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SPECIALAkai CD -D1

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CK commodore 64INDISPENSABLESOFTWAREForYour Most Important Computing NeedsCommodore is your best value in practical software-just take a look at the programs shownhere-we've got everything from wordprocessing to business accounting, from electronicspreadsheets to computer graphics. Use the Software Selection Guide to find the programswhich best meet your needs, then see your Commodore dealer!

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MAGIC DESK I -TYPE & FILEOnly CommDdore brings you the magic of MAGIC DESK... the next generation of"user -friend y" software! Imagine using your computer to type, Ile and edit personal lettersand papers-without learning any special commands! All MAGIC DESK commands arePICTURES. Just move the animated hand to the picture of the feature you want to use(like the TYPEWRITER) and you're ready to go. MAGIC DESK is the "ultimate" infriendly software!

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VIDEO CASSETTE RECORDERSAND VIDEO DISC PLAYERSMultiple stereo audio and video inputsand outputs permit switching between3 sources, even by remote control.

VIDEO GAME DISPLAYSA 3 58mHz Trap Switch preventsoverload from video game outputs toavoid bleeding colors and ghost images.

THE NEC 19" CT -1901A AND 25" CT -2501A COLOR RECEIVER/MONITORS.

YOUR IDEA OF TELEVISIONHAS JUST BECOME OBSOLETE.

BROADCASTAND CATVWide -band videocircuitry, dual combfilters, high blacklevel retention, autoflesh tone controland smoked glassplate front screenproduce unprecedentedpicture qualityfrom conventionalTV broadcasts andCable TV

A built-in 134Channel CAN -ReadyQuartz SynthesizedPLL Tuner combineshigh accuracy andstability withmaximum ease -of -use. A pay TVdecoder can beconnected withoutsacrificing remotecontrol of non -paychannels.

Instead of just buying an ordinary TV, why not prepare yourself for all the present andfuture uses of video with a "multi -media" Receiver/Monitor from NEC? Specifically designed tomaximize performance for broadcast TV, Cable TV, video game/computer displays, video cassetterecorders, video disc players and fully integrated audio/video stereo systems; your NECReceiver/Monitor is ready to become the heart of a total home entertainment system. THE ONE TO WATCH.NEC Home Electronics (U.S.A.) Inc., 1401 Estes Avenue, Elk Grove Village, Illinois 60007, (312) 228-5900

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VOLUME 34 NUMBER I JANUARY 1984

AUDIOCurrents: New audio and video gear at the Tokyo Audio Fair; First consumer Compact Disc test record 13

CrossTalk by Robert Long 18CD vs. LP; In search of good AM reception; Cassette splicing adviceBasically Speaking by Michael Riggs 20How HF tests turntablesThe Autophile by Gary Stock 23

installerApprentice to the masters: Our columnist spends a day as an* New Equipment Reports

Akai CD -D1 Compact Disc playerYamaha R-90 receiverInfinity RS -8a loudspeakerSony CDP-200 Compact Disc playerDB Systems DB-I B preamplifier

26 Aiwa AD -F770 cassette deck 3928 Acoustic Research SRC- I remote control 4134 Amber Series 50B integrated amplifier 4236 Thorens TD -147 turntable 4438 Boston Acoustics A-400 loudspeaker 45

NEW TECHNOLOGIES* Video Lab Tests

Sony KX-1901A video monitor 47Pioneer VC -T700 TV tuner 52

*Stereo Video to Go by Frank Lovece 55A comparative guide to choosing a portable VCR/camera setupState of the Arts by Paul D. Lehrman 60Behind the scenes at Digicon '83, the first international conference on the digital arts

*Compact Disc Reviews: Handel's Water Music: Donald Fagen; Michael Jackson; Weather Report 62

Videodisc Reviews: James Taylor in concert; Carole King's "One to One" 67

CLASSICAL MUSICIn Praise of Brahms's Songs Reviewed by Will Crutchfield 68DG's tribute offers a Magelone cycle that is never stultifying and often movingReviews: Philip Glass's Koyannisciatsi; Wolf -Ferrari's Sly: Maria Callas in Paris 75

Critics' Choice 78

Field: An Irish Expatriot Who Beguiles the Ear Reviewed by Irving Lowens 82Piano concerto recordings reveal a new side of the inventor of the nocturne formBefore Moulin Rouge There Was Margot Reviewed by Matthew Gurewitsch 86Delius's classic comes to life in its first BBC recordingThe Tape Deck by R.D. Darrell 89Three new subseries; Silver Rose's first release

BACKBEAT/Popular MusicSting: Rock 'n' Roll Intellectual by Samuel Graham 90The Police prove that artistic achievement can coexist with commercial successPaul Simon. Stunning. Reviewed by Sam Sutherland 93His new album, sans Garfunkel, is among the best of 1983Pop Reviews: Michael Bloomfield; Bob Dylan; John Hiatt; Tom Waits 93

Jazz Reviews: Woody Herman; Dick Hyman; John Surman; Windham Hill artists 98

DEPARTMENTS Reader -Action Page 104About This Issue 7 Advertising Index 104

Letters 8 *Cover Story

Only NRI gives you this kind of training and equipmentOnly NRI gives you so much professional preparation

for a 11I/ uleo serviang career.

Build a 25" Heath/Zenith color TVwith infrared re-mote control andin -set space phone.

NRI Ac ion Videotapesfor live -action trouble-shoot ing of VCRsand TVs.

Only NRI gives you so much of thiskind of practical, hands-on training withequipment you keep. Learn by doing, theway to make it challenging, interesting,and effective.

You start by learning basic circuitwiring and soldering techniques, andquickly move on to more advanced con-cepts as you come to understand elec-tronic theory, solid-state devices, anddigital systems. You learn by actuallybuilding and observing the operation ofthe circuitry you'll find in real life.

NRI bite -size lessons are profuselyillustrated with photos, drawings, anddiagrams. But even more exciting are theexclusive videotaped lessons you getshowing theory, operation, and servicingtechniques in graphic detail.

You Get A TV, VCR, DMM andMore

As part of your training, you'll buildyour own 25" Heath/Zenith color TV, astate-of-the-art unit with infrared remotetuning, programmable on/off control, andthe incredible Advanced Space Phone forremote calling. You also get a 6 -hour, re-mote controlled videocassette recorderto play your videotaped lessons and learnabout servicing this complex instrument.

You'll learn troubleshooting techni-ques using a professional 31/2 digit digital

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Diagnose problemswith digital multi -meter with exclu-sive audio instruc-tions.

68 bite -sizelessons givecomplete in-struction inTV, VCR, discplayers, audioequipment,home videocameras, pro-jection TVand more.

Learn servicing with re-mote -control videocas-sette recorder.

multimeter. You'll use it when assemblingyour TV, when checking demonstrationcircuits you build on the NRI DiscoveryLab, and in your professional work. It'sthe quality equipment and training thatguarantees you your success.

7 Decades of TeachingElectronics Skills At Home

As the oldest and largest electronicsschool in the nation, NRI pioneered thetechniques that make learning at homeone of the most economical and effective

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Send the coupon for our 104 -pagecatalog showing all courses with equip-ment and complete lesson plans. It alsoshows other exciting courses like Micro-computers and Microprocessors, Digitaland Communications Electronics, andmore. Mail the coupon today for yourcopy. And see how you can make themost of your talent. If coupon has beenremoved, please write. NRI Schools,3939 Wisconsin Avenue, Washington, DC20016.

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#161-014

PublisherSteven I. Rosenbaum

Editor-in-Chief AssociatePublisherWilliam Tynan

Editor, Musical AmericaShirley FlemingManaging Editor

Susan ElliottArt Director

Skip JohnstonCopy Editor

Ken RichardsonTechnical Department

Technical Editor: Michael RiggsElectronics Features Editor: Peter Dobbin

Assistant EditorsLida A. Silverman (Special Projects)

Randy Brozen (Administration)Consulting Technical Editors

Edward J. Foster, Robert LongContributing Editors

Christine Begole, Gary StockMusic Department

Backbeat Editor: Georgia ChristgauAssistant Editor: Susan E. Fingerhut

Editorial Assistant: Mildred Camacho-CastilloContributing Editors: Crispin Cioe

Mitchell Cohen, R. D. DarrellMatthew Gurewitsch, Edward Greenfield

Don Heckman, Stephen HoldenNicholas Kenyon, Irving LowensRobert C. Marsh, Steven X. Rea

Susan Thiemann Sommer, John S. WilsonAssistant to the Publisher: Rendi GoldmanAssistant to the Editor -in -Chief: Janet Wolf

Contributing Graphics StaffRobert Curtis (Photography)

Roy Lindstrom (Technical Art)Production

Director of Production: Kathleen DavisAdvertising Production Manager: Janet CermakAssociate Production Editor: Susan E. Fingerhut

Production Assistant: Paula BallanCirculation

Vice PresidentStephen Bernard

Circulation Director (Newsstand)Dominic Mustello

Circulation Manager: Gene SittenfeldCirculation Service Manager: William P Johnson

ABC

HIGH FIDELITY and HIGH FIDELITY/MUSICAL AMERICA1ISSNO018-1463/ are published monthly by ABC Leisure Mag-azines, Inc.. a division of ABC Publishing, Inc, and a subsidiaryof American Broadcasting Companies. Inc. ABC Publishing,Inc.: Robert G. Burton, President: ABC Leisure Magazines,Inc.: Ronald Stuart, President: Steven I. Rosenbaum, VicePresident, High Fidelity Group; Herbert Keppler, Senior VicePresident, Photographic Publishing Division; Roger Canavan,Controller; Ernest G. Scarfone, Vice President, Graphics andProduction; Stephen Bernard, Vice President, Circulation;Dominic Mustello, Vice President, Circulation/NewsstandMarketing. Member Audit Bureau of Circulation. Indexed inReader's Guide to Periodical Literature. Current and back cop-ies of HIGH FIDELITY and HIGH FIDELITY/MUSICAL AMERICA areavailable on microfilm from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor,Mich. 48106. Microfiche copies 11973 forward/ are availablethrough Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division, Old MansfieldRoad, Wooster, Ohio 44691.

Advertising OfficesNew York: ABC Leisure Magazines, Inc., 825 7th Ave..

7th Floor. New York, N.Y. 10019. Tel.: 12121265-8360. James A.Casella. Advertising Director: Richard J. Marino, NationalAccounts Manager; Richard A. Frank. Eastern AdvertisingManager; James R. McCallum, Record Advertising Manager:Cecelia M. Giunta, Classified Advertising Manager, KathleenDavis, Director of Production; Janet Cermak, Advertising Pro-duction Manager.

Midwest: High Fidelity, Hitchcock Building, Wheaten,III. 60187. Tel.: 13121 653-8020. Starr Lane, Midwest Advertis-ing Manager.

Los Angelis*: ABC Leisure Magazines, Inc., 2020 Ave-nue of the Stars. Suite 245, Century City, Calif. 90067. Tel.:12131 557.6482. Rita Weitzen, Western Advertising Manager.

Editorial correspondence should be addressed to TheEditor. HIGH FIDELITY, 825 7th Ave.. New York, N.Y 10018 Edi-torial contributions will be welcomed, and payment for arti-cles accepted will be arranged prior to publication. Submis-sions must be accompanied by return postage and will behandled with reasonable care; however, the publisherassumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited photo-graphs or manuscripts.HIGH FIDELITY (ISSN 0015-1466) is published monthly at 8257th Ave., New York, N.Y. 10019, by ABC Leisure Magazines,Inc., a subsidiary of American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.Copyright Ci 1983 by ABC Leisure Magazines, Inc. The designand contents are fully protected by copyright and must not bereproduced in any manner. Second-class postage paid at NewYork, New York, and at additional mailing offices. Authorizedas second-class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa.and for payment of postage in cash. Yearly subscription inU.S.A. and Possessions $13.95; elsewhere $19.95. Single cop-ies $1.75. Subscribers: Send subscriptions. inquiries, andaddress changes to HIGH FIDELITY, P.O. Box 10759, DesMoines, Iowa 50340. Change of address, Give old and newaddresses, including ZIP code. Enclose address label from lastissue and allow five weeks for change to become effective.POSTMASTER: send change of address to HIGH FIDELITY, P.O.Box 10759, D. Moines, IA 50345.

Technics introduces an awesomeComputer -Drive Receiver.It stops distortion before it starts.And that's just the beginning.

The new Technics SA -1010Computer -Drive Receiver. A receiverthat combines so many technologicaladvances it is the most sophisticatedever to carry the Technics name.

It starts with Technics innovativeComputer -Drive technology: amicrocomputer with the intelligenceto sense potential causes of amplifierdistortion. And to stop that distortionbefore it starts. So your music comesthrough with breathtaking clarity.

A second computer not only operatesthe world's most accurate tuningsystem, quartz synthesis. It also scansand mutes unwanted signals beforethey interfere with your music.

And the SA -1010's intelligencetouches other areas.

A microprocessor is also used inconjunction with Technics RandomAccess Tuning with auto memory. Itallows you to pre-set and store up to16 of your favorite stations. And to hearany one, in any order, at the pushof a button.

And whatever music you do listen tocan be made to virtually envelop you,surround you by engaging TechnicsDimension Control circuitry.

Then there's the sheer power ofthe SA -1010 120 watts per channel,minimum continuous RMS, bothchannels driven into 8 ohms, from20Hz to 20kHz, with no more than0.003% total harmonic distortion.

And of course, the SA -1010 is readyfor digital. It will be able to reproducethe flawless sound of digital sourcessoon to come.

Power. Perfection. And performance.The awesome SA -1010 Computer -DriveReceiver. From Technics.

Technicsiy-

The science of sound

If noise, hum and distortion turnyou off, turn on Sansui's new AU-D77X integrated amplifier for pure, true sound.

Only Sansui offers a trio ofexclusive noise -eliminating innovations.

First, the unique Super Feed -forward DC power amplifier system routsvirtually all types of distortion at allfrequencies in the power amplifier.

Then, DD/DC circuitry, anotherSansui breakthrough, produces highspeed response and unmeasurable TIMin the predriver stage of the power amp.

And finally, Sansui's latest contri-bution to silent performance, the GroundFree circuit, remarkably reduces InterfaceHum Modulation (IHM) distortion in thepower supply.

The result is clean, unclutteredmusic that's virtually free of noise, hum anddistortion. (You also get this impeccable

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One outstanding performer deservesanother. The TU-S77X tuner adds a newdimension to the state-cf-the-art. Its newFM multiplex decoder improves channelseparation and reduces distortion signifi-cantly. Also available is the TU-S77AMXtuner which automatically receives andswitches to every approved AM stereobroadcast system.

The AU-D77X and TU-S77X makethe perfect tuner/amp combination forpeople who appreciate great technologyas much as they enjoy the silence in greatsound. Get the "Silent Treatment" atyour Sansui audio specialist, or write forliterature.SANSUI ELECTRONICS CORPORATIONLyndhurst, NJ 07071; Carson, CA 90746Sansui Electric Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan

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*AU-D77X-110 watts, 0.0028% THD; AU -D11 II -130 watts, 0.0025% THD.Minimum RMS, both channels driven into 8 ohms, from 10-20kHz.

About This IssueInside the Pages of January's High Fidelity

WHEN IT COMES TOforecasting what audio andvideo components willappear next in the U.S., themist in the crystal ballusually clears first at theannual Tokyo Audio Fair.And 1983's event was noexception. For example,visitors saw the firstCompact Disc changers anda new generation of lower -price CD players, as well asthe latest in Beta and VHSHi-Fi video recorders. Areport on the Audio Fair appears in "Currents," a new column combiningthe content of "High Fidelity News" and "TechFronts."

The first issue of a new year always highlights our test reports, andthis January we've added two video components, bringing the total to 12.In selecting the audio gear for evaluation, we focused not only on thelatest high-technology products, such as Akai's first Compact Disc playerand Sony's new $700 CD player, but also on components from smallspecialist companies, such as the DB Systems preamplifier and Amber'snew integrated amp.

Moving from state-of-the-art to "State of the Arts"-an article byregular contributor Paul D. Lehrman-we travel to Vancouver for the firstinternational conference on the digital arts. Digicon '83 saw musicians andvisual artists in workshops and performances, demonstrating the use ofcomputers as creative tools. Electronic -music synthesis was a focal point ofthe session.

This month's music coverage concludes a two-part exploration ofBrahms's music. "In Praise of Brahms's Songs," by Will Crutchfield,centers on a new performance of Magelone in Deutsche Grammophon'sBrahms Edition. The BACKBEAT interview finds Sting, the driving force ofthe Police, exploring how the band has meshed commercial success withconsistent creativity. And of course, our NEW TECHNOLOGIES sectioncontains reviews of the latest pop and classical Compact Discs and musicvideodiscs.

One final music note (no pun intended): Classical music buffs willhave an opportunity to enjoy eight more pages of reviews beginning inApril. The new section will appear in our MUSICAL AMERICA edition andwill be in addition to the reviews appearing in the regular HIGHFIDELITY.-W.T.

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COVER DESIGN: Skip Johnston

Photos: Ronald G. Harris

ON THE COVER: Akai CD -D1 Compact Disc player. Pioneer VC -T700 TVtuner

Michael Jackson: Photo by Matthew Ralston, Courtesy Epic Records

audjo-talls fromauclio-technica

Number 11 in a Series

Down With theMasses!One of the major goals of any cartridge de-signer is to keep the effective moving massof the unit as low as possible. In premiumcartridges the smallest diamond styli areused. cantievers are made as light as possi-ble. and magnet size is reduced to theminimum.

Lighter and SmarterBut making parts smaller and lighter is justone approach to the problem. Careful andcreative location of each moving cartridgeelement can make the mass seem evenlower. For instance, the geometry of ourtwo Vector -Aligned'" magnets reduces theeffective magnet mass seen by each groovewall to barely more than half the total mag-net mass. With single -magnet designs eachgroove wall must move the total magnetmass, thus Increasing the load on the recordand stylus.

117 ." .10VECTOR &G

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One-sided DesignBut we go an important step further by lo-cating all of the moving parts of our stereocartridges on the same side of the pivotpoint. With most other designs the stylusand cantilever are on one side of the pivot(or fulcrum) and the magnet is on the other.This traditional, longer construction isinherently more massive.

Sv+GLEMAGNETDESIGN

SINGLE MAGNETPOINTDESIGN 4VECTORALIGNED

PM, K.147 A, DESIGN

4

The PayoffAny reduction in the effective moving massof a phono cartridge will improve recordreproduction. First. it reduces the stress onthe groove walls, extending record andstylus life. It.makes it possible for the stylusto accelerate more quickly in response tovery high frequency signals. High frequencytracking is also enhanced by low effectivemoving mass. This improves frequencyresponse and lowers distortion, especiallyduring musical climaxes which often com-bine high signal levels with very complexwave shapes.

Across the BoardThis basic concept of geometric mass re-duction is not limited to our most expensivemodels. It is inherent in every Audio-Technica Vector -Aligned cartridge. And itsbenefits have made even our least expensivemodels unusual values, while enhancing thecapability of our most sophisticated stereocartridges.

Good listening.

Jon R. Kelly, PresidentAudio-Technica U.S.. Inc.1221 Commerce Dr., Stow, OH 44224

audio-technica.

JANUARY 1984 7

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Letters

Tread with CareBeing knowledgeable is not enough; a reviewershould also be somewhat tactful and modest inpresenting his views.

Peter G. Davis's "Charting the Prima Don-na Sweepstakes" [September 1983] is a fineexample of mature and thoughtful criticism. Heintroduces the negative and major portion of hiscommentary with the words, "Treading withcare and trying not to appear ungrateful. . . ."

Would that all your reviewers were so cir-cumspect in presenting their opinions. For exam-ple, Will Crutchfield's review of Verdi's Nabuc-co in the same issue: Not only is it ungrateful toall concerned, but it might well be described as"stomping with callous disregard and trying toappear authoritative." Besides such a juvenileattempt at sensationalism as "Sinopoli is in factso stimulating that one might wish he were con-ducting . . . some good music" (a phrase yourlayout editor decided to quote in boldface, noless), Crutchfield's essay is patently self-serving:We end up knowing much about his ideas onopera, conductors, and singers, and precious lit-tle about whether this recording would be worthpurchasing.Lawrence B. PorterNashville, Tenn.

One person's irony, evidently, is another's sen-sationalism. The purpose of the boldface quote isto pull the passerby into the text, where he wouldfind, immediately following: "Nabucco is goodmusic, yet it is not through this treatment that itsstature is revealed." -Ed.

Cassettes AscendantLong have we heard that true audiophiles do notbuy cassettes because records have better fideli-ty. Last week I compared two copies of DGG's1981 Von Karajan recording of the MahlerNinth: One was a virgin LP, the other a prere-corded cassette. First I played ten seconds of therecord on my Mitsubishi LT -5V turntable with aStanton 980-HZS cartridge, then ten seconds ofthe cassette on my Nakamichi Dragon. The cas-sette version was cleaner and had greater stereoseparation-better than the record in everyway.

In the Fifties and Sixties, each new advancein the reproducing equipment surprised me withhow good the records sounded. Perhaps now,with automatic azimuth adjustment, this is hap-pening for cassettes.William M. SmithLong Beach, Calif.

Declining QualityI began reading HIGH FIDELITY in 1954, the year Iassembled my first Heathkit. I was in high schoolthen. As soon as I could afford to, I bought McIn-tosh electronics for the heart of my system, and Istill use them to enjoy my 1954 Stephens Tru-Sonic coaxial speakers. For many years I driftedaway from being a high-fidelity hobbyist and justenjoyed the music. Recently, my son pointed outthe convenience of the cassette format, so I put

the dust covers on my Ampex and Sony open -reeldecks and started learning something about cas-sette decks.

Naturally, I turned to HF as my first andmost trusted source of information; I was elatedto find that you were still on the newsstand. Withyour help and that of apparently knowledgeabledealers, I selected an autoreverse cassette deckthat seemed to fit my needs well. It workedsmoothly, looked slick, and sounded quite good.It didn't have the wide -range, open, full sound ofmy open -reels, but I wasn't expecting that, so Ienjoyed the quiet background provided by DolbyB and the unquestioned convenience of droppingin a cassette for easy listening.

After several months, however, 1 began tolearn the dark side of contemporary audio: a mal-functioning transport, burnouts of panel lightsthat are not user -serviceable, endless delays inthe repair shop, and either lazy or uninformedtechnicians. Thinking it might just have been badluck, I bought another deck, but experienced thesame problems. My conclusion: Plastic toys arebeing dressed up to look like the real thing andare being sold as though they were. I am a littledisappointed that I found no hint or warning ofthis in your pages. Although I can understandwhy you might be loathe to bite the hand thatfeeds you-your advertisers-we subscribersdeserve a little more. But then, maybe you don'tremember how it was many years ago; perhapsthis is the new normality.Ted BlishakMenlo Park, Calif.

We agree that finding good service is difficult,though we're not so sure that this is anythingnew. In fairness to the technicians, however, itshould be noted that today's components aremore complicated than those of yesteryear, thatthere are more different models, and that theychange more rapidly. Keeping up with all thevariations and changes is much harder than itused to be.

Nor are we convinced that audio equipmenthas become significantly less reliable. Certainlythe last few years have seen a growing emphasison reducing production costs, and we have expe-rienced more failures out -of -the -box on the testbench over the same period, but most of our owncomponents, including those of recent vintage,have been quite dependable. Whether we've justbeen lucky is hard to say. In our testing programwe don't use any single piece of gear long enoughto tell whether it has any unusual tendency tobreak down. And even if we did, it would be onlyone sample-hardly a valid basis for a sweepingindictment (or vindication).

Your problems with panel lights sound alittle freakish. Nowadays, most of these areLEDs (light -emitting diodes), which don't burnout. But anything mechanical (such as a tapetransport) eventually will require service. Andautoreverse cassette transports, being morecomplex than unidirectional ones, are more trou-ble -prone than average.-Ed.

Kremer vs. Goldsmith(cont.)I became aware of the very interesting Kremer/Goldsmith debate ["Kremer and Goldsmith onSchnittke (and Each Other)," February 1983]after reading the letters in the September 1983

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Letters

issue. In reference to the original debate, I wouldlike to point out Mr. Goldsmith's slip in attribut-ing Ludwig Van to Stockhausen. The real authoris Mauricio Kagel, one of the most interesting oftoday's composers. Kagel compels us with hisworks to "rethink" music in time and sociolog-ical context, as Mr. Goldsmith implicitly statedin his letter to Gidon Kremer.

Somewhat neglected today on records,Kagel deserves at least as much attention as hismore exposed colleague Stockhausen.Paulo Pastor -BragaRio de Janeiro. Brazil

Grunters of NoteI was struck by John Canarina's statement in hisreview of Neville Marriner's Mozart recordings["Mozart Symphonies: Classical or Roman-tic?," July 1983]: ". . I never thought ofMozart as a composer to grunt by." Perhaps Mr.Canarina has never heard Pablo Casals's record-ing of Mozart's Symphony No. 36, recorded liveat the 1959 Festival Casals de Puerto Rico. The83 -year -old Casals gives us one of the loveliest,most satisfying performances of the Mozart Sym-phony that I have ever heard.

In the art of grunting while conductingMozart, Marriner has a very distinguished prede-cessor indeed!Guy BagleyOrange, N.H.

Loudspeaker PhasingI have long been familiar with the battery tech-nique for phasing loudspeakers described by Mr.Plaessmann in your August '83 issue ["Let-ters"]. As I understand it. loudspeakers are engi-neered so that the positive (red) input should beconnected to the positive amplifier terminal, andground (black) to ground. (If this is correct, thenthere is a right way and a wrong way to hook up aspeaker to a mono amplifier.) To test a speaker'sphasing, you connect its ground terminal to theground terminal on an amplifier. Then you con-nect the positive terminal of the loudspeaker tothe positive terminal of a flashlight battery andthe negative terminal of the battery to the positiveterminal of the amplifier. When this circuit isclosed, the woofer should move forward.Kenneth W. DoakMurrysville, Pa.

Technical Editor Michael Riggs replies: Theconvention is as you describe, although not allloudspeakers follow it. But it doesn't really mat-ter. No harm will come from connecting a speak-er's positive input to an amplifier's ground ter-minal and its negative input to the positive ter-minal. Just make sure the other speaker is con-nected the same way. The wrong way to connecta loudspeaker is out of phase with the otherspeaker in a stereo pair. Phasing is irrelevant ina single -speaker mono system.

FM OvercrowdingI find Michael Riggs's occasional articles on FMbasically very clear and accurate. However, healways throws in one remark with which I musttake exception. Before stressing the importanceof the capture ratio in reducing multipath prob-lems, he always mentions how rare it would be to

have two stations on the same frequency. Nodoubt that was true back in the '50s and maybeeven in the '60s, but not in the '80s. The FCCnow stipulates that Class A commercial stationsneed be only 65 miles apart, and low -power edu-cational stations can be much closer together thanthat. Anyone living in a metropolitan area is sureto have competing stations on several chan-nels.

Here in Pleasanton (a suburb of San Fran-cisco), I have two or more reliably usable signalson no fewer than 18 frequencies (that is, theywould be usable except for walking on each oth-er). Excluded from that count are two San Fran-cisco stations with co -channel boosters near here(to fill the shadow area behind some hills). Onanother 17 frequencies there are at least two con-sistently receivable signals, only one of which isnormally usable, and on three more frequenciesthere are two consistently receivable signals thatare not quite usable because of multipath or inad-equate signal strength.

Although the above stations are counted onan excellent system (a McIntosh MR -80 tunerconnected to a Channel Master Stereoprobe-9FM antenna on a rotor 55 feet off the ground). itmust be noted that on at least two frequencies aportable radio with a whip antenna can easily becoaxed into delivering either of two stations. Andthese numbers represent "dead band" condi-tions. When reception picks up. things really getcrowded: At various times there can be as manyas five usable signals on 97.7 alone.John M. JeffersonPleasanton, Calif.

Michael Riggs replies: For the last three years Ihave lived in New York City, and for seven yearsbefore that I lived in Boston. In that time, I havenot once been troubled by co -channel interfer-ence. But then I've never used a high -gain anten-na on a 55 -foot mast. I can readily believe thatyou have problems using that kind of setup in ametropolitan area and that they are gettingworse. Your circumstances are very unusual.however.

Sound InstinctsIn his reviev. of Adrian Boult's recording of theSchubert "great" C major Symphony [Septem-ber '83], Harris Goldsmith refers fleetingly to"current opinion that Schubert wanted an allabreve" for the first -movement introduction.Actually, the matter does not involve opinion atall: The alla breve signature appears clear as abell in the autograph score, the only primarysource for the work. Unfortunately, the old Com-plete Edition somehow transformed the markinginto an uncut C (4/4); and while the editors laternoted their mistake in the fine print of the "Crit-ical Report," the correction has gone unnoticed.I trust that the thoughtful Mr. Goldsmith-whorightly asks for a "more flowing tempo" -willtake some pleasure in finding his musicalinstincts borne out by the composer's explicit tes-timony.Joshua RifkinCambridge, Mass.

Letters should be addressed to The Editor, HIGHFIDELITY, 825 7th Ave., New York, N.Y. 10019.All letters are subject to editing for brevity andclarity.

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For the first time, audiophilescould enjoy the total freedom fromdistortion that was previously ex-clusive to concert halls. An incred-ible dynamic range. And nearlyindestructible software.

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Sony established the industrystandards that are most directly re-sponsible for the remarkablesound of the compact disc: the 16 -bit linear quantization systemand the CIRC error -correction code.

And Sony developed the world'swidest range of professional digi-tal audio equipment. Including thedigital mastering system used inthe mastering of every compact discmade today.

The benefits of Sony's longhead start in digital audio are, ofcourse, manifest in the CDP-101.Such as filters that provide excellentfrequency response withoutcompromising the attenuation ofultrasonic noise. The same digi-tal -to -analog converter used :n thelegendary PCM-Fl. The fastest

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AUDIO/VIDEO

CurrentsNews, new products, and new technologies

Seen in Tokyo:

Hot New

Audio and Video

Gear

k oromm

Yamaha CD player; Sansui read/write digital disc system (right).

The place to spot the latest trends in audioand video gear is Japan, and for a one -stopoverview of products being prepared foreventual export to the U.S., the TokyoAudio Fair can't be beat. Here's a capsulelook at the highlights of the most recentexposition.

Now that well-heeled Japanese audio-philes have bought their Compact Discplayers, sales in Japan have started to slumpand manufacturers are hastening to intro-duce lower -price models. Several compa-nies demonstrated units priced at about$500 (in Japan), but Yamaha's CD -XI, at$430, was the least expensive of all. (U.S.prices will be higher: The CD -X 1 , forexample, will list for $650.)

Though DBS broadcasts won't begin hereuntil 1985 at the earliest, there won't be anylack of hardware when they do. Demon-strating small -dish antennas suitable fordirect reception of high -power audio andvideo broadcasts by satellite were Sansui,Kenwood, Kyocera, Technics, Toshiba,Mitsubishi, Sharp, and NEC. Part of Ken -wood's DBS system is a digital decodercapable of converting digital audio pro-grams, should they show up on DBS.

Sansui's prototype digital audio disc(DAD) recorder uses a 20 -centimeter (7% -inch) disc that holds an hour of music perside and can be recorded only once. Sansuisays that the machine could be modified toplay CDs as well as the larger -diameterrecordable discs. Judging from its "bread-board" look, however, we'd say it's a longway from any sort of commercial introduc-tion.

Also from Sansui is a digital tape recorder

using a miniature rotary head. It is said to becapable of making six -hour recordings on acassette that's only slightly larger than thestandard Compact Cassette. The tape is the8 -millimeter -wide metal formulation beingdeveloped for use in superportable VCRs.The machine actually caused something ofa furor at the Audio Fair, with the showmanagement demanding that Sansui re-move it from exhibition. Reason: SeveralJapanese makers are meeting to agree onstandards for digital cassette recorders, and

Toshiba. among others. devoted lots of floor space to DBS dish antennas and receivers.

JANUARY 1984 13

AUDIO/VIDEO Currents

there is a tacit understanding among themthat until they reach an accord, no proto-types are to be displayed. But because San-sui chose not to join this group, it was freeto demonstrate its machine-a point thatthe show management finally acknowl-edged when the recorder returned to theSansui booth on the last day of the fair.Rumor has it that the group will developtwo standards: one for rotary -head ma-chines and one for fixed -head recorders.

Marantz (top) and Hitachi CD changers

The ultimate in long -play conveniencemay well be a Compact Disc changer.Aiwa, Marantz, and Hitachi have devel-oped programmable CD changers capableof handling from ten (Marantz) to 99(Aiwa) discs. Each manufacturer stressesthat its device is still in prototype. TheAiwa unit, for instance, will probably haveto go on a diet to attain commercial viabil-ity: Right now, it's the size of a microwaveoven.

VHD videodiscs may never make it to theU.S., but the JVC-developed capacitancesystem using a grooveless disc is said tohave overtaken RCA's CED format inJapan and is running a close second to theoptical laserdisc. Panasonic, JVC, and Mit-subishi have new VHD players in the $650range, and there are some 400 VHD titlesavailable in Japan. The VHD system claimsto offer the best features of CED and laser -disc (stereo audio, random access, and soon), plus one capability the other two can-not match: VHD discs are "universal," inthat the same disc is compatible with play-ers equipped for the NTSC, PAL, andSECAM television systems.

Beta Hi-Fi units abounded at the Audio

Fair, including new tabletop models fromNEC (the VC -727) and Toshiba (the L8V-L8) and a second portable from Sanyo (theVTC-H5). But the most intriguing newdesign comes from Aiwa. Its AV -5 is a con-ventional portable Beta deck that convertsto Beta Hi-Fi operation with the addition ofa small, add-on module (SV-5M) contain-ing frequency -modulation and compansioncircuits. VHS Hi-Fi recorders also showedup in considerable force, with tabletopmodels from Hitachi, Panasonic, Sansui,and JVC.

In the "Digital!Domain"We're eager to try out the first consumer -oriented demonstration/test Compact Disc.Produced by Warner Special Products inconjunction with Stanford University'sCenter for Computer Research in Music andAcoustics, "Digital Domain" contains ex-amples of digital recording and synthesis,plus an extensive test section for fine tuningan audio system.

The description of the CD's selectionspaints a fascinating picture of technologyand art combining to create what should be .an extraordinary sonic experience. The titlepiece, for instance, was composed andmixed on the Lucasfilm Audio Signal Pro-cessor (see "State of the Arts," page 60)and contains both environmental sounds-cicadas, a jet plane, the ocean-and syn-thesized ones. A selection called "Studyfor Reverie" demonstrates the capabilitiesof digital signal processing as soundsrecorded in a nonreverberant room are"grafted" into two reverberant spaces-acathedral and a concert hall. The test sec-tion contains square waves, pink noise, andsine waves for analyzing the behavior ofCompact Disc players and other audio com-ponents. "Digital Domain" is distributedby Elektra (catalog number 9-60303-2) andsells for $19.,

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Budget EQfrom Radio ShackA ten -band graphic equalizer with pre/postswitching, two tape monitor loops, andtwo-way tape -dubbing controls, the Model31-2005 from Radio Shack seems quite avalue at $120. The unit's 20 sliders offer 12dB of boost or cut in each band. For moreinformation, write to Radio Shack (1800One Tandy Center, Fort Worth, Tex.76102).

A Front Endfor PedestriansPress a button on the new KS -Q8 cassette/receiver from JVC, and the tape sectionpops out, ready for use as a battery -pow-ered personal portable. While that featurealone would distinguish it from all but ahandful of others, the KS -Q8 ($500) is alsocapable of recording stereo FM broadcastsin the car. The unit has a frequency -synthe-sis tuner with presets for five AM and fiveFM stations, a music -search function forcueing up to the beginning of taped selec-tions, Dolby B, and a small built-in poweramplifier. For more information, write toJVC Company of America (41 Slater Dr.,Elmwood Park, N.J. 07407).

A Delicate BalanceWhile Compact Disc technology promisesto bring uniform sonic performance regard-less of price, it is still true in analog audiothat more money will usually buy betterperformance. And if it's the new KoetsuSA -100D Mk.II tonearm that catches youranalog fancy, it'll cost you to the tune of$700. The new unit uses a tri-pivot lateral -balance system-a sort of three-point gim-bal affair that provides center and side sup-ports. The tonearm and tri-pivot bracket arethemselves supported on another centerpivot, which Koetsu claims reduces verticalvibrations. The S-shaped arm has a detach-able zinc -alloy headshell. For more infor-mation, write to D&K Imports, Inc. (146East Post Rd., White Plains, N.Y.10601).

14 HIGH FIDELITY

Plexus's CompactSubwooferSaid to be capable of low -frequency outputdown to 27 Hz, the SWS-1 subwoofer fromPlexus Audio Systems consists of two 10 -inch drivers housed in a single, compactenclosure and comes with a separate activeequalizer. A passive crossover networkbuilt into the subwoofer makes it easy toconnect the system to the main speakers.The equalizer is also available separately,and the company says it can be safely usedto increase the low -frequency output of full -range speakers equipped with 8 -inch orlarger woofers. The SWS-1 costs $500; theequalizer alone, Model ABE-1, costs $125.For more information, write to PlexusAudio Systems (RD 2, Box 327B, Brick-yard Rd., Freehold, N.J. 07728).

MI

Foiling FeedbackBoth of Vector Research's new turntablesare said to have floating-subchassis suspen-sion systems for resistance to acoustic feed-back. The fully automatic VT -250 (shownhere) uses a quartz -lock direct -drive motor,a straight tonearm, and costs $200. Thesemiautomatic VT -200 has automatic tone -arm return and costs $150. For more infor-mation, write to Vector Research (20600Nordhoff St., Chatsworth, Calif. 91311).

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Again. Our stereo frequency equalizers incorporate the superb electronics.reliability. and high performance technology that have made ADC famous.Plus we've improved them with new refinemeres that offer you more controland a new design that makes them lcok as gooc. as they function.

Our top -of -the -line SS -315 offers a unity gair of I dB and the best signal-to-noise ratio in the industry. For the utmost in dersatility. the range of eazhfrequency control is an extra wide 15 dB. far more than the 12 dB of lesserequalizers. Tape monitoring and two-way dubbing capabilities for two decksare available. LED indicators for each control et you see the selected fre-quency curve at a glance. The SS 315 includes Abuilt-in real-time spectrumanalyzer. pink noise generator and ca,ibrateii ekctret microphone enablingydu to attain flat response in minutes. Other features include externalno se reduction and sound processor loops to accommodate time de-lay. subharmonic synthesizer. dynamic range expander or reverbun ts. There's also a subsonic filter that gets rid of damaging,power -robbing subsonic frequencies.

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JANUARY 1984 15

THE GREAT SINGERSThe ultimate treasury of the great popular vocalists - with the stars,

the songs, the great recordings of our time!

Issued on true audiophile records or cassettesof unsurpassed quality, clarity, brilliance, and fidelity.

Here is the ultimate all-star collection ofthe greatest hits by the greatest singersof our time. Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett,Lena Horne, Patti Page, Judy Garland,Rosemary Clooney.

Vic Damone, Johnny Mathis, AndyWilliams, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald,Peggy Lee, Jo Stafford, plus...

Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Shore, LouisArmstrong, Bessie Smith, Doris Day,Joe Williams, Eddie Fisher, MargaretWhiting, June Christy, Billie Holiday...

And on and on through the entirehonor roll of the great vocalists ofour time.

ANDY WILLIAMS

Now, for the first time, all the great maleand female vocalists will be brought to-gether in a single definitive collection.These are the original recordings by theoriginal artists and bands. And thanks torecent, revolutionary advances in record-ing technology, these original recordingswill sound incredibly full, rich, clear andalive.

The music you love...in the collection of a lifetime!

Frank Sinatra will step out in front ofThe Harry James Orchestra and sing thesongs that launched a career like no otherin show business. Tony Bennett will pourhis heart and soul into the words andmusic of, among others, Rags to Riches,Because of You, I Left My Heart in SanFrancisco. The legendary Judy Garlandwill be represented by, to name just acouple, Somewhere Over the Rainbow andThe Man That Got Away.

Andy Williams will delight you withhis many hits including Moon River andSomewhere, My Love. And the list goeson and on...Lena Horne singing StormyWeather...Johnny Mathis and Misty...Ella Fitzgerald's A-Tisket A-Tasket andall-time favorite after all-time favorite byBing Crosby. In all, the collection, cover-ing the spectacular performances of all thegreat singers, is the greatest galaxy of starsand popular music talent ever assembled.

A collection you simply could notduplicate on your own!

The Easton Press has enlisted the coopera-tion of all the major record labels, whosevaults contain the original master record-ings. Also, many smaller companies-even private collectors-have been soughtout for special recordings that have beenunavailable for years. There's even someradio and concert material that has seldombeen commercially available before.

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The finest records and cassettestoday's technology can produce!

As appropriate, original recordings will beengineered for clarity, brilliance and fullfrequency fidelity, using computer -aidedtechnology. Equalizers and other electronicdevices will clean away extraneous noisesand restore the widest possible dynamicrange.

Each record will be pressed using thefinest virgin vinyl. The vinyl will be spe-cially formulated with its own anti -staticelement and will contain other compoundsto make the disk surfaces virtually silent.

Records or tapes, you will hear the differ-ence-even if your recordings are playedon ordinary equipment.

Library -style albums will displayand protect the entire collection.

Each album will consist of four records(or four cassettes), each stored in a spe-cially designed sleeve that resists dust andrepels static. The album itself will be anelegant library -style slipcase design. Eachalbum will be accompanied by expertly -written commentaries -to enhance yourappreciation of the singers and the music.

Reservations now being accepted.THE GREAT SINGERS is available onlyby registered subscription, directly fromThe Easton Press. The original issue priceis just $10.25 per record - which com-pares most favorably with other premium -quality records selling for as much as$20. This favorable price is guaranteed forthe first two years. As a subscriber, youwill receive one album (four records orfour cassettes) every two months, and youwill be billed in two convenient monthlyinstallments.

Naturally, your satisfaction is guaran-teed; you may cancel your subscription atany time.

This is a rare opportunity indeed -a col-lection to bring back memories, and sharewith family and friends. Why forego thepleasure? Send us your reservation today.

Why these premium -qualityaudiophile recordings willsound superior to ordinary

recordings on the equipmentyou presently have.

A whole new generation of elec-tronic technology has made pos-sible a whole new generation ofaudiophile records. Until now,though, true audiophile recordshave been mostly limited to class-ical and symphonic recordings.

But THE GREAT SINGERS willtake full advantage of the new tech-nology-creating a major collec-tion of popular music on true a 4dio-phile pressings. First, as appropri-ate, the original master recordingswill be studio engineered to cap-ture the widest possible dynamicrange. Extraneous noises will beelectronically eliminated.

The records themselves will bepressed to the most exacting s-.an-dards. Only expensive virgin vinyl(not recycled) will be used. Each122 -gram record will be approx-imately 10-12% heavier than anormal record. This is important,because a heavier record is warp -resistant.

Quality monitoring will be asstringent as possible. The resultwill be records that are rigid, ab-solutely flat for greater contactwith your turntable mat, resistantto static and dust, and less suscep-tible to wear. Surface noise will bevirtually nonexistent.

The Easton Press Subscription Application 12047 Richards Avenue THE GREAT- SINGERS No payment required.Norwalk, Conn. 06857 We will bill you.Please send me the first album of "The Great Singers," a collection of premium quality records inlibrary -style hard cover albums and reserve a subscription in my name. Further albums will be sentat the rate of one every other month at the original issue price of $10.25* per record. This price will beguaranteed for the next two full years.I will pay for each four record album as billed in two convenient monthly installments. I understandthat I may return any album I am not completely satisfied with for replacement or refund, and thateither party may cancel this subscription at any time. Plus 95c per record for shipping and handling

Check here to receive Dolbyt encoded, chromium dioxide tape cassettes. Same subscription plan,$1.00 extra per cassette. t Trademark of Dolby Laboratories.

As a convenience, please charge each monthly installment to my credit card, starting when myfirst album is shipped:

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AUDIO

CrossTalkPractical answers to your audio and video questions by Robert Long

CD AwakeningRecently I bought a Compact Disc playerand a Telarc CD to compare with the LPversion of the same recording. I had thoughtthe LP sounded great through my system: aDual 505 turntable, a Shure M-97HEpickup, and a Kenwood integrated amp-usually with headphones, rather thanspeakers. But when! tried the CD, it waslike taking off earmuffs. !s the LP really thatinferior to the CD? How much are mycartridge, tonearm, and preamp to blame,and where would upgrading be mostimportant?-Fred Hudon, New Orleans,La.

