

I find :something interesting in the Tower of London.

Catherine and Sherlock haue found an ornamental lion. Haue you been to the Tower of London yet?

I I II 1 I 14

LaserActive- images shown on actual TV screen. AND REPLAYING EVERY MOVIE, EVERY SONG, EVERY GAME I'D EVER PLAYED BEFORE. ABOUT THAT TIME, SCNT DISTINCTLY HEARD MY DAUGHTER'S TINY VOICE ECHOING IN MY EARS.

"DADDY, IT'S MY TURN."

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PIONEER LASERACTIVE. ONE MACHINE. INFINITE POSSIBILITIES. 'Otter good only in the U S, while supplies last. See dealer for details. 01993 Pioneer Electronics IUSAI IncLong Beach, CA. All trademarks, registered trademarks and images are the property of their respective owners TEST REPORTS FREE double -humped peak of 3 or 4 dB in the smoothness and wide range were obvi- 12- to I6 -kHz range that we later con- ous from the first moment. After sev- Stereo firmed with quasi-anechoic MLS re- eral days of listening, the measure- sponse measurements. The tweeter ments were not too surprising, merely had the good high -frequency disper- confirming this unconventional speak- sion typical of I -inch dome radiators: er's excellence. It was interesting to Catalog At 45 degrees off -axis, it was down 6 feel the sides of the cabinet while it dB at 10 kHz and 10 dB at 20 kHz. was reproducinglowfrequencies. The system impedance fell to a rath- When we played a 31.5 -Hz test tone at er low 2.6 ohms at 120 Hz but averaged a room -filling level, there was hardly a close to 4 ohms between 100 Hz and 1 trace of vibration to be felt on the kHz. It climbed at high frequencies to exterior of the cabinet, yet the output about 12.5 ohms at 20 kHz. As with was obviously mostly the fundamen- most other multicavity bass radiators tal, not harmonics of it-something we have tested, the phase component not usually experienced from a pair of of the impedance measurement was 6 -inch cones. ragged below about 250 Hz (probably Jamo says the cabinet's sides are a not of any audible significance). sandwich of grooved chipboard and I Sensitivity was, as rated, 90 dB conventional medium -densityfiber- .0" ado sound -pressure level (SPL) at 1 meter board (MDF). When the two boards .01. with an input of 2.83 volts of pink are glued together, they form an arc - noise. At that level, the woofer distor- shaped, extremely rigid structure with tion was between 0.9 and 1.5 percent thoroughly damped resonances. As from 110 Hz to 42 Hz, rising to 9 our listening confirmed, that results in percent at 30 Hz-impressive perfor- a "dead" cabinet with a minimum of mance from a speaker with the Jamo sound coloration. 507's driver complement. The small Over the years,Ihave seen and drivers were also able to absorb large heard, and sometimes tested, quite a short -duration power peaks without few unconventional, innovatively de- Remember when shopping for a damage or excessive distortion. The signed and constructed speakers. Un- stereo was fun? So do we. Get tweeter and midrange drivers were not fortunately, their sound quality has our catalog and get excited again! harmed by single -cycle tone bursts of rarely correlated with their special fea- 650 watts at 10 kHz and 1,050 watts at tures, or with their often high prices. Hundreds of components I kHz. A 100 -Hz burst of 645 watts The Jamo 507 is a happy exception-a drove the woofer cones to their limits, tastefullystyled,ingeniously de- Dozens of top brands adding a "hard" quality to the sound, signed,andthoroughlylistenable Packed with buying tips but caused no damage. speaker. All things considered, itis As is our usual practice, we listened not unreasonably priced, and we were Low discount prices to the Jamo 507's for some time before very impressed with its performance. Computers and video, too performing any measurements. Their Hear it if you can. 0 It's free! Call now. You'll be glad you did. Call Now! 1-800-955-9009 or mail this coupon

Name

Address

Crty

Sate

"The crossover frequency of this speaker is higher than in some speakers selling for three times as much." CRUTCHFIELD

STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 57 TEST REPORTS

sible speaker output signal is also pro- Yamaha DSP 82010 Audio/Video vided at line level for feeding external power amplifiers. That includes the two main channels, the two surround Integrated Amplifier channels,the two "front -effect" channels, the Dolby Pro Logic center DAVID R AN A DA TECHNICAL EDITOR channel (yes, the A2070 contains seven power amplifiers), and the three subwoofer outputs (one mono and a veritable tour de force of digital subwoofer-balance test tones to help left/right stereo pair), which are fil- signal processing,Yamaha's you set a system's subwoofer level tered to remove frequencies above 200 new top integrated amplifier, properly. An input -trim control en- Hz. A switchable Bass Extension cir- the DSP-A2070, shows what ables you to match the levels of all the cuit provides a slight boost centered at can be done when a company inputs to that of the CD input. Finally, 75 Hz and a relatively steep rolloff takes a good hard look at the there's a five -band graphic equaliz- below that frequency, which may help connection, switching, and signal -pro- er-adjusted by means of the amplifi- extend the bass response of some cessing demands of an elaborate home er's front -panel control buttons and small main -channel speakers. theater setup. The A2070 has, for ex- display-for the center channel. All back -panel line -level audio con- ample, connections and switching for For those not satisfied with the out- nections are via phono jacks, unfortu- eleven inputs: phono, CD, tuner, la- put power provided by the DSP- nately in a vertical array. Composite - serdisc, two audio recorders, satellite A2070, which should be sufficient for video inputs and outputs are also decoder, and three (!) VCR's, plus a all but the largest listening rooms or phono jacks, but every video connec- rear -panel auxiliary audio/video input truly lease -breaking levels, every pos- tion, even the auxiliary one on the duplicated on the front panel. front panel, also has a corresponding Some rare or unique features useful S -video connector. Speaker outputs in home theater systems are included. DIMINSIONS are multiway connectors that accept For example, along with the test signal 171/4 INCHES WIDE, 61/4 INCHES HIGH. stripped wires or banana plugs most required for Dolby Pro Logic channel 181/2 INCHES DEEP easily. There are three AC conve- balancing, there are provisions for us- nience outlets, two of them switched. ing the signal to set the levels for the 91.999 Pride of place among all the DSP- additional speakers that can be used in MANUFACTURER A2070's features must go to its digital some of the amplifier's other modes. YAMAHA. VI -.I'1. SR. 6660 ORANGE.IHORPE AVE.. signalprocessing (DSP)facilities, Furthermore-and this can be ex- BUENA PARK, CA 90620 which Yamaha says are significantly tremely valuable-there are several more powerful than those of its highly6

58 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Introducing The Next Best -Selling Loudspeaker OfAll Time.

More than 30 years ago, Henry Kloss designed the now -legendary KLI1Model Six, the first speaker to fully exploit the potential of two-way design. By using the then -new principle of the acoustic suspension woofer, as well as creating a new type of long -throw integral -dome tweeter, he was able to make a speaker that provided outstanding performance at a moderate cost. A decade later, he took these principles still further with the Advent loudspeaker, one of the best selling speaker models of all time. Both speakers were considered industry benchmarks for price/performance. We are now pleased to announce Cambridge SoundWxks' Model Six, a two- way system named in honor of Henry !Coss' first ground -breaking two-way system. Not An "Extension Speaker." Model Six is not an "extension speaker" It's a serious main speaker with sufficient Model Six continues a long tradition of best-selling, high performance, high value, two-way frequency range and power -handling to satisfy speakers by Henry Kloss. Wry natural, accurate, wide -range sound -only $119 each! serious listeners. Model Six speakers, when combined with a good receiver and CD player, What does Model Six give up compared to fine-tuning the octave -to -octave balance. This is comprise a music system for $500-$600 that our Ensemble systems? With big amplifiers in the most important factor in determining the seriously outperforms typical pre-packaged large rooms, Ensemble and Ensemble II can overall sound of a speaker. "shelf" or "rack" systems. play louder, and they have greater low -bass extension. They also give you tremendous Elegant Cabinet Design. Two Way Design Advantages. room -placement flaibility, which allows you We devoted considerable time and effort Ike believe that when lowest cost is not to optimize performance, with little impact to making Model Six visually appealing. Con- the ultimate consideration, the best speaker on the decor ofyour room. vincing simulated wood finishes were chosen - design is a subwoofer-satellite system like our in oak, teak and black ash. A subtly rounded Costly Components. Ensembles and Ensemble II systems. But "bullnose molding frames a medium charcoal a properly designed subwoofer-satellite system Thoughtful Design. grey gill that was custom -woven for Model Six. requires three-way design, which entails the cost At the heart of Model Six are its drivers, of two more drivers and a third cabinet. While a 1% " cone tweeter with center %" dome (the Factory -Direct Price: $119 each! neither Ensemble system is "high end" in price, same tweeter we use in Ensemble), and a newly - Because we sell factory -direct, Model Six a complete stereo system starts at about $800, designed 8" acoustic suspension woofer While sells forfor less than it would cost in stores. At still too much for music lovers on a budget. classic in their simplicity, these drivers differ $119 each, in your choice of three finishes, it is greatly from other moderate -cost speakers. the value in today's loudspeaker market. If you Model Six's crossover frequency is 2,000 aren't satisfied, you can return Model Six within Model Sixis Hz, much lower than many other two-way 30 days for a full refund. "...the designs. This makes it possible to ensure truly ahigh -quality smooth, uncolored upper midrange with wide For A Free Catalog, Call has an speaker...It dispersion. Such a low crossover frequency 'all theresound would not work with conventional tweeters. 1-800-FOR-HIFI quality thatbelies its But Model Six's tweeter uses a suspension We Know How low price that allows the "long throws" necessary to To Make Loudspeakers. amazingly reproduce music in this range. and does credit to its only The 8" woofer cone is larger than those heritage..At usually found in speakers of Model Six's size CAMBRIDGE $119 each,the Model and price, allowing it to move substantial Six is anexceptional amounts of air at low frequencies. And Model SOUNDWORKS Six puts emphasis on very low frequencies value." instead of the mid -bass "rise" common in 154 California St., Suite 102N, Newton, MA 02158 -StereoReview 1-800-367-4434 Pax: 617-332-9229 many speakers. The result is bass that is more Canada: 1-800-525-4434 accurate and extended than similar systems. Outside U.S. or Canada: 617-332-5936 I993 .'arnbndge S.+tadtlMks O Ensemble is a irOgered trademark of Cambridge But most important is how Henry Klass Soundtsbiks. inc Carnhidge SoundWarks is a trademark of Cantbridg2 Soon:Marks. Inc. IQH a trademark of KIR Inc. Atiseni is a trademark ofInternmonal Kasen Inc. went on to "voice" the system -painstakingly Cambridge SouidNladts is not Waxed wee 11111 Of AdVen. CIRCLE NO 6 ON READER SERVICE CARD The Critics Love Ensemble And EnsembleIL What's The Diffeience, Anyway?

Cambridge SoundWorks changed The Same the audio world when we began Satellite Speakers. direct -marketing Ensemble* by Henry When you listen to either Ensem- Kloss. Ensemble is a revolutionary ble system, almost 90% of the music dual-subwoofer/satellite speaker you hear is being reproduced by the system offering all-out performance, satellite speakers. Both Ensemble without cluttering up your room with and Ensemble II use satellite speak- huge speaker cabinets. Available only ers that are virtually identical factory -direct from Cambridge Unlike many competing systems, SoundWorks, with no expensive The real difference is in the subwoofer. Ensembles satellites are true two- middle -men, Ensemble is priced at hun- way speaker systems, each containing a dreds less than it would have sold for in ers. We believe Ensemble II is a better high performance tweeter and a 4 -inch stores. Audio magazine says Ensemble system than its best-known competitor. woofer. Stereo Review said, "The Ensemble "may be the best value in the world." And because we sell it factory -direct, it's satellites delivered a smoother output than half the price. Stereo Review said "Ensem- And Then There Were Two. ble II performs so far beyond its price and Thue acoustic Now Cambridge SoundWorks has size that it can be compared only with suspension, introduced Ensemble II, a more affordablemuch larger speakers at substantially sealed subwoofer cavity. version of Ensemble using only one cabi- higher prices:' We agree with the writer net to hold both subwoofer drivers. who said, "It's hard to imagine going &viol acts as Ensemble II has joined Ensemble in the wrong with Ensemble:' The question is, acoustic band-pass ranks of the country's best-selling speak - which Ensemble system is right foryou? filter

"Ensemble may be the best value in the world." Audio many r and more expensive speakers." built into every cabinet for maximum Small (8'/8"x51/1"x4") and unobtru- wiring flexibility. Robust construction is sive, they'll fit into the decor of any room. used throughout, featuring solid MDF fund. We even reimburse original UPS They're available in scratch -resistant cabinets and solid metal grilles. ground shipping charges in the continental United States. gunmetal grey Nextel, or primed so you The Same can paint them any color you wish. Factory -Direct Savings. SoundWorks products are available onfactory -direct. By eliminat- co ingCambridlthe mid e -men, we're able to sell The ondifference in satellites is that the original Ensemble and Ensemble II for hundreds Ensembles use gold-plated connectors that allow use less than if they were sold in stores. of even the heaviest gauge wire. The Same 30 -Day Tbtal The Real Difference: The Satisfaction Guarantee. Ensemble satellite speakers are available primed for Ultimate Placement Flexibility painting, so they can matchyour decor exactly. Choosing a loudspeaker after a brief Of Dual Subwoofers. listen at a dealer's showroom is like decid- Placement of bass and high -frequency The Same Overall Sound. ing on a car after one quick trip around speakers in a room-and how those the block. So we make it possible to audi- In many rooms, Ensemble II sounds speakers interact with the acoustics of the tion our speakers the right way- virtually the same as Ensemble, especially room-has more influence on the overall when Ensembles two subwoofers are sound quality of a stereo system than just placed right next to each other. The real about anything. As an alternative to difference between the two systems is spending hundreds (or thousands) of that Ensemble, with its two ultra -compact dollars on this or that "latest" amplifier subwoofers (12" x21" x4V2"), gives you or CD player design, you should invest ultimate placementflexibiliol. some of your time experimenting with The Same Attention lb Detail. various speaker positioning schemes. Ensemble's two ultra -slim (4V2") sub - Ensemble and Ensemble 11 are con- Stereo systems featuring Ensemble and Ensemble lJ speakers with Pioneer or Philips electronics start at woofers give you more placement flexibil- structed with the very best materials and only $799, including CD player Dolby Surround ity than any speaker system we know of no -compromise workmanship. Their Sound systems start at only $999. (including Ensemble II), and is most likely subwoofers use heavy-duty woofers in to provide the performance you want true acoustic suspension enclosures. The in your own home. You get to listen for in the real world... inyour room. satellites are genuine two-way systems hours without a salesman hovering near- with very high quality speaker compo- by. If within 30 days you're not happy, How Tb Order. nents. Individual crossover networks are return your speaker system for a full re- The dual-subwoofer Ensemble system is available in two versions. With hand- some black -laminate subwoofers for $599. Or with black vinyl -clad subwoofers for $499. Ensemble 11 is priced at $399. For \ A1111111.4 Sio ,INN.,10, more information or to order call our audio experts, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We'll send you our 64 page color "Ensemble II performs so far catalog with stereo and surround sound beyond its price and size that it components and systems from Cambridge can be compared only with SoundWorks, Pioneer, Philips, Denon and much larger speakers at others. Because we sell factory -direct, substantially higher prices." eliminating expensive middle -men, you Stereo Review can save hundreds of dollars. For A Free Catalog, Call 1-800-FOR-HIFI We Know How 77) Make Loudspeakers. At - CAMBRIDGE SOUNDWORKS

C 1993 Cambridge SoundBkrks. Ensemble is a registered trademark of Cambndge SoundWorks. Ambiance and The Surround are trademarks of Cambridge SoundIsbrks. AR & Advent are trademarks of Jensen Laboratories. Bose is a registered trademark of Bose Corporation. Prices do not include shipping. 'Only the connecting terminals are different. CIRCLE NO 6 ON READER SERVICE CARD TEST REPORTS

regarded DSP-A1000 amplifier. They tern provided with the A2070 requires cor won't allow for front -effect speak- add, through extra speakers placed seven speakers (plus one or two op- ers, their signals can be mixed into the around the room, artificial"reflec- tionalexternallyamplifiedsub - main left and right speakers, but with a tions" derived from the original sig- woofers): front left, center, and right, distinct loss of realism in the music- nals. When placed and timed properly, two standard surrounds, and an addi- processing modes. such reflections can go quite far in tional pair placed toward the front of Yamaha was the first manufacturer acoustically mimicking a real perform- the listening room, farther apart than to introduce a multiple -echo ambi- ing space, transforming the sound of a the main left and right speakers. These ence-recovery/synthesis system, and home listening room into something lastarethefront -effectspeakers, by now the company is a master of this else altogether. which emit only DSP-generated re- form of sonic enhancement. The DSP- When fully configured, the DSP sys- flection signals. If your budget or de - A2070 is endowed with a host of ambience -enhancement modes, many of which are said to be modeled after real MEASUREMENTS acoustic spaces. For processing music there are five different concert -hall AMPLIFIER SECTION DOLBY PRO LOGIC OPERATION settings (based on the early -echo pat- terns of one American hall and four Figures are for main front channels only All measurements were made at factory set- European ones), two churches (one in unless noted otherwise. Power measure- tings in the Normal center -channel mode Tokyo and the cathedral of Freiburg, ments for center, front -effect, and surround through the videodisc input. All results are Germany), two rock -concert environ- channels were made by driving them directly referred to 1 -kHz input levels of 200 millivolts ments (the Roxy Theater in Los Ange- from their own rear -panel inputs. for the front channels and 141.4 millivolts for les and a "Warehouse Loft"), and two Output at clipping (1 kHz) the center and surround channels, all produc- jazz clubs (the Village Gate in New s ohms 126 watts ing 2.83 volts into 8 ohms (1 watt). York City and a "Cellar Club"). Clipping headroom Frequency response (at reference level) As befits a home theater compo- (relative to rated output) 1.9 dB left, right +0. -0.36 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz nent,the DSP-A2070 hasseveral Dynamic power center + 0. -0.36 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz modes specifically intended for en- main (8 ohms) 132 watts surround + 0, -3 dB. 21 Hz to 7.1 kHz hancing audio/video program materi- main (4 ohms) 210 watts A -weighted noise al. There are two settings for classical- center (8 ohms) 126 watts left, right -76.7 dB music videos (Opera and Recital), two center (4 ohms) 175 watts center - 72.7 dB for pop and rock music, and two for front -effect and surround (8 ohms)45 watts surround -77.2 dB TV (Mono Movie and Variety/Sports). front -effect and surround (4 ohms) 78 watts Distortion I"1 HD + N) In addition to standard Dolby Pro Log- Dynamic headroom (relative toratedoutput) left. right 0.066% ic decoding, there are five modes that main 2.2 dB center 0.056% can take the basic decoder outputs and center 1.9 dB surround 0.069% subject them to a variety of added front -effect and surround 2.6dB Surround decoder Input -overload levels ambience effects: Enhanced Pro Log- Distortion (THD at I kHz, 8 ohms) left. right +22 dB ic and four "70mm" modes (Spectacu- 120 watts 0.0166% center +22 dB lar, Musical, Adventure, General). I watt 0.007% surround +22 dB All of these processing modes, the Sensitivity (fora I -watt output into 8 ohms) Surround -channel -delay indicator music- as well as the video -oriented ('I) 14 mV error none ones-can have most of their basic phono 0.28 mV Surround -channel noise -reduction sonic parameters altered and then A -weighted noise calibration error (see text) stored as a separate user -programmed (referred to a1 -watt output) .it I kl)i +6dB setting. With such adjustability, the CD -8I.5dB .u) kHz +6dB potential number of settings is practi- phono - 78 dB Separation 1100 HT to 7 kHz) cally infinite. Phono-Input overload lett from right >66 dB Although the labels Yamaha has (1 -kHz -equivalent level) 148 mV left from center >56 dB given the music modes are useful for Phone -Input impedance center from surround >60 dB differentiating them, it's best not to 47,000 ohms, 260 pF surround from left >55 dB take them too seriously as application RIAA phone -equalization error left from surround >65 dB guides. It has been my experience with (20 Hz to 20 kHz) +0.4, -0.3 dB surround from center >35 dB earlier Yamaha sound -processing de- Frequency response (with tone controls center from left >55 dB vices that every mode is suitable for a centered) +0, -0.4 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz wide variety of music and that the Tone -control range apparently classical -oriented modes 100 Hz ± 7.5 dB can often be used with pop and rock, 10 kHz -± 7.5 dB and vice versa. The DSP-A2070's mu- Bass Extension response sic modes proved to be no exception, +5.5 dB. 60 to 80 Hz and its 70mm movie modes can also be used for music, with or without Dolby

62 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 DESIGNS BY HENRY KLOSS

Our new Cente r Channel and Center 04annel Plus speakers are magnetically shielded, so they min? cause video interference, even when placed very near a TV screen.

Our Center Channel Speakers Deliver Optimum Pro Logic Performance At Factory -Direct Prices.

Cambridge SoundWorks sells two four 3" long -throw woofers and a tweeter speakers designed by Henry Kloss specif- that perfectly matches the acoustics of our ically for use as center channel speakers in Ensemble2and Ensemble II systems. The Dolby Surround Pro Logic systems -the frequency range of the outer pair of 3" woof- Center Channel and Center Channel Plus. accurately, with the proper volume level and ers is intentionally limited to maintain proper Our experience with Dolby Surround Pro dispersion pattern. dispersion characteristics. Logic systems has shown that the center Because of its wide, low profile (25" channel is very important.important. A significant Center Channel by Henry Kloss. wide, 4" high, 6Y2" deep), Center Channel portion of movie soundtracks is directed Center Channel is a compact, two-way Plus is ideal for placement directly on top of to the center channel. It's crucial to use acoustic suspension speaker with a 4" or; uniquely for a product of its type, beneath a speaker that reproduces that material woofer and a ring radiator tweeter. Because a TV -with optional support unit, it can act of its compact size (8% " x51/4" x4"), it's as a base for your IV. Ike don't know of any simple to place Center Channel directly on speaker, at any price, that outperforms top of or below your TV screen, so that Center Channel Plus. The factory -direct price dialog and sound effects will seem to ema- of Center Channel Plus is $219. nate from their on -screen source. For A Free Catalog, Call Center Channel is well shielded magnetically so that it can be placed very dose to -,..N11111116 your TV without causing video interference. 1-800-FOR-HIFI We Know How Place our low -profile Center Channel Plus above your 11 Acoustically identical to our Ensemble satel- or. with optional support, use it as a base for yawn lb Make Loudspeakers. lite speakers, it's ideal for center channel use in a Pro Logic system. The factory -direct price of Center Channel is $149. CAMBRIDGE Center Channel Plus by Henry Kim. SOUNDWORKS

The Center Channel Plus is a larger 154 California St., Suite 102N, Newton, MA 02158 r recommended for achieving theater - 1-800-367-4434 Fax: 617-332-9229 Canada: 1-800-525-4434 playback levels in the most sophisticated Outside U.S. or Canada: 617-332-5936 © 1992 cantn4 SotalluxIcs CD Ensemble isa regigered trademark of Cardndg and powerful home theater systems. It uses SounNtrks Pnces and specifications subject to thang CIRCLE NO 6 ON READER SERVICECARD TEST REPORTS

Pro Logic sound steering.Experi- on an expected -20 -dB output of ment:If you don't like the results with 141.4 millivolts from a laserdisc play- one setting, try another. Somewhere er). That would make a typical laser - in the amplifier is one that will work disc player's output 6 dB too low for extremely well. the A2070's internal level -setting of its Still,I have always had difficulty surround -channel Dolby B noise re- accepting the true usefulness of any duction, which means that the noise ambient -field processing beyond pure reduction would kick in 6 dB too soon, Dolby Pro Logic for the playback of possibly dulling the surround -channel Dolby Surround movie soundtracks. I sound. But adjusting the input -level have no quarrel with Yamaha's includ- trim for the videodisc input to +6 dB ing so many options; once the DSP put the A2070 right on the mark. Un- circuitry is there, the addition of a few fortunately, you give up 6 dB of more processing modes adds little to Dolby -decoder overload margin in the the cost of the component. Sometimes process, which might audibly affect they are even fun. But while the spe- Second, the remote control carries some very dynamic soundtracks. cial movie modes may make for spec- most of the burden of command. The A2070 also fared very well in tacular demonstrations with carefully Third, many features are operated via traditional audio measurements. It is selected program material, they aren't display -oriented menus that require good to see the important center chan- as appealing in everyday use. During very few buttons to navigate. And nel receiving so much attention and movies I often found myself switching fourth, the display is small-too small, power. The amplifier had ample con- out of a 70mm mode back to pure Pro in fact, and too dim to be always tinuous and peak power reserves; we Logic. visible from across the room. Yamaha never ran out of juice during our listen- The reason for that is easy to ex- does, however, provide an on -screen ing tests. The tone controls have a nice plain.Movie soundtracks areex- display system that expands the front - range of operation, except that moder- tremely complex audio creations. The panel readout, literally and figurative- ate settings of the bass knob had a balances between front- and surround - ly, by superimposing menus on the TV substantial effect in the upper bass and channel sound effects, music, and the picture-unless, I found, the picture lower midrange as well: A 5 -dB cut at all-important dialogue are often very happens to be one of those blue 20 to 40 Hz also reduced the 300 -Hz finely calculated. Misadjust the level screens many VCR's and laserdisc level by 3 dB. The calibrations of the for the surround speakers by just a players put up when there's no other center -channel equalizer proved to be couple of decibels, and you might have video signal. I've never liked blue - accurate, and it produced a maximum too many starships zooming by-or no screen outputs, and apparently neither cut or boost of 6 dB at the indicated apparent surround at all. Add just one does the A2070. band -center frequencies (100 Hz, 300 artificial reflection to the signals com- For all its multibuttoned complex- Hz, I kHz, 3 kHz, and 10 kHz). Al- ing from the front of the listening area, ity, the programmable remote is rather though I did not always find it useful and at climactic points in the movie- easy to use. That's because the monot- for matching the sound of a center when the soundtrack is atits most ony of the regular button layout is speaker to that of the main speakers, complex and active-the dialogue broken by a nice arrangement of the it's a good first step in ameliorating a may turn into an unintelligible babble. amplifier menu controls and the larg- nonideal situation. And in its movie modes, the DSP- er -than -usual volume buttons. Except Inveteratebutton -pushersshould A2070 goes well beyond adding just for the power and input -selector but- be in seventh heaven with the DSP- one reflection. tons, all of the amplifier controls are A2070. The music -processing modes Blurring of dialogueisprecisely on the lower half of the handset. They offer such versatility that you can easi- whatIexperienced with the DSP- include everything you'll need for lis- ly spend an entire listening session A2070's various beyond -Dolby movie tening -seat adjustment of surround - setting and resetting modes. That's modes. Before switching back to pure speaker levels as well as an extremely good not only for didactic reasons- Dolby Pro Logic, however, you might useful on/off button for DSP effects you can learn a lot about ambience want to experiment with switching off that makes it easy to hear the results of from such experiments-but because or reducing the level of the front -effect mode and parameter changes. the sonic results can be so very satisfy- signals, especially if they are being The DSP-A2070 was one of the first ing. Classical music can sound ex- mixed into the signals to the main components to undergo our new (and traordinarily realistic, and pop music speakers. Again, feel free to experi- still expanding) array of Dolby Pro can gain immensely in vividness and ment, and be glad that the DSP-A2070 Logic tests. As you can see from the movies in excitement with the right has an excellent -sounding Dolby Pro lab results, there was much to be mea- settings of the controls. The Yamaha Logic decoder to fall back on. sured. The A2070 did very well in DSP-A2070 is the only integrated am- Despite the DSP-A2070's wealth of every category except one, and even plifier that gives you such comprehen- features, its front panel is remarkably that can literally be adjusted to perfec- sive control of such formidable pro- uncluttered. There are four reasons tion. Right out of the box, the A2070's cessing power. Once you experience for this. First, most of its few controls surround -channel noise -reduction cal- it, going back to your old two -speaker are hidden behind a flip -down panel. ibration level was 6 dB too high (based system will be a big letdown.

64 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 The Powered Subwoofer That Has The Audio AndVideo Press Jumping Out Of Their Seats.

