4.-..v::,:::. '' w0; · multi -speaker movie theater, in an ordinary listening room. all...

PIPPSWAtilt.....

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ELL CD PLAYER B&W. SPEAKER4110,4110, A.,-- L-- 'LL LA' LL 0\..4.-..v...::,:::.

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AOLog'keyword: NOA www.nintendo.com

-995 Nu-Trenc) of Fe- rer.ca Inc. r' and are trademarks of Nintendo or armerica Inc. Batteries not included

.m"a4 en -4

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[Nintendo]

Virtual boy -is a portable 32 -bit 3-D game system, featuring phase lirecv-

digital stereo sound, two high -resolution visual displays, and 3-D g

immerse you, in the game. Coming soon-stereo headphones and Game Link,

cable for head -to -head action.

Turn it on and experience the

difference a dimension can make.

Only Yamaha Cinema DSP creates phantom speakers

to fully replicate a multi -speaker movie theater So

CINEMA DSP you'll hear sounds everywhere in

the room. Even in places where

there aren't speakers. We also offer multi -room,

multi -source capabilitier for increased flexibility

Phantom Speaker Effect

Only Cinema DSP can take you to the Serengeti witQ.`

One minute, you're eating popcorn at home. The next, you're being transported to the wilds of Africa. The swampsof Montana seventy million years ago. Or even the moon. With Yamaha Cinema DSP, anything's possible. That'sbecause only Cinema DSP can create the ultimate cinematic experience, right in your living room. We accomplish thisthrough a unique method of multiplying the effects of Digital Sound Field Processing and Dolby Pro Logic? DigitalSound Field Processing is Yamaha's exclusive technology that reproduces some of the finest performance spaces in theworld. Yamaha audio scientists measured the actual acoustic properties of these performance venues. Then trans-ferred that information to microchips that go into our A/V receivers. So you can access it in your home at the touch of abutton. And our digitally processed Dolby Pro Logic allows us to place dialogue and sound effects around the room,matching the action on the screen. These two technologies enable us to accurately replicate the full ambiance of amulti -speaker movie theater, in an ordinary listening room. All of which means we're able to offer a growing line ofhome theater components with Cinema DSP that outperform other comparatively priced products on the market.

®1995 Yamaha Electronics Corporation, USA. Cinema DSP is a trademark of Yamaha Electronics Corporation, Colby Pro Logic is a registered trademark of Dolby laboratories Licensing Corporation.

New RX-V2090

The RIC-V2090. Easy -to -use features plus state-of-the-art technology. Like learning remote

control, on -screen display, 7 -channel amplification, DSP, Cinema DSP and AC -3 compatibility.

And that brings us to the RX-V2090 Home Theater A/V Receiver. One of this year's mostexciting new components. As you'd imagine, it comes with everything we've already men-tioned. But, it also offers advanced features you might not expect in a single unit. Likemulti -room, multi -source capabilities with two remotes for independent control of mainsystem A/V sources from another listening room. The RX-V2090 has 7 -channel amplification with 100w mains andcenter, and 35w front and rear effects. Pre -outs on all channels. 5 audio and 4 audio/video inputs with S -Videoterminals. Yamaha linear damping circuitry. Plus discrete 5.1 channel line inputs for AC -3. And 10 DSP programsincluding 70mm movie theater. Of course, not everyone has the need for a component this comprehensive. That'swhy we offer a full line of six new A/V receivers. So you can choose the one that's best for you. o Which meansnow all you have to worry about is cleaning up after those elephants before your next trip

YAMAHA® For the dealer nearest you, please call 1-800-4YAMAHA.

Nei RX- V 3 9 0

Yamaha Electronics Corporation, USA. P.O.Box 6660, Buena Park, CA 90622

=

SEPTEMBER P995 VOL. 79, NO. 9

THE EQUIPMENT AUTHORITY

BostonAcousticsand Boulder

Five CD Portables,page 24

uresTAL MEMORIES FOR ROAD OR TRACK:

E CD PORTABLES Edward M. Long 24AUDIO INTERVIEW:

CHESKY RECORDS John Gatski 32

BOULDER 102 AMP AND L5 PREAMP Bascom H. King 38BOSTON ACOUSTICS CR7 SPEAKER D. B. Keele, Jr. 48AIWA AD -F850 CASSETTE DECK Edward J. Foster 56B & W MATRIX 805 SPEAKER

AND 800A5W POWERED SUBWOOFER David L. Clark . . . . 62

illrieleL KPS-20i P ithony H. Cordesman

departm'ents plaFAST FORE -WORD Eugene Pitts III 6 N.

WHAT'S NEW 10 A OQ IG

AUDIOCLINIC Joeph Giovanelli 12 DELOS St1RROUN

AUDIO ETC Echraitl Tatnall Canby 16

recording.sCLASSICAL

ROCK/POP

The Cover PhotograpAtx: Bill Kouirinis StudioThe Cover Equipment: stop Acoustics CR7 speakersand Boulder 102 amp. "1 L5 preamp.

Audio Publishing, Edix-xial, and Advertising Offices,1633 Broadway, New :cam, N.X 10019

SubscriptionPhone, 303/0,-. 604-7455

1 DS STEM

R CD

Interview:Norman & DavidChesky,

76

104

AucloQued,page 104

PARADIGM BIPOLARS CANBE EXPERIENCED AT THESEFINE DEALERS:

AL: BIRMINGHAM. LIKIS AUDIO HUNTSVILLE

BEDDINGFIELD AN MOBILE: CUSTOM AUDIOMONTGOMERY' COHENS AR: FAYETTEVILLE: STEREO

ONE FORT SMITH: STEREO ONE AZ: MESA HI FlSALES TUSCON: WILSON AUDIO CA: AUBURNWOODEN SHIP STEREO BAKERSFIELD, URNERS BERKELEY: MUSIC LOVERS CHICO: SOUNDS BY DAVE

COSTA MESA ATLANTIC STEREO EUREKA: SOUNDADVICE FRESNO: FUTUREHOME HOLLISTER

FORTINOS LOS ANGELES. AHEAD STEREO L.A. NV

MENLO PARK: SOUND PERFECTION REDDING: CLYDES

REDONDO BEACH: SYSTEMS DESIGN RIVERSIDESPEAKERCRAFT SACRAMENTO PARADYME SAN

DIEGO SOUND COMPANY SAN FRANCISCO

PERFORMANCE AUDIO. SAN JOSE. CENTURY STEREO

SAN LUIS OBISPO: AUDIO ECSTASY SAN MARCOSSOUND COMPANY SANTA BARBARA. MISSION AUDIO

SANTA CRUZ. WATER STREET STEREO SANTA

MONICA: SHELLEY'S SANTA ROSA. CALIFORNIA AN

HOMETECH SAUSALITO. PACIFIC RIM STOCKTONGLUSKIN'S VALLEJO, STEREO SHOWCASE VISALIA

LEES STEREO WALNUT CREEK SOUND DISTINCTION

WOODLAND HILLS SHELLY'S CO: COLORADOSPRINGS: SOUND SHOP DENVER SOUND HOUNDS

FORT COLLINS. OVATION MUSIC GRAND JUNCTIONSOUND CO. CT: NEW HAVEN. TAKE 5 NEWINGTONAUDIO STORE NORWICH. SOUND ONE DE:

WILMINGTON HI Fl HOUSE FL: BRADENTON: AUDIOWORKSHOP CLEARWATER: RISING SOUNDSPENSACOLA: SOUTHERN HI Fl WEST PALM BEACH.AUDIO ADVISORS GA: ALBANY: CUSTOM INCATHENS CUSTOM INC. AUGUSTA. CUSTOM INCBOGART. CUSTOM INC. DUNWOODY AUDIO FOREST

AUDIO SOLUTIONS HI: HONOLULU CLASSIC AN IA:BETTENDORF. REFERENCE AN DES MOINESAUDIOLABS IDAGROVE BRENNER'S IOWA CITYHAWKEYE SIOUX CITY PFLANZ IL: CHAMPAIGN

CHAMPAGNE AUDIO. CHRYSTAL LAKE SOUND FORUM

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AN VILLA PARK: SIMPLY STEREO IN: BLOOMINGTON

CAMPUS AUDIO CARMEL. SOUND PRO FT. WAYNE

LEHMAN'S WABASH WORLD SCAN KS: WICHITACUSTOM SOUND LA: BATON ROUGE: ART COLLEY'S LAFAYETTE: THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT NEW ORLEANS

WILSON AUDIO MA: ARLINGTON. STEREO SHOP CAMBRIDGE: 0 AUDIO NORTHAMPTON: TRIPOD AUDIO

SUDBURY. ELECTRIC GRAMOPHONE WORCESTERCYCOIN'S PAI: BEMIDJI OVERBEEK ELECTRONICS DETROIT. PECARS FLINT STEREO CENTER GRANDHAVEN BERING AN GRAND RAPIDS. STEREOSHOWCASE IRON MOUNTAIN. SOUNDNORTHKALAMAZOO STEREO SHOWCASE PETOSKEY, PUFFS

TROY. PECARS MN: ALEXANDRIA; SOUND SHOP MINNEAPOLIS STEREOLAND ROCHESTERAMALGAMATED AN MO: COLUMBIA DAM SOUND ST.LOUIS HI Fl FO-FUM MS: STARKVILLE IDEALACOUSTICS NT: BIWNGS. U.S TECH MISSOULASTEREO PLUS NC: DURHAM. KERRS NV WINSTONSALEM. PLATINUM AUDIO ND: FARGO: TODAYELECTRONICS MANKATO: TEAM ELECTRONICS NE:

GRAND ISLAND: VIDEO KINGDOM OGALLALA: VIDEO

KINGDOM OMAHA STEREO WEST NH: NASHUA.ENSEMBLE NJ: CHERRY HILL HI Fl SALES E

BRUNSWICK. ATLANTIC STEREO MIDDLETOWNSTEREO DYNAMICS PARAMUS RABSONS AN POMPTON PLAINS. SOUND CITY SOMERVILLE- SOUND

EXCHANGE NM: ALBUQUERQUE. ABSOLUTE AUDIO

LAS CRUCES. DESERT SOUND NV: RENO: WILD WEST

NT: ALBANY. ALTAIR AUDIO COMMACK, SOUNDAPPROACH ELMIRA' CHEMUNG ELECTRONICSHAMBURG: SOUTHTOWN AN JOHNSON CITY: SLUMS

LAKE GROVE AUDIO DEN MT. KISCO: AUDIO OUTLET NEW YORK. AUDIO SALON AN CENTER PARK

AVENUE PARK PLACE SOUND CITY PLEASANTVILLE

AUDIO EXCELLENCE ROCHESTER ROWE ANSYRACUSE, GORDON BROTHERS WATERTOWNHAPPY EAR WEST BABYLON: AUDIO VISIONS OKAKRON. OHIO SOUND CINCINNATI: OHIO VALLEY DAYTON. AUDIO ETC. DUBLIN. AUDIO ENCOUNTERS

TOLEDO: JAMIESON'S STEREO OK: BARTLESVILLESOUND STATION MIDWEST CITY. AUDIO MIDWEST STILLWATER. AUDIO SN OR: EUGENE: ADVANCEDAUDIO PORTLAND: FRED'S MBA ROOM SERVICE SALEM. ADVANCED AUDIO HEAR NO EVIL PA:

BROOMALL: HIGH FIDELITY CAMP HILL. HI Fl HOUSE

CHAMBERSBURG. LINCOLN LECTRONICS EPHRATASTEREO BARN GREENSBURG. STEREO SHOPHARRISBURG: HI Fl HOUSE JENKINTOWN, STEREOOUTLET JOHNSTOWN: CONNECTING POINT

LANCASTER. GNT STEREO. MCMURRAY: GOOSEBUAIPS

MONTGOMERYVILLE: WORLD WIDE STEREOPITTSBURGH. AUDIO GALLERY WORLD WIDE STATE

COLLEGE PAUL & TONY'S WHITEHALL. PALMER AUDIO

RI: PROVIDENCE- STEREO AN CENTER SC:

COLUMBIA SOUND ADVICE GREENVILLE. AMERICAN

AUDIO HILTON HEAD ISLAND. AN ARCHITECTS MTPLEASANT: PEACHTREE SD: BROOKINGS: ZEPHYRAUDIO WI: JOHNSON CITY: MR. TOADS KINGSPORT

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HI Fl HOUSTON: ALL STAR GROOVE AN LUBBOCKSOUND WAVE MIDLAND MIDLAND SOUND SANANTONIO: AUDIO CONCEPTS SAN MARCOS.

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SOUND WA BELLEVUE. DEFINITIVE AUDIO EVERETTAUDIO WAVES KENNEWICK QUICK SILVER PULLMAN

OPTIMUM SOUND SEATTLE. DEFINITIVE AUDIO SPOKANE. SAI INTERIORS WI: APPLETON: SUESSELECTRONICS GREEN BAY. HI Fl HEAVEN MADISON

UNIVERSITY AUDIO MILWAUKEE. AUDIO EMPORIUM RACINE: AL'S STEREO SHEBOYGAN: ABSOLUTESAY WV: MORGANTOWN, SOUND INVESTMENTS WY:

CHEYENNE: NOW HEAR THIS LARAMIE. KENS MUSIC

THE WINNER IL.

Product ofthe Year Awardsin the past year

Critic's ChoiceAwards in thepast year

Awardssince 1990

Paradigm is thenumber one choicefor critical listeners!

"Superb!"- Stereo Review on the ExportiBP

"Stunning!"- The Inner Ear Report on the Esprit/PP

"Awesome!"- Audio Ideas Guide on the Eclipse/RP

paradigm's spectacular bipolar speakers are anengineering and sonic marvel! With years of

design expertise and our highl;, advanced R&D faci ity,Paradigm engineers and acousticians set out to buildthe world's finest bipolar speakers, regardless of cost!

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lindiENGINEERED FON SETTS'. SOUND

For more information on PARADIGM BIPOLARS ar well as other fine Paradigm speakers

visit your nearest AUTHORIZED PARADIGM DEALIR or write:

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CIRCLE NO. 26 ON READER SERVICE CARD

FAST

yet one more Summer Show inChicago. While the ElectronicIndustries Association's ConsumerElectronics Group (EIA/CEG) was

calling it a "successful trade showlaunch," the Specialty Audio &

Home Theater Show (SA&HT) was alsothe smallest Chicago show so far, both innumbers of exhibitors (119) and ofattendees (2,833). Yet to almost allconcerned, it wasparticularly for a Show that almost didn'thappen.

Held at the Palmer House hotel, ratherthan at McCormick Place (and too manyother venues), the SA&HT Show allowedplenty of time to examine new productsand talk with manufacturers. While a fewrooms were at times crowded, theregenerally was no difficulty in getting upand down the halls.

More foreign dealers and distributorsattended than had been anticipated, eventhough total attendance didn't match themore than 5,000 preregistered. It was a"writing" show, I was told more than once.Thiel, for example, picked up a new foreigndistributor, while others wrote orders,particularly with foreign dealers.

But, plain and simple, the reasons theseShows exist have changed over the years. Italked about this with B & W's ChrisBrowder, who feels that such trade showsmay well be obsolete. "Fifteen years ago,"

says Browder, "80 percent of sales was

written at these shows, but we don't do thatnow. Chicago didn't reach a critical massfor most manufacturers." I see the largest

FORE -WORD

firms pulling away from that critical massby taking their key dealers "hostage" inresort hotels. There they show the new line,using all the facilities of an entire big hotel

for a week or more. "One of the reasons forthe success of Vegas is the new style," says

Browder, "which is to cocoon with dealers

in suites like those in the Mirage."To me, using the Show to find new

dealers isn't as successful a manufacturerstrategy anymore. I think that dealers ordistributors are not popping up out of thewoodwork, unannounced. If a dealer falls

off the list, I think almost every makeralready knows the next three in thatterritory he wants to sign up.

From what I could tell, the makers arenervous about the next "non -Vegas" Show,which will be in Orlando May 23 to 25,1996, in conjunction with EIA/CEG's TheDigital Destination and Habitech '96.Nobody wants to commit to showing atboth the Orlando Show and the Stereophile

which take place at virtually thesame time. EIA/CEG's Gary Shapiro saidthat his group "made a substantial financialinvestment in the SA&HT Show," and Iheard guesstimates of cost ranging from$50,000 to $250,000.

Frankly, I liked the attitude that was

expressed by Krell's Dan D'Augustinoduring a High -End Academy meetingon the last day of the Show, to the effectthat the high -end audio deserved its ownstand-alone show. While I do not thinkthat the amount of work involved in sucha thing should be underestimated, the hi-fiaddict in me feels that this group doesdeserve its own show. The business side ofme, however, questions whether stickingwith EIA/CEG isn't more prudentfinancially. Tough question.

AUDIO/SEPTEMBER 19956

AUDIOV.P./EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Eugene Pitts III

ART DIRECTORCathy Cacchione

ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTORLinda Zerella

TECHNICAL EDITORIvan Berger

MANAGING EDITORKay Blumenthal

ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITORSDouglas Hyde, Scott Van Camp

DIRECTORY EDITORTom Cannon, Jr.

ASSISTANT EDITOR/MUSICMichael Bieber

ASSISTANT EDITOR/DIRECTORYGerald F. McCarthy

ASSOCIATE EDITOREdward Tatnall Canby

SENIOR EDITORSD. B. Keele, Jr., David Lander, Edward M. Long

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS/ARTISTSDavid L Clark Anthony H. Cordesman,

Ted Costa, John Diliberto, Frank Driggs, John Eargle,Edward J. Foster, John Gatski, Joseph Giovanelli, Dawn Joniec,

Ken Kessler, Bascom H. King, Robert Long, Paul Moor,Jon W Poses, Jon R. Sank, John Sunier, Michael Tearson,

Jon & Sally Tiven, Michael Wright

V.P./GROUP PUBLISHERTony Catalano 212/767-6061

V.P./ADVERTISING DIRECTORScott Constantine 212/767-6346

GENERAL MANAGER Greg RopertiBUSINESS MANAGER Christine Z. Maillet

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Patti BurnsPRODUCTION MANAGER Dana L. Rubin

PROMOTION COORDINATOR Dominique A. LeupiRESEARCH MANAGER Dru Ann Love

OFFICE MANAGER Aline J. PulleyOPERATIONS MANAGER Sylvia Correa

AD COORDINATOR Linda Neuweiler

ADVERTISINGREGIONAL V.P./AD DIRECTOR, EAST COAST

Charles L. P. Watson 212/767-6038REGIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER

Christine B. Forhez 212/767-6025ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Penry Price 212/767-6077MIDWEST ADVERTISING MANAGER

Jerry Stoeckigt 312/923-4804REGIONAL V.P./AD DIRECTOR, WEST COAST

Bob Meth 213/954-4831WESTERN MANAGER Paula Mayeri 213/954-4830NATIONAL RECORD LABEL SALES

MAG Inc. Mitch Herskowitz 212/490-1715Steve Gross 212/490-1895

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 800/445-6066

CHAIRMAN Daniel FilipacchiPRESIDENT, CEO, AND COO David J. Pecker

EXEC. V.P. AND EDITORIAL DIRECTORJean-Louis Ginibre

SR. V.P./GLOBAL ADV. Paul DuCharmeSR. V.P./DIR., CORP. SALES Nicholas Matarazzo

SR. V.P./CFO & NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTPaul DeBenedictis

V.P., GENERAL COUNSEL Catherine FlickingerV.P., MFG. & DISTRIBUTION Anthony Romano

V.P., CIRCULATION David W. LeckeyV.P., RESEARCH & MKTG. SERVICES Susan SmollensV.P., COMMUNICATIONS & SPECIAL PROJECTS

Keith EstabrookV.P., MAGAZINE DEVELOPMENT Marcia SacharV.P., DIR., CREATIVE SERVICES, CORP. SALES

Lynn ChaikenCREATIVE PRODUCTION DIR., GLOBAL MKTG.

Jean Pierre Labatut

Deep sea divers spend time inhyperbaric chambers to decompress.

(What do you do?)

A few hours with a Pioneer®Advanced Home

Theater system will bring you back to normal. At

the heart of our system you'll find our VSX-604S

Dolby® Pro Logic®A/V Receiver. It opens up the

stunning world of surround sound, delivering a full

110 watts to all channels (front, rear and center).

And with the Intelligent System Control you can

even operate all your non -Pioneer components

with just the touch of a button. Hit the VCR button

and on goes your TV, VCR and receiver, each

adjusted to their proper input and surround

modes. To find out about our complete range of

home theater equipment and for a dealer near

you, give us a call at 1 -800 -PIONEER. And

while another way to unwind may come along

someday, don't hold your breath.

ADVANCED HOME THEATER

0,0 PIONEERThe Art of Entertainment

©1995 Pioneer Electronic., (USA) Inc., Long Beach, CA.Dolby and Pm Logic are registered trademark., of Dolby Laboratorie, Licen..ing Corporation.

Cuotom home theater cabinetry by ECLECTICS, North Hilly, CA 91343. CIRCLE NO. 27 ON READER SERVICE CARD

Sunfire

er Sup ph L'oergt.101 2O4

JOULES

Load Invariant High Fidelity Stereo Power Amplifier

Imagine. A muscular 600 watt amp with the so

0

0

Current output:

0The new Sunfire stereo amp:

it's not a 9 watt triode of course, and we wouldn'twant it to be, but it does share a very importantcharacteristic with one. It incorporates the current -source (high output impedance) property of a triode-- the very property that is the dominant factor (per-haps ninety percent) of the sonic magic that makeslistening to classic vacuum tube amplifiers so muchfun. So when you choose our current -source outputconnections for your system, you'll have a sumptuoushigh end, and a midrange that positively glows.

Sunfire Corporation

sonic magic by Bob Carver.

At the same time, the new Sunfire amp, with itsuncanny tracking downconverter, has the ability toraise goose bumps with its awesome power. Using 12herculean International Rectifier Hexfets, it candrive any load to any rationally usable current orvoltage level.

A choice of outputs.

You can connect most speakers to the voltage -source

from the mind & soul of Bob Carver

output, with its near zero impedance, to experience

the powerful dynamics and tight bass you've alwayswanted more of.

Or let's say you own electrostatic, planar magneticor ribbon speakers, then connecting the higherimpedance current -source output can coax forth asensuous, delicately detailed musical voice associatedwith low -powered classic tube amplifiers.

Or if you're able to biwire, you may just arrive atthe best possible interface: voltage output to woofer

Price: $2,175

* F.T.C.: 300 watts continuous per channel, both channels driven into 8ohms from 20 Hz to 20 kHz with no more than 0.5% THD

Inputs are gold XLR balanced and gold RCA standard.

for incredible bass whack, current output tomidrange and treble for a huge three-dimensionalsoundstage with detail retrieval so stunning thatyou will often hear musicians breathing.

Each choice will reveal the delicate musical soulthat complements this amp's astonishing muscle andcontrol. And each will lead to a multilayeredsoundstage so deep and wide it will take yourbreath away.

Performance that's difficultto believe.

The basis for all this is designer Bob Carver'sversatility. He's worked successfully for over twentyyears with both tube and solid state designs, and heunderstands the intrinsic subtleties of each.

For the new Sunfire, he insisted on an enormous138 ampere peak -to -peak output current capabilitywith 600 watts rms per channel continuously into 4ohms* and 2400 watts rms into 1 ohm on a time -limited basis. Courtesy of 24 massive Motorolatriple -diffused output devices, each capable of 20amperes without taxing current reserves.

Imagine all that in a single amp. Or better yet, visita Sunfire dealer. That's where you'll hear for yourselfhow it all comes together.

Dealer inquires invited. (206) 335-4748 Ask for Bob Carver.

For more information on the Sunfire, and especially the uncanny tracking downconverter, use the readerservice card or write to Sunfire Corporation, PO Box 1589, Snohomish, WA 98290


ENERGY SPEAKERnergy's PRO.5 is the leastexpensive of five "PRO"speakers designed for

left- and right -front use. (Twomatching center -channelmodels for home theatersystems are also in the line.)A 1/2 -inch flared -dome tweeterand a 51/2 -inch injection -moldedwoofer are mounted in thecompact ported case, 11 inchestall. Recommended amplifierpower is 30 to 80 watts perchannel. Black ash and whitefinishes are available. Price:$170 per pair.For literature, circle No. 100

WHAT' NEWS -I Subwoofer

paul Eppes, creator of the S -I System

100 subwoofer, says its isobaric

system cuts in half the volume needed for

comparable performance in a conventional

subwoofer. The

12 -inch drivers are

mounted in a

100 -liter vented

cylindrical enclosure.

A full electronic

crossover unit is

included, but no

amp; S -I believes that

most buyers will prefer

to choose their own, and has designed the subwoofer to

present an easy load for a wide selection of amps. Use of one

subwoofer per speaker channel is recommended. Price:

$2,499 per pair.For literature, circle No. 101

A I -W S

A first from Allison

Acoustics is two speakers

for in -wall mounting, the

IW 62 and IW 82, and one

for ceiling mounting,

the IC 62. The wall models

have 1 -inch soft -dome

tweeters and treated -

paper cone woofers-with a 6 -inch

diaphragm in the

IW 62 and an 8 -inch

in the IW 82. The

ceiling model has poly

diaphragms on both

drivers, which are

mounted coaxially.

Impedance of all three

is rated at 8 ohms.

The wall models feature the

company's Power Shield

overload protection. PriceS

IW 62, $383 per pair;

IW 82, $535 per pair; IC 62,

$125.50 each.

For literature, circle No. 102

Nova SpeakerStanding 44 inches tall,

the M500 is the top model inNova USA's M series. Dual61/2 -inch, long -throw

polypropylene woofers flanka 1 -inch cloth -dome tweeter withmagnetic -fluid cooling. Thisvertical array helps promotestable three-dimensionalimaging, according to Nova. Theported enclosure has inch -thickwalls to help reduce resonances.Rated frequency range is 37 Hzto 22 kHz, and rated powerhandling is 25 to 150 watts perchannel. Price: $1,699 per pair.For literature, circle No. 103

crossover features five high-pass settings and continuouslyadjustable low-pass filtering.The crossover and a 250 -watt

H owered ubwooferfl ew from NHT, the SW3P

is a powered subwooferdesigned to duplicate the deep -bass reproduction quality of thecom?any's flagship model (the3.3) yy using the same long -throw 12 -inch woofer. The

Class -G amplifier are housed ina separate unit, shown on topof the subwoofer itself, which isa 19 -inch cube finished inglossy black laminate. Price:$1,350 each.For literature, circle No. 104


This is why you tookDRIVER'S ED.High-rewing, 120 -horsepower,fuel -injected engine (hey, this car'sfor driving, not just looking at)

5 -speed transmission and tubularrear axle with spring -over shocksport suspension and progressiveride tuning -is this a real set ofwheels or what?

Dual air bags and anti -lock brakes- two things you don't need untilyou really need 'em (and alwayswear those safety belts, evenwith air bags)

Daytime running lamps in '96- they're a safety feature, buthey, they look good too

PASSLock" theft -deterrent system- means you might save some $$$on insurance (.!!!)

100,000 -mile spark plugs* - we'retalking a long-term relationshiphere

AM/FM stereo radio - standard?heck yean! (what's driving withouta little driving music?)

Your choice of a great -lookingcoupe (shown), sporty four -doorsedan (not shown) or a hot newconvertible (hey, we told yo thiswas a cool car) in

PONTIAC CARES - call or, 800number, get free Roadside Assis-tance - for flat tires, dead 5attery,even if you run out of gas or lockyourself out (Pontiac" wants to seeyou and your Sunfire" out driving)

Clearcoat paint - paint yolican't see keeps the paint you (cfcan see cooking good (see')

Fold -crown rear seats - means youcan go places and take lots of stuffwith ya

A HU:3E glove box - some gloveboxes are merely mouse -sized; thisone holds a whole laptop computer

Single -key locking - one keylocks unlocks doors, trunk and

all the fun of Sunfire

Oh, Courtesy Transportation -that's part of PONTIAC CAREStoo (see? we really do care)

rSONTIACUNI=IRE

WE ARC- DRIVING EXCITEMENT.

Finally, a real set of wheels you can really afford.*Based on normal maintenance. See Owner's ManJal for limitations. C.19).5 GM Corp. All rights reserved.

U S A Official Sponsor of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team For more information, call1-800-2PONTIAC.

AUDIO CLINICJOSEPH GIOVANELLI

Reproducing Wide ResponseQI have read that the true range of hu-man hearing is from 10 Hz to 25 kHz,

but I have yet to find any receivers or full-sized loudspeakers capable of delivering theentire range. I'm interested in this because Iunderstand that some organs, whose pipesare about 64 feet long, can produce a 4 -Hzsound. What limits the range of receivers and

loudspeakers?-Mario Penna, Buffalo, N.Y.AThe "true range of human hearing"depends on the humans involved.

Not everyone can hear the full nominalrange of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, let alone therange you cite. Young people who have notbeen exposed to loud sound can sometimeshear up to 25 kHz, but in our noisy world,the upper end of the hearing range dropsdramatically-to 15 kHz or below, by thetime many people reach age 40.

As to bass, a frequency of 10 Hz wouldreally be felt rather than heard. The sameholds true for 8 Hz, the actual fundamentalfrom a 64 -foot organ pipe-and I don'tthink many organs have them.

A number of preamplifiers and poweramplifiers (though probably not too manyreceivers) should be able to reproduce from10 Hz to 25 kHz. Some designers deliber-ately limit response to prevent audible IMfrom pickup of stray r.f. fields.

As to low frequencies, direct -coupledamplifier circuits can sometimes handlefrequencies as far down as d.c. (0 Hz). Low -frequency response can be limited by thesize of interstage coupling capacitors oremitter -bypass capacitors, and by highpower -supply impedance. In tube ampli-fiers, lows will also be reduced if the outputtransformer has insufficient iron in its core.

Many loudspeakers can get up above 20kHz, thanks to improved tweeter design.But getting down to 10 Hz (or even 20 Hz)requires a speaker that can move a lot of air.Such speakers are both very large and veryexpensive, so not many companies makeeven subwoofers that get down this low.

Even if your ears, amplifier, and speakersetup could handle the range you cite, whatwould you hear? A CD can reach well below

20 Hz, but can just about make it up to 20kHz. Original recordings made on DATwould have frequency ranges up to about22 kHz (though there are some double -speed DATs that should be able to recordfrequencies above 40 kHz).

So the only way to get full -range material

to exploit a system with a range of 10 Hz to25 kHz would be to make your own record-

ings, probably with a double -speed DAT.And if you tried it, you'd discover the fre-quency limitations of microphones. Someof the best ones have reasonably flat re-sponse in the range between 30 Hz and 15kHz. This is not to say that some mikeswon't do better, but most won't.

Considering all these limitations, it's re-markable that our sound reproduction is asgood as it truly is.

Cassette Life and StorageQI have a large number of commercially

recorded cassettes in my collection.Though I am reacquiring as many of these on

CD as I can, I'm certain more than half ofthese will never be available. Do you have any

advice as to how I can preserve my cassettecollection? How long does a cassette last when

it is properly cared for?-Danny Tse, SanLorenzo, Calif.

AYou have asked a complex question.The life expectancy of a cassette tape

depends to a great extent on its construc-tion, as well as how carefully it's handled.There are some formulations of oxide andbinder that simply do not hold up well.Binder problems cause oxide to shed, even-tually rendering the recording useless aswell as clogging heads and coating otherparts in the tape path. In addition to thatweakness, the plasticizer material disap-pears and the physical characteristics of thetape change. This results in poor flexibilityand strength of the tape. Also, the loss oftape lubricants causes a squeal as the tapepasses over the heads.

I have had some tapes come to the end oftheir useful lives within two to three years,regardless of how well they were stored. Ihave seen others that are 20 years old and

still usable. Some of these were exposed toextremes of both heat and cold, and theystill play just as they did when they weremade. Humidity-which, like temperature,ideally should be kept within a moderate,stable range for good tape longevity-like-wise seems to leave some tapes unfazed.

Always return the tapes to their storageboxes after they have been played, becausethis will help slow down the evaporation ofthe plasticizer. Try to maintain their tem-perature between 60° and 70° F. The hu-midity should hover between 30% and40%. This is about the best you can hope toachieve at home. And never leave tapes in a car.

Limiting DynamicsQI live in an apartment and try to keepmy music within reasonable loudness

limits. Many CD recordings, however, workagainst this "good neighbor" policy. Increased

dynamic range is supposed to be a good thing,

but I don't find it so. I have to turn down thevolume when the music is too loud, and turn

it back up when the soft passages become in-

audible. This is exasperating! Why isn't there

some technological remedy, such as a com-pressor, to correct this fault without down-grading the music?-Burnett Cross, Harts-dale, N.Y.