In part, you may be hearing the conse-quences of the wear you've inflicted on afavorite LP with repeated playing-some-thing CDs aren't subject to. You may alsobe hearing the results of resonances andreflections within the LP's vinyl or in themat and platter beneath it; if so, a weight orspring -loaded clamp could improve mattersat modest cost. Poor LP sound can also beattributed to a dirty or wornsure yours is not to blame. The capabilitiesof the CD technology are astounding, how-ever, and it would take a major investmentin new record -playing gear and exception-ally fine LP pressings to approach its qual-ity.

What's Watts?m considering upgrading to separates

from a Yamaha CR-2040 receiver, but Idon't know how to choose the amp. I'vebeen told that power (watts) is not asmeaningful as current (volts) and that anAudionics amp at 70 watts per channel,because it has no current limiters like theYamaha's, would actually be in the sameclass as amps rated at 150 watts ormore. Please explain.-Paul Kaufmann,Highland Park, Ill.

You're confusing current (which is mea-sured in amperes) with voltage (volts)-theanalogs of flow and pressure, respectively,in hydraulics. The confusion isn't surpris-ing, since solid-state amplifiers actuallyproduce voltage but deliver current. That is,the output transistors develop so many voltsin response to the input signal voltage andleave it up to the power supply to deliver thecorresponding current to the attached load.According to Ohm's Law, this current(amps) should equal the voltage (volts)

divided by the load resistance (in this case,the speaker impedance, in ohms). Theresulting power (in watts) is the voltagetimes the current.

So far, so good, but as the output volt-age goes up and the load impedance goesdown, the current-and, more specifically,the heat it creates-can become too muchfor the amp to handle. To prevent cata-strophe, most designers include some formof current limiting. But there can becircumstances in which the signal will"bump its head" on the current limitingwhen the amp really is in no danger, and ifthe design is optimized for 8 -ohm perfor-mance (which U.S. law specifies as thebasis for power ratings), performance intoloads of lower impedance can be restrict-ed.

An alternative is to design the amplifi-er's output stage so that it can handle a lot ofcurrent (eliminating the need for heavy-handed protection circuitry) and make thepower supply hefty enough to deliver all thecurrent a low -impedance load will demandat the amp's maximum output voltage.Such an amplifier will provide almost twiceas much power into 4 ohms as it will into8-which can indeed give it the edge over alow -current design with a higher 8 -ohmF TC power rating if you use loudspeakerswhose impedance is low or highly reactive.Our by no means infallible rule of thumb isthat if your speakers are rated at 8 ohms,your amp should deliver at least as muchpower into 4 ohms as into 8, and that if theyare rated at 4 ohms, it should pump out atleast 50 percent more power into 4 ohms.With most American loudspeakers, you'llwant the latter.

AM Infidelity

Although FM performance is a frequentsubject of your column, watch in vain formention of AM. We enjoy certain AMprogramming, so I want to replace ourtubed FM receiver with a new AM/FMmodel. ! tried the Realistic STA-2080 andSTA-850, and though both performed verywell on FM, I decided against them becauseof noisy AM reception with lots ofinterference. When I bought a SherwoodS-9600,1 found it super in every way-except AM reception. Nothing I triedimproved matters. An electronicstechnician tells me that nearly all AM tunersbuilt into receivers are included as aconvenience only and that no real care isput into their design. Have! overlooked a

receiver that does have a good AMsection?-M.E. Morand, Bay City, Mich.

You haven't overlooked a thing-exceptmy complaints on this score over manyyears. The only high fidelity AM sections Iknow of have appeared in separate tuners,with the possible exception of an almost -forgotten Fisher AM/FM/short-wave re-ceiver. As a rule, if you want good AMreception of anything but strong local sta-tions, get a multiband radio.

Toenail Tape Editor! do a lot of recording and tape editing. l' vebeen looking for some cassette splicingmachines, but they aren't very popular.Can you suggest a device? I use toenailclippers; they get the job done, but that'sall.-Larry M. Russell, Greenville, Tex.

There are splicing blocks (which I heartilyrecommend over anything that can bedescribed as a splicing "machine") for cas-sette tapes, but the results are vastly inferiorto those that can be obtained in the open -reel format. The reasons have to do withtransport speed, ease of audible cueing,tape -backing stiffness, and the size ofhuman fingers, among other things. So ifyou're really serious about tape recordingand editing, use an open -reel deck.

Old Friend

I cannot bear the thought of parting with myBogen turntable, which I have had for25years and which has given me good service.Can any company supply me with spareparts?-George A. Theros, Kula, Maui,Hawaii

From the vintage, I'd guess that it is one ofthe Bogens manufactured by Lenco, whosemodels changed only gradually over theyears. If so, you might be able to get someparts from Benjamin Electroproducts, Inc.75 Austin Blvd., Commack, N.Y. 11725.(Be sure to mention the model numberwhen you write.) Otherwise, try scouringyard sales and "junk" shops for a similarmodel to buy for parts. However, I'd expecta tonearm that old to be excessively clunkyby today's standards, however well the restof the turntable works.

We regret that the volume of reader mail is toogreat for us to answer all questions individually.

18 HIGH FIDELITY

4t11 -)1^P1-111.aREATdt DMaxell XL I -S and XL II -S +10

are the ultimate ferric oxidecassette tapes. Precisionengincored to bring you 'asignificant improvement indynamic range.

XL I -S provides excep-tionally smooth linear per-formance characteristicswith. high resolution ofsound and lower distortion.

While XL II -S has agreater saturation resis-lance in higher frequenciesresulting in an excellentsignal to noise ratio.

How did we achievethis?

IMPROVED EPITAXIAL PARTICLES.

. Maxell engineers havemanaged to improve theEpitaxial magnetic parti- cles used on both tapes.

By developing a crystal-lization process that pro--duces a more compact,smoother cobaltferritelayer on .the gamma .ferricoxide core, they've boonable to pack the particlesmore densely and withgreater uniformity on thetape surface.

This increases max -

S

C RANG

-10

-1 -20> .-1-1-1

F-.

°- -50-H

0-60-

-70-

-80-

MOL (5% DISTORTION)

AC BIAS NOISE

XLII-S (EQ: 70µs)

XLI-S (EQ:120 [is)

.

0 02 0.05 0.1 0.2FREQ

So you get abetter sig-nal to noise ratio, greaterresolution of sound .andhigher output levels.

Of course, greater. dynamic range. isn't the. .

only reason to buy Maxell high bias XL II -S or our nor-mal bias equivalent XL I -S.

Both tapes have more. precise tape travel andgreatly reduced distortion

imum output level and ' levels. 1-----j I

reduces. AC .bias noise You'll see both thesewhich in turn expands improvements covered nthe dynamic range. - detail in future Audiophile

IMPROVED EPITAXIAL PARTICLE CHARACTERISTICS:ipMORE UNIFORM SMOOTHER

COBALT -FERRITE LAYER . I PARTICLE SURFACE

. GAMMA -FERRIC OXIDE. ) 4__ 70A

COATING THICKNESS: 10-11A (1A =1/10,000,000 mm)

0.5 1 2 5 10 20UENCY (kHz)

Files. In the meantime, wesuggest you listen to them.

-For technical specifica-tion sheets on the XL -Sseries, write to:

Audiophile Ale, MaxellCorporation of America,60 Oxford 'Drive, Moona-chie, New Jersey 07074.

12,

XLI-SPosition 70 ,s EC

maxell XLES 90

14,/iptift.rifffcassErrEMIN

ENECININI:1#Ini135m /

IT'S WORTH IT

AUDIO

Basically SpeakingAudio concepts and terms explained by Michael Riggs

How HF TestsTurntablesAS AUDIO COMPONENTS GO, the turntable ispretty simple. It performs two basic tasks.One is to turn the record being played at aconstant, correct speed. The other is to holda phono cartridge in the proper positionwith just the amount of force necessary forgood tracking. (We're assuming here thatthe turntable comes with its own tonearm;some high -end models don't.) And it mustperform both of them as self-effacingly aspossible, to prevent any unwanted additionsto the signal picked up from the groove.

Diversified Science Laboratorieschecks speed accuracy at 105,120, and 127volts, which covers the normal range of ACline voltages. Ideally, the speed should bethe same at all three, and for most modernturntables it is. In any case, the variationshould not be enough to make the turntablerun excessively off -speed. How much erroris too much is hard to pin down exactly. Welike to see 1/2 percent or less, but even twicethat much is unlikely to cause a pitchchange that is apparent except by directcomparison.

Even turntables that have near -perfectlong-term speed accuracy exhibit tinyshort-term variations, called wow and flut-ter. (Wow-which usually is the moreaudible of the two-is just low -frequencyflutter.) Such fluctuations can add anunpleasant sourness or coarseness to thesound, especially on sustained notes. Sincean off -center spindle hole in a record cancause substantial wow, quality -control indisc manufacturing is often more of a lim-iting factor than turntable performance.DSL therefore uses a special test lacquer forits measurements and applies ANSI weight-ing to the results. The weighting is designedto compensate for the way the ear's sensi-tivity to flutter varies with frequency.

We report two flutter figures: averageand maximum. Both, however, are reallypeak measurements. The former ignoresatypically large and infrequent peaks, whilethe latter represents the largest peakobserved during the test period. Wow andflutter of more than 0.1 percent is rare intoday's turntables-which means that it'salmost always low enough to be inaudible.You may observe, however, that the figureswe give are higher than those printed in themanufacturer's specifications for the sameproduct. Usually the better numbers are theresult of a looser measurement technique,

called "WRMS" (weighted root -mean -square) or "11S." Because this is a type ofaveraging measurement, it tends to be rath-er optimistic and can mask the differencebetween a unit with a steady, well-behavedflutter characteristic and one that has asomewhat lower base level punctuated withlarge spikes.

A similar situation prevails regardingrumble. Rumble is low -frequency motornoise transmitted through the platter to thepickup stylus. It is reported in dB below aspecified reference level (much like a sig-nal-to-noise ratio, which is essentially whatit is). Part of the problem is that not every-one uses the same reference level, but mostof the confusion stems from the multiplicityof weighting schemes. The one most com-monly used is the DIN -B curve, whichexcludes all but a narrow band of frequen-cies. We prefer the ARLL (Audible RumbleLoudness Level) curve, which approxi-mates the frequency response of the humanear, yielding a more meaningful numberthan an unweighted or DIN measurement.

DSL uses a special lacquer disc for thistest, but even it has more residual noise thanthe very best turntables. When the labthinks the measurement is being limited bythe lacquer, it takes a second reading (ifpossible) with the Thorens Rumpel-Mess-koppler, which couples the stylus to theplatter by means of a precision, low -frictionbearing. Either way, the result is not a sin-gle number, but a range of several dB.Since the Rumpel-Messkoppler cannot beused with all turntables, the figure wereport in our data column is the average ofthe maximum and minimum readingsobtained with the lacquer. We expect to seeno worse than -60 dB. Figures of -65 dBor better are typical these days with goodturntables, and the very best models push-70 dB.

0

Provided that pivot friction is neg igi-ble (as it routinely is nowadays), a tone -arm's most important mechanical charac-teristic is its effective mass. This is not thearm's physical weight, but the inertia a sty-lus feels as it moves the arm while playing arecord. Effective mass has no inherent sig-nificance: It matters only because of therole it plays in determining the frequency ofthe main arm/cartridge resonance. The oth-er factors are the cartridge's weight (whichadds directly to the arm's effective mass)and low -frequency dynamic compliance.Increasing any of these tends to lower theresonance frequency, while decreasing anyof them tends to raise it.

Ideally, the resonance should be atabout 10 Hz. If it is too much lower thanthat, the system will overrespond to recordwarps; if it is too much higher, the system'slow -frequency response and tracking abili-ty will be adversely affected. We normallyconsider anything within the range from 8to 12 Hz acceptable. DSL measures anarm's effective mass using a calibrated car-tridge. The result is reported in our datacolumn and can be used with the weight andcompliance figures for any phono cartridgewe have tested to determine whether thetwo are a good match. Details on how to dothis are provided in the January 1983 edi-tion of this column and with each test reporton a turntable or cartridge.

A tonearm's most important electricalcharacteristic is its lead capacitance, whichalso is reported in the data column. This,too, has no inherent significance. It mattersonly because the frequency responses ofmany fixed -coil pickups are affected bycapacitive loading. You therefore need toknow the sum of the phono-input and arm -lead capacitances to determine whetherthey make (or can be made to make) a goodmatch for a particular pickup. HF

20 HIGH FIDELITY

HARMAN KARDON INTRODUCESTHE MOST ADVANCED STATE -OF -THE -MIND RECEIVER

I7 UW:V .17 .14 .61 .61.67 6.

C*4 III MI

Thirtyyears ago Harman Kardon intro-duced the world's first high fidelity receiver.It was built on the philosophy that quality audiomust evolve from creative, quality thinking.That quality of thought has served as the foundation of allHarman Kardon audio products.In 1958 Harman Kardon introduced the world's first stereoreceiver.

In 1963 Harman Kardon introduced Ultrawideband FrequencyResponse and in 1970 Harman Kardon became the first com-pany to use Dolby' in a cassette deck.Today, Harman Kardon audio products continue to be sotechnologically advanced that "state-of-the-art" falls short ofdescribing them. They have become "state -of -the -mind:' thehighest level at which the mind can create.A distinct example of Harman Kardon's stale -of -the -mind tech-nology is the hk690i receiver, which leads their line of qualityreceivers and possesses their most important state -of -the -mindconcept to date: High instantaneous Currert Capability.Harman Kardon has consistently used High instantaneousCurrent Capability (HCC) in all of their amplifier sections. HCCprovides the instantaneous power that is vial to precisely driveand control nearly any loudspeaker system.With its HCC of 45 amps, the hk690i will develop far more powerunder peak loads than its rated 60 Watts per channel' while

maintain ng the ow distortion andwidebandwicth required for accurate sonic

reproduction. This means that the hk69Di gives youlouder, clearer sound than any other 60 Waif receiver,

The digital synthesized quartz locked hk6S0i has an Ultrawide-band Frequency Response of 0.2H? to 150kHz, as well as lownegative feedback for extremE ly fast and accurate transientresponse. The result is the virti_ al elimination of TIM distortion.

The phono section of the hk69Ci has a unique dual RIAAequalizaticn circuitry which mzinta ns a constant low level ofnegative feedback throughout he audio frequency range. Anexclusive sample -and -hold MP'X decoder decreases high fre-quency switching noise while slim nating the need 'or much ofthe filtering normally required in FM processing.

Among performance features i -iclu.ied are Provisions for twotape decks (with tape copy capat ility), switchable bass andtreble turnover frequencies, a Mo$,iig Coil head amplifier, andsubsonic and high cut filters.

The hk69Ci provides the combilabon of pure power and sonicexcellence that the true audiophile imands.So, while other manufacturers continue to pile on unnecessaryfeatures and gimmicks, Harman h:ardon continues to developfundamentally advanced audio eqLbment.1. Dolby is the registered trademark of Dol)y1_33oratories. Inc.2. 60 Watts FINIS per channel into 8 Ohm,.20Hz-20kHz with less than 0.6% THD.

.4.41114 Avo

harman / kardonOur state -of -the -mind is tomorrow's state-of-the-art.

a-240 Crossways Park West, 1Noodbury, NV 11797 In Canada. Gould Marketing, Quebec.

Hic

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AUDIO

The AutophileGoing on the road with stereo by Gary Stock

Apprenticeto the MastersONE OF THE GREAT frustrations of magazinewriters is that they generally don't havemuch chance to practice what they preach.Opera critics rarely get the chance to sing inone, and this car -stereo columnist has pre-cious little time to devote to the nuts andbolts of car -stereo installation-a topic thatI am usually forced to cover from an expe-dient, if less than satisfying, distance.

That frustration was relieved recentlywhen I had the opportunity to spend threedays, wrench in hand, as a car -stereoinstaller's apprentice in southern Califor-nia, being instructed in the subtleties of thecraft by the masters at Yamaha's new car -audio division. Though I received no wagesfor my work, the experience was not with-out its rewards: Aside from the lessons Ireceived, I had the chance to work in Yama-ha's showpiece installation lab, whichlooks for all the world like a Grand Prixteam's prep center. And the object of mylabors would've gladdened any car buff'sheart-the sleek new Audi 5000S, said tobe the world's most aerodynamic passengercar.

Yamaha has entered the car -audiomarket rather late-a good five years aftermany of its Japanese competitors. Thedelay can be traced back to the company'swell-known caution and deliberatenesswhen it comes to beginning a new endeav-or. And, as the Yamaha people empha-sized, the engineering department took spe-cial pains to make sure that the initial prod-uct offerings would stand out from thecrowd in performance and features. In this,Yamaha has succeeded in spades. The newline of front ends, electronics, and speakersis different enough from the market's main-stream leaders in sound quality, cosmetics,and human engineering to win a warm spotin the hearts and minds of the Americanautophile.

In a move that is definitely out of theordinary for many Japanese electronicscompanies, Yamaha turned to its Americanstaff for design direction. The Americansdidn't want front ends with dozens ofswitches and knobs. A typical driver overhere, they explained to the Japanese engi-neers, doesn't want to fiddle about withumpteen tiny controls while driving. Con-sequently, Yamaha front ends and electron-ics are equipped with automatic micropro-cessor -based circuitry that replaces severalswitches with multifunction controls. A

Yamaha's new carcomponents are de-signed to be easy touse. The $550 YCR-900 cassette/re-ceiver (top) evenalerts you when it'stime to clean thetape heads. And the$200 five -bandYGE-600 equalizerlets you store threeEQ settings for in-stant recall.

"`" =.1.11NVINP `7,P.MB MN MI MI IN

.111C MM.

seek/scan tuning bar, for instance, convertsto a fast -wind control when the front end isin the tape mode. And an equalizer isequipped with enough memory to storethree EQ settings, making it possible toadjust the system instantly as road -noiseconditions change.

The American marketing staff alsowanted a line with good -sounding speakersso that a customer could assemble a com-plete system without having to mix brands.The result: Yamaha's car speakers, espe-cially the plate -type two-way systems, areamong the only Far Eastern units I knowthat rival the best German and Americandesigns. And it is possible to mount them inalmost any car without having to redesignthe entire passenger compartment.

I convinced myself of all this the old-fashioned way: I put on old clothes andspent three days doing what my installationguides, Kerry Strode and Pat Hart. called"assumin' the position"-lying on myback for hours under the Audi's trunk lidand dashboard, running wires and trying todecipher German abbreviations. Here's arundown of the insights I gained during myapprenticeship that should prove useful ifyou're facing an installation project.

Think twice, cut once. In fact, think threeor four times before you cut open a doorpanel. In an installation project, almostanything except a large hole is reversible.Even my instructors, veterans of hundredsof installation jobs, spent ten times as longmeasuring, talking, and thinking about thealternatives as they did cutting things apart.And when they did finally take saw in hand,it was always with a bit of hesitation and alast moment of contemplation.

Take the direct route. This is a generalstatement that applies to mechanical andelectrical considerations. While I spentmuch of the first day proposing incrediblycomplex installation ideas, my savvierteachers just listened, smiled benignly, andthen steered the plan gently onto a safer,more direct path. For instance, my plan forcompletely rebuilding the Audi's centerconsole to accommodate the equalizerevolved into a simple but elegant schemefor placing the equalizer in one corner of theglovebox. And when I suggested mountingthe power amp under the dash, I wasreminded that such a placement made littlesense because the car's battery was in therear and there was lots of room for the ampunder the rear deck.

Don't disassemble anything more than isabsolutely necessary. I found this out aftertaking apart a power -window mechanism toget at a wire lurking behind it. Had I knownthat the whole mechanism could simply besnapped out of the door in one piece, I

could've saved hours of reassembly work.So much for rules of thumb. Back in

front of the typewriter, I recall my week ofphysical labor as a pleasant memory. Themistakes I made and the disasters that wereaverted by the intercessions of Kerry andPat have convinced me that I have a longway to go before I can consider advertisingmyself as a part-time installer. Let myexperience be a warning to you Sunday -afternoon mechanics: Before tackling a car -stereo installation, bounce your ideas off anexpert first. And, if at all possible, makesure that there's a pro available who's will-ing to finish the installation if you becomehopelessly lost. HF

JANUARY 1984 23

"EVERY ALPINE/LUXMANPRODUCT COMES WITH AVERYSPECIAL FEATURE:AN ALPINE/LUXMAN DEALER!'

Anyone who knows audio will tellyou there's something special aboutthe way Alpine Car Audio and LuxmanHigh Fidelity products perform. Andin the way they look. And even adifference in the way their controls feelwhen you touch them.

But that's just part of what makesus unique.

The other difference is in the spe-cial people who sell, install and serviceour products.

You see, Alpine Car Audio andLuxman High Fidelity componentsare available only at a select number ofdealers: Audio specialists, whose per-formance standards are as selective asthose which we set for ourselves.

So it isn't enough to be knowl-edgeable about electronics. Every oneof our dealers is also hand-picked forthe way he works with people.

Which is why your Alpine/Luxmandealer will go out of his way to treatyou like a valued client, instead ofa customer.

And why he'll work with you to

-Reese Haggott,Executive VP/General ManagerAlpine Electronics of America

help design the Alpine Car or LuxmanHigh Fidelity System that's exactlyright for your particular listeningenvironment.

And why he'll also go to the timeand effort to install your system so thatit performs to your expectations.

And why he'll make himself availableto answer any question along the way.

If you have a question or an ideayou'd like to share, please get in touchwith me at I -800-411-1z84.

The way we look at it, we wantyou to feel good about Alpine/Luxmanproducts.And thoseof us whobring themto you.

ALPINE /LUXMANAUDIO SPECIALIS7

For the Alpine/Luxman dealer nearest you, call: 1-800-4 2.1-1395. In California call: 1-800-162.-4150.Alpine/Luxman Electronics of America, 19145 Gramercy Place, Torrance, CA 9o5o1

AUDIO

New Equipment ReportsPreparation supervised by Michael Riggs, Peter Dobbin, Robert Long, and Edward J. Foster.Laboratory data (unless otherwise noted) supplied by Diversified Science Laboratories.

A Full -FeatureCD PlayerFrom AkaiAkai CD -D1 Compact Disc player. Dimensions: 171/4by 555 inches (front panel), 121/4 inches deep plusclearance for connections. Price: $1,000. Warranty:"limited," one year parts and labor. Manufacturer:Akai Electric Co., Ltd., Japan; U.S. distributor: AkaiAmerica, Ltd., 800 W. Artesia Blvd., Compton, Calif.90224.

All data obtained using the Sony YEDS-7. Technics SH-CD001. Philips 410 055-2. and Philips 410 056-2 testdiscs.

FREQUENCY RESPONSEDB

0

-5co -or

HZ 20 50 100

L chR ch

ii200 500 11( 2K 5K 10K

±-1/4 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz±-1/4 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz

DE -EMPHASIS ERROR+1/4, -0 dB, 1 to 16 kHz

20K

CHANNEL SEPARATIONa'874,4 dB, <100 Hz to 20 kHz

CHANNEL BALANCE (at 1 kHz) ±0 dB

S N RATIO (re 0 dB; A -weighted)without de -emphasiswith de -emphasis

108 dB108 dB

HARMONIC DISTORTION (THD+N; 40 Hz to 20 kHz)at 0 dB <0.01%at -24 dB '0.051%

THERE'S SCARCELY A COMPANY producing acomplete line of audio equipment thathasn't announced a Compact Disc player,and Akai is no exception. For though itforged its reputation in tape equipment,Akai has been a true full -line company foryears. The CD -D1 is among the relativelyluxurious models that cluster around the$1,000 price and offer a full complement ofmusic -finding features, as opposed to thestripped -down players selling for a fewhundred dollars less.

You can program tracks in any orderand begin within tracks by specifying indexcodes (if your discs have them) or elapsedtime. For repeating an individual passage,you use a "phrase" button to set beginningand end cues. REPEAT plays a single trackover until you press STOP or one of the fast -wind buttons, which move the laser pickuptoward the start or end of the disc. (A front -panel gauge helps you keep track of thepickup's position on the disc.) Another pairof buttons lets you skip ahead to the begin-ning of the next track or back to the begin-ning of the one that's playing. The time

readout normally tells how far into the trackyou are (in minutes and seconds), but at thepush of a button, it will read time from thestart of the entire disc.

Particularly welcome in this controlscheme is the ability to play a series oftracks in the middle of a disc with absolute-ly no mechanical clicks or other intrusionsas the player checks on its next move at theend of each band. The music just seems tothrum along without interruption, as itshould. Few players we've tried will do thiswith such complete success. (Although, aswe've complained before, the fault is reallywith those who make the discs: If theywould code each work as a single track andindex each movement within it, playbackwould be easier and less subject to intru-sion.) Unfortunately, our sample some-times balked at playing a programmedtrack. And we are not very happy with theway the CD -DI automatically starts over atthe beginning instead of stopping when itreaches the end of a disc. This featureshould be optional-or at least defeatable.

As Diversified Science Laboratories'

Report Policy: Equipment reports are based on labora-tory measurements and controlled listening tests. Unlessotherwise noted. test data and measurements are ob-tained by Diversified Science Laboratories. The choice ofequipment to be tested rests with the editors of HIGHFIDELITY. Samples normally are supplied on loan from themanufacturer. Manufacturers are not permitted to read

reports in advance of publication, and no report or por-tion thereof may be reproduced for any purpose or in anyform without written permission of the publisher. All re-ports should be construed as applying to the specificsamples tested. HIGH FIDELITY and Diversified ScienceLaboratories assume no responsibility for product per-formance or quality.

26 HIGH FIDELITY

PedalReception

(Even wher>things are changing

around you.)

APR SYSTEMOX /LOCALHI -BLEND MODE

ON

r)

MONO t OCAL

TUNINGAUTO: MAN.

WM

Onkyo's new APR system

There are many factorsdistance, buildings, temperature-that can create a loss of FM recep-tion. Thanks to our TX -35 receiver,though, all our friend above isgoing to lose is his view.

That's because Onkyo's newAPR (Automatic Precision Recep-tion) insures crystal clear FM nomatter where you listen. APR is amicroprocessor controlled systemthat instantly judges the quality ofthe incoming signal and then auto-

matically con-trols the keyreceptionmodes: local/distant inputsensitivity,stereo/mono,and highblend. The

latter eliminates the noise associ-ated with weak stereo transmis-sions by mixing the left and rightchannel high frequency signals (ifnecessary) while preserving thecritical midrange. And, it takes only1/30th of a second for APR toaccomplish these critical functions,producing the finestFM you've everheard.

The 45Wper channelTX -35 alsooffers an array

of teatures that make it the bestreceiver value you'll find:8AM/8FM presets, Delta PowerSupply for "digital ready" use,two tape monitors, A/B orA+ B speaker selection, twomuting levels, and a special multi-plex filter for FM recording.

So remember, when thingsare changing around you, onlyOnkyo's APR guarantees yourmusic won't be one of them.

APR is also featured on Onkyo's new IntegraSeries Tuner, the T-4017. For complete literature.write directly to Onkyo.

Nobody knows more about audio than Onkyo

ONKYO®200 Williams Drive, Ramsey, NJ 07446

AUDIO New Equipment Reports

DISCCOMPARTMENT

AC POWER

MANUAL CONTROLS

REPEAT PHRASEINDEX CUETIME CUEMEMORY REVIEWREPEATTOTAL TIME

PROGRAMMING CONTROLS

IM DISTORTION (70 -Hz difference frequency;300 Hz to 20 kHz)at 0 dBat -10 dBat -20 dBat -30 dB

LINEARITY (at 1 kHz)0 to -60 dBat -70 dBat -80 dBat -90 dB

<0.01%<0.01%'0.014%"0.022%

no measurable error4 V2 dB+ 1 dBi3 dB

TRACKING 8 ERROR CORRECTIONmaximum signal -layer gapmaximum surface obstructionsimulated -fingerprint test

MAXIMUM OUTPUT LEVEL

OUTPUT IMPEDANCE

SQUARE -WAVERESPONSE (1 kHz)

IMPULSERESPONSE

700300 pun

pass

2.28 volts

1 500 ohms

measurements demonstrate, the CD -DI'ssonic performance is up to the excellentstandards we have come to expect fromCompact Disc players. The hint of high -frequency rolloff is entirely negligible, asare the miniscule levels of noise and distor-tion. (The signal-to-noise ratio is particular-ly spectacular.) Compression at extremelylow signal levels (the output error reportedin our data under "linearity") is about par.In fact, our only reservations about theplayer's performance center on the trackingand error -correction tests. The test disc'ssimulated fingerprints presented no prob-lem to the CD -D1, which also successfullynegotiated information gaps as much as 700micrometers (p.m) wide (and produced onlya single "bump" on the 800 -micrometerblank). But on the band in which black dotsare superimposed on the playing side of thedisc, the player failed to read even the leastobscured portion of the track.

However, the CD -DI gave no evi-dence of difficulty in playing commercial

CD releases, even when there were visiblefingerprints, dust, or abrasions on the play-ing surface. This is doubly reassuring,because the loading process inevitablygives us qualms about disc handling. Thetop of the disc-holder/door tilts forwardautomatically when you press EJECT, butyou must drop the disc in, push it down intothe slot very firmly, and then close the doorassembly. When you eject the disc, it ispushed high enough that you can get a gripon it-but not without pressing your fin-gers against both surfaces near the edge.You cannot handle it strictly by the edge, asinstinct and the owner's manual dictate.Thus, some fingerprints near the rim areunavoidable.

Our reservations aside, the CD -DI is awell -conceived player both in its functionsand in the way they interrelate-and, in thiscontext, is fully competitive with othermodels in its price range. In terms of soundquality, it need concede nothing to any oth-er player on the market.

Yamaha'sRadicalReceiverYamaha R-90 AM FM receiver. Dimensions: 17 by 41/2Inches (front panel), 131/2 Inches deep plus clearancefor controls and connections. AC convenienceoutlets: one switched (200 watts max.), twounswitched (200 watts max. total). Price: $595.Warranty: "limited," two years parts and labor.Manufacturer: Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd., Japan; U.S.distributor: Yamaha Electronics Corp., USA, 6660Orangethorpe Ave., Buena Park, Calif. 90620.

THERE ARE COMPANIES that seem to lead theway without looking to see if anyone's fol-lowing, and Yamaha is one of these inno-vators. Some of its concepts have beenreadily imitated, while others remain virtu-ally proprietary. Whether the departuresincorporated into the R-90 will generatecompetitive envy remains to be seen, butthe approach is, at very least, interestingand thought -provoking.

The key to that approach-and cer-tainly the most dramatically radical elementin the design-is found in the way the R-90handles tone control, loudness compensa-

tion, and filtering: the Computer ControlledSound System (CCSS), as Yamaha calls it.Essentially, it is a five -band graphic equal-izer that combines a set of preprogrammedoptions with three that the user can pro-gram. The nominal center frequencies ofthe five bands are 60 Hz, 250 Hz, I kHz, 4kHz, and 16 kHz. Each can be stepped innominally 4 -dB increments from the flatsetting to 12 dB of boost or cut. When youpress BAND in the main CCSS controls, oneof the five LED indicators representing thefrequency bands on the panel above willstart flashing. If you then press the UP or

28 HIGH FIDELITY

Sneak previewThe other day one of our engineers made aninteresting observation.

He was trying to illustrate how muchbetter the new ADS speakers sound.

"Think of the speaker as a camera lens,"he said. "What we've done is improveresolution, extend depth of field, magnifydetail, produce a finer image."

Not a bad analogy, we thought, andasked him to go on.

"We've done it with a lot of newtechnology," he explained, "but precision iscritical. Take voice coil gaps. Ours are nothicker than your business card. About twiceas fine as he gaps in most drivers, which hasa lot to do with improving efficiency andreducing high end distortion.

'We've improved power -handling in thehigh end, too, by using a new high -gravitycooling fluid made to our own specifications.

"We've developed a new Linear Drive,long -voice -coil woofer which really improvesbass response. The cone is Stifflite, anexpensive, low -mass material used only byADS. The result is a woofer with very highforce -to -mass ratio, which means it goeslower, is more accurate and has moredynamic range."

As you read this, new ADS speakers areon their way to an ADS dealer near you. Forhis name write us: Analog & Digital Systems,Inc. 235 Progress Way, Wilmington, MA01887. Or call toll free: 800-824-7888 (in CA800-852-7777) and ask for Operator 483.

They're truly magnificent speakers.Sneak your own preview soon.

ADS Audio apart.

The new L780 is one of seven new ADS speakersavailable in black or walnut finish. You'll recognize it bythe new angled corner and distinctive deep -drawn metal

AUDIO New Equipment Reports

STATIONPRESETS

AC POWER

HEADPHONES ---ww.

TUNING MODESSPEAKERS ON/OFF (A, B)

"SPATIAL EXPANDER" ADJUST.TUNING/BAND/MEMORY

TAPE DUB (1 w 2),MONITOR

MEM SE11111:"

(1/2/SOURCE)

SOURCESELECT.(PHONO/TUNER/AUX). -BALANCEADJUST.

VOLUMEADJUST.

EO/LOUDNESS/FILTER(MODES, ADJUSTMENTS)

MODE (STEREO/MONO)PHONO MODE (FIXED/MOVING COIL)

FM tuner section

Data measured in local mode except as noted

STEREO RESPONSE & CHANNEL SEPARATION

DB

5

- 10- 15

20

- 25- 30-35

40

HZ 20 50 100 200

Frequency responseL chR ch

Channel separation

500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

+0, -1/2 dB, 20 Hz to 15 kHz+0, -IR dB, 20 Hz to 15 kHz

35 dB, 20 Hz to 9.4 kHz;a 25 dB. 20 Hz to 13.5 kHz

FM SENSITIVITY & QUIETING

DB

10

-20

30

- 40

so

so

R-9012)

\\A

\NIDBF 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

stereo quieting (noise), local modemono quieting (noise), local mode

- - quieting (noise), DX modeStereo sensitivity (for 50 -dB noise suppression)DX 371/2 dBf at 98 MHz, with 0.75% THD+Nlocal 39 dBf at 98 MHz, with 0.32% THD+N

(40 dBf at 90 MHz; 38 dBf at 106 MHz)Mono sensitivity (for 50 -dB noise suppression)in DX mode 14 dBf at 98 MHzin local mode 1544 dBf at 98 MHzStereo threshold DX mode

14 dBfStereo SiN ratio (at 65 dBf)Mono Sirs' ratio (at 65 dBt)

CAPTURE RATIO

SELECTIVITYalternate -channeladjacent -channel

DX mode2 dB

DX mode711/2 dB141/4 dB

local mode22 dBf691/4 dB771/2 dB

local mode11/4 dB

local mode31 dB1 dB

DOWN end of the long bar next to BAND, theboost or cut in that band will be stepped upor down accordingly. Another press onBAND switches control one band upward.When you achieve the response pattern youwant, you can memorize the result by press-ing MEMORY (on the other side of the up/down bar) and then one of the three user -programmable setting buttons.

The preprogrammed options are aloudness -compensation curve (which takesa broad 6 -dB bite, centered at around 2kHz, out of the response curve, leaving thedeep bass untouched and attenuating the toptreble less than the lower treble), a bassboost ( +4 dB in a broad range centered onabout 100 Hz), a presence boost (a similarrise centered near 4 kHz), a treble boost(around 16 kHz), and a "high filter" (theinverse of the treble boost, with a droop to-4 dB). Any of these-or the three user -programmable settings-can be exaggerat-ed or minimized by pressing the appropriateend of the up/down bar. Boost functions areexaggerated by UP, cut functions by DOWN.

Because there is no bass or treble control assuch, only the loudness compensation andfilter among the preprogrammed optionsare increased by pressing DOWN. (On pre-programmed curves that involve both cutand boost in different bands, it's sometimesdifficult to predict which end of the bar willdeliver the desired effect.)

If you don't like the preprogrammedoptions, you can employ the user -program-mable memory settings to "roll your own."You can also use the memory to store aspeaker equalization curve, a touch-up tocompensate for, say, a cassette deck's dulltop end, or any other function that you maywant to invoke frequently. This is, in fact,the central advantage of such a system: Atthe touch of a button, you can select any ofa variety of customized sounds that ordi-narily would require a combination of con-trol settings-if, indeed, they were avail-able at all. For some users, this can be amajor advantage.

Unfortunately, we're less impressedby the way the concept works in this receiv-

er than we are by the concept itself-which, in the end, may prove better adaptedto separates than to the price constraints andrelatively crowded front panel of a receiver.If there were more frequency bands withcloser spacing, extreme settings could yieldsmoother, less obviously colored curvesthan is possible with only five bands. And ifthe boost/cut scale were divided into small-er steps, subtler control could be achieved.As it is, slight alterations are impossible,making the controls more crude in theiraction than conventional ones. The "highfilter" is particularly ineffective: If youthink of it as a treble cut, you'll be closer towhat it actually does. But, again, the con-cept is fascinating, even if its realizationhere is not all that it might be.

The tuning system is less exotic,equally radical, and much more satisfying.Tuning proceeds by 10 -kHz (one -channel)steps on the AM band, 100 -kHz (half -chan-nel) steps on FM. Each of the ten memorypresets will hold one station frequency-AM or FM, as you choose-and willswitch bands automatically when you selecta preset requiring it. Manual tuning defeatsthe stereo mode in FM; once you find yourstation, you can go back to stereo byswitching to automatic scan tuning.

The radical element in the tuner sec-tion is the approach to handling extremelyweak or strong RF (radio -frequency) sig-nals-the RX switching, in Yamaha'swords. Occasionally-particularly in car -stereo systems-you'll find a local/distant(or "local/DX") switch. That sort ofswitching is incorporated here, but with twoimportant differences. First, there is a thirdoption: automatic switching, in which thetuner itself evaluates signal strength andchooses its mode accordingly. Second, thedifference between local and DX receptionis not simply one of padding down the inputfrom the antenna in the local mode. TheR -90's selectivity is greater in the DXmode, apparently because of an automaticnarrowing of the IF (intermediate -frequen-cy) passband, with some consequent (butminor) increase in distortion. And judging

30 HIGH FIDELITY

Pick up a Dyna*Mite pair tonight and discoverwhy even the critics are saying: thanks Koss,for the dynamite sound in a small package.Just 12Y4" high, 51/4" wide, and 51/4" deep, theKoss Dyna*Mite's sensational 3 -driver systempacks a punch that puts even big floor modelsto shame. And they offer perfect mirror -imageperformance, whether they're placed uprightor on their side.

So add a little Dyna*Mite to your book-shelves. With natural hand -rubbed walnut

veneer cabinets, the Koss Dyna*Mites are asbeautiful to look at as they are to listen to.

And for another explosivelistening experience that'llreally blow your mind, checkout the incredible Kossfire4 -driver 210 and 110 models.

KOSS°DynaMite M/80suggested retail $129.95 each

Kaisfire/110 suggested retail $149.95 eachKaisfire1210 suggested retail $275 each

iatFacil ties Can . England. Florida. France. IrelandINTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS Port Washington Avenue Milwaukee. Wisconsn 53212

FROM

HITACHIthe sight and sound of

QL1C41.1111)

1.11111011:

wet

DA800

COMPACT DISC DIGITALAUDIO PLAYER

Hitachi's laser based soundreproduction system challengesthe limitations of the finestanalog stereo system. There isgreater dynamic range. Virtuallyno distortion. No wow and flutter.No acoustic feedback. No recordwear. The result is the purest,cleanest sound, faithful to theoriginal recording. Until you ownHitachi's Compact Disc Player,you've yet to hear the true soundof quality.

f 7f,

New

PORTADECKVIDEO CASSETTE

RECORDERIf you're still Icriring for aportable VCR that truly is one-here it is. The PORTADECKTMVCR is the smallest, lightest,most versatile video systemHitachi has ever created. Asingle cable disconnect and yourPORTADECKTM is ready to goanywhere you are. At home, itbecomes the perfect tablemodel. Stacked or side -by -side,the PORTADECKTM VCRfeatures 5 heads, Hitachi'sexclusive four corner accesscontrol, "customized" tuner and amyriad of special effects. It's thevideo system only a leader likeHitachi can offer.One Federal Court has held mat recording of Copy-righted television programs for in -home non-commercial use is wrongful, copyrighted Programsshould not be recorded

HITACHIN'tIrsrld I csRctor in Tpchrininny

--'2' Exclusive

SIGNAL TRACKERTMCOMPONENT TV

Hitachi's new 20" diagonalflat screen receiver/monitorintegrates all your homeentertainment functions. VCR,VideoDisc Player, StereoSystem, games, computer andtotal TV reception. The flatscreen picture tube gives youmore on -screen picture, lessdistortion and minimal reflectionof room light. And only Hitachihas SIGNAL TRACKERTMcontrol, the most advanced colorcontrol system ever.

The Year ofthe Champion

Hitachi Sales Corporation of America, 401 W. Artesia Blvd., Compton, CA 90220

AUDIO New Equipment ReportsHARMONIC DISTORTION (THD+ N)DX modeat 100 Hzat 1 kHzat 6 kHzLocal modeat 100 Hzat 1 kHzat 6 kHz

stereo0.92%0.71%0.54%

0.084%0.094%0.205%

mono0.07%0.23%0.21%

0.062%0.055%0.027%

STEREO PILOT INTERMODULATIONDX mode 0.49%Local mode 0.025%

IM DISTORTION (mono)DX modeLocal mode

AM SUPPRESSIONDX modeLocal mode

0.15%0.027%

65)2 dB6134 dB

PILOT (19 kHz) SUPPRESSION 59)2 dB

SUBCARRIER (38 kHz) SUPPR. 87 dB

Amplifier section

RATED POWER 181/2 dBW (70 watts)/channel

OUTPUT AT CLIPPING (both channels driven)8 -ohm load 19)2 dBW (89 watts)/channel4 -ohm load 201/2 dBW (115 watts)/channel

DYNAMIC POWER8 -ohm load4 -ohm load

201/2 dBW213/4 dBW

DYNAMIC HEADROOM (re rated power, 8 -ohm load)+ 134 dB

HARMONIC DISTORTION (THD; 20 Hz to 20 kHz)at 181/2 dBW (70 watts) 5_ 0.073%at 0 dBW (1 watt) < 0.01%

FREQUENCY RESPONSE+0, -1/2 dB, 33 Hz to 24.8 kHz;+0, -3 dB, 12 Hz to 71.4 kHz

RIM EQUALIZATIONfixed -coil phono

moving -coil phono

+1/4, -11/2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHz;-113/4 dB at 5 Hz+0, -3 dB, 21 Hz to 20 kHz;- 201/2 dB at 5 Hz

SENSITIVITY & NOISE (re 0 dBW; A -weighting)sensitivity SIN ratio

aux input 14 mV 813/4 dBfixed -coil phono 0.33 mV 741/2 dBmoving -coil phono 21 µV 77 dB

PHONO OVERLOAD (1 -kHz clipping)fixed -coil phonomoving -coil phono

INPUT IMPEDANCEaux inputfixed -coil phonomoving -coil phono

130 mV8.6 mV

52k ohms49k ohms; 270 pF100 ohms

OUTPUT IMPEDANCE (to tape)from aux inputfrom tuner inputfrom phono inputs

5,000 ohms9,500 ohms4,800 ohms

DAMPING FACTOR (at 50 Hz) 75

CHANNEL SEPARATION (at 1 kHz) 361'2 dB

FILTERS see teal

1.1-101,K)

a aa.

Ccs6We)oow-w.,ot-u. mama.

CYamaha's CCSS is a five -band equalizer with an illuminating display and eight presets; thethree bars at the bottom enable you to adjust EQ manually and memorize settings.

from the tuner's behavior, an automatichigh -blend operates on weak stereo stationsin the DX mode only.

All this may sound very complicated,but it's actually simplicity itself to operate:Just leave the receiver set for automatic RXswitching, and, barring some arcane recep-tion problem, it should adjust itself for opti-mum reception of any station you tune.This enables you to concentrate on antennaorientation, with the aid of the R -90's gen-uinely helpful "signal quality" (signalstrength minus multipath) display. Its fiveelements (with a pair of LEDs per ele-ment-not ten elements, as the manualimplies) light progressively at thresholdsapproximately 6 dB apart, beginning at 16dBf in the DX mode and 211/2 dBf in LOCAL.They thus cover the range from just abovethe mono 50 -dB quieting point to nearly fullmono quieting. the span in which the dis-play's help is most needed. And the displayflickers in response to multipath, addingstill more useful information.

