Contents TH E HI-F I IDEA Hi-fi and stereo Hi-fi and live sound ..... 2 Hearing errors 2 Chapter 7 THE HI -F I CHAIN OF EV ENTS 4 Audio sources .................. 5 Amplifier/Receiver ............... • .. 5 Speaker systems/Headphones . ............... 6 Chapter 2 THE TURNTAB LE 7 Motor and drive system .. 7 Turntable platter ..... 9 Pick-up system ....... 9 Phono cartridge . • . • . 10 Stylus .............................. 12 Demands upon phono cartridges ...... 12 Tonearm ......... 13 Auto-return tonearm . 14 Automatic record changer ....... ... _ . 15 Anti-skating device . 15 How to read turntable specifications . • . 16 Chapter 3 THE TUNER . • . 18 AM and FM 18 Functio n of FM tuner .......... 19 FM MPX (stereo) . 2 1 Tuner controls . 22 How to read tuner specifications . 24 Chapter4 TAPE EQUIPMENT 21 Recording a nd playback process 28 Tracks . 28 Tape speeds . 29 Tape quality . 30 Low-noise high-output tape . 30 Chromium dioxide tape .......... _ ......... December, 1975 Tape deck, recorder, player? . .. _ ..... Revised Fifth Edition . 31 Dolby noise reduction system . ..... _ . 31 ...... July, 1971 Open reel, cassette, cartridge? . 32 First Edition . Published in Japan Drive mechanism . _ . 33 2 and 3 motor systems . • . 34 by PI ONEER ELECTRONIC CORPORATION Recording and playback heads . 34 3-head decks . 4-1 , 1-chome, Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153, Japan 35 Amplifiers, equalization . 36 Copyright © 7972 by Pioneer Electronic Corporation Automatic stop, auto-reverse . • . 37 How to read tape deck specifications . 37 Chapter 5 THE AMPLIFIER ................... 39 . ted amplifier receiver 39 Pre-amplifier, power a mplifier • Integra • 40 Tile Hi-Fi Idea Pre-amplifier functions · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 41 Phono equalization · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 42 Ever since the first grammophones began squeaking their scratchy messages into •• • 0 ••• Inputs . · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 42 • • 0 0. 0 0 the ears of a surprised world around the turn of the century, there has been an Tape monitoring · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 43 uninterrupted search for better, clearer, finer methods of recording and replaying Volume, balance, tone controls · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · . ........ 45 Filters, loudness co ntour · · · · · · · · 46 sounds. Yet all the major breakthroughs were made in the last two decades - the first • • 0 • •••• Headphone jack · · · · · · · · · · · · • · · · · 46 LP records, the invention of stereophonic recording and reproduction, the beginning of Power amplifier function · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 46 FM and FM stereo broadcasting, the development of noise-free amplifiers, the intro­ Criteria of quality · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · . 47 duction of solid state engineering into audio equipment and, quite recently, the advent 0 • • 0 0 •• Protector circuits · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 48 of four-channel stereo sound. Speaker terminals . · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 48 How to read a mplifier specifications · • · · · · · · · · · · · HI-FI AND STEREO Chapter 6 Here we mu st make a distinction between two terms LOUDSPEAKERS AND HEADPHONES 51 51 that are often confused: high fi delity and stereo. High Structure and functions · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 51 Double cone and coaxial spea ker s · · · · · · · · · · · fide lity or hi-fi makes very mu ch the same demands as 52 Two-way, three-way, four-way systems . 53 an oath sworn in a court of law: " ..... the truth, the Directionality · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · : : : : : : 53 whole truth, and nothing but the truth." The goal of Speaker enclosures · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 54 hi-fi is to record, preserve and rep roduce sou nd, chiefl y How to choose speakers .. · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 55 mu sic, exactly the way it was pl ayed by the performers, Crossover network, level contro ls · · · · · · · · · · · 56 without adding anything, without leaving anything out. How to read loudspeaker speci fi cations : : : : : : : : : : : 57 Headphones · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 58 Stereo, on the other hand, means that sound is E1ectrostatic headphones · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · recorded and reproduced via two channe ls in order to Chapter 7 add a directional, spatial sensation. Stereo creates th e MULTI-AMPLIFIER SYSTEMS · · · · · · · · · ~: same effect to the ear that 3-D ph otograph y offers to Reasons for multi-amplifier systems · · · · · · · · • · 59 th e eye. To continue the visual analogy: hi-fi demands Electronic crossover network · · · · · · · · · · · · · 60 sharp, clear, undistorted pictures; stereo creates an Features and drawbacks · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 61 Hints concerning multi-amplifier systems .... •... illusion of space, width, and locations. Unfortunately, the two don't always go together. ChapterS There are stereo sets on the market wh ich do not deserve FOUR-CHANNEL STEREO . 