Yamaha CD player Inexpensive amplifiers: Mission, QED, Rotel &hannan-kardon

A I INK 1

101

(SI

Phil

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icitc-of-the-Art DIY preamp CD - the Way Ahead Bessel to Zobel...

Network t explained

B&W DIGITAL MONITORS

LISTE\ AND YOU'LL SEE

Two more digital monitors from B&W. just as interesting as the last The new DMI200'DM1400 offer a

quality of sound unsurpassed in monitors of their size and type. Even,dare we say,our own

Their compactness hides a level of technology previously unavailable in such units Technology such as

electronic time delay and audio-powered overload protection

They areas appropriate to a professional studio as they are to your home systenn.That is how near perfect they are. Something you will appreciate

when you hear them at your dealers B8LIAK

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HI -F1 NEWS AticusTo„,,4 voi.i„mr2v,\.i.MBER

COVER ecoop fever' was the epithet lehurled at this magazine

some time ago, as if to be topical was somehow ungentlemanly. Well, we make no apology for bringing you the first review of a revived classic, the STA25 Mk.IV valve power amplifier from Rad-ford. Pictured on the cover by Art Editor John Gash and photo-grapher Tony Petch, its tried and tested technology is contrasted with an array of Compact Discs, the subject of two articles this month - by Martin Colloms on p29 and Robert Matthew Walker on p37 - one player review - the Yamaha on p66 - and a set of software reviews ( p79).

REGULARS 11 COMMENT by John

Atkinson 13 VIEWS - letters on Stanley

Lipshitz' digital challenge, stacking Quad ESL-63s and unsung heroes

17 NEWS 21 SUBJECTIVE SOUNDS by

Paul Messenger 27 RADIO by Angus McKenzie

MBE 25 TECHNOLOGY by Barry Fox 69 THE ANACHROPHILE by Ken

Kessler 69 CLASSICAL GLASS by Ken

Kessler 82 NOTES Music news by

Edward Seckerson 85 BOOKS 104 CLASSIFIED ADS 100 LOCAL DEALER ADS 105 ADVERTISERS' INDEX

FEATURES 29 COMPACT DISC: THE WAY

AHEAD Martin Colloms reports trom a recent collo-quium on silver disc developments

34 NETWORK NICETIES AND NOTIONAL LOUDSPEAKERS Stanley Kelly examines the role of the crossover in loudspeaker design

37 CD CONSIDERATIONS Record producer Robert Matthew Walker muses on the impact of silver d;sc as a music reproduction medium

40 AMP-01 - A STATE-OF-THE-ART PREAMP Ben Duncan looks at noise, RF interfer-

Yamaha's CD-X1 - the new-wave

ence suppression, preamp gain structure, line input matching, and offers an input card for tuner, tape machine, and Compact Disc

51 SACRILEGE? Martin Colloms modifies his Linn Sondek LP12 to get the best from Rega's new tonearm

72

72

75

NOTES Music news com-piled by Edward Seckerson

MITSUKO UCHIDA, Japan's leading pianist, interviewed by Ivor Humphreys

PROMS CHOICE HFN/RR's team of record reviewers pick highlights from the 1984 BBC Promenade Concert season

77 AN ENGLISH TRINITY Ken-neth Dommett looks at the recorded works of three seminal composers - Hoist, Elgar, and Delius

81 COMPACT DISC MONITOR The latest classical silver discs reviewed

85 THE RECOMMENDED COM-PACT DISCS

106 BACK DOOR Ken Kessler reviews the latest rock reis-sues

EQUIPMENT BEER-BUDGET AMPLIFIERS Things are hotting up at the affordable end of the amplifier market: Martin Colloms examines four contenders 53 Introduction 55 harman-kardon PM620 55 Mission Cyrus 57 QED A230 59 Rotel RA 820B 61 Table

I I- F-1 NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

TABLING RESOLUTIONS Turn table supports are the latest area of interest for the committed audiophile. Chris Breunig audi-tions a sampling from the field 63 RATA Torlyte 63 Pink Triangle PROP 63 DS Soundbase 63 Quadrapod turntable base

YAMAHA CD-X1 Martin Colloms listens to what by repute is one of the best-sounding CD players 66 Yamaha CD-X1

AN ANACHROPHILE AND CLAS-SICAL GLASS SPECIAL Ken Kes-sler reviews the revived Radford valve power amplifier 69 Radford STA25 Mk.IV

RECORD REVIEW 86 RECORDS OF THE MONTH 86 RECORD REVIEW INDEX 87 CLASSICAL ISSUES & REIS-

SUES 95 CLASSICAL COLLECTIONS 98 NON-CLASSICAL ISSUES &

REISSUES by Fred Dellar, Ken Hyder, Denis Argent, and the HFN/RR team

79 COMPACT DISC MONITOR 85 THE RECOMMENDED COM-

PACT DISCS 106 BACK DOOR by Ken Kessler

Published monthly ion third Friaay of the preceding month by Link House Magazine:: (Croydon) Ltd, Dingwall Avenue. Croydon CR9 2TA. P•inted in England by Alabaster Passmore & Sons Ltd., Tovil, Maidstone, Kent. ISSN 0142-6230

SUBSCRIPTIONS

All subsceiption enquiries to Subscriptions Department at the above address. Tel: 01-686 2591 ext. 199

Annual surface-mail subscription rates are £12.00 (UK) and £ 16.50 (overseas), except, USA which is $35.00. Overseas airmail: f40.00.

USA

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Second-class postage paid at New York, N.Y.

Heathrow Penta Hotel Heathrow Airport

41h-9th September1984 Septembe,

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now making it easier than ever for you to own the wor ld's deta ;ls ava ilable on request from your local Hi-Fi Markets most acclaimed Hi-Fi. All NAD equipment is ava ilable dealer.

ends 31st August Here's a great Summer Offer from Hi-F Markets. We are on Interest Free Credit e ummer. Written

Interest Free Credit on NAD HUI

They dominate the budget amplifier market-and rightly so "

STER.EQ THE MAGAZINE October 1983

HI- Fl ANSWERS September 1983

HI-FI CHOICE Autunn " 983

The place where people care about hi-ti

The Amplifier that sets the standard by which all others are judged! Volume levels are far in excess of what would be expected from its conservative 20 watt per channel power rating. Exclusive NAD 'Soft Clipping' enables the 3020A to be driven substantially beyond its rated power cleanly and safely.

£109.00

This superb AM/FM tuner incorporates the finest in analogue tuner circuitry including a dual-gate MOSFET front end system for an excellent combination of sensitivity and res.stance to overload. The NAD4020A is the best sounding tuner in its class and it's at Hi-Fi Markets now!

£109.00

IVrtne

Pltees

NAD 6050C Cassette Deck Complementary cassette deck to the 3020A amplifier and 4020A tuner, the 6050C incorporates a host of advanced features including Dolby C, Dolby 8, direct loading with click- locked soft touch buttons and review/cue. Your local Hi-Fi Markets will be pleased to give you a demonstration.

£159.00

"Easily the most outstanding receiver I know b w £200"

HI- Fl NOVV Ap 984

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NAD 7125 AM/FM Receiver

The new NAD 7 I 25 is a compact receiver with low-profile design which is elegant and modern yet highly functional. Its advanced engineering and sophisticated circuitry mark it as a no-

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compromise pro uct, one sonic performance is audibly identical to that of separate tuners and amplifiers costing much more. Outstanding features include wide- range phono preamplifier and sensitive digital tuner

£199.00

se Deck

The new NAD 6125 cassette deck has a slimline, low wow and flutter transport mechanism. There's an MX head for wider frequency response, superior wear characteristics and

. e NAD 61 25 gives first rate performance from Metal tapes. Even with low cost ferric tapes, the 6 I 25 gives excellent frequency response and a dynamic range comparable to the very best cassette decks on the market.

£139.00

Now-the definitive Compact Disc Player from NAD

66... the model many people have been waiting for ee

HI-FI FOR PLEASURE April 1984

0 Compact layer

Compact Disc Players are not all created equal. The NAD 5200 is a second generation machine, firmly in the NAD no-frills, high performance, best-buy tradition. Whilst many CD players are

rt.

festooned with superfluous programming controls and unnecessary micro processor circuitry, the NAD 5200 is designed to focus on sonic quality and genuine user convenience without gimmicks. In the final analysis what matters most in a

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true hig . -. ity component is the quality of its sound, and in this respect the NAD 5200 is at least equal or superior to any other CD player, including those selling for twice its modest price.

£399.00

The place where people care about hi-fi

NAD 5120 Now UK's Leading AudiophileTurntable

66 Rumble was also virtually inaudible ee HI-FI NEWS

July 1983

66 Clearly superior... very impressed by its performance ee POPULAR HI-FI

August 1983

„ L-

Marantz Sys in

Marantz M X250 System This .s one of the many outstanding Midi Systems which you can hear and compare at Hi-Fi Markets. The MX250 system comprises the TT333 linear tracking, drawer loading, direct drive turntable, PM233 25 watts per channel amplifier, SD233 cassette deck

with soft touch tape transport key, Dolby C and Do;by B, ST333 tuner with quartz synthesizer, 8AM + 8FM pre-sets and auto scan/manual tuning, and RM333 shelf top adjustable rack. A pair of matching 1-D20 speakers complete an outstanding system at an outstanding price.

£549.00

66 Excellent sound quality ... scores highly on value for money ee WHAT HI- F1 September 1983

The NAD 5120 combines unique styling, superb record- playing performance, and exceptional freedom from resonant colouration and feedback at an amazingly modest price. Be sure to audition the exciting NAD 5120

66 Sonically, the 5120 is in a class of its own ee POPULAR HI-FI September 1983

at your local Hi-Fi Markets.

£99.50 Complete with tonearm. Cartridge extra. Additional Tonearm £24.50. Cartridge extra.

NAD 9200/ cartridge has taken its place amongst our foremost budget

cartridges due co its excellent performance and

value for money. Come and inspect the amazing NAD 9200 at Hi-Fi Markets.

£25.00

Shure M92E A budget priced cartridge backed by the Shure name and quality for the first time buyer concerned with good sound reproduction and reliability. Features a .4x .7 stylus tip, alum . nium alloy shank and the low- mass 1/2 in. snap-on adaptor.

£12.50

Ortofon VIVIS10E Mk11 combines with the correct tracking force to ensure excellent tracking ability at low frequencies. Tracking at high frequencies is equally outstanding thanks to a low equivalent stylus tip mass.

£19.00

111+1 MARKETS The place where people care about hi-fi

SzGc “In sound quality the NAD is a long way ahead of any of the cartridges discussed so fare,

WHAT HI-FI October 19E3

“It's got to be a good buy,"

HI-FI FOR PLEASURE January 198.

“Its treble was sweet and yet in perfect balance,'

STEREO THE MAGAZINE

October 1983

Yamaha Compact Disc Player awarded "BEST BUY" in latest

YANA,* cl,"8-ge,LAVER CO-XI

Yet another Yamaha product gains the " Best Buy" accolade from Hi-Fi Choice, further proof that Yamaha offers outstanding quality and perfor -nance at an incredible price. Yamaha's long history of manufacturing fine quality musica! instruments and the unparalleled knovvleage

66 Best Buy ,e

HI-FI CHOICE Au'utnn 1983

66 Cannot be faulted... ee WHAT HI-FI

August 1983

64 The Yamaha is a real gem POPULAR HI-FI

March 1983

they nave gained, has once more been used to good effect in producing this latest winner The Yamaha CD-X1 offers sophisticated electronics at an amazingly low price. There's new improved LSI circuitry, high precision digital filter, easy memory programming, convenient music search,

versatile play mode selection, handy repeat and disc remaining time indicator. Come along to Hi-Fi Markets and see for yourself what makes the Yamaha CD-X1 a " Best Buy':

£359.00

The place where people care about hi-fi

PAUSE' S TUG'

a A-300 Amp • sic reproduction excellence without frills or fancy automated features means you'll always be sure of what every Hi-Fi enthusiast really wants most from his equipment — natural sound performance. The A-300 gives 30 watts per channel with 0.05% THD.

£99.00

Yamaha T-300 AM/FM/LW Tuner Matching tuner to the A-300, the T-300 once again gives you performance and features previously available only in much more expensive tuners. The outstanding specification includes Pilot tone PLL multiplex system.

£99.00

Yamaha K-300 Cassette Deck The K-300 gives you the choice of Dolby B or C noise reduction. This is backed up by superior Yamaha technology; a two-motor transport system and a newly developea Superhard Permalioy head.

£159.00

64 Plenty of attack and up front activity 71

HI-FI FOR PLEASURE December 1983

recommendation still stands ,1

HI-FI NEWS AJ v., 1983

For almost thirty years, the name of Acoustic Research has been associated with many of the major advances in loudspeaker design and development. It was AR designers who deveioped the "acoustic suspension" techniques that made high-performance bookshelf

44. A great speaker, good in every way re PRACTICAL HI-FI

August 1982

64 Some intelligent engineering ee HI-FI FOR PLEASURE December 1983

speakers a reality and who created a whole range of speakers that have often been the yardstick by which other products have been measured. AR8LS AR18LS AR28LS AR38LS AR48LS

“ Highly recommended el

HI-FI FOR PLEASURE February 1984

Celestion International with vast experience gained through years of intricate research at their disposal, provided the audio world with an astonishing new experience when they introduced their model SL6. This totally revolutionary concept in loudspeaker design paved the

Hi-Fi Markets recommend

for the best performance ' from your speaker system

£79.90 £99.90

£129.90 £179.00 £229.90

“ A winner... choice for a lot Of first time buyers e, STEREO THE MAGAZINE August 1993

way for the extraordinary SL600, providing a listening pleasure not to be missed. Ditton 100 Ditton 110 Ditton 130 Ditton 250 Ditton 300 SL6 SL600

£9.90 £99.90

£139.90 £189.90 £239.90 £279.90 £649.00

“ Unusually consistent sound .quality GRAMOPHONE

May 1983

64 I am pleased to recommend it

HI-FI FOR PLEASURE

KEF is one of Britain's most prestigious designers and manufacturers of high quality loudspeakers, acknowledged as a world authority on advanced design and techniques. KEF incorporate the results of those techniques in a range of loudspeakers covering every requirement from domestic

'9F4

64 A classically balanced speaker e, HI-FI NEWS November 19133

Hi-Fi bookshelf models to the largest professional monitoring loudspeakers used in recording studios. Chorale Ill £89.00 Coda Ill £109.00 Cantor Ill £129.00 Carina II £149.00 Caprice II £155.00 Carlton Ill £199.00

Boston Acoustics (.4 Represent superb value for money SOUND

Decem ber 1983

64 A hard speaker to surpass el

STEREO REVIEW J, e 98

Hi- Pi Markets are pleased to bring you Boston Acoustics Speakers. Designed to perform well, not just under laboratory conditions but in real- world situations, each Boston Acoustics Speaker boasts an unbeatable combination of range and accuracy in its particular price

lIFI MARKETS The place where people care about hi-fi

46 Remarkable clarity and articulation ee HI-FI TODAY

Apr9 1984

class. Audition the highly acclaimed Boston Acoustics Speakers at your nearest Hi-Fi Markets dealer today.

A40 £99.00 MO £199.00 A70 £269.00

All speaker prices per pair

LONDON Manor Park £1 2 Kimberley Hi-Fi 698 Romford Road. Tel: 01-478 5137 London E17 Myers Audio 7 Central Parade, Hoe Street. Tel: 01-520 7277 London NI Grahams Hi-Fi 88 Pentonville Road. Tel: 01-837 4416 London N7 Bartlett's Hi-Fi 175-177 Holloway Road. Tel: 01-607 2148 London NU Analog Audio 849 High Road. Tel: 01-445 1443 London NW6 Studio 99 79-81 Fairfax Road. Tel: 01-328 6666 Audio T 190 West End Lane. Tel: 01-794 7848 London WI K.]. Leisuresound 48 Wigmore Street. Tel: 01-486 8263 London W2 Kimberley Hi-Fi 376 Edgware Road. Tel: 01-724 0454 London W3 Acton Camera & Hi-Fi Centre 86 High Street, Acton. Tel: 01-992 4788/2305 London SE13 Bill Vee Sound Systems 248 Lee High Road, Lewisham. Tel: 01-318 5755 London SEIS Sevenoaks Hi-Fi & Video 162 Powis Street, Woolwich. Tel: 01-855 8016 London SW? Unilet 14 Bute Street. Tel: 01-589 2586 London SW11 Sound Information 13 St. Johns Hill, Tel 01-223 5532 REST OF BRITAIN Aldershot Bryan ts Hi-Fi 81 High Street. Tel: 0252 20728 Andover Andover Audio 105 High Street. Tel: 0264 58251 Barrow In F Searle Audio 223-225 Rawlinson Street. Tel: 0229 21233 Bath C. Milsoms 11/12 Northgate Street. Tel: 0225 65975 Bedford Bedford Audio-Comm 76 Bedford Road, Kempston. Tel: 0234 854133 Birkenhead Peters Hi-Fi of Chester 11 St. Werburgh Square, Grange Precinct. Tel: 051-647 5626 Birmingham Norman H. Field 35-37 Hurst Street Tel: 021-622 2323 Perfect Audio 504/516 Alum Rock Road, Alum Rock. Tel: 021-328 2101 Blackpool Practical Hi-Fi 198 Church Street. Tel: 0253 27703 Bolton • Cleartone Hi-Fi & Video 156/158 Blackburn Road. Tel: 0204 22636 Bournemouth Suttons Hi-Fi Centre 10 Gervis Place. Tel: 0202 25512 Bridlington (Yorks) Turners Electrical 47 King Street. Tel: 0262 74775/72274 Brighton Sevenoaks Hi-Fi 55 Preston Street. Tel: 0273 733338 Bristol Hi-Fi Markets 36 Union Street. Tel: 0272 294183

Hi-Fi Markets-the largest specialist hi-fi retailer in the country

Radford Hi-Fi Hastings 51-54 Gloucester Road. Hastings Hi-Fi Tel:0272 428248 32 Western Road. Tel: 0424 442975 Bromley Haywards Heath (Sussex) Halcyon Electronics Hi-Fi & Video Markets 38 Wid more Road. Tel: 01-464 2260 13 South Road. Tel: 0444 450333 Cambridge High Wycombe Hi-Fi Markets B& B Hi-Fi 19-20 Market Street, Tel: 0223 312240 4 Priory Road. Tel: 0494 35910

Hitchin The Record Shop Hermitage Road. Tel: 0462 34537 Hornchurch ( Essex) Waters & Stanton Electronics 12 North Street. Tel: 04024 44765 Huddersfield Huddersfield Hi-Fi Centre 2-4 Cross Church Street. Tel: 0484 44668 Hull Simply Hi-Fi 48 Springbank. Tel: 0482 29240 Ilford A.T. Laboratories 442-444 Cranbrook Road, Gants Hill. Tel: 01-518 0915 Ipswich Eastern Audio 41 Bramford Road. Tel:0473 217217 Kettering Kettering Hi-Fi 68 Stamford Road. Tel: 0536 515266 Romford Kingston upon Thames Essex Discount Vision Store 8/9 Swan Walk. Tel: 0708 46600 3 Eden Walk Precinct. Tel: 01-546 8974 Salisbury Lancaster Blackmore Vale TV & Audio Practical Hi-Fi 17 Butcher Row. Tel: 0722 22746 84 Penny Street. Tel: 0524 39657 Sevenoaks (Kent) Leeds Sevenoaks Hi-Fi & Video Super-Fi 118 London Road. Tel: 0732 459555 34-36 Queen Victoria Street. Sheffield Tel: 0532 449075 Micron Audio Image Hi-Fi 172 Saslow Road, Totley. 8 St. Anne's Road, Headingley. Tel: 0742 360295 Tel: 0532 789374 Shrewsbury Leicester Avon Hi-Fi Mays Hi- Fi 12 Barker Street. Tel: 0743 55166 27 Churchgate. Tel: 0533 58662 Southampton Lincoln Sextons Lincoln Hi-Fi Centre 37 Bedford Place. Tel: 0703 28434 271a High Street. Tel: 0522 20265 Southend Liverpool Soundtrack Hi-Fi Video Market WA. Brady & Son 149 Leigh Road, Leigh-on-Sea. 401 Smithdown Road. Tel: 0702 79150 Tel: 051-733 6859 Stamford Beaver Radio Rodger & Green Hi-Fi 20-22 Whitechapel. Tel:051409 9898 9 Red Lion Square. Tel:0780 62128 Loughborough Stockport Stuart Westmoreland Fairbotham & Co 33 Cattle Market. Tel: 0509 230465 58-62 Lower Hillgate. Loughton (Essex) Tel: 061-480 4872 Essex Discount Stoke-on-Trent 152 High Road. Tel: 01-508 0247 Purkiss Hi-Fi Systems Luton

51/53 Piccadilly, Hanley. B & B Hi-Fi Tel: 0782 265010 49 Wellington Street.

Sunderland Tel: 0582 27758 Saxons

Maidenhead (Barks) 20-22 Waterloo Place. Hi-Fi Market

Tel: 0783 657578 18 King Street. Tel: 0628 73420 Manchester Swindon

Absolute Shannons Sound & Video Sound & Vid 25-29 Station Road, Urmston. 60 Fleet Street. Tel: 0793 38222 Tel: 061-747 5181 Taunton Cleartone Hi-Fi & Video Audio Centre 62 King Street. Tel: 061-835 1156 2 Crown Walk, High Street. Middlesbrough Tel: 0823 51682 Gilson Audio Truro (Cornwall) r n '-172 Borough Road. Tel: 0642 248793 E.T.S. Electricentres Newbury 25 King Street. Tel- 0872 79809 B & B Hi-Fi Tunbridge Wells 62 Northbrook Street. Sevenoaks Hi-Fi & Video Tel: 0635 32474 34 Mount Ephraim. Tel: 0892 31543 Newcastle-upon-Tyne Uxbridge Hi-Fi Opportunities Uxbridge Audio 33 Handysides Arcade. 278 High Street. Tel: 0895 33474 Tel: 0632 327791 Walsall New Malden Bridge Hr- F, Unilet Tudor House. Bridge Street. 35 High Street. Tel: 01-942 9567 Tel: 0922 640456 Northampton Warwick Listen Inn JCV Hi-Fi & Video 32A Gold Street. Tel: 0604 37871 Wharf Street. Tel:0926 493796 Norwich Watford Scarfe Audio Visual Hi-Fi Markets 161 Unthank Road. Tel:0603 22833 68 High Street. Tel: 0923 26169

Canterbury Canterbury Hi-Fi Centre 21 The Burgate. Tel: 0227 65315 Castleford (Yorks) Eric Wiley 64 & 85 Beancroft Road. Tel: 0977 553066 Chatham (Kent) Sevenoaks Hi-Fi & Video 4 Railway Street. Tel: 0634 46859 Chelmsford Rush Hi-Fi & Video Centre S-6 Cornhill. Tel: 0245 57593/64393 Cheltenham Absolute Sound & Video 42 Albion Street. Tel: 0242 583960 Chester Peters Hi-Fi of Chester 24 St. Michaels Square, Grosvenor Precinct, Tel:0244 21568 Chichester (Sussex) Malcolm Audio & TV 12 South Street. Tel: 0243 787562 Christchurch (Dorset) H.A.T.V. 183 Barrack Road. Tel: 0202 473901 Colchester Golding & Co 14-16 Culver Street West. Tel: 0206 48101 Coventry Frank Harvey 8 Marlborough Road, Ball Hill. Tel: 0203 458946 Croydon Spaldings 352-354 Lower Addiscom be Road. Tel: 01-654 1231/2040 Darlington McKenna & Brown 11 Bondgate. Tel: 0325 465990 Derby Active Audio 12 Osmaston Road, The Spot. Tel: 0332 380385 Devizes (Wiltshire) Louis J. Rutter 17 The Brittox. Tel: 0380 2268 Dunstable Target Electrical 45 Katherine Drive. Tel: 0582 67750 East Grinstead John Rees Hi-Fi 2 High Street. Tel: 0342 27787 Enfield ( Middlesex) A.T. Laboratories 191 Chase Side. Tel:01-363 7981 Exeter K.J.B. Electronics 32 South Street. Tel: 0392 37888 Farnborough (Hants) Aerco 7 Queensmead. Tel: 0252 520146 Gateshead (Tyne & Wear) Lintone Audio 7-11 Park Lane. Tel: 0632 774167 Gillingham ( Dorset) Blackmore Vale Shops The Square. Tel: 07476 2474/2728 Gloucester Robbs of Gloucester 13-15 Worcester Street. Tel: 0452 23051/20518 Grimsby Grimsby Hi-Fi Centre 71 Carter Gate. Tel: 0472 43539 Harlow ( Essex) Essex Discount 57 Harvey Centre. Tel: 0279 26155 Harpenden Studio 99 82 High Street. Tel: 05827 64246 Harrow (Middlesex) KJ. Leisuresound 340 Station Road. Tel: 01-863 8690 Harrow Audio 27 Springfield Road. Tel: 01-863 0938

Nottingham Wednesbury Nottingham Hi-Fi Woods Audio Visual 120-127 Alfreton Road. 1 Upper High Street. Tel: 021-5560473 Tel: 0602 786919 Weston Super Mare Oxford Paul Roberts Hi-Fi Absolute Sound & Video 203 Milton Road, Tel: 0934 414423 19 Old High Street, Headington. Wilmslow Tel: 0865 65961 Swift of Wilmslow Peterborough 4/8 St. Annes Parade. Tel: 0625 526213 The Hi-Fi People Windsor 42 Cowgate. Tel: 0733 41755 Radford Hi-Fi Plymouth 43 King Edward Court. Tel: 95 56931 Frampton Cameras Woking (Surrey) 90/92 Cornwall Street. Aerco Tel: 0752 27600 11 The Broadway. Tel: 04862 4926 Portsmouth Wolverhampton Hopkins Hi-Fi Centre Millwards (Wolverhampton) 38-40 Fratton Road. Tel: 0705 822155 11 Salop Street. Tel: 0902 23980 Preston Wood Audio Visual Norman Audio 39 Victoria Street. Tel: 0902 772901 51 Fishergate. Tel: 0772 53057 Worcester Reading Johnsons Sound Service B&B Hi-Fi 43 Friar Street. Tel: 0905 25740 36 Minster Street. Tel: 0734 583730 York Redcar Multisound Hi-Fi & Video McKenna & Brown 7 Davygate Arcade. Tel: 0904 51712 135/137 High Street. Tel: 0642 477356 SOUTH WALES Rochdale Cardiff Cleartone Hi-Fi & Video Audio Excellence 52 Drake Street. Tel: 0706 524652 134 Crwys Road. Tel: 0222 28565

Swansea Audio Excellence 9 High Street. Tel: 0792 474608 SCOTLAND Aberdeen Holburn Hi-Fi 441-445 Holburn Street. Tel:0224 525713 Dundee Strathvision 51-53 Overgate. Tel: 0382 28900 Edinburgh Hi-Fi Corner 1 Haddington Place. Tel: 031-556 7901 Russ Andrews Hi-Fi 34 Northumberland Street. Tel: 031-557 1672 The Gramophone Rose Street, Pedestrian Precinct. Tel: 031-225 9535 Glasgow Maeto Musik 14 The Toll, Busby Road, Clarkston. Tel: 041-638 8252 Glasgow Central Victor Morris 340 Argyle Street. Tel: 041-221 8958 Inverness Nairn Music 1 Greig Street. Tel: 0463 220440 Montrose Robert Ritchie Hi-Fi 102 Murray Street. Tel:0674 73765 Stirling Hi-Fi Corner 73-75 Murray Place. Tel: 0786 5053 NORTHERN IRELAND Belfast Audio Times 85 Royal Avenue. Tel: 0232 229907 Audio Times Unit 12, Fountain Centre, College Street. Tel: 0232 241331 Coleraine Best Hi-Fi 21 Railway Road. Tel: 0265 52843

111•FI MARKETS The place where people care about hi-fi

i I ,

Head Office: Cousteau House, Greycaine Road, Watford, WD2 4SB. Tel: 0923 27737

All prices quoted in the Hi-Fi Markets advertisements are correct at time of going to press (22/6/84) but may be subject to change without notice due to fluctuations in Manufacturers' prices. All Prices include VAT @ 15% Not all the products featured in Hi-Fi Markets advertisement are available at all branches. Please check before travelling.

The next best thing to a season ticket for the Proms.

QUAD and Radio 3

EiBC _I I, I 1

CHAD

A Quad music system fed with a BBC live broadcast direct from the Royal Albert Hall will reproduce such an accurate acoustic picture that only the absence of the sights and the comfort of your armchair tells you that you are not there.

If you are planning to listen to the Proms season at home, write or telephone for a leaflet describing the range of Quad products and list of authorised dealers. QUAD, Huntingdon, Cambs., PE18 7DB. Telephone: (0480) 52561.

QUAD for the closest approach

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OUPD • ,cpsiered vade

HIFI NEWS RWOR[F-r,LVIEW

Editorial and Advertising offices:

LINK HOUSE, DINGWALL AVENUE

CROYDON, CR9 2TA.

Telephone: 01-686 2599

Telex: 947709

EDITOR JOHN ATKINSON

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EDITOR-AT-LARGE PAUL MESSENGER

SECRETARY JENNIFER SCOTLAND

CONSULTING EDITORS JOHN CRABBE

DONALD ALDOUS

MUSICAL ADVISER CHRISTOPHER BREUNIG

TECHNICAL ADVISERS MARTIN COLLOMS STANLEY KELLY REX BALDOCK JAMES MOIR

ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER MARK FISHER

ADVERTISEMENT PRODUCTION JACKIE McGRATH

PUBLISHER COLIN GAMM

We regret that technical and editorial queries cannot be answered by telephone.

HI-Fl NEWS & RECORD REVIEW

also incorporates: Stereo, Tape & Tape Recorders, Audio News, Record News, Audio

Record Review, The Gramophone Record.

ABC1 MEMBER OF THE AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS

ça THE LINK HOUSE GROUP ©Link House Publications P.L.C., 1984.

All rights reserved.

COMMENT TO A BRITISH Hl- FI ENTHUSIAST, it

comes as a surprise to discover that to the man in the street, 'high fidelity' is

synonymous with 'Japanese equipment'. The millions spent on advertising by the likes of Sony, Technics, Fisher, Hitachi, Sharp, etc, result in the unfortunate situation whereby that same man in the street would be equally surprised to discover that there still exists a reasonably healthy British hi-fi industry. The companies concerned may not have the income or the advertising budget of, say, Amstrad - in 1983 Amstrad spent twice the total turnover of one top UK speaker manufacturer just on TV advertising - but unlike that admittedly successful 'audio' company, they still make products which adhere to the original ideals of high fidelity music reproduction.

Nearly all the UK manufacturers of 'Real Hi-Fi' belong to an organisation called The Federation of British Audio. In the main, the FBA's activities appear to consist of helping their members with export problems, and with representation at foreign hi-fi shows. Despite their success in this field, they became aware in late 1982 that something needed to be done about the UK industry's low domestic profile; one of the ideas put forward was an Awards Scheme, whereby British products would receive some of the recognition they deserve. The 1983 Awards had some organisational

bugs whereby some noted pieces of gear failed to be nominated. The nominations for the 1984 Awards, I'm happy to say, were drawn from a much wider area, and there was little disagreement at the Awards Dinner in May that the winners - chosen in a well-organised ballot - accurately reflected the high quality of UK design and production. There was no surprise in the 'Integrated

Amplifier of the Year' choice: Naim's splendid little NAIT had little competition at its price level throughout 1983 (though 1984 has brought a crop of even cheaper contenders - see p.53). Boothroyd-Stuart's 'Zebra' Component Amplifier concept, in its preamp guise, was the ' Preamplifier of the Year', while there was a tie on the 'muscle' side between Musical Fidelity's Studio T and the Quad 40511, both fine British power amplifiers, I feel. The choice of the reintroduced AR as

'Turntable of the Year' caused some controversy, but the organisers had ascertained that models for sale in the UK are made in the American company's Houghton Regis plant near Dunstable. There was no argument over the choice of Scott Strachan's Syrinx PU3 tonearm in the Pickup Arm category, and it was hard to see how Goldring could fail to carry away the pickup prize with their excellent Electro II - which they duly did. Because of the diversity of the speaker

market, there were two loudspeaker awards. Wharfedale's diminutive £65 Diamond carried away the 'under-£100' prize, while the Celestion SL600 was a popular winner in the more expensive category. The announcement of a ' Loudspeaker Stand of the Year' raised a few eyebrows- was this for real? - but Heybrook do make a good stand, and we have been stressing the importance of stands in print for some time now. 'Accessory of the Year' was Tek's neat Timetouch time switch. There were also three non-hardware

awards: the most important was a posthumous Award for 'Outstanding Service

to the Industry' to Spencer Hughes, which was accepted by his widow Dorothy. Public recognition of Spencer's seminal work on loudspeaker design at the BBC and the practical realisation of his ideas as the Spendor (from Spencer and Dorothy) range of speakers has long been overdue.

Linn's Ivor Tiefenbrun was given a Special Award for the longevity of the LP12 turntable, while Studio 99's John Teller, who was one of the first dealers to offer single speaker dems, was Retailer of the Year. To bring home to the assembled hi-fi

throng at the Awards Dinner quite what it was all about, the presentation was followed by a exhilarating recital of virtuoso xylophone and marimba playing by the young Scottish musician Evelyn Glennie, who is studying at the Royal Academy. Her talent became all the more impressive when we realised that Evelyn is profoundly deaf! Hearing is something we all take for granted as the foundation of our industry, yet here was this young Scot overcoming what might be thought to be an insurmountable handicap to create music. The proceeds from the Awards Dinner and a great deal of hi-fi equipment donated by FBA member companies went to The Beethoven Fund for Deaf Children, which uses music with a considerable degree of success to help children with handicapped hearing develop the skills to live as normal a life as possible.

The 111I-11 Show The FBA Awards Scheme is one way of bringing attention to the British hi-fi industry. Another is via the traditional exhibition, and HFN/RR is pleased to announce that the FBA are co-sponsoring The Hi-Fi Show, which this magazine is promoting at the Heathrow Penta Hotel in September. The all-time high number of shows last

year was both expensive for participating manufacturers and gave rise to serious manpower problems - people who work for hi-fi companies like to spend their weekends with their families as much as do 'normal' people. Many companies therefore expressed doubts over the benefit to be gained by exhibiting anywhere in 1984, but I feel that this rejection is missing the point. A show such as ours is the only ' neutral ground' where people interested in the new gear can see and hear it without any immediate pressure to buy. The Hi-Fi Show runs from Thursday 6th to

Sunday 9th September, with public admittance from 4pm on the Friday afternoon. Unlike some recent shows, entry is free - although there will be a nominal charge for the programme - and we will be running courtesy coaches from Hatton Cross tube station. The best names in ' real hi-fi' will be there - KEF, Linn, Naim, Audio Research, Wharfedale, Meridian, QED, AR, Marantz, Tannoy, Musical Fidelity, Krell, Magneplanar, A&R Cambridge, Mission, Revox, B&W, Radford, Celestion, Goldring, Quad, and many more - and HFN/RR will be promoting special events and seminars in the Hotel's York Theatre. Visitors will get the opportunity to win a

system made up from the Award-winning components, kindly donated by FBA member companies - Goldring Electro Il. Syrinx PU3, Linn Sondek, Meridian preamp, Musical Fidelity Studio T power amp, and Celestion SL600s. Our September issue will contain a

complete preview of all the things to be seen and heard at the show; in the meantime put the dates in your diary and I'll look forward to seeing you there. John Atkinson

READERS' LETTERS Letters for publication should be addressed to the Editor and must contain no other material or enquiries. Letters seeking advice on technical or equipment matters (with SAE) should be marked for the attention of Crossover who will reply in due course. We reserveihe right to print such letters later in our Readers' Problems feature, unless otherwise instructed. MICROFILMS & INDEXING Microfilm and microfiche copies of HFN/RR or articles therefrom are available commercially from University Microfilms International, North American applications to: 300 N. Zeeb Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106, USA, UK and rest of world: 30/32 Mortimer Street, London W1N 7RA. Technical articles of full page length or over appearing in Hi-fi News &

Record Review are detailed in the Current Technology Index. BINDERS Loose-leaf binders for annual volumes of HFN/RR are available from Modern Bookbinders Chadwick Street, Blackburn,

Lancs. The years 1971 to 1982 are each covered by two binders ( January-June and July- December), while 1983/4 require one binder. Price £3.50 each ( post paid). For earlier years, please ask for a quotation.

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. . . about unsung heroes and Classical Glass From: David Steele, Bishopston, Bristol Dear Sir, I have followed Ken Kessler's articles concerning valve equipment with interest. I would like to comment on his most recent contribution as follows: Debate 1: Which Radford is the best Radford? In 1977 Chris Rogers wrote a constructional article on the Sirac Mk1 valve amplifier— published in Practical Hi-Fi and Audio. His intention was to design and build a valve amplifier that incorporated the best aspects of valve philosophy/technology. This necessarily involved a certain amount of research, so he commenced by auditioning various configurations of both input and output circuitry. This involved both commercial units ( including the STA15, STA25 and STA100) and home-built. ( He also found the ' 15' to be preferable to the ' 25'!) One conclusion drawn was that cathode bias gave better results than fixed. This, however, is the major difference between ' 15' and '25'. Surely this provides a more plausible explanation for the superiority of the ' 15' than the insidious incorporation of silicon rectifiers (HFIWRR Oct'83).

It is probably worth noting that Chris confessed the end result of his research ie, the Sirac, was very similar to the 50W Ultra Linear circuit detailed in the M-0 Valve Company's KT88 application report. This was, in turn, based on Heath and Woodville's design of 1957! Debate 2: Solid State v. Valve Preamps I understand KK's reticence to recommend 'aged' valve amps. I possess Leak Varislope 2 and Quad 22 preamps plus an independent power supply. Both tailor gain and frequency response of the preamp by switching input and feedback circuitry to cater for different sources (except the Quad's tuner input). The Quad interposes four additional switch/ equaliser contacts between phono socket and grid, the Leak two. The Quad feedback circuitry follows a rather more tortuous route which is topologically different for each channel, and produces in turn different network element values! These latter points would appear to be a consequence of satisfying the dubious objective of providing 'historic' disc equalisations. The final grouse is that although RIAA turnover points are provided, neither preamp possesses the industry standard 47k input impedance.

Neither my Varislope 2 or 22 have been refurbished, but the Varislope turns in a much better performance. In particular, it is far less noisy (although, at present, still poor by modern standards). This ( find interesting, because the Quad gear ( along with Radford, etc) has many devotees, but the Leak does not. There are several means of bringing these

particular preamps up to scratch. The first by the substitution of low noise EF86 equivalents ( Mullard M8195, GEC CV4085, Mullard CV2901 — courtesy of PM Components Ltd). The second, the replacement of all the passive components with the best currently available. Chris Rogers' article once again provides invaluable advice on component selection eg, polycarbonate dielectric for decoupling capacitors, thick film resistors in critical areas, tantulum capacitors for cathode bypass. Radiospares [ RS Components— Ed] appear to be the only source of high voltage polycarbonates; Maplin stock an amazingly cheap 0.4W metal film resistor which permits total substitution, rather than selective.

Unsung Heroes! I would like to conclude by expressing my gratitude to those people, not already mentioned, who have made my (and others') enlightenment possible. On valve matters Mark Graves— Morris ( M-0 Valve Co), ME and Dr GAV Sowter (EA Sowter Ltd) and Eric Volk. On hi-fi matters, Mike Manning (Radford Hi-Fi). Finally the team largely responsible for the rejection of ' Hi-Fi Dogma', and the long overdue reappraisal of the fundamental objectives of sound reproduction (and who have not received many thanks for their efforts), Ivor Tiefenbrun et al. Yours faithfully

. . . about Quad mods From: Christopher Breunig, Hi-Fi News & Record Review Dear Sir, A devotee of the old Quad ESL for twenty years I was interested in Martin Colloms' June reassessment — particularly the renewed suggestion (first made in this country in articles by Peter Comeau, some years ago) that the absorbent pads should be removed. I seem to recall their function was to reduce rear radiation, for those with smaller listening rooms. I unhesitatingly second MC's recommendation for 30cm stands— and the speakers should be bedded down in Blutak — but I would say that stripping out the felt damping will give a more open sound with better focused imaging, but it will also expose poor recordings less mercifully. The replay level becomes more critical, too. Incidentally, QED lncon makes a superb lead: I prefer it to Naim cable, as less 'aggressive' and offering finer perspective definition. A small tip applicable to any system with

high definition is to remove mains-plug fuses and solder one strand of 5 amp fuse-wire across the fuse holder ( MK clips take solder very well). I contend you will hear a cleaner, more stable sound picture. Yours faithfully

. . . about a complete set of figures From: G R Baxter, Baston, Peterborough Dear Sir, Please find enclosed a summary of my results obtained when measuring the performance of my Sony CD-P101 Compact Disc player, both in standard form and with my rearranged digital to analogue converter. The results confirm the degradation

quoted by Sony at levels of — 20 dB and above, and are inconclusive at lower levels.

The audible differences remain a mystery akin to the EL34/KT77 controversy. What I find remarkable is the effect of dither on very low level signals; on the Nimbus tone at —90 dB the distortion is all 3rd harmonic, but dither spreads it around the spectrum. The source of signals for these

measurements was the Philips audio performance test disc number 39730085. This, together with the CD-P101, gives one an excellent standard for measuring the distortion of amplifiers. Harmonic and intermodulation measurements were made with a Marconi TF2330 wave analyser.

Finally I must stress that when trying the modified digital to analogue converter, it is essential that the capacitors C517 and C518 are disconnected. Also I did not specify the value of the additional resistor for the prevention of latch up; I used 47 ohms. Yours faithfully

Sony CI3-P101 Summary of distortion products All measurements are for the left channel.)

Baxter Sony 1kHz tone at OdB 1kHz OdB Od8

2kHz -74d8 -94dB 3kHz -72dB -97dB 4kHz -66d8 i-106dB 5kHz -70dB i-106dB 6kHz -75d8 i-106d8

1kHz tone at - 24dB 1kHz OdB OdB 2kHz -82dB --91d6 3kHz -97dB - 100dB

(below noise floor - 106dB above 3kHz)

1kHz tone at -60dB 1kHz OdB Od8 2kHz -58d8 -58d8 3kHz -51d8 -50dB 4kHz -58dB -61dB 5kHz -51dB -50dB 6kHz -58dB -58dB 7kHz -62d8 -61dB 8kHz -62dB -61dB 9kHz -54c113 -53dB

1kHz tone at -- 80dB 1kHz OdB OdB 2kHz -34d8 -35dB 3kHz -25dB -25dB 4kHz -34dB -34dB 5kHz -36dB -36dB 6kHz -34dB -34dB 7kHz -30dB --30d8 8kHz -34d8 -34d8

1kHz tone at -90d8 1kHz Ocle Od8 2kHz -20dB -20d8 3kHz -35d8 -35d8 4kHz -25dB -25d8 5kHz -15d8 -15d8 6Khz -41dB -41d8 7kHz -17d8 -17d8 8kHz -35c18 -35d8 9kHz -35c18 -35d8

300Hz tone, undithered ( Nimbus) at - 40dB 300Hz OdB OdB 900Hz -66dB -66d8

300Hz tone, undithered (Nimbus) at -90d8 300Hz Odill OdB 900Hz -10d8 -9d8

Two tone at 4969Hz and 5039Hz, total at OdB 4969Hz OdB OdB 5039Hz OdB OdB 70Hz -66dB -92dB

(sum) 10kHz -65dB -92d8

Two tone at 4969Hz and 5039Hz, total at -20d8 4969Hz OdB Od8 5039Hz OdB OdB 70Hz -75dB -66dB

(sum) 10kHz -76dB -66dB

. . . about sacrilegious tandemising of ESL-63s From Heino Anderson, Evington, Leicester Dear Sir, Martin Colloms' Acoustat 2+2 review in Feb'84 has prompted me to write to you about 'tandemising' the ESL-63s. The results obtainable seem to be comparable, and possibly superior, to those described. The cost is much less, bearing in mind the modest outlay for the 405-2. Quad may consider the practice of

stacking ESLs immoral, but when it comes to >15

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4 the ELS-63s, they consider the practice of doubling sacrilegious!

In essence, the situation is as follows: any attempt to place an adjacent pair of ESL-63s in the same plane will result in all kinds of cancellation and nullification of the elegant 'point source'. However, if one speaker is placed about 1m behind the other, then all is well. If both speaker pairs are on the floor, then a very wide listening room is needed to achieve this placement.1 have arranged for the second pair of speakers to be placed 1m behind the first, and about 1m above floor level. The bottom pair is tilted slightly upward and the top pair is tilted slightly downwards. The main drawback of this array must be visual. The mind boggles if you imagine a steel frame stand to accommodate such an array! 'n fact, I have solved the visual aspect by simply suspending all the speakers by nylon rope from ceiling supports.

My tandemised ESL-63s are driven from a single 44/405-2, in parallel. The rest of the equipment consists of Goldring IGC900, SME3S and Garrard 401. The results are certainly worth the trouble and expense. The sound is much more solid and the treble response more smooth. As a past user of stacked ESL, I maintain that the tandemising of the ESL63s brings forth an even greater improvement. The acid test of any hi-fi is its ability to reproduce mono vocal records. Any readers who try the tandem array are advised to listen to well recorded mono vocals— they will be amazed. Yours faithfully

. . . about that digital test From: Stanley P Lipshitz, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Dear Sir, In view of Ivor Tiefenbrun's premature rebuttal ('Views', June 1984) of the results of an as yet unpublished test, I feel that some comments from me are in order. Indeed, not only is the test report as yet unpublished, but it is moreover as yet unwritten. This makes his attempted refutation all the more inappropriate. Yes, a 'digital challenge' test as described in 'Views', September 1983, did in fact take place in Toronto on February 23 this year; but for Mr Tiefenbrun to imply that he 'stopped over in Toronto to participate' is disingenuous, for after we learned of his impending business visit to Toronto, it took a number of back and forth communications to the Far East before Mr Tiefenbrun agreed to participate in the 'challenge' during his visit. Be this as it may, credit goes to Mr Tiefenbrun for accepting the challenge after all. The tests were overseen by Mr Alan Lofft, Editor of Sound Canada magazine, at my request, and my colleague Dr John Vanderkooy and the local Linn/Naim

distributor, Mr Michael Remington, were present. The data, and the responsibility for writing up a report on the proceedings, are in the hands of Alan Lofft, and John Atkinson has indicated his intention of publishing the report as soon as it is received by HFN/RR. I do not wish to pre-empt Lofft's report,

neither could Ido justice to the full day of tests in the span of a few paragraphs. Trevor Attewell's article 'The Acid Test' (June 1984, pp. 29, 31) provides a good explanation of the double-blind ABX procedures used for the main 'digital challenge' test, as does reference [3] of my original letter ('Views', September 1983). Note that Clark's AES preprint 1771 referred to by Attewell is now more accessible as it has appeared in print (J. Audio Eng. Soc., vol. 30 ( 1982), pp. 330-338]. I must, however, object to Mr Tiefenbrun's assertion that I ' ignored certain initial control checks where my distributor got it virtually 100% right — 9/10 and 20/20'. The initial tests referred to were not in any way control checks on the PCM-F1 audibility test set-up. They were tests of Tiefenbrun's claims that another transducer like a digital alarm watch or an undriven loudspeaker in the same room would degrade the sound. They were conducted single blind, and Mr Remington, who cued up the turntable for each trial, sat where he could see the covered/uncovered status of the undriven transducer. He scored himself during the test, and we have no record of his scoring, nor do we know whether he checked the status before or after a change was made. In other words, as far as these tests are concerned, Mr Remington's claimed results do not have the weight of even a single-blind experiment. I am not implying any dishonesty on his part, merely saying that he had no way of knowing, when he checked the status of the transducer, whether it applied to the preceding trial or whether it had already been changed in preparation for the succeeding trial. He would need to conduct further careful blind experiments to convince us of anything. As regards the 'disturbing' series of tests

referred to by Mr Tiefenbrun in his fourth and fifth paragraphs, full details should appear in Alan Lofft's write-up, but the situation was not at all as described by Tiefenbrun. The relays were indeed operating all the time; it was simply that the source/tape monitor switch on the preamplifier had been inadvertently left in the 'source' position for this series of tests, so that the ABX box ( switching the PCM-F1 within the tape monitor loop) had absolutely no effect on the sound from the loudspeakers during this series. Tiefenbrun's scoring showed no significant discrimination ability during this series. He is probably thinking of the subsequent test series, with the monitor switch correctly in the 'tape' position, when he says that he 'scored the most statistically significant results of the entire afternoon's activities'. Actually his score was 10 correct out of 37 trials on this series, a result far vvorse than chance. A possible explanation will appear in Lofft's report.

Certainly further careful tests should be done by those who do not believe the outcome of these tests. Data, not speculation or excuses, will reveal the truth. If HFN/RR would be willing to oversee such tests, and if they are indeed properly set up and conducted blind (which does not necessarily mean the use of a switchbox, nor the use of rapid switchovers, and indeed could take the form of extended listening to the same selection of material), further useful and

meaningful data would be obtained. I congratulate Mr Tiefenbrun for being one of the few persons in the 'analogue camp' to have had the sincerity and guts to subject himself to a test of his claims so far. What about some of the other vocal critics

of digital audio? For example, how about Mr Doug Sax whose letters have appeared in HFN/RR I'Views', November 1983 and February 1984), and who had been suggested by Mr Tiefenbrun as the one to take up my challenge on his behalf? Well, I should let readers know that, despite his professed intention to send me plans of a proposed test in which he would participate ('Views', February 1984, a letter dated November 16, 1983),l have heard absolutely nothing from Mr Sax. Perhaps this is not surprising, for he seems to have significantly altered his stance from the one letter to the next. [A full interview with Doug Sax will appear next month — Ed.] For example, in the first letter (widely published in a number of other magazines in addition to HFN/RR) he writes off all digital systems, professional as well as consumer, and moreover says that:

(1) '... a digital master is musically disastrous.... It will sound just as bad in one year as the day it was made.'

(2) '... the CD does not match the abilities of a digital master tape. A handful of chips are not doing their job as well as $20,000 worth of professional electronics. There appears a constant series of aberrations that you don't hear from a professional digital master.'

In his second letter he now accedes that the consumer PCM-F1 is quite good: '... it was apparent ... that the most grievous, unmusical qualities . . . in professional digital recorders lie, Sony, JVC, Mitsubishi, 3M, Soundstream) are noticeably less apparent in the PCM-F1....Ifind it to be a good storage device that shows promise. It tells me my expressed opinions concerning the musical possibilities of a 44kHz, 16- bit system will have to be revised'. In other words, the ' handful of chips' is now claimed to be acceptable and better than the '$20,000 worth of professional electronics'. Just for interest I should also mention that, without any special precautions,1 have made 20 generations of digital-to-digital copies on Sony consumer Betamax without the occurrence of a single uncorrectable error, and sound indistinguishable from the original. Readers will be interested to learn that

current Sony PCM-1610 professional digital audio processors incorporate the same A/D and D/A chips as the Sony consumer PCM-F1 and PCM-701 processors and Compact Disc players. Our listening tests and measurements on a recent PCM-1610 show it to be a superb machine, in every respect being slightly betterthan the PCM-F1, as indeed it should be at its price. I would certainly be happy to have Doug Sax accept my challenge using a current PCM-1610.

Finally,1 must rebut Mr Tiefenbrun's unwarranted assertion ('Views', January 1984) that I am somehow a paid apologist for the digital audio industry: '... I am compelled to ask who else he works for, who else pays him ...'. I work only for the University of Waterloo, as a professor in both Applied Mathematics and Physics, with my research areas being audio and electro-acoustics. No one else pays me. My statements represent the truth as bestican see it, and without financial or commercial bias. Would that Tiefenbrun or Sax could say as much. Yours faithfully

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 15

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In each M2, two bass units and a tweeter are driven by two power amplifiers and an electronic crossover.

By integrating amplifier and loudspeaker and designing them specifically to work together, bass response, transient response and maximum sound level are improved. The speaker may also be made smaller and the crossover more sophisticated allowing directivity to be optimised for stereo. Although there are other 'active' speakers, none make use of the full potential advantages except Meridian InterActive.

BOOTHROYD STUART

MERIDIAN

Why travel into town with it's bustle, traffic, parking meters

and pollution, when all you need is right here in the

Hertfordshire countryside!!

Radlett is so easy to find on the A5, just south of St. Albans,

east of Watford, and the parking is free!!

For sensible advice, excellent demonstrations and installation

of the worlds finest audio equipment, come to the people who

care. You'll get our best attention whether you have £30,000

or only £30 to spend.

Audio Research * Krell * Linn Products * Rega *

Audio lab * Oracle * Helius * EMT * ProAc * Creek *

Musical Fidelity * Koetsu * Magnaplanar * Counterpoint *

SD Acoustics * Burmester * Pink A * A&R etc.

RADLETT AUDIO CONSULTANTS 141 Watling Street, Radlett, Herts.

Tel: 09276 6497

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

NEWS AUDIOPHILE CD Audiophile interest in the Com-pact Disc medium will be re-kindled by the arrival in the com-ing months of players from major UK specialist manufacturers Meridian and Mission, and by the recent US introduction of CD soft-ware from Sheffield Labs.

Meridian report a highly enthu-siastic reception from their Chi-cago trade launch. Their player is basically the Philips CD100, the exterior finished in brown Nextel with Meridian's logo but with their own circuitry modifications for audio and servo stages, claimed to give significant sound quality improvements and better error correction operation. Meri-dian have enccuntered encourag-ing reception to the prototypes from UK dealers: one prominent specialist, whc has yet to sell his first CD player, immediately placed an order for 25 machines! UK availability is planned for August. The Mission player, dubbed the

DAD7000, with ' linear phase full digital processing' is also Philips-based, though rather more dis-tantly ( Missior have stumped up the cash for a CD manufacturing licence), and is currently sche-duled for October delivery, priced at £400. Described as a 'third generation machine', by Mis-

sion's Farad Azima, it uses 4x oversampling and full 16- bit resolution, with extra analogue transversal filtering, two decod-ers and DACs, special attention to grounding and analogue circuitry power supplies, plus careful com-ponent choice. One of the most outspoken and

influential critics of CD and digital audio in general has been Doug Sax, who is the engineer behind direct-cut recordists Sheffield Labs, as well as prime mover in LA's famous Mastering Lab cut-ting facility. It was something of a surprise, therefore, for Chicago visitors to find themselves faced by no less than eleven Sheffield CDs. In a full and frank interview to be published in October, Sax confirms his personal preference for analogue, given the current levels of technology, but justifies his involvement with CD on the grounds that the system has many convenience benefits while producing adequate quality for a significant percentage of Sheffield's customers. He cited the fact that Musicassettes took over 50% of the US prerecorded music market in 1983 as firm evidence that many consumers are quite happy to accept some audio compromise for the sake of convenience. (Sheffield Musicas-settes may well be next on the cards!)