Another interesting feature-thoughone that has appeared on past Yamaha prod-ucts-is the spatial expander. Its slider iscalibrated from zero to ten, suggesting thatit can feed progressively greater quantitiesof out -of -phase signal between the twochannels. When the correct degree of cross -feed is achieved, the acoustic cancellationsthat result should, in theory, enhance thestereo imaging. The effect will vary tosome extent with your speaker setup androom acoustics, but as we've commented inthe past, it can lend vividness to the stereoimage.

The preamplifier section is very wellbehaved in most respects. A nondefeatable

infrasonic filter rolls off the response atapproximately 9 dB per octave below 12Hz. This is good, but a steeper slope orhigher cutoff frequency would have takenyet a bigger bite out of the unwanted signalsgenerated by warped records. Our one otherquibble is with the rather elevated tape out-put impedances: From the tuner section,particularly, it may be high enough toreduce the level or dull the high frequenciesof signals feeding a tape deck or signal pro-cessor having a low input impedance orhigh -capacitance connecting cables. Butthis usually will not be a problem.

The power amplifier section's mea-sured clipping levels show that it is quiteconservatively rated and amply muscularfor most purposes, while the dynamic fig-ures indicate that it will deliver the equiva-lent of 106 watts per channel into 8 -ohmloads and 150 watts into 4 ohms. Distortionis very low. It consists mostly of the thirdharmonic at rated power, though in suchsmall amounts as to be completely inaudi-ble.

But the star of this very fine receiver isunequivocally the FM tuner. Yamaha's ral-lying cry for some years has been technol-ogy for the sake of listening quality, and thepresent design establishes that attitude asmore than a slogan-if corroboration still isneeded. Incidentally, though we find nomention of the fact in the manual, our testsample's memory even stores the RX set-ting chosen for each preset station, ensuringthat it is received in whichever mode suits itbest. But the automatic RX option is soeffective that we used it for everything oncewe had finished putting the R-90 through itspaces.

About the dBWWe currently are expressing power interms of dBW-meaning power in dBwith a reference (0 dBW) of 1 watt. Theconversion table will enable you to usethe advantages o` dBW in comparingthese products to others for which youhave no dBW figLres.

WATTS dBW WATTS dBW1.00 0 32 151.25 1 40 161.6 2 50 172.0 3 63 182.5 4 80 193.2 5 100 204.0 6 125 215.0 7 160 226.3 8 200 238.0 9 250 24

10.0 10 320 2512.5 11 400 2616 12 500 2720 13 630 2825 14 800 29

JAM:ARV l')54 33

AUDIO New Equipment Reports

An InfinitySans EmitInfinity RS -8a loudspeaker, in particle -boardenclosure with oak -grain vinyl finish. Dimensions: 12by 213/4 Inches (front). 10 inches deep. Price: $170each. Warranty: "limited,- five years parts and labor,transferable. Manufacturer: Infinity Systems. Inc.,7930 Deering Ave., Canoga Park. Calif. 91304.

ROOM RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS

DB

+5

0

-510

HZ 20 50 100 NO 500 11t

boundary -dependent regionon -axis responseoff -axis (30°) response

2K 5K 10K 20K

SENSITIVITY (at 1 meter; 2.8 -volt pink noise250 Hz to 6 kHz) 91,2 dB SPL

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE (250 Hz to 6 kHz)43'4 ohms

How WOULD YOU FEEL if you got a Big Macwith no Special Sauce? Perhaps the way wedid upon discovering that Infinity's RS -8ahas no Emit tweeter. The company's pro-prietary planar -diaphragm tweeter has beena showpiece of the line to such a degree thatits omission seems almost heresy. But thetweeter in the RS -8a (as opposed to theoriginal RS -8, which did have an Emit)exemplifies another trend in Infinity speak-er design, toward the use of polypropyleneas a driver diaphragm material. The recent-ly developed'/4-inch Polycell dome tweeter(previously available only in the two-wayRS -9) is made of an "expanded cell" poly-propylene, whose benefits are said to below coloration and insensitivity to atmo-spheric moisture. The cones of the RS-8a's41/2 -inch midrange driver and 61/2 -inch

woofer also are made of this material.The three drivers are mounted along a

single vertical axis on the sealed enclo-sure's front baffle. On the back panel arecolor -coded spring -clip connectors for theleads from the driving amplifier. The cross-overs are at 800 Hz and 4 kHz. The appear-ance is typical of bookshelf -format speak-ers, except that the vinyl finish mimics oakrather than the traditional walnut-a wel-come change, it seems to us.

Infinity's manual recommends that thespeakers be set up away from room bound-aries-side walls, back wall, and floor.Diversified Science Laboratories selectedseveral positions for measurements. In therecommended position, the deep bass suf-fered visibly in the response curves, thoughthe rest of the range proved quite flat. Whenthe lab measured response with the speakeragainst the back wall, but still raised on astand, the deep bass improved markedly,but a sag in the midbass region deepened.With the speaker just in front of the backwall but on the floor and tilted up toward themeasuring mike, DSL reported exception-ally flat, extended response; the lab there-fore chose this position for all remainingmeasurements, with the results shown inour data column.

The effective on -axis response is ±31/4dB from below the 63 -Hz measurementband to above that centered on 16 kHz. Off -axis response is very similar except for aslightly sharper high -frequency rolloff. Thesimilarity of the two curves at high frequen-cies bespeaks unusually consistent deliveryof highs (a property our listening tests laterconfirmed). The sensitivity measurementsshow that the RS -8a produces more than theusual amount of sound per volt-but notnecessarily per watt, since the averageimpedance is atypically low.

Infinity rates impedance at 4 to 8ohms. DSL's measurements show it toaverage 41/4 ohms over our "music band"and 5 ohms over the full audio band (20 Hzto 20 kHz). The latter figure is driven upsomewhat by the inclusion of two imped-

ance peaks -12 ohms at about 60 Hz (bassresonance) and 8.5 ohms just below 5 kHz(in the crossover/tweeter-resonancerange)-that are at least partly excluded inthe music -band measurement. Outside ofthese not -so -high maxima, the lie of thecurve is quite low. It is below 4 ohms from85 Hz to 1 kHz, a span that contains muchof the energy in typical music, and its mini-mum of only 2.3 ohms falls squarely in themidrange, near 350 Hz. Amplifiers withoutput transistors or power supplies thatcannot deliver high current into low -imped-ance loads may have difficulty driving thisloudspeaker.

The low impedance influenced themeasurements in another way, as well. Inthe 300 -Hz pulse test, the lab amp's protec-tive circuitry triggered at 34 volts peak out-put (the equivalent of 211/2 dBW, or about140 watts, into 8 ohms), for a calculatedsound pressure level of 113 dB at 1 meter.This is high enough to establish excellentdynamic range, but the test might have beencarried successfully to an even greater levelif the speaker's impedance were higher.Distortion increases steadily with drive lev-el, from a moderate average of less than 1/2percent above 63 Hz at 85 dB SPL to about2 percent in the same range at 100 dB,which seems on the high side until you takeinto account the small woofer, the lowprice, and the much higher distortion ratesthat many competitive speakers (particular-ly minis) suffer at this level.

Our experience in the listening roomwas a bit of a surprise, considering the mea-sured results. We would have predicted asomewhat bright sound on many record-ings, with excellent stereo imaging, andhere we were not disappointed. But whenwe tried the speaker on the floor (as mea-sured), the bass proved altogether tooheavy. Positioned as recommended byInfinity-on stands and away from any ofthe listening -room walls-the sound wasvivid and quite exciting, and it was thisposition we finally chose. The bass stillstruck us as quite rich-richer than wewould have predicted from the bass end ofthe applicable lab curve-though sometastes might prefer a slight boost at the verybottom of the range. But the brightnessremained throughout our trials-evenwhen we experimented with a modest treblecut-and this we believe, contributes to thesense of excitement the speakers gener-ate.

The sound is very appealing. Its live-liness is bound to seem a little hyper if youcompare it directly to more laid-back speak-ers, but many listeners are sure to find thisstrongly -etched quality far more to their lik-ing. Certainly it proves that the absence ofan Emit is not a big obstacle to Infinity'sengineers. Polypropylene has served themwell in this capable and remarkably inex-pensive little three-way.

34 HIGH FIDELITY

h is this unique cornJthation of technical and musical expertise thatled Denon to use Dynamic Distortion Testing to optimize DX cassettetape performance n the presence of real musical signals, not merelaboratory test tones. The result is the most musical of all cassette tape.

[tenon DX -Cassette tape. When we claim it's better, we say it withmusic.

INV-11p°c"c

TO MAKE A CASSETTE TAPE SOUND LIKE MUSIC,YOU'VE GOT TO KNOW WHAT MUSIC SOUNDS LIKE.

Think about it. What other tape manufacturer also builds professionalrecording equipment including 24 -track and digital studio taperecorders? What other tape manufacturer has 72years of experience as amajor 'ecord company? Other tape manufacturers may talk about "digitalready,' but do you know Denon developed the digital recording processin 197.27

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D E N ON I1W1/90

DENON. C1X3/ 90

DENON Namalibt DX4/90

DE NON "As DX7/90

DENON m DX8/90

DENON METAL DXM /90

74

DESIGN INTEGRITYtu.. t70ig Columbia Co.. Ltd , No 14 14.4.-Croone, Akasaka, Nit-tato-Ku. Tokyo 107, .apan Denon America, Inc.. 27 Law Drive, Fairfield, N.J. 07C06 (201) 575-'310

AUDIO New Equipment Reports

DISC DRAWER

AC POWER

HEADPHONES

HEADPHONE LEVEL ADJUST -IOPEN/CLOSE. PLAY. PAUSE

REPEAT

TIME(ELAPSED/REMAINING)

I--INDEX CUE. STOPCUEING CONTROLS

Sony's SimplerCD PlayerSony CDP-200 Compact Disc player. Dimensions: 14by 31/4 inches (front panel). 13 inches deep plusclearance for connections. AC convenience outlet:one unswitched (100 watts max.). Price: $700.Warranty: "limited," one year parts and labor.Manufacturer: Sony Corporation, Japan; U.S.distributor: Sony Corporation of America, Sony Dr.,Park Ridge. N.J. 07656.

All data obtained using the Sony YEDS 7, Technics SH-CD001, Philips 410 055-2, and Philips 410 056-2 testdiscs.

FREQUENCY RESPONSEDB

0

-5COP205

HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

L ch +<V4, -'.2 dB. 20 Hz to 20 kHzR ch t <1/4, -1 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz

DEEMPHASIS ERROR+ 1h, -0 dB, 1 to 16 kHz

CHANNEL SEPARATION923/4 dB, <100 Hz to 20 kHz

CHANNEL BALANCE (at 1 kHz) ±1/4 dB

S.N RATIO (re 0 dB; A -weighted)without de -emphasiswith de -emphasis

98 dB102 dB

HARMONIC DISTORTION (THD+N; 40 Hz to 20 kHz)at 0 dB 0.18%at -24 dB X0.051%

IM DISTORTION (70 -Hz difference frequency;300 Hz to 20 kHz)0 to -30 dB

LINEARITY (at 1 kHz)0 to -60 dBat -70 dBat -80 dBat -90 dB

<0.01%

no measurable errorl/2 dB11+2 dB

f4 dB

TRACKING 8 ERROR CORRECTIONmaximum signal -layer gapmaximum surface obstructionsimulated fingerprint test

MAXIMUM OUTPUT LEVELlineheadphone

OUTPUT IMPEDANCEline outputheadphone output

see textsee textpass

2.1 volts5.6 volts'

435 ohms230 ohms

'This is the maximum output into an open circuit.Maximum output into the IHF standard load (50 ohms) is0.78 volt, or 12 milliwans.

A FEW ISSUES AGO (October 1983), wereviewed Sony's perfectionist approach tothe Compact Disc format: the $1,500 CDP-701E5. Now we come to the company'sleast expensive model, the CDP-200. at lessthan half the price. (The $900 CDP-101,which we reported on in December 1982,falls between the extremes.) The two sharea number of features, though the presentunit lacks the deluxe player's elaboratemusic -programming automation and wire-less remote control. But considering theprice differential, the 200 comes surprising-ly close to the 701ES in performance aswell as operating convenience.

The disc holder is a motorized drawerthat is very easy to load and reasonably easyto unload without touching more than theedges of the CD. The player reads the discindex in the usual fashion and can then dis-play either the time remaining on the disc asa whole or the current track and index num-bers and the elapsed time within the track.The latter display mode is generally themore useful; the former is handy if you'renot sure you've got time to hear the rest of arecord.

There are two pairs of "fast cue" con-trols. A single tap on either of the large keysin the upper set, labeled "automatic musicsensor," will take you forward or backwardto the nearest intertrack space and recom-mence playback there almost instanta-neously. Multiple taps advance or reel inthe laser beam the requisite number oftracks and reset the band and time displayaccordingly. The lower, smaller pair of but-tons move the pickup across the disc atabout 20 times normal speed, sampling themusic continuously as it goes. You can thus"flip through" the music of a 60 -minutedisc in about three minutes. (Unlike com-parable features in tape equipment, thisaccelerated playback doesn't alter audiblepitch: It just omits about 19 out of every 20seconds of music.)

Also included are forward and reverseindex keys that work like the track controls,

except that they recue the laser to the next orprevious index number within the track thatis playing. Multiple taps reset the laser andthe index readout accordingly.

If you want to study a particular musi-cal passage or hear any section of a discmore than once, you can easily do so bysetting a repeat marker at the beginning ofthe segment and another at the end; theCDP-200 will then play it over and overuntil you reset the repeat feature. A separatebutton, labeled "all," repeats the entiredisc. Once we adjusted our room lighting sowe could read the gray -on -gray legends forthese controls, we found that they workedflawlessly. And two other nice touchesdeserve mention: the level adjustment forthe headphone output and the accessory ACoutlet on the back panel.

Performance comparisons aren't muchhelp in picking a CD player. The flatness ofthe frequency response and the absence ofnoise and distortion are remarkable by con-trast to most other component categories,making those differences that can be dis-cerned between CD models almost vanish-ingly small. In the measurements fromDiversified Science Laboratories, the CDP-200 does exhibit a slight rolloff in theextreme treble, a tiny output -level (balance)disparity between the two channels at 1

kHz, and compression of extremely low-level signals that is a hair more severe thanaverage-nit-pickings all.

Otherwise, the performance data areutterly above reproach, with one rathercurious exception. Usually, a CD playereither "tracks" or fails to do so in the threetests designed specifically to exercise theerror correction. When the breaks in thedigital signal stream grow wide enough-either because of deliberate omission orbecause of the interposition of opaque dotson the surface of the test record-the result-ing thumps, clicks, or instantaneous si-lences leave no doubt that the capabilities ofthe error -correction circuitry have beenexceeded. The CDP-200 created no gross

36 HIGH FIDELITY

GARCON HI

WHY BUY "flUDGET" LOUDSPEAKERS,WHEN FOR THE SAME PRICE YOU CAN OWN KEF?

Today many .Teaker companies ae offering budget loudspeakers, but which of them has everproduced products of the calibrz. of KEF's wcrid-acclaimed Series?

Which of then can draw from this Reference technology to ps-ittce-affordalroducts that donot ccmpromise wand quality?

Only KEF ir_amiEcturers of the world's most thoroughly engineered loudspeakers.The new IStardazd Series' represents one of Ka'F's most significant

accomplishments- solid and attractively buLt lou.:1-speakers that delivertrue KEF -3erfcrmance. yet have a suggested retail pice per pck of $300 EF(ccdal; $5700 (Carina) -.Ind $750 (Carl:on). The Speaker Engineers

The new X.EF "S::,-ndard Series." For pee* with higher standards.Intratec, P.O- 3ox V414, Chillcs "n-'1 .Ai -go.rt, Washington, C.C. 211114

AUDIO New Equipment ReportsSQUARE -WAVERESPONSE (1 kHz)

IMPULSERESPONSE

artifacts of this sort in either test (and itsuccessfully negotiated the simulated fin-gerprints in a related test), but at all "levelsof difficulty" it generated at least some"ticking" effects. Certainly this is prefera-ble to total failure, but it also is less desir-able than the unperturbed reproduction pro-vided by the very best players. So the Sonymight be said to have passed all levels ofthese tests, but only marginally.

In listening to regular commercial

CDs, however, we could hear nothingamiss, even when some dust could be seenadhering to the disc before play. So theeconomies that set this relatively inexpen-sive model apart from the fanciest strike usas well considered: You might conceivablyspend the extra $800 for Sony's top modelwithout realizing any practical or sonicadvantage, depending on the demandsplaced on the music -finding features andon how well you care for your CDs.

INFRASONICFILTER:

OFF/20 HZ/36 HZ

SELECTOR: PHONO/TUNERAUX 1/AUX 2/TAPE

MONITOR (SOURCE/TAPE/MUTE)

VOLUME ADJUST-BALANCE ADJUST.

HIGH CUT (OFF/10 KHZ/5 KHZ)

I-- POWERSUPPLY

DB's Two -PartPreamplifierDB Systems DB-1B preamplifier, in oak cabinet, withDB-2A power supply. Dimensions: 12 by 4 inches(front panel), 63/4 Inches deep plus clearance forcontrols and connections (preamp); 61/4 by 31/4Inches (front panel), 414 inches deep (power supply).Price: 5595. Warranty: "limited," five years parts andlabor. Manufacturer: DB Systems, Main St., RindgeCenter, N.H. 03461.

DB SYSTEM'S FIRST PRODUCT was about asaustere a preamplifier as anyone had everseen, with just three knobs and threeswitches on its small, black metal faceplate.A long, detachable cable linked the DB-1 toits remote power supply, the DB-2, housedin a still smaller and plainer box. The use ofa separate, stiffly regulated power supplyserved to isolate sensitive audio circuitsfrom the hum -inducing fields that emanatefrom AC line currents and transformers.

Other manufacturers have used thisdual -chassis scheme, but recently only DBhas carried the concept to its logical conclu-sion. In the company's current line, theDB-2A power supply is the heart of a veryflexible modular preamplifier "system,"each of whose elements is designed to per-form a limited range of functions extremelywell. These elements include the DB-4Apre -preamplifier for low -output moving -coil cartridges; the DB-5 tone -control mod-ule; the DB-7 polarity switch, amplifier -bridging adapter, and bandpass filter; andthe DB-3 series of electronic crossovers. Asingle DB-2A can power about as many ofthese units as you're ever likely to use atone time (DB estimates six). This makes iteasy to start with just one and add more astime goes on. And you can use any of themodules (plus the power supply) with otherbrands of components, as well.

The new DB-1B preamp, underreview here, is slightly more expensive than

the DB-1A version. Its distinguishing fea-tures are said to include lower noise in thehigh-level stage, a volume control speciallyselected for tight tracking between channels(within ± 1 dB over a 50 -dB range), allgold-plated input and output jacks, and asolid oak cabinet. Functionally, however,the two preamps are identical-and quiteSpartan.

On the back panel of the DB-1B aretwo sets of electrically isolated main out-puts and two pairs of individually bufferedtape outputs. There is one set of phonoinputs, plus four high-level inputs, includ-ing a single pair of tape jacks (though any ofthese can be expanded by a factor of fourwith the addition of a DBP-2J passiveswitchbox). The only other prominent fea-tures are a thumbscrew grounding post andtwo DIN sockets. One socket is for patch-ing components that use DIN connectorsand cables into the tape -monitor loop, sup-planting the pin jacks that normally areused. The other is for attaching the powersupply or one of the auxiliary units, such asthe tone -control module; in the latter case,the power supply attaches to the auxiliaryunit, and the cable between the unit and thepreamp carries input and output signals aswell as power. Additional modules are add-ed by daisy -chaining in this fashion, withthe DB-2A bringing up the rear.

The DB-1B's front panel provides lit-tle beyond the most basic controls: a VOL-

38 HIGH FIDELITY

OUTPUT AT CLIPPING (1 kHz) 7.4 volts

HARMONIC DISTORTION (THD; 20 Hz to 20 kHz)aux or phono input <0.01%

FREQUENCY RESPONSE+0, -44 dB, <10 Hz to 21.5 kHz;.0. -3 dB, <10 Hz to 79.4 kHz

RIAA EQUALIZATION tt.-<V4 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz;-V4 dB at 5 Hz

SENSITIVITY & NOISE (re 0.5 volt; A -weighting)sensitivity S,N ratio

aux input 62 mV 91 dBphono input 0.92 mV 79 dB

PHONO OVERLOAD (1 -kHz clipping) 150 mV

INPUT IMPEDANCEaux inputphono input

OUTPUT IMPEDANCEtape outputmain output

36k ohms47.9k ohms: 105 pF

980 ohms1.200 ohms

CHANNEL SEPARATION (at 1 kHz; aux input)74 dB

INFRASONIC FILTER-3 dB at 27 or 47 Hz; 6 dB/octave*

HIGH FILTER-3 dB at 9.7 or 18.6 kHz; 6 dB/octave

'Affects phono response only

UME, an undetented BALANCE, a sourceselector, a tape -monitor switch, andswitches for the high- and low-cut filters.The tape -monitor control is unusual in hav-ing three positions, one of which serves as aMUTE. And tradition is honored by having atape position on the main selector, as wellas on the monitor switch. This can be con-venient at times, but it has the drawback ofenabling you to induce feedback by turningthe selector to TAPE while recording with athree -head deck.

Both filters have gentle slopes of about6 dB per octave, and their three -positionswitches enable you to set them for either oftwo cutoff frequencies or to defeat themaltogether. Diversified Science Laborato-ries found the lower -filter cutoffs to be 7 to10 Hz higher than indicated by the switchmarkings (not a significant discrepancy).At the lower setting, response is down only1 dB at 50 Hz, about 3 dB at 30 Hz, andabout 16 dB at 5 Hz. It thus provides someprotection against warp -generated infrason-ics without significantly attenuating theoutput at frequencies where there is likelyto be any musical energy. The higher cutoffsetting drops the response by 1 dB at 90 Hz,about 3 dB at 50 Hz, and about 20 dB at 5Hz. This makes it more effective in the waragainst warps, but at the risk of some thin-ning of the sound. The low filter affectsonly the phono response.

The high filter influences the responsethrough all inputs. Its switch markings indi-cate the frequencies at which the filter'sresponse is 1 dB down, which DSL's mea-surements confirm. Neither settingproduces enough rolloff in the audio bandto take much of a bite out of hiss (the less

severe of the two is just 2 dB down at 15kHz), but the one with the lower cutoff,especially, can help take the edge off aloudspeaker, cartridge, or recording with ahot high end. For this purpose, it is betterthan many tone controls.

As we mentioned earlier, the point ofthe DB-1B is not "bells and whistles," butperformance-and that is where it trulyshines. DB Systems claims that distortionof all types is less than 0.001 percent,which is at least two orders of magnitudebelow the threshold of audibility for anyconceivable musical signal and one orderbelow the level at which we stop reportingimprovements (0.01 percent). In fact, it isso low that DSL was unable to detect anydistortion at all, indicating that any circuitnonlinearities that may exist are beyond theresolution of the lab's test instruments.

The other measurements are equallyimpressive. Frequency response and phonoequalization are flat over the entire audiblerange, and noise is extremely low. (Partic-ularly noteworthy is the total absence ofaudible hum, even through the phono inputwith the volume control turned all the wayup.) Phono overload and channel separationare more than adequate, and the input andoutput impedances are well-chosen. Thisfine performance assures that the DB-1Bwill add no sonic character of its own to thesignals passing through it.

Clearly, this is not a preamp for every-one. But if you want maximum perfor-mance with a minimum of frills, and DB'smodular design approach appeals to you, itis an excellent choice, fully capable ofstanding up sonically to any other preampon the market.

A Top -ValueCassette DeckFrom AiwaAiwa AD -F770 cassette deck, with automatic tape -matching system, Dolby B and C noise reduction,and Dolby HX Pro headroom extension. Dimensions:161/2 by 4 Inches (front panel), 11 inches deep plusclearance for connections. Price: 5495; optional RC -R200 remote control, $95. Warranty: "limited," oneyear parts and labor. Manufacturer: Aiwa Co.. Ltd.,Japan: U.S. distributor: Aiwa America, Inc., 35 OxfordDr., Moonachie, N.J. 07074.

PLAYBACK RESPONSE (BASF test tape: -20 dB DIN)DB

0

5AD -F770 (1,

HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

L ch +0, -3 dB, 315 Hz to 10 kHzR ch +0, -3 dB, 315 Hz to 10 kHz

AT FIRST GLANCE, you might easily mistakethe Aiwa AD -F770 for the AD -F990, whichwe tested last September. But the presentmodel dispenses with some of the F990'smost exotic features-the automatic re-cording -level adjustment and the automaticnoise reduction switching-thereby shav-ing $100 from the price and bringing theadvantages of Aiwa's current cassette -deckdesign within reach of a larger audience.

The innovation we're most fond of isthe horizontal control shelf, which makesoperation much easier than with conven-tional front -loaders when the machine isplaced below eye level. On the shelf is thebutton controlling the automatic tape -matching system (which Aiwa callsDATA-Digital Automatic Tape Adapta-tion). When you push it, the deck records aseries of tones, sets bias, sensitivity (Dol-by) calibration, and recording EQ fromthem, and then rewinds the tape to the spotwhere the operation began. Also welcomeis the option of either arbitrary counter

numbers or a time -remaining readout (withcalibrations for all standard cassettelengths, including C -120s). Unlike someothers of its ilk, the latter works in the fast -wind modes, as well as during recordingand playback.

The AD-F770's head complement in-cludes separate recording and playback ele-ments in a single housing (contacting thetape through the main central port in thecassette shell), making it possible to moni-tor from the tape during recording and tomake instantaneous source/tape compari-sons. An automatic degaussing systemclears the heads of residual magnetizationeach time you turn on the power. Theclosed -loop dual -capstan drive system hasAiwa's Micro -grain treatment on the cap-stan surfaces, which the company creditswith reducing modulation noise and flutter.And there's Dolby B and C noise reduc-tion-plus Dolby HX Pro, for significantlyimproved high -frequency headroom.

An added benefit for most users is the

JANUARY 1984 39

AUDIO New Equipment Reports

REPEAT MEMORYCOUNTER MODES

AC POWER

EJECT

TIMER MODES

HEADPHONES

TRANSPORT CONTROLS RECORDING LEVEL ADJUSTAUTOMATIC TAPE MATCHING (START)

MONITOR(TAPE/SOURCE)

NOISE REDUCTION(DOLBY B/C/OFF)OUTPUT LEVEL

RECORDINGBALANCE ADJUST.

RECORD/PLAY RESPONSE, TYPE 2 TAPE (-20 dB)DB

0

5A.D.F770 (2)

HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

Lch +114 -3 dB, <20 Hz to 18 kHzR ch +1'4, -3 dB, <20 Hz to 18 kHz

with Dolby B noise reductionR ch +13'4, -3 dB, <20 Hz to 17.5

kHzwith Dolby C noise reduction- - R ch +21/4, -3 dB, <20 Hz to 17 kHz

RECORD/PLAY RESPONSE, TYPE 4 TAPE (-20 dB)DB

0

5

16.4144.4==.0fte

AO.F770 131

HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

Lch + Vz, -3 dB, <20 Hz to 19 kHzRch +1h,-3 dB, <20 Hz to 19.5 kHz

with Dolby B noise reductionRch ; 1. -3 dB, <20 Hz to 19 kHz

with Dolby C noise reduction- - Rch 12. -3 dB, <20 Hz to 19 kHz

RECORD/PLAY RESPONSE. TYPE 1 TAPE (-20 dB)DB

0

5AD -FT 70 4)

HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K

L ch +2, -1 dB, <20 Hz to 20 kHzR ch ±11/2 dB, <20 Hz to 20 kHz

with Dolby B noise reductionR ch + 13/4, -3 dB, 20 Hz to 19.5

kHzwith Dolby C noise reduction- - Rch +23/4 dB, -2 dB,

kHz

MULTIPLEX FILTER (defeatable)flat at 15 kHz; -361/2 dB at 19 kHz

20 Hz to 20

S,N RATIO (re DIN 0 dB; R P; CCIR ARM -weighted)Type 2 tape Type 4 tape Type 1 tape

without noise reduction541/4 dB 541/4 dB 503/4 dB

with Dolby B noise reduction641/2 dB 641/4 dB 6034 dB

with Dolby C noise reduction73 dB 73 dB 693/4 dB

20K

automatic tape -type switching, whichsenses the keyways in the cassette shell andsets the deck for Type I. 2, or 4 tapes. Type3 ferrichromes (like Type I ferries) have nokeyways and therefore are treated as ferries,losing the benefit of the hiss -reducing 70 -microsecond EQ that is normal to them (aswell as Type 2 "chromes" and Type 4 met-als). So if you want to play or record onferrichromes-or on old or off -brand cas-settes without the now -standardized key-ways-you're out of luck: There is no man-ual override.

Diversified Science Laboratories usedthree TDK formulations for its record/playtests: SA as the Type 2 tape (used for alltests in which the type is not specified), MAfor Type 4, and D (TDK's least fancy fer-ric) for Type 1. In each case, the automatictape -matching system was used (as itshould be in normal recording practice) to"tune" the deck to the tape. The results, asthe response curves show, are all veryfine.

The playback curves also are excel-lent, except that an evident disparity of azi-muth standard between Aiwa-among oth-er manufacturers-and the BASF test tapeproduces a droop at the high end that wouldnot otherwise appear. As the record/playcurves demonstrate, however, no such roll -off occurs with cassettes recorded on theF770, and similarly extended responseshould be obtained from recordings madeon other decks calibrated to the alignmenttape used by Aiwa. The defeatable multi-plex filter (the switch is on the back panel)is effective at the 19 -kHz stereo -FM pilotfrequency and introduces neither attenua-tion nor peaking at 15 kHz.

DSL's high-level (0 -dB) response

curves (not shown) document the excellenthigh -frequency headroom that you wouldexpect from a deck incorporating HX Pro.With Type 2 tape and no noise reduction,the curve shows little evidence of compres-sion as high as 5 kHz, which is excellent;with Type 4 tape and Dolby C, response is,if anything, slightly better at 0 dB than at-20 dB, which is astonishing. And even thecurves made with the moderately pricedType I tape are very good in this respect-comparable to those for metal tape in manydecks without HX Pro.

Midrange headroom, too, is admira-ble: DSL's measurements for 3 percentthird harmonic distortion at 315 Hz are gen-erally about one "step" (2 dB at the top ofthe metering range) above the maximumrecommended signal level for each tapegroup, as shown on the recording level indi-cators. These "suggestions" light automat-ically when you insert a cassette, inresponse to the shell keyways. They arebased on the presumption that metals willhave some 2 dB more midrange headroomthan chromes (and ferricobalts), and the lat-ter 2 dB more than ferries.

The assumptions are valid as long asthe comparison is between first-rate metalor chrome formulations and budget ferries;these days, the best ferries have a good shotat outperforming the competition in the oth-er two groups. So for the best possibleresults, your response to the deck's recom-mendations must be tempered by a knowl-edge of the tape you are using. However,the benchmarks Aiwa supplies-togetherwith the fast metering action, the finelydivided metering scale ( 1 -dB incrementsfrom -4 to +6 dB), the peak -hold feature,and the high -frequency "insurance" of HX

A Quick Guideto Tape TypesOur tape classifications, Type 0 through 4. are based pri-marily on the International Electrotechnical Commissionmeasurement standards.

Type 0 tapes represent "ground zero's in that theyfollow the original Philips -based DIN spec. They are ferrictapes, called LN (low -noise) by some manufacturers, re-quiring minimum (nominal 100%) bias and the original,

"standard" 120 -microsecond playback equalization.Though they include the "garden variety formulations,the best are capable of excellent performance at moder-ate cost in decks that are well matched to them.

Type 1 (IEC Type I) tapes are ferries requiring toesame 120 -microsecond playback EQ but somewhat high-er bias. They sometimes are styled LH (low -noise, high -output) formulations or "premium ferries."

Type 2 (IEC Type II) tapes are intended for usewith 70 -microsecond playback EQ and higher recording

bias still (nominal 150%). The first formulations of thissort used chromium dioxide; today they also includechrome -compatible coatings such as the ferricobalts.

Type 3 (IEC Type III) tapes are dual -layered fer-nchromes, implying the 70 -microsecond ("chrome-) play-back EQ. Approaches to their biasing and recording EQvary somewhat from one deck manufacturer to another.

Type 4 (IEC Type IV) are the metal -particle, or "al-loy' tapes. requiring the highest bias of all and retainingthe 70 -microsecond EC/ of Type 2.

40 HIGH FIDELITY

INDICATOR READINGS FOR DIN 0 DB (315 Hz)Type 2 tape +6 dB (with 2.0% THD)Type 4 tape + 5 dB (with 0.62% THD)Type 1 tape +6 dB (with 2.3% THD)

INDICATOR READINGS FOR 3% DISTORTION (315 Hz)Type 2 tape +8 dB (for + 11/2 dB DIN)Type 4 tape > +10 dB (for +53,4 dB DIN)Type 1 tape +6 dB (tor 3,4 dB DIN)

DISTORTION (THD at -10 dB DIN)Type 2 tape 0.73%, 50 Hz to 5 kHzType 4 tape 0.34%, 50 Hz to 5 kHzType 1 tape 0.72%, 50 Hz to 5 kHz

ERASURE (100 Hz)Type 2 tapeType 4 tape

75 dB57 dB

CHANNEL SEPARATION (315 Hz) 53 dB

INDICATOR "BALLISTICSResponse timeDecay timeOvershoot

3.4 msec450 msec

0 dB

SPEED ACCURACY no measureable error,105 to 127 VAC

FLUTTER (ANSI weighted peak; RIP)

SENSITIVITY (re DIN 0 dB; 315 Hz)line inputmike input

±0.068%

125 mV0.215 mV

MIKE INPUT OVERLOAD (clipping) 34 mV

INPUT IMPEDANCESline inputmike input

OUTPUT IMPEDANCE

65k ohms5.6k ohms

3,150 ohms

MAX. OUTPUT (from DIN 0 dB) 0.71 volt

Pro-make it easy to get good results evenin relatively casual use.

Most of the measurements representperformance that is, at minimum, verygood. The spot-on speed accuracy is themost eyecatching; it sent us scurrying tolook at old reports in search of other modelsin which no speed error could be measured.(We had to go back to August 1982; theremay be other, earlier examples.) But theusual figures-around 1/2 percent fast-arequite satisfactory. The erasure of metaltapes is not quite up to the level of the otherdata (including the Type 2 erasure figure),but it is certainly adequate for most pur-poses. As with many other decks, perfec-tionists will want to bulk- or double -erasemetal tapes to ensure the cleanest possiblerecordings.

There are a number of little extraswhose value is a matter of the recordist'spersonal assessment. The deck has mikeinputs-on the back panel, and, therefore,evidently intended for occasional use only.There are the usual timer playback andrecording options. Less ordinary is the "in-tro -play" feature, which sequentially sam-ples several seconds of each selection on

the tape. The automatic mute, which cre-ates a four -second blank on the tape to helpintro -play identify the points where oneselection ends and another begins, can bemade to create longer or shorter blanks aswell for special purposes. There are multi-ple options of automatic rewind and repeatplay, and the deck will seek out unrecordedportions of the tape on command. Moder-ately fast forward wind or rewind withsome audible output (cue and REVIEW) forlocating a specific passage by ear isachieved by pressing either fast -wind but-ton and PLAY simultaneously during play-back.

That's a lot of features for any cassettedeck-even one in this price range. Whenyou consider the more important attributescataloged at the beginning of this review, itshould be obvious that the AD -F770 fol-lows what we recognize as the true Aiwatradition-representing good "value formoney," as the British say. Some featureswill doubtless strike some recordists asmere flourishes, but in light of the soliddesign virtues and performance, the over-riding impression is one of capability andfinesse.

AR's RemoteFor All SystemsAcoustic Research SRC -1 wireless remote controlsystem. Dimensions: 11,2 by 13/4 inches (front panel),51,5 Inches deep plus clearance for connections.Price: $160. Warranty: "limited," one year parts andlabor. Manufacturer: made In Taiwan for TeledyneAcoustic Research, 10 American Dr., Norwood, Mass.02062.

OUTPUT AT CLIPPING (1 kHz)

MAXIMUM INPUT LEVEL (clipping)

S/N RATIO (re 0.5 volt; A -weighted)

3.15 volts

3.15 volts

a 903,4 dB

HARMONIC DISTORTION (THD; 20 Hz to 20 kHz)S. 0.025%

FREQUENCY RESPONSE (at 0 -dB attenuation)0, -V4 dB, <10 Hz to 53 kHz;

+0, -3 dB, <10 Hz to 181 kHz

CHANNEL SEPARATION (at 1 kHz) 903'4 dB

INPUT IMPEDANCE 100k ohms

OUTPUT IMPEDANCEtape output source plus 220 ohmsEPL output source plus 220 ohmsmain output 340 ohms

BEFORE NOW, IF YOU wanted to get remotecontrol in an audio system, you had to buy aone -brand package engineered for thatcapability from the ground up. But with theappearance of AR's SRC -1 add-on remotecontrol unit, owners of multibrand systemscan enjoy some of the same benefits. Wesay "some" because no add-on device canorder a tuner to change stations or a cassettedeck to go from playback to recording, forexample. What it can do is turn the systemon and off and manipulate the audio signalafter it has left a component. As we foundafter extended use of the SRC -1 in a varietyof systems, even this degree of control canprove very welcome.

The SRC -1 comprises a base stationand a small, hand-held transmitter. Four ofthe base station's five front -panel lightsgive visual confirmation of operating sta-tus; the fifth blinks momentarily to signalthat a command has been received andacted on. Since the base unit contains thecontrol circuitry, you must hook it into youraudio system so that it receives line -levelinputs from all sources. For owners ofreceivers and integrated amps, that usuallymeans putting it into the tape -monitor loop,which is therefore duplicated on the SRC -1with the appropriate input and output jacksand a switch on the base station. Plus,there's a second "external processor" loopfor a signal processor or another sourcefeed, and a key on the transmitter that lets

you insert it remotely into the signal path.You can also use the remote to turn yoursystem on and off via a switched AC outleton the back of the base station (providedyour components draw no more than 600watts).

The battery -powered transmitter hasfour rocker panels, but because of two -pan-el procedures for some operations, it actu-ally can initiate 15 separate actions. Thefunctions of the power, volume, balance,and mute/EPL rockers are reasonably self-evident from their labels. However, thepower -on key also acts as a shift key, mod-ifying the effects of the other function keys.Thus, pressing POWER ON followed byeither end of the volume panel will result ina fast volume change; the volume panelused alone gives a slow change with con-stant key pressure or a 11/2 -dB step witheach quick tap. Using the power -on key andthe balance panel in the same way, you canimmediately change to left- or right -chan-nel -only output. Similar procedures trans-form the normal -20 -dB mute into a fullmute and cause the EPL to restore centerbalance. And for unattended system shut-off, you can press POWER ON followed byPOWER OFF to trigger a 30 -minute count-down timer.

Out of the box, the SRC -1 is preset toturn on with the mute engaged, the volumeset all the way down, the balance centered,and the external processor loop disengaged.

JANUARY 1984 41

AUDIO New Equipment Reports

POWER (ON/OFF)

VOLUME ADJUST.

BALANCE ADJUST.

MUTE (ON/OFF),EXTERNAL PROCESSOR

(IN/OUT)

11111111111As long as it receives AC power, the SRC -1will retain its last volume, balance, andEPL settings, but will stay in mute whenactivated by the transmitter so that you canset a lower volume level if necessary. (Ifpower to the base station is interrupted, itwill forget this information and return toAR's presets when power is restored.)

The remote transmitter has a range ofapproximately 40 feet, which should bequite sufficient in most rooms. The abilityto control volume and balance from the lis-tening position is a terrific convenience-though mastering the two -panel proceduresis tricky. Especially bothersome is thereturn -to -center -balance procedure: If youforget to hit the power -on key before tap-ping EPL (or just accidentally hit EPL whenyou really want to press the MUTE at thepanel's other end), all sound disappears ifthere is no component in the loop. Trying torestore sound occasionally involved us in afruitless round of key pushing until we real-ized what was wrong. One of us finally con-cluded that an EPL release procedureshould always be attempted first, whileanother obviated the problem by installingjumper cables across the EPL jacks on theback of the base station. AR will soon startsilk-screening instructions on the back ofthe transmitter to head off confusion.

On the test bench, however, there wasno confusion about the excellence of theunit's circuitry. Diversified Science Labo-ratories measured attenuation and channelbalance at each of the unit's 52 steps and

found precision rivaling that of the bestlaser -trimmed resistor networks, far sur-passing the performance of the volume con-trols on most preamps and receivers. Theattenuation increments are within 1/4 dB ofthe 11/2 dB specified by AR, and total atten-uation is more than adequate at 79 dB.More outstanding, however, is the findingthat channel balance deviates less than ±'/.dB from 0 to -72 dB. Noise is also wellcontrolled, ranging from -9(P/4 dB at mini-mum attenuation to -1031/4 dB at full cut.Such signal-to-noise (S/N) figures are bet-ter than those of most signal sources andpreamps-enough so that the SRC -1'snoise can, for all practical purposes, beconsidered nonexistent. Equally impressiveare the unit's distortion figures, which arewell below the threshold of audibility, andits frequency response, which remains rulerflat at any volume setting throughout theaudible band.

The SRC -1 will find a welcome placein many systems. If yours is composed ofseparates, you may even choose to hook atuner or tape deck into the EPL inputs on theback of the base station and perform a littleremote source switching. And if you don'tmind a bright green light blinking to remindyou that it has been activated, the unit'ssleep timer may well prove a pleasant sopo-rific. Even as a simple volume and balancecontrol, the SRC -1 is so far superior to theones built into most components that wecan imagine some audiophiles buying it forthat reason alone.

An IntegratedAmp fromAmberAmber Series 50B integrated amplifier, in metal casewith wood ends. Dimensions. 17 by 4, 4 inches (frontpanel), 121/2 inches deep plus clearance for controlsand connections. AC convenience outlets: fiveswitched (300 watts max. total), one unswitched (100watts max.). Price: $600. Warranty: "full," three yearsparts and labor. Manufacturer: Amber Electronics,Inc., 500 Henry Ave.. Charlottesville, Va. 22901.

ONE OF THE ATTRACTIVE THINGS about theaudio industry is that it still can supportsmall, specialist companies. Amber is oneof them, working exclusively in amplifiersand preamplifiers, and this is an updatedversion of its first integrated model. The50B's circuitry includes such niceties astotally defeatable tone controls; absence ofcurrent limiting for distortion -free, full -power operation into low -impedance andotherwise difficult loads (a particular inter-est of Amber's designers); and a customlow -flux power transformer and hefty

capacitors in the power supply.The front -panel controls are unusual in

two relatively minor respects. First, theMUTE cuts output completely (rather thanjust attenuating it by 20 dB or so). Second,the tape -loop design puts "Tape 2" aheadof "Tape 1." According to Amber, this isso that signal processors-which the man-ual says should be connected to Tape 2-will affect the signal going to the recorderwhen you push the Tape 2 monitor button.This setup is also used to dub from 2 to 1; ifyou want to monitor from Tape 1, you push

42HIGH FIDELITY

TREBLEBASS

SOURCE SELECT(PHONO/TUNER/

AUX/TAPE 1)

-ITONE DEFEATINFRASONIC FILTER (ON/OFF)

TAPE/PROCESSORSELECT. (1. 2,

BALANCEADJUST

HEADPHONES

AC

VOLUME ADJUST.

POWER

MUTE (ON/OFF)-MODE (STEREO/MONO)

RATED POWER 17 dBW (50 watts) channel

OUTPUT AT CLIPPING (both channels driven)8 -ohm load 1714 dBW (60 watts) channel4 -ohm load 19)2 dBW (90 watts) channel

DYNAMIC POWER8 -ohm load4 -ohm load

19 dBW203, dBW

DYNAMIC HEADROOM (re rated power, 8 -ohm load)+2 dB

HARMONIC DISTORTION (THD; 20 Hz to 20 kHz)at 17 dBW (50 watts) 0.031%at 0 dBW (1 watt) 5- 0.053%

FREQUENCY RESPONSE+0,-1/2 dB, <10 Hz to 16.9 kHz;

0,-3 dB, <10 Hz to 46.6 kHz

RIAA EQUALIZATION +<V4, -V4 dB, 20 Hz to 20 kHz;-3/4 dB at 5 Hz

SENSITIVITY 8 NOISE (re 0 dBW: A -weighting)sensitivity S N ratio

aux input 17 mV 73 dBphono input 0.18 mV 663, dB

PHONO OVERLOAD (1 -kHz clipping) 105 mV

INPUT IMPEDANCEphono inputaux input

49.4k ohms (complex)9.3k ohms

OUTPUT IMPEDANCE (to tape)from aux input directfrom phono input 50 ohms

DAMPING FACTOR (at 50 Hz) 50

CHANNEL SEPARATION (at 1 kHz) 551/2 dB

INFRASONIC FILTER -3 dB at 37 Hz; 6 dB/octave

its monitor button as well. To dub from I to2, you can choose the playback of Tape 1 onthe main selector and monitor the dub withthe Tape 2 monitor button. But switchingthe selector to Tape 1 when it's connectedto a deck that's set to monitor its source canproduce a nasty feedback. And many signalprocessors (speaker equalizers or expan-ders, for instance) should follow, not pre-cede, the recorder in the signal chain.