AAudio purists insist, of course, thatany alteration of music's natural dy-

namic range constitutes a loss of fidelityand, in fact, is a form of distortion. At thesame time, audiophiles generally are awarethat it is more important for dynamics tosound convincing than for them to repli-cate any particular scale of sound -pressurelevels, however natural.

To limit dynamics, use a compressor, justas you suggest. Brookline Technologies of-fers three models. I have heard one of them,and it worked very well. There may well beother manufacturers of such devices; I sus-pect, however, that it would be very hard tofind more attractive prices than Brook -line's. I suggest you contact them for moreinformation (2035 Carriage Hill Rd., Alli-son Park, Pa. 15101; 412/366-9290). A

If you have a problem or question about audio,write to Mr. Joseph Giovanelli at AUDIO Maga-zine, 1633 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10019. Allletters are answered. In the event that your letteris chosen by Mr. Giovanelli to appear in Audio -clinic, please indicate if your name and/or ad-dress should be withheld. Please enclose astamped, self-addressed envelope.


Matthew 'Patco I( tinder, 4,:011: Audio

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CIRCLE NO 1 ON READER SERVICE CARD

AUDIO ETCEDWARD TATNALL CANBY

A MATTEROF SCALE

Is the biggest always the mostest?Our future, everybody's (includ-ing audio's), depends on the an-swer. Right now, it is a resound-ing no. It is increasingly obviousthat, while everything grows big-

ger everywhere, smaller often worksbest. A lot more often than youmight think, if you follow the bil-lion -dollar mergers and swallow allthose GM, Ford, and Chrysler adswith your daily breakfast.

What two segments of GM arenow producing the finest, most reli-able automobiles in the huge GMroster? Those new little divisions thatmake the plastic Saturn and the half -Toyota Geo.

What segment of recorded musicis now booming like crazy, with un-precedented thousands of new re-

leases, both worldwide and in Amer-ica, covering vast new and unheard-of musical areas? It is, of course, arelatively small corner of audio, andis virtually unknown in big-timeHollywood andplenty skimpyon Broadway:The classicalmusic CD.

I find it hardto believe whatis now happen-ing in the clansical area. Un-til, that is, I heft the 2 -poundmonthly promotion of new classicalCD releases distributed by, say, Koch(there are plenty of others) and thenspend a half hour just perusing it.Imagine how long it takes to go

through the dozens and dozens ofCDs on hundreds of CD labels, amere month's worth!

Or take my friend Nat, who hashis own public relations outfit,Nathan J. Silverman Co., inEvanston, Illinois. Among otherclients, Nat handles some classicalCD labels. He sent out a rundown ofreleases for the first quarter of 1995for Naxos, one of those labels."Missed anything on Naxos?" wasthe genial opening. Had I! No fewerthan 49 CDs in three months. Andeach, do not forget, an hour or morelong. In his admirably compactedthree -column listing, Nat also gavethe Naxos releases for the second halfof 1994. I just counted the whole fornine months of this one classical la-bel (including a few semi -pop itemsin one series): 137 CDs, more or less.(My eyes might have missed a fewof them.) That's our new kind of"little" business!

I can imagine taking at least nineyears to play each of these discs allthe way through, no skipping.

"Oh where, oh where has my littledog gone, oh where, oh where can hebe? With his tail cut short and hishead cut long, oh where, oh wherecan he be?" I can sing you that songfrom my childhood, but I know ex-actly where his more famous con-temporary doggie has gone, the onethat answered to His Master's Voice.That dog was shared by HMV in Eu-rope and RCA Victor, the prestigiousU.S. label, formerly Victor Talking

Machine Co.RCA is nowowned, at leastthe classicalportion, by aGerman firm,BMG Classics.The BMG poli-cy is simple andrealistic: Rele-

gaft the old prestigious Victorrecordings to where they truly be-long, on the familiar RCA label withthat puppydog. Shades of the reveredpast! Anything new and innovative,however, is on the current German

SMALLER RECORD LABELS

HAVE PAID OFF -

NOT IN BILLIONS

OF DOLLARS, BUT

IN ENDURING SUCCESS.


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Sound.

Audio CatalogAt Cambridge SoundWorks we make speakersand music systems designed by Henry Kloss(founder of AR, KLH & Advent). We sellthem-and components from companies likeSony, Pioneer, Philips, Carver and others-factory -direct, with no expensive middlemen.For example, a Dolby Pro Logic SurroundSound system with Model Six speakers, rearspeakers, a Sony Pro Logic receiver and remoteis only $747. Call today and find out whyAudio magazine said we may have 'the bestvalue in the world." Call toll -free for factory -direct savings. Save hundreds on components and systems

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label. No dog. Times are now different. Thedoggie is in the past, part of history.

Sad? Humiliating? Also a healthy sign ofchange. BMG has some remarkably high-level items on its CDs, utterly different fromRCA. Note that Sony Classical proceedssimilarly with another once -giant, Colum-bia Masterworks. How the mighty have fall-en! The big ones, of course. This is notmerely reissue versus new recording. It goes

much deeper. The mighty have indeed de-parted, as we know only too well.

But not the little old labels! They survivelike crazy, either in the flesh (Vanguard, forinstance) or in reissues on newer labels with

WE THINK THAT IF

WE DON'T GET BIGGER

EVERY MONTH,

EVERY YEAR,

WE ARE DOOMED.

profuse credits, such as Mercury. It reallyhas paid to be small-not in billions of dol-lars, but in enduring success.

That is what is so hard for us to learn,here in the biggest (in $$$$), the most ex-pansionist country of all! We think that ifwe don't get bigger every month, every year,

we are doomed. All of us. This is the way theRoman Empire expanded-and fell apart.Of course it took a while, back then, a thou-

sand years altogether, but our world movesfaster. Compare the ox and the chariot tothe train and the plane and the Internet.And, of course, to audio.

I predict that any day, then, we will startto decay and fall apart. What am I saying?Only that instead of conglomerating we willbegin, at long last, to deconglomerate (whatdo you think GM is doing already?), sothere can be more "little" flexibility and lessmonster -like paralysis. This is a healthy wayto fall apart, and it just might save us a cen-tury or so.

I think historical perspective, as always,gives us a better sense of the changes nowgoing on, if only we will take a few mo-ments to turn our minds in that direction.I'm lucky enough to have seen the presentdeveloping for quite a few moments past,like, say, 70 -odd years, and look how classi-

cal music (so called) has developed on

records in just that short time. I have mar-velled equally at each big change-the ulti-mate points in our history. Makes for agreat life! Even while paralysis and decay set

in. Who notices that? I didn't. Lookingback, though, is different.

My family's first "real" car was a FordModel T sedan. The second, in about 1921,was-guess what-a Chevrolet. In thosedays Chevrolet was a small independentcompany. So were Dodge, Oldsmobile, andBuick. Each on its own. The Chevrolet ("lit-tle goat") was made in Tarrytown, NewYork, on the lower Hudson River. One sum-

mer our little goat got stuck on the mainroad in deep mud and broke its crankshafttrying to get out. A tow? No such thing; thecar just sat there in the middle of the high-way all summer long. Then we progressedto a snazzy 1924 Willys Knight, the smallharbinger of American Motors, now in turnconglomerated. At the same time, railroadsand trolley lines-even roads-were con-glomerating into bigger and bigger units asthe country itself grew. This was the healthyyouth of bigness! It worked, and it wasgood. No longer, folks.

I find it surprising how similar the earlystages of audio were to the auto world.Technology ruled both, but "content"(roads to drive on) followed accordingly,the two aspects directly related. Classicalmusic on records did not exist at first, ex-cept a few violently excerpted arias or such.Not enough technology.

Our classical world started in 1902, whena consensus emerged in favor of wax -mas-tered, laterally cut discs (with holdouts, no-tably Edison, for cylinders and verticalmodulation). Since voice was about all thatcould be effectively recorded, the greatworld of opera was instantly (more or less)taken over, in four -minute slices with ersatz"orchestras" or feeble piano. (We thought itultra -realism, indistinguishable from theliving opera.) If it was loud, any voicewould do-but celebrities, then as now,were the moneymakers and the instru-ments of our expansion. There were poprecords, but the big Red Seal Victors (12 -inch and expensive) and the majestic blueColumbias were the ultimate. Symphonies?Technically impossible. Chamber music?Better, but still pretty sad in a sonic way.Musicians had to play right into that oldhorn, all the instruments, cello included. So



In The Mid 70s We CreatedHome Theater. Now We've Created

A New Way To Buy It.The people who work at Cambridge

SoundWorks - including our cofounder HeftyKloss (who also founded AR, KLH and Advent)- have been involved with the concept of hometheater from the beginning. In 1969 (yearsbefore VCRs and cable TV), Henry Klossfounded Advent,the company thatintroduced tiefirst home theateraudio/videosystems -complete with big -screen TVs anddigital surround sound. Wehave had an ongoing relationship with thepeople at Dolby Laboratories, creators of DolbySurround Sound, since Henry Kloss introducedthefirst consumer products with Dolby noisereduction over 20 years ago. And now atCambridge SoundWorks we believe we have seta new price -to -performance standard for hometheater components.

Because we sell carefully matched and testedhome theater speaker systems Factory -Direct,and through cost-efficient Best Buy stores, youcan save hundreds of dollars. We believethe products on these pages represent thecountry's best values in high performancehome theater components. Audio critics,and thousands of satisfied customers,agree. Stereo Review said, "CambridgeSoundWorks manufactures loudspeakersthat provide exceptional sound quality ataffordable prices." Audio suggested that wemay have "the best value in the world."

Center Channel SpeakersCambridge SoundWorks manufactures

three speakers for use as center channelspeakers in Dolby Pro Logic home theatersystems. All three are magnetically shieldedso they can be placed near a TV or computermonitor. Model Ten -A is a small, affordable two-

way speaker. $7999.Center Channel isessentially identical

to a Cambridge SoundWorksEnsemble satellite (but with magnetic shield-ing). $14999. Center Channel Plus uses an ultra -low, ultra -wide design that is ideal for placementabove (or, with optional support stand, below)a TV monitor. $21999.

Surround SpeakersCambridge SoundWorks makes two "dipole

radiator" surround sound speakers. Dolby La-boratories recommends dipole radiator speakers

for use as surround speakers. TheSurround has a very high

power handling ca-pacity and is oftenselected for "highend" surroundsound systems.Audio, describing asystem thatincluded TheSurround said,

"In many ways the surround sensation wasevery bit as &odcr as far more expensive in-stallations." pr. The smaLer TheSurround II is arguably the country's bestvalue in a dipole radiator speaker. $249" pr.

Powered SubwoofersThe original Powered Subwoofer by

Cambridge SoundWorks consists of a heavy-duty 12" woofer housed in an acoustic suspen-sion cabinet with a 140 -watt amplifier and a

built-in electronic crossover. Stereo Review saidit provides "deep powerful bass...31.5 Hz bassoutput was obtainable at a room -shakinglevel...they open the way to having a 'killer'

system for an affordable rice."$69999.Our Slave Subwoofer uses the

same wooer driver andcabinet, but does notinclude the amplifier orcrossover. It can only beused in conjunction withthe Powered Subwoofer.$29999. The newPowered Subwoofer IIuses a 120 -watt amplifier

with an 8" woofer. $39999.

Home Theater Speaker SystemsWe have assembled a number of home

theater speaker systems that consist of center

channel, surroundand main stereospeakers. The combina-tion we show here is ourbest seller. It includes ourcritically acclaimed Ensemble subwoofersatellite speaker system (with dual subwoofers),our Center Channel Plus and a pair of our bestsurround speakers, The Surround. You couldspend hundreds more than its $1,16799 pricewithout improving performance.

For information on other home theaterspeaker systems- or on any ofthe products we

make and sell - call 1-800-FOR-HIFI for yourfree color catalog. Thanks.

We Eliminate The Risks.All Cambridge SoundWorks speakers arebacked by our 30 -day Total SatisfactionGuarantee. Try them in your home, withyour music. If you don't like them, returnthem for a full refund. We even refundyour original regular ground UPS shippingcharges.

For A Free Catalog, Call

1-800-FOR-HIFICambridge SoundWorks products. are

available only direct fromCambridge SoundWorks andat our Factory -Direct SpeakerWalls in over 200 Best Buystores nationwide.

CAMBRIDGESOUNDWORKS

We Know HowTo Make Loudspeakers!

311 Needham Street, Suite 104S, Newton, MA 021641-800-367-4434 Fax: 617-332-9229

Canada: 1-800-525-4434Outside U.S. or Canada: 617-332-5936

0 1945 Cambridge Sound Works. REnsemble is a registered trademark ofCambridge SoundWorks, Inc. KLH is a trademark of KLH, Inc. AR and Advent

are triclemarks of International Jensen Inc. Cambridge SoundWorks is notaffiliated with ELK Advent or AR.

=110141110IECIRCLE NO. 9 ON READER SERVICE CARD

IT'S EXACTLY THE

QUALITY OF SOUND

YOU'D EXPECT FROM A

HIGH -END CD PLAYER.

That id,A CD PLAYER COSTING

TWICE ITS PRICE.

The new RotelRCD970BX is a

premium quality CDplayer that delivers per-

formance and technologynormally found only on far

more exotic and expensive designs.A new 18 -bit ladder -type D/A con-

verter with continuous calibrationresults in nearly 20 -bit resolution. A

toroidal transformer and superb quality filtercapacitors contribute smooth, uninterrupted

power. A CDM9 swing arm ensures instant access,precise tracking and gentle handling of your most

cherished recordings. And a new PC board, close tolerancecomponents, and gold-plated, RCA -type coaxial digital

output all add to this remarkable music machine's stunningperformance. You get all of this and more in an attractive, low -

profile, high performance CD player with scan, random, 20 -trackprogramming, repeat and time information, plus an infrared remote.We invite you to visit your Rotel dealerand audition the RCD970BX. If you'reimpressed with the sound, wait until youhear the price.

ROTEL OF AMERICA

the "classics" were all opera, for purelytechnical reasons.

The electrical recording opened hugenew worlds of classical music. Big albums,complete Masses, whole operas (too heavyto lift), symphonies actually played on theright instruments. Amazing! The businessof classical recording now became a steadyconquering of the standard concert reper-tory, piece by piece-one or two recordingsof each item, seldom more, until virtuallyall our "concert music" had been absorbedinto very playable and enjoyable 78 -rpm al-

bums. Beyond that, no thoughts! Music andtechnology were matched.

Why else did classical recording burgeonbigger and bigger during this era, from1925 or so until WWII? The concert reper-tory kept us fully busy. That's why.

Had you ever thought of the 78 disc inthis way?

After WWII, we restored and replaced,with only modest advances such as 78 -rpmplastic records, fancy album covers, and ex-tensive album notes. No real change; it wasmerely unfinished business. But somebright minds looked forward. Before LP,new small record companies, Vox being thefirst I remember, came out with new LP -type musical content-still on 78. Onceagain, small was firstest, if not mostest.Flexibly, thinking ahead.

WHY DID CLASSICAL

RECORDINGS BOOM

FROM 1925 TO WWII?CONCERT REPERTORY

KEPT US BUSY.

Then it came, in 1948 and 1949, themicrogroove! An extraordinary revolution,it bowled us over. I was at the first unveilingof the LP, with Dr. Goldmark showing histall pile of 78 albums and the tiny pile ofequivalent LPs, same music. Such excite-ment! Anybody could see we had a new au-dio world, and it very soon was. Once againthis meant a new musical repertory tomatch the new technology. Concert music,yes. But much, much more. Tape! The trav-elling tape recorder. It made the LP, thoughthe LP got there first. More on this reperto-ry coming up. A

PERFORMANCE BEYOND YOUR WILDEST EXPECTATIONS.Rotel of America, 54 Concord Street, North Reading, MA 01864 tel 1-800-370-3741 fax 508-664-4109



No matter where you are, y:u're there.

Musical truth.

It begins deep in the belly of the passge. Thunderous bass, so

powerful you're helpless as you're slowly taken prisoner by the music. itk%

The subwoofers catapult you to the furthest reaches of the soundstage. You **..

gain a new focus. Your world narrows down as your horizons grow.

See your Energy dealer today. And audition the new EPS- series

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CIRCLE NO 13 ON READER SERVICE CARD

c F cZG)LOUDSPEAK ER S

Sound as a performance art.

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oto PIONEERThe Art of Entertainment

August 6

Hunted for bugs on the road. a3..Heard rock music. 2cz

`?,Admired clear sound. L,

,o.,,.Got run over. 11

et:

Heard harp music.

PIONEER CD CHANGERS. How else do you pass the time when you're drivingdown that varmint obstacle course known as the highway? Pioneer CD changers allowyou to play up to 12 CDs, and hear crystal-clear music for hours. And hooking one upto your existing FM stereo is so easy, even pea -brained road critters could do it. Whoknows, with a few more years of evolution, they might understand those signs that say

"Cross At Your Own Risk:' Call 1 -800 -PIONEER for a dealer near you.

ARE 15y dward M. ong

Ir, .,)ril issue, I reported on three portable CD playersde ^ ned to overcome the mistracking that occurs when

are bumped or shaken. All had memory systems thatre a few seconds of audio information and feed this to

the output while the laser tracking system recovers, causingthe music from the CD to be uninterrupted. This reportcovers five more such models, tested with essentially thesame procedures. I used a mechanical vibration system toprovide a series of calibrated, mechanical shocks to eachCD player, simulating what occurs when someone is jog-ging. I then measured the pfurce that caused the CD play-er's laser system to mistrack. All of the players in this re-port are able to withstand a greater G force than those Itested previously.

Briefly, the problem all these models seeks to correct isthis: When a CD player is bumped or jiggled, the laser sys-tem that reads the data is knocked out of position and los-es tracking. The purpose of the memory is to store enoughinformation to provide an uninterrupted output while thelaser is finding and locking onto the CD track again. Withthe memory switched on, when you begin playing music,the output is silenced briefly-for about 2 seconds with theplayers in this report. During this period, the disc spinsfaster and fills the memory with information. Enough in-forination is stored to allow several seconds of playbackwile the laser re, tvers. As playback continues, the memo-rfzed information i continuously refreshed, to deal withmistracking whenever it may occur.

The fi CD portables I tested are remarkable for theoun f engineering they pack into such small spaces

and a h low prices. Besides the complex, basic playback

sys ch of them programming features found on1 home players. provide as much information aspossible in the most concise form and allow you to easilycompare the models, I a -n presenting a Table that lists theirfeatures and includes my measurements of the technicalparameters.

The average maximum line output for four of the playersis 0.76 V rms; the 1.0 V rms output of the Magnavox is 2.4dB higher. Four of the ers have an average earphone out-

put at just belowg of 0.74 V rms. The Panasonic's

Photographs: John Wilkes

AUDIO/SEPTEMBEI:25

All theseplayerswithstoodheav ierjarringthan anyof thosetestedpreviously.

earphone output is 1.1 V rms, 2.6 dB greater than theaverage. The earphones supplied with the PanasonicCD player are above average. (More on this later.)

Before discussing other features, I'll skip right tothe most interesting ones: Shock resistance and theelectronic memories. The G force that caused skip-ping in the players I covered last April was between 0.8

and 0.9; the players in this report required a G force of1.1 to 2.5 to cause mistracking. The best was the Opti-mus CD -3420 (2.5 G), with Onkyo's DX-F71p (2.1 G)

next. The Magnavox AZ6848/17 (1.5 G) was in themiddle, followed by the Panasonic SL -S490 (1.2 G)and the Sony D-335 (1.1 G). If you are a rough andtough jogger, the Optimus is an obvious choice.

The quantity of music stored in memory variesconsiderably from unit to unit. This was measured bycontinuously jarring each player with enough force toprevent memory "refreshment" and then checkinghow long it took for the sound to stop. The championhere was the Panasonic, at 11.5 S, followed by theSony, at 6 S. The others were all in the 3-S range. TheOnkyo occasionally skipped forward or back onetrack in this test. When jostled severely enough to pre-vent any new data from being read into memory(which would invalidate the test), the Sony lost itsplace altogether and required manual restart, thoughit recovered gracefully with gentler handling. Other-wise, all the units picked up where they had left offonce their memories had been allowed to refill.

I also performed a simple test that you can try whenyou want to compare the shock resistance of CD play-ers. Tap the players with your hand, and you will findthat most of them will falter with even a light tap.Turn on the memory, wait a couple of seconds, andthen tap the players at about 1-S intervals. This willgive you a quick indication of the memory's effective-ness. Incidentally, all but the Sony provide an indica-tor to show when the memory is full. This informa-tion, in itself, is not of great importance, but seeingthis "gauge" falter when the music does not is a vividreminder of the annoyances you're being spared bythe memory.

I didn't check programming features, but all fivemodels can repeat single tracks, repeat all tracks in or-der, and repeat tracks selected and stored in memory.Three of them can play tracks in random order, andthe Sony can scan the first 15 S of each track to helpyou find the one you want. A "hold" lockout featuredisables the control buttons, so they can't be pushedaccidentally while you're running. A "resume" featurekeeps the laser in place when you stop playback, soyou can pick up where you left off. All but the Onkyohave these.

Most of the players are designed for use withrechargeable batteries. Only the Optimus comes with-out a battery. The Sony will recharge the supplied


Line Output at 0 -dB Reference

hone Output

DAC Type and Oversampling Rate

LCD IndicatorsMemory StatusTrackTime

LCD IlluminationExternally PoweredBattery Powered

Memory Storage TimesMuting Before PlayCapacity

G Force for Mistracking,Memory Off

No. of Programmable Selections

Repeat PlaySingle TrackAll TracksProgrammed TracksRandom

' I I old" Function

"Resume" Function

Specified Earphone Power Output

Specified Earphone Quality

1No. of Bass EQ Positions

BatteriesType Included

D.C. VoltageAlkaline Cells

Specified Battery Life, Memory OffRechargeable;\11.aline

A.C. Adaptor Charger?Specified VoltageSpecified Current

Price

ONKYO DX-Fllp OPTIMUS CD -3420 PANASONIC SL -S490 SONY D-335

1.00 V rms

0.70 V rms

One -Bit, 192X

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

1.8 S

3.2 S

1.5 G

20

0.80 V rms

0.85 V rms

One -Bit, 8X

0.75 V rms 0.72 V rms 0.78 V rms

0.75 V rms

One -Bit, 8X

Yes

Yes

No

Manual On; 10-S Auto OffManual On; 10-S Auto Off

2.1 S2.6 ,Ye,

2.0 G

22

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No Spec

1)-

Rayovac "Renewal"Alkaline

6 V

Igor\ \

3 Hours (nicad)9 Hours

Yes

6V0.6 Amp

$199.95

Good

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

Yes

Nc

NoNc.

2.5 S2.7 S

2.1 G

22

Yes

Yes

Yes

Na

Yes

No

15 mW

C-

3

Nicad

3VIwo AA

No SpecNo Spec

Yes

3V0.6 Amp

$240

Good

Yes

15 mW, 32 Ohms

N.A.

3

None

3VTwo AA

No SpecHour31/2

No

1 19 9 . 9

1.10 V rms 0.65 V rms

One -Bit, 8X One -Bit, 8X

Yes

Yes

Yes

yv

Yes

3-S Auto Off

1.8 S11.5 S

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

6-S Auto OF

2.0 S6.0 S

Yc

Yes

Yes

Yes

1.1 G

22

Yes

Yes

Yss

ties

Yes Yes

Yes Yes

15 mW, 16 01A Ill

B-

20 mW, 16 Ohms

Nicad

3VTwo AA

3 Hours9 Hours

Yes

4.5 V0.8 Amp

D-

3

NiMH

3VTwo AA

7 Hours11 Hours

Yes

4.5 V0.5 Amp

$199.95 $359.95

Fair Very Good Good

MAGNAVOX

h anof fhesplayers,you'll needa better setof 'phonesto reallyhear howgood theycan sound.

Fig 1-Direct output (top) and outputfrom memory (bottom) from

Magnavox AZ6848/17 subjectedto test pulse.

Fig 2-Spectrum of output for recorded

test pulse from Magnavox

AZ6848/17, direct (top) and viamemory (bottom).

NiMH battery.The rest are de-

signed to rechargeNicads, but only

the Onkyo and Panasonicare supplied with them. The

Magnavox comes with Rayovac Re-newal rechargeable alkaline cells, but its manual tellsyou to buy a Rayovac recharger, not recharge themin the player.

The Magnavox and Onkyo players come with afull complement of accessories that allow you tohook them up to the radio/cassette player in yourcar. Each of the players comes with a patch cord-amini -plug to a pair of phono plugs-to connect itsline output to the CD or auxiliary input of your au-dio system. Only then will you hear how well theseplayers can reproduce the sound of your CDs. Thesupplied earphones are pretty terrible except for thePanasonic's XBS 'phones, which are at least re -

1024 MICROSECONDS TOTAL SPAN

10000.e0 HI OVA..MOM

-49.9 0011-74.4 000

Fig. 3-Direct output (top) and outputfrom memory (bottom) fromOnkyo DX-F71p subjected to

test pulse.


test pulse from Onkyo

DX-F71p, direct (top) andvia memory (bottom).

DIRECT OUTPUT

E id LONG ASSOCIATTSOX-illd CO IMAM

MEMORY OUTPUT

40 d


20080.00

E.111014G AISOCIATS3 VA.3214000 ABI111111

ONIECT OUTPUT

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$124111C140SECON05 TOTAL SEAM711111.1

.U.9 .191x_.9.0 49A

MRECT OUTPUT

E le LONG ANSOOMTESMAGNAVOX A2.0.11,0 PLAYER

MEMORY °VINO,

501.14)49

spectable. If you auditioned these players at a storethrough their earphones, I'm almost certain youwould pick the Panasonic player. Not only are its'phones reasonably good, but the Panasonic hasmore output from its earphone amplifier and candrive its 'phones to a higher sound level than can anyof the other players.

I used the high -frequency pulse from track 76 ofDenon's Audio Technical CD (No. C39-7147) tocheck amplitude versus time and amplitude versusfrequency. The output versus time was captured

with a digital storage oscilloscope; the

output versus frequency (spectrum)was captured on a Fast Fourier Trans-form (FFT) analyzer. I connectedeach player'sline output tothe 'scope and

DIRECT OUTPUT

EM.LONG ASSOCIATES OPTIMUS C04420

MEMORY OUTPUT

1024 MICROSECONDS TOTAL SPAN

20000. 00 HZ CURSOR

-50.5 dBR-71.5 dBR

5.1z

Fig. 5-Direct output (top) and outputfrom memory (bottom) fromOptimus CD -3420 subjected

to test pulse.

Fig. 6-Spectrum of output for recorded

test pulse from Optimus CD -

3420, direct (top) andvia memory (bottom).

50440 dB

50 dB

-70 .

40 dB

-50 dB

<O.

70

50 .

OPTIMUS

the FFT. The short high -frequency pulse on the test CD has a uni-form spectrum down to the lowest frequencies; in other words, thetotal energy for the complete spectrum is produced by one shortpulse. I averaged 16 samples to overcome noise and achieve a rea-sonable output.

The direct output, with the CD player's memory switched off, isshown in the top trace in each of the figures; output with the mem-ory functioning is at the bottom. The 0 -dB reference in the April re-

port was arbitrary, because I was mainly interested in comparingthe direct output with the memory output. This time, I set the 0 -dBreference with the 1 -kHz tone on track 1 of the CBS CD -1 test disc.I expanded the scale to show more of the high -frequency roll -offdue to each player's anti-aliasing filter. Also, you can see the 44.1 -kHz sampling rate in some of the spectra.

Figure 1 shows that the pulse output of the Magnavox player islinear phase, which means that all the frequencies in the total spec-trum in Fig. 2 will have the same time re-lationship, with no frequencies de-layed more than others. TheMagnavox player does invertthe absolute polarity of thepulse, which is unusual;most CD playersmaintain correctabsolute polar-ity. The di-rect andmemoryoutputs ofthe Mag-navox aresimilar inlevel andspectrum,

indicating that,when the memory is

switched on, the high fre-qiiencies will not be diminished.

Figure 3 shows that the Onkyo's direct output is linear phase, butthat the memory output is not: The delay increases with increasingfrequency. This can diminish the quality of the sound for somepeople, especially if they listen with high -quality earphones. Figure4 also reveals a diminished high -frequency response; the level islower because the pulse lies slightly above the frequency range ofthe memory. It appears that Onkyo has traded .off extended high -frequency range for extended memory storage time.

The test results from the Optimus CD player, seen in Figs. 5 and6, are very similar to those for the Onkyo. The Optimus also physi-cally resembles the Onkyo except for some minor features, and itappears Radio Shack has contracted with Onkyo to manufacturethe Optimus CD -3420.

Figure 7 shows the direct and memory output versus time of thePanasonic CD player. Both outputs are linear phase. The spectrumof the memory output, in Fig. 8, is down only 1.0 dB from the directoutput at 20 kHz. This is very good performance.

Fig. 7-Direct output (top) and outputfrom memory (bottom) fromPanasonic SL -S490 subjected

to test pulse.

Fig. 8-Spectrum of output for recorded

test pulse from Panasonic

SL -S490, direct (top) and via

memory (bottom).

ANASONIC

29000. 0050,x .H/,7,00. -51.3 IRE

1.

-

DOMICT OUTPUT

LONG AOSOCUOTTSP ANA110110 SAWA CO MAYER

1141101Y OUTPUT

SO

ao

To Ai

40 all

IA all

4441

./4

go..

Magnavox, OneOne PhilipsDr., Knoxville. Tenn.

37914. for literature onModel AZ6848/17. circleNo. 80

Onkyo, 200 Williams Dr.Ramsey. N.J.07446. Forliterature on Model DX-flip, circle No. 8

Optimus, c/o Ra ack

700 One Tand' Cenfer,Fort Worth, Fez. 76102.for literature an ModelCD -3420 (Cate loq Mo.

42-50391, circle No. 82

Panasonic, One Panasonic

Way, Secaucus.07094. 1,4 literature onModel SL -S490. circle No.

83

Sony, Sony Dr., Park Ridge,11.107656. For literalon Model D-335, circNo. 84

Fig. 9-Direct output (top) and outputfrom memory (bottom) fromSony D-335 subjected to testpulse.


test pulse from Sony D-335,

direct (top) and via memory(bottom).

Thedirect and

memoryoutputs of the

Sony CD player, in Fig. 9, arenot linear phase. The reason for this

is probably the sharp cutoff of the anti-aliasing filterresponse, shown in Fig. 10. The Sony design doesn'tappear to have traded bandwidth for memory stor-age capacity; the frequency ranges of the direct andmemory outputs extend uniformly to 20 kHz, whilethe memory can still store 6 seconds of music. This isalso very good performance, if you can live with theincreasing delay of the high frequencies.

For serious joggers, the Optimus may be the bestchoice. The Onkyo is close behind and also comeswith a full complement of accessories for use in yourcar, plus a deluxe carrying bag. They both have thevolume control close to the earphone jack, which canbe bothersome if the earphones have a right-angleplug. The Magnavox is also a good choice for roadand track, and has the volume control on the rightand the earphone jack on the left. (In addition, Mag-navox offers an optional remote for it.)

The Sony shows solid engineering, and althoughits shock resistance is on the low side, its memory isreasonably long. It has the smoothest amplitude ver-sus frequency response of all the players. The Sonyincludes an optical digital output and also has a re-mote -control pod on the earphone cord. The'phones can be unplugged, so you can use the remotewhile you are driving a car.

Although it has only moderate shock resistance,the Panasonic has the greatest memory capacity andthe most musical sound. You can even enjoy thesound with the included earphones, though I wouldrecommend high -quality earphones when you arenot jogging. Of course, to really hear how good theseCD players can sound, you should consider an ear-phone upgrade for any of them.

Although I didn't conduct evaluations with mylistening panel, I did listen to each CD player withthe supplied earphones and with the Grado SR125s(see my review of these 'phones in last month's is-

E M LONG ASSOCIATES SONE "ma

DIRECT OUTPUT

I \ AfillPer

EMORY OUTPUT

1024 MICROSECONDS TOTAL SPAS

20000. 00 HI CURSORWONT

-48.5 ESP-4111.4 AIR

SAN SOMOAO

DIRECT OUTPUT

EALLONG ASSOCIATESSONY 04311 CO PLAYER

MEMORY OUTPUT

NA( 40

sue). The comments apply to the sound with thememory either on or off, because I couldn't hear anydifference, except with the Onkyo and Optimus play-ers. If you are jogging and traffic is going by or youare listening while commuting, you probably won'tnotice the slightly diminished high frequencies withthe memory turned on in these two models. I usedtwo CD tracks from The Best of Chesky Jazz and More

Audiophile Tests, Vol. 2 (Chesky JD 68). With track 1,

"Miles Away," the Panasonic player was the mostmusical, and I found myself listening rather thanevaluating. Sara K's voice was clear and centerednicely in believable space, while the acoustic guitaralso sounded very real. The Sony was very good aswell, but less involving; the guitar was slightly lessreal, but the bass was a little more taut. The otherplayers did a similarly respectable job. KennyRankin's unaccompanied voice on track 4, "Always,"was really a pleasure to hear via the Panasonic player.The sharpness of the finger snaps actually increasedthe sense of musical involvement. The Sony player'sfinger snaps sounded a little less real, and for somereason I found the music more mechanical. The Op-timus and Onkyo players-which sounded as similaras their test results implied-had more musical life,and the Magnavox did a respectable job. Yet none ofthem matched the realism of the Panasonic.

