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Dehínö the Scenes Equipment/RecordiTape Reviews
 Scott's New
Modutron
Circuit Board
Exchange Policy

If any printed circuit board

on any Scott Modutron
component needs service,
we'll exchange it
for only $10!

Let's face it ... electronic devices are becoming pro- WHAT UNITS ARE COVERED
gressively more complex and are therefore more difficult Most of Scott's new receivers utilize Modutron con-
and costly to repair. struction. Included are the 342C FM stereo receiver, the
Scott engineers have solved this problem two ways. 382C AM/FM stereo receiver, the 386 AM/FM stereo re-
First, they minimized the need for service through care- ceiver and Scott's 2506 compact stereo systems.
ful selection of parts, then they went on to simplify ser-
ADDITIONAL PROTECTION FOR YOU
vicing through the use of replaceable Modutron circuit
boards. Scott's regular Two -Year Warranty remains fully in
All major electronic circuits are modularized on sep- effect. During the first two years there is no charge for
arate printed circuit boards ... and each of these boards either parts or labor costs. This new Modutron circuit
plugs into place on the chassis. This means that a failure board exchange policy is additional protection it . . .

in any major circuit can be repaired instantly by plug-

assures you of minimal service cost no matter how long
ging in a replacement board. you keep your Scott component.
Our new service policy allows replacement of any SCOTT AUDIO COMPONENT WARRANTY
All H.H. Scott professional quality tuners, amplifiers, receivers, compact
printed circuit board at deliberately low cost no matter stereo music systems, and loudspeaker systems are warranted against
how long you've owned your unit! defects in material and workmanship for two years from the date of sale to
the consumer. The unit must be delivered to and picked up from either
HOW SCOTT'S MODUTRON EXCHANGE an authorized Scott warranty service station or the Customer Service De-
partment, H.H. Scott, Inc.
POLICY WORKS This warranty covers repair and/or replacement of any part found by the
Should your Modutron unit ever need servicing here's manufacturer, or his agent, to be defective, including any associated labor
all you do: cost.
The above warranty does not apply to (1) accessory parts explicitly cov-
Take or ship your component to a Scott Warranty Ser- ered by the field warranty of an original manufacturer (2) units subjected
vice Station. to accidental damage or misuse in violation of instructions; (3) normal
wear and tear; (4) units repaired or altered by other than authorized ser-
Your unit will be electronically tested and the problem vice agencies; and (5) units with removed or defaced serial number.
isolated. (Experience shows that 95% of problems can
be repaired by plugging in a replacement board.) The 1970 CONSUMER GUIDE published by BUYERS
The warranty station will then exchange the defective GUIDE Magazine says: "...
as for out -of -warranty re-
board for a perfect one right from stock, or contact Scott pairs, modular circuit design can cut service bills by 40-
for air shipment. 80% compared to what it costs to have a non -modular
This means service is faster than ever before and that receiver repaired."
you pay only for troubleshooting costs, any required
alignment and the $10* exchange cost of a perfect
factory -rebuilt Modutron circuit board. Exchange price
C3SCOTT
H.H. Scott, Inc., 111 Powdermill Road, Maynard, Mass. 01754
applies only if board is not physically damaged. Export: H.H. Scott, Inc., Maynard, Mass. 01754
'or the equivalent 1970 purchasing power. © 1970, H.H. Scott, Inc.
Check No. 100 on Reader Service Card
 ``
(MICH
-)

ilf/ 4'°.°P

This is the A -6010U,

top of the TEAC tape
deck line. And these are
just a couple of its
supersonic breakthroughs:
Unique phase sensing auto
reverse operates electronically at
any chosen point on the tape. Cr it
Breaks
can take a sensing foil if desired. But don't

took for this system on anybody else's machine.

the sound
Separate heads for record and playback allow
off -the -tape monitoring while recording; most other
barrier.
machines in this price range can monitor the
sound source only.
What's the barrier to your complete sound enjoyment?
Chances are, TEAC has broken that, too.
Exclusive symmetrical control system Dual -speed hysteresis synchronous motor for capstan drive 2 exclusive

T u
AÓi01®. eddy -current outer rotor motors for reel drive Pause control Unique tape tension control 4 heads, 4 solid-state amps,
all -silicon transistors Independent LINE and MIC input controls

O
TEAL Corporom A
2000 ColoradoatiAvenue
Santa Monica. California 904erica04
Check No. 1 on Reader Service Card
 Number 79 in a series of discussions

AUDIO
by Electro -Voice engineers

Jay L. Butler
APRIL 1970 Vol. 54, No. 4 Associate Publisher
ROBERT JACKSON
Project Engineer, George W. Tillett C. G. McProud Sanford L. Cahn
Microphones Editor Publisher Marketing Director
Edward Tatnall Canby Richard Cliff Nate Rosenblatt
As aircraft become faster and more complex, the Associate Editor Design Promotion Director
need for faultless communications becomes more
vital. To this end, Electro -Voice has continued to R. Kenneth Baxter
explore new techniques of design and construction. Contributing Editors Production Manager
E -V worked closely with air -frame manufacturers
and government agencies in the development of the Herman Burstein Joseph Giovanelli Ruth E. Napp
first noise -canceling microphones. The inclusion of
Leonard Feldman Alexander Rosner Advertising Manager
small transistor amplifiers within dynamic micro-
phones (to permit plug-in replacement of less intel- Bertram Stanleigh S. L. Weingarten Mary Claffey
ligible carbon types) was another E -V achievement.
Bert Whyte Subscription Manager

Currently a new concept to aid pilots is now being FEATURE ARTICLES

introduced. It consists of a tiny microphone (plus
optional earphone) that clips to a headband or
directly to the frame of a pair of glasses. A small 18 Negative Feedback Continued Norman H. Crowhurst
(3/16" dia.) tube extends from the microphone to 22 Getting Hooked on Chamber Music Richard Freed
the lips of the wearer. In this way, the microphone
is always very close to the pilot's mouth, but does 24 The Listening Room Edward Tatnall Canby
not interfere with normal vision or speech and
leaves the hands free. 25 Quadrafonic Report
36 Loudspeakers-Past and Present Robert Berkovitz
40 Tape Deck Maintenance-Part 5 H. W. Hellyer
The entire assembly (including earphone) weighs
just 2.24 oz. to permit long periods of use without
fatigue. Normally a press-to -talk switch is provided
on the control wheel of the airplane to allow instant EQUIPMENT PROFILES
communications without unnecessary distractions.
An optional press -to -talk switch is also available. 50 TEAC Integrated Stereo Amplifier AS-200U
53 Sony Stereo Headphones DR -6A
In order to match the high level carbon microphone 54 Marantz Stereo FM/AM Receiver Twenty-two
inputs typical of aircraft radios, a two-stage tran- 58 University Bookshelf Loudspeaker Project "M"
sistor amplifier is located in the housing of the
PI -068 microphone plug. Despite complete RF 60 Ampex Stereo Cassette Deck Micro 52
shielding of the amplifier, the entire plug assembly
is only fractionally larger than a standard unit.
RECORD/TAPE REVIEWS
The dynamic element has a distinct advantage over 62 Classical Edward Tatnall Canby
reluctance elements often used for this purpose,
since distortion at high levels is substantially 67 Jazz Bertram Stanleigh
reduced, and danger of sudden failure due to 69 Light Listening Sherwood L. Weingarten
mechanical or acoustic shock is virtually eliminated.
Field service of the transducers is also a feature of 70 Tape Reviews Bert Whyte
the design.

AUDIO IN GENERAL
The response curve of the earphone optionally
available has been chosen to duplicate the output 6 Audioclinic Joseph Giovanelli 14 Tape Guide Herman Burstein
of military models selected for optimum intelligi-
bility. Five ear tips plus two microphone tubes are 8 What's New in Audio 16 Editor's Review
standard to assure that each headset fits the user 10 Behind the Scenes Bert Whyte 72 Classified
exactly.
Advertising Index

.
12 Dear Editor 74

While the basic design of both the microphone and North American Pub -
AUDIO (title registered U. S. Pat. Off.) is published by
the headset has been tailored specifically to the lishing Co., I. J. Borowsky, President; Frank Nemeyer, C. G. McProud, and
problems of aircraft communications, and has Roger Damio, Vice Presidents. Subscription rates-U.S. Possessions, Canada,
achieved TSO approval from the FAA, the headsets and Mexico, $5.00 for one year; $9.00 for two years; all other countries, $8.00
can also solve related communications problems. per year. Printed in U.S.A. at Philadelphia, Pa. All rights reserved. Entire con -
In addition, variations for such applications as
broadcast commentary, ham radio, and other uses
are now in development. ., tents copyrighted 1970 by North American Publishing Co.
paid at Phila., Pa.
Second class postage

REGIONAL SALES OFFICES: Jay L. Butler and Sanford L. Cahn, 41 East 42nd
St., New York, N.Y. 10017; Telephone (212) 687-8924.
For reprints of other discussions in this series, HIGHTFIDELITY Jay Martin, 15010 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, Calif. 91403; (213) 981-7852.
.,, ,.c..r.
or technical data on any E-V product, write: INC

ELECTRO -VOICE, INC., Dept. 403A REPRESENTATIVES: United Kingdom: H. A. Mackenzie and Peter E. Holloway,
4a Bloomsbury Square, London W.C.1. Tel. HOL -3779.
602 Cecil St., Buchanan, Michigan 49107
Continental Europe: John Ashcraft, 12 Bear St., Leicester Square, London
W.C. 2. England. Tel. 930.0525. For Benelux & Germany: W. J. M. Sanders,
Mgr, Herengracht 365, Amsterdam, Holland. Tel. 24.09.08.
Japan: Matsushita Inc., 709 Kitano Arms, Hirakawa-Cho, Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo.

g.,ceerofer.
A SUBSIDIARY OF GULTON INDUSTRIES, INC.
AUDIO Editorial and Publishing Offices, 134 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107
Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to the above address

AUDIO APRIL 1970

Check No. 2 on Reader Service Card
 the AR guarantee:
not one cent for parts,
not one cent for labor,
not one cent for service charges,
not one cent for freight.

AR guarantees are unmatched in the high fidelity industry. They are also easy
to read. We believe that when a consumer buys a product, he should get one that
works as he has been told it will work for the price he has been asked to pay.
If the product then fails to operate correctly through no fault of the consumer, the
manufacturer must accept responsibility for the failure at no cost to the
consumer. A guarantee under which the consumer is forced to pay, perhaps
repeatedly, for the manufacturer's errors, is not fair.
Acoustic Research guarantees its loudspeaker systems for 5 years, its turntable
for 3 years, and its amplifier and receiver for 2 years from the date of purchase. During
this time, if a product we have made fails to operate properly through no fault of
the owner, Acoustic Research takes full responsibility for the necessary
repairs. There is no charge for parts which need to be replaced; no charge for
the labor of locating these parts and replacing them; no "service charge" by
Acoustic Research or its authorized service stations; no charge for
shipping, whether to the nearest authorized service station or all the way to our
factory in Cambridge and back; not even a charge for a new carton and
packing materials, if these are needed. The only cost to the owner is
inconvenience, which we deeply regret and make every effort to minimize.

Acoustic Research Inc.

24 Thorndike Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02141

Acoustic Research International

Radiumweg 7, Amersfoort, Holland
Check No. 3 on Reader Service Card
 There are 202 parts
in a Garrard automatic turntable.
We make all but a
piddling few.
 Today's automatic turntable is a thousandth of an inch. Motor pulleys Our home.
beastly sophisticated device. must meet the same standard. At last census the total population
The Garrard SL95B, below, has "When you make them yourself," of Swindon, England was 97,234. Gar-
202 different parts. observes Mr. Mortimer "you can be rard employs a rather large share of
That is, unless we tally the "parts" that finicky. That, actually, is what them, and has for fifty years.
that go into such final assembly parts sets us apart." "Not everyone has been here.
as the motor and pickup arm. In from the year one as have," smiles
I

which case the total is more like 700. Mass produced, by hand Mortimer "but we have 256 em-
A few of these parts we buy. ployees with us over 25 years. Many
Mostly springs, clips and bits of trim. Despite its place as the world's are second and third generation.
But the parts that make a Garrard largest producer of component auto- "It's hardly your average labor
perform, or not perform, we make matic turntables, Garrard stubbornly force. Everyone feels a part of it."
ourselves. eschews mass production techniques.
Every Garrard is still made by
To buy or not to buy hand. The sum of our parts
Each person who assembles a
At our Swindon works, in England, part tests that finished assembly. Today's SL95B is the most highly
a sign reads "If we can't buy sur- And before each turntable is perfected automatic turntable you
passing quality and absolute accu- packed in its carton, 26 final tests are can buy, regardless of price.
racy, we make it ourselves." performed. Its revolutionary two -stage syn-
E. W. Mortimer, Director of Engi- Thus, we're assured that the pre- chronous motor produces unvarying
neering Staff and a Garrard employee cision achieved in its parts is not lost speed despite extreme variations in
since 1919, says "That sign has been in its whole. line voltage.
there as long as I can remember. Its new counterweight adjustment
"But considering the precision of screw lets you balance the tone arm
today's component turntables, and
Swindon, sweet Swindon
mass to within a hundredth of a gram.
the tolerances we must work to, the In fairness to other makers, we Its patented sliding weight anti -
attitude it represents is more critical confess to a special advantage. skating control is permanently accu-
now than it was even ten years rate.
ago." And its exclusive two -point rec-
Our Synchro-Lab motor is a ord support provides unerringly
perfect example. gentle record handling.
To limit friction (and rumble) You can enjoy the SL95B, the
to the irreducible minimum, we sum of all our parts, for $129.50.
super-finish each rotor shaft to one Or other Garrard component
microinch. models, the sum of fewer parts, for
The bearings are machined to a as little as $44.50.
tolerance of plus or minus one ten - Yourdea ler can helpyou decide.

AUDIO APRIL 1970 Check No. 5 on Reader Service Card 5

A UiIiOCIìAiC JOSEPH GIOVANELLI

Peak Level Indicator that you calibrate the lamp to flash at a gassy condition in the tubes and hum in
point somewhat below the actual danger the amplifier. As you can guess, when the
Q. I like to listen to music at very point. Check the calibration from time line voltage is reduced, the output stage
loud levels. to time to be sure that the neon lamp will not draw as much current, and the
My question is: can I hook up some has not changed its firing characteristics. gassy condition will not take place.
type of flashing light or buzzer circuitry How much bias should be applied to
to warn me of the high power levels your output tubes? Check a tube manual.
which can damage my speakers?-Douglas Unusual Hum Problem See what the tube manufacturer calls
Parker, Los Angeles, Cal. for in terms of both grid bias voltage and
A. I do not suggest a buzzer for this Q. I have a tube-type amplifier. Since
purchasing it, I have lived in three dif- plate current. Adjust the bias pots ac-
application as its sound may be drowned cordingly.
out by the "very loud level" at which ferent apartments. Here is where the
Not all amplifiers employ fixed bias;
you plan to listen. problem begins.
In the first apartment the amplifier some use cathode bias. In some instances
The information you need can be ob- the cathode biasing resistor is also by
tained by the use of a neon lamp con- produced an audible hum. I checked out
all the tubes, circuits, cables, and shield- passed with an electrolytic capacitor.
nected to the secondary of a step up Should this capacitor become shorted or
transformer. You could use an ordinary ing. All seemed well. I noticed that, when
the noise was most audible, one of the leaky, this will reduce the amount of
output transformer for this application, resistance between cathode and ground,
connected backwards. You would need to tubes glowed red hot and another gave
which will result in the output stage's
protect the neon lamp with a suitable off a violet color. Also, the hum would
drawing more current than it should,
series resistor. You also must provide continue at a constant level, then sud-
denly increase in volume, and then re- leading to your present problem.
some means of calibrating the system. The signal is supplied to the output -
See Fig. 1. turn to the constant level. The sound was
tube grids by way of coupling capaci-
Neon lamps fire on peaks, responding there with either "phono" or "tuner".
tors. If one or both of these becomes
quickly to excitation. However, these I moved into my second apartment. I
leaky, d.c. voltage from the driver stage
peaks must he of relatively high voltage, wired everything up. I had no hum, no
will be applied to the grids, reducing or
glowing tubes-just very acceptable per-
even eliminating the bias voltage. Check
formance from my system.
this source of potential trouble, too.
In my third apartment I am again
As you can see, this is not a problem
plagued with the hum and glowing
which has to do with transistor gear.
tubes.
What causes the hum? What can be Transistors have their own problems, but
you won't find a gassy one.
done about it? Would I have the same
problem with a transistor amplifier?-
Richard Peterson, Iowa City, Iowa. Woofer and Tweeter Interaction
100K (CURRENT A. I suspect that the differences in
LIMITING) Q. In his book, LOUDSPEAKERS, G.
your amplifier's performance in your three A. Briggs suggests using the ordinary 8 -
apartments results from variations in line inch speaker, mounted in an enclosure
voltage. When you lived in the apart- measuring approximately 23 by 11 by 9
ment which produced the humless ampli- inches, in what appears to be an RI
fier operation, I suspect that the line manner, which I remember somewhat
OUTPUT XFORMER (REVERSED)
NOTE: voltage was lower than normal. Higher fondly. Now, if I were to mount an 8 -
DUPLICATE FOR STEREO
line voltages brought about the condition.
1

2 100K POT MAXIMUM inch speaker, as he suggests, would there

RESISTANCE TO START I do not know anything about your par- be any woofer and tweeter interaction or
ticular amplifier, inasmuch as no brand distortion resulting because of boring
was indicated. All I can do, therefore, is another hole and mounting a small
Fig. 1-Peak level indicator.
give you some general observations with tweeter?-William Weiss, Los Angeles,
more than 90 volts. This is more than is the hope that one of them will be the Cal.
available from an amplifier feeding 8 -ohm right one. A. There is no problem at all in this
speakers, even when this amplifier is Many amplifiers employ what is known regard. The amount of internal volume
putting out really high power. Under as "fixed bias." This is an arrangement lost by virtue of the tweeter's presence
these conditions, the current is high, but whereby bias for the output tubes is ob- will not make any difference to the oper-
the voltage is low. That is why the step- tained from a bias supply rather than ation of the woofer. Further, no pressure
up transformer is needed. The ordinary from a cathode biasing resistor. Perhaps waves from the woofer can affect the
output transformer will produce too high this "fixed bias" voltage is too low. tweeter because of its sealed back.
a voltage. Further, the neon lamp will Usually this can be corrected by a pot
tend to draw too much current even incorporated in the amplifier for this pur- If you have a problem or question on
when the voltage is just above the igni- pose. Sometimes this adjustment takes the audio, write to Mr. Joseph Giovanelli
tion point. It is for this reason that a form of two pots, one for each output at AUDIO, 134 North Thirteenth Street,
series resistor must be used to feed the tube (in the case of a mono amplifier ). Philadelphia, Pa. 19107. All letters are
lamp. Assuming that this bias voltage is too answered. Please enclose a stamped,
The calibrating pot is used to set the low, the output tubes will draw too much self-addressed envelope.
point at which the lamp fires. I suggest current, which, in turn, will lead to a

6 AUDIO APRIL 1970

AMONG HI-FI SPEAKER MANUFACTURERS
CROWN'S DC300 IS MORE WIDELY USED
THAN ALL OTHER AMPLIFIERS COMBINED
does that tell you something?
If you attended the last L.A. High Fidelity Show, you 300 watts/channel RMS into 4R DC-20KHz at 0.02% THD
may remember seeing Crown DC300's working in almost IM distortion under 0.05%, 1/10 watt to 300 watts
every speaker manufacturer's exhibit. And, if you could S/N 100db below 150 watts RMS
visit their factory engineering and test labs, you would see 3 -year warranty on parts and labor
DC300's in nearly every plant. The reason is obvious. Damping factor greater than 200
Manufacturers choose lab equipment strictly for utility. Individual proof -of -performance record
They 'must hear the sound precisely as their speakers Made only in America
express it, with no distortion, no noise whatsoever. Of
course, this is also what you want.
If you suspect your hi fi system isn't living up to its full

capabilities, visit your Crown dealer this week. Pick out a

pair of speakers and ask him to set up an A -B test between
a DC300 and any other brand amplifier. Your ears will tell

you what you've been missing. Send us your name and we'll
mail you several unusually admiring test lab reports from
magazines like Audio, High Fidelity and Stereophile. Plus
some literature with the most astonishing set of specs and
graphs you've ever seen. But don't wait. Because you'll
never know how great your system can sound, till you have
the Crown DC300. BOX 1000, ELKHART, INDIANA, 46514
Check No. 7 on Reader Service Card
 What's New In Audìo
Coming
ín Lafayette LR-1500TA
AM/FM Receiver
May Lafayette Corporation have just intro-
duced a new receiver which features an
`electronic tuning' circuit, automatic over-
load protection, built-in AM/FM anten-

AB Convention Preview-a look

at some of the new products and
New Sony Receiver
Sony announce a new low-priced AM/FM
receiver, Model STR-222. Using 28 tran-
sistors, 1 FET, and 19 diodes, it has most
, 111111111111111e--

details of the papers to be pre- of the features of more expensive receiv-

sented. ers-but with a lower power output ( 8
watts per channel). FM sensitivity is
Tape Cassettes and the Dolby quoted at 2.0 microvolts, and AM is
rated at 10 microvolts. The STR-222 nas, muting switch, front and rear tape -
System-E. T. Canby
output jacks, low- and high -frequency
comes complete with built-in AM an-
tenna plus FM ribbon dipole. Price filters, and a dual speaker system switch.
Negative Feedback-Norman $149.50. Output power is quoted as 220 watts
Crowhurst concludes this series ( IHF) total, with a power bandwidth of
Check No. 22 on Reader Service Card
of articles. 18 to 55,000 Hz.
Price $299.95
Getting Hooked on Chamber Check No. 25 on Reader Service Card
Music-Richard Freed concludes
this article with another list of Kenwood KR -7070 Receiver
recommended records. This is the top-of -the-line AM/FM re-
ceiver and it features crystal filters, auto-
A New Electronic Synthesizor- matic protection circuits, step -type tone
Alfred Mayer describes a low- controls, a `presence' control, high- and
low-frequency filters, a 3-FETS, 4 -gang
priced voltage -controlled unit.

Equipment Profiles will include:

Advent Balance Control
Citation 12 Amplifier kit
Ferrograph 724 Tape Recorder

PLUS

Behind the Scenes with Bert Epicure 150 speaker system

An extra -wide dispersion is claimed for tuning capacitor `front end' with a 1.5-
Whyte and all the regular fea- 07 sensitivity and 1.5-dB capture ratio,
this new Epicure system and the fre-
tures, tape and record reviews. and automatic tuning. This is a scanning
quency response is quoted as 35 Hz to
15,000 Hz (±3 dB). Cabinet size is 11" system which can be set to operate on
by 15" by 25" and it is trimmed with wal- stereo stations only if desired, and a re-
nut and brass with a dark grille cloth. mote control unit is included. IHF power
About the cover, this fine installa- Price $139 is claimed to be 300 watts.
tion is in the home of Charles Price Check No. 23 on Reader Service Card Price $549.95
of Kansas City and it was designed Check No. 28 on Reader Service Card
by David Beatty Stereo. The amplifier
and tuner are McIntosh, the turn- BASF Tape Starter Kit
table a Miracord 50H fitted with a Ideal for beginners, this kit includes a 4 - Books by Norman Crowhurst
Shure V15 cartridge. An Ampex cas- reel assortment of BASF tape, a spare pro- A list of books by this talented and pro-
sette tape recorder can just be seen fessional-type reel, instructional literature lific writer. Includes books on electronic
but the loudspeakers (JBL-44's) are and a hobby box. organs, stereo multiplexing, public ad-
well -concealed behind the blue grille Price $19.99 dress systems, and mathematics.
cloth in the wall. Check No. 24 on Reader Service Card Check No. 36 on Reader Service Card

AUDIO APRIL 1970

8
 You're
surrounded
...by beautiful music
Now, with JVC's superb new model 5303 ornni-directional speaker
system, the rich, erthralling sounds of stereo are all around you.
It's as though you were in the micbt _f a hot combo or a symphony
orchestra.
Since sound, as if emanates from musical instruments, is omni-
directional, it makes sense that you need omni-directional speakers to
enjoy it in its purest state.
The 5303's pulsating sphere makes chat pcssible. Four free edge woofers
and four horn tweeters on a globular d aphragm and encased in a punched
metal enclosure ensure if:.
You're surrounded, but free. Free to move anywhere in the room
without losing the slightest nuance of stereophonic brilliance, free from
the confining feeling of one -position listening.
If the idea of complete, all -encompassing sound captivates you, surround
yourself with a new JVC 5303 omni-directional system. Visit the JVC
dealer nearest you and give yourself up-to total stereophonic pleasure.
list price: $199.95

Catching On Fast

JVC
JVC America, Inc., 50-35, 56th Road. Maspeth New York, N.Y. 11378 A Subsidiary of Victor Company of Japan, Limited, Tokyo, Japan

Check No. 9 on Reader Service Card

BEHIND THE SCENES BERT.,

Remember way back in the early '50's operated portable recorder. speeds. All are biased for Scotch 203 tape.
when all the hi-fi shows were involved Well, friends, this little recorder costs Thus you can have mono full-track heads,
with binaural and stereo sound, which for $1300 and it is worth every nickel. It is or stereo half-track or practically any com-
the most part was of the ping-pong vari- called the Stellavox SP 7 and is one of the bination. The recorder furnishes synchro-
ety? One of the favorite stunts was to most incredible pieces of precision audio nizing signals to drive movie cameras. The
"run a railroad train through the room," equipment I have ever had the pleasure mono full -track assembly has erase, re-
between the two speakers. I was with of evaluating. It is made in Switzerland cord, and playback heads, and a fourth
Magnecord in those days, and we were and in feel and appearance reminds one neo -pilot sync head. The neo -pilot head
great "train runners." You know what it of Leica and Linhof cameras. Incorpo- cannot be fitted to the stereo head assem-
took to make a stereo recording of a train rated in this tiny recorder are more ad- bly because of crosstalk, so alternatively
in those days? You loaded up the trunk of vanced ideas and facilities than exist in a third track is fitted in the center between
your car with equipment and headed for even the most sophisticated full-size pro- the two stereo tracks and furnishes a
the railroad tracks. Then we set up gen- fessional equipment. Hard to believe? synchrotone for camera sync. The third
erators and converters, the old staggered The recorder operates on 12 penlight synchro track can also be used to activate
head PT6 transport plus the stereo elec- batteries. The alkaline type will permit a slide projector with a special accessory.
tronics, mike stands, cables, mikes. If you 6 to 8 hours of recording. It can also use Equalization will be correct for a given
were going to be fancy and use U47 Tele- rechargeable nickel cadmium batteries speed only if the corresponding head
funken's, you had to set up their power and external a.c. power which will re- block is plugged in. For example 73i-ips
supplies and then run power lines to them. charge the nicad batteries. The motor is speed with 7%i: stereo head block in place.
Recently in a fit of nostalgia, I made a a servo -control type which drives the cap- All heads in the blocks are pre -aligned and
new stereo train recording. It was at night. stan directly. A photo -electric sensor de- no adjustment is necessary when inter-
There was a foot of snow on the ground. livers a signal related to the speed of a changing head blocks. All head blocks per-
The temperature was 9 degrees. I made special motor rotor. This signal is treated mit off -the -tape monitoring, which can
the recording on a battery operated stereo and amplified to control a servo amplifier, be checked either by mono speaker or
tape machine that measured 8 by 10 by 3 which supplies current to the motor. A headphones.
inches and weighed 8 pounds. I operated tiny motor meter on the front panel of the On the top plate of the recorder is a
at 15 ips ... nothing chintzy about me! recorder indicates correct motor speed. two -position switch which controls mike
input. One position is for conventional
I had the recorder around my neck and The pinch wheel is solenoid operated
my hand held an Electro -Voice RE15 car- so the recorder can be remotely con- low -impedance dynamic types, the other
dioid mike which was connected to the trolled. All the electronics for the recorder for transistorized condenser mikes of the
left input of the recorder. My long-suffer- are epoxy -encapsulated plug-in modules. type that can be powered through the
ing wife held another RE15 thirty feet to The recorder operates at 3% ips, 731 ips, audio connection lines. This means you
my right facing the tracks. We hear the 15 ips, and 30 ips. Speed change is com- can do remote or location recordings with
train whistling in the distance. I start the pletely electrical. With a special accessory, the SP7 with such mikes as the Sennheiser
recorder and activate the stereo automatic tape speed can be varied from 1 to 30 ips. MKH405 powered right from the recorder.
gain control. The train roars down the What is called the Stellavox Head Device On the front panel of the recorder are the
track, whistle tooting, passes us (giving is a precision die-cast head block which monitoring facilities, consisting of two
us a real nice doppler effect) and the contains not only the heads but has incor- calibrated VU meters, which read on play-
clinkety-clank of wheels on rails fades into porated in it the provisions for equaliza- back as well as record. Two calibrated
the distance. We rewind the tape and tion and bias. The head blocks are inter- volume controls handle the stereo chan-
listen to the recording via the monophonic changeable for different formats and nels for recording. A switch on the right
monitor speaker. Crazy, man! It's on the
tape all right! We rush home to play the
tape on our big stereo system. 300 watts
RMS per channel. That should do it! We
crank up the gain control. The tape is
now feeding through the gate of our big
15-ips machine and there is the first whis-
tle and suddenly this monster train is roar-
ing across the living room and the cat is
running for it's life!
How good was the recording? Just su-
perb. Terrifying in it's realism. Ultra wide
range, top and bottom. Far better than
the recordings we made in the old days.
Now the cynics and skeptics among you
are wondering how we could get such a
good recording from a little old battery-

10 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 rt Rall

I_1IIII) BUGGY
SnVIETI_VIES WEIGHS
3/4 GRAM
v-15 TYPE II (IMPROVED)
The same inertial forces that make a vehicle airborne when cresting a hill
affect the tracking force of the phono stylus. Record surfaces, unfortunately,
4 are a morass of miniscule hills and valleys. When the stylus is nominally
tracking at 1 gram, this force significantly increases as the stylus enters a
"hill," and decreases as it begins the downward "plunge." In addition,
frictional characteristics of the tone arm or record changer mechanism may
OR IGINAL V-15 TYP E further affect uniformity of tracking forces; however, the Shure V-15 Type II
Improved Cartridge retains its trackability throughout the audio spectrum.
It accomplishes this difficult task within a critically determined latitude of
tracking forces (3/4 to 11) to insure continuous contact with the groove walls
regardless of the varying tracking forces caused by the hills and valleys in
TRACKABILITY CHART (1 GRAM STYLUS FORCE)
a record groove.
Here is why fractions-of -a -gram are important to record and stylus -tip life:
3/agram tracking exerts a pressure of 60,000 lbs. per sq. in. on the groove
walls-and this rises to 66,000 lbs. per sq. in. at 1 gram, and 83,000 lbs. per
sq. in. at 2 grams. At 2 grams you have added over 111/ tons per sq. in. to
the groove walls over 3/a gram tracking! Think about it.