BARGAIN PRICE CDs ON THE WAY CD players are falling in price, but sales of Compact Disc players are still low because record enthu-siasts, dedicated but not affluent, keep buying the black vinyl LPs at about half the cost of the CD versions they would like to pos-sess. The £10-£11 upwards price of

CDs is the factor restricting growth of this market, but Pick-wick International (Great Britain) Ltd is planning to tackle this prob-lem by retailing Compact Discs in the autumn at less than £7, perhaps even a penny or two less than £6.

Pickwick, handling such labels as Contour, available in the big stores — Woolworths, Boots and W H Smith, plan to release ' popu-lar classical' titles, such as Hand-el's Messiah, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, and Vivaldi's Four Sea-sons. We understand that these CDs will be processed and pressed in Germany at the Poly-gram plant, which must cut the profit margins significantly. Knowing Monty Lewis, Pick-

wick's Director, from the halcyon days of the record industry, I must discover why the British Nimbus CD plant was not involved in this operation.

DA

HEYBROOK CHANGES EMINENT? Heybrook loudspeakers and other PA and communications products have achieved consider-able success under the Mecom (Acoustics) Ltd (Knighton Hill, Wembury, Plymouth) umbrella. It has become necessary to hold prices stable and maintain tech-nical standards by transferring manufacture of the range to South East England. So an interest in S B Davenport Ltd has been acquired, whose MD is Ian McCarthy, well known in the audio world.

Peter Comeau will remain as director in charge of overall pro-duction and development, and his other director, Stuart Mee, will act as UK representative,

replacing David Poole who has been responsible for this side of Mecom for some years. The final details of this merger have yet to be announced, and all com-munications still to the address above (0752) 863188, or Telex 45639 ( Mecom).

DA

EVENTS BERLIN: SHOlAfTECH '84, Aug 15-17. DUSSELDORF: Hi-Fi VIDEO '84, Aug 24-30 AMSTERDAM: FIRATO, Aug 29/ 30 trade, Aug 31-Sept 8 public. MILAN: SIM-Hi-Fi-IVES, Sept 6-10. LONDON: HEATHROW PENTA, Sept 6-9 BRIGHTON: IBC (professional broadcasters), Sept 21-25

SUMMERTIME BLUES Summer has always been the time when gloom and despondency set in on the hi-fi and audio industry. Harman's cutbacks were mentioned last month, and no one yet seems quite sure how Trio are to be distributed. Laskys have also made staff redundant, though the company imply that they are merely reverting to establish-ment with the prospects of fairly sluggish trading through the hot season, with no identifiably 'hot' product this year to enliven the market. Rather more serious is the dis-

appearance of prominent Tot-tenham Court Road department store Multiproduce, formerly famous as Lion House. The col-lapse reportedly left a substantial five-figure debt to one UK manu-facturer. London-based research group

Euromonitor have produced a detailed report on Consumer

Electronics in Western Europe 1984 which sheds further gloomy light on the performance on the European audio market, which has shrunk from 6.3m units to 5.3m units in five years, record-ing the biggest drop of 7.4% last year. However, that which is bad for

audio need not necessarily be bad for hi-fi; much of this decline might be attributed to fall-off in demand for fashion products like Walkmen and ghetto blasters, before CD has had a chance to establish itself. Consumer spend-ing at all age groups has been diverted by computers and VCRs, and both seem to be beginning to wane now. Prospects for TV developments are quite bright, telephones will take their share of electronic fashion, while compu-ters might rally with MSX stan-dardisation. But hi-fi also has its new developments, and should continue to survive as long as there is a healthy music industry to provide the necessary basis.

REF'S UNIVERSAL EQUALISER

KEF Electronics have gone as far as pilot production on a fascinat-ing low frequency loudspeaker equaliser ' black box'. Commer-cial plans have yet to be finalised, but one might expect some time in the not too distant future to be able to buy such a unit for any of KEF's loudspeakers for about £100. The prototype is a small

preamp-sized unit, taking power from a 'transformer' mains lead. It is connected between pre- and power amplifiers, or within the former's tape in/out loop. The output characteristics of the mod-ule are tailored to the specific loudspeaker, and allow the bass rolloff point of the system to be 'repositioned', by electronically adding appropriate bass boost before the power amplifier. Front panel controls and

switches allow adjustment to roll-off ( 20, 30, 40, 50Hz), damping (Q from 0.3-1), and contour ( provid-ing 'shelf' tailoring for different room boundary conditions), plus volume on the subwoofer option. Signals are mixed to mono below

100Hz for convenience with a single subwoofer unit. The equaliser would enable one to use, for example, KEF's baby R101 equalised flat down to 20Hz, though the maximum obtainable level would be constrained both by amplifier headroom and by the mechanical integrity of the speakers themselves.

In a quick demonstration, the equaliser seemed able to remove completely the previously audi-ble effects of the R104/2's 50Hz rolloff 'corner', using the equalis-er's 20Hz setting. Compensating for the 104/2s' 12dB/oct rolloff rate naturally consumes about 15dB of low frequency amplifier headroom, but this should be of little moment in such a high sen-sitivity design. KEF's new box of tricks will, for

the first time, give consumers the opportunity to adjust their loud-speaker bandwidth versus output level according to different domestic requirements. Even a modest speaker/amplifier system will be able to give full bandwidth performance up to moderate listening levels, with the option of removing equalisation to cope with the levels demanded by the occasional party.

SUPERCLAMIP FROM RATA

Russ Andrews' constant search for ways of making domestic sound reproduction more eupho-nious and relaxing has led to the development of ' Super Clamp', a superior version of the Clamp 1 mains plug with voltage depen-dent resistor. In the same MK Toughplug the GEC varistor is now series-linked to an active suppression device. The subjec-tive effects of swapping a Clamp 1 for a Super Clamp are start-lingly audible. Dynamic range is

slightly increased overall, and the space 'around' instruments is much more sharply focused. Mastertape noise on older recordings becomes less distract-ing — almost 'disappearing', it can seem. Whilst the sound is more clearly defined in both dynamic and spatial aspects, it is at the same time much more comfort-able to listen to: the music takes on a more affectionately expressed, less haranguing voice. At £ 19.95 it's a very worth-while investment. Russ Andrews Turntabfe Accessories, Edge Bank House, Skelsmergh, Kendal, Cumbria LA8 9AS. CB

19 111-F1 NEWS & RECORD REVIEVt AUGUST 1984 1

THE FIRST NAME IN ACTIVE LOUDSPEAKERS

THE MUSIC ROOM NEWSLETTER

M3 InterActive Loudspeaker

The M3 is the smallest and least costly Meridian InterActive Loudspeaker. While giving the best results when used on its stand, the M3 may also be placed on a shelf. The response may be adjusted electronically for either position.

In each M3, one bass unit and a tweeter are driven by two power amplifiers and an electronic crossover.

All Meridian InterActive Loudspeakers use

perturbed sixth order alignment for the most extended bass response, and the latest drive unit technology for low

colouration. Crossovers are acoustic fourth order with electronic time delay for the tweeter to provide a virtual point source and eliminate lobes. Crossover frequencies are chosen to meet psychoacoustic criteria.

BnOTHRnYn STL ART

/MERIDIAN

Last month we enthused over the news that at last a British specialist company had succeeded in marketing (at an affordable price) a no-hassle but legitimate Hi-Fi System. Yes, The Music Room is equally involved with affordable products providing that they fall within the category of real Hi-Fi. We think that it makes sense to specialise this way in order to maximise the choice, service and expertise which we strive to offer. Hence our ability to satisfy the most demanding agencies (and customers!)

No, we had not forgotten the Linn/NAIM System but although matched for maximum performance its price and setting-up indicate its main appeal towards the true enthusiast. We had overlooked the AR System, as you may know they have added the Cambridge P.35 (designed by Stan Curtis and made in the UK) to their famed loudspeakers and legendary turntable (now in its updated and magnificent plinth). We considered AR as American as Apple Pie, but of course all these products are made in England: sorry, AR. In Glasgow, Linn/ NAIM is available at MAETO MUSIK, and AR products at STEREO SHOWCASE.

"CYRUS by Mission Electronics" is available at The Music Room, the System Cl costing £399, the C2 costing £499. Recently, a personal friend (actually a neighbour) asked me to recommend a system. To stop him using hi-fi and disturbing my peace (as I disturb his), I considered recommending a Hitsumachi com-plete with plastic wall-mounted squeekers and four-teen-strand cable. Instead, he has a Cyrus Two System, and music is now a bigger part of his leisure hours. He is so pleased that he is arranging for a Newspaper Journalist friend to write up the type of equipment and service which the Specialist Manufacturer and Dealer can offer, but which fails to receive the marketing, publicity or general awareness attracted by say Compu-ter or Video machinery which offers (in a bland age) much less personal and creative self-expression and happiness.

Music is a heightened form of communication, and it should come as no surprise that (like computers and video) this specialised branch of electronics called Hi-Fi is quite different from ill-matched or mass-produced electronics which is sold as Hi-Fi in the High Streets of Britain. Real music deserves real Hi-Fi and a specialist shop is well equipped to select, demonstrate, advise, finance, deliver, install and service it.

To defray the cost of this advertising, you might care to visit us! Oh, and if you're reading this upstairs, you may care to turn the music down.

J. LAWSON

CONSULTANTS AND DEALERS IN HIGH-FIDELITY

221 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow G2 5QY Telephone 041-221 2527

A MEMBER OF —

I '•; HI-FI NEWS dt RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

NEWS TECHNICS TECHNOLOGY

The key to profitable audio and hi-fi marketing over the last few years has been caution, and from the importer/distributor point of view this means keeping stocks tight and making certain that all the equipment that is brought in gets sold. One sad consequence of this sanity is that imported products have become increasingly safe and predictable, with a rack system here and a portable there. To develop a wider perspective

and see which way things are going ( not to mention why they are the way they are), it is much more useful to find out what the Japanese are doing in their home market, an opportunity that comes all too infrequently to undeserv-ing journalists. But Technics' annual seminar provides a handy halfway house. Here at least is a brief opportunity to peek behind the UK marketing screens, at some of the products which we won't be seeing yet, if ever (along with many that we will). Even more illuminating is the chance to meet Japan-based engineers and marketing executives. The development of digital

audio technology has been far and away the dominant objective of Technics' Disc Audio Division in recent years, taking some 60% of the engineering resources. Yet, as Director Shuichi Obata pointed out, this sector only rep-resents 10% of Technics market, even with the important OEM side. Engineering investment could be described as a little lopsided, a CD player having 30x the complexity of a casseiver. Obata expressed the opinion

that rather too much emphasis was placed on the glamorous digital side of things, by both engineers and the media. He referred graphically to the Euro-pean CD experience as a 'phan-tom pregnancy', and acknow-

ledged the mistakes that were made in trying to bridge the ini-tial software gap. However, in the manner of the pot addressing the kettle, much of the ensuing presentation concentrated on CD, even though only one such pro-duct, the SL-P7, is brought into the UK. CD's flagship is the profes-

sional SL- P50. Designed for broadcast-type applications, it has every available aid to seg-ment selection and cueing con-trol. Even more intriguing, not to say horrifying, is the SL-P15 'CD juke-box', which is bound to be snapped up by the pernicious purveyors of perpetual music and similar atmopsheric pollutants. SL-P15 acts as a library for fifty CDs, allowing pre-programmable

access to any sequence of track selections. Up to four additional 'slave units', each containing a CD player but omitting the keypad controls, may be added 'piggy-back' to give total remote control programmable selection from a library of 250 CDs. We were also shown a pro-

totype in-car CD player. Despite heavy pressure from Japanese car manufacturers, Technics are not ready to go with this one just yet, though Obata has been run-ning a modified P7 in his Nissan for some time. He reports impressive results, and no appa-rent difficulties arising from Japanese carriageways.

It seems likely that practical in-car applications will await 'one-chip' integration of the CD circuitry. Though imminent, the LSI design has not been quite finalised yet. This is a momen-tous decision where any mistake is horrendously costly and hard to rectify, so leaving it as late as

possible while amassing practical experience is essential. Obata defended digital audio

as being theoretically sound (sic), but commented that it had suf-fered through being used insensi-tively by people with extensive analogue experience, which can be more of an obstacle than start-ing completely from scratch. Many new practical applica-

tions for the CD format are on the brink of commercial exploitation. The medium looks bound to find a role as a low-cost, replicable, large-volume, fast-access data store, and work is now quite advanced on the addition of crude graphics to music CD via the subcodes. Such develop-ments will become commercially more viable as the cost of RAM memory chips drops. (See p.29) On the marketing front, Tech-

nics are very conscious of the 'fashion' element in hi-fi. One presentation, which identified the 'modern woman' as target con-sumer for the (actually rather impressive) integrated 315 midi rack systems, was patronising in the extreme. However, the UK is to be spared the worst of these excesses. The grim plastic-look-ing SL-JP1 turntable reminds one inescapably of BSR and the immortally nostalgic Dansette, so it is no surprise to discover it comes in a range of colours ... including pink. Similarly, the great British public are consi-dered unlikely to form much of a queue for the cutest of micro-systems, the 007 series. A regrett-able choice of name for what looks like a neat way of using up some in-car production capacity, but which doesn't stand a chance of slipping inside a PPK holster. The one fashion product that

did get a few oohs and aahs even from a cynical gathering of hacks was the R100 wall-mounting sys-tem. The central casseiver unit — and its even more unusual matching speakers — is only 65mm deep, so everyone wants one for the kitchen, and another

for the bathroom, and.... Happily these will hit the UK in time for Christmas! The flat panel speaker is mon-

strously intriguing — how did they dare try it, one asks, let alone make it work. A real tri-concentric homoplanar drive unit, no less, which in translation means that they have managed to combine a three-way flat- diaphragm speaker system on a single frame, comprising central twee-ter, inner ring bass/mid driver, and outer ring auxiliary bass radiator. It seemed almost unfair to cram such an engineering marvel into a funny little flat speaker system, and one wished it were possible to hear the driver operating in a proper free-standing enclosure. Although the strategy of diver-

sification into fashion sub-mar-kets does lead to a little blurring of the brand image, Technics have boldly tackled the problem of product proliferation within a particular range. Rationalisation will bring each range down to three simple steps, correspond-ing to low, medium and high grades of price and perceived quality. Having addressed the dif-ficult task of establishing his/her socio-economic lifestyle identity, the customer will merely have to choose, accordingly, which system or component to buy!

BdcW D1W330 Extending the philosophy which has proved so successful for their DM110/220 models, B&W have increased both sensitivity ( by 1.5dB over the 220) and bass extension (- 6dB point lowered from 45 to 40Hz) for the large but still reasonably priced new £250 DM330 floor-standing model. Improvements in bass and lower midrange performance are also claimed, following the applica-tion of Model Analysis Computer Optimisation to the enclosure design.

BRIEFING OXFAM are appealing for dona- tions of records and cassettes of any type and age to their London shops in particular. Collectors, on the other hand, might well find a new and happy hunting ground Dpening up. .. VINTAGE WIRELESS. Nostalgia

into production for 1985. Further details to follow. JEFFRIES HI-FI, South Coast dealer and organiser of the suc- cessful Brighton Shows in '82 and '83, have announced that they will have no involvement in any 1984 show, feeling very strongly that 'the plethora of shows ... is damaging to the

now to be manufactured and sold in Europe, though the company claim that this does not imply the end of Philips' own V2000 sys- tem, which will continue in para- Ilel. PHILIPS & JAPANESE MAJORS are continuing to report record sales in recent trading periods. Substantial improvements have

MORDAUNT-SHORT claim they are using a uniquely effective cabinet engineering technique called •' M it re-Ti g he, which enables full mitring and glueing to be used at every joint, ensur-ing the highest standards of cabinet rigidity and air-tightness. MERIDIAN are to undertake UK distribution of the exclusive and

'or the sights and sounds of the steam radio era ( not to mention

industry', CORAL SC10, a Japanese louds-

been reported by Hitachi, Toshiba, Mitsubishi Electric,

expensive MARK LEVINSON amplification. Details from 13

)ccasional smells of gently cook- peaker 'supercable' using high Kyocera and others, but the gains Clifton Road, Huntingdon, Cambs ng Bakelite) has some justifica- purity oxygen-free copper and have not been in audio. The big (writing return address on used ion, given the performance of a 'directionless' reverse twist con- increases are due mainly to com- banknote will be evidence of :-.arefully restored good quality struction is to be imported into ponents, industrial/commercial serious intent). fifties 'tranny' compared with the UK by Videotone Ltd, 1st sales, and VCRs. LASKYS are to introduce some many of today's offerings. Old Floor, 55 North St, Thame, Oxon J OSAWA, the medium-sized 250 Polygram CD titles to eleven -adios of all shapes and sizes, plus associated components, magazines etc, are the specialist

OX9 3BH. At CETEX, MD John Walker was too embarrassed to quote a price, muttering some-

Japanese trading company which effectively went bankrupt recently, are now undergoing

of their stores, so forestalling awkward questions from player purchasers about where to get

..:oncern of The Vintage Wireless thing about unprecedented 'rehabilitation' in Tokyo. The the discs. :ompany, Tudor House, Cos- demand from discriminating camera side of the business was TABLE SHOP, long established at sham Street, Mangotsfield, Bris- enthusiasts ... the main source of difficulty, so 27 Springfield Road, Harrow has ol BN17 3EN. Subscriptions to SD ACOUSTICS have announced maybe supplies of Linn Ittok arms been completely refurbished to heir photocopied newsletter ( 12 a new ' budget' loudspeaker will improve again soon. house the town's only complete ssues) are £4 UK, £5 Overseas. based on the design principles of MENTMORE Industries, of 24 Hi-Fi shop. Upstairs has been ME NEW SME ARM, making a surprise debut at Chicago, surp-

their bigger models. The 38 x 23 x 26cm SD3 will be available from

Mentmore Terrace, Hackney, London E8 3PN, have announced

opened to form two comfortable single speaker demonstration

sied many by being entirely diffe- August at £230 per pair. A £50 the revival of the TVA valve rooms. Most leading makes are .ent to its predecessors. stand is at last available for the amplifier designs, specifically the available and a telephone call on Engineered like a tank turret' was low one observer described this ugged and expensive new-

SD2 model. SD Acoustics, Unit 1, The Mill, 41-42 Cottage Grove, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 4JH.

TVP-X preamp and four power amplifiers, the TVA-1 and -10 stereo models and the M100 and

01-863 0938 for an appointment will ensure full and individual attention from staff. ,,e-

mmer, which SME plan to put PHILIPS VHS video recorders are -200 Monobloks.

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

THE FIRST NAME IN ACTIVE LOUDSPEAKERS

M10 InterActive Loudspeaker

The Meridian M10 was designed without regard to cost, and provides a unique combination of a remarkably real acoustic image with an effortless 110dB output.

In each M10, four bass units, two mid-range units and a tweeter are driven by four power amplifiers and an electronic crossover.

Meridian make three InterActive Loudspeakers, which differ mainly in maximum sound level and cost. All share the same technology and attention to detail, and the same design goal: the convincing illusion of reality.

Please send me more details on Meridian amplification and speaker systems.

Name

Address

Freepost BOOTHROYD STUART Boothroyd Stuart Limited AiERIDIAN 13 Clifton Road Huntingdon PE18 7BR

AUtellU EXCELLEUCE

FROM THE SUBLIME . . . . Dual CS505-1, Creek 4040, Monitor Audio 252

TO THE IMPECUNIOUS . . . . LINN LP12-ITTOK-Karma, Naim 32 — Hicap-250, Linn lsobariks

THE SAME SERVICE APPLIES Proper demonstration facilities Helpful and knowledgable advice Home installation Expert backup from fully equipped workshop

Audiolab, Audio Research, A&R, Ariston, AR, ARC, Burmester, Celestion, Creek, Dual, Heybrook, Kef, Kiseki, Koetsu, Krell, Linn, Magnaplanar, Meridian, Monitor Audio, Mission, Mordaunt Short, Marantz, NAD, Nakamichi, Naim, Nytech, Pink Triangle, Quad, Revox, Spendor, Systemdek, Syrinx, Supex, Thorens, Yamaha, Zeta.

134 CRWYS ROAD, CARDIFF Tel. 28565 9 HIGH STREET, SWANSEA Tel. 474608

Tues-Sat 9.30-5.30 CLOSED MONDAY

Audio

Audio

Audio

Loudspeakers

Loudspeaker

Loudspeaker

Audio

f RADFORD

À WM

' - ,--

4 IL

STA25 MK IV

Transistor Amplifiers

Valve Amplifiers

Measuring Instruments

Kits

Drive Units and Networks

transformers for valve amplifiers

Radford Audio Ltd., 10 Beach Road, Weston-Super-Mare, Avon B523 1AU

Tel: 0934 416033

20 HI-H NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

HI-FI SHOWS may be dwindling in frequency, to great sighs of relief from an over-weekend-worked

industry, but a new type of event, which yours truly finds still more interesting, is abl filling the breach down on the South Coast a least, indeed it is growing nationwide if my information is correct. Record Collector Fairs, more aptly

described as indoor Sunday markets, have now increased in frequency from quarterly to monthly down here in Brighton, with no mortal malady yet apparent in the goose. These events specialise in the sort of

material which is unlikely to appear in local branches of chain retailers, and for this reason alone they merit a mention in this column. The material is exclusively Popular, though in context the term is ill-chosen: tautologically the Fair's raison d'être is the 'popular rarity'. Only Classical music is conspicuous by its absence. The Brighton event which I recently

attended was held in the salubrious surroundings of The Conference Centre, occupying a reasonable-sized hall to which an admission charge of £ 1.50 was made (this reduced to 50p in the afternoon, theoretically so that the serious collectors and dealers could grab all the interesting stuff in the AMI. Apart from a small presence from the highly resistable catering facilities typical of such establishments, the entire hall was filled with trestle tables, heavily laden with LPs in cardboard box browsers, plus racks of home-made pre-recorded cassettes of dubious origins and legality. The atmosphere was not unlike an

upmarket jumble sale, though prices were premium rather than bargain. Most of the material was secondhand or ' unofficial', and 1 doubt that there was a single copy of Michael Jackson's Thriller in the entire place. Record quality and returnability factors favour gamblers with a predeliction for long odds, and there was no way to conduct more than a curso -y visual inspection of the goods. The event was strictly for those who value content, and/or the obsessional collector (whatever one's opinion of the crises of personal taste that this might represent). I arrived about halfway through the

morning session, and emerged breathless an hour later and £20 lighter, well satisfied with some interesting purchases and frustrated that I didn't have another hour to spare. ThoLgh I wasn't successful in tracking down any of the early Stax albums I was watching out for, I did pick up a couple of recent Soul issues that I had never managed to find in regular stores. And I finally got hold of the Dylan/Band

Albert Hall 1966 bootleg. Reportedly filched from CBS tapes, the performance has never been released officially, yet it is one of the great milestones of Rock music's development. It marks Dylan's first ' electric' appearance, and throughout the concert there is intermittent booing, slow-handclapping and cries of 'Judas' from Folk music fans who had corre to pay tribute to their idol — interspersed with Dylan's dry counter-heckling. Incidentally, the disc cost £10 and jumps the first three minutes of side 1; History has its price. Again an area of personal interest, I must

have spent twenty minutes salivating over as many different live Grateful Dead discs, aware on'y too well that recording quality usually leaves the thirst unslaked. Yet for Beatles or Bowie collectors there was an embarrassment of abundance. And even the most obtuse minority or historical taste

SUBJECTIVE

SOUNDS Paul Messenger

seemed to be served by a trestle-top nestling somewhere or other in the throng. From a wider perspective, this Record

Collector's Fair is a healthy sign of the increasing importance of minority taste. It also illustrates the power of the marketplace in finding its own way around the increasing conformity of mass taste which high rent concrete shopping precints seem destined to impose; not to mention being one in the eye for our antediluvian Sunday trading laws.

Exposure I am always a little reluctant to mention Exposure Electronics in this column for fear of showing favouritism or prejudice towards this small but long established operation, simply because they happen to be just down the road and I have known them for years. But there is no doubt they are front-runners amongst UK specialist amplifier manufacturers, and the sounds heard during a recent visit were sufficiently apocalyptic to demand recognition. Perhaps apocalypse is a bit strong, but

during concerts by some of the big names of Rock music there have been occasions when I have developed some anxiety for the structure of the building. This was the first

on Rock material, using the Linn disc-cutting facility and not messing around with any high-falutin half-speed stuff. Exposure have a number of music biz

contacts from the days when they were involved making professional gear, and have obtained rights to a fine live Rock album called Mango Crazy by Roger Chapman. (Chapman was the gravel-voiced singer of some distinction who led Family during the 'sixties.) And hearing the acetate was what made me fear for the fabric of chez Farlow the other week. I know acetates are cheating a bit, that its necessary to put vinylisation before value judgement, and that it is likely a good, clean, simple live recording helped the illusion. But as I sat in front of the monstrously loud Exposure-triamped lsobariks I was confronted by the realisation that the experience did not have much to do with the gentle pastime of playing records at all — it was much more like attending a Rock concert (you know, where the only possible form of conversation involves spitting in peoples' ears). This salutary reminder of the importance of level was reinforced a few days later by a classical session with some Lowther TP1s. The bottom line is that prodigiously antisocial and expensive levels are needed to begin to create any illusion of reality over and above the simple enjoyment of domestic music reproduction.

.. . and mellow fruitfulness Even smaller than Exposure, Myst take pride in being a two person cottage industry stereotype, operating in the wilds of Hereford. Two years old now, they have comfortably survived any birth pangs and look set for a steady and deliberately unspectacular existence, the likelihood of which is considerably enhanced by their gentle mockery of expansion and failure to purchase fast cars. Their first amplifier was the curiously

named and idiosyncratically configured £400 G-Ohm. This has now been supplemented by the more economical £250 integrated tma-3 model. Where G-Ohm unconventionally, but quite rationally, put all the power supply side in one big box, leaving three little boxes for pre- and left and right power amplifiers, tma-3 is a single long slim shallow box. Construction and component quality

occasion I can recall having done so in the presence of mere disc-playing hi-fi. A trifle misleading, because the disc was no ordinary disc and is the main reason for writing this piece; but by the same token, the hi-fi was by no means ordinary either. Exposure Records are about to appear on

the market, and their first release looks like being a major success for CAMPIS (Campaign for Improved Software). What they have done is get off their backsides and actually get on and do something that they, I, and probably others besides, have been rabbiting on about for a couple of years now: namely to do a Mobile Fidelity type recut job

inside and out is to a very high standard, but I am forced to admit the aesthetics fill me with indifference: functional inelegance is a phrase that springs to mind. The power rating is 35Wpc, which is adequate for most purposes now that speakers are becoming steadily more sensitive. Facilities are rudimentary in the extreme: a single volume control ( no balance), an on/off toggle switch and three pushbuttons for input selection is all; but you can have plenty of fun trying to crack the front panel 'glyphic code which 'explains' the latter. So far not too devastating perhaps. The

Myst could easily be overlooked. But >23

HI- F1 NEWS & RECORD REV11 W AUGUST 1584 21

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This is a truly remarkable system that we can demonstrate in our studios in Liverpool; however, the same integrity and high standard of customer service applies irrespective of price. ndeed, all you would expect of a long established family business.

Loudspeakers: The new 770 Freedoms by Mission

Front End: LP12, lttok and Karma by Linn Products

Preamplifier: SP8 by Audio Research

Power Amplifier: KSA50 by Krell

Accessories: lsoplat for SP8 Er cables by Mission

Tel: ( 051) 733 6859 Closed all day Wednesday

connect it up, advance the volume control and the sound quality comes somewhere between rather special and very special indeed. Notably smooth and 'sweet', the sound loses little if any of the 'speed' of more exotic models, yet manages always to sound capably under control. The nearly ideal compromise reminds me a little of an audiophile equivalent to the phenomenally successful NAD3020 (ugly appearance included?).

If there is a reservation, it is that the circuitry seems a little noisier than average when using a Karma cartridge and very efficient loudspeakers. (Just audible with the 92dB/VV KEF 104/2, it became unacceptable with 100dB/VV Lowthers, but I suspect this rectification with more suitable internal gain-matching would be simple enough for these

far from typical combinations.) The tma-3 deserves recognition as a splendid little integrated amplifier of fine capabilities, which intermittently continues to surprise and delight me.

Revolver The See Corporation may sound as if it should be providing financial services out of the Cayman Islands, but in fact is the trading name for one of the UK's smaller and newer specialist manufacturers, proudly based in Warrington ( nome of Wodka, if we believe everything the ad men tell us). Their first product was the extraordinary £3 Pig record clamp, which does much to justify their slogan 'Simple, Efficient and Effective'. While sharing the penchant for wittily

appropriate nomenclature, the Revolver turntable is obviously a much more serious proposition. Interestingly, the concept of the turntable first became a gleam in designer Colin Higham's eyes about ten years ago. Worked on intermittently for three years, the whole project went on ice while CH spent six years with Mission Electronics, and was resurrected, updated and production engineered at the beginning of ' 83, dealer deliveries commencing last Autumn. It is not therefore surprising that one should detect some resemblance between Revolver and the Mission turntable, but in fact the similarities are either superficial ( both look very nice!) or conceptual ( Rega-style solid belt-drive). There are plenty of differences, however, starting from the fact that the Revolver is an unusually low-mass design. The sample I received has a two-piece

'sandwich' plinth in a grey hammer-finish

laminate ( not dissimilar to that used for the baffles of some Mission loudspeakers). The platter bearing and arm mount are fixed to the thinner top plate, the motor and electrics to the lower, more substantial, sheet. The two sections are separated by thin foam, lightly secured by two screws, and the whole assembly is set on three moderately compliant, highly damped thick foam bushes. The heavy moulded smoked plastic lid looks the business right enough, but has an irritating tendency to twist and stick on rather flimsy friction hinges, leading to some handling uncertainties. A round-section flexible belt drives the outside rim of the composition platter, and I for one had to try hard not to remove it with every record. The £175 package I was supplied comes

complete with PIG and STARMAT, and was

fitted with a Linn LVX tonearm ( inc Basik cartridge) representing £71, alternative arms or none at all being priced accordingly. Such a fine arm should ensure a pretty good sound, which turned out to be the case, although to some extent the limitations of the turntable were rather laid bare.

Inspection revealed a mild degree of 'platter weave' and some mechanical noise from the main bearing and motor, but no related ill-effects were detected in the sound. I liked the overall balance very much, doubtless because it made a fine imitation of my own Linn front-end. The difference was most noticeable in the reduced sense of 'scale' and 'weight'; competent though the Revolver undoubtedly is, the sound comparatively speaking tends to ' hang around the speaker boxes', lacking ' air' and 'space'. There was some 'thickening' in the mid

bass, below which the sound was somewhat subdued, and the lower treble was a little exaggerated, giving some fierceness and

coarseness with a loss of detail; cross-checking indicated that the cartridge was responsible for much of these treble nasties, though the turntable contributed to some loss of high frequency detail and level, much in the way that the lower bass was mildly curtailed. These criticisms should not be interpreted

too sternly. They exist, as do similar limitations in any turntable at these sdrts of prices. But they do not necessarily spoil one's enjoyment of a nicely balanced machine with a highly informative midrange. This is definitely a serious and successful attempt to produce a worthwhile budget turntable which is only mildly idiosyncratic in appearance and use. Others may match it for performance, and some may sound initially more impressive, but the Revolver is definitely one to keep an ear on.

Form an(other) orderly queue please .. . There can have been few, if any, brand new products from brand new companies to have generated quite as much critical acclaim as Audiolab's £275 8000A integrated amplifier. Despite recent significant production increases, they are still way behind demand, which does not necessarily endear them to the cash-flow conscious dealer. Though some might feel that all efforts should be directed towards relieving the backlog, Audiolab are nevertheless already beginning to fulfil their original promise to produce a whole range of electronics. The first production samples of the 8000

separates are just appearing, more or less in line with the predicted six month gap. The preamp is almost indistinguishable from the integrated model, and costs the same to boot. ( It is claimed to sound better.) The power amplifier, whose £420 takes the system price to £695, is also (you've guessed it) in the same slim case, though naturally

devoid of controls. A brief hour of listening in a comparatively

unfamiliar room and system (chez IH) is no basis for absolute value judgements. But straight comparison with the acknowledged decent-sounding 8000A, into Quad ESL63s and using CD and LP12 sources, showed immediately that the separates were significantly superior ( in relief, Phil Swift wipes beads of perspiration from ruffled brow). To a lesser degree, the difference was remarkably like that described above between the Linn and Revolver turntables. The separates 'tidied up' the mild treble coarseness of the integrated model, and appeared to extend and add freedom to the low frequencies as well, so that the soundfield was 'opened up' and became better detached from the loudspeakers. Comparison with commercial rivals will

have to await a better opportunity, but it is gratifying to note that Audiolab are continuing to deliver their promises on product development and sound quality.

HI-FI NEWS 8z RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 23

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CABLE TELEVISION could mean a resurgence of radio in Britain. Eleven companies have now been given a

franchise to relay wide-band signals into British homes by coaxial cable. Soon they will start digging up the roads in Aberdeen, Coventry, Liverpool, Belfast, Westminster, Ealing, Glasgow, Croydon, Guildford, Swindon and Windsor. A head end will pick up all the available broadcast TV stations in the area and send them down the line to cable subscribers. The head end will also offer extra services like feature films not yet shown on television, sports events, such as big boxing matches, which the BBC and ITV cannot afford to show live, and musical specials, like Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow or Bernstein direct from the Albert Hall. The bandwidth available for good quality

coaxial cable runs into several hundred MHz. Remember here we are not talking about ordinary coax of the type used with a domestic microphone or FM aerial, we are talking about coax as thick as your wrist. On most systems there will be plenty of spare bandwidth for FM stereo radio programmes as well as TV. If the head end has a high stack of aerials, pointing to all points of the compass, then there is no reason why a local cable station should not offer a dozen FM radio stations. This is what happens in Holland, where seven out of ten homes are now connected to cable. There are two quite separate technical approaches to the relay of radio and it will be interesting to see which approach British stations adopt. Because Holland is a flat country,

surrounded by several other states, and because the Dutch are multi-lingual, the head ends can, and do, pick up radio and TV from several countries. In some parts of Holland they even relay the BBC. The BBC, as you can imagine, is not pleased because it receives no money. Currently there are negotiations going on to legitimise the situation, as happened in Belgium.

In the South of Holland, in the Limburg area, the Dutch Government is financing a ten year experiment to wire up nearly 100,000 homes with interactive cable. This means that homes in this area will be able quite literally to talk back to the cable station, to select programmes, use futuristic tele-banking technology or interface with distant computers. But the radio pick-up system is relatively simple. All available FM stations in the area are received as a broadband signal using a cluster of aerials, amplified and distributed exactly as they were received off air, je at the same reception frequencies. So subscriber households use the incoming VHF radio signal band exactly as if it were a signal coming down from their own cluster of roof aerials.

But at Rotterdam, there's a head end on top of a hospital, which serves nearly a quarter of a million subscribers, and uses a completely different technique. The 18 FM radio stations which are relayed are pre-selected. This is because the FM broadcast band is so crowded in the city that the only way to provide a good service is to handle each signal separately. As with a broadband FM system, the

Rotterdam head end aerial mast still carries a gaggle of antennae sighted on transmitters in Holland and surrounding countries. But each antenna feeds a separate down-converter to IF frequency 10.7MHz. The stations selected for relay are then re-converted back up to the VHF band between 88-108MHz, which in Holland is mercifully clear of police and public service broadcasts. But conversion is to a completely different

TECHNOLOGY Barry Fox

spot on the dial to that which the station originally occupied. This lets the Rotterdam head end use directional aerials to pull in two off-air stations using the same frequency, but coming from a different geographical direction, and relay them to subscribers on different frequencies. The chosen frequencies are tailored to avoid local interference and provide subscribers with a good spread right across the FM band.

Subscribers use an ordinary FM tuner, as if it were connected to a roof aerial, but with the stations coming up on frequencies which do not match the frequencies of their original transmission. AGC is used to bring all signals up or down to the same strength before relay. Incidentally, on all systems the signal ( radio or TV) may be converted into a non-standard band purely for transmission along the trunk lines. There is then conversion back to the standard band at distribution points for every four or five thousand homes. The trunk lines can be thought of as an electro-magnetic world of their own, with no need for concern over clashing with frequencies allocated to broadcast services. This is provided, of course, that the trunk line is adequately screened from interference leaking in or signal leaking out. A modern cable system distributes in the band between 40-400MHz. The Rotterdam approach offers

subscribers a wide choice of clean FM stations that they would not normally have a hope of receiving. The other approach, as in Limburg, offers no more or less than a replica of the broadband signal available off-air to anyone with a very good aerial array. But the capital investment is high. The TV equipment at the Rotterdam head end cost £100,000, and the FM radio equipment cost £50,000. Will British cable stations make a similar investment? Frankly I doubt it. When cable comes to Britain the

Government will finally have to tighten its grip on the pirates. At the moment they get away with murder, transmitting illegal TV and radio in the evenings and over the weekend.

In Holland the TV and radio prates have found there is a very simple way to get their message across. They choose a frequency that is shared by a weak legitimate broadcast station and beam their signals at the cable station head end aerial. The cable electronics then latch onto the pirate signal, and send it down the line as if it were legitimate. The Dutch Government insists that a cable station must shut down any TV channel that

is hijacked by a pirate. But for radio exactly the opposite rule applies. The cable station is not allowed to shut down a radio channel hijacked by a pirate. The reasoning behind this seems to be that the TV pirates operate mainly out of normal broadcasting hours but the radio pirates (and there are literally hundreds in Dutch cities) operate 24 hours a day. To switch off any hijacked radio channel would mean switching channels on and off all day long and that would be a tacit admission of defeat. When cable is laid in Britain, FM radio

enthusiasts have good reason to hope that a high quality coax is used. Every change of impedance, even by 1 ohm from the nominal 75 ohms, will cause mismatch. This can happen at the interface with the amplifiers that are needed every half kilometre. It can happen at joints, subscriber connections and even along an unbroken cable run where there is a slight manufacturing change in core and sheath spacing. Mismatch causes reflections. On TV this means a ghost image, or suck-out at some frequencies. The longer the run and the more reflections, the worse the ghosting and suck-out. So although a cheap installation may work well while the number of subscribers is small, it will provide progressively worse quality as more people are connected and the runs get longer. Reflections affect FM radio as well as TV. So when you subscribe to a cable system you are not necessarily guaranteed freedom from multi-path. Will British cable stations invest heavily in the best quality cable? Again I doubt it. The British Government's attitude towards cable is that it is a free-for-all, where private companies can gamble on cable if they wish. That is not a good recipe for a high technology system. Our report of the 'new' double coil

loudspeaker driver from Boaz Elieli (April '84), ex-Celestion and now of Southampton University, has prompted several people to remind us of the old Duode system. Thanks to one reader's kind interest, I can quote from the original publicity material and confirm that the Duode did indeed look similar to the Elieli idea. The Duode had a light aluminium tube, fixed to the cone and wound with a fine wire coil. This aluminium tube acted as a low resistance closed circuit so the magnetic field created a reverse current which damped out resonances. It remains to be seen whether the Patent Office examiners think there is anything new in the Elieli patent over the old Duode. Several readers seem to be a little confused over the legal situation, so let's clarify it for future reference. Under British patent law, as it now stands

since the new laws were introduced in the late 70s, you can only patent an idea if it is genuinely new and inventive over what has gone before. It doesn't matter if any prior patents have run out and died. They still count as prior disclosures. Old advertising literature can also pull the rug from under a new patent application. But the Patent Office examiners in London only have time to do a limited search. Quite often the examiners miss even relevant patents. Under the new patent laws anyone who

feels aggrieved can write a letter to the British Patent Office, quoting the patent application number and identifying any prior publications. If an idea is old the inventor might as well find out as soon as possible and if the idea is partly old, the inventor can restructure the patent application to emphasise whatever is truly new and acknowledge the old aspects as old.,/,

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 25

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LOOKING ATA NUMBER of AM sections on stereo cassette radios recently I was, as usual, appalled by

the AM reception quality. One interesting finding was that the response on LW was frequently inferior to that of MW which itself is normally very poor anyway. On MW the response is usually determined by the bandwidth of the inevitable poor quality 455kHz IF filter, but on LW the bandwidth can be additionally curtailed by the high Cl of the RF tune circuits employing the ferrite rod, etc. This high Ois required in an attempt to improve the image response, ie the response of the tuner section to a station whose frequency is 2xIF away from the main response. A high CI circuit receiving, say, Radio 4 on LW at 200kHz should theoretically be 9kHz wide for a flat response, but frequently it is much narrower, with the result that it can be well down by the image frequency, which in this case would be 1.11MHz, Similar problems exist on MW with Capital Radio, for example, on 1.548MHz being received as an image when the set is tuned to 638kHz. It is for this reason that several spuriae can be heard, including whistles, on many MW radios tuned to the lower frequencies on the band. Everyone seems to be stuck in the 455kHz

intermediate frequency groove (which used to be around 10kHz higher 30 years ago, incidentally). It strikes me that the industry might benefit by re-examining the IF frequency choice, bearing in mind modern developments in filter design. If an IF frequency was chosen to be higher than 2MHz for a set that excludes SW reception, the local oscillator would then be running at a much higher frequency, and the image response could then be well out of harm's way, and far better attenuated by the input RF circuitry. I see no reason why a complete integrated circuit could not be designed with an external IF filter to accommodate this new idea which could dramatically improve AM reception. It might be possible to have continuous tuning from the bottom of LW to the top of MW, incidentally, which could save a band change switch. Unfortunately, at the moment we usually have to suffer bad quality on Radio 4 LW, which is interfered with late at night by a Russian LW station, but we will have to live with this until Band 2 is extended, perhaps as late as 1990. I also encountered another old warhorse

problem when checking the VHF performance of these radios. If you are receiving a frequency of, say, 89.1MHz then the local oscillator will usually be at 99.8MHz. This is 10.7MHz higher, and the beat between these frequencies is the IF output. If you receive Radio 4 on 93.5MHz then the local oscillator will be on 104.2. I have looked at several tuners in the past that had rather crude RF selectivity and gave quite high levels of local oscillator breakthrough on the antenna input socket. Most VHF transistor radios are decidedly worse, with appreciable radiation from the whip. This can all too easily be picked up by someone else in the household, or even next door, who is trying to receive a VHF station in the new higher frequency allocation band on VHF. So if you hear a whistle, this problem could be the cause, and it is worth investigating.

Computer Chaos The problem of microprocessor radio frequency interference is becoming very serious indeed, and many computers put out rubbish which can very seriously affect VHF reception, even 100ft. away. If you tune your FM tuner around the band and pick up

Angus McKenzie

strange blipping carriers with superimposed high frequency tones buzzing around intermittently, then the cause may be your neighbour's domestic computer. If you can prove this then you should make the strongest complaint to the Radio Interference Department of the DTI by filling in an interference form available from the Post Office. We should all insist that the Government brings in legislation to force computer manufacturers to improve the RF screening around their computers.

It is sometimes important for a lab to have an extremely stable frequency reference for calibration of frequencies in general. Frequency counters and signal generators tend to drift quite a lot, so frequency standard transmissions are available for standardising purposes. Several models of frequency lock generators are available which pick up either Droitwich oi 200kHz — a frequency which is actually kept very stable, or even better, Rugby at 60kHz, way below Long Wave. The Rugby transmitter is run by the National Physical Laboratory and every so often it has to be put off the air for maintenance. It has been out of action for several weeks recently but should be back on again well before you read this. The carrier itself is generated extremely accurately by reference to a Caesium clock standard at Rugby, and thus is accurate to around 1 part in one million million ( 10 to the power of 12). This should be fine enough for anybody except an astronomer! My own Rugby receiver can lock on to the carrier and then generate output frequencies from 1Hz to 10MHz in a 1, 2, 5 sequence to a similar accuracy, and I use this to feed various items of laboratory equipment. There is slight concern at the moment at the cost involved in keeping such standards going but there would most certainly be a considerable outcry from laboratories if the Government were to refuse to finance these standard transmission's. My own receiver, a DK3060, was purchased from Technic (Surrey) and would now costs around £ 1400, with a special receiving antenna.

Returning to stereo cassette radios, a lot of us like to have one of these around the house so that we can make a cassette of the odd stereo VHF programme which we can then listen to later. Obviously, orify extremely

expensive models can record a cassette up to a hi-fi standard, but sometimes one only wants an acceptable recording for delayed listening purposes, especially when one is using the main hi-fi system to record something else. I have, however, been appalled by the quality of many cassette radios which omit Dolby-B. Almost invariably, they incorporate an automatic recording level control which is frequently completely maladjusted, resulting in the peak level on the cassette being well below Dolby level. In the absence of Dolby anyway, this can give a reproduced sound which represents a very audible waterfall, accompanying the programme. Many have ALC circuits incorporated to

allow microphone recordings to be controlled at peak level, but why must so many manufacturers take the output from the tuner section into the mic input circuit via an attenuator, and then allow the programme to pump up and down like a water pump? Some of the radios gave a 30dB dynamic range, which is next to useless, and I can see no reason why the tuner feeds could not have gone directly into the record amplifier section of the deck, bypassing the dreaded compressor circuit and mic stages. Do manufacturers ever listen to their lo-fo products? My old JVC RC656LB, even with Dolby switched off, and with the auto record level switched in, gives a performance far superior to almost all today's budget sets costing below £ 100.

Prom Preamble Before listening to this year's Proms I decided to listen to some Proms that I taped in 1970, a few months after I first installed Dolby-A processing in my hi-fi system, which I used from then on for nearly all my off-air recordings. I was interested to see what the average balance sounded like compared with that from last year's Proms, and I found the differences fascinating. The same fairly wide variation in balancing was apparent, but I feel that the general standard seemed in some ways to be better than it is now, although signal/noise ratio was sometimes not so hot and low frequencies can only be described as rather soft, no doubt due to the time delays at low frequencies of the old Post Office lines. The old tapes didn't seem to produce the

incoherent reverberation heard in recent years, and I suspect that a simpler coincident mic technique was more frequently used, sometimes further away than seems common today. The atmosphere usually seemed more natural, and the treble end was often smoother despite the age of the recordings. The very best Proms of today probably achieve a better standard than the best of yesteryear, but I have not heard the nasty vague cello tone on the old tapes, and positioning was often very clear indeed. The hall reverberation somehow seemed longer, and this is puzzling: I wonder if today's balancers have begun to mix in too many pairs, with backward facing cardioids, gallery mics and other spot mics, in an effort to increase the reverb. This is surely more naturally picked up by a single pair, a little further away. Are some of the modern balancers too scared of picking up audience noise, which, I feel, should be considered part of the occasion? We shall have to see what happens this year; and I hope we are not going to be subjected to phasey matrix quad transmissions, which I have never liked when heard in stereo. Let us hope for the best, for the BBC now have such superb equipment. -,tt-

111-1,1 NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 27

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CD THE STATE OF PLAY

Martin Colloms resorts from the IERE coil°. uium

DURING A DAY of informative papers and discussion introduced by

Hugh Ford, invited speakers revealed some of the future plans and ideas for the CD medium, the scope of which indicates a very rewarding future, with applications which could extend far beyond CD's current use as a high quality stereo audio recording medium. The colloquium, arranged by the Institution of Electrical and Radio Engineers, was held at the Royal Institute, and was well attended by many leading names in the audio industry. The key to its future lies in the very nature

of the CD medium, a very large optical data store of low replication cost and compact physical size. At present designed to carry two channels of 16- bit, 20kHz bandwidth audio, the recording code can also carry data for many other applications including graphics, test, and raw computer data. Furth-ermore, there is no rule which says that the present audio standard is fixed for eternity. Since the disc and the players are both digital, and the players' high microprocessor content can be extremely versatile, the disc and player together can be made to commun-icate at a hardware level. For example, a special application player can be designed to respond to an instruction code recorded on the disc. The disc might have a digital code saying 'CD, mono, speech audio channel, maximum playing time 11 hours'. The player would respond on loading and reading the disc instruction by setting its speed and circuits appropriately. This would be an excellent format for a talking book for the blind; the easily mailed disc can be com-pared with the present bulky and costly tape cartridge, which is also expensive to dupli-cate.

While 11 hours may be the possible play-

ing time for fair quality speech, another application might

require a medium wave radio bandwidth of moderate dynamic range, for use as back-ground music in shops, etc. The data requirements for this would allow a very useful four-hour playing time for a single disc.

It is often not appreciated just how large an information store CD represents. Used to full capacity, it offers 700M-bytes, equivalent to about 250 floppy discs in computer tech-nology. Two possible applications were sug-gested, albeit not too seriously at this stage. It was mooted that the entire world's tele-phone directory could be put onto one disc. The other suggestion could solve a major problem which faces computer software houses because of the large inventory that is required to maintain a sophisticated word processing package like Wordstar. Separate copies are required for the wide range of computer languages used by the various different machines that are on sale, and perhaps the whole lot could be recorded onto a single CD, including versions in different human, as well as computer, lan-guages. Such alternative applications have also

been suggested for the optical videodisc (HFN/RR 'News', June), and no doubt some will be realised. However. I believe that CD will dominate this area largely due to the power of the mass market. The 30cm video-disc has not been an unqualified commercial success, and the comparatively restricted volume of sales has kept both discs and players fairly costly items. To some degree the videodisc is also showing an understand-able lack of committed forward investment for continued development. CD is expected

to exceed videodisc sales by many times, ....eel' and this scale of marketing and production 11-1Q should turn it into a widely disseminated, and hence reasonably priced technology, both for hardware and software. Hugh Ford's introduction gave a rundown

on digital and CD basics, including the invidious comparisons of the various prac-tical recording systems. Digital PCM, for example, was compared with the main ana-logue methods available, such as profes- Elm sional audio tape and less effective media including audio tracks on videotape and both magnetic and optical film soundtracks. He omitted vinyl disc, presumably because it is not a recording medium per se except in the little used direct-cut form. Generally, vinyl discs are cut from a prior recording, so vinyl is only an intermediary.

Digital recording linearity is very good towards peak levels, but deteriorates prog-ressively at lower levels towards the quan-tisation limit. However, it was noted that this low level distortion was masked in practice. In contrast, analogue systems are poor at peak levels but improve at lower levels towards a noise floor which is rather worse than for digital. Digital is very good at low frequencies but weaker at higher frequen-cies, limited by the need for a steep filter above 20kHz, whereas professional open reel analogue tape is poor at low frequen-cies, due to head contour and wavelength anomalies, while its high frequency perform• ance can be pretty good, with ample band-width. The major defects of all analogue systems,

from which digital is entirely immune, are considered to be poor modulation noise (particularly with optical soundtrack on film), and the problems of print-through echoes or ghost signals on tape. By the time Dolby or dbx noise reduction has been applied, ana-logue system frequency responses are rarely better than -±2dB from 50Hz to 20kHz; digital, however, can routinely achieve 5Hz to 20kHz with ± 0.2dB. Furthermore, wow and flutter is ever present to varying degrees with analogue systems, but is banished entirely by the quartz-locked data timing in PCM recording. From the professional viewpoint, where

much of the business relies upon the ability to post-process, manipulate, copy, edit, mix and master, etc, the quality advantages of PCM can become overwhelming, especially now that effective methods for near- perfect digital editing are becoming available. What-ever we might think, digital is here to stay, and will continue to reinforce its hold over studios in the coming years.

In a sense CD is only a part of this process; when fully developed, the present hi-fi stereo application may represent only a part of the overall CD business. It is perhaps unfortunate that CD is tied to old video-based PCM standards at 44.1kHz, which necessitates a conversion process for the now standard 48kHz professional sampling rate.

Error correction was also outlined, and note taken of the very powerful algorithms used to cover long data errors. As Michael Sykes, then of Sony, was later to comment, elements of the coding and protection remain NSA classified material. It was pointed out that the P&O parity checks for errors should note be confused with the P&O subcodes. [As if anyone would! Ed.) On the subject of subcodes, a total of

eight, from P to W, are available on the disc, in addition to the music data. P is devoted to track starting 'flags' or indications, plus the time-code data. CI covers quite a range of >31

o

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW ALGII ST 1984 29

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Dual CS514 Dual CS505/1 Improved Dual CS505/1 Improved Dual CS505/1 Improved Dual CS505/1 Improved Dual CS505/1 Improved Dual CS505/1 Improved Dual CS505/1 Improved Dual CS505/1 Improved Dual CS505/1 Improved Dual CS505/1 Improved Dual CS505/1 Improved Dual CS505/1 Improved

The following turntables are available as EXTRA COST OPTIONS to the Dual CS505/1 in the above systems.

Sansui SR222IV £0.00 Oak/774LC £35.00 Mission 775LCT £80.00 Nad 5120 £15.00 Rotel RP850 £65.00 Acoustic Re/Lv X £165.00 Rotel RP830 £15.00 Ariston RD40/opus .. £75.00 Ariston RD80/Basik LW £ 135.00

crto.o0 Svstemdek II/774LC £100.00 Pink Triangle/LE1 £415.00

4- Rotel RA820 • Marantz PM310 + Rotel RA820 + Nad 3020A + Rotel RA820B + Rotel RA840B -i- Yamaha A300 + Marantz PM310 + Marantz PM350 + Rotel RA820 + Rotel RAMO + Nad 3020A + Sansui AUD101

SUGGESTED SYSTEMS Wharfedale Diamonds or Celestion 100 £199.95

+ AR8LS or Cel 10011 or Chorale Ill or Mission 7011 or Laser 90B or Diamonds £219.95 + AR8LS or Cel 10011 or Chorale III or Mission 7011 or Laser 90B or Diamonds £239.95 + AR8LS or Cel 10011 or Chorale Ill or Mission 7011 or Laser 90B or Diamonds £264.95 + AR18LS or Cel 11011 or Coda Ill or MS20 or A40 or R252v or DM110 £269.95 + AR18LS or Cet 11011 or Coda Ill or MS20 or A40 or R252v or DM110 £294.95 + AR18LS or Cel 11011 or Coda Ill or MS20 or A40 or R252v or DM110 £269.95 + AR18LS or Cel 11011 or Coda Ill or MS20 or A40 or R252v or DM110 £239.95 + AR18LS or Cel 11011 or Coda Ill or MS20 or A40 or R252v or DM110 £259.95 + AR18LS or Cel 11011 or Coda III or MS20 or A40 or R252v or DM110 £254.95 + AR18LS or Cel 11011 or Coda Ill or MS20 or A40 or R252v or DM110 £284.95 + AR18LS or Cel 11011 or Coda III or MS20 or A40 or R252v or DM110 £284.95 + AR18LS or Cel 11011 or Coda Ill or MS20 or A40 or R252v or DM110 £264.95

Theirertnc TÙ1 66

FREE * Cartridge supplied with above systems. * Leads provided with above systems.