If you audition these players, take along to thedealer some CDs that you know very well and a goodpair of earphones. It can be a nuisance at some largestores where they make you check your belongings,but it's really worth the effort. The Panasonic is my .

new portable CD reference for sound, but you mayfind that the Sony or one of the others is your bestvalue. A


Conduct your ownaudition of our referencequality speaker systems.You will discover thedifference. Wherever youwant to go; Carnegie Hall,The Grand Ole Opry, a BroadwayStage, or right into the recordingstudio, Westlake Audio will takeyou there.

To experience thefullness, the power andthe definition, call us.Reference qualityloudspeakers fromWestlake Audio.

Were2696 Lavery Court, Unit 18, Newbury Park, CA 91320

(805) 499-3686 Fax (805) 498-2571


THE AUDIO INTERVIEW

BY JOHNR1d-ATSKI

CIESKYRCORDS

SONIC FANATICS

Serpi belWI

LW. N. Yak114'm Nam,

Of all the prominent audiophile musiclabels putting out CDs and LPs, CheskyRecords i nsidered to be one of the bestat product detailed, live -sounding digitalrecordings. esky strives for sonic realismin music b ombining state-of-the-art digi-tal recor g, single -stereo microphoneplacem and custom -modified tube mi-crophone electronics.

Chesky Records was founded in 1986 as areissue label by David Chesky, a classicallytrained pianist and composer, and his broth-er Norman Chesky, who handlesthe business end of the company.Since then it has released CDs andLPs of such famous jazz musiciansand singers as McCoy Tyner, PhilWoods, Peggy Lee, Kenny Rankin,and Herbie Mann, as well as such not -so -well -known but equally talented artists asJohnny Frigo, Fred Hersch, Laverne Butler,and Ana Caram. Also in the Chesky catalogare cutting -edge vocalists, such as Rebecca

Pidgeon. And the label is just beginning torecord classical artists.

David Chesky, 38, has assembled a staff oflike-minded technicians and music enthusi-asts who admit to being perfectionists whenit comes to making their recordings as live -sounding as possible. Chesky does not havea recording studio, preferring to pick venuesthat are comfortable for the musician andprovide a "live" ambience.

At Chesky Records' New York headquar-ters, I recently sat down with David Chesky,

Miguel Kertsman (the label's mas-tering engineer and classical pro-ducer), Steve Guttenberg (associateproducer), and Bob Katz (record-ing/mastering engineer and techni-cal director for Digital Domain, a

New York City CD mastering house). We dis-cussed the origins of the company, itsrecording approach, the new Gold Series ofreissues, and the label's The Ultimate Dem-onstration Disc, among other topics. J. G.

David, as a musician and composer,what prompted you to start yourown record company?Chesky: After being signed for a fewyears at Columbia Records as a mu-sician, I worked for a while as a stu-dio conductor and orchestrator. I al-ways used to notice that when I wasup there conducting the orchestra, itsounded really good from where I

was standing. Then I would g) intothe sound room, and it would soundterrible. They would have all thesemicrophones there, and it was justsort of crazy.

So from what you heard as a con-ductor, you were less than satisfiedwith the kind of sound that comesfrom multi -microphone recordingtechnique?

Chesky: I don't know anyone whogoes up and sticks his head into a pi-ano. If you put your ear 2 feet from atrumpet player, your ear is going togo through your head. It doesn'tseem natural. When you learn an in-strument, it is really designed tosound good out at 10 to 15 feet.Initially, though, Chesky Recordsbegan purely as a reissue label.


PHOTOS: DAVE KING

THE AUDIO INTERVIEWChesky: I started this label with my brotherin 1986, and we started reissuing classicalrecords.

Guttenberg: Chesky was the first label to doaudiophile reissues with the proper amountof care that it took to reissue those particu-lar records. Mobile Fidelity had done it withpop music, but Chesky was the first compa-ny with classical reissues.

Chesky: We started out by reissuing theReader's Digest recordings, with Earl Wildperforming Rachmaninoffs Piano Concer-to No. 2.

What other labels have you reissued?Chesky: We did a few RCAs. We have theentire line of Reader's Digest.Katz: Reader's Digest is an extremely under-

rated catalog. Excellent recordings.

You produced LPs before CDs. When didChesky start making CDs?Chesky: Before CDs were popular. At thetime, they were like a new toy. People werereally into LPs then. We didn't start makingCDs until 1988. It was very difficult at thattime for small companies to get CDspressed, because pressing plants were soback -ordered.

What about the LP versus CDcontroversy? Do LPs reallysound better, as many audio-philes claim?Guttenberg: Why do we stillmake LPs? Some people stillbelieve that they sound betterthan CDs. I think they sounddifferent, but I still think thatLPs are a small, but impor-tant, part of the market. LPsare not dead.

With regard to the analogmedium, analog tape still hasa lot of things going for it.Analog tape still has higherresolution. And who knows?It may be used at some pointas the primary source formaking CDs.Chesky: When we do a session, we record inboth formats, analog and digital.How do your recordings get that realistic,live "feel"?

Chesky: Basically, by capturing a great mu-sician in a great space. A lot of people use a24 -track board as an art thing, to make ef-fects, and that's their philosophy. We doours "live to two -track," with minimal mik-

=momI With the Blumlein technique, does the set-ing. I'm not saying our method is right andtheirs is wrong, or vice versa. I think we'vebeen sticking to this goal because there is aconsistency to the records that only getsmore refined.

up require extra attention in order to getthe sound right?Chesky: In 1993, we wanted to do the fa-mous Westminster Choir and organ record-ing in a large church. We needed to raise the

WHY DOES CHESKY ECORDsS ILL MAKE LPs?

BE AusE THE,. BELIE E LPsARE DEAD YET

Do you use the Blumlein microphone tech-nique extensively?Chesky: Our basic microphone technique isthe Blumlein technique, but it can be aug-mented sometimes. The Blumlein tech-nique decodes space better than any othermiking technique, in my opinion. You sillget the extremely stable imaging, but in-credibly good depth. You can't match thatdepth of stage with spaced omnis. That'snot possible.Katz: On the recording of Stravinsky's "TheSoldier's Tale," with the Blumlein micro -

microphone about 40 feet in the air. We hadto get a hydraulic crane, and put the mikeon it to make the setup work.Guttenberg: Because the microphone wason the crane, it didn't have any reflectingsurfaces nearby. The closest thing physicallyto the microphone was the loft.How important is the team concept atChesky Records?

Chesky: After a few years of reissuing olderrecordings, I brought Bob Katz on board,and we started doing original recordings.Then Steve came aboard, and later Miguel.

Everyone in this company isaffiliated with music. Wearen't interested in recordingbooms or bangs or sound ef-fects. It's music that shouldbe recorded.Katz: As a recording engi-neer, I have never seen amore detail -oriented team.No other producer has al-lowed me to go to thesegreat lengths to perfect arecording.Chesky: And expect it.

Katz: For example, I recentlymonitored a rehearsal re-cording, and I heard a littlebit of phase cancellationwhere the trumpet was

bouncing off the studio floor into the mi-crophone. It was subtle. The solution Icame up with was to put the trumpet on a3 -inch riser; a tremendous improvement.Many of the performances recorded forChesky are considered to be among the bestfrom those artists. How does getting thesefirst-rate performances come together?Chesky: Let's say we are recording McCoyTyner at 3 p.m. today. We want to capture

top row: steve guttenberg, bob katz, david chesky, and peter cho;bottom row: oregon's ralph towner, glen moore, and paul mcCandless

phone technique you literally hear the in-struments as you would see them: Violin onthe far left of the soundstage; the bass play-er right next to her, just a bit behind; atrumpet player on a riser about 2 feet fur-ther back; the trombone player a little for-ward and to the right of the trumpet player;the bassoon player a touch closer; the clar-inet player a tiny touch closer, and the per-cussion further back.


what he sounded like at that moment intime. The whole philosophy behind this la-bel is to get the producer/engineer as out ofthe way as you can. It's almost like having atransparent piece of glass. The idea is tohave the artist right in front of you in yourhome.

You have not been afraid to experiinentwith using various types of recordingequipment, both old and new. Give ussome examples.Chesky: George Kaye designs a lot of ourrecording equipment, and it is custom-builthere. We use George's "transparent" tubegear. Bob also is a very talented designer,

and we use his gear, his digital converterand associated equipment, during re -mastering.Kertsman: We have a custom -modifiedtube analog machine, an Ampex, thatalso has been modified by George Kaye.Is all this equipment part of what youcall High Resolution Technology, a slo-gan that is prominent on your latestCompact Discs?Katz: About a year or so ago, we discov-ered that a symbiotic combination ofmany things we were doing created a gi-gantic leap in the quality of our record-ings. They were good before-they werevery good-but something happened, aprogression, and we labelled it High Res-olution Technology.

A lot of it is just great attention to de-tail. One ingredient is the converter thatevolved from the very first one I built in1988, an 18 -bit converter, the Mark I.George Kaye, because he is an audiophiledesigner and works with tubes, incorporat-ed that technology into the analog inputsections of the next and succeeding genera-tions-prior to our latest converter. Thelatest, the 20 -bit Mark IV, has brought us upto another level.What recordings have been made using theimproved converter?Chesky: The very first recordings madewith the Mark IV were Rebecca Pidgeon's

VU ( ,.\ 1 A NI I:

album and Fred Hersch Plays. . ., actuallyanything after Catalog No. 115.Katz: Another ingredient in the High Reso-lution Technology, even before the convert-er, is the microphone, which was originallybuilt in 1964. However, the microphone wecurrently use today does not resemble theoriginal one.

Incidentally, the mixer and preamps werealso custom-built, also by George Kaye, aswas the tape recorder. The digital storage isdone on a Nagra D.You mentioned that several products inyour recording and mixing chain are tube -

based. Are there sonic advantages to usingtube equipment?Katz: We are not always anti -solid state.From what I understand, it's easy to make atube circuit that sounds halfway decent; it'svery hard to make a piece of solid-state gearsound decent. We recently experimentedwith a solid-state mike preamplifier, how-ever, that has extreme attention to detail,and we're ve-:y impressed with it.

CHESKY ISN'T INTEREST D

IN RECORDING BANGS oBOOMS; I 'S //t_t THAT

SHOUL D B RECORDED.

Which of your most recent recordingsachieve the sound that you have beenstriving for from the High Resolutionapproach?Kertsman: When recording classical, I

thought it would be a great idea to get newgroups to do new chamber recordings withthis technology, of which Stravinsky's "TheSoldier's Tale" is an example. It was record-ed with a Blumlein microphone techniqueusing ore stereo microphone.Although you use tube gear in the analogstages, what is involved in the digitalstages o` editing?

Kerts man: Once it is in the 20 -bit do-main, we then go into our editing systemwith s Sonic Solutions system for post-prodt_ction.

I believe in minimal editing. But today,there is a school of philosophy that holdsthat a recording should be like a motionpictu-e-that it should be a total, perfectillusion. I'm personally against this. Butpart of our job is to reach a compromisethat fits our philosophy and, at the sametime,satisfies the needs of the market.Your label has a reputation for an al-most fanatical approach to detail in get-ting the sound the way you want it. Howdo the musicians like doing these record-ings "live to two -track," with no over-dubs, and all the tinkering you employ?Chesky: When we do these recordings,it's a little crazy because we record live,and it's a lot of pressure. There's a lot ofpress.tre on the musicians. Sometimesthey can't relate to what we're doing.When we do the recording, however, they

realize -hey have to trust us.Severa' of you have mentioned that yourgoal of perfection has resulted in an arrayof custom-made equipment and tech-niques. Is there anything that hasn't beenmentioned?Chesky: Our microphones, for example,have stock -mounts. Even though there arealready manufactured mike mounts on themarket we have taken this to the extreme.Our idea is to get the microphone to be asstable as we can, so we built our own specialstands. We even shock -mount other piecesof equipment we use.Your résumé of artists includes jazz greatsMcCoy Tyner, Phil Woods, and many oth-ers that are as equally talented and not sowell known. How do you select them?

THE AUDIO INTERVIEWChesky: Sometimes people come to me,and sometimes I find them. We have a lot offamous jazz artists on this label, but we also

have some other interesting artists. I believethere are two kinds of music: Good andbad. I sign who I like. I often go by my ini-tial gut reaction.

'744 1414.4.4eSheocwelaciorke.

37S4,13

Chesky: The other significant thing aboutthat 1991 recording is that it was the lastone we did at RCA Studio A.

Katz: In fact, it was the last recording at allat that studio. Everyone from Frank Sinatrato Liza Minnelli to the Metropolitan Opera

IT's IM ORTANT FOR

PEO LE TO KNow A GOODRECORDING; EAR INGTo LI TEN Is N ART.

Katz: If David likes a barbershop quartet,you might find it on this label.Anyone new that comes to mind?Chesky: There's a new woman on our label,Badi Assad. She's a fantastic new guitarist,very different and interesting. We also havethe first Latin classical chamber music en-semble in North America, Orquesta Nova.Are there any sessions that stand out, anartist that you particularly liked workingwith?Chesky: One that was particularly fun forus was the McCoy Tyner session, McCoyTyner and Joe Henderson onNew York Reunion. That wasan exciting record.Katz: One of my favoriteparts of that is a drum solo byAl Foster. The drum set wasabout 6 feet away from themicrophone, but it has amaz-ing clarity.

What about that cut "AskMe Now," with Joe Hender-son playing that powerfulsax solo for several minutes?Chesky: During the session, Isaid to McCoy, "Maybe weshould do something withjust you and Joe [Hender-son], without a rhythm section." McCoysaid okay, and pulled out this tune. It wastotally improvised and done in one take. Joejust started playing, and McCoy startedcoming in. For the first five or six minutes,it's just the sax solo, and you really get tohear what a tenor sax sounds like.Katz: Mongo Santamaria's recording ofMambo Mongo is historic in several ways.One of them is that we captured an artist atthe top of the Latin idiom.

recorded there. I really miss the ambience ofthat room.Any new recordings coming out fromChesky that really stand out?Chesky: We have a new record out by AnaCaram that is basically a tribute to Jobim [aSouth American composer/arranger/pi-anist who died in 1994]. Another is with thegroup Oregon.With your attention to detail and the kindsof artists you record, it sounds as thoughyou are not making recordings for every-one, but more for the discriminating lis-

tener. Can the average listener appreciatethe effort you put into your recordings? Dothey really notice the improvements?Chesky: Learning to listen is an art. Withthis in mind, we made The UltimateDemonstration Disc. It teaches you how tolisten and learn. It's important for people toeducate themselves, to know what a goodrecording is. If you're listening to com-pressed radio all day, your whole referencepoint is shifting.

Guttenberg: Too many people think of lis-tening as a passive experience. They putmusic on, and it's background music tothem. One of my goals was to get people in-volved as listeners. The Ulimate Demonstra-

tion Disc evolved into a project in whicheach track would have a spoken introduc-tion to cue the listener about exactly whichqualities to listen for.

For example, during the midrange puritytests, there is a track from a Livingston Tay-lor CD that is just him singing with a fingersnapping in the background. I use thattrack a lot, because everyone can snap theirfingers. Here is the sound of a snapping fin-ger. Let's hear it first on this $500 speaker,and then play it on a $1,000 speaker. You tell

me which one sounds more like real finger -snapping.

Miguel, I understand that the Gold Seriesis a group of reissues of original Chesky re-leases using High Resolution Technology.Kertsman: The first Chesky incarnations ofthese recordings were really great docu-ments of some of those pieces. But Daviddecided to go ahead and take it the extrastep in the Gold Series. For the past fiveyears, remastering really has taken a differ-

ent shape. So we decided toremaster a few of thoserecords in this Gold Series,using this deluxe High Reso-lution Technology.

We brought a new stan-dard of remastering in which,as much as possible, a totalrestoration of the master wasaccomplished. As the pro-ducer, I wanted to make surethat the tapes had continu-ous hall tone, that every ana-log edit was smooth and notdeteriorated by the editingtechniques of the day. The re-

sponse to these reissues hasbeen astonishing. They include Rachmani-noff's Piano Concerto No. 2, by Earl Wild,and the Brahms Fourth, with Fritz Reinerconducting.In using state -of -the art recording andediting techniques, are you satisfied thatyour recordings sound as good as they can?Chesky: The day you can't tell the differ-ence between live music and hi-fi is the daywe've done our job. Until then, that remainsour quest. A


"Based on our time with the SDP1,surround sound is the essential next step inhome music reproduction...

Most importantly, the two main chan-nels pass through to the main amplifier,untouched. Execution is half the battle andARC has applied their high standards tothe SDP1. This is reflected not only in thebuild quality, but in the design of thedigital delay circuitry and the circuits thatderive the ambient and center channelinformation. The approach is purist...

We want to buy into the illusion that alive music event is happening in ourhomes... The ARC SDPI helped me getmuch closer to that illusion...

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The SDP1 removes the wall; it restoresthe continuum of sound between theinstruments and the listener. This effectis subtle but profound. It is a revolutionaryimprovement in the credibility of repro-duced music."

By Tom MiillerReprinted fromTHE AUDIO ADVENTUREApril 1995, Vol.2, Issue 4

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As things stand today, the AudioResearch SDP] is clearly focused at thelistener who is unwilling to compromisethe basic sonic fidelity and spatial imagingof the front stage space, who is unwillingto settle for less music than he hears todayfrom his high end stereo system.

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In fact, the SDPI can enhance this frontstage information. The SDPI can help thecenter stage space become deeper, richer,and more realistic, enhancing the believ-ability of the musical event on stage. It caneven improve the apparent fidelity of in-struments playing center stage. The naturalmusical nuances of each instrument can bemore clearly heard when each instrumentis surrounded by its own portion of believ-able stage space.

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"For those of us who have succumbedto the enticements of surround -sound formusic. Audio Research's SDPI is... causefor rejoicing because someone has finallydone music surround right...

Audio Research is, to my knowledge.the first company to offer completely dis-tortionless stereo channels in a surrounddecoder...

I wasn't surprised to find the SDPI thebest -sounding surround decoder I've everheard-or, rather, not heard...I could hearno "sound" from the decoder whatsoever...I guarantee you won't find another sur-round decoder that has any less effect onthe front channels than this one...

If you have any misgivings about gettinginto surround -sound for your music listen-ing. the Audio Research SDPI should dispelthem. It passes the all-important frontchannels completely unscathed, it does asgood a job as any decoder can with thesurround channels..."

By J. Gordon HoltReprinted fromSTEREOPHILEVol.18, No 8, August 1995

HIGH DEFINITIO N®

5740 Green Circle Drive / Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343-4424 / Phone 612-939-0600 / FAX: 612-939-0604CIRCLE NO. 4 ON READER SERVICE CARD

EQUIPMENT PROFILEBASCOM H. KING

BOULDER 102 AMPAND L5 PREAMP

This Boulder amplifier and preampli-fier are available in two different buttechnically identical versions: As the102AE and L5AE, which are blackwith protruding knobs, and as the102M and L5M, reviewed here,

which use a blend of satiny and polishedmetals to unusual and attractive effect.

The L5M balanced preamplifier has pro-visions for two balanced and six unbal-anced inputs (four regular and two tape),all selectable by the "Source" and "Mode"switches. An extremely handy feature Idon't recall seeing in any other balancedpreamp is the facility for selecting pin 2 or 3as the "hot" contact for each balanced inputpair and for the main balanced output pair.This means you can get the correct overallpolarity from different sources and poweramplifiers.

The preamp's front panel sports fourchrome rotary knobs, flush with the panelsurface, that control "Mode" ("Tape 2,""Tape 1," "Source," or "Mute"), "Source,""Balance," and "Volume." A chrome sliderat the far right switches power on and off; alone green LED above this slider lightswhen power is on. On the rear panel are theinput/output connectors, consisting of ninepairs of high -quality RCA connectors, twoXLR input pairs, and one XLR output pair.Additionally, there is an a.c. line fuse, asocket for an IEC a.c. cord, and a slideswitch for selecting operation from 100 to120 V or 220 to 240 V a.c.

The Model 102M, the smaller of the twopower amplifiers in Boulder's M series, israted at 100 watts per channel into 8 -ohmloads. Its front panel, somewhat simplerthan the L5M preamp's, has only a power

switch and an LED. The LED glows greenfor power on and red for turn -on time de-lay, output clipping, and protection modes.On the rear panel are a pair of five -waybinding posts for each channel's speakerconnection, two XLR balanced input con-nectors, an IEC power -cord socket, an a.c.line fuse, and a two -position slide switch for

operation from 100 to 120 V or from 220 to240 V. Strangely, there are no RCA inputconnectors; unbalanced input requiresBoulder's optional ABL adaptor or itsCUBE cable, each of which has an RCA fe-male socket at one end and an XLR maleconnector at the other.

Taking a look inside the L5M preamp, we

find a beautifully made double -sided p.c.motherboard occupying about three-quar-ters of the internal area. A large (for a pre-amplifier) toroidal power transformer ismounted to the chassis, at the right of thep.c. board (as seen from the front). Pluggedinto the motherboard are 10 daughterboardmodules that contain the active circuitryfor the various gain blocks in the signal cir-cuitry. These boards are mechanicallymounted to the motherboard via quarter -inch -square metal blocks at their bottomcorners. Interspersed among the gain mod-ules are discrete parts for module servos,signal -selection relays, and such. The pow-er -supply circuitry occupies about a fifth ofthe motherboard, along the right edge(near the power transformer). The rotary"Mode" and "Source" switches are mount-ed to the motherboard, whereas the balanceand volume controls are not. The balancecontrol is hard -wired to the motherboardwith two twisted groups of triple wire; asmall p.c. sub -board and a short six -con-ductor ribbon cable connect the volumecontrol to the board. A front sub -panel al-lows the metal knobs to be mounted behindthe outer front panel. All of the signal in-put/output connectors are hard -wired withwhat appears to be Teflon -insulated wire tothe motherboard.

Like the L5M preamp, the 102M amp isbeautifully built. A large, double -sided p.c.board takes up the entire internal area, savewhere it is cut out to accommodate the verygenerously sized toroidal power trans-former. This transformer is mounted in thecenter, right behind the front panel. The ac-tual amplifier circuitry is located on thesides of the board, near the heat -sinks. The


main filter capacitors are mounted in a row;

they are next to the output transistors, rightat the point of use. What nice symmetrythis amp has: Six filter capacitors for sixoutput devices per channel. A very hip ideahere is the use of two shiny bus bars, one for

ground and the other for the main output,that go right through the power amplifiercircuitry area, side by side. Turret terminalsswaged to the p.c. board, six per bus, con-nect the various output and ground pointsand tie them to the bus. The central portionof the p.c board is taken up by power -sup-ply regulators, protection circuitry, and thegain -block modules for the input amplifier.All in all, the layout is extremely wellthought out and well executed.

In both the amp and preamp, I noticedliberal usage of ferrite -bead inductors forrejection of r.f. frequencies in the signal andpower -supply circuitry. This constitutesgood design practice, in my opinion; othermanufacturers would do well to look intotheir use. Another notable engineering

touch is the use of sound -deadening mater-ial on the inside of the amp's and preamp'stop covers. These top panels are thus free ofmechanical ringing and possible relatedsonic degradation-that's more than I cansay for a lot of other high -end components.Parts quality in both units is of a high order,

and the build quality is right up there withthe best of them.

Circuit HighlightsThe signal circuitry of the L5M pream-

plifier is in two main functional blocks. Asalluded to earlier, the active signal circuitryis implemented with plug-in gain -blockmodules. The circuitry in these modules isderived from Deane Jensen's original JE-990 operational -amplifier design, improvedon by Boulder and used, as the BA990DC,in a number of its products. (A schematic ofthe original Jensen circuit can be found inmy review of the Boulder 500AE power am-

plifier and Ultimate preamplifier in theFebruary 1990 issue.)

SPECSAMPLIFIERPower Output: Continuous, 100

watts/channel into 8 ohms or 170watts/channel into 4 ohms; peak, 140watts/channel into 8 ohms or 200watts/channel into 4 or 2 ohms.

Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz,+0, -0.04 dB; 3 dB down at 0.015 Hzand 200 kHz.

THD at Rated Power: From 20 Hz to 2kHz, 0.0015%; at 20 kHz, 0.005%.

Peak Current Damping Factor: To 1kHz, 800; to 20 kHz, 100.

Slew Rate: 35 V/pS.Voltage Gain: 20 (26 dB).Common -Mode Rejection: At 60 Hz, 80

dB; at 10 kHz, 70 dB.

Power Requirements: 100 to 120 V or220 to 240 V, 50/60 Hz, 700 watts.

Dimensions: 17 in. W x 41/4 in. H x 161/2

in. D (43.2 cm x 10.8 cm x 41.9 cm).Weight: 33 lbs. (15 kg).Prices: Metal finish, Model 102M,

$3,525; black finish, 102AE, $3,100.

PREAMPLIFIERFrequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz,

+0, -0.05 dB; 3 dB down at 0.02 Hz

and at 289 kHz from balanced input,at 330 kHz from unbalanced input,and at 550 kHz from tape input.

THD: From 20 Hz to 2 kHz, 0.0015%;from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, 0.005%.

Maximum Input Level: 7 V rms.Maximum Output Level: Balanced, 24

V rms; unbalanced, 12 V rms.Maximum Voltage Gain: Balanced,

6.2 or 16.2 dB; unbalanced, 0.2 or10.2 dB.

Input Impedance: Balanced, 400kilohms; unbalanced, 200 kilohms;tape, 20 kilohms.

Output Impedance: Balanced, 100ohms; unbalanced, 50 ohms; tape, 100ohms.

Power Requirements: 100 to 120 V or220 to 240 V, 50/60 Hz, 65 watts.

Dimensions: 17 in. W x 41/4 in. H x 153/4

in. D (43.2 cm x 10.8 cm x 40 cm).

Weight: 19 lbs. (8.6 kg).Prices: Metal finish, Model L5M, $4,200;

black finish, L5AE, $3,750.

Company Address: 7737 Coal CreekDr., Superior, Colo. 80027.


The L5M's front -panel "Source" selectorswitches the unbalanced signals directly,but it switches the balanced inputs via re-lays from the XLR jacks into four of the

BOTH THE L5M

AND THE 102M

BEHAVED EXACTLY

AS SUCH UNITS

ARE SUPPOSED TO.

gain modules. These modules (two perchannel and one per signal phase) are con-figured as noninverting amps with gains of2X, or +6 dB. The balanced outputs of theseinput buffers are routed through a two -po-sition, four -pole relay (two poles per chan-nel) that functions as a polarity -reversalswitch for the balanced inputs.

A subsequent relay selects between thebalanced output from the polarity -reversalswitch and the unbuffered, unbalanced sig-nal from the wiper of the "Source" selector.If the output from this relay is a balanced,differential signal, the module that followsconverts this differential input to a single -ended output. If the signal is unbalanced,one of the inputs to the differential/single-ended converter is grounded. Nominal gainfrom the input to the output of this portionof the line -amplifier circuitry is +6 dB foreither balanced or unbalanced inputs. Theoutput at this point feeds both the tape out-puts and the input to the remainder of thesignal circuitry.

Next in the preamp's signal path is thetape monitor switch, whose output feeds aninterstage attenuator pad having a loss of11.8 dB. In parallel with the shunt elementof the attenuator are the balance controland the input to the volume control. Thebalance control is connected as a rheostat (atwo -terminal variable resistor), while thevolume control is connected as a poten-tiometer (a three -terminal adjustable volt-age divider). The volume control's wiperfeeds another gain -block module; thisblock is configured as a noninverting gainof either 2X (6 dB) or 6.31X (16 dB), de-pending on the setting of the gain switch onthe motherboard. Another gain module, setup as a unity -gain inverter, is driven fromthe output of the noninverting module.


MIN LPB3 2-CMNIlar, us 111114(110

0 -I

-20

-30

- 40

- 50

- 60

rr-r

- LEFTRIGHT

111

-50

111

-601.111!!

10 100 1k 10k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 1-Frequency responsevs. volume setting,L5M preamp.

Fig. 2-Square-wave response,L5M preamp, for100 kHz from CDinput to unbalancedmain output (top),for 100 kHz from

BHX .113 ROAN, va netusure. MEW.

0.1

z, 0.01

0.001

0.00010.1

200k

tape input tounbalanced mainoutput (middle),and for 20 Hz froma line input tounbalanced mainoutput (bottom).

OUTPUT -V

Fig. 3-THD + N vs. outputlevel, L5M preamp.

1.111,4 I.V181.1dBrl ve PALQI.1

0

-2

-3

-410 100 1k 10k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 4-Frequency responseof 102M amp withopen -circuit, 4 -ohm, and8 -ohm loads; see text.

10 20

200k

This latter circuit provides the secondphase for the balanced output or an in-verted phase for the unbalanced output.A two -position, four -pole relay (twopoles per channel) is used for reversingoutput polarity. Both of the gain mod-ules are serviced by op -amp servo cir-cuits, to keep d.c. offset close to zero.The normal position of the output -po-larity switch feeds pin 3 of the outputXLR connector, and the unbalancedRCA connector, from the noninvertingamplifier. From an audio purist's pointof view, the unbalanced output has thesimplest signal path with normal outputpolarity. Further, if you use the tape in-puts, there is only one module, the non -inverting output amplifier, in the totalsignal path. The balanced output's neg-ative phase goes through an extra gainmodule (the unity -gain inverter); andso does the unbalanced output, whenthe output -polarity switch is in its re-verse position.

The L5M preamplifier's power trans-former looks to be generously rated. (Iwould estimate it as at least a 100 -VAunit.) Secondary output of this trans-former is rectified by a full -wave bridgeinto ±37.5 V. Main filter capacitors are2,200-0, 50-V units. Discrete activeregulators provide ±24 V for the gain -block modules. Local decoupling ofevery gain module is implemented byseries ferrite -bead inductors and a pairof 220-µF, 63-V bypass capacitorsshunted by a pair of 0.22-0 film units.Darlington emitter followers, with theirbase inputs fed from Zener-diode shuntregulators, provide ±15 V for the servoop -amps.

All of the signal -switching relays are24-V units, and most are wired in seriesfor the functions that require two polesper channel. The front -panel rotaryswitches route d.c. voltages that, in turn,control transistors which drive the relaycoils. All of the relay circuitry appears tobe run off the regulated ±24 V supplies.

The 102M power amplifier, like itsBoulder predecessors, is based on a dualgain -block system. Its input amplifier is(what else?) another of the BA990DCdiscrete op -amp modules, configured asa differential -to -single -ended converterwith a gain of 16 dB. The output ampli-

a ao aeaa60 66 64.68

I LIKED THIS

BOULDER PAIR AND

WOULD RECOMMEND

GIVING THEM

AN AUDITION.

fier is a similar circuit, scaled up to operateat output -stage voltages and currents. Gainin the output amplifier is 10 dB, for anoverall gain of 26 dB. Three pairs of com-plementary bipolar output transistors areutilized in the output stage. A servo circuitcorrects output d.c. offset to low values andmaintains the overall amplifier's low -fre-quency response down to about 0.015 Hz.The 102M is not actually d.c. coupled, inthe strict sense of the word, but I certainlywouldn't quibble with a cutoff frequency of0.015 Hz!

Measurements

Table I shows the L5M preamp's gain,and Table II shows its IHF sensitivity, forvarious conditions. Unless noted, all subse-quent tests of the preamp were done withthe output gain set to high.

Frequency response is shown in Fig. 1 forvolume -control settings (based on front -panel markings) of 0, -5, -10, -20, -30, -40,-50, and -60 dB. These curves are for un-balanced input and output and instrumentloading. (Using IHF loading didn't changethe curves' shapes noticeably, and the re-sults for balanced in and out were virtuallythe same.) Bandwidth is in excess of 200kHz. Note that the high -frequency responsedoesn't change with volume setting, as it sooften does with other preamplifiers. How-ever, the figure shows that correspondencebetween the attenuation and the panelmarkings is increasingly in error as attenua-tion increases. With the signal applied tothe tape inputs, bandwidth was wider thanis seen in Fig. 1, being down about -0.6 dBat 200 kHz. (In Fig. 1, the response is downabout -1.4 dB at 200 kHz.) Volume -controltracking between channels, down to -60dB, was within 0.8 dB and in turn opened


YOU COULD SPEND YOUR ENTIRE LIFE WORKINGTO ACHIEVE PERFECT BALANCE AND HARMONY.