S H V 1=1E V-15 TYPE II (LMPROVED)

Shure Brothers Inc., 222 Hartrey Avenue, Evanston, Illinois 60204
Check No. 11 on Reader Service Card
side of the panel controls tape motion and like gold-plated battery contacts, and Noise Reduction
there is a special position labeled "auto- so on, but I think you can believe by now
matic." This starts the tape and activates what a fantastically versatile unit the In this month's tape column, you will
a stereo automatic gain control, which can Swiss have built. find me lamenting about the excruciating
be very handy if you are in a situation What about it's performance? I have hiss which is such a drawback to the
where you may not have time to set your made flawless recordings from discs and otherwise attractive idea of cassettes. Hiss
gain manually. I used this facility when "off the air." In a few days I am going is of course a problem with open-reel
I recorded the train. The left panel of the to record a jazz group in a night club. My tapes and 8 -track cartridges as well. By
recorder accepts stereo mike inputs, line good friend Marc Aubort, of Elite Rec- the time you read this, the Advent Corp.
in and out, headphone input, camera ords, one of the top recording engineers of Mass. will have demonstrated the first
sync -signal output, and external power in New York owns this particular Stella - Dolby consumer -type noise reduction
supply. vox. In his studio I have heard a recording unit, built by Advent under a license
This remarkable unit normally uses 5- of soprano and chamber orchestra that agreement with Dolby Laboratories. This
inch reels which have screw -down reel Marc made with the Stellavox in Boston unit is basically similar to the Dolby sys-
holders. There is a smoked plexiglas top Symphony Hall. The quality was quite tem built into 2 models of KLH tape re-
cover which latches securely to the top literally astonishing! Utterly clean, with- corders. It employs what Dolby terms
"B Type" noise reduction, which is a
plate. In this fashion the recorder can be out the slightest hint of wow or flutter. No
single -band system, as opposed to the
subjected to high "G" forces while in one, including Marc, is suggesting that
4 -band system of the professional A310
operating condition ( reporter running this tiny recorder can replace all the big
unit. The band used covers the hiss fre-
after Racquel Welsh for example) with- professional recorders. But it can do
quencies and the device gives 8 dB of
out any tape -speed variation or stalling. things few other units are capable of
reduction at 2 kHz, rising to 10 dB at
With the top cover removed and the addi- duplicating. With this kind of quality so 5 kHz. With the Advent unit you have the
tion of extension arms, reels up to the easily portable, all sorts of fascinating facility of using the Dolby System with
professional 1031 inches can be accommo- ideas come to mind for location and out- any kind of tape-recording format. Report-
dated! It seems inconceivable that this door recording. This Stellavox is so "far edly, you can record and playback with
small -motored unit would have sufficient out," that at the 30-ips speed and some the unit. Presumably a playback only unit
torque to handle these large reels ( and I special plug-in modules, recordings can will be forthcoming and this assumes the
haven't seen them at all ), yet it is so be made up in the ultrasonic region, and existence of "Dolbyized" pre-recorded
claimed. We had extension arms on the it has been used to record the sound of tapes. There is little doubt that some
old Magnecords, but they never worked dolphins and certain insects! The Stella - company will take the plunge in this direc-
too well, having high wow and flutter. vox SP7 is imported by the Sennheiser tion, and when they do, others will surely
I could go on and on about this Stellavox, Electronic Corp. of New York. follow suit. /E

tapes, but is a complete presentation of vides as thorough and comprehensive fre-

Dear Editor..... the entire season of the Boston Sym-
phony, under the direction of William
quency -response and distortion data as
we publish and distribute for all of our
Steinberg and other famous conductors. loudspeaker systems ( including the
On page 22, the Boston Symphony 4 - AR -5) .
channel broadcasts are mentioned, and a ROBERT BERKOWITZ
diagram given suggesting a speaker ar- Acoutic Research, Inc.,
AR and 4 -channel rangement for listening to the broadcasts. Cambridge, Mass. 02141
It is always a pleasure to see the activi- The diagram, unfortunately, is an incor-
ties of our company reported in the press. rect representation of a system which we Glad to set the record straight-but sorry
We were therefore pleased to see Acous- are no longer using. The correct arrange- that AR has no plans for 4 -channel am-
tic Research mentioned several times in ment is quite simple and requires no plifiers-yet. The information concerning
the January 1970 issue of Aunso. How- diagram: WCRB represents the front two WCRB's microphone placement came
ever, a number of editorial statements channels and WGBH the rear. direct from that station, and the rather
with which our name is associated are Also on page 22 is a statement about unusual arrangement was in fact queried
incorrect. Vanguard Recording Company and by Len Feldman. It would seem that they
On page 12, Bert Whyte reports that Acoustic Research, Inc., i.e., "these two have had second thoughts... .
"AR is expected to follow suit with" a firms have been sponsoring a series of Although AR do not publish the fre-
single -chassis 4 -channel amplifier. This is live symphonic concerts utilizing the reg- quency-response measurements in the usu-
not true, nor is there any basis for that ular subscription series of the famed al manner (within x dB, 20 Hz to 22,000
statement in any AR announcement or Boston Symphony Orchestra." This state- Hz) they do make available very compre-
activity, public or private. It is worth ment is incorrect, as Vanguard Recording hensive specifications covering transient
pointing out that in Mr. Whytés discus- Company has had no connection with the and frequency response, distortion, and
sion of 4-channel broadcasts, he fails to presentation or preparation of any of complete polar diagrams. I only wish some
mention that the first and only continuing these broadcasts. other manufacturers would adopt the
series of 4 -channel broadcasts is that On page 62 is a review of the Acoustic same procedure-Ed.
which Acoustic Research presents to Bos- Research AR -5 loudspeaker system in To Charles M. Isherwood who writes
ton area listeners every Saturday night. which is the statement, "AR does not asking for "assistance, moral, spiritual or
These are the only live 4-channel broad- specify frequency response in its pub- physical" regarding a tape recorder. We
casts in the country at the present time. lished specifications ...." Although we may not be able to offer much in the way
Unlike the other broadcasts that Mr. do not give brief verbal specifications of of spiritual comfort but we might be able
Whyte mentions, the Boston series does frequency response, we know of no other to help in other ways-if only we could
not consist of sampler or experimental manufacturer of loudspeakers who pro- have your address.

12 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 "... (the Dynaco A -25's) are quite probably
the best buy in high fidelity today."
The Stereophile Magazine.

Dynaco designed the A-25 loudspeaker

system to have the most accurate repro-
duction of any speaker available, regard-
less of price, yet at a low cost to the
consumer. Here's what two of the most
respected publications say about the re-
DYNACO A-25 sults of our efforts.
$79.95

The Stereophile, Vol. 2, No. 9 Julian Hirsch in Stereo Review, June, 1969
"... (when) some really deep stuff came along ". . the Dynaco had a remarkably neutral
.

.. what came out of the A -25's simply defied quality. Many speakers have response irreg-
belief, for they went deeper even than two of ularities that ... leave no doubt in the listener's
our standard systems . We were certainly
. . mind that he is listening to a speaker. The A-25
not prepared to find these piddling little Dyna had less of this coloration than most speakers
systems going flat down to 35 Hz and rattling we have heard, regardless of price ... nothing
windows at a hair below 30 Hz! ... these A -25's we have tested had a better overall transient
are better than anything else we've ever response ... Not the least of the A -25's attrac-
encountered for less than $200 each ..." tion is its low price of $79.95.

«The excellent overall

transient response of the
Dynaco A-25 speaker system
is shown by the tone -burst " IJddihlililìllIlhld:
response photos at (left to Iil(IIIUIIIIJIti
right) 600, 2,000 and 10,-
000 Hz.', (Stereo Review)

Send for literature or pick some up at your dealer where you can also hear the A-25

dynraco INC_ 3060 JEFFERSON ST., PHILA., PA. 19121

IN EUROPE WRITE: DYNACO A/S, HUMLUM, STRUER, DENMARK

AUDIO APRIL 1970 Check No. 13 on Reader Service Card 13

Tape Guide HERMAN BURSTEIN

Cross -Field Heads If the Y -connector does not work power is drawn to the earphones be-
satisfactorily in playback, then you cause I can't hear anything from my
Q. I have been told that the cross- can go to a simple switching arrange- speakers. What might be the reason
field head has more distortion than ment whereby you alternately connect and what can I do?-Martha Flack,
the conventional type. Is this true? If the hot lead of each machine's output APO San Francisco, California.
so, do the advantages of the cross -field cable to the hot terminal of the pre - A. It seems that the earphones are
head outweigh its bad points?-Rich- amp's tape input jack. Alternatively, shorting out the playback signal. Ap-
ard Cleary, APO San Francisco, Cali- you could use one of the mixers on parently the source impedance of the
fornia. the market, feeding the output of the tape recorder is a good deal higher
A. To my knowledge, the cross -field tape machines into the mixer, and the than the loud impedance presented
head does not cause more distortion mixer output into the preamp's tape by the earphones. Have you tried
than does the conventional type of re- input jack. using high -impedance earphones?
cording head. However, if this head Does your audio system amplifier pro-
uses insufficient bias in order to Tape Storage vide a place for monitoring by ear-
achieve extended treble response, Q. What is the best way to store phones?
then extra distortion would result. tapes? My tape machine has the auto- If I am correct that your earphones
matic reverse function, which nine are of much too low impedance to be
Double Recording times out of ten means my tapes will used satisfactorily with your tape re-
be returned to their containers tightly corder, and if you don't wish to buy
Q. Would you be good enough to new ones, you might be able to obtain
wound. My tape machine has a ten-
suggest a method whereby I could an impedance-converting transformer
sion selector that provides a setting
use two tape decks and an audio to be used between the tape deck and
preamp so that I could record and
for use with 112-mil tape. Would you
advise my using the 112 -mil setting? the earphones. Consult electronic
play back from a common source. If supply houses for an appropriate
this is not possible, is there a unit or
-DuLaurence A. Miller, APO San
Francisco, Calif. transformer. However, this might not
circuit or perhaps a switching ar- be cheaper than buying new, high -
rangement that could be used. Per- A. The preferred way of storing is impedance earphones.
haps recording and playback from after operation in the normal operat-
deck to deck could also be incorpor- ing mode (such as 7.5 or 3.75 ips) 15 ips?
ated.-J. Metz, Chicago, Illinois. and tail out (last part of the record-
ing at the outside of the hub). Ac- Q. I am considering the purchase
A. I assume that you want to be cordingly, when you come around to of a tape deck for dubbing purposes.
able to record into your two tape playing the tape, you are obliged to Would it be to my advantage to pur-
machines simultaneously; and that rewind the tape, thereby relieving chase a deck with 15-ips speed? I
you want to be able to switch be- stresses that may have accumulated would use this deck only to record at
tween either machine in playback. So during storage. It is undesirable to lower speeds, probably 3.75 ips. Are
far as recording goes, you might try store tape after fast wind or rewind, 15-ips prerecorded tapes readily avail-
a Y -connector between the tape re- because of the stresses that build up able?-Robert B. Kellogg, APO 96312
corder output jack of your audio pre - during such winding. I would suggest A. I can't see any point in purchas-
amp and the inputs of your two tape following whatever instructions are
machines. Such a connector is avail- ing a 15-ips deck if you will not be
supplied by the manufacturer with using this speed, unless such a deck
able for a relatively few cents from respect to tension setting, storage,
mail order houses. Inasmuch as the offers a quality of performance at
and so on. He generally knows best. lower speeds that you cannot find in
preamp's output impedance is usually and the more reputable the manufac-
low, while the input impedances of other decks.
turer and his product,. the most I don't know of prerecorded tapes
the tape recorders are usually quite wisdom there is in following his
high, there is a good chance that the at 15 ips that are readily available.
instructions. Prerecorded tapes are usually offered
two tape recorders will not interact so
as to affect each other adversely. at 7.5 and 3.75 ips.
Using Earphones
Similarly, you might try a Y -connec-
tor between the outputs of the two Q. I have a * a * tape deck.
If you have a problem or question on
tape machines and the tape input When I record I find that I'm unable
to monitor the tape with earphones. tape recording write to Mr. Herman
jack of the audio preamp. You would
have to perform your switching be- As soon as I place the earphones in Burstein at AUDIO, 134 North Thir-
tween the two machines by means of the tape deck, my VU meter stops teenth Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107.
each one's individual controls. registering. It seems as though the

14 AUDIO APRIL 1970

PErfection in PErformance

The inevitable choice among automatic turntables

Feature for feature PE automatic turntables stand alone: Dial-a-Matic
vertical tracking angle adjustment ... Gentlest, fingertip cueing action
... One -Lever Control ... Fail safe stylus protector ... Automatic record
scanner. Awarded "DIN" Seal of Excellence for PErfection in PErform-
ance. Get a demonstration on the world's gentlest automatic turntable
at your PE dealer, or send for details: Elpa Marketing Industries, Inc.,
New Hyde Park, N.Y. 11040. PErfection in PErformance
Check No. 15 on Reader Service Card
Editor's RevÌeW

with a good program source and reasonable equip-

In Philadelphia, City of Brotherly Love, we have
ment, it is not too difficult to imagine that the
just had a Hi-Fi week, and by all accounts it
was very successful. It was organized by the Dela-
players are indeed right there in the room. In fact,
I have always played this kind of music to demon-
ware Valley Hi-Fi Dealers Association in conjunc-
strate just how realistic Hi-Fi can be.
tion with the Philadelphia Daily News which
issued a well-illustrated 68 -page supplement for
the occasion. judging from the articles therein,
many dealers are far from satisfied with the IHF
amplifier power ratings and they had some harsh Bert \Vhyte has had some health problems but
words to say about the `numbers game' or `watts I am glad to say he has now recovered. He was,
watt'. Said the Chairman Ecl Gorak at a recent however, prevented from going too far Behind the
meeting "The dealer has as much to lose as the Scenes but he did get out of bed to test the Stella -
customer when the customer is fooled by promo- vox tape recorder in conjunction with the Long
tional and advertising gimmicks: they cannot af- Island Rail Road) He says in his article ( page 10 )
.

ford to have potential customers distrusting them that the recorder was very well made and ideal
or the industry they represent." Amen to that-but "for running after a subject." Now Bert is, shall
I would go further and stress the fact that the we say, massively built and the mental image of
manufacturers themselves cannot afford to be dis- him running along, recorder swinging from shoul-
trusted. Some 30 or 40 years ago, one of my favor- der and mike grasped in one hand is a very pleas-
ite writers, H. L. Mencken, said "No one ever went ing one... .

broke underestimating the intelligence of the Great

American Public." And there is no doubt that if
H.L.M. were alive today he would see no reason
to change his mind-especially if he watched TV Ed Canby has an interesting article on the listening
for a day or so! However, in our particular in- room ( page 24 ), and he describes his experiences
dustry, buyers are discriminating, more knowledge- with an Advent Frequency Balance unit. Next
able, and the few who are misled will find out month, he will be writing about the Dolby system
sooner or later. What happens then? and cassettes-among other items. Incidentally,
We have mentioned the ± 1 -dB power rating the "E.T.C. Canby" music program can be heard
several times in the past, pointing out that 1 -dB over WNYC, New York, on Sundays at 1 p.m.
was roughly equivalent to 21% and so an amplifier
rated at 100 watts ± 1 dB need only put out 79
watts. But we regret to say this dishonest method Now for a few words about letters: these are
is still being used, and unfortunately the IHF gives
always welcome ( even if they are critical) Tech- .

it a tacit approval when it says in effect-if you use nical queries should be marked for the attention
it, you must also quote the IHF figure.
of Joseph Giovanelli or Herman Burstein if ap-
propriate, but please, please do not forget to en-
close a stamped addressed envelope for a reply.
The article by Richard Freed on Chamber We now have a growing collection of letters that
music ( page 22) is the first of a series on music, cannot be answered because the senders forgot
and comments will be welcome. `Chamber' music to include their address!
of course simply means `music for the room' and G.W.T.

«If we could have devised an arrangement for providing everybody with music in their homes,
perfect in quality, unlimited in quantity, suited to every mood, and beginning and ceasing at
will, we should have considered the limit of human felicity already attained"
- Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy, 1887

16 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 Only GPícltering offers
Dynamic Coupling `Factor:'..
your assurance of
greatef listening pleasure

A sophisticate who can afford the finest With the more simple equipment that A Pickering XV -15 Cartridge with a DCF
in stereo components and equipment, characterizes today's informal living, the of 100 or 140 will guarantee "100%
would select the Pickering XV -15 Car- XV -15 with a DCF of 150 or 200 will as- Music Power" on the type of set up that
tridge labeled 750E, 400E or 350. They're sure "100% Music Power." the young in your house use for dancing
the proper ones to deliver "100% Music or listening.
Power."

The Dynamic Coupling Factor is an index of maximum stylus performance

when the cartridge is related to á particular type of playback equipment. This
resultant number is derived from a Dimensional Analysis of all the parameters
involved. To select a pickup for a professional manual turntable, with its sophisti-
cated, dynamically balanced tone arm, tracking at an ultra -light force,a higher DCF
index would be required than, say, for a pickup to be used in an ordinary record
changer. For maximum distortion -free response, this index to application relation-
ship properly determines maximum stylus performance in your playback equipment.
100% music power is assured at all frequencies - linear response from 10 to 20,000
-
Hz virtually a straight line due to the extremely low mass of its moving magnetic
system - 1/5 to /10 of ordinary pickups.
1

There are seven DCF rated XV -15 models. Each is equipped with the famous
patented V -Guard "floating stylus" - the easily replaceable stylus assembly that
protects the diamond and record while it plays. In addition each model includes the
DUSTAMATIC" brush that automatically cleans the record groove while it plays.

PICKERING
For those who can /HEAR f the difference
THE NEW PICKERING XV -15/750E. PREMIER MODEL OF THE XV -15 SERIES. TRACKS AT /2 TO 1 GRAM. DYNAMIC COUPLING FACTOR
OF 750 FOR USE IN FINEST TONEARMS. $60.00. OTHER XV -15 CARTRIDGES FROM $29.95. PICKERING & CO., PLAINVIEW, L.I., N.Y.

AUDIO APRIL 1970 Check No. 17 on Reader Service Card 17

Negative Feedback NORMAN H. CROWHURST

CONTINUED

D ISCUSSIONS OF THEORY are both

more easy to understand and
more easy to apply, if illus-
trated by an application associated with 50
500
something familiar to us. So let's con-
sider the design of inputs and outputs for
professional units to be used with 500- OUTPUT INPUT
ohm line connections. DESIGN CONDITION WORKING CONDITION
Professional equipment is designed for
line -impedance inter -connections, which
means the insertion gain, frequency re- Fig. 1-Comparison between idealized and working conditions in coupling between
sponse, distortion, and dynamic range two audio units using nominal 500 -ohm line impedance input and output.
are all measured and specified when input
and output impedances, external to the rge classical matching theory, fondly feedback to stabilize this. Obtaining bias
amplifier or other unit, are each 500 imagine that connecting a nominal 500 for the first stage with a resistor from
ohms.' ohms to a nominal 500 ohms automa- collector to base provides such gain-
The Problem tically achieves this classical concept. It stabilizing feedback (Fig. 4).
doesn't always, for the reason just stated. In this circuit, the current gain de-
This does not say that the internal pends on the relationship between the
If you don't believe me, please start at
impedance is also 500 ohms. Quite often a.c. collector load and the feedback re-
the beginning of this article again, and
it is not. And this fact can lead to sistor value. Part of the a.c. collector
read down to here, before you proceed.
wrong operation of combinations of units. load is the input impedance to the next
For example, if one unit designed to stage, which will usually be much lower
operate from an external source of 500 Input Circuit than the collector-circuit impedance of
ohms, has an internal impedance of Now for the input end. This is this stage. So the current gain can de-
5,000 ohms, and an output to which usually the easiest to make right. In am- pend on this base input impedance,
this input is connected, designed to plifiers using tubes, the grid is almost which may also be subject to variation
operate into a 500 -ohm load, but having open circuit. An internal load can be and non -linearity.
an internal impedance of 50 ohms, we achieved, at some loss, by use of resis-
may actually have a 50-ohm source tance that reflects the appropriate value
working into a 5,000 -ohm load (Fig. 1 ) .
to the external circuit. For example, a
This variation from `ideal' can cause 10:1 input step-up may be used, when 1:10
a serious invalidation of gain calcula- loading its secondary with 50K will re-
tions, which may be the least of our flect 500 ohms on its primary (Fig. 2) .

worries. What may prove more impor- An actual choice may be to split the
tant is invalidation of specified frequency loading between primary and secondary. 111
BIAS
response and increase in distortion. We'll CIRCUIT
For example, 1K primary shunt with
not go into that further for the moment, 100K across the secondary, which would
but accept it as fact and also note that produce an effective parallel value of LOOKS LIKE 500 OHMS
a desirable remedy would be to make all
500 ohms. This choice would be deter-
such units match, in the classical sense. mined by transformer parameters and Fig. 2-Matching with transformer in old-
This means that a 500-ohm input, as response optimization, which we needn't fashioned tube input circuit.
well as being intended to operate from consider further here.
a 500 -ohm source, will present an input
That arrangement doesn't involve
load of 500 ohms. And that a 500-ohm feedback. The transistor equivalent does
output, as well as being intended to involve a simple concept of feedback, if
operate into a 500 -ohm load, presents a the input stage operates in the common
source impedance of 500 ohms at the emitter mode ( Fig. 3) The base input
.

output. resistance, with no emitter resistor, is

Before proceeding, let me stress this. quite low, and non-linear. With an
Many who went to school and learned emitter resistor, it is substantially the
' Strictly speaking, most professional emitter resistor value, multiplied by the
equipment in the U.S.A. is based on line working current gain of the transistor.
REFLECTS AS 15 x 33 OHMS
impedances of 600 ohms, but this does The working current gain is subject
not invalidate the theory presented by the to change, with temperature, changing Fig. 3-How the emitter resistor can pro-
author. ED. transistors, and so on. So we may use vide matched input impedance.

18 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 t_7t r
Walter Carlos,
e. , creator of
"Switched-On Bach"
and "The Well-Tempered
Synthesizer,"
uses the Dolby System.

example
music -
Mr. Carlos says, "The raw materials of electronic

- the outputs of my Synthesizer, for

are sounds which can be vaned from striking
purity to extreme complexity. After a desired sound is
created, often with considerable effort, it must be
preserved with care, to be combined later with others
in a meticulous layer by layer process. The noises of
magnetic recording are significant hazards in this
regard, since they are particularly noticeable in
electronic music. However, my experience confirms that
the Dolby System effectively attenuates the noise
build-up in electronic music synthesis. My studio at
TEMPI is equipped with ten Dolby units, which I

consider to be indispensible in my work."

Whatever your recording activities, the dependable
Colby System can help you make good recordings even
better. Now in use in over 200 companies in 27 countries
around the world.

S. Calif. Audio Industries Corp.

OD DOLBY
1419 N. LaBrea Ave.. Hollywood. Calif. 90028
LABORATORIES INC Tel. 213 -HO 5-4111
Audio -Video Systems Engineering
N. Calif.
333 Avenue of the Americas New York N Y 10014 1525 Tennessee Street. San Francisco. Calif. 94107
Tel. 415-647-2420
telephone (212) 243-2525 cables Dolbylabs New York Midwest Expert Electronics, Inc.
for international inquiries: 7201 S. Western Avenue. Chicago. Illinois 60636
Tel. 312 -HE 6-2700
346 Clapham Road London S W 9 England Canada J -Mar Electronics, Ltd.
telephone 01-720 1111 cables Dolbylabs London 6 Banigan Drive. Toronto 17. Ontario. Canada
Tel 416-421-9080
 starting point from which to allow feed-
back to improve, when loaded by the
nominal 500 ohms. Possibly a 1K collec-
COLLECTOR LOAD RELATES SIGNAL tor resistor, with the collector resistance
OUTPUT, VOLTAGE AND CURRENT (internal to the transistor) of the order
of 20K (Fig. 6).
OFEEDBACK RESISTOR LIMITS WORKING With 500 ohms as external load, the
CURRENT GAIN (/5) RELATIVE TO parallel impedance from which voltage
COLLECTOR LOAD
feedback will be taken is 330 ohms. Say
we use 26 dB feedback-a gain-change
OEMITTER RESISTOR MULTIPLIED BY
WORKING ß GIVES INPUT IMPEDANCE
factor of 20: this will reduce effective
output impedance from 330 to 16.5
ohms.
But the actual external output load
remains 500 ohms. So the effective in-
Fig. 4-Showing the effects of principal resistors in an amplifying stage. ternal impedance, with this much volt-
This may be remedied in two ways: say 500 ohms, making about 1K for the age feedback, must be just over 17 ohms,
parallel load value for the first -stage to make the parallel combination with
either interpose a resistance large enough
collector. The feedback resistor should 500 come to 16.5 ohms.
to swamp such variations, without ma-
terially affecting overall gain; or use an be 24 times this, or say 24K. Let's try the alternative: current feed-
emitter resistor in the next stage that Now we want to make the input im- back. The logical place to derive this
stabilizes its input impedance. But that pedance 500 ohms. So the emitter re- would be off an emitter resistor. Now
sistor should be 1/25th of this, or 20 we must regard the output differently.
involves other interactions that may
reach clear to the output circuit. ohms. This circuit will now provide a Short-circuiting the output removes
nice stable, reasonably linear input im- voltage feedback; but open-circuiting
Let's put some figures in. Assume we
pedance of 500 ohms, for classical the output does not completely remove
use a transistor with an average current
matching. the current feedback.
gain (beta) of 100, that may vary be-
Removing the 500-ohm external load
tween 70 and 140. Assume an appropri-
ate collector resistor is 1K. If we changes the collector load from 330 ohms
Output Circuit to 1K. The transistor's internal collector
stabilize current gain down to 25, we
The output isn't so easy to fix. For resistance is about 20K, so the current
shall swamp variations due to the tran-
one thing, to keep distortion low, we gain would change only in the ratio
sistor. This means the feedback resistor
need a fairly large amount of feedback, 20.33:21, a very small percentage. The
from collector to base should be 24
taken from the output to a suitable injec- major effect of removing the 500 -ohm
times the a.c. collector load of this
transistor. tion point nearer the input. It shouldn't external load, with 26 dB of current
be injected right at the input, in any part feedback, would be to multiply output
The input impedance of the following
of the stage just discussed, because that signal voltage by almost exactly 3, while
stage may be, say 200 to 500 ohms. If
would also invalidate the simple achieve- the signal current delivered by the output
we use another 1K as series coupling we
ment we have just discussed. And we've transistor hardly changes.
shall about halve the current gain passed
linearized the input stage pretty well by With this current feedback, the effec-
on to the next stage, but a value this
what we have just done. tive source resistance is still substan-
large is needed to swamp input impe-
But we must think of a suitable output tially 1K- the output -collector resistor.
dance variations. Let's make the collec-
stage, with provision for lashings of lin- The effective internal collector resistance
tor resistor 3.3K, so most of the current
earizing feedback. We have a choice: may rise 20 times, but the 1K resistor
gain is passed to the following stage
voltage or current feedback, or a com- is still there.
(Fig. 5).
bination of both. To sum up then, 26 dB voltage feed-
Now the a.c. impedance in the first-
Assume that we select an operating back reduces internal impedance to
stage collector is 3.3K in parallel with
condition that gives good linearity as a about 17 ohms, while 26 dB current
1K plus the next -stage input impedance,
feedback makes little difference to the
internal impedance 'seen' by the external
impedance. How can we use 26 dB of
feedback to achieve the classical match-
ing value of 500 ohms?
e
The fairly obvious answer is to use
voltage feedback to bring the internal
impedance down to 500 ohms, and then
use current feedback for the rest. How
4
much voltage feedback do we need? The
parallel collector load, without feedback,
is 1K paralleled with 500 ohms (external
500 OHMS assumed). With feedback, it should 'look
(FOLLOWING like' 500 paralleled with 500, or 250
STAGE INPUT) ohms. So the needed gain change, due
1
CURRENT VOLTAGE to voltage feedback, and with the load
FEEDBACK FEEDBACK connected, is 33/25, or 4/3 (about 2.5
dB) .