A jet roaring in Dp Gun. The heavy- DESIGNS BY HENRY KLOSS Optional "slave" subwoofer. footed killer robot in Robocop. A semi For all-out home theater performance, hitting concrete after a 20 foot you can add our optional Slave Sub - fall in 71rninator 2. These are woofer, which is identical to our examples of the substantial, Powered Subwoofer except that it very low -frequency effects on lacks the amplifier and controls. It the soundtracks of today's uses the amplifier and controls movies. Such frecuencies are built into the Powered Subwoofer. rare in music, anc are beyond Amplifier output jumps from 140 the capabilities of most speak- to 200 watts when the Slave ers designed for music. Subwoofer is connected. The Cambridge Sounftrks The combination of the two Powered Subwoofer by Henry speakers can reproduce a 30 Hz Kloss was created to reproduce signal cleanly to a sound pressure those ultra -low, ultra -strong level of over 100 dB in a 3,000 cubic bass signals with the power foot room! That's enough clean, and impact you would experi- deep bass for the largest home ence in movie theaters with the theaters, and the most demand- very best sound systems. It's ing listeners. The factory -direct designed to supplement (not ItweredSubwofer Slave Sublivojer price of the Slave Subwoofer is $299. replace) the subwoofer(s) of Ensem- No compromises. No apologies. ble or Ensemble II. It will also work with high-pass, line -level filters for the main and speakers from other companies. center amplifiers. These filters allow you to The combination of our Ensemble speaker system, Center Channel Plus speaker, Remarkable bass performance. keep strong, low frequencies of sound effects out of the front speakers. These signals can The Surround rear/side speakers, Powered The Powered Subwoofer consists of a cause distortion, even in speakers designed Subwoofer and Slave Subwoofer (see photo heavy duty 12 inch long -throw acoustic for full -range music. at left) creates a home theater speaker system suspension woofer integrated with a 140 The Powered Subwoofer's bass perfor- that we believe is the best of its kind. mance is simply awesome. It reproduces Although you can spend thousands accurate bass to below 30 Hz. You'll hear more on competing systems, we don't know soundtracks the way they were meant to be of any that outperform this $1,999 package. heard. In fact the bass is better than most If you'd like more information, a free catalog or our new booklet, "Getting The Most From Our Ultimate Home Theate r 5pm/ea consists of ou rduabsubmo er Your Dolby Surround System," call our toll - Ensemble system: our low profile free number any time. Center Channel Plus speaker; a pafr of our critically For A Free Catalog, Call acclaimed sun .spealeers, The Surround; our 1-800-FOR-HIFI [Nerd Submofer: our Slave Sublinofa: We Know How fizetory-dinrt 7b Make Loudspeakers. $1.999. watt amplifier -all in a high-pressure black laminate cabinet. Its control anel includes a theaters! At the press event when we intro- CAMBRIDGE bass level control and an 1: per octave, duced our Powered Subwoofer, we had SOUNDWORKS four -position electronic crossover frequency startled members of the audio and video 154 California St., Suite 102N, Newton. MA u.)2158 selector (to match the subwoofer to your press literally "jumping out of their seats" 1-800-367-4434Fax: 617 332 022a during demonstrations of movie sound- Canada: 1-800-525-4434 other speakers). Outside U.S. or Canada. 017-332-503e Additionally, an optional electronic tracks. The factory -direct price of the Pow- t 1.42 Camhndw SoundMvIts 0 Ensemblearepuered trademark of Cambndge Soundl%Orks. Pnces and spectkations suhret le change crossover* will provide 18 dB per octave, ered Subwoofer is $599. **how nonce * Avallahle late Fall. lost - CIRCLE NO 6 ON READER SERVICE CARD CAR STEREO

control and power leads from a head unit or CD controller and sends an analog stereo signal to a pair of phono jacks on the head unit's rear panel. A 16 -foot umbilical cable is supplied. A peek inside the KDC-C800 revealed an array of springs and damp- ers that isolate the transport mechanism from the outer chassis, absorbing jolts that might otherwise interrupt playback. A temperature sensor pro- tects the laser if the temperature rises above 140 degrees (entirely conceiv- able in a car trunk on a sweltering summer day). Like most CD players these days, the KDC-C800 employs I - bit digital -to -analog (D/A) converters. The disc cartridge, as sleek as the changer itself, has no sliding, hinged, or pull-out drawers, which makes it infinitely easier to use than most. Sim- ply slip your CD's into the slots (label side up), starting at the bottom of the stack. A corner of the cartridge is cut away to make unloading discs easier. Kenwood NBC C800 CD Changer Like any other remote -mounted CD changer, the KDC-C800 won't work KEN C. POHLMANN HAMMER LABORATORIES without a separate controller. Ken - wood offers three basic options: the KCA-R20 package ($150), which in- Car CD changers are a lot like fax CD cartridge (magazine), simply slide cludes a freestanding LCD panel and a machines. When you're consider- the door to the side and insert the wireless remote control; the KDC- ing whether to buy a fax machine, cartridge with a firm push untilit 9000 CD tuner/changercontroller it seems like a luxury item, some- clicks. To retrieveit,hit the eject ($550); or any of five cassette head thing slightly frivolous and, yes, button. Because changers are usually units with changer controls ($330 to yuppie. Your mom and dad never hidden, they don't contain much in the $580).I tested it with the KRC-660 needed gadgets likethat,so why way of displays. The KDC-C800, how- cassette receiver ($370). should you? Then, about twenty-four ever, does have a red LED on its front Thanks to multipurpose buttons, hours after you've taken the plunge panel that lights when the changer is the KRC-660 provides all standard CD and bought one, you wonder how you powered and blinks when discs are controls. To play a disc, you tap the ever survived without it. That's the changing. source button, which toggles the unit way you'll feel about a car CD chang- There is a screw on the bottom of between tuner, tape, and CD modes, er. Once you've installed one and the changer that lets you select one of until a flashing "Cd" appears on the loaded it with your favorite discs, you two spring positions for the internal display. The first disc in the cartridge won't believe you were able to drive to suspension system, one for vertical cues up automatically, and track and work without it. mounting, the other for a horizontal disc numbers appear on the display Especially if it's like the Kenwood position. A thirteen -pin DIN socket on when playback begins. A pair of arrow KDC-C800, a sleek ten -disc model the right side of the chassis accepts keys is used to skip from one track to measuring approximately 11 x 3 x 63/4 the next; when one is held down, it inches. It isn't the smallest changer initiates fast search in that direction. available, but it's compact enough to DIMENSIONS Discs are selected using the FM (up) fit in the tightest trunk, and possibly 11 iNcRu.s WIDE. 3 INCHES HIGH. and AM (down) buttons. 631 INCHES DEEP under a seat or in a glove compart- A bank of large buttons labeled 1 ment. Compared with many other car PRICE through 6-which double as presets in changers, it's also extremely rugged, ,011 tuner mode-handle a variety of func-0 sporting a thick metal chassis, a metal - MANUFACTURER tions. Buttons 2 and 5 engage track skin exterior, and a plastic front panel. KENWOOD. 1)1 PI. SR. 2201 E. DOMINGUEZST.. and disc scan. To play tracks from the As with most car changers, a sliding LONG BEACH. CA 90810 selected disc in random order, you hit C door covers the loading slot. To load a Button 3; when all of the tracks on that

66 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Home Theater Speakerstems. There's A Right Way And A ongWay

We'd like to clear up some misconceptions Channel, a magnetically shielded version of on the subject of speaker systems for use our Ensemble satellites. The surround in Dolby Pro Logic home theater systems. speakers are The Surround II, the most Misconception #1: You can use any affordable dipole radiating speaker we know speakers. for the surround and center of (see previous ad). You could spend thousands more without improving on this channels. The center channel is very important package. because a large portion of soundtracks is $1,117 Home Theater Package directed to the center in systems with Pro Features Our Best Speakers. Logic. That speaker should have smooth This system is built around our dual- frequency response, good power handling- subwoofer Ensemble speaker system (Audio and it must match the tonal balance of the magazine said it "may be the best value in main speakers. Also, a center channel Model the world"). The center channel speaker is speaker should be magnetically shielded to $463 TSiexn-SrSpeakers (3) our Center Channel Plus, a unique five - prevent video interference. driver speaker that can be placed above or Surround speakers should also match below your TV monitor. The surround the tonal balance of the front s rs. $463 Home Theater Package speakers are The Surround our best dipole Indeed, all five speakers shoul have Features Model Six And Model Ten -A. radiating surround matching tonal balances for proper sound. Our most affordable speaker speaker. This But unlike front speakers, surround package for systems with Pro system, especially speakers should create a diffuse sound Logic is centered around the new when matched with field. So the best systems with Pro Logic Model Six two-way acoustic sus- use "dipole radiating" surround speakers pension speaker by Henry Kloss. (e.g. The Surround II and The Surround Model Six offers smooth, natural speakers in our $797 and $1,117 sound over a wide frequency packages). range. The center channel and All the systems on this page consist of surround speakers are our new speakers designed to match each other Model Ten -A magnetically tonally. (Identical timbre). shielded two-way acoustic suspension speakers. Tonally balanced to Misconception #2: Use,five identical match Model Six, they are ideal for fi speakers in a system this affordable system. Ensemble System, Center Channel with Pro Logic. 1 117I Plus speaker, The Surround speakers A number of companies have our Powered Subwoofer, delivers awesome released speaker sound-far better than most theaters. packages consisting of Cambridge SoundWorks products are five matching mini - not available in stores. Because we sell speakers (some with a factory -direct, eliminating expensive subwoofer). This ignores middle -men, you can save thousands of the fact that the dollars. And our 30 -day return policy surround channels serve means you take no risk. different purposes than the front channels. For A FREE Catalog, Call Ensemble 11 System, Center Channel Misconception #3: speaker, The Surround 11 speakers A good home theater $797 1-800-FOR-HIFI speaker system costs We Know How thousands and thousands of dollars. $797 Home Theater Package To Make Loudspeakers A number of retailers regularly sell Includes Ensemble II, Center Channel $10,000 Pro Logic speaker systems. This Qt The Surround IL is just not necessary. Our best value Home Theater speaker CAMBRIDGE We believe that the two more expen- package features our critically acclaimed SOUNDWORKS sive systems on this page compete head- Ensemble II subwoofer-satellite system. 154 California Sr, Suite 102N, Newton, MA 02158 on with combinations selling for thousands With its natural, balanced sound and 1-800-367-4434Fax: 617-332-9229 more. Add our Powered Subwoofer ($599), powerful subwoofer, it provides the heart Canada 1-800-525-4434Outside U.S. or Canada: 617-332-5936 ,0<* Cambridge SoundWorks n Ensemble is a regtstertd trademark and we'll compare them to anything on the of a terrific home theater system. The ofCamkkigt SoundWorks. Inc. Cambridge SoundWorks is a trademark of Cambndge SoundWorks. Inc Doltand Pro toga are market. center channel speaker is our Center trademarks of Dolby Lahoratones licensing Corp CIRCLE NO 6 ON READER SERVICE CARD No Other Loudspeaker Company Can Run This Ad. CAR STEREO disc have been played, the changer Cambridge SoundWorks is a new kind of audiocompany, randomly selects another disc. Button with factoty-direct savings, and much, muchmore... 6 randomly selects tracks from all of the discs. Finally, Button 4 lets you select track or disc repeat. Beyond its CD controls, the KRC- 660 also offers all of the tape and tuner features you're likely to need, as well as a detachable face to deter theft. Lab Tints Before hitting the garage to install Audio Hall of Pame member Henry Kioss. %At eliminated the expensive middle -men. the KDC-C800,Iran a battery of Cambridge SoundWorks products are designed by our By selling factory -direct to the public, we eliminate huge bench tests using the line -level outputs co-founder. Henry Kloss, who created the dominant distribution expenses. Don't be fooled by our reasonable of the KRC-660. Maximum power out- speakers of the '50s 'AR). '60s (KLH) and '',"Cc-Vivents prices ()lir products are wry well designed and made. put was a very healthy 2.2 volts- enough to drive any equalizer or power amplifier. Frequency response was !/ okay, although there was a I .88 -dB dip Pi4 at 20 kHz, which is a somewhat larger I .ickt deviation than most current CD players exhibit. Channel separation was more than adequate, and both dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio ex- Five year limited parts and labor speaker warranty. NEW: The Cambridge Sound%Abrks Charge Card. ceeded 90 dB. All of our speakers are backed by a five year parts and labor Qualified customers can now charge items from our catalog - Curiously, total harmonic distortion warranty. In some cases, we'll even send you a replacement without tying up the credit lines of their other charge cards. speaker before we've received your defective unit. Call for your application today! plus noise (THD + N) measured higher at 0 dB than at - 20 dB (it usually rises at lower signal levels), but both numbers were plenty low. D/A linearity was excellent, and interchannel phase shift and de -emphasis error were both low. When it came to tracking, the changer was able to handle a 1,250 - .51--ger micrometer defect, which is okay, but I like to see better. High performance dipole radiating surround speakers. NEW: Model Eleven A transportable component system. The Surround ($399 pr) & The Surround II ($249 pr) use The same high performance of the original, in a smaller dipole radiator technology for surround sound the way it was package. Carrying case doubles as system subwooter. Mbrks Installation meant to be heard. Hundreds less than competing speakers. on 110, 220 & 12 volts. Introductory price $699. Unless you have experience with installing car stereo equipment, it's probably better to let a professional do the honors. (Anyone who's fiddled under the dash and accidentally blown the air bags will attest to this!) If a Kenwood head unit with changer controls is already in your dash, however, you may want to tempt fate and have a Ambiance ultra -compact speaker system. Ambiance high performance speaker system. go at installing the KDC-C800 your- V* think Ambiance is the best "mini" speaker mailable. Mb don't know of any other in -wall speakers that match its self-it's not all that difficult. Ken - regardless of price. Bass and high -frequency dispersion are performance, value and ease of installation. Indudes acoustic wood even helps out by supplying all unmatched in its category. $175-$200 each. suspension cabinet, gold plated speaker terminals. $329 pr. the mounting hardware and cables. Call 1-800-FOR-HIFI for a free 64 -page catalog with components and systems The basic procedure goes something like this: First scope out a suit- from Cambridge SoundWarks, Pioneer, Philips, Sony, Denon and others. able mounting location. Then attach We Know How 1b Make Loudspeakers. two metal plates to a secure surface (the trunk floor in my case) using CAMBRIDGE double -sided tape. Attach two plastic brackets (one of which has a hole for SOUNDWORKS the DIN cable) to the metal plates 154 California St, Suite 102N, Newton, MA 02158 using the supplied nuts, and reinforce 1-800-367-4434 Fax:617-332-9229 Canada: 1-800-525-4434Outside U.S. or Canada: 617-332-5936 C 1992Cant6igSourrIVimks. the whole shebang with a couple of

CIRCLE NO 6 ON READER SERVICE CARD Includes 6 Page Guide some changers I've reviewed. Next I To Surround focused onthecontrolinterface. THE [51 REREO FLIES Sound. MEASUREMENTS Everything worked as advertised, and there were no bugs. When I advanced All measurements of the KDC-C800 changer quickly through a series of tracks, the were made at the line -level outputs of the transport mechanism was always able cassette receiver/controller. KRC-660 to catch up and start playback in short Maximum output level 2.2 volts order. (Some changers get confused if Frequency response you enter commands too quickly.) 20 Hi to 20 kHz +0.20, -1.88 dB I was disappointed that the KRC- De -emphasis error (16 kHz) -0.10dB 660 doesn't provide track -time read- Channel separation outs-but that may be a bit much to I kHz 72.4 dB ask considering its otherwise healthy 20 kHz 60.3 dB feature complement and modest price. Maximum interchannel phase shift I also noted, with a frown, that when (at 20kHz) 2.2 degrees FREE the disc in Slot 10 was playing, the Signal-to-noise ratio (A-wtd.) 92.9 dB display rather awkwardly identified it Dynamic range(A-wtd.) 92.2 dB as disc "0." On a positive note,I Audio Catalog Distortion (THD + N at I kHz) really liked the detachable face, whose Our 64 -page catalog is loaded with components at 0 dB 0.079% spring -loadedmagnetic mechanism and mu...4c systems from Cambridge SoundWxks, at -20dB 0.042% makes it extremely easy to use. Pioneer, Philips, Denon, Sony and others. Linearity error( at 90dB) -0.5 dB Preliminaries aside, I parked in my Because you buy factory -direct, with no expen- Defect tracking garage and settled back to do some sive middle -men, you can save hundreds of l'irrrc %clan\ #2 te,t disc) 1,250µm serious listening. Certain traits are es- dollars. For example, a Dolby Surround system sential to a good CD player: First, it with Ensemble II speakers, rear speakers, Philips must have a low noise floor so that Dolby Surround receiver; CD player and system sub -brackets. Next, set the suspen- quiet passages are not muddied, and it sion screw to the correct position (hor- must be able to deliver the loudest remote is less than $1,000. Call today and find out izontal in my case), and attach the passages without overload distortion. why Audio magazine said we "may haw the best changer to the brackets using the sup- Second, there cannot be any hint of value in the world." plied bolts. Finally, plug in the DIN speed inaccuracy. Finally, the sound Call toll -free for factory -direct savings. cable and run it to the back of the head must be smooth and free of any harsh- Save hundreds on components and systems unit, where it plugs into the wire har- ness or fatiguing artifacts. In all these from Cambridge Sounftiorks, Pioneer, ness. That's it. If you don't mind drill- respects, and others, Iwas very Denon, Sony and more. ing holes in your car, you can skip the pleased with the KDC-C800's perfor- Audio experts answer your questions metal plates and screw the mounting mance. Its reproduction of the most before and after you buy. 8AM-midnight, brackets directly into the car's chas- demanding music was transparent. 365 days a year -even holidays. sis-just watch out for the gas tank. Satisfied with the changer's sonic 30 Day lbtal Satisfaction Guarantee on all Of course, for this review I had the abilities, I was ready for the fun part- Cambridge SoundWorks products. added chore of installing the KRC-660 the shock test. I drove to nearby Coral The Model Eleven A- head unit.Isecuredits mounting Gables,turnedonto my favorite Transportable sleeve in the dash of my 1968 Porsche stretch of curved, pothole -infested Component 911 and slid the head into place. Then I pavement, and gunned it. The chang- System snaked the umbilical cable to the er'sdisc transport never flinched, changer and tethered the line -level even on repeated runsatvarious outputs to an outboard amplifier (I speeds and even while I was cornering ignored the speaker outputs). After at high speeds-the ultimate test. Its completing thelast of the wiring suspension system is excellent. tasks-connecting the battery, igni- There's no doubt about it: Ken - Argil tion, illumination, and ground leads- wood's KDC-C800 has its act togeth- I loaded ten of my favorite discs into er. It was able to shrug off most physi- the changer and hit the road. cal abuse, and it sounded very good.

Moreover, its performance was in no 12.3w :f0Make Loudspeakers. Road Tests way hindered by the KRC-660, a very The first thing I check on any chang- capableheadunitthatprovides er is disc -swapping speed. Even the smooth changer control-and brings CAMBRIDGE best -sounding changer will eventually radio and tape to the party. If you're SOUNDWORKS wear out its welcome if disc -access new to the car CD game, this duo will time is slow. The KDC-C800 changed make you wonder how you ever lived 1ii4 California St. Suite 102N, Newton, MA 02158 discs in less than 8 seconds, which, without it. Now, if only you had a fax 1-800-367-4434 Pax: 617-332-9229 Canada:1 800-525-4434 Outside U.S. or Canada: 617-332-5936 while not extraordinary, is faster than machine in your car. .. . El C1992CarnixiderSotrentds.

STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER1993 69

C FICLE NO .6 ON READER SERVICE CARD AMPLIFIERS FOR

Home theater has changed the way we think about Wlere two channels SEPARATE used to suffice, now we want four or five or six-or sometimes even more.

POWER The change is most obvious in receivers. Above the lowest prices, almost all of

them on the market today are multichannel models with built-in surround &- AMPLIFIERS CAN coders and video as well as audio switching. The reason is simple: People buy-

ADD MUSCLE ing component audio systems increasingly want and expect them to function as

part of an integrated audio/video system with surround sound, and an A/V re- AND FLEXIBILITY ceiver (or A/V integrated amplifier) is usually the easiest and most economical

TO HOME way of tying all the parts of such a system together.

It is not always the best way, towever. Trying to put so much into a single THEATER box can create significant limitations. One of the most important is power. A

SYSTEMS. typical A/V receiver incorporates five power amplifiers (for left, center, and right front loudspeakers plus a ink of surround speakers), an AM/FM tuner

section, a Dolby Pro Logic surround decoder, and a full preamplifier section, BY MICHAEL with numerous user controls and zonnections for a large number of audio and

RIGGS audio/video sources. Since the receiver is the system's ma:n control center. SURROUND SOUND

Four power NHT amplifiers designed with home theater in mind. The Parasound HCA- 1206 (bottom. 51,850) and the McIntosh MC - 7106 (S3,000) are THX-certified six - channel models, respectively rated at 120 and 100 watts per channel into 8 ohms. NAD's Model 906 111tnto5h ($699) ias six channe s rated at rat 30 watts each. The NHT MA -1 ($300) is an 80 - watt mono amplifier with a

St% 11HAANNEL POWER AMPLIFIER built-in subwoofer crossover and a level control. it needs to be readily accessible and usually close to the various source components. All those internal ampli- KENWOOD fiers tend to make the receiver hot, heavy, and bulky, however, and the more powerful they are, the bigger the receiver tends to be-not necessarily the easiest thing in the world to find ffi shelf room for. An A/V receiver may also limit your flexibility in assembling the rest of the system. For example, you may not be able to use a subwoofer to best Kenwood's six -channel Home THX power amplifier. the KM -X1 ($899), is effect unless the receiver provides preamp-out/main-amp-in connections rated at 100 watts per channel into 8 ohms. It has separate power and speaker for at least the front left and right on/off switches and can be connected to Kenwood's KC -X1 and some other channels. Home THX controllers with a single multiconductor cable. Finally, there's performance. If you want the very best surround -processing circuitry available or amplifiers that can push the most difficult -to - drive loudspeakers to room -shaking levels, you're not going to find them in a receiver. Careful shopping and flexibility on your part can minimize these difficulties, and on a pure bang - for -the -buck basis, A/V receivers and integrated amplifiers (essentially A/V receivers without tuner sections) are hard to beat. But home theater clearly The Adcom GFA-2535 ($600) boasts four channels rated at 60 watts each into strengthens the case for separate com- 8 ohms or 90 watts each into 4 ohms. One of the two pairs can be bridged for 200 watts ponents, at least to the extent of get- mono into 8 ohms. The amplifier has individual gain controls and overload indicator; ting the power amplifiers out of the for each channel and power and protection indicators for each pair. box containing the switching, control, and signal -processing circuitry. Then you can have as much power in as many channels as you want tucked conveniently out of the way, while the preamp, tuner, and surround -processor functions sit up where they need to be for ease of operation. The price/performance tradeoffs are entirely up to you, instead of in the hands of engineers and product plan- ners who have to fit X features into a Carver's AV -634 ($600) is rated at 60 watts into 8 ohms or 100 watts into 4 ohms receiver that can sell for Y dollars. And if you need to insert something for each of its four channels, and one pair can be bridged to provide 150 watts mono into 8 like a speaker equalizer or an elec- ohms. It also has individual level controls for each channel and an adjustable tronic crossover ahead of one or more 18 -dB -per -octave subwoofer crossover. amplifier channels, it's easy to do. Long-time audio buffs will recognize these as the classic arguments for separate components over receivers- power and flexibility-times five or six (Dolby Pro Logic) instead of just ° times two (conventional stereo). Luckily, separates manufacturers are catching up with the trend, en- abling you to choose from a steadily growing array of surround processors, A/V preamplifiers, A/V tuner -pre - Audio Design Associates' MPA-6 ($1,680) has five channels rated at 90 amp -processors, and power amplifiers watts each into 4 ohms as well as a 250 -watt subwoofer channel (also rated into designed with home theater expressly 4 ohms) with a variable -frequency electronic crossover and a dedicated in mind. Once you've made the deci- single -band parametric equalizer. sion to go with separates, choosing a

72 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 power amplifier (or amplifiers) might most of the multichannel amplifiers seem the easiest part of the buying on the market, they typically allow for process. What you'll quickly find, bridging pairs of channels to create however, is that there are lots of alter- various combinations of output chan- natives and that you have to think nels and power. The benefit of pack- about all the things you normally A SEPARATELY ing so many channels into a single would in selecting an amplifier for an amplifier arises from their sharing a ordinary stereo system, along with a common chassis and power supply, few more. which usually results in a more compact and less costly package than Configuration Considerations POWERED would be possible with the same For examplc have to figure out number of channels offering the same how many amplifier channels you performance split up into multiple need-more than two, definitely, but units. And you have just one power how many more? And how much cord and one power switch to worry power do you need from each one? SUBWOOFER CAN about. The answers to such questions depend What it all boils down to is flexibil- ultimately on the loudspeaker comple- ity. The power amplifiers now on the ment you use, which in turn depends market give you a lot of choices in at least partly on the room in which SIGNIFICANTLY configuration, power, and price. And they will be placed and the surround that's good because it opens up your processor you've selected, since some options for designing the rest of the processors have ambience -enhance- system to give you the best possible ment modes that can make use of sound. more speakers than a basic Dolby Pro REDUCE THE Logic setup requires. How Much Power? In a basic Pro Logic system, you The fundamental question in choos- can get by with as few as four ampli- ing any amplifier is how much power fier channels: one for each of the you need. It's hard not to sound three front speakers and, since the POWER NEEDED wishy-washy when trying to answer it surround channel is mono, one driv- on paper, because so many variables ing the two surround speakers in par- are involved. But we can give some allel. That's easy to accomplish with a general guidelines: pair of stereo power amplifiers, one Too much is usually better than for the front left and right speakers, FOR OTHER too little. Yes, you can damage speak- the other for the center and surround ers by overdriving them, but most speakers. On the other hand, many modern designs will handle quite a lot processors include modes other than of power on normal program material straight Dolby Pro Logic that send without severe distress. Unless you different signals to the two surround SPEAKERS IN THE abuse them-pushing small speakers speakers, and the new digital surround with high levels at very low or very systems for movie sound provide two high frequencies, for example-they discrete surround channels, so in the will usually be fine. Too little power, long run you're probably better off on the other hand, will cause com- giving each surround speaker its own SYSTEM. pression or even audible distortion of amplifier channel. program peaks, robbing the sound of Notice that's five channels. You impact and clarity. Better to have could use three stereo amplifiers, some reserve power when you need it. leaving one channel of the third amp All else being equal, you need unused, or you could "bridge" the more power in a large room than in a third amp for mono operation (if its that you want to continue using. Go- small one and more power in an design permits) and use it for the cen- ing the four -plus -two route is espe- acoustically dead room than in an ter channel. A few years ago, those cially appealing if you think you acoustically live one. At the extremes, would have been your only options might want to add a subwoofer even- a large dead room will soak up a lot unless you were prepared to invest in tually, since you could just undo the more output than a small live one some very big, very costly high -end bridging and have all the amplifier will. mono amplifiers. Today, however, channels you need. All else being equal, the more you can go out and buy a five -channel In fact, one of the most popular and speakers used in the system, the less amplifier if you like. Or you could use practical configurations for a surround power needed for each one. a pair of stereo amplifiers plus a system is a subwoofer with five satel- A corollary of the above: A sepa- small, reasonably priced mono amp, lite speakers (this is the way Home rately powered subwoofer can signifi- or a stereo amplifier plus a four -chan- THX systems are normally set up, for cantly reduce the power required for nel model with one pair bridged to example), which undoubtedly ac- the other speakers in the system, espe- mono-attractive alternatives if you counts for the recent proliferation of cially if the crossover between the already have a good stereo amplifier six -channel power amplifiers. As with subwoofer and the rest of the system

STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 73 includes a high-pass filter to keep low frequencies out of the amplifiers driving the satellites (not all do). Some surround processors and all powered subwoofers include crossovers, though not always with a high-pass THE TH AMPLIFIER STANDARD section, and they're even starting to show up in some power amplifiers designed for home theater use. More and more power amplifiers designed High -sensitivity speakers need headroom, and a maximum output less power than low -sensitivity ones. for home theater applications bear impedance (minimum damping factor) Sensitivity is normally specified ac- Lucasfilm's Home THX logo. Although over the full audio band. cording to the sound -pressure level much has been written about the design of Other parts of the specification cover (SPL) at a distance of 1 meter from Home THX processors and loudspeakers, the traditional basics of good amplifier the speaker with a 2.83 -volt input sig- there has been very little discussion of design: low distortion, low noise (an nal (equivalent to 1 watt into 8 ohms). what is required for an amplifier to unusually tough spec, with individual Measured that way, sensitivities in the range of 90 dB are about average for receive Home THX certification. With that limits for hum at the power -line frequency most modern speakers. Such a speak- in mind, we called Lucasfilm's techn cal and its harmonics up through the er would require about half as much director, Tomlinson Holman. who seventh), stability, DC offset at the output, power (in watts) to generate a given provided us with a basic rundown of what and frequency response. The frequency - sound level as one rated at 87 dB and Lucasfilm looks for in an amplifier. response portion of the specification gives twice as much as one rated at 93 dB. People sometimes assume that Home amplitude -deviation limits over the so the difference is not subtle. Given equal sensitivities for all THX is an all -or -nothing proposition, in frequency range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz for speakers in the system, the surround which one Home THX component wil' not an 8 -ohm resistive load and for complex speakers will normally require signifi- work properly unless used with other loads over a wide range of impedances cantly less power than the front Home THX components, but that is not and phase angles, including all those speakers-perhaps a quarter to a half really the case. A Home THX processor permitted for Home THX loudspeakers. as much. The increasingly popular quasi -dipole designs for surround can be used beneficially with non-THX The specification also covers more speakers, such as those specified for speakers, for instance. and vice versa. esoteric, but nonetheless important, Home THX systems, typically are rel- and many Home THX systems incorporate aspects of amplifier performance, such as atively low in sensitivity, however, amplifiers that are not Home THX overload recovery (which should be clean and may therefore need as much pow- certified. But, not surprisingly. Lucasfilm and fast) and reaction to clipping er as the front speakers. (Note that all does think that a complete Home THX asymmetrical signals, which can cause the current Home THX certified six - channel amplifiers deliver the same system will be superior to a partial one, some amplifiers to misbehave. There are power to all outputs.) and the Home THX specifications for all even limits for such mundane things as Given equal sensitivities for the component categories include provisions operating temperature and mechanical three front speakers, the center speak- designed to make putting together a noise (transformer buzz, for example). er should usually get at least as much complete Home THX system as The Home THX amplifier specification power as the front left and right straightforward and foolproof as possible. does not include any exotic design speakers. In a Dolby Surround mix, the center channel is the main chan- Examples from the Home THX amplifier requirements, and undoubtedly there are nel; it is full -range and contains, on specification would be the requirements non-THX amplifiers on the market that average, more energy than any other. that amplifiers not invert signal polarity meet it (or most significant portions of it) Switching a Pro Logic processor from from input to output and that they have a even though they have never been Wide to Normal mode relaxes this re- certain input sensitivity. Those prov sions certified. Others might be well outside the quirement somewhat, however, since insure that you can remove a Home THX specification in certain respects and still the Normal mode splits center -channel bass to the left and right front amplifier from a system and replace it provide fine performance in most channels, reducing the burden on the with any other Home THX amplifier systems. For amplifiers, Home THX center speaker accordingly. without having to readjust anything. The certification amounts primarily to a seal of specification also insures that Home THX approval for use in Home THX systems. Evaluating Performance amplifiers will be able to drive load but it can also be taken as assuring that Clean power only, please. All the impedances within the range permitted for an amplifier is fundamentally well usual high-fidelity requirements apply-low distortion, flat frequency re- Home THX loudspeakers, and it sets designed and should therefore perform sponse, and so on. Most amplifiers minimum output voltages and curreits well in most audio and audio/video from reputable manufacturers are fine into specific loads, a minimum dynamic systems, THX or not. in these respects. But one performance category that demands special attention in surround systems is noise. Consider an ordinary stereo system

74 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 with two amplifier channels. Then fiers will deliver almost twice as add three more amplifier channels much power into 4 ohms as into 8 with exactly the same noise outputs ohms, and perhaps almost twice again driving speakers of the same sensitivi- as much into 2 ohms.) ty. In this scenario, the fixed back- You may find yourself reading and ground noise in the system will in- hearing a lot about the "sounds" of crease 3 dB for each doubling of the various amplifiers. You can pretty number of amplifier channels, so much ignore all of it. Except in pecu- adding three channels to go from two liar circumstances-a really badly de- speakers (conventional stereo) to five signed amplifier or an amplifier with (Dolby Pro Logic) will add at least 3 a high output impedance (a tube am- dB of noise. Subjectively, that can plifier, for example) driving a difficult make a significant difference. Where loudspeaker load-modern high-fi- once there was silence, you may find delity power amplifiers operating at that you can hear a little bit of hiss or levels below overload are sonically hum when the room is quiet. neutral devices. A good amplifier's There are two ways of evaluating only audible effect on the signals noise. One is via specifications. What coming into it, except possibly for the you want to compare is A -weighted signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) with a1 - watt output. The higher the number, the better. Just beware of noise ratings based on the amplifier's maximum output, which will artificially inflate the S/N. A 100 -watt amplifier, for example, would have a 20 -dB better S/N measured at full power than it would measured at the standard 1watt, simply because 100 watts is 20 dB greater than 1 watt. Any power -amplifier S/N rating much above 100 dB is probably based on full power. (An A - weighted noise level, as sometimes seen in our test reports, is the same as an S/N figure except for the minus sign. Look for amplifiers with lower-more negative-noise levels.) The other way to check noise is by The Marantz MA -500 (top. $299) is a THX-certified single -channel power amplifier ear. Using the same speaker through- rated at 10( watts into 8 ohms. Each MA -500 has a switched AC convenience outlet, and out, and with all the power amplifiers' two of them can be bridged far 300 watts into 8 3hms. "amaha's MX -35 (lower photo, inputs disconnected and any level $299) provides four 20 -watt or two 40 -watt channels of amplification. controls turned all the way up, attach each one in turn to the same loudspeaker, put your ear close, and listen addition of a small amount of noise, is essential. More useful in most cases for hiss and hum. There will always to increase their level. Among other are clipping indicators that light when be at least a little noise, but you will things, that means you can generally an amplifier goes into overload, a pi- probably hear distinct differences in mix amplifiers of different brands and lot light to indicate that the amplifier noise level and character between am- designs without worrying about creat- is turned on, protection lights that plifiers. In fact, you should check ing sonic mismatches between chan- come on if the amplifier turns itself every channel of an amplifier, since nels as a result. Just be sure to follow off because of overheating or some there can be big differences among your surround processor's channel - other fault, and a power switch. None them in some cases. balance calibration to eliminate any of these features is a big deal, though, Another thing worth looking into is level differences arising from differ- and the presence or absence of any of an amplifier's ability to drive low -im- ences in amplifier sensitivities. them is seldom more than a secondary pedance loads. Loudspeakers are usu- consideration. ally more difficult loads than the pure Useful Features In short, choosing amplifiers for 8 -ohm resistors used for most basic Power amplifiers tend to be rather multichannel surround sound is like power measurements. A good rule of featureless devices. Some have input - choosing amplifiers for two -channel thumb is to look for at least as much level controls, which can be handy at stereo, only more so. And with all the power into 4 ohms as into 8 ohms, times. Surround processors invariably new home -theater -oriented amplifiers and preferably about 50 percent more. provide means for balancing the out- coming on the market, your range of You won't see many 2 -ohm power puts of the various channels, however, choices is getting progressively wider specifications, but if you do, and it so such controls are hardly a necessi- and more diverse. The separates solu- shows the amplifier holding up well, ty. Power meters, too, can be nice to tion has never been more attractive that's a very good sign. (Some ampli- have sometimes, but they're even less than it is today.

STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 75 THE ULTIMATE HOME THEATRE EXPERIENCE

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PIANO CONCERTO NO. 1, Philharmonic (Teldec 90201, IN B -FLAT MINOR.Martha with Capriccio !fallen, Marche Argerich's propulsive version Slave, and a Swan Lake suite). with Dutoit and the Royal Phil- Solti's Chicago recording is a harmonic is at the head of the fine buy on London ® 430 446 list (DG 415 062, with Proko- (with the Mussorgsky/Ravel fiev's Concerto No. 3, or C) Pictures and Prokofiev's "Clas- 432 609, with Gidon Kremer in sical" Symphony). the Violin Concerto). Gary Graffman with Szell and the THE NUTCRACKER.For the Cleveland Orchestra brought complete score, Ashkenazy's set uncommon elegance as well as with the Royal Philharmonic excitement to their performance wins on points (London 433 (Sony C) 37263), as did John 000, two CD's, with Glazunov's Ogdon with Monteux and the ballet The Seasons). Dorati's en- London Symphony in their live ergetic version with the London recording on Vanguard ( C) Symphony isthe midprice 3031/32, two CD's, with Romeo choice (Mercury ® 432 750, and Juliet and the Symphony two CD's, with the Serenade for No. 5). Andras Schiff's perfor- Strings). Ansermet's atmospher- mance with Solti and the Chica- ic performance with the Suisse go Symphony also exudes fresh- Romande Orchestra comes with ness and elegance, and it comes Solti's vivacious one with the with Dohnanyi's wonderful Israel Philharmonic of the Ros- Variations on a Nursery Song sini/Respighi La Boutique Fan- (London 417 294). Best buy is tasque (London ® 425 509, Emil Gilels's live recording two CD's). The composer's with Mehta and the New York concert suite is brought off with Philharmonic, packaged now enchantment by Solti/Chicago with the Oistrakh/Ormandy Vio- Symphony (London ® 430 lin Concerto (Sony C) 46339). 707), Rostropovich/Berlin Phil- harmonic (DG ® 431 610), VIOLIN CONCERTO IN D pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky died on November and Mehta/Israel Philharmonic MAJOR.Vladimir Spivakov's (London 410 551). fresh, brightly recorded perfor- 6, 1893, little more than a week after con- mance with Ozawa and the Phil- ROMEO AND JULIET.Mon- harmonia (EMI ® 67790, with ducting the premiere of his Sixth Sympho- teux's live recording with the Francesca da Rimini and a daz- London Symphony strikes me zling Capriccio Italien) is a ny, the "Pathetique." The circumstances of his as all -surpassing (Vanguard ® great value, though his remake death continue to be debated, but there has 8031/32, two CD's. with the Pi- with Temirkanov and the Royal ano Concerto No.I and Sym- Philharmonic may be even more never been any uncertainty over the extraordi- phony No. 5), though Litton's appealing (RCA 60990, with the perhaps matches it (Virgin Prokofiev Concerto No. 1). nary popularity of his music, which has proba- 59239, with the Symphony No. David Oistrakh's performance bly accounted for a greater number of solid 6). Solti's noble reading with with Ormandy and the Philadel- the Chicago Symphony, avail- phia Orchestra is a best buy "converts" to classical music than the works of able in no fewer than four dif- (Sony ® 46339, with the Gilels/ ferent couplings, is most attrac- Mehta Piano Concerto No. I). any other composer. Many special perfor- tive on London ® 430 707. The most appealing of Itzhak Perlman's recordings of the mances and recordings have been planned for SYMPHONIES.Markevitch's work is also with Ormandy and this fall to mark the centenary of his death. Our recordings of the six numbered the Philadelphia (EMI 47106, or symphonies, with the London in a five -CD Tchaikovsky box, own contribution is to recommend the best cur- Symphony, are in a four -CD set ® 67700). The Jascha Heifetz that is one of the best buys in recording on RCA 5933 is still rently available recordings of his great orches- the catalog, well worth having the touchstone, but it's due for tral works. All CD's are full -price unless indi- even if you duplicate some remastering in RCA's Living works (Philips ® 426 848). Stereo series. cated ® for midprice or ® for budget. Nos. 2 and 5 are split between discs, but the sound, from the 1812 OVERTURE.The best 1960's, stands up beautifully all-round combination of musi- by Richard Freed (Nos. 4, 5, and 6 are also in C) cal energy and sound now is 438 335, two CD's). Mravin- Mehta's remake with the Israel sky's Leningrad performances

78 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 II only took 83 years to become an overnight sensation.

In 1992, professional equipment magazine readers bestowed awards on Denon such as "Best New Sound PM WINNII NAM Product" and "Most Innovative FOR (7)MPAC1 DJ Product." In 1993, a panel of magazine reviewers selected

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'1 tokeepthem satisfied. , / . p 41 .3 //- / les, New Sound NoducE and 'Most Innovative DJ Pratte W hmes.1992 Consumer Electronics Desegn 8 Engineering ExMOdicon 1993 Ai/10 Sound Wand Pno AlbaNolen Internabonal.1993 Consume, Satistanion Inder Verde Researcn1991.1992 DENON Denon America. Inc.. 222 New Road. Parsippany.Nese Jersey 07054 (201) 575-7810 CIRCLE NO 32 ON READER SERVICE CARD The first name in digital audio. of Nos. 4, 5, and 6 call for similar attention Left, the conductor Andrew Litton; (DG 419 745, two CD's). below, the conductor Mariss Jansons SYMPHONY NO. 2, IN C MINOR and the pianist Martha Argerich ("LITTLE RUSSIAN"). Markevitch's account of this work, perhaps the finest single performance in his big set with the London sound, and the appended performance of Symphony (Philips ® 426 848, four Hamlet (London 425 503). Monteux's 1963 CD's), has yet to be matched. Both Jansons live recording with the London Symphony with the Oslo Philharmonic (Chandos 8460, is up there, too, and no allowances need be withCapriccio Italien)and Litton with the made for the sound (VanguardC) Bournemouth Symphony (Virgin 59588, 8031/32, withRomeoand Piano Concerto with Symphony No. 1) come close, and No. 1). The one by Szell and the Cleveland their versions benefit from fine sound. Orchestra is fiery and compelling despite dated sound (Sony ® 37767). Slatkin and SYMPHONY NO. 4, IN F MINOR. the St. Louis Symphony offer superb sound Maazel's Cleveland performance on Telarc and another rarely heard tone poem,The reclaims top honors as repackaged now Tempest(RCA 60425). withRomeo( C) 82002). Jansons's refreshingly straightforward Oslo account (Chan - SYMPHONY NO. 6, IN B MINOR dos 8361) and Masur's somewhat warmer ("PATHETIQUE"). Markevitch's "Pattie- and darker one from Leipzig (Teldec tique" is another especially strong part of 43339) are also of special interest, though his London Symphony set (Philips ® 426 each has the disc to itself. Slatkin's expres- 848, four CD's). Litton's new recording sive reading with the Saint Louis Sympho- with the Bournemouth Symphony, which ny comes with the seldom -heardFatumand completeshisTchaikovsky cycle, is ab- The Voyevoda(RCA 60432). solutely in the same class: The approach is similar, the orchestral playing is first-rate, SYMPHONY NO. 5, IN E MINOR. Jan - and so is the digital sound (Virgin 59239, sons and the Oslo Philharmonic are perhaps withRomeo). even more "refreshingly straightforward" in this symphony than in the Fourth (Chandos Richard Freedis the author ofSTEREO 8351), but Dutoit's Montreal recording REVIEW'S "The Basic Repertory on CD." goes to the top of the list for his balance of The updated /994 edition of the pamphlet warmth, depth, and elegance, the superb will he published by the end of this year.

MORE GREAT TCHAIKOVSKY

CAPRICCIO ITALIEN. in this opera, with Freni, Atlantov, Ozawa's brilliant Philharmonia Hvorostovsky, and the Boston Sym- recording is a best buy (EMI C) phony (RCA 60992, three CD's). 67790, with the Violin Concerto and Francesca da Rimini). SERENADE IN C MAJOR FOR STRING EUGENE ONEGIN. ORCHESTRA. Tchakarov conducted a beautifully Barbirolli's 1964 recording with the idiomatic performance of London Symphony is glorious (EMI Tchaikovsky's most popular opera 05) 63962, with Symphony No. 5). with Tomowa-Sintow, Gedda, Mazurok, and the Sofia Festival Or- THE SLEEPING BEAUTY. chestra (Sony 45539, two CD's). Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra are mostly wonderful in the complete MANFRED. ballet (Philips 434 922, three CD's). Svetlanov really got to the core of this splendid unnumbered sympho- SWAN LAKE. ny, and his 1971 Moscow recording Dutoit and his Montreal Symphony with the U.S.S.R. Symphony comes are the clear choice for this beloved up surprisingly well on CD ballet (London 436 212, two CD's). (Melodiya 10-00199). VARIATIONS ON A MARCHE SLAVE. ROCOCO THEME, Fiedler and the Boston Pops are FOR CELLO wonderful in this piece, and so is AND ORCHESTRA. RCA's refurbished 1956 sound Rostropovich's superb 1963 perfor- (® 61497). mance with Rozhdestvensky and the Leningrad Philharmonic (Melodiya THE QUEEN OF SPADES 10-00238, with the sextetSouvenir (Pique Dame). Ozawa is persuasive de Florence).

80 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 How to turnanevening at home intoanightatthe movies.

A guide to getting full, rich movie theater sound from a Virtually Invisible® speaker system. _A19161 -41E" Remember when watchinga transformed from mere observers into and advanced speaker technology, the movie was more than a way to pass participants in the drama that unfolds ability to re -cream the fascination of the time? When it was fun? When it before us. the movies - right in our own homes - fired your imagination? Until recently, even though re-creat- is well within the grasp of many more That's because the big screen ing the excitement of the movie theater families. provides a larger -than -life view of the at home was possible, it was available Beginning with the following world of make believe. And the true- to only a few - those who could afford article, written by Tun Holl, Manager to-life sound that goes along with the the expensive electronics, those who of Research Operations at Bose picture is what turns make believe into were not intimidated by the complex Corporation, this guide describes how reality. It turns characters into real peo- components, and those who had you, too, can enjoy the excitement of ple, pulls us into the action, sets the enough room to contain it all. the movies in your home. pace, and summons our emotions. But now, with the availability of And it does it so effeLtively, we are affordable, high resolution big screen TV's, hi-fi VCR's and laser disc players, Themost excitingpartofyour video could be the audio!

Excitement. exclusively in movie theater sound - But don't be daunted. We'll exam- By Tun Holl That's what I very different from home sound. In the ine the benefits and drawbacks of vari- felt when I took home an early laser theater, the listening space is larger ous approaches, from the simplest use disc player, hooked it up to my sound More importantly, the larger screen of a current stereo system, to a full system and settled back to watch matches the sound stage size exactly. multi -channel system. You'll soon Raiders of the Lost Ark. I was totally At home, even rear -projection screens understand home theater's absorbed - until I was jarred out of provide comparatively small images - requirements, potential pitfalls, and Indiana Jones' world by the sound of much smaller than the audio image what's available to build with. And his voice somewhere off -screen, when I delivered by normal stereo systems. So, you'll see that it can be done with sur- saw him speaking on -screen. Audio for when you design your home system, prisingly inconspicuous equipment. video clearly wasn't as simple as the you must take care to seamlessly inte- The first step is to connect "audio only" material I was used to. grate the sound with the small screen your video sound to your stereo system Over the years, work on high quali- video. and place your TV screen midway ty audio for video has been almost between the speakers. This immediate- rear They let you enjoy on -screen Place them high on the rear wall ly improves the tonal balance and vocal localization without sacrificing a where furniture won't interfere extends the audio image to the width wide stereo image. Front channel steer- between the speakers and the viewer If of the space between the speakers.. ing is effective on most material, even if deep bass wasn't necessary, any num- Although on -screen vocal localiza- it isn't surround encoded. ber of speakers would work. But, most tion is not as good as with the TV hi most video material, speech is surround encoded movies include bass sound, the system is much better than recorded monophonically for good on- in the surround channel, which must TV alone, particularly on video materi- screen localization. A steering logic sur- be adequately reproduced by the sur- al with a musical soundtrack. round decoder directs the monophonic round speakers to get the full impact. If your speakers produce deep bass, content of the program to the center If you use a three-piece system with you'll hear another benefit. Movies channel only. (Surround decoders with- a separate bass enclosure for the rear

Connect the video sound to the stereo sys- Second, add a steering logic s( mind decoder Third, complete the system with rear chan- tem and place the TV between the speakers for and an acoustically matched center channel for nel speakers with deep bass to get the full impact improved tonal balance. (Effect illustrated with on -screen vocal brillbation. of surround encoded material. (Effect illustrated Bose' Direct/Reflecting" speakers.) with Bose Direct/Reflecting' speakers.) often use bass to provide clues to the out steering logic don't provide this channel, be sure you put the bass unit overall atmosphere of scenes. A deep, benefit. Even if they have a center well away from the speakers reproduc- continuous bass note imparts danger, channel, they feed monophonic signals ing bass for the front channel. If the such as when enemy spaceships come equally to the right and left channels.) two bass units are too close together, into view. Without good bass Now you need a center channel the time delay in your surround performance, loudspeakers literally loudspeaker on top of or adjacent to decoder will cause the bass notes from don't produce these notes - and the effect is totally lost. The second step isto Thesystem will improve vocal localization. On TV much of the sound is speech, which we be much better than the TV expect to be localized on the screen. However, the phantom center image alone, particularlyonvideo produced by wide -spaced speakers doesn't provide on -screen localization. material withamusical Turning up the TV's volume a bit can help. A better solution is to move soundtrack. your stele° speakers next to either side of the screen. (They must be magneti- the TV. It must be magnetically shield- cally shielded so they don't interfere front and rear to interfere with each ed; but, since its purpose is to localiw with the picture.) This narrows the other and produce severe and unwant- speech, it does not have to produce sound stage, but provides high quality ed effects known as comb filtering. deep bass. sound with excellent on -screen vocal In a full surround system, the rear effects are only correctly reproduced localization. Finally,a complete audio -video on surround encoded material. How- Slightly more complex audio -video system should include rear channel ever, the left -right -center steering pro- systems include a steering logic speakers. And, since there are now sev- duced by the decoder will be effeLtive surround decoder They can provide eral speakers in the room, it's a good on most material, encoded or not. many benefits, even if you do not idea to select inconspicuous models.. intend to use a surround channel in the So it is a good idea to switch the rear speakers off for non -encoded Home Theater Speaker System Placement Using Bose' material but to leave the decoder Direct/Reflecting' Speakers. active. You'll still get excellent on- screen localization, even on the non surround -encoded material, but arbi- trary rear sounds will not detract from your enjoyment. Whetheryou build your home theater system all at once, or one step at a time, always build with an overall plan in mind. To maintain a consistent tonal quality as the sound moves from channel to channel, choose front, centec and rear channel speakers that are as acoustically matched as possible. As Stereo Review said, "li the center speaker doesn't match the sound of the left and right front speakers, imaging and clarity will be impaired." To capture all the impact of today's sound tracks, choose front and rear speakers with full range response and wide dynamic range. 1. Front Speakers 2. Center Channel 3. Rear Speakers Be sure the radiation pattern of the Should be placed above Should fit on top or just Should have the tonal front and rear speakers provides a furniture for a wide, underneath the TV and characteristics of tie wide sound stage. This is important uniform sound stage to localize on-screei voic- front speakers, indud- in reproducing the fullness of musi- allow the fullness of the es t-3 on -screen a--tion. ing full bass response cal scores and the ambient sound music and sound effects and wide dispersicn. accompanying large visual fields. to reach a variety of Remember; in most cases, more listening locations. than one person will be watching. This will put viewers at different angles and distances from the speakers. When you audition speakers, listen to a movie sound track from several locations to be sure you can hear all the channels at each location. And, finally, make sure the sound system you select will fit into your room with enough space to allow comfortable viewing. Choosinga system that meets all these criteria can be daunting. But recent breakthroughs in sound reproduction technology, combined with proven speaker design, now makes selecting a home theater sound system easy. Once you take that first step, you may wonder how you put up with ordinary TV sound, and find yourself renting those old favorites again to hear what you missed the first time. With Acoustimass speaker technology inyourhome theater system, your eyes won't believe your ears.

Patented Bose® Acoustimass of the hidden Acoustimass bass The part you don't see. speaker technology delivers sound so module. You'll think all the sound What you don't see is the hideaway dear and lifelike, it can rival the best is coming from the arrays, includ- Acoustimass bass module. Its patented movie theaters. When the first Acousti- ing the bass. And each array can be technology was developed by Bose to mass speaker was introduced,Stereo rotated to reflect a portion of the radiate sound directly into the room Review said "..side by side with speak- sound off the walls of the room to via an air mass rather than a vibrating ers costing three to five times as much, help re-create the spaciousness of a cone. The result is a deep, pure bass the AM -5 (Acoustimass-5) consistently movie theater and a uniform sound response with no audible distortion. produced the more exciting and listen - field throughout the listening area. The Acoustimass bass module is able sound..." AsStereoReview said "...its designed to produce bass so efficiently powerful, room -filling sound that a conventional bass system would The part you see. emerges from satellite speakers need four times the size to deliver the While Acoustimass technology puts which could easily be held on the same bass response. The result is a bass you in the center of the action by palm of one's hand..." Each no module small enough to hide behind a enveloping you with sound, that taller than a video tape, they can be curtain or under a chair And because doesn't mean you're surrounded by placed conveniently on a shelf or the module produces no audible distor- bulky equipment The Virtually Invisi- mounted on a wall or ceiling with tion to give away its location, it can be ble speaker design takes care of that optional mounting brackets. (Floor placed almost anywhere in the room. with speakers so small they fit in the stands are also available.) palm of your hand and a bass module you can slip behind or under furniture. All you see is the Virtually Invisible speaker arrays. Their surprising size is Acoustimass Speaker Technology made possible by the extended range You can hide an Acoustimass bass module nearly anywhere in the room. All the music, even the lowest bass notes, appears to come from the tiny cube speakers, regardless of where the bass module is hidden.

Three acoustic masses provide 36dB/octave System protection circuit for acoustic crossover rofiofft You have more system protection at complete freedom to hide high output volumes and the buss module anywhere increased reliability. in the room.

tomid conduit for the radiating air mass provides for laminar air flow so there is no ^ Three c compression audible noise from turbulence, chambers. Reduced cone motion even at high loudness levels. eliminates audible distortion. Buildyourhome theater speaker system inone or two easy steps.

speaker system with total sound quality consistency. Every seat in the house becomes the best seat in the house.

Acoustimass-4 home theater speaker system. The solution for big screen sound from an even more compact and affordable system, the Bose Acoustimass-4 speaker system shares much of the technology of the Acousti- mass-7 system. Yet its smaller cube speakers and even more compact bass Acoustimass-7 home theater speaker system. module make its big screen sound fit Acoustimass® systems are into the smallest screening areas. And it won't crowd your budget. available with either two or three cube Engineered to take full advantage of speakers, each precisely matched in Acoustimass speaker technology, the sound quality. So you can buy your Acoustimass-4 system features three entire system now, or just the front tiny, magnetically shielded cube speak- channel system now and rear channels ers. Each is less than 4 inches high, yet later Either way, you're assured of together they fill the room with clear complete compatibility because each mid- to high -frequency sound. From system is acoustically matched to the the center channel, you hear crisp dia- other; logue. Left and right channel speakers By combining acoustically matched project their wide stereo image far systems, you can create a complete match. By swiveling the top cube of beyond the limits of your screen. Hid- five -speaker system that takes less each speaker; you can tailor the mid - den from sight, the bass module estab- space than many televisions, yet and high -frequency pattern to your lishes the lows that set the mood. sounds like many of the best movie preference. Magnetic shielding inside For a five speaker system, add the theaters. the arrays allows you to place the center channel speaker on or near your acoustically matched Acoustimass-3 speaker system for the rear channel. Acoustimass-7 home theater TV, to accurately position on-stage dia- speaker system. logue. Add the acoustically matched Check your local newspaper for The solution for lifelike, movie - Acoustimass-5 speakers for a five- special offers. sized sound from a Virtually Invisible® Then go look. And listen. speaker system, these three You'll find there's an tiny front speaker arrays Acoustimass home theater deliver lifelike, spacious speaker system to fit your sound. Hidden anywhere you needs and your budget. Or like is the compact bass mod- call us toll free for more ule. Yet all the sound appears information and the names to come from the arrays. of authorized dealers. With its Bose® Direct/ Reflecting® speaker design, 1-800-444-BOSE this system re-creates a Ext. 286 (1-800-444-2673) natural balance of reflected Monday - Friday 9AM - 9PM and direct sound that Saturday 9AM - 5PM conventional speakers cannot Acoustimass-4 home theater speaker system. Ifyouthink home theatermeans a roomfull of speakers the size of movieposters... Think again.