* Carriage for mail order customers on above systems.

Amplifiers A 8 R A60 £199.95 AR THE AMP £199.95 Lan 1200 £119.95 Maranta PM310 £59.95 Marantz PM350 £74.95 Mission 778 £229.95

Nad 1020 preamp £64.95 Nad 30208 £109.95 Nad 2150 power amp £179.95 Nad 3150 £219.95 Pink Triangle Pip £359.95 Rotel RA820 £79.95 Rotel RA8208 £99.95 Rotel RA840 £119.95 Rotel RA84013 £124.95 Rotel RA860 199.95 Rotel RA870 £224.95 Sansui AUD101 £84.95 Sansui AUD22 £99.95 Sansui AUD33 £114.95 Quad 34/44/405.2 £ P.O.A. OED £99.95 Yamaha A300 £89.95 Yamaha A400 £99.95

Also Technics, Pioneer, Sony, JVC, etc., etc.

Tuners A 8 RT21 £199.95 Hitachi FT5500 £155.95 Lux 7210L £104.95 Marantz 51320 £79.95 Marantz ST430. £.49 95 Nad 6125

Nad 4020a Nad 4150 Ouad FM4 Yamaha 1300 Yamaha 1500

£109.95 £169.95 £ P.O.A. £99.95 £129.95

Tuner Amps Nad 7150 £299.95 Nad 7125 £179.95

Also Technics, JVC, etc.. etc.

Cassette Decks Anrea-Don't forget! " If you can buy cheaper elsewhere tell us-we want to know!"

Aiwa ADF250 £99.95 Aiwa ADF330 £119.95 Arwa ADWX110 £189.95 Aiwa ADR 550 £199.95 Aiwa ADF660 £249.95 Aiwa ADF770 £299.95 Aiwa ADYVX220 £279.95 Aiwa ADF990 £349.95 Akai HX3 £89.95 Akai HXR5 £129.95 JVC KDV22 £69.95 Nakamrchr BX100E £229.95 Nakamichi BX150E £299.95 Nakamichi RX202E £399.95 Nakamrchi RX303E £599.95 Nakamichi RX505E £749.95 Nakarnichi 2X7 £849.95

£139.95

Nad 6050c £159.95 Yamaha K300 £144.95

Turntables Acoustic Research £179.95 Acoustic Research/LVX £259.95 Anston RD40/opus £159.95 Anston RD80 £189.95 Dual CS505/1 Imp £79.95 Dual CS514 £59.95 Lux £ P.O.& Mission 775LCT £168.95 Nad 5120 £99.95 Pink Triangle £398.95 Rotel RP830 £99.95 Rotel RP850 £149.95 Sansui SR222 Mk IV .. £76.95 Systemdek Il £115.49 Systemdek IIX £115.95 Systemdek IIS £219.95 Thorens 10166 £109.95 Thorens TD160 Super £139.95

Arms Mission 774LC £69.95 brin LVX £84.95 SME Ills £99.95 Syrinx LEI £107.95 Syrinx PU3 £295.95 Audio Tech All 120 £ P.O.*.

Speakers AR8LS £79.95 AR18LS £99.95 AR28LS £129.95 AR38LS £179.95

AR48LS AR58LS Boston A40 138 WOM110 85W DM220 Celestion 10011 Celestion 11011

Celestion SL6 Kef Chorale Ill

Kef Coda Ill Kef Cantor Ill Kef Carina Kef Caprice Kef Carlton Ill Kef R103.2 Mission 7011 Mission 700S Mission 707 Mission 737 Mission 770 Mission 780 Monitor Audio R252v Monitor Audio R352 Monitor Audio R152 Mordaunt Short MS20 Mordaunt Short MS40 Quad ELS63 Rogers LS1 Rogers LS3/5A Rogers LS5 Rogers LS? Rogers Studio 1 Spendor Prelude Spender SPI Wharledale Diamond

£219.95 £319.95 £99.95

£119.95 £199.95 £89.95 £99.95

£269.95 £79.95 £99.95

£119.95 £129.95 £149.95 £199.95 £249.95 £89.95 £119.95 £149.95 £199.95 £379.95 £599.95 £99.95

£169.95 £199.95 £98.95

£166.95 P.O.A.

£161.95 £227.95 £218.95 £287.95 £396.95 £219.95 £489.95

£64.95

Wharfedale Laser 908...£89.95

EXTRA SPECIAL OFFERS

This Month Only

Yamaha K300 £144.95 Technics SUV505 £139.95 Technics SL5 £99.95 Yamaha A300 £89.95 Dual CS505/1 Imp £79.95 Thorens TD166 Mk Il £109.95 Celestion SL6 inc. "free" SL6 stands £269.95

Thorens TD160 Super £139.95 Akai CDD1 Compact Disc Player £194.95

Akai HX-3. Cassette-deck. Including Dolby B & C noise reduction. £89.95

• • ...•• \‘`,,••

•

JVC KO V-22. Cassette-deck, Including Dolby B& C noise reduction. £69.95 •

Compact Discs Hitachi DA800 £399.95 JVC XLVI £299.95 Maranta C063 £299.95 Maranta CD73 £299.95 Nad 5200 £399.95 Sony CDP101 £399.95 Sony CDP501 £489.95 Technics SLP7 £369.95 Yamaha CDXI £359.95

Rack Systems Moarantz . £ tel £P.0*.P.0.*. R

Pioneer X.A3 £254.95 Pioneer XA5SL £329.95 Pioneer XA7SL £389.95 Pioneer XA9SL £519.95 Pioneer tall rack extra .. £20.00 JVC GRII £254.95 JVC GX111 £299.95 Technics 215 £279.95

Aiwa V1000 ex Spks £ P.O.A. Akai System 5 £459.95 Akai System 1 £239.95 Akai System 3 £349.95 Technics 315/10 £299.95 Technics 315/20 £354.95 Technics 315/25 £379.95 Technics 315/30 £434.95 Technics 315/35 £489.95 Technics 315/40 £499.95 Technics 315/45 £599.95 Technics 315/55 £759.95 Sony Compact 35 £339.95 Sony Compact 44 £439.95 Sony Compact 55 £629.95 Sony Compact 77 £839.95 Speakers included unless stated.

Clearance Specials" JVC RX40 (new) £139.95 Celestion SL6 (ex dem) £219.95 M/Short Pageant (ex dem).£199.95

Speakers included unless stated. Maranta MS300 (new) £299.90 Marantz MS350 (new) £399.90 Quad ESL (S/H) £224.90 Kef RI05.4 (SM) £474.95 JVC AX40 (new) £99.95

£ P.OA. Technics SLDL1 (new) .. £139.95 £345.95 Aiwa ADF660 (ex dem). £219.95 £429.95 Aiwa ADF 770 (en dem). £258.95

Aiwa V900 ex Spks Kef Coda (ex dew) £89.95

• Clearance specials are generally in perfect condition and sold with full warranty.

Midi Systems Aiwa V300 ex Spks £349.95 Aiwa V350 ex Spks Aiwa V600 ex Spks Aiwa V700 ex Spks

Prices include VAT and were correct at time of preparation (approximately 5 weeks before publication) but are subject to

change without notice E 80 E

Mail order to Sevenoaks Hi-Fi, 118 London Ro, Sevenoaks, Kent. 0732 459555

II Please Send me I enclose cheque/cash/Card no. including p. & p.

Name

Address

I HFN EV84

I. ms MI MM MM MMI MI All goods fully insured against loss or damage in transit. Please allow up to 10 days for delivery. although it should normally be

l much less. Carnage and Insurance £5.00 per item. NB-Mail Order Sevenoaks branch only.

CD THE STATE OF PLAY

information, instructing the player on the following: pre-emphasis or no pre-emph-asis; stereo or quadraphonic (yes, this is part of the standard, offering 30 minutes playing time); music number; music origin; country; serial number; internal recording code (could use disc analyser to log needle times automatically). Tony Griffiths of Decca covered aspects of

studio master tape origination, and also succeeded in putting on some useful music demonstrations, despite the adverse hall acoustic. The digital mastertapes used for CD reproduction can be produced in a vari-ety of ways. Original recordings may be analogue, digital, two- or multi-track in a variety of formats and codes. Post-produc-tion may involve analogue or digital mixing, and analogue or digital editing. At the final stage the subcode information must be created for use with the final digital master to produce the glass CD master necessary to replicate digital CD copies accurately. At least one AID process and possibly

more will be required to link program sources to the mastertape, and this may well involve digital signal processing. Studer have recently announced some early results of research into digital processing, whereby it should prove possible to 'restore' some recordings to correct noise etc, which could well prove a valuable tool for historic and archive mater al. Decca's philosophy is to minimise the

number of analogue-digital conversions and maximise the master standard in the studio. Historically, studio standard has always been ahead of that possible for consumer replay, creating a so-called ' professional headroom'. Potential consumer replay quality may now with CD be on a par with the studio, and no 'headroom' left. While in fact a perfect ND-D/A system

should provide over 96dB of dynamic range, and indeed the best CD players can give this on replay, the recording part (AID) is a little poorer, managing around 90dB with moder-ate dither. Arguably, consumer CD exceeds the recording standard in this respect. Long-term goals include the use of 18- bit

recording and 18+-bit editing, with high accuracy transcoding to the CD master, though these latter operations must also be correctly dithered. By such techniques final rounding down should provide clean true 16-bit master quality on the CD; by implica-tion, even the best of the present CDs are not yet true 16- bit. ( Indeed many of those issued have poor resolution, as has already been surmised by certain critical reviewers.)

It is now known that errors in recording techniques include: failure to maintain the alignment of the digital equipment; failure to understand tne need to exploit fully the peak modulation capacity of the system; the use of undithered 16- bit editors and undithered 48-44kHz transcoders. These have resulted in a number of CD and vinyl equivalent record issues carrying imperfect digital quality program.

Certain widely issued recordings have digital distortion at a level equivalent to 12- bit, a standard widely accepted as inadequate. These must be regarded as failures in the context of what can be achieved by CD, and hopefully will fall by the wayside as the CD catalogue grows. Program dynamic range was discussed,

with a demonstration of 40-50dB range on well recorded orchestral music. During the initial quiet passage the ( analogue) hall clock was clearly audible, while the following climax was pretty loud, requiring 200W peak program power per channel into the B&W 801F monitors. It was felt that a metered 50dB or so of dynamic range was about right and that the responsibility for achieving it lay not only with the recording team, but more particularly the conductor and performers: 'get the performance right' is the golden rule. Post-production adjustments could well be audible in view of the high transparency of the CD replication system, so should be avoided at all costs. Decca do not believe in using error con-

cealment in professional working, preferring instead to run a low error rate recording medium with 100% protection. The import-ance of dither was emphasised by demon-strating a post-production fade-out of a piano using a 16-bit undithered digital edi-tor; quantisation distortion was audible at the moderately louder-than-life replay level. A properly dithered fade-out which followed gave a subjectively clean result.

Dither is a must for digital processing operations, and the digitally-derived variety is preferable to the simple addition of a bit or so of plain noise at the input. Interestingly, dither adds some slight noise modulation, which is otherwise absent from digital sys-tems. Dither is described as a technique for linearising the low-level step-like nature of the transfer characteristic, by modulating the distortion harmonics into broad-band ran-dom noise. This amounts to much more than the effect of the simple masking of noise plus quantisation distortion. The distortion sub-jectively disappears with dither, changing into a negligible increase in noise level.

It was noted that a number of vinyl disc cutting rooms could only accept analogue tapes, so an analogue copy is required of an original digital master. Yet the cutter itself usually uses a digital recorder/delay store for the audio signal, in order to derive the advance information for variable width groove cutting. Every such digitisation inevitably degrades noise and clarity. Decca demonstrated to the audience the effect of three digitisations on a master, and the quality degradation was quite audible. While the digital encoding system will

operate down to DC, it is common to have a small DC offset at the coder input to help cope with MSB ( Most Significant Bit) prob-lems, namely the potentially serious non-linearity which occurs at the transition to the most significant bit. Decca use a high-pass filter set at 0.7Hz to block the added DC offset down the chain. They recommend that the CD program should commence with natural ambience, rather than dead 'digital' silence, and this also helps the user to set a natural volume level.

Carlos Olms of Polygram made a dramatic entrance, appearing in a full costume with headgear with the hall lights blacked out; this was the dust-free garb of operatives in the super-clean CD manufacturing plant. Polygram began when Joseph and Emil Berliner founded DG in 1898, and by 1904 disc production at Hannover had reached 25,000 a day, or some 9 million per annum. Work on optical videodiscs suitable for mass replication by thermoplastic moulding was under way in the new Hannover factory as early as 1961, 1971-79 seeing LaserVision progress from development to full produc-tion, and the beginnings of CD digital audio development. By late 1980, Hannover had produced the first CD in the lab, and the

following January the decision was taken to build an entirely new CD plant. This became operational in August 1982, and a total production of 6 million CDs was reached by December of the following year. By March 1984, expanded mastering and production capacity will have raised Hanover production to some 15 million discs per annum, in a factory employing some 220 persons work-ing a three shift system. CD manufacture was described as much

more difficult than the vinyl equivalent, as it requires far greater precision within smaller dimensions. A spotless environment, immaculately clean machinery, new quality control processes and technology, and new manufacturing materials and machinery are all essential. The production processes are more elaborate than for vinyl discs, compris-ing the following stages: mastering; electro-forming; moulding; metallising; lacquering; punching; printing; packing. The CD is a precision injection moulding of

polycarbonate ( specifically Bayer Makrolon). Once the array of data pits have been moulded in the surface of the disc, it is metallised in a vacuum chamber in batches of 700. The layer of aluminium is just 60-70 thousandths of a micron thick (compared with normal gold plate which is 1-10 microns thick). High standards of cleanliness are essential to preserve a low error rate on the disc, and some idea of the effect of a small imperfection or dust particle can be gained from the density of data pits on the disc. This is quoted at an astonishing 20 million/cm', so the area covered by an average grain of sand would probably contain 10-20,000 laser-reflecting information pits. The active surface is highly vulnerable

both from a physical and a chemical stand-point, so it is protected by a tough lacquer, dripped on to the spinning disc and forming the disc's back. The lacquer used is hardened by ultra-violet catalysis, and the label information, also ultra-violet cured, is screen printed directly onto the lacquer surface. But before this occurs, the disc correctly centred and a precision centre hole punched out. Every disc at Hannover undergoes 100%

optical quality control. Optically visible flaws are noted: bubbles or scratches; pinholes in the aluminium coating; 'orange peel' rip-ples; ' bi-refringence' ( an effect more com-mon at the disc periphery). At present bi-refringence restricts playing time to around 63 minutes or so, but improved moulding techniques should extend the play time to a full 75 minutes ( Denon are progressing in this field). Quality control is completed using laser scanner sampling, a computer dividing the surface into sectors.

Before completing his presentation with a dazzling sequence of overload excerpts, Car-los Olms noted that CD was a precision optical product, and like spectacles should be handled with reasonable care. Abuse should therefore be avoided, despite the much-quoted earlier marketing claims to the contrary. In fact multiple greasy fingerprints represent a greater problem than a few random scratches; fortunately they are easily removed.

Sony UK Michael Sykes reviewed some of the Compact Disc processes, concentrating par-ticularly on the optical and tracking details of the Sony player, plus the servo control and demodulation systems, including error cor-rection. He also pointed out that six or seven CD factories were coming on line in Japan, each with an annual capacity of some 2

>33 NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

31

BELIEVE JOHN ATKINSON?

. extreme high frequencies were a little 'spiffy' . .

". . . the DQ10's threw image depth even with record-ings which should have been flat-perspectived . . . ."

". . . . lateral stereo positioning was more unstable than I had been used to .."

". . . . attempting to focus on any one instrument proved unsatisfactory . . . ."

le. . . . I feel the Quad ESL-63 to be the better speaker . . . ."

‘‘. . . I was not that enamoured . . ."

John Atkinson — Hi-Fi News, July 84

OR STAMFORD IDISTRIBUT1011

Parkhouse, Warren row, Wargrave, Berks, RG1() 8QS Tel Littlewick Green (062882) 5035

Who should be contacted for all information about this controversial loudspeaker, and the name of your nearest

stockist, (who may be able to demonstrate why this speaker has been in production for over a decade!)

At MUSIC IN THE HOME CD rules and THREE'S COMPANY

Ever since the appearance, some ten years ago, of the astonishing, BBC-designed, LS3/5A speaker, we have asserted that 'small is beautiful'. If we did not altogether abandon bulkier speakers, this was because some rooms require sound on a larger scale and because, for some music-lowers, an extended bass

response greatly enhances listening pleasure.

In recent years, however, an interesting and exciting new idea has been gaining ground — that of the sub-woofer. This is quite simply a third speaker, with or without a built-in amplifier, designed to supplement units like the LS3/5A at the lower end of the frequency scale. What makes this 3-way notion so attractive arises from the fact that the frequencies handled by the sub-woofer (usually below 100 c/s) contain virtually no directional information; this means that only one such unit is required and that it can be placed lust about anywhere within the listening room.

The Audio-Pro 132-40 and Jim Rogers sub-woofers (£297 and £161, respectively) are, of course, add-on units designed to complement any pair of small, high-quality speakers (as well as some that are not so small). In addition we also have on display a purpose-built 3-way system designed by Peter Jay of Harmony Audio. This elegant concept, which costs £1000, consists of two small satellite speakers on stands plus an attractive sub-woofer unit which can be placed centrally (though it need not be) and contains three power amplifiers, so that the

main equipment is confined to a pre-amplifier and whatever 'front ends' you may

require.

Come to Moscow Road and listen to this remarkable concept by way of the finest Compact Discs, for which our enthusiasm remains unbounded and for which 1984 will surely prove a year of triumphant consolidation. Whether heard via a pair of QUAD ESL 63 speakers or one of our 3-way systems, CD is nothing less than a revelation to anyone still unfamiliar with what it has to offer in the way of crystalline clarity and total absence of background noise. And, please note, that anyone who purchases a CD player from us will thereafter be able to buy all Compact Discs from us at a discount of 20%!

Thomas Heinitz

Heinitz & Kirk Ltd MUSIC IN THE HOME

35 Moscow Road Queensway London W2 Telephone: 01-229 2077

Opening hours: 9.30 to 5.30 (Thurs. 9.30 to 1; Fri. 9.30 to 7)

IN AN INDUSTRY WHERE SO MANY CLAIM TO DO SO MUCH ISN'T IT NICE TO BE IN

NO DOUBT

£450 Ask these dealers why they stock it: HARROW AUDIO 27 Springfield Road, Harrow. 01 863 0938 THE SOUND ORGANISATION 1 Cathedral Street, London, SE1. 01 403 3088 UXBRIDGE AUDIO 278 High Street, Uxbridge. 0895 33474 Kl LEISURESOUND 48 Wigmore Street, London, VV1. 01 486 8263 BILLY VEE SOUND SYSTEMS 248 Lee High Road, London, SE13. 01 318 5755 K I LEISURESOUND 101 St Albans Road, Watford.

0923 45250 STEVE BOXSHALL AUDIO 41 Victoria Road, Cambridge. 0223 68305 ACTIVE AUDIO 12 Oshaston Road, The Spot Derby. 0332 380385 SOUND DESIGN 128 Cordy Lane, Underwood, Notts. 07737 71 9547 WRBI Teddington. 01 943 1438 THE ULTIMATE ROOM 250 Station Road, Addlestone, Surrey. 0932 57960 RADFORD HI-FI 52-54 Gloucester Road, Bristol. 0272 428247

RADFORD HI-FI 43 King Edward Court, Windsor. 07535 56731

£495

MAGNUM PRODUCTS

Distributed by:

PURE GAIN LTD London

01 794 0884

32 HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

1

CD THE STATE OF PLAY

million discs, in addition to the Hannover CD production increase. Sony's Toshi Doi outlined the processes

used for professional CD mastertape produc-tion, including equipment such as the PCM1610 processor, which is used world-wide. Some of the professional digital requirements were outlined, such as the ' dial cue' control on the CDP300 pro-player, which enables easy high resolution forward and back cueing for broadcast purposes. The main Japanese cutting centres were named as CBS/Sony, Toshiba/EMI, Sanyo, Mat-sushita, Nippon Columbia ( Denon), JVC and Pioneer. Others such as Telehaute, CBS/ Sony and Polygram are in progress in the USA. The pause or gap at the start of tracks was

not standardised, which was also a point Alan Mornington-West of the IBA was later to raise. For small independent broadcast studios an instant cue start ( 0.2s) was consi-dered desirab'e, as provided at present by Polygram's 0.2s/5-frame lead-in. Sony have favoured a longer delay of around 1 second, or 15 frames. (The 'frames' refer to the NTSC video standard.) The production techniques were described

covering the subcodes ( P-WI. Mornington-West explained the need for a little more code detail, sufficient to allow automation of the accounts returns to the performing rights authority*, a necessary but time consuming chore for all broadcasters. A suitable data output from the CD could link with a small microcomputer, logging ' needle time' and record data.

Toshi Doi noted that the size of the P-W subcode data capacity would require 20-40 floppy discs at the mastering stage. This is clearly impractical, and exploitation of the subcodes could conveniently rely on a Sony proposal for adding the data to the present 'U'-matic master tape format. From top to bottom the track layout would be as follows: CIL (clock), then the slanted video-format music data tracks, three linear tracks com-prising SMPTE code, subcodes R-W, and finally the P&Q subcodes at the bottom. He mentioned work progressing on

recordable CD, the so-called DOR system, whereby discs coated with a special laser-sensitive alloy can be recorded or mastered in a machine similar to a present CD player. DOR could constitute a low-cost CD master-ing system, or be used for personal data banks — indeed for any purpose requiring data and/or audio storage. However, this development is clearly still some years away. For broadcast purposes such a machine would be an invaluable replace-ment for the current cartridge machines used for 'jingles', adverts and the like: automated accounting systems could enable convenient advertiser billing.

Polygram: the future The proposed use of the subcodes was also covered by Bjorn Bluthgen of Polygram, who whetted appetites with a presentation enti-tled 'Quo vadis? — the future of the Compact Disc'. Much of the following material repre-sents proposals for discussion, and Bjorn stressed that contributions from both inside and outside the audio industry would be very welcome to help formulate these future standards. The use of line graphics for the R-W codes

*PPL Phonographic Performances Ltd

is now close to agreement. The capacity is 34.2k-bits per second which allows an image refresh rate of 75 times a second for a 4-font image constructed from a font of 4 x 6 x 12 pixels. The draft proposal for line and TV graphics allows full screen displays with up to 512 colours. The music tracks may thus be accompanied by a musical score, a multilin-gual libretto, or by appropriate graphics. Here CD might take on pop videos, for example, a CD/graphics video jukebox being a likely application. Methods of text display also need resolv-

ing. A line-by-line format would be appropri-ate for the simple line display of a future CD player, but the same mode would not be so desirable for a full TV screen, where page replacement is preferable. As the disc plays, the data stream used for

audio or its alternatives runs at 176,000 bytes/s, and the system subcode runs at 132,000 bytes/s. Four alternative uses for CD were suggested: low fidelity multiplexed audio, with or without subcode graphics; PCM audio with subcode graphics; ROM applications ( read only computer-type mem-ory); interactive audio visuals.

Several methods are in fact possible for the low fidelity option. Multiplexing in time and/or sample domains is one possibility, and provides a 4kHz mono sound channel based on 8-bit non-linear coding at an 8.82kHz sampling frequency. A method of sub-sampling was outlined which can pro-vide a 'talking book' of eleven hours play time. Select a 10kHz bandwidth and 4 hours of Muzak is possible; or accept speech degradation to a level of simple intelligibility and 22 hours are available! As a ROM store, around 700M-bytes of

error corrected memory are available, and the R-W graphics capacity remains intact. Based on the specialised ROM application, this data could be used for low fidelity audio synthesised speech or music, high definition stills or graphics. Audio visuals may be coded via interleaving, and used as educa-tional or computer software. Given a player with interactive capabilities,

preferably linked to a micro-computer or dedicated controller, an interface is sug-gested which will carry the following facili-ties; audio and ROM data output, subcode R-W data output, player control functions (pause, play, goto, mute, speed, audio/ROM mode select, byte length select, player mode select). In a sense this is an extension of the remote control functions already present on many existing CD players. Such functions will allow a computer programme to access and control the CD player, giving, for exam-ple, more versatile video arcade games. The memory size is sufficiently large for bran-ching games to be stored, where the game is open-ended, changing in response to input by the player. As far as the timescale is concerned, line

and TV graphics are planned for 1984-5, and a Karaoke ( Singalonga) application is sche-duled this year. Low fidelity audio together with the ROM application may appear in 1985, while the following year is suggested for interactive audio visual exploitation.

General Reactions Alan Mornington-West commented upon the departure by some CD players from the official standard, namely the undesirable 11.34us interchannel delay. A simple two stage, all-pass network was all that was required to correct this, and such a filter is now widely used with offending players. He related some IBA experience with CDs used for broadcast, and noted that in general they

did well, without the need for special treat-ment or compression. Using a BBC noise measuring technique with a PPM, a dynamic range of 85dB was quoted from 'A'-weighted noise to peak program level for CD. This compares with typical figures for stereo radio of 60dB, vinyl disc 65dB, and medium wave radio 35dB. The question of a test disc for broadcas-

ters, carrying convenient alignment tones, etc was raised. Extra signals beyond the IBA specification would be • considered useful, such as intermodulation, group delay distor-tion, and impulse response. Meter test sig-nals for a PPM would also be useful, and the potential of the CD player as a very high performance inexpensive signal generator was also recognised. Within its 20kHz band-width, a CD player and suitable disc have a performance which comfortably exceeds some of the finest audio sweep generators, which may cost eight times as much.

At present all of the agreed information and specifications on the CD system are contained in the 'Red Book', which is only supplied to the originators and licensees of the system.

Clive Swan of Polygram covered the launch and marketing of CD, explaining the relevance of the 25+ male music lover/hi-fi purchaser with sizeable spending power. This group was considered the launch target area. The second sales phase is to be directed at the 18+ male music lover group, who are not necessarily first time buyers or outright purchasers of CD players, but who may well have access to one. Continuing expansion of CD facilities and applications, plus improvements in player and to a lesser degree disc prices, will all help the medium to grow. He felt that the first year's progress had been most encouraging, and anticipated a constant growth to dominate the audio market over the next 4-8 years. The overall mood of the event was one of

great interest and enthusiasm, with an underlying confidence in the basic merit of the 16- bit 44kHz CD standard for all music applications, including the highest fidelity. Some of the speakers showed a somewhat

cynical attitude towards those members of the press who had been unduly critical of digital, whom they felt could have been rather more open-minded on the subject. It was noted that some audio critics had prefer-red 'sampler' to full length versions of some program, without perhaps realising that all levels had been brought up to peak on the former, while the latter tracks had been left at their originally produced level! The question of pre-emphasis was also

raised, in connection with Polygram's deci-sion not to use this, in contrast to Sony, CBS and other Japanese producers. Pre-emph-asis results in a midband level 3-5dB lower than peak, owing to the record headroom allowance. Polygram felt that CD neither needed nor benefifted from its use. Taken overall, the need to improve recording stan-dards and techniques was apparent, and would obviously be taken seriously by the several manufacturers involved. Developments in both player design and

studio mastering techniques should yield audibly improved standards fairly quickly, to a stage where most of the sharpest-eared critics will find it hard to criticise CD when referenced to the original master. It should then be able comfortably to take its place in an established hi-fi system as a reliable high quality source of music. The success of audio CD will hopefully provide a foundation for the expansion of the other applications, with their attendant benefits.,/,-

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 33

LOUDSPEAKERS

LOUDSPEAKER MANUFACTURERS' technical literature is littered with esoteric terms such as ' Butterworth

maximally flat', 'Tschebycheff', etc, when describing crossover networks. Is this just another form of cosmetic writing or do these words represent physical realities? And if so, what? Yes! They are not culled from 'The Advertiser's Thesaurus of Unlikely but Interesting Names' but, together with 'Taylor', ' Bessel', and others, are the names of the inventors of particular mathematical functions which are named after them, and these functions can be applied to network theory. Before discussing these particular species, which are a section of the family 'Wave Filters', it may be advantageous to discuss the genera. The concept of a 'Wave Filter', that is, a

network which allows undistorted transmis-sion of a particular band of frequencies while at the same time suppressing all others, was formulated over sixty years ago when the feasibility of transmitting several voice sig-nals simultaneously ( without mutual interference) on a single transmission line was proved. This basically simple idea has now developed into one of the most impor-tant disciplines in communication technol-ogy today. Network theory started with Heaviside,

who, in 1887, suggested that the transmis-sion efficiency of telephone lines could be increased by compensating for the line capacitance by, in turn, increasing its induct-ance. This concept was partially realised by Krarup in 1902, by winding iron wire or tape over the copper line, thus increasing the inductance. But because of the low per-meability of the iron it was not very practical. However, when high permeability materials (Mumetal, etc) became available, continuous loading was used, especially on submarine cables.

In 1900, Pupin suggested 'lumped' load-ing; by adding inductors at regular intervals along the line, the system would (within limits) act in the same way as continuous ferrous loading. In 1903, Campbell's classic paper appeared in the Philosophical Maga-zine, which developed the concept of limit-ing the upper frequency (the cut-off fre-quency) by adding inductances the value of which was determined by the line constants (resistance, conductance, capacitance, and inductance) per unit length. This had the effect of reducing the losses at the high frequencies within the pass band. The so-called 'Campbell Formula' gives rigorously the propagation constant per ( say) mile of loaded line, and thus provided the basic groundwork of the 'Wave Filter' which was patented by him ( US Patent 1227113) and published in the Bell System Technical Jour-nal Vol.1 No.2, November 1922. This was developed into a fine art (and I use the word judiciously) by Zobel, Shea, Johnson, to name but a few brilliant engineers and mathematicians in the first quarter of this century. The basic premise is shown in fig.1. This is known as ' Half section' network and gives a nominal 12dB/octave attenuation constant

outside the pass band. ZT = impedance looking into 1-2 with Z„ across 3-4 Z„ = impedance looking into 3-4 with ZT across 1-2 ZT//Z, = Z1//Z2. Two simultaneous design equations are

provided by classical image-parameter theory:

(Z1/4Z2) = — 1 &0(1) Z = (Z1Z2)1/2 [ 1+1Z1/4Z211 1/2 (2)

Z1 and Z2, the full series and shunt arm impedances respectively, must be suitably related to make ( 1) true at the desired cut-off frequencies, and the generator and load impedance must satisfy ( 2). The resulting attenuation for a low-pass case (fig.41 is: ✓ out _ 1.0 when f„ is less than

cut-off frequency, fc ( 3) ✓ in

✓ out = exp Un-1) cosh (fo/f.)1 (4)

✓ in when f,„ is greater than cut-off frequency, fe where ' n' is the number of poles.

lated attenuation curve would indicate. Zobel, in 1923, got around this difficulty by inventing the so-called 'm-derived' section, and whilst this improved the mismatch effects enormously, it did not provide an exact answer to the problem.

Fig. 1 shows a ' Half section' network: it is derived from either of the two basic net-works, ' Full T' section (fig.2) and ' Full Tr' section ( fig.3). All filters can be broken down into either one, or a combination of these three basic configurations. Fig.4 shows the low-pass' analogue, and fig.5 the 'high-pass' analogue. As stated before, the Half section has a nominal attenuation slope of 12dB/octave, whilst both of the Full sec-tions (3-pole networks) have a slope of 18dB/octave, and for each additional pole the attenuation constant will be increased by 6dB/octave. The nub of the problem is, how close to

the design parameters can we approximate with practical systems, especially when in the illustration above we are dealing with the simplest Half section filter with a nominal slope of 12dB/octave? Imagine the prob-lem with slopes of 100 or 200 dB/octave, using 10 or more sections, which can and do occur in practice.

For more than four decades filters were designed in accordance with this basic 'image-impedance' theory, and in practice a close approximation was calculated, a model constructed, and the filter elements then adjusted ( if necessary) to produce a network which would satisfy the system design

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Equation ( 1) offers no problems, but the application of equation (2) is physically impossible! The generator and load impe-dances must be pure resistances of value (UC1 1/2 at zero frequency; as frequency increases the value of resistance must decrease to zero at cut-off frequency (t); and with a further increase in frequency must behave like a pure inductance starting at zero value at fc and increasing to L/2 at infinite frequency. It is thus physically impossible to produce practical terminating impedances which exactly simultaneously satisfy equa-tions ( 11 and ( 21. The relative attenuation indicated by equation (4) is similarly incor-rect and cannot be exactly realised in prac-tice. The actual result is that the terminating

impedances would be mismatched at all frequencies in the transmitted band except one, and the actual insertion or transmission loss of the filter will be increased by reflec-tion losses at the terminations. This causes an even more gradual cut-off than its calcu-

requirements. The sheer volume of arith-metical computation rendered exact mathe-matical syntheses of sophisticated network systems impractical in terms of time and cost. Thus the design ( if I dare mention the word) of networks, in common with louds-peakers and gramophone pickups, owed as much to art as mathematics. The introduction of the digital computer in

the 'fifties revolutionised filter design because it enabled a well established mathe-matical concept known as 'approximation theory' to be applied. For example, if we want H(w) to approximate F11 very closely at wo, we can expand H() and F(„,,,) in a Taylor series and we can approximate the design centre as closely as we wish by increasing the terms! Using a slide rule or seven figure logs this was just not feasible. Butterworth, Bessel, Tschebycheff, Elliptical functions, amongst others, are particular polynomials designed to meet specific transfer functions. The ideal low-pass filter (the same is true

of high-pass if we reverse the frequency

3-1 111 -FI NEWS& RECORD REVIEW 1:GUST 01,4

scale) is shown in fig.6. It shows no attenua-tion at all from zero frequency to 1, and infinite attenuation above cut-off ( f,>1). All practical filters are more or less an approx-imation to this deal. The simplest case is the Butterworth approximation: the pass band can be extremely flat near zero frequency, and the attenuation can be set to any value at high frequencies by increasing the number of poles; but the approximation in the vicin-ity of the cut-off frequency is poor, resulting in a 'rounded shoulder' of about 3dB for a Half section network. Fig.7 is typical.

Fig.8 shows the Tschebycheff case; as with the Butterworth, zero response occurs only at infinite frequency. In the pass band a 'ripple' is developed, the number of ' ripples' is determined by the number of poles, and the amplitude is under the control of the designer, being ultimately determined by the 'Q' of the inductors and dissipation of the capacitors. The ' ripple' can be as low as 0.18dB, but is generally between 0.5dB and 1.0dB. Where it scores is in the 'sharpness' of the band at the cut-off frequency; other things being equal, it can be proved that the Tschebycheff type gives the steepest slope. Where a given stop band attenuation must

be guaranteed, especially close to the cut-off frequency, the Elliptical function comes into its own. Like the Tschebycheff, it has equal 'ripples' in the pass band, but it also has equal 'ripples' in the stop band, and very high minimum attenuation close to the cut-off frequency f, can easily be specified and, more importantly, obtained ( see fig.9). Even though the Tschebycheff and Ellip-

tical functions give theoretically higher per-formance than the Butterworth type, the latter is most popular where attenuation slopes not greater than 24dB/octave are adequate because they are less critical of component tolerances, and generally use fewer components. It can be asserted with confidence that the higher the performance and shunt branches, which are used where exact impedarce matching of two unequal

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demanded from a numerical design, the more difficult the design will be, because:

1. Element value tolerances will be more critical.

2. Insufficient element 'Q' will drastically reduce performance.

In the foregoing discussion we have assumed that the filter elements are lossless. This is impossible to achieve in a real world, therefore the system must be designed to take into account the coil and capacitance losses together with the terminating impe-dances. It is normally assumed that the losses will be concentrated in the coils and that the terminating impedances will be resistive. The exception is 'uniform dissipa-tion' network, le, identical losses in the series terminating impedances is essential.

Modern transistor power amplifiers with very large amounts of negative feedback give (within limits) a constant output voltage irrespective of load resistance, and the generator impedance will effectively be zero. Therefore the network must be designed with this in mind, and not assume equal source and load impedances. The impedance of low frequency louds-

peaker units operating well above the major resonance is usually an inductance of 0.2-1.5mH in series with a resistance of 8-12 ohms. High frequency units working above the main resonant frequency but below the series resonance (voice coil inductance resonating with the reflected capacitance due to the mass of the diaphragm and coil) will present a capacitive reactance, and these reactive components can resonate with the terminating arm of the network.

Let us examine in some detail a 2-pole Butterworth network of the simplest kind. In this example the inductance will be 1.0mH with a loss resistance at 1592Hz (w=104) of 0.3 ohm, a capacitance of 10pF with negligi-ble losses. The generator has a source impedance of 0.1 ohm and the elements are arranged as a low-pass network, see fig.4. The load impedance is a pure resistance and the response of the system ( insertion loss) is shown in fig.10, where different values of load resistance are plotted. It will be seen that the system is maximally flat with a load resistance of 8 ohms (the design centre is actually 7.6 ohms) and that as the load resistance is increased there is actually a 'gain' of several dB within about an octave around the crossover frequency. The input impedance of the network is a

function of its terminating impedance and frequency. Fig.11 plots the input impedance with varying load resistances at the design centre; it is substantially flat up to the crossover frequency, when the impedance rises rapidly. One would expect that in the pass band (where the network is not sup posed to have any effect) the input impe

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dance of the network would be that of its load. Fig.11 shows that this is far from reality at frequencies near the crossover (f,) and in cases of load resistance greater than the design centre the input impedance of the network can be substantially lower than the design centre. With a 20 ohm load it actually drops to about 5 ohms at 1.7kHz. It should not be assumed that the actual impedance presented by the loudspeaker at the cross-over frequency is the normal value stated on the manufacturer's instruction sheet, and the speaker impedance characteristics should be measured in order to determine exactly what its parameters are.

If we interchange the inductance and capacitance (see fig.5) a high-pass network will result, and, as seen from figs.12 and 13, the same impedance values occur relative to the crossover frequency.

Even with relatively small variations of load resistance the actual slope at the cros-sover point can vary by more than 2:1, and fig.14 plots the insertion loss for values of resistance of within ± 1.5 ohms of the design centre. The necessity for loudspeaker manu-facturers to maintain strict quality control of voice coil resistance is self-evident.

Fig.15 shows the variation of the attenua-tion slope at the crossover point for different values of 'generator resistance', and the values plotted are well within the range encountered in connecting loudspeakers to the amplifier through several metres of cable. It may well be that the difference heard between 'super cables' and a bit of lighting flex is due in part at least to this variation in slope. In these curves the sensiti-vities were normalised at 400Hz because in addition to the change in slope there will obviously be a change in sensitivity due to the loss resistance of the cable, which can amount to 4dB in the worst case. Perhaps some enterprising loudspeaker manufac-turer will supply his units complete with matched sets of leads, and specify the output impedance (looking into the terminals) of the amplifier for optimum performance. The performance figures given above are

with a 'pure' resistive termination which does not vary with frequency. Fig.16 plots the modulus of impedance of a typical 8in. diameter loudspeaker of 8 ohms nominal resistance. At the low resonant frequency of 35Hz it has an impedance of approximately 92 ohms, dropping to a minimum of 8 ohms in the mid frequency range then rising again with increasing frequency. The minor 'glitches' at 550Hz, 900Hz and 2kHz are due to odd mechanical resonances in the diaphragm system and for our purposes can be disregarded. It will be noticed that the resistive component varies with frequency due to 'back EMF' and eddy current losses. When this loudspeaker is connected to a

low-pass network as described above, the

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>39

NI- WS ¼ RI- CORD RL\ UK' AuGusT 1964 35

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3(1 1-1I-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

CD CONSIDERATIONS

Robert Matthew-Walker examines c uestions raised b Corn act Disc

THE COMPACT DISC, since its com-mercial launch 18 months ago, is the most recent of the new systems for

home reproduction of recorded music. As the domestic adaption of technological development is now a comparatively fre-quent occurrence in our society, the suffi-ciently important foothold CD appears to have gained demands an appraisal of it, and of its likely future.

Personal subjectivity forms part of any appraisal and having been an avid record collector for 35 years, the reason I buy albLms today is precisely the same that impelled me to start collecting: music. My experience in the record business has rein-forced my belief that the overwhelming majority of records are bought for their musical content, and for no other reason. People certainly do not buy recorded music on the basis of technological advance. If this was not true then — assuming we have advanced technologically in the last 25 years (and if we have not, the discussion had better come to an end now) — why is it that these technological improvements have not been reflected in increased record sales? Sales of classical records are today generally not much higher than they were 20 or so years ago, and in some instances are signifi-cantly less. Mono Elvis Presley recordings still outsell many of the latest rock bands and it is also probably true that technically execrable recordings by a conductor such as Toscanini will outsell efforts by our current darlings. In these cases, which could be multiplied, it is certainly not recording qual-ity which determines commercial success. The advantages claimed for CD appear

impressive: indestructibility and the absence of surface noise. The latter is to be welcomed as the essential advantage of the new medium, but the claim of indestructibility is, somewhat paradoxically, of ess importance. One might ask what the entertainment busi-ness thinks it is up to by making something which never wears out? A glance at the monthly releases of most major record com-panies shows that about 50% are reissues of older recordirgs; if modern advantages in remastering enable record companies to sell their older recordings at a cheaper price to a newer audience, what is the point of reis-suing indestructible recordings in the future? The point of reissues is that they are cheap, which implies greater sales, a higher manu-facturing order and therefore lower unit costs. If CDs are to be reissued, such a future reissue policy carries with it the implication of lower price: if they are not, then what will satisfy the demand for budget recordings in the future other than conventional albums? If one could buy a television set which will never wear out, or a motor-car which will last for ever, these would indeed be valuable acquisitions. As the population of the West-ern World has reached its zenith, and our medium-term prospects for sustained eco-nomic rebirth appear to be founded upon little more than wishful thinking, the only justification for buying newer televisions and motor-cars in the future must be because of further technological development, which, in itself, carries the implication of obsoles-

cence, the essence of capitalist manufacture, and which inescapably means that Compact Disc, in its present form, has to become obsolete. As to their indestructibility, the short

answer is that CDs are not indestructible. Damaged CDs, instead of the momentary plop or click of conventional discs, have temporary drop-outs — sudden gaps of silence. No-one is going to go out of his way to mar £10-worth of goods just to prove the manufacturers' claims wrong, but it is as well to be aware that CDs cannot double as buffet plates or coasters. What would you rather have: the music with a scratch, or the music with gaps? Most people look after their conventional record collections; the 'jam-and-mud' media claims of CD mean nothing to the discriminating record col-lector. The consumer also has to lay out a fair bit

of money for CD. One hears 'Of course, it'll come down in price' or 'New technology/ demand/second generation/they're cheaper now in Japan' reasons, but the system is not cheap at the moment. 3-4 hundred pounds is a lot of money to pay, especially when recording itself is no better than on conven-tional discs, and in one particular regard appears significantly inferior: that of bass frequency distortion in CD format, which is not apparent on conventional discs, and, of course, is discernible on all labels. Side-by-side demonstrations of the analogue system and CD are rare; if the new medium is so good why is it so difficult to demonstrate how great the improvement is? Manufactur-ers had no trouble demonstrating stereo against mono, or quad against stereo, or cassettes — when they finally became acceptable — against discs (although I have never heard a cassette that was the equal of the corresponding disc). Walk into a TV shop and you will see a dozen or more sets going at once; a garage-owner will permit test drives of new cars, but go into most hi-fi stores and ask for a side-by-side demonstra-tion of the LP album and the CD, and see where it gets you. Why is it that comparisons are so rare? Is it that the benefits might not be so readily apparent? CD is yet another system for the complete

home music lover. Twenty years ago, even a small record player could have coped with mono and stereo LPs, 45s and 78 discs, as well as the odd 162/3 album of spoken word. Nowadays, even with the unlamented death of the 8-track cartridge and assuming one still retains a system for those priceless 78s, one has to be able to play the usual stereo and mono discs in two speeds, cassettes, quad discs ( still largely undervalued but commercially defunct, although there were some sensational issues in all three sys-tems), video in one of several systems, laser discs and Compact Disc, among others. One thing is crystal clear from all this: new technology has horribly complicated what was once a beautifully simple system. Apart from other necessary equipment to receive television and radio broadcasts, we have surely reached the stage where a general shake-out.is long overdue. But if this is the case, can we be sure that CD is a fully-

formed technological development in itself, or merely a stepping-stone to a more com-pletely integrated system? A corollary of CD is that if it succeeds it

ought to mark the death of the prerecorded cassette. CDs are small enough to slip into handy-sized carriers, as are cassettes. As CDs are more difficult to damage than tape, as cassettes do not match LPs for quality, and as it ought to be perfectly possible to develop miniature CD players, the death of the prerecorded cassette is merely a matter of how long the hardware manufacturers want it to take. However, the sudden increase in cassette

usage for home computers brings us full circle, and gives the cassette an unexpected boost. The replacement of the cassette by CD

could have meant the end of one of the long running sores in record sales — that of illegal taping — were it not that illegal taping is now impossible to eradicate by the introduction of a new system, as the software is an integral part of big hi-fi business. Whilst the broadcast of a record can increase sales, figures show that such increases are by no means what they were. The broadcast of an outstanding new recording can mean lost sales of up to 1000 copies per broadcast as the interested public tapes the album off the air. The remedy for record companies is clear: as the days of Radio 3 are doubtless numbered in its present form, the companies should forbid the broadcasting of complete records of less than, say, two years old, in much the same way as new films are forbidden to be shown on TV until a suitable time has elapsed. The inherent smallness of the CD format

makes it share a disadvantage with cass-ettes: lack of space for information. This is a drawback only in classical product, though, apart from those vain rock stars who insist upon the words of their songs being printed with the album. Sleevenotes and disco-graphical information are an important part of product presentation, and it would mean a decline in standards if such material was sacrificed, and there is a risk that it might. The financial involvement in the develop-

ment of CD has been such that any self-respecting international banker will want to begin seeing a return within not much more than five years. In manufacturing terms, current reject rates of around 40% bode ill for the immediate term, although this rate is declining. A further possible disadvantage is that, in a sense, the system was not developed with its application as a medium for the reproduction of music in mind. The decision to proceed with CD would have been taken about five years ago, at which time unemployment in the Western World was approximately half what it is now. The current recession is frequently compared with that of the 1930s, but the lessons from 50 years ago have not always been learnt. During the 1930s stereo recording was developed, long playing records were issued, tape recording was invented and television broadcasts began, but at that time they were failures, commercially. The public did not have sufficient disposable money to buy enough of them and there was strong competition from the cinema; there are curious parallels here with the immense competition sound recording faces today from video. The vast majority of recorded music sales

are in popular music, and what such buyers demand nowadays is a video-carrying for-mat. With the overwhelming majority of record buyers being unsatisfied by the new

37 HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

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5 input impedance bears no resemblance to the smooth curves obtained in fig.11. The modulus of input impedance is shown in fig.17, and this is a result of the loudspeaker impedance varying with frequency. At fre-quencies between bass resonance and the series resonance (about 350Hz in this case) it presents a varying capacitive load, and at frequencies above 350Hz presents a varying inductive load. It may surprise some people that at 100Hz the speaker presents a capaci-tive load of 130µF, the capacity reducing with frequency to zero at 350Hz and then present-ing an inductive reactance at higher frequen-cies, see fig.18. Thus, at the crossover fre-quency this inductive reactance will resonate with the terminating capacity of the network and give a ' lift' at that frequency, the amount depending on the IT of the system.

Fig.19 shows the overall response of the system which instead of 'rolling off' at 1592Hz now has a peak at 2200Hz and then dies rapidly. It may be interesting to com-pare fig.19 with fig.10. The correct solution is to apply the well

known Zobel network, in which an induct-ance and series resistance are shunted with a capacitance in series with a resistance. The value of the capacitance is equal to LJR2, where R is the AC resistance, and L is the inductance of the voice coil at the crossover frequency; the R of the network is the same value as that of the voice coil. The combined circuit will present a pure resistance at all frequencies (assuming, of course, that neither the capacity nor the inductance vary with frequency). Referring back to fig.16, it is seen that the resistance is of the order of 9.5 ohms and iiductance is about 50001. This will give values in the Zobel network of 9.5 ohms and 611F, and when these are applied to the system the improvement in impe-dance matching can be seen, fig.20. The overall response is shown in fig.21 — com-pare with fig.19!

The performance of the high-pass system (fig.5) behaves in a similar manner when terminated with the appropriate tweeter. It will be found that in many HF units the input impedance at f, will show a capacitive react-ance instead of inductive as in the LF unit. The capacitor in the Zobel network is then replaced with an inductance; the design equation applies to both cases.

In recent years, the use of Full section 'T' networks has become increasingly popular. They reduce the bandwidth in which both drive units are operating simultaneously, and the acoustic summation products can be reduced substantially; additionally, a very good impedance match between the louds-peaker system and amplifier can be obtained. The price paid is very tight toler-ances of component values including the

drive units. No mention has been made of 'phase shift'

because (a) it is bound up with the complete system design: the individual element values for the two networks taken separately must be modified to take into account the acoustic response and mutual reaction of the drive units when mounted in an enclosure; and ( b) time is running out — (I doubt whether my long suffering editor's patience would endure another 200 words plus dia-grams on this additional dissertation). To summarise: there is no mystery about

networks, but it is most important that strict attention be paid to component tolerances. An absolute limit of 5% should be observed, and if all the tolerances go one way (and this occurs more than most manu-facturers like to admit) the resulting differ-ence in sound quality can be heard. The more progressive manufacturers carry the 'maximally flat' concept one stage further by including the acoustic response in the equa-tion, and by selecting inductors and capaci-tors in matched pairs, produce crossovers in steps of 2% frequency tolerance. These units

are then matched to the drive units which have been selected to similar tolerances. It is now possible ( in a controlled environment such as an anechoic chamber) to produce loudspeakers in quantity with a total spread of less than ± 1dB to the design centre — whether under domestic listening conditions one agrees with the loudspeaker manufac-turer's concept of 'design centres' is a matter which our reviewers will spend many happy and fruitful years discussing.

In 1948, I was commissioned to design the microphone used in the ' Medresco' hearing aid produced for the National Health Service. The overall performance requirements spe-cified by the Medical Research Council were tight, but realistic. Acoustic measurements were rudimentary, the ' Rayleigh Disc' was the primary standard for measuring sound levels, and reciprocity methods were then in their infancy. It was not until the Western Electric 640 A 1 in. capacitor microphone became available that accurate acoustic measurements became a practical proposi-tion outside the NPL or Dollis Hill. During this development I persuaded about 50 operators from the factory floor to have their hearing tested ( actually to check the efficacy of my test equipment). They were mostly female, between 16 and 30 years old. Apart from the normal hearing sensitivity tests, I checked for ability to discriminate small changes of frequency and level. I was surprised to find that the majority of the subjects could easily hear a frequency difference of 1Hz in the band 800/3000Hz, and level differences of 1dB in the same frequency band at a nominal SPL of + 75dB. Intermodulation products of —30dB could also be detected.

If untutored members of the public can hear such marginal changes, it is to be expected that professional 'listeners', whose hearing acuity is substantial, will perceive even smaller aberrations. It is my opinion that many of the performance anomalies reported by reviewers are not all figments of their imagination, but are subliminal irregular-ities in the overall response of the systems which go undetected by our current measurement techniques. I do not neces-sarily agree with all their assertions, but I suggest that some, at least, should be rigor-ously quantified. I would also suggest that the time has now arrived when 'complete system' design should be adopted, with the amplifier and loudspeaker manufacturers agreeing on common interface values and limits.

Unlike Titivulus, it is hoped that the above verbiage will shed a ray of light (albeii feeble) on some of the apparent anomalies of performance when loudspeaker topics are discussed in the technical press. - t

CD CONSIDERATIONS

medium's current lack of any video applica-tion, the medium-term success of CD in international financial terms has to be seriously in doubt. Manufacturers might refer to critical

acclaim as a pointer but the success or failure of CD depends ultimately on con-sumer acceptance, not on critical praise. A depressing feature of record criticism is that it is often inadequate. One could name many highly-praised records wherein whole bars of music are missing, which have been badly edited, where instruments play in the wrong keys and the players misread their parts —

and these are recent releases where such glaring flaws are not even remarked upon by those whose task it is to do so. With such a somewhat suspect critical climate, what trust can the public ultimately have in endless enthusiastic recommendation? The last great innovations of comparable

importance in classical recording were stereo and the long-playing record. Within a short while the artistic advantages of both were demonstrated by the issue of important and commercially successful recordings which conclusively proved to the public the undoubted merits of the new systems: in particular, Decca's Ansermet Petrushka and the Knappertsbusch Parsifal in the case of the advent of LP, and the Decca opera recordings which culminated in Solti's 'Ring', wherein the creative use of stereo was a significant ingredient. Unfortunately, it

is not possible to see how CD can work comparable advantages, especially in view of the preponderence of digital issues which are often harsh and glaring in their aural image to the extent of causing one to wonder in what circumstances the makers of such efforts actually listen to music for pleasure in their personal domestic environ-ments. The cost of LP against 78s was often in the LP's favour, and the continuity and comparative unbreakability were significant advantages; and stereo was only marginally more expensive than mono. But CD discs are twice the price of conventional albums, and however foolish it would be to deny the outstanding technological abstract achieve-ment of this new medium, the advantages claimed for it do not appear to be at such a premium in the marketplace itself, where ultimately the system will succeed or fail.

tà u

1H-1,1 NEWS 14z RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1954 39

AMP-0 1 A STATE-OF-THE-ART

PREAMPLIFIER Part 4: Ben Duncan describes the matchin . of line sources,

the line • rocessor, and the • am n structure.