Fig. 5-Stabilizing current gain of a Fig. 6-Showing voltage and current

transistor stage. feedback. (Continued on page 69)

20 AUDIO APRIL 1970

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 During the last twenty-five years or so voluntarily seek out a performance of the sure, there is gaiety as well as profundity
there has been an enormous upsurge G -minor Quintet. Astonishing as it may to be found in chamber music, and doz-
in chamber-music activity in the seem now, with so much music so acces- ens, perhaps hundreds, of shadings be-
United States. The number of perform- sible to so many listeners, many, many tween those extremes. There is no more
ing organizations has increased, and
. people who do respond to music are ingratiating music in any form, none
so has their audience, both "live" and denying themselves what many others more amiable in its demands on the
via recordings. In the realm of the string consider the essence of the musical ex- listener, than the same Beethoven's ut-
quartet, as in that of the symphony or- perience because they fear they cannot terly charming and utterly weightless
chestra, we find young American ensem- "understand" or "appreciate" chamber Serenade for flute, violin, and viola
bles dominating the scene now, setting music without special training or prepa- (Op. 25).
the standards by which others are ration. Listener X, who attends a per- Some of the great works of chamber
measured. The artistry of the Juilliard formance of the Eroica or Tristan and music may have been written in a con-
Quartet, the Fine Arts Quartet, and the Isolde with confidence and satisfaction, sciously "philosophical" vein (just as
Guarneri Quartet is readily available to is afraid the Mozart Clarinet Quintet some of the great symphonies, operas
the record collector (and the La Salle may be beyond him! and ballet scores have been), but some
Quartet, long admired by connoisseurs, were actually written to be used as din-
has at last begun to make records). No ner music. Schubert wrote many of his
less readily available, of course, are re- Richard Freed is Director of Public most beautiful works with no more in-
cordings by such outstanding European Relations at the Eastman School of volved object in mind than having some-
groups as the Quartetto Italiano, the Music and Consultant to the New York thing to perform at one of the "Schuber-
Vlach, Borodin, Smetana, Drolc, Ama- State Council of the Arts, New York tiads" held in his home, the informal
deus, and Allegri quartets, the Melos En- Philharmonic, and many other organi- gatherings at which he and his friends
semble of London, and the Vienna Octet. zations. He is a regular contributor to played new music at sight. One of
The unforgettable Budapest String Mozart's finest chamber works, the Clar-
Saturday Review, Chicago Tribune,
Quartet, too, remade much of its reper- inet Trio (K. 498) , has been referred
House Beautiful, and many other jour-
tory in stereo before its remarkable forty- to as the Kegelstatt Trio since the time
nals. His own program is broadcast it was first heard, because Mozart is
six-year career came to an end three
years ago. The staples of the string from WEFM in Chicago every week. said to have written it during an evening
quartet repertory are represented now at a bowling alley. His numerous sere-
by almost as many recordings as those Oswald Spengler, who spent the last nades and divertimenti are, for the most
of the popular symphonies and concer- years of his life listening to the late quar- part, entertainment music pure and
tos, and "integral" recordings of the tets of Beethoven, cited certain of those simple.
quartets of Beethoven, Brahms, and Schu- works to illustrate the course of civiliza- Many of those who are so certain they
mann are undertaken by today's active tion in that most profound of philosophi- "would not" or "could not" enjoy cham-
foursomes, just as our prominent con- cal works, The Decline of the West. ber music have actually been listening
ductors give us "integral" recordings of Beethoven's A -minor Quartet (Op. 132) to it and enjoying it for years. Mozart's
the symphonies of these same composers. is the device used by a character in popular Serenade Eine kleine Nacht-
Despite all this activity and all these Aldous Huxley's novel Point Counter musik, which most orchestras play fre-
recordings, there are still many thousands Point to prove the existence of God. To quently to show off their strings, was
of people who love the Beethoven sym- be sure, some great philosophical depths, originally composed for string quartet
phonies but who are "afraid" of the too vast for words, are probed in such and double bass. Some of Mozart's diver-
Beethoven quartets, who love Mozart's works-just as they are in the Eroica and timenti for string quartet and two horns
operas and concertos but who would not the Ninth Symphony. And, to be equally are also played by the entire orchestral

22 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 string section now and then. Samuel it in their professional activity as well. the years, and other matters which might
Barber's Adagio for Strings happens to Many great orchestras sponsor chamber smack of things musicological. The only
be the slow movement of his String music ensembles drawn from their ranks, point we feel worth making is that.
Quartet No. 1, arranged for a larger among them the Vienna Philharmonic, chamber music is an enjoyable experi-
body of strings at the request of Arturo the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Sym- ence. To this end, we have drawn up a
Toscanini, who himself made similar ar- phony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and list of fifteen recordings we feel might
rangements of movements of some the Chicago Symphony. Heifetz, Rubin- help those who have yet to discover the
Beethoven quartets and recorded the stein, Piatigorsky, Menuhin, both Serkins, pleasures of chamber music. This is not
Beethoven Septet with full orchestral and both Oistrakhs are among the vir- intended to represent a "basic repertory,"
strings. Tchaikovsky's Andante cantabile, tuosi who perform and record chamber nor are the works listed here necessarily
the Borodin Notturno, and the famous music regularly. The great violinist the "greatest" or the most important,
Minuet of Boccherini are still more ex- Arthur Grumiaux has formed a superb though some of them fit those descrip-
amples of chamber music taken into the string trio with the violist Georges Janzer tions. This is simply a compilation-an ad-
repertory of the string orchestra. None and the cellist Eva Czako. A half -century mittedly personal selection-of works
of these works is in any way less attrac- ago Pablo Casals, Alfred Cortot, and whose appeal is so direct and intense as
tive in its original form. On the con- Jacques Thibaud performed and re- to make them immediately habit-forming.
trary, the original in every case has a corded together; today Casals plays Some of this material is profound,
spontaneity, a flexibility and an intimacy chamber music with younger colleagues, some of it simply charming, and some
just not quite possible in the expanded and Isaac Stern, Leonard Rose, and Eu- of it ( e.g., the greatest of all string trios,
versions, no matter how polished the gene Istomin spend a substantial part which Mozart chose to call a Diverti-
playing. The emotional range and inten- of every season playing as a trio, tour- mento, K. 563) manages to be both. The
sity of symphonic music, however, are ing together and making records. list, as may be seen at a glance, is not
available in chamber music; if the These performers find a unique in- alphabetical and is not chronological;
larger -scaled heroic gestures and grand volvement in chamber music, and the it is laid out in the sequence in which
coloristic effects are not, the compensa- listener can hardly fail to find it, too. record purchase (or, at least, exposure )
tion is that intimacy found only in Whatever one may seek in music-uplift, is recommended. To avoid confusion,
chamber music. stimulus, solace, humor-the supreme only a single recording of each item is
characteristic of the chamber music ex- shown in the list, but alternative ver-
perience is the intensity of involvement sions of some of the works are discussed
which makes even the listener a partici- in the brief comments on the music in
pant in something shared instead of just the remainder of this article.
a spectator.
While the string quartet may be the Audio buffs in general have tended to
basic unit, the chamber music experience give less attention to chamber music
is by no means limited to the quartet, than to orchestral and other large-scale
or even to strings. Some of the supreme material because many of them feel it
masterworks feature the flute, oboe, cannot offer the. same opportunities for Some readers may be surprised to
clarinet, piano, or other instruments with testing or showing off a system. While a find the first two items in our list in-
strings. There are fascinating works for string quartet will not produce the cluded in such a collection at all, let
winds alone by composers from Mozart power -handling challenge that comes alone leading it off, but the Bach and
and Haydn to Hindemith and Alec Wil- from a full Straussian orchestra, or the Stravinsky works only underscore the
der, others for brass quintet, and even tonal range encountered in The Planets flexibility and scope of the category of
chamber music for percussion. A little or The Pines of Rome, the clean and music we are dealing with. The Branden-
more than fifty years ago the tradition lifelike aural image of four distinct burg Concertos may be regarded in some
of the harp quintet was born in France, stringed instruments can be an impres- quarters as orchestral music, for they are
and since that time many French com- performed and recorded by symphony
posers have written for the combination orchestras, but, properly speaking, the
of flute, harp, violin, viola, and cello; Brandenburgs are chamber music, to be
Debussy dispensed with the violin and played by a small ensemble, generally
cello in his Sonata No. 2, and Ravel only one or two strings to a part. More-
added a clarinet and second violin for sive demonstration or meaningful test over, "authentic" performance calls for a
his uniquely beautiful Introduction and for a well -designed speaker system. number of baroque instruments-violino
Allegro. Louis Spohr in his Nonet wrote More to the point, though, is the ob- piccolo and corno da caccia in No. 1,
for an orchestra in miniature (most of servation that a good deal of chamber high trumpet in No. 2, recorder in Nos.
the instruments, but only one of each ), as music was intended for performance in 2 and 4, viola da gamba and violone in
Stravinsky did later in L'Histoire du what might be spoken of as a large living No. 6. A symphony orchestra may in-
Soldat ( for septet including percussion ), room or salon-in other words, a music clude a harpsichord in its Bach per-
while Heitor Villa-Lobos exploited the room in a house instead of a big audi- formances (as continuo, but rarely as
manifold coloristic capabilities of a sin- torium. Thus a good chamber music re- solo instrument), but not the old wind
gle instrument in his Bachianas Brasileiras cording offers a top-flight system the and string instruments, and just as well,
Nos. 1 and 5 for an ensemble of eight possibility of creating the illusion of for their distinctive sounds would be
cellos ( the latter with the celebrated "live" sound, for a string quintet or largely lost under the weight of the
part for solo soprano as well). piano trio really could be playing in large modern aggregation.
Musicians themselves, almost without ones living room; an orchestra could As works combining many of the most
exception, feel chamber music is basic, not possibly. attractive features of both orchestral and
elemental. Both virtuoso soloists and We have purposely avoided any ref- chamber music, the Brandenburgs con-
orchestral players play chamber music erence to the historical development of stitute an ideal "first step" into the latter
for relaxation, and many of them include the string quartet, changing styles over (Continued on page 28)
AUDIO APRIL 1970
23
 adaptable to stereo, just so they don't
overdo the reflection business. Too much
reflection and you revert to mono. No
directionality left.

For this reason I view with some

jaundice one of the popular answers now
being provided for stereo room trouble-
reflecting speakers, aiming up or back
or all over, to diffuse the sound source.
My best judgment is that this a fine
panacea, substituting a very attractive
near -mono effect for a poor stereo one.
A net gain, in many a bad room situa-
tion! But not the ideal solution, to my
way of thinking. If you're going to hear
stereo you've got to have point sources,
reasonably direct and unimpeded. Two
of them. Real or imaginary.

Real speakers, of course. But also, to

an extent, the strange `virtual images"
created by Jensen's new one -box speaker
system, discussed in detail in AuDIo
for November, 1969 (p. 62), which I
have been trying too. Especially in a con-
fined space, the Jensen "Stereo 1"
( one of the year's clumsiest titles) is an
For twenty years and more we have the sound was coming from there was interesting answer to room problems.
been trumpeting about hi fi equipment something definitely wrong. I was literal Definitely, from its single cabinet with
in all its ever -improving diversity, and about "filling my living room with glori- the matrixed speakers comes a stereo
yet we've had scarcely a thing for sale ous sound," if not about that putative spread and a stereo sound-but, oddly,
that might directly help the acoustic best seat in the concert hall. I could not really tell left from right.
matching element which is most impor- My preference was to aim an unob- It did not seem to matter, for the im-
tant of all for hi-fi ( except, of course, your trusive speaker diagonally towards a portant thing in stereo is, speaking sub-
ears)-the listening room. Now, to my corner, from one side, with enough hard jectively, the heightened immediacy of
pleasure, the hi fi makers have discov- reflecting surfaces in the way-the curve apparent hall sound, at least for classical
ered the front parlor, and are doing of a grand piano, backs of wooden chairs music, my main fare. The Jensen system
something about it. Many things, all of -to blur and spread the apparent sound projects it remarkably, and should do
them, needless to say, costing money; source so that the music seemed to come well in boats, camper busses, hotel
but the intent is to give you satisfaction from a wide area quite removed from rooms, where the virtual images will
in return. I think we are on a right the speaker itself. This stunning illusion seem to emanate straight from the other
track. of space was my special pride and I side of the nearby walls.
We've made a certain amount of fuss would have it again, if there weren't
over the placement of stereo speakers stereo to change things. It gave as much One element in the listening room,
and, before them, the lone mono speaker realism to mono sound ( which has no though, has until now been carefully
that previously had the job of providing literal width whatsoever) as could ever left alone, for lack of much that the
an orchestral spread of sound from a be achieved in that medium. And it took manufacturers could do about it, that
single point in the room. We've talked maximum advantage of the living room frequency balance of the total room, with
living room decor, and cabinetry and itself. associated resonances, standing waves
convenience and connections. But the Stereo, I might add in parenthesis, and what -not, which converts the flattest
implication has been, right along, that if creates its own spread of space by the of loudspeaker emissions into a jagged
you buy good equipment, you buy good interaction of its two spaced -out signals, and peak-filled "curve" in every living
sound-and don't worry about the room; as they reach the ear from different room. We live all the time with these
it'll have to take care of itself. directions. The more reflection, the less gross distortions of the original, and the
Nosy I've never subscribed to this stereo you get-but our recordings are living isn't half bad. But it would be
particular subscription, not even in my designed for an average amount of good if we had at least the power to do
hi-fi youth when I was collecting 78 general room diffuseness in reproduction. something about it. Only the pallid tone
12-inchers to play through a huge Mid- A good stereo system, like my mono controls, raising or dipping a wide but-
west 16-tube radio via one of the earliest arrangement, completely disguises the terfly wing of highs and lows, have been
phono attachments. Even then, I learned speakers' locations for the ear. The sound provided in the attempt to match our
to aim my big fat console for maximum is heard from virtual -image sources all systems to our rooms. Suddenly, a whole
distribution and reflection-I hated to the way across from speaker to speaker array of gadgets is now available de-
have a speaker playing straight at my and (so theory says) well beyond on signed precisely to cope in detail with
knees. And when separate speakers came either side, and all this without the aid this very problem. I note three, includ-
along, I began all sorts of experiments of reflection, which now merely smooths ing the one I have been trying myself, the
with room sound, having decided by down and blunts the sharp directionality. Advent Frequency Balance Control, de-
that time that if one could tell where So, ideally, our rooms are much more signed to plug into your system before

24 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 the amplifier and warp its sound selec- than Advent's sliders, two or three to tude. Is that significant for listening! The
tively to mirror the room characteristics each octave. So much the better. It was peaks are what show. Wonderful to find
in reverse. astonishing how accurately the Advent that a sharp boost as high as 160-320
Now it happens that in 1964 CBS picked up the CBS third -of -an -octave Hz still gives the impression of a bass
Labs put out its "Seven Steps" test rec- bands of pitched noise ( covering ap- boost, however addled; whereas 320-640
ord ( for which I wrote the rambling proximately a musical third in pitch (next slider) is for the ear clearly treble.
commentary), a gallant attempt to pro- width) and boosted or attenuated them, That tells something about small speakers
vide specific tests for room sound as via the slider, to match the standard and hyped -up low ends. Nice to realize
your ears actually hear it via ingenious reference tone in loudness. On a single that the middle ranges, from 500 up to
subjective comparisons, octave by octave playing of the record I was able to come 5000, are so thoroughly in control of
in frequency over the entire sonic range out with a visible room "curve" which, apparent volume level. Boost any seg-
and point by point (to pick up stray just incidentally, rather neatly matched ment in that range and the over-all
buzzing resonances) via glide tone. This a known deficiency in my speaker sys- volume pops up. Not so nice to find that
pink -noise test, along with some sim- tem, a dip in mid -range. I can see that the extreme right slider, 10,240 to
pler equipment adjustments, indicated on more careful repeated trials I could 20,480, has no audible effect at all on my
the desirable corrections remarkably well narrow down some of the room reso- ears. That's for kids.
-but there was nothing we could do to nances which show up vividly on the I hate to think how we're going to
put them into effect. The over-all tone glide tone ( which sounds like a piston raise the cash to pay for such beautifully
controls were virtually useless. plane going through a thunderstorm)- built gadgetry as this. But I also hate
And so I have just mated together the and adjust narrow single segments of to think of giving up my newfound cor-
1964 test disc and Advent's astonishingly
the frequency range to reduce their im- rections. Granted that our biggest listen-
pact on my ears. Never before has this ing advantage is that we get used to our
similar octave -by -octave contouring gad-
been possible outside of a fairly fancy own sound situation and quckly learn
get, a beautiful little machine with two
audio lab. Who listens to music there? to treat it as normal or "flat," just as we
rows of ten vertical sliders each ( for
The Advent Balance Control is an in- adjust to colored light after a while and
stereo), moving above and below a triguing toy, too, and you will have as see it as white. Even so, in the quest
"flat" center -line position, each slider much trouble as I did getting down to for perfection it is always better to start
controlling a sharply defined octave of systematic work with it. Fascinating to right and adapt later. So I am all in
boost or cut, from 40 Hz to 20 kHz. It hear the selective vowel -like whines, as favor of this development, for those who
works! Even though the successive CBS one or another segment of, the spectrum can afford it. Perhaps a slightly-very
test tones, comparing a pink -noise burst is suddenly boosted 'way up. Interesting slightly-simplified version may some day
with a loudness reference frequency to discover how much harder it is to appear in our best amplifier -control sys-
(also pink noise) are more closely spaced hear "holes" of the very same magni tems for the home?

Quadraphonic News
®Contrary to popular belief `stereo' does plifiers for $559.95. Matching speakers vinced 4 -channel sound was an improve
not mean two -channel, it comes from the are available if required. ment and he urged the industry to do
Greek stereos -or `solid'. So stereo sound ® Lear-jet: according to James Gall, Vice - everything possible to promote compati-
is really solid sound. Eventually, I sup- President of that company, their eight - bility and went on to say "until we have
pose, four -channel stereo will just be track equipment is being modified to play explored the feasibility of a uniform and
called `stereo' but in the meantime we four -channel and two-track cartridges. He compatible system for cassettes we are
will refer to it as four -channel or use the also said "Four -channel sound is little firmly opposed to a casual adoption of
term Quadraphonics-which is more cor- short of fantastic and will surely turn on other sound methods."
rect than quadrasonics when you come to the youngsters, but the big problem is
think about it. lack of recording standards." In Brief
®The Scheiber system for recording four ® Vanguard have now issued 11 more ®Russ Molloy of Telex ( among the first
channels on disk will have been demon- 4 -channel tapes, these include Mahler to introduce a 4-channel tape deck) had
strated by the time these notes appear Symphonies No. 3 and No. 9, the Berlioz this to say "4 -channel sound is the most
in print. Peter Scheiber, who was formerly Requiem (all by the Utah Symphony exciting development of the decade, it
with the Dallas Symphony orchestra, de- orchestra) Handel's Jeptha, (English is an experience where the listener is
scribes his system as an "analog multi- Chamber orchestra), and The Amazing totally engulfed with sound." Avery
plex" arrangement and some details will Electronic Sound of Jean Jacques Perrey. Fisher was reported as saying "I do not
be found in our January issue. The great These reels are priced at $14.95 (7fi ips ) envision 4 -channel sound as a mass market
advantage of this system is its compatibil- ®Stuart Hegemann of Hegemann Lab- but it could become popular with Hi-Fi
ity, and disc can be played mono- oratories had a few words to say about addicts." From Broadcast Management
phonically or via two channels. Further- quadraphonics "... it is good only when Engineering on the AR permanent New
more, no new equipment is required at it wins popular support from the public York demonstrations "... the total effect
the broadcast station and encoded records and that means when it sounds good to is gorgeous and made converts out of
are broadcast normally. their ears. My first impression of 4 -chan- skeptical BM/E editors. And from Japan
® Wollensak have commenced a country- nel sound was good but I can't say what comes news that the Victor Company will
wide demonstration program using their whether it will become a monster or a have tapes and complete compact systems
"Quad/Stereo" decks. Model 6154 has beauty." available within a few weeks. It was noted
built-in preamplifiers and costs $499.95 @Philips were more cautious and a that one of the systems uses three front
and Model 6364 includes the power am- spokesman said "they were not yet con- speakers and one at the rear.
AUDIO APRIL 1970
25
 4

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to the most sophisticated. In fact, Sony give you years of trouble -free service.
even has systems that serve as the nucleus Look over the complete line at your
of a complete home -stereo sound center. dealer's. He has the Sony/Superscope
Each instrument is flawlessly crafted, system that's exactly right for you.

You never heard it so good.®

AUDIO APRIL 1970 27

 Chamber Music suite, the second item in our list, is on a but begins straightaway with a theme
record which includes another Stravinsky of unpretentious nobility, stated by the
(Continued from page 23) chamber music masterpiece, the Octet noblest of instruments, the cello. The
for Wind Instruments, and, for good theme itself is strikingly similar in shape
realm, and the late Karl Ristenpart's measure, the Movements for Piano and to that of the first movement of the
stylish, energetic handling of these Orchestra (with Charles Rosen) and "Archduke" Trio to come, but with an
scores is sui generis. His tempi are in- two very short chamber works, the Dou- even greater tension and thrust. It pur-
vigoratingly brisk, but never headlong; ble Canon for string quartet and Epi- sues its lofty course with majestic self-
rhythms are vibrant but rockfirm. This taphium for flute, clarinet, and harp. The confidence, straightforward and virile.
is joyous music -making, on the part of same Stravinsky -conducted recording of The second movement is a magnificent
the conductor and every one of his L'Histoire is also available on another scherzo, a rustic dance with a sweeping,
brilliant associates. Even those who think Columbia record, paired with the orches- soaring second theme. The slow move-
they know the Brandenburgs are likely tral suite from his Pergolesi-derived bal- ment, deeply felt and reflective, leads
to sit up wide-eyed almost as soon as let Pulcinella (MS -7093). L'Histoire has without a break into the finale, a warm-
the First Concerto begins, for Ristenpart also been recorded in its complete form, hearted treatment of a Russian folk-song.
decided those triplets for the horns were with spoken parts, most notably on ( Andreas Kyrilovich Rasumovsky, who
really meant to be heard and Martin Philips PHS 900-046, with Igor Marke- commissioned the three quartets that
Oheim and Oskar Wunder, who play the vitch conducting the septet and with brought him immortality, was the Rus-
corna da caccia in this performance, deco- Jean Cocteau and Peter Ustinov heading sian ambassador in Vienna during
rate the aural landscape with exuberant the dramatic team. Leopold Stokowski Beethoven's first twenty-five years there
fanfares that sound for all the world like has done the complete version for Van- and, as an accomplished amateur violin-
glorious ad libs between the familiar guard, and his performance, with Made- ist, an active chamber music player.
solo phrases. No other conductor has leine Milhaud, Jean-Pierre Aumont, and Each of the three "Rasumovsky" Quar-
brought this out as Ristenpart did, and Martial Singher, is offered in both tets includes a citation of a Russian folk-
there is similar excitement all through French ( VSD-71165) and English song; the one in the Scherzo of the
the set, all within the framework of un- ( VSD-71166) ; the Markevitch is only E -minor is the melody Mussorgsky used
questionable musical integrity. in French, but comes with full bilingual in the Coronation Scene of Boris Godu-
( For those to whom these concertos text. nov.)
may not be familiar, the variety within Beethoven was to write still greater
the six works may be suggested by a quartets later in his life, but none in
rundown of the instrumentation. The which his sheer joy in his own creative
First Concerto, in F major, is for violino powers and the breadth of his compas-
piccolo, two corna da caccia, strings, and Schubert's "Trout" Quintet is prob- sionate spirit are projected more effec-
continuo. No. 2, also in F, is for violin, ably the most beloved work in all cham- tively. Of current recorded performances,
oboe, alto recorder, high trumpet, ber music, for reasons plain enough to the one by the Fine Arts Quartet on
strings, and continuo. No. 3, in G, is every ear. It is good-natured in the ex- Concert-Disc conveys these qualities
played by nine strings and harpsichord. treme, extravagantly blessed with good most successfully. It is available on the
No. 4, in the same key, and No. 5, in D, tunes, and rich in harmonic and rhythmic single disk indicated, or as part of a
are concertos in the modern sense, the inventiveness. The performing ensemble very economical three -record set of all
former featuring the violin and two re- is piano and strings-not the usual string
five "middle -period" quartets (Op. 59,
corders as soloists, the latter for solo quartet, but a single violin, viola, and Nos. 1-2-3; Op. 74; Op. 95), SP-506/3.
flute, violin, and harpsichord, with strings cello, plus double bass, a combination Almost as movingly performed, and more
and continuo. The final concerto, in B - giving the work an endearing "both -feet - handsomely recorded, is the four -disk
flat, is a dark -hued work for string sextet on -the -ground" tonal framework to com- RCA set of the same five works played
and harpsichord, in which the strings are plement its abundant good humor. The by the Guarneri Quartet (VCS -6415),
two violas, two viole da gamba, cello, and sobriquet "Trout" comes from Schubert's also a good buy. ( The nine -disk Everest
violone.) use of his famous song Die Forelle as set of all the Beethoven quartets by the
In its original form, Stravinsky's the basis of a set of variations in the FAQ is to be avoided because of incon-
L'Histoire du Soldat ("The Soldier's fourth of the work's five movements (it venient side layout and compressed
Tale") is a setting of a fantastic Russian turns up again in the high-spirited sound; the Concert -Disc format is quite
story about a soldier, a violin, and the finale) .
economical enough.)
devil, for seven instrumentalists, dancers, There has never been an unsatisfac-
Mozart's Quartet in B -flat major, K.
and reciters, with a French text by the tory recording of the "Trout" Quintet,
458, is known as the "Hunt" Quartet
Swiss poet C. F. Ramuz. Stravinsky pre- and every one available now can be
because of the "hunting -horn" figure
pared a concert suite of the nine musical guaranteed to please. Naturally, some are
with which it opens. In addition to that
sections, preserving the original instru- bound to please more than others, and
cheery motif, the first movement is char-
mentation of violin, clarinet, bassoon, none other quite so much as the magical
acteristically prodigal in its offering of
trumpet, trombone, double bass, and version from Marlboro led by Rudolf
themes. The Minuet which follows has
percussion. The music is filled with vi- Serkin, a performance of such exhiliarat-
a particularly beguiling trio, and the
tality and is amazingly varied in char- ing spontaneity that there is no ques-
slow movement, just tinged with melan-
acter, with moments of exquisite delicacy tion of "interpretation," only of
choly but not really sad, is suffused in
and of the most grotesque irony. A supremely apposite feeling. Fine sound,
mellowness. All the most attractive
strutting march, a gentle pastoral, a too. If the word must be used once in
qualities of the three preceding move-
tango, a waltz, and a "Ragtime" dance this discussion, let it be this record that
ments seem to be summed up in the
occur in the sequence, whose final num- is designated irresistible.
robust finale.
ber ("Triumphal March of the Devil") The Beethoven quartet in our list is
ends with an extended drum solo.

28
The composer's own recording of this
the first of the three so-called "Rasumov-
sky" quartets. It has no introduction,

Check No. 29 on Reader Service Card -

(Continued on page 48)
The Sound
Of Koss
Electrostatic
Stereophones
Is Better
Than Speakers
The famous Koss ESP -6 now has a partner . .

the Model ESP -7 Electrostatic Stereophones.

The ESP -7 is lighter in weight, lighter in price.
The ESP -6 is completely self-contained and offers
31/2 octaves more than conventional headphones.
But both deliver the startlingly crisp, smooth
and pleasant sound available only in
Koss Stereophones.

MODEL ESP -7 Reproduces 81/2 out of a possible 10

octaves (3 octaves more than conventional headsets). Self -
energized by small separate energizer mounted in cord
and containing transformers, speaker on -off switch,
"proper level" indicator, and provision for connecting a
second headset (Model ESP -A accessory Stereophones,
$59.00). Frequency response 35-13,000 Hz ±6 db. Comes
complete with energizer unit and individual machine -run
response curve. $79.00
MODEL ESP-6 Reproduces 9 of the 10 audible oc-
taves. Completely self -energized and self-contained. Fur-
nished with connector box and speaker on -off switch and
foam lined, sturdy carrying case. Frequency response:
27-19,000 Hz ±5 db. Comes with individual, machine -run
response curve as positive proof of performance. $95.00
Write for "Adventures in Headphone Design" to learn the story of
this startling breakthrough in music listening. Or better yet, see your
hi fi dealer today for a demonstration.

KOSS ELECTRONICS INC.

2227 North 31st Street
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53208
FABULOUS SUCCESSOR TO THE

FM STEREO
Il
111iD
108
IoU 12 1901 1

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1 1

96 l 1

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92 94 1
1 1 1 1 I i

90 lS/JI 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1005
t / 14 t l
IYO
012345 fig 1011
0
__-

BALANCE
VOLUME
TREBLE
BASS LEFT
SPEAKERS
A B
LOW HIGH
FILTER Y
AB FILTER w .1r RlOW

THE NEW SANSUI 2000A

AND STILL AT THE SAME PRICE

AUDIO APRIL 19-0

FABULOUS SANSUI 2000

MPX NO1sE
CANCELER

$299.95 can still go a long way in purchasing top notch high fidelity equipment. The exciting new
2000A has a wide dial FM linear scale plus a sensitivity of 1.8 µV(IHF) for pin -point station selectivity
with a clean crisp signal from even distant stations. Its powerful 120 watts (IHF) will easily handle 2
pairs of stereo speaker systems. The Sansui 2000A has inputs for 2 phonographs, tape recording
and monitoring, headphones and auxiliary; and for the audiophile, pre- and main amplifiers may be
used separately. Hear the new Sansui 2000A at your franchised Sansui dealer.

I® SANSUI ELECTRONICS CORP.