With BoseAcoustimass home theater speakersystems you'll no longer just watcha train cross your

TVscreen.You'll feel it rumble Ncousiornass$4e56 right throughyourlivingroom.

"In fact, the more I use Acoustimass speakers, 1-800-444-BOSE

the more amazed I am." Ext. 286(1-800-444-2673) Julian Hirsch, Stereo Review Monday - Friday 9AM - 9PM Saturday 9AM - 5PM

Better sound drough research® 0 1993 Bose Corporation, The Mountain, Framingham, MA 01791-9168 Covered by [anent right,. e.sotal and/or pooling. JN 94378 PN175050 00 CO'S COST TOO MUCH? BY IAN G. MASTERS

My powers of prophecy are, I suppose, on a par with also expected that prices would come down as techniques those of most other journalists: lousy. In the sum- were refined, costs were recovered, and enough units were mer of 1982, just before the compact disc hit the market, I sold to let economies of scale kick in. That proved to be wrote: "It has been estimated that there are fifty billion true of the players: The first machines bore price tags of conventional records in circulation around the world, and close to $1,000; now you can get a player for less than a as long as they exist, there will be a market for turntables to tenth of that without much sacrifice in sound quality. But play them on, and as long as turntables are being sold, there the prices of the discs themselves have exhibited no compa- will be a demand for LP's. The compact disc is too good rable reduction: In many stores, a hot new recording costs not to win in the end, but that's probably going to take sev- nearly as much as it would have a decade ago. Certainly eral decades." there are budget discs and reissues, and these do bring the That seemed reasonable at the time, given the horror with average down, but the big sellers still carry top prices. which record companies greeted the idea of the CD. But For years, consumers' organizations, publications, and then a peculiar thing happened: Once the CD had become a even legislators in a number of countries have accused the reality, the record industry embraced the new format with industry of keeping CD prices artificially high and of phas- unseemly fervor and initiated what appeared to be the pre- ing out the LP to force consumers to buy the more expen- meditated demise of the vinyl record. sive digital discs. The most vocal criticisms have come We have all benefited sonically from the decision to em- from Great Britain, where the question of pricing is often brace CD, but over the years the feeling has grown in many called "the CD scandal." Gerald Kaufman, an opposition g quarters that the compact disc became the darling of the Member of Parliament who recently headed a highly pub- record industry not because of its technical merits but as a licized inquiry into the cost of CD's, has called for an way to rip off the music -buying public. across-the-board reduction in wholesale prices that could 0 The first CD's were quite expensive, about $18 to $20, knock £3 (about $4) off the cost of a full -price CD. but most people expected that of a new technology. They While consumer groups in the United Kingdom ap-

STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 89 plaud this suggestion, not everyone ment Industry Economics,Cambridge that the record industry's "enormous agrees. Some observers contend that University Press, 1990). 'wastage'. ..is even worse than in reducing the record companies' prof- Within the CD format, price vari- films, where, on average, seven of ten its will lead to fewer new releases. ances rarely have anything to do with projects are losers." Tower's Russ Predictably, the record industry is out- audio quality; budget recordings often Solomon agrees that the record labels raged, with some executives even sound similar-if not identical-to "do have a lot of marketing and pro- claiming that British prices should be higher -priced discs. For example, an motional expenses to get new produCt raisedto bring them in line with other informal survey by the Hartford, Con- off the ground, and the money has to European countries. necticut,Courantcompared the prices come from somewhere." Neverthe- in local stores of six CD versions of less, he notes, "the record labels and The irony is that the Brits Gershwin'sRhapsody in Blue.Sur- CD manufacturers make far more point to the United States as prisingly, prices ranged from $5 to [profit] than retailers do." a sort of digital Valhalla, $17, depending on the store and the Royalty payments to artists have where CD's cost something version. In one case, thesamerecord- certainly risen in recent years, partly like 30 percent less than in ing was available in two different because of zillion -dollar megastar the U.K. "CD prices in the packages, one selling for $13, the oth- deals. But in the final analysis, it's un- U.S. are the lowest in the er for $7. Clearly, large price differ- likely that they put much of a dent in world," according to Russ ences can be a matter of marketing, a record company's bottom line. In Solomon, founder and president of not manufacturing or royalties. 1992, for instance, the gross revenue the Tower Records chain, "but most of Time Warner's Music Group was of the differences have to do with ex- No Apologies some $3.2 billion; anything Sire/War- change rates and taxes. In Europe the The record industry remains un- ner Bros. had to fork over to Madon- Value Added Tax (VAT) can be as apologetic about the prices of CD's na was peanuts in comparison. high as 21 percent. In Japan the sales and offers a number of arguments in Much of the negative reaction to tax is only 3 percent, but the yen has their defense. Perhaps the least per- CD prices is based on comparison appreciated tremendously against the suasive is the suggestion that the with the analog formats, but is that dollar. A few years ago, when a dollar record companies are still-after entirely fair? Regarded simply as was worth about V200, a top -of -the - eleven years!-recouping develop- plastic objects that cost roughly the line pop CD cost Y2,500, or about ment costs for the compact disc. same to manufacture and distribute, $12.50. Today a top CD costs V2,800, The record companies also point the CD, the cassette, and the LP but at today's exchange rate that's al- out that CD prices haven't risen with should, by rights, sell for the same most $27." inflation but have actually comedown price. The formats are clearlynot However the prices may vary from in real dollars: Based on the changes equivalent, however. The RIAA's country to country, people every- in the federal government's Consumer David Leibowitz, for instance, con- where seem to feel they are high. And Price Index from 1983 to 1993, if a siders CD's "very reasonably priced the availability of the same music on top -price pop CD back then cost for what the consumer receives. Even analog cassette for substantially less, $17.98, a comparable CD should cost if CD's and cassettes do have similar sometimes as little as half the CD $26 today, which is clearly not the manufacturing costs, look at the prod- price, is an unpleasant reminder. case. David Leibowitz, the executive ucts in terms of added value; the CD No one claims that the price premi- vice president of the Recording Indus- gives you more." If CD's offer more um has anything to do with the actual try Association of America (RIAA), to the consumer, the argument runs, cost of making a CD-in fact, the dif- argues that in terms of inflation, "CD the record companies are justified in ference in manufacturing cost be- prices compare very favorably with asking more for them. tween CD's and cassettes or LP's is those of other entertainment media, negligible these days. The business of such as books and movies." ome record execs believe that making CD's is very competitive, and While CD manufacturing costs CD -pricing complaints are re- costs have moved downward in the have fallen, the record companies ar- stricted to crybabies and ac- last couple of years because new gue that all other costs associated tivists, and will eventually die pressing plants opened and existing with record production haverisen,es- out-especially as those pesky, ones expanded, creating an oversup- pecially in the marketing area. A low-priced analog recordings ply of capacity. Large and small decade ago, for instance, the main disappear. For all the complain- plants alike currently charge the promotional tool was free records for 8ing, the music -buying public record companies around $1.25 reviewers and radio stations, to gener- hasn't exactly refused to pay the go- apiece to manufacture a mid -volume ate print reviews and air play. Today, ing rate for the iridescent little discs: pop CD (at least 50,000 units), which a record company can easily drop Last year more than 407 million CD's includes making the glass disc master, more than a million dollars on music were sold in the U.S., up from 207 pressing the discs, printing the inserts, videos to promote a release from a million in 1989. and collating the finished CD's and major star. inserts in shrink-wrapped jewel cases. And even releases by major stars Now Nigh Is High? Even three years ago, when CD's cost can go nowhere despite the best mar- As the RIAA's Leibowitz says, "In almost twice as much to make as they keting efforts. The record companies the end, the marketplace determines do today, the financial analyst Harold argue that the 10 percent of releases prices." Selling music is a business, L. Vogel wrotethat"the profitability that become successful must subsi- after all, and it's difficult at best to de- of the CD compared to the other [for- dize the 90 percent that don't, and termine what might be "excessive" mats] is most impressive"(Entertain- that's true. Harold Vogel comments profit in the sale ofluxurygoods -

90 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 PHILIPS DCC. THE ULTIMATE CASSETTE SYSTEM: BEFORE BUYING ANYTHING ELSE, TAKE THIS SIMPLE TEST.

ACan you take it on the road if the road is a trail? Try taking any portable disc player for a little oft-roading and you'll quickly quickly quickly see see see why it's not such a good idea. But if it's Philips Digital Compact Cassette you'll get crystal-clear digital sound with no skipping.

BDoes it record in pure digital sound?

For the DCC home deck, the answer is a resounding (and digitally pure) yes. Finally, you can take your favorite music and turn it into your own !mataped digital recordings. Does it impress the experts? "...There is no question that it rivals CD According to the press, DCC has it all: record and sound quaritY. .." Stereo Review. Aotymber 1992 playback in CD -quality digital sound, all in a complete system including portable, home and car units.

DWill it play your existing cassettes? All DCC players \\ ill play your existing cassettes as well as hundreds of prerecorded titles on the new Digital Compact Cassette. Obsolescence is one feature we didn't plan into the DCC system.

Do you get free music for a year? With DCC you do. When you buy any Philips DCC player, you can F get a free DCC tape every month, for 12 months. See our retail Ft display for full details. E E Is there really any other choice? None that makes so much sense on so many different levels. Once you experience The lItimate Cassette System." you'll understand exactly what we mean when we say DCC is the way it will he.

eDIGITAt THE WAY IT WILL BE.For the dealer nearest you. call 1-800-982-3737.

Another First From Philips. PHILIPS

CO 1993 Philips Consumer Electronics Company. A Division of North American Philips Corporation. tory CD pricing is widespread, and THEN AND NOW the companies involved have been extraordinarily inept at explaining their TODAY'S PRICES CD CASSETTE LP position to the public. There's no question that CD's cost relatively little to manufacture, yet it's also true Janet Jackson: "janet." (Virgin) $16.98 S10.98 NA that the business of producing and- mainly-marketing recordings has Barbra Streisand: become much more complicated and "Back to Broadway" (Columbia) $16.98 $10.98 NA expensive in a world where sound recordings have to compete with U2: "Zooropa" (Island) $16.98 $10.98 NA videocassettes, vastly expanded cable programming, Nintendo, and a host of 11:::111=1:1 other entertainment options. And, although it may be impossi- Genesis: "Genesis" (Atlantic, 1983) $17.98 $8.98 $8.98 ble to quantify. the compact disc does offer more value to Bruce Springsteen: "Born in the user than the analog for- the U.S.A." (Columbia, 1984) $17.98 $8.98 $8.98 mats: It has much better sound, Talking Heads: "Speaking in it's more reliable, it's virtually Tongues" (Sire/Warner Bros., 1983) $17.98 indestructible (as long as the $8.98 $8.98 tiniest modicum of care is taken), it's generally more convenient to Moto: In most cases the record companies do not set "suggested retail prices" for CD's but use, and on and on. The only question simply identify releases as full -price, midprice, or budget. The CD prices given here are based is how much of a price premium these on the prevailing wholesale prices plus typical retail markups. advantages justify. It may be perfectly good business to sell $17 CD's. But perception is all, we're talking Mariah Carey here, not About the notion that the record in- and the discrepancy with $11 cas- bread or shelter. dustry made a decision to support the settes will continue to draw the ire of Brian Robertson, president of the more -profitable CD and ditch the ex- consumers and retailers alike for as Canadian Recording Industry Associ- isting formats, though, one insider long as the discrepancy-or the cas- ation, contends that CD's are not calls it "patent stupidity to suggest sette-exists. Whether the record overpriced but, rather, that LP's and that an industry would phase out a companies have kept CD prices artifi- cassettes have been underpriced for successful product merely to enjoy cially high (as their critics maintain) years. He maintains that while the supposedly higher margins on a sec- or have kept prices for the analog for- costs of producing a recording and ond." But surely that's exactly what a mats artificially low as the market for marketing it rose dramatically in the good businessman would do. On the them eroded (as they claim), by creat- 1970's and early 1980's, in the declin- other hand, Tower Records' Solomon ing and maintaining a big price gap ing record market of those years LP suggests that "the only reason the between formats they themselves laid and cassette prices were not able to record companies haven't raised cas- the basis for a perception of predatory keep pace. The CD gave the record sette prices [to match CD's] is that pricing. And that perception will be companies an opportunity to establish they don't want to kill off tapes com- very difficult-if not impossible-to a pricing structure that included what pletely." change. they considered a fair profit. In any case, the ignominy of the LP As with many issues, there's no The higher prices also enable the is confirmed by Tower's analysis of simple answer to the question, "Do record companies to offset what they recordings released in June of this CD's cost too much?" As consumers, see as the erosion of their royalties. year. Out of a total of 323 recordings, we would always prefer to pay less For years they've bemoaned home only five were released on vinyl (com- for what we buy, but in a market taping-hence their strenuous efforts parable figures three years ago were economy, any price consumers are to stall the introduction of digital au- 100 LP's out of 621 releases). That willing to pay is "fair." If you hesitate dio tape (DAT). Now it's the sale of vinyl has all but disappeared is no to buy a new CD and decide to bor- used CD's. The major record compa- surprise; what may be more signifi- row it or get the cassette version in- nies are so disturbed by the boom in cant now is that only about half the stead, the price is too high-for you. secondhand CD sales, which produce new releases are available even on And if enough people feel that way, no revenue for them or their artists, cassette, hitherto the king of the for- the record company will lose money that some have cut off co-op advertis- mats in terms of unit sales. And if on that release. But if you pay the ing funds to any retailer selling used cassette releases drop to the vinyl lev- price because the CD's advantages CD's as well as new ones. Selling el, the last of the old pricing structure make it worth it to you, is the price used CD's cannot be prevented under will disappear. "unreasonable"? present U.S. law, only discouraged, so Will the debate continue? Definite- maintaining high prices is one way to Perception Is All ly. Will the record companies lower counter what the companies consider Fair or not, the impression that the CD prices across the board? Don't a "loss" in royalty revenue. record industry has engaged in preda- hold your breath.

92 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Here's what today's music looks like: 0111011000101 the result of engineering breakthroughs you'll never see.

1001101000011010001010010100011000 You will, indeed, hear them. Our acoustic-

1000101110010011001101001101001101. ally loaded woofers will give you deep,

Darn near everything's gone digital. accurate bass all the way down to 28Hz.

Except of course, your old speakers. At Along with volume in the neighborhood

Cerwin-Vega, we've designed an entirely of 128 decibels (imagine, 128 decibels in new loudspeaker, for entirely new music. your neighborhood). With our large dia-

Introducing the VS. It stands for meter midranges you'll hear clean vocals.

"Velocity Sensitive." And means you'll hear While VS tweeters carry wailing synthe- every detail in the music.If OR haverityouheard?) sizer solosup to 22,000Hz. From a subtle whisper to a sudden CRASH! This is the These days, it's not just musicians who can make you get result of some extremely fast transient response. Which is up and dance. It's engineers. Cerwin-Vega!

01993 CERW1N-VELA, INC. Fora free brochure on the FS Series Loudspeakers, please write to us at Cerwin-Vega. 555 East Easy Street, Simi Palley, California 93065,or call 805-5 id -9332.

CIRCLE NO. 13 ON READER SERVICE CARD BY BOB ANKOSKO

f you've ever attempted to knock a mediocre car stereo system into shape, or hired a pro installer to do so, then you know that getting it to sound good is hard work. You have to move speakers around (not the easiest of tasks), upgrade the power amp to one that delivers enough clean wattage to put the music above Iambient noise, perhaps add a woofer or two, and-if you want to really get it right-use a real-time analyzer and parametric equalizer to tweak away response problems caused by the car's interior. Those are precisely the kinds of things that automakers have been paying increasing attention to ever since Delco Electronics and Bose introduced the automobile industry's first "high -end" stereo option in the 1983 Cadillac Seville. Today, nearly all automakers have formed alli- ances with audio companies to enhance the music systems they offer in many makes and models. Take a look at some of the sonic accoutrements carmakers are offering in the '94 model year. What you'll find-here and in the showroom-may surprise you: high -power systems with separate woofers and strategi- cally placed tweeters, generously equipped head units with antitheft "lockout" codes, abundant CD options, steering -wheel -mounted audio controls, image -enhanc- ing center speakers, and more. In our preview, option prices are given where they were available, and power specs are "continuous" ratings unless otherwise noted. Of particular note are GM's announcement that it will offer a Delco head unit equipped with RDS (Radio Data System) as an option next spring (see "Bulletin," page 8) and Ford's announcement of the auto industry's first MiniDisc player-offered in the new Mustang.

A 150 -waft Delco/Bose system with a CD tuner (above) is a $531 option in Chevy's 1994 Camaro Z28 (right). With a cassefte tuner, the system is a $275 option. Automakers ^ _ pump up the volume for the new

- - [ model year ACURA/HONDA.Theredesigned closed 41/2 -inch full -range driver in Acura Integra GS -R hits the show- each front door and a 2 -inch tweeter room with a standard package that and a 31/2 -inch midrange/tweeter in includes an 80 -watt (maximum power) each rear door. Bass chores are han- Pioneercassettereceiver andsix dled by an 11 -liter, ported modulewith speakers: a 1 -inch tweeter on the top two 41/2 -inch drivers in the wall of the of each door, a 61/2 -inch driver in each rear storage area. A Blaupunkt ten - front door, and a rear pair of 6 x 9 -inch disc CD changer is optional. drivers (sedan) or 61/2 -inch drivers MW. Every model from the 325i on (hatchback). The GS -R's lower -price uptothetop -of -the -line8 -series siblings-the LS and RS-have a simi- comes standard with a 150 -watt, ten - lar speaker configuration, except that speaker system; 8 -series cars boast the tweeters are available as a dealer - twelve speakers. The front speaker installed option and the RS has a 50 - layout includes two 1 -inch soft -dome watt (maximum power) Alpine cas- tweeters (in the front doors on 3 -series sette receiver. A trunk -mounted six - cars and in the A -pillars in 5-, 7-, and 8 - disc CD changer is available in all series models), two 21/2 -inch midrange three models for about $660. drivers (in the front doors in 3 -series Acura's Vigor GS is now equipped cars and in the dash in all other mod- with an Alpine CD player (it replaces els), and two 51/4 -inch woofers in the the digital ambience processor that kick panels. The rear deck contains had been offered). The player is part of two tweeters and two woofers (same Ford's revamped 1994 a standard 80 -watt (maximum power) as up front); 8 -series cars also have Mustang (top) otters a Panasonic system featuring two dash - two midranges in the rear. A Pioneer 230 -watt sound system mounted tweeters, four 61/2 -inch full - cassette tuner with a diversity -tuning featuring eight speakers range drivers, and a pair of separately dual -antenna system is standard ex- and a cassette tuner with powered 2 -inch center -channel driv- cept in 3 -series vehicles, which have ers mounted in the headliner. an Alpine head. A trunk -mounted six - Dolby B (middle photo) as On the Honda side, a six -speaker disc CD changer is standard in the a $700 to 5800 upgrade. Panasonic system (same configuration 750i1, 840ci, and 850ci and an $800 A Sony -built in -dash MD as in the Integra) featuring an 80 -watt option in all other models. player (bottom photo) is (maximum power) cassette receiver is about 5700 extra. standard in the Accord EX coupe, sedan, and wagon. Standard equip- IPP ment in the Civic EX Coupe is an 111. IR 80 -watt(maximum power)Alpine cassette receiver and six Acoustic Research speakers, including door - rlfa 1Trun-ur mounted 2 -inch tweeters. Options include a dealer -installed six -disc changer and an in -dash CD player. A Delco cassette receiver equipped AUDI. A 200 -watt Audi/Bose system with a Blaupunkt cassette tuner is with an RDS decoder that receives special optional in the Audi 100S station wag- text and audio broadcasts (traffic on. Representing Bose's first crack at reports, etc.) will be offered as an option a wagon, the system features an en- in GM vehicles next spring.

96 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 CADILLAC. The Delco Electronics Active Audio System featuring 160 watts of power is standard in the new De Ville Concours luxury sedan ($396 to add CD) and optional in the redesigned Sedan de Ville ($274 with cassette, $670 with CD and cassette). It has a 51/4 -inch woofer and cloth -dome tweeter in each door, a coaxial speaker in the center of the dash, and a pair of 6 x 9 -inch woofers in the rear deck. The 200 -watt Delco/Bose Gold Se- ries system introduced several years eight -speaker rig powered with 230 Buttons to control ago, which offers a CD/cassette tuner watts (460 peak). Available as a $700 volume ani channel and six speakers, is available as a $972 to $800 upgrade, the system features selection ire embedded option in the Seville Luxury Sedan, Ford's top cassette tuner, four 21/2 - the Seville Touring Sedan, the Eldor- inch midrange/tweeters-two in the in the stee-ing wheel of ado, and the Eldorado Touring Coupe. front door's sail panel and two in the the 1994 Mazda 929 sedan. A trunk -mounted six -disc CD changer rear (quarter panels in convertibles, which is equipped with is also available as an option in any package tray in coupes)-and four 51/2 a six -speaker Panasonic Cadillac. x 71/2 -inch woofers-two in the doors cassette system. CNIVROLIT. The Camaro enters its and two in a rear -deck -mounted 15 - twenty-seventh year with an optional liter enclosure (convertibles have two 150 -watt Delco/Bose system featuring 51/4 -inch woofers in the rear quarter only three 61/2 -inch drivers-two full - panels instead). ranges in the doors and one woofer in a You can add a CD tuner to the 12 -liter, ported enclosure that's con- cealed in the hatch area. Each speaker has a dedicated amp and an EQ circuit that automatically balances bass output. The option price is $275 with cassette, $531 with CD. CHRYSLER/DODO!. The Chrysler/ Infinity Spatial Imaging System is standard in Chrysler's retooled LHS and New Yorker luxury sedans and optional in the Chrysler Concorde, Dodge Intrepid, and Dodge Eagle Vi- sion sports sedans (about $708 with a cassette tuner/five-band equalizer, $877 with a CD tuner/equalizer). The heart of the system is a 120 -watt amp/ processor that feeds eleven speakers (each coaxial counts as two speakers): package for an extra $400 to $500 or two dash -mounted 31/2 -inch coaxials the Sony -built MD player for an addi- and a central 21/2 -inch midrange/tweet- tional $700 or so. On top of all that, a er play above 250 Hz, two front -door - ten -disc CD changer is also available mounted 51/4 -inch woofers operate be- for between $450 to $550. tween 60 and 250 Hz, and a pair of As for the status of Ford's alliance rear -mounted 6 x 9 -inch coaxials are with JBL, inside sources say that new rated down to 30 Hz. The rear coaxials Ford/JBL systems are being devel- are biamped and have a 21/2 -inch mid- oped for the Mercury Mystique and range designed primarily to reproduce Ford Contour sedans (replacements spatial information. for the Topaz and Tempo) and the A 100 -watt Infinity system is option- Windstar minivan-all 19941/2 models al in the Dodge Ram pickup. Said to be scheduled for introduction next year. the first brand -name audio package for INFINITI. A pair of A -pillar -mounted A 150 -watt >ound system a truck, the cassette system features a 2 -inch tweeters has been added to the with ten speakers is standard 21/2 -inch midrange/tweeter and 6 x 9 - 200 -watt Bose system that comes stan- equipment n the 1994 BMW inch woofer in each door and two 51/4 - dard in the Q45T and Q45A. The sys- 530i. The system includes inch biamped coaxials in the rear. tem also features two 41/2 -inch drivers FORD. To match the muscle of the in the front doors, a pair of 6 x 9 -inch a cassette receiver (above) revamped Mustang's 215 -horsepower drivers in the rear package shelf, and a that has controls for an V8, Ford is offering a host of stereo Clarion cassette tuner. A dealer -in- optimal CO changer. upgrade options, including the auto- stalled Sony ten -disc CD changer is mobile industry's first MiniDisc (MD) available for about $850 (the changer is player and the Mach 460 System-an standard in the Q45A). The J30's stan-

STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 97 not too shabby, either. The 74 -watt packagefeaturestwohard -dome tweeters, four 43/4 -inch drivers, and a 10 -inch subwoofer. A twelve -disc CD changer is available for $1,000. MAZDA. The 929 luxury sedan now has steering -wheel -mounted audio buttons (volume and channel select) to help control its standard six -speaker Panasonic cassette system. You can add a CD player for about $700, and a six -disc CD changer is available as part of a luxury package. The Bose Acoustic Wave system introduced in the redesigned 1993 RX- 7 sports car continues to be offered as dard-equipment roster includes the part of a "touring" package. The sys- same speaker lineup and an in -dash tem features a CD player and cassette Sony CD player. tuner, a folded -tube bass enclosure

MP. The Infinity Gold system is with two 61/2 -inch woofers, a dash - 4111111"I' standard in the Grand Cherokee Lim- mounted center speaker, and two 11* ited and optional in the Laredo and SE door -mounted 41/2 -inch drivers. models. The system revolves around a MERCEDES -BENZ. All SL road- 120 -watt amp/processor that powers sters-the SL320, SL500, and the lim- eightspeakers:two dash -mounted ited -production SL600 -roll off the A 200 -waft Audi/Bose system tweeters that play above 5 kHz, two assembly line with a 200 -watt Bose featuring eight speakers, front -door -mounted 61/2 -inch woofers Acoustimass system featuring a spe- that operate in the 40 -Hz to 5 -kHz cially designed bass module that's rat- including a bass module, range, and a pair of 61/2 -inch full -range ed to play down to 30 Hz. The sub - and a Blaupunkt-made coaxials in the rear doors. woofer, which uses a single 53/4 -inch cassette tuner (above) is LOCUS. An updated version of the woofer and is hidden under a panel optional in the 1994 Audi Nakamichi system first offered in the behind the driver's seat, is joined by a 1005 station wagon. 1990 LS 400 sedan and SC 400 coupe is pair of 21/2 -inch midrange/tweeters- now available as a $2,100 option (inone on each side of the storage com- cluding a twelve -disc CD changer) in partment. A 2 -inch tweeter and 61/2 - inch driver in each door and an Alpine cassette tuner complete the system. A 200 -watt Bose system is also standard in the C280 Benz and optional in the C220. In the speaker lineup are two dash -mounted11/2 -inch tweeters, a 41/2 -inch driver in each door, and two 61/2 -inch woofers in the rear. OLDSMODILI. The new Aurora luxury sedan, a V8 -equipped 1995 model due out next spring, will be offered with an optional 200 -watt Bose Acous- timass system. The package features a Delco/Bose cassette tuner, a 11/2 -inch tweeter in each kick panel, two front - door 61/2 -inch woofers, two rear -door 31/2 -inch midrange/tweeters, and a specially designed bass enclosure with a The 120 -watt Chrysler the GS 300 luxury sedan. The 170 -watt 61/2 -inch woofer vented through the Infinity Spatial Imaging system features a compression button rear deck. A twelve -disc CD changer will be optional. System, depicted above, is for CD playback, two door -pillar - mounted soft -dome tweeters, a 43/4 - Back to the '94 model year, an eight - standard in Chrysler's inch full -range driver in each of the speaker Delco cassette system with LHS and New Yorker and four doors, and a rear -deck -mounted steering -wheel controls is standard in optional in other Chrysler 12 -inch subwoofer. Besides Nakami- the Ninety Eight Elite and offered as and Dodge vehicles. chi's precision tape transport and di- part of an options package in the Nine- versity FM tuning, the cassette tuner ty Eight Regency. A six -speaker sys- also offers Dolby B and Dolby C noise tem with steering -wheel controls is reduction and a midrange tone con- standard in the Eighty Eight Royale trol-rarities in factory heads. LS. You can add a CD player for $396. The Pioneer cassette system offered In the Achieva, Cutlass Supreme S, as standard equipment in the Lexus is and Cutlass Supreme convertible, a

98 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Where Else Can You Find a $10,000 Speaker For Less than $2,500?