There is another option for such pro-cessors, however: preamp output and pow-er -amp input jacks on the back panel.Diversified Science Laboratories measuredan unusually low output impedance of 50ohms, assuring minimum signal degrada-tion, even with relatively long, high -capac-itance cables. A push button nearby uncou-ples the two sections when you want toinsert an outboard component betweenthem. There are also three fuses on the backpanel: one in the power line and one in eachof the output channels. The latter are par-ticularly important, since they constitutethe Amber's sole protection circuitry-notonly for the output transistors, but for thespeakers connected to them. The manualtells you how to determine what fuse valuesto use for speakers of any given maximum -power rating.

There is also a built-in muting circuit,intended to spare your speakers the indig-nity of turn -on thumps; Amber rates it atthree seconds, but disturbingly loud tran-sients continue even after the output isunmuted. The complement of convenienceAC outlets on the back panel is unusuallylavish: six in all, five of them switched.

Also exceptional is the gentleness ofthe tone controls' action. A moderate twistof the BASS in either direction yields only aslight tilt in the response curve below about100 Hz; the maximum settings produce arising boost to about +5 dB at 100 Hz and+10 dB at 25 Hz or a shelving cut of about5 dB below 100 Hz. Maximum rotation ofthe treble control yields some 7 dB of boostor 4 dB of cut above 10 kHz. Both controlsyield essentially flat response in their (un-

detented) center positions, and neitherimpinges significantly on the other's fre-quency domain. The controls are thus welladapted to achieving moderate rebalancing,rather than radical alterations. Also verymoderate is the infrasonic filter slope,though its relatively high turnover pointenables it to suppress warp disturbancessomewhat better than the rolloff rate alonewould imply.

The amplifier's basic frequency re-sponse is quite flat, and distortion is inau-dibly low, though we were surprised to findtraces not only of the third harmonic atsome frequency and power levels, but alsoof the fifth harmonic in the midrange andtreble at 0 dBW (1 watt). The Amber's 2 -dB dynamic headroom means that it cangenerate as much as 80 watts into 8 ohms onmusical signals; into a 4 -ohm load, thedynamic test yielded 203/4 dBW (120watts).

The AUX input impedance is unusuallylow; if the output impedance of a compo-nent connected to it is any higher than 5,000ohms or so (which is not unheard-of, espe-cially in old tubed components), reducedoutput may result. Noise is acceptably lowfor most purposes, though uncommonlyhigh levels of line hum (at 60 Hz and itsharmonics) were apparent both in listeningand on the test bench. The phono input isintended for fixed -coil pickups or moving -coil models of roughly equivalent output;low-level moving -coil cartridges require anoutboard head amp or step-up transformer.Capacitance, to which many fixed -coilpickups are sensitive, can be adjusted bymeans of a set of internally mountedswitches (you must open the chassis) over anominal range of 0 to 700 picofarads (pF).The impedance of the phono input is com-plex, however-meaning that the effectivecapacitance varies with frequency-so thatmatching is not as clear-cut as the switchingsystem presupposes. But this did not seemto cause any audible response anomalieswith the cartridges we used in our listeningtrials.

JANUARY 1984 43

AUDIO New Equipment Reports

33/STOP/45

BALANCE ADJUST

VTF ADJUST

ANTISKATING ADJUST

CUEING (UP DOWN)

Simple EleganceFrom ThorensThorens TD -147 two -speed (33 and 45 rpm)semiautomatic belt -drive turntable, with mahogany -veneer wood base. Dimensions: 171/4 by 141/4 inches(top), 61/2 Inches high with cover closed; additional11 inches clearance above and 314 inches behindrequired to open cover fully. Price: $475. Warranty:"limited," five years parts and labor. Manufacturer:Thorens-Franz, Switzerland; U.S. distributor: EpicureProducts, Inc., 25 Hale St., Newburyport, Mass. 01950.

THOUGH SEVERAL COMPANIES can tracetheir history back to the dawn of the audioage, few can boast a lineage as direct andunbroken as Thorens's. Founded in 1883 asa manufacturer of music boxes, the firmbranched out to make Edison -type phono-graphs in 1898 and has been delighting dis-criminating music lovers ever since with itsrecord -playing equipment. Specializing inbelt -drive single -play designs, the companyhas consistently put performance ahead offlash; indeed, the simple European look andgenerally excellent performance of the newTD -147 epitomize the Thorens approach.

Unlike some of the company's othermodels, however, the TD -147 does not sac-rifice all creature comforts. The turntable(which resembles the established TD -160Super) comes equipped with what the com-pany calls its best tonearm, the dynamic -balance TP- 16 Mk. 111. Thorens speciallytreats the surface of the arm shaft to damptube resonances. A velocity -sensing mech-anism lifts the tonearm at the record's run -out groove and trips a relay that shuts offpower to the platter motor. Both the armand the platter are mounted on a subchassisisolated from the base, dust cover, and

drive motor by a three-point spring suspen-sion. The seven -pound zinc -alloy platter istreated on its underside with a dampingcompound said to minimize ringing and isfitted with a relatively hard rubber mat.

Setting up the turntable takes only afew minutes, and if you're deft at followingvery detailed instructions, mounting a car-tridge in the tonearm's pickup wand shouldprove equally easy. This wand comprisesmost of the tonearm's length, mating withthe rest of the arm mechanism close to thefulcrum. This approach avoids putting theheadshell connector at the end of the tone -arm, where its weight would contributemuch more to the arm's effective mass.After balancing the arm, you dial in theappropriate amount of vertical trackingforce (VTF) and antiskating bias. (Unfortu-nately, the VTF calibration is not veryaccurate; we would suggest using an exter-nal stylus -force gauge.) And finally, unlikeother Thorens units we've seen, this oneuses a small outboard step-down transform-er to convert AC line current to a levelusable by the turntable's 16 -pole synchro-nous motor.

Diversified Science Laboratories

Tonearm/CartridgeMatching Graph

0

.9 25

20

a

RESONANCE FREOVENC IN HZ

'0 4'

"N1i. \ 11111i1111k a IIIIMI , 1.11111191M1311111IN

_____.......,..11111161. ":11111111111131111011111411011111=ZIEN, NM !MI M 1011.1.100..

IIMMIMMIIIIMIMMIIMISMOMMOIMI mg MMNIIMVIIIIIIIIMIOMMIMIIMIIIIMIMIMMIMM=.2.1. MOM. 110.4111 IMMIIMMIMMIIIM411.8.1111111111MMIIMIMMeM INNIA411IIA

NNIMI '1 hi NWMMMIMIMIIIOIIIM11111MNBIMM0M e IeIIIIIIIWINIiiooiiiiiiiiN611916

.1. -wivemiimmiammmoonloothl Imek1111

111

111111111111116111111111111111111110100111111111111111111111111111111210101imosommomonnui..Eminimmilimmomin

111011110.1111,11111111111111111111111111111 IIII 11 1111011/kUl

6 6 a 10 5 20

TOTAL EFFECTIVE MASS IN GRAMS

0 40 0

By means of this nomograph, you can quickly and easilydetermine the compatibility of any cartridge and toneaimwe have tested. Ideally, the arm/cartridge resonance fre-quency (indicated by the diagonal lines) should fall at 10Hz, but anywhere between 8 and 12 Hz will assure goodwarp tracking and accurate bass response. (It is usuallyokay to let the resonance rise as high as 15 Hz, althoughwe don't normally recommend this.)

Begin by looking up the weight and dynamic com-pliance shown in the cartridge report and the effectivemass listed in the turntable or tonearm report. Add theweight of the cartridge to the effective mass of the tone -arm to get the total effective mass. Then find the point onthe graph where the vertical line for the total effectivemass intersects the horizontal line for the cartridge's dy-namic compliance. For a good match, this point shouldfall in the white region, between the 8- and 12 -Hz diago-nal lines.

When necessary, you can back -figure compliancesand effective masses for cartridges and tonearms testedbefore we began reporting these figures directly (in Janu-ary 1983). For cartridges, look up the vertical resonance

frequency (measured in the SME 3009 Series II Improvedtonearm) and the cartridge's weight. Add 15 grams (theSME's effective mass) to the cartridge weight to get thetotal effective mass. Then find the intersection of the ver-tical line representing that mass with the diagonal linerepresenting the measured resonance frequency. Nowyou can read off the compliance from the horizontal linepassing through the point of intersection.

For tonearms, look up the vertical resonance fre-quency as measured with the Shure V-15 Type Ill car-tridge. Find the intersection of the diagonal line for thatfrequency with the horizontal line representing theShure's dynamic compliance of 22.5 x 10-6 cm/dyne.Reading down the vertical line on which the point of inter-section lies will give you the total effective mass of thearm with the Shure V-15 Type Ill mounted in it. Thensubtract 6.3 grams (the weight of the V-15 Type 111) to getthe tonearm's effective mass.

Because of differences in measurement tech-niques. manufacturers' specifications for compliance andeffective mass often differ from our findings and maytherefore yield inconsistent results if used with this graph.

44 HIGH FIDELITY

SPEED ACCURACY (105 to 127 VAC)at 33 rpm no measurable errorat 45 rpm 1.0% fast

WOW 8 FLUTTER (ANSI weighted peak)average ±0.05%maximum ±0.08%

TOTAL AUDIBLE RUMBLE (ARLL) -671/4 dB'

EFFECTIVE TONEARM MASS 181.h grams

VTF-GAUGE ACCURACYreads 0.5 gram high from 0.25 to 1.5 grams;reads 0.4 gram high from 2.0 to 3.0 grams

TOTAL LEAD CAPACITANCE 240 pF

'See text.

found the TD -147's speed accuracy dead -on at 33 rpm, but 1 percent fast at 45 rpm-not a big error audibly, but rather high bycomparison to other turntables. Measuredwith a test lacquer, rumble varied from -651/z to -69 dB, which is about average formodern, high -quality units. Switching toThorens's own precision rumble -testingdevice-the RumpelMesskoppler-ex-tended the lower limit to an excellent -72dB. Flutter is also very low.

Despite Thorens's efforts to keep thetonearm light, DSL measured a moderatelyhigh effective mass. This implies that thebest match will be obtained with a medium -to low -compliance or very lightweight car-tridge. Assuming the cartridge weighs 6grams (which is about average), a dynamiccompliance of 7 to 16 x 10-6 centimetersper dyne (cm/dyne) would be required tokeep the arm/cartridge resonance in the"safe" range between 8 and 12 Hz. Suchfigures are more typical of good moving -

coil pickups than of top fixed -coil models.Another incentive for using a moving -coilis the tonearm's relatively high lead capac-itance. In combination with the input capac-itance of a phono preamp, it could beenough to cause some high -frequency roll -off in many fixed -coil cartridges. Moving -coil pickups are largely insensitive tocapacitive loading.

The TD -147 acquitted itself very wellin the listening room. Its suspension keptacoustic feedback at a minimum, thoughsharp raps to the table on which it wasplaced were transmitted through the sys-tem. The two -position cueing lever workssmoothly, causing rapid arm ascent andslow descent with no drift. And the combi-nation start/speed-selection lever has thepositive feel of a control that should hold upfor many years. In fact, everything aboutthe TD -147 bespeaks quality and durabili-ty-the sort of construction we've come toexpect from the craftsmen at Thorens.

Boston -BredRefinementBoston Acoustics A-400 floor -standing loudspeaker,In particle -board enclosure with oak or walnut veneerfinish. Dimensions: 21 by 41 inches (front), 71/2Inches deep plus 31 inches additional clearance Inback and 244 inches in front for feet. Price: $450each. Warranty: "limited," five years parts and labor.Manufacturer: Boston Acoustics, Inc., 247 LynnfieldSt., Peabody, Mass. 01960.

BOSTON ACOUSTICS' NEWEST loudspeakerreplaces the highly regarded A-200 at thetop of the company's line. Like its prede-cessor, the A-400 is a three-way system inan unusually tall, wide, and shallow acous-tic suspension enclosure. But there areimportant departures as well, apparentlyaimed at combining more fully than beforethe smoothness and coherence that distin-guish the best two-way designs with thehigher power handling, lower distortion,and more uniform dispersion that can beobtained in a good full -range three-way.

The most obvious change is from asingle 10 -inch woofer to dual 8 -inch driv-ers. Their larger effective radiating area(equal to that of a 12 -inch cone) and twinvoice coils increase the system's low -fre-quency power -handling capacity. More im-portant, however, is the distribution of thatradiating surface. Stacking the woofers oneabove the other creates the acoustical equiv-alent of a tall, narrow oval driver, posi-tioned on the baffle so that it is at once closeto the floor, for optimum room coupling,and not too far from the midrange driver, tominimize any possible sonic discontinuityin the crossover region.

The crossover is at 300 Hz, rather than450 Hz, so that more of the musical infor-mation is delivered through the midrangedriver. Since it is approximately at earheight, immediately below the tweeter, thishelps assure a stable and properly placedstereo image. The midrange unit is a 6 -inchcone in its own acoustic suspension suben-closure. A 1 -inch soft -dome tweeter takesover at 3 kHz, which is low enough that themidrange driver is still providing good dis-

persion and high enough that the tweeterdoesn't have to strain at the bottom of itsrange. All of the A -400's drivers are man-ufactured by Boston Acoustics.

Although the company doesn't talkmuch about it, the shape of the A -400'scabinet is an important element of thespeaker's design. All commercially avail-able loudspeakers act like point sources atlow frequencies (where their baffles aresmall relative to the wavelengths of thesound) and like infinite baffles at high fre-quencies (where the wavelengths are rela-tively short). A perfect point source wouldradiate uniformly in all directions, whereasa speaker with a truly infinite baffle wouldradiate only into the forward hemisphere.The size and shape of the enclosure deter-mines the frequency at which the transitionoccurs. And since a driver will be more effi-cient as a half -space radiator than as a full -space radiator, this effect must be allowedfor in tailoring a speaker's response.

Boston Acoustics feels that the mostnatural balance and imaging will beachieved if the transition between full- andhalf -space radiation is kept out of the audi-ble band or, failing that, as close as possibleto one of the frequency extremes. Mostmanufacturers who have addressed theproblem have resorted to narrow or pyrami-dal enclosures to raise the transition fre-quency. Boston Acoustics has taken theopposite tack, using wide cabinets to moreclosely approximate an infinite baffle.Carefully fashioned grilles and flush -mounting of the drivers are said to mini-mize undesirable reflections and edge dif-fraction.

I \NI \I-21 19i.1 45

AUDIO New Equipment ReportsROOM RESPONSE CHARACTERISTICS

DB

+50

5

10A-400

HZ 20 50 100 200 500 1K

boundary-dependen regionon -axis responseoff -axis (30°) response

2K 5K 10K 20K

SENSITIVITY (at 1 meter; 2.8 -volt pink noise.250 Hz to 6 kHz) 91,z dB SPL

AVERAGE IMPEDANCE (250 Hz to 6 kHz)7 ohms

Boston Acoustics' A-400 loudspeaker withgrille cloth removed.

Setting up the speaker requires attach-ing two long, narrow metal feet to its under-side. These protrude a few inches fore andaft to prevent the shallow speaker from tip-ping over. Amplifier connections normallyare made to a pair of color -coded springclips in a recess near the bottom of the backpanel. For biamplified operation, jumperwires between two more pairs of clips nearthe middle of the panel are removed and theamplifier leads are attached there. In thisconfiguration, one amplifier drives thewoofers while the other powers themidrange and tweeter. The clips work andundoubtedly are cost-effective, but we werea little surprised at a speaker of this caliberusing them instead of binding posts.

Diversified Science Laboratoriesmade the measurements reported in our datacolumn with the loudspeaker placed asclose as possible to the back wall, but awayfrom any side walls. The A -400's imped-ance is low, with a minimum of 3.4 ohms at85 Hz and peaks of just 12.5 ohms at 45 Hz(the woofer resonance frequency) and 11ohms at 3 kHz (the upper crossover fre-quency). Over the rest of the audible range,it meanders smoothly between 4 and 7ohms, and this is reflected in DSL's aver-age -impedance figure. We would notexpect an amplifier to have any difficultydriving a pair of A -400s, but you shouldavoid running another set of speakers inparallel with them.

The A -400's dynamic range is excel-lent. Its sensitivity is several dB higher thanaverage (partly because of the low imped-ance), and the speaker can handle largeamounts of power without strain. On DSL's300 -Hz pulse test, it accepted the full out-

put of the lab's amplifier, delivering a cal-culated peak sound pressure level (SPL) of1171/2 dB at 1 meter. And total harmonicdistortion (THD) is very low at all levels,averaging 11/2 percent through the entire testrange (30 Hz to 10 kHz) at 100 dB SPL andless than 1/2 percent from 100 Hz up. Reduc-ing the output brings down the distortion, aswell; at a moderately loud 85 dB, it aver-ages less than 1/2 percent from 30 Hz up andwell under Vs percent above 100 Hz. Thehighest figure recorded was 6.25 percent at63 Hz and 100 dB SPL. These are superbresults. The lab also noted that the A-400produced none of the non -harmonic noisesthat many lesser speakers generate duringthe distortion tests.

The A -400's third -octave response issmooth, flat, and extended. On -axis, it iswithin -±31/2 dB from below 40 Hz to above16 kHz; off -axis, it is a bit better still,remaining within -±3 dB. Response below40 Hz rolls off at slightly more than 12 dBper octave. Near -field response measure-ments of the woofers and midrange driversuggest that about 2 dB of the dip at 300 Hz(the lower crossover frequency) is inherentin the loudspeaker. The rest of it, and per-haps the slight rise between 600 Hz and 1.2kHz, probably is due to interference effectscaused by reflections off the floor.

Because one of Boston Acoustics'avowed design goals was for the A-400 tobe capable of good bass response awayfrom the back wall as well as near it, DSLalso ran response curves with the speakerfour feet into the room. In that position, thelow end starts rolling off about an octavehigher than it does near the wall, but other-wise the curves are virtually identical. Andin both positions, there is very little differ-ence between the on- and off -axis response,even at very high frequencies. All of whichimplies that the speaker's perceived balanceshould be fairly independent of where it orthe listener is situated.

Our experience in the listening roomconfirmed this speculation: Good resultsare possible with a wide variety of speakerplacements and listening positions. The A -400's sound is invariably smooth, clean,and detailed, without a trace of harshness atany bearable volume. The top and bottomare all there, yet without artificial empha-sis. The A -400's essential neutrality is par-ticularly evident on male voice, which itreproduces in a very lifelike manner. (Manyloudspeakers create a false warmth that isinoffensive on most music, but that givesvoices a chesty, closed -in sound.) In allthese respects, the A-400 is as good aspeaker as we have heard.

What really surprised us, though, wasthe A -400's superb imaging, which com-bines precise localization with an engagingopenness and three -dimensionality. Fewloudspeakers achieve this-especially atthe A -400's price. As one of our listenersput it, this is a lot of speaker for the money.We couldn't agree more.

46 HIGH FIDELITY

VIDEOEQUIPMENTREPORTS

SONY KX1901AVIDEO MONITORSony Profeel KX-1901A 19 -inch color video monitor, with NTSC and RGB videoinputs and a built-in stereo power amplifier. Dimensions: 20 by 173/4 inches (front,18% inches deep. AC convenience outlets: one switched (200 watts max.. Price:$800. Warranty: "limited," two years on picture tube, one year on all other parts,90 days labor. Manufacturer: Sony Corp., Japan; U.S. distributor: Sony Corporationof America, Sony Dr., Park Ridge, N.J. 07656.

SONY'S NAME HAS LONG beensynonymous with high -qualitytelevision, its enviable reputation

based largely on its award -winningTrinitron CRT. With but a step fromthat foundation, the company launchedthe component -TV revolution with itsProfeel series. The 19 -inch KX-1901Ais one of Sony's latest Profeel

monitors, and needless to say, it uses aTrinitron picture tube.

Conventional CRTs have threeelectron guns, one for each of theprimary colors (red, green, and blue).The intensity of their beams ismodulated to produce a spot of theproper brightness and hue. A TrinitronCRT uses only one gun, whose

JA N U A R Y 1 9 84 47

NEW TECHNOLOGIESAll measurements were made through the composite videoinput

HORIZONTAL RESOLUTION

INTERLACE

OVERSCAN

300 lines

perfect

horizontalvertical

CENTERING

9%

-8%

horizontalvertical

BLOOMING

left =2%up I%

none

Laboratory data for HIGH Flottitv video -equipmentreports are supplied by Diversified Science Labora-tories. Preparation is supervised by Michael Riggs.Peter Dobbin, and Edward J. Foster. All reportsshould be construed as apply to the specific samplestested. HIGH FIDELITY and Diversified Science Labora-tories assume no responsibility for product perfor-man^.e or quality,

48

emission level determines brightness.The correct hue is obtained by splittingthe output into three beams of theappropriate relative strengths. A singleelectron lens converges the beams sothat they pass through vertical slits inan aperture grille behind the screen.Each then diverges and strikes its ownphosphor stripe on the inside face ofthe screen to produce the proper mix ofprimary colors.

Each phosphor stripe is separatedfrom its neighbors by a black guardgrille, which is said to eliminate colorspilling and to allow a brighter picturewith higher contrast. The aperturegrille is said to create a picture withunusually little moire-the rippling.wave -like pattern that sometimes canbe seen coursing across the screen.

and VOLUME. Another button selectsbetween standard NTSC-composite andRGB operation.

There arc two power switches. Aslong as the one labeled "master" ison. the system remembers the lastPICTURE. VOLUME, and RGB/NTSCsettings; when it is turned off. PICTUREand VOLUME revert to factory -presetlevels, and the system is set for NTSCoperation. Normally. the master switchis left on and the other power button isused to turn the set on and off. If youuse the KX-1901A with a Sony tuner.you can mute the sound remotely.

With a normal composite videosignal, Sony's factory settings producethe best picture, so there is little needto fiddle with the controls. If you dowant to touch things up. however, you

ANALOG.'DIGITAL RGB 4..v MIL,N6 ir,VEn

o

THE KX-1901A'S CONTROLS are behind a flip -down panel. As long as the masterpower switch at the far left is on, the monitor remembers its last PICTURE, VOLUME, andRGB NTSC settings even when it has been turned off with the regular power switch.Three lights above the right end of the control panel indicate system status.

Finally, the Trinitron screen iscylindrical, rather than spherical, toreduce distortion when viewed from theside, lessen the reflection of overheadambient light, and sharpen the image atthe corners of the screen.

Indeed, in Diversified ScienceLaboratories' bench and viewingtests the KX-190IA's geometric

linearity was virtually perfect bothvertically and horizontally right up toand including the corners of the screen(which are squarer than those of manyCRTs). And with standard settings ofbrightness, color, and hue (indicated bydetents on the controls), the picture isvisibly brighter than average and hasexcellent contrast and color saturation.The controls arc behind a flip -downdoor below the screen. BesidesBRIGHTNESS. COLOR, and HUE, theseinclude SHARPNESS. VERTICAL HOLD,and up/down push buttons for PICTURE

may find the hue and color controlsoverly sensitive. The slightest rotationoff the detents treates a substantialchange in the picture. The othercontrols arc easier to use. PICTUREsimultaneously adjusts contrast, colorintensity, and brightness to keep allthree balanced over a range of room -lighting conditions. SHARPNESS affectsonly picture detail (as it should) and isuseful for softening a snowy picture orsnapping up an already good one.(Because it boosts the video responsemainly above 3 MHz, you'll see lesseffect on a videotape than on a goodbroadcast or videodisc.)

Inputs and outputs arc clustered onthe right side of the cabinet in the rear,where connections call be made out ofsight. The regular audio and videoinputs are color -coded RCA phonojacks; RGB video and audio arcbrought in through a 34 -pin jack, forwhich a mating connector and wiring

HIGH F I D E L I T

Why this is the tape that sets the standard.JVC sets the standard for all VHS

videotapes, no matter who makesthem.

That's the way it has been ever sinceJVC engineers originated the format forVHS videocassette recorders.

That's why we feel a special respon-sibility for manufacturing our ownbrand of VHS videotape at the highestpossible quality level.

For our HG and Super HG videotapes,the process begins with a polyester -base

film. Using a new binding system, wecoat the film with super -fine magneticparticles, which improves the packingdensity of the coating. Our own uniquedispersion process makes the coatingmore uniform and sharply reduces theoccurrence of drop -out.

The result is videotape that providesa continuously stable picture. withclear, pure colors.

Compared with JVC's own referencetape, our new HG tape has a 2.3 dB

higher color S/N ratio; with our newSuper HG tape, the improvement is4.0 dB.

All three grades of JVC videotape,including our Standard formulation,benefit greatly from JVC's extensivepioneering research in VHS tape -to -head dynamics.

So n3 matter which grade of vidao-tape you prefer, now you know how topick the brand that sets the standardfor all the others.

JVC`JVC JVC JVC JVC JVC JVC JVCJVC COMPANY OF AMERICA Magnetic Tape Division, 41 Slater Drive, Elmwood Park, NJ 074C7 JVC CANADA, INC., Scarborough, Ont.

WhyYour First CompactDisc Player Should Be A Second

Generation Mitsubishi.No wow. No flutter. Dynamic range over

90dB. Plus complete freedom from dust, dirt,surface noise, rumble and speaker feedback.

The truth is, the basic technology of thedigital audio disc is so vastly superior to analogsound, that deciding on a player becomes verytricky indeed.

That is, until you check the record.

YOU DON'T BECOME A DIGITALAUDIO EXPERT OVERNIGHT.

Most companies now introducing digitalaudio players were just recently introducedto digital audio themselves.

Mitsubishi has been at the leading edgeof digital audio researchMoreover, much of the second generationtechnology found in the Mitsubishi DP -103compact disc player you see here is a directresult of that experience.

For example, the DP -103 employs a three -beam optical pickup in place of the conven-tional single beam. These two insurancebeams constantly correct for imperfections inthe disc, ensuring stable, error -free tracking.

The retaining springs for the laser opticspickup, which are susceptible to vibration,have been replaced by Mitsubishi's exclusivelinear -sliding cylinder- in effect eliminatinga problem before you've had one.

These second -generation refinements alsoallow simplified servo circuitry which resultsin fewer parts, less to go wrong.

The play, fast forward, fast reverse, skip,and repeat functions are yours all at the touchof a button. With track number and elapsedtime visually displayed. And when you'veexperienced the music that emerges in its fullpower and range, every nuance etched inmagnificent relief, you'll know you've heard

Like stereo componentry that preceededit, the compact disc player of the future willoffer improved technology at a lower price.

Just like the Mitsubishi DP -103 does.Today.

mtMITSUBISHIEven It YouCant HaveThe Best Of Everything,

You Can Have The Best Of Something.Mitsubishi Electric Sales America. Inc E Victoria Sr. Rancho Dominguez. CA 00221

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

J

instructions are supplied. When thecomposite -video input is used, videolevel can be adjusted over a ±6 -dBrange via a center-detented screwdrivercontrol near the RCA phono jack. Aneight -pin DIN signal jack and miniaturecontrol jack simplify connection with aSony Profeel TV tuner and permitoperation of the normal power switchand the picture and volume controls viathe tuner's remote control.

The KX-1901A incorporates alow -power stereo amplifier with color -coded spring -clip connectors forhookup, and Sony SS-X1A shieldedloudspeakers can be mounted to the

and phase are particularly noteworthy,and the picture is free of blooming(enlargement of individual color dotsdue to defocusing) at all brightness andcontrast settings. There's enoughoverscan and misconvergence to limitits value as a computer display forword processing, but it is fine formany other applications. The overscanis well within acceptable bounds forTV viewing, and the misconvergence,although greater than we've found onsome monitors, is difficult to see at anormal distance. Black retention isfairly good, and interlace is perfect.

The Sony Trinitron tube produces

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

1111 11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111a

CONVERGENCE is tested with this cross-hatch display. Narrow, well-definedwhite lines indicate good convergence,with all three electron beams (for red,green, and blue) properly aimed. Wher-ever the monitor begins to lose conver-gence, the lines will broaden andbecome fuzzier. The KX-1901A exhibitsgood convergence, overall, but there issome error towards the edges of thescreen, especially in the corners.

GEOMETRIC DISTORTION, overscan andcentering are checked with this display,consisting of a crosshatch, a circle, anda set of dots. The KX-1901A's linearity isexcellent, easuring straight lines andaccurately rendered shapes, and over -scan is low. But the centering is slightlyoff on both axes, shifting the image upand to the left.

HORIZONTAL RESOLUTION is testedwith a signal consisting of six tonebursts from 500 kHz to 4.2 MHz (the upperlimit of the NTSC system). The monitor'svideo frequency response is approximat-ed by findirg the last band in which theindividual vertical lines remain clearand distinct The KX-1901A performs verywell, with clear reproduction to 3.58

MHz, for a horizontal resolution of about300 lines.

sides of the cabinet. A bass boost canbe engaged to enhance bass responsewhen using these speakers. A switchedconvenience outlet enables you to turnother components on and off alongwith the KX-1901 A.

Sony's "System ConnectionGuide" is a model of clarity.Almost every conceivable

situation is covered, so even if you usethe monitor with a microcomputer,tuner, and VCR, you'll know exactlyhow to configure the system.

The KX-1901A performed verywell in DSL's tests. Geometriclinearity, raster purity, gray -scalelinearity, and chroma differential gainANUARY 1984

excellent flesh tones, with bright, high -contrast, well -saturated colors that arevery appealing. If you look veryclosely at a white raster, you will seeeach individual color stripe separatedfrom its neighbors by the black guardgrille. (At normal viewing distances,the eye cannot resolve the individuallines and merges the colors into white.)Perhaps because of the extra spacetaken up by the guard bands, measuredhorizontal resolution is about 300lines-less than the NTSC system'scapability, but as much as any TVtuner can deliver. If this tradeoff isneeded to create the brilliance of theTrinitron picture, we'd say it is wellworth making.

5

11

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

PIONEER VC -T700

TV TUNER/SWITCHERPioneer VC -T700 television tuner and switchbox, with wireless remote control.Dimensions: 163/4 by 33/4 inches (front panel), 113/4 inches deep plus clearance forconnections. AC convenience outlets: one switched (350 watts max.). Price: $500.Warranty: "limited," two years parts and labor. Manufacturer: Pioneer ElectronicCorp., Japan; U.S. distributor: Pioneer Video, Inc., 200 W. Grand Ave., Montvale,N.J. 07645.

AC POWER(ON/OFF)

MEMORY CONTROLSTUNING CONTROLS

(UP, DOWN. MANUAL 'AUTO)

-SOURCE SELECT(DISC/ANTENNA/AUX 1/AUX 2)

POWER (ON/STANDBY)RECORDING SELECT(SOURCE/TV/AUX 1-AUX 2)

52

TV TUNER SECTIONAll measurements were taken at the direct audio and videooutputs

AUDIO FREQUENCY RESPONSE

DB

5I t

I-17 20 50 100 200 500 1K 2K SK tOK

+134-3 dB. 36 Hz to 157 kHz

AUDIO SiN RATIO (A -weighted)

20K

best case (black raster) 66 dB

worst case (multiburst) 39 dB

RESIDUAL HORIZONTAL SCAN COMPONENT (15.7 kHz)best case (black raster)worst case Imultiburst)

-,-80 dB-39 dB

MAXIMUM AUDIO OUTPUT 058 volt

VIDEO FREQUENCY RESPONSE

at 500 kHzat 1.5 MHzat 2.0 MHzat 3.0 MHzat 3.58 MHzat 4.2 MHz

LUMINANCE LEVEL

t 1/7 dB

1 dB

V? dB

- 1/2 dB

-31/2 dB

-181/4 dB

15% high

GRAY -SCALE NONLINEARITY (worst case) 19%

CHROMA LEVEL 2 Va dB low

CHROMA DIFFERENTIAL GAIN 18%

CHROMA DIFFERENTIAL PHASE

ALTHOUGH THE VC -T700 willstand on its own as a flexible TVtuner and switcher-the way we

tested it-it can't do all of its tricksunless mated with the Pioneer SA -V700 stereo amplifier and TVM-190 orTVM-250 monitor. These componentshave special interconnection jacks thatpermit remote control of powerswitching and audio volume andmuting-features that are lost when theVC -T700 is used with other units.

This is not to say that the VC -T700 is incompatible with other ampsand monitors-standard video andaudio pin -jack outputs are provided-but merely that not all features areavailable. You can even use the VC -T700 with a conventional TV receiver,for in addition to a direct video output,it generates a Channel 3 or 4 RFoutput. But since the audio is notmodulated onto the RF carrier, youwill still need a separate audioamplifier and speaker system to hearprograms routed through the VC -T700.

At first we found this logic ratherstrange, but the more we thought aboutit, the more sense it made. (Pioneer'smanual, though relatively

straightforward, makes few suggestionsfor different hookups.) Assuming younow have a stereo system and aconventional TV, you can start off withjust the VC -T700. Its video and audioswitching arrangement enables you toadd as many as three direct audio -videosources and view them on your regularTV set while listening through yourstereo system.

You can view broadcast or cableprograms either by receiving them onthe VC-T700's tuner or by routingthem directly to your set's front end. Inthe latter case, the VC-T700's tuner isfree to receive a different channel forrecording on either or both of theVCRs that you may have connected inthe system. Thus, you would not needa separate tuner to record one broadcaston a portable VCR while viewinganother on the TV.

Viewing and recording switchingare completely independent. Signalrouting to the monitor and stereosystem is controlled locally or remotelyby four push buttons, labeled "LaserDisc," "TV," "Video 1," and"Video 2." The signals fed to theVideo 1 and Video 2 tape outputs are

HIGH FIDELITY

NEW TECHNOLOGIESchosen by front -panel push buttons,called "Source," "TV," "Video 1,"and "Video 2." (In this case,"Source" refers to the program chosenby the viewing selector.) The switchinglogic is arranged so that two VCRs(connected to the Video I and 2 outputjacks) can record simultaneously fromeither LASER DISC or TV and each canrecord from the other. The sourcebeing taped and the source being fed tothe monitor are indicated by clearlyilluminated legends on the front panel.An RF-output switch enables you toselect whether the monitor or the tapesignal is modulated onto the VC-T700's RF carrier.

All connections are made on theback panel and (except for the special"auto -function" jacks used tointerconnect with other Pioneercomponents) employ standard pin jacksfor audio and direct -video inputs andoutputs, and F connectors for the RFwiring. All audio jacks come in stereopairs with separate stereo/mono modebuttons for the Video 1 and 2 audioinputs. The Video 2 direct -video inputhas a level control with a nominal ±6 -dB range, to accommodate "non-standard" video inputs.

The TV tuner has an audiodetector output for feeding an outriggerstereo decoder when the U.S. adoptsstereo TV broadcasting. Audio inputjacks are provided to accept the stereosignals returning from the decoder,which can be chosen over the standardmono signal with a push button.

The VC -T700 tunes all VHF andUHF channels, plus mid -band andsuper -band cable channels -127 in all.The choice between standard broadcastand cable feed is made with a rear -panel slide switch. Any channel can betuned directly by punching up itsnumber on the remote control, or youcan scan up or down the band viafront -panel up/down buttons that areduplicated on the remote.

The first time you turn the systemon you can request the VC -T700 toscan all the channels and automaticallymemorize the active ones by pressingAUTO and START. The tuner stops for asecond on each active channel and"beeps" to inform you that it hasmemorized its existence. You may find(as we did) that the tuner stops onsome channels that are too weak forgood viewing. You can delete thesefrom memory by pressing MANUAL,recalling the station either via theA N U A R Y 198

remote's keyboard or the up/downbuttons, and pressing ERASE. A beepindicates that your command has beenreceived. You also can enter stationsinto memory manually.

Once you've loaded the memory,you needn't concern yourself with the

COLOR ACCURACY of the VC -T700 is very good. The 'ectorscope photo at left indi-cates low color saturation (chroma level) and a small amount of hue (chroma-phase)inaccuracy. The photo at right-made with dB additional chroma gain and aclockwise phase rotation of approximately 1 degrees- simulates the best resultsobtainable using the color and tint controls on a monitor. This puts all six colorvectors (white dots) on their targets, which is excellent performance.

front panel again (except whenchoosing the source being recorded).The AWX-244 remote -control unitenables you to select the viewingsource and to change channels at willeither by sequentially scanning thememory bank or by calling a channeldirectly via the keyboard. A press onthe channel -return button tunes back tothe previously chosen channel; a brighttwo -digit LED display indicates thechannel being received.

Remote commands are carried byan infrared light beam.Transmission of each command is

indicated by an LED on the remote,reception by the flashing of a light onthe VC -T700. You can preventaccidental changes in the settings bypressing LOCK on the remote. A lighton the tuner indicates the lockedcondition, which is canceled bypressing LOCK again. Similarly.Pioneer's stereo -simulation circuitry isturned on and off by pressing ss on theremote; a front -panel lamp indicateswhen the stereo simulator is on.

If the VC-T700's main powerswitch is on-indicated by a yellow

53

N E IN TECHNOLOGIESCHROMA PHASE ERROR

rod +4°

magenta +5°

blue +rcyan +rgreen +6*

yellowmedian error +5°

SWITCHING SECTIONMAXIMUM AUDIO OUTPUT lat 1 kHz for 1%THD+NIto tape output 3.8 volts

to main output 31 volts

MAXIMUM AUDIO INPUT (at 1 kHz foe 1% THD+N)to tape output 40 volts

to main output 4.2 volts

AUDIO GAINto tape outputto main output

-1/2 dB

?"a dB

S N RATIO (re 0.5 volt; A -weighted. main output)103 dB

HARMONIC DISTORTION (TN- 20 Hz to 20 kHz)

- 0 033%

AUDIO FREQUENCY RESPONSEto tape output r 0. -1 dB, 26 Hz to 30.2 kHz

to mare output r 0, -1 dB, 26 Hz to 29.7 kHz

AUDIO INPUT IMPEDANCE 43k ohms

AUDIO OUTPUT IMPEDANCE 4,000 ohms

VIDEO FREQUENCY RESPONSE

1/2 dB at 4.2 MHz

LUMINANCE GAIN 0 dB

GRAY -SCALE NONLINEARITY none

CHROMA LEVEL -1/4 dB

CHROMA DIFFERENTIAL GAIN none

CHROMA DIFFERENTIAL PHASE = + 1°

CHROMA PHASE ERROR

54

lamp on the front -panel power key-the VC -T700 is brought to life bypressing either the front -panel or theremote power button. This alsoactivates the rear -panel convenienceoutlet and so can be used to turn on amonitor or amplifier as well. (Theoutlet will not accept the "keyed"two -prong AC plugs used on someequipment, however.) The remainingthree remote controls (VOLUME UP/DOWN, MUTE, and TV MONITOR)function only in conjunction with aPioneer monitor and the SA -V700stereo amplifier-a pity in that webelieve that the VOLUME and MUTEcould have been made part of the VC-T700's audio circuitry.

Diversified Science Laboratoriestested the VC -T700 both as a tuner andas an audio -video switcher. In the latterrole, it is essentially transparent. Thereis virtually no loss of video bandwidth,chroma or luminance level, or chromaor luminance accuracy. Audio responseis within 1/2 dB from below 40 Hz toabove 20 kHz, and distortion isinaudibly low at all frequencies at the2 -volt level. The system suppliesupwards of 3 volts before generating Ipercent THD, which should beadequate, and its signal-to-noise (S/N)ratio is outstanding. Input impedance atthe audio -in jacks is high enough thatyou needn't worry about it loadingdown the source, and the outputimpedance, though a little higher thanwe'd like to see, should present noproblem in most systems.

The video level control on theVideo 2 input provides a bit morerange than specified (+6, -8 dB),enabling you to adjust signals rangingfrom 0.5 volt peak -to -peak to 2.5 voltspeak -to -peak to the standard 1 -voltpeak -to -peak level.

DSL reports that the simulatedstereo is generated by creating afrequency -dependent phase differencebetween the left and right channels.The two are in phase at very low andvery high frequencies, 90 degrees outof phase at 340 Hz and 2.4 kHz, and amaximum of 110 degrees out of phaseat 940 Hz. Amplitude is essentiallyuniform and equal in both channels,which suggests that at frequencies atwhich the channels arc in phase therewill be a net increase in acousticoutput. And indeed, when simulatedstereo is used, there is an apparentincrease in bass output and the soundtakes on a diffuse quality that can

detrimentally affect intelligibility. Theeffect is not unpleasant, but neither isit appropriate for all viewing, and wedo not find it as realistic as simulationsproduced by reciprocal comb filtersthat redistribute the energy between thechannels.

As a broadcast tuner, the VC -T700performs well. Audio response isextended (for a TV tuner) and thesignal-to-noise ratio is much better thanaverage. Even though audio response isdown only 3 dB at 15.7 kHz (thehorizontal -scan frequency), residualhorizontal -scan whistle is down aremarkable 67 dB on typical programmaterial. Audio output level isperfectly adequate for driving a stereosystem.

Video response holds up very wellto 3 MHz and is down only 31/2 dB atthe color -burst frequency (3.58 MHz),suggesting horizontal resolution ofabout 300 lines on a decent monitor-close to but not quite at the limit of theNTSC system. This is typicalperformance for a TV tuner. The 1 -dBboost at 1.5 MHz adds a little extrasnap to the picture. which can be quitepleasant. Luminance level is a bit highand chroma level a bit low, but neitheris off the mark by an unusual amount.And though the gray -scale nonlinearityreported in our data column persistsover several luminance steps, it isdifficult to see on ordinary programmaterial.

Chroma differential phase (howmuch hues vary with scenebrightness) is quite low, and the

differential gain (how much colorsaturation changes with brightness) isconfined to the highest luminancelevel. Median color accuracy is off bya modest 5 degrees with anuncorrectable spread of ±3 degrees.This is quite good, but chroma noise(indicated by the size of the fuzzballsin the vectorscope photos) is somewhatworse than we've come to expect froma component tuner.

The Pioneer VC -T700 VideoControl Tuner is an unusual andinteresting device with competentperformance and excellent switchingflexibility at an affordable price. Ifyou'd like to get your toes wet incomponent TV and aren't averse toplunging in for the rest of the Pioneersystem when you find you like thewater, we suggest you check out theVC -T700 very carefully.

HIGH F I D E L I T Y

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

N4e.G few(k

TO

GO

BY

FRANK LOVECE

HOW TO CHOOSE ONE OF THE NEW BREED OF PORTABLE

STEREO VHS RECORDERS AND A MATCHING VIDEO CAMERA

PORTABLEVCRs with stereo

recording ability lately haveskyrocketed in popularity. The reasonsare straightforward: At home, aportable stereo VCR and companiontuner/timer can perform all thefunctions of a tabletop deck, includingthe reproduction of Dolby Stereo films[see "A New Dimension for VideoSound," November 1983]. And whenused in the field with a video cameraand a pair of mikes, a portable stereodeck can capture events with natural -sounding ambience and a high level ofintelligibility.

Your choice of formats in portablestereo VCRs is quite limited. Asidefrom one stereo Beta portable-Sanyo's VCR -7300 equipped with BetaHi-Fi [see test report, November1983]-all two -channel portables areVHS designs using fixed audio heads.If you want to hold off buying aportable stereo deck until theappearance of VHS Hi-Fi (a frequency -

modulation technique similar to BetaHi-Fi that should approach digitalaudio fidelity), you might have a longwait. The first VHS Hi-Fi machinesprobably won't arrive on these shoresuntil mid -year or later, and there is noguarantee that the technology will beavailable in portable models initially.And at least one company-JVC-hasannounced that its VHS Hi-Fi recorderswill be equipped with a pair of fixedaudio heads for playback of all monoand stereo VHS recordings, thusensuring compatibility with tapesrecorded on current stereo VHS decks.(The VHS Hi-Fi stereo soundtrack isrecorded along with the video viaheads mounted on the deck's rotatinghead drum.)