Woodside, New York, 11377 Los Angeles, California, 90007
SANSUI ELECTRIC CO., LTD., Tokyo, Japan Frankfurt a.M., West Germany Electronic Distributors (Canada), British Columbia

AUDIO APRIL 1970 Check No. 31 on Reader Service Card 31

Some Loudspeakers
Past and Present By BOB BERKOVITZ

Of many puzzling questions encount- On the other hand, it is fair to believe in less appealing language: "What kind
ered by the music listener learning about that the appearance of a speaker system of distortion do you like best?" It is like
sound reproduction, one must gnaw per- like that described above will not end asking a prospective camera buyer not
sistently. If the design of high-fidelity the aspirations of those who make and to purchase the sharpest lens with the
loudspeaker systems is aimed at the single sell competitive systems. They will think best correction, attested by data, but to
clear objective of accuracy, as is the of a feature that is missing, a function buy instead an instrument that gives a
case for amplifiers, cartridges, and tuners, that is still unfulfilled. Just as many de- little barrel distortion to the scene, for
why should there be so many different signs have been hailed in the past as "presence," and a subtle red tint to color
kinds of speaker systems available? having achieved the ultimate in speaker- shots to give "warmth" to outdoor por-
Surely, the listener thinks, engineers, men system design, each has been supple- traits and landscapes. Just as the optical
of science, those who speak the language mented by another approach, offered by designer producing such a camera would
of mathematics, will agree upon meter its maker to fill lacunae unobserved or claim to have risen above conventional
readings or the location of marks upon a unattended by his predecessor. The past testing methods, some speaker system de-
paper chart. Then, one method of design, editions of mail-order catalogs of elec- signers have claimed to have discovered
one kind of speaker system will show tronic equipment are filled with such higher truths. Such claims are often
itself to be the best in such measure- afterthoughts about someone else's after- associated with little -understood but ex-
ments. Yet speaker systems which sound thoughts. traordinary discoveries about hearing or
very different from each other are offered Didn't they know that they were bark- music. To know why such speaker sys-
for sale, each on the basis that it alone ing up the wrong tree, that their inven- tems fade from sight, while older ampli-
stands on the frontier of acoustic knowl- tions, measured according to the most fiers and tuners still go on, we will have
edge. Each is advertised and the listener elementary acoustic criteria, could be to consider some actual cases.
is urged to move the frontier into his shown to be inaccurate?
living room. And the listener, having at- Musical Speakers?
tempted to do so, is not unlikely to
discover that the frontier, in the mean- There is an entire class of speaker
time, has moved on. systems, all but a few in the blessed past,
Of course, scientists do not really dis- which are based not upon science but
agree about the. ultimate objective of upon metaphor.
speaker design-it is a device of such high A good example is the speaker system
impedance as to consume practically no with f-holes, like those on a violin or
energy, in order that it be most efficient; cello. The literature describing this prod-
it is so small and thin as to verge on uct, seen a number of years ago by one
invisibility, making it ideal for installa- of the authors, showed an enclosure of a
tion in any room; it is intelligent, and size large enough to make a bass -reflex
therefore able to analyze any signal fed design of good performance. However,
to it, deducing and radiating in the instead of the classical rectangular port,
spatial pattern correct for each instru- or the somewhat more modernistic duct,
ment in the ensemble, while cancelling this one had f -holes cut in the front panel,
out the acoustic properties of the room and carried an explanation which was
in which it is being played. Its frequency both clear and thought-provoking. The
response is assuredly fiat when heard finest instruments used to play music de-
from any direction, indoors or outside. The answer, at least in part, is that rived their great sound quality from the
And it can be stamped out of sheet plas- vibration of their enclosures and the per-
accuracy has not always seemed equally
tic, like an electroacoustic cookie, or, to important to all speaker system design- fection of design of such details as the
satisfy the most glassy -eyed dream of a f -holes of the string instruments. So, the
ers, and even many listeners have, at
certified accountant, sliced from lumps of system in question was made of wood
least for a while, been persuaded that
trash now being discarded as waste by satisfaction of their personal taste in which would vibrate just right. It was
another member of the corporate con- sound is what they are shopping for at natural for a reader to joke, "But how
glomerate. If that is a correct summary the audio salon. 'It is an interesting con- does a tuba solo sound through it?"
of the device which will, by its appear- ception, offering the gratification that Actually, the system may have sounded
ance, signal the end of the road in rather good, despite the appeal to analogy
comes only with the knowledge that the
speaker -system development, we certainly listener is going to establish his status by its advertiser; we have no way of
have a long way to go. knowing. But we do know that if the
and discover his identity in one transac-
*Acoustic Research, Cambridge, Mass.
tion. The idea is attractive, until it is set (Continued on page 36)

32 Check No. 33 on Reader Service Card

 It takes nerve to ask $1,000 for
an FM/FM stereo receiver. Unless
you have the stuff to back it up.
This:sour SA -4000 sterec receiver. Every component, from the tiniest the purest sound. With a range wide
:t costs $1,000. But don't lock for it at trans:stor to our 36 -inch woofer, is enough to wake up an Airedale.
your Panason_c dealer yet. Because mancfactured in one or another of You've never heard stereo
:he first 25 snits in existence have our 8.) factories. Tested, inspected, component systems like these before.
Seen snapped up by audio and quality aantrolled by 40,000 Because nobocy ever made them
:aboratories They're riprxing. it apart master technicians. That's why we're before. The speaker systems. The
ro see h »v .vecreated it. so absolutely certain of their tape decks. They're all compatible
For $1000, the SA -4000 better be compat_bility. Their excellence. with our $1,C00 receiver. And with
something special. It is. How special? And their rel:ability. our less expensve receivers.
Try to tine t. You'll discover it's the Nobody makes audio equipment Stop by any dealer we franchise to
first stereo receiver in history like F.anasonic. handle the Par asonic Audio
.without a Lining knob. That's only And this goes not only for Equipment linnet If he doesn't have
_or openers. our $1.000 receiver. But our the $1,000 unit in stock yet, listen to
Nobccy s ever combined the best 4 other stereo receivers as well. our less expensive models. They
are -amp, tie best power-arr_D, and The same imagination. The same sound like a million.
nest tuner into cne unit before. This rigid quality control. The same
sind of ingenuity, creating t whole loving attent_on to detail is
new generatic n of audio equipment, present in all our stereo
_s comnonu_ace at Panason_e. receivers. They'll give you sound
It's happened 14,048 time ., so far. that'll knock your ear on its ear.
That's I-cw many patent rig is and Our' -track stereo tape decks are
designs I-awe come out of our 50 packed with little miracles of audio
research and developmer_t labs. engireering. Every circuit is married
Where :Ire hackles of 2,500 engineers to every transistor. To every
and scientists go up whet somebody component. That's love.
says, "It cant be done." Many of the Speakers? Take your choice from
audio crnponents they've created 5 new Fanasonic multi -speaker
never easted just 3 years ago. systems. Each set of woofers and
'
But the ma: key to qualit is this: twee-ens is acoustically matched for

PANASONIC®
just slightly ahead of our time.
Fo- your nearest Panasoni: Aud o Equipment dealer, write Panasonic, 20C Park Avenie, New York 10017.
 The KLH System
THERE are simple reasons for combining a KLH tape recorder with other KLH equip-
ment in an all-KLH system, and there are complicated ones.
The simple reasons are things like being sure the input and output levels will match,
that the plugs of this will go into the jacks of the other thing nicely, and that you will have 4
all the controls you could possibly want without having two or three of anything.
The complicated reasons are so complicated that you would either have to take our
word for them or go down and fiddle with the equipment at length. Shall we go ahead and
give them anyway? You're sure you trust us ? All right :
KLH equipment does what it promises.
KLH equipment is designed to be operated with a minimum of on-the-job
training.
KLH equipment has the kind of quality that will make you glad, when you go
to hear something newer and more expensive in a few years, that 'ou bought what
you bought way back now.
KLH equipment is priced as low as we could price it and still make it do every-
thing it ought to do, and still stay in business.

THE MODEL FORTY-ONE TAPE RECORDER

This stereo tape deck cuts the cost of tape in half by
recording superbly at half the usual speed. Its tapes at 3%
ips are not only as good as other machines' at 71/2 ips, but
compare unblushingly with 15 ips recordings. Small and
simple to operate, it still has it all-including the Dolby
Audio Noise Reduction System that helps make wide -range
recording feasible at 3% ips.
The big thing about the Model Forty -One is that its
combination of performance, convenience and economy will
make you use it rather than worry about whether something
is worth recording, or what tape thickness to use this time,
or whether the tape will run out before the music. Quite a
big thing.
The suggested price: $249.95.

THE MODEL TWENTY-SEVEN STEREO RECEIVER

This AM -FM stereo receiver is our only receiver. That
means we had to build it to compete with everybody else's
biggest and best receiver; so we did, and it does. Somehow
it didn't come out as big or as expensive as some of the others, but you'd never know it judging from its
power, its flexibility, the way it brings in the most difficult FM stations, and the surprising things it does
for AM broadcasts. It sounds wonderful. What else can we tell you?
The suggested price: $319.95.
 NOW YOU WILL NEED A KLH SPEAKER SYSTEM

make six, and we don't think of them as five steps up to the one everybody really
WEought to have; nor should you. Each of them can be exactly the right speaker to stick
with from now on in a given set of circumstances, including the size and shape of the room,
the sort of music preferred, how loud, that kind of thing. What one can afford is only part
of the formula. Consequently we won't presume to guess which of them is the right one for
you; we'll just say these three are likely candidates:

THE MODEL SEVENTEEN (Shown)

This is the lowest-priced speaker on the market that will do real justice
to a symphony orchestra. As plain as that. It will do it at full volume in a
big room, or at average volume in an average room.
Perhaps out of modesty we should have added "in our opinion," but our
opinion doesn't matter; you're not going to run out and buy a pair without
listening to them. Are you?
Suggested prices: East Coast, $74.95; West Coast, $77.95.

THE MODEL SIX

Of all the speakers on the market, this one has been a best-seller for the
longest time (so many superlatives in this advertisement), and it sounds
it. We suggest that you compáre it at length against far more expensive, way
bigger, much newer, in short any other loudspeakers you can find.
Suggested prices: East Coast, $134; West Coast, $141.

THE MODEL FIVE

Though it is the size and price of other manufacturers' "middle of the line" speakers, the Model Five
has every bit of the authority of their "best." By this we mean it has the ability to reproduce all the impact
and every nuance of the very best recordings presently available. And, by the way, if you get to com-
paring it with someone else's "best" and can't hear any difference, and then get to comparing the price
tags and decide it must be your ears, we won't accept that.
Suggested prices: East Coast, $189.95; West Coast, $199.95.

AN ALTERNATIVE
It occurs to us that, for the very same reasons we are suggesting you put
together an all-KLH system, you might just prefer to have one that we
have put together. There are several of these : compact, three-piece stereo
music systems that have become the most imitated products in the audio
industry, we are pleased to say. (Though why it should please us is a ques-
tion; vanity most likely.)
We particularly recommend that you investigate the Model Twenty
(suggested price, $399.95) and the Model Twenty -Four (suggested price,
$319.95). They offer performance and sound quality that are unmatched
in their price ranges, no matter who puts what together.

111111111111111iI, I of i ATRODEMARR OF OLD RESEARCH AN E DEVELOPMENT CORP.

KLH Research and Development Corp., 30 Cross Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02139

Check No. 35 on Reader Service Card

 (Continued from page 32) closed again a moment later. It was sold goal. As a result, loudspeakers that are
enclosure did vibrate like a violin, with under the name, "perfect baffle," and the well -engineered sound good, regardless of
its own set of resonant modes, these little swinging door was said to relieve the design philosophy of the firm or
would be a result of the dimensions and pressure built up in an ordinary en- person responsible for them. Engineers
materials used to make it, and would closure which limited cone motion. Its can meet and discuss the merits of their
bear no necessary relation to the music manufacturer pointed out that the "per- designs, be applauded or congratulated
being reproduced by the system. Not fect baffle" was based on an "ultimate by their colleagues, and exchange ideas
only tuba music, but violin music would scientific principle." Possibly this was to about speaker evaluation with little of the
have added to it the "music" of the forestall any attempts at post -ultimate recrimination displayed by amateurs
speaker system. developments; if so, the ploy was inef- toward each other when arguing about
fective. their favorite loudspeakers.
... And Artistic Enclosures The design of speaker systems is, or When a speaker system is designed in
can be a rational process, and engineers a fit of passion, or in a state of technical
An artist, a genuinely wise man and a
do not really differ much on the best or intellectual isolation, different factors
highly gifted one, expressed to the au-
current techniques for the achievement of emerge, however. The absence of proper
thor a fascinating conviction about the
each design goal. Nor is there much test facilities can give supreme confidence
home-made speaker system owned by the
disagreement regarding techniques of to a designer who never needs to subject
artist. It sounded rather good, in fact,
measurement. The differences of opinion his brainchild to rigorous examination. As
having been made by mounting a JBL
among speaker -system designers prob- a result, concepts which have become
12 -inch loudspeaker on a flat baffle, and
ably center about the criteria used to almost stock jokes among engineers re-
placing the flat baffle across a corner of
establish which design goals are most appear periodically on the market as
the room. The circular cut-out for the
important, and which are less relevant to novel "hreakthroughs."
JBL speaker was covered with gray silk.
the application for which the system is
The flat baffle itself, which rose from The "Sweet Sixteen Array"
intended. To a certain extent, these dif-
the floor to about 6 feet in height, was
ferences are understandable. The array of many small speakers is a
white. It was made of marble, as thick
A designer who has spent his life, or good example. In a rather thorough paper
as a man's hand, cut by a maker of
the better part of it, designing speaker published years ago in Aunio, James No-
monuments. The artist smiled as he told
systems to be used for sound reinforce- vak and Philip Williams of Jensen estab-
visitors that the brilliance of "the highs",
ment in large halls or theaters will have lished rather conclusively that the benefits
caused by the use of the white marble,
naturally come to place a higher degree typically claimed by designers of "build -
surpassed all other speaker systems.
of importance on efficiency. Since large it -yourself" arrays, such as that called
Lest readers laugh at such a judgment
regions in an assembly hall or theater are one "Sweet Sixteen," are non-existent, or
as naive, it must be pointed out that the
unoccupied by listeners, the theater sys- so meager that they are easily surpassed
possibility that the marble -facade speaker
tem designer will tend to design direc- by a conventional speaker system both in
system is exceptionally accurate is in no
tional systems, rather than flood all of economy and performance. The gist of
way compromised by the owner's possible
space with sound where there are no the analysis by the two Jensen engineers
error as to the reason for its excellence.
listeners to hear it. The designer pri- was that the "Sweet Sixteen"-which used
We are concerned with the disparity be-
marily concerned with and experienced sixteen inexpensive Jensen radio replace-
tween subjective judgments and probable
in the engineering of systems for home ment speakers-sounded like sixteen inex-
realities. On the other hand, just looking
music reproduction, on the other hand, pensive speakers. The directionality of
at a thick, polished white marble slab
must recognize that the location of the such an array, the prominent peaks in
might make some listeners hear singing
speaker systems by the home listener can response, and the cumbersome physical
"highs."
be controlled only in a very general way, object which results, all worked against
Moreover, there is a precedent, of sorts.
In a unit described in Wood's Acoustics
and that listening locations in the room its acceptability as a music reproducer,
will vary greatly in suitability, unless the yet a surprising number of home hobby-
as "the H.M.V. loudspeaker," the voice -
speaker system is omnidirectional. Effi- ists sent away for the loudspeakers pre-
coil was attached to a flat sheet of
ciency will be less of a problem to the scribed by the designer. The main idea
aluminum alloy about thirty inches in
designer for home use, since concert appears to have been that if the excur-
diameter, tightly stretched and bolted to
levels are easily matched in typical living sion requirements of the loudspeaker are
metal rings at its edge.
rooms. Moreover, bandwidth, small size, reduced to one -sixteenth of what they
The 'Cats Door' System and freedom from peaks in response will would normally be, very low frequencies
be preferred by most listeners; unfortu- can be reproduced without distortion.
Another area of unceasing activity has nately, theater -type speakers must often Although the statement has an element of
been that in which breakthroughs of sacrifice excellence in these respects in truth (as is often the case with such
various sorts are uncovered. The "per- order to achieve maximum efficiency. designs ), achieving the excursion needed
fect baffle," last seen by the author about It is remarkable that such divergences for good bass response has not been a
fifteen years ago, was such a break- do not lead to gross variations in speaker real problem for a long time. The design
through. To all intents and purposes, it systems, since the different viewpoints appears to have been intended to solve a
was an ordinary speaker system, at least alluded to above are often expressed by problem which simply did not exist;
from the front. Cone speaker. Grill cloth. their proponents with great vigor. How- Novak and Williams were able to show
Rectangular box. Then you turned it ever, the important fact is that engineers, that much better bass response with less
around and saw the little door, and your as has been said, do not disagree funda- distortion was obtainable from a single
eyes popped. Every time the system hit mentally, and few, if any, would say that bookshelf system! At a very well-attended
a really loud bass note, the door opened rough frequency response is good, or that meeting of audio technicians and engi-
for an instant on a thin leather hinge, and efficiency is a bad or worthless design (Continued on page 71)

36 AUDIO APRIL 1970

"...the Dynaco PAT -4 is unsurpassed
... a remarkable unit and unmatched at
anywhere near its low price ..."
(Stereo Review January 1968)

A separate preamplifier can offer su-

perior performance and greater flexi-
bility than available on any integrated
control amplifier or receiver. How well
did Dynaco succeed with its PAT -4?
DYNACO PAT -4
$89.95 kit Here's what two of the most respected
$129.95 assembled
publications say.

The Stereophile, Vol. 2, No. 9, 1968 Julian Hirsch in Stereo Review, January, 1968
"With all of its tone controls and filters set to .. (the PAT -4 has) an extraordinary degree
Flat, and feeding any high-level input, we were of operating flexibility . (and) in sonic qual-
simply unable to tell whether we were listening ity, we would unhesitatingly say that the Dyna-
to the original 'raw' signal or the output from co PAT -4 is unsurpassed by any preamplifier
the PAT -4. In this respect, we cannot see how we have seen. It is a remarkable unit and un-
any preamp, present or future, could surpass matched at anywhere near its low price of
the PAT -4." $89.95 in kit form or $129.95 factory-wired."

The Dynaco PAT -4 preamplifier can be used with

any power amplifier, tube or transistor, like the
Stereo 120 (60 watts rms per channel) or new
Stereo 80 (40 watts rms per channel). Owners of
Stereo 70's can also derive the full measure of en-
joyment from the PAT-4.

Send for literature or pick some up at your dealer where you can see and hear Dynaco equipment

dynraco INC_ 3060 JEFFERSON ST., PHILA., PA. 19121

IN EUROPE WRITE: DYNACO A/S, HUMLUM, STRUER, DENMARK

Check No. 13 on Reader Service Card

 Only Marantz Has Variable

What's a Marantz?
Any audio engineer or stereo hobbyist year after year. Marantz reliability is and reception to create a solid "wall"
will tell you. Marantz builds the world's due in great part to such exclusive of sound.
finest high-fidelity components. And has features as Variable -Overlap Drive. This Gyro -Touch Tuning
for fifteen years. Marantz circuit eliminates irritating Marantz even offers a different tuning
This message, therefore, is not to cross -over notch distortion found in most experience because you rotate the actual
engineers but to professional musicians, solid-state amplifiers. In addition, tuning flywheel. This results in the
serious music-lovers, and beginning Variable -Overlap Drive compensates for smoothest, most precise tuning possible.
stereo hobbyists. We'd like to introduce the natural aging of an amplifier's And this Marantz- exclusive design
you to Marantz. components. This means that even after requires
Never Heard Of Marantz? years of listening enjoyment, Marantz considerably
still delivers "like-new" performance. fewer moving
Until this year, the least -expensive
Marantz stereo component you could buy Features, Not Gimmicks parts than
cost $300.00. And our FM tuner alone The unique features of a Marantz conventional
cost $750.00! To own a Marantz, you either component are there for only one purpose: systems used
had to be moderately wealthy or willing to make possible the highest level of by other
to put beans on the table for awhile. But it listening enjoyment. manufacturers. The benefits: reduced
was worth it. And a lot of experts thought That's why we put an oscilloscope in friction, wear, and service problems.
so, too, because the word soon got around, our best components. We call this patented pleasure "Gyro -
and the products sold themselves. An oscilloscope is kind of a TV tube. Touch Tuning."
What The Competition Said But instead of the Wednesday Night Built To Last
The chief design engineer of a major Movie, it shows you a green wavy line. Marantz stereo components aren't built
competitor once said that no one even An electronic picture of the incoming in the ordinary way. For example,
tries to compete with many of Marantz' FM radio signal, telling you exactly how instead of just soldering connections
sophisticated features; it would be just to rotate your antenna for minimum together with a soldering iron, Marantz
too expensive. Marantz designs its circuits multipath distortion (ghost signals) and uses a highly sophisticated waveflow
the same way the aerospace industry maximum signal strength (clarity) even soldering machine-the type demanded
-
designs missiles and jet planes for from the weakest stations.
The "scope" also shows
by the Military. The result: perfect,
failproof connections every time.
utmost performance and reliability.
correct stereo phasing: Even our printed circuit boards are a
Variable-Overlap Drive that is, if the broad-
When you buy a Marantz stereo, you casting transmitter or
can look forward to sterling performance your equipment is
out of phase. And it lets
you set up optimum stereo performance

38 AUDIO APRIL 1970

-Overlap Drive!

special type-glass epoxy-built to rigid can be run all day at its full power rating craftsmanship and quality materials.
without distortion (except for neighbors That's why Marantz guarantees
pounding on your wall). That's power. every instrument for three full
And that's Marantz. years, parts and labor.
Marantz Speaks Louder Than Words Now In All Price Ranges
In a way, it's a shame we have to get Today, there is a demand for Marantz-
even semitechnical to explain in words quality components in other than
what is best described in the medium of very -high price ranges. A demand made
military specifications, ensuring rugged- sound. For, after all, Marantz is for the by music -lovers who want the very
ness and dependability. listener. No matter what your choice in best but must consider their budgets.
Marantz Power Ratings Are True music, you want to hear it as closely as Though you can easily invest more
possible to the way it was performed. than $2000.00 in Marantz components,
When someone tells you he has a In spite of what the ads say, you
"100 -watt amplifier," ask him how the we now have units starting as low as
can't really "bring the concert hall into $209. True, these lower -priced models
power was rated. Chances are his 100 your home." For one thing, your listening
watts will shrink to about 75 or 50 or don't have all the same features, but the
room is too small. Its acoustics are quality of every Marantz is exactly the
perhaps even as few as 25. The reason
different. And a true concert -hall sound same. Marantz quality.
is that most manufacturers of stereo
level (in decibels) at home would And quality is what Marantz is
amplifiers measure power by an inflated
deafen you. all about.
"peak power" or "IHF music/dynamic
What Marantz does, however, is
power." Hear For Yourself
create components that most closely
Marantz states its power as "RMS So now that you know what makes
recreate the sounds exactly as they were
continuous power" because Marantz; a Marantz a Marantz, hear for yourself.
played by the musical performers.
believes this is the only method of Then let your ears make up your mind.
Components that consistently represent
measurement that is a true, absolute, "where it's at" in stereo design. No one
scientific indication of how much power
your amplifier can put out continuously
gives you as much in any -
price range- as Marantz.
over the entire audible frequency range.
But if Marantz were to use the un- Every Marantz Is Built
scientific conventional method, our The Same Way
Model Sixteen 100-RMS-100 power Every Marantz component,
amplifier could be rated as high as regardless of price, is built
600 watts!
Moreover, you can depend on Marantz
to perform. For example, the Model 16
with the same painstaking

mrTn
Components Speaker Systems Receivers
fZ®
©Marantz Co., Inc., 1970. A subsidiary of Superscope, Inc., P.O. Box 99A, Sun Valley, Calif. 91352. Send for free catalog. Shown above, Model 22. $449.

AUDIO APRIL 1970

39
Tape Transport
Maintenance H. W. HELLYER

PART 5/Heads, Guides, and Pressure Pads

Dust is the great enemy of tape directly on the volume of the impurity. consciously compensated for it with his
recorder mechanisms. Audio enthusiasts Unfortunately, this expression could be controls, but the drop in recording
care for their disks as a mother cares for challenged by any practicing engineer, strength is very noticeable.
her child. They wrap them in paper because the depth of an impurity has We can be more precise than this and
sleeves each time they are stored, preen such a drastic effect on recording. measure the spacing loss for a given
them with dust collectors each time The strength of a magnetic field varies distance (or size of impurity) Call the
.

they are played, and meticulously remove as the square of the distance from the attenuation A and the distance of tape
all the goo they can find-and some they source of the flux. So a soiled head that from head d, as in Fig. 2, and plot a
may only imagine-from the precious causes a slight loss during replay will curve whose vertical axis is the attenua-
stylus point. But too many tape recorder cause a much more severe deterioration tion in decibels and the horizontal axis
users are content with a perfunctory in signal level and response when a re- the spacing in proportion to the tape
wipe over the recording and replay head cording made under these faulty condi- magnet wavelength, and we get some-
faces when high -frequency losses be- tions is played back with the same head. thing like Fig. 3. The wavelength de-
come too painfully obvious. Tapes may The circumstances for recording are sim- pends on tape speed (the higher the
be stored in boxes, but no special care ilar insofar as dropouts have the same tape speed, the longer the wavelength)
is taken to exclude dust or the creeping result-a loss of signal. But while the and the frequency being recorded (the
effect of humidity, and this is trans- spacing of the tape from the head, higher the frequency, the shorter the
ferred to the head at first play. caused by the impurity, will reduce sig- wavelength). Again, we note that the
Perhaps the reason for this neglect is nal strength, so will it also reduce the greatest effect is to the higher frequen-
that spacing -effect losses are not always magnitude of the applied h.f. bias field. cies, and at the lower speeds.
so obvious to the listener in their early Reduction of bias, among other things, The tape flux attenuation is given by
stages as are the pops and crackles causes a lower signal amplitude to be the formula
evinced by a dirty disk.
Losses of this sort begin at the high -
frequency end of the sound spectrum,
recorded. So the trouble is cumulative,
and the tiny scrap of dirt we have ig-
nored impairs playback of a pre-recorded
A_e2".
-
d
X

and this is where other system losses tape by a factor of X but reduces replay where e is the base of natural logarithms,
have their effect, and where the hear- of our new recordings by a factor of 2.718, 2.7r is 6.28 and X the tape wave-
ing of the listener first begins to fail. X', i.e. the square of the distance times length. So when the spacing equals the
Dirt on the heads is the primary cause the square of the distance. This is why tape wavelength d/X=1 and A=20 log
of spacing -effect losses. the complaint is often heard when a tape e2" or 407r log e which is 54.5 dB.
Loss of tape contact on the pole pieces recorder owner brings his machine to So again we can get down to actual
of a head most seriously affects the re- the mechanic: "Playback is O.K. but re- figures and say that at 15 kHz, our high-
sponse of that head. The effect on a cordings are weak." What he really means est frequency to be recorded, with a
replay head is worse when the wave- is that he has not noticed the slight tape speed of 3% in/sec, the wavelength
lengths of the `magnets' on the tape are degrading of replay and has perhaps un-
short, (higher frequencies), partly be-
cause such short wavelengths have a
weaker external field. Movement away
from the pole faces causes dropouts.
Dropouts can be measured pretty ac-
curately. Just lately, a good deal of work
has been done into their annoyance
value, and for a long time a simple for-
mula has been used, expressing the
severity of dropouts, thus
l.d.h.
S=
t.s.
where S is an arbitrary expression of
severity, l= length of impurity, d=
depth, h=height, t=width of the track
and s= tape speed. From this we can
see that dropouts are worse at lower Fig. 1-"Loss of tape contact seriously affects the response." This Grundig deck
collected so much dirt it was a wonder it played at all!
speeds and narrower tracks and depend
AUDIO APRIL 1970
40
 The independent test labs think as highly
of the Dual 1219 as we do.
No surprise. Because with every Dual tested, every performance claim we've
ever made has been confirmed by independent test labs. With no exceptions.
Four years ago, for example, we introduced our 1019. Audio experts rated it
the finest automatic turntable ever made. But we were already hard
at work on what was to become the Dual 1219.
Is it the worthy successor to the 1019 we believed it would be?

Stereo Review says it is.

"The 1219 is a good illustration of how
o an already superior product (the 1019) can be
anti -skating
further improved by intelligent and imaginative
"anti -skating ...reduced wear on
the record grooves..." design and engineering."
Audio
High Fidelity also agreed, with such
specifics on the 1219's performance as these:
"Speed accuracy is greater (than the 1019), wow and
flutter are a bit lower, tracking force and anti -skating adjustments
are more precise...outstanding in all these characteristics"
..four point gimbal -bearing system
As for the benefits of the 1219's gimbal -suspended 8-3/4" of extremely low friction."
tonearm,The American Record Guide's results showed: American Record Guide

"The arm carries the cartridge in a way that permits it to extract every subtlety
it possibly could from the record groove"
We actually felt the 1219 might have more precision than most people would
ever need. But Audio disagreed, we're pleased to note:
"Whether or not the advantages of exact setting for vertical
tracking and for anti -skating can be identified by the average listener,
measurements show that there are improvements...reduction in
distortion, and...reduced wear on the record grooves, particularly
on the side of the groove nearest the center of the record"
Complete reprints of these test reports are yours for
the asking. So is a 16 -page booklet which
...novel adjustment for
optimizing vertical tracking reprints an informative Stereo Review
angle..." High Fidelity
article on turntables and tonearms.
After you look through all of this, you'll understand
why most hi-fi experts have Duals in their own systems.
And why every record you buy is one more reason to "...will have greatest appeal to those who dislike
own the $175 Dual 1219. any compromise..."
Stereo Review
United Audio Products, Inc., 120 So. Columbus Ave., Mt. Vernon,
NewYork 10553. Dual

AUDIO APRIL 1970 Check No. 41 on Reader Service Card 41

 ATTENUATION AT
5
HALF - WAVELENGTH
10 SPACING
15

20
25

30
35

40

TAPE 45

IMPURITY 50
d
A 55-dB 55
0.8 0.9 1.0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

D SPACING
WAVELENGTH
Fig. 2-Spacing loss is 55dB per wave-
length. Fig. 3-Showing relationship between attenuation and wavelength.
travel, not up and down. There will have sure pads, where these are used, only
will be 3.75/15,000 or 0.00025 in. So an
been a tendency for oxide to have col- perform the function of keeping the tape
impurity of only a quarter of a thou' will
lected in any horizontal grooves made in intimate contact with the head facing.
produce a 54.5-dB attenuation in replay.
by wear, and cleaning this way helps to The head shape assumes more impor-
T.hat's a voltage ratio of approximately
remove the deposit. Some heads have tance. Many high -quality decks use no
560:1. The loss after recording does not
horizontal slots in the facing, aiding the pads, but rely on the wrap of the tape
bear thinking about!
tape contact by a suction effect. Oxide around the head, and the contoured head
The foregoing dip into basic mathe- for which much advantage has been
can build up in these. The nylon brush
matics was quite deliberate. A shock claimed-and challenged-is very much
is the answer, not a poke with a screw-
treatment, if you like, to show that head in evidence. One incidental advantage
driver blade.
cleanliness can never be taken for to the maintenance man is that contoured
Final cleaning and polishing can be
granted. A regular and habitual routine heads are often easier to clean, and keep
clone with cotton wool on the end of a
of cleaning and degaussing should be clean.
manicure stick, or, better still, the
part of any tape recordist's schedule. slightly pliable cottonwool sticks sup- Machined guides present their special
There are plenty of preparations and problems. Tape width is standardized at
plied by cleaning makers.
cleaning kits available; no need to resort 0.246 in. ±0.002 in. Although usually
There are two philosophies about
to worn-out toothbrushes and household described as `quarter -inch' tape, the
guides. The tape must move in a true
detergents. The fluids are mild, non- domestic variety is nothing of the kind.
horizontal plane, without lateral or ver-
toxic, will not damage plastics, are However, some earlier standards speci-
tical wandering, so there must be a de-
non-flammable, and should evaporate in
gree of back tension. One system requires fied ii -in. with a tolerance of -6 thou.
reasonable time. Some cleaners carry a So some tape is still around with a
the trapping of the tape against the head
small amount of lubricant which is de- slightly oversize width, and this can jam
with a fairly tight pressure pad, a roller,
posited while the carrier is dispelled. In in a closely machined guide. Any tape
or a band. All three types are illustrated
other kits, the cleaner and tape lubricant with poor edges, or that has been dam-
in Fig. 3. The alignment is often by a
are separate. One kit, at least, has a aged, should be scrapped. Cut and splice
U-shaped piece, perhaps part of the
pylon arrangement which can be ruthlessly. Tape is not all that expensive:
head assembly, or by a closely machined
mounted on some decks to provide an and if there is valued prerecorded ma-
central guide post, keeping the tape in
extra running surface for the tape, with terial on it, the practice should be to
true horizontal traverse.
the lubricant dropped in the pylon to dub it off before the tape falls to bits,
With this first system, a mumetal
infiltrate the outer felt and provide a using a machine with more -tolerant
shield on a sprung plate may be used,
slow, regular application to the tape. guide dimensions. Even the less -precise
and this has been utilized as an auxiliary
When it is necessary to run old tapes
guide in more than one design. Great
through your previous sound channel,
care has to be taken that this shield
this preliminary cleaning can be an in-
slides properly and completely into place
valuable aid.
and that any felt pad on its inner face
Other head cleaners may be too mild is kept soft and free from impurity.
for cleaning of a heavy oxide deposit Quite often, this shield is the only guid-
from a neglected head assembly. By the ing the tape gets, apart from vertical
look of some tape recorders that arrive machined pins without flanges. It can
in the author's workshop, many owners be demonstrated that a larger-diameter
operate in a coal -hole and have never guide is much more efficient as regards
heard of head cleaning. These have to tape wear, regularity of control ( freedom
be tackled with a stiff -bristled nylon from flutter), and lateral guiding effect,
brush and denatured alcohol, methylated yet deck designers continue to fit ridicu-
or surgical spirit. Stubborn deposits are lously small pins, saving a couple of cents
'better removed by several ventures than and eschewing the loss in quality.
a harder, protracted scrubbing. The second system has critically
When cleaning worn tape heads, al- machined guides whose flanges route the
tape precisely across the head gap. Pres- Fig. 4-Sanyo deck with contoured heads.
ways rubs along the line of the tape
AUDIO APRIL 1970
42
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Fig. 5-Sony TC260 showing pressure pad held off by the Fig. 6-Uher 4000 allows very little access for cleaning and is

forked arm from its contact with the erase head. In this Sony better served by an impregnated cleaning band.
design, the Record/Replay head relies on the tape wrap for
good contact.