63 63 the name "hi-fi" because thei r sou nd quality is inferior. four-channe l systems · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ••• 0 ••••••• 63 Conversely, there are hi-fi systems with only one channel Discrete system · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 64 Discrete four-channel tape · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · (" monoph on ic"}. 64 Discrete four-channel disc (CD-4 disc) · · · · · · • · · · · · The ideal hi -fi system has never and will never be 66 Discrete four-channel FM broadcasts · · · · · · • · · · · · · 66 built, simpl y because the demand to speak the whole Regu lar matrix system · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · : : : : : : 67 truth and nothing but the tru th cannot be realized. SQ matrix system · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Between the perform ers in the recording studio and the Chapter 9 li stener in his livin g room, there is a long and co m­ OF DOLLARS AND DECIBELS .. ..... 68 plicated chain of equip ment and transformations, tearing Chapter 70 off something from the original sound here, adding DO'S AND DON'T · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 69 something there. These unwanted fiddlings and diddlil)gs A GLOSSARY OF AUDIO TERMS · · · · · 70 can be reduced to a min imum - an d th is is wh at h i-fi PURCHASE PLAN FOR RECORDS technology is all about - but they can never be totally 89 & TAPES ... · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·eliminated. HI-FI AND LIVE SOUND the bass-heavy bellowing of jukeboxes, the babble and On the other hand, hi-fi has things to offer that no squall of cheap transistor radios and TV sets -- the hi-fi li ve performance can match. Freedom. You, the li stener, novice hasn't had opportunity to train and hone his choose what you want to hear, when you want to hear sense of hearing. Experience shows th at, left to his own it and with whom, how many times. From this poin t resources, he wi ll usu all y choose an "impressive sound­ of vi ew, hi-fi isn't a substitute for live concert per­ ing" sys tem, mostly with exaggerated bass response and formances, it's an addition or, if you want, an poor bri ll iance. As his hearing becomes sharper, as he altern ative. gets used to the possibilities of his system and compares This brings us to another common misconception, it with his friends' hi-fi installations, he will gradually one that you find repeated in too many advertisements: ou tgrow his origina l purchase and wi ll begin to grade up. that a good hi -fi system will bring the concert hall into But since every replacement costs money, he will finally your home. It's simpl y not true, and it wou ld be bad if end up wi th a good system that has cost him much it were. First, much of the world's great music, both more than if he had bought it in the first place. We feel old and modern, wasn't composed to be pl ayed in that that ou r - and every conscien tious hi-fi salesman's - 19th century inventi on, the concert hall . Chamber advice to the hi-fi novice should be to trust a reputable music, first of all the string quartet, call s for th e manu facturer and store more than his own as yet intimacy of small rooms. Bach wrote his organ works as underdeveloped hearing. Even though, his fi rst encounter an integral part of church li turgy. Brass bands are for with hi-fi sou nd may not be pl easant at all, simply outdoors, and much modern music is composed especial­ because he is unaccustomed to hearing musical sounds ly for the recording studio and electronic reproduction. as they really are. But even those works which were intended for concert With these remarks we have fi nally touched upon the hall performance, such as the classical and romantic main theme of this booklet: How to choose a hi- fi sy mph onies, can't and shouldn't be played over a system, and how, as a salesman, to help a customer make li ving-room hi-fi system with concert hall volum e - the a wise choice. At Pi oneer, we want you to thin k in cannon in Tchai kovsky's 1812 overture wou ld shatter terms of Pi oneer hi-fi equipment, of course, and the the window panes. No, hi-fi isn't supposed to put the purpose of this brochure is to prov id e you with the concert hall in you r living-room; it's supposed to put tec~ni ca l knowledge essential for ma ki ng the right the music in your livi ng-room, and that it does cho1ce. In the fo ll owing paragraphs, you will find remarkabl y well. concise expla nations of the function of each component i~ a ~tereo hi -fi installation, as well as hints concerning HEARING ERRORS llsten mg rooms, com ponent match ing, an d a glossary While we're on the subject of misconceptions: there's of technical terms. We have tried to limit the technical another one that says "when choosing hi-fi equipment, explanations to the bare essentials (and even these have trust your ears rather than the manufacturer's specifica­ come out quite vo luminous) while avoiding over­ tions." Several reservations mu st be voiced against this simpl ificati ons and pure advertisi ng. You may wish to advice. The most important is that a person who buys a read on from this page to the end, or to skim, reading hi-fi system fo r th e first time in hi s life is in most cases onl y those sections that deal with things you are hazy ill-equipped to judge the quality of musical sound ~bout.