Choosing a portable stereo deckfrom the 11 or so models available (seetable) is a relatively simple process.

Frank Lovece is a freelance writer specializingin video.

ANUARY 198 55

NEW TECHNOLOGIESObviously, you'll want one withfeatures that make sense both in thefield and at home; for the latterapplication, be sure that the unit'scompanion tuner/timer has sufficientprogramming flexibility. Also, a deckwith four heads-two optimized for SPand two for EP speeds-will ensurebest -possible video recordings, all elsebeing equal.

C coding the right video camera,1- however, is more challenging. Ingeneral, it makes sense to buy thesame brand camera as VCR, ascamera -VCR connectors are notstandardized across brands and hookingup units by different manufacturers canbe a problem. Since the largemanufacturers generally offer a wideassortment of cameras at varyingprices, sticking to one brand is not allthat limiting. The trick is to figure outwhich one satisfies your creative andbudgetary requirements in terms of lensquality, pickup tube characteristics, anddegree of automation. (The

accompanying chart lists one or two ofthe top models from eachmanufacturer.)

The video pickup tube transformslight, transmitted through the lens, intoelectrical signals that can be used torecord the image on tape. It is the heartof a video camera. Tubes differ bytype in spectral sensitivity (inherentcolor balance) and in resistance to wearand image retention, among otherthings. Most of the least expensivecameras use Vidicons. Rugged andreliable, but prone to image -retentionproblems, these were standard in homevideo cameras until recently. Of late,Saticon pickups have started appearingin higher -priced cameras. Thesepickups are more sensitive and lessprone to image retention than Vidicons.(Some manufacturers offer proprietaryversions of standard tube designs intheir cameras: Sony, for one, calls itsversion of the Saticon a Trinicon.) Onetype, however, beats all the others inlow -light sensitivity. Usually found inexpensive cameras, the Newvicon tube

is sensitive to both visible light and aportion of the infrared spectrum.

The newest variety of camerasdoes away with pickup tubes entirely.Priced from about $1,500 to more than$2,000, they use silicon -chip imagesensors, which are virtually immune toimage retention and burnout caused byprolonged exposure to very brightlight. Unfortunately, these tubelesscameras require much more ambientlight than traditional designs and so farhaven't provided particularly highimage quality.

On the accompanying chart, acamera's light sensitivity is measuredin lux, defined as approximately one -tenth of a footcandle. In practicalterms, a video camera rated at 100 lux(10 footcandles) will not reproduceimages well in the ambient light of anormally -lit living room. A camerarated at 30 lux will do fine in the sameroom, and one with a rating of 10 luxshould be able to record images on alamp -lit sidewalk at night.

Virtually all video cameras are

A MN I\ MN Ilk1MINIMO I imm.4

1111 111 '

11

IMMIkam.1iM11.

ION-54;;;;;.

You should never lose a magic moment,even if it's the 100th re-recording.Introducing Memorex® HG Master Series, superior to

ordinary tapes on every level: chroma, luminance andaudio ... even after 100 re -recordings.

Introducing the V-200 storage case. Crystal-clear lidfor convenient tape identification. Fully enclosed to help

lock out dust, dirt and smoke, major

SIMULATED TV PICTURES

I I 11

NEW TECHNOLOGIESequipped with zoom lenses, which areusually specified in terms of zoomratio, focal range, and "speed." Thezoom ratio describes the relative size ofan image captured at the lens's extremesettings. A 6:1 zoom ratio, forinstance, means that an object wouldappear six times larger (or six timescloser to you) with the lens adjusted toits maximum "length" than it wouldwith the lens untelescoped. A lens'sfield -of -view characteristics are givenvia a focal -length range; the smaller thenumbers (in millimeters), the wider thelens's maximum field of view. Zoomratio, in fact, states the relationshipbetween a lens's focal -length extremes.Two lenses, one with a range of 12-72mm and one with a range of 8-48mm, can each be said to have a 6:1ratio, but the former will be capable ofgreater magnification at its longestsetting (72mm) while the latter willhave a wider field of view over part ofits range (8-12,nm).

The f-stop is often referred to asthe "speed" of the lens. It specifies

the lens's maximum iris opening; thesmaller the stop number, the larger themaximum iris opening and the"faster" the lens. Lenses rated at f/I .4or f/1.6-as are many found on videocameras-should be quite sufficient formost lighting conditions. An automaticiris, which saves you the bother ofmanually adjusting the f-stop underchanging light conditions, is standardon most video cameras.

Another convenience featureshowing up with increasing

regularity is automatic focus. There areseveral methods used by manufacturersto achieve an automatic focusing lens,and none is completely accurate all ofthe time. Cameras that bounce anultrasonic beam off objects to gaugedistance won't focus through a car'swindow, for example. And camerasthat use infrared echoing or light -basedtriangulation systems have a hard timefocusing on dark objects. Whateversystem you choose, make sure that it isdefeatable.

All cameras include at least asingle microphone. Some have a stereopair of mikes, usually mounted side byside in a single housing. Many timesyou'll want to bypass the camera's ownmikes and use outboard ones-asimple procedure because mikesplugged directly into the VCR's inputswill override the camera's mikes.(Some cameras even have inputs foroutboard mikes.) And sincemicrophones mounted on the body of acamera tend to pick up noise frommotor -operated zoom lenses, it's bestto select a camera equipped with atelescoping mike boom.

In our table we have included thesuggested retail prices of VCRs andcameras. However, when you look atthe video ads or walk into a discountoutlet, you'll realize that these priceshave little to do with actual sale prices.Discounts in video gear are remarkablydeep-almost 50 percent in manyinstances. And you might even save afew dollars by buying the VCR, tuner/timer, and camera in a package deal. HF

Canon VR-20A

VHS STEREO PORTABLE VCRs

MODEL

CANONVR-20A

GE1CVD-4020X

HITACHIVT -7P

JVCHR -2650

MAGNAVOXVR-84808K

MAGNAVOXVR-841113K

MINOLTAV -770S

OLYMPUSVC -103

PANASONICPV 6110

PANASONICPV -6500

QUASARVP 5435WQ

RCAVJP-900

SYLVANIAVC 4530

VCR

PLAYBACK EFFECTS

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan (SP, EPI

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan ISP, LP, EP)

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan (SP, EP)

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan ISP, EP)

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan ISP, EP)

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan (SP, EP)

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan ISP, EP)

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan ISP, LP, EP)

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan ISP, LP, EP)

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan ISP, EPI

Freeze frame, framestepping, slow motion,scan

FEATURES

Dolby B, 4 video heads, video dub,wired remote control

Dolby B, 4 video heads, video dub,wireless remote control

High -frequency noise reduction, 5video heads, video dub, headphonejack, wireless remote control

Dolby B, 4 video heads, video dub,headphone jack, wireless remotecontrol

Dolby B, 4 video heads, video dub,wireless remote control

Dolby 8, 4 video heads, video dub,wireless remote control

ANRS noise reduction, 5 video heads,video dub, wireless remote control

I Dolby B, 4 video heads, video dub,headphone jack, wireless remotecontrol

Dolby B, 4 video heads, video dub,wired remote control

Dolby 8, 4 video heads, video dub,wireless remote control

Noise filter, 4 video heads, video dub,wired remote control

High -frequency noise reduction, 5video heads, video dub, wirelessremote control

Dolby 6, 4 video heads, video dub,wireless remote control

'Dimensions in inches, width by height by depth; weight with battery.

2Total number of channels tuneable/total number preselectable.

.440.1,06.

Quasar VP-5435WQ

TUNER TIMERSIZE & WEIGHT' MODEL PROGRAM CHANNELS' PRICE91/4 by 31/2 by 91/2;

81/2 lbs.VT -10A 14 -day,

4 -event105/14 VCR: 8825

17P $475

9'/4 by 33/4 by 91/2;81/2 lbs.

1CVT-625 14 -day, 1281288 -event

VCR NAPT NA

10 by 31/4 by 101/4, Incl.' 21 -day, 134/13481/2 lbs. 8 -event

$1,400

103/4 by 4 by 101/2;10 lbs.

TU-26U 14 -day, 105 148 -event

VCR 51,150T T 5375

91/2 by 3V4 by 934;81/2 lbs.

Incl. 14 -day,4 -event

105/14 81,400

91/2 by 33/4 by 934;81/2 lbs.

14 -day,4 -event

188/188 81,500

10 by 3',2 by 10'7,8 lbs

T -770S 14 -day,7 -event

133/80 VCR: $1,015PT: S400

91/2 by 33/4 by 91/4;81/2 lbs.

VR-201 14 -day,4 -event

105/14 VCR: 8950l/T: $475

91/2 by 41/2 by 10;81/2 lbs

Incl." 14 -day,4 -event

105/14 $1,100

91/2 by 41/2 by 10;81/2 lbs.

Incl.IPVA-500)

14 -day,4 -event

105/14 $1,300

91/2 by 31/2 by 91/4;81/2 lbs.

VA -531 14 day,4 -event

105/14 VCR: $1,000T/T: 8400

VA -540 14 -day,4 -event

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10 by 31/2 by 101/4;81/2 lbs.

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3Unless otherwise indicated, all have color temperature, automatic iris, and automaticwhite -balance controls, as well as a boom -mounted (rather than a built-in) mike.

Tuner/timer included with VCR as one -price package.

58 HIGH FIDELITY

111111111111111111111111

I I I I I I I I I I t I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 111111 111 TITI I I I

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Infrared autofocus, black or white Monoaudio/video fade-in/out, charactergenerator, VCR remote control

Contrast -comparison autofocus,audio/video fade-in/out, charactergenerator, VCR remote control

Infrared autofocus, audio/videofade-in/out, character generator,VCR remote :ontrol

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Stereo Yes

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1 in. b&w,adjustableeyepiece

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10 lux

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Chart by Frank lovece

JANUARY 1 9 8 4 59

NEW TECHNOLOG ES

AT DIGICON '83, MUSICIANS AND VISUAL ARTISTS EXPLORED

NEW USES FOR THE COMPUTER AS A CREATIVE TOOL.

BILLED AS THE FIRST internationalconference on the digital arts,

Digicon 'R3 set a new tone for high-tech gatherings. Bits. bytes, and otherbinary buzzwords were, happily,largely absent from the proceedings inVancouver this past August; instead,musicians and visual artists got down

VancouverVIA SATELLITE RELAYS,

musicians in Sydney and

Tokyo could make

music with Jean Piche

(left) in Vancouver

on the opening night

of Digicon '83.

BY

PAUL D LEHRMAN

60

to business in a three-day round ofworkshops and performances focusingon the computer as a creative tool.

The conference-sponsored by theUniversity of British Columbia's

Paul D. Lehrman is a musician and freelanceuriler speciali:ing in electranic-musicsynthesis.

School for Continuing Education-attracted people from all over theworld, but at least two participants,one in Sydney and one in Tokyo.managed to play in a live concert onopening night without leaving home.This hit of electronic magic was madepossible by satellite relays and the veryspecial musical instrument the playersused-the Fairlight CMI, a synthesizerbuilt around a minicomputer. JeanPiche, the concert's organizer, sat athis own Fairlight console inVancouver's Queen ElizabethPlayhouse and performed with thesetwo unseen musicians thousands ofmiles away. Because the Fairlight canreceive and store sounds as well asproduce them, the three performerscould trade sounds with one another.modify them, and send them on again.

With the vast distances involved.coordination was something of aproblem. Though the progression ofmusical events was all carefullypreplanned, the performers had nochance for a run-through: all rehearsaltime was devoted to testing the satelliteconnections. And because each satellitelink added a 300 -millisecond delay, themusicians had to think ahead as theyplayed. Even getting started was tricky:When Japan started its sequences onthe command "go," Canada had tocount three beats before joining in, andAustralia had to wait another threebeats before starting.

Digicon '83 also enabled themovers and shakers in the world ofelectronic -music synthesis to share theirfeelings on the direction of the art. Atone seminar. Bill Buxton, a computermusic composer and researcherworking at the University of Toronto,made an impassioned plea forengineers to lift electronic instrumentsfrom the realm of "glorified electronicorgans." He stressed the need for new"gesture controllers," non -keyboard

HIGH FIDELITY

NE W TECHNOLOGIES

interface devices that could respond tobody movements. Robert Moog, whoseanalog synthesizer helped torevolutionize electronic music in the'60s, showed a touch -sensitive pad thatreacts to finger movement in a varietyof axes-front to back and left toright, as well as up and down. He alsodescribed a keyboard composed of suchpads-each inlaid on a separate key.The computer program necessary toanalyze all this finger -placementinformation and then relay it to asynthesizer is so complex that Mooghas so far been able to construct onlyan eight -key model.

But the most impressivedevelopment discussed at Digiconsomething a science fiction writermight call the ultimate soundmachine-the Audio Signal Processor(ASP) now being worked on byengineers at Lucasfilm's Digital AudioProject. Andy Moorcr, head of thegroup, said that the impetus for theASP was the need for a machine thatcould handle the constant cutting andrecutting of sound effects, dialogue,and music during the editing of a film.without the clumsiness of magnetictape. For the past 18 months, theengineers have been using a prototypethat can edit, record, mix, sweeten,and even synthesize speech and musicentirely in the digital domain. A yearfrom now, Moorer declared, themachine should be availablecommercially.

T he ASP's electronic "guts" will behoused in a 19 -by -72 inch

equipment rack, and all its functionswill be accessed on a digital controlpanel-a series of knobs and slidersresembling those on a typicalmultitrack mixer. The commercialversion will use 16 -bit linear pulse -code modulation with a sampling rateadjustable between 10 and 60 kHz. Itwill be capable of handling 32 channelsof audio simultaneously, with 800minutes of sound in on-line storage.The machine will cost aboutJANUARY 1984

$700,000-a whopping sum until youconsider that the ASP will replacemixing consoles, tape recorders, signalprocessors, musicians, theirinstruments, and at least half of anaudio studio's staff.

Digicon '83 was not allperformances and lecturers, however.A computer art show, consisting ofphotos, plotter drawings, and eventapestries created from computer -generated patterns, filled a large roomin the exhibition area. Computer -

°o yographics systems were demonstrated.Among other hardware displayed bymanufacturers were music synthesizersranging from self-contained instrumentsby Yamaha, Oberheim, and Roland tomicrocomputer -based synthesizers likethe AlphaSyntauri and the PassportDesigns Soundchaser to impressiveminicomputer systems like the FairlightCMI and the PPG Waveterm.

The Waveterm deserves someacknowledgment. Though it has gainedquite a following in Europe (synth -popstar Thomas Dolby is one of its biggestfans), it is largely unknown in the U.S.Two configurations are available. Forabout $8,000 you can get a stand-alonedigital synthesizer with 2,000 built-inwaveforms, a 16 -channel digitaloscillator, a 1,000 -note eight -tracksequencer, and a digitally controlledanalog filter bank. For another $9,000you can add a powerful minicomputerto the system, enabling you to createwaveforms, envelopes, and filters, aswell as to sample and edit naturalsounds and store vast amounts ofinformation.

Among synthesizer makers andusers, the hottest topic of discussionwas the Musical Instrument DigitalInterface (MIDI), being codevelopedby a dozen large manufacturers. MIDI

will allow a wide variety ofsynthesizers to "talk" to each otherthrough a high-speed data buss. Thespecifications of the interface call for atransmission rate of 31,250 bits ofinformation per second via a shieldedbalanced line terminated with five -pinDIN connectors. The interface cansimultaneously carry as many as 16channels of any sort of informationrelevant to a synthesizer's operation:notes, envelopes, rhythms, filtersettings, key velocity, and so on. MIDIdata can be stored and manipulated ona microcomputer, so that any Apple orTRS-80 can easily control any numberof outboard synthesizers.

A demonstration of the MIDIsystem by Ralph Dyck, a Los Angelesstudio musician and synthesizerdesigner, had onlookers applauding. Heconnected two synthesizers to a RolandModel 400 piano via the MIDI buss.

y neyThe synthesizers were programmed forbrass and string sounds and set torespond to key velocity informationfrom the Roland. First, Dyck played aquiet chordal passage on the piano, andthe synthesizers remained mute. Thenhe replayed it louder, and thesynthesizers responded by filling outthe orchestration with brass sounds. Ona second replay, this time louder still,the strings came in, soaring overseveral octaves. As one listenercommented, the demo gave newmeaning to the phrase "conductingfrom the keyboard."

The pace of change in musicsynthesis is so rapid that it's hard toimagine what will be discussed anddemonstrated at the next Digicon(August 1985). One thing, however, iscertain: The computer as a creative toolwill become an ever more potent forcein music. HF

1

L

I I I

Pop and classical

music releases

on videodisc

and digital

Compact Disc

CLASSICALCOMPACT DISC

HANDEL:Water Music (Complete).

English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner. coed RobertAug( . C engineer] ERAIC LCD 8800n g. digitalCuvr ;puce al dealer's optionl LP STU 71461 $10 98 TapeM( "

COMPARISON:

Hogwood Acad of Ancient Music Oiseau Lyre CO 400 059-2

This original -instruments Wateri Music has a good deal going for it,

and it fares well even in comparisonwith Christopher Hogwood's excellentaccount (reviewed in August 1983.page 70). First, John Eliot Gardineroffers all three suites plus the variantmovements from the 1715 concerto,while Hogwood's CD has only the Fmajor Suite and the 1715 variants.coupled with Fireworks Music.Second, Gardiner's performance seemssomehow more relaxed-although it'sdifficult to pinpoint why, since bothconductors are fond of sharp dotting,and Gardiner's tempo and scoringpreferences are for the brisk androbust. Both ensembles use a goodnumber of the same personnel, and theplaying on both discs is impeccable.

Textually, Gardiner's version(based on his own edition) affordsseveral unique views, some of them amite questionable. For instance, hesplits the two 1715 movements anduses them to bracket the F major Suite,making for a rather strangeconfiguration. Not only is the Overturepreceded by a brief, lone movement,but that movement's logical extensionis delayed by about 25 minutes. Betterto put them together at the end of theHorn Suite, as Hogwood does.

Gardiner's other (and usually moresuccessful) emendations are in hisscoring details. In the movementpreceding the Air in the F major Suite

62

(Gardiner calls it a Passepied), heshifts the repeat signs back a few bars,in the first and second sections, so thatthey fall before the horn duos, ratherthan after them. The duos are thereforechanged into transitional passages andare not repeated until the du capo; therest of the movement is presented in avariable scoring, with strings first, thenstrings and horns. In the G majorSuite, he gives the lute a moreprominent continuo role, and brings inpercussion, deployed sparingly, tocomplement the trumpets of the Dmajor Suite. Gardiner also allows hisplayers a good deal of freedom atseveral cadential points, and there issome lovely embellishment throughoutthe disc by the oboist, SophiaMcKenna, who plays a beautifulsounding instrument of her ownmaking.

What's especially hard to resist isthe energy of this performance. All themusicians-even the horn players-manage to maintain an invigoratingpace without compromising theprecision of either their ensemble ortheir intonation.

On the debit side, there are severalaudible edits, all of them at phraseends and none especially bothersome,but exposed nonetheless. There are alsoa few minor reproduction problems thatcan be heard during headphonelistening. One is a faint "chugging"sound that is momentarily introduced insome of the longer between -movementpauses; the other is a quiet, high-pitched tone audible during the wind -

only repeats of the F major Suite'sBourree.

Otherwise, the recording is bright,spacious, and full bodied. Erato giveseach movement its own access number,and the printed listing even providestimings for the blank spaces betweenmovements. -ALLAN KOZINN

POPULARCOMPACT DISC

DONALD FAGEN:The Nightfly.

Gary Katz. producer. WARNER BRA, 23696-2 (folly digital CompactDisc( LP 23696-1 reviewed 12/92

The original sessions for this soloI bow by former Steely Dan partner

Donald Fagen were themselvescommitments to digital audio. Fagenand producer Gary Katz had triedwithout success to record the final Danalbum, "Gaucho," with digital gear.only to balk: but for "The Nightfly"they made the plunge, sending chiefengineer Roger Nichols to Minneapolisto learn 3M's multichannel systemfrom the inside out. That thoroughnessyielded a sonic triumph that pays offhandsomely as a Compact Disc.

Ironically, "The Nightfly" wasslated to be among the first CDreleases from Warner Communications,only to be pulled from the schedulewhen it was discovered that the labelhad mistakenly shipped an analog copyfor digital CD mastering. Now,however, the true digital disc is finallyavailable and should be of particular

UDARThe Perfectionist's Auto -Reverse!

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response, Nakamichi has the answer-UDAR-UnidirectionalAuto Reverse-a revolutionary development in the true sense of the word!

Ordinary auto -reverse decks change direction at the end of the side causing tapeto track along a dfferent path and produce "bidirectiona, azimuth error"Since azimuth differs on the two sides, frequency response dffers too.

Compare this with UDAR. At the end of the side, UDAR disengages the cassette,flips it, reloads, and resumes operation in under 2 seconds!

Tape plays in the same direction on Side A and on Side B so there's no"bidirectional azimuth error" UDAR automates the steps you perform on

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See it now at your Nakamichi dealer.For more information, write Nakamichi U S A Corporation.

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11 1III I

NEW TECHNOLOGIESinterest to those bemused by some ofthe less successful, early analog -to -digital transfers.

An impressive production inconventional LP, this sleek popmasterpiece exacts fresh nuance andpalpably greater presence on CompactDisc. The opening track aloneinventories many of the subtleimprovements with its swarms ofkeyboard notes, shimmering cymbals;and effortless, deep bass. Likewise,I.G. Y.'s backing vocals remain silkenwhile gaining bite, and Fagen'ssynthesized harmonica is clean andpiercing, its counterpoint to the lyrics'starry-eyed optimism all the moremocking.

From the pure acoustic piano introon Maxine to the throaty Hammondorgan accents in Walk Between theRaindrops, the broad palette ofkeyboard timbres is rendered withgreater precision. Backing voices,especially where Fagen's arrangementscall for a creamy closeness, achievebetter definition without unravelling.

Fagen's deft extension of SteelyDan's astute fusion of pop, jazz, rock,and r&b made "The Nightfly" one oflast year's best albums. As a CompactDisc, it's irresistible. -SAM SUTHERLAND

MICHAEL JACKSON:Thriller.

Quincy Jones, producer. EPIC CDEPC 85930 (analog recording. digitalCompact Discl LP OE 38112. reviewed 8/83

A treacly the runaway album hit ofthe year (and the most successful

since the music business's recession),"Thriller" is also reported to be CBS'sbiggest CD seller. That seems more aside effect of Jackson's current careerstature than a reflection on the qualityof this Compact Disc. It's not thatQuincy Jones's typically lavish sonicsaren't heightened, but rather thebaroque arranging style and theimmaculate standard set by the LPcounterpart leave minimum room fornoticeable improvement in a digitalconversion.

Compact Disc's fundamentalvirtues of vanishingly low noise anddistortion further touch up the glossysurfaces of Jones's and Jackson'sebullient pop/funk. But beyond that,any refinements escape notice behindthe sheer, strutting richness of thedeceptively large ensembles.Dancefloor enthusiasts may even objectto the deeper, less punchy bass and

e bass synthesizer lines, particularly on64

Billie Jean, although it can be arguedthat the digital rendering is more openin character.

That said, "Thriller" still stacksup mightily against other analog -derived CDs. Its improvements areslight, but the basic work is already anearful. If you're among the half -dozenleft who don't own the LP, buy theCD. -s.s.

WEATHER REPORT:

Night Passage.Zawinul. producer. CBS/Soto 35DP 8 (analog recording; digital Com-pact Discl LP CoLumew PC 36793.

Weather Report evidently isregarded even more highly in

Japan than the U.S., a fact suggestedearly on with a three -disc live albumproduced exclusively for the Japaneseaudience, and reinforced by the releaseof the last three studio albums inCompact Disc. For new fans and someCD patrons, that enthusiasm may provefortunate, since the ensemble remainsperhaps the most elegant exponent offusion. Long-term followers, however,will be perplexed by the choice ofalbums, which represent neither amusical nor technical peak.

Of the three, "Night Passage"holds the most interest, since it featuressome of Jaco Pastorius's final momentsas a member and frequent enfantterrible. Pastorius brought anunderlying tension that sometimesspilled over into mere grandstanding.but here he proves generally restrained.As deepened acoustically by the digitalformat, his vaulting electric bassfigures often take up the slack left inthe melodically weaker pieces.

If keyboard sculptor Joe Zawinulis captured here with his eye more ontexture than shape, his typicallyevocative synthesizer lines are etchedmore lucidly in CD. The gains aremodest but significant, in that portionsof the album were built around tapesmade in Zawinul's own living room.Peter Erskine's cymbal work andWayne Shorter's saxophones are bothenhanced slightly. At its best-thetypically dreamy title piece, the loopy,cybernetic retelling of Ellington'sRockin' in Rhythms-this is rich fusionburnished brighter in the new format.

Still, the availability of theserecordings in CD begs the question ofwhy earlier, more substantial worksweren't released. A digital rebirth for"Black Market," "Mysterious

Traveller," or "Heavy Weather"would be far greater cause forcelebration. -S.S.

JOURNEY:Frontiers.

Mike Stone, producer. CBS CK 38504 (analog recording, digital Com-pact Disc LP COI.UMBIA DC 38504

This Bay Area quintet achievedmainstream pop acceptance after

glossing its deep-dish hard rock withsuch elements as Steve Perry'smellifluous, blue-eyed soul twists andJonathan Cain's expansive keyboardtextures. That balance of thunder andlight serves them well on CompactDisc, which handles the music'smelodramatic surges adroitly.

On charging, uptempo rockers likeSeparate Ways (Worlds Apart), theimpact of Steve Smith's fat drumsound is stronger, his cymbal and high -

hat work never jarring or overlybrilliant. (Presumably aiding in thisdepartment is the stereo placement,which adheres to center positioning fordrums.) Ross Valory's bass lines alsobenefit from additional depth andclarity.

Guitarist Neal Schon suffers froma fate familiar to highly amplified rockon CD: Given the searing timbre of hismore aggressive leads, it's a toss-up asto whether digital mastering has hadany effect. Restrained picking andhovering guitar harmonics fare moreimpressively. Lead singer Perry's lusty,arena -sized rock renditions competewith the rest of the ensemble forattention, also somewhat mitigating anyimprovements. On the other hand, hismeticulous crooning (notably onballads like this set's Send Her MyLove) offers just the right foil fordigital gains.

This is well -crafted if conventionalpop/rock, which, because of its radio -

conscious approach to compression andequalization, can't offer much latitudefor exploiting CD's dynamic range.Fans won't be disappointed in theclarity of the new version, but thoselooking for impressive additions totheir Compact Disc collection will find"Frontiers," like others in its genre,far from the finest of audiophilereproductions. -s.s.

Many of the Compact Discs available at the retail levelare imported from Europe and Japan Likewise, some ofthe CDs reviewed here are imported, and eventuallymay appear in the U S. with different catalog numbers,if not on different labels.

HIGH FIDELITY

SIMPLY ADVANCED

I . . .

SYSTEM: THE ONLY CONNECTIONWE COULDN'T ELIMINATE WAS

THE POWER PLUGAiwa technology has made our

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_western"Simple to record your albums;

One touch and the V-700 does therest. It automatically knows whattype of tape you're using, sets thecorrect recording levels, thenactivates the linear tracking turn-table just as the tape begins. Presto!

Simple to edit; its called Aiwa'sauto -editing system. Just programthe turntable (that's right, it'sprogrammable too!) to play thetracks you want, in the sequence youwant. During recording, the deckwill automatically pause while thetonearm skips the tracks youdon't want.

The incredible Aiwa V-700.Sophistication without complica-tion ... finally!

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SANSUI,THE LEGENDIN HOME AUDIO,HITS THE ROAD.

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Our 36 years of home audio ad-vancement have enabled us to designand produce the most intelligent caraudio in the world.

And once you've experienced itsperformance, you'll feel more at homeon the road with Sansui than any otherbrand.

Computer -age integrated circuitrymakes Sansui the new super -power incar audio. It delivers total power fromamps to speakers like no other unit.

Whether you're mellowing outwith Sinatra or reaching exit velocitywith Hendrix, Sansui sound will exhila-rate you most.

Distortion? Sansui engineersjust wouldn't hear of it. That's why we'vehit a record low for a car amplifier.

And with our ASRC'" (Automatic

LARATEStereo Reception Control) you'rehome -free from multipath distortion,fading and drift caused by tall build-ings, mountains and tunnels-any-where you drive.

Sansui 's computerized ASRC automatically reduces multipath interference and weak signal problems.

Sansui 's car audio is the mostremarkable unit you've heard, seen ortouched. With advanced ergonomicdesign and soft -touch, computer -likecontrols, you can keep your ears onthe music and your eyes on the road.Our IC logic -controlled tape transportwith tuner/monitor does the work for you.So all you have to do is sit back andenjoy the superior sonic performance.

In addition to better soundquality, Sansui gives you all the featuresfound in other units. Plus instrumentlighting in a choice of interior -compati-

ble Hi -Tech Green or Luminary Orangeon two of our top models.

With performance spec our home audioequipment, Sansui car audio speakers can blow all othersoff the road.

If you believe that hi -tech andhigh -quality are a way of life, thenSansui car audio should be part ofyours. Get it and exhilarate for theultimate pleasure trip.

For the name of your nearestSansui dealer, call or write: SansuiElectronics Corporation, Lyndhurst,NJ 07071 (201) 460-9710Carson, CA 90746 (213) 604-7300.

Semszzi_Putting more pleasure in sound

NEW TECHNOLOGIES

POPULAR VIDEO

JAMES TAYLOR IN CONCERT.Stanley Dorfman. director; Peter Asher Si Stanley Dorfman, prodecors. Sound recorded by Val Garay CBS/Fax 7013 -encoded laser disc,

This straightforward 1979 concertrecording finds James Taylor as

laidback as ever, with cuts like SteamRoller andHoney Don't Leave L.A.unleashing the full rocking powers ofguitarists Waddy Wachtel and DannyKortchmar, keyboardist Don Grolnick,bassist Leland Sklar, drummer RussKunkel, and saxman David Sanborn.The rest is easy folk-rock of the mostpleasant sort, complete with Fire andRain, Carolina on My Mind, and SweetBaby James in good if not inspiredperformances. -IRA MAYER

CAROLE KING:One to One.

Scott Cana. &Neter; Michael Brovsky. producer. MGM/UA MD100219. $2995 ICED disc)

ne to One is a better program%.0 than a critical analysis of it wouldsuggest. Understand that it is worthseeing. But the flaws are numerous.

First, the gimmick of switchingback and forth between (unidentified)concert settings and what appears to beKing's living room at home getstiresome very quickly. (So do thecricket and bird sounds in thebackground of the latter.) Second,many of the stage performers,including the singer -composer, appearstiff and ill at ease. King seems morecomfortable at home on her upright,but the recording of the piano is full ofecho and amateurish. Third, the dischas no continuity. Obviously shot overseveral days, it's disconcerting to seeKing's outfits change from one song tothe next. A pink poodle skirt and whitecardigan for Chains is a humoroussalute to the '50s, but the effect isquickly lost in the sudden transition toa stage and piano lined with candlesfor So Far Away.

More complaints: Locomotion andTake Good Care of My Baby get barelya chorus each, with other home -tapednumbers similarly shortchanged. Theband, unidentified on the jacket andwith names passing by too quickly inthe credits, is not up to the standardsof the session aces King usually uses.

And yet, Carole King did not sell12 million copies of "Tapestry" or

enjoy scores of hits as a songwriterbecause she couldn't come up with amemorable song. Though "One toOne" may not be among their betterrecordings, One Fine Day, Tapestry,Up on the Roof, I Feel the EarthMove, and You've Got a Friend arepretty damn resilient. Smackwater Jackeven finds King and band rising to themoment, rocking out feverishly withsome hot guitar and saxophone lines.

The unusual, very slow solo reading ofHey Girl is quite effective save for thepiano sound, and One Fine Day (theold Chiffons hit) finds the band onceagain driving hard and adding greatbackup harmonies. As I said, "One toOne" has its problems, but thecombination of great songs and an at-home glimpse of their surprisinglyvulnerable creator makes it worthwhile.

-I M.

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JANUARY 1 9 8 4

In Praise ofBrahms's Songs

Deutsche Grammophon s tribute to thecomposer offers a Magelone cycle that isnever stultifying and often moving.

Reviewed by

Will Crutchfield

THE ONLY TIME I PASSED UP a chance tohear Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in recit-

al was in 1977, for a Chicago performanceof Brahms's SchOne Magelone cycle withJ6rg Demus. Now that he no longer makesan annual American visit (and now that 1know the songs better), how 1 wish 1 hadgone!

The great baritone has been less iden-tified over the years with Brahms than withSchubert, Schumann, and Wolf, and indeedhis biographer Kenneth Whitton venturesthe suspicion that Brahms's songs "are notamong Fischer-Dieskau's greatest personalfavorites," but the Magelone cycle holds aspecial place both in the composer's oeuvreand in the singer's repertoire. For that rea-son, because the new performance of it inDeutsche Grammophon's Brahms Editionis slated for separate release, and because itpoints the way to a renewed appreciation ofauthor and interpreter alike, it is worth aclose look in a review that can give most ofthis rich collection only a cursory glance.

These songs, composed in the 1860sfor Brahms's friend and collaborator JuliusStockhausen, stand with the much later Vierernste Gesange to "place him beside Schu-bert in the ranks of Lieder composers,"according to the New Grove contributor onBrahms. The judgment is bold, because thecycle is by no means so well known orloved, and Brahms is in fact not generallyheld on a par with his great predecessor inthis sphere. But he said himself that therewas not a single Schubert song from whichone could not learn something, and thecloser one looks at the Magelone-Lieder themore one feels, not a parity, but a deep and(for me) moving affinity with Schubert. Atits simplest level the kinship is expressed inthings learned, things borrowed: The side-stepping back to the tonic key in the firstsong immediately evokes "Die Sterne,"where Schubert did it the same way (and inthe same key); "Liebe kam aus fernenLanden" (the fourth Magelone song) para-

This concludes our two-part coverage ofDG' s commemorative Brahms Edition.Last month Harris Goldsmith reviewed theinstrumental recordings.-Ed.

68 HIGH FIDELITY

phrases Schubert's "Wanderer" (the onewith text by Schlegel); the prolongation ofthe penultimate six/four chord in "Wie soilich die Freude," alternating it with dimin-ished chords under melodic sixths andraised fourths, is an irresistibly thrillingSchubertian device for musical emotionstraining toward the release of a cadence.Unlike most other Brahms songs, but likeseveral of Schubert's, some of the Mage-lone-Lieder move into progressively fastertempos (sometimes returning, sometimesnot); the technique comes from such Schu-bert songs as "Sehnsucht." D. 636, wherethe motion does not flag between sections,but accelerates (either by quickening ofpulse or reduction of note values) from oneinto another.

There is an emotional affinity too, butit is more elusive and only partial; it's easierto say what it is not. Brahms does not createa specific human character and limn hissoul for us in music, as Schubert did withGretchen, the old recluse by his cheeryhearth, the tormented harper, and a hundredothers. In the Magelone cycle we do notfeel the young knight's inmost hopes andfears as we do those of Schubert's millerlad; rather we sense Brahms's appreciationfor the "type" he represents, and for theclear priorities and uncomplicated motiva-tions of the chivalric story.

To delve into this is to touch on whatGregory Sandow has recently called

the "Brahms Problem": a widely sharedfeeling that here was a composer fleeing hisemotions, repressing his impulses, shield-ing himself from human risk with formalcraftsmanship. The Brahms Problem hasoften impinged on my appreciation of hissongs. So many of them have sappy texts;so few grapple with the issues that set Wolfand Schubert burning; so often the passionsare kept at arm's length and replaced withbluster. Yet the days spent with this record-ed collection were for me (one can only putit personally) never stultifying and oftenmoving. It occurred to me that a person whorepresses his feelings does not for thatbecome unfeeling. We know that Brahms'sown emotional life was complex and prob-lematic. His songs bespeak deep yearningfor a simple past, regret for what can neverbe recovered, an ache for untainted beauty;even though the music never expresses thestruggles from which these longingssprang, the songs can touch in a way thatthey would not, I think, from the pen of acreator more secure in his identificationwith the values he seeks to embody in hisart.

It is this, I would say, that separatesthe Brahms songs from those of, say, Rob-ert Franz, who shares in large measure hismelodic gift and his penchant for the lushand sentimental. Those things are easyenough to see in Brahms; the other quality,that Sehnsucht that links him most deeply toSchubert, wants committed advocacy to

bring a listener to it, and my own responseto these songs was guided by and intimatelylinked to the singer's here.

What of Fischer-Dieskau, then, as heenters the '80s and nears the end of

his own fifties? "The voice," wrote JohnSteane greeting the recent Liszt songs (DG2740 254), "seems hardly to have changedat all" -but that seeming must have beencolored by the excitement of discovery, forthe voice has changed quite a bit. Mostly ithas dried and thinned -or perhaps oneshould say that the basic instrument hasbeen shorn of some of its accessories. Inparticular there was a dark, vibrant,"charged" forte that now comes to him sel-dom, and the loud sustained singing.though never extraordinary for sheer pow-er, had once a beauty and tonal thrill that ithas lost. Fischer-Dieskau, in other words,can no longer imitate convincingly the bigrich voice he never had, but often needed tosuggest. This means that we have to give upcertain of the old satisfactions of his sing-ing: the way he could suddenly stride for-ward into a grand phrase as though sevenfeet tall ("Bleib ich ihr ferne, sterb ichgenie" in the third Magelone song), or putthe full power of his voice behind an impul-sive marcato (as in the lines about scorningwind and wave in the tenth). But in piano -accompanied music at least, this "deterio-ration" has simply been integrated into theprocess that has always been going on withthis singer of fresh discovery, new entryinto a composer's world and a song's poeticprovince each time it is performed.

So there is no question of late, post -prime performances here, and one takes themono and earlier stereo versions from theshelf not to answer a need unmet in thepresent, but to provide a fascinating coun-terpoint and to give insight into the work ofan interpreter of genius. Fischer-Dieskau'sBrahms output is a little confusing. and thesketchy discography in the Whitton book isnot much help, so a brief note is in order.Until the early '70s he was indeed lessinvolved with this composer than with oth-ers. There had been versions of the "ErnsteGesiinge" (1949) and seven of the Op. 32Songs (1955), both with Hertha Klust, anda group of Heine settings on the flip side ofhis first Dichterliebe, with Demus (1957).In 1957-58 came an album of love songswith Karl Engel, and (all with Demus) areflective, autumnal collection (over whichthe discography stumbles badly), a first ver-sion of the Magelone cycle, and a second ofthe Four Serious Songs. In 1964 EMI/Angel issued a thrilling, vibrant program ofearly works (including all nine of Op. 32)with Gerald Moore, and in 1970 a Mage-lone remake with Sviatoslav Richter. A fur-ther version of the "Ernste Gesiinge"appeared in 1972 as the fourth side of aRequiem led by Barenboim on DG (2707066). All of these except the disc withEngel were available in America at one

time or another, but only the last-mentionedis in the current SCHWANN. (Omitted fromthis reckoning are folksongs done with Eliz-abeth Schwarzkopf and the Op. 28 duetswith Kerstin Meyer and then Janet Baker -all deleted.)

Then in 1974 appeared a large, excel-lent, but confusingly organized set on Ger-man EMI: It began with the 1964 Mooredisc, continued with eight sides accompa-nied by Wolfgang Sawallisch (who gamelyfilled the gaps in opus groups that weresampled on the anthology with Moore), andconcluded with two discs with Barenboim(once again finishing the opuses left hang-ing in the Sawallisch sessions). It's mad-dening to try to listen to this ill -ordered boxwith scores in hand (doubly so if you havethe Peters edition, which also begins withselected goodies -different ones, ofcourse -and fills in the holes later), but theperformances are often tremendously re-warding.

Of the 149 songs in the Electrola set,six have been reassigned here (along noparticular line of reasoning that I candescry) to Jessye Norman, who also con-tributes 46 specifically "female" songs.Fischer-Dieskau remakes the remainder,adding a new Magelone-Lieder (not done inthe earlier set) and one song from Op. 43that was unaccountably lost in the shuffleon Electrola. Opus 121 (which Sawallischplayed on Electrola) is here represented bythe version with Barenboim mentionedabove; the rest is new.

Present vocal limitations, perhaps,

BRAHMS: Songs.Jessye Norman, soprano*; Dietrich

Fischer-Dieskau, baritonet; Daniel Barenboim,piano. [Cord Garben, Renate Kupfer, WolfgangStengel, and "Gunther Breest, prod.] DEUTSCHE

GRAMMOPHON 2740 279, $79.80 (digital record-ingtt; 10discs, manual sequence). Cassettes (4;Opp. 3, 7, 32, 43, 47, 49, 59, 63, 86, 91, 94,121; Mondnacht, Regenlied; plus vocal ensem-bles): 337B 124, $51.92. ["From DG 2707 066,1972.]

Op. 3 (6; No. 1*; Nos. 2-6t); Op. 6 (6;No. 1*; Nos. 2-6t); Op. 7 (6; Nos. 1-4, 6t; No.5*); Op. 14 (8)t; Op. 19 (5; Nos. 1-3, 5t; No.4*): Op. 32 (9)t: Op. 33tt(Die schone Magel-one; 15)t. Op. 43 (4)t; Op. 46 (4)t; Op. 47 (5;Nos. 1-41; No. 5*); Op. 48 (7; Nos. 1-2, 5-7t;Nos. 3-4*); Op. 49 (5)t; Op. 57 (8; No. 1*; Nos.2-7t); Op. 58 (8)t; Op. 59 (8; Nos. 1-4, 6-7t;Nos. 5, 8*); Op. 63 (9)t; Op. 69 (9; Nos. 1-2, 4,6, 8-9*; Nos. 3, 5, 7t); Op. 70 (4)t; Op. 71 (5)t;Op. 72 (5; No. I*; Nos. 2-5t); Op. 84 (5)*; Op.85 (6; Nos. 1-2, 4-6t; No. 3*); Op. 86 (6; Nos.1, 6*; Nos. 2-5t); Op. 91 (2; with WolframChrist, viola)*; Op. 94 (5; Nos. 1-3, 5t; No.4*); Op. 95 (7; Nos. 1, 4-6*; Nos. 2-3.7t); Op.96 (4)t; Op. 97 (6; Nos. 1-3, 5-6t; No. 4*); Op.103 (Zigeunerlieder; 8)*; Op. 105 (5; Nos. 1-3'1';Nos. 4-5t); Op. 106 (5)t; Op. 107 (5; Nos. 1-2,4t; Nos. 3, 5*); Op. 121" (Vier emsteGesiinge)t. Mondnacht. t Regenlied.* FiveSongs of Ophelia.*

JANUARY 1984 69

have directed Fischer-Dieskau's attentionincreasingly to the lyrical possibilities inthese songs, and urged on him a more var-ied exploitation of the shades between pia-nissimo and mezzo -forte. The results arefresh, diverse, and (it needs to be empha-sized, because there is also a Fischer-Dies-kau Problem) spontaneous -sounding to me.There is in the DG set a new and specialfeeling for the dynamic of statement andecho; sometimes the echoes are indescrib-ably tender (the lines about the dying soundof the lute, or about the distant, yearned -forgoal in the Magelone Songs); sometimesintense (as in "Ich muss hinaus," where wefeel the second and fourth phrases as thespent recoil from the vaulting impulse ofthe first and third). This new gentleness canspread itself wonderfully over a whole song("Sonntag" was soft enough already, butrather bouncy and tip -toed; now it's sweet,dreamy, and reminiscent) or be localized ata key moment (with Barenboim's participa-tion, the line "der mir so lieb war" in thesong to the Aeolian harp pierces with sud-den poignancy; in "Von ewiger Liebe" onefeels the girl's strength of heart in the s/ow,almost unimpassioned growth to the climaxof her verse). The contrast does not alwayswork that way, of course: The riding -songin Magelone is more truculent; the despairat "Nimmer wird es gut" in "Verzweif-lung" more towering, and immediatelyafter "Sonntag," as though quickened byan elixir of youth, Fischer-Dieskaulaunches "0 liebliche Wangen" with evenmore breathless energy than before. Thereis also "Meetfahrt," that intense song oflove passed by and bleak vistas ahead (mostsuited of all Brahms's, perhaps, to standwith Wolf and Schubert on their ownground), which has become more neuroticand desperate in this performance.

