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Authentic High Fidelity by Jensen The man who owns a Jensen Imperial takes it for granted that his loudspeaker has all of the acoustical perfection possible to achieve with the latest science and engineering. Seeking all of the finer things of life, he has a natural appreciation for the complete authenticity and blending of sound ... the subtle separation of instruments ... the sheer realism that uniquely characterizes the Imperial. He is the man who has bought a loudspeaker for the utmost exhilaration and delight that great music can give when it is a truly great repeat performance with authentic high fidelity by Jensen. A Jensen Imperial is an indulgence in excitement. Do you dare to contemplate this luxury? In selected Mahogany $525.00. Satin Korina blonde $535oo. JENSEN MANUFACTURING COMPANY Division of The Muter Company 6801 S. Laramie, Chicago 38, Illinois IN CANADA: Copper Wire Products, Ltd., Licensee JUNE 1955 I www.americanradiohistory.com P I C K E R I N G models cartridges .e ie .AsLf//Gezh#,96 240 WUPhYiVdtee l... they are sold separately for all standard arms or mounted back -to -back to make up the famous PICKERIíNG 260 TURNOVER PICKUP. The 220 and 240 are engineered to maximize performance. By comparison they MODEL 220 -for 78 rpm records are without equal diamond or sapphire stylus ... The 220 and 240 are MODEL 240 -for 331 Lighter- 5'/2 grams and 45 rpm records diamond stylus only Smaller-5 /a by 3/4 by 3/8 inches The 220 and 240 haue MODEL 260 -turnover cartridge for 78 or 331/2 Highest Output -30 millivolts /10cm /sec. and 45 rpm records (the MO and 240 More Compliance with Less Tracking Force back -to -bock) Lower Overall Distortion Less Moving Mass Wider Frequency Response Mu -Metal Shielding for Less Hum 7 hese characteristics have real meaning to those who understand that maximum performance depends upon components which meet professional standards. If you want the best that high fidelity can offer, ask your dealer to demonstrate the 220, 210 end 260 Pickering cartridges .. /[C /rto-J á/r/A ccegloglom, r[dl/lJo ger.y/VddeCti PICKERING and corapatng incorporated Ocearrt8ide, L. I., Nero York - _ .. ---- - -- -. 0 -PICKERING COMPONENTS ARE PROFESSIONAL QUALITY dG fG ado- CCG'lZ tea .. Demonstrated and sold by Leading Radio Parts Distsibufrets everywhere. For the one nearest you and for detailed literature; write Dept. H -7 2 HIGH FIDELITY MAGAZINE www.americanradiohistory.com P High 3idelity T H E M A G A Z I N E FOR M U S I C L I S T E N E R S The Cover. To nearly every one of us, no Volume 5 Number 4 June 1955 doubt, has come the experience of dream- ing, while asleep, the solution of a great problem, or the creation of a splendid poem, or some kindred achievement. When AUTHORitatively Speaking 4 we awake, in most cases, if we recall the dream- accomplishment at all, it seems non- Noted With Interest sense by the light of day. But get this: 9 Art Director Roy Lindstrom, at home in Letters 22 bed, dreamt he was in his office, indulging in witty banwr with his associates. Turning As The Editors See It 33 from thorn (in his dream) he saw lying on his drawing -board a Chopin cover, which The Triple Life of Dr. Hermann Scherchen, he had just finished. In case you want to by Robert Charles Marsh 34 see exactly the same cover . .. well, your Why should a conductor- decorate left hand is touching ir. All he had do bis acreage with three recording to studios? was copy from memory. He swears this is true. The Day They Almost Got My Number, This Issue. If you want to get attention. by Herbert Kupferberg 37 beat a drum. This expression usually is A short (but heart -rending) story. used metaphorically, but in the case of Hermann Scherchen it applies almost "Baha, Betofen, and Bramsu," literally. Five years ago he passed out by George E. Posner and Robert Fink 38 scores, gave instructions to a pair of drum- The fi is high as Fujiya,ua in Old Nippon mers and conducted a recording session. The results were to give some thousands The Well- Adjusted Watt, by Irving M. Fried 40 of listeners a new view of "Papa" Haydn, A critical look at amplifiers and amplifier- standards. to put the naine Westminster ors all collec- tors' lips, and hugely to increase the fidel- Custom Installations ity- consciousness of the whole recording 42 industry. Scherchen became (perhaps along You Meet the Nicest People, But by Albert J. Franck with Ernest Ansermet) the musician most ..., 44 beloved of audio-enthusiasts, and his ver- A former record -dealer reveals some of the weirder aspects of the trade. sion of the "Military" Symphony a staple at all audio shows. It wasn't accident, as Music Makers, by Roland Gelatt 49 Robert Marsh makes clear in the lead article this time. Record Section 51 -89 Records in Review; Dialing Your Disks; Building Your Record Library; Frédéric Chopin: A Discography by Harold Schonberg CHARLES FOWLER, Publisher FM Antenna Installation, by L. B. F. Carini . 90 JOHN M. CONLY, Editor ROY H. HOOPES, JR., Managing Editor Tested in the Home 95 Associate Editors Scott are -C Amplifier; V -M Model 700 Tape Recorder; Sonotone IP ROY F. ALLISON FRANK R. WRIGHT Cartridges; Browning FM Tuner; Quiet; Lang 151V Speaker System; The Regency Radio; Collard RC -54 Changer; Pyramid Symphonette ROY LINDSTROM, Art Director Player. Editorial Assistants Miriam D Manning, Cora R. Hoopes The Listeners' Bookshelf, by R. D. Darrell ...... Io6 ROLAND GELATT, Nein York Editor Contributing Editors Audio Forum I18 C. G. BURKE I16 JAMES G. DEANE Traders' Marketplace JAMES HINTON, JR. Professional Directory 124 MANSFIELD E. PICKETT, Director of Advertising Sales Advertising Index 127 WARREN B. SYER, BUSU,ejS Manager CHRISTINE KORTE, Circulation Manager Iligh Fidelity Magazine is published monthly by Audiocom. Inc., at Great Barrington, Mass. Telephone: Groot Barrington 130o. Editorial, publication, and circulation e1lices t: The Publishing House, Great Branch Offices (Advertising only): New York: Barrington, Mass. Subscriptions: 36.00 per year in the United States rad Canada. Single copies: 50 cents will he Room 600, 6 East 39th Street. Telephone: each. Editorial contributions will he welcomed by the editor. Payment for articles accepted arranged Murray Hill 5-6332. Fred C. Michalove, Eastern prior to publication. Unsolicited manuscripts should be accompanied by return postage. Entered as Maas., under the act of 3, Manager.- Chicago: John R. Rutherford and Assoc - second -class matter April 27, 1951, at the post office at. Great Barrington, March ates, 230 East Ohio SI, Chicago, III Telephone: 1879. Additional entry at the post office, Pittsfield, Mass. Member Audit Bureau of Circulation. Printed Mass. Copyright 1955 by Audiocon,, Inc. The cover Whitehall 4 -6715: Loa Angeles: 1052 West 8th in the I1. S. A. by the Ben Franklin Press. Pittsfield, Street. Telephone: Madison 6 -1371. Edward Brand. design and contents of High Fidelity magazine arc fully protected by copyrights and must not be repro- West Coast Manager. duced in airy manner. TUNE 1955 3 www.americanradiohistory.com THE SOUND OF GENIUS..