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Fig. 5-Amp square -waveresponse for 10 kHz into8 ohms (top), 10 kHz into8 ohms paralleled by 2 pF(middle), and 40 Hz into8 ohms (bottom).

ae

0

N IAN NO . lammed mum

r- Trio N

0.1

0.010

0.001

0.0001

8 OHMS

01 10

OUTPUT - WATTS

Fig. 6-Amp THD + Nat 1 kHz, and SMPTE-IMdistortion, vs. power.

NO UM M.1100 1.61.141, INLIN11,

0.

250 WATTS

20 100 1k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 7-Amp THD + Nvs. frequency with 4 -ohmloads.

In LABS t vs

0.0011

0

0cr0

0.00001

0.0001

tier

4k 8k 12k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 8-Amp distortionresidue for 1 -kHz, 10 -wattsignal into 4 ohms.

_

4 OHMS

00 500

10k 20k

16k 20k

up to an error of about 4.3 dB at -75dB of attenuation.

Square -wave responses of the pre -amp are shown in Fig. 2 for unbalancedinput and output. The top trace is for afrequency of 100 kHz at an output levelof 10 V, peak to peak, with signal ap-plied to the CD input. The rise -timebecomes faster when using a tape input(middle trace). In the bottom trace, us-ing one of the line inputs but at a fre-quency of 20 Hz, no tilt or pulse droopis in evidence; this results from the pre -

amp's very low servo cutoff frequency.Rise- and fall -times are 1.1 [LS via theCD input; when the tape inputs wereused, rise- and fall -times quickened to0.6 µS. (The IHF load made a slight ob-servable change in the waveshape butdidn't change the rise- and fall -times.)

Figure 3 shows the L5M's THD + Nas a function of output level, for unbal-anced input and output with instru-ment loading at several frequenciesfrom 20 Hz to 20 kHz, and for 20 kHzwith a 600 -ohm load. Distortion riseswith frequency in the region from 3 to20 V, and is highest for 20 kHz with600 -ohm loading. (The IHF load gaveessentially the same results as for theinstrument load.) Below 2 V output,THD + N is dominated by noise, as isalways the case when THD + N is ex-pressed as a percentage of output level.This causes the familiar rise in thecurves as the level goes down. If THD +

N were plotted as a percentage of fullscale, the readings below about 2 V outwould be a horizontal line at 0.001% to0.002%. So, for any sane preamp out-put level of, say, up to 2 V, distortion atany frequency is less than 0.002%-even with a 600 -ohm load. For bal-anced in and out, the output attainableat clipping is twice as high, about 30 V,and the distortion (in the region whereit is increasing) is lower for the sameoutput voltage. The L5M even drives a600 -ohm load, which is really 300ohms per signal phase, to 25 V beforeclipping. Pretty impressive output ca-pability, I would say. This unit shoulddrive any real load with impunity. In-put acceptance for the L5M is about 7V rms for either the balanced or unbal-anced main inputs. This is uncomfort-

ably close to the high output level of someD/A converters but should be okay as longas the converter's full-scale output is lessthan 7 V rms.

I measured crosstalk versus frequency forboth unbalanced and balanced input andoutput at the main outputs (not shown).Results were similar for both modes and di-

rection. The crosstalk level was about -90dB at 1 kHz, and the crosstalk curve rose at6 dB per octave over the audio frequencyrange, reaching about -64 dB at 20 kHz.

The L5M's output noise is shown inTable III for the low- and high -gain modesand a variety of measurement bandwidths.The noise values are outstandingly low.Table IV shows S/N ratios.

Input resistance of the preamp measured372 and 233 kilohms for balanced and un-balanced inputs, respectively. Tape -inputresistance was about 10 kilohms. Outputresistance was 100 ohms for the balancedoutputs and 50 ohms for the unbalancedoutputs.

Common -mode rejection ratio (CMRR)for the preamp's balanced inputs was foundto be better than 80 dB from 10 Hz to 4 kHzfor the left channel and from 10 Hz to 12kHz for the right. At 20 kHz, CMRR was 68and 77 dB for the left and right channels,respectively.

The L5M drew 300 mA from the a.c. line

when in operation. That's substantial, for apreamplifier.

In looking at the 102M power amplifier,voltage gain was virtually the same, 26.1 dB,

for unbalanced and balanced inputs. Thegains of the two channels were also virtual-

ly identical.The amplifier's frequency responses-

with open -circuit, 8-, and 4 -ohm loading-are shown in Fig. 4. As can be seen, thecurves essentially overlie each other in theaudio band but diverge a bit above it due tothe effect of the output's series inductor.Square -wave responses are shown in Fig. 5.

The top trace is for 10 kHz into 8 ohms, andthe middle trace is for 10 kHz into 8 ohmsparalleled by 2µF; these results are excel-lent. So are those in the bottom trace, for a40 -Hz signal, where no tilt or pulse droop is

to be seen. (An interesting aside on the ac-tion of the protection circuitry: When I re-duced the frequency of the function gener-ator to 1 Hz and below in order to inducelow -frequency pulse droop, I didn't get


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Table I -Gain, Boulder L5M preamplifier, with unbalanced in-put and output.

High -Gain ModeBalanced In

Gain, dBLEFT RIGHT

Instr. IHF Instr. IHFLoad Load Load Load

To Unbalanced Main Out 9.89 9.84 9.83 9.79

To Balanced Main Out 15.91 15.82 15.85 15.76

To Tape Out 5.96 5.88 5.97 5.88

Unbalanced InTo Unbalanced Main Out 9.86 9.82 9.80 9.76To Balanced Main Out 15.88 15.80 15.82 15.74

To Tape Out 5.99 5.90 5.99 5.92

Tape InTo Unbalanced Main Out 3.97 3.92 3.91 3.87

To Balanced Main Out 9.97 9.89 9.92 9.83

Low -Gain Mode

Balanced In

To Unbalanced Main Out -0.17 -0.21 -0.22 -0.26To Balanced Main Out 5.85 5.76 5.81 5.72

To Tape Out 5.97 5.88 5.97 5.88Unbalanced In

To Unbalanced Main Out -0.13 -0.18 -0.18 -0.23To Balanced Main Out 5.89 5.81 5.84 5.75

To Tape Out 5.97 5.88 5.97 5.88Tape In

To Unbalanced Main Out -6.03 -6.09 -6.09 -6.12To Balanced Main Out -0.02 -0.11 -0.07 -0.16

Table II -Sensitivity, Boulder L5M preamplifier.Sensitivity

LEFT RIGHTHigh -Gain ModeBalanced In

To Unbalanced Main OutTo Balanced Main OutTo Tape Out

Unbalanced InTo Unbalanced Main OutTo Balanced Main OutTo Tape Out

Tape InTo Unbalanced Main OutTo Balanced Main Out

Low -Gain ModeBalanced In

To Unbalanced Main OutTo Balanced Main OutTo Tape Out

Unbalanced InTo Unbalanced Main OutTo Balanced Main OutTo Tape Out

Tape InTo Unbalanced Main OutTo Balanced Main Out

161.0 mV80.9 mV

254.1 mV

161.5 mV81.1 mV

253.5 mV

318.3 mV160.1 mV

512.3 mV257.5 mV254.1 mV

510.2 mV256.3 µV253.9 mV

1,008.1 mV506.1 mV

162.1 mV81.4 mV

254.1 mV

162.5 mV81.7 mV

253.5 mV

320.3 mV161.3 mV

515.4 mV258.9 mV254.1 mV

513.3 mV257.9 µV253.9 mV

1,012.1 mV509.2 mV

that. What I did getwas a reduction ofthe square wave'sduty cycle that de-pended on the outputamplitude and fre-quency.) Both rise -and fall -times -at anoutput level of 10 V,peak to peak, into 8ohms -were 1.6 µS.

Figure 6 shows the102M's SMPTE-IMdistortion, and 1 -kHzTHD + N, for 8- and4 -ohm loading. Datais for the right chan-nel, as that side hadslightly more distor-tion than the left. Fig-ure 7 shows THD +N as a function offrequency at severalpower levels into 4 -ohm loads; the dis-tortion is very low.The spectral contentof the harmonic -dis-tortion residue for a1 -kHz, 10 -watt signal

into a 4 -ohm load isdepicted in Fig. 8.(These are very lownumbers indeed:0.0001% is one partper million!)

For the amplifier'sbalanced inputs,CMRR below 1 kHzwas better with bothchannels driven thanwhen only one chan-nel was in use. In ei-ther case, CMRR wasbetter than 80 dB upto 2 or 3 kHz, and de-creased to about 65dB at 20 kHz.

The 102M's damp-ing factor was thehighest of any ampli-fier that I have had inmy lab. Damping fac-tor for either channelwas in excess of 4,000

from 10 to 100 Hz,

decreased to about 1,600 at 1 kHz, and end-

ed up at about 110 at 20 kHz! If dampingfactor has any relation to bass quality, thisamp ought to have killer bass.

Crosstalk between the amplifier's chan-nels had the usual rising, 6-dB/octave char-acteristic in the right -to -left direction. Itwas about -106 dB at 1 kHz and ended upat about -80 dB at 20 kHz for both bal-anced and unbalanced inputs. The crosstalkin the left -to -right direction was similar upto 1 kHz but dipped some 10 dB below theright -to -left crosstalk above 2 or 3 kHz.

The 102M's output noise, as a functionof measurement bandwidth and for unbal-anced input termination, is listed in Table V.

The results for balanced inputs terminatedin 600 ohms per phase were too similar towarrant inclusion. Measured results arevery good; it is unlikely that any hum orhiss will be heard coming out of this amp.

Dynamic power attainable with 8 -ohmloads was 175 watts, with no droop duringthe tone -burst period. This translates to adynamic headroom of 2.4 dB. For 4 -ohmloading, there was some droop in powerduring the burst period, but not much. Thepower level attainable was 338 watts at thebeginning of the burst and 325 watts at itsend. Dynamic headroom, using the value atthe beginning of the burst, was 3.0 dB. Notmuch burst power was available into a 1 -ohm load, due to the action of the protec-tion circuitry; I was able to get about 7 am-peres, peak, before protection -circuitartifacts started to show up. Clipping powerwas 155 watts for an 8 -ohm load and 270watts for a 4 -ohm load, giving clippingheadroom figures of 1.9 and 2.0 dB, respec-tively. Obviously, the 102M has an unusualreserve of power in relation to its rating.

The amp's input resistance measured 5.6kilohms, unbalanced. It was 10.6 kilohms inbalanced mode.

The d.c. offset, with the amp idling andwarmed up, was about 1 mV. After the102M got quite hot in testing, offset did in-crease to about 4 or 5 mV but quickly camedown as it cooled off. The a.c. line draw wasabout 800 mA when the amp was firstturned on and after it warmed up, indicat-ing excellent output -stage thermal stability.

Both the amp and the preamp behavedreally well in the lab, exactly as such unitsare supposed to. I can't say the same forevery piece of gear I test.


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Use and Listening Tests

Phono equipment in my system duringthe review period included an Oracleturntable fitted with a Well Tempered Armand a Stanton 981HZS moving -magnet

pickup, feeding my own tube phono pre-amp/passive signal selector/attenuator or aQuicksilver Audio preamp. On the digitalside, Counterpoint DA -11A and PS AudioLambda CD transports drove a Sonic Fron-

tiers SFD-2 and other(experimental) D/Aconverters. Other sig-nal sources includeda Nakamichi ST -7FM tuner and 250cassette recorder, anda Technics open -reelrecorder. Preampli-fiers used in mysystem for compari-son purposes includ-ed a model fromQuicksilver Audio,Forssell tube line dri-vers, a First Sound IIpassive unit, and myown passive signal se-

lector/attenuator.Other power ampli-fiers in my systemwere a Crown MacroReference, Quicksil-ver M135s, and a pairof VAC PAI60s. Theloudspeakers wereB & W 801 Matrix Se-

ries 3s, augmentedfrom 20 to 50 Hz bymy two subwoofersystems, each using aJBL 1400Nd driver ina 5 -cubic -foot portedenclosure.

When I first re-ceived the Boulderunits, I hooked themup and used them asa pair, with balancedinterconnect cablesbetween preamp andamp. My impressionduring this initialperiod was thatthe overall soundwas smooth and lis-tenable: It was quitegood overall, but itdid not quite havethe resolution andrealism of my refer -

Table III -Output noise levels, Boulder L5M preamplifier, withunbalanced input and output, for full clockwise setting of vol-ume control (CW), minimum setting (CCW), and worst -casesetting (WC). The worst case typically occurred at a setting of-6 dB.

High -Gain Mode

Output Noise, µVLEFT RIGHT

CCW WC CW CCW WC CW

Wideband 16.0 40.5 33.3 15.8 40.7 33.022 Hz to 22 kHz 4.0 8.8 7.8 2.6 9.3 8.1

400 Hz to 22 kHz 3.0 8.6 7.6 2.6 9.0 7.7A -Weighted 2.5 6.8 6.1 1.9 7.2 6.1

Low -Gain ModeWideband 10.2 15.4 13.8 10.0 15.6 13.8

22 Hz to 22 kHz 2.1 3.1 2.8 2.1 3.8 3.4400 Hz to 22 kHz 1.7 3.0 2.7 1.7 3.2 2.9A -Weighted 1.4 2.4 2.1 1.4 2.6 2.4

Table IV -A -weighted IHF S/N ratios, L5M preamplifier, for500 mV in and out at 1 kHz. tWith low gain, unbalanced mainout from tape input was below 500 mV, too low for S/N mea-surements.

High -Gain Mode

S/N, dBLEFT RIGHT

Unbalanced In and Out 98.8 98.3Tape In, Unbalanced Main Out 97.6 97.1Balanced In and Out 95.5 95.2Balanced In, Unbalanced Out 98.9 98.2Low -Gain Mode

Unbalanced In and Out 107.4 106.4Tape In, Unbalanced Main Out t t

Balanced In and Out 101.1 100.5Balanced In, Unbalanced Out 106.8 105.8

Table V -Output noise levels, Boulder 102M power amplifier,using unbalanced input. The IHF S/N was 96.5 dB for the leftchannel and 96.7 dB for the right.

Output Noise, µVBandwidth LEFT RIGHTWideband 206.7 205.522 Hz to 22 kHz 55.4 55.5400 Hz to 22 kHz 54.2 54.1A -Weighted 42.4 41.5

ence equipment. Subsequently, I used theBoulder amp and preamp separately, to de-termine their individual characteristics.From what I heard, each piece put somesmall but noticeable signature upon thesound. The 102M power amplifier seemedto soften the sound slightly, in a way thatseems partially responsible for the slightloss of resolution and realism. This wasquite apparent when compared to theCrown Macro Reference, for instance. Inthe area of bass definition, tightness, andwhack, the 102M, within its power rating,was very much like the Crown, in thatbass was beautifully tight and defined.This does suggest that a high dampingfactor has something to do with an amp'sability to control a speaker's bass output,though I don't think this is the only factorinvolved.

All in all, I thought the 102M soundedvery good. I really got some wonderful vinyl

reproduction when driving the amp direct-ly from my tube phono preamp/passivesignal selector/attenuator. Using the L5Mas a system preamp, I felt that the soundlost some of its resolution, space, and airin a way that did little to soften the sound.It seems logical, then, that both pieces ofgear used together would produce a slightoverall softening and loss of resolution.What I have described as a slight loss ofresolution is not all bad, however. It tendsto make harsh -sounding sources moremusical and less irritating. What we need isa control knob somewhere on our equip-ment that has "max resolution" as its clock-wise limit and "mellow and nice" whentwisted all the way to the left. Treble con-trols, anyone?

The Boulder components worked flaw-lessly, with one exception: When the ampli-

fier came out of turn -on delay, and when itwas turned off, I could hear a slight tick inone speaker or the other, apparently at ran-dom. Also, I found the knobs on the L5Mpreamp and the power switches on both theamp and preamp just plain awkward to use;I would prefer the more conventionalknobs of the L5AE.

In conclusion, despite my fairly smallnitpicks, I liked using this Boulder pair andlistening with them. I would recommendgiving them an audition, especially if youlike their appearance and you fancy well-built audio equipment. A


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BOSTON ACOUSTICSCR7 SPEAKER

The last Boston Acoustics system I re-viewed in Audio was the large tower -

style, three-way T1030 speaker (Jan-uary 1991), which performed verywell in my tests. Since then, the com-pany has grown considerably and

expanded its engineering staff. It is stillheaded by Andy Petite, the former Adventspeaker designer who founded BostonAcoustics with Frank Reed in 1979. Howev-er, Petite changed his surname last year toKotsatos, his original family name, to honorhis Greek roots. (Andy's father worked as abusboy in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel'srestaurant after immigrating to the UnitedStates. He was called "le petit" by theFrench waiters, because he was the youngestand smallest. He took the name Petite as asurname, and passed it on to Andy.)

Boston Acoustics now has more than 34speaker systems in its line, covering manydifferent product areas,general -usage, video,woofer, auto sound,indoor/outdoor, andin -wall products. Thehigh -end Lynnfieldline has been well ac-cepted by the market-place and includesproducts in the pricerange of $1,800 to$5,000 per pair.

The CR7 is second from the bottom in anew line of four Compact Reference Seriesspeakers, ranging in price from $200 to$420 per pair. All are video -shielded and in-

corporate injection -molded ABS front and

including high -end,

satellite -with -sub -

rear panels. The two smaller systems can beeasily wall -mounted, thanks to an integralkeyhole molded on the rear panel and anoptional swivel -mount bracket.

Although clearly aimed at the home the-ater market, all four models in the CompactReference Series can be used in convention-al two -channel stereo setups or as auxiliaryspeakers in multiroom music systems. Anadditional companion center -channelspeaker is available, as is a larger center-

channel model and a diffuse -field surroundsystem.

The CR7 is a small, two-way ventedspeaker using a 61/2 -inch, mica -filledpolypropylene cone woofer with butyl rub-ber surround and a 3/4 -inch polycarbonateplastic -dome tweeter. The front and rearpanels of the CR7 have a rear -ribbed design

that is said to offer the stiffness of an inch-

thick baffle. Use of thin molded panels cre-ates a cabinet with a greater internal vol-ume for a given external dimension, whichenhances bass output. Molded into the rearpanel is a venting port that is flared to min-imize port turbulence. The molded frontpanel is designed to minimize diffractionand to improve the speaker's looks. Thefront panel and the design of the tweeterframe allow the CR7's tweeter to be quiteclose to the woofer, which improves vertical

coverage and is said to enhance imaging ca-pabilities. The side walls of the cabinet arebraced with a U-shaped, 3/4 -inch medium-

density fiberboard shelf that increases thestiffness of the assembly by interlocking thefront and rear panels with the sides of thecabinet.

The speaker is available in either black-

ash or cherry vinyl, with all four sides fin-ished. The front is covered by a formed

metal grille that is

press -fitted into themolded front panel.The CR7s are intend-ed to be used withtheir grilles attached;I found the grilles dif-ficult to remove. Thefront panel's logobutton can be rotated

for sideways or upside-down placement.

THE CR7s ARE

A FINE CHOICE

FOR A BUDGET

HIGH-PERFORMANCE

STEREO SYSTEM.

z

The crossover components are hot -gluedto a 3 x 4 -inch hardboard panel that isscrewed to the rear panel, behind thewoofer. Electrically, the woofer is driven by 4


a first -order, low-pass filter composed of aseries inductor; the tweeter is connected toa second -order, high-pass filter composedof a series resistor -capacitor combination,with an inductor to ground in parallel withthe tweeter. However, the very small -valueseries inductor (75 pH) connected to thewoofer does not provide any low-pass ac-tion; instead, it equalizes the woofer's out-put in the upper part of its range. Thewoofer itself, with a four -layer voice -coil,provides most of the acoustic roll -off of thecrossover. Even though the woofer's induc-tor is quite small, the designers felt that theCR7 sounded better with it left in.

The crossover contains five components:Two resistors (connected in series to form asingle equivalent resistor), two inductors,and one capacitor. Although both inductorsare iron -core, the woofer inductor uses alaminated -rod core, said to minimize mag-netic saturation problems. A high -qualityMylar-film capacitor is used in the tweetercircuit. Connections between crossover andspeakers use 18 -gauge stranded wire, withclips for attachment. Both drivers are con-nected in positive polarity. A single pair ofgold-plated, five -way binding posts, onstandard 3/4 -inch centers for banana plugs,

SPECSType: Two-way, bookshelf, vented -

box system.

Drivers: 61 -in. cone woofer and3A -in. plastic -dome tweeter.

Frequency Response: 52 Hz to 20kHz, ±3 dB.

Sensitivity: 88 dB at 1 meter, 2.83 Vrms applied.

Crossover Frequency: 4.0 kHz.Impedance: 8 ohms, nominal.Recommended Amplifier Power: 15

to 100 watts per channel.Dimensions: 121/4 in. H x 71/2 in. W x

91/2 in. D (31.1 cm x 19.1 cm x 23.2

cm).Weight: 11 lbs. (5 kg) each.Price: $130 each or $260 per pair;

available in cherry or black -ashvinyl; optional CRB swivel -mountbracket, $19.95 per pair.

Company Address: 70 Broadway,Lynnfield, Mass. 01940.


provide input connection and handle largecable, up to 0.2 inch in diameter (AWG No.6 or smaller).

MeasurementsThe on -axis, anechoic frequency re-

sponse of the CR7 is shown in Fig. 1. Mea-surements were taken 2 meters from thefront of the cabinet, on the box's axis. Avoltage of 5.66 V rms (equivalent to 2 wattsinto the rated 8 -ohm impedance) was ap-plied and then referred back to 1 meter with

an input of 2.83 V rms (equivalent to 1 wattinto the 8 -ohm impedance). A combinationof ground -plane and elevated free -fieldmeasurements was used to derive the curve,which was then averaged with a 10th -octave

smoothing filter.With the grille on, the smoothed re-

sponse fits a 7 -dB window (+2, -5 dB, refer-

enced to 1 kHz) from 62 Hz to 20 kHz. Ma-jor features of the response include a broadrise centered at 700 Hz, a narrow dip at 7.8kHz, and bass that rolls off at 60 Hz, some-what high if compared to larger speakers.Considering the CR7's size, the low -fre-quency extension is quite reasonable andactually goes somewhat lower than othermodels of the same size. With the grille off,the response (shown unsmoothed) is

slightly flatter above 6 kHz, and fits a tighter

window of 5.5 dB from 70 Hz to 20 kHz.Averaged from 250 Hz to 4 kHz (giving

equal emphasis to each third -octave fre-quency band), the CR7's sensitivity mea-sured 87.2 dB, essentially equal to the man-ufacturer's 88 -dB rating. If you exclude therange of 2 to 3 kHz, the right and left speak-ers matched within a close ±0.8 dB from100 Hz to 20 kHz. In the excluded range,one side was about 3 dB below the oppositeside in a third -octave -wide band. (The re-sponse in Fig. 1 is of the better system).Measurements on a second set of CR7s I re-ceived (due to tweeter damage to one sys-tem in my tests of peak power) revealed amuch closer right/left match of ±0.5 dBfrom 100 Hz to 20 kHz. The response of thesecond set of speakers was also slightly flat-ter, due to an increase in output between 3and 7 kHz that averaged about 1.5 dB.

Figure 2 shows the phase and group -de-lay responses of the CR7, referenced to thetweeter's arrival time. Also shown is wave-form phase, which directly indicateswhether waveshapes will be preserved in

specific frequency ranges. The phase curveis well behaved and decreases by 155° be-tween 1 and 10 kHz. When averaged from 1

to 4 kHz, the group -delay curve indicates arelatively low offset of about 0.15 mS, withthe woofer delayed behind the tweeter. Thewaveform phase indicates that waveshapeswill most likely not be strongly preserved inany frequency range. However, between 200

Hz and 4 kHz (the latter is the crossoverfrequency), a very important range musi-cally, the waveform phase stays withinabout ±55°. This means that waveshapeswon't be greatly distorted and will be in po-larity with respect to the system's input.Above 7 kHz, the waveform phase stayssomewhat close to ±180°, indicating thatwaveshapes in this range will be inverted.Note that this occurs even though thetweeter is wired in polarity with the woofer.The inversion is due to the nonlinear phaseof the crossover and the drivers' individualresponses.

Figure 3 illustrates the CR7's energy/timeresponse. The main arrival, at 3 mS, is verycompact and is followed by a couple of de-layed responses that are down 23 dB ormore. In general, the curve is well behaved.

Figure 4 shows horizontal off -axis re-sponses of the CR7; the bold curve at therear of the graph is on -axis response. Thecurve -to -curve uniformity of the set indi-cates quite even horizontal coverage. Onlymoderate narrowing is evident in the rangeabove 10 kHz.

The vertical off -axis responses are shown

in Fig. 5; the bold curve in the middle of thegraph is on -axis response (center of box).

he optionalswivelbrackets forwall mountingare shownattached tothe back panel.


100

90

co

'A

80

70

6020 100 1k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 1-One-meter, on -axisfrequency response.

10k 20k

.180WAVEFORM PHASE TEF

.5

co .1.0

1", -leo .0.5GROUP DELAY

-360 0

rx -540 PHASE-0.5

-720 1.0100 1k 10k 20k20

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 2-On-axis phaseresponse, group delay, andwaveform phase.

cox3

90

80

70

60

TEF

5004 6 8 10

TIME - mS

200 2k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 4-Horizontal off -axisfrequency responses.

200 2k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 5-Vertical off -axisfrequency responses.

Fig. 3-Energy/timeresponse.

0 FRONT95 OFF

90 SIDE AXIS--105 DEGREES

180 REAR

20k

- -90 BELOW

- -45 OFF0 FRONT Axis_

+45 DEGREES

+90 ABOVE20k

The curves are quite uniform ex-cept in the range from 3 to 8 kHz,which includes the crossover. Here,

the response is much narrower.Within -10° to +5° of the axis, theresponse is fairly uniform and flat.A dip develops in the stated rangeabove and below these angles. Thepolar pattern of the systemthrough the crossover range skewsslightly downward.

In Fig. 6, impedance versus fre-quency, you can see the two peaksand a dip, characteristic of thevented box, below 200 Hz. The dipto 4.2 ohms (minimum imped-ance) at 42 Hz indicates the ap-proximate location of the ventedbox's tuning. The maximum im-pedance of 21.5 ohms is reached at80 Hz, the vented system's upperimpedance peak. An intermediatepeak of 14.5 ohms is reached at 2kHz, about an octave belowcrossover.

The CR7's max/min impedance -variation ratio is a moderate 5.1 to1 (21.5 divided by 4.2). Cable series

resistance should be limited to amaximum of about 0.060 ohm tokeep cable -drop effects from caus-ing response peaks and dips greaterthan 0.1 dB. For a typical run ofabout 10 feet, I recommend thatyou use 14 -gauge (or larger diame-ter), low -inductance cable.

In Fig. 7, the complex imped-ance is plotted over the range of 5Hz to 30 kHz. Well behaved, thecurve is dominated by two loopsthat correspond to the two imped-ance peaks of the vented box at 20and 80 Hz. (The slightly flattenedsides of the loops are due to themeasuring setup, not the speaker.)

When the system was swept witha high-level sine wave, I noted nomajor box resonances, but did no-tice a moderate resonance of thegrille and the sides of the box from280 to 320 Hz. I was impressedwith the clean output of the CR7 inthe bass range above 35 Hz. Portwind noise and chuffing soundswere fairly low. Significant out-ward dynamic offset of the cone

occurred in the range of 20 to 30 Hz and 80to 120 Hz. The vented box works quite welland reduces cone excursion at box reso-nance by a significant three -fourths, com-paring port open to closed. A solid reduc-tion in excursion was noted at 45 Hz, thevented box resonance.

Figure 8 shows the 3 -meter room re-sponse, with both raw and sixth -octavesmoothed data. The CR7 was upright in theright-hand stereo position and aimed later-ally at the test microphone, which was at earheight (36 inches) at the listener's positionon the sofa. I used a 30 -inch speaker stand,which placed the middle of the CR7 36inches from the floor. The system was dri-ven with a swept sine -wave signal of 2.83 Vrms (corresponding to 1 watt into the rated8 -ohm impedance). The direct sound andthe first 13 mS of the room's reverberationare included.

If you exclude a roll -off above 19 kHz,the averaged curve in Fig. 8 is well behavedbut a bit choppy, and fits a fairly tight 9 -dBwindow. Although no major peaks or dipsare evident, the curve has an undulatingup/down character; there are 11 peak -and -dip combinations with amplitude ratiosgreater than 1.5 dB. With smoothing of thepeaks and dips, the averaged curve is fairlyflat, sloping downward above 1 kHz, anddropping some 5 dB between 1 and 20 kHz.

Figure 9 shows the Ei (41.2 -Hz) harmon-ic distortion with input power rangingfrom 0.05 to 50 watts (20 V rms into the 8 -ohm load). The second harmonic reachesonly a low 7.6%, while the third rises to16.4%. The fourth harmonic reaches 2.9%,with higher harmonics below 1.4%. Inter-estingly, the second harmonic attains ahigher intermediate level of 10% at about10 watts, before finally falling to a level of7.6%. The distortion at tone E, is lowerthan it might have been because its fre-quency is near the vented box's resonancefrequency (45 Hz). At 1 meter in free spacewith a 50 -watt input, the CR7 generates ausable 93 dB SPL at 41.2 Hz, the frequencyof the lowest note on a bass.

The A2 (110 -Hz) harmonic distortion isshown in Fig. 10. The second harmonic isthe highest, rising to a significant 15.5% atfull power. The third and fourth harmonicsreach moderate levels, from 5% to 6%, withthe fifth a lower 3.5%. The woofer exhibitssignificant outward movement at power


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100

10

TEF

19 7 OHMS 1 5 OHMS

10 .1 71111.11.

1. U,KIS .17 OHMS

10 100 1k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 6-Impedance.

'13

70a.

60

6 12 18

RESISTANCE - OHMS

24

10k 20k

Fig. 7-Compleximpedance.

5020 100 1k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 8-Three-meter roomresponse.

100

1

O

0 1.050

5.0

POWER -WATTS

3rd,16.4%

2nd, 7.8% /

5 V

0.05

50

TEF

10k 20k

MAXIMUM POWER. 50 WATTS

401, 2.9%

5th, 1A%/7 6111, 0.8%

100 150

FREQUENCY -Hz

Fig. 9-Harmonic distortionfor E, (41.2 Hz).

200

levels above 10 watts, due to dynamic offsetat the test frequency. This causes the sec-ond -harmonic distortion to increase dra-matically above 10 watts. Figure 11 showsthe A4 (440 -Hz) harmonic distortion. Theonly significant distortion here is a moder-ate second (at 6.6%) and third (at 3.3%) atfull power. At 1 meter in free space with a

12 dB

250

50 -watt input, the speaker generat-ed roughly 104 dB SPL at both 110and 440 Hz, a very usable level.

Figure 12 shows the IM versuspower, created by tones of 440 Hz(A4) and 41.2 Hz (E1) of equalpower. The IM rises gradually,reaching a consequential 14% atfull power. Although this percent-age may seem fairly high, in realitythis is a relatively low level for asystem of the CR7's size that is re-producing both tones from thesame driver.

Figure 13 illustrates the speak-er's short-term peak -power inputand output capabilities. The peakinput power was calculated by as-suming that the measured peakvoltage was applied across the rated

8 -ohm impedance. The peak inputpower starts at a moderate 10 wattsat 20 Hz, quickly rises to a healthylevel of 200 watts at 45 Hz (the boxresonance), falls somewhat to 130watts at 80 Hz, and then risessmoothly into the 5.5 -kW rangeabove 2 kHz. A slight drop in pow-er, to 4.1 kW, is noted at 3 kHz, justbelow crossover. During the tests ofpeak power, one tweeter in the firstset developed a slight buzz thatgenerated sub -harmonics when thespeaker was driven by a sine waveabove 10 kHz at levels above 4 Vrms. Rather than send a new re-placement tweeter, which mighthave upset the right/left balance,Boston Acoustics sent me a newpair of CR7s.

With room gain, the maximumpeak output starts at an unusable79 dB at 20 Hz and rises rapidly toa fairly healthy plateau of 108.5 dB

in the range between 60 and 80 Hz.It peaks at 114 dB at 125 Hz, dropsslightly to 113 dB at 160 Hz, andthen rises smoothly into the loud

range of 121 to 123 dB above 1 kHz. Al-though 110 dB is not reached until 100 Hz,and 120 dB is only reached at 600 Hz, theCR7's low -frequency output is still very us-able because its peak output in the impor-tant octave between 40 and 80 Hz is in therange of 103 to 108 dB. In this octave, theCR7s rank above one-third of the systems I

have measured, including some that weresignificantly larger.