The most striking change in approachconcerns phrasing: I would guess that

about a hundred breathing -places in the ear-lier recordings, including perhaps two doz-en literal rests in the score, are now sungthrough. The gain might be simply betterverbal sense (in the famous lullaby), ormore continuous impetus (in "Sehnsucht,"from the Op. 49 group, the singer yearns forhis "[forte] distant, [piano] sweet maid-en"; in the older recording, he breathed atthe comma, so that the nuance came at theexpense of flow, but the passion of the newversion is thrilling). It is as though his longexperience has now made him willing totake bold freedoms in showing us the largeshape of these songs. If his tone no longerpresents him seven feet tall, his breadth ofline shows him "as a giant to run hiscourse."

No one could deny that there is loss aswell, in beauty, strength, and (I suspect,since the condition of the voice varies)stamina. There are also songs that, to mymind, have always eluded him and still do.This singer, so excitingly involved in the

Ensemble singers (left to right) Mathis, Fassbaender, Schreier, and Fisher-Dieskau: in themore animated numbers of the Liebeslieder Waltzes, a hectic feeling of competition

progress of a song, can sometimes seemimpatient with one in which the need is forstasis, for the sustenance of a single image.An accent, a change in tone, or a bounc-iness of line will often find its way in. (Thewords "Nash oben" in "FeldeinsamAeit"are a good example in the present set; "Anein Veilchen," "0 wiisse ich doch," and"An die Nachtigall," in which Fischer-Dieskau has always seemed to take on someof the agitato feeling of the Schubert set-ting, are among the songs that seem unsuc-cessful in this regard.)

That all this covers about a twentieth ofmy notes for this review gives some

indication of the stimulation the series cangive, though. The grave beauty of the Op.94 group should not pass without mention,but then neither should Op. 96, where the"Meetfahrt" already noted is comple-mented by a rapt and (again) very broadlyphrased "Wir wandelten." When all is saidand done, it is probably true that Brahmsasks less than the other great songwritersfor Fischer-Dieskau's special skills, andmore than they for the skills he lacks, but Istill would not have wished for anothersinger in the bulk of this set. With theBrahms of artists who suit him more fully(say Alexander Kipnis, Christa Ludwig,Kirsten Flagstad), the pleasure is great, butI find that by the end of enough songs tomake a solid recital group, while I have nocomplaints, I've also heard enough for thetime being. With Fischer-Dieskau, I lis-tened through the set more or less continu-ously, and played the earlier records too-not dutifully, but wanting to. This is notmeant as a value judgment (why should onelisten longer than to a solid recital group?and what would one not give to go to arecital and hear vocalism like Kipnis'stoday?), but simply to suggest that Fischer-Dieskau's gifts are indeed the aptest for so

comprehensive a survey.Not that one doesn't sometimes

reflect, perusing one or another of his com-prehensive boxes, that it would have beennice to engage a quartet of singers and thusto present all the songs in their originalkeys, with male and female poems alikeincluded. The only trouble would be find-ing singers who wouldn't make one want toskip over their bands to the next Fischer-Dieskau. I confess, that's how I often playthe Wolf sets he shares with Schwarzkopf,Irmgard Seefried, and Ludwig, and, al-though I didn't think so at first, I imaginethat's how I'm likely to return to this one.No question, Norman has a major voice, aninstrument that can provide, just when thebaritone's lack of it begins to nag, radianceand fullness of tone. And she sings herewith a more vivid sort of involvement than Ihave found before in her German songrecordings. But perhaps six sides into thecollection I began to feel that her nuanceswere not ringing true, especially in the"charming" feminine songs-almost thatshe might be imitating Fischer-Dieskau'shighly inflected style without really feelingsympathy for it. And (this is easier to pindown) she simply does not provide the big -soaring -voice satisfactions that her capabil-ities lead one to expect. She transposesdown almost as often as the baritone (uptoo, when she wants), putting most of thematerial into a perfectly adequate but lessexciting part of her voice. And her legato isunreliable, both in moving from one note toanother without an aspirate "h" (try "DerJigger") and in sweeping through a phrasewith impulse-the breath support (or is thisjust the way she feels the music?) seems tocome in spurts instead of a steady flow. It isterribly unfair to carp about this while over-looking her partner's similar faults (theway, for instance, he so often goes sharp athigh notes on the "i" or "u" vowels, or

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loses focus at ones on "e"). But (again,one can only put it personally) the compen-sation in his case seems sufficient, in hersonly partially so.

(A word on transposition. now that thetopic has been raised. It should be borne inmind that Brahms, much more often thanSchubert, Schumann, Wolf, or Strauss,wrote for low voice to begin with, and thatmany of the songs are raised for the stan-dard "hohe Stimme" editions. "Sap-phische Ode," "Immer leiser," "Mai-nacht," and "Von ewiger Liebe," to nameonly a few chestnuts, were written original-ly in the low keys. But "original" is anambiguous idea with Lieder anyway. Weknow that Schubert's principal song -collab-orator was the baritone Johann MichaelVogl, yet Schubert published many of thepair's "pet Lieder" in keys much higherthan Vogl could possibly have sung them,and a few have come down to us in Vogl'shand-lowered. Brahms wrote the Mage-lone-Lieder expressly for Julius Stockhaus-en, again a baritone, but in the "original"keys they lie high and reach often to top Aflat. Did Stockhausen sing them thus? Keychoices in the Schubert orchestrationsBrahms made for him do not suggest so.(Fischer-Dieskau transposes them.] Fur-thermore, as far as I can tell, many ofBrahms's songs appeared from the start inhigh and low versions, often separated bythe unusually wide interval of a major thirdor a fourth. In fact a lyric baritone or mezzooften finds that neither key is comfortable;Fischer-Dieskau must often ask his pianistto play in a key between the printed ones.)

Who, meanwhile, would be a satisfy-ing female counterweight for Fi-

scher-Dieskau? The Schwarzkopf Problemblocks for me what would be a simpleanswer for some. If Lotte Lehmann couldbe time -transported to 1983 she would beideal, full of heart as keen of mind, thoughshe'd probably be as reluctant to cede themale songs to Fischer-Dieskau as he toshare the neutral ones with her. Of present-day singers, Ameling the Delightful lackssomething in range and weight (as ElisabethSchumann would have before her-thoughI'd rather have had either here). MargaretPrice, whose Brahms is among promisedOrfeo offerings for 1984, is like Norman-big-voiced without really letting you enjoyit, and capable of blandness. Edith Mathis.Gundula Janowitz, Lucia Popp, and espe-cially Helen Donath have shown them-selves fine Liedersangerinnen without, yet.suggesting the stature needed to balance thebaritone's; Edda Moser, Brigitte Fassbaen-der, and (at this stage) Ludwig and Elisa-beth Soderstrom seem to me vocally unsat-isfying in various ways. Can Yolanda Mar-coulescou sing in German? Might JanetBaker rise to her best for a shared "bigbox"? (When she does, she has somethingof what it takes.) Or might the best hopecome from Mrs. Fischer-Dieskau herself

Julia Varady, who has yet to record a solosong recital, but whose contribution to theSchumann duets with her husband is full ofpromise?

I et me apologize for leaving so littleroom to the vocal -ensemble and choral

boxes by saying right off that to many col-lectors who aren't going to buy the wholeBrahms Edition these will be more essentialacquisitions than the songs, simply becausemuch of the music is otherwise unavailableon record. I don't want to overstate theapology-there is a reason for the compar-ative lack of attention-but there are somelovely things to be heard here.

The Liebeslieder Waltzes are familiar,of course; these four voices don't blend assuavely as some on earlier versions (in factin the more animated numbers there is arather hectic feeling of competition), but ofthose currently available they seem to meon a par with the one on Seraphim (S60033) and superior to the others. Theremaining ensembles do not offer as manydelightful discoveries, or quite such pol-ished performances, as the Schubert discsthat appeared as pendants to Fischer-Dies-kau's song boxes on DG. (Only those Gyp-sy Songs omitted from the solo arrange-ments are recorded in their quartet forms,although several less interesting pieces thatexist both as solos and choruses are includ-ed both ways.) Still, the duets have somedramatic life (a smoother version of thefemale ones by Judith Blegen and Fredericavon Stade is available on CBS M 33307),and the quartets outside the Liebeslieder areby no means negligible. (Fischer-Dieskaunever goes to sleep: When in an ensemblehe cannot be responsible for individualexpression of the words he turns his atten-tion to isolating pivotal harmonic momentsin the bass line.) The folksongs, except forthe final group with chorus, come from the

attractive 1975 set with Schreier andMathis; all the rest is new.

The choral works (not all "a cappella"as the box cover suggests, but includingalso those with piano or chamber -scaledaccompaniment) include a good deal ofGebrauchsmusik from the days of Brahms'schoral directorships. Some were probablynever intended to hold the interest of peoplewho weren't singing them, but there areagain some lovely moments (the quicken-ing triplets announcing spring in "Darthu-las Grabgesang"; the witty setting of "thefiddler struck up a merry dance" to theopen -string notes of the fiddle in Op. 93a).Gunter Jena and his choir cultivate a clear,not -lush sound and a plain style: no dramat-ic hushings or passionate swellings, andvery little strophic variation (which doesnot stop them from singing multiple stan-zas). It's just the kind of choral singingthat-hearing a moving inner part fussilybrought forward or a dynamic nuance triplyunderlined-one so often thinks one wants;perhaps it is only a comment on the musicitself that I found myself wishing for some-thing more vivid. Either the recorded soundor the choir's style gives great prominenceto consonants, especially sibilants; when aline like "das Knosplein ist erschlossen"comes round in canon one wishes for thedays of acoustic recording. when "s" hadto be supplied by one's imagination.

Each box comes with a handsomebooklet and useful essays; I won't pretendto have read all the translations, but thenames of Lionel Salter and William Mannon them suggest clarity and reliability, andwhere I checked, I found them. The labels,on the other hand, are the only indicators ofthe distribution of songs, and several timesthey fail to give Norman proper credit (sug-gesting that Fischer-Dieskau sings. amongother things, the Op. 91 songs for alto andviola). HF

BRAHMS: Vocal Ensembles.Edith Mathis, soprano; Brigitte Fassbaen-

der, alto; Peter Schreier, tenor; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone; Karl Engel. piano.*t NorthGerman Radio Chorus (Hamburg), Gunter Jena,cond.; Gemot Kahl, piano.t [Cord Garben*,Rudolf Wernert, Hanno Rinket, GerdPloebscht. and Friedrich Karl Wagnert, prod.]DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 2740 280. $39.90 (dig-ital recordings*; five discs, manual sequence).Cassettes (4; Opp. 52, 61, 65; plus songs): 3378124, $51.92. [tFrom DG 2709 057, 1974.]

Duets: Op. 20 (3; s, a); Op. 28 (4; a, b); Op.61 (4; s, a); Op. 66 (5; s, a).* Four Ballads andRomances, Op. 75.* Quartets: Op. 31 (3); Op.64 (3); Op. 92 (4); Op. 103 (Zigeunerlieder; 3);Op. 112 (6).* Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 52 (18):Neue Liebeslieder Waltzes, Op. 65 (15) (withWolfgang Sawallisch, piano).* Volkskinderlied-cr (14; s).t Deutsche Volkslieder: Books 1 -VI(42; s, t)t; Book VII (7)t.

BRAHMS: Choral Works.Gemot Kahl. piano*; Gerhard Dickel,

organt; North German Radio Chorus (Ham-

burg). North German Radio Orchestra (Ham-burg) members, Gunter Jena, cond. [HannoRinke, Gerd Ploebsch, and Friedrich Karl Wag-ner, prod.] DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 2741 018.$47.88 (digital recordings; six discs, manualsequence). Cassettes (4; Opp. 12, 17. 27, 74.104, 109. Volkslieder [8]; plus choral -orchestralworks): 3382 018. $51.92.

Songs, Op. 17 (4; with Jan Schroeder andHans -Ulrich Winkler, horns; Julia Raines Hahn.harp); Op. 41 (5); Op. 42 (3; No. 2*); Op. 44(12)*: Op. 62 (7): Op. 93a (6; No. 2 with EdithMathis, soprano); Op. 104 (5). Motets, Opp. 29(2). 74 (2), 110 (3). Ave Maria, Op. 12t;Begrabnisgesang, Op. 13; Marienlieder. Op. 22(7); Psalm 13, Op. 27t; Geistliches Lied, Op.30t; Three Sacred Choruses. Op. 37 (No. 3 withMathis; Ann Murray, alto); Tafellied, Op. 93b*;Fest- and Gedenksprtiche, Op. 109; ThirteenCanons, Op. 113. Canons (7; No. 7 with Martin -Albrecht Rohde, viola). Kleine Hochz,eitskan-tate.* Dem dunkeln Schoss der heil'gen Erde.Deutsche Volkslieder (23; No. 23 with Ma-this).

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CLASSICAL

Reviews

Philip Glass's score for Koyaanisqatsi pro-vides the aural counterpoint to the film'sstream of visual images, while surviving thetranslatior to disc. See page 85.

FALLA: The Three -Cornered Hat*; ElAmor brujot.

Colette Boky, soprano*: Huguette Touran-geau, mezzo-sopranot; Richard Hoenich, bas-soon*; Montreal Symphony Orchestra, CharlesDutoit, cond. IRay Minshull, prod.] LONDONLDR 71060, $12.98 (digital recording). Cas-sette: LDR5 71060, $12.98.FALLA: The Three -Cornered Hat*; ElAmor brujo: Ritual Fire Dance.

Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano*:Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn,cond. PHILIPS 6514 281, $12.98 (digital record-ing). Cassette: 7337 281, $12.98.

For years, one heard almost nothing of TheThree -Cornered Hat except the famousdances from Part 2. Occasionally someonewould play the "Scenes and Dances" fromPart I . More recently, several recordings ofthe complete score have demonstrated thatit is as attractive and viable a concert workas the complete Daphnis and Chloe or thecomplete Firebird.

This is my first encounter with themuch -praised team of Charles Dutoit andthe Montreal Symphony, and very pleasingit is. They perform some of the most color-ful and exciting music imaginable with tre-mendous flair and authority. Though onecould quibble over details (and I will pres-ently), the work's brilliance and externalspirit are all there.

And its internal spirit? Most Spanish

music, be it by Falla. Albeniz, Granados,or whomever, operates on two levels. Nomatter how superficially glittering it mayappear, there is usually a deeper. more pro-found element beneath the surface. For thatI went back to the deleted version by ErnestAnsermet and the Orchestra de la SuisseRomande, which I hope London will reis-sue in its Treasury series. The playing maynot be quite so brilliant, and a few momentsin the finale could use more animation, but,oh, does Ansermet get to the heart and soulof the piece!

Nevertheless, Dutoit's is a splendidachievement, and I recommend it almostwholeheartedly. Colette Boky is effectiveand affecting in her few incidental solos,for which she is properly heard from thedistance. The many droll bassoon solos aresuperbly played by Richard Hoenich,appropriately given a credit. However, abeat is missing from the English -horn soloin "The Miller's Dance," perhaps an edit-ing error.

Andre Previn's Pittsburgh versiongenerally takes slower tempos than eitherDutoit's or Ansermet's, but lacks the buoy-ancy to make them effective. Neither doesit have the dash and brio provided byDutoit. It strikes me as a largely abstracttreatment of the score, as if the various pas-sages and sections had no relation to eventsand happenings on the stage. Frederica von

Stade is not heard from the distance, butplaced front and center; I guess you can'tengage someone of her reputation to singjust a few lines and then put her in left field.In any case, she comes across blandly. ThePittsburgh bassoonist, though certainly theequal of his Montreal counterpart, labors inanonymity.

And now the promised quibbles: BothDutoit and Previn inexplicably ignore amost important score marking. Eight sepa-rate bars in the "Dance of the Miller'sWife" have large asterisks over them. Youcan't miss them. At the bottom of the firstpage is the instruction, in plain English,"In all the bars marked * the last two qua-vers [eighth -notes] must be very slightlyheld back." This is meant to provide anunsettling disruption of the beat and to dis-tinguish those bars from later repetitionswithout asterisks. Dutoit and Previn don'thold back the two notes even very slightly;one can beat through those bars without anydisruption at all. Ansermet does hold themback, with telling effect. Neither doesDutoit or Previn (or Ansermet!) make therequired accelerando leading into the fina-le's coda.

The London disc is generously round-ed out with the complete El Amor brujo.This is a more serious, brooding work thanthe Tricorne, and again Dutoit impresses,giving one of the best performances I've

JANUARY 1984 75

CLASSICAL Reviews

heard. The impassioned and gutsy violinpassage at figure 16 in the "Dance of Ter-ror" could be stronger, but the famous"Ritual Fire Dance" is delivered with anapt sense of foreboding-not as just anoth-er pops concert piece. The tender slow sec-tions, such as "The Magic Circle" and the"Pantomine." arc beautifully done, andHuguette Tourangeau is a fine soloist. Sheappropriately introduces just a touch ofrawness to her voice but still sings the part.doesn't yell it as in some versions. AgainDutoit fails to observe an important mark-ing. (Does he specialize in this?) Through-out the "Pantomime" the trumpets are milt

ed. The final solo, to sound from a distance,is marked without mute. Dutoit mutes it aswell. Why? After all, Falla was the mostfastidious indicator of what he wanted in hisscores. Still, I enjoy both of Dutoit's per-formances very much and am highlyimpressed by the work of the Montrealorchestra. There is no loss of recordingquality in spite of long sides, and surfacesare immaculate.

In the past I have criticized Philips forits lack of generosity in filling a record.This could not be more dramatically dem-onstrated than here: Dutoit's disc offers thecomplete E/ Amor brujo, Previn's only its

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brief "Ritual Fire Dance." Well playedthough it is, at $12.98 or whatever, whichwould you buy? JOHN CANARINA

MENOTTI: Missa "0 Pulchritudo."Renatta Baldisseri. soprano: Wilma Borel-

li. mezzo-soprano; Beniamino Prior, tenor; Fer-ruccio Furlanetto. bass. Westminster Choir,Joseph Flummerfelt. dir.; Bel Canto Chorus ofMilwaukee. James Keeley. dir.; Spoleto FestivalOrchestra, Christian Badea, cond. FoNrf CFA -RAFDM 0001, $9.98 (distributed by InternationalBook and Record, 40-11 24th St.. Long IslandCity. N.Y. 11101).

Although Gian Carlo Menotti is best knownfor his copious operatic output. he has alsocomposed quite a few concert works.Among them are about a half -dozen choralpieces, the present Mass being a recentaddition. On the surface, it would seem nat-ural for Menotti to turn late in life to theMass-after all, his operas have beenpacked with mysticism and religious sym-bolism, as well as with crises of faith, orconflicts between faith and reason.

These tensions are apparent in theMass, though to a less obvious degree. Theoverall tone is less one of pure devotionthan of turbulence and a kind of inneranguish-the key to which appears in acentral Motet, a setting of a verse by St.Augustine that confesses and deplores apreoccupation with superficial vanity at theexpense of divine beauty. Less visible isMenotti's spiritual grappling with the verystructure of the Mass: The Motet replacesthe Credo, and although the liner notes sug-gest that the Credo would be added later,Menotti eventually refused to set it on thegrounds that he did not believe in all of itsprovisions.

Philosophical dilemmas aside, thework does have its attractions, particularlywhen it drops its neo-nineteenth-centurybombastic cover and waxes lyrical-in thewhole of the Motet. for instance, and inparts of the Gloria. But it is also an eclecticscore, and the broad range on which itdraws can keep a listener waiting for theMass to settle on a single direction. Thefirst moments of the Kyrie wash across sev-eral centuries: The almost Gregorian firststatement is followed by a bit of tenseRomantic -cum -Gothic orchestration, andthen by a more elaborate. melismaticrestatement and, surprisingly, an orchestralparody of the Kyrie from Bach's B minorMass. Perhaps this sweeping historicaloverview was part of Menotti's plan; soonenough, the Mass finds a more consistentlyRomantic voice of its own.

Alas, the performance and particularlythe recorded sound here work against thepiece. When I heard the Mass performed atthe Spoleto U.S.A. Festival in Charleston,it didn't sound nearly as shapeless as it doeshere; rather, it flowed out into the hall withan admirable grandeur. That performancewas conducted by Joseph Flummerfelt in

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CLASSICAL Reviews

Critics' ChoiceThe most noteworthyreleases reviewed recently

BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto. Ughi; Lon-don Symphony, Sawallisch. RCA ITALY RL31590. Oct.BRAHMS: Keyboard Works. Zimerman, Vas-ary, Kempff. DG 2740 278 (11), Dec.BRITTEN: Our Hunting Fathers; FolksongArrangements. SOderstrOm, Armstrong. EMIASD 4397. Oct.CARTER: Night Fantasies; Piano Sonata.Jacobs. NONESUCH 79047-I. Rosen, ETCETERAETC 1008, Sept.CARTER: Syringa; Concerto for Orchestra.

DeGaetani, Paul, Sollberger; New York Philhar-monic, Bernstein. COMPOSERS RECORDINGS SD469, Sept.CRUMB: Apparition. IVES: Songs (9). De-Gaetani, Kalish. BRIDGE BDG 2002. Dec.ELGAR: Enigma Variations; Pomp and Cir-cumstance Marches (5). Philharmonia, A.Davis. CBS IM 37755. Sept.GLUCK: Orfeo ed Euridice. Speiser, Baker.Leppard. ERATO NUM 750423 (3), Aug.GRIEG: Piano Sonata; Lyric Pieces. Kocsis.PHILIPS 6514 115, Nov.HAHN: Ciboulette. Mesple. Gedda; MonteCarlo Philharmonic. Diederich. EMI FRANCE 2C167-731 05/6 (2), Dec.MENDELSSOHN: String Quartets (com-plete). Melos Qrt. DG 2740 267 (4), Sept.MENDELSSOHN, TCHAIKOVSKY: ViolinConcertos. Chung; Montreal Symphony, Du-toit. LONDON LDR 71058, Oct.MOZART: Opera Arias. Te Kanawa; LondonSymphony, C. Davis. PHILIPS 6514 319. Sept.

MOZART: Serenade No. 10, K. 361. Collegi-um Aureum. PRO ARTS PAD 137, Oct.MOZART: Symphonies Nos. 38, 39. BavarianRadio Symphony, Kubelik. CBS IM 36730, July.PROKOFIEV: String Quartets Nos. 1, 2.Sequoia Qrt. NONESUCH 79048-I. Nov.PUCCINI: Orchestral Works; Operatic Ex-cerpts. Berlin Radio Symphony, Chailly. LON.DON LDR 71107. Nov.SALLINEN: The Red Line. Valjakka. Hynnin-en, Kamu. FINLANDIA FA 102 (3), Nov.SCHUBERT: Songs (16). Ameling. Baldwin.ETCETERA ETC 1009. Oct.SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 9. London Phil-harmonic. Boult. EMI SXLP 30558, Sept.TIPPETT: Concerto for Violin, Viola, Cello,and Orchestra. Pauk, Imai, Kirshbaum; BostonSymphony. C. Davis. PHILIPS 6514 209, Aug.WAGNER: Operatic Excerpts. Various. SERA-PHIM IG 6139 (7), Nov.NELLIE MELBA: The American Record-ings. RCA AUSTRALIA VRL 5-0365 (5), Nov.

1981; Badea's was recorded at the festival'sItalian home during a concert performancein 1979, and its indistinct orchestral andchoral sound is plagued with all sorts ofextraneous noise-everything from pagesrustling and unedited applause (after theGloria-but not at the end of the work) to achild loudly complaining after the firststatement of the Kyrie to a persistent high-pitched chirping that gives you the impres-sion the performance took place near anaviary. ALLAN KOZINN

SCHUBERT: Die schiine Miillerin, D.795.

Manyn Hill, tenor; Graham Johnson. pia-no. [Libor Mathauser. prod.] HYPERION A66075. $13.98 (distributed by Harmonia MundiU.S.A.. 2351 Westwood Blvd.. Los Angeles.Calif. 90064).

This is the kind of performance one loves toencounter in the concert hall: a singer andpianist excited over the piece. sensitive toits and to each other's possibilities, energet-ically involved and involving. One can lis-ten through at a sitting and relive afresh thefamiliar story. Hill has an ingratiating voicethat has grown considerably in strength.vibrancy, and color since the records of themid -'70s by which I first got to know him.I'm not sure this disc adds anything irre-placeable to the recorded history of &honeMiillerin, but it proves competitive with theother stereo versions currently listed inSCHWANN and has several points of inter-est.

For the first time, as far as I know, theNew Schubert Edition is used. (The fasci-nating Schreier version with guitar accom-paniment, Seraphim S 60369, employs thevocal half of it, and there are a couple ofEuropean recordings I haven't caught upwith yet.) It involves many minor changes.Most are improvements; none is revelatory;and one is a real disappointment: in "Eifer-sucht und Stolz," at the words "Er

schnitzt" and "und blast," the voice sus-pends D against the accompaniment's Cmajor rather than moving up to the moreurgent and optimistic E. I don't find thisvery convincing even from a purely musicalstandpoint (the chord shifts before the Dresolves, not unheard-of, but atypical forSchubert). yet the editors have their rea-sons. and perhaps I'm just resistant tochange.

A change I like, though, is the readi-ness of this pair to shape phrases with a kindof rubato that many modem performersseem to consider sentimental or over -Romantic. The great models for this inrecent decades have been Pears and Britten.and I would not be surprised to learn thatHill and Graham had gotten to know thecycle through that pair's performances. Butthe influence has resulted not so much inimitation of specific interpretive choices asin absorption of a certain range of stylisticpossibilities-the healthiest kind of learn-ing -from -one's -elders.

It is precisely because this perfor-mance is so good. and because we need finetenor Lieder-singers so badly, that it isworth detailing some reservations as well(as it would not be for a lesser artist). One istechnical: Hill's legato is poor. At an obvi-ous level, he has the habit of chopping apartnotes that share a syllable with an "h" inbetween: This limits pleasure considerablyin the first two songs but only now and thenthereafter. More important and pervasive isthe lack of even flow in declamatory andlyrical lines alike. Sometimes it is a matterof beginning each note without full reso-nance and then letting it swell; sometimesof hitting an attack hard and failing to fol-low through with solid tone. This is all themore a pity because Hill clearly thinks insentences and phrases (in "Der Jager," forinstance, he sees more than the usual tourde force of spitting diction)-but his tech-niqut trips him up, and the result is often a

series of individual notes.One also senses a certain lack of

growth through the cycle. (Even early on.the simple narrative of "Triinenregen"does not broaden into the soul -filling expe-rience that the third verse can be.) Thischeerful. optimistic miller -lad, after all, isnot a stable person. He is given to extremesof excitement, falls into obsessive, over-wrought jealousy, and eventually fails topull out of a suicidal depression. I was sur-prised to see, after listening, that the pia-nist's liner note reflects on just such thingsin the context of Schubert's life and illness.because with Hill the involved, engaging.passionate adolescent seems still with us.saddened only, at the end. Thus his cyclebegins by gripping and relaxes its hold; inthis he runs counter to Gedda, who startswith fine singing but nothing out of theordinary, and finds in later pages thedepressed melancholy of his Werther andLenski.

The pianist shares in the legato prob-lem. Perhaps he is imitating a fortepiano inhis apparent determination to reduce "ac-companimental" figures (and not just in thebrook songs) to a transparent, insubstantiallightness. If so he should simply play one.because when he brings the "salient" musi-cal material forward the effect on a moderngrand is spiky. clinical. dry. But in manyways, and especially in his feeling forrhythm and rubato, he sustains handsomelyhis reputation as one of England's two orthree top accompanists.

Footnote: Fischer-Dieskau's secondrecording of the cycle-his best-has justbeen deleted by Angel (SB 3628), and I'dadvise buying it; his third is still availablefrom DG (2530 544). But Fischer-Dieskaualone won't do for these songs: They arelinked not so much to their original keys asto the character of a lyric tenor voice.Schithtz's classic 1945 version is still onSeraphim (60140)-long may it live, but

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CLASSICAL Reviews

don't count on it-and is partnered, likeFischer-Dieskau's, by that master of legatoGerald Moore. WILL CRUTCHFIELD

VERDI: Opera Arias.Anna Tomova-Sintov, soprano; Bulgarian

Radio Vocal Ensemble, Sofia State PhilharmoniaOrchestra, Rouslan Rayehev, cond. [Boris An-gelov, prod.] TURNABOUT TV 34786, $5.98.Cassette: CT 4786, $5.98.

Aida: Ritorna vincitor; 0 patria mia. LaForza del Destino: Madre, pietosa vergine; Pace,pace, mio Dio. Otello: Piangea cantando . . .

Ave Maria.

I haven't really been keeping up with com-plete opera recordings, especially Kara-jan's, to the prospect of which I've some-how developed an aversion. Since I didn'tcross her path at the Metropolitan either,this disc constitutes my first exposure toTomova-Sintov in anything more extendedthan the Brahms Requiem solo.

Basically, I'm impressed. Her voicehas luster and some metal to it; the perfor-mances are idiomatic and committed; thetechnique permits negotiation of the music(the repertory on tap here doesn't allow formuch beating around the bush). At times Icould wish for a firmer tone, or a richerchest voice, and I would like a chance tojudge the power of the highest notes in thehouse (the moment of truth in Aida-thehigh C of "0 patria mia"-suggests thatthere may be some insecurity there as well).But on the whole my impression is that shestands to make at least as important a con-tribution in these roles as, say, GhenaDimitrova, who is more talked about as aprospect for them these days.

Tomova-Sintov's interpretations arenot gripping in a way that will make anyoneforget long -held preferences in these arias.But if you're the kind of record buyer whowants all major singers represented in eachbranch of their repertoire (no condescen-sion intended; so am I), you'll want this.

WILL CRUTCHFIELD

WOLF -FERRARI: Sly.CAST:

Dolly Deborah Polaski (s)Rosalina Monika Frimmer (s)Sly Hans -Dieter Bader (t)Earl of Westmoreland Klaus -Michael Reeh (b)John Plake Siegfried Haenel (bs)Snare Wolfram Bach (bs)

Chorus and Orchestra of the Niedersachs-ischen Staatsoper, Hanover, Robert Maxym,cond. AciorrA 23.501, $32.94 (digital record-ing; three discs, manual sequence) (distributedby German News Co., 220 E. 86th St., NewYork, N.Y. 10028).

Ermanno Wolf -Ferrari's name means littleto operagoers nowadays with the possibleexception of his engaging one -act farce,The Secret of Suzanne, still a favorite cur-tain -raiser with small opera companies.Some listeners may have encountered oneof his five full-length scores based on Gol-doni comedies-/ quattro rusteghi had abrief fling at the New York City Opera a

generation ago, and appeared in an oldCetra recording. Collectors with access to"private" discs may have heard several ofthe others. On the basis of this rather mea-

Sly, an unfairlyneglected opera, iseffective andstrangely disturbing.

ger information, Wolf -Ferrari would seemto represent the last gasp of the Italianopera-buffa tradition, a purveyor of light-fingered trifles basking in the afterglow ofVerdi's Falstaff.

The fragile, slightly wispy charm ofthese elegant confections is no doubt capti-vating up to a point, but for all their delicatewit, aristocratic detachment, and impecca-ble craftsmanship, they will probablyalways remain connoisseur items. AlfredEinstein once summed up Wolf -Ferrari'scomic operas fairly enough: "Music be-comes a gesture, a game with buffo ele-ments of the past-a game written mainlyfor the pleasure of the creator, who, with allhis charm, does not realize the effect of hisharmless work. It is as if a charmeur told anold joke and spoiled the punch line by gig-gling prematurely."

Wolf -Ferrari deserted the world ofbuffa on just two occasions: once with TheJewels of the Madonna (1911), a luridverismo melodrama that seems totally aliento his personality, and later with Sly (1927),an opera that defies easy categorization andadds an entirely new dimension to this oth-erwise easy-going farceur. The title refersto Christopher Sly, the drunken poet whoappears in the prologue to The Taming ofthe Shrew. From that slender Shakespear-ean episode, and taking additional hintsfrom Calderon, Giovacchino Forzano (thelibrettist of Puccini's Suor Angelica andGianni Schicchi) wove a tragic allegoryabout society's brutally insensitive treat-ment of its artists. A heartless nobleman,the Earl of Westmoreland, takes advantageof Sly's habitually besotted condition bydecking the poet in finery, cynicallyencouraging his visions, and persuading theentire court to pay him homage. The evilEarl even supplies Sly with a "faithful"wife, Dolly, who, during the masquerade,actually falls in love with the wretchedcreature. When the perverse hoax isrevealed in an orgiastic climax, Sly is cru-elly caged like a wild animal, mocked andreviled by his tormentors until the desperateman shatters a bottle of wine and slashes hiswrists.

Sly puzzled critics when it was first

performed, although the public respondedwarmly enough to keep it circulatingthrough Europe until the war years. Listen-ing to this recording, one can scarcely failto be impressed by the opera's centrality,considering the time of its composition.This was a period when many thoughtfulcomposers were investigating the vulnera-ble role of the creative artist during a time ofprofound social and aesthetic upheaval-one need only think of Pfitzner's Palestrina(1917), Busoni's Doktor Faust (1925), andHindemith's Mathis der Maler (1938). Inmany respects, the dramatic theme of Slyalso parallels Berg's Wozzeck (1925).

Wolf -Ferrari devised a remarkably as-sured and superbly crafted score for thisgrim fable, one that in no way radicallydeparts from his personal style as doesmuch of The Jewels of the Madonna. Thefirst two acts graphically illustrate the Earlof Westmoreland's cunning deception; theprevailingly light tone of the music, charac-terized by the composer's typically eco-nomic instrumental gestures and sureinstincts for effective declamation, vividlydescribes the drunken revels in the ale-house, The Falcon, and the sinister diver-tissements at the Earl's castle, subtly mask-ing the vicious underlying ironies of thetrue situation. Gradually the composerstrips away the buffo elements, turningcomic surreality into tragic reality withSly's final monologue, a sequence that ispositively coruscating in its expressivepower. In a sensitively devised productionand with a gifted singing actor in the titlerole (a pity that Jon Vickers never discov-ered this part), Sly could be a shatteringpiece of theater.

This recording, sung in German, isbased on a successful 1982 revival in Han-over. The cast contains no outstandingvoices, but the overall performance is a per-suasive, carefully prepared ensemble effortby a company that obviously believesstrongly in the opera. Hans -Dieter Bader,as Sly, carries the principal dramatic bur-den; a resourceful, intelligent singer, henever loses his grip on the role, although hisslightly beefy tenor and characteristic Ger-man whine become a bit wearing over thelong run. Robert Maxym, a young Ameri-can conductor active in Germany for thepast several years, is the major guidingforce here, relishing the delicacy of Wolf -Ferrari's imaginative orchestral scoring butnever allowing the instruments to obscurethe overriding importance of the vocal line.Technically, the digital recording is first-rate, crisply defined, well balanced, andimmediate; Acanta supplies a German -English synopsis, but no libretto in any lan-guage, an unpardonable omission. Perhapsthese enterprising discs will inspire someadventurous American company to investi-gate Sly, an unfairly neglected, extraordi-narily effective, and strangely disturbingopera. PETER G. DAVIS(Continued on page 84)

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John Field, 1782-1837

Field: An Irish Expatriot

Who Beguiles the Ear

Reviewed by Irving Lowens

WE ARE ENAMORED of round numbers;every time a 200th birthday pops up on thechronological wheel, we make a big fuss.Just why, I don't know, since a 199th birth-day and a 201st birthday occur no more andno less frequently than a 200th. Still, anyexcuse for a party is a good one.

It so happens that 1982 was JohnField's bicentennial year. Not too manymusic lovers celebrated, but fortunately anIrish label, Claddagh records, rememberedthe occasion and brought out a fine record-ing of all seven Field piano concertos, sen-sitively performed by John O'Conor withaccompaniment by the New Irish Chamber

Orchestra conducted by Janos Fiirst. Sincethen, Claddagh has licensed the recordingto Fidelio.

Field was born in Dublin, and Irelandhas every right to be proud of him. But infact, he was considerably more consequen-tial in the history of Russian than of Irishmusic. His father emigrated to England in1793, and at age eleven, Field had seen hisnative country for the last time. He leftEngland for Russia in 1802 with MuzioClementi (to whom he had been apprenticedin London) and, except for occasional con-cert tours in the West, lived there for therest of his life. He was a tremendous favor-

ite in St. Petersburg and Moscow social cir-cles, and something of a legend abroad.Field is buried in Moscow, and the Rus-sians (with some justification) claim him asone of their own.

The history books tell us that John Field(1782-1837) was the inventor of the noc-turne form, later to be perfected by Chopin.That's about all they tell us. At one time oranother, you may have heard a Field Noc-turne for the piano, probably No. 5, in Bflat. It impressed you as pretty, but pale,and if you are like most of us, you dis-missed Field and filed him away in yoursubconscious as one of the myriad second-rate talents who fades away into the mists ofthe past and deserves to do so.

Those Nocturnes were the death ofhim. Chopin's were infinitely better. It is apity that Field has come down to us onlythrough his Nocturnes, because you don'treally know his music if you know only aNocturne or two. Liszt was aware of this,but few others were. "For Field," Lisztonce wrote, "art consisted in the satisfac-tion he found in giving himself up to it. Hewas hardly worried about anything else,about the position which would be assignedto him, about the fame he would achieve, orabout the success and survival of his works.Field sang to himself. If he pleased himself,that was enough. He asked nothing more ofmusic. If he composed, that was a kind ofdiversion. Many of his works (unfortunate-ly too few), particularly his concertos, arefull of pages of striking originality and ofincontrovertible harmonic merit."

Since the Field piano concertos arenever performed, and since Claddagh/Fide-lio are the first to make them available ondisc, the listener is only now in a position toestimate the extent of Field's creative giftand to gauge the accuracy of Liszt's obser-vation. Judging from the concertos, it isplain that Field is a much more interestingcomposer than his current reputation indi-cates.

Take, for example, the Piano ConcertoNo. I, in E flat (Field made life miserablefor scholars by writing three of his first fourconcertos in the same E flat key), whichField introduced in London in 1799, whenhe was seventeen. It gets off to an unprom-ising start with a rather pedestrian orches-tral tutti, but when the piano enters. the lis-

As we go to press we are saddened tolearn of the death of Irving Lowens onNovember 14. In addition to his manyyears as a contributor to HF, Mr. Low -ens was chief music critic of the now -defunct Washington Star, Dean Emeri-tus of the Peabody Institute, and authorof several books on American music.-Ed.

82 HIGH FIDELITY

tener is suddenly in an entirely differentworld-a world in which Chopin was laterto be first citizen. The second movement isan utter charmer-a delicate arrangementof James Hook's pseudo Scottish folksong,"Within a Mile of Edinboro' Town"-andthe finale is delightfully naïve. One doesn'thear Mozart or Haydn or Beethoven in thiswork. One hears such worthies as Dussek,Giordani, Steibelt, Viotti, and, at times, thevoice of a true original-John Field. Thisis, not surprisingly, an immature but stillremarkably accomplished work.

The Concerto No. 2, in A flat (thechronology of the next three concertos isuncertain-all were published at the sametime), marks a quantum leap forward.Here, strength and imagination take theplace of promise. Yes, there are touches ofBeethoven, but more important is the spiritof romanticism with which the work isimbued.

The A flat was once a staple of therepertory-played by such giants as ClaraWieck, Hans von Billow, Nikolai Rubin-stein, and Vladimir de Pachmann. ArthurFriedheim (in St. Petersburg) and MarkHambourg (in Moscow) made their debutswith the work. But I have not heard a liveperformance in the half -century duringwhich I have been going to concerts. It is apity, since it is a charming work anddeserves an occasional hearing.

The unique characteristic of Field's writ-ing, both here and in the concertos that wereto follow, was the extraordinary lovelinessof his embellished melodic lines. If Fieldwas deficient in an architectural sense andreally did not understand the nature ofdevelopment, in the Beethovenian sense,he had an instinctive knack for variation,and the way in which he could weave mag-ical garlands around a simple melody wasabsolutely ravishing. The loveliness doestend to pall after the third or fourth repeti-tion, and almost everything could havebeen improved with some judicious prun-ing, but that was not Field's way. We haveto take him as he is.

The Concerto No. 3, probably writtenbefore No. 2, is in two movements. That'sthe way Field composed it. However, thereis evidence that he sometimes used hisfamous Nocturne No. 5 in a version for pia-no and orchestra for the slow movement,and that's how the concerto is performedhere. It fits beautifully. The finale, a polo-naise, is reminiscent of Glinka in its fierystateliness. This is a winning work-ashade too long, but quite supportable.

Perhaps the finest of the entire set isthe fourth concerto, a piece that is distin-guished by a particularly lovely siciliano asa slow movement, some real surprises inthe finale, and exceptionally subtle treat-ment of the orchestra. No. 5, subtitled L'In-cendie par l'orage, was probably inspired

by Steibelt's Piano Concerto No. 3, whichincluded in its finale a naive representationof a storm and which achieved tremendouspopularity in its day. It is among the weakerField concertos, although at one time it wasconsidered a masterpiece, and its insistenceon the key of C major allows it to overstayits welcome. No. 6 strikes me as the onlyout-and-out failure of the seven, and No. 7,in C minor (the only one in a minor key), isunusual for its dark, at times even tragicmood. It suffers a bit from its excessivelength, even though some judicious cutswere made in the recording.

The Irish scholar Patrick Piggott, whohas written a first-rate biography of Field,succinctly sums up the merits of this set inhis excellent notes on the recording: "Thefull range of Field's pianistic mastery . . .

is . . . exactly reflected in his seven concer-tos. In these works the composer's owndazzling finger technique, which was freefrom any element of percussion, and hiseasy, fluent virtuosity are the very raisonsd'être of their ever -inventive pianism.Admittedly not all the concertos are fault-less. Some of them are structurally weakand several of them contain a good deal ofpadding. But their felicities of melody,their remarkably forward -looking harmo-ny, and the brilliance of their solo parts canhold the attention even when their formbecomes uncertain or where the flame ofinspiration begins to flutter dangerously.Like those of many other virtuoso compos-ers of the nineteenth century, Field's con-certos were out of fashion for many years.Recently, however, such music has begunto regain popularity through its new avail-ability on records and cassettes. This firstcomplete recording of Field's importantcontribution to the concerto repertoire maybe expected, therefore, not only to arouseinterest and to give pleasure but to preparethe way for the return of his concertos to theconcert hall."

To which one can only say Amen.Fortunately, John O'Conor has the

same kind of silvery touch that must havedistinguished John Field's virtuosity in thenineteenth century, as well as a very evi-dent sympathy for Field's music, and hegets excellent support from the New IrishChamber Orchestra. The surfaces are silentand the engineering is exemplary. The setcan be recommended to the adventurouswithout reservation. NF

FIELD: Concertos for Piano and Or-chestra (7).

John O'Conor, piano; New Irish ChamberOrchestra, Janos Fiirst, cond. [James Mallinson,prod.) FIDELIO CSM 55-58, $31.92 (four discs)(distributed by Qualiton Records, 39-28 CrescentSt., Long Island City, N.Y. 11101).

Concertos: No. I, in E flat; No. 2. in A flat;No. 3, in E flat; No. 4, in E flat; No. 5, in C(L'Incendie par l'orage); No. 6, in C; No. 7, in Cminor.

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JANUARY 1984 83

CLASSICAL Reviews

(Continued from page 80)

Recitals andMiscellanyMARIA CALLAS: In Paris.