MANY DIFFICULTIES and disappoint-ments, myths and misapprobations arise in audio-at-large because of

unfortunate matching. This is especially true with regard to domestic equipment, where generous drive capabilities ( not to mention any form of standardisation) are notably absent. The only sure way of overcoming this mess is for domestic equipment desig-ners to adopt the pure voltage matching techniques long associated with profes sional audio in the UK. For example, in my own field, Rock ' n' Roll sound reinforcement, all the myriad outboard processing doobries grouped around the mixing consoles will drive 600 ohm loads (or less) at the max-imum operating level of + 20dBU (8 volts), whilst all line inputs exhibit a much higher impedance of around 10k. These figures leave plenty of margin for the odd error (such as a long cable or two), so the engineer is freed absolutely from any worry about matching. With a hundred plus patches to be made in a very short time, this is necessary for his/her sanity (yes, at least two women have been spotted at the helm!) and, besides, the PA rentals business would grind to a halt if matching were anything other than ... er ... idiot-proof.

Pending the arrival of improved interfac-ing in domestic line sources, we have two options. One is to modify the equipment, adding driver cards which either bear NE5534s with 47 ohm output resistors or, more outrageously, BUF-03s sans le resist-ance. This will appeal only to the few readers who have the confidence to carry out the modification successfully: The mechanical creativity necessary to retrofit boards with-out prejudice to the exterior aesthetics or performance is often the main stumbling block. Failing this, there's a minor modific-tion that can be made to most sources which feature NE5534s in their output stages. This is to reduce the output buffering resistor to around 100 ohms or less — it often has an unnecessarily high value. Sadly, short of a profound research project, we can't tell you which equipment categorically will benefit from modification, so this leaves the ball in the court of the adventurous soul again. For the rest of us, loath to tamper with some-thing purchased from a shop, the only thing left is to accept those sources with sub-optimal drive capabilities, and tweak the preamp's front-end to accommodate the deficiencies with as much attunedness as we can muster. For this reason alone, the line processor ( LP) card comes in a myriad of guises, each optimally ( if subtly) tuned to a particular source. The penalty for this is some extra com-

plexity (although a series of tables make it relatively straightforward) and dedication: a module set up for your XYZ tape machine may require a few resistor changes when you sell XYZ, and install a superior machine from ABC. Of course it's a royal pain, but it's

also inevitable if we're to be assured of a well defined and accurate signal transfer (consistent with AMP-01's potential), despite the idiosyncrasies and machinations of domestic line sources. And it's instructive to note that ifthis equipment met the standards enjoyed by professional audio, there'd be no need for a gamut of different versions; one neat, standard LP module would suffice. (The professor lowers his arms, turns, and

Blake's metaphor, and the front-end Travelling back down the lineage of great European mentors, back past Koestler, Jung, Steiner, and Gurdjieff, we arrive at England's own William Blake, the arch-instigator of the Aquarian paradigm, visionary poet and engraver. 166 years ago, Blake encapsulated the Vedantic and Hermetic perception of 'corporeal' things when he wrote, ' If percep-tive organs vary, objects of perception seem to vary. If the perceptive organs close, their objects seem to close also'. Today, this succinct poetic description of how subject vs object duality is a fake, seems, perhaps, self-evident and familiar in the wake of The Visionary physicists. But if not, it's worth underscoring Blake's words in the context of the output; the preamplifier's front-end is a cardinal point, which may be thought of as perceptive organ and perceptive object simultaneously. In other words, to under-stand clearly, it's useful to perceive a reflec-tive duality: the line source is 'seen' by the LP module just as much as the LP module is seen by the line source.

'P, Pb

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spits vexatiously.) The good news is that with the disc

equalisation DEG card, we're able to dis-pense with the LP's front-end outright, lead-ing to a welcome relaxation both in compo-nent count, and general fuss. Therefore, readers who initially find the LP derivations for external sources a bit of a mouthful can begin gently by building LP for DECl to start with.

More words Breakpoint — the frequency where a signal, having passed through a filter, is XdB lower, as a consequence. X can be any figure you care to choose, but is commonly 1dB, 3dB or 6dB. Fo 1 is shorthand for the '0.1dB break-point' . 0.1dB represents a deviation, or error of 1%, ballpark. Gain peaking — when we say negative feed-back, we assume the feedback is displaced by 180° from the input, ie, in direct opposition. At high frequencies, this is not the case; the phase margin shifts down from 180°, and below 90° approaches positive feedback. But prior to actual oscillation the op-amp gets excited and wets itself — the gain peaks up in anticipation. Guardband — synonym for safety margin. Wavefilter — a romantic term for a filter; 1930s Hollywood sound-stage parlance. OSI— or Optimum Source Impedance is the generator impedance any active device likes to see, when looking out of its inputs, for lowest noise. It's a null point, where noise-current and noise voltages balance, is some-times called ' noise resistance' and is of most importance when interfacing with raw trans-ducers, eg, cartridges and microphones.

To dig into this more deeply, we'll need a map to refer to: fig.19 depicts the front-end topology in detail. The actual interface is taken to extend between the two active devices, namely the source (a tuner, say) and the active load, IC1. We'll now take a look at the rather convoluted impedance rela-tionships and discover what's necessary for the best performance of all the parts.

Let's begin with the source — your tuner, CD or whatever. If you recall, in European audio practice we go for voltage matching. This means drawing a negligible current from the source; little enough to avoid curtailing the transferred output voltage. As a rule of thumb, this condition is satisfied if the load impedance (ie, the preamplifier's overall input impedance) is at least ten times greater than the source impedance feeding it (1RS). Thus we feed low (source) impedances into high ( load) impedances. But the 'ten times' loading ratio isn't the end of the story, for as we saw in Part 3, NFB circuits can exhibit very low source impedances without necessarily possessing the current-sourcing capabilities to back up the consequences. This problem will perhaps be more familiar to you in the guise of power-amplifier pro-tection circuitry. In small signal circuits, though (ie, at line level) aggressive, multi-faceted protection circuitry isn't present, so limiting tends to be simpler and more linear in its application, and is normally restricted to sensing excess current — as we saw in Part 3, it's often done with a resistor. The penalty for approaching the circuit's drive limits are therefore a gradual increase in distortion, rather than any dire and sudden equipment freak-out.

40 111-11 NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AuGusT 1984

But a higher load impedance ( let's call it 1RL, pronounced 'one RL' and short for Load Resistance One) will be more comfortable to the source equipment, rewarding us with the knowledge that there will be no unnecessary distortion. At this juncture, many of you will have already arrived at the obvious notion that all we need to do is make 1RL much higher than the minimum necessary for the weediest source (eg, 470k) to satisfy all sources with OTT aplomb. But before jump-ing to conclusions, we'd better investigate the ideal load and source impedances for the remaining components.

Wave filtration — EH dissected Complicating factor number one is RF filtra-tion. Without it, front-end design is made easier, but who hasn't suffered the consequ-ences? Even if RF and ultrasonic energies aren't directly audible as breakthrough (taxi or CB messages, say), they're nonetheless inevitably manifest in the form of intermo-dulation products, ie, HF distortion, or as excess hiss. Designers should also note that ambient RF energy (ie, radio signals in the air), generally assumed to be civilised and well regulated in European countries, has been known to run amok when we approach the US. We should therefore take RFI seriously. Indeed, we'll come back tc3 it later.

Extending the reflective theme, AMP-01 shouldn't curtail audible frequencies signifi-cantly, or at least, not unnecessarily. Ensur-ing this won't happen without making RF filtration ineffective is all part of the balanc-ing act. C2 and R3 in fig.19 form an archetypal

6dB/octave low-pass filter, which can reject RF and ultrasonic nasties without doing anything untoward to audio quality — provid-ing the load and source impedances (groan .. .) are correct: that's looking to the right and left of R3. Luckily, the tidy Butter-worth response that we're seeking is attained by making 3RL, on the RH side, as high as possible, and keeping 2RS to the left as low as we can manage. If 2RS is too high, (for example when the source is tube, and has a highish source impedance due to low NFB), the effective value of R3 as seen by C2 will be raised, bringing the breakpoint (fe) down into audible realms, while insufficient ohms at 3RL will overdamp C2, leading to a soggy roll-off, which rather defeats the pur-pose of the filter. The advantage of buffering passive filters with close-seated, wideband op-amps, is that 3RL remains well defined and high enough to be useful well into RF realms. Moreover, the loading provided by R5 and IC1 is principally resistive. This is not true in passive circuits, or wherever the filter is displaced from its load by a cable; either leads ( so to speak!) inevitably to response irregularities. All this tends to make R3 and C2 behave just as the textbook says they should — providing we can get 2RS just right.

In Part 3 we saw that the Output Source Impedances of equipment in general should be kept low, if output at high frequencies was to be preserved, in view of the shunt capacitance of long cables. In particular, the rising source impedance as NFB runs out at HF, and the natural breakpoint induced by the cab'e's reactance should be kept well above the breakpoint fH introduced by the RF filtration ( R3,C2) if we're to avoid interaction with AMP-01's HF filtration. This might lead to unexpected losses at audible frequencies. Having said that, a preamp of AMP-01's calibre is expressly fitted with respectable line-driving capabilities to furnish ALL line sources with enough barlocks ('a technical term, you understand') to get the signal

around the room. In other words, it's reason-able to assume that, ( i) some line sources will display execrable source-impedance but ( ii), in these situations, cable lengths should be 1 metre or less. From this base-line, it's important that AMP-01's HF per-formance shouldn't be unduly contingent upon the source impedances seen at its LP inputs. This is achieved by scaling: by first making C smaller, we can make R3 bigger pro rata, and the breakpoint remains the same. R3 is now bigger perhaps than is strictly best for lowest noise, but also big enough to swamp-out likely errors intro-duced by an excessive source impedance, 2RS.

For example, with R3- 1k, a source impe-dance ( 2RS) of 100R will cause a 10% error in the predicted breakpoints. This may be acceptable if the breakpoint is swung upwards to compensate, but say 2RS is 1k; then the — 3dB breakpoint strays 50% below its target value. Added to this, output source impedances show a tendency to rise at high audio frequencies, particularly when NFB and/or loop gain is in short supply eg, with a weedy op-amp. A good rule of thumb is to make R3 equal to 10, or better 20, times 2RS. This places the HF breakpoint (fH) within 5 to 10% of its target value. And if we allow R3's and C2's values to deviate by up to 31/2% (eg, 1% for R3, and 21/2% for C2), the overall worst case error in fH will be between 8 and 13%. This is an improvement over the 50 to 100% overall deviation in fH encoun-tered in many line-level interfaces, and has important, if subtle, ramifications for stereo imaging performance, particularly with digital sources.

It's also possible to compensate by sub-tracting fis from R2, so the two make up the target value. This has the advantage of not aggravating IC1's noise mechanisms. But as a trade-off, the breakpoint is made more dependent on Rs, which as we've seen, is woefully indeterminate at high frequencies. Pah! Summing up, an ideal response is never

more than 0.1dB down at, or below, 20kHz, and never less than 0.1dB down at 28kHz (24kHz + 16%). The penalty for such an outrageous breakpoint, especially when it's defined with a 6dB/octave filter is that the f3 (-3dB) breakpoint is about ten times higher, at 240kHz. This need not degrade attenuation unduly at high RF frequencies leg, —60dB e100MHz becomes — 54dB), but does away with it all together at low RF frequencies; don't forget that Radio 4 broadcasts on 200kHz. Unless you live adjacent to an AM broadcast transmitter, though, you'll need a fair length of cable between the line source and AMP-01 before this breakpoint becomes a nuisance. One question: given the desirability of

keeping attenuation out of the audible range, why not improve RF rejection by doubling up the HF roll-off to 12dB/octave? Replacing R3 with an inductor will achieve this, but care-ful tuning and some extra components are needed to prevent erosion of the op-amp's phase margin, especially with a wide-bandwidth device like OP37. This is evident as gain peaking, typically a 2dB rise in the response around 150kHz, signifying latent instability. Tackling this, slugging the inductor's HF self-resonance, and levelling out the Q variations vs frequency, not to mention deriving a range of values for the filter to operate in a well defined manner (nasty, resonant cable lengths and deflective source impedances regardless) generates simply too many figures. To cut a long story short, unless you're able to check out the

performance under actual working con-ditions, inductors are best avoided.

In any event there are mitigating factors. To begin with, the OP37 and TL071 op-amps used exclusively at the front-end are less prone than most to act as RF demodulators. The OP37 is good because its wide band-width maintains a useful degree of error-correction up to mid-MHz, whilst the FET devices at the TL071's portals are intrinsi-cally RF-proof; they don't turn into demod-ulating diodes when assaulted by high RF energy levels. A second line of defence arises at R5; at high RF frequencies, it gives us a second breakpoint in conjunction with the shunt capacitance across IC1's non-inverting 1+ ) input. This breakpoint is not so well defined as the first, but it's high enough not to afflict audible frequencies and at the same time low enough to add some useful extra attenuation in the VHF band. The third line of defence applies when IC1 is set-up with a gain of + 5dB or more. In these instances, RF feedthrough (to the next stage) is diminished by C3, which progressively reduces the gain at HF to unity. With careful component selection, this rewards us with an extra 10 to 20dB attenuation at 1MHz without prejudice to the 0.1dB breakpoint. Other than defence expenditure, concilia-

tion is an intelligent gesture: lowering the fo 1 breakpoint to 15 or 10kHz will bring down f3 pro rata, and increase overall attenuation by 3 to 6dB. This doesn't sound very useful, but can prove so in instances when the demodulation action is close to its threshold. Then a rather small drop in the RF signal level can dramatically stop the break-through. From the viewpoint of audio, the response will now be around -- 0.15 or —0.2dB down at 20kHz. This is good practice for tuners and cassette tape machines, where there's little to be gained from open-ing Pandora's box too wide.

LP blocks DC DC at large within a system manifests itself uncomfortably in the form of bangs and clicks when switches are activated, or scratchiness on control pots. In a fully direct-coupled system, it will also displace or burn-out unprotected drive-units. If we skip overall direct-coupling, then DC can be kept at bay by placing coupling capacitors in series with the signal path between each stage, or by the use of a 'servo-circuit'. This doobrie is connected between the input and output of each stage, and essentially ampli-fies the DC error at the op-amp's output, so the NFB works harder to keep it at bay. At first sight, this sounds like a lateral means of dispensing with nasty coupling capacitors but, no, the servo still needs one. It's called the integration capacitor, and it needs to be rather a good one if its subtle shortcomings aren't to be audible. In other words, the servo certainly curtails DC, but it also ampli-fies capacitor shortcomings. Much worse, the envelope of the ( music) signal shifts as the servo adjusts. For AMP-01, then, it seemed wise to avoid the dubious complex-ities of servos, concentrate on pure capacita-tive coupling, and in any event reduce AC coupling to a bare minimum, because good capacitors are apt to be bulky and relatively expensive. Besides, extensive coupling (between every stage) is unnecessary when we're using op-amps. And as implied earlier, the coupling capacitors on the SLD. CXL and CXR are optional, and can be omitted if you add the extra components needed to null-out residual DC offset voltages, and have a meter capable of reading DC millivolts. Looking now at the AMP-01 within the

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 19114 41

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1 context of the system as a whole, noting the absence of capacitors to couple internally, and given that capacitors are non-kosher at outputs (because the load impedance is indeterminate and, worse still, reactive), there is one place left wherein they're desir-able to maintain AMP-01's DC integrity. That's at the input, of course. This is true unless we can guarantee that DC won't appear at the outputs of tape machines and the like. Often it doesn't, but sometimes it does. So the best approach is to assume DC is present. There will almost certainly be leakage, as 'consumer' equipment (ugh!) is invariably AC coupled with single, unbiased electrolytics. With this in mind, the plastic film capacitors at AMP-01's inputs win on either score: if there is DC present, the inputs are categorically DC protected (up to 63 or more volts, in either direction), because there is nothing polarised to leak or go short-circuit — plastic film capacitors have excellent insulation properties. And if there's no DC — not even a millivolt in sight — with AMP-01's input capacitors being film types, they won't, at least, be guilty of degrading the signal.

Channel One in dub 2RL is the load seen by the input coupling/DC blocking capacitor, C2, and can't be lower than 1RL, though it can be higher — it has 'one degree of freedom'. Aside from block-ing DC (any Value capacitor, bar infinity, does this), C2 also rolls off low audio fre-quencies with an accompanying phase shift. The frequency at which these effects take place — the breakpoint — is dependent upon the values of 2RL and C2 (Table 12). Low values tend to bring the breakpoint up into

2RL 680k 470k 330k 220k 100k 68k 47k 22k 10k 6k8 4k7 2k2

f3 0.1Hz 0.15 0.2 0.3 0.7 1.0Hz 1.5 3.0 7.0 10Hz 15Hz 30Hz

1Hz 1.5 2 3 7 10Hz 15 30 70 100Hz 150 300Hz

Lowest dielectric absorption effects, phase shift, and interchannel deviations

LF garbage filtration (where required)

Cl = 2.2pF, 2RL = load impedance seen by Cl. All frequencies are given to the nearest significant figure.

the audio band, and vice versa. Perhaps the foremost reference point for

discovering what the bass space is all about is when Aswad play at the Glastonbury Festival, where Tony Andrews and his Turbosound team have assembled ever more refined PA stacks over the years. The bottom end is smooth, because the basic response is flat, and moreover, the stacks are outdoors, point-sourced and phase-aligned. The bottom end also goes deep because there's over 360 square-feet of radiating area at the horns' mouths. With near perfect coupling to the air, a system like this is easily capable of producing 130dB SPL at 5 metres at 30Hz or below, at which point these very low frequencies become audible, and, con-trary to popularist 'scientific' opinion, it is not harmful to well-balanced people, provid-ing it is dub Reggae. have had similar experience myself with a superb outdoor PA system. There is a ' slam', a ' rightness', about ultra-low frequencies that I have yet to hear from any hi-fi system — Ed]. The experience is one of perception afresh. 'Mental and corporeal', as Blake would say. In particular there's the recognition that low bass encom-

passes spacious, feminine qualities which many people find transformative when they encounter them for the first time. The com-plete discovery of the bass space undoubtedly involves improved loudspeak-ers and the incorporation of basic LF acous-tic control into listening rooms, but with digital and the best analogue presently offer-ing the goods, a start can be made in the preamplifier. Thus AMP-01 developed a well defined subsonic roll-off at an early stage. The key mechanistic advantages are: first

that in Cl, distortion on asymmetric ( music) signals is reduced by an order of magnitude or more, because a subsonic f3 breakpoint implies negligible power dissipation and dielectric absorption; second, from IC1's perspective, the OSI is better satisfied at low audio frequencies, ie, optimum conditions for lowest burble noise; and third, back with C2, phase anomalies between channels may be discounted, because significant phase-shifts will lie below the critical regions, viz, the kickdrum fundamental and 32ft. Organ Pipe. There's also the advantage that tightly matched coupling capacitors need not be used; a relaxed tolerance, say ± 20% on these parts may thus be used with confi-dence, and with polypropylene capacitors, this can save us a lot of pennies. We can now come around to determining

a range of likely values for OLI-2 by first selecting Cl's value. Earlier, we noted that Cl should be a plastic film part. Now the highest standard value that's readily avail-able from the four leading European makers is 10µF, but it's sensible to economise on component values, so we'll make Cl equal 2.2µF. That's in agreement with C5 in CXL and CXR, or C3 on the SLD card. It's also more prudent as regards sheer physical size, not to mention cost. Given C2, we can now check out 2RL's minimum value for a suitable breakpoint; some figures are tabulated in Table 12. From this, two features are evident. First, for all normal purposes, we'd better keep 2RL at, or above 22k if we want to make do with a ± 20% coupling capacitor toler-ance. And second, if we need some extra rumble/LF garbage filtration, 2RL can be set reduced in value providing 1RL is willing, and not forgetting that as soon as we bring C2's disturbance into the audio band, tighter tolerances are called for. Specifically, we're looking at 1% tolerance when 2RL is below 22k, but here I should stress that this level of finesse will normally be sensible only in regard to serious digital and analogue recording equipments, and CD sources; for all others, filtration in the low-bass can proceed with impunity using standard and much less costly 20% parts.

lihreebyes: Bias. Bi-polars and Bi-FETs 3RS and 5RS are the ( DC) resistances seen by IC1 at its non-inverting (+) and inverting (—) input terminals. For the purposes of maintaining stable DC conditions within AMP-01, it's desirable that the offset derived from the front-end op-amp is a) reasonably free from drift and, b) in any event as low as possible. Another requirement is that the offset (/1055) ( see Pt.1, p.55 and Pt.2, p.37 for further elucidation on these op-amp DC parameters) at IC1's output is small enough to be reliably nulled-out. The output-referred %/loss is proportional to, ( i) C1's gain and also, ii) the sum of Vios (the input referred offset-voltage), plus the product of l, and los (the input bias and offset currents) multiplied by the DC source impedances (3RS and 5RS) seen at each input. At low impedances (3RS and SRS < 1k), the

Vios parameter is dominant, so an advanced Bi-polar device like OP37 will score well. If 3RS and SRS are higher, say above 100k, the low lia of Bi-FET devices (like TL071) comes into its own. Also, if 3RS and SRS are vastly different, which happens when we make 3RS large for the sake of lowering Cl's break-point, the los parameter becomes predomi-nant, which also bodes well for Bi-FETs. There are many swings and roundabouts here, but to cut a long sun.y short, both OP37 and TL071 can be nulled to < 1 mV at IC1's output (TP.1 in fig. 21). And providing R2 is 470k, or less, OP37 thankfully provides us with the best temperature stability, when the stage gain is at its higher settings. But what about NE5534? Well, its DC performance isn't normally discussed in polite company, and in short, it's best to forget this device for front-end duties. •

Noise and stability - A certain ratio 4RS is subtly distinguished from 3RS, being the (AC) impedance seen by IC1, looking out of its + input terminal. At audio frequencies, Cl is like a window pane, so IC1 looks at 1RS (the source impedance of the tuner, etc. via R3, 4 and 5. The OSI (Optin ,um Source Impedance) for the lowest noise output from IC1 is around 4k for an OP37 and much higher — say 470k — for a Bi-FET device like TL071; the exact value depends on the bandwidth of the noise spectrum being examined. But in any case, OSI relates strictly to the actual generator impedance (a fraction of 1RS), so the lowest noise isn't attained simply by matching the sum of 4RS to the OSI. The graph in fig. 20 shows what's happen-

ing. For any device, noise is proportional to

FIG.20 BI - POLAR AND BI-FET FRONT-END NOISE COMPARED

OVER

ALL NO

ISE VO

LTAG

E

OPT

11071

1k 10k 21k

SOURCE RESISTANCE, (IRS)

00k

I.RS Ellis 0P37

(d811) -11 011

1k -120 -110

10k -112 -109

22k -107 -107

100k - 96 -103

I.70k -66 -MN

NOISE MEASUREMENTS ARE TAKEN OVER A 10 Hz TO 10kHz 8ANOWIOTH,ANO FIGURES ARE UNWEIGHTEO, MEAN SENSING OMS

• EIN EQUIVALENT INPUT NOISE

HI-FI NEWS& RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1954 43

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4RS, so we'd better keep this as low as possible, In other words, R3 and 5 shouldn't be any higher than is desperately necessary. But failing this, then a TL071 will give best results when 4RS exceeds a certain figure (notice how its curve begins higher up, but swings up less rapidly). From the associated table, we can see that the two devices perform equally when 4RS = 22k. Below 22k, OP37 is the most quiet, whilst above 22k, the TL071 scores best. In reality, there are always other factors. For example, C2 lowers 4RS at high frequencies, but in practice the general rule 'OP37 22k TL071' holds. With R5 potentially getting in the way of

the noise specs, it's high time we established its purpose. We met Fig.19's R5 when visit-ing previous cards: it prevents IC1 from seeing a wholly capacitative or generally reactive source impedance at HF, so enhanc-ing stability. The symptoms of front-end hysterics can

range from a mild increase in HF intermo-dulation distortion, to outright brain dam-age. In the latter category come untermin-ated, high-impedance inputs, of course. 4RS is held down to a nice, safe value when the source is plugged in, but if 2RL and 3RL are set high, 4RS will rise dramatically whenever sources are being patched. The rise in source impedance, as perceived by IC1 and the RF filter is accompanied by a proportional increase in sensitivity to electrostatic and electromagnetic fields, and with any sort of cable length attached, it's a fair bet that the system will rudely amplify all the hum, hash and RF garbage at large in the room. Of

SLD before patching leads, this problem need never arise. But accidents and mistakes afflict all of us, so to prevent AMP-01 'screaming off into the ionosphere' in extreme conditions, the LP card's R1 ideally functions as a tie-down resistor. It takes up any difference between 2RL and 1RL, bring-ing down the unterminated impedance (6RS!) in the process. R1 will also prove of value to experienced readers, interested in terminating their connecting cables with a precise resistance (vide Pt.3).

Using the tables In the wake of the front-end investigation, we can now refer to table 13. This gives front-end component values for various sources. To begin with, line equipment is divided into 3 classes. Broadly speaking, Class 1 LP offers the best overall performance, but only for sources with professional capabilities. Most up-market domestic equipment slots into class 2, and difficult ones go to class 3. Perhaps you're not sure of the source

impedance? Often called 'output impedance' in manufacturer's manuals, this terminology is ambiguous and confusing with so many impedances at large. To belabour the point, 'output impedance' is not synonymous with the minimum load impedance. Anyhow, if you're in doubt, contact your dealer, or the manufacturer. Next choose the equipment category. Dual

letters are used here to signify the low and high gain derivations, starring TL071 and OP37 op-amps respectively, but otherwise component values are identical. As you can see from the ft. and fH frequencies given in the tables, A-E is the ultra-wideband version, where DC performance is traded for sub-sonic accuracy. This will appeal to readers with a passion for organ music — and with subwoofers to boot — and those who make digital recordings of cruise-missile launchers in action, with PCM-F1 and the like ... The standard version B-F is recommended

Table 13 Class 1 For all line sources, generally professional, capable of driving = 600 ohms €7.1 + 20d BU, with a source impedance of 50 ohms or less. This category includes most professional equipment and most CO players.

GET IN LANE: Choose your options

EQUIPMENT CATEGORY IC1 gain?

0.1 fH 0.1 RI R2: R3: R5: C2: C3: IC1

Oty 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

A -25 to + 10dB TL071) 2.bmz 24kHz 10k 330k lk lk 680pF 22pF TL071

D

25Hz 24kHz 10k 33k 1k 1k 680pF 22pF

25Hz 15kHz 10k 33k 1k6 2k2 680pF 47pF

251.z 10kHz 10k 33k 2k0 47 680pF 47pF

E F G H +15 to + 30dB ( 0P37) 2.5Hz 25Hz 25Hz 25Hz

24kHz 24kHz 15kHz 10kHz

6.8k 10k 10k 10k

330k 33k 33k 33k

lk 1k 1k6 2k0

lk 1k 2k2 4k7

680pF 680pF 680pF 680pF

22pF 22pF 47pF 47pF

OP37

Class 2 For domestic line sources, capable of driving 10k loads, with a sources

EQUIPMENT CATEGORY Cl gain? 0.1 0.1

R1 Gty: 2 R2: 2 R3: 2 R5: 2 C2: 2 C3: 2 (Cl 2

A -25 to + 10dB (TL071) 25Hz 24kHz 10k 330k 18k lk 33pF 22pF TL071

D

25Hz 24kHz 18k 33k 18k 1k 33pF 22pF

25Hz 15kHz 18k 33k 18k 2k2 56pF 47pF

25Hz 10kHz 18k 33k 18k 4k7 68pF 47pF

E +15 to +

F G H 30dB (0P37)

25Hz 251.1z 25Hz 25Hz

24kHz 24kHz 15kHz 10kHz

10k 18k 18k 18k

330k 33k 33k 33k

18k 18k 18k 18k

1k 1k 2k2 4k7

33pF 33pF 56pF 68pF

22pF 22pF 47pF 47pF

OP37

Class 3 For domestic line sources, with a high source impedance (greater than 1k) including tube equipment, and

needing to see a load impedance of 100k, or less

EQUIPMENT CATEGORY Id 1 gain?

0.1 440.1 R1 Oty: 2 R2: 2 R3: 2 R5: 2 C2: 2 C3: 2 IC1 2

-25 to + 10dB (TL071) 8Hz 15kHz OMIT 100k 47k 4k7 15pF 47pF TL071

D

8Hz 10kHz

100k 47k 4k7 27oF 47pF

G H +15 to + 30dB (0P37)

8Hz 15kHz OMIT 100k 47k 4k7 15pF 47pF OP37

8Hz ' 10kHz

100k 47k 4k7 27pF 47pF

P2, P3 setting: Link 1+2 for TL071

All resistors are IA watt, 1% metal film

Link 2+3 for OP37

for all serious analogue and digital tape machines. Category C-G has a 15Hz fo 1 for tuners and cassette machines, whereas with D-H fo 1 is lowered to 10kHz for extra RFI immunity with all LP sources. Note the shifts in the values of R5 and C3 as HF rejection is tightened up. You'll also notice that class 3 equipment excludes categories A-B and E- F, because the excessive source impedances involved don't warrant the bandwidth. As regards DIN output sockets, some manufac-turers (eg, Quad, Meridian) do use these, but the nasty thing we're concerned about is not the socket itself, which delivers normal line level in modern British products, but the fettered thinking that used to come with it, namely the DIN standard itself.

Its fascination with driving and attenuating every source via 100k output resistors is wholly at odds with high quality sound, so DIN standard sockets must be studiously avoided. This shouldn't be difficult, for to begin with, the HF response dies after encountering the first 100pF of cable capaci-tance. DIN standard outputs are most com-monly encountered on cassette machines, and you can nearly always have recourse to adjacent phono outputs, which exclude the offending mega-resistance. Note: the DIN sockets used for voltage matching (ie, low source impedance to high load impedance) on, for example, Quad, Meridian, Naim, and Audiolab equipment are not included here.

LP for disc, and the back-end of LP for all concerned Thankfully, the disc source from DEQ is buffered, free from hash, and has negligible

Table 14 LP-f0 - the analogue disc version of the LP card

Normal position

Link across: Cl,

for pin 1, IC1

IL

and ICI LINK

R3, R5, R9,

Linking let's poeition

Omit the following components: R1-8, R16, 17 IC1 PR1 SW3 C1-4 P2-3

Setting th• gain on the LP card for the analogue disc version only (LP/D)

Gain Required IC2 R13* C5 +10dB NE5534 4k7 OMIT + 5dB NE5534 12k 10pF

App. position of LP gain control: 71/2 71/2

0c113 TL071 OMIT OMIT 71/2

-5(1B -10dB

• When R14 = 10k

5 31/2

DC offset, so we can skip the LP card's front-end. To achieve this, we link across Cl, R3 and R5, and also between pins 3 and 6 at IC1's position. Table 14 clarifies this and also lists the components excluded for the ana-logue disc version. Although a total of 4 links are necessary, the predictable nature of the fixed and guarded PCB tracks is preferable to a piece of wire looped untidily and, worse, arbitrarily across the card.

NEWS at RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1964 45

Before taking up the trail at VR1 for external sources and Disc alike, we'd better examine some of IC1's associated doobries, not previously discussed in detail, fig. 21. Later, we'll see that, the DIL switch SW3 is used to set one of 2 or 3 possible front-end gains; you may wish to replace it with a link wire, once the gain structure is settled. The idea of the 2-position changeover switch for OP37, incidentally, is to prevent LAR going open-circuit. This would set the gain at unity, which is not disastrous, but nevertheless naughty, because OP37 isn't unity-gain stable. For nulling, we use a preset, PR1, as usual... drone ... But hark! Looking at fig. 11 in Pt.2 do you notice that TL071 is nulled on pins 1 and 5 by the negative supply, via a 100k preset, while OP37 uses pins 1 and 8, the positive supply and a 10k preset? When setting the gain, we may need to swop a TL071 for an OP37, so the first step is to rationalise on PR1. The general penalty for making it different to that recommended by the manufacturer is to degrade DC stability vs temperature. If this is so, we'd better not degrade OP37, which is our biggest ally in this department. So we make PR1 = 10k — and find that it works very nicely with a TL071. To tackle the other idiosyncrasies, P2 and P3 are chunky pcb programming plugs (or 'Jax'), as used in the analogue power source for groundlift selection. And as you can see by peering carefully at fig. 21, these

allow us to swop supply rails, and also divert one of PR1's outputs from pin 5 to 8 or vice-versa. But what happens if we plug in a TL071

with P2, 3 set for an OP37 or, worse, vice-versa? Answer: the LP's output will develop a large DC offset in one direction or other (typically approaching the supply rail voltage), but there'll be no actual harm. However, when first hooking up to null the DC at TP.1, it's good practice to set your meter to read 20 volts or more before switching down to read the anticipated mV levels. R4 and C4 are components which faded

away in the development process, but are included for experienced readers, who will find them useful for customised LP deriva-tives. For all normal purposes, though, they can be ignored outright. Back to the trail: VR1 represents the ( inde-

pendent) left and right-hand input level balance controls, a pair for every source; R12 smooths the rotation vs attenuation charac-teristics of the pots, as described in the control-card text ( Pt.3). R10, which you'll recall, prevents full shut-off on CXL, isn't a

standard fixture here. So R10 is normally linked across, but the option exists because if it didn't, someone would doubtless want it. (The professor waves his stick dangerously). Of the pots themselves, the single ( mono)

version of the Bourns 91 series will fit on the PCB, but the Bourns 81 series cermet pots are desirable from aesthetic and tactile view-points. All single pots suffer from the dis-advantage of feeling too light/faint-hearted, especially when contrasted beside their stereo brethren further along the panel. But by choosing a heavyweight mono pot like the 81, the tactile qualities can be better matched to the 91 series stereo pots on CXL and CXR. The gain control is buffered by IC2. This

means that the HF source impedance seen by the mix card's input, and more important, the interwiring capacitance, is, il kept very low and ii), has a stable value, not varying with VR1's setting. In other words, perform-ance is not degraded or altered by control settings, as is often the case. For the dedi-cated disc versions of LP, IC2 is normally an NE5534 or TL071 with a fixed gain of 0, + 5 or +10dB, set by R13, 14, whilst for external sources, IC2 is always a TL071 with OdB (unity) gain. We'll come back to this later. The record and listen outputs are fired-up

by independent relays. Normally, the unmuted outputs float, but if you want to tie down them to ground (see Pt. 2), you can do

: ...e , .142 puon é,,, ,

• 0

PAIL i SA ONO

OU---.IPUISSCVs-.10HUTED

this either with a simple wire link, or, more flexibly, go for P4,5. These are PC 'Jax', just like Ps 2 and 3, discussed earlier. The Jax are used extensively in Amp-01's input cards, so this is a good time to remark that the plug plus socket arrangement specified is gold-plated, has a 1 milli-ohm contact resistance and a 10A current rating. It also makes a very firm contact, yet is easily removed, given a sharp enough tug. A makeshift lever or hooker, poked through the ' handle' may help if fingers alone won't shift the beastie. Moving over to the control circuitry, LED's (conventionally red for Record and green for listening) illuminate whenever the allied routing is deployed. But note also the return path via CX1: this means that any activated LEDs are shut-eye when AMP-01 is first switched on, but they awaken seconds later, after the switch-on delay has elapsed. If you don't require record facilities, the parts to omit are R20, 21, C8, D2, RLA2, SW2, and LED2. A ' Listen only' panel is available, with the requisite holes and legend deleted, so there's no aesthetic liability. With an eye to the signal levels being

processed by IC1,2 being on the low side,

power-supply performance is tweaked by incorporating C23 for extra local decoupling on the negative rail. This side is treated preferentially, as the SVRR of op-amps tends to be weakest here.

The gain structure Having completed AMP-01's signal path for external line sources, we can come back and size up the total system gain. Line sources sometimes need no overall amplification to drive the power amplifier into clipping, but with the input and required output levels being in the air, there's considerable scope either side of this for seeking overall gain, or attenuation; in fact, a potential 60dB swing. And a good preamplifier should be able to take all of this in its stride without crunching-up on peaks, or scooping up the noise-floor. And one other hobby horse: discrepancies in the decibels ( be they too many, or too few) shouldn't unduly offset the panel controls from their ideal positions. In other words, panel controls are expressly for day-to-day manipulation and you shouldn't have to suffer the nuisance of extreme positions for the sake of correcting inadequacies in the output level or input sensitivities of the surrounding equipment. This means setting the internal gain more-or-less correctly ( or at least, as close as we can get); any slight deviations (± 5dB) can then be taken up by the panel controls without anything hitting the end-stops; knobs in this position are a pain we can all live without. Following on from this, the gain structure

embodied within AMP-01 is different from most: gain is sprinkled around judiciously, with every card (except SLD) contributing its share, and without detriment to the noise-floor and overload capabilities. In any event, this particular architecture is forced on us when we install non-unity-gain-stable op-amps like OP37. Nevertheless, by distribut-ing gain over 3 or more cards, none of the op-amps has to work very hard, loop gain is preserved, and high frequency errors ( hor-rors?) such as harmonic distortion are kept at bay. For example, TL071s in AMP-01 are never asked to provide gains in excess of 10dB, but it's not uncommon to see this IC sweating away at gains of + 30dB, or more, in other equipment. The difference in loop gain for these

conditions is tenfold, which means — broadly speaking — that AMP-01's TL071s exhibit around 20dB less distortion at 20kHz than is all too often the case.

For the purposes of establishing the gain in the line processor, we need yet another map to define our whereabouts. This is the purpose of the schematics in figs. 22 & 23. Here, the gain structures for the standard Audiophile (A) and Budget ( B) versions are given. Note how the gain of the Mix and CXUCXR cards is related to the chosen op-amp. Other than the active devices, we also need to define positions of the three panel attenuators, namely the input gain controls on each LP, the volume control on CXL (or record level, if CXR) and the 3-position switch on SLD (where applicable). Now, if we take power amplifier clipping as our output reference, then it's obvious that CXL's volume control can be assumed to be hard over at its maximum setting. This corresponds with theJ3dB designation on the map. At LP, on the other hand, it's sensible to aim to place the independent left and right gain controls around the gentle, central position, for best resolution when tuning the stereo balance. This also leaves scope for largish adjustments to the input gain. To keep the gain structure tables tidy, I have

46 I NEWS (Si RECORD REVIEW A ( 'GUS I 19/4

Table 15 Determining LP gain for the audiophile IA) version

Input level ( IPL) from line source or DEG - 350mV 550mV dBU millivolts - 7dBU - 3dBU

(approx.) - 20 -15

DEG: - 10 -5

OdBU +5

+10

77mV 140mV

250mV 450mV

775mV 1.4V 2.4V

Desired maximum operating level ( MOO, or power amplifier input sensitivity

775mV IV 1.2V 1.4V 2.0V OdBU +21/2 dBU +4dBU + 5dBU +8dBU

+3 +7 +10 + 12 1/2 +14 +15 + 18 -2 +2 +5 * 71/2 +9 +10 + 13

-7 -3 o +21/2 +4 +5 +8

-12 -8 -5 -21/2 -1 o +3 -17 -13 -10 -71/2 -6 -5 -2

-22 - 18 -15 -121/2 -11 -10 -7 -27 -23 -20 - 171/2 -16 -15 - 12

Line processor gain ( LPG)

For 6' versions add I+ I 10dB to the LPG figure.

Table le Setting the gain on the LP card (for all external line sources)

Gain IC , R611371 •1 C3 Approx. DIL switch required I P gain-

control position (0-101

+30dB OP37 + 25 +20 +15 +10 TL071

+5

750R Yes i 1k3

2k4 4k7

10k 27k

/

71/2 Change-OM type

4 Standard

OdB Omit Omit C3

/ -5 -10

-15 -20

- 25dB e

•3 *31 ,

31:t

t 2

1

N/A

/

•1- For R8 = 22k •2 - R7 may be any value alternative to R6 in the same

op-amp category - see table 17 •3 - If already in circuit, unhooking one side is

satisfactory, for a temporary evaluation

assumed the LP input gain controls will normally be set at 71/2; this seemingly arbit-rary number makes more sense when you know that the signal is attenuated by exactly 10dB at this setting. The 3 position gain/mute switch on SLD is taken to be in the upper-most position. This makes sense when we recall that in its mid-position, it's an atte-nuator, aimed at extending the volume con-trol's range when listening at low levels, whereas our map is concerned with deter-

mining the gain when everything's cranked up full bore. Incidentally, the upper switch position is labelled + 20dB on the panel, bu this is only a relative term, of course, the SLD card's in/out gain is categorically OdB ( unity) with the switch in the upper position.

For recording, the level attained with CXR's output control at its highest setting will nominally correspond to the power amplifier's sensitivity. Or, at least this is the case on CXRA, which is aimed at profes-sional machines where we may need to cope with + 4dBU to put zero-level on tape. Mean-while, B and C versions of CXR feature a TL071 running at + 6dB; the 8dB reduction in level suits most cassette machines nicely. From the gain structure maps, we can

derive the overall gain, excluding the LP gain (LPG), to be determined. All this is made easy by using dB notation — we simply tot up the gains and losses, eg, on the 'A' versions overall gain is — 10, + 6, 0, + 14, 0 = + 10dB. This leaves us with the LPG to discover. It's tabulated for a variety of input levels and power amplifier sensitivities in table 15. This chart refers to the audiophile (A) versions, but the lower gain of B versions is simply accommodated by adding 10dB to your answer. To use the tables, first look along the top for the sensitivity which relates most closely to your power amplifer. If you're driving low impedance speakers, the nominal sensitivity will droop, especially at high levels, so err on the low side if this is so and vice-versa. Next, pick up the input level

(IPL) in the left-hand column, selecting the one that most closely matches your own source. If your listening tends to the quiet side, err towards the next higher figure and vice-versa. For example, the Quad FM3 tuner gives 100mV for 30% modulation, so the 140mV column would be the nearest for low-level listening — or you can opt for 77mV if otherwise. Knowing the gain required ( don't forget to

add 10dB — but only if you're building the budget version), enter the left-hand column in table 16, rounding up to the nearest 5dB. Then, reading across, the table will show which op-amp to use for IC1, ii) the value of the gain setting resistors, R6,7, iii) whether to insert C3, and iv) the approximate setting of LP's gain controls. The last two columns show you which DIL switch to use. These are only applicable to the positive gains (OdB to +30), and allow you to determine which of the 2 or 3 gain settings are best, by experi-ment. This requires no more than pulling out the card and flicking the DIL switch actuators, replacing the card and assessing the results.

Finally, table 17 outlines the switch posi-tions vs gain and gives the six possible pairs of gain swings available on the OP37's DIL switch.

Table 17 Gain switching

0, + 5, + 10dB with TL071

Standard DIL switch has 2 actuators. Either may be on (up) or off (down), giving 4 positions, of which 3 are used'

BROWN RED

Unity gain

(OdB) [

Low gain

+5dB

High gain +10dB

1 2

î

i

1 2

r, 1 2

1+2 down

1 up

2 down

2 up

1 down

R6 sets low gain; R7 sets high gain • 1+2 up ( not normally used) = 12dB gain

+15 to + 30dB - with OP37

2-pole changeover has 2 ganged

actuators, giving 2 positions

low gain

1 2

Y UP

R6= +20 +25 + 15 +20 + 15 + 15dB

high 1 gain A

1 2

R7 +30 +30 + 30

DOWN

+25 +25 + 20dB

See table 16 for resistor values

NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 47

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LP CARD DEG VERSION

Assembling and nulling the LP card This card is similar to CXL and CXR, but has a lower profile, which makes life easier if, subsequent to assembly, we need to change any of the front-end components. The PC mounting 'Jax' are pushed through to lie just proud with the top of the board. The DIL switches No.1 actuator ( it's brown) is placec nearest to the panel. As discussed pre-viously, op-amps ale best omitted until the power rails have been tested. Supply volts are nominally ± ' 8V for LP cards aimed at external sources ( because IC2 is always a TL071), but on the disc version, the rails may be raised to ± 22V if an NE5534 is selected for IC2 - having studied tables 14 & 15. Should you for any reason revert to a TL071, don't forget to change the power supply's UARs to compensate!

If you're initialy uncertain about the opti-mum gain setting, or the gain swing pro-vided by SW3 fa:Is to accommodate, IC1 and R6, 7 may need to be changed. You may also wish to insert the more expendable TL071 until the card is tested. Soldering an 8-pin OIL socket in IC1's position makes these tactics easier. Once the gain is finalised, you'll want to remove the socket and solder

the chosen op-amp in place. Remove is best achieved with a desolder gun ( best) or desolder oraid (cheapest). When desolder-kg, excess heat for too long will ' iift' the copper track. To prevent damage, aim to remove the solder as swiftly as you can - in one or two operations, if possible. Using a solder gun, it's possible to make 20 removals before damage occurs. DC nulling is best accomplished in a warm and draft-free room.

The nulling on the previous cards ( Pts 2 and 31 was optional, but here it's desiraole, because cards subsequent to LP will amplify any DC errors by 20dB 1 x 10) or more, and because the routing switches are di.-ect-coupled, and might otherwise click A temperature of 25°C is ideal, if rather stuffy. ..=irst power up LP and leave it for 30 minutes to settle down, thermally speaking. You'll now need a test meter capable of resolving ImV DC. This is a job for a DMM (= Digital multimeter - but don't worry' it won't harm you .. .1 with autopolarity. Just like calcula-tors and other mass-market goods embody-ing digital ICs, these gizmos have plum-meted in price in recent years, and those of us who rashly paid out £400 for a DMM in 1980 can now buy a better ( Orientai) model (measuring down to 1mV/1µA/1 ohm) frcm a shop for around £30 to £40. With a suitable meter - and some minia-

ture hook probes simply link one side to ground, and the other to TP 1, adjacent to the associated control pot. Before connecting, turn down the pots, short the inputs to ground, and switch down a high range leg, 20VDC), just in case there's a monster (± 18V) offset lurking due to an error. Untrim-med, a typical offset will lie in the 50 to 300mV region. Using a miniature screw-driver you can now turn PR1 until you see the offset voltage shift. If it moves upwards, turn in the opposite direction. The adjust-ment is initially quite slack, but beccmes more critical as you approach the null point. This is why PR1 is a multiturn pot - it gives '26dB' of extra resolution over the normal sirgle-turn variety. If you sail past the null-point look out for the accompanying polarity inversion - a DMM with autopolarity 'unc-tion is invaluable for this reason.

If you can't null to 1mV or below, a fault is indicated. Are P2, 3 correctly inserted? Once you've nulled the card, leave if for 10 minutes to check that the residual voltage remains steady. Then dab on some nail varnish to lock the adjustment screw. If you subsequently change the internar gain by

Table 18 LP card, front-end components (For external sources only)

The remainder of the front end component values are giver in table 13. Components in this section aren't required when the LP card is adopted for use with the analogue disc ( DEG) modut; this latter version is suffixed -/D

Oty: R4 2 See text - normally omitted R6,7 2 See table 16: choose value(s)

according to gair(s) required. R8 2 22k, 1/4 watt, 1% metal film. R16,17 2 10k, /4 wet. 5%, metal film.

Cl 2 2p2, plastic film iEurofarad

Polypropylene, or Wima polyester. C2 2 21/7% polystyrene or polypropylene -

see table 13

C3 2 21/2 % polystyrene or polypropylene - see table 13'

C4 2 See text- normarly omitted C6 2 470nF, plastic film

P2,3 4 02m. PCB jacks 6 off) and matching matching jumper plugs (4 off).

`, See also table 16: C.3 is omitted for gains of OdB (unity) or below.

Table 19 LP card, the back end components (For ALL sources, including DEEll

Resistors All 1/4 watt, 1°4 metal f Im, unless otherwise given)

City Value R9,15 4 10R, R9 r-- link on disc version

R10 2 Normally linked across- see text R11,12 4 1k

R13 2 For disc version only see table 14; • 1 R14 2 10k R18,20 2 2k7, V2W carbon film. R19,20 2 390FI, 1 watt, carbon film

Capacitors C5 2 For disc version see table 14, • 1 C7.8 2 220pF, 35V, axial

Semiconductors and hardware

ICI 2 TL071 or OP37trefer to text and tables) IC2 2 TL071 (refer to text and tables) D1.2 2 IN4002

P4.5 0.2in. pcb jacks (8 off) and matching jumper plugs (4 off)

VR1 2 10k, linear, single: Boums 91 series

conductive plastic, or 81 series cermet SW1,2 2 SPOT, short-bar toggle IC + K), plus

dressnuts. SW 3 2 SPDT Dl!. switch - determine whether

standard or cla version from table 16 and text

ALA 1,2 2off 12 volt, 2-pole, changeover (Dimon) 1 Front panel, LP type (+ designation,

eg, Tape 1, etcl 1 225 x 100mm pcb screen 1 DIN41612 2-part connector

+ mating plug

Fixing brackets, spacers. screws ( M3 and 6BA), knobs

(2 off)

•1 - R13, C5 are only fitted on the analogue disc version of LP; omit these parts for all external sources.

111-1-I NEWS & RI.t Ort ..) RI \ V, -\l't)1. 51 1984 -1,

A-300 £99 A-400 £139 A-500 £169

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MISSION 774 LC TONEARM £69.00

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Table 20 - le- power supply parts

R22,23 R24,25 R26,27 R28,29 C9,10 C11,12 C13,14 C15,16 C17,18 C19,20,23 C21,23 C22 REG 1 REG 2 D3-6

Qty

4 68R, 5%, V2 watt 4 LAR 1• 4 UAR 1• 4 2k2, 5%, 1/4 watt 4 470pF, axial •2 4 470n plastic film 4 470n plastic film 4 100pF, 25V, radial 4 470n, plastic film 6 100pF, 25V, radial .3 4 470n, plastic film 2 100n, plastic film 2 LM317T •4 2 LM337T • 4 4 IN4002

Mix card crou-referont» *5 R13,14 R15,16 R17,18 R19,20 C3,4 C5,6 C7,8 C9,10 C11,12 C13,14 C15 C16

DI-4

Note*: *1. For ail versions. Vs is normally setat ± 18V. See

June, p.35 for choice of voltage setting resistors. Kits are supplied with the standard, 1% asterisked velues.

*2. 1000µF may be used: pcb accommodâtes either 42mm or 28mm pItch between leeds, but diameter must be 13mm, or less.

3* C23 appears on the -ve rail only. e 78 series regulators may be used with modifications

-see June p.36 5* Refera fig.8, p.35. June.

more than 10dB, it's sensible to check the DC offset at TP1 and reset if necessary, but you can skip this for the purposes of temporary evaluation. Besides, any moderate excess of DC in the standard AC coupled version, will

Table 21 - Une M'OMO« - opacification

Frequency response As defined by fL 01 and fH 01 breakpoints - see text.

Noise: According to 1RS of your source equipment, ICI and gain setting employed for ICI (See fig. 20 and text); generally circa - 90 to -110dBU.

Maximum input level: 20dBU when IC1's gain is OdB, or less. 15dBU, when ICI 's gain is 5dB, etc

Croestalk: Input referred, one channel driven at OdBU, IC1 gain = +20, other channel with input shorted, using OP37; fil = 24kHz, class 1 category F

100Hz < - 110dB 100kHz -89dB 1kHz < - 104dB 300kHz -86dB 10kHz -96d8 1MHz -84dB 30kHz -89dB As above, but driven at + 10dBU, IC1 = TL071, gain - OdB; class 1 category B 100Hz <- 100dB 100kHz -87dB 1kHz <- 100c1B 300kHz -80dB 10kHz -..ç. - 100dB 1MHz -74dB 30kHz -98dB

be obvious as a distinct click whenever the LP's routing switches are activated and, conversely, the absence of any spuriae can be taken as a sign that all's well.

Crosstalk is below the noise-floor over much of the audio band and the outrageous figures doubtless beg an explanation. The mechanisms involved are generally subtle,

interwoven, and mildly Sci-Fi, like the exten-sive electrostatic screening on the cards, which operates in 2D 'Real Space'. Your cup is now filled to overflowing, yet the Zen master continues to pour the tea. Ah! The non-symmetrical layout is perhaps not so heinous a sin after all. With this hint, I'll leave you to ponder over the uniform orientation of the base-copper on the cards.

Printed circuit boards, finished metal-work, kits, and all components for DIY assembly of AMP-01 are available from B&J Sound, Kirkby lane, Tattershall, Lincoln, LN4 4PD. Tel: 0526 42869. B&J Sound will also assemble custom ised units.

For immediate details on Part 1, 2 and 3 cards including selected LP kits, send an SAE + 16p stamp, or 3IRC's if overseas. Addi-tional SAEs + 16p/IRCs will be used to mail additional lists as published. No enquiries can be answered unless a reasonable con-tribution is made towards postage. In par-ticular, overseas readers are reminded that International Reply Coupons must be enclosed - dollars are no substitute!

Corrigenda Pt. 3, Table 8, f0.1 should read 102' Concerning the stereo volume control, R6 (3k3) is normally linked across for 100% shut down on VR1, if CXL is fitted with gain switching (eg in AMP-01-M), R6 is normally retained. lit-

ir HE FOLLOWING is a brief resumé of some experiments with a new Linn Sondek LP12. Personally I did not

favour their publication but the Editor thought that it was useful stuff and that we should go ahead, despite the risk of offend-ing Linn Products or causing mental anguish in some of their customers. I should like to make it clear from the

outset that my experiments are not intended to imply that the Linn is unsatisfactory or in dire need of modification. Rather, I feel it is such a good product that to make it better was something of a challenge. I view the LP12 as a very well balanced

product. Holes can be picked in various aspects of its performance, but these CO for less than the achievement • the and in this contez i I Li Asak combi aspect of th seems gene 'fat' upper ba degree ofs nd CORI-

plemented by y and explicit nature of the Ittok/Asak combination in the treble. The story actually begins with my May

review of the Rega RB300 tonearm, and concerns the frequent deterioration of the Linn player's 'balance' when components other than those specifically recommended by the manufacturer are used with the LP12. By all accounts ( including trials on other players), the RB300 should have been a fine match for the Linn, and once installed the mid and treble were as good as expected. However, the bass was below par. As

mentioned in the review of the Rega, the bass tended towards a 'one note' boom, estimated at around 60Hz. I checked with other RB300 reviewers, and they admitted to the same discovery. While the Ittok appeared capable of spreading the bass peak into a general richness, the Rega highlighted it in an unsatisfactory manner. Separate checks suggested that the Rega itself was not at fault. Furthermore, it was noticed that although the new, more viscous, Linn main bearing oil was providing minor rewards in clarity and definition, in some cases the bass

emphasis was more noticeable. I felt compelled to get to the bottom of this

problem, and at first suspected the armboard and its fixing, as others had done before me. In engineering terms a mutual resonance between two parts can only occur if they are tightly fixed. I used this as a method of analysis, and tinkered with the tightness of the armboard screws. Nothing concrete emerged after a number of trials, for although the ' boom' was modified, it was not really controlled.