Fig.7-Accessibility is half the battle! The front trim of this Fig. 8-The Ultimate! In this Uher Varicord design, the complete
Grundig deck lifts away completely to allow free access to head assembly can be removed and interchanged for different
the heads. track formation. Accurate machining of mountings is the secret.

of medium -class Guides are often adjustable, see Fig. tape edges rubbing on spool flanges and
guide formations
9. Spring -loaded, with locknut, or simply the inevitable temptation is to alter the
machines, with their `play' between tape
screwed into the deck, many guides can guide position to rectify the error. Before
edge and flange of between 2 and 8
be set to regulate the datum line for doing this, check the spools themselves
thou. can trap a poor tape; and the
tape travel, and where this is so, setting and their carriers. The guides seldom go
build-up of dust and oxide will rapidly
the guides should be the first job, before out of adjustment, and if they do, are
diminish the tolerance.
any adjustment to the head positioning more likely to exhibit their fault by being
The trouble is that some tolerance is
is made. On a strange deck, always in- loose on their mountings. For adjustment
needed, to allow for variations in tape
spect the assembly and look for some where no information is available, first
and prevent any tendency to edge curl.
fixed datum. It may be the securing of set the tape run to the fixed datum, then
But as the track width of a quarter -
the erase head, a popular method, or the adjust the guides for a level run between
track tape is only forty thou', any ten-
mounting of the plate on which the spools, noting particularly any tendency
dency of the tape to wander, aggravated
heads themselves are pivoted: see Fig. of the tape to rub flanges or the top
by too generous a tolerance, causes am-
10. Setting the height of the guides ac- cover of the deck when the spools are
plitude variations. Tape trapping by
cording to the maker's instructions is turned by hand. After this, set the level
narrow-flanged guides or by rough guide
very often an early stage in maintenance of the erase head so that the upper edge
barrels will cause flutter during record
and should not be neglected. All the later of the top track can just be seen above
and play functions and will retard fast the edge of the tape, stretched tightly
winding of many low-torque machines. adjustments that preserve full frequency
response, reduce noise, avoid cross - against the face of the head. Finally, set
This is one of the first areas of investi- the record and replay (or combination)
gation when the fault symptoms are that tracking, and generally improve record-
ing will depend on this setting. heads so that the upper edge of the tape
the tape slows near the end of a wound
Occasionally, we run into trouble with just cuts the visible upper line of the
reel.
AUDIO APRIL 1970
44
If everyone were an
expert, there'd be
only three speakers
left on the market.
We mean this very seriously. manufacturers, to improve it. The Rectilinear III, a classic after
If everyone had a good ear with- And they're unimpressed by nov- acclaimed by
less than three years,
out any high -frequency loss... elty for novelty's sake. They've got every reviewer under the sun as the
If everyone listened to live music to hear that engineering break- floor -standing monitor speaker
regularly... through, not just read about it. without equal; four-way with six
If everyone understood the idio- These people are invariably re- drivers, $279.00.
syncrasies of commercial records duced to a choice of no more than The Rectilinear Mini -III, the only
and tapes... six or seven models, out of literally small compact with class; three-
If everyone could see through hundreds. Three or four of this ridic- way with three drivers, $89.50.
shallow technical arguments... ulously small group of neutral - The Rectilinear X, "the world's
In sum, if everyone had the quali- sounding, transparent speakers are fastest bookshelf speaker," with
fications of an expert judge of full -range electrostatics. Which unprecedentedly low time delay
loudspeakers-then only three of means that they're huge, awkward distortion; three-way with three
the current models on the market to place, murderously expensive drivers (including our new high -ex-
would survive. and far from indestructible. Which, cursion 10 -inch woofer),$199.00.
The Rectilinear Ill, the Rectilinear in turn, leaves only three, as we Of course, in the real world out
Mini -III and the Rectilinear X. said: there, everyone is not an expert, so
We base this brash assumption on there'll be many speakers left on
our study of people possessing the the market.
above qualifications. But there seem to be enough ex-
They seem to reject, to a man, all perts around to keep one company
speakers created for a particular very happy.
"taste." The big -bass taste. The (For more information, see your
zippy -highs taste. The Row -A-spec- audio dealer or write to Rectilinear
tacular taste. Or even the more re- Research Corp., 30 Main St.,
fined taste for subtly rich bass with Brooklyn, N. Y. 11201. Canada:
slightly subdued upper midrange H. Roy Gray Co. Ltd., 14 Laidlaw
but sharply etched highs. Blvd., Markham, Ont.Overseas:
They want no personality at all in Royal Sound Co., 409 North Main
their speakers. Just accuracy. What St., Freeport, N. Y. 11520.)
goes in must come out, no more
and no less. If the input is less than
perfect, they use tone controls and
filters, rather than loudspeaker
Rectilinear

AUDIO APRIL 1970 45

Check No. 45 on Reader Service Card
Fig. 9-Showing various adjustable guides on another Sony deck. Fig. 10-Telefunken deck showing guides before, during and
after tape path through channel.

polepieces. In other words, when in present a renewed surface to the tape, adjustment on many models with a
doubt, allow the erase head to overlap they wear less readily, but a tape deck sharply sprung pressure -pad plate. This
a little. Signal -strength tests will prove with these devices should be inspected device tends to wear badly when the
the final setting, and the normal rocking carefully for any tendency to bind. Free - head -gate assembly becomes cluttered
action of azimuth alignment completes running guides should spin freely. Other with abrasive dust.
the adjustments. types, on sprung arms, should swing Pressure pads and the plates on which
Plain brass guides, pins, and auto-stop readily as the tension on the tape is they are mounted have already been
feelers tend to wear badly if dirty tape altered. mentioned, but the adjustment of these
is used. Quite often, a groove will be Watch for compensating springs that and of the hold -off arms that limit
made in the rounded surface, and this have seized, or arms that have bent, their throw should be rechecked after
is a prevalent cause of tape trapping, throwing the guide axis out of true verti- other adjustments and repairs have been
flutter, and retarded fast winding. View cal. Lubricate spindles very lightly, after done. Pads must be soft, may need clean-
the cleaned surfaces on which the tape the usual cleaning. Spring -tension arms ing and perhaps resurfacing by making
have been mentioned in the previous a small skim with a razor blade. What-
bears under a bright light, when these
grooves and `flatted' surfaces will be re- sections on clutches and brakes. From ever the action that has been done, it
vealed. our point of view this month, they can may require a resetting of the inward
Mobile guides such as free rollers, be treated as auxiliary guides and should tension, and this is a final check on the
auxiliary brake pins, or tape -end -stop receive the same careful treatment. maintenance work around the head
feelers are much in evidence on better - Watch out for the pin or spring guide channel.
class machines. Because they continually between the heads, a form of auxiliary Next:-Brakes

PRESSURE
BAND
HOLD -ON HEAD (FLOCK SIDE
SPRING ROUTING INWARDS)
PIN

IIl'IIIIIII,Ir
BOLI ER
RETRACTOR
LINK. AUXILIARY ANCHOR
RETRACTION (LIGHT) POINT
BY PIVOT PRESSURE
HOLD -ON
SPRING PAD
SPRING

(a) (b) (C)

Fig. 11-Three methods of maintaining good contact of tape to head (a) pressure pad on spring arm, (b) pressure roller, and

46
(c) felted band which a gives greater degree of wrap.

Check No. 47 on Reader Service Card -

 J

Sony humbly nominates itself for the understatement-of-the -year award

We priced the Sony STR-6050 FM Stereo/FM-AM receiver at $279.50 -
quite reasonable, we thought. However, the renowned
Hirsch -Houck Laboratories seems to feel that we understated the price
and said so in their report in the May issue of Stereo Review.
"When we received the'Sony STR-6050 stereo receiver for testing we did not
know its price. Before making any measurements we listened to it
for a time and estimated its price from its general performance.
Our guess was about $120 higher than its actual selling price, which
should give you some idea of what an excellent value this receiver is."
Most humbly, we point to this "$120 Understatement" as indicative of
the way we understate other points about our products like performance,
specifications, etc. We'd rather let the owners of Sony
stereo components speak up for us. Audition the Sony 6050 and our other fine
stereo components at your Sony high fidelity dealer, or write for catalog.
Sony Corporation of America, 47-47 Van Dam St., Long Island City, N.Y. 11101

SONY STR-6050
 Chamber Music Anyone who enjoys The Afternoon of a A "Starter" Collection of Chamber
Faun or Daphnis and Chloe will find these Music Records
(Continued from page 28) quartets more than congenial.
1. Bach: Brandenburg Concertos, com-
For so popular and substantial a work, plete. Karl Ristenpart conducting
there is not quite the selection of re- the Saar Radio Chamber Orchestra,
cordings one might expect. The version The Quartetto Italiano performances with Jean-Pierre Rampal, flute,
listed, by the Amadeus Quartet, 'is a of both the Debussy and the Ravel are Pierre Pierlot, oboe, Hans -Martin
stylish account of the music, and is vigorous, sensual, and aristocratic in just Linde, recorder, Helmut Schneide-
paired with an equally attractive per- the right proportion, and always com- wind, trumpet, Georg -Friedrich
formance of Haydn's "Emperor" Quar- pellingly musical. The Vlach Quartet, on Hendel, violin, Robert Veyron-
tet, one of that master's very finest (its Artia ALS -7204, and the Drolc Quartet, Lacroix, harpsichord, and other solo-
slow movement is a set of variations on a on Deutsche Grammophon SLPM- ists. Nonesuch HB -73006 (2 discs)
tune which has come to be known under 139369, are hardly less impressive, and
2. Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat-
several titles, including The Emperor's the Concert -Disc by the Fine Arts
Suite; Octet for Wind Instruments;
Hymn and Deutschland fiber Alles). A (CS -253) is a genuine bargain.
Double Canon for String Quartet;
reasonable alternative, and at half the The clarinet assumed an unexpected
Epitaphium for flute, clarinet, and
price, is the Allegri Quartet performance importance for both Brahms and Mozart
harp. Chamber groups conducted
on Music Guild MS -864, with another near the end of each composer's life,
by the composer (with Movements
Mozart quartet, the "Dissonant" in C and each responded to the artistry of a
for Piano and Orchestra) Columbia
.

major, K. 465. For those who do not particular virtuoso ( Anton Stadler in the
MS -6272
insist on stereo, the three -disk mono case of Mozart, Richard Muhlfeld for
"Vox Box" containing the "Hunt" and Brahms) by creating some of his finest 3. Schubert: Quintet for Piano and
its six immediate predecessors, all played works, including a quintet for clarinet Strings, A major, D. 667 ("The
by the Barchet Quartet (VBX-13), is Trout," Op. 114 ) . Rudolf Serkin,
worth looking into. The Barchet have piano; Jaime Laredo, violin; Philipp
recorded all the Mozart quartets; not Naegele, viola; Leslie Parnas, cello;
all of them came off equally well, but Julius Levine, double bass. Colum-
and strings which stands very near, if
the seven in this collection are all played bia MS -7067
not at, the top of the list of his chamber
beautifully and the "Hunt" in particular music. Anyone discovering the Brahms 4. Beethoven: Quartet in F major, Op.
is one of the best ever recorded. or the Mozart Quintet will be curious 59, No. 1 ("Rasumovsky" No. 1).
From its first bar, the Schumann Piano about the other, and no one is likely to Fine Arts Quartet. Concert -Disc
Quintet brims over with energy; themes be disappointed by either of them. Both CS -255
seem to tumble out after one another in works are ideally suited to the clarinet's 5. Mozart: Quartet in B -flat major, K.
a rush of spontaneous exuberance. The own character: generally mellow and by 458 ("Hunt"); Haydn: Quartet in
balance between the piano and the turn bucolic, humorous, melancholy, and C major, Op. 76, No. 3 ("Em-
string quartet is that of a real partner- in the case of the Brahms, passionate. peror"). Amadeus Quartet. Deutsche
ship, and the effect of any decent per- The Brahms Quintet is conspicuously Grammophon SLPM-138886
formance of the work is unfailingly darker than the Mozart, cast in autumnal 6. Schumann: Quintet for Piano and
refreshing. There are many decent per- tones as if in a spirit of conscious fare- Strings, E -flat major, Op. 44. Rudolf
formances on records, but the Serkin - well; tenderness and gentle melancholy Serkin, piano, with the Budapest
Budapest version has more to offer than prevail. The Mozart, in contrast, is a sunny String Quartet; Brahms: Trio for
its rivals. On the record listed it is work with few clouds on its horizon and Piano, Violin, and Horn, E -fiat ma-
paired with one of Brahms's most inter- with an abundance of infectious tunes. jor, Op. 40. Serkin, with Michael
esting and unusual ( and least-heard) Neither work is lacking in depth, or in Tree, violin, and Myron Bloom,
works, the Horn Trio; it is also available realization of the coloristic possibilities horn. Columbia MS -7266
as side four in Columbia's two -disk set of this combination of instruments. Each,
7. Debussy: Quartet in G minor, Op.
of the Brahms string quartets with the incidentally, ends with a set of variations.
10; Ravel: Quartet in F major. Quar-
Budapest Quartet (M2S-734 ). Another Gervase de Peyer and his Melos En-
tetto Italiano. Philips PHS 900-154
good version on a single disk, by Chris- semble colleagues easily carry off top
toph Eschenbach and the Drolc Quartet, honors for their recordings of both the 8. Mozart: Quintet for Clarinet and
shares a Deutsche Grammophon record Mozart and Brahms Clarinet Quintets. Strings, A major, K. 581; Trio for
with the last of Schumann's three string The Mozart is especially recommended Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, E -flat
quartets (SLPM-139144 ). because it is paired with an equally major, K. 498. Gervase de Peyer,
The beautiful, sensuous, imaginative splendid account of another Mozart clarinet, with members of the Melos
quartets of Debussy and Ravel are of- masterwork for clarinet, the Trio in E - Ensemble. Angel S-36241
fered together now on no fewer than fiat. There is an attractive low-priced 9. Brahms: Quintet for Clarinet and
eight different records, and they make alternative, however, in the form of a Strings, B minor, Op. 115; Reger:
an eminently sensible package. They are Mace record on which Heinrich Geuser Scherzo from Quintet in A major,
the finest chamber works composed by and the Drolc Quartet play the Clarinet Op. 146. Gervase de Peyer, clarinet,
Frenchmen and, despite the distinctions Quintets of Mozart and Weber (MCS- with members of the Melos Ensem-
scholars like to point out between these 9028) . ble. Angel S-36280
two composers' styles, their string quar- It is hoped that some or all of the 10. Beethoven: Trio in B -fiat major, Op.
tets are remarkably similar in structure records recommended here will give the 97 ("Archduke") Eugene Istomin,
.

and character. Both were written by newcomer to chamber music some idea piano; Isaac Stern, violin; Leonard
young men ( the Debussy at thirty-one, of what he has been missing and en- Rose, cello. Columbia MS -6819
the Ravel at twenty-seven), and it is courage him toward further exploration
youthful passion that informs them both. on his own. (To be continued)

48 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 One man's note is another man's squeak. No matter.
Red Seal covers the whole ball park of so -and. The highs. The lows.
And everything in between. 2 Special lubricants make the
ape glide almost friction -free. So your guides and heads last longer.
Amateurs use Red Seal. So do old pros. Its signal-to-noise ratio meets
3
pro_essional standards. You get Red Seal quality in RCA Casset es, too.
El With Red Seal the recording s as good as the real thing.
W a:ever your thing is. E Sound us out. Write RCA
Magnetic Prcduc s, 201 E. 50th St., New York 10022.
wen Recarding
Tape

Check No. 49 on Reader Sery ce Card

 amplifier. These most often used con-
This Month: trols are Balance, Volume, a push -
push power switch mounted below a
Teac Model AS -200U Amplifier small indicator lamp, and a series of
Equipment Sony Model DR -6A Stereo Headset
four push buttons for signal source
selection (tuner, phono, Aux -1 and
Aux 2) as well as three more matching
Profiles Marantz Model 22 AM/FM Receiver push buttons for tape monitoring
functions.
University "Project M" Speaker System Upon opening the hinged lower sec-
tion of the panel, the "secondary" pre-
Ampex Micro -52 Stereo Cassette Deck amplifier controls are exposed. These
consist of a lever switch for select-
ing either one of two identical phono
inputs, a mode switch (for selecting
stereo, mono, stereo reverse, and even
Teac Model AS -200U Amplifier right or left channels to both outputs),
bass and treble controls, tone -control
defeat and low- and high -filter lever
switches as well as another lever for
introducing or defeating the loudness -
contour circuits. A speaker-selector
switch selects main, remote, or both
speaker systems and has an "off" posi-
tion for headphone listening. The usual
headphone jack completes the layout
of this normally "hidden" portion of
the panel. From a human engineering
point of view, the layout is almost
Fig. 1 flawless. We wish the headphone jack
had not been located behind the trap
door. so that it might he used without
having to keep the "door" open.
MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS to the serious audio enthusiast who The rear panel of the AS -200U is
insists upon separate components. The shown in Fig. 2. Two switched and
Power Amplifier Section: RMS Power/ one unswitched convenience outlets
"separateness" of this smart-looking
Channel, 50 watts at 8 -ohm load; 60 watts
entry actually extends beyond the are provided. A center -channel pre -
at 4 -ohm load. THD: 0.5% at rated out-
normal definition of an "integrated amp output jack enables the use of a
put. IM Distortion: 0.5% at 40 watts
output or better. Frequency Response: 29 amplifier," for the preamplifier section third, external power amplifier for
Hz to 80 kHz +0, -1 dB. Residual noise: can be electrically separated from the feeding monophonic "mixed" program-
less than 0.5 mV. Input impedance: 100 power -amplifier section by removing ming to another location. Speaker
k -ohms. Input Sensitivity: 0.7 volts for two metal "jtimpers" from the rear terminals for main and remote speak-
rated output. panel, enabling the user to interpose ers are color coded and spring -loaded,
Preamplifier Section: Output voltage: 1 all manner of accessories, such as ex- making wire connection as simple as
volt. Record Output Voltage: 150 mV. panders, reverberation units, tone -con- threading an oversized needle and also
Input Sensitivity. Phono 1 & 2: 2 mV: All trol -contouring devices and the like. practically eliminating the possibility
High -Level Inputs: 150 mV. Frequency Actually, one could even use the pre- of shorted speaker leads. The Amp-
Response, High -Level Inputs: 30 Hz to 30 amplifier section in a completely in- Preamp jumpers have already been
kHz +0, -1 dB: Phono: within 0.5 dB dependent manner from the power
of RIAA curve, Tone -Control Range: Bass,
amplifier since, with the jumpers re-
±10 dB at 100 Hz; Treble: ±10 dB at
10 kHz. S/N: Better than 70 dB on phono:
moved, about the only thing the two
better than 90 dB on high-level inputs. components share is a power supply
and a chassis upon which they're built.
Power consumption: 22 watts at no signal,
Aesthetically, too, the front panel is
180 watts at rated output.
arranged to convey the "duality" of
Dimensions: 11?/8" W x 51/2" H x 117/x" D. the product. In Fig. 1, the front panel
Price: $299.50. is shown with its hinged lower panel
Combining excellence in perfor- door closed. All one sees is an attrac-
mance with totally pleasing aesthetics, tive matte gold, black and walnut
TEAC Corporation's new integrated front panel equipped with a minimum
amplifier, Model AS -200U will appeal of controls, as might befit a dual power Fig. 2-Rear panel view.

50 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 `Build a complete stereo system
around any ofthese
Pioneer Gutperformers

SX-1500TD AM -FM STEREO RECEIVER SX-990 AM -FM STEREO RECEIVER

Exclusive microphone mixing. Audio output: 180 Audio output: 130 watts (IHF); FM Tuner Sen-
watts (IHF); FM Tuner Sensitivity: 1.7 uV (IHF); sitivity: 1.7 uV (IHF). Completely versatile with
6 sets of inputs; accepts 3 speaker systems; wal- inputs for: 2 phono, tape monitor, microphone,
nut cabinet. $399.95 incl. microphone. auxiliary & main amps; walnut cabinet. $299.95.

SX-440 AM -FM STEREO RECEIVER SX-770 AM -FM STEREO RECEIVER

Audio output: 40 watts (IHF); FM Tuner Sensitiv- Audio output: 70 watts (IHF); FM Tuner Sensitiv-
ity: 2.5 uV (IHF); Frequency response: 20-70,000 ity: 1.8 uV (IHF); 4 sets of inputs; 2 speaker out-
Niz. Oiled walnut cabinet. $799.95. puts. Oiled walnut cabinet. $249.95.

Depending on the number of refinements you're

looking for in an AM -FM stereo receiver,
Pioneer has one in your price range.
Regardless of what your budget is,
you never compromise with quality
with a Pioneer Outperformer.
'-fear them and get full details at your Pioneer dealer.
Or for more information write ..

CID PIONCER9
PIONEER ELECTRONICS U.S.A. CORPORATION, 140 Smith St., Dept. A-4, Farmingdale, N.Y. 11735
-
West Coast: 1335 W. 134th Street, Gardena, Calif. 90247
(516) 594-7720
(213) 323-2374 & 321-1076 In Canada: S. H Parker Co., Prov. o`. Ontario

AUDIO APRIL 1970

www.americanradiohistory.com
AmericanRadioHistory.Com
mentioned, and above them is a pair
of thermal -overload -relay reset but-
tons. In addition to the usual inout
and tape out jacks, there is a AEC/
PLAY DIN connector, wired in ac-
cordance with European and other
imported tape recorder standards. A
spring -loaded grounding terminal com-
pletes the rear -panel layout.
A unique feature of the AS -200U is
the provision of multiple tape input
and output connections which enable
a very elaborate system to be set up
with central control. OB

º 0

06
S
o5

0<
WIN LOAD 30 kN.
2 03
0R- 50 WATTS was.
2 02 QOM LOAD AT RATED
DSTORTION OF 0.%
- 0 1
-S

Measurements 00 1.0
POWER OUTPUT-WATTS
10.0 100.0
-100 A 50 100 200 500 IK
FREQUENCY N.
21( 50 10K 2110 50K 100K

The TEAC AS -200U measures even Fig. 5-Power bandwidth.

better than it looks. We could not find Fig. 4-IM characteristics.

a single discrepancy between pub- 15

lished and measured specs and, in the lo

SASS BOOST TREBL
BOOST
E
Fig. 6-Tone-con-
case of IM distortion and Power Band- LOUDNESS trol response.
width, the unit we tested actually ex- i
m 5 W= 30 dB

ceeded published claims. Harmonic ó1 -5

Distortion characteristics are shown in -l0
Fig. 3, while IM is plotted in Fig. 4.
BASS CUT
TREBLE CUT
-15
Note that 0.5% IM distortion is
-20
reached at a power output of about HI FILTER
-25
45 watts, as opposed to the 40 watts LO FILTER
- 30
claimed. Power bandwidth is shown
-35
in Fig. 5, while preamplifier charac- 0 20 50 100 200 500 1K

FREQUENCY H.
2K 5K 10K 20K 50K 100K

teristics such as tone -control and filter

action, as well as loudness -contour the neighbors) might ever desire. cation of conservative heat -sink design
curve for a -30 dB volume control Adding a second pair of remote speak- and good overall thermal stability.
setting is shown in Fig. 6. Struc- ers hardly "made a dent" in the power Sound seemed very well balanced,
turally, the amplifier is laid out in a capability of this amplifier-this de- and transient response was excellent.
very professional manner and only the spite the fact that protective series Damping factor (though not stated by
best quality of components are used. resistance is added internally when the manufacturer) was found to be
Another convenient feature we discov- two pairs of systems are played simul- in excess of 30, measured with respect
ered upon removing the walnut enclo- taneously. As explained in the operat- to an 8-ohm load.
sure was the ease with which this unit ing instruction booklet, this nicety is In all, we liked the sound we heard
can be converted to "overseas" opera- incorporated to allow users to connect and we liked the control features
tion at 220 or 240 volts. Line -voltage two pairs of 4 -ohm systems without which made that sound possible. If
requirements are changed simply by creating a resultant impedance of less you own a tuner and need only a high -
removing a small plug and reinserting than 4 ohms, which would be below quality integrated preamplifier-ampli-
it in the proper position in its socket the safety point for the output tran- fier to complete your home sound sys-
for 100-, 117-, 220-, or 240 -volt opera- sistors. In any event, the only way we tem or if you'd like to start with tape
tion. could make the overload relays "pop" and/or phonograph facilities and
was by applying a direct short across leave the FM for later,, the TEAC
Listening Tests the speaker terminals and driving the AS -200U represents a $300 investment
amplifier with signal. And then they in a well designed and produced piece
The TEAC AS -200U Amplifier
popped fast-long before any possible of high fidelity equipment that should
sounds like the powerful piece of
damage might have taken place. After not be overlooked.
equipment that it is. Driving a pair of
inefficient but good -quality bookshelf- four hours of high-level operation, the
type speaker systems, we were able to output transistors were only moder-
reach levels beyond anything we (or ately warm to the touch-a good indi- Check No. 40 on Reader Service Card

52 AUDIO APRIL 1970

www.americanradiohistory.com
AmericanRadioHistory.Com
 ADC:
WORLD'S MOST
Sony Stereo Headset
PERSNICKETY
Model DR -6A SPEAKER MAKER.