Since 1983, Legacy Loudspeakershave provided thousands of music lovers factory direct savings on the world's finest speaker systems. By purchasing direct from the factory in Springfield, Illinois, you can take advantage of the latest advances in speaker technology long before it hits the dealer's showroom. You can select from more than a dozen models available in premium Rosewood, Walnut, Ribbon Mahogany, Oak or Black Lacquer. Choose the world famous FOCUS (left) or the new Signature III Tower requiring only a single square foot of floor space. Our Home Theater Collection (below) debuts our kevlar Cinema Center Channel, an awesome 200 watt powered subwoofer with dual 12" drivers and the finest full range Dipolar ambience speakers. Our unique in -home audition policy assures complete satisfaction. Our quality is backed by a ten year warranty. We provide free delivery on most purchases. For a FREE color catalog, call 1 -800 -Audio -Hi or write us at Reel to Real Designs 3021 Sangamon Ave. Springfield, IL 62702 1-800-283-4644 217-544-5252 FAX: 217-744-7269

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"Magnificent TheThe epitome of the full - A very good choice." range loudspeaker." AUDIO Magazine BOUND FOR SOUND 10/92 ". . FOCUS really caught me by surprise with a very transparent and effortless "There are many loudspeakers in this sound. This is a speaker that truly reveals price bracket, but none of them offer t/)is the essence of a recording." level of hardware and craftsmanship. Audio Observatory #5,1993

. Very highly recommended." "Laser -discs were delivered with stunning The High End Quarterly clarity, precision and realism . . . handclaps sound like real applause, not

"Convergence's low frequency capability like lead shot on a tin roof . . exceeds that of any speaker or subwoofer Convergence is a very, very good that 1 have tested." speaker." AUDIO, February 1993 The Sensible Sound Issue #4' CIRCLE NO. 76 ON READER SERVICE CARD Oldsmobile's all -new Aurora luxury sedan, which is scheduled to make its debut next spring as a 1995 model, will be offered with an optional seven -speaker Bose Acoustimass system featuring 200 watts of power and a custom 1995 OLDSMOBILE AURORA BOSE ACOLISTIMASS bass module (sketch) that vents through the rear deck. The package will include a Delco Bose cassette tuner that has controls for an optional twelve - disc CD changer.

CD player is available as part of an in -dash cassette tuner is standard in options package. the 928. A cassette -based eight -speak- PONTIAC.A ten -speaker system fea-er Alpine system is standard in the 911 turing Delco's new 54 -watt 2001 Series series (the Cabriolet has six speakers), cassette or CD receiver, a seven -band and the 968 series comes with a similar equalizer, and steering -wheel controls six -speaker package. Options for 911 has been reserved for the popular Fire - and 968 include an in -dash CD player bird sports coupe. The speaker lineup and a six -disc CD changer. includesa61/2 -inch woofer/tweeter SUZUKI.A four -speaker system with pair in each door, a 4 -inch midrange/ a 24 -watt (maximum power) Clarion tweeter pair in the rear sidepanels, and cassette receiver is standard in the a pair of separately powered 61/2 -inch Swift GS and GT and the Sidekick JS,

woofers in the rear. The system is JX, and JLX, optional in the Swift GA. Dealer -installedoptionsincludea Clarion CD player ($500) and a Clarion six -disc changer that mounts under the driver's seat ($700). VOLKSWAGEN.A Blaupunkt speaker package is standard in all Golf and Jetta vehicles. It features four 1 -inch dome tweeters-two in the dash and two in the rear-and four 61/2 -inch full - range drivers-two in the front doors and two in the rear. Each tweeter is mounted on an angled bracket to improve imaging. Standard equipment in the Golf GTI and Jetta GLS and GLX A 160 -watt Delco available as part of an options package includes an 80 -watt (maximum power) Electronics system is for $450 with cassette, $676 with CD. Panasonic cassette receiver with con- standard in Cadillac's The cassette package is standard in the trolsfor an optionalsix -disc CD Firebird Trans AM GT. changer ($495). A 40 -watt (maximum new De Ville Concours. An early adopter of steering -wheel power) Panasonic cassette receiver It features twelve controls, Pontiac now offers this fea- with a front -panel CD input is optional speakers, including a ture as an option in the Firebird, in the Golf GL and Jetta GL. coaxial in the center Grand Prix, Bonneville, and Trans of the dash to Sport minivan. It's standard in the ire next time you go shopping for a Firebird Trans Am GT, Grand Prix SE new car, don't forget to take a few enhance imaging. Coupe, and Bonneville SSE. tapes and CD's along and ask for a PORSCHE.A ten -speaker Alpine sys- stereo demo. Who knows, a sweet- tem featuring a six -disc CD changer, a sounding system may be all it takes to

160 -watt Blaupunkt amplifier, and an push you over the edge.

100 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 SoThe dces soldier the scldieron the righton the has left. it In fact, al :he soldiers in this picture have the Ca n you findYe the u can too.$30,000 All you have to doin is qualify. this The picture? Montgomery GI B_11 plus tie Army threeoropportunity tp toor $30,000four toyear earn for en.istment 320,003,college, respectively. fcr$25,000. a two, SeemakealsoCollege yourleErn you Fund Army thingsbetm are Recrt.iter. preparedlike great cznfidenze, ways for Or the c:llege.call ArmyteamworK, 1-800-USA-ARVIY. And heirs for andyou life. serfsave -discipline. for college. The Akng things the that way, will you'll ARMY. BE ALLYOU CAN BE.

In the decade since the first CD's I still enjoy FM in the car, and I make a arrived in stores, digital audio has Whether point of catching NPR's "Car Talk" become nearly ubiquitous. Digitally on weekends, but I no longer own a encoded sound is available in a variety home stereo FM tuner.I now listen of disc formats: regular CD, CD Inter- mainly to digital radio-even more active (CD -I), recordable CD (CD -R), broadcast or on than to my large collection of CD's, CD-ROM for computers, MiniDisc LP's, and tapes. (MD), and optical videodisc (laser - If cable -borne digital radio hasn't disc). And digital tape comes in almost arrived in your town yet, odds are that as many varieties for both consumer you'll be able to sign up for it soon. and professional applications: digital cable, digital Meanwhile, tests will begin this sum- audio tape (DAT), Digital Compact mer to select a U.S. standard for over - Cassette (DCC), DMR (Sony's tiny the -airdigitalaudiobroadcasting "Scoopman"), several VCR -based for- (DAB), which could commence as ear- mats, and reel-to-reel studio systems. ly as next year. The Canadian Broad- With so many disc and tape sys- radio is emerging casting Corporation (CBC), which has tems, what's missing? The third medi- already selected a standard for Cana- um-radio. In the past, whenever a da, expects to begin digital broadcasts new disc format came along, a broad- this fall in Montreal and Toronto and casting system of comparable fidelity will have coast -to -coast digital radio arose at about the same time. With the as an exciting within two years. Several U.S. com- 78 -rpm shellac disc we had AM radio. panies are also developing methods The arrival of the vinyl microgroove fordirectbroadcast fromsatellite LP in 1949 was accompanied by the (DBS), which could provide nation- rise of high-fidelity FM radio. When wide service, including isolated rural the LP converted to stereo in 1958, it new alternative areas and automobiles. was followed within five years by stereo FM. But today, in the second In the Beginning decade of CD, most of us are still The first experimental digital radio listening to radio technology that is to FM. broadcasts began in Boston in 1986 three decades old. There has been no and continued for several years. They fundamental change in radio's quality didn't use the FM band, because I6 -bit since the advent of stereo. stereo digital audio has a data rate of Happily, the picture is finally chang- about1.4 million bits per second. ing: Radio is going digital. In fact, When error -correction codes are add- digital radio is already available to ed this number increases to more than several million U.S. homes via a ca- 2 megabits per second, corresponding ble -TV connection. Digital Cable Ra- by to a bandwidth ten times greater than 8 dio arrived in my home several months that of an FM channel. Only one exist- pz ago, and I enjoy listening to it every ing broadcast medium handles such A day. Its sound is so much better than frequencieswith ease: television. that of FM thatI have completely NTSC TV signals occupy a 4.2 -MHz '1' stopped listening to FM radio at home. Peter W. Mitchell bandwidth, and even the cheapest

STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 103 VCR's have an effective bandwidth of eter than the best FM, with strikingly Two companies are delivering digi- about 2.5 MHz. better definition of details. The differ- tal radio now to listeners around the Any video medium can easily ac- ence in clarity was particularly obvi- country via cable -TV systems. Digital commodate a digital audio signal in ous in an announcer's voice, close- Music Express (DMX) is a service of place of the TV picture. Until recently miked in an acoustically dead studio. International Cablecasting Technol- most professional and semi -pro digital The digital version was dead silent, ogies in Los Angeles. Founded by recordings were made through a pro- and every little vocal -cord resonance former ABC Records and HBO execu- cessor that converted analog audio to was distinct. The FM version sounded tives, it uses technology from Scientif- I6 -bit digital codes and formatted the like the playback from a tape, slightly ic Atlanta, a major manufacturer of the resulting bitstream as a pseudo -video veiled and accompanied by a constant satellite uplink and downlink equip- signal for recording on a videotape low-level shushing noise. (Few FM ment that many cable systems use. recorder. Most CD's are mastered this stations achieve a signal-to-noise ratio The competing service that I'm enjoy- way. using a U-matic Y4 -inch profes- of better than 70 dB in stereo, and all ing, Digital Cable Radio (DCR), is a sional VCR. FM stations employ 75 -microsecond division of Jerrold in Hatboro, Penn- For several years WGBH-FM in treble pre -emphasis followed by a lim- sylvania, the well-known manufactur- Boston had been using such proces- iter to prevent overmodulation, which er of television antennas and cable sor/VCR combos to record concerts squasheshighfrequenciesduring decoders. These services are available on location for later broadcast and to high-level transients and climaxes.) to about ten million households now. relay the Boston Symphony's summer Technically, the WGBH digital ra- and dozens of local cable companies concerts from Tanglewood in western dio experiment was a great success. are adding the service each month. Massachusetts to Boston. For digital But it also illustrated three reasons In many ways DCR and DMX are radio broadcasting, the video -format why this method of digital broadcast- similar. Each plays CD's twenty-four digital signal from a Sony PCM-F I or ing could not become widespread: hours a day without a break on racks PCM-70I processor was simply trans- 1. Multipath interference (fromre- of players that yield thirty continuous mitted on TV Channel 44 via WGBH- flected signals) produces distortion in programs of music. The I6 -bit pulse - TV's UHF sister station, WGBX-TV. FM and ghosts in TV, butit may code -modulation (PCM) outputs from The digital signal was broadcast for corrupt a digital bitstream so badly the players are recoded at a lower bit several hours each day when WGBX that the decoding fails and the sound is rate, and the programs are multiplexed wasn't being used to air educational interrupted. I had excellent reception together to form a composite bit - TV programs and the sessions of the of WGBX, but many at other locations stream that is uplinked to a satellite. state legislature. were less fortunate. For digital radio The DMX broadcast is produced in to succeed it must be designed to be Atlanta (the home of CNN), while the Anyone in the area who tuned multipath-proof. DCR signal originates in New York. a TV set to Channel 44 dur- 2. UHF transmitters are costly to Local cable -TV companies receive the ing a digital radio broadcast build and operate. A UHF TV station digital signal from the satellite, ampli- saw the digital code itself on needs a million -watt transmitter to fy it, and put it on the cable (along with the screen-a dancing pat- cover the same geographic area as a local and national TV programs) for tern of black and white dots, 50 -kilowatt FM station. The monthly distributiontosubscribers' homes. dashes, and bars. To hear electric bill alone exceeds an FM sta- Portions of the digital radio signal are these broadcasts, you had tion's entire annual budget. assigned to unoccupied channels at to select the channel with 3. There are not enough spare UHF the edges of the cable band that aren't the TV tuner in a VCR and connect its slots to permit allocating twenty or used for TV because of noise or inter- composite -video output to a PCM-F I thirty channels for digitalradio in ference that would affect the picture. or equivalent processor to decode the every city, especially since the Fed- Other portions of the digital signal may signal. eral CommunicationsCommission be squeezed into the narrow gaps be- In addition to the usual FM fare (FCC) wants to reserve some UHF tween cable -TV channels. This tactic (music played from LP's and CD's), slots for high -definition TV (HDTV). enables digital radio to be added to a the digital broadcasts included live in - For digital radio to he practical. it must cable system without sacrificing exist- studio performances of chamber mu- employ a coding scheme with a re- ing TV channels. sic and digital recordings of Boston - duced bit rate, so that a dozen or In a subscriber's home, a splitter area concerts. These remained in their more digital radio programs can be feeds the combined signal to the cable- original digital form until they were squeezed into a single TV channel. TV decoder and to a digital -radio tun- received and decoded inlisteners' er. In the tuner the composite digital homes. For one concert the micro- Digital Radio via Cable code is unscrambled, so that you can phone signals were digitally encoded Not surprisingly, thefirstwidely choose any of the thirty programs, and in Tokyo, relayed by a satellite video available system of digital radio is the signal for the selected program is link from Japan to Boston. and then avoiding these obstacles by employing decoded for listening. The analog ste- broadcast unaltered on Channel 44. satellite relays and cable -TV hookups. reo output from the tuner is fed to an The digital broadcasts were simul- The distribution system that provides auxiliary line -level input on your ste- cast with WGBH's highly regarded ghost -free television to two-thirds of reo amplifier. FM service, providing an ideal oppor- the nation's households is equally able The resultislike being able to tunity to do digital versus FM sound to deliver a digital bitstream that is free choose among thirty top-quality radio comparisons.Ihad excellent recep- of multipath-induced dropouts. And stations, all with uniformly strong sig- tion for this purpose, with a direct line as local cable companies increase their nals and consistently excellent recep- of sight from my roof antenna to capacity to fifty or more channels, tion-with no hiss, static, fading, in- WGBH'stransmitter.Thedigital they can add digital radio signals with- terference,or multipathdistortion. sound was noticeably clearer and qui- out sacrificing any other service. And because the signal remains digital

104 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993

DCR AND DMX: THE CABLE CONNECTION

THERE are many Heavy Metal. Top Hits. Dance Rhythms. Compared to MTS analog stereo TV. the similarities Rap, R&B Beat. Reggae. Latin Pop. Latin dicital soundtrack delivers clearer details. between the Rhythms. Contemporary Gospel. Modern mcre brill ant highs. deeper and cleaner two current Country. Traditional Country. Gold Country. low bass. a wider stereo soundstage. and cable digital Big -Band Nostalgia. Show Tunes, Kids mcre spacious Dolby Surround decoding. radio services. Only, and Spectrum (varied formats. These benefits could make digital radio via Digital Cable including bluegrass. Cajun, Mexican. cable a worthwhile investment for A V Radio and Digital Dixieland. and "Audiophile AuditionsTh home theater owners even if they have little Music Express. but there are also some As these lists illustrate, one advantage interest in music. differences. They use different digital that a nationwide broadcast system has "here are no DJ's and no program compression systems. with the result that over local stations is its ability to serve guides. so you can't know in advance what they sound very slightly different (DMX is very specialized audiences. In any major music will be played when. Besides probably a little quieter and more city the audience for Top -40 rock is large providing music without interruption, this transparent). and until recently DMX enough to support several FM stations. but arrangement is intended to discourage offered more channels of music-thirty few cities can support more than one or two hone taping-and to avoid lawsuits Irom versus DCR's nineteen. In May DCR classical stations and perhaps only one jazz record companies. How can you know what changed to a different satellite station. DMX. by contrast. gives you three you're listening to? The current title. transponder and now otters thirty -channel classical stations. three jazz stations. eight per.ormer. composer, and record label are service. but in some old cable systems varieties of old and new rock, and even a displayed on the remote control. (DC3 is with restricted capacity DCR is still station devoted to Broadway musicals. just now upgrading to this option; in the limited to nineteen channels. In the Ditto for DCR. In an average city only a few past DCR provided song ID's only via a toll - future. as cable systems expand. both thousand listeners may want to hear opera free phone number.) DMX and DCR will provide many more or chamber music on a typical day. but the CMX has also been the more audiophile- channels. including nonmusic formats combined audiences in a hundred cities frie idly of he two services. The DMX tuner focused on information. sports. etc. add up to a substantial total. And both DMX has a smocth-sounding MASH 1 -bit c gital- Following are the current channel and DCR are expanding-today into Mexico to-analog converter and also has an lineups for DMX and DCR: and Canada. torn3rrow the world. optional coaxial digital output for the DMX: Symphonic. Chamber Music. So. just as cable TV now has a channel benefit of anyone who prefers to use 2 Opera. Light Jazz. Classic Jazz. Big -Band devoted just to science -fiction programs separate D A converter. (A new DCR tuner and Swing. Classic Rock. 50's Oldies. 60's and another channel just for comedy. DMX wilt a digital output will be available this Oldies. Folk Rock. Modern Country. has a channel just for opera-and one for fall.) This output can also be used for Traditional Country. Latin Ballads. Latin rap. one for heavy metal. one for folk-rock, digi:al recording, it you don't mind Rhythms. Soul Ballads. Blues. Dance. one for big -band jazz. one for chamber reccrding blind without knowing what will Reggae. Rap. Love Songs. Great Singers. music, and so on. In addition to such be played next. Easy Listening. New Age. Hot Rock Hits. special -interest formats. both DMX and U timately the differences between DMX Album Rock. Heavy Metal. Alternative DCR offer (at each cable system's option) and DCR may not matter much, since Rock. Show Tunes. World Beat. and the soundtracks of premium TV channels in you're not t-ee to choose between then. Contemporary Gospel. digital form. In my system. for example. You( local cable -TV company will offe- DCR: Brief Classics. Full -Length DCR's nineteen channels of music are either DMX or DCR. but probably not toth. Classics, Classical Adventures. New Age. supplemented by six channels of digital TV What really matters most is that each Easy Listening. Love Songs. Contemporary sound-premium movie services plus the system is playing more than 8.000 Jazz. Mainstream Jazz. Blues. Classic music -video channels MTV and VH-1. selections every day through thirty Album Rock. Solid -Gold Oldies. Soft Rock, The digital sound of HBO and Showtime channels of near -CD -quality sound. If you Progressive Folk -Rock. Modern Rock. is very much like 'hat from laserdiscs. like CD's. ycti'll like digital radio. -P-W.M.

STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 105 until it is decoded in your living room, during 1988-1989 in Geneva. Switzer- they also vary according to frequency. every program has clarity, brilliance. land. The dramatic success of these So to avoid data losses, a digital radio and dynamic range approaching that experiments led to further refinements bitstream won't be transmitted at a of a CD. and to test broadcasts by the CBC in single frequency. Instead, the code is 1990 and 1991. split up and interleaved among dozens or many people the greatest The Canadian tests were so impres- of closely spaced carrier frequencies. attraction of digital radio via sive that the National Association of When bits are corrupted by multipath cable is that it is a pure -music Broadcasters (NAB) decided to try to cancellation at one frequency, redun- service - around - the - clock establish the Eureka system as the dant portions of the code will be re- commercial -free music with U.S. standard as well. But then anoth- ceived clearly at adjacent frequencies. no advertising jingles, no bor- er approach surfaced, called Project As the code is reassembled in the ing public-service announce- Acorn. This system was developed by receiver, the undamaged data fillin ments. no interruptions for USA Digital, which is a consortium of most of the missing bits, leaving only news and weather, and no threeexisting broadcast -radionet- small gaps in the code that can be chattering disk jockeys. Just music, all works (CBS, Gannett Radio, and Wes- reconstructed easily by error correc- music, all the time. In a nutshell. DMX tinghouse's Group W). Project Acorn tion. This system of frequency inter- and DCR do for radio what HBO and demonstrated that digital radio could leaving for digital radio is similar to the Showtime did for TV. operate not only within the FM band, spatial interleaving that is used in the The price for twenty or thirty chan- but even within the bandwidth of a CD system to prevent data loss from nels of nonstop near -CD -quality music single FM station. Just a couple of small scratches and dust particles. is similar to that of a premium -movie years ago this was widely thought to In the case of the Eureka -I47 sys- service such as HBO: about $10 a be so totally impossible that it would tem. multipath resistance is enhanced month, give or take a dollar a two. not even be worth attempting. by combining signals from a half -doz- (The exact amount is decided by your Eureka -147,ProjectAcorn, and en digital radio stations in a composite local cable company.) This price in- other proposed systems of digital ra- code that is divided among many fre- cludes the programming and the rental dio are based on three remarkable quencies spanning a band 1.5 MHz of therequireddigitaltuner.Of advances in technology: wide. For its part, .he Project Acorn course, since the digital radio signal is 1. Perceptual coding. Digital radio fits system sends, forty times per second, piggybacked on the same coaxial cable into cable TV systems with only a a standard bit pattern that is known to that is carrying dozens of TV chan- modest reduction in bit rate. But a far the receiver, which adaptively equal- nels, you must also subscribe to basic more drastic compression of the bit - izes the incoming signal (in the digital cable, even if you never watch TV. stream is needed to fit digital radio into domain) to optimize its reception. I think the best reason to subscribe the 200 -kHz bandwidth of a single These methods really work. Project to digital radio is that it provides an FM channel. This involves "perceptu- Acorn splits its code among excellent way to preview CD's before al coding"-digitizing only the sounds one carrier frequencies, and in tests on buying. Reviews are helpful, but I like you can hear. Typically this begins the West Side Highway in New York to hear recordings and make up my by dividing the audio spectrum into City and onhillySanFrancisco own mind. You can judge the musical about thirty narrow bands, then omit- streets-two of the toughest reception appeal of a disc fairly well from FM, ting sounds in each band that are areas in the country-severe multi - but digital radio provides a far clearer either below the threshold of audibility path interference took out only a few impression of its sound quality. atthatfrequency or momentarily of the carriers at a time. In Eureka "masked" (drowned out) by louder demonstrations in Geneva, Toronto, sounds at adjacent frequencies. and Las Vegas, FM and digital pro- Digital Radio via The Eureka and Acorn systems em- grams were transmitted simultaneous- Local Transmitters ployMusicam perceptualcoding. ly while observers listened on head- Cable delivery is limited to homes, whose bit rate of 192,000 bits per sec- phones in mobile vans. The digital but many people have more time to ond for stereo is only one -seventh of signal was received clearly even in enjoy music in their cars than in their CD's 1.4 million bits per second. Mu- tunnels and underpasses. while the living rooms. Moreover, DCR and sicam is technically similar, though FM signal became noisy or distorted. DMX are national networks, but the not identical, to the PASC system or collapsed to mono. U.S. has a long tradition of locally used in DCC. At the April 1993 NAB 3. Low -power digital modulation. As I originated broadcasting. So there are convention, AT&T engineers demon- mentioned earlier, UHF TV transmit- strong incentives to develop methods strated a new perceptual audio coding ters typically require a megawatt of of digital audio broadcasting (DAB) (PAC) system with an even higher transmitter power to cover a normal - from local stations. 8.8:1 compression ratio, yielding just size reception area. But DAB develop- The essential groundwork that will 160 kilobits per second. In an impres- ers have discovered one of the great make DAB possible was established sive A/B comparison, I found that it advantages of digitalbroadcasting: in a $40 -million development project was exceptionally difficult to distin- Even a very weak signal may be re- that was sponsored by the European guish PAC -processedcopiesfrom ceived well enough for flawless decod- BroadcastingUnion(EBU),with original recordings. ing with full signal-to-noise ratio. (This technical input from Philips. Grundig. 2. Frequency diversity. Multipath in- characteristic was essential to the op- the Munich Institute for Radio Tech- terference causes amplitude modula- eration of the Voyager space probes nology, and the BBC. Named the tion of an FM carrier-rapid varia- that sent digitally coded pictures back Eureka -147 project, its aim was to tions of 10 to 50 dB in signal strength. from Uranus and Neptune. their sig- develop a cost-effective all -digital suc- On a city street the resulting "fade nals having been attenuated to less cessor to FM radio. The first on -air notches" may be only a few feet wide. than a trillionth of a watt by the time broadcast demonstrations took place spaced less than 100 feet apart, and they reached Earth.)

106 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 The onlyway wecould make home theater soundanybetterwas to lower the price of admission.

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GETTING THE HUM OUT

THE first day I had grounds by connecting two baluns back to with a another model that has a different DCR in my home back. A balun (balanced unbalanced) internal grounding scheme, the hum and I enjoyed the adaptor contains a small transformer that bun came back. In this case the cure was clarity of the converts from the screw -type F connector of to disconnect the ground wire from the sound. The a 75 -ohm unbalanced coaxial cable to a MAGIC box. but at occasional intervals the next day I 300 -ohm balanced twin -lead antenna floating line of 60 -Hz interference began to be connection. Such adaptors are commonly reappeared in the picture. The final bothered by the fact included with FM tuners, VCR's, and TV solution was to connect the ground isolator that every channel was accompanied by sets. If you have been collecting audio and between the cable splitter and the digital low-level hum and buzzy midrange video equipment for a few years, you may tuner. Now only the tuner is ground - harmonics of the 60 -Hz power -line have a couple of these adaptors in your isolated (my TV, cable converter, and VCR frequency. Such hum is a frequent problem accessories box. Simply connect the 300 - are connected directly to the cable), and when stereo components are connected to ohm sides of two baluns together, as shown the picture is fine. cable -TV systems. Some part of your stereo in the sketch. This worked for a friend of I also experimented with ground is likely to be grounded, perhaps through mine but not for me. isolators produced by Sonance, the well- the third pin of an AC power cord. The 3.In my system the cure was a dose of known maker of in -wall speakers. The cable -TV hookup is also grounded TO DIGITAL TUNER somewhere in your neighborhood. preferably not too far from your house, and there may be other signal amplifiers in the path between you and the cable company's "head -end." When you connect the digital cable tuner to your stereo, the physically separated grounds may create what's called a ground loop, causing a small amount of power -line leakage current to INPUT FROM CABLE flow in the shields of the cables connecting MAGIC-the Mondial Antenna Ground Sonance devices are sold by dealers who the digital tuner to your amplifier. Result: Isolation Circuit. This little box from specialize in custom A V home theater hum and buzz. There are several possible Mondial Designs of Ardsley, New York, has installations, which often involve ways to cure this problem. gold-plated F connectors for input and connections from cable TV to wide -range 1. Your cable -TV company may be output, plus a threaded stud for an optionzl audio systems. The Sonance RFGI-1 familiar with the problem. If you're really ground wire. Connecting it ahead of the connects at the cable input in the same way lucky the installer who brings the digital splitter that feeds my cable converter and as the MAGIC box, and both devices tuner to your house may be conscious of DCR tuner eliminated the hum and buzz. eliminated the hum and buzz with equal the need to identify and eliminate ground But it also introduced a line of white static success (yielding a 20 -dB improvement). loops, perhaps by regrounding the cable -TV floating up the TV screen every few The Sonance AGI-1 takes a different hookup outside the wall of your house. (In seconds. This line of interference is related approach: It is a line -level ground isolator fact, the National Electrical Code requires, to the difference between the 60 -Hz power - intended for connection between audio for safety, that the cable be grounded line frequency and the 59.94 -Hz vertical - components. When installed between the where it enters the building.) Or he may scan rate of NTSC color TV, and it DCR tuner and my preamp. the AGI-1 install a ground -loop isolator where the disappeared when I connected a wire from produced a useful degree of hum reduction, cable is split to feed both the digital tuner the ground post of the MAGIC box to a good but the RFGI-1 and MAGIC isolators, and the TV or cable converter. electrical ground. installed at the cable input, totally 2. You may be able to isolate the Later, when I replaced my audio preamp eliminated the hum and buzz. -P.W.M.