Maria Callas, soprano; Orchestre Nationalde la Radiodiffusion Francaise*t, Paris Conser-vatory Orchestrat. Georges Pretre, cond. [Wal-ter Legge, prod.] ANGEL SB 3950, $19.96 (twodiscs, manual sequence). Cassettes (2): 4X2S3950. $19.96. (* Previously unreleased, record-ed 1961; from tS 35882. 1961, and tS 36147,1963.1

BERLIOZ: La Damnation de Faust:D'amour l'ardente flamme.* BIZET: Les Pe-cheurs de perles: Me voila seule . . . Commeautrefois dans la nuit sombre.* Carmen: Habane-ra: Seguedille.t CHARPENTIER: Louise: De-puis le jour. t GLUCK: Alceste: Divinites duStyx.t Orfeo ed Euridice: Che farb senza Euri-dice (in French).t 1phigenie en Tauride: 0 mal-heureuse 1phigenie.$ GOUNOD: Faust: II etaitun roi de Thule . . .Jewel Song. t- Romeo et Juli-ette: Je veux vivre dans ce reve.t MASSENET:Manon: Je ne suis que faiblesse . . Adieu. notrepetite table; Suis-je gentille . . . Je marche surtous les chemins.$ Le Cid: Pleurez, pleurez,..mesyeux.t Werther: Letter Scene.* SAINT-SAENS:Samson et Dalila: Printemps qui commencet;Amour. viens aider ma faiblesset; Mon coeurs'ouvre a ta voix*.THOMAS: Mignon: le suisTitania. t

Collectors who don't already own the 1961and 1963 half -soprano, half -mezzo French -aria recitals herein reissued can now acquiresome of the more attractive morsels of thelater Callas discography and at the sametime get the newly published "Mon coeurs'ouvre a ta voix," to my ears even moresuccessful than the other Samson excerptsrecorded in 1961. Hearing the "Moncoeur" before encountering Michel Glotz'sexplanation for its suppression, I was moststruck by the intensity of those treacherouspairs of long descending phrases (beginning"Ah! reponds" and "Verse-moi"); it turnsout that Callas was upset by "unmusicalbreathing" in these very phrases-if all art-ists maintained such standards, how manyrecords do you suppose would get issuedthese days?

At the time of these recordings, itlooked as if a new repertory had opened upfor Callas, and if she had been able to holdtogether this delicate vocal balance, inwhich only the squally top was a trial, whatmight she have done with such roles-besides Carmen, which she did record-asBerlioz's Marguerite, Orfeo, Charlotte inWerther? And of course Dalila. Can youimagine the scene with the High Priest withthe Bacquier of the mid -Sixties? Which isnot to say that the soprano selections arewithout interest. Even such improbable rep-ertory as Philine's coloratura showpiecefrom Mignon takes on new life given thisbrand of musical and verbal specificity, and

of course an aria of the dramatic heat ofAlceste's "Divinites du Stvx" is made forsuch treatment.

Pretre's accompaniments are surpris-ingly well behaved-maybe a little too wellbehaved. The two programs have been leftin their original sequences, with "Moncoeur" inserted at the beginning of Side 2of the 1961 disc. (Some simple shufflingwould have gotten all three Samson selec-tions on the same side.) Complete texts are

Cal/as: in '61, half soprano, half mezzo

included, but Andrew Porter's number -by -number notes for the 1961 program havebeen chopped down to plot sketches.

Collectors who do have the originalrecitals are in a fix. The "Mon coeur" hasbeen issued in France on a disc (EMI 2C059-43263) filled out with selections fromCallas's complete stereo operas, which maymake it no better a buy than the Angelset. KENNETH FURIE

SALACIOUS CHANSONS AND OTH-ER RENAISSANCE RIBALDRY.

New York Ensemble for Early Music'sGleemen, Frederick Renz, dir. [Frederick J.

Bashour and Jeffrey Nissim, prod.] MUSICALHERITAGE MHS 4708, $7.75 ($4.95 to members)(add $1.95 for shipping; Musical Heritage Soci-ety. 14 Park Rd.. Tinton Falls, N.J. 07724).

BRUHIER: Frapes petit coup, petit Jehanmon amy; La dolleur de mon con, pere. W.CORNYSH: Blow Thy Horn Hunter; Ah, Robin,Gentle Robin. W. CORNYSH II: Hoyda, Hoy-da, Jolly Rutterkin. R. COWPER: I Have Been aFoster. HENRICUS MORINENSIS: Je mefie entout le monde. HENRY VIII: Pastime with GoodCompany; Green Groweth the Holly: Helasmadame. MOUTON: Je le lairay puisqu'il mebat. NINOT LE PETIT: Et leves vo gambe, Jen-nette; Nostre chamberiere, si malade elle est;Mon amy m'avoit promis. ANON.: England, BeGlad; Tapster, Drinker, Fill Another Ale; BePeace! Ye Make Me Spill My Ale; Up I Arose inverso lempore; Now Let Us Sing; My HeartlyService (The Pleugh Song); The Gowans AreGay.

0

0U

How racy can it be, you wonder? Plenty.Don't be led astray by the blunt album title,the demure cover art, or Lucy Cross's jack-et scholarship on the provenance of thepost -Burgundian chanson. In "Frapes petitcoup, petit Jehan mon amy," the Gleemensing in the person of a girl between thesheets with an eager lover. Short strokes,she pleads, or Maman will hear! Marion of"Mon amy m'avoit promis" learns (not,evidently, entirely to her dismay) that theprice of a sash is a torn placket. In her firstheat, the maiden of "La dolleur de moncon" asks what to do about the pain in hercrotch. (Cross's translation, here as else-where, obscures the matter, but the originalphrases the question less delicately still.)Her parents' remedies-a lump of coal, aneel-do no good. Her brother advises her totry her buddy's tool, which, thanks be toOur Lady, does quench the fire. The impro-prieties are not in the words only. Theimpetuous meters play their part, as do thezestily woven textures and the lusty melo-dies. At times, in fact, the music spouts intothose spontaneous, unbridled voicings ourlanguage used to call ejaculations.

But it isn't all sparks in dark chinks,does stricken but not wounded, and tautcodpieces snapping their laces. Drunken-ness, that time-honored sauce to wenchingand tuneable good fellowship, is commem-orated, too, though not so often as onemight expect. The selections that round outthe recital treat matters far removed fromthe advertised concerns. The foster turnedout of Venus's court because he can nolonger shoot may pass as a butt of coarsejest, and, in some circles, the figure of abeaten wife leaving her (cuckolded) hus-band might excite some grim, misogynistmerriment. But where is the fun when anunwed mother puzzles over what to do withher newborn priest -fathered baby-keep orkill it? Poetic contrivance-line by line, thepoem is half English, half Latin-rendersthe dilemma all the more piteous. But thereare also songs of courtly love in which thetyrannical passion displays a friendlierface.

The quality of the material varies. ofcourse, and of course there is no correlationbetween ribaldry and musical interest. "Et/eves vo gambe, Jennette" is ribald and notinteresting. "Helas madame" is interestingand not ribald. The protominimalist dron-ing of "The Pleugh Song" is neither inter-esting nor ribald. The aforementioned"Frapes petit coup," "La dolleur de moncon," and "Mon amy m'avoit promis" areboth, and so it goes. From Henry VIIIcomes one of the least imaginative numbeisof the set, but also the gem "Green Grow-eth the Holly" with its twining voices.Here, the Gleemen fan in and out of unisonwith the smooth suddenness of a lightbeam, aimed through a prism, breaking at atilt into a band of rainbow and blendingback to white. The mystical purity they lendthe lyric defines one pole of their collective

84 HIGH FIDELITY

personality. In a more vigorous vein, theyare just as attentive to musical nuance -and just as whole hearted, flush with Rabe-laisian sap. MATTHEW GUREWITSCH

Theaterand FilmKOYAANISQATSI: Original motionpicture soundtrack recording.

Composed by Philip Glass. The PhilipGlass Ensemble. Albert de Ruiter, bass: TheWestern Wind Vocal Ensemble. Michael Ries -man, organ and cond. [Philip Glass and KurtMunkacsi, prod.] ANTILLES ASIA I, $7.98.

Koyaanisqatsi is a Hopi Indian word whoseimplications (as stated on the LP jacket)are: I) crazy life; 2) life in turmoil: 3) lifedisintegrating; 4) life out of balance; and 5)a state of life that calls for another way ofliving. It is also the title of an unusual filmby Godfrey Reggio, in which images ofnature's grandeur are contrasted with time-lapse examinations of contemporary civili-zation and technology. The juxtaposition,abetted by film manipulation techniques,shows the latter to be decadent. depressing.and at times ludicrous.

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There arc no characters, dialogue, ornarration in Koyaanisciatsi. There are onlyimages, which speak for themselves, andPhilip Glass's score, which serves as a kindof aural counterpoint to the film's stream ofvisual information, and gives a sense of bal-letic proportion to the desert landscapes,cloud movement, dynamited buildings.traffic patterns, and rush-hour crowdsspeeding up and down escalators.

For the LP, Glass cut his 85 -minutescore nearly in half, by discarding materialand by reducing the number of times hismotivic figures arc repeated within thesoundtrack's six movements. He has donethis sort of pruning before -the five hoursof Einstein on the Beach were edited to fillfour LPs, and The Photographer was alsotrimmed for LP, although less drastically.There may be Glass purists who find thisobjectionable. but the composer believesthat when his stage (or film) music isdivorced from its visual component. suchshortening is necessary.

I'm not sure about that. Granting thatthe ideal format here is a videodisc, it seemsto me that the repetition Glass writes intohis music, and the sense of unfolding it cre-ates. is part of the style's essence, and notdependent on visual stimuli. On the otherhand. Glass's cuts have never seriouslymarred the LP versions of his works, and inthe case of Koyaanisqatsi, all the material

that seemed most striking in the screeninghas survived the translation to disc.

Chronologically. Koyaanisqatsi fol-lows Glass's as -yet -unrecorded secondopera, Satvagraha, and precedes The Pho-tographer by about a year -making it ofroughly the same vintage as the miniatureson the composer's first CBS disc, Glass-works (1982). Actually, one of that work'sshort pieces, the lovely "Facades," is aKoyaanisqatsi outtake. But overall, thesoundtrack aims higher and proves headierlistening. As in his other recent scores,Glass for the most part turns his back on thepurely abstract explorations of harmonyand rhythm that were the point of his earlierpieces. Here, he summons an unabashedexpressivity-an oddly Romantic, and inthe view of some, regenerate notion formusic of SoHo provenance, but certainly afunctional approach to theater works.

What is surprising is not so much thatGlass has moved in this direction, but thatthe repetitive style can be turned to it soeffectively. In the opening section. he cre-ates a liturgical -ritualistic atmosphere witha Bach -like organ figure accompanying asingle. resonant bass voice that solemnlychants the film's title. This short introduc-tion is mirrored at the end of "Prophecies,"the more chromatically elaborate but equal-ly solemn movement that closes the(Continued on page 88)

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BeforeMoulin Rouge,There WasMargot

Reviewed byMatthew Gurewitsch

Melanie Sonnenberg asMargot in the Saint Louis

premiere of Margot la Rouge.

APART FROM ERIC FENBY, who has devoteda lifetime to the music of Frederick Delius(going so far as to spend six years transcrib-ing the all but unintelligible growls andmutters of the blind, paralytic recluse intomusical texts for a whole series of choral.chamber, and orchestral works), even thecomposer's most ardent worshipers mustconfess him to be, in the pantheon of theimmortals. a minor, if distinctive, deity. Inopera. his altar might be said to have col-lapsed-if one had ever been raised in thefirst place. Now that his stage works do turnup once in a blue moon, his cult is in factflourishing as never before. Beecham,though a champion of new music and espe-cially of the indigenous product, scoffed atFennimore and Gerda and its ellipticalscenes that Delius called "pictures," but,perhaps because he was the score's dedica-tee, did put it on. Other works lay neglecteduntil well into the 1970s. The 40 -minuteone -act Margot la Rouge was entered in thepublisher Sanzogno's Concorso Melodram-matico Intemazionale (a competition thatsome two decades before had attracted theyoung winner Mascagni and launched theonly one of his operas to enjoy a worldwideafterlife), but the lurid little shocker drewno notice. With Fenby's help, Delius manyyears later cannibalized the score for a"new" work to lines of Whitman, entitledIdyll, but Margot itself lay in various draw-ers until 1981. when it was recorded forbroadcast by the BBC under the baton ofNorman del Mar.

As misfortune would have it, DelMar's premiere was prepared from an inau-thentic edition recently commissioned fromFenby by the quixotic Delius Trust, the fullscore having been presumed lost. What sur-vived was the piano reduction (by Ravel!),and the parts recycled in Idyll. But even asthe artists were converging on Opera The-

ater of Saint Louis for rehearsals for theworld's stage premiere this past June, theDelius manuscript turned up, and where? Inthe holdings of the Delius Trust, which,though credited as sponsor for the OperaTheater production. for reasons that at anoutsider's remove remain unfathomable.would not be persuaded to release the redis-covered materials to the company's generaldirector, Richard Gaddes, until secondsbefore countdown-and possibly then onlythanks to the campaign waged by PulitzerPrize-winning music critic Frank Peters intransatlantic phone calls and in the pages ofthe St. Louis Post -Dispatch. (Indeed,approval to use the Urtext came so late, thesumptuous souvenir program went to presswith the misinformation that "Eric Fenby'sorchestration is what we shall hear in thepresent performances." Fenby, who wasleading the first stage production of his longcareer, no doubt rejoiced more than anyoneat the error.)

In light of all this, the recording onemight, in theory, like to have is not DelMar's with the BBC but Fenby's withOpera Theater of Saint Louis (which mayyet, via a local or national broadcast, sur-face in the limbo of piracies); the imprint ofDelius lies as deeply in the timbres heweaves of amber winds and dusky basses asin the narcotic decadence of his driftingmelodies. On the other hand, until adetailed study of the textual variantsappears, there is little reason to suppose thatFenby the orchestrator, with the Idyll score(containing about two -fifths of the Margotmaterial) before him and his alter -ego -likeintimacy with Delius's creative processes toguide him, strayed far from the composer'sintent and means, and Del Mar's lush read-ing of the Fenby arrangement does have theadvantage of being (as the St. Louis showwas not) in the original French.

And language matters. Margot laRouge (née Marguerite), a moody prosti-tute, loftily walks the Paris streets under theprotection of a possessive sadist known as"L'Artiste," whose love she does notreturn. One dark and stormy night, threesoldiers blow into the tavern where shehangs out, and the silent woman, though aredhead, reminds one of them, Thibault. ofhis long -lost blonde country darling, Mar-guerite, presumed dead. I will refrain fromspoiling the story, but the kick of the messyending depends on a punning concinnitybetween phrase and stage picture that intranslation requires the hobbling support ofa footnote. The libretto, by the pseudony-mous nobody Rosenval (what more do weknow when "he" is identified, as hasrecently been done, as one Berthe Gaston -Danville?), is the stuff of dime novels, andthe images it calls to mind-the glad rags,the gaslight, the squalor-are those of Tou-louse-Lautrec.

The music suggests something else: themovies. The director Frank Corsaro and thestage designer Ronald Chase, the two peo-ple responsible for such visibility as thestage works of Delius have latterly enjoyedin this country, might wince at such a judg-ment, but they have done everything toreinforce it. "All [the major Delius operas]were troublesome in their own time, pre-senting musical and dramatic problemsimpossible to solve in conventional produc-tions," wrote Corsaro in a program note forthe Saint Louis Margot. "Our multimediaapproach . . . gives these operas the kind ofmobility the music requires-adding a dra-matic dimension to its inimitable mixture ofvocal and orchestral elements, thus makingit possible for them to shine in their ownparticular way." Operas that have wonwider acceptance than those of Delius havenot needed to add "a dramatic dimension"to the "vocal and orchestral elements,"since it is precisely in those elements thattheir dramatic dimension principally re-sides. Far from vindicating Delius, Corsaroand Chase have confirmed his unworthinessas a composer for the stage, and dealt himanother, apter, place in music history as thegreat forerunner of such sonic decorators ofcelluloid epic as Erich Korngold, MiklosRersa, and Alex North.

For Corsaro and Chase's multimediaapproach is nothing more or less than thetransformation of living theater into cine-ma. The Saint Louis Margot (which I didnot see but have good intelligence on) wasthe last in a series of Delius moving pic-tures. A Village Romeo and Juliet, shownsome years back at the New York CityOpera, combined front and back projec-tions with minimal built scenery and propsin a continuous gauzy Alpine fantasia inwhich Harold Schonberg of the New YorkTimes professed to glimpse the operaticmillennium. Fennimore and Gerda,

86 HIGH FIDELITY

mounted in Saint Louis in 1981, employedonly front projections (enhancing the cine-matic illusion at key points by the use of aturntable), but on a scrim curved like a giantlampshade to mask the Loretto -Hilton Cen-ter's thrust stage. For this one (a sort ofNordic Jules et Jim followed by a concilia-tory coda in which the world-weary survi-vor of a gloomy ménage i1 trois finds peacein the love of a young innocent), Chasestrung together every visual cliché in thebook, from sparkling spring waters, (mon-strously scaled) chirping sparrows, andblowing autumn leaves to steepled OldWorld skylines and lace curtains adazzle inshafts of light. At one supreme, regenera-tive moment, a rainbow arched over tower-ing pines. By movie -house standards, thepictures were gray and dim, but the piecesall harmonized, and in international operat-ic circles, the show caused such a stir thatthe company was invited to revive it at thisyear's Edinburgh Festival. There it had tobe adapted to a conventional prosceniumhouse, which must have made it feel evenmore like a movie, hence even less like the-ater (probably with the result that its trulyremarkable features-a sonorous perfor-mance by Stephen Dickson as the faith -breaker Niels and a high-strung, detailed,richly colored one by Kathryn Bouleyn asthe existentially discontented Fennimore-were even further absorbed into the imagistmaelstrom).

Delius's music accommodates thetransformation: Its soul is lyric, and its fin-est moments come in the interstices ofaction. In Margot, the vocal writing has ageneralized verismo élan (in the main, wellserved by the BBC cast, though KennethWoollam's Thibault is wooden beyond theconstraints built into his thankless part), butwhat sticks in mind is the whipping down-pour, the whiffling wind, and most of all,the introduction. Close your eyes to thesecradling strains, and the dappled light ofsunset through the leaves will play over thequiet waters of the Seine for you-all ingleaming Technicolor. HF

DELIUS: Margot la Rouge.CAST:

Margot la RougeLili BeguinNini/First WomanSecond Woman

Lois McDonall (s)Ludmilla Andrew (s)

Margaret Field (s)Phyllis Cannan (ms)

The Licensee/Third Woman Ann Collins (a)Sergeant Thibault Kenneth Woollam (t)L'Artiste Malcolm Donnelly (b)La Poigne Richard Jackson (b)First Drinker/First Soldier

David Wilson -Johnson (b)Second Drinker/Second Soldier Alan Watt (b)Totor/The Police Inspector Dennis Wicks (bs)

BBC Concert Orchestra, Norman delMar, cond. [Sylvia Canner, prod.] ARABESQUI8I34 -L, $8.98. Cassette: 9134-L, $8.98.

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CLASSICAL Reviews(Continued from page 85)score.

The second movement, "Vessels,"one of Glass's most attractive pieces.begins with an ethereal a cappella choralsection-bittersweet, chromatic, and ger-geously polyphonic. A false cadence is fol-lowed by one of Glass's signature moves, a

quick, arpeggiated chord sequence on anelectronic keyboard. This becomes an ener-getic accompaniment as the chorus returnswith an elaboration of its earlier material.By the end of the movement, the swirlingorgan part has abandoned its strictly accom-panying role to interract more directly withthe choral shapes.

Equally intriguing for its New Wavetwisting of convention is the symphonic"Pruit Igoe," a movement that, in the film.accompanies images of high-rise apartmentbuildings crumbling into clouds of dust.Glass introduces the section with a wind-ing, low string figure, muted and dark -toned. This depressing atmosphere gibesway to sinister vehemence when Glassbrings in his arpeggiated bass, his cuttingbrass figures, and, eventually, his choris-ters. The winding string figure returnsbetween energetic arpeggiated sections, butthis time scored with a Beethovenian feiok.-ity, punctuated by brass chords and a solotrumpet whose line strives upward as thestring line descends. Gripping and grim, thelast half of the movement's orchestrationedges its way between Berlioz and Wagin.x.though the basic materials never stray farfrom characteristic Glass. In Satyagraha,this paradox is taken to an even greaterextreme.

"Cloudscapes" is somehow less fas-cinating, perhaps because its brass orches-tration uneasily pairs a ponderous, lethargicbass with crisp, bright, staccato trumpets,in material that doesn't go anywhere. Andamid all this orchestral and choral work,"The Grid" seems almost a nostalgic con-cession. Though it, too, takes in brass fig-ures and choral embellishment, it is theonly movement that brings together all thehallmarks of pre -operatic Glass: the non-stop swirling keyboard patterns, the twilitbass ostinato, the honking reeds, the slowmoving syllabic vocal parts that define thetonalities of the figures rushing by under-neath them, and the feeling of graduJIdevelopment over an extended period.

The recording itself is vivid and bbk.11balanced. It is particularly impressive in thelower reaches, where the organ pedals andthe bass soloist conspire to shake the walls.Some may be curious about the disc'sappearance on Antilles, a pup label. It

seems that CBS turned down this Ifni isu lugscore, just as it originally turned down. butlater agreed to record, Glass's finest workto date, Satyagraha. Given that the compa-ny had at one point announced an exclusivecontract with Glass, its approach to releas-ing his work seems a bit arbitrary.

ALLAN KOZINN

88 HIGH FIDELITY

CLASSICAL

The Tape DeckCritiques of new cassette and open -reel releases by R. D. Darrell

ProliferationsIt's particularly good to welcome three just -launched subseries that admirably extendand diversify the scope of two familiar cat-alogs. These enticing proliferations are ledby Pro Arte/Intersound, which takes overgeneral distribution of the distinguishedSmithsonian Collection of Recordings. TheSCR subseries features early American andclassical masterpieces played on periodinstruments, a series previously availableonly from the Smithsonian Institution itself.Inexhaustibly enterprising, Pro Arte/ Inter -sound also introduces a mid -priced Sinfoniasubseries of digitally recorded standard -repertory programs (mostly of East Germanorigin) in chrome tapings complete withnotes. More mid -priced chrome cassettes-with the added feature of European equal-ization at 120 microseconds rather than thenormal American -chrome 70 microsec-onds-bear Sine Qua Non's new SevenStar Chromium rubric and boast importedSwiss shells, head -cleaning leaders, andnotes for programs drawn from varioussources as well as SQN originals.

From Pro Arte/Intersound's extensiveSmithsonian series, I've heard the two mostambitious projects, each in two cassettes(vs. three -disc equivalents) nestling in adisc -sized box with the handsome originalbooklets of richly informative notes, texts,and personnel and instrument documenta-tions. While each is a period -instrumentAmerican first, prime honors go to the BachBrandenburg Concertos from the 1977Aston Magna Festival, which are led byAlbert Fuller and star such internationalspecialist -soloists as Jaap Schroder, Ber-nard Krainis, Michel Piquet, and Friede-mann Immer (NC 016, $37.98). The play-ing is exceptionally skillful, stylisticallyidiomatic, enlivened with personal relish,and recorded with admirable balances andgleaming clarity. Vis-d-vis other authenticversions, this one may lack some of theHamoncourt/Telefunken's dramatic indi-viduality, the Pinnock/Archiv's bravura,and the more pungent tonal quality of mostperiod instruments. But it's just such dul-cetly appealing sonics that make this a near -ideal introduction to the "period" genre ingeneral as well as the Bach Brandenburgsin particular.

The 1980 Handel Messiah in theSmithsonian series proffers engagingyoung American soloists, the American

Boychoir with the Norman Scribner Chorustenors and basses, and the SmithsonianChamber Players (original or replica periodinstruments) under James Weaver (analog/chrome NC 025, $37.98). It, too, has manyattractions, not least being vocal freshnessand intelligibility. But some soloists arestill stylistically anachronistic, and theplaying is occasionally labored, not vividlyrecorded, and seldom dramatically grip-ping.

Sinfonias and Seven Stars. My firstfew releases in the Sinfonia subseries dis-tributed by Pro Arte/Intersound range fromunexpected excellence to respectable com-petence. The prizewinner is the best mod-ern -instrument Bach Orchestral Suites I'veyet encountered, incomparable for the con-tagious zestfulness of its enthusiastic youngplayers: the indeed "New" Bach Collegi-um Musicum (Leipzig Gewandhaus mem-bers) under Max Pommer (doubleplay,2CX 700, $14.98). This is a digital/chrometape, as are all Sinfonia releases. Theyinclude the somewhat heavy-handed andunexciting Beethoven Fifth and Seventh(SCS 601 and 600 respectively, $7.98 each)by Herbert Kegel and the Dresden Philhar-monic, and the rather lightweight SchubertThird and Fourth by John Perras and theVienna Symphony (SCS 603, $7.98).

Of Sine Qua Non's initial tapes in theSeven Star Chromium series ($7.98 each),the first three I've heard could hardly bemore different. The most impressive is thedigital Tjeknavorian/London SymphonyOrchestra recording of Rimsky-Korsakov'sScheherazade (79056), which may notquite match the original Chalfont LP [seeDecember 1980] or the later DBX-encodeddisc editions, but which certainly costs farless! Neither the strong nationalistic andfeminist appeals of the pioneering AmyBeach's songs and violin pieces (79061, notexts), nor the Northeastern University'spersuasive D'Anna Fortunato/Joseph Sil-verstein/Virginia Eskin performances, areenough to convince me that this is anythingbut fastidiously elegant salon music. What Irelished most turned out to be an old friend,for "American Brass Band Premieres"(79032) is an unacknowledged retaping ofFrederick Fennell's superb "AmericanBrass Band Journal Revisited" [see "TapeDeck," October 1978]-a spellbindingevocation of long -ago summer bandstandentertainment, now played with a precisionand brilliance undreamed-of then.

Silver Rose debut. Delays in theunexpected first tape representations of

Vox founder George Mendelssohn's newPantheon line leave me with only one labeldebut this month: Silver Rose's "EuropeanClimates" (HB3 3031, no notes, $8.98;P.O. Box 19935, Atlanta, Ga. 30325). Thisis an all-round first-rate introduction to not -so -far-out, quite mellifluous minimalism,synthetic/acoustic timbre combinations,and multitrack overdubbing. Included areHoward Wershil's title piece, three by JillFraser, Dutch Knotts, and Terry Nichols,and a more dramatic Wershil/ Nichols col-laboration, Jericho.

Welcome back! It is pure chance,nothing else, that has left several old -friendlabels too long unrepresented here. Hencemy special welcome for a triple homecom-ing. Ward Botsford continues his invalu-able Arabesque series of mono milestoneswith the matchless Gerard Hirsch/HansUdo Midler duo's still near -definitive Bee-thoven An die ferne Geliebte , augmented bytheir Schumann Dichterliebe cycle (previ-ously unreleased in the U.S.) and fourBrahms and Schubert Lieder masterpieces(9136, $7.98; documentation but no notesor texts; labels reversed on my copy).

Everest still disdains notes, texts, orany real documentation, but at least themechanical processing (no longer manufac-tured in Mexico) is markedly improved andthere is further well -off -the -beaten -pathrepertory. Witness John McCarthy's unac-companied Ambrosian Singers in a fervent-ly moving Renaissance Advent -to -Christ-mas church -music recital (3492, $5.98).

The Musical Heritage Society (14 ParkRd , Tinton Falls, N.J. 07724) currentlypurveys more widely appealing, yet no lesssubstantial fare-notably a long -neededPurcell Dido and Aeneas that genuinelyrestores for the first time the nature and pro-portions of the original girls' -school pro-duction. The soloists are professionals, tobe sure, but they sing with truly youthfulzest and charm. Together, the soloists (es-pecially Emma Kirkby and Judith Nelson)and the Taverner Choir and (period -instru-ment) Players are a sheer joy in this vividlylucid Chandos recording (digital/chromeMHC 6760; no texts; $9.95; $7.95 to mem-bers; plus $1.95 shipping).

Belated credit is due the InternationalBook and Record Distributors (40-11 24thSt., Long Island City, N.Y. 11101) for pro-viding the representative EMI "Portrait ofthe Artist" double -play cassettes reviewedin the December 1983 "Tape Deck" col-umn. HF

JANUARY 1984 89

)1e) CEMESting: Rock 'n' Roll

Intellectual"If I can suggest a reading list in my songs,then that's great."

by Samuel GrahamIT ISN'T OFTEN THAT commercial successand genuine artistic achievement collide onthe record charts these days, but when theydo, the results can be spectacular. Case inpoint: the Police's "Synchronicity."

Consider the statistics. When the fol-lowing interview was conducted, EveryBreath You Take, the first single from thatLP, was enjoying its sixth consecutiveweek as Billboard's No. 1 pop hit. Thatmade it the top -charting single in the historyof A&M records-i.e., bigger than HerbAlpert, the Carpenters, or Cat Stevens.Every Breath dropped from that slot twoweeks later, by which time its successor,King of Pain, was moving into the Top 20.As of this writing, "Synchronicity" hasbeen the top -selling LP for 12 weeks andhas sold some three million copies, makingit by far the most successful of the Police'sfive albums.

If the numbers are impressive, so is themusic. Despite occasional lapses-likeguitarist Andy Summers's virtually unen-durable Mother-"Synchronicity" (seeBACKBEAT, August '83) is a multilayered,masterful piece of work. Summers, drum-mer Stewart Copeland, and bass guitarist/vocalist Sting all play their instruments bet-ter than average rock and rollers. Yet theirtechnical facility, surprisingly enough, re-sults in a whole greater than the sum of itsparts, a sound that emphasizes overall tex-ture more than individual flash. What'smore, the Police are unusually literate-particularly Sting, who was responsible foreight of this album's ten songs. True, Walk-ing in Your Footsteps, his paean to the dino-saur, is a tad fatuous ("You were built threestories high/They say you would not hurt a

90 HIGH FIDELITY

fly"). Elsewhere, however, Sting hasincorporated references to Homer (inWrapped Around Your Finger), author/composer Paul Bowles (Tea in the Sahara),and others with admirable lack of preten-sion.

Despite Sting's dominant role, it wasCopeland who founded the group, early in1977. An American fresh off a stint withEnglish art -rockers Curved Air, he yearnedfor a band with a leaner, more economicalapproach. Copeland recruited Sting (neGordon Sumner)-a schoolteacher andsometime jazz bassist from Newcastle,England-and guitarist Henri Padovani.The trio recorded a single (Fall Out) forCopeland's own label, Illegal records.Summers entered the picture later that year,bringing extensive experience with the Ani-mals, Kevin Ayers, Kevin Coyne, and theSoft Machine. Padovani left soon thereaf-ter, and the current lineup made its debut onAugust 18, 1977.

With the success of Can't Stand Los-ing You and Roxanne, a reggae -inflectedditty that remains one of the group's mostappealing records, A&M hurried to releasethe Police's first album, "Outlandosd'Amour." It cost a reported $6,000 tomake, a real bargain even during the hey-day of punk. Late in '78, the group made itsfirst U.S. tour in a station wagon with aroad crew of one, creating their own wordof mouth from city to city. With the help ofolder brother Miles's zealous management,Copeland's ideal was becoming reality.And as the albums ("Reggatta de Blanc,""Zenyatta Mondatta," "Ghost in the Ma-chine") and singles (Message in a Bottle,Don't Stand So Close to Me, Every LittleThing She Does Is Magic) kept coming, thesmall profit from that first tour quicklybecame a veritable fortune.

The Police were in the midst of a mas-sive American tour when Sting and I spoke.His voice was somewhat ravaged by laryn-gitis, but I found him quite cordial andresponsive, nonetheless. And concerningthat fine line between self-assurance andarrogance, Sting seems to be safely on theformer side, reports to the contrary notwith-standing.

Backbeat: A lot of people-including yourown manager, Miles Copeland-have beensaying lately that "new music" has reallyarrived, and your band is certainly amongits leaders. But isn't it ironic that the Policeshould be leading the charge with a tune[Every Breath You Take] that's based onI-VI-IV-V-one of the oldest chord pro-gressions in pop music?Sting: Absolutely. But as archaic and astraditional as those chord changes are,there's something in the way they'replayed, or in the mix, or in the song itself,that's different. It's subtle, but it doessound modern. There's a sinister edge tothe song that a lot of people miss.

But the chord changes in the "new

music" aren't even as imaginative as thosein Every Breath. Usually, it's two chordsand about three synthesizer riffs that bandsseem to swap among themselves. The moreI hear of it, the more samey it gets.

So if we're leading the charge, we'veled it up a sidetrack. I don't have anyresponsibility to other groups. If they wantto take our lead, I don't really care. I careabout the Police being different and unique,and any strategy that will bring that about isthe one worth taking. At the same time, Idon" want the Police to sound like thePolice. I think we sound a little differentwith "Synchronicity."Backbeat: You've mentioned that youwent out of your way to "stir things up"with this album. Do you make a conscious

DiscographyTHE POLICEOutlandos c'Amour. A&M SP 4753:

1978.Reggatta de Blanc. A&M SP 4792; 1979.

Also issued as two 10 -inch discs: A&MSP 6018.

Zenyatta Mondatta. A&M SP 3720:1980.

Ghost in the Machine. A&M SP 3730:1981.

Synchronicity. A&M SP 3735; 1983.

ANDY SUMMERSI Advance Masked (with Robert Fripp).

A&M SP 4913; 1982.

SOUNDTRACKSBrimstone and Treacle (the Police). A&M

SP 4915; 1982.Party Party (Sting, various). A&M SP

3212; 1982.The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (Sting,

various). Island 9698; 1982.Rumble Fish (Stewart Copeland). A&M SP

4983; 1983.

decision to break new ground each time yourecord?Sting: I think it's a prerequisite. It's nogood going into the studio if you onlyintend to regurgitate what you've alreadydone.Backbeat: You've also said that the movewith this album was toward simplifyingyour sound.Sting: The great thing about it is that itsounds absolutely simple, but in reality it'squite sophisticated, in the way the musicwas written and performed. We're not athree -chord bash group. It took us sevenyears to get this far. This is quite a refinedpiece of work.Backbeat: Are you ever surprised thatsomething of genuine quality can also begenuinely successful?Sting: Urn . . . this might sound conde-scending, but a lot of record buyers haven'treally understood this album. I think arecord can communicate without necessari-ly being understood, and it can communi-

cate on a lot of levels. I'm not aiming athighbrows; various levels of intelligence orsavvy can accept it and enjoy it.

I think the record is successful becauseof the momentum we built up with the lastfour [albums]. That's pretty hard to stoponce it gets going. So we've reached fullspeed at a time when we've produced ourbest and deepest work.Backbeat: Are you suggesting that thismight have happened even if the albumwasn't your best work?Sting: The volume of sales might have hap-pened, yes.Backbeat: Well, I agree that parts of therecord are probably over the heads of someof the people who are listening to it. Notmany buyers have read Homer and under-stand the reference to Scylla and Charybdis,or are familiar with the Faust legend. But,as you say, that doesn't seem to matter.Sting: At the same time, I noticed that a lotof people picked up a book by Nabokov,just because it was in a song. [Don't StandSo Close to Me refers to Lolita.] At first,some asked, "What's a Nabokov?"

If anything, this is good for people. Imean, what are they going to read? Hustler,orPlayboy? If I can suggest a reading list inmy songs, then that's great. I'm still ateacher, you know; I was enthusiastic aboutliterature then, and I still am.Backbest So you don't worry aboutbecoming "an intellectual band." Or may-be you already are one.Sting: Maybe, but that's not a prerequisitefor good rock and roll. The best rock androllers weren't literate. The fact is that I amliterate, and to be true to myself I writesongs that please me, intellectually andemotionally. If other people can get off onthem, then it's really pleasing.Backbeat: There has been a good deal saidabout the level of personal sadness in songslike King of Pain. Are you still strugglingwith the eternal artistic dilemma that thebest and most meaningful music oftencomes when you're the least contented?Sting: Certainly that's more true of lyricsthan of the abstract art of composing; it'smore difficult to define what your influ-ences are in music. With lyrics, the painfulthings that happen to you are more influen-tial than, say, lying by the pool without athought in your head. Out of every painfulexperience comes something good, I sup-pose.Backbeat: Do you subscribe to the theo-ry-going back to Beethoven and VanGogh, tight up through John Lennon-thatone needs to be tortured to produce one'smost important or deeply felt art?Sting: If you're a writer, then you dependon your sensitivity. If you're a sensitiveperson with your eyes open, you can't helpbut be tortured by reality. If you're not sen-sitive, or you anesthetize yourself to reality,then you can pretend that the world is quitecomfortable and everything is all right. Thefact is i: isn't, and anybody who is sensitive

JANUARY 1984 91

Summers: Zen approach to guitar playing

and awake must feel tortured. There's noway out of it.Backbeat: Is there some sort of responsi-bility-I don't know if that's exactly theright word . . .

Sting: I hate that word [laughing].Backbeat: Okay then, duty-to yourself orto anybody else-to use your art as a plat-form for your deepest fears?Sting: I have a responsibility to myself toexcavate those fears, anxieties, demons, ifyou like. I use my work as therapy in a way,and it's wonderful to have that valve acces-sible to you. Most people don't have it; theydon't have a mode of expression with whichthey can work out their problems. I'mlucky, I'm very privileged, and thereforemy responsibility is to use that ability to themaximum. We're all in the same boat, andwe all have the same anxieties, really, andif I can articulate those and show a way ofreaching catharsis-if I can strike a chordwith people-then I'm doing my job well.Backbeat: You also seem to be someonewho values your privacy. I'm reminded ofsomething Tom Waits said, to the effectthat a performer spends so much time tryingto get people to pay attention to him, andthe rest of the time trying to get people toleave him alone.Sting: It's true. My work comes from myown personal experiences, but it's all I real-ly want to give out. It's veiled, and it's in

symbol form. I don't really feel like goinginto public confession all the time.

I've stopped doing confessional inter-views [laughs]. I won't speak to the Nation-al Enquirer or People magazine.Backbeat: Well, how important is it to youto be recognized by fans, critics, andpeers?Sting: It's pleasant when you're applaudedand congratulated in your career, which ishappening at the moment. At the sametime, I've had records and performancestorn to pieces by critics and still been veryproud and very sure that what I'd done wasthe best that I could. So in a sense, youbecome hardened to criticism-not blind toit, but objective about it. You know, thisyear you're the best group in the world, butthe year before you were the worst, so youhave to take both things with a pinch ofsalt.

I'm proud if I know I've tried my best,and I'm ashamed if I've done somethingsecond best. It's my own values that matterthe most.Backbeat: How do you find yourself accli-mating to the demands of stardom-includ-ing doing an interview like this at a timewhen you might not feel like doing one?Sting: Well, we've been a group for sevenyears now. For five of those years, we'vebeen at various levels of fame. It [fame]started when I was about twenty-six, and ithappened relatively slowly: bit by bit, hur-dle by hurdle. I'm now thirty-one, so in asense I'm a mature adult. If I was nineteenand the same thing had happened, I think itwould be a different story.Backbeat: I'm glad to hear that one is anadult once he reaches thirty-one.

Sting: Well, I mean I'm still a baby, butI'm more of an adult than I was when I wasnineteen!Backbeat: The Police have played in someof the more exotic places around the world,like Egypt and India. Some of your lyricsprobably have come from your travels, buthas your music also been influenced bywhat you've heard?Sting: If you'll forgive me, it's a fairlynaive assumption on the part of the pressthat just because we went to India for twoweeks, we came out loaded with Indianmusic. The fact is, we're citizens of thisglobal village, and we've all been livingwith television and radio and the gramo-phone since we were born. Therefore, aknowledge of Indian music, of Jamaicanmusic, of Chinese music, is intrinsic in ourmusical lives. The visit to India merely con-firmed what I knew already, from booksand from watching television.Backbeat: I guess what I mean is that I hearcertain predominantly instrumentalgroups-like Weather Report and Co-dona-that play something approaching areal "world music." "Synchronicity" sug-gests that the Police are one of the very fewrock bands that also are edging towardsome mixture of international influences.Sting: Well, in citing Weather Report,you've picked my favorite group. We'veall, at various stages of our musical careers,played jazz, which is more of a mongrelthan rock and roll is, in that it's stolen fromevery ethnic culture going. So our roots arevery catholic, in a way.

You know, most rock groups startedoff with a guitar and a Led Zeppelin album.(Continued on page 103)

Stewart Copeland: the one who brought them all together six years ago

92 HIGH FIDELITY

BACKBEAT

Reviews

Paul Simon. Stunning.

Paul Simon: Hearts and BonesPaul Simon, Russ Titelman & RoyHalee, producers. Warner Bros. 23942-1

"Hearts and Bones" was at one point castas the studio testament to a formal reconcil-iation between Paul Simon and Art Garfun-kel, so as a solo album it no doubt will bemercilessly scrutinized. But Simon's sec-ond collection of new songs since 1975's"Still Crazy After All These Years" ulti-mately triumphs over any specter of whatmight have been. This is Simon at his artic-ulate best-spirited and eclectic, droll butserious, balancing careful poesy withflashes of conversational realism.

The worldly melancholy displayed inhis early writing has now grown into a senseof mature reflection. Train in the Distance,for example, deals with the restless disinte-gration of a failed marriage; its eleganceand simplicity makes it one of the set's mosthaunting moments. If John Cheever hadwritten pop songs, he might have come upwith one like this. On two different but the-matically intertwined songs called ThinkToo Much (reportedly the album's originaltitle), Simon explores his penchant forintrospection from alternately serious andcomic viewpoints. Think Too Much (a) isan electric cousin to Me and Julio Down bythe Schoolyard, propelled by Nile Rod-gers's typically clean but urgent guitar.

Studded with good-natured confessions inthe opening verses, its image of "the leftside and the right side of the brain," theanalytical and intuitive, provides the ful-crum for the moodier second version.

The set is a balanced mix of temposand vocal stances, but its most indeliblesongs are ballads. Two of the songwriter'sstrongest pieces in a decade are The LateGreat Johnny Ace and the mouth -fillingRene and Georgette Magritte with TheirDog After the War. The former (a version ofwhich is also on the Simon and GarfunkelCentral Park concert video) is a eulogy forthe early rock hero of its title, for John Len-non, and for the innocent optimism of rock.It is at once intimate in its detail and sweep-ing in its scope, with distant drums simul-taneously evoking the rhythmic force ofrock and the martial cadence of a funeralprocession.

Rene and Georgette . . . is a modifiedwaltz colored with the unlikely combina-tion of traditional strings and doo-wopbacking vocals. In a musical setting thatalludes to the central character's art, Simonimagines the painter and his family in a sur-realistic vignette, entranced by "the Pen-guins, the Moonglows, the Orioles, and theFive Satins, the deep forbidden musicthey'd been longing for."

Simon's taste in musicians continuesto be astute. Fusion guitarist Al DiMeola

pops up on Allergies with a furious staccatosolo that is the track's highlight. In additionto Rodgers and his bassist -partner BernardEdwards, Simon taps such studio heavies asbassist Marcus Miller, drummer Jeff Porca-ro, and more familiar allies like keyboardistRichard Tee and vibist Mike Mainieri,extracting performances that are as techni-cally sharp as they are closely tailored to thesongs. Production is consistently impres-sive, which is no surprise given Simon'scohorts. (Lenny Waronker also had a handin the early sessions.)

There are more than a few momentswhere the vocal arrangements bring up thelingering question of what Garfunkel's con-tributions might have been, but on the basisof its songs and performances, "Hearts andBones" is a stunning piece of work.

SAM SUTHERLAND

John Anderson:All the People Are Talkin'John Anderson & Lou Bradley, producersWarner Bros. 23912-1

No matter how contrived, trivial, or simplymediocre the songs he chooses to sing, JohnAnderson lifts them up a few notches. LikeGeorge Jones and very few other activecountry singers, he has the ability to put hisstamp on everything; his voice has the tex-ture of sawdust and suds, and whether the

JANUARY 1984 93

BACKBEAT Reviewsmaterial is melancholy or gruff -humored,the unusual catch in Anderson's throat isone of the most arresting sounds on record.He doesn't have much to work with on "Allthe People Are Talkin'," and in compari-son to "Wild & Blue," perhaps I982's fin-est country album, it's a bit flat. Part of theproblem may be that Swingin', a jauntynovelty song from that LP, became his firstgold single. There are too many attemptshere to replicate that genial, but inconse-quential genre, and not enough songs thathave the honky-tonk feeling that Andersonconveys so convincingly.

"All the People Are Talkin' " tacklestypical country themes: Blue Lights andBubbles is a retreat to the bar to forget awoman; the title cut shakes off gossip abouta woman's colorful reputation; Things Ain'tBeen the Same Around the Farm lamentsthe loss of a woman who left him in the dirt.On the pious An Occasional Eagle (a saluteto the U.S.'s "symbol of freedom andright"), the cliched Call on Me (one moreyou've -got -a -friend song), and the tran-scendentally silly Look What Followed MeHome, no amount of verve can come to therescue. In fact, if it weren't for the wayAnderson twists himself around a lyric, andthe lift that his own band ("Wild & Blue"was cut with Nashville pros) gives thearrangements, most of the album would beforgettable.