Use and Listening Tests

I recently tested a couple of large andheavy systems, so the smaller and lighterCR7s were a welcome change. If stacked ontheir sides, I could easily hold both of themunder one arm. Even though relativelysmall and costing only $260 per pair, theCR7s provided a surprisingly satisfying lev-

el of bass, and their overall sound and bal-ance competed well with my B & W 801Matrix Series 3 reference speakers.

I was very impressed with the CR7's ap-pearance and build quality. The injection -molded front and rear panels added greatlyto my positive impressions. The handsomeside, top, and bottom panels initially fooledme into thinking that real cherry wood wasused as veneer, rather than vinyl.

The rear panel has four raised bosses forthe attachment of rubber feet, which pre-vent marring when the CR7 is mounted ona wall. As an alternate to simple keyholewall mounting, Boston Acoustics sent me apair of its CRB swivel -mounting brackets,which facilitate wall mounting and aiming.These brackets rotate in one plane only,meaning that the system must be mountedvertically for side -to -side aiming or mount-ed horizontally for adjustable up/down tilt-ing. I did not mount the speakers on a wall,but both methods appeared straightfor-ward. I did all of my listening with the CR7s

placed conventionally on stands and withtheir metal grilles attached. BostonAcoustics provided no means for attachingspikes to the bottom of the speakers.

The four -page owner's booklet applies tothe entire Compact Reference Series line. Asfar as content is concerned, the booklet is abit sparse, because the front page has only apicture and a title. Topics covered includeconnections and hookup, room placement,wall mounting, listening levels, and powerhandling. The booklet emphasizes that forthe most serious listening in a standardstereo setup, the speakers must be posi-tioned conventionally (i.e., not wall mount-ed) and must be well away from wall sur-faces and corners.

I listened with gear that included Onkyoand Rotel CD players, Krell's KRC preampand KSA250 power amp, Straight WireMaestro cabling, and the B & W 801 Matrix


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100

zp. 10

0

1g 1.0

50

2nd, 15.5%

5.0

POWER -WATTS 0.5

0.05

3rd, 5.0%

MAXIMUM POWER: 50 WATTS

Ith, 5.6%4th, 3.6%

(r.

150 250 350 450 550

FREQUENCY -Hz

Fig. 10-Harmonicdistortion for A2 (110 Hz).

500

MAXIMUM POWER 50 WATTS

1k 1.5k

FREQUENCY -Hz

Fig. 1 1-Harmonicdistortion for A4 (440 Hz).

15

10

0

2k

12 dB

T

650

12 dB

T

2.5k

0.1 10

POWER - WATTS

Fig. 12-IM distortion forA4 (440 Hz) and E1 (41.2Hz).

140TES

130PEAK ACOUSTIC OUTPUT

1TH

120

110 10k

100 PEAK INPUT PowEl,

WITHOUT

1k

90 ROOM 100

80 ' 1020 100 1k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 13-Maximum peakinput power and soundoutput.

10k 20k

100

Series 3s as reference speakers. The

stands I used raised the middle ofthe CR7s to 36 inches. The speak-ers were 8 feet apart, about 5 feetfrom the rear wall, and aimed lat-erally toward my listening position(about 10 feet away). In addition toa considerable amount of listeningto the first pair of CR7s I received, I

did an equal amount of listening tothe second pair. On average, thesecond set did slightly better thanthe first in these tests.

First I used a very clean, mini-malist recording by Lori Lieber-man, A Thousand Dreams (Pope -Music PM1001-2, which I highlyrecommended). The Bostonsbrought out the best in this record-ing by presenting a quite realistic,you -are -there quality to Lieber -man's voice. The Boston's soundcompeted well with the B & Ws'. Iwas also impressed with the CR7s'ability to reproduce the accompa-nying acoustic instruments, partic-ularly the clean transients of theguitar starting track 3 and the bal-ance and extension of the acousticbass on track 5. Overall, the CR7smade a good first impression, witha balance and sensitivity similar tothe 801s, though of course with asomewhat less but still quite satis-fying bass.

With classical material-notablyMusic for Trumpet and Organ (Ly-dian 18104, an inexpensive butgood -sounding DDD import)-the Bostons did not let me down.The horns and the difficult pipeorgan underpinning were repro-duced cleanly and effectively. Only

when played at an uncomfortablyloud level did the CR7s startsounding somewhat muddy in theorgan pedal notes and harsh on thetrumpets. On organ -only material,the Bostons would not shake thewalls but still had enough bass todo justice to the music.

The Bostons performed quitewell on pop/jazz. With TheSheffield Jazz Experience (Sheffield

10046-2-G, a super jazz sampler!),they exhibited surprising bass ca-

pability for their size, cleanly re-creatingpercussive attacks, such as the rim shots ontrack 1. On some of the tracks, however, theCR7s presented a closer, more up -frontsound than the soundstage provided by theB & Ws. Lateral instrument placement,imaging, and re-creation of the mono cen-ter image recreation were just about theequal of the 801s.

On the stand-up/sit-down test with pinknoise, the CR7s' performance was margin-ally acceptable; I heard a moderate tonalchange when I stood up. Although I lis-tened with the speakers inverted for thistest, I preferred their vertical coverage whenplaced upright. They equalled the very goodperformance of the 801s on evenness ofhorizontal coverage. Octave -to -octave spec-

tral balance on pink noise was good; I heardonly some tonality, and the sound was a bithotter in the midrange. The CR7s did, nat-urally, exhibit less bass than the referencespeakers.

On third -octave band -limited pinknoise, the CR7s generated no usable outputat the 20- and 25 -Hz third -octave bandsand had barely usable output at 32 Hz. Theoutput was quite usable at 40 and 50 Hz,and good at all higher bass frequencies. Indirect comparison with the 801s at the samelevels in the bass range, the B & Ws' outputwas noticeably cleaner than the Bostons'.Port -wind noise was low, but noticeable, onall the low -bass bands.

On classical material containing no bass,such as Reger: Four Sonatas for Unaccompa-

nied Violin, Op. 91, Vol. II (Dorian DOR-90212), I was hard pressed to tell the differ-ence between the Bostons and the B & Wswhen I switched between them! With thisdisc, the CR7s presented a smooth, bal-anced sound, and they reproduced the re-verberant sound of the recording venuevery well.

All things considered, the CR7s per-formed very well in my tests. At only $260per pair, they are a very good value. Theyhave excellent looks, their sound is smoothand well balanced, and their bass responsecompetes with that of larger speakers. Theywould make a fine choice for a budget high-

performance stereo system or would pro-vide very good value in an A/V or hometheater system. The CR7s also are a verygood choice to use as satellites with an ac-companying subwoofer. A


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AIWA AD -F850CASSETTE DECK

Aiwa's AD -F850 is so easy tooperate, and analog cassettedecks are so familiar, that mostAudio readers are likely to skipits informative, well -writtenmanual. This would be a shame,because the Aiwa has at least oneunusual feature, a recording -sensitivity control, that bearsfurther explanation.

Recording sensitivity becomes importantwhen using Dolby noise reduction. Tapesdiffer in sensitivity (the flux level recordedon the tape for a given signal current) aswell as in bias requirements. In playback,Dolby decoders assume that a magnetic lev-el of 200 nWb/m corresponds to a "Dolby0" recording. If the flux level differs fromthat reference, due to a difference in tape

sensitivity between the product used andthe factory calibration tape, the Dolby de-coder "mistracks" and tonal balance is al-tered as a consequence.

AT ITS PRICE,

THE AIWA AD -F850

IS UP AGAINST

STIFF COMPETITION

BUT PERFORMS WELL.

All decks have manual or automaticswitches to set bias for each tape type. Butwithin each generic tape type, as most read-ers know, different magnetic formulationsvary in the amount of bias needed to obtain

flat response; not all Type II tapes are thesame, nor are all Type I tapes alike. A deck's

specified frequency response is likely to ap-ply only if you use the same tape (or a verysimilar tape) to that used for factory cali-bration. Unfortunately, deck manufactur-ers, perhaps unwilling to tread on the toesof tape suppliers, seldom inform you whatthose tapes were. Even if they did, that in-formation would rapidly become outdated,since tape companies have a habit of "im-proving" formulations without changingtheir tapes' designations. Bias fine-tuningadjustments, which are relatively commonon cassette decks, help you obtain smooth,extended treble response even when formu-lations change.

Cassette decks that have internal test -tone generators to aid in "tape matching"(automatically or with manual controls)usually adjust both the bias and the record-ing sensitivity. The Aiwa AD -F850 differs in

not having internal generators, but it does

SPECSFrequency Response: Metal (Type IV)

tape, 15 Hz to 20 kHz; CrO, (Type II)tape, 15 Hz to 19 kHz; normal (TypeI) tape, 15 Hz to 18 kHz.

S/N: 78 dB above 5 kHz for metal tapewith Dolby C NR.

Wow and Flutter: Wtd. rms, 0.035%;DIN 45-500, 1%.

Input Characteristics: Sensitivity, 100mV with gain set at maximum;impedance, 47 kilohms.

Output Characteristics at 0 dB: Line,530 mV, for load impedances over 47kilohms; headphone, 1.1 mW, for 32-

ohm load.Bias Frequency: 105 kHz.Motors: One d.c. servo motor and one

d.c. motor.

Heads: Record/play, PC-OCC coilsuper DX; erase, double -gap Sendust.

Power Requirements: 120 V, 60 Hz.Power Consumption: 25 watts.Dimensions: 17 in. W x 55/8 in. H x

125/8 in. D (43 cm x 14 cm x 31.8 cm).Weight: 9.9 lbs. (4.5 kg).Price: $400.

Company Address: 800 Corporate Dr.,Mahwah, N.J. 07430.



provide controls to adjust both functions.(It also has HX Pro headroom extension,which fine-tunes bias automatically accord-ing to the signal's high -frequency content.)The adjustments on this deck must bemade by ear, however. That's not as difficultas it sounds, however, given that the AD -F850 has a three -head design with off -tapemonitoring.

The owner's manual, which includes alist of bias settings for most major tapebrands and formulations, suggests that youbegin with the bias control at the settinglisted for the tape you're using. To fine-tune, you switch off the noise reduction,record FM interstation noise at a -25 dBlevel, and adjust the bias control for the bestsound match as you toggle the "Monitor"switch between "Source" and "Tape." Aiwasuggests that recording sensitivity be set byraising the level to 0 dB, toggling "Monitor"back and forth, and adjusting until the me-ter indicates "0" for both positions. Person-ally, I'd prefer an alternate approach:

AS IS APPARENT

FROM THE DATA,

AIWA'S AD -F850

PERFORMED

QUITE WELL.

Record interstation noise at -25 dB, switchon the Dolby system, and then adjust thecontrol for best sound match while "Moni-tor" is toggled.

The "Bias" and "REC Sensitivity" knobsare at the lower right of the panel, near"REC Balance"; all three have center de -tents. A good-sized "REC Level" knob is atthe upper right, with the "Monitor" and"MPX" filter buttons below. Transport con-trols are conventional: "REC," "MS/Re-view" (rewind), play, "MS/Cue" (fast -for-ward), stop, pause, and "REC Mute." Abovethe first two are buttons to "Reset" the tapecounter (which displays time) and to re-quest a "Zero Return." A third button,"Display," turns off the 16 -segment peak -hold meter when pressed once, turns off theentire display (except for record, pause, andstop indicators) when pressed twice, and re-stores all indications when pressed for thethird time.

Above the pause and "RECMute" buttons is a three -positionslide switch that operates thenoise -reduction system ("Off,"Dolby "B," and Dolby "C"); belowthose buttons is a headphone jack.(There's no headphone level con-trol.) The "Power" and "Eject" but-tons are at the far left, near thenonremovable loading door. Theback panel is straightforward: Onepair of line -level inputs and a pairof outputs, both outfitted with or-dinary RCA jacks. As with the ma-jority of cassette decks these days,there are no microphone inputs.

The AD -F850 comes with a re-mote control that addresses alltransport functions including"REC" and "REC Mute." You canalso reset the counter, do a "ZeroReturn," and toggle the "Monitor"and "Display" from the remote.But you can't set recording level orbalance, nor can you operate thecalibration controls.

Measurements

As is apparent from the data inthe "Measured Data" Tables and inthe graphs, the Aiwa AD -F850 per-

forms quite well.Playback response, measured

with BASF calibration tapes (Fig.1), extends to 20 kHz on Type Itape and to 14 kHz with the Type IIformulation. The high -end droopon the Type II tape is likely due toazimuth misalignment, since I

found substantially more playbackphase error with that tape thanwith the Type 1. (The Type I erroris listed in Table I.) Chalk it up tothe way the mechanism transport-ed the two tapes; another test madeanother day might have produceddifferent results. The rising bass re-sponse on the right (inner) trackcomes from playing a full -widthrecording with a stereo head, andshould be ignored.

Line output is adequate; howev-er, the output impedance is a bithigher than usual, which suggestsyou should use relatively short in-terconnects. Headphone output

The Aiwa AD -F850 providescontrolls to adjust both bias andrecord ng sensitivity.

1 15-FIMO - Plapv0p. Reppan - AmplWOrl Fr (14.1

1,3 *4

,;( o

4

,itj 8

ITYPE I

TYPE II

III100 lk 10k 20k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 1-Playback frequencyresponse using Type I andType II BASF calibrationtapes.

o.f.a NO -FS 0 - P Apppons - Aaelmerl w FrecitHil - rcw SO w 0011, - OSL

0

-10

20 100 I k

FREQUENCY - Hz

10k 20k

Aiwa 40-F1390 - 1 - Ampl .3,1 v. req cnr, - rox no, r -

20

10

-20

100 1 k

FREQUENCY-Hz

10k 20k

20 100 I k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 2-Record/playfrequency response fora TDK Type II tape withoutnoise reduction (A), withDolby B NR (8), and withDolby C NR (C).

10k 20k


0-.950 - II/O PO00 - LAIPI lee, es - tOK . Et.L.

10

20 100 lk

FREQUENCY- Hz

10k 20k

A

IC

20 100 lk

FREQUENCY- Hz

10k 20k

B

see - R/rn Response - CoOrl r re -64001 - TON Daltly C -

20 100 lk

FREQUENCY- Hz

Fig. 3-Record/playfrequency response fora TDK Type IV tape withoutnoise reduction (A), withDolby B NR (B), and withDolby C NR (C).

10k 20k

level (which is not adjustable) is low, as isthe output impedance. The use of sensitivelow -impedance headphones is advisablewith this deck. Input sensitivity and imped-ance are fine, and you should have no fearof input overload.

I measured record/play characteristicswith four tapes. I used TDK's SA (Type II),MA (Type IV), and DS -X (Type I) as refer-ences. I also used Greencorp Music Plus, ahigher grade Type I product. (Greencorpmissed our last cassette tape shootout, so Ithought I'd give one of its products a try onthe Aiwa. Greencorp's tape is manufacturedin Australia and sold here at an attractiveprice.) For each tape, I set bias to give meequal sensitivity at 315 Hz and 10 kHz, at a-20 dB recording level, and adjusted the"REC Sensitivity" for equal output at 315Hz when toggling "Monitor" between

C

"Source" and "Tape." The bias andsensitivity controls each have fivetick marks on either side of the de -tent. I found the following controlsettings were best: TDK SA, biasat -2.5, sensitivity at -2; TDK MA,bias at minimum, sensitivity at-2.5; TDK DS -X, bias at -2.5, sensi-

tivity at -2.5, and Greencorp MusicPlus, bias at -2.3, sensitivity at -0.4.

I took families of response curveson each product at three recordinglevels (-20, -10, and 0 dB) witheach noise -reduction setting (off,Dolby B NR, and Dolby C NR). The

0 -dB reference in all cases was 250nWb/m at 315 Hz, about 2 dBabove "Dolby 0." The curves areshown in Figs. 2 through 5.

I also measured record/play tapenoise for each tape andDolby setting, using both"A" weighting and theCCIR/ARM weightingthat Dolby Laboratoriesprefers. The results are inTable II, as are those formaximum THD + N inthe range from 50 Hz to 5kHz (measured at -10 dB),THD + N at DIN 0 (250nWb/m) taken at 315 Hz,the recorded level corre-sponding to 3% THD + Nat 315 Hz, and the deck'sindicator readings (in the

"Source" position) correspondingto DIN 0 and to 3% THD + N. Forthe three TDK products, I alsomeasured the effect of the biascontrol on 10 -kHz sensitivity. Theeffect of the "REC Sensitivity"control (approximately ±2.75 dB)should be comparable for all prod-ucts. All distortion measurementswere made with Dolby NR off, aswas the data for bias and record -sensitivity ranges.

Figure 6 shows THD + N as afunction of recorded level for theTDK products and GreencorpMusic Plus, while Figs. 7A through7D show third -octave noise spec-tra, referenced to DIN 0, for eachof the four tapes at each availableNR setting.

What conclusions can be drawn fromthis mass of data? Clearly, the Aiwa AD -F850 is capable of resolving 20 -kHz record-

ings, as exemplified both by the Type I play-

back response curves and its performance

THE AIWA AD-F850

IS CLEARLY CAPABLE

OF RESOLVING

20-kHz RECORDINGS.

with TDK MA. Dolby tracking after cali-brating recording sensitivity is quite good.There's some midrange sag with Dolby CNR, but it's relatively minor and better thanI've obtained with many other decks. The

A$us AD -F850 - 11/ A.LEAs. - M.0110E1.1 FrOE MEI - 05.. Oen, - osE

c. 0

7

'>11 10

rc 20

0

10

20

'WE "

20 100

20 100

lk

FREQUENCY - Hz

lk

FREQUENCY - Hz

10k 20k

A

10k 20k

20 100 lk

FREQUENCY- Hz

Fig. 4-Record/playfrequency response fora TDK Type I tape withoutnoise reduction (A), withDolby B NR (B), and withDolby C NR (C).

B

10k 20k

C


Rkl) D ATA T A 13 1. I'. I

Line Input Characteristics: Sensitivity,125 mV for 250-nWb/m recorded levelat 315 Hz; clipping level, above 10 V;impedance, 33 kilohms.

Line Output Characteristics: Level, 650mV from 250-nWb/m recorded levelat 315 Hz; impedance, 3,100 ohms.

Headphone Output Characteristics:Nominal level, 0.47 V from 250 -nWb/m recorded level at 315 Hz;maximum level, 0.44 V (0.32 mW)into 600 ohms or 0.27 V (1.46 mW)into 50 ohms, both from 250-nWb/mrecorded level at 315 Hz; impedance,36 ohms.

Playback Phase Error with Type I BASFCalibration Tape: 15°, ±30°, at 10kHz.

Record/Play Interchannel Phase Error:130°, ±5°, at 10 kHz.

Record/Play Channel Separation: 53dB at 315 Hz.

Record -Sensitivity Control Range: +2.7to -2.8 dB.

Erasure: 70.5 dB at 100 Hz with Type Ntape.

MPX Filter: At 19.000 kHz, -41.4 dB; at19.023 kHz, -41.7 dB.

Indicator Response Time: Approxi-mately 0.4 mS.

Indicator Decay Time: Approximately1,300 mS tpeak hold).

Indicator Overshoot: 0 dB.Playback Speed Error: +0.96%' for line

voltages of 105 to 127 V.

Record/Play Wow and Flutter: DIN -weighted, ±0.055%; EIAJ- weighted,0.034% wtd. rms.

Rewind and Fast -Forward Times: 106seconds for C-90 cassette.

effects of the bias control (not shown) aregreatest with Type I tape (and least withType IV), which is to be expected. (The biastrim on many decks has no measurable ef-fect when Type IV tape is used.)

Although response is marginally moreextended with TDK MA than with any ofthe other tapes, and treble distortion is atad less, I can't say that the AD -F850 ekesout the last bit of performance from TypeIV tape. Midband headroom (shown by the"Recorded Level at 3% THD + N" data) isonly 0.4 dB better with TDK MA than withSA, which doesn't compensate for SA's low-er noise floor. Overall, SA should offer bet-ter midrange dynamic range at less cost.The MA tape will deliver a bit more high -frequency headroom than SA for record-ings that demand it (synthesizer music,etc). The TDK DS -X tape produced the bestmidband headroom on this deck, but dis-tortion at less aggressive operating levels(-10 dB) is somewhat greater than with SAor MA. Nonetheless, DS -X would be aneconomical alternative for bass -heavy record-

ings that don't push the high end too hardand are loud enough to mask the highernoise floor of a Type I product. Greencorp'sMusic Plus is a bit noisier than TDK DS -X,and the midband headroom is also a trifleless, but it edges out DS -X in wideband dis-tortion at reduced operating levels.

In any event, the Aiwa AD -F850 is not adeck that should be pushed hard. As youcan see from Table II, 3% THD + N (at 315Hz) is reached with the deck's indicatorreadings of "+4" to "+6" with the tapes Iused in my testing. This leaves the meter'stop two segments, "+8" and "+10," unused.

Nonetheless, the 16 -segment indicator isarguably more adept than many; it re-sponds quickly, without overshoot, and hasan adequately long "peak hold."

Record/play channel separation is excel-lent, but the fair amount of interchannelphase error indicates some degree of az-imuth misalignment between the recordand play heads' gaps. Had they been aligned

THE SUPERB TRANSPORT

HAS VIRTUALLY

NONEXISTENT

WOW AND FLUTTER.

better, the record/play response curves -which are really quite good -would proba-bly have been more extended. The multi-plex filter is unusually accurate and does agood job notching out residual 19 -kHz pi-lot tones that might exist in an FM tuner'soutput.

The AD -F850' dual -capstan transportwas superb. It ran a bit fast, but wow andflutter were virtually nonexistent. Fast -wind times were 106 seconds for a C-90cassette, which is about par for the course.

FASU RED DATA TABLE II

TYPE I

TYPE II TYPE IV TYPE I GREENCORP

TDK SA TDK MA TDK DS -X MUSIC PLUS

A -Weighted Noise (R/P, re: DIN 0)

Without Noise Reduction -59.4 dB -57.1 dB -54.7 dB -53.9 dB

With Dolby B NR -68.4 dB -66.4 dB -64.4 dB -63.8 dB

With Dolby C NR

CCIR/ARM-Weighted Noise (RIP, r

-76.0 dB

e: DIN 0)

-74.8 dB -72.0 dB -71.6 dB

Without Noise Reduction -56.3 dB -53.8 dB -51.3 dB -50.4 dB

With Dolby B NR -67.0 dB -64.5 dB -62.0 dB -61.2 dB

With Dolby C NR -76.4 dB -74.2 dB -71.8 dB -71.0 dB

THD + N

At -10 dBr (50 Hz to 5 kHz) 1.3% _1.2°/o 52.4% 51.5%

At DIN 0 (315 Hz) 1.5% 1.6% 0.65% 0.58%

Recorded Level at 3% THD + N +2.3 dB +2.7 dB +5.6 dB +4.8 dB

Level -Indicator Readings ("Source" Position)

For DIN -0 Recorded Level 0 0 0 0

For 3% THD + N from Tape

Effect of Bias Control on

10 -kHz Sensitivity

+4

±3.3 dB

+4

±1.7 dB

+6

±5.0 dB

+6

Not Tested


sive AO-cOSO - A/P Response - CORI WS, vs Fres,. - ...encore Mue1c. se Oo1by

0

L&' 20

20 100 lk

FREQUENCY - Hz

10k 20k

A

Alma A13,11130 - A/P Response - Ampl WIWI vs Fres.. - Greencoro Mus poles B

cesw....oesopos...

20 100 1 k

FREQUENCY - Hz

10k 20k

Ao-Fas - n/a Re n2. - cool Wee) v PreniMil - Ore. coro m,ei Dolor

0

0

'&j 20

B

20 100 I k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 5-Record/playfrequency response fora Greencorp Type I tapewithout noise reduction (A),with Dolby B NR (B), andwith Dolby C NR (C).

Alm. Ap-Few - vs Res rase Level WWI at 315 M.

10

0.1

-5

Th

10k 20k

TDK MA

TDK SA

TDK DS -S

GREENCORPMUSIC PLUS

Ap

0 +5

RECORDED LEVEL - dB

Fig. 6-THD + N vs.recorded level.

C

+10

Use and Listening TestsExcept for cleaning the heads (the own-

er's manual does not indicate whether thedoor can be removed, and I didn't push theissue), the Aiwa AD -F850 was convenient to

use. The "Zero Return" was accurate; thetape returned almost precisely to the pointwhere the counter was reset.

I made music recordings oneach of the tapes used for measure-ment and on a few others, old aswell as new. For the measurementtapes, I used the bias and record -sensitivity settings that proved op-timum on the bench and thentried to tweak the controls by ear. Iusually ended up with pretty muchthe same settings, although I hadto listen pretty carefully tomatch the sound characterof the recorded tape withthat of the source (espe-cially when using Type Itape without noise reduc-tion). An exact match usu-

ally proved impossible,but I could get fairly close.

I got good results withthe three TDK productsused for measurement,with comparable qualitytapes, and with the Green-corp Music Plus tape. Forpop and rock, I tended tolike the performance withType IV formulations (likeTDK MA) best; for classi-cal music, I preferred aferricobalt (like SA) or apremium Type I with Dol-by C NR to quiet the hiss.When recording music, Iseldom had trouble distin-guishing the copy fromthe original-the tapedcopy invariably sounded"thicker"-but withoutdirect comparison to theoriginal, I think most peo-ple would find the soundof the AD -F850 to be quite

satisfying.

The Aiwa AD -F850paused and resumedquickly, and it was notablyfree of audible wow and

flutter. Its only annoyance on themechanical front (other than thenonremovable door) was a chunk-ing, chattering sound when a cas-sette was loaded. It sounded dread-ful but was of no real significancesince the deck can't be operateduntil after this sound ceases.

In the $400 price category, the AD -F850is truly up against some stiff competition,including several decks that offer the newerand, in theory at least, more effective DolbyS noise reduction in addition to the well es-tablished B- and C -types. Not all of theseare three -head decks with off -tape moni-toring, nor can (or should) you assume thatthey will all perform as well as the AD -F850. Choosing is never easy. A

c1ma A0-CS50 - 1/3-Octsvm Nelaelner, ve Free., - TOK SA

50

60

7 7°

0

0

0

80

90

100

Ap

WITHOUT NR

NR

20 100 lk

FREQUENCY - Hz

Asc. AO-flaS0 - 1/3 -0Ctave leSr, r Fres., - TON ms

50

60

100

10k 20k

Ap

WITHOUT NR

DOLBY El

C NR

20 100 I k

FREQUENCY - Hz

sta. 40-CSSO - 1/3 -Octave ....WW1 vs Fres.. -

50

60

70

80

90

100

50

60

70

80

90

100

10k 20k

WITHOUT NR

DOLBY IB NR

DOLBY C NR+.++

20 100 lk

FREQUENCY - Hz

-Octave Ccoselner

10k 20k

WITHOUT

NfR

DOLBY B NR

DOLBY C NR

20 100 I k

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 7-Third-octave noisespectra for a TDK Type IItape (A), a TDK Type IVtape (B), a TDK Type I tape(C), and a Greencorp Type I

tape (D).

10k 20k


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EQUIPMENT PROFILEDAVID L. CLARK

B WMATRIX 805 SPEAKER

AND 800ASWPOWERED SUBWOOFER

or many years, B & W has enjoyed theenviable reputation of producingsome of the world's best -soundingspeakers. One of its most famousmodels, the 801, has been in produc-tion since 1979. This large three-way

system is widely used as a monitor for or-chestral music recordings. Its latest incarna-tion, the 801 Matrix Series 3, is also used asa reference by several of Audio's reviewers(this writer being an exception, at present).Part of the appeal of testing the Matrix 805sas satellites with the 800ASW powered sub -woofer was to hear how they stacked upagainst the much more expensive 801s.(The three-piece combination I tested costs$3,200, as opposed to $5,500 for a pair ofthe 801 Matrix Series 3s.) "Matrix" refers toa B & W cabinet construction technique inwhich interlocking, perforated internalsheets rigidly connect all enclosure walls to-gether. Rapping the side of a Matrix enclo-sure with your knuckles feels somewhat likerapping a large tree trunk-both are ex-tremely solid.

The 16 -inch tall Matrix 805, which has avented woofer and dome tweeter, is suitablefor full -range use or as a satellite speaker.Bass response of the 61/2 -inch woofer fallsoff gradually below about 42 Hz; an option-al equalizer may be used to extend responsedown into the "30s," with a faster roll -offbelow 35 Hz. A 1 -inch dome tweeter in itsown plastic housing, contoured for diffrac-tion control, perches on top of the wooferbox. This is reminiscent of the legendary801, which uses contoured housings forboth midrange and tweeter.

The finish of my review samples wasblack ash veneer, and they had detachableblack knit grilles. Connection to the 805 isvia heavy-duty, five -way gold-plated bind-ing posts on 3/4 -inch centers. A pair forwoofer and a pair for tweeter are provided,and bi-wiring or biamping is strongly rec-ommended. I question the strength withwhich B & W makes this recommendation,however, because the difference at thespeaker terminals is on the order of a mere0.1 dB with a short, single run of heavy

wire. Gold-plated straps are provided forthose who intend to run only one pair ofwires to each speaker.

The 800ASW ("ASW" for active sub -woofer, I presume) contains everythingnecessary to extend the bass response of apair of satellites to below 20 Hz. The rough-ly cubical box accepts line- or speaker -levelinput to a variable -frequency low-pass filter

for the 200 -watt amplifier that drives thefront -firing, 12 -inch woofer. The system istuned by a front -exiting vent, 21/2 inches in

diameter, that is flared at each end to reduceturbulence. A 90 -Hz, third -order activehigh-pass output for the satellites' amplifieris provided, as is a useless speaker -levelhigh-pass filter (it is simply a series capaci-tor from input to output for each channel).I say "useless," because this filter is certainto degrade the satellites' bass performance.Only in the loosest sense does this com-monly found feature provide a high-passfunction, because the satellites' input im-pedance drastically affects frequency re-sponse. If you use a receiver that has noprocessor loop, you will need to use thespeaker inputs to the 800ASW. This is fine,but I do not recommend using the speaker -level outputs for the satellites; use line outfeeding a separate power amplifier.

All of the 800ASW's controls and con-nectors are on its rear panel, but this willnot present an access problem because thesubwoofer should not require adjustmentafter initial setup. A signal -sense circuitswitches the 800ASW to a low -powerstandby mode in the absence of input. A ro-tary control sets subwoofer output relativeto the satellites, and another rotary controlsets the low-pass cutoff frequency between40 and 135 Hz. The "Video" position of atoggle switch bypasses the low-pass filter,for use with the subwoofer output of somedecoders. A handy "Phase" switch allowsexperimenting with subwoofer polarity re-versal. An IEC power socket and fuse pro-vide connection to the a.c. line.

I placed the three B & W speakers at oneend of my smaller listening room (13 feet x19 feet x 8 feet), with the subwoofer in onecorner and the satellites about 3 feet fromthe front and side walls. An amplifier of 150watts per channel powered the 805 satel-lites. I used a third -octave spectrum analyz-er to speed the process of setting up thesubwoofer. I was surprised to find that a


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A Home 'MX' Audio System allows you tohear film sound in your home as it wasdesigned to be heard, providing wide dynamicrange, precise acoustic imaging, crystalclear dialog, properly balanced full frequencyrange, and a spacious enveloping surroundsound field. Marantz components faithfully adhere to theseprecepts, as they are precisely the goals set by our engineers.

Our new AV -600 Pre-amplifier/Tuner combines a superbHome THX Cinema and Dolby ProLogic decoder togetherwith a full function A/V system pre -amplifier andAM/FM stereo tuner, all in one unit that is surprisinglyaffordable. An ideal complement to the AV -600is the Marantz MA -500 THX-czrtified monob.ockpower amplifier, which combines prodigious power.

exceptional clarity, and incredible flexibility --able to drive virtually any speaker system,regardless of impedance or efficiency.Simply choose the appropriate numberof amp channels to exactly match yoursystem power needs.

Add your choice of Marantz source components, such as ourauto -reverse laser disc combi player and deluxeVHS Hi-Fi VCR, andyou've put togetheran exceptional music andcinema sound system.Audition these superbcomponents at yourMarantz dealer soon.

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120

110

100

90

80

70

80.0119W, MAX OUTPUT H

:11,1

; f i 805,0N AXIS

!!!+"' 805,380°1:.ER

4

10 20 lk100

FREQUENCY - Hz

Fig. 1-Anechoicfrequency responseof the Matrix 805speaker (on axis andaverage horizontal)

10k 20k

and of the 800ASWsubwoofer (maximumoutput and matchedto the 805).

low-pass filter setting of 50 Hz provided thebest match to the satellites, which werehigh -passed at a fixed 90 Hz. Slightly moreoutput in the crossover range was obtainedwith the "Phase" switch in the 180° posi-tion. I adjusted subwoofer volume by ear toget the smoothest blend to the satellites.