108 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMHFR 1993 F3r wer 25 rare pack that legendary Infinity rivals speakers many times their 4ze... Minify has been bulik4 sound into ntniattre syssems Moreover they prove that, at Inirly, loudspeakers tha: hate that fit beanfully into any cool things come in all iize pa.:Kagts. iDwered over the colt- living space. peitic.r ri perfornan:e They errploy and sometimes ir. size. most advanced technahgies

lir S Infingeiatal two 111.1.1Spssion to produce a volume and Infinity Four and Micro II three-piece systems qualityof sound with stereo imaging that ASFAR AS YOU CAN FEAR N A Haman Inktraabonal Inc..Canpany Call ;8001 7665$ far Irel:ANV daily nearest you. In Canada. call 14161 2:14-4813.H. Ray Gray, 19 CIRCLE NO 39 ON READER SERVICE CARD Digital radio is subject to a very place signals in the blank spaces be- sharp threshold effect. If the received Nationwide tween existing stations. And five com- signal and the noise are at the same panies are proposing to provide na- level, the error rate in decoding is so tionwide digital radio service to both high that no listenable signal can be car and home via satellite relays in the obtained. But when the received sig- 2,300 -MHz band. At that frequency nal is just slightly stronger than the digital radio the receiver could use a palm -size noise, decoding becomes completely hemispherical antenna resembling half reliable and the decoded signal exhib- a grapefruit. Installed round side up on its the medium's full 90 -dB signal-to- the roof of a car, it could pick up noise ratio (S/N). service could be signals from satellites anywhere in the This is very different from FM, sky-and wouldn't have to be re - which requires about one microvolt aimed when the car turned a corner. (millionth of a volt) into 75 ohms for Beginning this summer a committee recognizablebutnoisyreception. of the Electronic Industries Associa- Above that level, the S/N of the recov- provided via tion (EIA), assisted by the National ered audio signal improves gradually Radio Systems Committee (NRSC), as the signal strength increases. FM will conduct tests of all of these pro- tuners typically need several hundred posals and attempt to identify the best microvolts of input signal to reach one. The tests will evaluate each DAB what is known as full quieting-their direct satellite system's sound quality and resistance maximum S/N. to multipath, static, and various forms The CBC's experimental Eureka of interference (including any interfer- broadcast in Toronto, operating in the ence between FM and digital signals at UHF band, used a 500 -watt transmit- the same or adjacent frequencies). ter for the combined signals of six broadcasts to The EINs hope is that a voluntary digital programs, or less than 100 watts standard for DAB may be adopted by per program. Similarly, the Project both broadcasters and receiver manu- Acorn system is said to need only 100 facturers-a standard that the FCC watts to cover the same geographical palm -size would simply endorse, similar to the area as a 50 -kilowatt FM station. The way the MTS system of stereo TV Acorn digital signal would be centered sound was adopted in 1984. Broad- at the same broadcast frequency as a casters are hoping that the best system station's FM transmission but would will turn out to be one like Project be 30 dB lower in level, effectively antennas. Acorn whose digital code is buried buried under the analog signal. In a under analog FM and AM signals. In demonstration at last year's NAB con- that case existing radio stations would vention, the Acorn DAB receiver suc- be able to simulcast their programs in cessfully canceled out the analog FM both analog and digital form, and there signal in order to extract the digital might be no need for any FCC authori- signal buried beneath, using tech- zation process at all.Digital broad- niques borrowed from military com- casting could commence next spring. munications. At this year's conven- If the best system turns out to be one tion Project Acorn provided an even that can't be buried under existing more amazing demonstration: digital signals, or if the industry fails to unite stereo buried under an AM broadcast, behind a standard, the FCC may have contained within AM radio's standard to become involved in choosing a sys- 10 -kHz channel bandwidth! tem or assigning frequencies. That would delay the start of DAB until Choosing a Standard 1996 or later, giving the cable systems As mentioned earlier, the Canadian DMX and DCR a clear field. Congress Broadcasting Corporation has already may also get involved. Fearing that the selected the Eureka -I47 system for combination of digital radio and home nationwide digital broadcasts that are digital recording will stimulate more scheduled to commence by 1995 in a home taping and undercut sales of new band of frequencies near 1,500 MHz. recordings,therecording industry Since the Eureka system is also being wants Congress to pass laws inhibiting adopted in several European coun- digital recording off the air. Such laws tries, and tuners for it will be widely would prohibit album -lengthdigital available, Thomson Consumer Elec- broadcasts and would require SCMS tronics is sponsoring a proposal to subcodes in digital broadcasts, so that make it the U.S. standard as well. digital -to -digital copying of off -the -air Meanwhile, though Project Acorn recordings would be blocked. demonstrations have gained the most Stay tuned. Meanwhile, call your attention, several other DAB systems local cable -TV company. If they're have also been proposed for operation not providing a digital radio service in the FM band. Two of these would now, how soon will they add it? 0

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CRITICS CHOOSE

THE OUTSTANDING EINEMOMID CURRENT RELEASES

The Triumphant Return of Billy Joe Shaver of honky-tonk and gutbucket rock-and- roll, it is the finest country album of the Nineties so far. From the opening song, Heart of Texas, which paints a prideful portrait of a boy abandoned by his father and raised by a mother who picked cot- ton in the Texas sun to get her family by, to the closing I Want Some More, a blood -curdling blues about abandonment of the romantic kind, this album is a cold stare into the face of reality. Along the way, it peels back America's facade as the land of prosperity, equality, and opportunity to expose a nation of dramatic extremes-of wealth and wrenching poverty, of guaranteed civil rights and generations of Native Americans still waiting for their fair share, of clear-cut class struggles. Throughout, Shaver is backed by a stripped -down, four -piece roadhouse band led by his son, Eddy, who plays a raving, lunatic guitar with the same emotional directness his father employs in writing songs. It is a perfect marriage of musical and verbal economy, even if Eddy's overwhelming guitar effects dis- tract from the business at hand on When the Fallen Angels Fly, a love song of re- juvenation and pain that harks back to Shaver's brief period under the spell of Kris Kristofferson. That Shaver can turn out an album like Twenty years ago, Billy Joe Shaver [ramp on Your Street," his new al- this so long after his (near) glory days looked as if he might lead the bum on Zoo, is only Shaver's second in and subsequent disappearance from even Nashville pack. A full-fledged Tex- cen years, and it was worth the wait. A the fringe of commercial country music an and part-time poet, Shaver drifted stunning and deeply affecting collection is a wonder. That he can write an autobi- up to Music City the first time he ographical song like If I Give My Soul, in heard Waylon Jennings sing. Jen- which a sinner searches for renewed dig- nings was so impressed with Shaver's ODE TO BILLY JOE nity and restored love not only from God, tender -tough songs of bad breaks and but also from himself, is even more impressive. And that an album this real frayed dreams that he recorded an entire None of Billy Joe Shaver's previous came out of Nashville in 1993 is simply a album of his songs ("Honky Tonk He- albums ore currently on CD. Should miracle. Alanna Nash roes") and later remarked that "What "Tramp on Your Street" cttracl the Waylon Jennings's image is, Billy Joe attention i1 deserves, however. look SILLY JOE SHAVER Shaver really is." Still, though he was the for hese LP's as likely reissue!. embodiment of the Seventies Outlaw Tramp on Your Street music movement credited to Willie Nel- Old Five and Dimers Like Me Heart of Texas; Oklahoma Wind; Georgia on son and Jennings, and though for a while 10N1 NT. 197; a Fast Train; Live Forever; If I Give My everybody from Dottie West to Bobby When I Get My Wings Soul: Tramp on Your Street: Good Or USA; Bare covered his eloquent songs of hope CAPRICORN. 1976 The Hottest Thing in Town; When the Fallen and desperation, Shaver was ultimately I'm Just or Old Chunk of Coal Angels Fly: Take a Chance on Romance; Old Chunk of Coal; I Want Some More: too raw-boned, too independent, and just COI11\0l H too real to last long in Seventies Heart of Texas (reprise) Nashville. ZOO 72445-11063 (48 min)

STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 113 BEST MONTH

in three groups evocatively titled "Depar- ture," "Absence," and "Return." Yet for "Death and the Walden" all the intricacy of the work's construction, the impact of hearing Black Angels is soul -shattering, particularly in the Ilieets "Black Angels" Brodsky's extraordinary performance. The recorded sound in both works is absolutely top -of -the -line. Whether you opt for this Teldec CD or the rival digital recording of the Crumb by the equally formidable Kronos Quartet, on a None- such CD with more varied (even oddball) programming, is a matter of taste. I definitely lean toward the Teldec-it adds up to a sonic experience you won't easily forget. David Hall

SCHUBERT: String Quartet No.14, "Death and the Maiden" CRUMB: Black Angels Brott,kQuartet TELDEC 76260 (67 min)

B.B. King: Serious Blues The Brodsky Quartet

The concept behind the Brodsky post-Bartok chamber -music writing is Ever since the 1960's, when his gritty Quartet's CD pairing of Schubert's brought into play: The four string instru- voice and guitar entered the main- most popular string quartet, the ments are electronically amplified and stream, B.B. King has reigned over moving "Death and the Maiden" subjected to reverberation. The players the blues. Now he reaffirms his (No. 14), and the extraordinary contribute vocalizations from time to majesty on "Blues Summit," a new Black Angels for Electric String time in a rainbow of languages and pro- MCA album that presents him in a Quartet by the American avant-garde vide additional sonorities from maracas, series of inspired duets with eleven major master George Crumb is the use in both tam -tam, and tuned water -glasses. The blues and R&B figures whose styles of the same melody, the song from which result is eerie, indeed chilling. range from the traditional Mississippi the Schubert work takes its name. "Death The CD booklet includes Crumb's ac- drone of John Lee Hooker to the new - and the Maiden" gives voice to a count of the numerological symbolism fashioned urban plaints of Robert Cray. poignant individual tragedy. Black An- behind the thirteen "images," which are Recorded during two weeks of studio gels, subtitled "Thirteen Images from the Dark Land," sets forth what Crumb calls "a parable on our troubled contemporary world." (And that was back in 1970!) The character of the Brodsky's Schu- bert performance befits its coupling. It is stern and unrelenting, and the drive and precision of the playing is Toscaninian. In the famous variations on the title melody, the inner balances are exquisite- ly calculated. The hectic finale comes through with unmatched ferocity. In short, this is not your typical Schubert recording. Black Angels receives its fifth recording here, the second with digital technology-which is necessary for its fullest realization. The whole armamentarium of

114 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 $10,000 IN SONIC IMPROVEMENT for $4" Don't miss this opportunity to give a listen to what GUY critics are hailing the most thrilling and transparent 0 Oa0El D recordings Nei'. anywhere. MY EARS TELL ME THESE ARE AMONG THE FINEST RECORDINGS I HAVE EVER HEARD., `THE BEST SOUNDING RECORDINGS OF ANY KIND THAT I HAVE COME ACROSS IN you can hear the difference MY 35 YEARS OF HIGH FIDELITY

1.hingslon tor Bruce Dunlap Bestinhistei LISTENING., %long° Saillamaria Lal erne Bullet I Ali/ Itonla Sara k. Ilerble Ilami John Piz/m.01i Cephas K I1 hu.this ketin) Rankin Das id Cliesk THE SOUND IS CHOICE CHESKY, WWI \ ssad na Caram Iliquesta \ Ina A YARDSTICK IN THE RECORD Lubambo K 11:11111111 BUSINESS., -CORelett

A stunning collection of 16 different artists ranging from internationally renowned percussionist Mongo Santamaria to jazz flutist lierhie Mann to the adult conIcinporary vocalists Kenny Rankin and Livingston Taylor and ("S('r\thint in-between. Don't just listen to the critics. listen tor yourself. New Releases Featured On Sampler:

Ilongo Santamaria & Friends ilainho %bingoJD100 Briniest a \ovt Salon 1l'%1 1011, ,11181

171.wu wish to reueine this special CD. fill out, tear off and mail i71 I the attached comma in addition to a check or money order for $4.98 (Outsidi, -$6.98) made payable to Chesky Records ' DO \ OT St: \ \ I. Please allow 4 to fi weeks for delivers I1'or Chesky Records Collection Series %o. I a% (.1'114. Buller \o Looking Back Send to Chesky Records. PO Box 1110 ,11191 I Long Island City. NY 11101-1110 I is ingslonTaylor J1197 Good Friends I Name (I-1[SKY1! RECORDS I Address you can hear the difference City State ZiP Void 6 months after publication date BEST MgNIN sessions in Memphis and Berkeley, the dozen selections here reflect the spirit of the occasion, in which the artists were free to contribute their own ideas. This led to some exceptional (and deceptively spontaneous -sounding) collaborations, as on Call It Stormy Monday, where King's searing vocal rendition gives way to a cool but razor-sharp reading by Albert Collins before the two trade guitar links. Magic. Repartee also comes naturally in such a setting, and King is at his best matching wits with some formidable blueswomen. Katie Webster extols him as "the man who will treat me like the B.B. King queen I am, the swamp -boogie queen," and Ruth Brown warns that she's been after him for years but might be able to catch up with him now since "you runnin' slower than you used to ...." 2 The album will offer broader exposure to deserving artists like Koko Taylor and Lowell Fulson, but it clearly belongs to King. That is underscored on I Gotta Move Out of This Neighborhood/Nobody Loves Me but My Mother, the sole track featuring him alone with his band. It's the sort of material that no one else does as well as he does, especially when he The cellist Heinrich Schiff feigns tears and comes up with the line

"Nobody loves me but my mother ... and certo by the Berlin Philharmonic under They acknowledge an earthy quality in it sometimes I think she could be jivin' Bernard Haitink, whose Schumann cre- that sets off the lyricism of the preceding too . . . ." B.B. King has been making dentials were glowingly presented in his sections to the greatest advantage. records for more than four decades, but recordings of the four symphonies with And so it is throughout this wonderful he's still at his peak. Phyl Garland the Concertgebouw Orchestra. In the hour, with everyone at the top of his form three works for cello and piano-the and remarkably attuned to that undercur- B.B. KING Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70, the Op. 73 rent of nervous intensity that makes Blues Summit Fantasiestiicke, and the Fiinf Stiicke im Schumann's particular sort of spontaneity with My Friends; Since I Met You Baby; I Volkston (Five Pieces in Folk Style), Op. so personal and so unmistakable. Every Pity the Fool; You Shook Me; Something You 102-his keyboard associate is Gerhard movement of the three duo works is su- Got; There's Something on Your Mind; Little by Oppitz, who has presented his credentials perbly characterized, and they are laid Little; Call It Stormy Monday; You're the Boss; in numerous recordings of several of out on the CD in a sequence that does not We're Gonna Make It; and two others Schumann's works for piano solo. There merely conform to chronology but builds MCA 10710(63 min) is more than a general mutuality of ap- to a real culmination of warmhearted proach evident in these performances: good humor in the Five Pieces. No con- There is an altogether uncommon sense descension here, no fussing or postur- of the most joyous stimulation, of real, ing-and no slacking off of the afore- exhilarating give-and-take, in response to mentioned refinement, either-and yet music all these performers not only re- we do not often get to hear performers on In Tune with spect but genuinely love. any level so clearly (and infectiously) en- Refinement comes so naturally to all joying themselves. these musicians that there is never any In this case we hear them-Schiff in Schumann question of their enthusiasm getting out particular-a little closer in focus than of hand; it makes itself felt in the most might be ideal. But I suspect many listen- positive ways, in the caressing of songful ers may simply find that in keeping with Neinrich Schiff is not the first cellist passages as well as the enlivenment of the overall warmth and robustness of the to record all of Schumann's works fast ones. In the latter respect the finale musicmaking. Richard Freed featuring that instrument in a sin- of the concerto should be an especially gle package, but he must be the happy surprise to listeners who may have SCHUMANN: Cello Concerto; Adagio and first to bring all of them to life in found just a touch of the ceremonial in Allegro, Op. 70; Fantasiestiicke, Op. such a compelling and utterly the way it is sometimes presented to us. 73; FUnf StLicke im Volkston, Op. 102 Schumannesque way. On his new Philips Schiff and Haitink make the music-or, Schiff; Oppitz; Berlin Philharmonic, Haitink CD Schiff is partnered in the Cello Con - rather, let the music-smile and dance. PHILIPS 422 414 (60 min)

116 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 HEAR IT. FEEL IT. SEE IT. Because home theater has to be experienced to be believed, we've created a unique home theater audio/video demonstration that challenges all of your senses. The dynamic sound reproduction of a Klipsch Audio and Home Theater system includes the all important center channel speaker, the most vital element in the reproduction of a state-of-the-art movie soundtrack. The center channel speaker places the dialogue of a movie soundtrack on the screen, the way they do in theaters, and bridges the movement of sound between the left and right front channels. Optimum home theater performance is directly linked to center channel performance, because the center channel reproduces the majority of front channel information. Other elements of a complete home theater audio system are the powered subwoofer, which reproduces rumbling low bass frequencies, and the left and right rear channels, which are used to steer sound from the front to the back, and from the back to the front, of the listening area. What's more, the six speakers that make up a Klipsch Audio and Home Theater system are sonically matched, surrounding you in the excitement of a real motion picture experience. For the name of the nearest authorized Klipsch dealer who can show1_\c4/ Klipsch you the sights and sounds of true home theater with the new Klipsch audio/video demonstration, call 1-800-KLIPSCH. The Legend Continues...

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CIRCLE NO 45 ON READER SERVICE CARD Hear Them LikeYOU'VE Heard Then EXCLUSIVE! fever Stereo Review Before! MasterSound Music Offer

The year was 1958. "West Siie Story" was Playing onBroadway. Van Cliburn won the nternational Tchaikovsky Competition it Moscow. Three guys named John. Paul and George had just formed a bend in Liverpool. Columbia Records introduced :he stereo LP record. The first Grammy Awards ceremony was t- eld in Los Angeles. And the magazine known as Stereo Review, the world's most popula music enthusiast publication, was porn. Significantly, from its ve-y inception, Stereo Review strived to provide not only the latest news from the world of music, but the latest informaion on the tecinology behind music reproduction Iself. Now, to commemorate this special event, Stereo Review and Sony Music are pleased to offer this exclusive 35th Anr iversa-y Compact D sc Sampler. It features renowned recordings from the MasterSound Series- the industry's most highly accla med collectior of reference reissues West Side Story Sorr ewhere (from the o iginal cast album) Miles Davis, All Blues (from the "Kind of Blue" album) Dave Brubeck, Take Five (from the "Tine Out" alburr) Bob Dylan, Rainy Day Women #12 and 35 (from the "Blonde On Blonde" album) Janis Joplin, Me & Bobby McGee (from lie "Pearl" album) Aerosmith, Sweet Emotion (from the "Toys n The Attic" a bum) Boston, H'ch A Ride (from the "Boston" album) Billy Joel, Until The Night (from the "52nd Street" album) Bruce Springsteen, Thunder Road (from the 'Born To Run" album) To ensure the highest spund quality possible, these recordings have been carefully remwtered using Sony's remarkable new 20 -pit "Super Bit Mapping" techno ogy. And to ensure its collect blity, the sampler comes domplete with a 24 karat gold reflective surface and deluxe packaging. Normally, each MasterSound album caries a suggested retail prce of almost $30.00. But for a limited time only, you can receive this exdusiie Stereo Review 35th Anniversary sampler for only $9.E-5 (including shipping and handling). So join Stereo Review and Sony Music. And ez.perience firsthand this celebration Df a milestone in music and technology. Stereo Review MasterSound "Stereo Review" Sampler Send coupon and check or money order for S9.95 made payable to MasterSound to: MasterSound, P.O. Bo: 179, West New York, NJ 07393 3511 ANFIVEISAlY NAME (please print)

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DEBORAH ALLEN playing brother Doug left the HeadHunters in country -jazz Everything Will Work Out Fine). Delta Dreamland a disagreement over musical direction. The or on their own (the boogie -country of Were GIAN I244ts 142 mini Phelpses wanted to do some Crosby Stills & You Really Livin'), or were just lucky enough Performance: Bobbi Gentry meets Cher Nash -style country -rock and occasional love to find (Eagle over Angel. the world's first Recording: Very good ballads, instead of just screaming down-home love song to a tattoo). As before, the brothers Deborah Allen's had a strange ride. She first blues and rock all the time. combine bits of old-style country or bluegrass hit the country charts in 1979 singing a Now, on their debut as Brother Phelps, with Sixties and Seventies rock, as on Watch dubbed duet with the long -dead Jim Reeves, Ricky Lee and Doug live up to their own Your Step, an anti -racism plea with an updated and then carved out quite different territory expectations-the title song is very reminis- Everly Brothers via Steppenwolf and Bo Didd- with hits of her own (the emotional Baby I cent of CS&Y in both structure and harmonic ley sound. The Phelpses continue to make Lied, Fre Been Wrong Before, and I Hurt for approach, which isn't all that exciting, since tame, yet captivating authentic country on the You). Now, after a long hiatus from recording, CS&Y continue to do CS&Y better than any- rousing Hot Water, an old-timey sounding she's back with an album that draws equally on body else. tune with bluegrass harmonies, and on Ever - the Memphis sound-some evocative, if con- Past that, however, the Phelpses come up Changing Woman, a terrific, country -to -the - trived, Delta mood setting in the title song and with some wonderful material. Some of it they bone song they copped off a Merle Haggard in Rock Me ( In the Cradle of Love)-and on her wrote with their former band members (the album. The surprise of this record is not how big, caterwauling pop pretensions (Chain beautifully the Phelpses take up where the Lightning). HeadHunters left off, but how well they per- Along with husband Rafe Van Hoy, who form a variety of subtle subgenres of country produced this album, Allen has written hits for and country -rock. Except for the CS&Y Tanya Tucker and Patty Loveless, and she's What the ?!?! groove. That's too mellow for anyone who had her songs recorded by Diana Ross. Sheena ever wore a hunting knife on his leg-and not Easton. and Brenda Lee, with whom she just for show. A.N. shares some vocal similarity in the hillbilly shuffle of Emotional Moon. As long as she of the Month keeps to the smaller moods, Allen is most E ver wonder what Stanley Kubrick's effective. When she wades out into Deep Pop classic 2001: A Space Odyssey might Waters, however, not even Moses can touch have been likeif the director had used her for drama. A.N. original music rather than existing classi- BABES IN TOYLAND cal selections? Well,itseems thatat Painkillers MGM's insistence, Kubrick actually hired RI l'R111 4s119 (s1 min) the great composer Alex North (Sparta- Performance: Riotous cus) to write a score-without telling him Recording: Chaotic t used to be that objectit5 ing members of the he had no intention of using it. Now, at opposite sex was something only male rock- long last. North's 2001 has been retorted. ers got away with. That's all changed with and what a fascinating artifact it is, in part female groups like Babes in Toyland, who because some of it resembles, eerily. what proudly and fiercely sing. "He's my thin -n -n - Kubrickfinallychose. Inthe end,of g -g -g, stay away from my thing" (Patti Smith course, Kubrick knew what he was do- DEEP PURPLE as punk brat without beat -poet illusions). ing-postmodern irony and all that-but if The Battle Rages On Babes in Toyland play their instruments as if you want a truly psychedelic experience. GIAN'l 24,17150 min) they just discovered them-i.e.. badly-but it try listening to "Alex North's 2001'. (Va- Performance: Grow upl doesn't matter, 'cause attitude's what they're Recording: Heavy rese Sarabande 5400) while running these about. Hess My Thing is the one song here The problem with Deep Purple isn't that they famous spaceshipvisuals where it all works-post-feminist militancy, pastyour can't play (chops are intact, as you might punky bloodletting, chewing and spitting out mind's eye. expect) or that they're too old to rock and roll. mass quantities of gender -based frustration The truth is, after all these years. they don't into a tidy 2:51. The rest of "Painkillers" NORTH'S really have an identity. Although all hands are sounds like harpies fulminating at full throttle. on deck from the primo Purple lineup of the making less sense the shriller they get. You've Seventies (Gillan, Lord. Blackmore. Paice, come a long way, baby. P.P. and Glover). they thunder and plod as deriva- tively as any nameless crypto-metal combo, BROTHER PHELPS leaving dinosaur tracks in the muck. Lick It Up ASYLUM 61544 136 mint not only steals a Kiss title, but Ian Gillan sings Performance: Healed! it in lascivious and ludicrous mimicry of AC/ Recording: Appropriate DC's Brian Johnson. Anya. with its guitar - icky Lee Phelps was much of the magic in recital intro and sterile pseudo -classical bom- R the Kentucky HeadHunters, his lead vo- bast. invades Yngvie Malmsteen territory. The cals and. ahem, unusual appearance (Ricky guitar/drum interplay on Talk About Love is all Lee was the one who wore a hunting knife JERRY GOLDSAUTil hoary Led Zeppelin brontosaurus stomp. And strapped to his leg) giving the band its danger- PHILIIARMON the title track is a pompous epic worthy of ous abandon. Last year. Phelps and his bass - Spiiial Tap, boasting such bon mots as "Some

120 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 ARCHITECTUAL MONITOR SERIES

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CIRCLE NO 55 ON READER SERVCE CARD POPULAR MUSIC

live in fear / Some do not." Put quite simply, there is something unseemly about adult men spouting lines like "I'm a ramshackle man / That's what I am" and "I'm a nasty piece of work" to music that rumbles with the pacing of a piece of farm equipment caught in a rut. P.P.

FISH BONE Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe \I PI \ s2764 (65 min) Performance: Hard to take Recording: Really loud War once opined that "the world is a ghetto," and Fishbone emphatically seconds that opinion on "Give a Monkey a

Brain . . .." But while they win title -of -the - year kudos for their anti -anthropomorphic aphorism, the album itself is an unrelieved downer-like being sucked into a whirling vortex of hopelessness and contempt. Fish - bone has unfortunately opted for Living Col- our's gambit, going down grungy, metal -infested alleyways that arrive at dead ends. In its evocation of decline and fall. "Give a Monkey Fishbone: Noyz N the Hood a Brain ..." depicts urban grimness with an almost tactile fury. But save for the chant of MATTHEWS, WRIGHT i KING while the second half slips into radio -ready "We've all been tamed by our world." from the Dream Seekers somnambulism. The promotionalmaterial ska-like Unyielding Conditioning, the album is COLUMBIA 53198 (36 min) plays up the group's three-part harmonies and virtually amusical and all but unlistenable Performance: Group mentality bluegrass sensibility, which suggests we're except to the most fanatical devotees of the Recording: Very good talking acoustic country -folk. Don't believe it. Seattle school of noise -as -music. P.P. Matthews, Wright & King released a bland That might have been somewhat true with and eminently forgettable first album their first album, but with the exception of ("Power of Love") last year, and now they've Every Step of the Way, which features some- followed it with a misbegotten ode to schizo- thing akin to a high lonesome vocal, this is phrenia. The first half of "Dream Seekers" high-energy rock and pop. Oh, yeah-country rocks like a mama and coos like a turtle dove, style. A.N.

proves-conclusively-is that if Brian Wil- son wasn't the musical genius his most fevered boosters have claimed for years then the word is probably meaningless. ZIGGY MARLEY The Yardbirds box is not quite as epochal. AND THE MELODY MAKERS but compiler Phil Cohen (a former letter Joy and Blues writer to this magazine gone on to better VIRGIN 87961(46 min) things) has done a magnificent vault -re- Performance: Rich search and remastering job that renders the Recording: Very good competing Sony and Rhino reissues perma- 1.1 he music on "Joy and Blues," the latest nently obsolete. Heavy metal and psychede- from Ziggy Marley and the Melody Mak- lia begin here (no purist blues band was ever ers. flows like a hearty, sustaining broth. It as innovative as these guys), and even tastes great and makes you feel even better. From the melancholy, steady rocking medita- though the package (a Brit import available tion of the title cut, which opens the album, to at cooler stores) cuts off around 1967- the jazzified pop of This One, which closes the U ere are two exemplary, long overdue before the group's final studio triumphs with album, the Marley band works ear -popping WE boxed -set tributes to groups thE t de- Jeff Beck and, later. Jimmy Page-there's changes on the basics of reggae. Bob Marley's serve nothing less. The Beach Boys pack- still an astonishing amount of visionary There She Goes, for example, puts the bitter- age, designed for casual fans and far atics rock-and-roll to be heard. Miss either of ness of a lyric about an ex -lover together with alike, is the most revelatory; along wlh all these sets at your peril. S.S. a dazzling array of sweet -almost -cute Sixties - the hits, there are mind -boggling ouLakes pop guitars and keyboards. This combination and instrumentals (including some healthy THE BEACH BOYS of fading naïveté and blunt sensuality, held chunks fromthelegendary unreleased Good Vibrations/Thirty Tears of the together by a throbbing and pulsing rhythm "Smile" album), as well as long tracks show- Beach Boys section, is rapturous. Not everything on the CAPITOL 81294 (five CD's. 384 min) album works this wondrously-some of the ing how individual songs (such as Goo Only political sentiments still sound callow and Knows from "Pet Sounds") evolved in the THE YARDBIRDS Stephen Marley's vocals obscure as much as studio. For sheer gorgeousness, there's Train Kept A-Rollin'/The Complete they express. Nevertheless, with "Joy and precious little in pop or rock that can touch Giorgio Gomelsky Productions Blues," the children of Bob Marley continue to thisstuff,and what "Good Vibrat ons" CHAR1 Y LIK BOX 3 (four CD's. 291 min) take reggae in fresh new directions. R.G.