Next a series of tests were made wit

various parts of the subchassis clamped to the plinth. These proved that the subchassis had to be free for the resonance to appear. I drew a side view of the chassis and platter system, inserting the various masses: the platter, a concentration of the subchassis mass, plus the armboard together with the arm. Finally, the estimated stiffness of the various fixings were put in and the dynamic behaviour of the assembly assessed. The answer appeared virtually by inspection. The resonance was clearly that of the whole subchassis coupled to the rocking mode platter inertia. The necessary spring com-pliance was provided by the structurally weak fixing of the main bearing housing to the upper layer of the thin subchassis plate. Confirmation was easy. Ignoring the

obvious sonic degradation, I simply slack-ened the main bearing bolts and the boom disappeared. Two possible ways to cure the problem suggested themselves. The first

was to consider tensioning these bolts so as to tame the bass problem and yet preserve much of the deck's sonic integrity. The other was to add a partially lossy low mass, reinforcement to the bearing housing, offer-ing minimal interference to the subchassis mass suspension or any other aspect. Mindful of others' unsuccessful attempts

to reinforce the armboard mountings, I pro-ceeded carefully, and eventually used an

hick, 50 x 75mm, close fit on the

er some filing of the bolt ends, and

ces, I used a esive (Araldite

thmîorcement block onto and subchassis. The turntable

was quickly auditioned and tested (using a mechanical impulse applied to the rear of the armboard section) and this was repeated as the resin catalysed to hardness. The bass steadily improved to a level where it could be said that the Rega arm was back in control. Careful cross-checking has failed to

unearth any untoward change in the mid and treble ranges, but the bass improvement can be described as most beneficial. At the risk of personally judging the results, I heard signi-ficant improvements in overall clarity, as if the bass effects were overlaying, or modulat-ing, information further up the frequency range. The bass sounded as if it had half an octave more extension, and also sounded leaner and clearer in the upper bass register. A word of caution: if your system is well

balanced at present, you may not like the results of the bearing reinforcement, which will appear to reduce bass 'wallop'. All will not be lost. The bearing bolts can be removed and the block and bearing housing gently prised away from the chassis (you will lose a little black paint). The block can then be sawed free from the bearing housing. Reassembly to normal spec. is then relatively easy. But don't attempt the mod if you are uncertain or ham-fisted: HFN/RR can not be responsible for damaged LP12sl

e

Hl FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUS1 [ 9}(4 51

LISTEN IN STYL Other Mission items stocked include: 70 NUM, 707, 727 Renaissa 7

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FOUR BUDGET INTEGRATED AMPLIFIERS

IrN RECENT MONTHS the specialist budget amplifier market has been extremely active. Our last report (Sep. 1983) covered models towards the upper end of this group, including the sparkling £168 Naim NAIT. Since then competition has become

even more furious,and a substantially good performance is now available from models costing as little as £90. An obvious starting point amongst this new contingent is the

current Rotel RA820 (£99.90), whose good sound has embarrassed a number of competitors. But there is now a £ 110 'purist' version, christened the 820B, which we are testing this time around. The other models in our group comprise the new Mission Cyrus (£129), the £99 QED A230 and the harman-kardon PM620 (£109). Something of a revolution has been afoot in the amplifier field.

During my work for the latest Hi-Fi Choice on the subject, I was surprised to see that many established models were coming under threat from newcomers costing far less. In attempting to trace the progress of amplifier sound quality improvements, I believe that the trend towards models which are better sounding andcheaper began a few years ago, with products like the NAD 3020 and the Nytech. Before then, the amplifier world had seemed a pretty well ordered place: depending upon one's taste or specific requirements one could install a Naim or Quad with confidence, expecting a good service life and little real improvement on offer elsewhere for years to come. Other manufacturers, such as the Japanese majors, had their own particular recipes, each presenting a varying mix of price, power, build quality and facilities, with sound quality more or less in agreement with the level of engineering design and price. However, during the past year or so this cosy situation has been

disrupted by new designs which appear to be out of place: models with the audacity to take on legends and win. In general, amplifier designers, and to some extent reviewers, would like us to believe that science and art are closely linked in the subjective performance of amplifiers. But the continuing successful efforts of amplifier designers themselves undermines much of the scientific basis. One may assume that a lot of science has gone into the design of a fine £1000 amplifier which can perform very well in the lab; it must now be conceded that in certain : nstances a £130 amplifier of inferior lab performance can provide a more artistically satisfying rendition of music. ( Both models may be considered sufficiently accurate for simple considerations of 'tone' to be irrelevant.) A neat refutation of the tonal balance argument is contained within

my recent use of the Magneplanar and the new KEF R104/2 loudspeakers. These present predominantly resistive loads, little affected by amplifier source resistance or cable. Yet amplifier subjective differences are just as audible with these speakers as they are using other more conventional designs. During amplifier auditioning one can readily dispose of first-order

factors such as tonal balance or perceived frequency response, absolute level, channel balance, input and output loading, and the intelligent use of program levels within headroom or output capacity. If these factors are under control, most good amplifiers will sound sufficiently similar to confound many NB tests, particularly when sufficiently rigorous constraints to try to guarantee. statistically valid results are imposed on the subjects. But another level of judgement is possible; with experience, this

can comfortably discriminate between many superficially similar amplifiers, though it has so far proved difficult to establish this on a rigorous basis. Nevertheless, such discrimination is the common experience of many hi-fi demonstrators, equipment owners, and a good proportion of technical reviewers and equipment designers. Many of the latter will admit to great frustration that they cannot

reliably pin down subjective experience with specific design points. Nevertheless, they know only too well that a denial of subjective sensitivity could result in their producing inferior sounding amplifiers with an essentially random subjective performance. This randomness is most readily perceptible in the designs

produced by the major consumer electronics manufacturers. One

year a range is quite presentable-sounding and well-received, yet often the succeeding year's equipment gains no formal approval or recommendation. Technically there is often apparently little difference between the two ranges. But it is not unlikely that the attitude and sensitivity of the respective designers to subjective sound quality is a vital factor. The exceptional sounding amplifiers, and, for that matter, other

exceptional hi-fi components, come predominantly from companies where engineering is combined with artistry. Cold-hearted pure theory is at present insufficient, and perhaps where music is concerned it never will be. There is good historical precedent for believing that the

remarkable acuity and judgement of human hearing will always be one step ahead of pure technology. If this is the case, then the most satisfying products for music reproduction will remain those with the best artistic balance of the various technical engineering parameters which affect subjective quality. That balance will change with advances in technology, as we are seeing with the introduction of digital program. But it will only be optimised in the hands of someone with an artistic side to his or her design make-up. Top designers have described experiencing 'intuition' for the

inter-relationship between hi-fi design and good sound; something which does not reside in book theory, and which is difficult to teach. The best hi-fi has a touch of craftsmanship in the classic sense, a striving for the best result as a compromise from the available materials and technology.

Audio 'craftmanship' does not necessarily have to be costly. It can find its expression in inexpensive products which, on occasion, can produce remarkable results. Classic examples of this might include the LS3/5A and Spendor BC1 loudspeakers, the AR and Thorens 160 turntables, and the NAD 3020 amplifier. (Many other examples could also be quoted.) Returning to the more immediate subject of our review group, the

results suggest that although these amplifiers may be modest in terms of both price and performance, some of them concede comparatively little in terms of musical quality to some much larger, more costly and well-regarded amplifiers— good news for our readers with competing financial priorities! Indeed, providing that excessive demands are not made in terms of sheer volume, one can obtain really satisfactory results from a £130 model in a system with a total price over 30 times the cost of the amplifier alone! This I demonstrated by matching a Cyrus amplifier with a Lux-Alphason/ vd Hul front-end plus Magneplanar MGIIIB loudspeakers. Two of the review models come from UK companies, namely

Mission and QED, the latter hitherto better known for its range of accessories and cabling. The other two models are of Japanese origins: the Rotel is actually built in Taiwan, and the company has also benefitted from a strong element of British expertise; harman-kardon (General/Silver Comoration) has a long legacy of US design influence.

All four models are 20-30Wpc designs, with only basic features. They are therefore devoid of power meters, microprocessors and the like. The Mission is distinguished by a fairly sensitive moving-coil input, whereas the harman-kardon offers switching for two sets of speakers, and is the only design retaining bass and treble controls. As a group they all subscribe to the presently considered desirable

aim of providing good power delivery into difficult speaker loads, and all claim respectable peak current capabilities. Bipolar transistor technology (ordinary power transistors) is another common factor; these are direct-coupled to the load, and consequently all have balanced twin-rail power supplies. A typical lab test schedule was adopted, aiming to bring out any

significant differences which might affect the sound. Auditioning was carried out using SL600, B&W 110 and Magneplanar MGIIIB speakers, with both moving-magnet and moving-coil sources (EMT/ vdH and Mission Solitaire), plus CD (Yamaha CD-X1); turntables included the Lux 300/Zeta and AR (own arm).

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 53

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Can you remember the days (not all that long ago) when everybody and their brother seemed to be making speakers that would "set the HiFi world on its ears?" One of those organisations (or so it seemed at the time) was MISSION ELECTRONICS, and I well remember the long chat we had with their then agent. MISSION ELECTRONICS was not another "garden shed" company, they really were going to set the HiFi world on its ears!! There was the money, the resources, and most of all, the dedication to make MISSION one of the major influences in HiFi. And there is no one who can deny that they have achieved their aim. A string of hits, and a few notable near misses later, MISSION now present perhaps their best line-up yet. It is the new CYRUS range. Two systems, both priced below £500 and such is MISSION commitment for quality pro-ducts (and the necessary quality backup) it is only being made available through a limited number of dealers. And we are very pleased to be one of that number. The least expensive of the two CYRUS amplifiers have been very well reviewed elsewhere in this magazine. We invite you to our show-room to hear it for yourselves.

Crus by MISSION

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harman-kardon PM620 The PM620, rated at 20W per channel, is the smallest in the current h-k range of integrated amplifiers. While this may appear quite modest, h-k's designers have imposed strong demands, especially in terms of peak current capability.

This derives from the Otala-inspired research into the real- life current demands of multi-way loudspeakers, rather than the previously he,ci current expectations based upon 'steady-state' measurement of speaker load impedance moduli, taken one frequency at a time over the band. Otala's view is that music program is a complex function with many frequency components appearing with complex timing. Certain statistically verifiable combinations of signal can cause a speaker system to draw surprisingly large peak currents, particularly in the negative direction; these are typically 3-4 times greater than would be expected from the nominal system impedance. Consequently, it is helpful, if not essential, for an amplifier to be

capable of maintaining its rated output level during short-term peaks (ie, 10-20ms duration) into resistive loads down to 2ohms. This guideline will ensure that the amplifier does not suffer current clipping into real loudspeakers on peak level signals, but does not imply that the amplifier should be capable of sustaining this full level

into 2ohms continuously, which would require an RMS power output four times the nominal 8ohm rating. On the PM620's front panel are emblazoned the words ' high instantaneous current capability', which relate directly to this parameter.

This Japanese-built model is comparatively well equipped, with a total of 15 controls and buttons on the front panel. These comprise power, headphones, speakers 1 and 2 ( either or both), bass, treble and balance, plus a loudness frequency contour. The input selection buttons cover tape monitoring, phono ( moving-magnet), tuner and CD/aux. Two more switches provide mono-switching and a weak treble filter called ' hi-cut'. Finally, there is a large rotary volume control. All the rear inputs use phono type sockets, and the speaker outlets use a spring clip terminal with rather small entrance holes.

Internal construction was to a good standard, with an open layout. Nevertheless, this may still impede easy access for repair. Several different printed circuit boards are used. A fair sized power transformer feeds the 2x 6800pF capacitors of the split- rail power supply. The power amplifier has the usual direct-coupled complementary output stage, adequately heatsinked. Internal wiring was fairly tidy, but mains-potential contacts on the voltage selector and the power switch were not shrouded, which is contrary to BSI recommendations.

Technical Findings The power output showed some load dependence, albeit with a healthy, if not outstanding, peak current capability. Up to 17.2dBW was available on peaks into 8ohms, while the continuous ratings were around the 15dBW level ( 30W). The amplifier also coped well with 2ohm loading, delivering a respectable dynamic level of 13.5dBW ( actually 80W into that particular load). Output resistance was fairly low, rising a little at high frequencies

due to the usual output inductor. The distortion results were interesting, showing significant variation with load and level, which is not a good sign. Current delivery was quite good, but the amplifier became less linear as higher currents were demanded. The amplifier was not very comfortable during the power distortion test (40Hz, 14dBW, 4ohms), showing a broad spectrum of mains-related harmonic and intermodulation components. The two-tone high frequency intermodulation signal was handled fairly well, but again deteriorated with 4ohms loading; the results via pickup were none too inspiring either, despite good pickup overload margins measured by the IHF method. Noise levels were satisfactory, separation was above average, and

channel balance was also very good over the volume control range. The balance was not so good via pickup, however, with a relatively

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mild equalisation deviation and also some bass lift, up 1.5dB at 30Hz, which was audible on the listening tests. Conversely, the CD/ auxiliary inputs had a very wide bandwidth, just 0.5dB down at 0.7Hz and 37kHz (- 3dB at 0.5Hz and 140kHz). DC offsets were more than satisfactory at less than 10mV.

Sound Quality The PM620 was basically very satisfactory, but fell below the remarkable standard set by the other models in this test group, as we shall see. With CD source, the bass was clearly less well defined, with some

overhang and a loss of attack. The central focus of the stereo image was diffused, and images could sound overwide. A loss of depth compared with other competing designs was also noticed. Using LP disc source, the findings were generally the same.

Overall there was a loss of detail, with some muddling and veiling of information, though the tonal balance was pleasant enough, and the amplifier handled heavy drive and awkward loads well.

Conclusion This model would perhaps have got a good rating a year ago, but since then the market has changed. On test it proved to be generously specified, with a healthy output and above-average load tolerance. Whereas its larger brother, the PM650, certainly did well in HFN/RR last year, such is the strength of competition today that the PM620 scores barely above average. One problem was that it sounded ' rich' via the disc input. While

this could admittedly be attributed to the mild bass lift, a similar character was found when using the auxiliary inputs, which gave a notably flat measured response, so contradicting this possible relationship. A possible clue could lie in the large number of spurious signals in the output under heavy drive, together with the strong dependence of the distortion results on output current. This is definitely not a poor amplifier, but it did not sound or

measure cleanly enough for recommendation, taking into account the advanced company it had during the tests.

Mission Cyrus Mission designer Henry Azima has been cooking up the Cyrus for some time now, in order to meet the company's target of a f399 disc playing system. The metalwork and styling are clearly based on the current Mission 778 'Cambridge' amplifier, but the circuitry is all new. For example, the costly MOSFET output transistors of the 778 have been replaced by bipolar types to meet the price target, while output has been reduced 2.5dB from 50W to 30W ( nominal) per channel. The 778/Cyrus design is particularly neat and compact,

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dimensionally similar to the Sony F1 series. The front panel is dominated by three rotary controls: volume; the input selector for phono, off, digital ( CD), tuner, and tape; and the same selection facility for the ' record out' terminals. Consequently one can record from any one source while listening to any other, independently. ( In the 'off' position, the recorder is disconnected from the amplifier signal path.) The rear casing is stepped, providing a convenient horizontal

platform for input and the output terminals. The former are all phonos, the latter sturdy but rather closely placed 4mm socket binding posts, with an adjacent headphone socket. The disc input offers matching for both moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges, which is still unusual in this price class. A small slide switch next to the phono inputs offers 20dB of extra gain, at a reasonable noise level, and is suited to those moving-coil models with a healthier than average output (le, not the older Ortofons). High quality internal construction is evident. Metal film resistors

and film capacitors are used extensively, and the disc input and buffer stages are based around selected 5534 low noise integrated circuits, and have their own regulated power supply. Aux line input resistance at a quoted 13kohms is lower than usual,

determined by the use of a 10k volume control. Line inputs go directly to the power amplifier section, whose higher than usual sensitivity allows the omission of the usual buffer stage after the volume control. Greater transparency to digital sources was the aim here. A surprisingly large 100VA Holden and Fisher toroidal mains transformer is used, rated at an excellent 3% regulation. The power amplifier has the usual direct-coupled complementary

circuitry, but is distinguished by the use of very fast output transistors: 5-10MHz f, devices are the norm, but Mission use specially selected 70MHz, 15A rated devices, which should improve high frequency linearity. This amplifier is built under contract at a major electronics facility,

where it is computer tested to a high standard and also undergoes extensive soak testing.

Technical Findings For a small distortion percentage, the Cyrus raised a 50W output (17dBW) into an 8ohm load, handsomely exceeding specification. Indeed, on short-term (20ms) peaks it approach 60W/8ohms; it still managed almost 50W into 4ohms. The 2ohm delivery was also healthy at 13.5dBW, a little under 25W of 8ohm level equivalent, or 100W peak into the test load. Peak current was healthy at + 12, — 11 amps, and both transient recovery and slew factor were fine. These figures show that Cyrus is a strong performer, with a healthy

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output capable of driving some of the more difficult speaker loads. It also behaves well when clipped, confirming the good performance in overload reported in the listening tests. Output resistance was negligible, and was not frequency

conscious ( no output inductor in this design). Harmonic distortion was uniformly held to low levels, over wide dynamic and frequency ranges. High frequency intermodulation was particularly good, even on 4ohm loading, and likewise the amplifier output was particularly clean on the 14dBW into 4ohms at 40Hz test ( see spectrogram). The 40Hz fundamental is notably clear of sidebands, despite the graph's expanded vertical scaling, and the incidence of spurious line harmonics is rather lower than usual. The pickup input also gave a fine intermodulation performance

with no suspicion of premature overload, the latter measuring an ample 28dB IHF over most of the range. The moving-coil input impedance remains the same as the moving-magnet at 47kohms/ 280pF. Some kind of through loading plug leg, RTJ) could be used if so desired, or a dealer could easily solder in the desired loading on

the pcb if permanent m-c operation is envisaged. Since the m-c input is a gain-enhanced m-m facility, its noise ratio was only just satisfactory at 58dB ( 11-1F CCIR/ARM), compared with the moving-magnet rating of 72dB. The lowest output m-c cartridges are therefore inadvisable. The auxiliary CD signal/noise ratio was fine at 77dB ref IHF 1 watt (92dB ref full output). Stereo separation via pickup was a moderate constant 47dB, in this

respect resembling the NAIT, where a similar measurement did not appear to disturb the sound. Channel balance was generally good, but deteriorated towards the lowest volume control settings; no balance control is available for correction. The pickup channel balance graph shows only a slight deviation of

0.3dB max at low frequencies. Overall, the RIAA equalisation held to within + 0/-0.4dB 30Hz to 20kHz, with — 3dB at 12Hz providing a mild subsonic rolloff. The auxiliary CD input had a wide response, — 3dB at 1Hz and 73kHz. DC offsets at the output terminals were comfortably low, well under 10mV.

Sound quality Mission have made some rather extravagant claims for the sound quality of this particular amplifier, eg 'Mission's best yet'. Fortunately our results suggest that on this occasion the manufacturer has not gone too far over the top. It is definitely 'their best yet', even when compared with their established component models, which cost ten times as much, and were launched some three years ago to my own pretty favourable review comment.

First listening did confuse one less experienced panellist, who misread the controlled understatement of the Cyrus for lack of attack in its performance. But what was immediately apparent was its relaxed, musical quality, a high level of clear stereo focus, plus the firm control normally associated with top line equipment. Not only was the apparent frequency response neutral, but that

neutrality was maintained throughout complex program and load dynamics. The amplifier was singularly free from hardness, brightness, grain or aggression; even when turned up beyond overload, the clipping point was difficult to ascertain. On difficult loads it just got louder and louder, to a point where a progressive and gradual deterioration set in — a degree of muddle and confusion rather than an unpleasant hardening of the sound. Stereo images were well formed, with very good depth and transparency. The treble was sweet and unforced, while the bass was surprisingly competent, with fair weight, decent 'speed' and articulation.

Both the line and the disc inputs performed very well, though the m-c input was slightly noisy (just below disc surface noise level using an EMT/vdH cartridge of fairly good output).

Conclusion This is an accurate and well specified amplifier of neutral tonal quality, flat frequency response, healthy output and very good load tolerance. The sound quality was exceptional, and the build quality was also very good for the price. It did not disgrace even a very costly hi-fi system, which is a remarkable achievement for a budget design. As such it represents something of an underpriced bargain!

Mission themselves admit that Cyrus currently surpasses the established 778, which was itself very favourably reviewed not so many months ago. It has therefore proved itself a worthy member of Mission's new £400 disc playing system, is also well worth considering for much more expensive systems, and may be strongly recommended.

QED A230 Following in Mission's footsteps, QED are also aiming to market a complete budget system, called the '230' series. They have started with this budget integrated amplifier, the £99 A230, which is to be followed by a £ 109 T231 FM tuner, a £ 140 turntable, ( including arm and cartridge), and eventually loudspeakers costing around £100

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We guarantee to meet claims from readers made in accordance with the above procedure as soon as possible after the Advertiser has been declared bankrupt or insolvent up to a limit of £5.200 per annum for any one Advertiser so affected and up to £10,000 per annum in respect of all insolvent Advertisers. Claims may be paid for higher amounts, or when the above procedure has not been complied with, at the discretion of Hi-Fi News: but we do not guarantee to do so in view of the need to set some limit to this commitment and to learn quickly of readers' difficulties.

This guarantee covers only advance payment sent in direct response to an advertisement in this magazine ( not, for example, payment made in response to catalogues etc, received as a result of answering such advertisements). Classified advertisements are excluded.

How can a Linn Sondek outperform a Linn Sondek?

Some would argue that a Linn Sondek is the best turntable in the world. Some, on the other hand, would not even bother to argue. But there is one thing that they would all have to agree on. There is only one Linn Sondek. So how can it out-perform itself?

The answer can be found by the side of this copy.

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58 HI-FI NEWS& RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

mark. Thus the complete disc only system would retail very competitively for under £340.

Finish is one area where QED offer something a little different. Although the unit's grey Nextel panel with green lettering may not be to everyone's taste, for an extra £20 the normal steel cover can be replaced by a real wood veneer wrap, which I can confirm is of exceptional quality. Mahogany, beech, pine, light oak, teak and walnut are all available, with rosewood on quotation. QED will perhaps be judged rather more on their ability to obtain

good sound quality, since competition is pretty fierce in this price category. Here the skill of their designers will be tested, since some delicate juggling of allowable components is essential to meet such a difficult price target. Not surprisingly, the A230 is a no-frills design, offering disc

(moving-magnet), tuner and tape inputs. (CD is not anticipated by QED at this price level, and must alternate with tuner!) Other facilities include volume, balance, headphones, and the power switch. Two sets of 4mrr sockets are provided at the rear for speaker connection. One pair is wired 'direct', the other via the 'phones socket for appropriate muting. Tuner and tape sockets are DIN, the disc, phono.

Internal construction is to a decently high standard, with good quality components including close tolerance film-type capacitors and close tclerance resistors. The top quality Holden and Fisher toroidal transformer feeds a pair of 4700µF reservoir capacitors. Mains wiring was well clamped and screened, but the input fuse was unprotected, and should have had a cover. (This will be amended shortly.) The designer provided some details of the circuitry. The phono

stage uses a buffer followed by a passive high frequency filter, and then an active stage for the low frequency time constants of the remaining RIAA equalisation. Selected low noise TL072CP op-amp buffers are used, and the DC-coupled output signals meet at the selector switch. A following buffer drives the dual-gang balance/ volume potentiometer, leading to the power amplifier section. Unusually at this price level, the preamplifier has a zener-referenced stabilised power supply. The low feedback power amplifier design has a direct-coupled

complementary output using Darlington triples. The differential input has slew rate limiting to avoid latching in the later stages of the amplifier. No output fuse is fitted, and wiring and related interconnects are kept deliberately as simple and direct as possible. Switch-on muting avoids an output relay, and a star-earth scheme is employed with direction-coded (QED) wire for important connections.

Quality control is carried out at a computer controlled test station, followed by soak testing and auditioning, all of which sounds quite a lot for a UK product costing less than £100!

Technical Findings A thoroughly modern design, this model packed considerable punch which will drive extreme loads without qualification, despite its modest price. Peak output reaches 17dBW (50W/8ohms), while a generous ±- 12.5A peak current capability gives it the ability to belt low impedances as well. On the IHF duty cycle, with 2ohms measured for the dynamic rating, power supply droop gave a smaller than expected output level, though this was still pretty good. Typical full drive, loaded output was in the 14 to 15dBW range (30W equivalent). Slew factor and transient recovery were both excellent, output impedance was low and distortion levels likewise held over the entire frequency range.

Distortion levels remained low at high powers, but showed some increase a: high frequencies and lower power levels, due to some low order crossover distortion (determined by the intended low levels of output stage bias current). However, this is not very serious, and in any case no significant problem arose in the subjective results. Analysis of the 401-1z power distortion spectrogram showed that the 50Hz and 100Hz line components were fairly strong, but higher ripple harmonics were well suppressed at around — 80dB — all in all a pretty clean result.

Intermodulation distortion ( high frequency two-tone) was satisfactory at full power, improved at lower powers, but showed some increase into the pickup input at the chosen test level (200mV peak 19/20kHz). The static pickup overload measurements suggest some deterioration at high frequencies, though 25dB is still quite satisfactory. Pickup input capacitance was a low 70pF, and may need to be

supplemented by an additional 100-200pF to get the best results with some moving-magnet cartridges. Signal/noise ratios for the various inputs were quite satisfactory, while the pickup input channel separation was rather better than usual. Channel balance was fine at high volume settings, but deteriorated excessively at very low levels; the balance control enables correction to be made. The RIAA disc input showed very good channel balance with

almost perfectly matched equalisation, and agreed closely with the

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RIAA standard, specifically measuring + 0.1, — 0.35dB from 30Hz to 20kHz. The overall frequency responses showed that the 230A had an inherently pretty wide bandwidth. The DC offsets at the output terminals were judged satisfactory.

Sound quality No excuses need be made for the sound quality of this modestly priced model. In fact, it was so good that we had difficulty finding any real fault. This must therefore be regarded as a very fine effort on the part of QED. The amplifier did well compared with certain immediate competitors, such as from Quantum, Nytech, Rote), and the like. It even dared approach the standards set by the Audiolab 8000A, itself something of a giant killer. The 230A gave a clean, transparent sound, with fine stereo focus

and substantial depth. Detail differentiation was also good on complex program, and the amplifier sounded pretty powerful even into difficult loads. The quality was still high when using CD into the tuner input, but with just a hint of mid ' hardness', and a mild loss of low frequency definition. A small additional loss on LP disc was noted, but when compared with expectations at this price level, it was felt that the QED had acquitted itself well. The sound proved relatively unfatiguing over extended periods,

which is a good sign, and the listening panel commented that the sound was much better than expected from such a modest product.

Conclusion The A230 was relatively unfatiguing for the money, and provided an accurate solid soundstage and neutral tonal balance. It also gave a faithful representation of stereo width and depth. Despite a fair proportion of crossover distortion, neither the sound quality nor other performance aspects of the 230 seem to have suffered. Construction quality was high, and the output was tolerant of any

speaker load which might reasonably be expected to be applied, and was a generous interpretation of the specification. This thoroughly modern design can be confidently recommended, and the under £100 price tag represents a major achievement for a UK-built product.

Rotel RA 820-B Rotel's 820 started off as a good value amplifier which became transformed into an outstanding product after some British design input. Its success has led to a special ' minimalist' version, stripped of the inessentials but built using some higher quality parts. This 820B is aimed at the enthusiast market, and is sold at an additional premium.

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 59

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This is a slim unit with a satin black finished front panel, distinct

from the light alloy of the standard 820. The ' B' has no tone controls

or filters, and the high quality headphone socket has high current

relay-type contacts, though the speaker terminals are permanently in

circuit, so speaker leads must be disconnected for personal

headphone use.

The only spurious(?) facility which has been retained is the mono

button. Balance is adjusted by a dual concentric, friction ganged

volume control, and inputs include tape, tuner, CD/Aux, and phono

(moving-magnet). Rear panel sockets are phonos ( gold-plated for

disc), and the speaker terminals are spring sockets with large enough

apertures to take decent cable sizes.

The amplifier is well constructed, with a minimum of wiring and

full shrouding of contacts which are at mains potential. A large

transformer with good regulation feeds high current 2 x8200pF

reservoir capacitors; as usual, the amplifier uses a split- rail supply

and is DC-coupled to the load. Fully complementary large power

transistors are arranged in parallel pairs to meet the peak current

expectation. The output fuses are included in the feedback loop to

minimise their non-linear effects on the sound. Ultimate overcurrent

protection is afforded by small series resistors of 0.22ohms, which

are in place of the normal small output chokes.

The disc amplifier is built with high quality components selected

for their sound quality. Unusually it employs a buffered input,

separating the equalisation stages from the cartridge connection;

4x5334 ICs are used, with small stabilisers feeding clean voltage. The

unit uses a single neat pcb, and should prove relatively easy to

service.

Technical Findings Slightly smaller than the other amplifiers in this group, the 820B

comfortably produced around 15dBW (30W/8ohms) on typical

loadings. This was backed up by substantial current delivery

capabilities ( albeit with mild asymmetry of + 11, - 12A, but this is

fortunately biased in the ideal quadrant), which is pretty hefty for

such a small amplifier. It also did well on the dynamic power tests

relative to its rated output, recording 12.5dBW into 2ohms, which

i

suggests an above average power supply capacity; indeed the 4ohm 1

continuous delivery was excellent. Recovery and slew factor were

both fine. I

The output impedance was rather higher than average, and

essentially resistive. With short low resistance speaker cables, this

will have a slight effect upon the perceived loudspeaker frequency

balance, due to the reflected loudspeaker impedance loading. Such

response differences should not be attributed to the internal

operation of the amplifier.

Harmonic distortion was more than satisfactory, especially in the

midband, and crossover effects were fairly mild. The spectrogram

showed a notably clear output on the 40Hz, 4ohm power test; very

good power supply rejection is indicated by the essential absence of

mains-related 'mud'.

High frequency intermodulation distortion was consistently low on

all inputs and with all loadings; the pickup overload margins were

ample. Signal/noise ratios, input sensitivities were fine, and channel

23

dBV

dE53

/DIV

-97

STAR T.

XI, 40

As MAG .

,

I

I,

. ROTEL.

f

r i\i fq

RANGE,

RAE1208

f

im

23 dBV STATUS. PAUSED

RMSE 10

,v,likeills-4_1(n4 J

0 H BM. 4 z Hz Yre -65.

7743 H ',TOP, 500 Hz z

B9 dB

MODEL h-k 620 MISSION CYRUS OED A230 ROTEL RA 8208

Continuous average power output (W) (ref 8ohms, 0.5% max, OdB/W= IW) 8ohms both channels 8ohms singly 4ohms singly

20Hz 1kHz 20kHz

14.9 15.3 15.2 _ 16.2 -

14.8 14.8 14.6

20Hz I kHz 20kHz

- 16.1 - 16.6 17.0 16.75 14.6 15.4 14.4

20Hz 1kHz 20kHz

_ 15.21 -- 15.9 16.3 16.1 14.1 14.73 14.7

20Hz I kHz 20kHz

14.6 15 14.9 - _ _ 14.4 14.6 14.5

Dynamic power output, 1kHz (ref rated or specified output, 8ohms) dBW into 2ohms dBW into 4ohms dBW into 8ohms

13.5 16.7 17.2

13.5 16.8 18.5

11.5 15.5 17

12.5 15 15.9

Peak current ( 100us pulse) (A)

Transient overload recovery time (8ohms + lOdB burst overload)

Slew factor ( ref rated output midband, 8ohms, f1%/20kHz)

+9.5, -8.5

virtually instantaneous

00

+12, - 11

virtually instantaneous

,10

+12.5, -12.5

instantaneous

.10

+11, - 12

virtually instantaneous

it 0

Output impedance (ohms)

Distortion into 8ohms (dB) At rated power (aux) At 1W (aux) At 100mW (aux) At 1W (pu)

Intermodulation (via pu) (dB) 19+20kHz (et peak rated power, 8ohms, 4ohms

(a peak rated power - 20dB, 8ohms via pu (à 200mV peak

20Hz 1kHz 20kHz 0.085 0.09 0.12

-62 -65 -72 -83 -85 -75 <-85 -90 <-80 -so -84 ,-75

-80, -83 -87 -58

20Hz I kHz 20kHz 0.05 0.05 0.055

-90 -92 -71 -100 -94 -75 - -92 -71 -70 -93 -75

-90, - 81 -85 -93

20Hz 1kHz 20kHz 0.05 0.05 0.055

-80 -75 -60 -se -65* -50 -61* -62• -47* ,-se -61* -ar

-ea, -85 -85

20Hz 1kHz 20kHz 0.23 0.26 0.26

- 66 - 78 - 60 -70 -82 - 63 -- 70 - 78 - 64 -70 - 89 - 63

-76, -75 -77 -77

Pu overload (dB) ref 5mV reference input (a I kHz

Pu impedance

Sensitivity (for 1W, OdB output) (mV) Pu Aux Tape

20Hz I kHz 20kHz 30 30 27

47W/150pF

0.45 330 330

20Hz 1kHz 20kHz 31 28 28

(m-c ditto) 47k//280pF

0.4 (m-c 0.04) 64 64

20Hz I kHz 20kHz 31 28 25

46k/f7OpF

0.6 ao 40

20Hz 1 kHz 20kHz 34 32 33

47k//150pF app

0.68 45 45

Noise (specified source resistance) dB Aux CCIR wtd, unwtd ( ref OdB) Pu m-m , ..

Pu m-c ' "

Separation ( dB) Pu Balance (cB) (ii 0, - 40, - 60dB

-87, -84 -70, -69

-

20Hz 1kHz 20kHz 70 So 47 0.1 0.17 0.8

-77, - 82 -72, - 74 -58, - 59

20Hz I kHz 20kHz 47 47 48 0.05 1 -3

-72, -74 -67, -87

20Hz 1kHz 20kHz 72 70 45 0.2 0.5 10

-85, 75 - 76, -- 73

20Hz I kHz 20kHz 60 52 42 0.11 0.2 2.5

Frequency response Pu (dB) Aux -0.5dB points Aux - 3cle points Filter

DC offset L, R (mV)

+1.5, -0.2 30Hz -20kHz 0.7Hz, 37kHz 0.5Hz, 140kHz -3dB ire rticHz, 6dffloct

5, 9

+0, -0.4 30Hz - 20kHz 3Hz, 23kHz 1Hz, 73kHz N/A

6, 7

+0.1, -0.35 30Hz-20kHz 33Hz, 80kHz 11Hz, t100kHz N/A

7,23

±0.3 30Hz - 15kHz 17Hz, 30kHz 7.25Hz, 95kHz N/A

6, - 8

Est typical purchase price £109 £129 inc VAT £99 inc VAT £119 wd finish

£99.90

•Some crossover effects, low peak value >65

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 61

lissicir7 LECTROFIICS

M1SSION/CYRUS IN THE NORTH-WEST

Once upon a time there was a small loudspeaker called Mission 70 mk II — the rest of the story is now a matter of record. It became and remains one of the best selling loudspeakers of all time and a legend in its life time.

Now it seems likely that the same thing could happen to the Cyrus 1 amplifier by Mission — a product almost a legend even before it was available.

At our shops in Crewe and Preston you have the opportunity to "listen to legends" and make comparisons with other products in the comfort of our demonstration lounges. We prefer you to make an appointment so that we can give you our full attention during the hour we expect the audition to take. We look forward to your visit.

Kind regards, Derek & Norman Perriam

C9ruse by MISSIOrlytern

HIGHTOWN AUDIO 106 Victoria Street, Crewe, Cheshire. Tel: 0270 211091

Watinan .audie 1 .e• • • .••

NORMAN AUDIO 51 Fishergate, Preston, Lancs. Tel: 0772 53057

ItN HIS MAY REVIEW of the £3344 SP10 preamplifier, John Atkinson mentioned en passantthe 'Torlyte' board. Now, without the benefit of his Motoring Thesaurus, my evaluation of the Torlyte and three other turntable isolation platforms must of

necessity be relatively pedestrian: it's a condensation from no fewer than six foolscap sheets of listening notes.

The Tables Except in mains energised form, the Sound Organisation Table is a temptation to small hands and labradors' tails alike; the cueing height is not convenient, and some critics feel the steel-framed construction rings all too clearly. But everything in audio is a compromise: the shelf mounting system brings the turntable close to wall surfaces, and that's bad too. Limited floor space often means that the equipment must sit on a heavy cabinet: even worse for the sound! Peter Turner's experiments with various ply and plastic sub-tables mounted on wooden feet have been painfully chronicled in Hi-Fi Answers. Just as he seemed to find the gates to Valhalla, his Editor brought down apparently the final Gátterdarnmerung in the shape of the PROP, Pink Triangle's riposte to Linn Products. (An Aerolam slab, this intended upgrade to replace the SOT's chipboard panel, is said to be less necessary for their own suspended chassis turntable.)

After the saga of the Celestion SL600s, let us hope sheets are cut with the honeycombing in the right direction — the wavy edges on my sample, I am sure, were unintentionally so. The PROP was marketed after sophisticated sound decay measurement testing, although it does ring for a long time if held and rapped with the knuckle. If you can swallow the high-camperoo of the PT instruction sheet, the PROP should considerably enhance your 'front end' performance. My tests were carried out using the new Quadropod feet, spaced 25-27cm apart in each direction, although this was not critical: in fact the interface with the shelf, or cabinet, can be as simple as four very thin Blutack pieces. Loose laid on polished wood the PROP gives an overbright splashy sound. Quadropod Feet are a new accessory marketed as a set of four

black-stained beech discs with threaded inserts, with knurled spikes and locknuts; four steel discs are included too. To provide a package there is an optional chipboard top, well finished in black, with steel inset thrust pads on the underside. All the tops under consideration are in black— not even Russ Andrews has the Torlyte lacquered and

called ' Red Dragon', or whatever. From Grahams', Pentonville Road, comes a mini-table, an 18mm

square section steel tubular rectangular frame, with four short legs. Concealed base-plates take 7mm spikes/locknuts, flattened to a 1 5-2mm contact point. The top frame is flanged for secondary levelling screws, and the board included — separately available if required — is a composite sandwiching an unspecified core (aluminium?), which is a grid of six approximate squares, with single ply top/bottom. These sounded best in combination, although the SoundBase serves as a relatively inexpensive amplifier isolation support sheet. Overall dimensions are such that the stand will not fit a 15in. shelf: 17-18in, is the minimum.

In practice, the DS SoundBase was outperformed by Russ Andrews' Torlyte top, wnich, with its . ntegral nylon adjustable set-screw feet, is a far more elegant solution than the inevitably depressing matt black welded steel construction. Poor results will be obtained with the Torlyte unless the feet are precisely levelied so that each 'digs down'. Torlyte is relatively thick, but the ebonised concave edging makes it visually unobtrusive. The frustrating thing about this all-wooc laminate slab ( formed under heat and pressure) is that its performance under a power amplifier, such as the Naim series, is so unbelievable that you will have to spend another £35 at once! For some reason I could not achieve a satisfactory interface with my Naim 250 Lsing a PROP. ( Last November, HFN/RR p.64, I wiote about amplifier isolation, suggesting rubber doorstops with Quadropod spikes: those who have found these rather unstable will welcome the new rigid locking beech feet.)

Test Records With careful attention to stylus cleaning, turntable levelling, and with appropriate volume settings maintained, listening compar.sons were centred on the following records. Philips 9500 942. Vivaldi ' Il Gardellino' ( Petri/ASMIF). The recorder can sound shrilly penetrating, and strings recessed and muzzy. The separation of cello, harpsichord, and soloist in ( ii) makes a good test band. Decca SXL2313. La Fille mal Gardée. Classic 1960 analogue recording, Kingsway Hall. Lanchberry's brilliant orchestration ranges from brassy tuttis to clucking wind interjections over floating strings and harp. Sparkling presentation. CBS 84597. 'Madagascar', live item from Weather Report's album Night Passage. Deep sound perspectives, sharp percussion transients, delicate filigrees, some electronic manipulation: outstanding dynamic and frequency ranges. Decca SXDL7621. Snostakovich 8 (Concertgebouw). See April 'Quality Monitor' report. However, the fading-in of violins after the woodwind cries opening side 2 is obtrusively bad, and its effect was highlighted by some of these boards. DG 410 644-1. Brahms' Romances Op.33, 'Ruhe im Schatten' (Fischer-Dieskau/Barenboim). The spatial definition of voice and piano, and the way dynamic expansion is reproduced at the climax, are crucial to one's full enjoyment of this very fine digital production. Telefunken SAW9626. Vivaldi ' La Notte'— characteristically ebullient Concentus Musicus interpretation, live from 1973 Holland Festival. Reverbe.rani setting, pages turning between movements, audience noises, flautist's breathing caught: all highly atmospheric. Transfer level demandingly high.

The Tests Three sequences of comparisons were completed: with a long chipboard shelf in an alcove, spiked onto three steel washers; a small 10mm blockboard shelf both loose-laid and spiked as above; and a mass-loaded chipboard rectangle to accommodate the DS frame, to simulate a heavy chest. Wall system steel 'Spurs' were used. The ranking order remained constant, but the conclusion was

1,11-F1 NEWS & RECORD RE‘'IEW AUGUST 1984 63

I 11S 51 E 1 FOR THE NORTH

C9rus by MISSION

Cleartone Hi-Fi have the best listening rooms in the North, the perfect place to hear single speaker demonstrations of Mission products, Linn, Heybrook, Revolver, Ariston, Exposure, Meridian, A&R, Audiovois, Musical Fidelity, NAD, Creek, Dual, Syrinx,

Perreaux, Gyrodek, Systemdek, Nytech and Quad.

For our undivided attention phone: John Samson at Bolton, Stephen Futters at Rochdale, and Peter Nuttall at Manchester, for a studio appointment.

156 Blackburn Road, Bolton Tel: 0404 31423/22363 62 King Street, Manchester Tel: 061 835 1156

52 Drake Street, Rochdale Tel: Rochdale 524652

VISA

Ille MARKETS

NO DEPOSIT FINANCE AVAILABLE Eedw

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST I9M

;1 inescapable: the mass of the subshelf was critical, and should be reduced to a minimum size compatible with maximum rigidity. The objectives are a low 'Q', to preserve the frequency response of the turntable, quick transmission of energy ( rather than storing it), a light material that filters out low frequency energy, and minimises low frequency resonances.

A Linn LP12, updated to current suspension standards, with Zeta tonearm, and Decca/Garrott Microscanner cartridge, rigidly clamped in a GB body, were used.

The Results No magical claims are made for the Quadropod chipboard, which gave a clean weighty image, well preserving lateral separation, but was poor on depth resolution as dynamic levels increased. Orchestral material sounded 'thicker' than with the PROP. With the Shostakovich the PROP most closely matched the CD, whereas the SoundBase top on spiked feet gave a coloured 'concert hall' warmth. Although the SoundBase worked best in conjunction with its steel frame, it always allowed the music to ' flow' in an attractive enough way. On the Karajan DG digital Nielsen 4th, with its fierce energies, violins at the beginning of side 2 had a screaming artificiality, and the bass pizzicati were unrelated, ie, there was confusion over the sound-stage information. Changing to the PROP gave a cleaner sound, with more weight/spread to the basses and good integration with the upper strings. On ' La Notte' the SoundBase top gave less attack, more recessed imaging, than the PROP. On the Brahms the voice was wider ( less pinpointed); the piano had an appealing full quality. But at the climax there was a feeling that this section was disjointedly loud, as if levels had been boosted at the mixing desk. The PROP accommodated the crescendo very well, and piano tone was seductively real. The chipboard top rendered the piano too distant, there were problems with dynamic expansion - again, a clean sound, but not right. The PROP gave the most coherent voice/accompaniment relationship.

Used with its intended stand, the SoundBase now 'flowed' in the Brahms, and problems with the climax were reduced. Strings were a bit muzzy on the PetriNivaldi concerto, and on ' La Notte' the image

was forward but flattened. Consistently, the Aerolam PROP proved more in control of the sound, always very fast in attack, giving needle-sharp locations, but it was not entirely free from ringing -

some full sides of digital LPs were fatiguing. Strings were generally more delicate, and without the false warmth given by the SoundBase.

First impressions of the Torlyte Notte') were of the true papery sound of pages turning. In contrast to the thinned tonal balance of the PROP, the sound was rather subdued and recessed. There was no loss of detail - if anything one was more aware of depth and instrumental separation; also, the pitch was very coherent, drawing one into the music very gently. Harpsichord had its correct 'pingy' attack. On the Lanchberry ballet the treble was open, there was good extension in the bass ( all these tops tended to draw attention to pressing rumble), a sharp decay giving a kick to the listening experience. With the PROP as a reference, this was a more muted reproduction, taking the bright edge off the sound. The mass loaded shelf showed the efficacy of the Torlyte, where the PROP tended to give a dense ringing to heavy orchestral passages (La Fille mal

Gardee)- it needed the lightest possible subshelf, on isolating spikes. Where a heavy cabinet must be retained, the Torlyte is the clear first choice, offering the most relaxed and encouraging listening.

Another quantum leap? In pursuance of worthwhile refinements in hi-fi systems, Russ Andrews has developed two more new products - to be available towards the end of August- which he demonstrated to me in near-final form. The more expensive of these ( around £691 was to transform my system, revealing shortcomings, yes, but more helpfully pointing the way to a more relaxing yet no less analytical sound. Made in Torlyte, this is a turntable stand, at 1465gm no heavier than seven sleeved LPs. It will be marketed as a flat pack, to be assembled simply with glue and eight screws. Two Medite plates give rigidity to the ingenious ' letter H' legs which interlock to give an 'X' shape on plan. At the four corners are needle-like adjustable feet, designed to penetrate the carpet and toughest of underlays. There will be an integral spirit level. Levelling accomplished, the Linn is placed on the four top corners ( no top plate); the stand, which gives about 485mm/19in. to the turntable plinth, doubles as a set-up jig.

Putting the deck on a Torlyte Stand was like spending another £350-400 on the cartridge, I would say. The immediate changes were: increased space around the instruments, as they were heard, greater dynamic impact, yet a less strenuous 'shouty' sound, with clean extended bass. Perspectives were focused more sharply, and the tunefulness of the system was appreciably enhanced. After Russ' visit I was able to tidy a few cables, replacing connectors, and I realised that, without any adjustment, cartridge/arm performance was better, notably so on the HFS75 vertical modulation bands. For the first time the finale of the Gilels/DG digital Beethoven Pathétique Sonata could be enjoyed without mistracking at two passages (which had defeated three previous m-c cartridges, as well as the Garrott-

Deccas). Similarly, the bass drum thwacks on the LPO/Haitink Shostakovich 15 ( i) were now clean.

Russ' othe accessory, a SuperClamp (to upgrade the Mains Clamp 1) l will describe at another time - suffice it to say that it brings, if not a giant step for mankind, at least a cherry to the icing of the Torlyte Stand. Back-ache or not, I have of course abandoned my turntable shelf!

NOTE: the stand will be available from RATA dealers, or direct

(£69.95 inclusive) from Russ Andrews Turntable Accessories, Edge Bank House, Skelsmergh, Kendal, Cumbria LA8 9AS. Since CB's test of a pre-production sample, Russ has modified the assembly, and three patterns will now be marketed to suit a wide range of turntables - including a three- leg version for the Rega. Levelling of the stand is accomplished from above (Allen key). At the design stage is a complementary piece of furniture to accommodate amplifier, preamp, and other hardware items.

RATA Torlyte

SIZE Immt WEIGHT (gin)

490

PRICE DISTRIBUTION NOTES SOUND QUALITY

90%

FINISH

Pink Triangle PROP

DS SoundBase

Sound Base Stand

Quadropod

Quadropod Feet 141

445 it 347 10.5 f35 Iproyisionell 06G Audlo Products Ltd

Pdtk Thane, dealers, or Blush

mrea,Le Grahams H. F., NI (01 837 4412/

Integral feet

Very good

450 s 350 > 13 685 C31.21 (PEP 10.1 85% Few

450s349

Mx 390 o 130

4421i 347 oB

365 (10.35 lt2.50 d&F') (35 (loci top)

C17.50 incl. feet Studio 99. NW6 (01 624 88551

Bost used together

Fair

868

cs 40% Good

Excellent

Channel difference to high sensitivity via disc relative to calibration standard (dB) L. R

Model 20Hz 50Hz 100Hz 200Hz

h-k 620

Mission Cyrus

QED A230

Rotel RA820B

+1.9, + 1.7

-1.3, - 1.3

-0.1, - 0.9

-1.2, -0.6

-1.5, + 1.2

*0.2, + 0.6

+0.3, +0.4

-0.2. + 0.5

+1.0, + 0.5

0.0, + 0.4

-0.1, + 0.1

-0.4, +0.3

-0.6. - 0.1

-0.4, - 0.1

-0.2, - 0 2

-0.6, + 0.2

500Hz

+0.3, - 0.1

-0.4,0.0

-0.1, - 0.1

-0.6, + 0.1

I kHz

+0.1, - 0.1

-0.4, 0.0

0.0, 0.0

- 0.7,0.0

2kHz

0.0, - 0.2

W0.3, -0.1

0.0, 0.0

-0.6, + 0.1

5kHz

-0.2, - 0.3

-0.4, -0.2

0.0, 0.0

-0.6, + 0.1

10kHz

-0.1, - 0.2

-0.4, - 0.2

0.0, +0.1

-0.6, + 0.2

20kHz

0.0, - 0.1

-0.4, -0.2

0.0, + 0.1

-0.8, 0.0

separation was more than satisfactory. Channel balance was pre ty good except at the lowest volume settings, and agreement between the two RIAA equalised channels was very good, showing evidence of well-matched components. The RIAA disc input response was held to + 0.5, - 0.4dB from 20Hz to 20kHz, showing slight bass lift, which indicates a touch of richness in frequency balance terms. The other frequency responses were fine, with no idiosyncratic tailoring evident. DC offsets were consistently low.

Sound quality The ' B' was felt to offer an improvement over the 820's already formidable standard. The sound appeared firmer, with better bass weight and definition, while also seeming a trifle more transparent. Performance scored well via the disc input, with a feeling of

'energy' and 'drive', plus a nice midrange and sweet tonal balance. The stereo image was well-focused and provided fair depth as well. We did not feel that PCM program via the aux input sounded quite

as good as the reference, although admittedly, we were judging by

some very high standards. There was some loss of t ansparency and

depth, a degree of ' hardness' on more projected vocal lines, and the sound was not quite 'comfortable'. However, the bass remained solid and powerful, belying its modest power rating, and the amplifier handled awkward loads very well indeed, as claimed.

Conclusion

This is yet another tough modern amplifier, demonstrating some improvement over the well-regarded standard 820, though the extra cost probably reduces the value for money a little.

The 820B belongs to that select group of new amplifiers with great load tolerance and much improved sound quality, and can give other far more pricey and well regarded models a good run for their

money. It must be admitted that the sound quality did not convince us quite as much as that of the Cyrus or QED, but the Rotel's ratings were nevertheless very good, and consequently I have no hesitation in also recommending this model.

e

111-1,1 NI WS& 121..001•21)RFVH AUGUST 19x-I

65

YAMAHA CD-X1

Martin Colloms looks at Yamaha's new 'low cost' second s eneration Corn • act Disc • la er

YAMAHA PRODUCED fairly limited quantities of the CD1, a first generation CD player, a year or so back, but so few were actually imported into the UK that any review seemed irrelevant. That machine roughly parallelled the Sony 701es,

employing a selected D/A converter for each channel, both to improve separation and to eliminate the interchannel delay that commonly arises when a single, shared convertor is used. Yamaha also used a form of oversampling, by multiplying the

signal rate before conversion. This technique is also used in the Philips CD decode system, and is favoured by a number of critics on sound quality grounds. However, Yamaha's new CD player is far less expensive than its

predecessor, and may be regarded as a true second generation machine in terms of design and construction, making extensive use of lightweight metal and plastic and weighing just 3.6kg. This may well point the way towards future portables and car players, although Walkman-like CD players are still a long way off. The CD-X1 is a compact front drawer loader with comparatively

few controls, though it is nonetheless well equipped. The digital display has two windows: the first shows the music or track number being played or stored; (0-99) the second displays the elapsed time per track in minutes and seconds. Depressing the key marked 'check/RT' shows the total remaining time, and the total playing time is given upon loading. Individual tracks may be accessed via repeated key depression, and up to 23 can be programmed into the memory. This is easy to do despite the lack of a numerical keyboard. Although index points cannot be directly accessed, specific parts can be located via the digital time display. An excellent cueing system is provided, similar to the Sony in

providing audible music output during both forward and reverse cue search. Two search speeds are obtainable according to the length of time that the keys are depressed, and still faster search is available when the machine is muted in ' pause', the three rates of search are seconds, tens of seconds, and whole minutes of program time. Three different play mode settings are provided. Switched to

'auto' the machine will commence play the moment it is switched on, assuming a disc is loaded. In 'normal' the machine remains in 'pause', with the display showing the total playing time and the number of tracks on the loaded disc. Set to 'single', the player will play just one track at a time.

Play commences on closing the drawer, either manually or by using the open/close button in ' auto' mode. A repeat function is also provided, either of a single track a defined long or short section, a programmed selection. The machine may be reset by pressing the stop key twice.

Neither variable output level nor headphone socket are provided, and the plain phono sockets carry signal at a fixed nominal maximum output of 2V for full record level. The player operated speedily, with fast track access and a quick

drawer mechanism. It was easy to use, and most of those who tried it liked both the appearance and the controls.