on their performance. We do measure

them, however, since we do not trust
our hearing in the upper reaches of the
frequency spectrum. We measure them
against another pair of phones as a com-
parison, with the other pair being of
known performance, as attested by the
manufacturer. Thus we can eliminate
any idiosyncracies of our "artificial ear"
and the microphone we use. By this
technique, we feel we can provide a
fairly accurate picture of the perfor-
mance of any given pair of phones.
Physically, the Sony phones are attrac-
tive in appearance, being finished in
black and chrome, with a dark gray plas-
tic headband cover over a pair of steel
wires, and with a dark gray set of ear
pads. These pads are foam filled, slightly
oval in shape so as to encompass the
ear completely and comfortably. They We make 303AX speakers for fussy
may be worn for long periods without audiophiles. Each one is crafted by
creating a headache and without inter- hand and contains a two-way acoustic
suspension system that's accurate
ference with or from glasses-always a enough to please even the most
consideration to those who wear them. discriminating listener. The ADC 303AX
MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS: The individual phones move up and lacks the distortion and coloration often
Frequency Response: 20 to 20,000 Hz. down on the headband to accommodate found in speakers in its price range.
Input Impedance: 8 ohms. Power: 1mW. Which makes ita superb value in a full-
different head sizes, and they are identi- sized bookshelf speaker.
Cable length: 7 feet, with standard plug fied by colored labels which are also Of course, there's only one way to
attached. Weight: 14 oz. Type: dynamic. marked right and left. The right label find out how really accurate our speaker
Price: $27.50. is red, the left blue. The cord is covered
system is. Go to your nearest ADC dealer
There are almost as many stereo head- and compare it to other models. After
with a woven nylon sleeve, and resem- all, hearing is believing!
sets available as there are manufacturer's bles the traditional wool-thread woven
of hi-fi components, and they differ in cords of yesteryear. The foam pads are
various ways, although most of them are removable for washing. SPECIFICATIONS
more than adequate for the average user. The phones provide sufficient output
As with automobiles or cameras, a few with an input of 1 mW, which is the
Type ... Bookshelf.
are 'way out ahead, and their cost re- Cabinet ... Oiled Walnut.
usual output across 8 -ohm phones when Dimensions ... 233/4" H x 13" W
flects their excellence. Those who want plugged intó the headphone jack on the x 113/4" D.
the best of everything will willingly average receiver with the usual 100 ohms Weight ... 37 lbs. each.
spend the extra dollars to obtain one of in series with each channel. Low-end Frequency Response ...
33Hz-20kHz
the higher -priced models which can bet- performance remains within ±5 dB down ± 3 db (measured in average
listening room).
ter satisfy his ego, even if his ears cannot to 40 Hz, and at the high end, output
tell the difference. The difference may Speakers (2) ...
High accuracy, wide
is heard up to 14,000 Hz, and measured dispersion tweeter with Hi Flux Magnet
be justified in some critical applications, to 16,000. The overall balance is excel, and 10" high compliance woofer.
just as the same critical user can justify lent, and reasonably musical in quality. Nominal Impedance ...
8 ohms.
the expenditure of several hundred dol- At the comparatively low price of $27.50, Power Required ...
10 watts min.
lars for a single loudspeaker-and twice the enthusiastic listener could well ac-
Price ...
$100 suggested resale.
several for a pair-but for the average Write for details about other
commodate two or more pairs so that ADC speaker systems. From $55-$350.
headphone user, a more modest expendi- others in his family could also enjoy
ture will usually suffice, just as it does "personal" listening.
with loudspeakers. A similar pair of phones is available
This is not intended to imply that with an impedance of 10,000 ohms for AUDIO
the Sony DR-6A phones are not excel-
lent in their field. They are. But they
applications where one wishes to plug DYNAMICS
the phones directly into the monitor jack
are modestly priced, and should serve of a tape deck or to the output of a
CORPORATION
PICKETT DISTRICT ROAD,
most users to their complete satisfaction. preamp. This model is the DR -6C, which NEW MILFORD. CONNECTICUT 06776
Measurements on headphones are ex- is priced at $29.50.
tremely difficult, so we make no attempt
to present definitive "absolute" curves Check No. 46 on Reader Service Card AUDIO FOR
AUDIO APRIL 1970 AUDIOPHILES
Check No. 53 on Reader Service Card
Marantz Model 22
AM/FM Receiver
inimamw
MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS:
Tuner Section: IHF Sensitivity: 2.4 V.
Selectivity: 80 dB. S/N: 65 dB at 50 µV in-
put. THD: (Mono) 0.3%; (Stereo) 0.5%.
Stereo Separation: 40 dB @ 1000 Hz. Sub -
carrier supression: 60 dB.
Amplifier Section: Power Output: 120
watts total IHF music power, 8 -ohm load.
RMS Power Output/channel: 40 watts, 8 -
ohm load. THD: 0.3% at rated output. IM:
0.3% at rated output. Power Bandwidth
(IHF): 20 to 20,000 Hz. Hum and Noise:
High -Level Inputs: -80 dB. Phono: 1 µV
equivalent input. Damping Factor: Greater
than 35 for 8 -ohm load. Input Sensitivity:
Phono: 2 mV; High Level: 180 mV. Phono Fig. 1

Frequency Response: RIAA ± 0.5 dB.

nal-strength indicators for FM tuning, input and tape -output jacks, an FM input
General: Power Requirements: 105/125
while the second meter is only active in attenuator switch ( which reduces input
V a.c., 50/60 Hz, 33 watts at idling to 220
AM tuning, as a signal -strength indicator. signal strength by 20 dB in cases of
watts both channels driven to full output.
The lower portion of the panel is taste- severe overload-which we never encoun-
Overall Dimensions: 17" w. x 5-9/16" h.
fully fitted with knobs and pushbuttons, tered), a muting threshhold adjustment
x 15" d. Suggested Retail Price: $425.00 in
all of turned metal and all arranged so and a good sized grounding terminal for
metal wood -grained enclosure. (Walnut
intelligently as to provide total familiarity use with external record changer, turn-
enclosure optional, extra.)
after about five minutes of exploration. table or tape deck. The muting adjust-
The Marantz Model Twenty Two is the Major rotary knobs include a six-position ment is a most worthwhile feature, for
first all -solid-state receiver offered by that selector switch, balance control, volume users in different locations will want to
distinguished company! Before readers control, and dual -concentric clutch-type set the mute adjustment to suit individual
take pen in hand to cite the Model 20 bass and treble controls. The cluster of conditions. The range of this adjustment,
reviewed in December we hasten to add three push -push buttons at the left include we found, enables the mute to be over-
that this unit was equipped with a the tape -monitor function and L and R come at signal levels from 5 µV to about
vacuum tube-the famous oscilloscope mono -mode buttons. The latter provide 25 µV. Speaker and antenna connection
tube which served as a tuning aid and a unique way of getting either L terminals are by far the simplest and most
audio monitor. This feature is not included or R alone from both speakers. If both reliable type ever invented-and they have
in the 22-with a consequent saving in buttons are depressed, the usual mono been appearing with increasing frequency
cost-offset to some extent by the inclu- mix of L & R is obtained. The central
sion of an AM band. The IF system uses cluster of four similar buttons offer "Hi
3 IC's with ceramic interstage filters to Blend," a cross -mixing of high frequen-
provide a controlled bandpass and the cies for reducing noise ( while at the same
FM front end utilizes two FET's plus a time reducing high-frequency separation)
conventional transistorised local oscillator. in marginal stereo FM receiving situa-
The Twenty Two has the traditional Ma- tions. This button is followed by low- and
rantz front panel look, including the hori- high-frequency cutoff filters and a loud-
zontally mounted, direct tuning thumb - ness (or contour) button. The final, left-
flywheel introduced on earlier Marantz most group of three more buttons pro-
tuners and receivers, as can be seen in vides for mute -defeat and selection of
Fig. 1. The upper half of the gold and main, remote, or both sets of speakers.
black panel is devoted to the tuning With neither speaker button depressed, Fig. 2-Rear panel view.
wheel, dial scale, stereo indicator light, sound will be heard only through head-
two tuning meters and a pushbutton phones when they are connected to the on the latest crop of receivers, particularly
called "Antenna Tuning." This button, front -panel headphone jack. A pair of those imported from abroad. Piano -key
used in conjunction with one of the two "dubbing jacks" ( duplicating the rear tabs are depressed, exposing a small hole,
tuning meters, provides one of the impor- panel "tape in and tape out" jacks) and into which the stripped end of a speaker
tant functions previously assigned to the a push-push power on/off button com- or antenna wire is pushed. Releasing the
`scope tube on earlier models-the facility plete the front -panel makeup. key -tab, which is spring loaded, clamps
of rotating an FM antenna for least "multi - The rear -panel layout, shown in the the wire firmly in place. There are no
path" reflections using a visual indicator. photo of Fig. 2, includes one switched screws to loosen, no wires to twist under
More about its use later. Ordinarily, the and one unswitched convenience outlet, the heads of screws and, best of all, the
meters act as center -of-channel and sig- a thermal relay reset button, the usual possibility of shorts is all but eliminated.

54 Check No. 55 on Reader Service Card

Some people think our "4udio family" of the '70s has a
generation gap! Certainly not!
We have planned and p:ocLced the finest sDlid state stereo
Receivers, Amplifiers, Tuners, Headphones and Speakers for
an entire generation of peoçb.
Our Audio Family is built cr reliability, professional function
and a sincere effort to satiEfy your most demanding perform-
ance requirements.
FAM-14 AM-FM-MPX Stereo "AMILI-TUNER" offers private listening with
stereo headphones plugged into he front panel, by way of a unique built
in power amplifier: Dual gate Fe ; AM -FM Muting circuit, Plug in Module
I.C., MPX section; Modular cons ruction throughout with triple NK NW -1
Circuit Breaker Protection.
TRM-SC Stereo PRE -AMP Power enplifier Power output 66 watts i- 1db at
8 ohms; Controls for two sets of apeakers; Dual Functiin Controls, Treble,
Bass, Scratch and Rumble Filter Modular I.C. and pug in type printed
circuit boards with NK NW-1 Triple Circuit Breaker protection.
Now you can see we have eliminated the "Scund" generation
gap in the 70's, so can you; at your local Nikko dealer.
See tie sensibly priced FAM-14 Amplituner and TRM 50
pre -Amp Amplifier.
P.S. For the Budget Minded we have the FAM-12 and TRM 40

NIKKO E_ECTRIC CORPORTION OF AMERICA vol iÁ RLv6 OnTw HOLLYWOOD. CALIF. 01601
 This scheme is used on both antenna and
speaker terminals in the Model Twenty la LIMITING x 1.9µV
Two. Antenna terminals permit either a 0

300-ohm or a 75 -ohm cable to be prop- 10

ó Fig. 4-FM characteris-
erly matched, though the customer in- tics of Marantz 22.
-20
struction manual favors the use of shielded
300 -ohm lead-in cable, to minimize multi - -30
o
path interference. ,-w
Eleven individual circuit modules, in- -50
cluding completely separate FM and AM ce RESIDUAL NOISE AND DISTORTION
front ends, are used in the rugged chassis. - 60

At least some of the layout can be seen - 70

RESIDUAL NOISE
t
in Fig. 3 and, while the AM -IF, FM -IF - 80
1.0 10.0 100.0 1K
0.1
and FM-Stereo circuits are all assembled
INPUT SIGNAL -MICROVOLTS
on one p.c. board, they are totally sepa-
rate circuits too. The stereo decoder cir-
cuitry has been simplified by the use of
a new integrated circuit which, together
with three external tuned circuits, is all
that is required to decode the composite
stereo signal into separate left and right
outputs. Five other integrated circuits
appear in the FM -IF and audio circuits. P
0.3
41w

\ 44w

MY
-OY.'w-ONtrAPPLIED
In addition, there are fifty three bi -polar THD
transistors, four field-effect transistors and -11 0.2

some thirty-eight signal, regulating, and - 1.

g -:.
rectifying diodes in this receiver design. - 00
OYOOY 'L' ONLY AP LIED
0.1
_
Electrical Measurements -10 0.05
LIMIT OF TEST EQUIPMENT
It should come as no surprise to anyone ID 50 100 200 500 IK lK SK 101( 10K
0
acquainted with previous Marantz prod- FREQUENCY - Na
1.0 10 100

ucts to learn that in many instances, per- OUTPUT PER CHANNEL - WATTS
formance measurements exceeded pub-
lished specifications. For example, the
actual measured IHF sensitivity was 2.1 Fig. 5-Stereo separation. Fig. 6-THD and IM characteristics.
µV as opposed to the 2.4 µV claimed.
Furthermore, this figure was equalled at ion, separates the really good FM per- levels was probably better than that very
formers (such as this one) from the run- low figure.
of-the-mill tuners. Figure 4 graphically Tone -control action, loudness -contour
illustrates these important FM character- compensation (at 30 dB below full vol-
istics, while Fig. 5 is a plot of stereo FM ume), and low-frequency and high-fre-
separation. While we were able to obtain quency filter action are all plotted in Fig.
only 38 dB of separation at 1 kHz, that is 7. The filters have a slope of only 8 dB
close enough to the 40 dB claimed, and per octave and therefore cut into the pro-
both figures are more than adequate. In gram material to a greater extent than we
fact, we did measure 40 dB at 400 Hz would like to see. For example, the
and maintained at least 30 dB of separa- "rumble" filter causes the low-frequency
tion down to 50 Hz and up to about 8 response to be down about 5 dB at 80 Hz
kHz. At 15 kHz separation was down to and the scratch filter attenuates 7 kHz
23 dB. signals by a similar amount. Chances are,
Figure 6 is a plot of both THD and however, that owners of this equipment
IM, referencing an 8 -ohm load with both will seldom want to use these secondary
channels driven. Rated distortion of 0.3% circuits anyway, if companion equipment
is reached at 43 watts in the case of THD and source material is in good condition.
Fig. 3-Showing internal construction. and at 41 watts in the case of IM, both Power Bandwidth, plotted in Fig. 8, ex-
all three test frequencies (some manufac- results above published claims. There is tends from 15 Hz to 30 kHz, considerably
turers try to squeak out their best figures no evidence of increasing distortion at beyond published claims.
at 98 MHz, sacrificing the end points, lower power levels, sometimes typical
since IHF sensitivity is supposed to be of complementary -symmetry output -cir- Listening Tests
measured at that one frequency). Ulti- cuit configurations and, more significantly,
mate S/N for mono FM reached an wattages just below maximum output are Since our laboratories are equipped
incredible 72 dB at 100 µV and even produced with barely measureable IM with an antenna rotor, we were able to
with an input signal of 50 µV, for which and THD (both well below 0.1%). In put the "multipath meter circuit" to the
Marantz claimed a S/N of 65 dB, we read the case of THD, our equipment is cap- test, and a word about its novel approach
71 dBl Full limiting was reached at just able of measuring down to 0.05%, and is in order. When the antenna tuning but-
under 2µV, a fact which Marantz does this is what we measured, indicating that ton is depressed, two changes occur in the
not mention, but one which, in our opin- actual distortion at lower power output FM tuner circuitry. The output of the IF

56 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 IN A TDK LASS BY ITSELF
Today, there are only 3 or 4 cassette tapes in the world that are
completely reliable, with low signal-to-noise ratio, with practically
no hiss, low wow and flutter and truly worthy of the name
"stereo high fidelity". But among these 3 or 4 leaders there is
again one and
only one cassette tape
that is truly
in a class by itself -
the TDK
Super Dynamic
r °1P"II;:Ue< -BC) =i D
cassette tape.

1111
ro

TDK's exclusive new pat-

ented magnetic material and
coating techniques give you
a cassette tape with here-
tofore unheard-of frequency
response range of from
30-20,000 Hz, a signal-to-
noise ratio of 55dB and an
extremely wide dynamic range. All this plus minimal head wear.
The SD cassette mechanism is manufactured by TDK with the same care and quality control that
is used in the tape itself. The result is a smooth running and virtually jam -proof construction.

Compare a TDK SD Cassette with the present brand you are using. We know you will be amazed
at the difference.

TDK Cassettes are available at leading audio dealers everywhere.

leader in tape technology since 1932.

TDKWorld's

TDI< ELECTRONICS CORP.

NEW YORK LOS ANGELES CHICAGO
AUDIO APRIL 1970 Check No. 57 on Reader Service Card 57
 .,o
system is fed to an AM detector, rather
than to its normal FM ratio detector. It is
characteristic of multipath reflections to
.
4- 15

LURIIESSr 15
On=KRR
RATED DISTORTION = 0.30

cause partial out-of-phase cancellation of Ì

0

4'1Al=
the incoming signal. This results in an IF
signal which is not fully "limited" and -15
NIAIITER
therefore has AM modulation riding upon p LO.FILTER

it. The output of the AM detector is fed 20 50 100 200 500 IK 0K SK lOK 20K 50K 10 ID 50 100 200 500 IK 20 SK 10K 10K 10K
-N.
to the audio chain, so that with the An- FREQUENCY - N. FREQUENCY

tenna Tuning button in its depressed posi- Fig. 7-Tone control and filter character- Fig. 8-Power bandwidth.
tion, we can hear the products of AM istics.
detection audibly. Their presence indi-
cates multipath! These same AM products
are rectified to create a pulsating d.c.
voltage, which is applied to the meter
used in this mode. As the antenna is
rotated, the audible AM products reach
a null, and so does the meter reading. The
"null" is therefore the optimized position Fig. 9-Square-wave response at 100 Hz (A) and 10,000 Hz (B).
for the antenna and the test is quick and
accurate. 'In this application, we feel that center) this is an extremely good record. ing conditions, using two pairs of stereo
this method of antenna orientation is as Marantz makes no claims whatever for loudspeaker systems, each rated at 8 -ohms
easy to use as the `scope method previ- its AM performance, even excluding all impedance and both sets of the low-
ously featured on Marantz products and it reference to this section in its published efficiency variety, at that. Square -wave
is certainly less costly and requires no specifications. We wonder why, since we response at 100 Hz and 10 kHz is shown
high -voltage power supply. As for the found the AM reception to be more than in the 'scope photos of Fig. 10, confirming
effectiveness of FM reception, we were adequate and quite sensitive. Bandwidth the better -than -average transient response
able to pick up 43 stations using just an seemed a bit on the narrow side compared which we noted in our listening tests.
indoor dipole, reorienting it as demanded to quality sets we have tested, but this in In all, it is obvious that Marantz engi-
by the "antenna meter." Shifting to a turn meant no serious "10 -kHz" whistle neering has combined with overseas fabri-
multi-element outdoor directional antenna problems, even during evening listening. cating facilities to produce a receiver
increased the number of usable FM sig- All the while, the amplifier section of worthy of the Marantz name and tradi-
nals received to 57, of which some twenty- this receiver coasted along at all our test tion, yet within the reach of many more
two were broadcasting acceptable stereo. listening levels, never breaking up and pocketbooks than would otherwise be the
For our location ( about twenty miles never tripping the thermal protection cir- case.
from the New York Metropolitan Area cuits, even under extreme dynamic listen- Check No. 58 on Reader Service Card

University "Project M"

Speaker System

MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS: fier input power to produce high levels

of sound. This is just not true in the
Speaker Complement: One 11", high - case of the "Project M" system. A mere
compliance woofer, one 21/2" closed - ten watts of amplifier power will produce
back, direct -radiator cone tweeter. Im- a 102 -dB output at a distance of four
pedance: 8 ohms. Power Handling feet, which is about the equivalent of a
Capacity: 60 watts music power. Recom- loud symphony orchestra, listened to
mended Amplifier Power: 30 watts. at a distance of about 15 feet. On the
Crossover Network: L-C type, 6 dB per other hand, the unique design and con-
octave. Crossover Frequency: 1 kHz. En- struction of the eleven -inch woofer used
closure: 1.324 cubic feet, acoustic sus- in this system is such that it can handle
pension principle. Finish: Oiled walnut, power inputs far in excess of that modest
four sides. Dimensions: 231 in. x 123/4 amount-up to 60 watts of music power
in. x 117/8 in. deep. Suggested Retail without the slightest audible or meas-
Price: $99.95. ured indication of "break-up." If these
claims seem a bit far fetched, a look at
University's new "Project M" two-way some of the new concepts embodied in
loudspeaker system disproves an old this relatively low-priced system may
speaker "cliche." Generally, it has been help to explain how these goals were
maintained that small, bookshelf speaker achieved.
enclosure designs embodying acoustic Figure 1 shows the complete system,
suspension principles are low-efficiency with neutral beige grille cloth frame
devices, requiring a great deal of ampli- in place. The grille cloth is mounted Fig.1

58 AUDIO APRIL 1970

on an easily removable masonite frame
which is retained in place by bits of
"zipper" type fabric which engage sim-
ilar squares of fabric stapled to the main
body of the enclosure. Removal of the
front grille frame discloses the speaker
elements themselves, which are front -
mounted, as shown in Fig. 2. The ap-
parent secret of the excellent distortion -
free performance of the eleven inch
woofer is th four-layer, large diameter
voice coil and a soft, rubber surround Fig. 3-Showing the "Unirol" suspension
suspension, to which University has
given the name Unirol' . This combina-
tion of design innovations, along with a
suitably heavy magnet structure and
four -layer voice coil winding results in
the unusually high order of transducer
efficiency noted earlier, as well as the
capability of the cone to make excur-
sions of over 14 inch while maintaining
extreme linearity all the way down to
about 40 Hz. At somewhat lower power 4-Close-up of closed -back tweeter
input levels (up to about 10 watts) we
Fig. 2-Grille cloth panel removed Fig.

were able to measure fundamentals con- system to be in excellent "balance," free state amplifiers is that of speaker im-
taining little apparent "doubling" as low air measurements did disclose a some- pedance over the entire frequency spec-
as 30 Hz! A close up view of the "rub- what greater output than "flat" from trum. A plot of this characteristic is
berized roll" suspension employed in about 3500 Hz and up in on -axis meas- shown in Fig. 5 and at no frequency does
the woofer is shown in Fig. 3, while a urements. Some listeners may have pre- the net impedance of the voice coil
detail view of the tweeter front is shown ferred to be able to reduce the highs a go below the "safe" limit of four ohms.
in Fig. 4. bit, by means of a two or three position Characteristically, the rise in impedance
switch such as is found on more expen- at resonance in air suspension designs
This tweeter, according to the manu-
sive systems. Undoubtedly, this omis- in minimal, reaching a peak of only 10
facturer, has a specially designed cone
sion is a matter of economics and, in any ohms at a system resonance of 57 Hz.
that has a smoothly and progressively
case, off -axis and in our own particular The constant -resistance crossover net-
decreasing radiating area as the fre-
listening room (fairly well "damped"), work design is so accurately accom-
quency increases. This is said to result in
the balance seemed to be just about plished that the transition from woofer
the tweeter's operating as a virtual
perfect, contrary to the measured results to tweeter operation (normally obvious
point source of sound at all frequencies
obtained with calibrated microphone in this impedance curve) cannot even
within its range, giving extremely broad
measurements in free air. That, of course, be detected.
dispersion and no "beaming" effect at
is one of the troubles with speaker re- The size of this speaker system
any particular frequency. In addition to
sponse measurements, whether conducted makes it ideally suited for use as a pri-
having a fully closed back, the inside
in free air or in an anechoic chamber- mary system within just about any
surface of this tweeter is lined with
the ultimate test is still the subjective listening area and with just about any
fibre -glass for additional mechanical and
listening test and in that test, University reasonably high -quality amplifier. Its
acoustical damping. While the cone is price makes it equally suitable for sec-
only 2r in diameter, it is mounted into Sound's "Project M" passes, with very
high grades. ondary, "remote speaker" installations,
a four-inch frame in such a way as to
An electrical test which has assumed as well!
isolate it completely from the woofer.
great importance in this era of solid Check No. 43 on Reader Service Card
Crossover frequency for this system
was chosen at 1000 Hz, rather high com-
pared to most two-way systems, although
the manufacturer claims that both woofer
and tweeter have useful and distortion -
free ranges well above and below this
frequency, respectively. Our free -air re-
sponse measurements confirm that the
transition from low-frequency element
to high-frequency tweeter produces no
sudden "peaks" or "valleys" in the un-
usually flat response curve of the sys-
tem. Crossover slope is only 6 dB per
octave, since the crossover network em-
ploys a single L and C only. No controls 20 50 100 200 500 1,000 2,000 5,000 10,000 20,000

FREQUENCY - HERTZ
or high -frequency attenuating switches
are provided and, although we found the Fig. 5-Impedance characteristics of "Project M" system
AUDIO APRIL 1970 59
Ampex Micro 52 Stereo
Player/Recorder Deck

MANUFACTURER'S SPECIFICATIONS:

Frequency Response: ±3 dB, 50 to 10,000

Hz. Signal-to -Noise Ratio: 45 dB. Cross-
talk: 55 dB, side 1 to side 2; 30 dB, left
to right channels. Mic Input Sensitivity:
0.1 mV, ±3 dB. Mic Input Impedance:
500 ohms. Line Input Sensitivity: .07 V
±3 dB to 1.0 V max input. Line Output
Level: 0.6 to 1.5 V max, 50,000 -ohm load.
üCb.
e
Speed Accuracy: ±1.5%. Flutter. 0.25%.
Fast Wind Time: 65 secs (C-60 cassette). IIÍi{Iflflll
Dimensions: 161/4x105Mx51%6 in. Weight:
10 lbs. Price: $149.95, including two
microphones.
The continually increasing interest in Fig. 1
cassette -playing equipment has brought
a large number of players and player/ to maintain a reasonably constant record- the capstan, with a possibility of tape
recorders to the market, and this recent ing level. breakage. To record, one simply depresses
Ampex model offers its attractive features Each channel employs seven transistors, the RECORD and PLAY/REC keys simultane-
of convenience, portability, and perfor- and two additional transistors are used ously, which can be done only if the
mance to the cassette enthusiast. in the push-pull oscillator circuit, which safety tab on the cassette has not been
The Micro 52 is an upright cabinet of operates at approximately 84 kHz. One broken out, or if a piece of cellophane
additional transistor is used in the power tape has been put over the place where
walnut-finished wood with a satin -finished
chrome strip along the top broken by supply to provide a regulated voltage sup- the safety tab normally is. This feature is
seven "piano -key" controls-PAUSE, STOP, ply to the amplifier stages. The preamp common to all cassette machines, of
FAST FwD, PLAY/REC, REWIND, the inter- section contains two transistors, with course, and is one of the advantages of
locking RECORD key, and EJECT. The next equalizing feedback switched around them the cassette system.
5-in. section of the front is completely in the playback mode. The preamp is fol- It is not possible to record both micro-
black-the left half opening forward to lowed by a two -stage amplifier and an phone and line inputs on the same chan-
insert or remove cassettes, and the right emitter follower which feeds the output, nel mixed together, since plugging in the
half obscuring the VU meters until power the VU -meter amplifier, and the auto- microphone cuts out the line input. How-
is turned on, when they become visible matic-level-control section. Internal ad- ever, one can record from microphone
through openings in the dark plastic cover- justments are provided for setting on one channel and from line on the other
ing. playback level and for calibrating the VU so that when played back on a stereo sys-
The next 231 -in. section of panel space meters, which are set for a "0" indication tem, the effect is the same as though the
accommodates the various operating when the level is 8 dB below the 3 -per two were mixed during recording on the
switches, controls, the tape counter, and cent distortion point. Adjustments are also same channel. That is, of course, assum-
the microphone jacks. Playback output provided to set the correct bias level.
level is fixed, but there are two controls
for each channel for adjusting the record- Operation
ing level for microphone and line inputs.
These controls are of the linear slide stype, Depressing the EJECT key opens the left
and the position of the knob indicates the side of the black plastic front to permit in-
setting immediately. To their right are serting the cassette into a space provided
two switches-the upper one for record- on the hinged door. The door is then
ing level control, either manual or auto- pressed shut, and the PLAY/REC key is
matic, and the lower one for line power. depressed to start the machine. A PAUSE
A small panel on the rear accommodates key stops the tape motion, enabling the
the line input and output phono jacks. user to set levels on his projected program
In the MANUAL position, the recording material. Another press releases the PAUSE
level is controlled by the slide pot for key and the tape moves. REWIND and FAST
either the microphone input or the line FWD keys may be depressed while playing
signal. In the AUTOMATIC position, a por- or recording, but to go back to playing Fig. 2-Showing hinged door open.
tion of the output of the recording ampli- again, you must press the STOP key, since
fier section is fed through a diode, filtered, the PLAY/REC key cannot be depressed ing the stereo system is switched to the
and fed to the base of a transistor which while the tape is in motion as it would mono mode, or that both channels are fed
effectively shunts part of the input signal cause the idler to press the tape against through a "Y" connector to one input.

60 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 THE
10,000. None of these should be consid-
ered specific, since bias was not changed GOLD-PLATED
during the several frequency runs. The
main result, therefore, is to show that the
basic response of the Micro 52 is essen- RELIABILITY
tially flat to at least 10,000 Hz, which has
to be considered excellent at a tape speed
of 1743 ips. We can easily remember when FACTOR.
50 to 8000 was par for the course at 7i/ß In this age of planned obso-
ips, but that was before the present-day lescence, unreliable performance
tapes were available. and shoddy workmanship are
Similarly, signal-to-noise ratios were almost taken for granted. But there
remarkably constant, ranging from 43 dB are still a few exceptional products
on the poorest sample to 45.5 on the that are built to last and one of
TDK. Flutter and wow together measured them is the Revox tape recorder.
Revox dependability is
0.25 per cent in the range from 0.5 to 6
Fig. 3-View of Rear. a combination of
Hz, but reached a maximum of 0.35 per
many factors,
cent in the ranges above 6 Hz. but perhaps
Performance
Considering all of its functions, its con- the most
In order to test out the machine, we venience, and its appearance, the Ampex important
used a number of different manufacturers' Micro 52 is a machine on which the aver- of them
cassettes, primarily to see how much dif- age recording enthusiast could well trans- is advanced
ference there was in different makes. All fer a lot of musical material that he wanted engineering.
were recorded without changing the bias, to keep so as to free his reels of %-inch tape Borrowing from
which probably puts some of them under space age technology,
for reuse. That is the main virtue of the
Revox gold-plates all of the
a handicap, for TDK tape, for example, cassette recorder, in this observer's opin- electrical contacts on its plug-in
is said to require slightly more bias than ion. Often one will record something- circuit boards, relays and rotary
the usual cassette tape. The frequency perhaps off the air or possibly some im- switches. The result: every one of
responses of these five tapes are shown portant family happening-using a typical these movable contacts, the ones
in Fig. 4, and all, of course, reflect the reel-to-reel g -inch machine. The material that usually cause most of the
performance of the machine as well as may be of sufficient importance that the problems, can be depended upon
the tape itself. user does not want to erase it, but he still to perform well for the life of
It is immediately apparent that the bias the machine. Obviously, gold
does not want to tie up all his standard
is not at the optimum value for the TDK
plating is considerably more
tape reels. We submit that he could well expensive than conventional tin-
ning, but Revox thinks it's worth it.
Because Revox engineers
demand margins of performance
and reliability that far exceed
ordinary production standards, you
can own a tape recorder that will
work perfectly the first time you
use it and for years to come.
And that's why Revox
is the only one
to back its
machines with
a lifetime
guarantee.