B & W sent me curves of frequency re-sponse. These plots compared performanceof each 805 to the company's referencestandard 805. The difference from the refer-ence was shown to be +1 dB, and the two"partners" matched each other almost ex-actly. Given this level of quality control andB & W's reputation, I did not expect to hearstrange spectral or imaging problems. Onthe other hand, the manner in which aspeaker will interact with room acoustics isnot discernible from a single plot of fre-quency response. When I first listened tothe 805s, both with or without the 800ASW,I heard an overly full upper bass and lowermidrange. Also, the upper midrange andhigh end were excessively defined and fo-cused, compared to the rest of the spec-trum. After quite a bit of experimentation, Iended up listening only 8 feet away fromthe speakers, which were now out well intothe room. This achieved a natural spectralbalance and image focus, balanced with lis-tening ease; I had the freedom to move myhead without violent image shifts occur-ring. In the end, I had obtained the leg-endary B & W sound.

In my fairly extensive experience with thethree-way 801s over the years, I have notencountered any unusual degree of sensi-tivity to room acoustics. I was thus some-what surprised to find the 805/800ASWcombination to be somewhat picky. I

when

thought that the answer might be re-lated to off -axis radiation of the 805.In addition to the on -axis anechoicfrequency response, I separatelymeasured and averaged the responsein all directions from the speaker.

Both are plotted in Fig. 1 and in-clude the 90 -Hz high-pass filter ofthe subwoofer's electronics. The805's on -axis response is strikinglyuniform, with just a slight down-ward slope in the upper range. Inthis range, the averaged responsecurve falls 5 to 10 dB below the on -axis response. The result is too muchupper bass and lower midrangeroom reflections allow you to hear

the sound radiated in all directions. One so-lution is to move closer to the speakers, sothe on -axis sound is more dominant. Thisis what I did. Another possible solution is touse equalization, gently sloping upward, forthe distant listening location. Adding soundabsorption to the room would not work,because common materials absorb highsbut not lows and therefore would make theimbalance even greater.

Figure 1 also shows the frequency re-sponse of the 800ASW subwoofer with the50 -Hz low-pass setting, which I used in thelistening room. The excellent response willbe further boosted at the lowest frequenciesby the "room gain" of a normal listeningenvironment. Also plotted is the maximumoutput when the subwoofer is pushed to10% harmonic distortion. In a room, thiscan translate to an amazing 115 dB (ormore) from 20 Hz up. At a slightly reducedoutput level, the distortion drops to an in-audible 3% or less. Although not optimizedfor film sound's less demanding require-ments (25 Hz and up), the 800ASW wouldbe a killer home theater subwoofer.

While the 805 and 800ASW combination

can deliver the sound quality of the famous801, it requires the right environment to doso. I found that the sound was excellentwhen the satellites were well away fromwalls, mounted on stands, and a short dis-tance from the listening position. For alonger listening distance or for most hometheater applications, I would recommendtrying a gentle upward spectral tilt from anoctave -band graphic equalizer. A

SPECSSPEAKERType: Vented, two-way system.Drivers: One 61/4 -in. bass/midrange

driver with Kevlar cone and one 1 -in.metal -dome tweeter.

Free -Field Response: On -axis, 45 Hz to20 kHz, ±2 dB, (-6 dB at 35 Hz and 22kHz); ±30° horizontally, to 10 kHz, ±2dB; ±5° vertically, to 20 kHz, ±2 dB.

Harmonic Distortion for 90 dB SPL at1 Meter: From 20 to 150 Hz, less &an2% second harmonic and less than1.5% third harmonic; from 150 Hz to20 kHz, less than 1% for second orthird harmonic.

Sensitivity: 87 dB SPL for input of 223V at 1 meter.

Impedance: Nominal, 8 ohms; mini-mum, 4 ohms.

Recommended Amp Power: 50 to 120watts per channel into 4 ohms.

Dimensions: 16 in. H x 101/4 in. W x 81/4

in. D (40.7 cm x 26 cm x 21 cm).Weight: 18.7 lbs. (8.5 kg) each.Price: $1,600 per pair; walnut or bla:k

ash veneer.

POWERED SUBWOOFERType: Active, vented -box subwoofer

system.

Driver: One 12 -in., long -throw,magnetically shielded woofer.

Frequency Range: 17 Hz to crossover(adjustable, 40 to 135 Hz).

Built -In Amp Power: 200 watts,continuous.

Amp Input Impedance: 22 kilohms.Low -Pass Filter: Active second -order,

with variable cutoff frequency (40 to135 Hz).

High -Pass Filter: Low level, active third -order at 90 Hz; speaker level, passivefirst -order at 80 Hz into 8 -ohmimpedance.

Dimensions: 20 in. H x 17 in. W x 227/8in. D (50.8 cm x 43.2 cm x 58 cm).

Weight: 73 lbs. (33 kg) each.Finish: Black ash veneer.Price: $1,600 each.

Company Address: 54 Concord St.,North Reading, Mass. 01864.



t's a well-known axiom: "The devil isdetails." This is the case if you're negotiatebusiness deal-or striving to create the bestaudio system you can afford. Although muchtime and effort is spent on the overall directionof a project-be it for business or listening to

Bach-how we manage the little details makes all thedifference between soaring success and failure. Forenthusiasts who love great audio and video, this meanslooking beyond the main components such as CD play"-ers and transports, D/A converters, line doublers andmassive power amps. And that's where the "GreatDetails Two" special advertising section enters the pic-NA. Here you'll find some of the often overlookedecrets that'll help you reach the ultimate goal of

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More ThanJust Cable!The MlTerminator Series clears the way to better bass, cleanermidrange, more realistic imaging and smoother highs. A new levelof performance that cable alone just can't provide.

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rea"Cables have come in fromthe cold," said Bill Low of Au-

dioQuest. "They're now considered an-other component in an audio/videosystem, a component that's far morepredictable than many others." Lowstressed that although cables make adifference, "they are not band -aids.Every component must be chosen for itsneutrality. Every piece in a system per-forms a necessary function, whether it'sto play a CD, amplify a signal, ormerely carry the signal from one placeto another. Performance is never im-proved by a component; good compo-nents simply cause less damage."

"We're serious listeners," said NoelLee. "Once we develop cables by sci-entific computer modeling, we listen,fine tune and dial them in." The resultis Monster Cable, the leading supplierof audio/video cables and intercon-nects. Mr. Lee noted his company hasover 70 patents for cable and connec-tor technology. "There are always newdiscoveries, new advances in cable de-sign," Mr. Lee said. "We now featuresophisticated windings, new discover-ies in insu-lating mate-rials and thelatest solu-tions fortime -relateddistortions." One of Monster's most re-cent advances is an improved RCAconnector, a connection used on thevast majority of components-and adetail often taken for granted.

One of the key elements of RCA per-formance is the material used. TypicalRCAs are made of nickel -plated steel.Monster uses a more conductive mater-ial, 24K gold over high -conductivitybrass. The company's patented TurbineDesign connectors also ensure snugcontact for the best connections.They're even designed with a securefinger grip to make them easier to

tlOr1Sinsert and remove. Talkabout important littledetails!

Consumers shouldhave a show -me atti-tude when they shopfor cables and intercon-nects, Bill Low added. THe stressed that enthusi-asts do A -B -A listeningtests rather than A -B, simply because Bis usually chosen the winner.

AudioQuest cables are all designedaround the same parameters and de -

of only do someMonster Cables have

THX certification, theyare color coded for easyinstallation.

0 1II

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KIMBER KABLE

li

ire

iiisign philosophy. The difference be-tween the top -of -the -line Diamondand Dragon interconnects and F-14 speaker cable, of course, isprice, but the goal for them all is

the best audio/video experi-ence-period.

Mr. Lee said that one of thebiggest trends in consumer electronicswas the continuing merger of sophisti-cated audio and video systems. "Therequirements for audio in a HomeTheater are even greater than for a

music -only system. Notonly are there musicaldynamics, but there arepowerful movie soundeffects as well.

"It's important to designa video cable with enoughband width to carry thesignals of today and tomor-row, such as DVD and

HDTV," Mr. Lee said. Monster's M Sil-ver Video cables are ultra high resolu-tion, precision 75 ohm video cables.The M1000V is capable of carryingbase band and 1,000 cable TV chan-rels. The Silver Video cables use aunique nitrogen injected foam PE di-electric for super low attenuation.

Home Theaters are becoming ascomplex as the local cineplex. MonsterCable was the first to receive THXHome Theater certification from Lucas -film. Not only are they technologicallyadvanced, the cables are color -codedfor easy installation.

XLO Electric, another cable industryleader, also has THX certified cablesfor Home Theater. And the line is THXcertified in every category for which

Lucasfilm THX has established a certifi-cation standard. The XLO/VDO seriesis also compatible with all surroundsound systems, including Dolby ProLogic and the recently introduced AC -3.


I

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XLO's Roger Skofftold Great Detailsthat a cable shootoutwas recently conduct-ed by one of Asia'sleading Home The-ater magazines, andhis ER -1 and ER -2video cables werefound to clearly out-perform the other cables in a majorityof characteristics. "It was right in frontof our eyes. The red balance was bet-ter as was resolution.

"Although XLO has world classspeaker cables at $120 per runningfoot plus termination, and the XLO Sig-nature Series starts at $600, XLO ex-cellence is not confined to the upperprice ranges," Mr. Skoff pointed out."XLO/PRO, for example, which wasdesigned for professionals and hasbeen used in the recording and master-ing of many audiophile and main-stream recordings, has become an im-portant seller in the enthusiast market."XLO/PRO speaker cables cost from$1.19 per foot for the Type 625 andrange to a still affordable $10 a footfor the PRO -1200. The Type 625 is a

0 ne reviewer said theXLO Type 1200 might

even be " a bit more fun"in terms of sheer slam.

flat cable that is perfect for running un-der a rug. It employs a unique multi -metallic construction to overcome skineffect phase shift. The Type 1200 is asingle 4 conductor group speaker ca-ble that can be used for sin-gle cable bi-wiring(11 gauge) andgoes to 8XLOELECTRIC

gauge when "shot-gunned." Wing Cheung, one of Asia'sleading reviewers, described its bassperformance in shotgun configurationas comparable to XLO Signature Series5.1 ($120 per foot) and said that the1200 might even be "a bit more fun"in terms of sheer slam.

Thanks to AudioQuest, it is

now easier for Home Theaterenthusiasts to connect theircomponents with a series ofaudio/video cable packages."If someone just purchasedthe Pioneer CLD-99 LD playerand a Sony XBR2 monitor/re-ceiver, the Home Theater IIIinterconnects with our Quartz

and Video Z cables would squeezeevery dB out of the A/V source." Mr.Low said.

"We em-brace the re-ality that tech-nology existsonly to servethe goal ofbetter musicreproduc-tion-the lis-tener's enjoy-ment of themusical eventis the ultimatemeasure ofhow well we've succeeded," said MIT'sBruce Brisson. "We always balancemeasurements with feedback from our

Research proves that the cable inter-face between two electronic compo-nents or between an amp and speakerintroduces more distortion, time error,and noise than is covered in the old en-gineering textbooks. MIT's patented so-lution is to add a Terminator network tothe cable to minimize these delays(which has nothing to do with theSchwarzenegger movies). This passivenetwork is not an equalizer and doesnot subtract from the signal, but allows

it to be realigned so that when theenergy reaches its destination

it more closely resembles theoriginal source. To put itsuccinctly, MIT cables are

extremely efficient.Although MIT haslong been knownfor its Reference

Products, whichcan cost as much

as $2,000 for a meter pairof interconnects or $7,995 for an8 -foot pair of speaker cables, it

has worked to bring this technolo-gy to affordable price levels in theMlTerminator Series. Prices start at $59for interconnects, while speaker cables

start at $129. MIT's T3 Digital Inter-face, a $99 digital cable, was givenrave reviews by a noted critic.

MIT's newest innovation is "multi -

bandwidth technology" designed for bi-wire speakers. It uses different Termina-tor Networks, each optimized for aspecific frequency range for the topand bottom speaker connections. Deriv-ing its technology from the $7,995MH-850 Reference Bi-Wire, the MITer-minator 2 Bi-Wire ($399 an 8 -footpair) provides a very high level of

cable per-formance.The T2 Bi-Wire wonan Innova-tions '95award atthe WinterConsumerElectronicsShow heldin January.For video-philes, MIT

has the RES-LinQ and ISO-LinQ. TheRES-LinQ restores film -like detail anddepth. It also won an Innovations '95

humand interference from cable or antennareception.

Andrew Corporation, a world leaderin RF communications such as cellulartelephony, Personal CommunicationsSystems (PCS) and professional broad-casting, recently unveiled AudioFlex in-terconnect cables. According to HughJansen: "We perfected our transmis-sion cable technology for ultra high fi-delity sound." The new cables offerdeep, rich bass, crisp, clear highs andfull, clean midrange. It is the only cable

MONSTER CABLE

on the market to provide 100 percentshielding against external EMI and RFItransmissions. "The result is a precise

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audio signal, free of noise caused byexternal frequencies," Mr. Jansen said.AudioFlex Interconnect cables are con-structed with 99.999 percent pure(5N) solid Oxygen -Free, High -Conduc-tivity Copper (OFHC) outer conductorto completely isolate the audio signalsand deliver them as purely as theywere orchestrated. Foam dielectrics areused. As an added attraction, theycan be bent down to a one -inch radiusand formed into right angles. The pre-mium AudioFlex 2000have a list price of $149.Also available are theAudioFlex 1000 and Au-dioFlex Digital cable,specifically designed forthe transmission of preci-sion digital signals.

Kimber Kable startedon little more than RayKimber's desire to showfriends how to achieve better soundfrom their stereos. Now 16 years later,Kimber Kable offers cables and inter-connects ranging from the highly re-garded PBJ Interconnects ($66 per me-ter pair) up to the legendary Model88, known as The Black Pearl Refer-ence Loudspeaker Cable ($15,000 per8 -foot pair).

"Ideally, the perfect cable wouldpass a signal from one component toanother, unaltered and unimpeded. Inreality, no such 'perfect' cable exists.My approach is to minimize loss or ed-itorial effect in all of my designs and tooffer as wide a system compatibility aspossible."

At the beginning, Mr. Kimber beganexploring interactions of physical prop-erties of audio cable, including the ef-fects of inductance and capacitancewith relation to source and load imped-ances. RF and EM interference, metalpurity and mechanical vibration were


also examined.This researchhas led to thedevelopment ofspecific strand-ing geometries,proprietary met-allurgical formu-las and muchbetter dielectricmaterials.

Not only arecables criticalcomponents for

every entertainment system; so are theterminators or plugs. WBT has a newangled banana plug ($55 per set offour) that saves space, is gold platedand has a high -copper content for su-perior signal transmission. They arealso crimpable and have a secondTorx screw to avoid cable parting.

Other cable manufacturers striving toimprove the audio/video experienceinclude Straight Wire, Audio Technica,Tara Labs, NBS and Cardas.

"For once and for all,Tlet me say cables do) make a difference," stat-

ed Ray Kimber. "The

8moneycables will

invested i n gyield

oodgreater

enjoyment from yourhome audio/video sys-0 tem. Think of good quali-ty cables as the auralequivalent to precision

optics on your fine 35mm camera. Badcables are more like a cheap plasticlens with scratches in it."

MOBILE FIDELITYSOUND LAB

r eatsoft-wareIt hardly makes sense to spend

$10,000 or more for a world -class en-tertainment system and use softwarethat isn't meticulously engineered andmanufactured.

One of the leading firms devoted tosound at its best is Mobile FidelitySound Lab, a company with a passionfor great music, no matter what the for-mat. Mobile Fidelity was one of the firstcompanies to produce reference -levelCompact Discs: the Ultradisc series, theoriginal limited edition 24 -karat CD.First introduced in 1987 and refinedeven further with Ultradisc II, few au-diophiles worthy of the name are with-out Mobile Fidelity discs in their collec-tions. Herbert Belkin has overseenMobile Fidelity's drive for quality CDs,tapes, and yes, even vinyl recordings."We have an ongoing commitment togiving the audiophile the finest record-ed music possible. To ensure this, wecontinually enhance our proprietarymastering equipment." In a major stepforward, they installed the GAIN Sys-tem, a new mastering technology, in1993. GAIN (Greater Ambient Infor-mation Network) was a complete up-grade of analog and digital compo-nents. It delivered more detail and

10II Mobile Fidelityreleases are

transferred from theoriginal master tapes ofthe artists' studiosessions, never fromsecond generation tapes.

stable imaging. Music loversand reviewers have been ecstat-ic over the results. Last year Mo-bile Fidelity returned to theirOriginal Master Recordingroots -the vinyl record-after athree-year hiatus. "We searchedfor a way to bring audiophilesthe premium quality LPs theymissed," Mr. Belkin said. The re-sult is the ANADISQ 200, half -speed mastered, super 200 -gram vinyl, numbered limited -edition LPs. Like all Mobile Fi-delity releases, they are trans-ferred from the original master

Hall ofFame...

KCAG The defacto R i r ,tandThis hyper -pure silver c.11 ' arnedamongst reviewers, consumers anuncanny ability to resolve mitresoundstage. KCAG is continuity selemore manufacturers and reviewers thana true honor indeed' ,`

4

h analog interconnects.worldwide reputation

cturers alike for it'ss and throw properifd as the ca of choice by

y other we are aware of-

PBJ A direct descendant of KCAG, this bigliterally "taken the industry by storm." Since ityear PBJ has literally outsold all other competincombined-even those costing hundreds more! Pas being "close on the heels" to our KCAG. Atprice now everyone can afford to have true high end peat a peanuts price.

laimtro

El cable hasction la t

connects_

PR, VS, and TC LOUDSPEAKER CABLES represent tfoundation of our business. Designed to substance, not to fad, theselegendary cables deliver the same exacting performance today asthey did almost a decade ago! Hear for yourself why more reviewerscall these neutral performers the bestvalues in loudspeaker cable today.

PostMasterTM Keeping the audio chain equally strong requiresconnectors that properly match cables to connectors. Our patentePostMasterTm spade connectors are simply the best choicefor terminating loudspeaker cable-what morecan we say? Patent #5108320

This picture tells the story: Itprovides greater insight to our designphilosophy, to our code of ethics, anddescribes our vast range of cables andarepcsories (even our brochure has beenrecognized by MARCOM forexcellence in print media). Request yourcopy today! But to hear the full story,simply take some favorite music to yournearest full line Kimber Kable dealer andlisten, listen, LISTEN!

KIM3ERKABLE

2752 South 1900 WestOgden, UT 84401

(801) 621-5530

Enter No. 16 on Reader Service Card

tapes of the artists'studiosessions, never from sec-ond or third generationtapes. And to help musiclovers tweak their sys-tems, Mobile Fidelity hasthe Sound Check discwith 92 test tones, includ-ing instrumentals, vocalsand a tank!

While AudioQuest is well-known fortheir cables and interconnects, theyalso have a series of high -quality CDreleases under the AudioQuest Music


only available on laser.Die-hard movie fans lovelaser discs, too, Ms.Crane said. Over thepast few years, there'sbeen a large number of"special edition" releas-es, featuring letterboxedpresentations, as well asextra scenes not shown

in theaters and outtakes and produc-tion stills. "The boxed sets such as MyFair Lady are loaded with so manyunique collectibles, some people don't

even open themup! Many collec-tors use them liketrading cards." Ken

-1*. r-17, --1.64;.,,rw

,;414.10 ,i1-41:01'b

label. Some of the recent offerings in-clude Keeper of the Spirit, featuringbassist Charles Fambrough, pianistJoey Calderazzo's Secrets, as well asdiscs from The Bush Crew, David Bin-ney and legendary blues artist MightySam McClain.

One of the newest software trends isthe intense focus on high -quality video.There's been a proliferation of superbnew televisions, including direct view(CRT), and rear- and front -projectionmodels. TVs such as Sony's XBR2, the35 -inch Toshiba FST Perfect, 60 -inchProScan 90 Series rear projection TVsand others are so good, they show thesource's every flaw! That's why sales oflaser discs continue to soar, as enthusi-asts strive for the same video quality inHome Theater as they experience withmusic -only systems. "There's tremen-dous demand for the finest videosource, and that's still the laser disc,"said Pam Crane of Ken Crane's LaserDiscs. "The new THX discs have setbenchmarks for picture and soundquality. They fly out of the store." Ms.Crane also noted that the first DolbyDigital Surround AC -3 sound tracks are

stone, the company is offering the limit-ed edition HD414 Classic. The originalHD414 was a true breakthrough. Be-fore 1967, all headphones were cir-cumaural, or over the ear. Many werebulky, heavy, and uncomfortable. Thatyear Sennheiser introduced the Open -Aire design, or supra aural models.And the industry hasn't been the samesince. Millions of HD414s have beensold around the world since then. Thenew HD414 Classic has the same col-ors and styling as the originals-ablack headband and yellow ear cush-ions. The headband features the signa-ture of Dr. Jorg Sennheiser. While theymay look the same, they use the latesttechnology, including advanced trans-

ducers. Frequency response is18-21,000 Hz. The SPL levelat 1 kHz is 94 dB and theyweigh just 2.8 ounces.

The new HD580 Jubileeheadphones celebrate the joysof personal listening. Theyalso mark Sennheiser's 50thanniversary and are "de-signed to bring the ultimate lis-tening experience to the most

sophisticated music lover," said Mr.Bevier. Engineers used laser interferom-etry for a maximum reduction of stand-ing waves to allow the "Duofol" di-aphragm to deliver transparent soundreproduction. A computer optimizedmagnet system enhances bass re-sponse, and the wide frequency re-sponse of 16-30,000 Hz is personallyguaranteed by Dr. Sennheis-er in writing on an en-closed certificate.

Other top head-phone manufacturersinclude Koss, beyer-dynamic, EtymoticResearch andSony. As inventorof the Walkmanand DiscMan-and a Hi-Fileader-Sony hasan exten-sive lineof mod-els foralmostany ap-plication,includingthe MDR -

6 -2 he first Dolby'digital Surround

AC -3 sound tracksare only available onlaser disc includingblockbusters such asBatman Returns,Aladdin, and BramStoker's Dracula.

Crane's Laser Discs,in Westminster,CA, is the largest

laser disc store (software only) in theU.S. "We have close to 8,000 titlesand any title that's pressed we have orcan obtain-from The Abyss to Zulu."

relis-1 1Z g

It never fails. The heroes are thehome run hitters and quarterbacks, notthe great -fielding shortstops or ruggedlinemen. In an audio system, the spot-light is usually focused on power,which some consider the glory. Yetevery part of a home entertainment set-up is critical-whether it's cables,speaker stands and spikes...or a pairof headphones.

"Everyone appreciates a killer sys-tem powered by a ton of mono blockamplifiers. But nothing helps an espe-cially critical listening session morethan a quality pair of headphones,"said Sennheiser's John Bevier. In fact,Sennheiser has been designing andmanufacturing state-of-the-art electron-ics for 50 years. And to mark the mile-

We Get Letters...1VED

MAY 1.7 199

XL0 Electric Company9480 Utica Avenue, Ste. 812Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730

To Whom It May Concern;

834 -34th AvenueSan Francisco, CA 94121

May 17, 1995

I recently purchased a 4 -meter run of your Reference Series Type 2 interconnectcable. Without even breaking them in, they have to be the finest cables that I havenever heard. (Sounds like a new slogan- "The finest cable you have never heard".)It seems as though every other cable that I have tried invariably shines in one ortwo areas as one runs down the usual audiophile checklist (i,e. sound staging, tonalbalance, focus, etc....), but somehow always leaves one thinking that something ismissing or that there is too much of something. I always thought that I hadassembled a reasonably good system, but it wasn't until I inserted the Type 2 thatI realized I have never heard it the way it should sound. At times, I can actually sitback and listen to real musicians playing in real space.

I think my next move is to slowly replace all of the cable and wire in my systemwith XLO. The wire tangle presently includes Monster Cable, Straightwire, MIT, and

OS. Anyway, kudos, hosannas, yippee, and thanks for making "The Best In The World?'

Sincerely,

Mike Kanai

.8.: Present system, F.Y.I.Versa Dynamics 1.2

Immedia RPM 1Graham 1.5t

ClavisGenesis 2000

Vendetta Phono SectionAudio Research LS -2

Mark Levinson 23Apogee Duetta Signatures

XLO Electric Company, Inc. 9480 Utica Avenue, Suite 612, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730Phone (909) 466-0382 Fax (909) 466-3662Distributed in Canada by May Audio Marketing (514) 651-5707

;20ELECTRIC


;.1

CD3000 digital refer-ence headphones.

"Although many wordsare written about loud-speakers, speaker standstoo often are taken forgranted," said NizarAkhrass of Target Audio."They're another exam-ple of a detail that, if ig-nored, can take on major importance."Mr. Akhrass noted Target's R Series is ahigh -mass set of stands designed to beextremely rigid. The four pillars arefilled with a high -mass aggregate andsealed at the factory. The bases arespiked (as are all Target stands). Thiscombination results in minimal sonic in-terference. "The speakers are not col-ored in any way," Mr. Akhrass said.There are other approaches to rigidity,

including welded steeconstruction in the Targe-1-1.1 series or the moreopen ST series. Designedfor lighter speakers, thestands have a multi -pillarconstruction. And like allTarget Audio three-pointstands, the top plates arestudded for optimum

loudspeaker separation.Fighting interference doesn't stop

with stands. There are special component feet such as Big Feet and CD Feetfrom AudioQuest, and the legendaryTiptoes from McCormack Audio, whichalmost singlehandedly started the anti -

interference movement. For enthusiasts,all of these little details add up to cgreat deal -a wonderful home enter-tainment experience.

NO CINDER BLOCKS, PLEASEO nce, piling components on

top of each other was the ex-tent of A/V furniture. What a differ-ence a few years make! Tocay thereis an exciting world of audio/videofurniture available to match anydecor-and budget. Early American,Arts and Crafts, Mission, Traditionaland Contemporary are just a few ofthe home enter-tainment furniturestyles available atstores around thecountry.

Target Audiohas a full line ofspeaker standsand audio compo-nent racks that canaccommodate al-most any size au-dio system. Tar-get's M Seriesfeatures black -asheffect shelving.Glass shelves areavailable as anoption. And asyour system grows,extra shelves arereadily available.The AER Series equipment racks wererecently redesigned to improve sonicisolation. The top shelf is indepen-dently spiked to improve isolationeven further. And depending on your

components and room decor, TargetAudio has a wide variety of attractiveracks, rcnging from the Beta series tothe Tr II editions.

Another major trend is attractivefurniture that holds an entire HomeTheater system (except the rear sur-round speakers). Furniture manufac-turers are now working closely with

TV makers to en-sure there are noproblems fitting to-day's 35- or 40 -inch direct view

sets or even big61 -inch rear pro-jection models.Space is availableto hold a varietyof audio/videocomponents, in-cluding front, leftand right speakersand even the cen-ter channel forDolby Pro Logic.It's simply a matterof matching yourtaste and yourbudget. Additionalmanufacturers in-

clude, Thomasville, Sanus, CWD,Lane, Ethan Aller, Bell'Oggetti, Tech -line, anc others. The options are outthere. Ald please leave the cinderblocks oL tside!

For more information, please write orcall the manufacturers below.

Andrew Corporation10500 W. 153rd St.Orland Park, IL 60462708-349-3300

AudioQuestPO Box 3060San Clemente, CA 92674714-498-2770

Ken Crane's Laser Discs15251 Beach Blvd.Westminster, CA 92683800-624-3078

Kimber Kable2752 South 1900 WestOgden, UT 84401801-621-5530

MIT3037 Grass Valley Hwy.Auburn, CA 95602916-888-0394

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab105 Morris St.Sebastopol, CA 95472-3857800-423-5759

Monster Cable274 Wattis WaySouth San Francisco, CA 94080415-871-6000

Sennheiser6 Vista DrivePO Box 987Old Lyme, CT 06371203-434-9190

Target Audio and WBT10524 Lexington Dr.Suite 300Knoxville, TN 37932615-966-8844

XLO Electric9480 Utica Ave.Suite 612Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730909-466-0382

Cover Photograph: David HamsleyShown are Sennheiser HD414 Head-

phones, Target Audio WBT-0645 AngledBanana Plug, Monster SuperFlat SFLGP20 Cable and AudioQuest Ruby Inter-connect Cable.

This special advertising section wasspecially prepared for the publisher ofAudio magazine. None of the maga-zine's editorial personnel were involved.

The mar 111- III

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CIRCLE NO. 22 ON REACER SE-IVICE CARD

Technobabble.M Series Cable Technology From Monster Cable Delivers

True Performance Wi-hout the Nonsense.

Nowadays you hear a lot of ta--< about technology. But only the new %A Series by Ivior7ter Cable is

desgned for advanced systems that require higher performance caber tc bring out the

best sound a- d picture from your components. Mc ester Cable has developed new

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to corplete its renowned M Series line of advanced audo ant video cables

- ensuring you get all the system perforna-ce you paid for.

HEAP FIOR YOURSELF.

Deeper, tight r bass, increased dynamic range, precise imagine a d greater depth

transport you loser to the original performance. Tie new M3501 nterconnect

3 , forures solid core tecinoogy for full, mural sound ar i vlonster's new

0 PE< dielectric that isolates vibration for ligh frequency caly. M8501 with

precision Time Correct windin and our PEX Jidectric delivers

deadly actuate, refined wiLsic reproduction.

SEE FOR YOURSELF.

The new Many high resolution 1.4deo cable delive-s a sharper, orgrker picture and

5 a:curate cob from your VCR or Iaserdisc player. !wi expandec rc -ice of advanced

AN :onnection kits are designed to fit any system need. Ais the M Series

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innmative new audioicrile and videop ilc cables at your

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ANTHONY H. CORDESMAN

KRELL KPS-20iCD PLAYER

IIrell's KPS-20i represents a re-versal of high -end fashion.(Not that such fashions don'tchange surprisingly fast!) Instate-of-the-art CD playbackequipment, the fashion has

been separate transports and D/Aconverters, rather than single -unitplayers. The KPS-20i bridges the gapbetween the separate and single -piece players: It combines a CDtransport with a D/A converterwhose five digital inputs allow it tobe used as the core of a complex dig-ital system. (The KPS-20i1, whichalso includes a volume control, caneven be used as a bare -bones pre -amp.) An optional digital -optics

Company Address: 45 ConnairRd., Orange, Conn. 06477.


output module allows it to be usedas a CD transport with other D/Aconverters.

Naturally, the state of the art hasits cost. The KPS-20i sells for$9,000. As is usual with Krell, how-ever, this is a

superbly builtcomponentand is packedwith features.

The KPS-20i's

CD transport isa top -loader.Its automaticsliding door re-veals a green -lit transport mecha-nism that looks like a hangar for avery small spaceship. (The CDwell is bathed in green light, saidto improve optical tracking.) TheKPS-20i's heavily modified PhilipsCDM-9 Pro mechanism has a turn-

table machined to improve servo -tracking capability and a magneticclamp.

The suspension system in thetransport mechanism seemed to beoutstanding. A properly leveledKPS-20i on a stable platform per-formed as well as any CD transport Ihave yet auditioned. Use of a slidingdoor instead of a hinged design-plus the low profile of the KPS-20i-also make it one of the fewtop -loading CD drives that can belocated in a relatively small spaceand still be convenient to operate.

The KPS-20i provides as good arange of control features as anymodel I know: LEDs and flat -paneldisplays clearly identify the status ofmost functions. The buttons are abit small, and the lettering on thedark panel is a bit hard to read-butthis scarcely matters, since most au-diophiles will rely on the versatileand clearly labelled remote controlthat comes with the player.

The front panel has digital inputselector buttons with LED indica-tors. You can choose between theCD transport in the KPS-20i, twoexternal digital coax inputs, an ex-ternal optical EIAJ input, an exter-nal ST optical input, and a balancedAES/EBU (XLR) input.

The rear panel has all of the digi-tal input connections just men-tioned, plus a coaxial digital outputfor recording from the KPS-20i'stransport or to use it with another

D/A converter.There are bothunbalanced(RCA) and bal-anced (XLR)

analog outputs.You'll also findseparate digitalinput and out-put jacks, a re-

mote access switch for use with fu-ture switching devices, and a switchto allow the KPS-20i to be used as aplayer without shutting the top cov-er-which speeds switching CDs. Ifyou purchase the optional plug-inoutput module for the KPS-20i, you

THE KPS-20i COMBINES

A CD TRANSPORT

WITH A D/A CONVERTER

WHOSE CONTROLS PERMIT

INDEPENDENT USE.


Sacrifice othing.B&W's Matrix HTM Home Theater Speakerresolves the movies versus music debateonce and for all COREY GREENBERG, Home Theater Technology

WHAT STARTED OUT AS A RAGING DEBATE HAS ENDED WITH RAVE REVIEWS.