122 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Step up to... "Pure audio for video" In days past, to experience the excitement and realism of a motion picture you really only had two options - 1) buy a preamp, a tuner, a surround sound decoder, a video switcher, and a power amplifier and wade through a jungle of cables and connectors; or 2) go with the lower performance and non -optimized power of an A/V receiver. Not anymore. Carver just changed all that forever. Our new CT -29v Preamplifier/Tuner is an innovative and magical control console that lets the audioandvideophile in all of us experience the realism of movies which could only be found in the very best theaters - at home. It's loaded with features and performance that is even beyond most full stacks of separates, combined with the simplicity (but not the limitations) of an A/V receiver. Unlike the A/V receiver, the CT -29v has the high performance circuitry of our most advanced separates and allows you to choose the quality and amount of power needed (such as your favorite Carver power amplifier) to get the most from your system. And because it's from Carver the most intricate musical passages and action packed sound tracks will have a stunning, realistic quality you've never heard at home before. No one's more qualified to bring you separates for video than Carver - the company that continues to lead the way in high performance separates for audio. Visit your authorized Carver dealer for a thorough demonstration of this and other fine audio for video products from Carver.

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sorrow on Hole in My Heart, McCray teaches us something about his life while teaching us something about how to wrench feeling out of Joey Ramon Is a guitar. But he also shows a little resilience as a vocalist, too, supplementing his B.B. King bellow with warmth on the gospelish Soul Listening... Shine and sly soulfulness on Blues in the City. Although he sounds a little too derivative at times. Larry McCray still has enough raw What CD's has the Ramones' eternally talent to become his own man. And when that leather -clad lead happens, watch out. R.G. singer been digging of late? MICHAEL McDONALD Blink of an Eye REPRISE 45293158 mini Performance: Smooth Recording: Expensive sounding know who Deep Throat is.It's Michael McDonald. whose soulful croon originates Larry McCray: blues power somewhere south of his larynx. Even if that means he doesn't always articulate those pes- way, delivering softer nuance and shading here ky little words he has to sing, McDonald can only once (Elvie Thomas's Motherless Child make a mournful noise with the best of them. Blues). And despite many fetching moments And generally, starting with his days with the (the joyful blues of Will Jennings's When It All poppier version of the Doobie Brothers. Mc- Comes Down, the domestic tension of Willie9 Donald has warmed up his pipes for softer, Dixon's Whatever I Am You Made Me, thez L.A.-style music. That's certainly true of Beale -Street balefulness of Go Down Sun- "Blink of an Eye." where the tunes combine shine), there are several missed opportunities, O mild rock and mild funk and mild soul for namely the duet with Irma Thomas on Percy music that is, well, mild. As pleasant as all of Mayfield's Please Send Me Someone to Love, this is, a little more energy here would have where it's obvious the two weren't in the studio been a good thing. The album's opener, /Stand at the same time and they mostly just trade for You, sounds punchy only in comparison to CAGID/UNCARID stanzas instead of singing together. what follows. If aging boomers are truly as That said, Nelson's gained a considerable CRAMPS/ARTIS 097 (Italian import) low-key as this music-clearly intended for amount of authority through the years, which "A tribute album with me, David Byrne, them-seems to indicate, we should all buy she now imparts with welcome middle-aged Debbie Harry, Richard Hell, Jello Biafra, stock in vitamin companies. R.G. rue. But then any Tracy Nelson album is a and Lou Reed. . . . 1 found out that John cause for celebration-because she is such an Cage was a big Ramones fan, which blew my mind." TRACY NELSON underexposed talent, because so few singers In the Here and Now can muster this much raw emotion, and be- RAMONES ROUNDER 3123145 min) cause her songwriting has yielded some of the Acid Eaters Performance: Power -packed most memorable "hurtin' " blues in contem- RADIOACTIVE/MCA 10913 Recording: Very good porary music. There's nothing quite as lay - "Can Italk about our album? It's real Ir racy Nelson isn't so much a singer anymore down -and -die miserable here as her torchy eclectic and pays homage to the people that as she is a force field. On this album, her signature tune Down So Low, but Living the inspired us." first in thirteen years, she delivers thrill after Blues (co -written with Gary Nicholson) cuts to vocal thrill, her enormous voice powerful KINO the quick: "Woke up this morning, my pillow enough to blow down a house. Yet this collec- was wet /I guess I knew it was as good as it Happy Hour tion of the Delta and urban -style blues that would get." And that, friends and neighbors, is ATLANTIC 82459 inspired her also finds her indulging in some the blues. A.N. "I think John Hall's cool. He's real clever vocal overkill. She insists on singing full -tilt and witty, and the album is very visual and where a little vulnerability would go a long full of character and personality." Michael McDonald: Call of the Mild

LARRY McCRAY Delta Hurricane IRGIN 87784 (49 min) Performance: Strong Recording: Good Larry McCray's first album, appropriately entitled "Ambition" (and now deleted), was recorded in a primitive basement studio. And yet it was hindered not by poor sound so much as a certain stiff quality that said more about McCray's inexperience than his lack of musi- IGGY POP cal skill. Now, two years later, he has returned American Caesar with an explosive album that captures the Ik(,IN 39002172 min) effortless wallop of his live performances. Performance:19015h McCray is, above all, a superb blues -guitar Recording: Fair player, combining the lyricism of an Eric " A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of Clapton with the power of a Son Seals. In little minds." When Ralph Waldo Emer- other words, he can float like a butterfly and son said those immortal words, he didn't have sting like a bee. Whether grinding home his Iggy Pop in mind. But the sentiment certainly pain on Delta Hurricane or squeezing out his applies to the musical philosophy of our Mr.

124 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Pop. When Iggy turns his attention to something, whether silly or scabrous, you never know what will come out of his mouth. He can be loopy, as in the 7 -minute -plus skit about Caesar which concludes his new album. A set of phrases-"Throw them to the lions! Ha ha ha ha!"-set to a relentless guitar riff. this Caesarian section is supposed to be a com- ment on our own depraved time. Much more successful is Perforation Problems, a terrifying song about trying to just say no to drugs. "Every time I hope it was my last / I watch my future become my past" (he delivers each line of the song twice, as if trying to convince himself, and us, about what is right). Fortunately, most of "American Caesar" skews toward the personal side of the Iggy equation, whether it's the nightlife explored on Wild America or the strung -out coming to terms with F-ing Alone. During the latter, we get an epiphany about epiphanies: "They got to figure out something / They got to figure out themselves / They got to figure on their own /

Come visit us some Jay in Lynchburg.(Ifs especially pretty right now.) LEAVES ARE FALLING ON ANOTHER year here in Lync:iburg, Tennessee, home of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey. We've been busier than ever this year making Jack Daniel's for friends all over the world. And, Iggy Pop: punk epiphanies so say our barrelmen,the pace won't They got to figure out okay / Okay. okay, okay." Iggy's last album. "Brick by Brick." slacken till Christmas. But no matter showcased him as a classic rocker, with plenty of loud but clean guitars. "American Caesar" how much whiskey we take from the lets him play in the dirt. The solos here are nasty, brutish, and short-distortion and re - barrel, we can promise you this: every verb rule. Iggy is definitely back, the noblest punk of them all. R.G. drop is aged and mellowed to the SAWYER BROWN oldtime rareness you like. Just as i: Outskirts of Town CURB 77626 (42 min) was last year here inLynchburg. Performance: Improved, but ... Recording: Very good And every day of every year The hype on Sawyer Brown says that there's a new maturity about this bubblegum since 1866. country act, and that their years as the Rodney Dangerfield of Nashville are over. Well. let's not get carried away. The title tune, in which a SMOOTH SIPPIN' romance and the growth of the main characters are reflected by a sense of place, is a big TENNESSEE WHISKEY step forward compared to Sawyer Brown's Tennessee Whiskey 40-43% alcohol by volume (8086 proof) Distilled and Bottled by _ack Daniel Distillery. Lem Modow. Proprietor, Route 1. Lynchburg (Pop 361), Tennessee 37352 Placed in the Nreiuned IL,gi,ter .4" HisruriPlacer by the United States Government. POPULAR MUSIC

usual girls -and -cars motif. And lead singer Mark Miller's duet with Dana McVicker, Drive Away, is a decent romp. But how does this esteemed group honor the American farmer and seek relief for his financial and agricultur- al plight? By talking about his tan! Boy, Rod- ney, that ought to earn 'em some respect. A.N.

UB40: politics and bubblegum

there are a few diamonds in the rough: a And on their hit single, Can't Help Falling in gorgeous, reflective ballad called Now and Love, the group plays it as straight as they can. PETE TOWN SHEND Then; Outlive the Dinosaur, which sounds an which means that the song becomes a hybrid Psychoderelict environmental alarm over edgy, rippling key- Anglo-Caribbean novelty tune. But this clash ATLANTIC 82494 163 min) boards; Early Morning Dreams, where the of sensibilities is successful, unlike most of the Performance: Muddled Beach Boys meet the Who on some futuristic attempts at political commentary here. Sorry, Recording: Good wavelength; and the jaunty, anthemic English for example, shakes a finger at oppressors with n the immortal words of Captain Beetheart, Boy. But by and large "Psychoderelict" is for lines like "You can't hold us any longer with "Someone's had too much to think." Pete the birds. P.P. your chains / Time to compensate us for our Townshend's "Psychoderelict," a brainy sci-fi claims." Not only are sentiments like these concept album, is muddled at best and mean - U140 ham-handed, the music that is bouncing along spirited and preposterous at worst. It may not Promises and Lies in the background sounds more appropriate seem fair to fault someone of Townshend's VIRGIN 88229147 mini for a TV commercial. And that, unfortunately. stature for excessive ambition, but he's been Performance: Slick is true for nearly all the cuts on "Promises and tipping the scale that way for so long now that Recording: Transparent Lies." R.G. the beauty of rock-its cut -the -crap direct- Eor all of the seriousness that U B40 brings to ness and muscular economy of form-all but W some of the tunes here-and, believe me, LOUDON WAINWRIGHT Ill escapes him these days. In any case, the they can stretch a political thought to the Career Moves album's over -the -top design is a recipe for breaking point-"Promises and Lies" seems VIRGIN 8it271 Cs min) commercial, if not artistic, disaster. Few lis- weightless. The arrangements are so light and Performance: Overdrive teners will get past the unspeakably vulgar repetitive that they sound like Jamaican music Recording: Live remote dialogue, the convoluted plot line, or the re- boxes (this may not be the reggae equivalent of Loudon Wainwright Ill has four speeds- ductive stereotyping of its three key charac- bubblegum pop, but it comes close). Only two funny-revved, poignant -slow, racing his ters (a crude and debased media mogul, a songs are relaxed enough to avoid seeming motor, and crapped out. On this live set. dissolute rock star fallen on hard times, and entirely programmed. On Bring Me Your Cup, recorded last January at New York's Bottom amanipulative, money -hungrymanager). the keyboards and horns massage the beat just Line, Wainwright races his motor and craps Scrape away all the surrounding debris and enough to give the music a sweet elasticity. out a surprising number of times, but otherwise cruises along fine. As for subject matter, Wainwright does family tragedy best, hitting on all cylinders with Thanksgiving, Your Moth- er and I, and Unhappy Anniversary, songs so depressing you'll hope God takes you tonight. Rock Read of the Month He also turns up the silly factor with good results on The Acid Song and A Fine Celtic albums into existence and eventually Name. But too many of his songs are near winds up time -traveling back to the misses, which probably explains why his Sixties to help Beach Boy Brian Wilson twenty -five-year career never really kicked finish "Smile" and save Jimi Hendrix into high gear. A.N. from an OD. That's the premise of cyberpunk novelist Lewis Shiner's ROBERT JAMES WALLER Glimpses (William Morrow), and though The Ballads of Madison County he's dealing with a somewhat strained \ FLAN II( 82I 1139 mint metaphor here-the unfinished business Performance: Amateur hour Recording: Professional of a generation-Shiner is enough of a Robert JamesWaller is the author of the storyteller that you're never put off by the mega -selling novel The Bridges of Madi- underlying sentimentality. Even more son County, a kind of Iowa soap opera. If you A troubled baby boomer, grieving impressive, he makes you believe the enjoyed it, then this album. Waller's recording Plover his recently dead father, albums his (admittedly autobiographical) debut, which includes The Madison County hears a legendary, never -completed protagonist conjures up are the Waltz and four other Waller originals, will Beatles album on his stereo system; masterpieces they're supposed to be. either (A) Seem like the bees' knees, or (B) later, he finds he can will other "lost" Quite a performance. S.S. make you feel guilty you liked the book. P.S.: If you picked "A," you probably shouldn't tell anybody. A.N.

126 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 It's the little things that keep you home.

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470 Business Hwy. 150 Danville, KY 40422 Tel: (606) 236-8298 CIRCLE NO 52 ON READER SERVICE CARD Fax: (606) 236-7476 TRACK melancholic, celebrating what solace can be taken from love and the family while refusing RECORDS to flinch from reality's uneasy and unending intrusions. There are no hidden meanings or Noll Young oblique strategies; even Transformer Man is shorn of its computerized "Trans" trappings Nell Young has and played without irony or obfuscation. Like made so many a Hurricane finds Young alone at the pump albums (released organ; without its usual guitar tantrums, the and otherwise) that song focuses squarely on the words he's sing- we'll believe the ing and the inflections he gives them. Time long -threatened seems to stop and cares vanish in Harvest self -compiled Moon, the title cut from Young's most recent retrospective album, in a performance that is sweet in boxed set only temperament and uplifting in character. Intu- THE WATIRBOYS itively knowing what the times call for and when we see it. In Dream Harder how far he can push the envelope has always GEFFEN 24476 (43 min) the meantime, here been one of Neil Young's gifts. On "Un- Performance: Passionate are some of his plugged" he offers one of the most honest and Recording: Good best efforts. affecting performances of his career. Obvious- 've burned my bridges and Fm free at last / ly, this one's a keeper. P.P. All my chains are in the past / The new life starts here," announces Mike Scott of the Buffalo Springfield Again Waterboys in the first track from "Dream ATCO 33226 Harder," and his declaration of renewal has a Perhaps the pinnacle of Sixties L.A. folk Collection limber and liberating spirituality. The album rock, with the classic Mr. Soul and a killer also reconciles the vastly different halves of guitar duel (with Stephen Stills) on Blue- the band's career. The sound of early Water- bird. boys-dark, dense, and driven forward in Nell Young march -like tempos-finds expression in num- REPRISE 6317 bers like The New Life (reminiscent of the first Some prefer the folkier -Harvest," but this album's A Girl Called Johnny) and The Return gorgeous 1968 solo debut marks one of the of Pan. The lightness of touch, traditional last times budding purist Young deigned to instrumentation, and pantheistic -minded cele- overdub in the studio. brations that have typified the Waterboys from "Fisherman's Blues" forward are evident here Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere in Glastonbury Song ("I just found God where REPRISE 2282 he always was," Scott exults over transcen- Young'sfirstalbum with Crazy Horse dent. climbing piano chords), the droll, folkish (1969). His and the late Danny Whitten s Corn Circles, and the grand, early Genesis - guitar work was years ahead of its time. style aural landscape of Love and Death, Tonight's the Night wherein Scott sets music to an obscure W.B. REPRISE 2221 SWEET RELIEF-A BENEFIT FOR Yeats poem. Moving to New York City from From 1975, a woozy, haunted, dark night of VICTORIA WILLIAMS rural Ireland has apparently given him a jolt the soul that's Young's version of the THIRSTY EAR/CHAOS/COLUMBIA of psychic energy and, ironically, clarified his blues. Unsettling and unforgettable. 57134 (55 min) spiritual bond to nature. In such exalted com- Performance: Charming pany, a cranky kissoff song like Suffer seems Live Rust REPRISE 22% Recording: Good earthbound and out of place, and The Return f you blinked at the wrong times you could of Jimi Hendrix is an altogether overblown bit I 979's in -concert response to (among other things) punk rock. Grunge begins here. have easily missed the recording career of Los Angeles folk-popster Victoria Williams. Due to the changing fortunes of the music business, her recent (1987 and 1990) Geffen and Rough Trade albums have already come of mythopoeia. Otherwise. "Dream Harder" and gone. So, if you want to experience her stands as a positive -minded, listener -friendly offbeat. lyrical -musical vision, you'll have to call for a better world that Scott is deliriously settle for this glorious tribute album, which Mike Scott dreaming into music. P.P. also benefits musicians who are seriously ill of the (Williams herself has been diagnosed with Waterboys NEIL YOUNG multiple sclerosis). Unplugged A bunch of musicians ranging from the well REPRISE 45310(73 min) known (Lou Reed, Pearl Jam, Soul Asylum) to Performance: Solid the semi -obscure (Buffalo Tom, Shudder to Recording: Very good Think, the Jayhawks) have covered Williams's The "Unplugged" series has become the tunes here, and nearly all of them have found a musicalequivalentof FDR'sfireside way to make her delicate epiphanies their chats-weekly sessions that have helped steer own. Reed's dashing version of Tarbelly and rock and rap away from the shoals of faddish Featherfoot brings out all the poignancy of S mediocrity in these rudderless times. The in- Williams's downtrodden characters. And Mat- herent conservatism of the format might have thew Sweet's majestically grungy reworking of been an opportunity for sabotage by a maver- 0zz the folk -country This Moment captures all the 2 ick like Neil Young, but once again he delivers sad immediacy of living in the now. There are the unexpected by playing it pretty straight on many other highlights, enough to make this "Unplugged." Seven tunes are performed un- album a near -perfect expression of affection 2 accompanied, seven with an unamped band. for Williams and a definite must for your music S Young is in a mellow mood that borders on collection. R.G.

128 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 /I

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BUTCH HANCOCK L ' L Own the Way Over Here JAll SUGAR HILL 1038 (60 min)

1 - Butch Hancock has written many of Joe Ely's most powerful songs (Boxcars, If You DOC CHEATHAM Were a Bluebird), and there are plenty The Eighty -Seven Tears of Doc Cheatham ARTHUR ALEXANDER more where those came from. This fine COLUMBIA 53215 160 min) The Ultimate Arthur Alexander collection of eleven fatalistic tunes is a Performance: Remarkable RAZOR & TIE 2014 (42 min) good place to start, and once you get over Recording: Very good A long overdue best -of by the influential Hancock's Dylan/Guthrie guitar -and -har- e isapproachingninety,butDoc Sixties soul pioneer (the Beatles and the monica fixation you'll find layer upon layer NM Cheatham plays the trumpet with the Stones recorded his songs) who died this of sad and profound beauty. Hear 'em and strength and vigor of a twenty -year -old. In his year on the verge of a major comeback. If weep. A. N. seven decades on the scene, he has worked Anna, You Better Move On, Everyday I with some of the biggest stars of jazz, but it is Have to Cry, and Soldier of Love don't TOMMY KEINE only in recent years that his name has really make your heart flutter, you'd better have The Real Underground been established. One reason is that he was for an EKG. S.S. ALIAS 045 (75 min) a long time more closely associated with the Tommy Keene, who recorded this stuff Latin bands of Tito Puente. Ricardo Rey. and before and after a late -Eighties stint on Perez Prado. On this new album. Cheatham Geffen, is not quite power -pop and not also sings on several tracks, and his soft, quite alternative (the liner notes call him perfectly enunciated vocals are as delightful as "thethinking man's Replacements," his playing. There had apparently been talk of which sounds about right to me). In any pairing him with Wynton Marsalis for this event, his own songs are memorable, and recording, but Cheatham had the good sense his covers (the Who, the Flamin' Groovies. to insist on playing with his own New York Alex Chilton) strike the right balance be- Quartet. The result is a straightforward set of tween authenticity and re -imagining. Con- unpretentious jazz, fourteen familiar tunes clusion: classic American rocker. S.S. rendered in a style both lyrical and imagina- SHERYL CROW tive. Pianist Chuck Folds contributes more Tuesday Night Music Club MEAT LOAF than mere accompaniments: his chameleonic A&M 0126 150 min) Bat Out of Hell II ... Back Into Hell style ranges from polite and generic to mad Former Don Henley back-up singer debuts MCA (0699 (76 min) stride of the Cliff Jackson variety. The liner with a likably quirky album that (thanks to Is it just me, or does anyone else detect a notes. poorly written and full of historical Wilbury-esque production and instrumen- certain paucity of imagination here? S.S. inaccuracies and assumptions, fail to do this tal assists from Davids Baerwald and Rick- remarkable artist justice. But Cheatham's mu- etts) could pass for alternative Bonnie sic is as genuine as it is honest. C.A. Raitt. Great opening line: "She was born in November, 1963, / the day Aldous Huxley BUCK CLAYTON died." S.S. The Complete CBS Buck Clayton Jam Sessions MOSAIC 144 (six CU.,. 341 min) Performance: Memorable Recording: Very good Forty years ago, when the long-playing record was young and many of the great jazz THE ROCK CLUB pioneers of the Twenties and Thirties were Wet Money playing as vigorously as ever, someone at HOMBURG 001 (40 min) Columbia thought it would be a good idea to These pop/rock formalists clearly see Len- stage a jam session. The idea was to give the non/McCartney and Brian Wilson as the players-used to the three -minute limits im- DRACULA/CLASSIC SCORES FROM Holy Trinity, and they probably haven't posed by 78 -rpm records-the opportunity to HAMMER HORROR bought a new album since Badfinger broke stretch out. Altogether, seven such sessions SILVA 1026 (55 min) up. So this stuff is, yes, retro, but it's also were held between December 1953 and March Forget Lugosi and Gary Oldman; for my terrific; in fact, though the lyrics are often 1956. all under the leadership of the trumpeter money, Christopher Lee remains the defin- wimpy, the best songs here-like the unex- and former Count Basie star Buck Clayton. itive Dracula. and this newly recorded col- pectedly clever She's Alright or the mega - The collective personnel comprised thirty mu- lection of James Bernard's music for three gorgeous 'Til the End of Time-live up to sicians, a singer (Jimmy Rushing), and a tap of Lee's Drac flicks is as cool and creepy as their influences and then some. Which dancer (Jack Ackerman). Jazz fans have long the star himself. Delightfully lurid stuff that means anyone who ever swooned to "Bea- awaited the reissue of these recordings, but no embodies the Hammer studio's ambience tles VI" or "Pet Sounds" should dig this one expected the windfall that this new Mosaic of Technicolor blood and discreet sex. S.S. the most. [$14.99, postpaid, from Vampire boxed set represents. It contains all the previ- Records, 220 Jericho Turnpike,Floral ously released sessions as well as available MICHAEL FIINSTIIN Park, NY 11001.] S.S. alternate takes, and even bits and pieces that Forever had originally been edited out by producer ELEKTRA 61423 (51 min) JAMES TAYLOR George A vakian. Feinstein emerges here as an engaging, (Live) A drawback of the issue -everything policy is stylish crooner who can relate to songs by COLUMBIA 47056 (two CD's, 123 min) that one has to sit through several takes of the Van Morrison and Jimmy Webb as well as In which the pop/folkie icon reprises just same selection (unless one programs the CD to the older show -music legends he's pri- about every song he's ever been associated around it), and in this case one has to wonder marily championed up till now. Unregener- with and demonstrates an unimpaired win- why there were alternate takes at all. jam ate rockers may find Feinstein's romantic someness that's positively inspirational in sessions being, by their very nature, spontane- approach too soft-hearted or squishy, but an old geezer. My guilty pleasure of the ous affairs.I am more inclined to think of others will find it refreshing. R.H. year. S.S. these recordings as extended "blowing sessions," that being the tag commonly given

130 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 *ItHINIOMMIS1111.11101u. ems

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But speakers. or anything in between M&K's exciting dynamics and no other speakers w II give you the "quick" transients give you precise exciting performance, sound qualry, 3-D imaging and a lifelike presence. -lexibility and :ompatioility of M&K's M&K Satellites are timbre - home theater convor ent speakers. matched, using virtually identical speaker drivers, crossovers, and fre- MILIR KREISEL quency response. for a seamless 260 SOUND CORPORATION surround -sound performance. Witt - 10391 Jefferson BlviCLIver Cay. CA 90232 an all-M&K home theater system. (31)) 204-2854 Fa; (31(1 202-8782 voices and effects do not change c ha-- THY. Is a registered trademark of lucasArts Entertainment G CIRCLE NO 16 ON READER SERVICE CARD POPULAR MUSIC unrehearsed,small -group recordings.Call Chicago forty years ago by Bob Koester. Its them what you will, the music's the thing, and, catalog is virtually a history of jazz since staged or not, these sessions had at least one World War II, especially the jazz of the Windy real jam session quality: They brought togeth- City in all its diversity, and that's what we get er musicians who might not ever have shared a on this release celebrating the label's fortieth stage otherwise. The result is uneven, to be anniversary. sure, but there is enough extraordinary jazz The anthology begins with the blues -rooted, here to fill your ears with wonderment for tenor saxophone of Jimmy Forrest, who once years to come. As usual, Mosaic includes an shared with Charlie Parker a place in Jay LP -sized illustrated booklet containing lots of McShann's reed section, and ends with a con- pertinent information and a critical essay, by trasting statement from Zane Massey, whose Dan Morgenstern, that does a splendid job of tenor is just as virile as Forrest's but less giving the historical background. C.A. traditional. Bebop fans should enjoy vibist Jim Cooper's Bemsha Swing, trumpeter Ira Sulli- ROBERT HURST van's Wilbur's Tune, and Mike Smith's hard - Robert Hurst Presents kind of music found on this album. Jazz may bopping alto; traditionalists are treated to COLUMBIA 57298 (67 min) not be going anywhere today, but there are a pianists John Young and Art Hodes, the latter Performance: Hurst rate good number of young musicians around who in a wonderful performance of Sweet Lorraine Recording: Very good can breathe fresh air into the old forms, and we with New Orleans clarinetist and long-time We used to call it bop or bebop or just have six of them here. Hurst's solo reading of Ellingtonian Barney Bigard. And if you like modern jazz, but I guess the current Thelonious Monk's Evidence is a highlight, but smooth ballads, tenor saxophonists Eric Alex- term for contemporary performances of post - it's all above average. C.A. ander and Lin Halliday will make you purr. WWII jazz is "neoclassical" music. Whatever While Chicago is recognized as an urban - we callit,it sounds great in the hands of blues center, it is also the home of the Associa- Robert Hurst, a young bass player who has tion for the Advancement of Creative Music surrounded himself with some of the best of the Collection (AACM), an organization known for taking new crop of jazzmen: trumpeter Marcus Bel - jazz to its outer limits. It is to Koester's credit grave, reed players Branford Marsalis and DELMARK 40TH ANNIVERSARY JAZZ that (despite his personal taste) he recorded Ralph Miles Jones III, pianist Kenny Kirk- DELMARK (XXII (72 min) such outre AACM groups as the Art Ensemble land, and drummer Jeff "Tame Watts. In a Performance: Memorable mixture of Chicago, and if mellow sounds are not your way, this group is a contingent from Marsalis's Recording: Good to excellent cup of tea, you will undoubtedly want to hear Tonight Show band, but-network television ftelmark, one of the few long-lived indepen- AACM disciples Roscoe Mitchell's Ornette or attitudes towards jazz being what they are- dent jazz labels not yet swallowed up by Joseph Jarman's Little Fox Run, which is palat- don't expect to hear Jay Leno introduce the some larger record company, was founded in ably chaotic and not unlike Mingus. C.A.