20 100

FREQUENCY
1000

- Hz
10.000 RE x
Fig. 4-Record/play response with tapes of five different manufacturers. ELIVERS
tape, which shows a maximum response
at 9000 Hz, and a rapid rolloff after 12,-
000. The tape marketed by Robins In-
transfer such material to a cassette, break
out the safety tab, and store the compact
cassettes for his personal "archives" with-
WHAT ALL
dustries shows a ffatter response up to 10
kHz, with the rolloff occurring after that
out the probability of accidentally erasing
any material he wanted to keep. To this THE
frequency. None of the five tapes tested application we commend the cassette re-
showed a response worse that ± 4 dB
from 20 to 10,000 Hz, with TDK extend-
corder, and the Micro 52 does a great job
for just such a use.
ONLY PR
Revox Corporation
ing to 13,000 kHz, the Robins, Sony, and 212 Mineola Avenue
Scotch tapes to 12,000, and the Norelco to Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 11577
Check No. 44 on Reader Service Card 1721 N. Highland Ave.
Hollywood, Calif. 90028
AUDIO APRIL 1970 Check No. 61 on Reader Service Card
velous with Brahms, a Viennese trans- much updated Mozart. Excellent! And the eternally jittering violins and the
plant like Beethoven) is out of a very more successfully brought off, I think, ever-warbling winds, simply wear down
different background, Poland, the land than Toscanini's high-speed Schubert, the listening resistance. Boxed -in! Rigidly
of Chopin. Perhaps this quiet, gentle which was fast for a different reason, and limited, with, so to speak, a horridly
Viennese music is, at last, one too much not at all relaxed. (Toscanini made even fixed smile on the music's face. No won-
for him. Schubert sound Italian; his fast Schubert der the man died early.
was for me taut, nervous, and somehow
Performance: B- Sound: B insecure.) Not Menuhin's. Though the
Menuhin Ninth goes along at a clip far
Schubert: Unfinished Symphony; Four speedier than the long -standard Bruno
Overtures. Menuhin Festival Orch., Walter sort, it is sprightly, relaxed, and
Menuhin. Angel S-36609 stereo ($5.98) musical and loses no impressiveness at
Schubert: Symphony No. 9, "The Great C all for being lighter in weight. The same
Major". Menuhin Festival Orch. Menu- goes for the Unfinished, which so often
hin. Angel S-36636 stereo ($5.98) is heavy and slow to the point of dullness.
The series includes all the symphonies,
Suddenly-great Schubert.
plus the four overtures that go along
I did not much like the run of Menu-
with the short Unfinished. All but Nos
hin disks of past years with the Bath Fes-
2 and 6, on one record, are with either
tival Orchestra. Too many of them were
the Menuhin Festival Orchestra, or just
jumpy and poor in ensemble; in particu-
the Menuhin Orchestra, whatever differ-
lar the Baroque and Mozart -period per-
ence there is.
formances were decidedly inferior to The scherzo from the Octet is added
many available from continental sources. to this recording since it was substituted,
That series continued into this cycle of Performances: A- Sound: B in rewritten form, in the first perfor-
Schubert symphonies ( Nos 2 and 6) mance.
and I did not even bother to play the Those who know the later "little"
music, expecting the usual. But now 1 Schubert symphonies, Nos. 2 through 6,
have discovered the big change that Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1, Op. 1. will find No. 1 quite similar, but more
apparently came with Menuhin's own Schubert: Symphony No. 1 in D. Cleve- loosely organized and, oddly, a bit more
name-orchestra-or perhaps it is simply land Orchestra, Louis Lane. Columbia Romantic. Probably because it tries
that this early 19th century music is MS 7391 stereo ($5.98) harder to sound big. Gorgeous Schubert
more Menuhin's sort. melodies and the same for the harmonies
These two number-one symphonies
These recordings are really outstand- -even at sixteen Schubert was infallible.
haven't often been heard and go beauti-
ing. For one thing, the performances The performances by the Cleveland
fully together-Mendelssohn's was com-
are now both relaxed and impeccably Orchestra under Louis Lane are abso-
posed at fifteen, Schubert's at sixteen,
accurate, for a much more impressive lutely lovely, precisely right in spirit and
both young men having already had ex-
and natural impact. Real music making. expression.
tensive experience in instrumental per-
For another, Menuhin has made a really
formance as well as composition, if in Performance: A- Sound: B+
important revaluation of Schubert tempi
very different circumstances. (Mendels-
-he plays these late and usually pon- sohn's family were wealthy music con-
derous works with the verve which we
noisseurs; Schubert played via a scholar- Mendelssohn: Double Concerto for Violin
ship at an imperial choir school in and Piano in D Minor. Carroll Glenn,
ürysxr Vienna.)
nlEtrë^nlnNr`tmydhw3r vl., Eugene List, pf. Vienna Chamber
rnBl IhA'RItIt, Both symphonies are, as you might Orchestra, Maerzendorfer. Westminster
&dtmu >stituny
expect, rather large and important sound- WST 17166 stereo ($5.98)
ing. And, when you get into them,
somewhat overblown and repetitive in What an astonishingly complex and
organization. That is the way with youth, full-blown piece of music for a fourteen
after all, even well-trained youth! Econ- year old! This is one of the unpublished
omy comes later. But to criticize them youthful works immured for so long in
beyond this is impossible-such incredible the State Library in Berlin, now in the
accomplishments for two mere children! East zone. The Lists (Carroll Glenn is
Indeed the Mendelssohn symphony is Mrs. L.) could not get it out of hock
one of his nicest works of any sort, early there until the Easterners finally got
or late. He was even more a child genius around to publishing it, though they tried
than Mozart, but for tragic and inscru- over a long period.
associate with the early "little" Schubert table reasons somehow stopped moving At fourteen, Mendelssohn was well
symphonies. For years-for a century- forward before he was fairly out of his ahead of Mozart at the same age as far
the ponderous approach to late Schu- salad days. Mendelssohn's later frustra- as composition was concerned. He had
bert has been standard, as though tion-though his composing and per- an amazing amount of music already
to prove how weightily he foretold forming career continued at a frenzied behind him, composed for the\ splendid
such as Tchaikowsky and Wagner. level-was surely a tragedy for music. performers always ready at hand in his
Now that, so to speak, we couldn't care His very greatest works came only parents' lavishly musical home. But this
less on that score, it is high time we took shortly after this symphony-the Octet, piece does not compare in real value to
some of the sententiousness out, and that the Midsummer Night's Dream Over- the Symphony No. 1 of a year later,
is what Menuhin has done. His late ture. From thence onwards that endless which Mendelssohn called, with reason,
Schubert is brisk and moving, like so flow of fussy, almost prissy little tunes, his Opus 1. (There had been a dozen

64 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 or so earlier little symphonies for strings.) musicianship, alas, among those who and the hunch was right. It's good.
Here, the child composer has learned think that merely playing an old instru- To be sure, there are mildly corny mo-
all the tricks to an astounding degree, ment so the notes are right is miracle ments, and some that are merely amateur-
but his "soul" isn't really forthcoming enough. It is, to be sure! But there is ish or insecure, in this set of fourteen pop
quite yet. It blossomed with adolescence. more to music than playing notes. Or songs, seven to a side in standard LP
This is a big, sprawling, entirely con- singing notes. fashion. But in the main, it is a wonder-
temporary work (as of its time, the early Most of the original voices have now fully sincere and moving documentary,
1820s, when the Mozart-Haydn manner left the Pro Musica and some of the in- "sweet sixteen" and a little older getting
was still predominant in spite of Bee- struments ( they were often the same, as together to make their own music with
thoven), treating the difficult problem is standard practice in most old -music surprising sophistication and musician-
of joint violin and piano solos with an groups). The original leader, Noah Green- ship. Most of the numbers apparently are
aplomb that Mozart or Haydn could berg, is dead. Under John Reeves White's done straight from scratch, words, tune,
well have envied. But the whole thing direction a great deal more subtlety has arrangements and all; a few are standard
smells, as they used to say, of the lamp. crept in, and more variety, too, not only pop items-the Beatles, Joni Mitchell-
Fugues, cadenzas, busy workings -out, in the range of vocal and instrumental refashioned into this group's image and
the whole bit. In spite of our awe, we're sounds but, happy to say, in the treatment thus a good complement to the local
likely to get bored, over and over, until of the music according to its need. The product.
a new idea comes along to rekindle in- The voices are so obviously young, so
terest. OK-so he was fourteen. A genius utterly without guile or commercial taint,
but do Í have to listen? I'll admit that that one almost weeps at such untouched
the whole thing would be a lot more ef- honesty expressed so well and with such
fective in a live performance, with utter seriousness. The instrumental parts
pianist and violinist right there to watch. are proficient and interesting, with a lot
That was the idea. of gentle but well -managed color. The
The recording is somewhat unfortu- boys, it must be admitted, generally outdo
nate. Close-up and studio -like in sound, the girls, as indeed they should, that being
it makes the orchestra's playing appear the male prerogative in music. ( The
hectic and poorly blended, though I sus- "cast" lines up in many different combina-
pect it was not. And the disk itself is cut tions, boys and girls.) Two boys in par-
at a very high level with a constant hint ticular, whose numbers open and close
of overloadish distortion. Rough sound. the recording, are really superb musicians
Gotta be particularly careful, you engi- -Rick and Pat. Those two should stay in
neers, about those vigorous violins! With music. They're decidedly talented. Also
their brilliant overtone coloration they Mel, who sings an absolutely lovely young
present record must stand for many oth- version of the Beatle's "Hey Jude!" (omit-
can overload your circuits without the
ers. An expanded array of instruments,
meter even knowing it-as you should ting, wisely, the long coda) to a faultless
including krummhorns, rauschpfeife and
know. accompanying ensemble.
sackbuts, as well as members of the re-
If you think kids just make ugly noise,
corder and viol families and the various then try this disc-and let your kids hear
Performance: B Sound: C+ portable organs (regal) , plus bells, it, too.
drums, miniature castanets, and the usual
harpsichord and lute ( and no doubt a
good many more instruments on a part- Performances: B+ Sound: B+
time basis) now enliven the sound of
Music of the Spanish Theatre in the
performances such as this one. An ensem-
Golden Age. New York Pro Musica.
ble of five soloists sings here, including
Decca DL 79436 stereo ($5.98)
the inevitable countertenor (Ernest
Like the Don Cossacks, the New York Murphy ). With a half hundred and more
Bartok: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3.
Pro Musica goes on and on. But the Pro live concerts a year in their schedule, per-
formance is totally precise, out of long Daniel Barenboim; New Philharmonia
Musica has changed, as the Cossacks
practice. But the best part of it is the new Orch., Boulez. Angel S-36605 stereo
haven't noticeably. The Pro Musica must
mellowness and expressivity, the more ($5.98)
be Decca's most valuable classical prop-
erty by this time, after umpteen dozen human quality of the exposition. An im- Curious. Here we have the famed
LP records one right after another. And proved Pro Musica, definitely. For which Boulez, who will soon take over the New
composers galore who thought their mu- we can probably thank John Reeves York Philharmonic (a part-time jet stop ),
sic long since as dead as themselves are White as well as the innate musicianship plus Barenboim, that powerhouse young
rising up in astonishment from their of his singers and players. Argentine "music factory" whose piano
graves at the wholesale renaissance of records have been coming out faster than
such quantities of their best work. The most of us can play them; also the world's
Performance: B Sound: B
Pro Musica is getting better, in spite of finest British orchestra, the New Philhar-
mass production. monia. And yet, for my ear, the Bartok
The early Pro Musica records (and con- isn't good.
certs) were irritatingly uniform, the same I think I can hazard a guess as to how -
The Moon Down. Sing -In Boulder.
Is
too-familiar voices, singing in the same come. At this late date it is clear that like
(Boulder, Colo. High School.) Owl
brassy, professional fashion regardless of so many of his contemporaries Bartok was
ORLP-15 stereo ($4.98)
what music they sang, the instruments, still at heart a left-over Romantic, writ-
authentic of course, zooming along in that A bunch of sixteen high school kids ing in a fierce modern dissonance that was
briskly mechanical fashion that passes for made this one-I tried it just on a hunch, enough to disguise the fact for those who
AUDIO APRIL 1970 65
heard him with shock and horror, and Weber: Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F THE BEETHOVEN YEAR
even for those who loved him. All the Minor, Op. 73; Concertino, Op. 26. Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus,
basic Romantic traits are still there, the Rossini: Introduction and Variations for Op. 43. Menuhin Festival Orch., Men-
large-scale passion in the expression Clarinet and Orch. Gervase de Peyer; uhin. Angel S-36641 stereo ($5.98)
(fiercer and more passionate than any New Philharmonia Orch., De Burgos. The Beethoven Year gets off to a
Romanticist), the elegance of his orches- Angel S-36589 stereo ($5.98) somewhat anticlimactic spring chez
tra, the perfection of large-scale concert - Angel with this almost -complete per-
style music architecture, the love of a formance of Beethoven's only ballet
good tune-and a good harmony, disso- score, put together in 1801 at the end of
nance or no. his "first" or youthful period. There's
Boulez, in his forties, is of the cool gen- nothing wrong with "Prometheus," given
eration and from that cool musical cli- its purpose and the fourteen items out
mate of satire and anti -Romanticism, of 17 in the score ( all that would fit on
France. Temperamentally, he goes along the disc) are impeccably played by the
more easily with the Stravinsky outlook, Menuhin orchestra. There just isn't very
though he conducts all manner of mod- much to hear-considering that this, after
erns; his Romantic music is neither that all, is the World's Greatest Composer.
of Bartok's generation nor of the new, The explanation, I'd say, is in Beet-
young generation who wear their passions hoven's own extraordinary sense of style
once more like their long hair. He falls and occasion, plus his rather keen eye
between. for a good thing in terms of his own
As for Barenboim, I can only suggest betterment. ( Not that it did him much
that, one way or another, his Bartok is good, this last; he was too pugnaciously
un-Hungarian. It does not seethe and boil commercial to get away with it!) "Pro-
and burst into steely, disciplined frenzy, Weber loved the clarinet. His numer- metheus" reminds me of much lesser
as the passionate Hungarians always play ous works featuring that instrument at revived Baroque today, well written but
it. The notes are all there, technically well its early -19th -century best are a joy to empty. To be sure, the score had all
played. But there is a detachment, a sober hear. The big ones include two concerti the then -modern outward hallmarks of the
studiousness, as though the music really and the shorter, more informal concer- Beethoven manner, the gruff chords, the
didn't quite get through to the pianist's in- tino. Though the concerti try for the loud, rough octave doublings of melo-
telligence. proper grandiloquence, in such formal - dies, the explosive endings-rows of pom-
The Philharmonia? Believe it or not, the dress music, Weber's ear for a quick, pous chords. It therefore pleased,
music, especially the tough first concerto, catchy tune or a quirk of melody ensures because even so it is easy music to hear.
that solemnity reigns but briefly. And he The stage show was given thirty times
knows what astonishing things his instru- before it wore out its welcome. Not bad.
ment can do-in its classical phase, that But what the modern ear hears is the
is. No jazz in the 1820s. deliberately low level of content chosen
F minor is not a joyful key, but after by Beethoven throughout-as through
a slightly frowning start this Concerto writing down to his ballet listeners.
quickly moves into the limpid Weber Though he might deny it, this is exactly
style, a songful slow movement and a what he did.
finale rondo that sounds like a jump - The tunes are mostly sappy. The de-
dance from a Czech village festival, or velopments are rudimentary, if polished.
maybe a Bavarian beer hall. The Con- There are numerous important -sounding
certino starts slow and serious but all statements which say nothing much, end-
full of stagey drama, and ends like a less sequences, music exactly repeated
Strauss waltz in double time. at a different pitch level, where, so to
As for the Rossini-wow! A bravura speak, with a flick of the wrist. Beethoven
stage piece with all the clarinet tricks. could add a bit of variety. He didn't. That
First it is slow and lavish, the clarinet wasn't the game.
sounds a wee trace unrehearsed-speaking rolling out those sugary, ornamented Only in the last section does interest
purely relatively, as one must for this tunes that are the despair of today's suddenly rise-for here is the famous
world -famed ensemble. I have heard this Rossini opera singers, then it turns fast "Eroica" theme ( the last movement of
same music played better, with more ease and fancy, with whirlwinds of clarinet the symphony) in the second of its four
and enthusiasm, by much less favored scales and arpeggios. Some showpiece. appearances. But that interest is mainly
orchestras. De Peyer is a top-notch but very cool negative; the tune itself is here sur-
So-if you don't know the difference clarinetist-in all senses of that useful rounded with such incredible "nothing
(like most of the people who write pub- word. Throughout all the incredible music" that one can only marvel at the
licity for recordings), then you'll "ac- roulades and runs, his face (we can composer's wisdom in not borrowing it
claim" this one as another brilliant suc- imagine) does not move a muscle. The for the later and greater expression! The
classical clarinet can be a bit more out- man could really compose, when he had
cess for three acclaimed performers, the
wardly emotional, and I prefer it that a mind to. But this, very clearly, was
piano, the conductor, and the orchestra.
way, at least in this unabashed show-off not the moment, and no amount of im-
But I suggest you also look elsewhere for
more convincing Bartok. music. peccable performance will make it so.

Performance: B- Sound: B Performance: A - Sound: B - Performance: A- Sound: B+

AUDIO APRIL 1970

66
 One of the handsomest record packages to be presented on
the folk market-an area of recording activity that has been
notable for its lack of distinctive graphic design-is a new two -
disc collection of blues on the brand new Poppy label. The
album and record label were designed by Milton Glaser of
Push Pin Studios, one of New York's most prestigious design
and illustration groups. An examination of the performers
listed-Lightnin' Hopkins, Pete Johnson, Juke Boy Bonner,
Mance Lipscomb, Joe Turner, Clifton Chenier, Fred McDowell,
Earl Hooker, Big Mama Thornton, and more than a dozen
other blues singers and instrumentalists, many of whom have
never travelled far from the Mississippi Delta and Texas Gulf
regions-makes it clear that the origins of the music in the set
are from Arhoolie Records, a small Barkeley, California based
company.
For ten or more years, Arhoolie's director Chris Strachwitz 0M-1 OMNI SPEAKER SYSTEM. We've been in it from the
has been making field trips to those areas of the southern beginning ... at point ALPHA in time. Our engineers took
United States where a land -based culture has managed to audible sounds-electronically produced, and made them
clear, high fidelity tones. We participated in the design and
preserve, unchanged, the musical folk styles of a number of engineering of speakers to create the world's finest stereo-
isolated rural communities. The recordings collected on those phonic sound reproduction. Now, we have reached OMNI...
trips supplemented by work of other collectors and studio -made 0M-1 OMNI SPEAKER SYSTEM produces sound uniformly
recordings of professional folk musicians, have resulted in one for any part of the room. It is "omni-directional," (radiates
360 degrees). This new concept radiates both direct and
of the finest archives of published blues and folk music reflected sound deftly, creating a real depth sensation. You
recording. can place this OMNI speaker anywhere from the middle of
the room to a corner bookshelf. The UTAH Omni Speaker
In selecting material for a set that explores the background is a wonderful new way to enjoy music.
of today's rock music, Poppy's founders could not have gone
to a better source. The Poppy series, devoted to progressive
rock, folk music, and social comment, is aimed chiefly at the SPECIFICATIONS
Woofer; 8" diameter, cloth roll sus-
college audience, and its recordings are distributed throughout pension, 13/4 pound magnet struc-
the world by RCA. The sophistication of its packaging is in ture, 1" voice coil. Tweeter; 3"
marked contrast to the more austere, low -budget graphics of diameter, co -axially mounted, Alnico
the Arhoolie line. But where Arhoolie has supplied extended V magnet. Crossover frequency;
4,500 Hz. Cabinet; 93/4 x 93/4 x 141/2"
and scholarly notes about the music and performers on all of high, durable laminated walnut fin-
its recordings, the Poppy reissues supply no more information ish. Power; 30 watts peak, (15 watts
than the titles of the songs and the names of the performers. program). Response, 35/18,500
Certainly, in a set that features 26 different selections by as Hz. Impedance, 8 ohms. Shipping

uh
many sets of performers, it is useful to know that Lightnin' weight, 15 pounds.
Hopkins, Juke Boy Bonner, and Lil' Son Jackson all represent
the old-style Texas blues; that Clifton and Cleveland Chenier
are purveyors of a musical idiom called Zydeco, an amalgam
of blues and Cajun music that flourishes along the Louisiana -
Texas Coast; that Big Mama Thornton introduced Hound

AUDIO APRIL 1970 HUNTINGTON, INDIANA 46750 67

Check No. 67 on Reader Service Card
Big Mama Thornton introduced Hound Tony Scott performances captures the wonder, mys-
Dog and made it a hit before Elvis Pres- Verve Stereo V6-8788 tery, and exoticism quite effectively.
ley; and that Fred McDowell, born in Nothing in his earlier recordings prepares
1904, had worked all of his life in the Clarinetist Tony Scott tried his hand
one for the poised, shimmering etherial-
Mississippi cotton fields until his discov- at Eastern instrumental accompaniments
ism of this new sonic adventure by a
ery in 1959 by Alan Lomax. With so before, but never so successfully as in
talented and sensitive musician.
many different performers in such a vari- this delightful experiment that merges
ety of selections, the problems of writing John Berberian, oud, Souren Baronian,
Performance: A Sound: A
a comprehensive set of notes that cover dumbek, and Steve Pumilia, percussion,
all styles and artists is tough. But the with Milt Hinton, bass, Beril Rubenstein,
answer is not to skirt the issue entirely organ and piano, Attila Zoller, guitar,
and rely solely on fancy artwork. Jimmy Lovelace, drums, and Tony Scott
Stan Getz: Didn't We
The set ducks another issue, too. No- with his clarinet. The music on which Verve Stereo V6-8780
where is there a legend that indicates this instrumentation is employed consists
that these recordings are all monophonic. of Ode to an Oud, Swara Sulina, and This set finds Getz doing another of
We all know that its harder to sell mono Homage to Lord Krishna, on the latter, his solo performances against a back-
recordings to a market that is amply sup- Collin Walcott joins the group on sitar. ground of studio strings arranged by
plied with stereo playback equipment, These are all original works by Scott. tor Johnny Pate. Whether it was the mood
but when the material is only available the balance of the disc, he dispenses with at the sessions, the music selected, or
in mono form, the open, fair, decent the exotic instruments, and presents very both, these performances emerge with
thing is to spell it out. RCA does this on pleasant versions of his own Blues for far greater distinction than one would
all of the mono reissue recordings it pro- Charlie Parker and such standards as expect from the stereotyped format. Getz
duces, and it surprises us that it does not Satin Doll, My Funny Valentine, and finds worthwhile comments to make on
insist on the same frankness of labelling Sophisticated Lady. It's a lovely set of tunes such as Benny Golson's I Remem-
on the part of other producers whose performances in elegant stereo. ber Clifford, Johnny Mandel's The Shin-
productions it markets. ing Sea, and the title song by Jim Webb.
So much for reservations. The music Performance: A Sound: A
on this set is the important thing, and Performance: A- Sound: A
there's a lot of it, both in quantity and
quality. From the Texas barrelhouse Bay City
Jazz Band: Golden Days!
piano of Robert Shaw on The Ma Grinder Good Time Jazz Stereo S10053 Herbie Mann: The Great Mann
to the urban-blues -rock Two Bugs and a
The Bay City Jazz Band, one of San Verve Stereo V6-8784
Roach of Earl Hooker, this set is all genu-
ine, down to rock bottom blues, the most Francisco's best New Orleans revival All of the performances on this set
real, direct, soul wrenching form of music groups, was organized in 1955 and dis- were originally issued on long unavailable
this country has ever produced. banded in 1957. Like the history it recordings of the late 50s and early 60s.
sought to recreate, it exists today only on In spite of the abundant supply of more
Blues Roots phonograph records. The present set was recent Mann performances in somewhat
Poppy Mono PHY 60,003 recorded in 1957, and most of the richer stereo sound, there is always room
group's members have since returned to in the catalog for such lively, sophisti-
Performance: A Sound: B non-musical careers. It's a pity that they cated performances as these. Included
couldn't continue, for their music making are Cuban Patato Chips, Tenderly, Todos
had a feeling of freshness and genuine Locos, The Evolution of Man(n), A Rit-
Al Hirt: Paint Your Wagon emotional involvement that is seldom en- ual, Fife 'n Tambourine Corps, You
GWP Records Stereo ST 2002 countered in groups that imitate an Stepped Out of a Dream, and Caravan.
earlier period and style. The dozen tunes
While Al Hirt's style of performance on this set include Riverside Blues,
has the authentic flavor of his New Or-
Performance: A- Sound: B
Chimes Blues, Angry, New Orleans
leans origin, most of his recent perfor- Stomp, Coal Cart Blues, and Skid Da, De
mances cannot properly be classified as Dat. The sound shows its age, but the
jazz. He is nonetheless a trumpeter of stereo is genuine and very nicely spread. Dizzy Gillespie: Soul & Salvation
formidable technical prowess with a rich,
Tribute Stereo TRI 5001
full tone, and listeners who can overlook Performance: A- Sound: B
a musical backing that includes a vocal Ten gospel -style numbers by arranger -
chorus, syncopated handclapping, and a conductor Ed Bland serve as a vehicle for
lush string section will find a great deal Dizzy, saxophonist James Moody, trum-
to admire in Hirt's tuneful, straight- Paul Horn: Inside peter Joe Newman, and an assortment of
forward performances of such familiar Epic Stereo BXN 26466 rather distantly recorded, nameless side-
melodies as I Still See Elisa, They Call Recorded inside the Taj Mahal, a men to play some pleasant bouncy music
the Wind Maria, and ten more numbers with a tinge of rock in the accompanying
structure which in addition to its fabled
from the Lerner and Loewe musical. instrumentation. The recording not only
beauty must have one of the longest
Everything about this production, on a places the soloists too far in front of the
reverberation periods on record, this plat-
heretofore unknown label, is very well rest of the group, it seems to drain the
ter offers flutist Paul Horn in a set of
handled. If you have trouble locating music of dynamic excitement. It's clear,
introspective improvisations. Most of the
this recording, GWP Records is at 150 however, and the stereo separation is
music is for solo flute, but a few of
East 52nd Street, New York, N.Y. 10022. good.
the bands contain a duet for flute and the
Performance: A

68
Sound: A
chanting of a local singer. Recorded at
night, by moonlight, the mood of the Performance: A-
\UDR)
Sound: B+

\l'RIL j
97
 humorous medley ( with "Sheila Frank- Negative Feed Back
lin") about the wonders of graffiti ( with (Continued from page 20)

GI,ight the first part rendered in rhythm 'n' blues

style, the second in hillbilly motif); "Mess
O'Dirt," a frenzied disembodied scorcher, %,
If voltage feedback reduces gain by
then current feedback needs to take

L1S tering
and "Washing the World," a symbolic but 20 x %=15 reduction. The current feed-
somewhat bland tune once considered as back AB factor needs to be 14. The total
an alternate finale. feedback reduction needs to be 20, so
All the songs on this LP were part of the total AB factor should be 19, using
the original concept of the show, though the same `without feedback' reference
Sherwood L. Weingarten some were penned as speeches or bits of signal. As 14 of this is current feedback,
dialogue. Some were intended for the this leaves 19-14=5 for the voltage
first version the New Cork Shakespeare part.
Festival production; others for subsequent Before going to a practical design, lets
Leftovers normally are as appealing as entries.
a polluted stream to would-be bathers. But
check our reasoning by seeing what hap-
The album title, pictured on the cover pens when we change the external load
RCA has compiled an album of "rejects"
in the form of two Indians, comments on a from 500 ohms to either open -circuit or
equal in vitality and excellence to any LP social problem-the red man's plight. short-circuit.
available.
Social consciousness and a love for hu- With nominal load, the total feedback
DISINHAIRITED (Victor, LSO -1163),
in fact, should prove as commercially suc-
manity (as opposed to things) , in fact, factor is 1+14+5=20. How the feed-
runs throughout the disc. Perhaps what is back changes due to change in load will
cessful as the musical geyser from which
sought is the Utopian setup envisioned in determine how the drive for the output
it was extracted, the smash tribal -rock
"Exanaplanatooch," one of four reprises stage changes.
phenomenon, "Hair." Despite the continu-
from the off-Broadway recordings. The If we open -circuit the output, the
ation of lyrics that are anti -Establishment,
ballad, about a planet in another galaxy, current-feedback AB product remains
anti -war, pro -sex, and pro -brotherhood. showcases soothing strings and lyrics that virtually unchanged at 14, while voltage
Certainly any who enjoyed the show ( a
tell of a world without pollution, with feedback is multiplied by 3 (because
dozen companies have toured the globe),
"total beauty, total health. Every man's collector load changes from 330 to 1K),
or the off -or-on -Broadway original cast
an artist and a scientist -philosopher. No from 5 to 15. So the total feedback fac-
recordings, will marvel-and probably
government and no police; no wars, no tor is now 1+14+15=30.
wonder why any of the tunes were de-
crime, no hate. Just happiness and love." Open -circuiting the output will have
leted.
Among the cuts that linger in the mind two effects: the without-feedback gain of
The 45 minutes of pleasure spotlight
are "Manhattan Beggar," a comment on the output stage is tripled; while the feed-
the talents of the trio most responsible for
"Hair"-Gerome ( Jerry) Ragni and James life styles influenced by American and back factor increases from 20 to 30, re-
East Indian cultures; "Hello There," a ducing gain by %. The overall effect is
(Jimmy) Rado, who wrote the book and
gimmicky, old-time two-step reflection that output voltage doubles, which is
lyrics, and Galt MacDermot, who com-
that utilizes megaphone and Andrews what removing a matched load should
posed the score. The first two fill the roles
Sisters -type sounds; "Mr. Berger," a cause.
they played in the Great White Way ver-
syncopated melody that mirrors the com- Now if we short-circuit the output, the
sions while MacDermot-according to the
liner notes-"through it all arranged, con- munications gap. It is here rendered by current AB product remains at 14, while
the Vienna Boys Choir directed by Abbie the voltage feedback disappears, to make
ducted and played piano while sweet,
Hoffman"); "I Dig," a bluesy winner; the feedback factor simply 1+14=15.
straight folks from RCA wandered around
"You Are Standing on My Bed," a delight- Thus current gain rises by 20/15, or 4/3.
wondering what the hell was going on."
fully complex yet simple musical com- With the 500-ohm load, the load re-
The variety offered is as wide as that
posite; "Oh Great God of Power," a ceives % of the current ouput, the other
of the original, which spawned such
sardonic, sacrilegious tribal chant to a ceives 35 of the current output, the other
chartbusters as "Aquarius," "Let the Sun
deity of power utilities, and "Eyes Look lá being spent in the 1K collector re-
Shine In," and "Good Morning Starshine."
Your Last/Sentimental Ending," with the sistor. When the output is short-circuited,
So it would not surprise me at all to find
mind-blowing repetition of the phrase the short-circuit gets all the current,
"One Thousand Year -Old Man" or "Dead
"the rest is silence" (perhaps indicative which is raised by 4/3, or is double that
End" riding high on the hit lists once this
that we're all "hair today, gone tomor- in the 500 -ohm load: again the condition
LP gains airplay.
row"). of a matched load.
"The Thousand-Year -Old Man," ini-
And don't overlook a couple of "oldies" Thus this check supports the theory
tially intended to be a sequel to "Let the
from the show, "Electric Blues" and "The on which we based out feedback calcu-
Sun Shine In," is one of five tracks repre-
Bed," both zesty numbers with meaty lations. In the next installment, we'll
senting tunes that have never appeared in
words. apply this to completing a workable
any performed version of the show. Its
theme-"there's a new world a'comin' " is There are those who claim the best design. Æ
colored with notions of "angel-like supe- songwriters of today are Jim Webb, the
rior beings" who inhabit a war -less future. Beatle team of Lennon -McCartney, and FREE!
Somehow the piece, the longest cut at Burt Bacharach. Others swear by Pete Product Information
4:05, is reminiscent of the surrealism pro- Seeger, Bob Dylan, or Phil Ochs. No
vided in the film "2001: A Space matter where your allegiances lie, the Simply complete the Reader Ser-
Odyssey." hirsute team of Ragni -Rado (plus vice Card (back of issue), noting
The others are "So Sing the Children on "square" MacDermot) must rate among the reader service number on
the Avenue," a gospel -rock offering with the top.
advertisements and editorial ma-
a hint of the schmaltz of sing -a -long dit- And it's unlikely that anyone will come
terial. We'll handle the rest.
ties; "Reading the Writing," part of a up with a better pop album this year. .