HERE B&W PRESENTS THE CONSIDERED OPINIONS OF TWO RESPECTED CRITICS,

COREY GREENBERG of Home Theater Technology [Nov 1994 issue]

AND TOM NOUSAINE of Sound & Image 'Fall 1994 issue].

GREENBERG: "The main reason the HTMsare so superior to any movie speakers I'veheard is solely because these are musicspeakers first and foremost."

NOUSAINE: "This speaker is accurate.Dialogue and vocals are always intelli-gible and natural. Music sounds sweetand clean."

GREENBERG: "The sound of the B&W

Matrix HTMs is so much better than anyof the movie speakers I've heard, evensystems costing many times the price ofthe HTMs, that it's a joke."

NOUSAINE: "The Matrix HTM is atremendous performer. It makes a terrificcenter speaker and a pair of them would

even do a great job as mains in a music -only system. I'd be proud to own one."

GREENBERG: "This is the best sound I've

ever had in my home theater, bar none.Whether I played movie LDs or musicCDs, the sound of the B&W Matrix HTMwas honest, accurate, and the verydefinition of the term 'high fidelity.' It'sa speaker system you'll want to live withfor a long, long time."

What else can we say?For the name of a B&W dealer nearyou, call 1-800-370-3740. And hear why

the critics' choice inmusic speakers is thecritics' choice in moviespeakers.

r3duce su

waves to minimize

coloration - whether

you're listening to music

cr watching movies.

B&W Loudspeakers of America, 54 Concord Street, North Reading, MA 01864 tel 1-800-370-3740 fax (508)664-4109


Listen and You'll See

also get EIAJ and ST (AT&T) optical out-puts, and an AT&T "sync" output that canbe used to provide time synchronizationwith the Krell Reference 64 D/A converter,to minimize jitter. The ST output can beswitched to become an additional regulardigital output.

Krell feels that combining a CD trans-port and D/A converter into one unitallows the designer to reduce clock jitterbelow the levels made possible by mostS/PDIF interfaces or the use of theAES/EBU or ST connections in CD sepa-rates. At the same time, Krell has paid closeattention to design basics. The KPS-20i hasan exceptionally large and well regulatedpower supply. It uses an upgradableEPROM for its software -based filter andinterpolation, which guides the operation ofa new, high-speed Motorola DSP56002 chip.The KPS-20i also uses two pairs of carefullytrimmed Burr -Brown PCM63 20 -bit devices

to convert the output to an analog signaland create a high -quality, balanced output.

As is usual with Krell, the analog outputstage is Class A, and the KPS-20i uses dis-crete components and an unusual amountof power. This circuitry makes the chassis

that of any CD player I know of, but theunit sounds superb!

I do not praise the sound quality of theKrell KPS-20i casually. I compared its sonic

performance to that of three of the mostoutstanding combinations of CD trans-ports and D/A converters around: TheMark Levinson No. 31 transport and 30.5converter with HDCD, Theta Digital'sData 3 transport and DS Pro Generation Vconverter with HDCD, and Krell's ownMD -10 transport and Reference 64 con-verter. This comparison revealed that youcan get state-of-the-art sound quality withvery different approaches to technology.All four of these different CD systems wereextraordinarily musical, and all did equallywell in reproducing live and first -genera-tion copies of DAT recordings. In fact, thedifferences were far more matters of musi-cal nuance than of absolute differences insound quality. (For my reviews of theLevinson combination, see the March is-sue; I reviewed Theta's DSPro GenerationV in February.)

Yet there were differences. The MarkLevinson combination had the most de-

tailed upper octaves. The HDCD process-ing and upgrading of the filter chip in theNo. 30.5 converter make this reference -quality unit even better. The No. 30.5 nowhas increased air and detail and better dy-namics, and a combination of the No. 31transport and 30.5 converter offers a

unique fusion of low-level sonicsoundstage information, imagingand energy.

Theta Digital's combination also re-

vealed significant improvements over itshighly regarded predecessors. Theta'sequipment has always offered extraordi-nary musical dynamics, and its new trans-port and converter led in sheer musical lifeand excitement. The Theta also had richand full bass, most of the sheer detail of theLevinson combo, and a touch more appar-ent warmth.

When I compared the KPS-20i to theLevinson and Theta combinations, theKPS-20i proved to have the most outstand-ing bass, regardless of the speakers I tried. Iauditioned all four CD systems withApogee Studio Grands, B & W 801 MatrixSeries 3s, Thiel CS5iand CS7 pairs, and

woofers. In each case,the KPS-20i providedthe most convincingcombination of bassextension, power, anddetail, and it did sowith my collection ofCD and DAT bass spectaculars, includingitems from Chesky, Reference Recordings,and Telarc.

The sound of the midrange and treble ofthe KPS-20i differed from those of theLevinson and Theta combinations, butthese differences were like those you hearwhen you change between two good seatsin a good concert hall than real differencesin sound quality.

The Levinson and Theta combinations,and the Krell KPS-20i, all had roughly thesame overall timbre, but the Levinson's dy-namics and resolution of detail gave slight-ly more apparent energy to the uppermidrange and treble. The effect is similarto the way a modern concert hall generallydiffers from an older hall. And the Levin-son combination provided the best andmost musical resolution of low-level detail.

detail,

detail,

The Theta combination had slightly lessapparent upper midrange and treble ener-gy than the Levinson, more like an olderhall, and just slightly less low-level detail.The Theta also had the kind of "live" dy-namics I associate with the front third ofthe hall.

The timbre and spectral balance of theKrell KPS 20i's upper midrange and treblewere similar to that of the Theta combina-tion, but the 20i's dynamics and resolutionwere closer to those of a mid -hall seat orone slightly farther back.

In short, the transparency and sound -stage of each combination, in conjunctionwith its timbre, midrange, treble, and dy-namics, produced different kinds of musi-cality. Listening to the Krell KPS-20i afterlistening to the Theta was like moving fromRow D in an older hall to Row M. TheKrell KPS-20i had excellent depth and air,very good imaging, and the ability to re-produce the most demanding dynamiccontrasts in a musically realistic form. Itprovided an excellent feeling of space, andit had outstanding dynamic energy. On the

other hand, the 20i's

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less ambient energythan those of theLevinson and Thetacombinations.

I would suggestthat you audition theKrell KPS-20i in

terms of its ability to create a convincingmid -hall illusion, not in terms of theamount of upper -midrange detail or sheermusical energy. The KPS-20i is intenselymusical, but it does not have the initial"punch" of some of its best competition.You need to give the Krell time enough tohear how natural and involving its soundcan be.

The sonic differences between the KrellKPS-20i, the Mark Levinson combo, andTheta Digital's combo are slight. None ofthese components impose their individ-ual sound characters in ways that makemajor changes in the inherent characterof a recording. You will always hear theperformance, not the sound of the digitalequipment.

The KPS-20i outperformed the earlierKrell MD -10 transport and Reference 64


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D/A converter in virtually every respect.Feeding the transport outputs of the KPS-20i into the Reference 64 provided a soundthat was far more competitive with the to-tal KPS-20i than using the MD -10. In fact,the Reference 64 then appeared to have abit more sheer detail and transparencythan the D/A in the KPS-20i.

However, the KPS-20i's D/A works bestwith its internal CD transport, just as theReference 64 works best with a Krell CDtransport that can be connected to the syn-chronization output, as well as the regulardigital output, of the transport. Whetheror not this really is a function of jitter is anissue for engineers and mythmakers. Digi-tal cables and interfaces do make a real dif-ference, and I suggest you begin by usingST cables when you connect another digital

component to the inputs on the KPS-20i.Then try the AES/EBU connector. (If youuse a DAT machine, however, you mayhave no choice other than using a coaxialcable.) You should also experiment withdifferent cables, particularly ST and coaxialtypes. I suspect that many of the minor dif-ferences in sound quality that will resultare as much a product of differences in thetolerances of the plug and socket interfaceas anything else.

The KPS-20i does not provide quite thesame resolution of upper -midrange andhigh -frequency detail as the much morecostly combination of the Krell -20T andReference 64 processor or the combinationof the Mark Levinson No. 31 and No. 30.5HDCD. However, the KPS-20i's upper oc-taves are very good indeed, and the overallsound quality of its midrange equals thatof any competing unit at any price. TheKPS-20i's bass may be the best around, asis its ability to give you the illusion of mu-sically natural mid -hall sound.

If your primary concern in choosing aCD system is the sound of music, I stronglysuggest you audition the KPS-20i. Its

sound may differ in nuance from that ofother top -price models, but nothing I haveyet heard is consistently better. In fact, Isuspect that the sound of today's best CDunits may be very close to the limit-or"glass ceiling"-imposed by today's 16 -bitstandard. The industry will have to makeadvances in digital technology before high -end sound gets much better than what theKrell KPS-20i achieves. A

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Sviatoslav Richter:The Authorized Recordings

Sviatoslav Richter, pianoPHILIPS, 21 CDS, AVAILABLE

SEPARATELY.Sound: B-, Performance: A+

tarting in 1940 as a Juilliard stu-dent, I heard (for 55 cents pertop -balcony ticket) such pianis-tic titans as Josef Hofmann,Vladimir Horowitz, Sergei Rach-maninoff, Moriz Rosensthal, etal.; since then, I've continued tohear more than my fair share ofgreat pianists. If some idiot

threatened me with death unless Ideclared my favorite pianist livingtoday, I'd have to say, without hesita-tion, Sviatoslav Richter. Now Philipshas tossed him an extraordinary80th -birthday posy in the form of a21 -CD bouquet labelled "The Au-thorized Recordings," made between1966 and 1994.

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Ironically, Richter's American fanshave had to console themselves pri-marily with his records-and hehates recording. Especially backwhen the American dollar ruled theworld, most great musicians couldscarcely wait to conquer the U.S.A.Not Richter; in this, as in virtually allaspects of his life-even during the

despotic Stalin era in his native Sovi-et Union-he has gone strictly hisown way. We met in Prague in 1956,and got to know each other inMoscow in 1958, during the inau-gural International TchaikovskyCompetition. In the October 1958issue of High Fidelity magazine, Ipublished the Western World's firstfull-length article about him. Hissole, laconic response then to thebaffling question, why he had neverperformed in the West, was accom-panied by a smile that firmly closedthe subject: "I must be invited." In alater issue I was able to make pub-lic-with his permission-the truereason for his isolation: His mother,who had fled the Soviet Union toWest Germany during World War II.Her mere existence galvanized thepowers that were to restrict his trav-els to the Soviet bloc.

Even as a student, Richter consis-tently went his own way. TheMoscow Conservatory's curriculumincluded an obligatory course onMarxist-Leninist dialectical materi-alism. Richter simply ignored it-and the Conservatory consequentlyexpelled one of its most brilliant stu-dents ever. That same willfulnessmanifests itself in his gigantic reper-toire; he has learned Bach's entireWell -Tempered Clavier, but ignoreda long list of staples-such as most ofthe Beethoven concertos and Rach-maninoff s Third-in favor of awealth of recondite but worthwhilecuriosities. Many of the latter spiceup these Authorized Recordings.

THE EARLY OSQUIN Capella Alamire, Peter Urquhart

DORIAN DISCOVERY DIS-80131,CD; DDD; 56:47

Sound: B+, Performance: A

A Magnificat, a Mass, andthree Credos (one by JohannesOckeghem, a contemporary ofJosquin des Pres-or, as the book-let has it, DesPrez-who wrote therest) are beautifully sung and cap-

tured in a pair of New Englandchurches with just the right balancebetween reverberance and clarity.

The very stronglyleft -to -right stereomay be deliber-ate-to differenti-ate the polyphoniclines-though attimes I'd like more

center fill. Otherwise, an utterly de-lightful disc. Robert Long


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One has the impression Philips' team fol-lowed Richter around Europe for years, readyto record whenever the mood might strikehim. In several instances they have caught himin public performance; he will tolerate that aslong as he can see no recording paraphernalia.That precondition, inevitably, sometimes hasan effect on these sonics: At certain points,presumably due to a mike concealed under-neath the instrument, his Yamaha concertgrand sounds almost tinny. That preconditionalso, alas, means having to leave unedited theoccasional clinker.

Richter has always proclaimed that he doesnothing but play the notes the composer setdown. Generally speaking, he does just that-but he also has a magical way, without depart-ing one jot or tittle from the score, of sudden-ly revealing the music itself in a manner thatmakes you feel that you are hearing it for thevery first time.

Consider what he does with Liszt's dear oldbarn -burner of a sonata (in set 4386202).Thunder and lightning dominate most per-formances; Richter, going his own way as usu-al, transmutes it into pure poetry-until sud-denly, where the score permits, his fingers takeon a life of their own and one's eyes widen at atranscendental technique and power few pi-anists have possessed. He also obliges with oneof Liszt's Hungarian rhapsodies-but, charac-teristically, he eschews the crowd -pleasing2nd, 6th, and 12th in favor of the whimsical,almost wispy little 17th (2:35!)-which I pre-viously hadn't even known existed.

Obviously, deserving as a release of thismagnitude may be, space permits only somecritical generalities. Bear in mind Richter'stowering importance in musical history, andthe documentary nature of these 21 CDs,which he clearly regards as his legacy. Theiroverall riches include an abundance of workshis admirers will hope for-five pellucidMozart sonatas (K. 280, 283, 333, 457, and494) plus the C Minor Fantasia (in set4384802); three Schubert sonatas (D. 575,840, and 894, in 4384832); all three ofBeethoven's last, monumental sonatas (Opp.109, 110, and 111) plus the "Appassionata"(4384862); three each of Bach's English Suites(3, 4, and 6) and French Suites (2, 4, and 6)plus the Italian Concerto (4386132); eightChopin etudes from Op. 10, six from Op. 25,and 10 preludes from Op. 28, not to mentionthe Barcarolle and three polonaises (1, 4, and7, all in 4386202); and Prokofiev's over-whelming wartime Sixth Sonata, eightShostakovich preludes and fugues, and Scri-abin's occult "Vers la flamme" (4386272).

Farther off the beaten track, we get Brahms'"Paganini Variations" and his first two sonatas(4384772); the two modest little sonatas ofBeethoven's Op. 49 (4384772); two jovial but


elegant Haydn sonatas (Hob. XVI, Nos. 24and 52) and Weber's Sonata No. 3 (43386172);six less familiar Beethoven sonatas plustwo rondos (4386242), and from Liszt notthe almost overfamiliar "Mephisto WaltzNo. 1" but the virtually unknown "Mephis-to Polka"-and, as if to remind you thatRichter can burn a barn just as brilliantly asany other pianist, eight "Etudes d'executiontranscendente" and five "etudes de concert"(4386202).

To my profound regret, we do not getRichter's superlative interpretation of Schu-bert's great posthumous B -flat sonata, hisblazing performance of the Schumann Tocca-ta, or his almost unbearably exciting realiza-tion of Scriabin's forbidding Sonata No. 7. Byway of compensation we do get some unex-pected treasures: Beethoven's "Archduke"Trio (with string players moonlighting fromMoscow's Borodin Quartet) and Beethoven'searly and largely unfamiliar Quintet forWinds and Piano, Op. 16 (both works in4386242).

P.S.: If you buy the whole shebang, as aboxed set, you also get a beautifully printedlarge -format volume of photographs and text.(Editor's note: Philips says that the limited edi-tion is sold out but that some copies may stillremain "in the pipeline."-R.L.) In addition,you get a 22nd CD-not available separately-chock full of such riches as Cesar Franck's"Prelude, Chorale, and Fugue," two Debussypreludes, a little elegy by Wagner (!), two over-powering Rachmaninoff etudes -tableaux,three Bartok burlesques, and ... wait for it ...not only the Schumann "Toccata" but Liszt'sless known, brilliant "Mephisto Waltz No. 2."Rejoice! Paul Moor

Voyage a ParisFrederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano;

Martin Katz, pianoCA VICTOR RED SEAL 9026-62711-2

CD; DDD; 70:40Sound: A-, Performance: A-

anging from Satie to Messiaen, thisrecital of modern French songs is

ertly managed all around. Lovers of thegeous, plangentoration that vonde has been wontoveruse will findIn limited supplye, but the gain in

variety is a plus.1, she sounds a little anonymous by con -

to her old, very specific self. The soundlear, forward, and attractive; the notest mention the venue. Robert Long

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Milton Babbitt: Philomel; Phonemena(two versions); Post -Partitions;

ReflectionsBethany Beardslee and Lynne Webber,

sopranos; Jerry Kuderna and Robert Miller,piano; synthesized and manipulated sounds

NEW WORLD RECORDS80466-2, CDk 41:44

Sound: B, Performance: A+

Even allowing for certain personal connec-tions to the "Philomel," in a recording origi-nally made for the remarkable Acoustic Re-search Contemporary Music Project a

quarter -century ago, both the piece and the

performance are staggering and seem evenstronger today than in the past. Babbitt's witand playfulness are combined with a pathosnot usually associated with his music.

"Philomel" is written forlive soprano, recorded(and manipulated) so-prano, and synthesizer.The soprano, both liveand on tape, is BethanyBeardslee, who is at her

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synthesizer accompaniment, soprano LynneWebber has a steelier timbre than Beardslee.That sound is not out of place in this music,and she approaches it with equal agility andsimilar intelligence. The two remaining pieces,"Post -Partitions" and "Reflections," areplayed by Robert Miller, "Reflections" withsynthesizer and tape accompaniment. Thesefour pieces were expertly recorded for NewWorld in Columbia's New York studios and,like "Philomel," originally issued on LP. (If Ifind them less riveting than "Philomel," itcould be the result of my greater familiaritywith the latter.)

Admittedly, Babbitt's music is not foreveryone, and the disc is not as generouslyfilled as most are these days. But if you're at alladventurous in your tastes, you owe it to your-self to hear, at minimum, the "Philomel."

Robert Long

Borodin: String Quartet No. 2;Stravinsky: Three Pieces for

String Quartet; Shostakovich:String Quartet No. 3Lafayette String Quartet

DORIAN DOR-90203 CD;DDD; 72:00Sound: A-, Performance: A-

Good stuff, well recorded. The Lafayette is avery disciplined and expressive group, with asound that is at worstsomewhat astringentand at best searingly fo-cused. This is an all -Russian program, butone without any otherunifying element. Still,it's all fine music, and, of course, it profitsfrom Dorian's superb Troy Savings Bank Mu-sic Hall sound. Robert Long

Francois Couperin: First Book ofHarpsichord Music

Chnstophe Rousset, harpsichordHARMONIA MUNDI (FRANCE)

HMC 901450.52Three CDS; 3:00:01

Sound: A, Performance: A

Couperin le Grand, as he was called todifferentiate him from another FrancoisCouperin, was the most illustrious of his dis-tinguished, hugely musical family-roughly, aFrench equivalent of the Bachs in Germany.He was appointed harpsichordist to the king'schambers and organist to his chapel, andwrote many works for both instruments in ad-dition to chamber music, secular vocal music,and much religious music.

Beginning his massive four -volume seriesof suites for the harpsichord, Couperin fol-lowed the traditional organization, combining


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dance movements with a few non -dancepieces. His unique contribution here was thedevelopment of character pieces that took ad-

vantage of the precision,clarity, and brilliance ofthe harpsichord in com-plex ornamentation.Each piece is a por-trait-not always com-plementary-of some-

one the composer knew, but he neverexplained the unusual titles once they servedtheir purpose of inspiring the music.

The First Book is divided into five "orders"with up to two dozen short pieces in each-

some under a minute in length and otherslasting five or more. Couperin shares with an-other master of the harpsichord, DomenicoScarlatti, the ability to achieve extraordinaryvariety and freshness in these hundreds ofshort works.

Rousset plays a restored 1624 Ruckers harp-sichord with recorded sonics respectfully dis-tant, so that its tone is never harsh or biting aswith many recordings of this instrument. Histreatments sparkle and bubble; it's unlikelyany serious listener would find them a bit bor-ing. Should one hanker for the complete set,Rousset's recordings of the other three booksare also available on multi -CDs. John Sunier

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Paving the Way (Hoist, Ewazen, Tomasi,Shostakovich, Ives, Copland)

Summit BrassSUMMIT DCD 171, CD; 63:47

It's the old advertising idea: Make it lookgood, and it is good. I was immediatelytrapped by this amusing cover-a huge"steam roller" looming over three genuinebrass instruments, absolutely flattened! Ahuge man (the driver?) stands to one side,looking rueful. Where did they get those flat(or flattened) instruments?

Inside, though, is a typical large brassgroup, enormously competent, ultra -serious,characteristically absorbed in the superbtechnique of its own playing. And not, as Ihear it, in any way inter-ested in you or me. Sowhy should you, the CDor cassette buyer, be in-terested in all this heavybrass, some of it notvery appropriate? Why,indeed! But this seems to be the fourth CD bythe Summit group, so somebody's buying,and maybe it's you.

Admittedly, the music does vary, and someis good. The opening Gustav Holst, the Marsmovement of his "The Planets," shows its dat-edness unmercifully in the transcription forbrass: It is noisy and pretentious. (The original'sorchestral colors make it more acceptable.)Then comes a Symphony in Brass by EricEwazen, of Juilliard in New York, no date given.Its two outer movements are full of the typicalacademic "jazzy" syncopations that continueto outlive their heyday of the '50s and '60s.There are nice contrasts of brass choirs here,however, and the sound is amiable.

After that comes a four -movement work bythe Frenchman Henri Tomasi. To me, itseemed so gross and outdated in its loudnessthat I skipped much of it. But the next item, arelatively unknown Dmitri Shostakovichpiece, originally for four -hand piano, made aninteresting, lively, and almost happy impres-sion. The reason: It was composed just afterStalin's death.

The brass program ends with Charles Ivesand Aaron Copland, kindred souls here in cre-ating a pop-ish, folksy American idiom, if al-most a half -century apart. Ives' slightly outra-geous variations on "America" must havebeen painful for sensitive turn -of -the -centuryears, and were obviously so intended; nowthey are merely biting. Copland was gentler in1942 with Rodeo but, in fact, influenced sever-al later generations of music in this Americanvein. It's not bad at all in brass format.

So, a mixed bag-not unusual in these vir-tuoso recordings of a single instrument or sin-gle instrument family. Edward Tatnall Canby



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Young BloodJerry Lee Lewis

SIRE 61795-2, 38:59Sound: B, Performance: A-

LTerry Lee Lewis is synonymouswith both rock 'n' roll piano andcontroversial, oddball behavior.That aside, his first studio recordin over a decade is fabulous. Hecomes out rocking on HankWilliams' "I'll Never Get Out ofThis World Alive" and an Al An-

derson (formerly of N.R.B.Q.) andAndy Paley tune, "Goosebumps,"and The Killer never looks back.

Just like Lewis' career, the pro-gram here is split between rock 'n'roll and country songs. At differenttimes, he's been a hit -maker in both

genres-he sings either style with amix of total abandonment and com-plete commitment. Rockers like thetitle track, a Coasters classic, sit com-

fortably alongside "Miss the Missis-sippi and You," a song JimmieRodgers introduced in 1932.

As rock 'n' roll's second great pi-ano man (his breakthrough followedFats Domino's by two years), it's ap-propriate that the key instrumenthere is Lewis' signature pumping pi-ano which, per usual, he plays like awildman. It's also nice to see Lewis'longtime associate, fiddler KennyLovelace, in a prominent rolethroughout the album, as a musicianas well as co -writer of two songs.

Producer Paley has given YoungBlood a heavy reverb sheen with

mixed results. While it enhances therockers, recapturing the signatureSun Records sound that graced JerryLee's landmark early hits, on themore tender country songs, it addstoo much distance between thesinger, song, and listener.

Still, the blend of songs old andnew is uncanny. Nothing is jarring orout of place, and hearing The Killertake on chestnuts like "Down theRoad a Piece," "High Blood Pres-sure," Bobby Darin's obscure"Things," and "Poison Love" is a gas.

A couple of years ago, Sire klRecords' head honcho, Seymour :1Stein, recognized another aging, ig-nored artist by releasing Pictures and tPaintings (Sire/Blue Horizon/Warn- ?,-er Bros. 26730-2), Charlie Rich's firstalbum in ages. It turned out to beone of the Silver Fox's best. With thisCD, Stein has coaxed lightning intothe jar once again. Michael Tearson

Practically WiredBill Nelson

GYROSCOPE GYR-6613-2, 45:29Sound: B, Performance: B+

There was a time when Bill Nelson

would have been regarded as a guitarhero: His scorching leads in the '70swith Be -Bop Deluxe, and his sinewye -bow lines dur-ing the early '80swere six -stringstudies in sonicarchitecture. Butfor the past 10 -plus years, Nelson's compositionshave largely been ambient atmos-pheres, automatic -writing composi-tions, and subconscious explorationsthat have had little to do with guitarand even less to do with rock. Butnow the lid is off.

On Practically Wired, Nelsonrekindles his original passion forguitar with an all -instrumental pres-sure cooker. On the 14 compositions,he traverses techno, blues, and evensome ambient atmospheres, butthere's little doubt that the guitar isfront and center. He slashes throughtaped cut -ups on "Roses & Rocket


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SEND MONEY ORDER,CERTIFIED OR CASHIER'S CHECK, MASTERCARD, VISA, AMERICAN EXPRESS or DISCOVER CARD(include Interbank No. expiration date and signature) To: J&R Music World, Dept AU0995, 59-50 Queens Midtown Expwy, Maspeth,Queens, NY 11378. Personal and business checks must clear our Authorization Center before processing. Shipping, handling andInsurance Charge (Continental US) is 5% of the total order with a $4.95 minimum for orders up to $500: 4% for orders over $500to $1000: and 3% for orders over $1000. For heavyweight/over-sized items, shipment by air, or to Canada, Hawaii, Alaska, VirginIslands & Puerto Rico please call for information. DO NOT SEND CASH. Sorry no C.O.D's. NY residents please add sales tax.ORDERS SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION & ACCEPTANCE. NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL OR PICTORIAL ERRORS.ALL MERCHANDISE SHIPPED BRAND NEW. FACTORY FRESH AND 100% GUARANTEED. Some quantities may be limited.Copyright 1995 J&R Music World. City 01 NYDept. of Consumer Affairs License Numbers 0900310/0900615/0900616/0900617 = al en

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V Shop By Phone24 Hours A Day7 Days A Week1 -800-221 -81 80T. receive our free catalogcircle #14 on Reader's Service Card

ships" and offers Hendrix -inspired metalon "Big Noise in Twangtown." "Every Mo-ment Infinite" is a swamp -music brew withslithering e -bow guitar.

What really sets Nelson's albums apartfrom the usual spate of "guitar slingers" (Sa-

triani, Johnson, and Vai, among others) is that

his music isn't just an opportunity for guitarpyrotechnics: His songs are bona fide compo-

sitions, and his grooves are invariably as com-

pelling as his solos. Nelson is a master of am-

bience, but it's nice to hear him kick out thejams. John Diliberto

Stanley Road

Paul Weller

GO! DISCS/LONDON 422-828 619-2, 52:10

Sound: A-, Performance: A

After abandoning rock music for nearly adecade, Paul Weller has returned as a torchcarrier for the '90s. Though he hasn't ditched

the R&B influences that tie him to his earli-er days as the leader of The Jam and StyleCouncil, Stanley Road feels like the kind ofartistic progression we once heard from bands

like Traffic, The Small Faces, and Free; all

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clearly left their mark onWeller.

Weller's writing hasnever been this consis-tent. Virtually all of thetwelve songs on this CD

are memorable, his voice richly compliment-

ing the material. Cameo performances bySteve Winwood and Oasis help set the tone,but they never overshadow Weller-it's clearly

his show. An obvious vocal influence is Steve

Marriott (there's a cover of Humble Pie's "IWalk on Gilded Splinters"), but Weller's voice

is distinctive enough that he never seems likean impersonator. Jon & Sally Tiven

Torn Again

Peter Case

VANGUARD 79481-2, 48:34

Sound: A-, Performance: A

Case's new album is a compelling set ofnew songs with great melodies and stories.Standouts include "Workin' for the Enemy," atale of double and triple crosses; "Baltimore,"

about a street gang attack

on a stranger whoshouldn't have been ontheir turf, and "Turnin'Blue," about a serene do-

mestic scene that turnsviolent. Exuberant performances by an excel-

lent studio band (guitarist Greg Liesz, bassist

Jerry Scheff, and drummer Don Heffington)yield a crisp and intimate sound. Case, whohas recently reconvened his fabled band ThePlimsouls, has long been a songwriter who can

thrill you and chill you by turns. Never moreso than on the very tuneful Torn Again.

Michael Tearson

OxygeneJean Michel Jarre

MOBILE FIDELITY SOUND LAB

MFSL-1-212, LP, 40:54

Sound: A-, Performance: B

Synthesized music has always pushed theaudiophile envelope. With its extended lowsand highs, plus extensive use of space andopen atmospherics, it was a perfect partner for

CDs, enabling listeners to enjoy ethereal inner

realms without the distraction of pops or sur-

face noise. Mobile Fidelity, as it did with itsearlier audiophile LP pressings, attempts toaddress these concerns in the vinyl format



with a new half -speed rendition of JeanMichel Jarre's 1976 classic.

Oxygene is a single composition that carries

you through movements of free-floating space

before morphing intodriving sequencer pat-terns. Composed longbefore the advent ofsamplers and digital syn-

thesizers, it actuallysounds fresh again-its analog timbres novel,

its structure adventurous.

This Mobile Fidelity reissue brings out the

details and range of Oxygene's expansive elec-

tronic orchestrations-synth strings, elec-tronic percussion, alien flutes, space whirs-in

a way that's comparable to this work's recent

CD reissues (Dreyfus FDM 36146-2 or Mobile

Fidelity UDCD 613). But ultimately, Oxygene

will always be one of those recordings forwhich the CD truly seems to have been in-vented. John Diliberto

Grandmother's Tea Leaves

Emily Bezar

OLIO ORD599, 63:23

Sound: B, Performance: A

Emily Bezar blends classical and pop influ-

ences with some operatic vocal technique tocreate this eloquent and engaging debut al-bum. She uses her voice in a way similar toTori Amos, pressing out a controlled dynamic

and a wide emotional range. At times, Bezarsounds so much like Amos that it's unnerving

(the grand piano rolls and haunting vocals on

"I Really Don't," for example). Bezar's lyrics

also encroach on familiar Amos territory: Vir-

gins, God, nightmares, heroes, and blood.

Still, there are important differences be-tween the two singers. Where Amos always

seems aware of her audi-

ence, Bezar seems to bewriting for herself; Amos

loudly displays her se-crets, while Bezar quietly

reveals hers. If Amos was

the girl in high school who announced toeveryone, with studied drama, that her fatherhad an affair with her best friend, Bezar wasthe girl who wrote about the affair in a note to

herself that you happened to find, mistakenly

stuck inside a library book.

Now, I love Tori Amos, but lately I find my-

self reaching for Emily Bezar more often.Maybe that's because I feel less like Bezar's


trying to manipulate my emotions (for per-sonal profit) and more like she's trying to ex-

press her own. A promising debut. (Available

from Olio Records, P.O. Box 5899-182, Berke-

ley, Cal. 94705.) Daniel Levitin

The Brooklyn Side

The Bottle Rockets

EAST SIDE DIGITAL ESD 81002, 52:05

Sound: B, Performance: A-

The Bottle Rockets are based in Festus, Mis-

souri, which explains why they resonate with a

rootsy, authoritative heartland sound. It's evi-

dent on the opening moments of their second

album, The Brooklyn Side, where a mandolin

introduce:. a heart -wrenching song about rur-

al blight ("Welfare Music"). The Bottle Rock-

ets' writing is a definite strength; songs havewell-defined characters who are often stuck in

situations laced withirony. "Radar Gun," forexample, is a chuggingrocker about a neophytehighway cop armed with

his electronic toy. "1000

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CII f 41i MI 0Paseo LatinoCorazon Gitano

BMG 74321-23454-2, 46:04Sound: A, Performance: A

Como una Vara VerdePata Negra

BMG 74321-24492-2, 43:15Sound: A, Performance: A

t hese days, flamenco music facessomething of an identity crisis,as the young progenitors whorepresent it are no longercontent just to strum

and tap for café dancers. Con-sequently, they've been pushingthe form in curious directions, andthis is quite apparent on new releas-es by Corazon Gitano and Pata Negra.

Turning its gaze away from tradi-tional Spanish boleros and fandan-gos, Corazon Gitano fuses theblazing guitars and lustysinging of flamenco with salsahorn and synthesizer accompani-ments. The result is a hybrid that mightbe called "salsamenco." Sambas,merengues, charangas, and bachatas un-characteristically mingle with the guitar'srasgueado strumming and Middle East-ern -tinged melodies. Only one song, "An-tologia Mora," an extended guitar tour deforce, has a traditional flamenco sound.