Technical details This machine's CD1 predecessor, used a Taohs laser pickup, marketed by Olympus and, interestingly, made by Matshushita. The error correction chip came from Sony, as did the two D/A convertors. However, the new machine has a laser pickup from Mitsubishi, the error corrector LSIs are Yamaha, and the D/A convertor is an American designed component, originating from Burr Brown.

In common with their first model. Yamaha have chosen to use a form of oversampling, to improve high frequency resolution and to ease the demands on the output filter. With CD players this filter comes in above 21kHz, ' brickwall' with a very rapid rolloff imparted by 9-pole or in some cases 11-pole construction ( each pole constitutes an attenuating reactive element in the filter). Due to their complexity, most of these filters are bought in as modules from such companies as Murata and Toko, and use thick film technology. In the CD-X1 Yamaha have been able to use a simpler passive discrete LC type 7-pole filter, using screened ferrite cored inductors. Some of the filtering is also carried out higher up the frequency range, using a digital transversal filter which operates on the oversampled ( x2) signal running at an 88.2kHz clock rate. The filtered digital signal is then passed to the Burr Brown 16-bit

D/A convertor, where the digital numbers are decoded into a time-multiplexed, switched analogue signal composed fo the left and right channels. Because the system is running at twice the normal speed, the delay between left and right channels is halved and so amounts to a mild 44° phase difference at 20kHz.

The 'deglitcher' separates the two channels by simple switching, and is also equipped with muting hold sections in the signal path; these 'glitches' are the ultrasonic switching transients and ' ringing' which can disturb the following analogue circuitry. The audio then passes to an IC op-amp ( LA3170), which provides the correct drive for the LC filter, a ' ladder' employing three tapped inductors and four capacitors. Another two-channel IC amplifier following this carries the switchable de-emphasis network in its feedback loop. The analogue circuitry and components are of normal

commercial quality, though the output electrolytic is non polar. Surprisingly, there is a 1kohm resistor in series with the output line, whereas most players aim for a low output resistance. On the mechanical/optical side, the laser head employs the

reliable three-beam system for tracking and modulation reading. Fast servos are used for the transverse sled, so track access is consequently quite quick.

Lab report Channel balance was very close except for mild deviation in the final few kHz. Channel separation was high, though not quite to the level of some other players; 95dB plus is routine, the Yamaha attaining a still ample 85dB of midband separation. Interchannel phase difference was negligible at low and mid frequencies, the small interchannel delay resulting in a maximum difference of 44° at 20kHz. At full level total harmonic distortion ( exc. noise) was very low,

—104dB (0.0006%1 being recorded at 1kHz. Distortion harmonics of 20kHz cannot be measured ( blocked by the output brickwall filter), but downband modulation products are usually present (for

1.1à11 «r«. 111 4%<

11 51 110 1111 511 III 71 F1111E1CY 11 11,

SE 111 7011

66 NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

example fd = 44.1kHz — 2 x 20kHz). In this player such spuriae were very low, at better than — 85dB. The distortion increased with reducing signal level, as it should

for a digital system, but the — 23.5dB harmonic distortion level ref. a —80dB 1kHz modulation is typical of a high linearity system, close to 16- bit resolution. However, the gain linearity was poorer than usual, with a + 6dB amplitude error at — 90dB (some D/A convertors

FIG.1

10 000

have an internal trim control to set this parameter). Graph 1 shows the harmonic distortion of a 1kHz signal 20dB below peak level. Only third harmonic can be seen and this is at a superb — 80.5dB. The full level two tone high frequency intermodulation distortion

was very good — indeed far better than most preamplifiers, measuring — 98dB for the 1kHz difference tone generated by 19 and 20kHz fundamentals. Incidentally this test gives further indication that a 44kHz sampling rate can be sufficient for audio. Since this test signal is of a transient nature, fluctuating in level from 0 to maximum level at a 1kHz rate, while the energy is only present at 19 and 20kHz signals, right at the band edge. If the sampling theorems were not valid, the intermodulation distortion of today's PCM systems would be chronic, which is clearly not the case. At — 10dB the Yamaha's IM worsened to a still good — 85dB, close to the theoretical limit. The audio output level was slightly higher than usual at 2.15V

left, 2.17 right, from a poorer than average source impedance of 2.4kohms. This is rather high for passive volume control use, and results in some additional attenuation. A/B comparison is certainly more difficult using a PCU ( Passive Control Unit), and very long audio cables should be avoided with the CD-X1!

FIG.2 -

›,

.•0000

200•00 ,r),º5s;t1

Bi., 954.85 84 STOP: 100 000 84 '

The 100kHz bandwidth, Graph 2, shows the noise performance, with the output filter rolloff visible at 23kHz. The random 'burble' noise can be seen below 20kHz, this picture changing constantly on the real-time analyser screen. With the full signal level at + 6dBV (2V), the main spurious signal (Al is — 117dB at 88kHz, the second harmonic component of the clock. The de-emphasis operation checked out to the standard, and the

error correction was considered very good, judging by the Philips error test; both the 800pm long gap and 800µm dot were passed without detectable clicking. However, the signal/noise ratio failed the spec. of 95dB, achieving

90dB unweighted 20Hz to 20kHz, and 86dB CCIR ARM weighted (1kHz ref), which compares unfavourably with the 92dB typical for other machines. The cause was the digital breakthrough noted earlier, and we have asked Yamaha for an explanation. Even with de-emphasis, the S/N did not rise above 92dB, though we do not consider this degree of noise to be serious, and it did not appear to affect the listening tests.

Sound quality First impressions indicated a likeable ' musical' sound, a finding which was reinforced as the auditioning proceeded. The basic CD performance virtues may be taken as read — or perhaps we should accord more emphasis to benefits such as inaudible wow and rumble, silent surfaces, excellent channel separation and balance, negligible distortion and a flat frequency response?

Listening with some care, the CD-X1 showed some particular strengths. Its presentation was more 'distant' than many other players with reduced ' hardness' and better mid-treble perspectives. This was particularly evident in the stereo images, which gave a superior impression of depth and space. The 'sweet' character made for easier listening with some of the 'fiercer' CD discs. While the stereo performance is of considerable importance for the

audiophile in particular, the Yamaha did show some trace of weakness at the frequency extremes. Compared, for example, with the Sony 701es, the bass lacked a touch of clarity and articulation, the upper treble showed a hint of grain or imprecision. However, this was not felt to detract from the overall sound quality, which was considered to be one of the best from a CD player so far. The stereo images were created with a sense of scale and ease,

with sharp focusing and a musical tonal quality. Other noted players that we used afterwards tended to sound a touch 'compressed', with a 'thin' tonal quality that seemed more fatiguing; the CD-X1 in fact managed to make these other players sound more alike in this

respect. If the volume control was excessively advanced during silences or

when paused, some noise was audible, although at normal ' loud' volume settings it was not apparent. This was not so much a 'sshh' but rather a random 'chirping' or ' burbling', which was probably crosstalk from the digital processing circuitry. The player performed well when checked initially for error

correction, but later on was tripped by two discs in my collection. Subsequently, however, it proved impossible to repeat this failure, and a second sample was fully satisfactory, while sounding the same as the first in all other respects. Overall the machine was considered pretty quiet as CD players go, though it occasionally emitted a mild mechanical whirring sound in addition to the signal noise noted above.

Conclusions A neat and attractive player which does not draw too much attention to itself, the CD-X1 offers a useful combination of controls and facilities. Track access was rapid, the machine was easy to use, while the lab results were generally very good with the exception of the noise performance. (This in any case remains vastly better than other program sources, and was not heard during normal auditioning.) The listening tests indicate an exceptional sound quality despite the relatively modest price ( in CD terms, that is). Moreover, this player has shown that further improvements in CD player sound quality are indeed possible and worth pursuing.

Offering good value and warmly recommended, this CD player may go some way towards converting certain critics who regard the medium as inherently ' unmusical'. -0-

Note: Yamaha have admitted the minor noise shortfall and will shortly correct this in production; we hope to check a ' quiet' model soon.

YAMAHA CD-X1 CO PLAYER

20Hz 1kHz 20kHz

Channel balance ( dB) 0.1 0.1 0.35

Channel separation (dB) 88 85 78

Channel phase difference ( - I -1 0 44

Total harmonic distortion (•inc noise) OdB -102 - 104 -85

(20kHz bandwidth) - 10dB - -88

-60dB - -40

-80dB - -23.5

intermodulation distortion ( dB) 1..-R OdB; 19, 20kHz -98

Li- R - 10d8; 19, 20kHz -85 Frequency response (dB) L -0, - 0.8 20Hz - 20kHz R +0, - 0.45

Output level, OdB, (V) 2.15, 2.17

Output impedance (ohms) 2.4k

De-emphasis OK

Track access time (secs) 4.3

Mechanical noise slight Whirr'

Error correction to: 900um gap,800mm dot

Signal/noise ratio ( no emphasis) a) 20Hz-20kHz unwtd ( dB) 90 ( see text)

b) CCIR ARM ( 1kHz ref) ( dB) 86 ( see text)

Spuriae (to 100kHz) ( dB) -117 at 88kHz

Resolution (dB) at - 90dB - 6

Headphone socket no

Typical Price inc VAT £59

•In band chirping at - 100dB

NEWS & RECORD REVIEW At 'f it'Sl 19114 67

TWO LOGOS MERGED into one, with the word 'Special' splayed across. Must be something monumental to justify such attention. Full-colour illustration, the coveted cover spot

— all for l'il ol"Anachrophile' and 'Classical Glass'. We're talking a return engagement for the Messiah, or a previously unreleased Beatle song, or the reformation of the Buffalo Springfield. This is Lou Grant stuff, Scoop City, hold-the-presses-and-eat-your-hearts-out-dear-competitors. The Radford STA25 valve power amplifier has retbrned. And we've got the scoop. Let's put this into perspective, especially for those of you who

neither remember the Radford nor give a hoot about valves, by giving you The Perfect Analogy: the Radford STA25 going back into production is akin to British Leyland re-introducing — in 1984 — the MG-TC. Or the Jaguar XK-120. And up to four or five months ago (yes, I kept a secret for that long) it seemed just about as likely. The STA25 disappeared from the pages of the Hi-Fi Yearbook in 1972, and the odds of it ever coming back were beyond the astronomical. But that's a story in itself, which requires the standard 'Anachrophile' preamble if you're to appreciate the importance of this product's return. Skip the next dozen or so paragraphs if the STA25 is no stranger to you. The late 1950s and early 1960s were dark times for the world of

audio, with transistors occupying most designers' thoughts. There was a prevailing attitude that solid-state devices would soon render the valve obsolete, though new valve amps would continue to appear well into the middle years of the coming decade. To quote

A CI I ROPI 111,E

ASSKA GLASS

Geoffrey Horn, from his review of the STA25 in the December 1965 issue of The Gramophone, 'Anyone might be excused for thinking that the desirable circuits for valve amplifiers have all been explored and exploited, and that we have now reached a state of stability if not of complete finality — particularly now that the transistor is so often seen looming through the haze on the audio horizon'. (What Mr. Horn couldn't have known while making this justification for the latest Radford effort was that it would still be valid 19 years later in respect to Messrs. William Johnson, Tim de Paravicini, Roger Modjeski, and other valve devotees.) Mr. Horn then proceeded to demolish such beliefs by extolling the virtues of the Radford STA25, in essence stating that there was still some life left in the valve. The STA25 Mk. Ill, to give it its full name, was part of a family of

Radford valve amps that first emerged with the mono MA15, a 15-watter of high pedigree regarded with great respect. So important was this concept of 'family' that the company discussed its two mono and two stereo models in virtually the same breath. While the STA15 was — literally— a pair of MA15s, and the STA25 a pair of mono MA25s, all four units were described as identical in the performance save for power output. ( Out of respect for the subject at hand, and an unwillingness to stray from it, I shall disregard completely the question of sonic differences between the 15- and 25-watters, having exhausted it in earlier appearances of this column.) By the time the Series Ill models appeared, Radford was a

68 HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST I9g4

well-known name in hi-fi circles, the speciality of the company being superb transformers. This naturally leads to Arthur Radford, the company's namesake, for it was his expertise in transformers that made Radford valve amps as desirable as they were. . and still are. Ask anyone, especially the manufacturer of an output-transformerless valve amplifier to name the Achilles' Heel of tube designs, and they'll point to the transformer. Arthur Radford, like Tim de Paravicini after him, looked upon this as an obstacle to overcome — not as an insurmountable roadblock. I had the good fortune to meet Mr. Radford, who gave me some

background to the development of the monumental Series Ill amplifiers. While trying to keep my coffee cup from shaking out its contents (I am, after all, a valve groupie, and I tend to get nervous in the proximity of living legends), I learned that hi-fi components — like racing cars — are a breed that improves due to competition. Mr. Radford told me that his then-US-importer showed him a Dynaco tube amplifier and said, 'This is what you've got to beat'. In addition to firing up the enthusiasm of the design team, it led to what must rank as one of the greatest meetings of minds in audio's history: Arthur Radford collaborated on transformer design with the great David Hafler, Dynaco's main man. This, of course, is so much nicer than having the two at each other's throats, and it's about as close as we'll ever come to a hi-fi designers' equivalent of Lennon-McCartney. This might explain why I love my Radford STA25 and Dynaco

Stereo 70 with equal passion. Anyway, back to history. The Radford STA25 Mk. Ill emerged as

one of the amplifiers to own in the early-to-mid 1960s, despite costing £50 at a time when a slightly higher powered Leak valve amp cost £5 less— and five quid then was more like fifty now. But there's a very good reason for its success, and to understand this, it helps to look at the three-part feature written by Bailey and Radford for HFN's June-through-August 1962 issues. Throughout this epic discussion of the amplifier's design, the

authors focus attention on the boundaries that too many designers seemed to have accepted, yet going so far as to state in the feature's closing paragraphs that it was 'anachronistic' to introduce a radically new valve amp at that late stage. But the reader knows that Radford addressed certain problems and offered solutions instead of compromises. Foremost among these was to use a greater degree of negative

feedback to reduce distortion. Optimising the negative feedback is a tricky job as it will gradually change to positive at frequency extremes with a concomitant loss of stability. Although this wasn't news to designers of the day, it took Arthur Radford's expertise in transformer design to give enough open-loop gain at very high and low frequencies and make the STA25 Mk. Ill's 26dB of negative feedback viable in a commercially available design. (Compare this with the 15dB negative feedback applied to modern valve amplifiers and you'll find that we haven't come all that far in 20 years ...)

Radford's transformer raised the shunt resonance to beyond 150kHz— far more than the mere octave margin of other transformers —while Bailey fought off phase shift and oscillation by running a pentode stage in the first half of the ' long tailed pair' phase splitter, which stretched the bandwidth from 20kHz to 200kHz. The result was an unconditionally stable amplifier with 26dB of negative feedback able to be used over the whole of the audible spectrum. Radford produced 12,000 STA series amplifiers in what was that

era's high end. Though rated at 25W/8ohms RMS per channel, most measured 36 watts, and offered drive capability similar to that of now-lauded, low-powered ( spec-wise) amplifiers of the NAIT/Rotel RA820/Audiolab variety. Radford was using the same standard in the mid- 1960s that today's 'acceptable' manufacturers employ: damn the specifications, let's design for the real world. I can vouch for these claims, having abused my Radford many times, and having yet to challenge the unit's stability. As for the ' real world' driving abilities of the Radford. I quote 'Chooch' Humphreys, who said, ' By Jove!'

Yes, it was the Radford STA25 that drove the wicked Stax ELSF-81 electrostatic speakers when the NAIM couldn't. The sonic identity of the STA25 Mk. Ill is somewhere in between

the 'classic' soft valve sound of the Quads and the rather more accurate, less forgiving nature of modern designs. To give it a more specific position in the evolution from soft to accurate, imagine it as the link between the Quad/Leak/Armstrong designs c.1960 and the first of the post-renaissance designs like the TVA, the early Beards, and the Grant-Lumleys. Even the power rating corresponds, for the Radford is slightly beefier than the average 1960 unit, and proportionately less powerful than the 50- or 75-watters of the late 1970s.

Listening to it with the ear of the music lover rather than the historian reveals an amplifier abundant with that virtue called 'listenability'. No doubt due to the concerns of the designers, the STA25 Mk. Ill NEVER SOUNDS BAD. Of course you can easily reach the amplifier's limitations, but how it behaves when treated with

disrespect is what makes it such a joy to employ. It literally ' soft clips', but not in the NAD 3020 fashion, which squashes the transients and emasculates (thanks, Ivor) the music. Instead, it operates like a car with a rev limiter — it just doesn't go any further up the scale, and it backs off without screaming for mercy. I reinstated the Radford after many months of using the Beard

P100 Mk. II with its 6dB greater power. Now I never get anywhere near the Beard's limitations, because I like my LS3/5as with whole drive units, but I still enjoy ample SPLs and never hear the sound of an overworked amplifier. I anticipated a sacrifice in dynamic capability when changing down to a 25-watter, but it never happened. The Radford behaves like an A* graduate from finishing school. But politesse does not a good amplifier make. What does make this such a gem is its neutrality, very low

coloration, knock-out dimensionality ( like a mini-version of the Audio Research D-70), and sweetness. Oh, and near-chunky, not-what-you'd-expect-from-tubes bass delivery. But, no, it is not a perfect amplifier, and I don't think that Williams Johnson or Beard will have to stock up on tranquilisers. The Radford loses out to today's premium tube designs in a couple

of areas, mainly a sense of authority and that cutting edge which gives total specificity to individual images within the soundstage. It's this softness which places the Radford slightly closer to the classic rather than the modern. But then you remember that the Radford can be found in the classifieds for £100 or £ 150 and you stop worrying about this ever-so-slight lack of control. If you accept that a 20-year-old amplifier available for the price of a pair of budget speakers shouldn't have to match the performance of a younger, ten-times-dearer unit, then you're in for a pleasant surprise. Take an old Radford in good condition, re-valve it, and make sure

that it's working up to specification. Haul it down to the nearest specialist shop and compare it with any solid-state design costing up to £ 1000. There, I've just saved you £800.

Still, some of you potential Radford owners don't want to, 1) go the secondhand route, 2) own an amplifier that could be near the end of its life, or 3) spend ages combing the classifieds. And if past response to 'Anachrophile' is anything to go by, within two weeks of this appearing, the prices will shoot up on the available STA25s, and then the supply will dry up. Which leads us nicely back to our scoop. That coverline, 'The Radford is back' is no lie. Welcome the STA25

Mk. IV. Yes, Mk. IV. And with Arthur Radford's blessings. Sondex, manufacturers of a sweet little integrated S/S unit, a nice

passive preamp, and a valve power amp of their own, have strong ties with Radford, as some of them once worked for the company and they've been servicing old STA units for years. It struck them that maybe, just maybe, certain anachrophiles would like to see the return of the STA25, and that set the wheels in motion. ( I'd like to think that there was a scenario along the lines of lightbulbs glowing over the idea man's head, a conference over beers in some smoke-filled bar, and a soundtrack by Hoagy Carmichael, but the guys at Sondex seem far too organised for that.) After discussions with Arthur Radford, it was agreed that Sondex would take over the project, improving certain aspects of the design, and build and market what would be called the STA25 Mk. IV. Talk about authenticity! The transformers are wound on the same

machines as were the originals. The lady who did the winding 20 years ago is winding the transformers for the new units. They come in the same shades of grey as the originals. Even the packing cartons are cut from the original patterns. What we have here is a display of respect for the original, and it's so good that the initial view of the Mk. IV is pure time-warp.

But Sondex, knowing that the born-again STA25 (I kinda like the name ' Lazarus') would have to sell for a fair bit more than the going rate for a used original, have improved certain areas which would benefit from developments of the past two decades. There are few external clues, and a Mk. IV placed next to a mint Mk. III cries out 'Doppelganger! Doppelgangerl'But close inspection reveals that Sondex has replaced the old binding posts with the decideaiy better Michell variation, the EL34 valves have been replaced with KT77s (NOT, I should add, because of anything I wrote, but because EL34s are no longer available), and the phono sockets are of much higher quality. The octal socket which fed the Radford preamp has been removed, as has the impedance selector switch, the latter condition being changed by internal hard wiring. One other externally visible change should please those who fear

the dreaded AVO meter, or who worry about valve biasing. In keeping with the latest in valve amplifiers (eg, Grant, Beard, and EAR) the bias is now adjusted by turning a small screw until two red LEDs glow with equal intensity. It means that you can now bias a Radford STA25 in two minutes.

Internally, though, are the changes which could explain the slight sonic differences between the Mk. IV and its predecessor. (The substitution of KT77s for the EL34s has been removed from the

III-FI NEWS X: RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1954 69

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4 equation, as I swapped valves from Mk. Ill to Mk. IV and back when I made my comparisons. Refer to the specifications of the two for the measurable differences.) The Mk. IV differs internally from the Mk. Ill in two main areas, and they correspond with the areas which I identified. First is the addition of bypass capacitors in parallel with all the electrolytics, which may explain the improvement in stereo imaging. The other change is the use of much higher value power supply decoupling capacitors, accounting for greater stability, in turn accounting for the perceived improvement in bass performance. But these are subtle differences, which I could only identify with any certainty after many hours of listening, and even these could be equalised by changing speaker leads or interconnects.

Examination of the specifications confirms just how close the two units measure, the only differences of any note being higher distortion with the KT77'd Mk. IV versus the EL34'd Mk. Ill, and the absolutely minute power advantage that the Mk. IV has over the Ill. So here comes the odd part, which is justifying a £499 plus VAT

price tag for an amplifier you could buy — minus the worthwhile refinements, especially the simplified bias — for £ 150 in second-hand form. On one level, there's no problem at all, because what you're getting is a brand new sample — and it's pretty hard to place a value on 15 years' less wear. And ie you add the cost of four KT77 valves, four Michell binding posts, two gold-plated phono sockets, and a load of brand-new, high quality capacitors to the cost of an old STA25, you're up to about £250. Then you've got the job of changing the old bias adjustment system to the new arrangement. And labour.

Still, we're looking at a £499 plus VAT amplifier in 1984 terms; does it hold up sonically to the competition? Let me ask you a question that I can't answer: What £600 or less S/S amplifier available on the market today sounds anywhere near as musical? Sure, you might be able to get more power, but you won't get better sound. And if you're using speakers easier to drive than Stax electrostatics, I doubt that you'll find the Radford less than capable.

But this begs the whole question of why the Radford is back, its genuine 1984 suitability notwithstanding. I'm willing to bet that 99% of the customers for the Mk. IV won't be buying it as a main amplifier, but as an objet d'art or to chase lost youth. The original was meant to be situated out of sight; the Mk. IV will earn pride of place, like that

52425 SERIES 3 DISTORTION VERSUS POWER iNTO 8 covns

STA2S SERIES 4 Z,S'OnTION VERSUS POWER INTO El ohms

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imaginary 1984 Jaguar XK120 which you'd drive on sunny days, knowing that the car is as new as a B Reg XJS. The fact that the Mk. IV does perform well by today's standards is icing on the cake; the same cannot be said for a re- born classic car. ( Face it: something as vulgar as an Escort XR3i will blow the sidecurtains off an MG-TC.)

But Sondex isn't stopping with this replica. There's a possibility that the company may produce some grey-fascia'd samples of their passive preamp to match the Mk. IV, a wise move because the two items work together very nicely. But more sensational is... The Radford STA25 Mk. IV Signature!!! Sondex is going to manufacture a limited run of Mk. IVs painted in

black, with gold plating on the parts that come in aluminium on the standard model. These numbered units, which commemorate 25 years of STA amplifiers, will come with a certificate of authenticity signed by the great Arthur Radford himself — so forget spraying an old one black in the hope of fooling some unwary anachrophile. As with the standard models, these must be ordered direct from Sondex (and some stocks will be available from Radford Electronics as well), and will sell for £599 plus VAT. Order now, as there will be only 100 Signature versions made, and I know of three firm orders already. And once the Japanese collectors (who'll pay up to £800 for a Mk. Ill)

hear about it, it's goodbye to your chances of obtaining one. I still can't believe that this classic has returned to us, once again

available fresh off the assembly line. The amplifier shown on the cover of this issue is six weeks old as you read this; it's no hoax designed to get mouths a' salivatin'. But even if you have no truck whatsoever with the collector/antiquary mentality, order an STA25 Mk. IV now if you're shopping for an under £600 power amplifier. Then write a letter of thanks to Sondex' John Widgery for overseeing this project from end to end. Andfor magically balancing the old one with the new. Now can we expect a brand-new Model 7/8/9 from Marantz? Sondex Ltd. Unit 1A, Marsh Lane Trading Estate, Easton-in-

Gordano, Bristol BS20 OTB. Radford Electronics Ltd., 10 Beach Road, Weston-Super-Mare, Avon.

Comparison traces, oscillograms and measurements for STA25 MkIll and IV as supplied by Sondex. The squarevvave responses above are for a simulated electrostatic speaker load

(8012pF), MkIll (I) IV

Power output (« lkHz cont. (W) 8 ohms 4 ohms 2 ohms 8 ohms 2uF

STA25 SERIES 3 STA25 SERIES 4 1

38.5 36 23 38

39.5 39 24.5 39

Both channels 8 ohms cont. (W) 36 37

Power output IHF toneburst (W) 8 ohms ohms 2 ohms 8 ohms - 2uF

39 38 25 38

40 39.5 26 38.5

Both channels IHF toneburst 39 39

Sensitivity for 25W output ( mV) 580 590

Noise CCIR/ARM 2kHz ( dB) L, R Noise Audio band RMS Noise IEC curve A RMS

-108, - 109 -86, - 90 -107, - 108

-108. - 109 -87, - 95 -107, - 108

THD MI@ 25W/8 ohm load (see curves) 20Hz

1kHz 10kHz 20kHz

1 0.07 0.38 1

2 0.13 0.9 3.5

111-FI NEWS RECORD REVIEN AUGUST 1554 71

Mitsuko Uchida interviewed

by Ivor Humphreys

EAR THAT,' said producer Erik Smith, 'anything but Mozart!' We were listening to the wonderfully

gifted Japanese pianist Mitsuko Uchida preparing herself for a third day's recording as part of her continuing Mozart Piano Sonatas project for Philips (first fruit of her exclusive contract), the initial volume of which is released this month. Snatches of Chopin, Schubert, Beethoven, Berg and Schoenberg tumbled over one another in a veritable kaleidoscope of passing musical thoughts. 'Oh that! Well it depends, really, on the day. I had just had two hard days of recording and I had to get into shape again. Mozart's sound world is very special, different from any other composer, and when you are playing lots of it you become so involved, mentally and physically, with it that you end up using just part of the body and part of the instrument. So, in order not to become restricted, as it were, I play all sorts of things like that; I then find I'm using the instrument, using the space. After that my Mozart has more dimension.'

...'Mozart has been important to me always, yes, and Schubert. I remember those two even as a small child of five-ish. I really loved playing what at that time were probably called the Sonatinas; and Schubert Impromptus, Schubert lieder.' ...'Yes, I do believe you should look beyond the piano music of a composer in order to understand it. In the case of Beethoven you have got to know the symphonic and chamber music. In Mozart it is essential to know the operas — the chamber music as well, but the operas are a must— and if you are playing any other instrument then you have to get to know the

piano concertos.' The choice of Mozart's piano sonatas, of

all pianistic cycles, remains a controversial one even in these days of considered academic insight.The old Grove's verdict, that 'On the whole they do not represent the composer at his best' still has an alarming currency, even among otherwise enlightened musicians. Needless to say, it's a viewpoint given short shrift by Mitsuko Uchida. 'That's what everybody says: they said it when I did the complete cycle in ' 82. Even some of the musicians I've talked to have said " Oh they are weaker pieces. Why do you do them? The violin sonatas are much better". I think that's absolutely not correct. The piano sonatas are incredible pieces, and what is so interesting about them is that they represent a wider range of

Edward Seckerson

in order to understand it. Mozart than the concertos. The sonatas cover a long, long period of his life, with crucial moments in Paris and Mannheim; you have a whole picture of his life and development and you don't have that in the concertos— they are already mature Mozart. The point of interest with the sonatas is that because some of them are less mature, people dismiss them as immature which they are not. They are not mature Mozart but they all offer much of interest, and of widely differing kinds. They are absolutely full of ideas, very daring, whereas later on he

becomes so, so subtle.' On disc one (412 123-1), in addition to

K331 & 332, there is the D-minor Fantasia, K397, for which Mitsuko offers an alternative ending. 'Oh yes, well Mozart didn't actually

finish it himself, but it worried me long before I realised that; I thought the ending was weak. Suddenly it loses intensity. it is such an obviously deeply tragic piece, which is something that Mozart doesn't write very often. The beauty of his tragedy is that it isn't obviously tragic, it is normally hidden. But this one is obviousiytragic, like the B-minor Adagio. I'd thought aoout the ending for years, but hadn't expected to do anything about it for these sessions. Erik suddenly said on the day, " Isn't it awful; the ending is too awful. Let's do something about it. How about returning to the introduction — it's obvious isn't it?" The moment he said it it

seemed right.' The slow movement of K332 also required

rethinking, since the published score offers two versions. 'Yes, the autograph itself and the first edition version which has got various decorations. These seem to me to be precisely as though someone has tried to copy Mozart, what he might have done. Or perhaps he himself added them in a hurry,

scribbling down the most obvious decorations. It's always sounded wrong to me; it's too much of the copybook, and Mozart never wrote a copy of anything. I have used some of each version and added some decorations of my own.' .. 'Oh no, I'm not saying this is how it must be done; mine is & mply one solution.' The usual solution here, though, regarding

the choice of instrument used — a modem concert grand. 'Yes I've thought a lot about that too, but in my opinion great music transcends the instrument. So if you use an instrument that you are satsfied with I think

you can perfectly well play on a concert grand, a harpsichord, a clavichord or the hammerklavier of the time, taking into account the size and nature of the hall you are going to perform in. But it must feel right, and the spirit is what matters. It's possible that I fail to convey that, of course, but then I would have failed on old instruments as well.' Atypically self-effacing comment, that, and, needless to say, totally at odds with the depth and sensitivity of her playing, as those who have heard her in concert will

appreciate. The instrument Mitsuko Uchida is using

for this cycle is her own Steinway, which is shipped to the Henry Wood Hall for each group of sessions. What impressed me still more, though, was the attention given to it by the piano tuner, who has been on hand throughout. After each take he made some small adjustment here or there, attending to the minutest detail. 'I don't regret for one second going to the expense of having my own piano; it's such a beautiful sound, very mellow. I don't ask the tuner to touch it, he simply spots something and attends to it. I

may not even have noticed it. 'Actually, the tuning we have used is

slightly different to the usual. We ex-perimented with mean tone, VVerckmeister, a variation of Werckmeister and equal temperament, and I chose Werckmeister for Mozart. ( I've even played a Brahms concerto with it and none of the orchestral players noticed!) It is quite playable in most keys, actually, and when it is distorted, as it must be, it is in the keys that you need that distortion. It was rather interesting with the B-minor Adagio. The ending of that is a magical change to B-major, and to have it as different, as remote as possible from the minor is difficult to manage unless you are in absolute top form. It's particularly difficult in the recording studio at the end of a tiring day. With this tuning it is just that tiny bit easier to achieve the effect you want.' As someone new to the full-scale

recording scene, how does she feel about putting down on record an interpretation which she might well think differently in, say, five years' time? ' I'm sure I will think differently then. But as long as this • interpretation is valid in some form or other I'm happy to leave it. I may re-record something in due course because I've changed my mind so dramatically, but performances are quite unlike compositions — they are not for eternity or posterity, they

are interpretations of the written score. And from that point of view as long as the conviction is strong enough at the moment, I

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think that even if I will feel totally different later I am still happy to leave it now.'

But how does the artist give that performance in the somewhat artificial environment of the recording venue, where the opportunity exists to correct almost any error or point of emphasis? 'I don't want it t be as perfect as possible, but a record of a performance. I may leave some incidental things if they sound valid, even though they may not have been intended. It is difficult to predict if the result will be exactly as you planned it. If it happened on the spot and it sounded right in context I will leave it. From that point of view one can preserve the spontaneity and it is reasonable to call it "a

performance".'

periormance".'

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I So, dues she enjoy recording? 'It's very difficult and it's a totally different propositi each day.'.. . 'Oh no, bits I never do; it's always a question of laying down a comple movement - I can't think otherwise. And I don't play to the microphone; I try to play towards a bigger space. Th at's w here it hel so much to have a producer like Erik, whose ear I trust so much.' . I do listen to my o recordings, yes; until now of course they at mostly of concert performances. You can learn so much about matters of tempo and pace especially.' These are determined to an extent though, surely, by the acoustic of the hall itself. ' Sure, and the drier the acoustic the slower! play! It sounds odd but the scarcer the notes are the slower I become when it is a dry acoustic. In some pieces, especially by Schubert, the longer the note - the bigger the space in between the notes - the slower I play because I want to listen to the sound in the ai r. And w hen there is less in the air through reverberation, instead of going faster - forward - I want to hear just a wee bit more!' Mitsuko Uchida is one of the most

exciting, intelligent, and sensitive pianists to have joined the ranks of the recorded in recent years, and she comes w ith glowing references from well over a decade of appreciative concert goers, as well as much critical acclaim. That her au diences nearly always include other fine pianists only confirms the regard with w hich she is held by her contemporaries, so this new Philips contract really does bode we ll for the home listener. Just as I was leaving I suddenly thought to

ask her if she had time for and enjoyed

accompanying, an aspect of music-making at which she would certainly excel. 'Very little, but I love doing it. My dream is that in due course I should do all of the Schubert lieder.' With the singer(s) of her choice? 'Exactly! But then on top of that they must want to do them with me, which is a problem!' Hardly that, I wou ld have thought.

p

Eminent Haydn scholar, HC Robbins Landon (I)with Derek

Solomons, founder and leader of 1. Estro Armonico the original instrument group who are recording the Haydn

symphonies for CBS. The occasion was the release of Vo1.8.

CONIFER BLOOMING John Kehoe, late of Decca International and now Classical Products Manager for Conifer, has been filling me in on the company's current plans. Hard on the heels of exclusive UK distribution deals w ith Teldec and Deuts-che Harmonia Mundi, Conifer have now added Telarc to their growing list. This month sees the fi rst releases from that source - double-fi rsts, in fact, since the Cleveland Orchestra have not until now appeared on disc under their newly Lappointed Music Di rector Christoph vor. D ohnanyi. Cause for even bigger celebration, though,

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FLUTTER Chandos have announced that the coupling for their forthcoming recording of the Britten Cello Symphony with Raphael Wallfisch is to be the Suite from Death in Venice arranged by Steuart Bedford which was performed for the first time at the Aldeburgh Festival in June. Bedford himself conducts, of course, and the orchestra is the ECO.

Ronald Smith continues to unearth the music of Alkan. A new disc of miniatures is on the way from EMI.

Ricciarelli, Carreras and Nucci head the cast of a new L'Elisir d'Amore (Donizetti) from Philips. Claudio Scimone directs the RAI Orchestra, Turin. Again I am prompted to mourn the decline of Ricciarelli's not incon-siderable talent over the last year or two. Those who have persuaded her to defy nature and tackle the likes of Turandot and Aida (what a fiasco the new Covent Garden production was) must, of course, shoulder at least part of the blame. Even so, an artist of her calibre should know better. You simply cannot expect to stretch a model bel canto voice such as hers to that extent and hope to preserve its purity, freshness and agility. Would that she had stuck with repertoire like L'Elisir.

Still with Philips, the irrespressible Jessye Norman has been putting together a recital of Berlioz opera arias with the RPO and one

is the advent of Conifer's very own label, and figuring high among the debut issues are two world premières: the original version of Fauré's Reqiuem (yes, you did read that correctly, though at this stage I've been asked to say no more - perhaps a bit of Grove-digging would reveal all) and the Piano Concerto of septuagenarian, George Lloyd, with Kathryn Stott who gave the belated première of the piece in London recently. Also in the can, a disc of 'English Song' from Elizabeth Harwood, Erato, None-such and BIS issues will continue to flow. John reports excellent sales returns on the latter - well deserved.

CBS: PERAHIA'S FIRST 'LIVE' DISC AND GOULD'S LAST STUDIO RECORDING The CBS tapes were turning when Murray Perahia joined forces recently with wind soloists from the ECO for a live performance

of Beethoven's Piano and Wind Quintet in El, Op. 16. Location - the Maltings at Snape.

In Chicago, meanwhile, Abbado and the Chicago Symphony have been putting down their first solo disc for CBS: Tchaikovsky Symphony No.2 'Little Russian' (a second recording for Abbado) and, far more impor-

John Nelson - a new name to me.

Michael Tilson Thomas has once again pui down his baton and taken to the keyboard - for a new CBS disc of solo Gershwin. Po) Lilly Pons, Sleepless Night, Short Story and the Three Preludes of 1926 are included.

From Brussels Radio, Chandos have Carole Farley in the closing scenes of Strauss' Capriccio and Daphne. Husband José Sereb-rier conducts.

Many's the time that I have quizzed friends with Schoenberg's audacious orchestration of the Brahms Piano Quartet in G-minor. The slow movement with its lush, high-lying Mahlerian string writing, the full-tilt gypsy finale replete with xylophone et al will, I guarantee, confuse and frustrate even the most committed Brahmsians. Well, Simon Rattle, who has made quite a speciality of the piece over the last couple of years, including it in one of his South Bank Summer Music programmes and again at this year's Alde-burgh Festival, has finally committed it to disc. EMI moved into the Maltings, Snape following his CBSO performance there in June and the results (hopefully a little more tonally refulgent than the recent Rachmani-nov Symphonic Dances) should appear before too long.

1111.1.01110410.111111/11•10081108101.111111/011110 Carlo Maria Giulini, free now of his commit-ments in Los Angeles, has been in Vienna recording Bruckner's Eighth Symphony with the Philharmonic for DG.

tantly, The Tempest symphonic poem, which is currently out of the catalogue. Abbado clearly has quite a soft spot for the piece: during Yuri Simonov's recent LSO Tchaikovsky series at the Barbican, he apparently telephoned 'Whizzer' Camden from Vienna to see if Simonov could not be persuaded to add it to one of his program-mes. After all, as he rightly pointed out, Shakespeare's play was running concur-rently in the theatre at the time. Good thinking but a little late in the day.

Finally, it is I suppose fitting that Glenn Gould's very last record should prove every bit as unpredictable as the man himself. Early Strauss, would you believe? - the Piano Sonata Op.5 and Five Pieces Op. 3. CBS taped these performances at RCA New York just over a month before Gould died. They should be in the shops later this month.

FORTHCOMING CHANDOS Even by Chandos' standards the year ahead is looking uncommonly fruitful. The ever-enterprising Geoffrey Simon continues to seek out the obscure and the neglected, his latest project - French this time - being a coupling of Les mariés de la tour Eiffel, the suite co-written by members of 'Les Six' (Auric, Durey, Honegger, Milhaud, Poulenc and Tailleferre) and another 'co-operative' work, the ballet L'Eventail de Jeanne. The latter is best known for Ravel's one-minute opening fanfare, but it actually comprises no less than ten numbers, each assigned to a different composer. Neither work has pre-viously received a complete recording.

Still with the orchestral repertoire, this month sees the release of Neeme Jarvi's first recording with the Scottish National Orches-tra; you will recall he recently succeeded Gibson as Principal Conductor. Nothing run-of-the-mill about this debut offering: three full discs ( boxed) of Rimsky-Korsakov suites

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Coq d'Or, The Invisible City of Kitezh, Snow faiden, Christmas Eve, Tsar Sultan and illada. Future repertory sounds promising DO, not least the projected cycle of Prokofiev >ymphonies - the first since Walter Weller's or Decca. Perhaps Jarvi is just what the SNO )rdered. His arrival could hardly be more

.imely. And chamber music? Well, we're prom-

ised William Alwyn song-cycles from Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Jill Gomez, Weber (the Clarinet Quintet and Duo Concer-tante) from Janet Hilton and the Lindsay Quartet, complete Beethoven and Mendel-ssohn Piano Trios from the Borodins, and better-late-than-never additions to last year's Bax centenary celebrations in the shape of two discs. The first of these is a coupling of the Oboe Quintet (soloist Sarah Francis) with works by Jacobs, Moeran and Hoist, and the other an all-Bax disc comprising his Piano Quartet, String Quartet and Harp Quintet and featuring, in each case, the English Quartet.

Proms Perspective With the Henry Wood Prom season upon us once again, we thought it would be an

xercise to ask members of our in e record review team to single out those concerts they will be 'tuning in' to over the

eight weeks. In writing for HFN/RR, the reviewer inevitably tends to become labelled as a specialist in one particular area of music 1 or another, yet plainly he or she will have interests well beyond those somewhat artificial confines. So, the following résumé of who's into what and sometimes why may serve a purpose beyond our 'good tuning guide' - get to know your reviewer's broader

predelictions! Undoubtedly the concert not to be missed

is the first European performance of Sir Michael Tippet's The Mask of Time (23/7). Ten of the fourteen reviewers we asked singled it out. (JA, RB, PB, JF, DH, IN, BJ, AK, ES & PT.) Listeners who caught the first performance, broadcast from Chicago, will likely be keen to have another shot at it, complex and bewildering as it certainly is. The season gets underway, though, in

splendid fashion for JA and ES with VW's 'London' symphony, part of an all-English concert ( 1f7) ... as is the next night with VValton's violin concerto (Salvatore Accardo) and Hoist's The Planets from Philharmonia/ Haitink (JA, DP). PB and FM single out the evening of Korean music and dance (21/7),

while PB, DH and PT are geared up for Carmina Buranaa ('The real thing, not that awful modern perversion' as PB puts it). It's

all British again for JA, PB and ES on 24/7, and singled out is Bax's 5th Symphony.

For AK the chance to hear Ida Haendel in Brahms' fiddle concerto (27/7) in lieu of another recording or the reissue of her account with Celibidache, both of which she refuses, is not to be missed. FM anticipates fine things from Brendel in Beethoven's third concerto (28/7), and RB, PB, BJ and PT all await the Monteverdi Vespers (Eng Baroque Soloists/Gardiner) on 29/7. For BJ the ASM/ lona Brown concert on 30/7 - Handel, Bach and Vivaldi - has 'immediate appeal'. IN's fascination with all things Stravinskyan and Mozartian will ensure his attention on 31/7, a

concert also up PB's street. Both FM and ES (who describes the work

as an 'old friend') look forward to déjà vu vibrations from Berio's extraordinary Sinfonia (1/8), while DP, ES and PT await Shostakovich 10 from the Bournemouth orchestra/Barshai on 2/8, a programme which also contains the rarely heard piano

MUSICAL CHAIRS IN SAN FRANCISCO AND VANCOUVER Herbert Blomstedt, best known to most of us via his EMI recordings of the Nielsen Sym-phonies, has been named the new Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony. Blomstedt, a dapper 56 - American born but a Swedish citizen - will succeed Edo de

concerto of Britten (with Michael Roll). JF's \

favourite composer in a favourite work-Mozart and the E-flat concerto for two pianos - gets an airing on 3/8. This concert also contains Bizet's symphony, Berkeley's Four Poems of St Teresa of Avila and Saint-Saëns 3rd Symphony. These are 'sparkling, youthful and nothing like Carmen, thank heavens', 'intensely beautiful' and 'opulent, with its flatulent organ solo' respectively according to KD! DP and his wife each have birthdays during the Prom season and on both occasions this year they'll be found e Albert's Hall amid the hordes: for the Verdi Requiem (4/8, also mandatory listening for

JF and ES), and Haydn, Bartok and Mahler (13/9, along with OH) Very special is the 'Songs of Love and War'

concert of madrigals from the Consort of Musicke/Rooley, also on 4/8; PB, though keen, can't imagine it in thatvenue, while PT anticipates 'the divine Emma Kirkby', so let's hope she's involved! (RB and BJ also opt for this rather special 'do'.) For CB, Brahms' First Piano Concerto with Wolfgang Manz is a must (6/8) and for JA Bridge, Delius and Ireland form an enticing trilogy (7/8). Period

instruments for Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven (London Classical Players/ Norrington, 9/8) are eagerly anticipated by PB, SD, BJ and AK, while the attractions of Debussy, Stravinsky and Bartok force the attention of JA, RB, PB, IH and ES ( 10/8). For PB the Handel programme under Pinnock

(11/8) is imperative. Felicity Lott in Strauss' Four Last Songs

has a special magnetism for JA, IH, ES and PT and Rachmaninov's masterpiece, the Symphonic Dances, is essential listening too (13/8). RB, IH and ES single out the rarely heard 1917 version of StravinskY's Les Noces

(14/8), while for IH the Stravinsky, Mozart and Dvorak programme on 15/8 has a lure all its own. Sibelius' Luonottar (16/8) is not to be missed (PB), and neither, the next evening, is Rattle's and the National Youth Orchestra's Mahler 6 (JA, DH, BJ, AK- and ES, who once hit things in the percussion dept in this work under young Simon!). Figaro means an evening in for PB, JF, AK and IH ( 18/81, while PB looks also to an 'invigorating' concert of

20th century music on 20/8. RB expects things of Peter Maxwell

Davies' Sinfonia Academica on 22/8,, and

he'll probably get them, although CB wonders if such a 'four-course' programme (there's also Haydn, Beethoven and Rimsky) 'can be assimilated'. Not to be missed for IH is Murray Perahia's all-Mozart concert with the ECO ( 23/8), and for FM Reich, Cage,

Waart in September 1985 when the young Dutchman returns to his homeland to take up directorship of the Netherlands Opera. For the past nine years Blomstedt has been at the helm of the great Dresden Staats-kapelle, an association he hopes to continue outside his 15-weeks-a-year commitment to San Francisco. His successor in Dresden? Unknown as yet. Sad that, for obvious reasons, it should be so difficult an appoint-ment to fill, despite the orchestra's distin-

guished pedigree. \Meanwhile, in a bid to elevate standards in Vancouver the management of the Sym-phony Orchestra there have acquired the services of Rudolf Barshai, currently Prin-cipal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the Bournemouth SO. Barshai, who emigrated from the USSR in 1977 and remains one of our closest links with Shostakovich and, for that matter, Prokofiev - both of whom he knew personally - will not be relinquishing

his position in Bournemouth.

Ligeti, et al, all add up to a heady evening (24/8). Special for DP is Lazar Berman in the Liszt B-minor sonata. Brahms' German \ Requiem (26/8) with Lucia Popp, Thomas Allen, LPO & Choir under Tennstedt will lure OH, AK and PT, while the Boulez evening (27/8) has something each for RB, FM, DP, ES and PT. The Boston SO/Ozawa (with Jessye Norman) in Mahler's ' Resurrection' Symphony (28/8) is on for JA, CB, DP, ES and PT, although DP doubts if it will do for him what Haitink and the Concertgebouw did in a

Prom a few years ago. One very special event is Charpentier's

Acteon from Les Arts Florissants at St Luke's, Chelsea, on 28/8. RB, PB, BJ and AK are all eager for this, as is li-i who has arranged to interview the group's director, William Christie at around that time. The Debussy and Ravel half of the 31/8 concert is certainly IH material too, which is more than can be said for part two's Berlioz! The oceanic mixture of John Taverner's The Whale with VVV's 'Sea Symphony' on 3/9 attracts PB, while ES and PT focus primarily on the latter. AK and PT are both looking to Thee Musgrave's Clarinet Concerto under the composer's baton on 4/9, and the second Maxwell Davies Prom item, on 5/9, is again RB-type fodder. ES is attracted to Martinu (6/9) and Zemlinsky (7/9) while DH is awaiting Krystian Zimerman's Brahms Piano

Concerto 2 (6/9). The Vienna Phil's two concerts with

Abbado (8 & 9/9) are singled out by CB, DH, AK, DP and ES, more or less regardless of what they are playing (which is Mozart & Bruckner, and Beethoven & Schubert). The Taverner Choir and Players under Andrew Parrott in Handel and Purcell (9/9) attract PB and DH, and the latter is also drawn to the first performance of Colin Matthews' Cello Concerto on 10/9, a concert which lures JA for the Britten and Walton. The CBSO/Rattle in Tippett. Shostakovich and Nielsen ( 11/9) has various incentives for JA, CB, BJ, IH and DP, while IH will tune in to Gillian Weir's account of Messiaen's L 'Ascension on 12/9, and DH couldn't miss the 685O/Loughran Mahler 1 on 13/9. Only JA and PT have singled out the last night. JA likes to sample the all-British ambiance; PT, on the other hand, listens only to the first half, 'which is devoted to music; what happens then is always totally incomprehensible' to him!

If you've managed to stay with us to the end, we hope it's been of interest. We had hoped to print the individual contributions but in the end space restrictions dictatedthis somewhat racy précis. Ivor HUMplreyS .--

H Ri-CORD REVILW.

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AN ENGLISH TRINITY Kenneth Dommett appraises the music

of El • ar, Delius& Hoist

ANNIVERSARIES GARNER inappropri-ate harvests. Fifty years ago three English composers died, and because

they were English they are assumed to have a good deal in common. Yet they were as unalike as it is possible to be. Elgar and Delius are associated by generation though certainly not by temperament. But Hoist? Hoist is of another time, another country.

All were English by birth, though only Elgar was of English stock. Frederick ( Fritz) Delius came of a German family settled in Bradford; Gustav Hoist ol a Swedish one deposited in Cheltenham. It would be a fervent nationalist indeed who could not discern in these two characteristics alien to the traditional idea of our robust English temperament. Even Elgar was not typical, though his public persona brings him closer to Gilbert's 'Monday Pops' image of the right-thinking Englishman than Delius' Weltschmerz and preference for living any-where but England, or hoist's curious taste for apocalyptic Christianity, Oriental mystic-ism and English folksong.

In their differing ways, though, each moved with the currerts that stirred the waters of English musical life during the first decades of this perplexed century. Yet each remains to some extent outside the main-stream of our cultural renaissance.

Elgar Elgar, who came late to his maturity, consi-dered himself an outsider, and his admirers have fostered the idea that because he was a Catholic, was a largely self-taught profes-sional composer in a world of gentleman amateurs, and outside the university-led musical establishment, he was not appreci-ated. This is scarcely borne out by the facts. True, with the death of his wife in 1920 Elgar lost the match which had fired his genius, but he was honoured and respected: by his sovereign ( knighted 1904, OM 1911, Master of the King's Musick 1924, KCVO 1928), by the academics, and by ordinary pecple who gave him the accolade of their admiration. He was the first English composer to be

acknowledged in Germany (then the only country that mattered musically) as a master

of the orchestra, and was commended by Strauss. Regrettably the two symphonies, which stand as monuments to his genius and the spirit of his age, have not been universally accepted, though many disting-uished conductors have tried to establish them. Eiga-'s practice of stringing together sequences of ideas, inimical to the 19th century's Germanic concept of symphonic unity, may be one reason for their lack of success, but is less of a drawback in other fo-ms, and the Enigma Variations, the Intro-duction and Allegro, and the Serenade for Strings are consequently more to interne-ticnal taste. The two concertos, for violin and cello,

have met with less resistance. The lirst, warmed by hints of Spain, is rich and expansive; the second, nurtured in wartime, is severe and melancholic. Both quickly attracted the attention of the greatest inter-national virtuosos, and have long been part of the standard repertoire. Howeve-, to be successful Elgar had to

prove himself on the choral circuit. He had no great feeling for Literature though, and his texts were often chosen out of friendship rather than for their musical value. Conse-quently the cantatas, King Olaf, The Banner of St. George, Caractacus, even The Music Makers, in which Elgar attempted a self portrait, are frankly very patchy. Neverthe-less they met the demands of choral societies and helped establish a local reputa-tion for their composer. So did the many pieces of salon music with which Elgar wooed his Midlands audiences.

People are still inclined to be sniffy about tnese trifles, as they are about the hearty swagger of the Pomp and Circumstance Marches and the imperialism of the Crown of India and the ceremonial music. But these are as much a part of Elgar as the acknow-ledged and universally accepted master-pieces Like Kipling, with whom he has a great deal in common, Elgar expressed the splendour of the great Edwardian miÉsum-mer with supreme conviction, and had his finger firmly on the source of British pride.

Yet, like Kipling, there is in Elgar an undercurrent at odds with the surface ebulli-

ence. The mellow richness of In the South, and the pre-Raphaelite introspection of Froissart are in marked contrast to the braggadocio of Cockaigne or the robust poetry of Falstaff. And the Cello Concerto and the few, but highly individual, pieces of chamber music reveal a different aspect of the composer to that of the Violin Concerto and the symphonies. This dichotomy between the public and

private Elgar, observable in the Enigma Variations, is openly revealed in The Dream of Gerontius. One may have reservations about Newman's poem and its rather pyro-maniac attitude to Sin and Salvation, but there can be no question that it expressed absolutely Elgar's religious philosophy, or that he responded to its message with the same consuming fervour that propelled Handel through the writing of Messiah. Though not an immediate success Geron-

tius quickly established Elgar's as a new voice in British music, and the work itself as a break with the careworn oratorio tradition spawned by Elijah. That triumph was not to be repeated though. Neither The Apostles nor The Kingdom, the only two parts of a projected tripartite oratorical history of the Early Church, have the burning conviction or the musical cohesion of Gerontius. What dramatic talents Elgar had are

reserved, like Bach's, for the religious works. Opera has no place in his output, though he did toy with one. The Spanish Lady got nowhere but is another interesting piece of evidence of the mysterious (and like all Elgarian mysteries, unexplained) fascination that Spain had for him. He had little theat-rical instinct but he did write some incidental music to plays. Unfortunately he had no masterpiece to stimulate his imagination, and what he did write, for Grania and Diarmid and The Starlight Express, for exam-ple, reflects rather than transforms the insipid nature of the plays. His one ballet, The Sanguine Fan, contains some attractive music but is scarcely the work of genius Lady Elgar declared it to be. As a songwriter Elgar was more success-

ful. The songs with piano may have lost some of their currency but several of his part-songs, like those of Delius, hold their own, and his orchestral setting of his wife's poems, Sea Pictures, maintains its place in the repertory by virtue of its delicacy and charm. A quixotic element in Elgar's nature made

him try to persuade people that music was almost the least of his interests. This instinct may be traced to his psychological insecur-ity, or may just be an expression of his whimsical personality. Whatever he may have said, he was a great composer. And he has another claim on us: his personal great-ness enabled him to establish the right of British music to be taken seriously. Not for generations had anyone given our music international stature, and because of what he achieved, British composers have been lis-tened to with respect ever since, though very few have earned the right to be considered his equal.