AUDIO APRIL 1970 69

 ings. Tasteful directional effects and good room-filling level to appreciate the music
center fill. The transients of the harp and the superb playing of the Berliners.

Recorded were sharp and well defined, but the harp

needed more projection and "presence."
Sound was generally clean except for some
high-level trumpet passages which exhib-
Do this, however, and you become all too
painfully aware of the pervasive hiss. Turn
the level down and the musical perspec-
tive shrinks. The tiger has turned into a
tabby cat. Hiss is a problem with every
`Tape ited distortion. Pleasant background music
with the harp adding an extra fillip of
interest.
type of commercial recording, but with
the cassette it is monumental. Until this
bug -a -boo of hiss is conquered, cassettes

`levieH/s Trouble Is A Lonesome Town: Lee Hazle -

wood. Ampex/LHI Records X5111, cas-
sette, ($5.95).
will never realize their potential. Fortu-
nately, progress is being made in this
direction and we will soon rid ourselves
of this curse.
Probably most people have been ex-
posed to Lee Hazlewood via Nancy
BERT WHYTE J. S.Bach: Harpsichord Concertos #4 and
Sinatra's recordings, wherein he has ac-
companied her on certain numbers. Re- #5: Concerto for Flute, Violin, and Harp-
portedly her "mentor" on the country/ sichord: Ralph Kirkpatrick, harpsichord:
Lucerne Festival Strings cond. by Rudolph
western music scene, it seems a strange
Baumgartner DGG/Archiv 924 015, cas-
Chopin: The Ballades and Scherzos. Arthur alliance but apparently effective nonethe-
sette, ($6.95).
Rubinstein, piano. RCA R8S5057, 8 -track less. On this recording Lee displays his
cartridge ($9.95). dark deeply resonant voice in a varied This is my first encounter with Deutsche
program of country/western numbers, Grammophon cassettes, and I must say
That amazing octogenarian Arthur built around a central theme of a "Town I am impressed with the generally high
Rubinstein, "the elder statesman of the called Trouble." Like many similar per- quality of the product. One very welcome
piano," continues to play and concertize sonalities, he doesn't really sing in the feature is the inclusion of notes concern-
with the vitality and exuberance of a man accepted sense, but in a "speech and ing the music, a practice that the manu-
half his years. What can be said about song" combination, sort of like a country facturers of classical cassettes in this
this performance, other than to echo the version of Schoenberg's, "sprechstimme." country should follow. The tape in these
praise so lavishly bestowed by critics Some of the lyrics are quite amusing and cassettes (BASF ?) has a higher lustre and
everywhere? The maestro literally owns with the ubiquitous twanging guitars, this appears to -have a smoother coating than
these works and if any recording can said should please devotees of the country/ our domestic products. In any case, I was
to be "definitive," this certainly merits western music. Sound is generally good, pleased to note that the tape had very
that appellation. This is one of those hiss moderate, some dropouts, and a few few dropouts, nor physical defects that
"twin pack" cartridges, equivalent to two other extraneous burbles. would generate various kinds of noise.
stereo discs, and it certainly is a magnum
High -frequency response was excellent
serving of Chopin. In fact it may be too
and there was a good solid bass, as evi-
much to digest at one time, unless you Liszt: Hungarian Fantasia, Mazeppa, Hun-
denced in this recording by the well-
are a student of piano or a particular garian Rhapsodies #4 & #5: Shura Cher-
defined continuo. Hiss level was low for
devotee of Chopin. This is one of the kassky, piano: Herbert von Karajan cond.
a cassette . as good or better than
...
. .
best cartridges I have heard. Even at the Berlin Philharmonic Orch. DGG 923
our best domestic cassettes but still
good room -filling level, the hiss was quite 086, cassette, ($6.95).
too obtrusive. In this recording acoustic
low, and dynamic range surprisingly wide.
Another fine cassette from DGG, that perspective is moderately spacious and
The piano sound was generally very clean directional qualities logical for the size
gives us a big helping of some of Liszt'
and in spite of some hard transients in
more robust music, including the rarely of the orchestra. Dynamic range was as
the crashing chords and huge sonorities
played, "Mazeppa." Many people con- wide as the hiss level permits. The tran-
generated by Rubinstein, there was little
sider this kind of music rather "dated," sients of the harpsichord were sharp and
print -through. The cartridge sounded fine
and indeed it is melodramatic and some- clean; however, the instrument should have
in a car and was good enough to with-
what fustian. I think it would certainly been given more prominence as it is occa-
stand the more revealing playback of a
pall if heard frequently. But like a good sionally covered by the orchestra. Other
top-quality home system.
piece of sauerbraten, it is something to be balances were good. Nice smooth string
savored every so often. Especially if the recording and a melifluous flute round out
Harpistry in Rhythm: Robert Maxwell,
chef du orchestre is as talented as von the sonic picture. The music is quite de-
harp; and his orchestra. Ampex/Command
Karajan in keeping a tight rein on the lightful and these are fine idiomatic per-
X5932, cassette, ($5.95).
orchestra, maintaining a brisk pace, and formances. Ralph Kirkpatrick is, of course,
Facile, expert harp playing by Maxwell, avoiding the bombast which can make one of the premier exponents of the harp-
along with some fairly elaborate orches- these works a bore. Von Karajan also sichord and his superb playing undoubt-
trations in a program of "pop" standards establishes a fine rapport with Cherkassky edly stimulated his fellow musicians to
such as "Never On Sunday," "Delicado," in the Rhapsodies, and they give these put forth their best. In summation, for
"Bluesette," "Harlem Nocturne," etc. This hoary warhorses a rousing, ebullient per- the critical audiophile, even these excel-
cassette had less hiss level than most, and formance. While the sound on this cassette lent DGG cassettes cannot match the
few dropouts. Low -frequency response is very good, it poses a problem. The higher quality of the stereo disc or open -
was also markedly better than the average sound is big, with spacious acoustics ex- reel tape. But for lower level listening ...
"pop" cassette. This is a typical studio cellent stereo qualities, good center fill, say at "apartment house level," these cas-
multi -mix job. Reverb was not overdone sharp clean piano transients. It just cries settes should win many friends among
as is the case in so many of these record- out for power and should be played at a quality -conscious music lovers.
70 AUDIO APRIL 1970
Loudspeakers-Past and Present We put a little more feature
(Continued from page 36) into ._1s - eature.
neers in Chicago, some years ago, the
author produced a "Sweet Sixteen" he
had built himself, and compared it
directly to a Jensen TF -3, with results
which had no ambiguity at all. The array
was demolished.
The solution of problems which do not
really exist, at least in the sense that at
least a few systems are already available
which offer a clean, definite solution to
the problem, seems to be a recurrent
theme in "eccentric" speaker systems.
Typically, a statement is made by the
designer to the effect that others have
sought for years to solve such and such a
problem. This may be true, but the
author overlooks the fact that a solution
is already at hand, and goes on to pro-
pose a considerably more complex, often A Papst hysteresis synchronous
questionable solution. motor with outer rotor for unvarying speed
It is not a matter of engineers vs.
amateurs, or of rational beings vs. irra-
accuracy. Precise stylus overhang adjustment with built-in gauge no -
shifting, no guesswork, no templates. Silicone -damped cueing in both
tional ones. It is the earnest unrestrained automatic and manual play. IN And, those exclusive light touch pushbuttons
quest for a "feature," for a "break- to make it easy to enjoy all those other wonderful 50H features $169.50
through" that the independent inventor at your hi-fi dealer. Benjamin Electronic Sound Corp., Farmingdale, N.Y.
emerges from his study with an eccen- 11735, a division of Instrument Systems Corp.
tric speaker system design. More often
than not, the result is interesting. On MIRA,CORD 50H
occasion, it is even a challenge to analyze Check No. 71 on Reader Service Card
the acoustic behavior of the invention.
But the basic separation between speaker
systems is not into horns, sealed enclo-
sures, and bass reflex; nor is it a matter of
large systems warring against small ones.
ilitlnfosh CATALOG
At least not in scientific terms. It is the
quest for accuracy, which most designers and FM DIRECTORY
try to pursue, but which is difficult
enough to discourage and sidetrack Get all the newest and latest information on the new McIntosh Sol-
others. id State equipment in the McIntosh catalog. In addition you will
receive an FM station directory that covers all of North America.

MX112
FM STEREO/AM TUNER PREAMPLIFIER
-ALL SOLID STATE
McIntosh Laboratory Inc.
2 Chambers St., Dept. AE11
SEND Binghamton, N.Y. 13903
NAME

ADDRESS
TODAY! CITY STATE ZIP

AUDIO APRIL 1970 Check No. 72 on Reader Service Card 71

 SERVICES FOR SALE
RECORDING for radio producers, agen- TUBES-Lowest world prices. Foreign-
cies, musicians. Mono. & Stereo. Evening American. Obsolete, current. Receiving,
and weekend sessions available. DEMO - Special Purpose, Transmitting tubes. Send
VOX SOUND STUDIO, 1038 Bay Ridge for tube parts catalog. United Radio Com-
pany, 56-A Ferry St., Newark, N.J. 07105.
CLASSIFIED Avenue, Brooklyn, N.Y. (212) DE 1-3954.

CUSTOM RECORDING SERVICE. Tape FREE 40 -PAGE CATALOG offers hundreds

and disc. Stereo and mono. Live and of recordings of rare Renaissance,
copies. Editing. Masters and pressings. Baroque, and Classical music. Some rec-
High quality at reasonable rates. Joseph ords priced as low as $1.00 each! All late
Giovanelli, Audio -Tech Laboratories, 2819 recordings in stereo only. MHS REC-
Newkirk Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y. IN 9-7134. ORDS, Box 932 -AU, New York, N.Y. 10023.

SERVICES FOR SALE AMAZING DISCOUNTS on famous brand

high fidelity stereo components. No
HIGH FIDELITY SPEAKERS REPAIRED MAGNECORD 1022X, 71/2-15 ips, 1/2 - small wonder that we have set new sales
AMPRITE SPEAKER SERVICE track stereo, 1/4 -track playback, with cases, records each year since 1959. Write.
168 W. 23rd St., New York, N.Y. 10011 Arkay Electronics, 1028-05 Common-
$425, A. G. Collins, 3802 Milan Drive,
CH 3-4812 wealth, Boston, Mass. 02215.
Alexandria, Va. 22305, (703) 836-2211.
DON'T THROW YOUR OLD CART- WRITE TODAY for our FREE catalog de- DISC RECORDING EQUIPMENT: Com-
RIDGES AWAY. Send us $50.00 and any plete mono and stereo cutting systems
scribing the entire line of SINCLAIR audio
old used cartridge and we will ship you featuring rebuilt Scully, Neumann, Van
components, speakers and experimenter
via air prepaid anywhere any one of the Eps, and Fairchild lathes and new W.A.L.
following Top Stereo Cartridges: Shure units, including the IC -10 integrated cir- amplifiers. Priced from $2500.00 Wiegand
V-15 Type II, Empire 999VE, Stanton 681 - cuit amplifier and the remarkable Z-30 Audio Laboratories, 3402 Windsor Road,
EE. These are NEW and include diamond amplifier module. Write: AUDIONICS, Wall, N. J. 07719.
stylus. Write for lowest quotations on all INC., Dept. 3A, 9701 S. E. Mill, Portland,
stereo components. Send $1.00 for our Oregon 97216. HARPSICHORD: Same as owned by Phila-
discount catalogue. Defa Electronics,2207 delphia Orchestra and RCA Victor. In kit
Broadway, New York, N. Y. 10024. 8 -TRACK BLANK CARTRIDGES (Audiopak) form for home workshop assembly, $150.
loaded with high-performance cartridge Clavichord kit, $100. Free brochure.
PROTECT YOUR LPS-Heavy poly sleeves tape (Audiotape Formula 17) for extended Write: Zuckermann Harpsichords, Dept.
for jackets 5g, Round bottom for records R., 115 Christopher St., New York, N. Y.
frequency response. 40 min. $1.95, 60 min.
31/2¢ ea. New LP jackets, White 20%. Min. 10014.
$2.50, 80 min. $2.95, all ppd. 15% re-
order $5.00. House of Records, Box 323A, quired with C.O.D. orders. Custom Re-
Hillburn, N. Y. 10931. FM BACKGROUND MUSIC-Miniaturized
cording Center & Speed Supply, 6134 SCA Adapter Module connects to any
Nagel St., La Mesa, Calif. 92041. FM Tuner. Operates on 12 volts. $29
ACOUSTIC RESEARCH, Dyna, Koss, Shure postpaid. Performance guaranteed. K -LAB,
discount specialists. Write for free cata- SAVE OVER 331/3 on a pair of one of the Dept. Al, Box 572, S. Norwalk, Conn.
log. SCS Corp., 95 Vassar St., Cambridge,
world's best speaker systems shipped di- 06856.
Mass. 02139.
rect to you from factory. Try them in
FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE
your home for thirty days. Write KGLL,
Inc., Water St., Lewiston, Maine 04240.
REVOX RECORDERS, Box 499, Maywood,
Ill. 60153.
Send in for your FREE one year subscrip-
tion to Olson Electronics' fantastic value -
packed catalog-unheard of low, low
QUOTES: STEREO COMPONENTS,
18026, Seattle, Washington 98118.
Box Midwesterners, Westerners - New York
Prices in Indiana. Acoustic Research a
prices on brand -name speakers, changers, specialty. Write for lowest system quotes
tubes, tools, stereo amplifiers, tuners, CB, SYLVANIA TV'S, stereos, components-
on fine AR speakers with Dyna, Dual,
and other values. Credit plan available. If model number. Furniture, 933 W. 7th
Street, St. Paul, Minn. 55102. Fisher, Scott, Shure, Thorens, Rabco. Fac-
you have a friend interested in electronics,
send his name and address for a FREE
tory -authorized dealers; personal replies.
subscription also. Olson Electronics, Dept. ORGANS, KITS, PARTS & ACCESSORIES. HOME HIGH FIDELITY, 1233 So. 8th St.,
AD, 260 S. Forge St., Akron, Ohio 44308. new and used. Write for free brochure: Terre Haute, Indiana 47802.
Newport Organs, Dept. A, 1593 Monrovia
RENT STEREO TAPES $1.25 week. Catalog Ave., Newport Beach, Calif. 92660. FILIGREE WOODWORK used by top
25¢, Tape Library, Box 8126, Washington, quality hi-fi manufacturers available for
FREE Catalog: Low-priced, high-perform- handi-crafters. Send $0.50 for sample and
D.C. 20024. ance subminiature listening devices direct literature. Empire, Box 937, Pacific Pali-
CUSTOM STYLUS and cartridge re -tipping, from manufacturer. Dealers welcome. sades, Calif. 90272.
repairing. (Weathers, Ortofon, Edison, Audiotronix Adm. 6, 156 Fifth Avenue,
Shure, etc.) Box 322A, Tuckahoe, N.Y.
New York, N. Y. 10010. OLDIES -45 RPM. Original hits. Over
4000 available. Catalog 25¢. C & S Record
10707, 914 -SP 9-1297. IMPROVED SHURE V15-11, $47.00 and
Sales, Box 197, Wampsville, N. Y. 13163.
KLH-9 & ACOUSTECH X ELECTROSTATIC your old cartridge, shipped prepaid. The
LOUDSPEAKERS serviced completely, un- Stereo Shop, 1201 Ellis, Cedar Rapids, SCULLY Professional Tape Recorders,
der the direction of personnel originally Iowa 52405. from 1 to 24 tracks, complete recording
studio package designed to order featur-
in charge of production and servicing of TAPE RECORDING MAGAZINE-Enthusi-
ing W.A.L. console systems and other
both systems. asts monthly magazine for amateurs and leading professional audio products.
For full information call 617 524 7008 or professionals. Send 3.75 for 1 -year sub- Phone (201) 681-6443, Weigand Audio
write Blue Hill Industries, Inc., 17 Chest- scription to 1, Alverstone Ave., East Barnet, Laboratories, 3402 Windsor Road, Wall,
nut Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Mass. 02130. Herts, England. N.J. 07719.

72 AUDIO APRIL 1970

 FOR SALE EQUIPMENT WANTED
It takes
McINTOSH 30- and 60-watt mono ampli-
fiers; Audio Baton; Speakers: JBL 14" and
two Empire 15" in large enclosures; two
CASH FOR YOUR unwanted LP's and pre-
recorded tapes. Record House, Hillburn,
good
New York 10931.
Electro -Voice drivers and horns. Beling,
4484 30th Street, San Diego, Calif. 92116. TRADE Sherwood S-7800 for Shure M-100.
(714) 282-8414. L. Grier, 374 N. E. Hernando, Port Char- to get good sound
lotte, Fla. 33950.
UNCOMMON MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; from your recorder.
WANTED, 3 -channel prerecorded tapes
Historical, ethnic, exotic; recorders, classi-
compatible with Nortronics 5701 head. KEEP YOURS CLEAN.
cal guitars. We buy antique and unusual
Send information. Norman Fleming, 145 CHECK REGULARLY FOR WEAR.
instruments. Catalog $1 refunded first
Hillside Ave., Villanova, Pa. 19085. REPLACE WHEN NECESSARY.
purchase. Classical Instruments, 133 Gate-
way Bldg. New Orleans, La. 70130. WANTED: Recording of Lily Pons's San
Francisco La Traviata. Please write to
FOR SALE: CBS Recording Audimax M420,
Phillip Polite. 950th Ninth, San Diego,
$400.00; Fairchild M666 Compressor (w/
California 92101.
auto -ten), $250.00; Vernon Castle, Lake
Geneva, Wis. 53147. STEPHENS 16 -ohm WOOFER 120 LX.
Charles L. Nine, 403 So. Emerson, Mt.
TAPE TIMERS: The professional way of Prospect, Ill. 60056.
synchronizing tape movement with timing
accuracy. PRO Model 15-71/2 ips $99.95. MARANTZ 7 or Mac C 22. L. Berggren,
Helmfeltsg. 7, S-211 48 Malmoe, Sweden. Your Nortronics distributor has the right replacement
Standard Model 71/2-ips $49.95. Write for for almost any recorder, domestic or imported, open -
catalog. TIMEKEEPER, Box 762, Mineola, reel, cassette or cartridge type.
N.Y. 11501. ASK FOR FREE HEAD CARE BULLETIN NO. 7260

BACK DATE MAGAZINES! Send needs.

Midtown, Box 917AU, Maywood, N.J.
07607.
AMPEX MODEL 300-C full -track mono. in
LEARN
INSTRUCTION
Electronic Organ Servicing at
home. All makes including transistors. Ex-
perimental kit-trouble-shooting. Accred-
r 7lnffrvnics
C O NA
6140
R A N V. I

Wayzata Boulevard
NJ C.

ited NHSC. Free Booklet. Niles Bryant Minneapolis, Minnesota 55416

console cabinet, 71/2 & 15 ips. Cleaned,
School, 3631 Stockton, Dept. 1D, Sacra- Phone: (612) 544-0381
aligned, and ready to go at $695.00. mento, Calif. 95820. Check No. 63 on Reader Service Card
CROWN Model 300 half-track mono.
solid-state automatic -reversing player,
101/2" reels, & 33/4 ips. Easily con-
71/2
verted to 15 ips and stereo. $295.00. SITUATION WANTED Ouin e
UVe //JJ

ALTEC Model 1567-A five -input mixer with

WOULD LIKE TO WORK as a record
Slia,rpe i pencil
n oWn
tone controls, master level, and five input
distributor assistant. Call (215) KI 6-0220.
transformers. $195.00. Three LANG Model
LMX-1 and LXQ-1 systems. Five input GENERAL MANAGER with extensive ex-
mixers with level control, echo send con- perience in broadcasting, recording, ad-
trol, Hi & Lo equalization controls, and vertising, and general business manage-
transformers on each input. Echo return
and master level control. $450.00 per sys-
ment. Young, dynamic, sensible, leader-
ship qualities, sales and cost-conscious.
f
tem including Fisher Spacexpander model Reply to Box AD9-2.
K-10 to complete echo system. WIEGAND YOU SAVE MORE
AUDIO LABS., 3402 Windsor Rd., Wall, ON HI-FI COMPONENTS
N.J. 07719. HELP WANTED
& TAPE RECORDERS
MAGNECORD 1028 case, input transform- We invite your test of our
WORKERS needed. Go to work immedi- "We Will Not Be Undersold Policy."
ers. $700. Sony C-38 FET Microphones.
ately! Information send stamped, self- 15.day money -back guarantee.
$500 pair. McIntosh MA -5100 $400. TEAC 2-yr. unconditional guarantee parts &
addressed envelope: Box 67, Rising Star,
6010 $450. Tapesonic 4 -track $4.50. RCA labor no charge, at local warranty
Texas 76471. station or factory.
77-DX $300 pair. BK-5 $225 pair. All Trade-ins-highest allow. Send your list.
items like new. Wallace Brown, 5619 NW SERIOUS RECORDISTS to make records by Most items shipped promptly from our
$250,000 inventory, fully insured.
37th, Oklahoma City, Okla. 73122. largest manufacturer. We train, equip, and Our specialty-APO & Export.

SONY 777-4 professional tape recorder.

provide protected franchised territories. 23rd yr. dependable service-world wide.
Modest investment required. Send resume Rated al service-satisfaction according to
Very little used. Mint condition. Will sell nationwide survey.
to Mr. Bloch, 418 N. Main St., Englewood, Write for Our Price First(
to the best offer. Donald J. Mayer, 511
Geyer St., Frankenmuth, Mich. 48734.
Ohio 45322. You'll Be Glad You Didl

TEST RECORD RRM-002 for precise evalu-

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES HI -FIDELITY
ation of disk -playback equipment. Mea-
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sure Frequency and Phase Response, "The House of Low Low Prices"
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$7.50 Available only from TIMEKEEPER, Keeney Brothers, New Freedom, Pa. New York, N.Y. 10451
Box 762, Mineola, N.Y. 11501. 17349.
Check No. 73 on Reader Service Card
AUDIO APRIL 1970 73
 BUILDING
BLOCKS TO
SOUND
SYSTEMS
Advertising
Index

Acoustic Research, Inc. 3

Astrocom/Marlux Cover IV
Audio Dynamics Corp. 53

Benjamin Electronic Sound Corp..... 71

British Industries Corp. 4-5

Classified 72
BASF 21
Crown International
The PRO 12 Tape Recorder: industrial 7

reliability, studio performance Dolby Laboratories

Dynaco, Inc.
19
13, 37
D The PRO 12 deserves your special ing recording-Before and After tape D
consideration. It is the finest new port- Built-in monitor amplifier with loudspeak-
able, professional tape recorder on the er D Stereo headphone monitoring Electro -Voice, Inc. 2
market D Solid state Portable/Com- Cue and dubbing facilities Tape -lifters Elpa Marketing Industries 15
pact D Twin -track mono; dual half track; D End -of -tape and tapebreak switch D
stereo models D Special version for four - Pause button D Remote control facilities
track mono and stereo D Semi -servo D For full data, contact the innovators. Garrard Sales Company 4-5
speed control D Mixer/Preamp with
three inputs for each channel D Built-in PHILIPS BROADCAST
facilities for mixing two inputs D Test
switch for lineup D Multi -play and Noreko EQUIPMENT CORP.
Heath Company
Hi -Fidelity Center
43
73
Sound on Sound recording D Switch - One Philips Parkway, Montvale, N.J. 07645 201/ 391-1000
able monitoring of recording signal dur- A NORTH AMERICAN PHILIPS COMPANY
JVC America, Inc. 9
Check No. 62 on Reader Service Card

KLH Research & Development Co. ..34-35

Build this magnificent Koss Electronics, Inc.

Marantz Company 38-39

29

Schober Theatre Matsushita Electric Corp. of America . 33

McIntosh Laboratory, Inc.
Organ for
71

Nikko 55
Nortronics Company, Inc. 73

Panasonic 33
You couldn't touch an organ like this in a
store for less than $3500-and there hasn't
Philips Broadcast Equipment Corp. 74
been a musical instrument with this Pickering & Company, Inc. 17
vast variety of genuine Theatre Organ Pioneer Electronic U.S.A. Corp. 51
voices since the days of the silent
movies! Haunting tibias, biting strings, RCA Magnetic Products 49
blaring reeds-the whole A to Z gamut Rectilinear Research Corp. 45
of real pipe sounds that make the sim-
ReVox Corporation 61
plest playing a thrilling experience and
give the professional organist every-
thing he needs. If you've dreamed of Sansui Electronics Corp. 30-31
the grandeur of authentic big-organ sound in Schober Organ Corporation 74
'Includes finished walnut console. Amplifier, your own home, you won't find a more satis- Scott, H. H., Inc. Cover II
speaker system, optional accessories extra.
Only $1150.50 if you build your own console. fying instrument anywhere-kit or no kit. Shure Brothers, Inc. 11
s
Sony Corporation of America 47
l hec9CAOrgan Corp., Dept. AE -33 You can learn to play it. And you can build it,
Sony/Superscope 26-27
43 West 61st Street, New York, N.Y. 10023 from Schober Kits, world famous for ease of
Stanton Magnetics Cover Ill
D Please send me Schober Organ Catalog and assembly without the slightest knowledge of
free 7 -inch "sample" record. electronics or music, for design and parts qual-
D Enclosed please find $1.00 for 12-inch L.P. ity from the ground up, and-above all-for TDK Electronics, Inc. 57
record of Schober Organ music. the highest praise from musicians everywhere. TEAC Corporation of America 1

NAME Send right now for your copy of the full-color United Audio Products, Inc. 41
Schober catalog, containing specifications of
ADDRESS Utah Electronics 67
the five Schober Organ models, beginning at
CITY STATE ZIP --- $599.50. No charge, no obligation-but lots of Check No. 74 on Reader Service Card
74 J food for a healthy musical appetite!
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 Yeu can tell it's the Opéra at Versailles
when you listen with a Stanton.,`
-was courteemposer to Louis X:V.)
The Opera at Versailles, completed _770, scene of the first periormancea of Jean Baptiste Lully's opera' and ballets. ,Lally

The ultimate test of a stereo cartridge isn't the

sound of the music.
It's the sound of the hall.
Many of today's smoother, better -tracking cartridges can
reproduce instrumental and vocal timbres with considerable
naturalism. But something is often missing. That nice, undistorted
sound seems to be coming from the speakers, or from nowhere in
particular, rather than from the concert hall or opera stage.
It's easy to blame the recording, but often it's the cartridge.
The acoustical characteristics that distinguish one hall
from another, or any hail from your listening room, represent the The specifications`*Frequency response from 10 Hz to 10kHz, +1/e dB.
From 10kHz to 20kHz, individually calibrated. Nominal output, 0.7mV/ cm/ sec.
subtlest frequency and phase components of the recorded wave- Nominal channel separation, 35dB. Load resistance, 47K ohms. Cable capacitance,
form. They end up as extremely fine undulations of the record 275 pF. DC resistance, IK ohms. Inductance, 500mH. Stylus tip, .0002" x .0009"
groove, even finer that the higher harmonics of most instruments. elliptical. Tracking force, 3/e to 11/2 gm. Cartridge weight, 5.5 gm. Brush weight
(self-supporting), 1 gm.'Each Stanton 651 is tested and measured against the
When a cartridge reproduces these undulations with the laboratory standard for frequency response, channel separation, output, etc.
utmost precision, you can hear the specific acoustics of the Opéra The results are written by hand on the specifications enclosed with every
at Versailles, or of any other hall. If it doesn't you can't. cartridge. The 681EE, with elliptical stylus and the "Longhair" brush that cleans
record grooves before they reach the stylus, costs $60. The 681T, identical but
The Stanton does.
Stanton with interchangeable elliptical and conical styli both included, costs $75.
For free literature, write to Stanton Magnetics, Inc., Plainview, L.I., N.Y.11803.
Check No. 103 on Reader Service Card
 We've been telling you what
a great tape recorder the
ASTROCOM/MARLUX 407 is
Now we'll turn the
floor over to
AUDIO
Magazine -

AUDIO
EQUIPMENT
PROFILE
"Every once in a
while we come
across a product
which so clearly
in its
stands outwe must
class that relative
evaluate it ex-
to much more
pensive equipment,
only su-
otherwise be
perlatives would
page.
found on this
is e.t
The fact
Astrocom/Marlux
a ter,
has produced
ri fic tape
deck.

High praise indeed from the notoriously tough uncompro-

mising equipment reviewers of Audio! Our dealers will be
pleased to give you a copy of the complete Audio review
and demonstrate today's outstanding buy in tape recorders
-the Astrocom/Marlux 407.

ASIROCOM MARLOX Oneonta, New York 13820

Check No. 104 on Reader Service Card