The remaining songs shimmer with therhythms of Latin pop, as if lifted from a Mi-ami radio station. (Ironically, Paseo Latinowas recorded in Miami.)

For all its strange fusions, Corazon Gi-tano keeps the flamenco spirit alive. It's

easy to imagine groans from traditional-ists, but the players are hot, and there'sno denying that Paseo Latino is modernflamenco.

Pata Negra-essentially the singing,songwriting, and guitar playing of Rafael

Amador-steers flamenco into therealms of rock 'n' roll. With an en-

semble comprising traditional andmodern instruments, Amador's

flamenco guitar rhythms serveas the foundation and en-

gine. On the surface, Comouna Vara Verde's songs are tradi-

tion -based, but a closer listen revealsunusual chord changes, bluesy gui-

tar string -bending, and jazzyglissandos-all of which pale

in comparison to Amador's dis-torted and raunchy electric gui-

tar parts. These contrasting colorsfit right in with Amador's appropri-

C1 ately sour vocals.Both Paseo Latino and Como una Vara

Verde are daring departures into strangecontexts, yet both have a spiritual affinityto flamenco that makes a certain kind ofsense. Could flamenco be remaking itselfyet again. Michael Wright

Dollar Car" poses the oh -so -poignant que,tion, "If a thousand -dollar car was truly worth

a damn/Why would anybody ever spend tengrand?" as the band does a convincing Crazy

Horse impression. They're equally credible on

boozy country songs like "Idiot's Revenge,""Young Lovers in Town," and "Queen of theWorld." Thanks in no small part to Eric"Roscoe" Ambel's tightly focused production,

The Brooklyn Side is an exhilarating ride by a

band that's just beginning to discover howgood it can be. Michael Tearson

On the Move

Bobby Byrd

INSTINCT RECORDS EX.295.2, 46:05

Sound: B+, Performance: B+

Bobby Byrd's was the answering voice inthe call -and -response on several James Brown

hits from the '60s, including such timelessclassics as "Sex Machine" and "Talking Loud


cnkfl

it*f1t}/E

and Saying Nothing."Thankfully, he sticks tothat tried-and-true for-mula on his first -eversolo studio recording (li-

censed from Germany'sSoulciety Records). No horrible drum ma-chines, intrusive '90s -styled drum mixes, orsappy synth sounds here. Just no-nonsense,boot -shaking funk with a feeling.

Byrd throws down in forceful fashion with

a B-3 organ, accompanied by a funky drum-mer, grooving basslines, righteous rhythmguitar work, and punchy horn accents-justlike back in the day. And on "I Got It (It'sBeen a Long Time Coming)," he barks out the

tale of his comeback with gritty authority.

Bobby and his band, Pfunk-ness, weave amesmerizing groove on "Sayin' It and Doin' It

Is Two Different Things," the good -foot open-

er "Try It Again," and the closing vamp "Nev-

er Get Enough," which features guest soloist

Li. Crutchfield Park. Dept. AU, Charlottesville, VA 22906 ,m.1


Jacko Peake providing a touch of Maceo-styled alto sax. The Tower of Power hornssupply lush accompaniment on the ballad"Sunshine." Bill Milkowski

Music from a Sparkling Planet

Esquivel

BAR/NONE AHAON-056,37:06

Sound: B-, Performance: B+

Last year's Juan Garcia Esquivel collection,

Space Age Bachelor Pad Music, introduced a

new audience to this Mexican orchestraleader, who recorded for RCA from 1958 to1967. Esquivel, whose arranging style has been

accurately described as "Spike Jones meetsDali," does crazy thingsto standards like "Chero-

kee," the "Third ManTheme," and "Granada"with some wide-screenstereo tricks, panning,

and echo. Wordless vocals, oddball instru-ments, and weird effects make for infectiousfun. The current revival of lounge music has

produced some wild stuff, but nothing morechallenging than Esquivel's. Michael Tearson

FAST TRACKS (What About Regret): Kate Jacobs(BAR/NONE A-HAON-05 1-2, 45:20).Jacobs' girlish voice can be misleading:While it sets a light mood, her songs re-main intense displays of emotion. They'restorytelling vehicles delivered in a Euro-pean style with a worldly grace. She's anAmerican Jacques Brel, equally influencedby Leonard Cohen and The Louvin Broth-ers. (What About Regret) is a treasure ofhuman experience captured in songs. M.T.

I Have a Garden: Mother Mary (MESH0001, 23:48) They once wielded an art-sy, V.U.-ish sound, but Mother Mary is cur-rently mining fields of loud, fuzz -tonedpsychedelia. Singer Jarett alternates bet-ween rhapsodic musings and Janov-ianscreams-his songs could've easily beenwritten on an analyst's couch. High marksfor sheer emotion. This album is good,loud rock. (MESH RECORDS, 60 E. 8thSt., New York, N.Y. 10003). M.B.

Train a Comin': Steve Earle (WinterHarvest WH 3302-2, 40:00). Fresh out ofthe stir, Earle ends his four-year absencefrom recording with a disarmingly relaxedacoustic session that features great picking

by Peter Rowan and Norman Blake-and,on several songs, Emmylou Harris. Songslike "Mercenary Song," about soldiers offortune, and the Civil War tale "Ben Mc-Culloch," prove anew that Earle is one ofthe best storytelling songwriters. M.T.

Fire Lane: Gerry Devine and the Hi -Beams (Gadfly 206, 39:54). "(Man, Oh,Man) That Was Some Short Ride" is a per-fect example of why Fire Lane logs timedaily on my stereo: Snappy, funny, hook -driven roots -rock with all the right stuff. Is

Jason and the Scorchers too loud for ya?Are the Jayhawks too cloying? This maybe what you're looking for. M.B.

Threadwaxing Space Live: VariousArtists (Zero Hour ZH 1060-2, 46:40).The "low-fi" aesthetic has two vastly differ-ent characteristics: It's charming in its hon-esty, yet annoying because it often rendersgood music unlistenable. Accordingly, the" low -f i " Threadwaxing Space Live ischarming for its simplicity but grating be-cause it makes an Edison cylinder seemlike a Bab Clearmountain mix. But the pre-sent compilation, recorded off the boardat this New York performance space, fea-tures numbers by artists you want to hear;to name a few, Guided by Voices and GiantSand. And that (and only that) is its sav-ing grace. M.B.

Meet Mike Martindell.The man who broke the sound barrier.

In the world of hi -ti there are those who have it and thosewho have not. And Arcam's Mike Martindell has it in spades.

This is a man who did more for theanorak than Chuck Yeager did for the flightjacket. A man with only three things on hismind. Your left ear, your right ear and thefinal frontier... your wallet.

It took plenty of the right stuff (whatChuck would drawl `moxie') to even dreamof producing a CD player with Arcam'sstandards of sound quality for under $600*.But if anyone could do it, Mike could. Ourchief engineer and his team of self-confessed audiophiles have a rather compulsive habit. They liketo break old records (of which Arcam has a rather inelegantsufficiency).

Combining a liberal dose of obsession (and we're not talking

ARCAM

after -shave) with the same principles and techniques thatproduced the first complete UK manufactured CD player, they

created the new Alpha One.The British -built Al, as it is affectionately

nick -named (for reasons you will fully

understand when you check it out at yourArcam dealer), has all the hallmarks ofArcam's legendary quality.

Best sound performance in its class?

Check! Elegant appearance? Check!Future proof digital output? Check!Remote control? Check! Unique ArcamFibreglass printed circuit board? Check!

Military specification flow soldering? Check!In fact the only thing that has been scaled down in this single-

minded pursuit of glorious sonic performance...is the size ofyour cheque. Check!

-Augli+ssflorm-Corristiration-IMPORTERS OF AUDIOPHILE PRODUCTS

P.O. Box 381, Highland Lakes, NJ 07422. Tel: (201) 764-8958 Fax:(201) 764-8479.

In Canada: Emerald Audio Resources, Sussex P.O. Box 19016, 720 Spadina Avenue, Suite 100A, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3C9. Fax: 416-596-7171, Tel: 416-596-7657.

In UK: Arcam, Pembroke Avenue, Waterbeach, Cambridge, CB5 9PB. Tel: (44) 1223 440964 (24 hours). Fax: (44) 1233 863384.

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DEALERS...The best place to he seen is where people are

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The Dealer Showcase is an exclusive sectiondesigned to showcase your advertising

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PLEASE NOTE: It is impossible for us toverify all of the claims of advertisers,including product availability and exis-tence of warranties. To confirm that anadvertiser is authorized to sell a product,we suggest you contact the manufacturerdirectly. Please review our Tips for MailOrder Purchasers in this section.

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AUDIO RESEARCH. KRELL. Linn, YBA, Aragon, Acurus,B&K, MARTIN LOGAN, VANDERSTEEN, NHT, PARADIGM,Spica, NEAR, Totem. JM Labs, EAD, Micromega, CAL,NEW, Golden Tube, Fourier, Tara Labs, Lexicon. (608)284-0001.

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STEREO WORLD IS YOUR DIS-COUNT SOUND SOURCE THIS CAR STEREO SEASON!DEALS ON: SONY, CLARION, KENWOOD, JVC,HIFONICS, POLK, BLAUPUNKT, PIONEER, SCOSCHEEFX, KITS, BASSBOXES, AND MUCH MORE! CALL ORWRITE FOR FREE SALES FLYER. FREE UPS! OUR 8THYEAR. VISA MC: COD. P.O.BOX 596. MONROE. NY10950 19141 782-6044

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Hardbound AUDIO, annual bound volume editions, justlike the ones in the Editor -in -Chiefs office. Various yearsavailable in limited quantities, $40.00 each. Also available:Hardbound October Annual Equipment Directories. Years1992. 1991. 1990, & 1987 $15.95 each, and hardbound MayCar Stereo Directories for years 1991, 1990. 1989 and 1985.$8.00 each. All prices include postage and handling. Allorders postpaid. Check or money order only (no credit cardorders) payable to AUDIO MAGAZINE. Send orders to AU-DIO. 1633 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10019. Attn: MichaelBieber, Or call 212.767-6301 for further information.

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MC40$200-600, MC50 $100-249, MC60 $249-999, MC225 $500-999, MC240 $600-1995, MC250 $265-499. MC275 $2819-5995.MC502(EX) $455, MC2100 $299-549, MC2105 $455-899, MC2120(G) $645, MC2150(G) $607, MC2200 $455-699,MC2500(C1) $2215: Motif MS2001(N) $1899; Nobis CANTABILE(D) $1299; OCM500(D) $1916: Rotel RB9706X(D) $273.RB980BX(N) $569; Sunf ire SUNFIRE(D) $1908; Threshold S500(EX) $2195; VAC V70-MKII(D) $2175. V100(D) $2327.CASSETTE DECKS: Carver TD1770(D) $442; TDR1550(D) $379; Denon DRM710(AI) $361. DRS810(N) $442; DRW840(N)$363; Nakamichi 550(A1) $303; Sony TC-K909ES(EX) $299. CD PLAYERS: Carver SDA360(D) $361, SDA370(D) $476:Denon DCM320(D) $265, DN650F(N) $788, DN961FA(D) $1465: Kinergetics KCD40(D) $1795; Krell CD1(EX) $1519,KPS20I(EX) $6118; Rotel RCD820(AI) $227. RCD965BX(D) $410; Sony CDP-X339ES(EX) $299. CD PROCESSORS:Aragon D2A-II(M) $1212; CAL SIGMA(EX) $227; Cary CAD5500(EX) $599; Enlightened Audio DSP7000-GOLD(M) $721:Krell SBP32X(EX) $1499, STEALTH(EX) $1215, STUDIO -2(M) $1443; Micromega T-DAC(M) $759. CD TRANSPORTS: KrellDT10(M) $4559. MD2(EX) $1499, MD2AC(EX) $1975, MD10(M) $4559: Micromega T-DRIVE(M) $759; Proceed PDI(EX)$607. CROSSOVERS: Audio Research Corp EC22(EX) $1082, Janis INTERPHASE-1A(EX) $303. EQUALIZERS: AudioControl C101-III(N) $413, C131(N) $916, RICHTER-SCALE(N) $314, TEN-II(N) $203, TEN -PLUS -11(N) $294: McIntoshM0101 $100-249, M0102(NOS) $149, M0104 $75-225, M0107(NOS) $499: HEADPHONES: Sfax ED, (EX) $265.LAMBDA-CLASS-MX(D) $651, LAMBDA-SIG(D) $1299, SIGMA -PRO -T1 $721-999. SRD7SB $136. INTEGRATED AMPS:Carver CMV1185(N) $736; McIntosh MA230(G) $303, MA5100 $265-399, MA6100 $399-549, MA6200(EX) $1063. LINECONDITIONERS: Counterpoint PAC15(D) $379. Lightspeed CLS6400ISO(N) $442. PHONOGRAPHS: Victor CREDENZA$1995 PRE-PREAMPS: Accuphase C17(EX) $499, Conrad -Johnson PRE(D) $402; McIntosh MCP1 $299. PRE-AMPLIFIERS: Accurus Li 0(M) $265, Air Tight ATC2(D) $4666; Audible Illusions MODULUS-2D(EX) $299; B&K AVP2000(N)$699; Bedini BC800(EX) $683; Carver C2(N) $296, C3(D) $255, C5(D) $364. Cl 5V(D) $587, C20V(N) $759: Coda 01P(D)$2089; Conrad -Johnson PV1(EX) $349, PV10AL(EX) $531; Counterpoint SA1000 (EX) $549. SA2000(N) $1425, SA5000(M)$3246; Krell KBL $1895-2495, KPA $799-1199, KRC(M) $3799, KSL2(M) $1823, PAM1(EX) $569; Lazurus CASCADE-MKI l(G) $299; Levinson 28(M) $1861, NO.25(EX) $1139; Marantz 7T(EX) $399, 3300(G) $349; McIntosh C27(G) $550. C28$299-499, C29(EX) $895, C32 $699-999, C33(EX) $1399, C34V(EX) $1499, C36 $799-999, C37 $1277-1999. C38(EX)$1299, C504(EX) $623, CR7 $167-299; Mod Squad LINE-DRIVE(EX) $205: Nobis PROTEUS(D) $1299, Precision FidelityC8-PF(A1) $299; Rotel RC980BX(D) $450; Soundcraftsmen PRO-CONTROL-3(EX) $151; Superphon REVELATION -I1$167-299; VAC VINTAGE-LINE(D) $1133. PROCESSORS: Audio Control PGA-III(N) $265; Carver DPL20(D) $199,DPL33(DEMO) $265, H9AV(D) $258; Fosgate DSM3608(EX) $379; Lexicon CP1 $437-599; Marantz AX1000 $399545995.RECEIVERS: Carver HR732(D) $364, HR742(D) $474, HR875(D) $620, HR895(D) $942; Marantz EIGHTEEN(G) $499;McIntosh MAGI 700 $399, MAC1900 $349-449, MAC4100(EX) $1199; Philips FR930(D) $299. RECORD CLEANERS: VPIHW17(D) $619. REMOTE CONTROLS: McIntosh CR7 $167-299. CR8 $129-229. SPEAKER SWITCHES: Rotel RSS900(N)$272. SPEAKERS: Acoustat SPECTRA-22(EX) $899; Acoustic Research LST(G) $999; Apogee CENTAUR $999-1139,COLUMN(M) $1063, DUETTA-II-PLUS(EX) $1671, DUETTA-SIG $2279-3677; IN -WALL -3(M) $1034. RIBBON-LCR (M) $612.RIBBON-MONITOR(M) $395, SLANT-6(EX) $1399, SLANT-8(EX) $2999. STAGE(M) $2399; ATC SCM10(N) $1000,SCM20(N) $1773; B&W 803-MATRIX(D) $1641, 805-MATRIX(D) $583: Bozak B410(G) $1400; Genesis IM8200(N) $599;JBL 4412A(D) $1052. 4430(G) $921; JM Lab MICRON(D) $543; KEF 1042(D) $1426, 1053(N) $1999-2246, LS3/5A-SIG(D)$1191, ONE(D) $1155, Q50(D) $574, TWO(N) $1660; Klipsch KG2(EX) $265, KG4(EX) $303, KLIPSCHORN $1500-3343;Linaeum LFX-STANDARD(D) $478; McIntosh ML1C $449-999, ML2C $999-1299, XR5 $449-699, XR7(EX) $999, XR230(M)$455, XR240(EX) $689-999; MIRAGE M5(EX) $799. Sound Lab PRISTINE(D) $3200; Synthesis LM260A(D) $759; ThielCS3.6(D) $3647. SUB -WOOFERS: Apogee STAGE-SW(EX) $1599: BIC V12(N) $425: Velodyne F1500R(N) $1212. TESTEQUIPMENT: McIntosh MI3 $299-599, MPI4 (EX) $1000-1499, Sound Technology CALL. TUNER PREAMPS: CarverCT6(D) $518, CT7(D) $429, CT23(N) $563, CT27V(D) $620, CT29V(D) $875; Haller 945 $338-487; Mchitosh MX110$227-999, MX112 $265-399, MX113 $299-549, MX114 $249-379; Rotel RTC940AX(N) $383, RTC950AX(D) $440. TUNERS:Accuphase 7109(D) $2567; B&K TS108(N) $357; Carver TX8R(D) $218, 1X11B $549-699; Day-Sequerra FM -REFERENCE(D) $4368: Magnum-Dynalab ETUDE $759-1122, F2051317(D) $234. FT-R(N) $363: McIntosh MR55A(AI)$299, MR65 $199-499, MR65B $199-499, MR66 $199-599, MR67(EX) $227-455, MR71 $227-999, MR73 $299-449,MR74(G) $399, MR77(EX) $499, MR78 $600-1400, MR80 $1200-1500, MR500 5495-695; Onkyo 79090-11(D) $661:Perreaux TU3(EX) $303; Rotel RT950BX(N) $284. TURNTABLES: Sota MOONBEAM (N) $346. FREE Catalogue. 8AM-5PMEST Mon. -Fri., POB 176AAA, Walton, NY 13856 FAX: 607-865-7222.

AUDIO CLASSICS, LTD.607-865-7200

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EMIDON'T PAY EXORBITANT PRICES

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We have equaled the high-priced brands. Sonicequivalents at a fraction of their cost. We demysti-fy wire technology. Ask for literature.AND MORE! DACS, Anti -Jitter Units, CDPlayers/Transports, Speaker Stands, Speakers,Home Theater, Prologic, Accessories-& MORE.Call 800-321-2108 24hrs./day for free catalog.

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A COMMON LAMENT!We hear this everyday! CD sound is too bright, grainyand spatially compressed!" Come on! Don't put up withit! ENIGMA, 'incredible smoothness $695: EPOCH."Sweet, Seductive. Natural!" $995: Highly -ReviewedCDT -4 transport $695-"Musical Concepts has put thefun back into CD playback." says The Audio Adventuremagazine. All have "Stable Platter"! Audio AlchemyDAC mods from $99. Marantz, Rotel and PioneerlEliteCD mods. including 100 disc. Musical Concepts, 5749Westwood Dr. St. Charles, MO 63304. (314)447-0040.

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TIPS FOR MAIL ORDERPURCHASERS

It is impossible for us to verify all ofthe claims of advertisers, includingproduct availability and existence ofwarranties. Therefore, the followinginformation is provided for yourprotection.

1. Corfirm price and merchandiseinformation with the seller, includingbrand, model, color or finish, acces-sories and rebates included in theprice.2. Understand the seller's returnand refund -policy, including theallowable return period, who pays thepostage for returned merchandise, andwhether there is any "restocking"charge.3. Understand the product's warran-ty. Is There a manufacturer's warranty,and if so, is it from a U.S. or foreignmanufacturer? Note that many manu-facturers assert that, even if theproduct comes with a U.S. manufac-turers warranty card, if you pur-chase from an unauthorized dealer,you are not covered by the manu-facturer's warranty. If in doubt, con-tact the manufacturer directly. Inaddition to, or instead of, the manufac-turer's warranty, the seller may offer itsown warranty. In either case, what iscovered by warranty, how long is thewarranty period, where will the productbe serviced, what do you have to do,and will the product be repaired orreplaced? You may want to receive acopy of the written warranty beforeplacing your order.4. Keep a copy of all transactions,including cancelled checks, receiptsand correspondance. For phoneorders, make a note of the orderincluding merchandise ordered, price,order date, expected delivery date andsalesperson's name.5. If the merchandise is not shippedwithin the promised time or if no timewas promised, 30 days of receipt ofthe order, you generally have the rightto cancel the order and get a refund.6. Merchandise substitution withoutyour express prior consent is notallowed.7. If you have a problem with yourorder or the merchandise, write aletter to the seller with all the pertinentinformation and keep a copy.8. If you are unable to obtain satis-faction from the seller, contact theconsumer protection agency in theseller's state or your local Post Office.

If, after following the above guide-lines, you experience a problem witha mail order advertiser that you areunable to resolve, please let us know.WRFTE to Susan Ross, SpecialMarketing, 45th floor, HachetteFilipacchi Magazines, 1633 Broadway,NY, NY 10019. Be sure to includecopies of all correspondence.

FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION, CALL 1-800-445-6066

FOR SALE WANTED TO BUY

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FOR TWENTY YEARS WE HAVE BEEN THE SOURCEFOR ALL OF YOUR BLANK AUDIO/VIDEO TAPES ANDACCESSORIES, EVEN REEL-TO-REEL TAPES FOR STU-DIOS, AT DISCOUNTED PRICES. CATALOG AVAILABLE.SOUND INVESTMENT CORPORATION, 3586 PIERCEDRIVE, CHAMBLEE, GA 30341. (800) 659 -TAPE (8273). INGA (404) 458-1679. FAX: (404) 458-0276.

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PRESERVE MAINTAIN + RESTORELP-78RPM-4CH Turntables Cartridges & Styli RecordCleaners from $99.95 10-12-16" Sleeves Signal Pro-cessors Technics SL1200 W/78RPM! 2 -Speaker Sur-round! Stanton Creek JPW Aphex Symetrix FreeCatalog! KAB Electro-Acoustics, P.O. Box 2922, Plainfield, NJ 07062-0922 (908)754-1479.

HALF MILE VINYL. Quality pre -owned LP's. F/Information.Catalog. SASE: Box 98, East Wareham, MA 02538. (5081295-2508.

WANTED TO BUYAAAALWAYS PAYING TOP $$ FOR CLEAN, COLLECT-ABLE McINTOSH TUBE AND SOLID STATE. MARANTZTUBE, WESTERN ELECTRIC, JBL-PARAGON, HART-SFIELDS, ETC. & ALNICO PARTS. EV PATRICIANS.GEORGIANS & MISC. PARTS. M. LEVINSON, KRELL.ARC, SPECTRAL ETC. CALL ME LAST ONLY WHENYOU'RE READY TO SELL! JOHN: 1-800-628-0266.

TOP PAYING FOR MCINTOSH, MARANTZ TUBE AMPMcIntosh Solid state, Western, JBL, Altec, Tannoy, EV,Jensen, Speakers & Horn, EMT Turntable. Ortofon Arm,Temma--(516) 942-1212, (516) 496-2973.

US 1st Exporter, David Yo since 1977 always buying: TubeMarantz, McIntosh, ARC. Quad, Leak, Fisher, Dynaco, Vin-tage speakers, units from Western Electric, Tannoy, EV, JBL,Altec, Jensen, Thorens TD124, Garrard 301, etc. P.O. Box280802, Northridge, CA 91328-0802. Tel: 818-701-5633.

CASH for USED AUDIO & VIDEO EQUIP.BUYING and SELLING by PHONE. CALL forHIGHEST QUOTE. (215) 886-1650 Since1984. The Stereo Trading Outlet, 320 OldYork Road, Jenkintown, PA 19046.MARANTZ & ALL VINTAGE EQUIPMENT, HIGH -END. Noone pays MORE, working or not! N.Y.S.I. (718) 377-7282.2-6pm, WEEKDAYS.

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WANTED: WESTERN ELECTRIC, JBL, MARANTZ OLDEQUIPMENT. SUNLIGHT ENGINEERING COMPANY:310-320-7020, 22130 SOUTH VERMONT AVENUE, #A,TORRANCE, CA 90502.

WANT - JBL Hartstield, EV Patrician, Brociner, Tran-scendent Singles OK, McIntosh, Marantz & other tubeequipment. Larry Dupon, 2638 W. Albion, Chicago, IL60645. (312) 338-1042, evenings.

AUDIO CLASSICS BUYS -SELLS -TRADES -REPAIRSHigh End Audio Components. CALL for a quote. See our adat the beginning of the classifieds. AUDIO CLASSICS, LTD.,POB 176WB, Walton, NY 13856. Phone: 607-865-7200.8AM-5PM EST Mon. -Fri., FAX: 607-865-7222.

LOUDSPEAKERS

TRUE SUBWOOFERWith phenomenaltrue deep bassextending below20Hz with lowdistortion at a veryaffordable price.The HRSW12Vwill extend thebass of yourstereo or videosystem for that"air shaking allaround you"effect. HSU Research HRSW12V

Here's what experts'are saying about the HRSW12V:

'Prodigious bass that shakes the walls'...'one heck of a thunderbuster.'

John E. Johnson, Jr., $ocrets of Home Theatre andHgh Fidelny, May 1995

-_.this woofer achieves a combination ol extremely quick speedand gut massaging bass impact that I have seldom experiencedfrom any subwooler.'

Peter Machell, Stereaphola Vol. 1B No. 1, January 1995

"has developed 3n enviable reputation in its few short years ofexistence'

Thomas J. Norton, Siereophile Guide to Home Theater Vol 1 No. 1,159514su's HRSW12V is a wonderful subwooler. It's good looking andsimple to use, and its performance invites nothing less thansuperlatives. especially given Cs price'

Tom Nousatne, Sound 6 Image, February4Aarch 1995

"The HRSW12V is one al the most potent subwoolers we haveused. Sonically, it is all one could wish for, and the price is right.'

Jui,an Hmsch, Stereo Review December 1994

'...all of the non-boorny, stomach -massaging bass energy wascoming from a single 12 -inch powered subwooler.."

Peter Mitchell, Stereophile Vol. 17 No. 4, April 1994

"...delivered enough punch to shake the sturdiest shelf..."Brent Bunenyorth, V,deo Magazine, April 1994

'One ol the most elective subwoofer demonstrationsGary Reber. Widescreen Renew Vol. 3 No. T, March 1994

Send for complete information on the HRSW12V.Write or call.

HSU RESEARCH14946 Shoemaker Ave. Unit LSanta Fe Springs, CA 906701-800-554-0150 (Voice)1-310-404-3848 (Voice/Fax)

HSUResearch

Sold factory direct with a 30 day trial - money backguarantee. 5 year manufacturer's defect warranty.

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LOUDSPEAKERS

SPEAKERCATALOG

Parts Express is a full -line dis-tributor of electronic parts andaccessories geared toward theconsumer electronics industryand the technical hobbyist. Westock an extensive line ofspeaker drivers and accessoriesfor home and car. Call for yourFREE 212 page catalog today.

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REVOLUTIONARY WORLD CLASS TWEETER: Kryp-tonite' RIBBED Dome, 20,000 Gauss, No Basket, no sur-round. GLASSCONE '", RIBBED Woofers, with PARA-BOLE '" surround. Zero modal break up. White Electronics,Box 403, Stanford, IN 47463. FAX: (812) 825-3355 SENSA-TIONAL.

USED Loudspeaker Sale: ADS M12: $600; Altec Lansing508: $500; B&W Matrix I Series II: $550; B&W 640i: $850;Canton Karat 920: $400; Celestion 100: $400; CelestionSL6: $350; $500; Dahlquist DO 12: $650; Energy Ref.Con.22: $500; Genesis Genre 1: $650; Harmon Kardon60's: $1500; Infinity Kappa 8: $750; JBL THX HomeTheatre System: $1800; JBL L5: $650; KEF Model 100Center: $300; Kindel PLS-A: $500; Klipsch CF3: $1000;McIntosh XR-16: $250; Merlin Sig III: $1100; MirageSM2.5: $100; Near 50M: $800; Paradigm 7SE Mk2: $300:Pinacle PN-5: $75; Thiel CS2: $1200; Vansersteen 2CI:$600; Velodyne ULD1511: $1000. CALL: (217) 544-5252.

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STATE OF THE ART CROSSOVER NETWORKS.UPGRADE ANY SPEAKER SYSTEM. DESIGN GUIDE -$2.00 (REFUNDABLE). ALLPASS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.,2844 CHARMONT DR., APOPKA, FL 32703-5972.(407)786-0623.

HALLADAY ACOUSTICS introduces the best little speakersystem on the market. No little plastic 3 -way toys or overlyexpensive leather faces. The Studio 7 system is a pair ofincredibly well Built & Designed 12 inch tall monitors. VIFAMETAL Dome Tweeter, military grade TRANSILVERcrossover, beautiful oak cabinet, & air -suspension woofer.$450 per pair. Our most popular model, found all over thecountry. Call or write for 1995 catalogue. HALLADAYACOUSTICS, 73 Spring Street, Suite 8, Saratoga Springs.NY 12866 (518) 581-8095.

CUSTOM ACTIVE ELECTRONIC CROSSOVERS, 6 to 36dB/Oct. Also Snell, Magnepan versions. DB SYSTEMS,POB 460, RINDGE, NH 03461. (603) 899-5121.

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VMPS factory assembled speakers. Lowest Prices,shipped direct to you. Free Price sheet. Arthur Morgan, 886East Charing Cross Cir., Lake Mary, FL 32746.

MDY-4New and improved!Audio enthusiasts have long known

that a Dynaudio two way system Is aneffective way to create quality soundwithout creating significant debt. Incomparison with any system at anyprice, the combination of the Dynaudio17cm woofer with the incomparable28mm tweeter is exceptional in all ofthese areas:

Dynamic range Transient attack Smooth Reproduction

response of the humanPhase and voicefrequency Lack offidelity compression.

To be fair, these modest drive unitscannot produce Infrabass (those fre-quencies below 50 Hz), but In the other99.75% of recorded material, they equalproducts that cost 10 to 30 times asmuch.

Madisound is proud to introduce afurther refinement of this combination,the MDY-4. This quality kit uses high orderfilters to eliminate sweet spots in the off -axis response. The Imaging is excep-tional, a result of precise phase and timedelay, refined in a sophisticated 14 ele-

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ment filter. Every part is of the highestquality; every detail is the culmination ofthree years of careful analysis.

Best of all, the MDY-4 is modestlypriced. The complete system with oakveneer cabinets in either a clear finish orblack stained finish, is $595. Cabinets arefinished, and the system can be assem-bled in one evening. Hundreds of satis-fied music lovers have built and cherishthe earlier Image Systems, and now Dy-naudio and Madisound have taken an-other step toward Audio Perfection. Isn'tit time for you to build a standard toevaluate your success as a SpeakerBuilder?

16" tall x 9" wide x 12' dee on bottom /8.5" d on to

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SPECIALIST, TUBE EQUIPMENT CUSTOMIZATIONRepair Services. Vintage military tubes & parts available.Custom and Vintage tube equipment for sale. SelectedTelefunken 12AX7's available. BWS Consulting. 5609 N.23rd Street. Arlington, VA 22205. (703)536-3910

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PARTS AND ACCESSORIES

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And it's growing and growing. To order The Parts Connection 1995Catalog & Resource Guide. send $10' and mailing information. You'llalso receive a Discount Coupon worth $10 off a purchase over $100or $25 off a purchase over $250 as well as The Breadboard bulletin tokeep you updated on our latest news, information and growth spurts.

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THE PARTSCONNECTION

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CD CABINETS

STORADISC See why CD Review picked our LibrarySeries as their "top choice". Fine -furniture quality in a varietyof finishes and sizes. Call or write DAVIDSON-WHITEHALL,555 Whitehall Street, Atlanta. GA 30303. 1-800-848-9811.

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Two classic Open-Airelylarvelsot German Engineering

They're both durable, lightweight and a great value, but the HD 414 headphones feature added

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"VW", "Volkswagen" and "Beetle" are trademarks of Volkswagen AG. "Open -Aire" is a trademark of Sennheiser Electronic Corp.


INDIGO

Frame Of Reference:This picture tells you a lot about AudioQuest cables, but without a frame of referenceit doesn't to I you whethe- the boxes (or the viewer) are rising, falling or just floating.Many infericr cables are p )pular, even though comparison against a proper referenceimmediately reveals serioLs flaws. Because AudioQuest cables are referenced against

no cable ,the bypass trot), we understand each cable's strengths and weaknesses.We know that AudioQuest cables will giveyou a performance closer to the original, aucjioquest.whether )n a mint-sysrri, or on a "big rig:'

P.Q. BOX 3060, SAM CLEMENTE. CA 92674 USA TEL (714) 498-2770 FAX (714) 498-5112

4.-..v::,:::. '' w0; · multi -speaker movie theater, in an ordinary listening room. all...

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