Delius If Elgar represented England, Delius repre-sented nobody but Delius. Looking at his life (spent anywhere but in his homeland) and at his music — German, Scandinavian and French in its inspiration with a very little help from English folksong — it is hard to see how this Leipzig-trained, Grieg-loving, French-living exile from Bradford ever came to be regarded as an epitome of British music at all. He probably would not have been but for

Ill Fl \ f- \\ ,..v. RI C()RI) RI \ Il Vs -\ 77

expense of its vitality. His personal voice is heard most power-

fully, however, in Sea Drift, A Mass of Life and A Village Romeo and Juliet. The first and last of this trio are fired by the composer's own sense of the transitoriness of life, for Delius was a true fin de siécle Romantic, fastidious and world-weary, with a taste for death and Dowson, on whose poetry he drew for the Songs of Sunset and Cynara. A Mass of life, on the other hand, is positive. Its Nietzschian atheism proclaims a sturdy inde- pendence and steely determination which are also important aspects of Delius' charac- ter and on which, as his health deteriorated, he relied more and more.

Unlike Elgar, Delius never became a popu- lar figure in England. Before 1914 he enjoyed a considerable reputation in Germany, parti- cularly with his operas and choral music, but after the war there was little taste left for his kind of aesthetic romanticism. Fennimore and Gerda was given at Frankfurt in 1919, but it was the last incursion Delius made into the German theatre. However, he did have one great advantage

over Elgar. He could inspire something grea- ter than mere admiration, and several impor- tant people assisted him materially in the advancement of his career. Elgar had his wife's unquestioning faith and Jaeger's pro- fessional support, but Delius had Grieg's sponsorship, the fervour of Philip Heseltine (Peter Warlock), and, more valuable than either, the advocacy of Beecham and the selfless devotion of Eric Fenby. Beecham was converted to Delius' cause

by Appalachia in 1907. Thereafter his dedica- tion to the promotion of Delius' music fell little short of idolatry. Beecham's enthu- siasms were unpredictable, and being well- off and a 'character' his rudeness and blind-

ing prejudices, such as his airy dismissal of the Enigma Variations as 'mere ballet music', were treasured as witticisms. However, his services to the kind of music he admired were considerable, and he poured a great deal of money, usually his own, into projects that on the face of it were uncommercial. Delius was one who benefitted from this largesse, and his name became so closely associated with the conductor's that it seemed unlikely his reputation would sur-vive Beecham's death. To the extent that Beecham envisaged or

Delius expected, it has not. Apart from a relatively few works, principally the minia-tures and Sea Drift, not much gets into the concert hall. The four concertos, for piano, violin, cello, and violin and cello illustrate Delius' discomfort when dealing with such forms. The Violin Concerto, a rhapsodic expatiation on typically static ideas, is the best of them, though the Double Concerto has some delightful moments. The chamber music, likewise, tends to fall back into the arms of fantasy and luxuriate there. But 'classical' chamber music was in pretty short supply in England at the time, and Delius was temperamentally antipathetic to that sort of thing.

Fenby's contribution to the Delius legend is quite as important as Beecham's, and more selfless. The story of his services to the then blind and paralysed composer is now well known, but it cannot be over-empha-sised that through his often rigorous, and at times suffocating, association with Delius — who lived out his Nietzschian role with fierce determination — several valuable additions were made to the catalogue of Delius' works, the eloquent Songs of Farewell (to Whitman again), the Third Cello Sonata and A Song of Summer.

AN ENGLISH TRINITY

Sir Thomas Beecham, and the notable eccentricity of Beecham's musical taste.

Delius' highly individual talent put down its roots in America with Florida. The Magic Fountain, Koanga, and Appalachia redisco- vered and reworked them. Its first shoots appeared in Paris with echoes of Scandina- via and flowered in Irmelin, La Ronde se deroulé (revised in 1912 as Lebenstanz), and, coeval with Elgar's first masterpiece in 1899, the splendid Nocturne, Paris. These Prentice works already display the

hallmarks of Delius' mature style: his fasti- dious ear, the way he loads the simplest tune with heavy chromaticisms, and his tendency to fall back on square-cut rhythms whenever he felt the need to inject movement into his music. Such lumpy rhythms, which occur in the Dance Rhapsodies, for instance, invari- ably sound mechanical. At its best, Delius' music is still and contemplative. These qualities are realised in the series of

orchestral miniatures for which he is still most highly valued. The Song of the High Hills, On hearing the first cuckoo in Spring, Summer Night on the River, and In a Sum- mer Garden are the true landscapes of Delius' mind, imaginary and unpopulated, more French than English. So, in a sense, is Brigg Fair, a wan masterpiece typical of Delius' inward-looking nature. One need only compare Percy Grainger's arrangement of the tune ( Grainger introduced Delius to it) or the Saxby singer Joseph Taylor's 1908 recording ( Leader LEA 4050 ®) to see how Delius has emphasised its melancholy at the

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Elgar, a devotee of the gramophone, visited Delius at Grez in 1933 and took with him some recordings of Sibelius and Hugo Wolf songs (which Delius disliked). The two men had little in common but on this occasion Elgar seemed to warm to the invalid. Delius criticised Elgar for wasting his time writing oratorios. ' It is a penalty of my English environment', Elgar replied, but politely avoided asking about his host's equally alien and unfathomable inspiration. Both composers dipped their fingertips

into the stream of traditional English folk-song but neither allowed himself to become immersed in it. Elgar claimed that he was 'folk music', but that was another bit of whimsy. Delius, of course, would not have made such a claim. For him folk music as such had no meaning. His landscapes are interior ones, often sunny, sometimes, as in the remarkable North Country Sketches, blustery and bleak. They do not invoke the 'homely' bleakness of Yorkshire however, but the well-remembered loneliness of Nor-way's High Hills. There are no cavorting yokels, just ghosts and empty space.

Hoist For Hoist things were different. Elgar was 17 years old when he was born in 1874, and Delius 12. In years the difference was small but in attitudes it was almost an eternity. They were products of the German tradition; he was not. A pupil of Stanford and a friend of Vaughan Williams and Cecil Sharp he soon became involved in the English folk-song revival. A shy man, given to esoteric pursuits, he was also interested in Sanskrit literature and learned sufficient of the lan-guage to make use of its literature. These were the traditions which were to fructify his genius and show him the way out of his entrapment by Wagnerism.

After he had shrugged off what he called his 'early horrors', his inspiration began to flow more strongly. The first pieces, Beni Mora, Somerset Rhapsody, Two Songs with-out Words, and the two military band suites, all composed between 1906 and 1910, are still relatively luxuriant, but the sets of Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda written during the same period indicate the internal clarification of style that was taking place.

Hoist's practical training gave him great insight into the machinery of the orchestra and the capabilities of the human voice. He had to work all his life but fortunately his needs were few and he had little taste for success or critical acclaim. He was content to go on teaching and writing music, from which, as time went by, he refined every trace of excess.

Hoist approached this goal in 1908 with the one act opera Savitri, a revolutionary work, not just for the composer but for English opera. It is full of surprises. Intended to be performed outdoors, there are only three characters, Savitri, her husband Satyavan, and Death. The orchestra consists of two string quartets, a double bass, two flutes and cor anglais, with an unseen female chorus who sing throughout 'to the sound of 'u' in the sun'. As lmogen Hoist put it in her study of her father's music, 'He was not only throwing overboard the red glow of the sunset and all the other clap-trap; he was prepared to do without the last bulwark of theatrical make-believe'. And not just theatrical make-believe:

musical make-believe went on the scrap-heap too. This is music of bone-sharp clarity that makes no concessions to the opulent traditions of the opera house. The story, which Hoist based on an episode from the

'Mahabharata', is direct and uncluttered by sub-plot. For anyone coming to it for the first time Savitri is like a draught of cold, clear water. Such criticisms as there are, are directed at

HoIst's few remaining concessions to what Miss Hoist called 'the immature Hoist who had listened to William Morris talking about Socialism'. The Rig Veda choruses are freer from these inconsistences of purpose because the texts themselves offer fewer opportunities for false heroics or lush senti-ments, and the vocal writing is always purposeful. More typically English are the pieces com-

posed for his pupils at St Paul's, several part songs and the famous St Paul's Suite in which folksongs are ingeniously interwoven into original music. But by the outbreak of the War Hoist had already written one work which reflected his growing asceticism, the Dirge for Two Veterans. He had also written the first of the astrological tone poems, 'Mars', which were to occupy his mind for most of the next three years. The Planets is Hoist's one secure hold on

the orchestral repertoire, and with good reason, for it amply demonstrates his genius for orchestral effect. 'Jupiter' is an obvious favourite with its 'Jolly Bank Holiday' vigour and the ' big' tune, now attached to the words 'I Vow to Thee, my Country', which comes in the middle of it. Hoist regretted the associa-tion because it went against the jocular grain of the piece, and he was also uncomfortable that The Planets, which he did not consider his best work, should have become his chef d'oeuvre. 'Saturn', however, is pure Hoist. Its bleakness is truly spatial and quite unlike Delius' romantic isolation. 'Jupiter' would pass in Elgar's company all right, and, at a pinch, the Dukas-like 'Uranus'. But ' Mercury', 'Venus' and above all ' Neptune', inhabit regions foreign alike to the 'squire of Mal-vern and the bard of Grez-sur-Loing. The saturnine element steadily gained

ascendancy, and it generated some of Hoist's finest and most characteristic music. Savitri suggested the path he was to follow; 'Saturn' and 'Neptune' marked it out. The Carols, with and without accompaniment, which were composed for Thaxted in 1916, together with the magnificent This have I done for my true love, chart the composer's progress for the next few years. It was a time of deep involvement with choir training and teaching, and Hoist loved it.

The Hymn of Jesus appeared in 1917. Here, distilled for the first time, is the quintessential Hoist, as far removed from Gerontius as it is from A Mass of Life. The text, drawn from the Apochryphal Acts of St. John, maintains the composer's earlier taste for mystical philosophy, and the clear, uncluttered textures, medievally inspired, have now discarded every hint of the roman-ticism of which Miss Hoist was so fierce a critic. With The Hymn of Jesus Hoist came to

maturity. Thereafter, though he occasionally misjudged his target, his aim was usually sure. In 1919 came the impressive Ode to Death and in 1920 the Seven Choruses from Alcestis. A resurgence of interest in his music

involving the revision and editing of old scores coincided with work on another opera, the almost unintelligible The Perfect Fool, of which only three unrelated pieces of ballet music are ever heard. In 1922 he returned consciously to the study of counter-point and produced the Fugal Overture and Fugal Concerto which successfully marry folk idioms to a Stravinskyan neo-classical

manner. Hoist had never been wholly convincing in

his handling of large forms, but the First Choral Symphony (there were no others) to poems by Keats, comes as close to total success as he was to come. Then, in 1924, he fell off a platform and struck the back of his head. The concussion seemed slight, but he began to suffer headaches and other symp-toms which gradually made life and work extremely difficult. The music of the last decade, apart from a

Vaughan Williams-y excursion into Falstaff country, At the Boar's Head, grows consis-tently sparser and colder. It is dominated by Egdon Heath, the desolate Humbert Wolfe Songs and the Songs for Voice and Violin. The mood lightened with the Moorside Suite and one of the great band pieces, Hammer-smith. The Choral Fantasia adds little to the achievement of The Hymn of Jesus though, and another opera, based on Helen Wad-dell's The Wandering Scholar, indulges a Rabelaisian humour out of tune with Hoist's nature. Two compositions, the Double Con-certo and the Lyric Movement, Hoist's last completed work, add lustre to the final years of his life. When he died he was working on a Symphony. This survey began with the assumption

that its three subjects had little more in common than the date of their deaths. Now that it is ended the conviction remains that Elgar, Delius and Hoist inhabited different and, for the most part, mutually exclusive worlds. Yet each caught hold of and held the hem of immortality in his brief span and has not let it go../-

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY

ELGAR

Cockaigne Overture/Falstaff LPO/ CFP40313 Handley

Cello Concerto Harrell/Cleveland/ SXL6965 Maazel

Violin Concerto Perlman/Chicago SO/ 2532 035 Barenboim

Froissart ( Concert) SNO/Gibson ABRD 1077 In the South (Concert) LPO/Boult ESD7167

Introduction & Allegro (Concert) ECO/ SXL6405 Britten

Symphony 1 LPO/Handley CFP40331 Symphony 3 LPO/Handley CFP40350 Enigma Variations LPO/Handley EMX4120111

Caractacus RLPO etc./Groves SLS998 Dream of Gerontius LSO etc/Britten SET525

Sea Pictures Baker/LSO/Barbirolli ASD 2721 Crown of India Suite SNO/Glbson GL25430

Starlight Express LPO etc./Handley ESDW711

DELIUS Brigg Fair (Concert) Halle/Handley CFP40373 Cello Concerto du Pre/RPO/Sargent ASD2764

Violin Concerto Menuhin/RPO/Davies ASD 3343 Violin & Cello Concerto Menuhin/ ASD3343 Tortelier/RPO/Davies

Florida Suite (Concert) RPO/Beecham SXLP30415 Hassan (Concert) Halle/Barbirolli ASD 2477 In a summer garden Halle/Handley CFP40373

On hearing the first cuckoo . . . CFP40304 (Concert) LPO/Handley

Song of Summer (Concert) RPO/Fenby DKP9008 Cello Sonata Lloyd Webber/Fenby DKP9021 Violin Sonatas 1 & 2 Holmes/Fenby UNS258

String Quartet Fitzwilliam DSL047 Mass of Life RPO etc./Groves SLS958 Sea Drift/Appalachia RPO etc/Hickox ZRG934

Fennimore and Garda (Concert) Halle/ GSGC2055 Barbirolli

Irmelin Prelude (Concert) LPO/Handley CFP40304

HOLST Beni Mora BBCSO/Sargent

Brook Green ECO/Bedford

Egdon Heath LPO/Boult The Planets LPO/Boult

St Paul's Suite ECO/Hoist Somerset Rhapsody Bournemouth

Sinf/Del Mar Choral Fantasia ECO/Hoist

Hymn of Jesus LPO etc./Groves Rig Veda LPO etc./Groves The Perfect Fool LPO/Boult Savitri Hickox

SXLP30126 ESD2900221 JB49 ASD3649

SRCS34 ASD3953

SD1783041 ESD1783041 ESD2900221 JB49 A66099

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8(1 HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW A U(il TS 1984

ARGO Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante K364, Violin Concerto 2, K211, lona Brown/Josef Suk/ ASM (411 613-2) (49m 51s) Taped in Watford Town Hall in July last year, these are fine recordings, both of which place the soloist(s) in excellent perspective with the well balanced orchestral canvas, which is itself nicely integrated within the surrounding ambience of the hall. Woodwind are left to fare for themselves, as they should be, and all goes well under Miss Brown's clear-sighted direction. Hers (with Josef Suk's in K364) are beautifully conceived readings, and the whole thing adds up to a memorable release which will grace my system with notable regularity! A

Ivor Humphreys

Palestrina & Victoria: Masses, Kings College Choir/Cleobury (410 149-2) (57m 23s) Argo's reputation for fine choral recording is upheld with this Chris HazeII/Simon Eadon produc-tion from King's College Chapel, Cambridge. If I have to criticise, then I would have liked a little more 'space' around the singers and better integration between the direct sound and the reverberation, but this is a minor quibble. A

John Atkinson

CHANDOS Bax: Symphony 4, Tintagel, Ulster 0/Thom-son (CHAN 8312) (56m 30s) A weighty bass opening sets the tone for this second Chan-dos Bax CD. Background is occasionally a little granular and the 'chiff' of the flutes and rosiny edge to string sound are somewhat exaggerated, but the tonal balance is other-wise natural. I am afraid that I am not as consistently enthusiastic as my colleague Angus McKenzie over the technical qualities of Chandos recordings, feeling that there is an overall tendency to a rather bright, close balance, even if there is no unmusical spot-lighting of instruments. This CD is still fine sounding, however, rated A.

John Atkinson

Berlioz: Five Overtures, SNO/Gibson (CHAN 8316) (53m 30s). Recorded in the SNO Cen-tre, Glasgow, this disc reproduces with a very natural ambience, and with a remark-ably clear and detailed balance, stereo posi-tioning being extremely good. I find I have to cut HF just slightly for maximum relaxed enjoyment, and this disc is clearly one that shows up well on CD. Certainly worth an A.

Angus McKenzie

Respighi: Church Windows, Brazilian Impressions, Philharmonia/Simon (CHAN) 8317) (44m 47s) To begin with, I sampled the tam-tam at the end of St Michael Archangel. Yes, ES is right ( 6/84): here, as on the black disc, it's a little bass light; so are the string basses, occasionally. Like him, however, I have no complaints elsewhere. This is beautiful engineering, superbly preserved on silver plastic. Transparent, near-tangible soft textures, set against a velvet back-ground, contrast with easily accommodated tuttis (two of the latter bore punctuating clicks on my copy; perhaps I was unlucky). In short, this is yet another of Chandos' unin-flated, unfussy productions with no smart-ass ideas about balance. Lovely. A/A*

Andrew Keener

Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Music, LSO/Simon (CHAN 8310/11) (92m 21s) These magni-ficent recordings were made in All Saints, Tooting during 1981. Romeo and Juliet is recorded in Tchaikovsky's first version which, I believe, is a premiere recording, and how fascinating it is — you won't recognise it for quite a while. The complete incidental music to Hamlet is again very exciting and once again Chandos show that they can make orchestral recordings of an excep-tionally high standard, with a clarity, stereo positioning, dynamic range depth and ambi-ence quality that should be a lesson to many.

MONITOR John Atkinson Ivor Hum • hre s Andrew Keener David Prâkel

An • us McKenzie Felicit Mul. an

I did not feel I had to cut top this time, and the only point I could possibly criticise, extremely mildly, is the slight on-stage noises for musicians when taking a -est. Rated A*, this is the sort of disc I want to play very loud, remaining thankful for my triple glazed windows! A superb demonstra-tion set in which Brian Couzens uses an appropriate mix of Schoeps and Neumann microphones most discreetly. One of my strongest recommendations yet.

Angue McKenzie

Walton: Symphony 1, SNO/Gibson (CHAN 8313) (43m 16s) When plaNied back fiat, I found this CD's very high frequency end a little brittle, but this is easily corrected with HF cut, and after doing so the sound becomes rather warmer and just about right. The SNO Centre in Glasgow seems a good location, for it produces some coherent ambience, and the mic technique brings clarity to the sound without over emp'lasis of any of the instruments. I rate the recording A, though the performance is not quite up to this standard, but no other version is as well recorded.

Angus McKenzie

DECCA Brahms: Piano Concerto 2, AshkenazyNPO/ Haitink (410 199-2) (40m 44s) CB's ears are not organs to be lightly dismissed, but ! can't agree with him about the sound or the sense of Ashkenazy's new Brahms 2 ( his third, accoraing to Chris; I make ;t just two) As a reading it strikes me as among the most sensitively shaped, measured yet mobile accounts on disc (only the orchestral con-tribution to the central episode of ( ii) seems ponderous). From its dignity comes its architectural strength and, pace CB, one can pick out wayward responses to dynamic markings in practically any recording of this work ( how about the Barenboim/Barbirolli reading, for which Chris apparently shares my enthusiasm?). What scunded muzzy to CB on black disc sounded smooth and transparent to me, and the CD sacrifices nothing of these distinctions. And to pile disagreement upon disagreement, I find the relatively discreet solo balance infinitely pre-ferable to the resonant upfront sound accorded Ashkenazy on the recent Decca/ Concertgebouw D-minor. Sorry Chris! A

Andrew Keener

Chopin: Piano Works Vol. VIII, Ashkenazy (410 122-2) (51m 13s) A true digital -ecord-ing, engineers Colin Moorfoot ano John Dunkerley have nicely balanced the Kings-way Hall acoustic against the powerful direct piano sound. Upper registers of the piano seem a little forward compared to the bass: maybe this is due to the piano itself but it could be due to Decca's 'Kingsway' high-pass filter as some tube trains do make (reticent) guest appearances. One criticism is that in a diverse collection of works such as this, I would have liked just a little more silence between tracks, to aid the digestior, as it were, but A*/A, nevertheless.

John Atkinson

Handel: Water Music/Fireworks etc, Philip Jones Brass Ensemble (411 930-2) (45m 02s) Although this recording is one of the finest that I have heard of brass music, I find that too much of a good thing gets slightly tiring: this may be a disc to dip into rather than play complete. The balance is well nigh faultless, the performances superb and the ambience suits the music admirably, quite an amount of natural reverberation being captured, which gives great depth and perspective to the sound. It is very pleasing to hear brass instruments reproduced with no sign of distortion or pickup mistracking; the beats between all the instruments sound very natural without any traces of wow and flutter. A*

Angus McKenzie

Mozart: Concert Arias, Te Kanawa Vienna CO/Fischer (411 713-2) (48m 50s) A very spacious recording, this, giving the listener room to breath. Perspectives are deep and broad, though I feel that Dame Kin i should perhaps have taken half a dozen paces backwards from the mic to allow her voice to blend more satisfactorily with the orchestra. Nevertheless it sounds rich and smooth, much larger and more open than the Philips Opera arias selection also released this month, and the dynamic range is wide and confident, all this adding up to a well deserved A.

Felicity Mulgan

Offenbach: Gaîté Parisienne/Gounod: Faust Ballet Music, Montreal SO/Dutoit (411 708-2) (58m 47s) Decca have provided a charac-teristic St Eustache sound here: warm and recessed but clear and substantial. Can't agree with DH, I'm afraid, who found the black disc 'too bright and abrasive in the loudest sections'. The whole thing glows and sparkles, there is not even a hint of upper-range ' rice on grease proof', and I have nothing further to say except ... A.

Andrew Keener

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade/Capriccio Espagnole, Montreal SO/Dutoit (410 253-2) (60m 50s) For once in a modern recording the solo violin and cello are correctly sized and voiced with respect to the orchestra. EMI's engineers could manage the trick for Beecham nearly 30 years ago, so it seems strange that only Decca's John Dunkerley has managed to do it right in these High Tech days. Tonal balance favours the high frequencies, but orchestral perspective is good, if lacking the ultimate sense of reality, and I would up DH's April black disc rating to A. Dutoit's performance breathes new life into these over-familiar works: DH reckoned on 1*/1, and I can but agree.

John Atkinson

DENON Concert Royal: Larrieu, Veyron-Lacroix (38C37-7069) (47m 20s) Four Sonatas by Couperin, Leclair, JS and JC Bach, receive superb performances and are again beauti-fully recorded. The flute is allowed plenty of space, and the natural ambience gives a lovely atmosphere to both the flute and harpsichord. The perspective is just right — so often this type of music is recorded too close — but this time I feel a musician must have been at the knobs. Rated A, my only reservation is just occasionally a slightly indeterminate position of the flautist.

Angus McKenzie

Couperin: Pieces de Clavecin, Huguette Dreyfus (38C37-7070) (44m 28s) I am in no doubt at all that this disc well deserves an A* rating, for it is one of the most realistic recordings of a harpsichord. The musi-cianship is superb, and the sound very delicate with a wonderful openness at HF which allows it to sound particularly magni-ficent on Quad Electrostatics. The William Down harpsichord, made in 1977, is a repro-duction of an 18th Century Hemsch, and seems just right for the music. A very

111-11 NEWS & RECORI) AuciusT14 SI

strongly recommended disc. Angus McKenzie

Mozart: Symphonies 36, 38, NHK SO/Suitner (38C37-7051) (53m 57s) Although this disc is well recorded with quite a natural repro-duced sound, it seems rather palid in com-parison with a wonderful CBS CD of Sym-phonies 38/39 with Kubelik, let alone the Walter reissues on CBS/Sony. I sense that the NHK orchestra are just playing the notes very well, but without feeling, though this could also be due to a lack of HF reverbera-tion from the Japanese concert hall. B

Angus McKenzie

Valse Brillante. Jean-Yves Thibaudet (38C37-7050) (49m 45s) Many popular works by Chopin and Liszt are recorded here, with just a faint mic hiss in the background, and a slightly over-wide piano. The ambience, though, is natural, and I found myself liking the sound, for there was no sign of any nasty edge or bite that I keep on hearing with too many other piano recordings, also made on Steinways. A welcome relief, then, and a disc to enjoy, although I can only rate it B.

Angus McKenzie

DG Beethoven: Piano Concerto 1, VPO/ Jochum/Pollini (410 511-2) (37m 34s). Here again DG show a marked improvement in their sound balance: the piano is not too far forward, and nor are the woodwind, although they are multi-miked. The response again seems smoother, and there is a heal-thy amount of natural ambience, giving more of a concert hall atmosphere, which I think is very important in CDs of symphonic music. You can even hear just the faint odd humming from the artist, though this is never distracting. An A rating, therefore, but note the very poor playing time; surely we should have had a fill up?

Angus McKenzie

Haydn: Symphony No. 96 'The Miracle', Symphony No. 100 'Military', BPO/Karajan (410 975-2) (48m 36s) Continued exposure to Karajan's Haydn Symphonies on CD does little to persuade me of the cause. Here again is the same close-up sound of an oversized orchestra and a grumbling bass which I politely rated B in the Symphony 94/101 coupling reviewed in June. Tone colour, balance and individual instrument dynamics are untruthful. B/C is probably a more appropriate rating on reflection.

David Prâkel

Mozart: Piano Concertos 19 & 25, Rudolf Serkin/LSO/Abbado (410 989-2) (64m 6s) Lovely, open orchestral sound, clearly multi-miked but done tastefully. Top-end strings have plenty of presence, which may trouble some systems and ears, and which certainly defines the acceptable replay level rather closely. Very welcome are the proportions given to, and the general integration of, the piano with respect to this substantial ensem-ble. The available Mozart on CD is fast growing and this sits happily towards the top of my list for both recording and perform-ance. A

Ivor Humphreys

Puccini: Turandot, VPO/Karajan (410 096-2, 3CDs) 1131m 44s) DG's engineers have resisted the temptation to give solo voices undue prominence in this fine recording, even in the most popular arias, presumably having faith in the CD's ability to render detail obviating the need to exaggerate. A rich warm orchestral tapestry enriches the cleanly delineated imagery of the singers, and although the stereo presentation is a little flat - apart from where a distant effect is required, such as the beginning of Act 3 - the overall balance is well-managed. Rated A, and, bar some awkward edits, quite one of the best DG CDs I have yet heard.

John Atkinson

R Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Don

Juan, BPO/Karajan (410 959-2) (56m 05s) String tone is very important in this music, and I am delighted that there is a bloom and singing quality on the strings which makes this the finest Also Sprach on CD. Perspec-tive is excellent and there is only very slight congestion on some of the loudest passages, partly due to the scoring itself in Also Sprach. I would have preferred fewer bubble and squeak mixtures on the organ, though. Don Juan comes off even better, outclassing the excellent Decca issue, for again the ambience and the bloom on the strings makes for a very thrilling sound with plenty of body throughout, which is just how I like my Strauss. This is a highly recommended issue, and rated A/A• respectively. Clearly one of the finest DGs yet.

Angus McKenzie

EMI Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (Symphonic Pic-ture), Second Rhapsody*, Cuban Overture, Christina Ortiz*, LSO/Previn (CDC 7 47021 2) 143m 22s) This Chris Parker balanced record-ing from 1981 is 'squeaky clean' almost, but not quite, to the point of hardness. The sound has an atmospherically spacious balance, particularly suited to the immacu-lately performed music of 'Summertime' from Porgy. The stereo seems almost arti-ficially wide but there is no aural evidence of close microphone placement, though perhaps the woodwind soloists come up a little large in centre front. In contrast the harp and banjo (I got plenty of nothing') have been left naturally balanced in the heart of the orchestra, but every note is audible - the temptation to spot-mic such instruments is often too much for many engineers! The brass is well back yet powerful. The Cuban Overture has the same 'toothsome' acoustic but the piano seems physically too close to the listener/mic; not the same as it being overmiked. A most enjoyable sound for which, erring on the side of generosity, a full A• rating is deserved.

David Prâkel

Lehar: Waltzes, Johann Strauss Orchestra of Vienna/Boskovsky (CDC 7 47020 2) (53m Os) These superb performances are treated to a competent ' radio balance' by engineer Ernst Rothe. Listeners to BBC Radio 3's ' Matinee Musicale' will recognise the quality instantly! The lower registers of the orches-tra are somewhat 'plummy' which can from time to time, particularly in the presence of drum rolls, obscure detail in the middle of the orchestra. Mic hiss is intrusive at times, in the opening moments of ' Gold and Silver' for example. Good depth imagery is achieved, the percussion in the 'Giuditta Waltz' is notably fine; as is the Gershwin. This disc, in common with all current EMI CD issues, is Japanese produced. A

David Prâkel

Mozart: Opera arias, Lucia Popp (sop)/ Munich RSO/Slatkin (CDC 747019 2) (57m 3s) A bit lively for my taste, this Japanese EMI silver disc. Not edgy, you understand, not un-naturally close ( everyone, including Miss Popp herself, is set within a warm and ample acoustic), but all terribly high-level. Turn down the volume, you may say. I did, and the impression remained. Perhaps it is something in Lucia Popp's vibrato which catches the acoustic ( or catches something in the recording/reproduction chain) and occasionally produces an effect not unlike incorrectly set-up Dolby-A decoding ie, the vocal image seems faintly prone to slight 'pumping'. I exaggerate, of course: malfunc-tioning Dolby sounds far nastier than this - and these are digital masters, we're reminded by the logo. So no Dolby. But once I noticed the effect, even the wonderful artistry failed to help me forget. B/C

Andrew Keener

NIMBUS Ravel: Miroirs, Gaspard de la Nuit, etc,

Vlado Perlemuter (NIM5005) 159m 21s) At close on an hour's worth of genuine per-formance (pace Nimbus' whole philoso-phy), this must represent excellent value for money. Perlemuter studied with Ravel in the 1920s and is considered by many to be well-nigh peerless in his interpretations. These recordings are some 12 years old and digitally remastered from analogue origin-als, although the CD sleevenotes give no mention of that. Nimbus' studio is well known for its lively, somewhat cavernous acoustic, a quality as idiosyncratic as the performances so often given in it. Matters of taste of this kind can only be resolved by the individual listener; as I see it Nimbus' are superb recordings of a room I wish could be populated with an energy-absorbing audi-ence. More universally worrying is the indifferent intonation of the piano. Perso-nally, I find Paul Crossley's accounts, on his recent CRD complete recording, at least as in- line with the spirit, and unquestionably more true to the letter, of Ravel's music than the ageing Perlemuter's, but the authority of these performances is considerable and enough in itself to persuade me to part with £10. So, ( 1/3 and) A/D according to taste.

Ivor Humphreys

L'OISEAU-LYRE Handel: Messiah, AAM/Hogwood (411 858-2, 3CDs) (135m 15s) You have to be keen-eyed to spot the 'digitally mastered' legend on the back of the plastic case, and the handsome slipcase just says 'digital stereo'. It is almost as if Polygram are ashamed to admit that their Decca subsidiary was cap-able of making fine analogue recordings before these most digital of days. And a fine recording this certainly is, the acoustic of Hampstead's St. Jude-on-the- Hill adding a warm bloom to Christopher Hogwood's band of 'authentic' players and singers. OK, the astringent string sound may be just a little too fibrous, but you can be assured that the performance is wholemeal, through and through. A Wadland/Dunkerley classic from 1980, rated A. (The highlights are available on a single CD - 400 086-2.)

John Atkinson

Vivaldi: Four Seasons, AAM, Hogwood (410 126-2) (38m 41s) Issues of Vivaldi's ' Four Seasons' are apt to arouse little more than feelings of ennui in most reviewers, but this version, digitally recorded in Kingsway Hall and engineered by John Dunkerley, was a thrilling experience. The audible detail, from distant rumbling trains, to fingers on strings, to collective intakes of breath, brought everything bouncing to life - even the near silence between tracks became excitingly anticipatory. Soloists and orchestra are well separated, the authentic instruments pro-ducing a wide expressive range, though one slight problem with this ambience-laden, high- profile recording is the tendency towards ringing overtones, especially in the lower strings. Generally fresh and well recorded, this deserves a high A.

Felicity Mulgan

OIRFEO Brahms: Alto Rhapsody/Nenia/Song of the Fates/Funeral Ode, Alfreda Hodgson, BRSO/ Haitink (CO25821 A) (48m 13s) This Bavarian Radio co-production was recorded during late 1981 in the Herkulesaal, Munich. Ideally balanced, this disc presents natural perspec-tives on the orchestra and retains a good hall 'bloom'. Alfreda Hodgson's voice is dynami-cally free ranging, the recording crisply imaging the singer in front of, but well balanced with, the orchestra. Detail is main-tained throughout without resort to spot miking; much of this is down to the skill of the conductor who has produced the appropriate internal balance for the orches-tra in the hall. There is sufficient bite and power in the low strings despite what many may feel is a distant balance. In the Funeral

82 ill-H NUNS & 12F( ORD (il -SI IY84

Ode the choir are not close but are vivid with a wide natural dynamic growth and indi-vidual timbre to the voices. The Sanyo pressing is smoothly clean well down to the quietest recording levels showing no low level digital 'grit'. Without doubt an At sound.

David Prakel

Bruckner: Symphony 6, Bavarian State Orch/Sawallisch (CO24821A) (55m 6s) Recorded in the Great Hall of the University of Munich in October 1981, this is mightily impressive, with great presence, depth and immediacy. The venue is clearly very large — an acoustic which really breathes — 5ut despite its cavernous qualities masks no detail in the faster music, and there is no hint of the 'crowding' at climaxes that we so often experience in large-scale orchestral works on record. The balance is perhaps best described as of vintage BBC quality, like the very best of the Prom broadcasts. That generous ambience really opens out the listening area to create a plausibly-dimen-sioned environment in the home. For con-noisseurs of the real thing. A*/A

Ivor Humphreys

Famous Duets, Bergonzi (ten), Fischer-Dies-kau ( bar), Bavarian RSO/Lopez-Cobos (CO28821A) (49m 52s) Like many other BASO recordings made on the home ground of Bavarian Radio studios (the Kubelik/CBS Schumann symphonies, for instance), this one combines faultless perspective with clar-ity, warmth and weight; beautiful sound, well transferred to CD. There is just the right amount of 'ring' to the two voices' upper registers, while the studio ambience is lively but never intrusive. Sample the end of Ta/or vedeste in mano for an orchestral sound that, while substantial, remains totally unclogged and spacious. Perhaps the two singers hail each other from too great a lateral distance (so that neither the Otello aria nor Au fond du temple saint suggests anything as united as two men's unshakable, shared resolve). No matter. A/A*

Andrew Keener

Jagdmusik: Hunting music for original horns, Munich Parforce Horn Players (C034821 A) (42m 31s) Recorded in Munich's Music High School in July 1982 these four E-flat natural hunting horns produce laser sharp imagery in a vastly reverberant acous-tic — an utterly splendid sound. The artists play into the reverberant space; engineer Ulrich Kraus having captured both the asto-nishing power and dynamic range of these instruments without resorting to close mik-ing and without losing the reverberation which means so much to the enjoyment of this instrument. To the uninitiated the natu-ral horns with their flat 7, 13 and 14th partials, and sharp 11th, produce an unusual musical effect. The scale being defined only by the harmonics of the horn tube does not provide the expected equal temperament. The 3 octave range is fully exploited by the music and the recording makes great play of the contrast, so unwelcome in modern orchestral horns, between the blazing hard-played tone and the mysterious muted qual-ity. The movement 'Glocken' of the Saint Hubert Mass has these intruments cleverly imitating a peal of bells. A truly beautiful recording difficult to digest at one sitting and one which will make great demands on some speaker and amplification systems. At

Davie Pratte'

Schumann: Lieder (inc 'Frauenliebe und Leben'), Margaret Price/James Lockhart (C031821A) (56m 47s) Quite superb. This selection was recorded at Henry Wood Hall in Jan 1981 with three named producers ( I) under the supervision of John Boyden (ex CFP, ex Enigma, now Pickwick), with editing by Martin Compton (ex Saga, now free-lance). One of the most involving sounds I have heard off record, this presents the voice and piano in a completely life- like rela-tionship. The 'weight' of the piano may seem

a little lacking initially but this, surely, is only in comparison with the kind of close-up approach we are normally given; it lacks nothing in presence or bass extension. Vocal placement is superb within the ample acous-tic, the diction perfectly captured. Just two reservations, the first of which is the careless placing of most of the index points (the first track is clipped, for example, unless you 'rewind' for a moment or two). The other concerns Miss Price's intonation in ' Mond-nacht'. Particularly in the second stanza, she goes unnervingly sharp at the top of each phrase (eg, 'Es rauschten leis die Walder'). Quite why they couldn't have done another take escapes me. So ( 1*/1 and) A*/A it is. One for regular exposure in my household.

Ivor Humphreys

Weber Clarinet Concertos, Brunner/Bam-berg SO/Caetani (C067821 A) (42m 20s) A warm orchestral sound with excellent bass extension supports a slightly over-close clar-inet — close in texture rather than in level — with breath noises and key clatter occa-sionally obtrusive. Solid imagery, if a little on the multi-mono side. Made by Sanyo and rated A/B.

John Atkinson

PHILIPS Ave Maria, VSO/Harrer/Vienna Boys Choir/ Carreras (411 138-2) (45m 50s). I have always enjoyed the Vienna Boys Choir singing reli-gious works, and at best the sound on this disc is superb when they are accompanied by the Vienna SO, but this record is ruined by what I describe as 'Can Belto' style ie, when a loud operatic voiced tenor is brought for-ward so far in the balance as to be much louder than almost anything else on the disc — almost loud enough to push me to the back of my room in alarm. The track ratings on this disc thus vary from A to C rating.

Angus McKenzie

Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1-5, Brendel/ CSO/Levine (411 189-2, 3CDs) (176m 50s) To my eternal regret I arrived in Chicago for the 1983 Summer CES just one day too late to join the audience for one of the 'sessions' for this historic set. Brendel has long felt that the traditional recording process interferes with the sense of performance, much as in atomic physics to observe an event is to change it. I have no idea what miking was employed, but both piano and orchestral sound are on the dry side, lacking bass extension and possessing a slight presence band excess. Brendel occasionally vocalises but the audi-ence are very well behaved. Technically, however, Brendel's 1977 analogue LP cycle with the LPO and Haitink, recorded in Walth-amstow Town Hall, has the edge, but this almost unique audio 'snapshot' has an hon-esty about it which is most appealing. CB gave the black disc a straight A in his May review, but I feel the CD to be a little less kind to the sound, so down to A/B.

John Atkinson

Brahms: Hungarian Dances, Leipzig/Masur (411 426-2) (53m 01s) This VEB Deutsche Schallplatten co-production was recorded in Leipzig in 1981. The orchestral perspectives are quite natural though there are times, Dance No.4 for instance, where the wood-winds, as a block, seem to have edged closer to the microphones. Throughout, a rather fulsome bass quality dominates; bass drum, timps and low strings are over-energetically reverberant and tend to unbalance an other-wise clean sound. Stereo imagery is good, notably the focus on the oboe within the orchestra in Dance No.3. The sound has both bite and body but the rather lean string sound is discontinuous with the richly rever-berant low frequencies. A fine recording but not quite in the same class as the Strauss Four Last Songs. As CB remarked in his LP review the Brahms First Serenade sounds finer still — I look forward to that issued on CD and rate this recording a plain A.

David Pratte'

Mozart: Opera Arias, Te Kanawa/Davis/LSO (411 148-2) (58m 14s) This 1983 digital recording promised much in the way of aural delights: a receptive acoustic, and good positioning between solo and orchestra were evident, but I found some details of sound quality disappointing. The orchestra sounded veiled with a slightly granular, breathy edge and an insubstantial bass line, while Dame Kin's voice had that touch of sharpness that I have come to associate with certain digital recordings, lacking the warmth of the Decca Mozart concert arias also reviewed this month. The analogue version of this disc received an A rating, but the CD only deserves a B.

Felicity Mulgan

Mozart: Requiem, Leipzig RC/Dresden Staatskapelle/Schreier (411 420-2) (54m Os) This was a highly praised vinyl disc, both in our regular review section and in the more sound-critical 'Quality Monitor' (July), and the CD version would appear to be equally deserving of approbation. The performance is subtle and thoughtful, making use of an intentionally small orchestra, which, though well integrated and positioned can sound somewhat distant and submerged. However, perhaps this is a combination we should get used to. The choir produces a beautifully warm smooth sound — note the delicate precision of the female chorus in the Con-futatis and the lush-sounding Lacrimosa, and solo voices are life-size and well centred. My only grudge is that occasionally tracks are cut off too promptly, preventing the listener from relishing the ambience between them. A Felicity Mulgan

Mozart: 'Coronation' Mass, K317, Inter natos mulierum, K72, Missa brevis, K220, Vienna Boys' Choir, VSO/Harrer (411 139-2) (47m 36s) The Kyrie of K317 has a boy soprano trapped in my left hand speaker; otherwise, if you prefer men to women in your Coronation Mass, this silver disc will bring much delight. The sound is beautifully distanced and lively without standing the listener in danger of laceration. The VSO winds sound enchanting (sample the oboes' brief thirds in the Gloria) and though the closeted lad is a pity ( so, to a lesser extent, is the rather close balance accorded all four soloists when singing together), this is nevertheless A/A* material.

Andrew Keener

Respighi: Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, The Birds, San Francisco SO/de Waart (411 419-2) 57m 21s) Although the Decca recording of Pines/Fountains was fairly impressive, it was a trifle brash and this new de Waart recording seems much more natural, with a far better perspective, stereo positioning being most realistic, with the sound of the hall clearly in evidence. How natural the nightingale sounds at the back, and how delicate is all the quiet string playing, the sound having a very wide dynamic range. In no way could this disc be termed 'hi-fi-ish' as the Decca is, for its natural qualities allow one to forget the hi-fi and get on with the music which contains some magnificent high frequency percus-sion passages, and some very delicate scor-ing. Congratulations to the Philips engineers for getting it right, and well worth an A*.

Angus McKenzie

Schubert: Symphony 8, Rosamunde, BSO/ Davis (410 393-2) (55m 33s) Philips' engineers have gone for a warm and natural, unforced, tonal quality on this CD, which will offend no-one. Stereo perspective, however, is on the flat side despite the ambience captured, and there is a tendency for exaggerated separation between instrumental groupings, revealing the use of a multi-mono philosophy. A few too many extraneous noises and podium-sourced hums for my liking, but overall A/B.

John Atkinson

" More CD Monitor — Archiv, CBS, Delos, Erato, Nonesuch, Telarc, etc — next month

HI-FI SEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGES1 1984 S3

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HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW DEC'83

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HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1954

CANTELOUBE:

CHOPIN:

COPLAND:

DEBUSSY:

DVORAK:

ELGAR:

FALLA:

GERSHWIN:

GRIEG:

GROPE:

HANDEL:

JS BACH: Organ Works, Otto ( Denon A* (AMcK) 38C37-7004) Toccata & Fugue in d etc, A (AMcK( Alain (Erato ECO 88004) Brandenburgs 4,5,6, A/A • (JA) English Concert (Archiv 410 502-2) Suite 2 etc, Musica Antique A (JA) Köln (410 500-2)

BAX: Tone Poems, Ulster Orch A• (AMcK) (Chandos CHAN 8307)

BEETHOVEN: Violin cto, ChungNPO/ A IJA) Kondrashin ( Decca 400 048-2) Symphony 5, A (JAI Philharmonia/Ashkenazy (Decca 400 060-2) Symphony 5, Berlin A (AMcK) Staats./Suitner ( Denon 38C37-70011 Symphony 6, A(DP) Philharmonia/Ashkenazy (Decca 410 003-2) Symphony 6, Berlin A )AMcK) Staats./Suitner ( Denon 38C37-70401 Symphony 7, Berlin A (DP) Staats./Suitner ( Denon 38C37-7032) Symphony 9, Berlin A (AMcK) Staats./Suitner (Denon 38C37-7021) Piano sonata in C, Op.111 A* (AK) etc, Pogorelich (DG 410 520-21 Piano sonatas, Ashkenazy A/A* (AK) (Decca 410 260-21

BERUOZ: Reverie, Paris 0/ A (AK) Barenboim 400 032-2) Damnation of Faust, CSOI A ( DP) Solti ( Decca 410 181-2/ Te Deum, EECYO/Abbado A/A* (DPI (DG 410 696-2)

BRUCKNER: Symphony 4, BRSO/ A/B (AMcK) Kubelik (CBS 38006) Chants d'Auvergne, Te A (JA) Kanawa/ECO/Tate ( Decca 410 004-2) Piano cto 2, Davidovich/ A (AK) LSO/Marriner ( Philips 410 042-2) Appalachian Spring, A/A* (DPI Atlanta SO/Lane (Telarc CD-80078) Preludes Book II, Rouvier A* (1H1 (Denon 38C37-7043I Tomita arrangements A•/D (JA) (RCA RD 84587) Symphony 9, VPO/ A/B (AMcK) Kondrashin ( Decca 400 047-21 Symphony 9, Czech PO/ A (AMcK) Neumann ( Denon 38C37-7002) Cello cto, Harrell/ A (AK) Phi(harmonia/Ashkenazy (Decca 410 144-21 Overtures, SNO/Gibson A/A* (AMcK) (Chandos CHAN 8309) Three Cornered Hat, A (AMcK) Montreal SO/Dutoit ( Decca 410 008-2) American in Paris etc, A (JA) Dallas SO/Mata (RCA RCD 145511 Peer Gynt highlights, San A (AMcK) Francisco SO/de Waart (Philips 411 038-2) Grand Canyon Suite, A (JA) Detroit SO/Dorati ( Decca 410 110-2) Water Music, English A I(H) Baroque/Gardiner (Erato ECO 880051 Messiah highlights, AAM/ A (JA) Hogwood ( L'Oiseau-lyre 400 086-21

A (AMcK)

A SCARLAT11:

SCHUBERT:

HAYDN:

Solo sonatas ( Denon 38C37-7026) Cello concertos, Neth. A (AMcK) CO/Inoue (Denon 38C37-7023I Quartets Op76 4/2, OrlandoA" (1H) Quartet ( Philips 410 053-2)

JANACEK: Sin fonietta etc, VPO/ A (DP) Mackerras (Decca 410 138-2)

KROMMER: Concerti, ECO/Holliger A (DP/ (Cleves CD 8203)

MAHLER: Symphony 8, Boston SO/ A"'/C (AMcK) Ozawa (Philips 410 607-21

MENDELSSOHN: Midsummer night's dream,A (AMcK) Phi)harmonia/Marriner (Philips 411 106-2)

MOZART: Syms 38/39, BRSO/Kubelik A (AMcK) (CBS 381DC4) Magic Flute highlights, A* (1H) Haitink (EMI CDC7470082) Requiem, Concentus A (DPI Musicus Wien/Harnoncourt (Teldec 8.42756) Oboe works, BP° A )AMcK) Quartet (Denon 38C37-7034(

MUSSOftGSKY: Pictures. . etc, Cleveland A (JA) 0/Maazel (Telarc CD-80042)

NIELSEN: Symphony 2, Gothenburg A/A• (DP) SO/Chung IBIS CD-247)

OFFENBACH: Overtures, BPO/Karajan A (AK) (DG 400 044-2)

PROKOFIEV: Violin ctos 1/2, Mintz/CSO/ A (AK) Abbado (DG 410 524-2)

PURCELL: Dido & Aeneas, Taverner A(JA) Choir etc (Chandos 8306)

RACHMANINOV: Symphony 3, A (JA) Concertgebouw/Ashkenazy (Decca 410 214-2) Peg. Rhapsody, A/A* IIH) Davidovich/Concertgebo-uvv/Jarvi (Philips 410 052-2) Suite 2 etc, Argerich/Freire A (II-4) (Philips 411 034-2)

RAVEL: Bolero etc, Montreal SO/ A (AMcK) Dutoit ( Decca 410 010-2) Daphnis & Chloe, Montreal A (AMcK) SO/Dutoit ( Decca 400 055-2)

RESPIGHI: Pines etc, of Rome, A• (IHI Montreal SO/Dutoit (Decca 410 145/2)

RODRIGO: Guitar Concertos, ASM/ A (AMcK) Marriner ( Philips 400 024-2)

ROSSINI: Barber of Seville, ASAA! A/A* (AMcK) Marriner (411 058-2/

SAINT-SAËNS: 'Organ' Symphony, Phil/ A )JA) Ormandy (Telarc CD-80051) 'Organ' Symphony, A (AMcK) Montreal SO/Dutoit ( Decca 410 201-2) Concerti Grossi, I Music' A (AMcK) (Philips 400 017-2) Symphony 8, A (DP) Philharmonia/Sinopoli (DG 410 862-2) Piano Sonatas, Brendel A (IHI (Philips 410 605-2) Impromptus, Brendel A (JA) (Philips 411 040-2)

TELEMANN:

VERDI:

VIVALDI:

WAGNER:

WASSENAER:

WEBER:

WEILL:

WIDOR:

Piano Trio in Bb, Borodin A (AMcK Trio IChandos CHAN 8308)

SCHUMANN: Symphony 2, VPO/SinopoliA• (AK) (DG 410 863-2) Symphony 3, AIN) Concertgebouw/Ha(tink (Philips 411 104-2)

SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony 5, A (AK) Concertgebouw/Haitink (Decca 410 017-2) Symphony 8, A (AK) Concertgebouw/Haitink (Decca 411 616-2)

SIBEUUS: Symphony 2, A/A* (JA Philharmonia/Ashkenazy (Decca 410 206-2) Symphony 2, SNO/Gibson A (JA) (Chandos CHAN 83031

J STRAUSS: Radetzky March etc. BPO/ A (AMcK Karajan ( DG 410 027-2)

R STRAUSS: Don Juan etc, Detroit SO/ A (AMcK Dorati ( Decca 400 085-21 Tod & Verklarung etc, LSO/ A• (AK) Abbado ( DG 410 518-21 Four Last Songs, Norman/ A ((HI Leipzig/Masur (Philips 411 052-2)

STRAVINSKY: Firebird, Concertgebouw/ A (JAI Davis ( Philips 400 074-2)

TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony 2, LSO/Simon A* (AMcK (Chandos CHAN 83041 Symphony 4, Cleveland 0/ A• (JA) Maazel (Telarc CD-80047) Piano cto 1, Argerich/ A (JA) BRSO/Kondrashin (Philips 411 057-2) Swan Lake extracts, Israel A (AMcK) PO/Mehta ( Decca 410 551-

Sonatas ( Denon 38C37- A (AMcK1 70521 Overtures, Nat PO/Chailly A (DPI (Dacca 410 141-2) Falstaff, LAPO/Giulini (DG A (AK) 410 503-2) Nabucco, German Opera/ A/A • (DP) Sinopoli (DG 410 512-2) Glorias, St. John's A (AMcK) Cambridge (Argo 410 018-2) Four Seasons, I Solisti A (JA) Veneti (Erato ECO 88003) Four Seasons, Lucerne/ A )AMcK) Baumgartner ) Denon 38C37-7013) Tristan.. . highlights, A (DP) BRSO/Bernstein ( Philips 411 036-21 Concerti Armonici, ASAA/ A (AMcK) Marriner (Philips 410 205-2) Clarinet cto, Hilton/CBSO/ A (AMcK) Jarvi ( Chandos CHAN 8305)

Songs, Strates (Nonesuch A* (DP) 79019-2/ Organ syms 5/10, A (DP) Chorzempa ( Philips 410 054-2)

VVILUAMS: Film Music, NPO/Gerhardt (RCA RCD 13650) Film Music, NPO/Gerhardt (RCA RCD 14748)

COLLECTIONS: Works for percussion IBIS CD-232) Nimbus sampler (Nimbus NIM 5001-11 Placido Domingo Gala (DG 400 030-2) Edita Gruberova (EMV Toshiba CC38-3014I Julian Bream Collection (RCA RCD 14378) . Famous Spanish Guitar, Romero ( Philips 411 033-2) Salon Music (Harmonia Mundi 38CT-91

A/A* (DP)

A ( DPI

A* (JA1

A/C )AMcK)

A (AMcK)

A )AMcK)

AVM)

A (DP)

A* IDPI

L if

BOOKS

SHOSTAKOVICH by James Devlin. Novell° Short Biographies. 23pp.

It is right that Shosta-kovich should be rep-resented in Novello's generally excellent series of short biogra-phies and, by and large, Devlin has served his subject well. Within the

limitations of the format Devlin gives a synoptic view of Shostakovich's life in a commendably clear, readable fashion.