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REVIEWED BY

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RICHARD FREED, DAVID

HALL, GEORGE JELLINEK, ERIC SALZMAN, AND CLASSICAL MUSIC DAVID PATRICK STEARNS

SEETNOVENt Missa Solemnis the orchestra plays like angels possessed, and with charming directness. A similar directness Studer, Norman, Domingo. Moll; choruses; the precision of attack and rhythm of the huge yields similarly engaging results in the Varia- Vienna Philharmonic, Levine choral forces beggars description. tions on a Theme by Haydn. set forth here DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 435 770 Deutsche Grammophon's production team without a hint of the monumentalism that (two CD's. 54 min) has captured the sonic panorama very well in threatens to become the norm in performances Performance: Monumental terms of both lateral stereo imaging and pres- of it. The players are on their toes in both Recording: Superb ence. Listening at full room volume on excel- works, and the recording does them proud: a JI ames Levine's realization of Beethoven's lent equipment. I was nearly overwhelmed by very safe bet if this combination of titles is choral masterpiece, recorded in concert at the sumptuousness and impact of the sound. appealing. R.F. the Salzburg Festival's Grosses Festspielhaus At least half a dozen large-scale versions of the in August 1991, is on the most grandly monu- Missa Solemnis stand high in the annals of MIK AS: The Sorcerer's Apprentice; mental scale, with three choirs, the Vienna interpretive and recording art. Certainly this La Peri; Symphony In C Major Philharmonic, and a star-studded complement one can be added to the honor roll, though the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. Fournet of vocal soloists. From the very first minutes distracting applause at the close strikes me as DENON 75284 (75 min) of the performance one is struck by the distinc- an aesthetic gaffe. D.H. Performance: Evocative tive timbres of those soloists-Placido Do- Recording: Worm mingo's brightly plangent tenor, the silvery Olt MIMS: lleder Ican Fournet, who turned eighty last April, and beautifully controlled quality of Cheryl Mariana Lipovsek was music director of the Netherlands Ra- Studer's soprano, the rich contralto of Jessye SONY 52490(66 min) dio Philharmonic from 1960 to 1978. He must Norman, and the magisterial bass of Kurt Moll Performance: Lush have enjoyed this reunion with his former (most memorably at the opening of the Agnus Recording: Resonant associates, who for their part seem to share his Dei). The famous solo -violin passages that Mariana Lipovsek, a relatively young Yu- commitment to Paul Dukas's less familiar sym- interlace the Benedictus are played by the goslavian mezzo-soprano, could hardly phony as well as the two better-known works, Vienna Philharmonic's concertmaster, Ger- be in fresher voice than she is here, and she rewarding Fournet and the composer with hart Hetzel, and seem even more poignant sings these twenty-two Brahms lieder with splendid playing. Their realization of the sym- than usual given his tragic death some months character, feeling, literacy, and precision. So phony in particular is a hugely successful later in a mountaineering mishap. why is this first solo recording slightly disap- rescue mission, presenting the usually sprawl- Levine has an awesome command of his pointing? Is it possible for such an inexhaust- ing work with unprecedented cogency as well forces and of the vast structure of Beethoven's ibly lush voice to become too much of a great as unquestionable conviction. Fournet's tem- visionary score, which encompasses both the thing in a single sitting? pos in this case vary from the supposed norms: cosmic and the profoundly human, especially Most of the songs here, from the middle and The opening movement gains from his cohe- in the Agnus Dei with its terrifying plea for late parts of Brahms's career, set poems that sive drive, and the middle one is taken very inner and outer peace. One bit to which I take observe rather than participate in the emotion- expansively (but with a steady pulse) to let its exception is the sledgehammer delivery, at al state they describe, leaving Lipovsek with- remarkable content reach full bloom. very deliberate tempo, of the "Quoniam to out characters to interpret. And since she isn't The pacing of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, solus" at the very opening of that section. But one to fuss over the words like an Elisabeth too, is on the broad side, but it never seems to Schwarzkopf or Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau- lag because the narrative purpose is so well preferring a more contemporary, natural deliv- served (and Denon has indexed no fewer than ery-the songs sound too much alike. In small twenty meticulously described musical turn- doses, the performances border on the sub- ing points). Only La Peri disappoints in any lime. Played all the way through, the disc way, and not because of the performance: The might put you to sleep. Lipovsek is clearly one preceding fanfare's crisp brilliance is dimmed of the most exciting vocalists to come along in by murky sonics, and the voluptuous climaxes the past few years, and I hope she'll receive in the work itself tend to overload just a tad. better guidance in programming future re- This CD is far more than a convenient package corded recitals. D.P.S. of Dukas's orchestral masterworks, even if not every one of the recordings can quite be BRAHMS: Serenade No. 1; Haydn considered "definitive." R.F. Variations Atlanta Symphon. Ici NANDILI Semele TELARC 80349 (63 min) Battle. Horne, Ramey, Aler, others; Performance: Engaging Ambrosian Opera Chorus; English Chamber Recording: Natural Orchestra, Nelson To say that Yoel Levi responds more to the DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 435 782 lyric qualities of the Brahms Op. 11 Sere- (three CD's, 175 min) nade than to its robust ones is by no means to Performance: Excellent suggest his performance is wanting in vigor. Recording: Excellent Perhaps mindful of the work's origin as a When Italian opera lost its public support nonet, perhaps simply careful to avoid bluster, in London around 1740. Handel took up0 he has scaled his unfussy interpretation to a the cause of the English oratorio. Thus Semele1 fairly intimate level, letting the sun shine (1743), as dramatic an oratorio as can be through and letting the abundance of good imagined, was not intended for the stage. Mezzo-soprano Mariana Lipovsek tunes and intriguing colors make their points Nevertheless, the musicologist and critic Paul

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Henry Lang's assessment of it as "the first full- length English opera" seems valid-and gains added strength from this vitally dramatic performance. John Nelson and the English Cham- ber Orchestra prove that period instruments are not necessary to Handelian style: The textures are transparent, the tempos brisk, the execution precise. Lyrical passages are sometimes expansively rendered, but without Ro- mantic indulgence, and the strings play with a restrained vibrato. Happily, too, the singers are operatic stal- warts who know how to bring dramatic presence to Semele's richly characterized person- alities. The title role-a woman infatuated with Jupiter, blinded by ambition to seek divinity for herself, and paying for it with her life-is ideal for Kathleen Battle. She combines sensuous tone and technical virtuosity in all her arias, and she delivers "No, no! I'll take no less" in Act III with persuasive power. Jupiter, who appears in most of his scenes as a very human philanderer, is interpreted by the tenor John Aler with convincing lyricism. He sings the ravishing "Where'er you walk" well Kathleen Battle as Semele

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fifty-two numbers, in the original order and their way into Handel's Messiah, and while lode: to Advertisers orchestrations, and made a kind of shorter, Schatz's settings aren't as melodically engag- synoptic version of the ballet. Claus Peter ing as Handel's, his more pliable style enabled Reeder Flor, on the other hand, has drawn from the him to pay far closer attention to meaning in Smoke Re. Advertiser 111voldsor composer's suites to make a twelve -number, setting the words. There is also some fine hour-long super -suite. musical imagery, such as when the voices 1 Adconi Both of these conductors hail from Eastern leapfrog over one another in "every mountain - Advent 132 Europe. Flor, a relatively young East German, 52 Allison Acoustics 127 and hill shall be made low." Similar touches of is rapidly becoming known in Western Europe 1 Alpine II astonishing insight and grace are everywhere - American Express 30.31. 151 and the United States. This recording explains here, and I'm glad that Smith has plans to - 46.47 why. His "highlights" are more unified, more record more from this collection. D.PS. Atlantic 'technology 72a, b symphonic, and, in many ways, more dramat- - A udio-Technica 10 ic than Pesek's-for example, he opens with - BMG CD Club 32a, b the strong "Montagues and Capulets" number, - Bose 25, 81-88 plunging us right into the middle of the action. - Bose Express 139 - Boston Acoustics 2-3 This is a serious and somewhat Germanic version of the music that gives it real stature to rv, CA) SVIAPHOHT ORCHESTRA 6 Cambridge SoundWorks 59, 60-61, match its symphonic dimensions. DANIEL BARENBOIM 63, 65, 67, 68, 69 - Carver 123 13 Cerwin-Vega 93 - Chesky Records 115 11 Celestion 21 - Columbia House CD Club 16a. b - Crutchfield 57

33 DCM 15 15 Definitive Technology 38.39, 41.43 32 Ileum 79 - Design Acoustics 10 R. STRAUSS: An Alpine Symphony; - Dewar's 76-77 Die Frau ohne Schatten, Symphonic Fantasy - Drum Tobacco 133 - Dynaco 135 Chicago Symphony, Barenhoim ERATO 45997 (71 min) - Electronic Wholesalers 144 Performance: Very good - Ethan Allen 76-77 Recording: Could use more space - Fisher 44, 45 NI\ aniel Barenboim and his formidable Chi- Pesek, from the Czech Republic, gives a cago Symphony do not lack for strong 39 Int y 109 more classical version: cooler, perkier, wittier, competition in recordings of Richard Strauss's Illinois Audio 145 - more objective, and yet, in many ways, more musical "movie" of the Bavarian alps. Herbert 11 J&R Music World 140-141, 142-143 gutsy and, for that matter, more Slavic- von Karajan on DG. Bernard Haitink on Phil- - Jack Daniel's 125 Slavic a la Stravinsky or Janacek. He has a ips, and Zubin Mehta on Sony have all cap- - J VC Ill feeling for the larger movement of the piece- tured the symphonic element of this extrava- not as symphonic form but as dance theater. 45 Klipsch 117 gant score along with its picturesque aspects, And he gets in a lot of less familiar music, including the big storm with wind -machine 46 M&K Sound 131 much of it very striking. Both performances obbligato.Interpretively, Barenboim more 47 MCM Electronics 33 and recordings have a lot to recommend them, 48 Mitsubishi 6-7 than holds his own in this company. The 49 Mobile Fidelity 112 but, short of the complete ballet, I would say clarity of inner detail is especially felicitous 50 Mondial 19 that Pesek's version gives the more rounded here, stemming from an acoustic envelope picture of Prokofiev's genius, in terms of the more confining than is usually provided for - NC"I" 10 53 NHT 28.29 larger amount of music included, greater fidel- this music. The full-bodied sonics are suffi- 54 Nordic Track 33 ity to the original ballet, and the way he ciently accurate that I can detect (or think I captures the composer's wit and style. E.S. can) that the offstage horns in Section Four Onkyo 118-119 - emanate from the outer reaches of the Orches- 67 Panasonic 27 SCHUTZ: Six -Part Motets from the tra Hall parquet rather than from backstage as 55 Paradigm 121 Geistliche Chormusic, 1648 in Haitink's recording (still my first choice). - Philips 91 - Pioneer-Car (:4 Chorus of Emmanuel Music, Smith The Symphonic Fantasy on music from Die - Pioneer 49-56 KOCH 3-7174 (67 min) Frau ohne Schatten (The Woman Without a Performance: Sincere Shadow) represents the aging composer's ef- 58 Radio Shack 9 Recording: Church -like fort to give that difficult and originally unsuc- - RAO's 152 - RDL 32 ecordings of Heinrich Schutz's music can cessful opera a new life in the concert hall. 76 Reel -to -Real 401 OIL be heavy -going, but this one certainly There are lovely bits, butI remain uncon- - Road & 'track Exotic Cars 12 isn't. Though Craig Smith's Boston -based vinced by the piece as a whole. and I do not 60 Sherwood C3 Chorus of Emmanuel Music doesn't have the sense any passionate conviction in Baren- - 6th Avenue Electronics 148-149 vibratoless "white" sound of more authentic boim's conducting, either. D.H. - Sony C2, 1, 22-23 groups, the singers respond to the music's - Sound City 133, 146-147 quicksilver inventiveness with such precision - TDK 12-13 and sincerity that it's hard to imagine why it 68 'triniax 137 isn't performed more often. From Schutz's Collections 1648 collection Geistliche Chormusik ("Spiri- - U.S. Army 101 tual Choir Music"), the motets here seem to UTE LEMPER - Winston 4 anticipate Brahms with their rich, six -part Kurt Weill Vol. 2 harmonies, and their remarkable range of ex- Vainalia 107 RIAS Sinfonietta Berlin, Mauceri pression draws from both the rich, imitative LONDON 436 417 (60 min) counterpoint of the Renaissance and the more Performance: Best since Lotte Lenya direct textual dramatization of the early Ba- Recording: Excellent roque. All these styles are fused effortlessly The singer Ute Lemper does not seem to be thanks to Schiitz's clear but flexible forms. an acquired taste-people either adore her November Three of the motets use texts that also found immediately or hate her forever. I'm in the

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PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT With JAW. Extended Warrant/ Program -AA Por Details! CALL US TOLL FREE FOR ITEMS NOT LISTED IN THIS AD TO ORDER BY MAIL: SEND MONEY ORDER. CERTIFIED OR CASHIER'S CHECK. MASTERCARD. VISA. AMERICAN EXPRESS or DISCOVER CARD (Include Interbank No expiration dale and signature) To JAR MUSIC WORLD, DEPT. SR1193, 59-50 QUEENS -MIDTOWN EXPRESSWAY, MASPETN, QUEENS, NY 11378. Personal and business checks must clear our Authorization Center belore processing. Shipping. handling & insurance charge is 5.", of total order with a $4.95 minimum for orders up to $500: add 4'. for orders over $500 to $1000: add 3°. for orders over $1000. For heavyoversized items or shipments by air, please call for information. DO NOT SEND CASH. Sorry. no COD's. NY residents. please add sales tax. ORDERS SUBJECT TO VER- IFICATION AND ACCEPTANCE. NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL OR PICTORIAL ERRORS. ALL MERCHANDISE SHIPPED BRAND NEW, FACTORY FRESH, AND 100° GUARANTEED. Copynght 1993 JARiMusic World CIRCLE NO 41 ON READER SERVICE CARD CLASSICAL MUSIC

but the material itself is not terribly inspiring. nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (by Lite Lemper sings Kurt Weill Vol. 2 London John Maucen The three selections from Lady in the Dark are, Ernest Nazareth, Pixinguinha, Benedito La- however, and though when singing American cerdo, and others), with titles-Coconut Can- music in the past Lemper has seemed to ape dy, Andre of the New Shoes, Sparrows in the Barbra Streisand, here she maintains her iden- Flour (Tico-tico itself no less)as delicious as tity completely. Granted, she makes little at- the music itself. There are dance tunes from tempt to portray the character these songs the Thirties, two bossa nova songs from the were written for, the prim magazine editor movie Black Orpheus, Brazilian versions of Liza Elliott, but her own randy sensibility is Bach, and a younger Brazilian's homages to equally engaging and suits the songs well. Vivaldi, to the Rio airport, and to a ninety - John Mauceri is a sympathetic conductor, but year -old pianist known as Tia Amelia. it's curious that he allows her to drag A Saga of Brazilian music is a compound of flash, Jenny (from Lady in the Dark). D.P.S. rhythmic jump, high style, physicality, and intensity. Although its roots are in a particular PAULA ROBISON soil, it has grown enormously over the years, former category, though even my patience was Brasileirinho and, like European classical music and like tried by her recent "Illusions" collection of OMEGA 3016 (56 min) jazz, it has become increasingly attractive to songs made famous by Marlene Dietrich and Performance: Superb non -natives. Robison is not slumming; she Edith Piaf. But in this second Kurt Weill Recording: Excellent never plays down or patronizes but is always collection she's back at what she does best, and Before sambas there were clioros, the old inside the genre, performing without a trace of it's even better than Vol. I, recorded five years form of Brazilian popular instrumental affectation and with real joy. ago. Her lapses in taste are minimal, and the music, dating back to the nineteenth century Part of the success of the album is certainly years have added grit to her voice without and made famous in the rest of the world by owing to her Brazilian collaborators: Sergio forcing the sort of interpretive compromises Villa -Lobos (who wrote stylized concert ver- Brandad, who plays the cavaquinho (a twangy that Weill's celebrated widow, Lotte Lenya, sions) and Carmen Miranda (Tico-tico is a kind of old Brazilian guitar), the guitarists had to make eventually. Lemper is an ex- classic fast Moro, or chOrinho). Since the Romero Lubambo and Tiberio Nascimento, tremely rare bird: an artist with a cabaret classic choros band uses flute lead (with gui- and the excellent percussionist Cyro Baptista. singer's voice but a lieder singer's subtlety and tars and percussion), and since the flutist Another collaborator, the composer and gui- resourcefulness. Paula Robison has a wonderfully rhythmic feel tarist Stanley Silverman, is credited with the Lemper's interpretations of five songs from for this kind of music, "Brasileirinho" is obvi- album concept. Both concept and execution Happy End (including Bilbao -Song and Sura- ously a marriage made in heaven. are swell, and Robison sounds as though she baya -Johnny) are pure genius. I can't say the The heaven under which this music was would be right at home leading a carnival band same for all five selections from Marie Ga- created is a southern sky-a vast southern down the streets of Rio.I can't think of a lante, a product of Weill's brief Paris period, sky. There are pieces here that go back to the bigger compliment. E.S.

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for the concerto redeems matters. The or- JOHN BAYLESS L chestra sounds as though it had been miked The Puccir i Album-Arias for Piano under a wet blanket, a huge disappointment ANGEL 54801 (78 min) 1_= L for a live recording in Boston's Symphony A number of modern musicians are bent on Hall. In the two solo encores, Kissin is up reviving the art of transcription. Some try BOCCHERINI: Cello Concertos in D to form only in the Prelude in B -flat Major, electronics (Thomas Willibrandt), others Major and C Major; Overture; Octet; Op. 23, No. 2. D. H. humor (the Canadian Brass), but few are as Sinfonia in C Minor endearing as the pianist John Bayless, Bylsma; Tafelmusik, Lamon whose only gimmick is sincerity. This al- SONY 53121 (69 min) bum of great moments from Puccini operas That Boccherini was a serious composer of exudes respect, affection, and understand- great ingenuity is well demonstrated here ing of the music. People with an aversion to by the exquisite, divertimento -like Octet in the operatic voice might consider it a god- G Major, the quirky C Major Concerto, and send. D. PS. the dramatic C Minor Sinfonia. It's too bad that the cellist Anner Bylsma and the E NGLISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Tafelmusik ensemble under Jeanne La- B RASS: Baroque Bross mon, having accepted the notion that Boc- VARESE: Amadei/es; Offrandes; RCA VICTOR 61541 (63 min) cherini was a minor galant-style composer, Hype:prism; Octandre; Arcane Music by the Gabrielis and Co. (Banchieri, go ahead and perform him that way. Their Orchestre National de France; Nagano Clarke, Susato, Speer, Scheidt, Biber, and cool, elegant, and perfectly sound readings ERATO 92137 (58 min) Purcell being the company) arranged for a are just a little too brisk and even-tem- One shudders to think what Kent Nagano somewhat heavy modern brass ensemble pered. E.S. went through in getting this reputedly un- and recorded-in emulation of the multi - ruly French orchestra to play these brac- phonic acoustics of Venice's great cathe- RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto ing, fiercely difficult works so well. But dral of St. Mark's-with Dolby Surround No. 3; Vocalise; Prelude in B -flat while the performances also reflect Na- encoding. Authentically Baroque or not, Kissin; Boston Symphony, Ozawa gano's formidable interpretiveintellect, the sound is impressive. Unfortunately, the RCA 61548 (54 min) Pierre Boulez's sometimes messier read- perfectly competent musicians seem to be Sad to say, the quality of this release is in ings in a similar lineup on Sony are more sight-reading; except for a rousing per- inverse ratio to its advertising hype. Ev- dazzling in terms of orchestral color and formance of Clarke's Trumpet Voluntary, geny Kissin proves to be a subdued soloist, have a steely, intractable quality that suits they tiptoe through the aisles when they and not even his use of the long cadenzas this machine -age music. D. P S. ought to be ringing the rafters. E. S.

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Anne -Sophie muttera thoroughly modern fiddler BY K. ROBERT SCHWARZ

debut with Karajan in Salzburg, and in that thing she plays. "For once you get the same year she recorded with him a disc of feeling that you can be part of a creative Mozart concertos. From then until his process. It's not a question of altering a death in 1989. the two collaborated on a score, but of having this kind of dead body. series of concerto recordings, all of stan- and being the first one who gives life to it. dard repertory. "The pieces we recorded And I learned a lot from Lutoslawski and were his choice," she recalled. "Other- Rihm about the coloring of sound, about wise, I would never have played the Bee- bringing music out of silence and putting it thoven concerto at the age of fifteen, no back again. This band between piano and question about that. But I worked at the complete silence is something very beauti- Beethoven with him for two years. and ful, which you could very well find in the then he decided that he wanted to record it. Beethoven concerto." And if he was going to take responsibility. I It's precisely that remarkable coloristic could do it as well!" range, from the hushed and breathy to the Today. although Mutter continues to steely and brilliant, that is the hallmark of perform the standard concertos, much of Mutter's playing. But her timbres are not her attention has turned toward music of applied placidly, like the pastels of a water- this century. Her recent Deutsche Gram- color. Mutter deals in vibrant colors that mophon CD's have paired the Stravinsky are charged with energetic attacks and concerto with Lutoslawski, the Bartok No. sweeping physicality. 2 with Norbert Moret, and the Berg with That same forceful persona has charac- Wolfgang Rihm. Such programming would terized her public image, one of glam- not be countenanced by most topnotch orous low-cut gowns and a luxurious, violinists, who seem content to rehash the even regal lifestyle. Today, however, Romantic warhorses. But Mutter is not she'd like to put that image behind your average fiddler. Articulate and per- her. "The problem is that once you're ceptive, she can examine music on an in the public eye, everybody has a different intellectual as well as an emotional level- perspective on how a classical musician an approach that is ideal for twentieth- should behave. What is most important is century works. that you project who you really are. Of "I've come to feel very strongly about course, it's more interesting to read about Onceyou're in the public contemporary music." she declared. an artist who drives a Porsche and drinks "Also that the key role that a musician has Dom Perignon than about a working moth- eye, everybody has a must be used in a really meaningful way. er who likes to mountain -climb and drinks You can put pieces onto a program which beer. But both are true for me." different perspective on might not be appealing to the public, but Indeed, during the past year Mutter has they come because they like the artist, and been more the mother than the artist. She slowly you educate them. You have an took a season's sabbatical from the concert how a classical musician obligation to do this; otherwise, our al- circuit, spending it at home with her hus- ready small repertoire of violin music will band. Detlef Wunderlich (who was Kara- should behave." stay always like that. And you need a jan's lawyer), and their new baby girl. And reflection of our time in what you are she has cut back her concert appearances playing." from 120 a year to 60 or 80. "You are here ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER appears to pos- Unlike most performers, who play a not only to live in music, but to live as a sess absolute control over her life. work's premiere and then leave it to gather human being, to use your brain for other When I met the twenty -nine -year - dust. Mutter really champions her new things than just learning a score," she said. old German violinist at her Manhat- pieces. In fact, the works by Lutoslawski. "Now I will do less performing, but with no tan hotel earlier this year. she was Morel, and Rihm (together with an upcom- compromises. Just what I think is impor- supremely self-assured and unfail- ing concerto by Penderecki) were all writ- tant to me." ingly energetic even though she had played ten at her request, and she feels itis her By now, the international calls had re- a recital at Carnegie Hall the night before duty not only to premiere them but also to sumed, and lunch had been wheeled in on a and was about to play another one that very tour with them and then record them. "I silver cart. Mutter sprinted toward her pre - evening. Handling faxes and phone calls to did Lutoslawski's Chain 2 and the Bruch concert meal, but not before insisting that Germany, carrying out financial transac- concertothroughoutGermany-thirty- her sabbatical has had nothing to do with tions, ordering a room -service lunch, she threeconcertsinthirty-fivedays. Of fatigue. "It's not easy to burn me out," she was brisk, capable, and multilingual. It was course. sometimes people came up to me said cheerfully but with conviction. "Espe- hard to believe that not too long ago this and said, 'Thank God you played Bruch,' daily not when I eat pasta!" 0 elegant, poised woman was a teenage prod- but even more people came and said. 'That igy basking in the limelight of her mentor, Lutoslawski was a wonderful, interesting K. Robert Schwarz is a free-lance music Herbert von Karajan. Now the limelight is work.- journalist who frequently appears in the of her own devising. Mutter's interaction with living compos- New York Times. Stagebill, and other At age thirteen, in 1977. Mutter made her ers has had an unexpected impact on every- publh'ations.

ISO STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 SOUND THINKING.

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W191142 149. 4670 1119. 4660 159. 3548 239 * GRADO * PRO -AC * CWD * NILES AUDIO * 1111 770 70. 3553 289 E06500 169 COXM12 329 (1147 219. 9777 159. 4707 169. 161 132 329. 3555 35935275 239 KEXM85004090E4408200359 (0( Os 379. 3603 209. SANUS * NITTY GRITTY * DAHLQUIST * TARGET 10 DI 3410. 6396 7296256 79 K1170009 159 tPRFMiER co 7804 339 5956 439 PRECISION POWER * THORENS * STAX * PROTON * SOUND - Fel 74M 41164 CALL FOR OTHER MODELS ROCKFORD - FOSGATE _ 6444, 66444 44.114 1.0 ,V117 *yr roar 16, u Aor or 0 se Ur Err ile fa(9,hi. StamiteLI 0 SAS BAZOOKA COLLINS - JBL STREAM * SHARPVISION * SOUND ANCHORS 05 awl 460...4 MA.M r 40 104444044 M 044.04410 4040 Iw 110, 162 159 T62A 219 CALL FOR PRICES '82 209182A 249 t SONY *. SOUND SELLER, P.O. 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BYIN RALPH END HODGES

sound too spacy-often a good (and designs that perform with remarkable deliberate) thing in music reproduc- fidelity, especially at very high sound Repercussions II tion, but not always in cinema sound, levels." where the dramatic context and the di- As current JBL catalogs show, IIeturning again to the tumult oc- rector's intention may call for some- Toole really means what he is saying. casioned by this column last thing else. JBL's top -of -the -line Synthesis multi- August, "Movie Sound at Of course, if nondirectional loud- media speaker systems incorporate Home," I've checked in this speakers are handicapped by too both horn and cone -and -dome driver time with Floyd E. Toole, for- much spaciness, directional designs configurations. The hornsare merly chief of acoustics studies would seem to be limited by too little. switched in for cinema, and the cones at the National Research Council of But Toole is right on top of this one: and domes replace them for music. I Canada and now corporate vice presi- "Impressions of space, reverberation, find I am a bit unhinged by this ap- dent of engineering at Harman Inter- and surround, when they are appropri- proach, but if one must have horns for national, the parent company of JBL. ate, are generated [in a theater] main- cinema sound, I suppose it is the most The argument, for those of you com- ly by the numerous surround -channel cost- and space -effective way to get ing in late, has to do with whether loudspeakers dotted along the side them. Where Toole and I continue to "general-purpose" hi-fi loudspeakers and rear walls of the auditorium. This differ, however, is on whether cinema of good quality and adequate muscle means that listeners can experience a sound is truly deserving of a high -end can serve the needs of a home theater considerable range of spatial illusions, equipment assault. He says yes, and installation, or whether special char- from an intimate whisper in the ear, advises that if it doesn't receive one, acteristics are required to present the through conversations in a reverberant we'll never know what a film's direc- theater experience satisfactorily. I room, to immersion in a crowd of tor really meant. I, on the other hand, have taken the former position, at cheering fans at a game." Well, so far keep harking back to the time I asked least on a "try it and see if you like it" it all makes perfect sense, although it Lucasfilm's Tom Holman why, on basis. Dr. Toole has joined with others does raise some disquieting thoughts film, a punch to the jaw always in vigorous dissent. about the ultimate viability of our sounds like overripe fruit being To begin, I'll pass over his insis- conventional hi-fi loudspeakers. smashed by a heavy paddle. "It's a car- tence on timbral accuracy, wide band- Writes Toole, "The forward -firing toon!" he replied. Well, I take a back width, and high power handling without dynamic compression, since I doubt any audiophile would take exception to his views. The remaining Can good hi-fi loudspeakers with adequate criterion that concerns him, and evidently the one on which our differ- muscle serve the needs of home theater, ences have arisen, is that of auditory perspective, or "imaging." He writes, or are special characteristics required to present "The issue of 'high -end' interest is the range[emphasis added] of spatial ef- the theater experience satisfactorily? fects that can be created by a multichannel sound system. 6 6 An important distinguishing loudspeaker design that provides the seat to no one in my appreciation of characteristic of sound ingoodcine- greatest control of both vertical and cartoons, but I am not sure how will- mas," Toole continues a bit later, "is horizontal sound radiation [the great- ing I am to spend big bucks on a vain that the front loudspeakers can create est control of directionality, in other attempt to bring nonlife to life. (I say the impression of considerable intima- words] is the horn." Now here is a this while realizing that some films cy. Due to the combination of direc- proposition that will probably take have gone to extraordinary lengths to tional loudspeakers and relatively many of us aback. With all due re- provide utterly realistic soundtracks. 'dead' room acoustics, the reflected spect to Paul Klipsch, not too many But that's onlysomefilms.) sounds are well controlled." What's audiophiles have encountered horn So ends the debate for now. Al- clearly being said here is that nondi- drivers in audio showrooms in the though I have had the last word, I cer- rectional loudspeakers-a category memorable past, and some of us, tainly don't claim any sort of victory. that includes many, if not most, hi-fi thinking way back, can remember Instead, I submit that the triumph be- speakers-cannot generate the sort of why we're glad of their absence. Still, longs to those who have understood intimacy a movie soundtrack may call I can agree with Toole that "Notions that they have many options, and that for. The numerous room reflections that horns have distinctive sounds are the consequences of their choices are such speakers engender make them slowly being put to rest by new [horn] not altogether clear.

160 STEREO REVIEW NOVEMBER 1993 Even the home shopping channels soundgreat.

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