There's a peppy version of the GeneSimmons oldie Haunted House; BlackSheep is a better than average boast/com-plaint about being a redneck outcast in afamily of solvent professionals; and LetSomebody Else Drive recognizes that alco-hol-however effective it may be for sor-row-drowning-can impair automotiveskills and land you in the slammer. "All thePeople Are Talkin' " rocks amiably, butthere isn't nearly the substance in its songsthat there is in Anderson's voice. That'swhy it neither measures up to its predeces-sor nor gives a true indication of the breadthof Anderson's talent. MITCHELL COHEN

Michael Bloomfield: BloomfieldToby Byron, producerColumbia C2 37578 (two discs)

It's fitting and more than a little ironic thatguitarist Michael Bloomfield should be res-cued from obscurity with this ambitioustwo -disc retrospective. The Chicago musi-cian died two years ago at the age of thirty-seven, inadvertently living the mythicalbluesman's lifespan even as many of hisown heros (Albert King, B.B. King, AlbertCollins) have outlived it and continue toproduce strong music. Unlike other whiteboys who tested the blues, Bloomfield nev-er severed his work from its sources to reaprock adulation and arena -size audiences.That devotion is reflected in this antholo-gy's approach, which is far more scholarlythan one might expect.

The album excerpts interviews in

which Bloomfield comments on specifichistories of the bands he worked with andon his general musical philosophy. It's aprogram that would be a worthwhile radiospecial and an effective history lesson foryounger fans whose knowledge of bluesstops with Eric Clapton. Unfortunately,however, many buyers will be well-informed fans for whom these asides will betedious. Side l's final segment, for exam-ple, superimposes Bloomfield's recollec-tions over the opening brass fanfare ofGroovin' Is Easy, the first recording byElectric Flag.

That band, as well as Bloomfield'sother prominent affiliation, the Paul Butter-field Blues Band, is well -served here, butthe set also offers a rich cross-section oflesser -known and unreleased material.From live Newport Folk Festival tracks andan early demo produced by John HammondSr., the album moves to variousunissued '70s tracks. While there areglimpses of Bloomfield's pop instincts(such as a deft vocal impersonation of Ran-dy Newman in Woodyard Street), hisauthenticity as a custodian of blues traditionis borne out.

Columbia's willingness to memorial-ize Bloomfield is heartening, particularly ata time when the number and quality of con-temporary electric blues recordings offerencouraging proof that the idiom is far fromdead. Sound quality on several of the But-terfield Band and Electric Flag tracks isdecidely degraded from the original re-leases, but on balance this is a solid andintelligent summation. SAM SUTHERLAND

The BluebellsVarious producersSire 23960-1

In the countries surrounding England,there's a musical swing away from elec-tronics and toward an approach less depen-dent on synthesized frills than on direct,emotional songs. Scotland's Bluebells, ontheir five -song U.S. debut, are on the com-paratively frivolous side of the UnitedKingdom's new pop -folk, back -to -basicsrockers. Brendan Behan's Patriots Gamereveals a political conscience, but its som-berness is more the exception than the rule.Most of the tracks-all but one by rhythmguitarist Robert Hodgens-are built onjangly guitars and ringing pop choruses.

The EP leads off with the catchyBritish single Cath, remixed for Americanrelease. Presumably to give the song morewallop, at one point there's the type of arti-ficially pumped -up break in the action onefinds on records geared for rock clubs.However inappropriate this moment is forCath, the song survives, its lyrical bitter-ness matched by its Merseybeat bounce.Sugar Bridge, produced by Alan Tamey,has a fuller sound, and a folk-anthemic bentthat links the Bluebells, momentarily atleast, with fellow countrymen Big Country,

Dylan as Dylan, at last

without BC's rat -a -tat impact.It's difficult to get a clear sense of

what the Bluebells are up to from this briefsampler. With different producers on eachof the cuts, and diverse styles-from thecheerful pop of Everybody's Somebody'sFool to the Behan commentary to Aim inLife, a sentimental little character sketchproduced sparingly by Elvis Costello-being essayed, the record only piques curi-osity. There are enough of their songsaround for a complete album: "The Blue-bells" could have included the exuberantForevermore, with its intriguing violins;All I Ever Said (a Costello coproduction),which skillfully pays hommage to Lennon& McCartney c. A Hard Day's Night; andsome other U.K. singles and B-sides. TheirAmerican entrance just makes the Bluebellssound slight and quirky and doesn't leave asolid impression. MITCHELL COHEN

Bob Dylan: InfidelsBob Dylan & Mark Knopfler,producers. Columbia 38819

Despite its arch title and a few lyric barbsthat beg interpretation as renunciations ofhis Born -Again episode, Bob Dylan's newalbum is far from a formal rock policypaper. In fact, "Infidels" represents a brac-ing return to the hard -edged, socially acer-bic folk-rock that brought the former Mr.Zimmerman his broadest platform. The lossof his sectarian focus has freed him toresume the freewheeling energy and poeticidiosyncracies long missed in his work.

Most of these songs fall within themusical and thematic guidelines set forth inthe songwriter's epochal mid -Sixties workas apotheosized by "Blonde on Blonde" in1967. After the doctrinaire if impassioneddiatribes of his recent albums, and the alter -

94 HIGH FIDELITY

nately bucolic and brooding recollections ofhis '70s work, the reappearance of rock -inflected meditations and broadsides can'thelp but invite memories of his glorydays.

Union Sundown, with Mick Taylor'ssnarling slide guitar and Sly Dunbar'ssledgehammer drumming, offers a sneeringassessment of America's lost dream ofindustrial might and self-sufficiency;Neighborhood Bully is an equally turbulentsermon on Zionism; Man of Peace indictshypocrites, a favorite target and one thatinevitably will be scrutinized here in lightof Dylan's hindsight assessment of Chris-tianity.

The album's sense of dejd vu rests asmuch with the music as it does with thelyrics, and it can be argued that the formerwill stand up more durably than the latter.Dylan has found an astute and sympatheticproduction ally in Dire Straits's MarkKnopfler, who contributed sinuous guitar toDylan's first and best Christian recording,"Slow Train Coming." And Knopfler (atone time saddled with "new Dylan" crackson the basis of his band's earliest records)has clearly developed enough confidence tounderplay his role, sticking to clean rhythmwork and relatively subdued solos, and let-ting Taylor's raunchier slide and electricfigures dominate.

Production emphasizes the sparenessof the basic ensemble (which also includes

and Dire Straitskeyboard player Alan Clark) while main-taining a lucid spaciousness. There's even arare (for Dylan) use of atmospheric echo onthe front man's vocals on Union Sun-down.

Whether these songs will hold up overtime to fulfill their kinship with Dylan'searlier peaks remains to be seen. He doespresent a less mysterious persona here, fir-ing off a few metaphorical non sequitursthat once might have seemed cosmic butnow seem merely puckish. But "Infidels"is considerably stronger than many of hisadmirers might have expected and as suchdemands attention. SAM SUTHERLAND

Green on Red: Gravity TalksChris D., producerSlash 23964The Long Ryders: 10-5-60Earle Mankey, producerPVC 5906True WestRuss Tolman & Steve Wynn, producersBring Out Your Dead BOYD 1001(P.O. Box 160951, Sacramento, Calif.95816)

Cut off from the matrix of social and musi-cal developments that spawned psychedelicrock in the late 1960s, most of the new Cal-ifornia crop of bands emulating that stylecan do little more than make the appropriategestures. Even when they get the detailsright-the disjointed, hallucinogenic imag

ery, the guitars that sound like hives ofbumblebees, the feedback and distortion-the effect is frequently unintentional paro-dy, as grim and fatuous as the graveyardscene in the movie Easy Rider. Not all ofthe bands come at the era from the sameangle: Dream Syndicate, Green on Red,and True West take a morose and ominoustack; the Long Ryders, the Three O'Clock,and the Bangles are more in the vein of pais-ley pop. And with varying success they wedtheir adopted stances to the concerns of the'80s.

Green on Red's lead singer and song-writer Dan Stuart makes the most explicit

stab at placing the music in a modern con-text, throwing a dollop of social commen-tary and literary and cinematic influencesinto the mix. He doesn't shy from grandiosestatements: "Let me try to explain my gen-eration in a way that Fitzgerald did," ishow he starts off Brave Generation."We're Rot beat, we're not hip," heclaims, but it's harder to tell what his bandis. There's an acerbic petulance in its music(like Dream Syndicate, with whom it sharesproducer Chris D., Green on Red has beenprofoundly affected by the Velvet Under-ground); but it's unfocused.

Chris Cacavas's organ rolls seductive-

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BACKBEAT Reviewsly, and the band whips up a twangy, chaoticfroth on Narcolepsy, Snake Bit, and BlueParade, but much of "Gravity Talks" iseither ridiculously overstated or pointlesslyobscure. 5 Easy Pieces is a tribute to fire-arms (just in case anyone should suspectthis group of unfashionable hippie ideals),Deliverance dives into the valley of theDoors, and through most of the LP, Stuartsnarls lyrics like "yellow pictures of myyesteryear have all faded so gray." DespiteGreen on Red's obvious ability to recreatethe clanging clamor of psychedelic rock, itsdebut is finally scuttled by an undistin-guished batch of songs.

Two other West Coast bands, sharingcowboy nomenclature and a '60s bias butlittle else, have recently released five -cutEPs: The Long Ryders' "10-5-60" takessome of its inspiration from the Byrds-Buf-falo Springfield axis of spacey country -rock, and the self -titled record by TrueWest takes off from the British school ofacid -abstraction exemplified by the Bea-tles' Tomorrow Never Knows. The LongRyders, especially on their snappier num-bers-Join My Gang, And She Rides-aremore fun, and by the evidence here, morediverse. You Don't Know What's Right,You Don't Know What's Wrong uses pedalsteel and close harmony (well, as close asthey can manage) to get a lilting Everly-ishspirit, while 10-5-60 is a drunken revel. ButTrue West, despite its unwavering gloomi-ness, shows more promise. Coproduced byDream Syndicate's Steve Wynn (who addshis guitar to the reading of Pink Floyd'sLucifer Sam), the EP goes past in a furiousblur, guitars buzzing, Gavin Blair's vocalsgrim and intense. Both bands, however,end their short discs with throwaway tracks:The Long Ryders' Born to Believe in You isan innocuous love song, and True West'sIt's About Time recycles filtered mock -megaphone effects that were pervasivefrom the fall of 1967 through winter 1968.Such blatant filler is evidence that, for thesenew bands, new ideas are in short sup-ply. MITCHELL COHEN

John Iliatt: Riding with the KingRon Nagle, Scott Matthews & NickLowe, producers. Geffen GHS 4017

A parade of rock critics have tagged JohnHiatt "the American Elvis Costello." Ifthat's the case, then "Riding with theKing" is not only the best of Hiatt's sixalbums, it's also the best Costello record tocome along in some time. On Book Lovers,Hiatt spits out smart-alecky puns in venom-ous flurries, while longtime Costello cohortNick Lowe and ex -Squeeze keyboardistPaul Carrack deliver an arch, contrapuntalchorus about "turning the page on my hap-piness" and other cornball metaphors. SayIt with Flowers is another bitter epistle to anex -lover, a boppy, cheesy -sounding tunethat could be Costello backed by the DaveClark Five, complete with thumping drums

and a saxophone that squawks like a stran-gled goose.

But let's be fair. Hiatt is not Elvis Cos-tello. True, he's a dead ringer on more thana few songs here, and a whole side has beenproduced by Lowe, the Englishman's nuttypop mentor. But Hiatt's sly, cynical sensi-bility is all his own, and anyway, Costellocouldn't make a record this good if he tried.He hasn't done anything remotely as soulfulas "Riding with the King" since "GetHappy!!"

The excellence of Hiatt's album is all

John Hiatt: two-sided excellence

the more remarkable given its literal two-sidedness . Half these tracks-including thedevastating, back-to-back Girl on a String,Lovers Will, and She Loves the Jerk-wereproduced by Ron Nagle and Scott Mat-thews, Bay Area brainstormers responsiblefor, among numerous other projects, atotally screwy 1980 Beach Boys-ish record(and group) called "Durocs." Even withMatthews's kazoo -like sax breaks on /Don't Even Try and the cartoonish heavy-metal riffing of the thundering Death byMisadventure, the duo hasn't intruded onHiatt's music; they've just added some sub-tly eccentric but nonetheless commercialtouches.

So there are no jarring differenceswhen you flip the record over to the Lowe -produced side. Lowe's bass and Carrack'sswirling keyboards make the musicianshipsmarter and tougher, and the mix is a littlecleaner, but that's about it. On the titletrack, a song about the real Elvis, Hiattbelts out a bluesy vocal that's right up therewith Percy Sledge; on You May Already Bea Winner the guitars and keyboards swaywith a Tex-Mex feel (Hiatt's guitar workhere, and throughout, is supple, eloquent).

The Love That Harms is an upbeat, light-headed rocker with a hook big enough tohang a coat on; as acoustic guitars jangleaway, Hiatt's singing takes on a rubberypop tone, and he delivers some of his bestlines: "She's seen the whites of crazy eyes/Been in the camps of foreign spies."

"Riding with the King" is an accom-plished, cohesive work. On it, Hiatt's pre-cise, scathing lyrics, his feverish intelli-gence, and his love for gritty Sixties rhythmand blues finally all dovetail. Maybe it'stime the critics started calling Elvis Costello"the English John Hiatt." STEVEN X. REA

The Style Council:Introducing the Style CouncilPeter Wilson & Paul Weller, producersPolydor 815 277-1 Y-1

Paul Weller, late of the Jam, has refinedand, to some extent, redefined his style andmusic with his new combo, the Style Coun-cil. As the Jam's lead singer, principalsongwriter, and guitarist, Weller celebratedthe whole Mod ethos with thunderingenergy and a sound that evolved from mur-ky simplicity (bass, drums, one guitar) tomurky chaos (ersatz Tamla/ Motown horncharts, keyboards, background singers,etc.).

Throughout its six -year span, thegroup was a major musical force in itshomeland. But Weller's zealously Britishstance and high degree of political specific-ity failed to make much of an impact State-side. Among other reasons, nobody in theU.S. knew what the heck he was yammer-ing about. And so, faced with commercialfailure and creative frustrations within thegroup, the Jam dissolved.

On "Introducing the Style Council,"a seven -track mini LP, Weller has made aneffort to broaden his approach. The overlylong (nearly seven minutes) Long Hot Sum-mer is a fiery Marvin Gaye-ish number rifewith handclaps, "ditty -bop" backing vo-cals, and a great wonky bass line that rever-berates at the end of each refrain. The inclu-sion of a "club mix" version of the song isredundant, its vocals and instruments phas-ing in and out seemingly at random.

Headstart for Happiness, on the otherhand, is a balmy little tune with Weller onacoustic guitar, Mick Talbot (the only otherofficial Style Council member) hunkeringdown on his Hammond organ, and someoneslapping sticks to make a beat. The song isalmost as innocuous as its title suggests, butWeller infuses it with an innocent charm.Likewise, The Paris Match, penned forFrench chanteuse Suzanne Toblat, is brightand airy, with Talbot offering up some suit-ably Parisian accordion chords.

The booming Speak like a Childrecalls the busy latter-day Jam: brass sec-tion, backup singers, the works-smoothed over with Weller's creamy vocal.Money -Go -Round is a long-winded rapwith a message (there's "too much power

96 HIGH FIDELITY

in not enough hands"). Talbot delivers aRamsey Lewis clone cut in Mick's Up, akeyboard instrumental replete with partypatter and jazzy piano runs.

The Style Council is Weller unencum-bered by bandmates with their own ideas.It's his show, spiffed-up with some newgrooves, but still pretty similar to the Jam.Whether it will win where the Jam didnot -in America -remains to be seen. Mybet is no: Paul Weller is still Paul Weller nomatter what band he's fronting.

STEVEN X. REA

Ian Tyson: Old Corrals & SagebrushIan Tyson, producerColumbia FC 38949

Deep snow blankets the plains. Winds howlthrough the high, bare hills. Horses stand intheir stalls, snorting their steamy breath intothe cold night air. Old cowpunchers huddlearound fires in small clapboard cattle sta-tions, singing songs, chewing tobacco,playing cards.

This is the stuff of Ian Tyson's "OldCorrals & Sagebrush." Tyson -late (verylate) of the Canadian folk duo Ian and Syl-via -has come up with a collection of orig-inal and traditional tunes that evoke boththe rich romance of Western lore and themodern life of cowhands in pickups, drink-ing their paychecks away on Saturday

nights as they listen to Waylon and Willie,George and Emmylou.

Recorded live in a studio on Tyson'sAlberta (Canada) ranch, the record is down-home, totally lacking in pretense, and alivewith a forthright, good-humored sensibili-ty. Flanked by an accomplished band -guitarists Nathan Tinkham, DannyMcBride, and Melvin Wilson, mandolinistDavid Wilkie, bassist George Koller, anddrummer Thom Moon -Tyson croons andwhoops, his voice soft and rumbling or boldand gruff as he sings about cockfightingchampions (Gallo de Cielo) and tyrannicalcattlemen (Diamond Joe). This is countryand western music that is truly country -Montana pine country, big, barren north -of -the -border country, Texas and Califor-nia desert country -and truly western -night riders on the range, chuck wagons andlittle dogies, wild, ropin' heroes like Dia-mond Joe. On Alberta's Child, Tysondraws comparisons between Texan andCalgary cowpokes as drums clippety-clopand a steel guitar wails plaintively. On GaryMcMahon's The Old Double Diamond, hechronicles the closing of a Wyoming ranch,the sound of "an auctioneer's gavel, how itrapped and it rattled," bringing a place andan era to an end. He alludes to the greatWestern painter Charles M. Russell onMontana Waltz, a loping, lovely tune madeall the more so by Wilkie's quavery man-

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dolin.There are western rave-ups like

Whoopee Ti Yi Yo, spry little waltzes suchas the title track, and a handful of dusty oldtunes wrought new in Tyson's earnest, gen-erous readings. At times, his voice recallsJohnny Cash (booming) and Merle Haggard(sly, bittersweet), but this veteran is imitat-ing no one. Ian Tyson sings from his heartabout something close to his heart: the lifeof the cowpoke, past and present.

STEVEN X. REA

Tom Waits: SwordlishtrombonesTom Waits, producerIsland ILPS90095-1

Between his fall from grace at his old recordcompany (due as much to executive shiftsas poor sales) and his time-consuminginvolvement in the score for Francis Cop-pola's wonderful, sadly neglected film Onefrom the Heart, Tom Waits has remainedout of the limelight in recent years but hard-ly out of action.

That level of activity is mirrored in thesinger, songwriter, and raconteur's firstsolo recording in three years, which alsomarks his move to a new label. It's a daring,consistently inventive album that both con-solidates Waits's past strengths and revealsfresh new strains in his already eclecticstyle. His love of '40s and '50s jazz tex-

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Waits: a musical crazy quilt whose instrumentation crushes conventional boundaries

tures, his kinship with the beat poets, andhis grounding in folk and pop styles arefused here more directly than ever. At thesame time his palette as an arranger hasgrown well beyond any of those idioms tocreate such surreal aural images as thatwhich the title describes. Vocally, he raspsfrom recitation to heartfelt melody, much inthe way his lyrics veer from realistic,romantic vignettes to impressionist, giddymosaics.

Underground sets the stage for his inti-mate but theatrical collection with thelurching cacophony of bass marimba, bari-tone horn, clattering drums, and Waits'sown howl of a vocal. "There's a worldgoing on underground," he bellows, andthen sets about creating it by recalling theenchanted junk heap that was a central met-aphor in the Coppola film.

Waits's work has long been cinematicin its off -center instrumentation and use ofsound effects. Here, he strengthens theimpact of that approach by bringing a widevariety of ethnic percussion instruments,synthesizers, reeds, brass, guitar, and evenbagpipes into play at various points, oftenmaking them clash intentionally. In the pro-cess, music and message slip through a diz-zying sequence of emotional possibilitiesfrom pathos to surreal slapstick. A cast ofstellar musicians-including Victor Feld-man, Larry Taylor, Ronnie Barron, andFred Tackett-seizes Waits's musical cra-zy quilt with aplomb, clearly relishing theirrole in crushing conventional stylisticboundaries.

"Swordfishtrombones" is an oftenjarring work, comparable in approach toCaptain Beefheart's antic romps throughrock, blues, and jazz. No one will want toplay it as background music, which pointsup its originality and perhaps its commer-cial risk. But for those willing to immersethemselves in Waits's ear -filling world, thedividends of his integrity will pay off siz-ably. SAM SUTHERLAND

jazz

Don Ewell QuintetDave Bennett, producerJazzology J 69 (3008 WadsworthMill Place, Atlanta, Ga. 30032)

In Don Ewell's characteristic solo perfor-mance context, with or without bass anddrums, he emerges primarily as a stride pia-nist. In an ensemble, however, he contrib-utes something rarely heard these days.Instead of adding chords to the rhythm sup-port, he provides melodic colors that laybetween the horns and the rhythm section,much the same way that Earl Hines and JessStacey did in the '20s and '30s.

Recorded in London with Englishmusicians, this album reflects strong NewOrleans and Chicago influences. Andthough Ewell is playing with only a quintetor quartet, he uses his ensemble style effec-tively, adding bright accents that fill out thework of Pat Halcox on trumpet and "Cre-ole" John Defferray on clarinet. Halcox, alongtime member of Chris Barber's Englishtrad band in the '50s and '60s, plays with apunching approach that suggests Wild BillDavison and Muggsy Spanier with a bit ofBritish reserve. Defferray, an Albert Nich-olas protége, has his mentor's warm, wood-sy tone and the sense of restraint that dis-tinguished Nicholas from the more floridNew Orleans clarinetists.

Even behind Defferray's mellow clar-inet on Black and Blue, for instance, Ewellslashes away, giving the piece an excite-ment it does not usually have. The overallsound is reminiscent of Eddie Condon'slate -1940s or early -1950s groups: ruggedand swinging and ready to burst into flameat any moment. And Ewell is usually hold-ing the match. JOHN S. WILSON

Woody Herman: A Great AmericanEveningCarl E. Jefferson, producerConcord Jazz 0 220

Among the highlights of this third volumein the "Woody Herman Presents" seriesare the playing of young tenor saxophonistScott Hamilton and the inclusion of twoupdated Herman classics, I've Got theWorld on a String and Caldonia. The latteris a casual jam session in which Woodysings off -mike. (The album was recorded atthe Great American Music Hall in SanFrancisco.) But the former shows him sing-ing with characteristically urgent projectionand playing clarinet more adventurouslythan the bubble -and -trill style he tends touse with his big band.

The most interesting aspect of this discis its revelation of Hamilton's develop-ment. Now in his late twenties, he was firstnoticed six or seven years ago, playing in aBen Webster -Don Byas style that typifiedthe Swing Era. In the intervening years, heseemed to have settled into that groove,without really adding anything to it. But onthese pieces, Hamilton offers somethingnew. His grounding is still in Webster, buthe also reaches into the upper register asnever before. His phrasing and shadinghave improved greatly and, particularly onCaldonia, his playing is freer and has moredrive than in the past.

Cal Collins continues to be a brightand thoughtfully swinging guitarist, as evi-denced in his solo on A Beautiful Friend-ship, and Ron McCroby's virtuoso whis-tling on Wave is dazzling. But Eiji Kitamu-ra, the Japanese clarinetist who has becomepart of the Concord troupe, remains only apale reflection of Benny Goodman, eventhough on Avalon he manages some indi-viduality after the first chorus.

JOHN S. WILSON

Dick Hyman: Kitten on the KeysLeroy Parkins & Dick Hyman, producersRCA XRL 1-4746

Zez Confrey, a pianist and composer, wasthe key figure in novelty piano, a 1920sstyle that followed Ragtime and paralleledHarlem stride. Thanks to recordings byJames P. Johnson and Fats Waller, stride isstill with us, but, aside from his tune Kittenon the Keys, Confrey and novelty pianohave been largely forgotten.

One of the few pianists who paysattention to this style is Dick Hyman,whose wide-ranging American repertoirehas led to extensive recordings of works byScott Joplin and Waller. To the Confreycompositions here, Hyman brings the virtu-osity and sense of humor essential to carry-ing off some of the composer's razzle-daz-zle. He also brings a feeling for the rags thatpreceded Confrey and an experience inclassical piano that gracefully colors Con-frey's attempts in that direction.

98 HIGH FIDELITY

Kitten on the Keys is a rollicking tunefull of rumbles and swipes. Hyman isequally in command of Confrey's 1938non -novelty Della Robbia, a lovely, ro-mantically bluesy piece, and the flowingValse Mirage, which could be the sound-track for a silent movie. His readings areapparently quite faithful to the originals,except for Stumbling (Confrey's most suc-cessful pop song), to which Hyman addskey changes, cross -hand passages, and asuggestion of Latino, among a potpourri ofperiod effects.

When Confrey tried to go beyond hisnovelty pieces, he became very derivative.(His African Suite is largely warmed-overGershwin.) But he did write charming mel-odies, and though tricky novelties oftenobscured them, Hyman draws them outwith sensitivity. JOHN S. WILSON

The Jazz Trumpet Vol. 1: ClassicJazz to Swing; Vol. 2: Modern TimesOrrin Keepnews, producerPrestige P 24111 and P 24112(two discs each)

The first two volumes in this jazz trumpetseries examine the subject in greater depththan such surveys usually do, bringing inmore performers and exploring the trum-pet's development beyond the usual bebopcutoff point. This is because Prestige and itssister label, Riverside (and their off -shoots,Jazzland and Milestone), covered jazz indepth from 1950 on, while the Fantasy -Prestige -Riverside conglomerate has ac-quired rights to recordings that date back tothe '20s on Gennett, Paramount, Auto-graph, Champion, and Edison.

As a result, the Twenties and Thirtiesare represented here by some unusualrecordings. In addition to Louis Armstrongand King Oliver, the New Orleans segmentfeatures Freddie Keppard, Tommy Lad-nier, and Wingy Manone with his TarPaper Stomp, which later became In theMood when Glenn Miller played it. RoyEldridge, who usually stands alone in rep-resenting the flamboyant and cracklingtrumpeters between Armstrong and DizzyGillespie, is joined here by two other mas-ters, Jonah Jones (before he put a mute inhis horn) and the brilliant Charlie Shav-ers.

Given the somewhat limited materialavailable to it, Prestige does a representa-tive and often provocative job with this pre -World War II period. For the post-waryears, there is a wealth of records fromwhich to draw, and Vol. 2 starts off splen-didly with the classic Gillespie-Parker-Powell-Mingus-Roach performance of SaltPeanuts at Massey Hall. Also here isAnthropology, with Fats Navarro layingclaim to the greater recognition hedeserves, and Miles Davis's 1956 recordingof 'Round Midnight with John Coltrane,Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and PhillyJoe Jones.

During these post-war years the poten-tial development of the trumpet was con-stantly being thwarted by the deaths of itsmost promising young proponents-Clif-ford Brown, Booker Little, Lee Morgan,and Navarro. All of them are here, alongwith Thad Jones, Art Fanner, Freddie Hub-bard, and Don Cherry. JOHN S. WILSON

George Russell's New York Band:Live in an American Time SpiralGeorge Russell, producerSoulnote SN 1049

Even with the celebration of his sixtiethbirthday this year, composer George Rus-sell remains one of the jazz world's best -kept secrets. His recording career datesback to 1948 and includes works performedby Miles Davis, Art Farmer, Don Ellis,Eric Dolphy, Barry Galbraith, John Col-trane, and many others. Yet variouscircumstances-serious physical problemsin the Fifties, a self-imposed Europeanexile in the Sixties-have helped keep histalents relatively unknown to us.

Equally important, Russell has neverhad-as, say, Duke Ellington did-thecontinuous availability of a stable group ofmusicians. And he has been determined tostick with the very specific tonal and rhyth-mic methods that shape his music. So deter-mined that he has organized his composi-tional principles into a large theoreticalwork called the Lydian Chromatic Conceptof Tonal Organization.

In recent years, Russell has found asmall but receptive audience in student -ensemble concerts at the New EnglandConservatory and in large -band perfor-mances at New York's Village Vanguard.This recording showcases that band in1983, with three of his lengthy works. Themajor one, Time Spiral, was commissioned

by the Swedish Radio Broadcasting Systemin 1979. Like Russell's earlier Living Time,it makes extensive use of the tonal andrhythmic polarities between electric piano(played by Mark Soskin) and acoustic piano(Jack Reilly). It unfolds, in typical Russel-lian fashion, with long, stretched -out disso-nances that contrast with stark, impliedrhythms and little bursts of melody-usual-ly from muted trumpets.

Then, in a fashion not at all typical, theline degenerates into a funk -rhythm accom-paniment of Doug Miller's unremarkabletenor saxophone. Further soloing fromMarty Ehrlich's alto sax and Ray Ander-son's stratospheric trombone does little tolighten matters.

A much more dramatic middle sectionis triggered by Ehrlich's solo flute, whichleads to an Ornette Coleman -like unisonline that is thrown back and forth quiteeffectively. Then, the mood quicklychanges into a light, bouncy pop -jazz, withoddly anachronistic wah-wah guitar ac-cents. Fortunately, Russell brings in con-flicting rhythmic overlays and builds to arecap of the opening's suspended harmo-nies.

The remaining two pieces, Ezz-theticand D.C. Divertimento are reworkings ofearlier small -group pieces. The former,named after heavyweight boxer EzzardCharles, was originally written for a 1948recording session featuring Lee Konitz andMiles Davis and is here adapted for large -band by Jerry Coker. It's difficult to imag-ine why Russell would record one of hisseminal pieces as arranged by someoneelse, and good as Coker is, the orchestra-tion is more surface than substance. Withits disjunct lines, leaping intervals and dis-placed rhythmic accents, Ezz-thetic hasalways been a virtual testing piece foradventurous young players. But it alsoreflected the specialness of Russell's tonal

George Russell: one of the genuinely gifted jazz composers of the last few decades

JANUARY 1984 99

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Surman and Krog: toward accessibility

imagination. Coker has kept the difficulty(listen to the horn voicings on the bridge)but lost the specialness.

D.C. Divertimento, written for theJohn F. Kennedy Jazz Festival in Washing-ton, D.C. in 1962, is presented here in anexpanded version by pianist Goetz Tan-gerding. Russell was at a considerable peakin 1962, and the piece throbs with the off-beat, melody/rhythm counterpoint that is soessential to his style. Despite the competen-cy of the new translation and its perfor-mance, however, one is left wondering howthe composer himself would have updatedD.C. some 20 years after conceiving it.

Regrettably, "Live in an AmericanTime Spiral" probably won't expand Rus-sell's audience. As one of the genuinelygifted pure jazz composers of the last fewdecades, he deserves to be heard in bettercircumstances. DON HECKMAN

John Surman:Such Winters of MemoryManfred Eicher, producerECM Records 23795

English saxophonist John Surman hasestablished a solid reputation over the pastdecade as a primary member of the Europe-an contemporary jazz movement. Duringthat time, much of his work has concentrat-ed on the use of synthesizer sounds as tex-tural settings for improvisation.

"Such Winters of Memory," his thirdrecording for ECM, adds the voice of Scan-dinavian singer Karen Krog and the percus-sion of Pierre Favre to Surman's collectionof woodwind instruments and electronicdevices. It also demonstrates the compos-er's ability to find structures and proceduresthat make his sometimes thorny music quiteaccessible.

Saturday Night places Surman's driv-ing baritone sax over long, deeply echoedwhole notes from Krog that recall the soundof Palestrina choirs. It is the very juxtapo-sition of these disparate elements thatmakes the piece work. A matching compo-sition, Sunday Morning, similarly places

Surman's baritone over sequenced synthe-sizer phrases that build to the gradualentrance of choral phrases (apparently over-dubbed by Krog and Surman). This ismusic that would not be out of place in aSunday church service. My only carp is thatthe language of the chorus is buried too farin the background to decipher-presum-ably just what Surman intended, but a bitdisconcerting.

Krog comes forward on My Friend,first with held dissonances against Sur -man's bass clarinet, then with lyrics about"repentance," "hate," and "regret." Thesong comes to life, as it moves into a crisplyrhythmic section, with singer and instru-mentalist building a surging momentumsolely on the intensity of their accentedphrasing and without benefit of percussion.Seaside Postcard 1951 is far more abstract,filled with the disjunct pointillism favoredby jazz players who have spent time withthe recordings of Webern, Stockhausen, etal. Once again, however, it is the strengthof the rhythm-even though it is onlyimplied in most places-that sustains inter-est.

On the Wing Again, the album's lon-gest work, has more traditional roots. Syn-thesizer patterns outline a fairly simple har-monic scheme, Surman's baritone makescontrapuntal asides, and Krog sings a fewchilly phrases about solitude and "time inmotion." The entrance of Surman on sopra-no sax, soaring above the thickening tex-tures below, generates a considerableamount of intensity, but the lack of any har-monic or rhythmic alterations in the synthe-sizer patterns makes this track at least threeminutes too long.

Appropriately, it is followed immedi-ately by Surman's short, concise, quiteimpressionistic piano version of John Col-trane's Expressions. Then, in a peculiarshift of gears, the album concludes withMother of Light, in which Krog makes awell -intended but ultimately unsuccessfulattempt to sing in Indian classical style.Give her credit for understanding the musicand trying to implement its difficult micro -tonal ornamentation. DON HECKMAN

An Evening with Windham Hill LiveWilliam Ackerman, Alex deGrassi& Steve Miller, producersWindham Hill WH 1026

Those not yet familiar with Windham Hill'sartists will find this digitally recorded con-cert sampler, chronicling an October 1982performance in Boston, an excellent intro-duction. Though there are obvious stylisticdifferences among the four composers rep-resented-guitarists Michael Hedges, AlexdeGrassi, and Will Ackerman (the compa-ny chief executive officer), and pianistGeorge Winston-each owes a strong debteither to folk or classical music. The result,while deeply improvisational, steers clear(Continued on page 103)

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BACKBEAT REVIEWS(Continued from page 100)of both the gospel -blues melodic inflectionsand the uneven eighth -note rhythmic stress-es of contemporary jazz.

This has benefits as well as hazards.Hedges's Rickover's Dream is beautifullyplayed, with a full, rich string sound. Buthis apparent folk orientation leads him to aseries of hanging suspensions and unre-solved dominant chords that never seem togo anywhere. Not until he gets into somelow -string slapping accents, just before theconclusion, does the performance come tolife. And at that point, it's too late.

On Spare Change, Hedges comes upwith a better melody, but the primary val-ues in the performance stem from MichaelManning's powerful electric bass and LizStory's predominant piano. (Story is alsosigned to the label as a solo artist.) EngineerSteve Miller has done a superb job of cap-turing the piano's enormous dynamicrange.

DeGrassi is a harder -edged guitarist,with enviable technical prowess. His Turn-ing: Turning Back is based on a simpledescending phrase that evolves into a long,highly articulate solo. Sadly, at nineminutes it's too long; despite his fast fingersand sensitive phrasing, the great ponder-ousness with which the harmonic changestake place puts one on the edge of sleep.

DeGrassi's Clockwork is marginally moreinteresting, primarily because of the pres-ence of four more musicians. Hypnoticallyrepetitive eighth -notes that pulsate, like ateletype, throughout the track are structur-ally useful but so mechanical in executionthat any emotional impact is lost.

Ackerman's Visiting has a soaringmelody, but it's hard to understand why, inthis very acoustic music, he has chosen toassign the line to a Lyricon. Its warmth andlyricism are lost in the piercing, other-worldly tone of this synthesized windinstrument. And, strangely, this track ismuddy in texture, causing Manning's bassto intermittently lose its identity.

Hawk Circle, the second Ackermanpiece, is a two -chord turnaround structurethat owes a tremendous debt to the brightenergetic piano lines of Winston. Reflec-tions/Lotus Feet combines a Winston origi-nal with John McLaughlin's Lotus Feet.Winston relies on the sustain pedal a bitmore than he should, but his intelligentlyvaried touch and singingly melodic phras-ing more than make up for an occasionalmuddiness. It's surprising that in this gui-tar -focused record company, pianists Win-ston and Story provide the most provocativemusic. It will be interesting to see if thelaidback styles of the other Windham Hillartists will evolve into more creativeexpressions. DON HECKMAN

STING(Continued from page 92)They learned those Led Zeppelin tracksnote for note, then they learned the solos,then the singer would sing like RobertPlant. Myself, I started playing trad jazz atthe age of sixteen; then I played in a bigband, then I played mainstream jazz, thenmodern jazz, then rock last of all. Andy[Summers] has an equally checkered ca-reer. He has backed people like DavidEssex, Kevin Coyne, Kevin Ayers, and hisbackground is incredibly varied. Stewart's[Copeland] too.Backbeat: Do you think your technicalfacility and formal training help you effect amore "catholic," as you put it, style?Sting: Yeah, you have a greater variety ofchoices than you have if you've only beenbrought up in one religion.Backbeat: And is it possible that the moreyou know, the more you know what toleave out?Sting: Well, my hero is Miles Davis, who Ithink is still the world's greatest trumpetplayer. His art has been refined down tovirtually nothing. Now, with heroes likethat, you don't say, "The more notes youplay per bar, the better musician you are."It's the opposite. Silence is music, too; thesilence between the notes is half the equa-tion. I've learned from Miles and 'Trane.These people are the masters. It's not thelightning -note brigade that I like. Andy isthe same. He has a kind of Zen approach to

playing guitar.Backbeat: Stewart and Andy have spent acertain amount of time on projects with oth-er musicians. You haven't. Do you haveany plans to work with other players?Sting: I can't think of two musicians whocomplement my work better. It would takeyears to find better musicians-they're of avery high caliber, and they're very sensitiveto what I do. I don't know . . . I don't reallyfeel the need to look elsewhere. I get a lot offreedom within the group.Backbeat: Well, I guess since 90 percent ofthe songs on Police albums are yours, theother guys need additional outlets morethan you do.Sting: Yes. I don't really want to say muchmore than that.Backbeat: How is your burgeoning actingcareer coming along? Have you finishedfilming Dune? [Dune is scheduled by Uni-versal Pictures for release in December of'84; Sting has a major role.]Sting: Yes, about six weeks ago, after twomonths in Mexico City. One thing youmustn't miss when you go to Mexico City isthe plane home [laughs]. It's a dismalplace.

The film is going to be extraordinary.It has a budget of $45 million. The directoris David Lynch, who did The Elephant Manand Eraserhead. He's wonderful to workwith. I think it's going to be an event-good of bad, it's going to be out there. Itwon't be in between. HF

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Aiwa America Inc.,35 Oxford Drive, Moonachie, New Jersey07074, Attn: Dept. HF 184

Al!sop Electronics,P.O. Box 23, Bellingham, WA 98227, Dept. HF184

Alpine/Luxman,19145 Gramercy PL., Torrance, CA 90509,Dept. HF 184

Audio-Technica U.S. Inc.,1221 Commerce Dr., Stow, OH 44224, Att:Dept. HF 184

Carver Corporation,P.O. Box 664, Woodinville, WA 98072, Dept.HF 184

Commodore Business Machines Inc.,1200 Wilson Dr., West Chester, Pa 19380,Dept. HF 184

Denon America,27 Law Dr., Fairfield, New Jersey 07006,Dept. HF 184 III

Denon America,27 Law Dr., Fairfield, New Jersey 07006,Dept. HF 184-35

Discwasher,1407 North Providence Rd., P.O. Box 6021,Dept. HF 184, Columbia MO 65205

Dual,Adcom,11 Elkins Road, East Brunswick, N.J. 08816,201-390-1130, Dept. HF 184

Harman Kardon,240 Crossways Park West, Westbury, NY11797, 1800) 528-6050, Dept. HF 184 EXT. 870

Hitachi Sales Corporation,401 West Artesia Blvd., Compton, CA 90220,Att: Advertising Dept. HF 184

Illinois Audio,12 E. Delaware Place, Chicago, IL 60611, Att:Dept. HF 184

J&R Music World,23 Park Row. New York, NY 10038, CustomerService Dept. HF 184

KEF Intratec,P.O. Box 17414, Dulles International Airport,Washington, D.C. 20041 Dept HF 184, Att: F.Jencks

Koss Corporation,4129 N. Port Washington Ave., Milwaukee,WI 53212, Att: Marketing Services, Dept HF184

Many manufacturers who advertise in HIGH FIDELITY offer additional literature on theirproducts free of charge to our readers. For more information on specific productsadvertised in this issue, drop a postcard, care of Dept. HF-184 unless otherwise noted,to the addresses listed below. If an address does not appear, literature is availablethrough the company's dealers only.

LaBelle Camera & Stereo of Maine,155 Main St., Biddeford, MA 04005, Att: Dept.HF 184 1800) 341-0783, In ME, HI, Alaska (207)283-1401

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McIntosh Laboratory Inc.,East Side Station, P.O. Box 96, Binghamton,N.Y. 13904, Attn: Fred, Dept. HF 184

Mitsubishi Electronics Sales,3010 East Victoria St., Compton, CA 90221,Att: Advertising. (Att: HF 184)

Nagaoka,14 Van Zant St., Norwalk, Conn. 06855, DeptHF 184 (203) 853-9792

Nakamichi USA Corp.,1101 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90401,Att: Dept. HF 184

NEC Home Electronics (USA) Inc.,1401 Estes Avenue, Elk Grove Village, IL60007, Att: Dept. HF 184

RCA Records,1133 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY10036, Att: Dept. HF 184 (212) 930-4000

Sansui Electronics Corp.,Home Audio Division, Lyndhurst, Att: Dept.HF 184-66 NJ 00771

Sansui Electronics Corp.,Automotive Audio Division,00771, Att: Dept. HF 184-6

Signet,4701 Hudson Drive, Stow, OH 44224, Att:Dept. HF 184

Stereo Corp. of America,Dept. 210, 1629 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, NY11210,

TDK Electronics Corp.,12 Harbor Park Dr., Port Washington, NY10050, Att: Dept. HF 184

TEAC Corp. of America,7733 Telegraph Rd. Montebello, CA 90640,Att: Dept. HF 184

Wisconsin Discount Stereo,2417 W. Badger Rd. Madison, WI 53713, Att:Dept. HF 184

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New Yeti: ABC Leisure Magazines. Inc. 825 7th Ave 7th Floor. Nev York, N Y

10019 Tel 12121 265-8360 James A Casella. Advertising Director. Richard J Marino

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McCallum. Record Advertising Manager. Cecelia M Giunta Classified Advertising

Manager, Kathleen Davis. Director of Production, Janet Cemak. Advertising Production

ManagerMidwest: High Fidelity. Hitchcock Building. Wheaten. III 60187 Tel 13121 653-

8020 Starr Lane Midwest Advertising ManagerLas Angeles: ABC Leisure Magazines. Inc 2020 Avenue of the Stars. Suite 245

Century City Calif 90067 Tel 12131 557-6482 Rita Weiben. Western AdvertisingManager

Natieeal Rep, Kathleen Charla, Kathleen G Cherie Associates. 21000 W Fourteen Mile Road. Birmingham. Mich 48010 Tel 13131 642-3482 Bill Good. Sr. Good

Magazines, Inc 50 East 42nd Street. New York. N Y 10017 Tel 12121682-0385 Peter

McCann, The McCann Group 333 N Michigan Ave Chicago. III 60601 Tel 13121

782-4492

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Chuo-ku. Tokyo 104. Japan Tel 1031 571-8748 Shigeru Kobayashi, President

AdvertisingIndex

Page No.29

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7

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83

Cover II, 1

ADSAiwa America, Inc.Allsop ElectronicsAlpine LuxmanAngel RecordsAudio-Technica U.S. Inc.BSR

Carver Corp.Commodore BusinessMachines, Inc.

III Denon America, Inc.35 Denon America, Inc.Cover IV Discwasher, Inc.77 Dual Adcom21 Harman Kardon32 Hitachi Sales Corp.97 Illinois Audio85 J&R Music World49 JVC Co. of America37 KEF

31 Koss81 LaBelle Camera & Stereo100 LAM Development8 Magnepan Incorporated19 Maxell Corp.74 McIntosh Laboratories16, 17 MBI, Inc.22 MEMTEK56, 5/ MEMTEK50 Mitsubishi Electronic Sales87 Nagaoka63 Nakamichi U.S.A. Inc.2 NEC Home Electronics, Inc.4 NRI Schools27 Onkyo79 Panasonic Technics6 Sansui Electronics Corp66 Sansui Electronics Corp.87 Sennheiser Electronics Corp.76 Signet9 Sony Corp. of America10, 11 Sony Corp. of America73 Sony Corp. of America95 Stereo Corp. of America12 TDK Electronics Corp.71 Teac Corp. of America5 Technics88 Wisconsin Discount

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