However, the author's comments on several works are occasionally contentious. It is odd to read that the Second Symphony, an astonishing work of great originality, has 'little musical merit', and that there are no experiments in the Fifth Symphony whereas Shostakovich's division of the entire violin section into three equal parts is probably unique. And is the Sixth Symphony 'a simple work'? Devlin's comment surely cannot be applied to the massive opening movement, and Ottaway's quoted remark that the Seventh Symphony 'spoke directly of the heroism, defiance and love of ordinary people' is untenable, for how can music

express such concepts? It is regrettable that neither the First Piano Concerto nor the Second Cello Concerto lone of Shostakovich's masterpieces) find their place in the narrative. The book contains two factual errors:

Rachmaninoff composed two 'memorial' piano trios ( 1892 and 1893), not one, and Shostakovich worked on a subsequently abandoned operatic version of The Gamblers in 1941/2, giving the lie to Devlin's remark that he had not worked on an operatic project since 1940. These slight imperfections apart, this little

book can be warmly welcomed. R. M-W

HUH NMS c1/4 RFLORI)Rr\ II NA Id. SI I gs..1

RECORD REVIEW

CLASSICAL

INDEX 87

87

87

87

87

87

ALBENIZ

Piano Concerto ( Ciccolini/Batiz)

BACH FAMILY

Harpsichord Concertos ( Malcolm/

Leopard C)

J.S. BACH Brandenburg Concertos 4-6 (Britten)8

Toccatas & Fugues (Koopman)

Passacaglia & Fugue, etc ( Koopman) Cantatas Vol. 33 ( Leonhardt)

BARTOK

87 Quartets 1 & 5 ( Eder Cit) BEETHOVEN

87 Symphony 9 ( piano/Katsaris)

88 Quartets Op.18 ( Melos Qt)

BERLIOZ 88 Overtures ( Previn) 8

BIBER 88 Rosary Sonatas ( Maier et al)

BORODIN

88 Symphony 2 ( Kondrashin)

BRAHMS

88 Symphony 1 (Tennstedt) 88 Choral pieces (Ericson) 88 Piano-Trs/String-Qts (Haydn Tr/Berg Ut)

BRUCKNER 89 Symphonies 3/4/8 ( Inball

CHAUSSON

89 Piano Quartets (Les Musiciens)

COPLAND 89 Appa(achan Spring, etc ( Marriner)

F. COUPERIN

89 Les Nations ( MAKI 89 Lecons de Ténèbres (Concerto Vocale)

DONIZETTI

89 Don Pasquale ( Muti( DVORAK

90 Symphony 7 ( Maaze()

ELGAR

90 Symphony 2 (Gibson) 90 Coronation Ode, etc (Gibson) 8 90 Violin/piano pieces ( Kennedy/Pettinger)

FALLA 87 Nights in the Gardens ( Ciccolini/Batiz)

FAURÉ 90 Songs ( Reinhart/Baldwin)

FRANCK 90 Organ works Vol.2 ( Bate)

GRIEG 90 Sigurd Jorsalfar, etc ( Dreier)

J. HAYDN 90 Symphonies (6), etc (Solomons)

90 Horn Concertos (Clevenger/Rolla)

M. HAYDN 90 Concertino for Horn (Clevenger/Rolla)

KNUSSEN 90 Symphony 2, etc ( London Sinf)

MAHLER

91 Symphony 1 ( Muti)

91 Symphony 4 (Horenstein) 8

87

91

MALCOLM Variations for 4 harpsichords C)

MOZART

Sinfonia Concertante K297 B, etc

(Marriner) 91 Sinfonia Concertante K364, etc ( Hager) 91 Posthorn Serenade, etc ( SchOnzeler) 8 92 Divertimento K334, etc (ASM)

92 Gran Partite K361 (Harnoncourt)

92 String Quartets K499/575 ( Melos rat)

92 Piano Sonatas K331/332, etc ( Uchida)

92 Piano Sonatas K570/576, etc ( Arrau)

ORFF 92 Carmina Burana ( Chail(y)

PROKOFIEV 88 Symphony 3 ( Kondrashin)

RAMEAU

92 Zoroastre ( Kuijken)

SCHUBERT 93 Death & Maiden Qt, etc (Vermeer Ut)

93 Piano Sonatas ( Pennetier)

93 Piano Sonatas ( Shelley)

SCHUMANN

93 Requiem fur Mignon, etc ( K(ee) 93 Grande Sonate Op.14, etc

(Raubenheimer)

SHOSTAKOVICH 93 Symphonies 6 & 9 ( Kondrashin)

93 The Gadfly ( Khachaturian) SIBELIUS

94 Symphonies 3 & 6 (Gibson)

SMETANA

94 Libuse ( Kosler)

STENHAMMAR 94 Symphony 2, etc (..lervi)

TCHAIKOVSKY

94 Symphony 6 ( Kletzki)e 94 Piano Concerto 2 (Postnikova/

Rozhdestvensky)

VERDI 94 Rigoletto ( ENO/Elder)

VIVALDI

94 Concertos IvariousIc)

WAGNER 95 Die Walkure - Act 3 ( Rodzinski)

CLASSICAL COLLECTIONS 95 ACADEMY BY REQUEST (6 composers) 95 CBS MASTERWORKS PORTRAITS (10

discs, 9 composers) e 96 ENGLISH 18th CENTURY MUSIC (5

composers) 96 FREDERICA VON STADE (8 composers)

(f)) 96 GREGORIAN CHANT (Hofburgkapel(e,

Vienna) 96 HIS MAJESTIES SAGBUTTS &

CORNETTS (9 composers) 96 LUTE RECITAL (Anthony Bailes, 4

composers) 96 ORGAN FIREWORKS (8 20th century

composers) 96 PLAISIRS D'AMOUR (Susan Kessler, 12

composers) 97 RCA MAESTRO - GREATEST HITS ( 10

discs/composers) .®

NON-CLASSICAL (Roc.k:•Pop.".jazz;:licc)

ROBYN ARCHER 98 Sings Brecht

COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA

98 The Great Concert GEORGE BENSON

98 Breezin' BLANCMANGE

98 Mange Tout DAVID BOWIE

98 Love you till Tuesday

BEST OF THE MONTH Classical:-Rock;:PopAazz.--.61c

Beethoven's 'Choral' for piano from Katsaris 87 Beethoven Op.18 quartets in ' astonishing perfection' 88 Previn's brilliant Berlioz overtures reissued 88 Couperin's ' Les Nations' and Easter ' masses' both outstanding 89 A mighty Mahler No.1 from Muti/Philadelphia 91 Mozart's 'Gran Partita' — some unparalleled wind playing

92

Rameau's 'Zoroastre': everything but the spectacle 92 Schubert's ' Death & the Maiden' quartet from Vermeer

93

Schubert to perfection on the fortepiano Majestical sackbuts and cornetts at 45rpm Organ fireworks from Westminster via Herrick Ella Fitzgerald & Andre Previn — mellow Gershwin

93 96 96 99

INFORMATION

RECORD RATINGS Record ratings are designed tosummanse our critics' findings, but should be noted in conjunction with the full reports—and taken as a guide only.

Recording A

D H -

Very Good Good

Moderate Poor

Historical (pre-LP)

Performance 1 2 3 4

H or 1, 2, 3, 4 as appropriate)

Occasionally a record may be worthy of special mention, taking it beyond the very good' bracket. In such superlative cases a star is added to the letter or figure as appropriate eg. B:1*,A*:2 or ( exceptionally) A * A*.

News& Record Review.

Any record reviewed in this magazine may be

assumed to be stereophonic unless its number is accompanied by: &monophonic)

Or Dstereo transcription). Fi against an item in the index above indicates a UK reissue. dmm = direct metal mastering

RECORD FAULTS 'Recording' ratings should be taken to refer to recorded quality, but do not take account of individual pressing faults encountered with our test samples. Readers may assume that a certain proportion of such variable faults will occur among commercial pressings

BUGGER ALL STARS 98 Bonzo bites back

CHINA CRISIS 98 Working with fire and steel

CREEDENCE CLEAR WATER REVIVAL 98 Pendulum 98 Mardi Gras

CREW CUTS 103 Various Artists

THE EAGLES 98 Their greatest hits

EURYTHMICS 98 Sweet dreams are made of this

PIERRE FAVRE & TAMIA 99 Blues for Pedro Arcano

ELLA FITZGERALD & ANDRE PREVIN 99 Nice work if you can get d

DAVID GILMOUR 99 About Face

HUMAN LEAGUE 99 Hysteria

THE HUNGER 103 Original Soundtrack

INTI ILLIMANI 103 Return of the Condor

MICHAEL JACKSON 99 Farewell my summer love

JERMAINE JACKSON 99 Dynamite

JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO 99 Milk and Honey

BOB MARLEY 99 Legend

PAUL MCCARTNEY 99 Pipes of Peace

PAT METHENY 99 Rejoicing

RANDY NEWMAN 101 Trouble in Paradise

ONE THE JUGGLER 101 Nearly a sin

CHARLIE PARKER 101 Bird on Verve vol 4 101 Bird on verve vol 8

LOU REED 101 New Sensations

LIONEL RICHIE 101 Cant slow down

LINDA RONSTADT 98 Greatest Hits

SCAR FACE 101 Soundtrack Music

SCHLIPPENBACH QUARTET 101 Anticlockwise

SHOCKABILLY 103 Colosseum

SEMPRINI 103 Concert Hour

AI- STEWART 103 Russians & Americans

MCCOY TYNER 103 Dimensions

FOOTLOOSE/VARIOUS 103 Soundtrack

CLIFFORD T WARD

103 Both of Us ROGER WATERS

103 Pros & Cons of hitch-hiking YARBOROUGH & PEOPLES

103 Be a Winner NEIL YOUNG

103 Harvest ZEE

103 Identity

RECORD PRICES ( EMI; DECCA; PHILIPS;DG; CBS; RCA, ASV; Import Music) This chart is provided as an approximate index to prices readers may ordinarily expect to find in retail shops ( very rough guide: ' Full' £5.50, 'M d' £4.00, ' Low' 12.50). Where prices are given with reviews, these are manufacturers' Recommended Retail or Ordinary List

prices.

FULL PRICE SAN, ASD, EMD, CSD; SXL, SXDL, SET, ZRG, DSLO, HEAD, AO, AP, EK; 9500, 6500, 6514:

2530, 2531, 2533; 35/72/73/76000: RL; DCA/ACA; Ades

MID PRICE ESD,SXLP, HOS/M, HLM, ESDW(2) SX0W(2); SOD, GOS, GRV, ZK, SOL. 9502: 2542:

6527; 61000; RL; ACM/ASW; NKF

LOW PRICE SPA, DPA(2), ECS, OLS 6570, 6833; 2535, 2538, 2547, 2548: 30000: GL

86 Ill 1.1 NI \AS az RI ( .() RI)Ki \ If V, (,1 'ml1,54

CLASSICAL REVIEWS ALBENIZ: Piano Concerto/FALLA: Nights in the Gardens of Spain

Aldo Cicco (pno)/RPO/Batiz HMV ASO 1653881 digital dmm ITC-ASD 1653884)

Alicia de Larrocha's recent recording of FaIla's magical score evoked enthusiastic responses, so that Ciccolini's different and in some ways more poetic account of it - given that such a thing is possible - places a great strain on the adjectives. An equal share of this success of course belongs to Batiz, whose control over the dynamics of the piece is masterly. The orchestra's observ-ance of his wishes and the engineers' work have also combined to make this one of the best recordings of this Spanish masterpiece currently available.

Albeniz's sole concerto ( despite the No.1' on the sleeve) has, on the other hand, virtually nothing Spanish about it at all. Albeniz performed it as Concierto fantastic° in Madrid in 1887, after which the score was lost for 80 years. Its style is wholly Germanic and it might easily be mistaken for any of the myriad concertos by those secondary 19th century composers who also happened to be keyboard virtuosos. It has novelty value certainly, and its forceful character makes it an interesting foil to Falla's delicately con-ceived Nocturnes. I doubt if this is the first recording of the Albeniz -- it may be - but there is no other version listed in the domes-tic catalogues at present, and it too receives an excellent and persuasive performance from all concerned. [A:1/1 •1

Kenneth Dommett

C.P.E BACH & J.C. BACH arr. Leppard: Concerto in F for 4 harpsichords and early classical orchestra/ J.S. BACH: Concerto for 4 harpsichords and strings in a (BVVV 1065 from Vivaldi RV 580 in b) I Concerto in d for 3 harpsichords and strings (BINV 1063)/MALCOLM: Variations on a theme of Mozart for 4 harpsichords

George Malcolm/Simon Preston/Va/da Aveling/ Geoffrey Parsons (hods)/ECO/Leppard Decca 410 136-1 (NC) Reissue from 1967

This somewhat idiosyncratic recording ori-ginated from George Malcolm's strong affec-tion for harpsichords in general, and those of Thomas Goff in particular, which culminated in a number of concerts in 1966-68. It's all good fun ( not least Malcolm's good-humoured Variations - a real harpsichord 'lollipop'), and while the Leppard arrange-ment may not be as subtly clever as Bach's of Vivaldi, it sheds new light on Emanuel Bach's Sonatina in F (Wq.46 - several times recorded) by adding oboes and horns as well as sandwiching a delicately poignant slow movement by his younger brother Christian between its two allegros. The recording copes well with the four

harpsichords, but the orchestra looms rather large leg in the chords of the BWV 1065 Largo). In addition, I feel that the somewhat mechanical pattering style then employed by the ECO now sounds dated and mannered, and that it presents special problems to recording engineers because of its particular kind of attack; Decca, then hailed as produc-ing real high fidelity, did as well as could be expected. This is a record for the curious, and for those who like to feel that they are eavesdropping on performers at their most spontaneous and unbuttoned. An interesting document of changing approaches, too. [B/C:1/2]

Stephen Davy

J.S. BACH: Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 4-6 ECO/Britten

Decca 410 132-1 (410 132-4) Reissue from 1969

The accomplished harpsichord soloist in the Fifth Concerto is Philip Ledger; flutes are preferred to the more authentic recorders as in the same performers' account of Concerto 2 on the already re-issued companion record (Decca SA 26), and I could not detect any trace of 'gamba tone in Concerto 6 (a far less happy compromise, since the tone-colour is completely different without them). However, Britten's reading was eloquent and warmly flexible, and this brings out the most expressive side of the ECO, which can sound rough-edged if kept to too strict a pulse. The recording is not very immediate, and

to my mind restricted in breadth. However, this is a good, reasonably-priced modern-instrument account of the Concertos which would form quite a respectable vehicle for anyone trying to get to ' know' the works - with all their abundant beauties - for the first time: and more especially as there are minor snags in all of the complete Brandenburg sets currently available. [B/C:1/2]

Stephen Daw

J.S. BACH: Toccatas and Fugues BVVV 538, BVVV 540, BVVV 564, BVVV 565 Ton Koopman (org)

DG Archiv 410 999-1 digital (410 999-4)

J.S. BACH: Passacaglia & Fugue :1 Pastorale Fantaisie in G [ 1 Canzona in d Allabreve in D Prelude in a

Ton Koopman (org)

DG Archly 413 162-1 digital (413 162-4)

An accompanying booklet explains the play-er's attitude to Bach performance, based on research. He justifies fast tempi on the basis that Bach would have shown off his legen-dary technique in this way, and minimal stop changing because this was not practicable on the organs of Bach's time without assis-tants, for whose employment there is no evidence. Thus the Passacaglia is played organo pleno throughout, the score alone setting the sound level. Arguable, of course, but could Bach resist the challenge of some tonal changes whether for showmanship or musical purpose? Did this meticulous man play so fast that the details of his crafts-manship became difficult to discern? Whatever one's prejudices, these are vir-

tuoso performances by any standards, and not all the speeds are frenetic. Koopman's rhetorical phrasing is without undue exag-geration, and his added ornaments are taste-fully convincing. He also has strong views on organ tonality - choosing the Leeuwens' careful restoration 11975) of the Grote Kerk organ at Massluis, originally ( 1730-32) by Schnitger's pupil Garrels. The omission of the specification is quite inexcusable, espe-cially with ample room, though there are some notes concerning alterations. These are excellent recordings, with an

'open' sound and good frequency extension, albeit a rather wide image. The building is fairly 'dry' (a property ascribed to Bach's churches as another speed indicator), but the balance is very acceptable. Although I prefer Hurford's more sparkling (and also well researched) Argo versions of these works, Koopman makes some serious points which should be heard. If you possibly can, get both! [A:1]

Trevor Attewell

J.S. BACH: Complete Cantatas Vol. 33. No. 132 'Bereitet die Wege' J No. 133 'Ich freue mich in dir' ' 1 No. 134 'Ein Herz, das semen Jesum lebend Weiss' . No. 135 'Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder' Hennig/Jacobs/van Altena/van Egmond/Hanover

Boys Ch/Collegium Vocale/Leonhardt Consort/ Leonhardt

Teldec 6.35607 digital dmm (2 recs) ( NCI (Conifer)

Sixteen years separate the earliest ( 132) from the latest ( 134) of the works contained in this volume of the splendid Teldec series. No. 132 has a lovely opening aria, confid-ently and cleanly sung by that excellent treble Sebastian Hennig, delightfully contrasted recitatives, and arias for tenor and bass with, respectively, prominent cello and violin parts; in the absence of a closing chorale, a suitable borrowing has been made from Cantata 164. No. 133 has a joyous opening chorale movement and a particularly in-gratiating alto accompanied by two oboes d'amore and continuo. No. 134, by some way the most extensive of these four works, is fascinating for its unusual duet recitatives, with one of which it opens, and a lengthy duet aria with bold string writing; its big final chorus, with further duetting for the alto and tenor soloists, is also remarkable. No. 135 is a chorale cantata, rich in tonal symbolism, with a particularly fine tenor aria with two oboes and continuo, and a bold bass aria.

All the variety and riches, then, that one may expect in any group of Bach cantatas; and the performances are for the most part sensitive and strong: Messrs Jacobs and van Egmond give great pleasure, and the Hanover Boys Choir and Leonhardt Consort are excellent, though we have come across cleaner and livelier choirs than the Col-legium Vocale. Gustav Leonhardt directs the performances with firm hand and interpreta-tive insight, and the recording is very pleas-ing and natural. [A:11

Peter Branscombe

BARTOK: Quartets Nos. 1 & 5 Eder Of Teldec 6.42983 dmm ( NC) (Conifer)

The Eder Quartet was formed as long ago as 1972, yet another product of the Ferenc Liszt. Academy of Budapest and of Andras Mihaly, founder of both the Bartok and Kodaly Quartets. This appears to be their debut on records generally available in the UK, though they have recorded for Hungaroton. It was a bold decision to start with Bartok, for he brings them into competition with the greatest quartets in the world and they emerge from the challenge of some of the most concentrated and technically deman-ding quartet writing with great honour and distinction.

Bartok's quartets can sound disjointed if not approached with care, but these young players have a strong sense of architecture and a firm grip on the melodic element in the music, especially in No. 5 which is beauti-fully phrased throughout. They also have superb control of the music's wide dynamic range. The mysterious opening of the second movement of No. 5 and the tense melancholy of the slow movements of No. 1 are superbly done. Any quartet essaying the Bartok series has to be technically adroit and rhythmically secure as well as sensitive, and these four players are certainly that. Sup-ported by a natural sounding and well balanced recording, this makes a promising beginning to what one may hope will be a complete series. [A:1/1*I

Kenneth Dommett

BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 (arr. Liszt) Cyprien Katsaris (pno) Teldec 6.42956 digital dmm 14.42956) ( Conifer)

Even Liszt had initial doubts about transcrib-ing the Choral finale for keyboard, yet here Katsaris has added further details from the orchestral score without compromising the transparency of Liszt's arrangement. The instrument used, a Mark Allen grand, was made to Katsaris' own specifications - again, the artist mirrors Liszt. Without question he is the pianist to fill an aching gap in the catalogue: soon I will be reviewing the Teldec Pastoral, but let us hope he com-pletes the cycle! For what this record pro-vides is not mere sonic novelty, but a

iii- Fi NI RI I/RI) RI " II v, lys4 87

genuine recreation of the Ninth: organic, nowhere just pianistic display for its own sake. Dip in at any point and the inspirational freshness is clear. Only once was my concentration dis-

turbed, and that was at the return to Tempo I in where the staccato writing does not quite work, ie correspond to the feeling we get with the horns and strings. A daringly slow Adagio: here you think of Furtwängler conducting at Bayreuth, elsewhere perhaps Klemperer's iron grip in the scherzo, or Karajan's cat-like tenacity and elegance of movement. Apart from a very slight harden-ing towards the end of Side 2, with move-ments OM & ( iv) complete at 36'22", the recorded sound is excellent in every way. Try the 'village band' or double fugue sequences in the finale, and you will share my exhilara-tion at this marvellous realisation. [A:1*]

Christopher Breunig

BEETHOVEN: String Quartets Op.18 Melos Quartet DG 410 971-1 digital (3 recs) ( NC)

Beethoven performances have proved miles-tones in the career of the Stuttgart Melos Quartet, at competitions, on tours, and in the studios. In 1968 Intercord engaged them to record a complete cycle, which gained some distinctly acid reviews — I thought the album released here in Dec '81 reflected preoccupa-tion with surface brilliance. That polish remains, and the playing has an astonishing perfection of balance, yet these readings are as penetrating as any. One hesitates to say 'the best' Op.18 ( not wishing to be without the Vegh's, or the less exalted Gabrieli series on Decca) but with two small reservations these decisive interpretations must be recommended as truly exciting, sensitive both to the period and to Beethoven's genius. It is a pity the Melos contains at least two 'sniffers', and that their powerful cres-cendi on long notes tend at times to swell accordian-like. Recordings are superb, if demanding. On

some systems the sound will seem too stark and bright, yet it is possible to listen in comfort at high replay levels. The engineer-ing not only allows each voice to be separ-ately distinguished, but gives realistic unity to the ensemble, allowing appreciable aimensions to the space behind the quartet. [A*:1*] Christopher Breunig

BERLIOZ: Overtures - The Corsaire U Beatrice & Benedict U Roman Carnival Benvenuto Cellini O Les Francs Juges LSO/Previn HMV ESO 2900301 (TC-ESD 2900304) Reissue from 1976

Previn's Berlioz Overtures disc has been our top overall recommendation for eight years, and well deserves this fresh appearance on Greensleeve. Originally an SQ recording, it was nevertheless enthusiastically starred for straight stereo sound in 1976 and seems every bit as brilliant and impressive now, in a re-cut version which goes a little nearer to the labels without any perceptible degrada-tion. Anyone wanting this particular selec-tion could scarcely go wrong — especially with Les Francs Juges, which I still think has never been more convincingly performed on record. One could turn to Gibson/SNO for King

Lear and Rob Roy (Chandos ABAD 1067, A:1*), or to Davis/LSO for King Lear and Waverley (Philips 6527 179, A/B: 1/1'9. But each of these duplicates three of the other Previn items, and if forced to opt for just five of the eight Berlioz Overtures this would still be my first choice. (A*A/19

John Crabbe

BIBER: The Rosary Sonatas Franzjosef Maier (bar vin)/Franz Lehmdorfer (bar org)/Max Engel (bar vcI)/Konrad Junghânel

(theorb) Harmonie Mundi 1C 157 1999913 dmm (3 recs)

(NC) (Conifer)

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber ( 1644-1704) together with George Muffat, was responsi-ble for bringing the court orchestra of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg to the highest standing in Europe. He was a virtuoso violin-ist and a composer of note, developing violin technique through the use of scordatura, high positions, new modes of bowing and multiple stopping to produce an illusion of counterpoint, and notably anticipating Bach. The use of beads to count prayers was

adapted in the Christian religion to the cult of the Blessed Virgin through the Rosary. This devotion is divided into 15 ' mysteries' — incidents or periods in the life of Our Lord and His Mother, upon which the worshipper meditates while reciting paters and aves. The Rosary Sonatas are based on these mysteries, with a 16th solo sonata added in honour of the Guardian Angel (a remarkable piece showing Biber's advanced techni-ques). They are not 'programme' pieces: more meditations, somewhat in the manner of Messiaen in our own time. A variety of instruments is used by all except Junghanel; and while these are clearly violin sonatas, the other parts are more than just accom-paniment and the music is profound and most beautiful. The recording is somewhat close and

forward, which may account for a degree of acidulated edge to string-tone, as well as some lack of ambience. For the rest, all is excellent, with clear separation and fine timbres. Deeply interesting historically, this is also fine — sometimes great — music, magnificently played. [A/B:11

Peter Turner

BORODIN: Symphony No. 2/PROKOFIEV: Sym-phony No.3 Concertgebouw/Kondrashin Philips 412 070-1 (412 070-4) Live recordings

I've a feeling that of all the performances selected for this 'live Kondrashin' series, these could well emerge as the star turns. The Borodin is really rather special — a gripping, red-blooded, imaginative reading blessed with big-boned, refulgent sounds from the Concertgebouw. The opening movement — imposing, urgent, but never short-breathed (what a contrast to the head-long Batiz account [review next month]) — finds their handsome brass choir in marvel-lous voice, and I for one can willingly overlook some transiently sour wind intona-tion in the slow movement for the pleasure of hearing that big melody imbued with such a sense of fulfilment and well-being. Add to this a finale more bracing by far than any other on disc and you've a performance to savour again and again. The Prokofiev with its images of sexual

obsessions and monstrous exorcisms is a no less gripping but altogether less wholesome experience. In Kondrashin's hands the steamy texturing and insinuating harmonies are duly sensuous, while the climaxes prop-erly boil. Vivid in my mind is the sudden and utterly hair-raising accelerando he pulls off at the climax of the first movement, to say nothing of the scherzo's unsavoury slither-ings. The recording, of 1975 vintage, is thicker

and less revealing than is desirable for this densly scored piece, but the overall impact remains relatively unimpaired. Far more impressive, understandably, is the Borodin of five years later. Fine bloom on the sound here, the spacious Concertgebouw ambi-ence really coming into its own. [B/C:11

Edward Seckerson

BRAHMS: Symphony 1 in c LPO/Tennstedt HMV EL27 00191 digital dmm (EL27 00194)

This release aggravates feelings very prop-erly voiced by Richard Osborne in connec-tion with Tennstedt's Mahler Sixth. Apart from the third movement, which is at once grazioso and serious, this is (for me) a fatally sentimentalised reading of Brahms' sym-phony, ending in a hollow victory with the chorale theme rhetorically slowed. The intro-duction to the first movement can rarely have been paced with so little tension, the music then coming to a complete halt before the Allegro exposition (no repeat here). Oddly, Tennstedt does not balance this with any fermata at the end of the introduction to (iv): so effectively observed in Celibidache's Brahms 1.

In every way Jochum and the LPO are to be preferred, on 'Eminence'. Jochum is even more sensitive to the composer's dynamic markings in the finale's slow introduction than is Boult; horn and flute parts poco f, trombones p dolce, then f espressivo. Here Tennstedt gives us almost a Ravelian Day-break, a crescendo from distant horns over a soft cloud of strings — just as in the slow movement the solo violin is allowed sweet-ness and concerto-like prominence. Not for a moment do I feel Tennstedt wishes to draw admiration to himself. Many details are beautifully done, such as the 'forest calls' for clarinet/horn around ( i)150, sounding Mahle-rian. Against this the feverish stringendi passages in ( iv), bars 8 & 18, sound wholly wrong-headed. Alas, the recorded sound is boxy and obfuscated. [B/C• 2/21)

Christopher Breunig

BRAHMS: 'Zigeunerlieder' Op. 103 1 'Weltliche a-capella-Gesiinge' Op. 42 rl 'Fünf Gesiinge a capella' Op. 104 [.] 'Sieben Lieder a capella' Op. 62 Stockholm Rad Ch/Stockholm Cham Ch/Janos Solyom (pno)/Eric Ericson Teldec 6.42962 digital dmm ( NC) (Conifer)

The Zigeunerlieder and the Weltliche a-capella-Gesánge are sung by the Stockholm Radio Choir and the other two cycles by the Stockholm Chamber Choir (Kammerchor). Only the Zigeunerlieder have piano accom-paniment, all the rest being 'a capella' ( in the church style) and so unaccompanied. Both choirs sing well, with good tone, fine intona-tion and excellent balance between the parts. The Radio Choir appear to be the larger body and sing with the greater dyna-mic variety, but apart from this there is little to choose between them. Brahms wrote these choral works at a time

when there was a vogue for this type of music and when choral societies were more popular than they are today. They are all beautifully written and are full of subtle harmonic effects. The recording is very good, with a sense of spaciousness and transparency and a feeling of air round the voices, and the pressings are unusually quiet. If you like choral music at its best then you will certainly want this disc. [A:11

John Freestone

BRAHMS: Piano Trios CI String Quartets Haydn Trio Vienna/Alban Berg Ot Teldec 6.35648 dmm (3 recs) (NC) (Conifer)

These are remastered recordings from 1979 (trios) and 1978 (the Bergs with their original violist and second violinist). The splendid sweep of the opening movement of the Piano Trio in C-minor with the great can-tando melody, or the strings' intertwining with the sepulchral depths of the piano chording, these are seized possessively by the Haydn Trio as distinctively Viennese. Richly satisfying performances, if with a few rough edges here: it is a pity the recorded string sound has a husky, or whiskery qual-ity, rather like an early Decca that has been reprocessed electronically. The string quar-tets reproduce rather better than this, although even here the range is limited, as is shown by the forte marcato, after Letter C in

88 HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW A UGUST 1984

2 ( W. The Alban Berg Quartet spent a year with

La Salles, yet their recordings are prefer-able in every way — save that the Americans on DG take first-movement repeats ( impor-tant in op. 51:1). The quartet sound is more blended, and the range from pp-mf is wider than on the new Beethoven set by their Stuttgart contemporaries, the Melos. Some of the most eloquent detail can be heard from the viola (thus these readings cannot be 'repeated'), but whereas with La Salle you feel the expression is like make-up, a coating on the surface, here the warmth, the sensibilities to dynamic shadings, are a natural response — eg, in Brahms' lovely grazioso theme at Letter B in the Quartet in A-minor (a superb account, the best avail-able I think). This album is to be prized for the quartets, consistently sympathetic and acceptable as sound. [13:1*1. Trios [B/C:1]

Christopher Breunig

BRUCKNER: Symphony No.3 in d, 1st version (1873) Symphony No.4 in EL, 1st version ( 1874) 0 Symphony No.8 in c, 1st version ( 1887) Frankfurt RSO/Inbal Teldec 6.35642 digital dmm (4 recs) (4.356421 (Conifer)

This is an issue of major, indeed crucial, importance: the first recordings of the ori-ginal versions of Bruckner's Third, Fourth and Eighth Symphonies. The volumes of the complete International Bruckner Society containing these versions were published in 1977, 1975 and 1972 respectively, all edited by Leopold Nowak. The BBC has broadcast performances of these earliest editions of Nos. 4 and 8, and the first version of No. 3 was actually performed under Keilberth as far back as 1946. The fascination and delight occasioned by

this boxed set lie in the opportunity it provides to explore Bruckner's original intentions. In only one movement of the twelve (the scherzo of No. 3) is the familiar version longer; No. 3 in particular emerges as a vaster, bolder work, nearly 200 bars more overall than No. 8. If some naivetés have been ironed out in the composer's revisions, we have also lost some asto-nishingly bold, gruff passages. The most obvious changes the listener will notice are the quite different scherzo and the much longer, more diffuse finale to No. 4, and in No. 8 the 29-bar-long fff peroration to the first movement — as well as innumerable touches where the familiar version(s) can be re-studied against Bruckner's first definitive thoughts. The Frankfurt RSO is on this evidence an

orchestra to be reckoned with — firm in attack, with fine wind-players, and strings able to produce sounds (the glassy string figures in the scherzo of No. 4, for instance) that a Bruckner orchestra did not until now know that it needed. Eliahu lnbal generally favours slightly faster-than-usual tempos, and sustains them well. There is no rush, though, and certainly no special pleading — these are sober, dedicated, revelatory per-formances, beautifully recorded with sonor-ous, spacious sound. It is, however, a pity that Teldec did not avoid the damaging side-break in the Adagio of No. 3. A company that can produce excellent quality for the near 38 minutes of No. 4's first and second movements on one side, could surely have accommodated either the slow movement and scherzo of No. 3 on one side, or the first two movements of No. 8. [A:1]

Peter Branscombe

CHAUSSON: Piano Quartet, Op.30 Les Musiciens Harmonia Mundi HM 1116 (NC)

Chausson's Piano Quartet must be counted a late work: written during the spring and summer of 1897 in the serenity of a holiday, it pre-dated its 42 year-old composer's death in a bicycle accident by just two years. There

is, then, no late-Brahmsian musing on a life well spent; instead, the work marks the beginning of a freshening style of utterance, more structurally compact than previously, but in other respects far removed from Franck; rather, the influences are those which moulded Debussy and Fauré. Indeed, it is the latter's elusive harmonic language and longbreathed phrases that make the strongest impression, particularly in the faintly melancholic slow movement, placed second of the four (the brief, pre-coda return of this movement's principal theme is a touching stoke). Elsewhere ( apart from the brief third movement, a graceful Spanish-style dance in triple time), there is exuber-ance along with the serenity — Chausson called the work ' presque folâtre' — and some taxing piano writing within the densely-populated scoring. The performance is per-suasive — more so than that of the Elyseen Quartet on Arion — and the recording warm-toned, if a shade dry. (B:1]

Andrew Keener

COPLAND: Appalachian Spring 1E1 Salon Mexico H Rodeo Minnesota Orch/Marriner HMV ASD 1436501 digital (TC-ASD 1436504)

Everyman's Aaron Copland? Probably, but it's great stuff all the same. And underneath the surface there is a lot of poetry to leaven the populist lump. Marriner's readings of the three scores are all instinct with the poetic feeling that permeates the music, occa-sionally, as in El Salon Mexico, to an extent which seems at odds with its extravert aspects. Comparisons in this instance may be odious, but Copland himself was rather more outgoing: so, as one might have expected, was Bernstein. But they are Amer-icans who have a 'feel' for the music which tends to be less buttoned-up perhaps than that of European interpreters. Not that it matters much, for the music — most of it anyway — takes many kinds of interpretation, which is what makes it great. Appalachian Spring, though, does benefit from Marriner's thoughtful approach, and this emerges as a searching performance full of rich detail, and clear enough to be equated with the original 'chamber orchestra' version of the score, of which the composer, Elgar Howarth and Bernstein have all given us recorded exam-ples. The recording is generally very fine, though not quite of the excellent quality of the same orchestra's (and conductor's) splendid Dvorak No. 8 some time back. [A:1]

Kenneth Dommett

COUPERIN, F: Les Nations Musica Antigua Koln DG Archiv 410 901-1 digital ( NC)

That MAK can time-and-time-again live up to the multi-starred standards of their previous performances never ceases to astound me, yet they have done it once again with this set of four 'ordres' entitled La Francoise, L'Es-pagnole, L'Imperiale and La Piemontoise — really a selection of suites prefaced in the Italian style by sonatas. The playing is excep-tional and the taste and style impeccable. I cannot remember having been so impressed by the sureness and delicacy of touch and superb ensemble playing as in some of the numbers in L'Imperiale, where the precision, bounce and verve of the string playing is so assured as to resemble that achieved by the finest of harpsichord performers. The music is replete with variety through the alterna-tion of the dance forms, while MAK's deci-sion to score the upper parts of the numbers for either two violins or two flutes ( or both) makes for some enchanting changes of sonority. Wide-bore, single- key flutes are used, and Wilbert Hazelzet and Philippe Suzanne weave some ravishingly phrased lines in the slow movements. The ensemble is placed in dazzlingly sharp

focus by DG's digital recording. Warmth, breadth and forward clarity typify the sound

and the engineers deserve glowing praise for some lovely moments. Live without this if you can! [A*:11

Roger Bowen

COUPERIN, F: Lecons de Ténèbres Concerto Vocale Harmonia Mundi HMC 1133 INC)

Even extravagantly luxurious 18th century France felt constrained to close its opera houses during Holy Week, and these 'dark masses' by Couperin, composed for the days around Good Friday, were intended to take advantage of the wealth of singers thus released from their secular commitments. They are likely to have been written for female voices, and purists may therefore feel more inclined to the Emma Kirkby and Judith Nelson version on DSLO 536, where the purity of tone and careful regard for the settings have much to commend them. But Kirkby/Nelson just miss for me the intensity and (com)passion of these essentially lyric passion settings. Not only do the rich vocal timbres and easy mellifluous style of Rene Jacobs and Vincent Darras point the swoop-ing phrases and affecting 'ports de voix' much more than the English pair, but the instrumental support is noticeably thicker and altogether more luscious. (The Deller version must still attract the collector, and I have had the recent fortune to be lent the historic and evocatively atmospheric per-formance by Hughes Cuenod and Gino Sinimberghi on Nixa WLP 5387.) A beautifully supportive resonance is

given to the ensemble here, really quite close in placing but only very occasionally overbearingly so. The rich tonal mix of the two floating voices and the more earth-bound instrumental lines is caught splen-didly by HM, with a good wide spread across the speakers. (A•/A:11

Roger Bowen

DONIZETTI: Don Pasquale Freni Isopl/Winbergh (ten)/Nucci (bar)/Bruscantini (bass)/Ambrosian Op Ch/Philharmonia/Muti HMV SLS 1434363 (2 recs) digital dmm (TC-SLS 1434365)

Two years ago a Eurodisc recording con-ducted by Heinz Wallberg, with Yevgeny Nesterenki in the title- role, prejudiced its chances by failure to include a complete translation in the booklet. This new version makes no such mistake, and you can follow in detail the deception of the silly old bache-lor: he is persuaded into marriage with a young girl who humiliates and tyrannizes over him until it is discovered that it is no marriage at all but a joke aimed at securing his consent to his young newphew's mar-riage to the girl. It is a heartless story, but a neat and enjoyable score ( not as good as L'Elisir d'Amore, though) with a famous tenor serenade and an even more famous patter-duet for poor Don Pasquale ( bass) and his scheming friend Dr Malatesta ( baritone). Sesto Bruscantini was once one of the

most famous interpreters of Malatesta's role; now he has taken on that of Don Pasquale and does it to perfection, with a suitably elderly tone not interfering with nimble articulation. Equally good, throwing off one delightfully cheeky or mock-demure phrase after another, is Mirella Freni as Norina. Gifista Winbergh is mellifluous, if hardly thrilling, as the young nephew Ernesto; Leo Nucci I find rather underpo-wered in comedy and lacking a true, ringing high- F. The voices are well balanced against the orchestra and clearly but rather distantly reproduced; anyone expecting the confiden-tiality of a theatrical 'aside' would miss it. Much depends, then, on the general 'tone'

which Riccardo Muti imparts to the whole. Sometimes he seemed to me a Verdi con-ductor forcing himself down to a smaller scale, but still permitting effects of rallen-tando and rubato which detract from the essential lightness of the piece. He will have

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 8)

1 none of the tradition which holds up the end of the patter-duet for a moment of chuckling, spoken exclamations. (The libretto-booklet retains them!) But there are many fine musical effects and a general feeling for Italian line which will give much pleasure. [B:21

Arthur Jacobs

DVORAK: Symphony No. 7 VPO/Maazel DG 410 997-1 digital (410 997-4)

This is an attractively idiomatic performance of Dvorak's 'tragic' symphony, filled with insight and carefully phrased detail, and played with real feeling for the composer's style and the instinctively Czech coloration of the material. Maazel's choice of tempi is rather slower than usual, but does not give the work the ponderous effect it might have created in less sympathetic hands. The results are spoiled for me by the mushy quality of the sound and the low level of the recording. Detail is to be found but it has to be boosted by a very positive increase in volume, and even then the recording lacks brilliance or presence. A disappointing frame for an otherwise pleasing portrayal. (B/C:11

Kenneth Dommett

ELGAR: Symphony No.2 in E L SNO/Gibson Chandos CBR 1011 dmm (CBT 1011) Reissue from 1978

Much underrated on RCA, this Chandos-made account of Elgar 2 is now, I venture, the finest in a distinguished mid-price field (Vernon Handley's bargain CfP version runs it close, but seems neither as spontaneous not as incandescently played as his superla-tive disc of No.1). Sweep and exhilarating forward impetus in the first movement - as unmistakable as in the best Gibson concert performances - do not preclude tenderness and, one or two awkward corners of transi-tion apart (the players sound uncertain at, for example, 3 after Fig.19 in the first move-ment), the execution is wonderfully commit-ted. There is a full appreciation of the intimate side of Elgar's personality without the excesses of Barbirolli's 1964 account - but his recording of a decade earlier, still listed on the Barbirolli Society label, is another matter. Excellent, nicely-distanced sound. [A/A•:1]

Andrew Keener

ELGAR: Coronation Ode, Op. 44 [ 1 The Spirit of England, Op.80 Teresa Cahill (sop)/Anne Collins (cont)/Anthony Rolfe Johnson (ten)/Gwynne Howell (bass)/SNO Ch/SNO/Gibson Chandos CBR 1013 dmm (CBT 1013) Reissue from 1977

Four sides snugly re-cut on a single disc with no losses whatever; such is the success of Teldec dmm. Mine was a minority view back in 1977: most preferred Philip Ledger's account of Op.44, released in the same month. There, admittedly, the New Philhar-monia strings sound more opulent, and failings of ensemble and intonation are fewer than on this Chandos production. But this Paisley Abbey recording (formerly issued by RCA) makes a splendidly idiomatic Elgar sound, and Teresa Cahill is the more warmhearted and radiant soloist. And what of the work? Leaving aside its contentious patriotism, it stands up surprisingly well, arguably better than much in several other of Elgar's neglected choral works; even Land of Hope and Glory has dignity and restraint woven into the work's fabric, which is more than can be said for the coupling here. Never mind: at well under four pounds for well over an hour's music, one can afford not to play Side 2 very often. (A:1/2)

Andrew Keener

ELGAR: Music for Violin and Piano Sonata in e, Op.82 "J 6 very easy pieces in the first position, Op.22 -._: Salut d'Amour, Op.12 1 Mot d'Amour, Op.13 CI Canto Popolare Sospiri, Op.70

Chanson de Nuit. Chanson de Martin, Op.15, Nos. 1 & 2 Nigel Kennedy (vIn)/Peter Pettinger (pno) Chandos ABRD 1099 dmm (ABTD 1099)

One of the great hopes among young British soloists of the last decade, Nigel Kennedy must now be considered to have 'arrived': the command and authority that he displays on this disc is that of a mature artist. His choice of Elgar pieces may be seen as a direct link with his teacher and mentor, Yehudi Menuhin, who recorded the violin concerto under Elgar's baton in 1932. Ken-nedy tackles here the later Violin Sonata, an emotionally charged piece of great technical and interpretative difficulty. He gives a most convincing and moving performance, yet also shows the same care and understand-ing in the much less taxing Six Very Easy Pieces, dedicated by Elgar to his niece May Grafton. The popular Salut d'Amour is pre-sented in the composer's 1899 arrangement with cello ad lib. Well balanced by the recording, the cellist Steven lsselis is a worthy companion here. The haunting melody of Sospiri is sustained with dedi-cated intensity, but Kennedy has obvious difficulty in holding the long pianissimo note that finishes the piece without bow judder and unevenness, a problem also found at the end of 'Canto Popolare' from In the South.

Peter Pettinger comes over as a sensitive and most ably supportive accompanist in this closely miked, intimate recording. The reverberant acoustic swallows up individual lines and notes at ff, but as a record of an artist's achievement this disc must still be considered one of the most important to emerge this year. [A/B:1•11]

Barbara Jahn

FAURÉ: Automne, Op.18/3 = Les Berceaux, Op.23/ 1 11 Nocturne, Op.43/2 Au cimetière, Op.51/2 LI Spleen, Op.51/3 Arpège, Op.76/2 11 Prison, Op.83/1 :I; Accompagnement, Op.85/3 .7: Serenade du Bourgeois Gentilhomme ( 1893) Chanson, Op.94 L7 Mirages, Op.113 F I L'horizon chimérique, Op.118 Gregory Reinhart (bar)/Dalton Baldwin (pno) Harmonia Mundi HM 1117 (40-1117)

Those who rebel against pastel-shade Fauré interpretation will probably regard this gifted young American's approach as a welcome corrective. *The voice is a fine, powerful instrument, well placed and supported. Au cimetière, with its impassioned central sec-tion, gives Mr Reinhart no trouble at all, and he is impressive in the four songs which make up L'horizon chimérique, that late outpouring so unaccountably neglected nowadays ( both this and Mirages are alter-natively available only in performances by Souzay and Baldwin in a French EMI box). But how robust the sweet strangeness and half-light of Mirages sounds! It is all pleasing but relatively unmagical, despite Dalton Baldwin's usual perception and sensitivity throughout: in Spleen Baldwin even out-shines his former self in the Souzay version, available as part of the French boxed set. However, what finally excludes the new disc from consideration (or at any rate, mine) is the unevocative nearness of both artists, recorded in a dry acoustic, while some unsubtle editing compounds the insensitiv-ity. Do try and hear if the programme appeals, though; appreciation of Fauré inter-pretation, no less than voices, is after all such a personal thing. [B/C:31

Andrew Keener

CÉSAR FRANCK: Organ Works Vol 2 Jennifer Bate (org) Unicorn-Kanchana DKP 9014 digital uhj ( DKPC 9014)

Volume 2 has the Chorale No. 2 in B-minor, the Fantaisie in A and the Grande Pièce Symphonique. Once again Miss Bate gives an excellent performance, generally evoca-tive in character, though one or two short passages seemed a trifle fragmented in phrasing and articulation. These are very minor matters. A continuing acquaintance with the Gonzales organ at Beauvais through these records has done nothing to endear it to me tonally, and it would not be my choice for Franck, but then I'm unrepentantly choosey about such things. This is a very good recording, which has

the great advantage of Ambisonic replay for those with decoders. This is undoubtedly a significant step in the direction of reality, and U-K are to be congratulated on continuing to use the system. The ambient information is excellent, and the sound is clean and open (the pedal extension is more noticeable here, also). My own first choice for Franck remains

Sanger on BIS, but this disc is a welcome addition to the UHJ repertoire. [A:1]

Trevor Attewell

GRIEG: Sigurd Jorsalfar, Op.22 :1 Funeral March Den Bergtekne, Op.32 Kare Blorkey (bar)/Oslo Phil Ch/LSO/Dreier Unicorn-Kanchana KP 8003 (KPC 8003)

Per Dreier is an outstanding interpreter of Grieg's music, for not only can he recreate the feeling of a rising Norwegian identity that the composer developed throughout his life, set against a background of a social system dominated by outside influences, but he can also make the music relevant to modern tastes and philosophy. Now he has made the first complete recording of Grieg's incidental music to Bjornstjerne Bjornson's Siguard Jorsalfar, until now best known by its extracted suite, and Johan Halvorsen's re-orchestration of the Funeral March which the young composer wrote after the death of his friend Richard Nordraak - and intended, in wind-band form, for his own funeral. The incidental music has much in it that is

original and well written, and Dreier again displays his ability to encourage the LSO to some of their finest playing. The reverbera-tion captured by the recording is just right for the work, allowing space and depth without restricting clarity of detail. The open, bright sound is a little tame at fortissimo, with HF emphasis and a lightweight bass (especially underpowered in the Homage March from Act 3) but is generally very agreeable. For the old Norse ballad Den Bergtekne the baritone of Sigurd Jorsalfar, Káre Bjorkoy, is especially effective, mod-ifying the open declamatory style used for the incidental music to a veiled simplicity. Altogether, the winning formula of Grieg/ Dreier/LSO/Unicorn seems to have come up trumps again. [B:1*/11

Doug Hammond

J. HAYDN: Symphonies Vol. 8 'Sturm und Drang' — Nos. 26 in d LI 41 in C !-] 48 in C:7 44 in e 52 inc 43 in EL Overture 'Le pescatrici' L'Estro Armonico/Solomons CBS I3M 39040 digital (3 recs) ( 13T 39040)

'Volume 8' it says, but this is in fact the fourth to be issued in Derek Solomons' series (two volumes of ' Morzin' symphonies on the Saga label in 1981 and 1982, Vol. 3 on CBS in Autumn 1982). The first two issues were especially welcome, offering as they did the early symphonies written for a small band resembling L'Estro Armonico in size. Now that this lively group has moved on to works composed in the period around 1770, when Haydn had somewhat larger forces available than Mr Solomons's 6/1/1/1/ strings, and has reached a better-known area of the repertory, the prospective buyer may find himself offsetting the gain in authentic-ity from use of ' original' instruments against

91) 111-11 NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

more questionable features of the perform-ances. Note the almost febrile haste of many of

the Allegro movements, in which even these very good players are in danger of sacrificing clarity to scurry; and the arguably dulling effect of observing the repeats in one or two of the slow movements in particular, which confer unusual proportions on No. 52, for instance. The slow movements are neverthe-less done with insight and some eloquence, and the minuets are brought off happily — with the possible exception of the minuet-finale of No. 26, which I found rather hard-driven. On this side, a welcome bonus is the inclusion of the 'Symphony' Hob. 1:106 which, Robbins Landon suggests is the lost single-movement overture to Le pescatrici (1770). Light, bright performances, with unusual clarity of wind-parts, and very well recorded, with immediacy and character. [A:21

Peter Branscombe

J. HAYDN: Two Concertos for Horn and Orchestra in D/M. HAYDN: Concertino for Horn and Orches-tra in D Dale Clevenger (hrn)/Franz Liszt CO/Rolla Teldec 6.42960 digital dmm (4.429601 (Conifer)

Here are crisp, highly efficient performances of the two extant Joseph Haydn horn concer-tos, separated by the Concertino by his brother Michael— three sizeable movements, presumably part of a lost serenade. Dale Clevenger is a neat, bold player, and is finely supported by the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra under János Rolla. Mr Clevenger's own cadenzas are inappropriately big, but he moves easily over a wide range, and to the Adagio of the second concerto ( not authentic-ated as by Joseph, and in The New Grove attributed to Michael) he brings tender eloquence. The sensitive harpsichord con-tinuo is ideally balanced, and the sound quality throughout is high, with broad pers-pective and warmth.

Barry Tuckwell's pairing of the Joseph Haydn concertos maintains its pre-eminent place in the catalogue, and his version of the Michael Haydn Concertino ( Concerto) is also still available. But the new Clevenger issue has much to commend it, not least the fine, silent-surfaced dmm sound. [A:1)

Peter Branscombe

KNUSSEN: Symphony No. 2 for soprano and orchestra LI Trumpets for soprano and 3 clarinets El Coursing for chamber orchestra L7 Cantata for oboe and string trio Elaine Barry, Linda Hurst (sops)/Michael Collins, Edward Pillinger, lan Mitchell (cIts)/Gareth Hulse (ob)/London Sinf/Nash Ens Unicorn-Kanchana DKP 9027 digital ( DKP C 9027)

Oliver Knussen's music came a long way in the '70s, and the nature of that progression is clearly if tersely presented by this disc. What is to my mind the least successful work, the Symphony No. 2, is the earliest ( 1970-71); its text is taken primarily from verse by Trakl and its style now seems very much limited by its era. Trumpets (1975) is a brilliantly virtuosic piece of composition, again using verse by Trakl but now allowing the restric-tion of forces used to spark off a welter of inventive ideas and instrumental juxtaposi-tions. In some way this brief work seems 'bigger' than the Symphony. The Cantata (1977) uses a naturally evocative ensemble to great effect, without bringing too readily to mind other works for this grouping. Knussen himself suggests Berlioz's Cleopatra or Britten's Phaedre as possible parallel forms for the work. The most recent item in this collection, Coursing (1979), is a conceptual piece that boldly and humor-ously relies for its effect on the virtuosity of its performers. It shows a well-founded self-confidence on the part of its composer to bring off such a dramatic stroke. Confidence in the performers is well

rewarded in all the works by the expectedly

high standard of playing produced by the various London Sinfonietta-based ensem-bles on this disc, and the recording emulates this, though I would have liked the words to have been more distinct. A total disc playing time of 35 minutes is offset in the cassette version by the inclusion of Symphony 3 and Ophelia Dances from RHD 400. [A:1*/11

Doug Hammond

MAHLER: Symphony No. 1 Philadelphia/Muti HMV EL 2700071 digital dmm (EL 2700074)

The accent here is not so much Viennese as Neopolitan, the authentic Mahlerian flavour less convincingly evoked than in the per-formances of conductors brought up in the ways and traditions of this music. Make no mistake, though, Muti's first foray into Mahler's symphonic canon is a heady and uplifting experience. Very beautiful, very fresh, very atmospheric are the sounds of dawn, the smell of early-morning dew, in the distilled opening pages; exhilarating the rumbustious coda, with its explosive fan-fares and rollicking horns. The scherzo is just as it should be, properly gutsy, while the Finale — deliberately paced in the late Walter mould — summons forth big heavyweight sounds: tremendous support in the low-register trombones and an octet of horns who make no apologies whatsoever for the arrival of their triumphant tolling motif. I need hardly add that the lovely second subject emerges here very slowly, poig-nantly, loaded with heartache, and that in Muti's hands the bombastic peroration bids fair to being the most resplendent ever to appear on disc. EMI have responded with their ripest Phi-

ladelphia sound, its wide dynamic and tonal range, its depth and truthfulness of balance not to be faulted. As a committed Mahlerian I cannot pretend that there aren't things here in the nature of sound and rubato that do not entirely ring true — the middle section of ( iii), for instance, is ravishing but hardly Wiener schmaltz. But Muti is a persuasive musician with a stunning orchestra, and Mahler Firsts don't come much more exciting than this. [A*:1*1

Edward Seckerson

MAHLER: Symphony No.4 Price/LPO/Horenstein CFP 41 44611 (41 44614) Reissue from 1971

Absence, I'm afraid, does indeed make the heart grow fonder. Returning after some while to this 1971 recording, now completely remastered and sounding much the better for it, was not quite the pleasure I had anticipated. For some reason its shortcom-ings have grown more bothersome to me: the untidinesses in the playing, for instance (lack of rehearsal much in evidence), some of Horenstein's rather inelegant rubatos, his tendency to heavyish tempi, and the absence of ease— still more, charm — in that tricky first movement. The authentic Mahlerian spirit looms large, of course — shadows are imposingly cast, the grotesqueries of the second movement chillingly projected with suitably earthy strains from the LPO wind band — and Horenstein's aura of reverence in the slow movement certainly draws one in. But it was not one of his greater Mahler performances and when the urge takes me I confess I'll be far more likely to reach out for my Szell or Mehta discs. The recording, though, has definitely

come out of the remastering with greater lucidity and a wider tonal and dynamic range (assuming you can find a silent pressing — Side One of my tests was appalling) and there is Margaret Price — fresh, radiant and displaying far less of the self-conscious artifice which, for my money, marred her recent De Waart disc. [A/B:21

Edward Seckerson

MOZART: Sinfonia Concertante in El', K297 b Oboe Concerto in C, K314 Aurele Nicolet (flt)/Heinz Holliger (ob)/Hermann Baumann (hrn)/Klaus Thunemann (bsn)/ASM/Mar-riner Philips 411 134-1 digital (411 134-4)

Described as a 'New Reconstruction' of the Sinfonia Concertante, this version is pre-cisely that. Of questionable authenticity, the work has been presented on record at various times with the usual oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon soloists replaced by the flute, oboe, horn and bassoon Mozart is known to have written for. These versions have retained the score as published, merely transcribing the solo parts to fit the new instrumentation. Robert D. Levin has gone much farther and has made many cuts (notably the 'vaudeville' that closes each variation in the finale as published), and has radically altered both the orchestral texture and solo balances elsewhere.

Listening to it for the first time is rather like reading Virginia Woolf: it all seems familiar yet is suddenly found not to be what it appears. In fact it becomes virtually a new work, and, it must be said, a convincing one. Levin has published his findings and argu-ment in an American document to which I have been unable to gain access, so cannot comment on his reasoning. The Oboe Con-certo, immaculately played by Holliger, is, of course, familiar territory. The other three soloists are of international standing and are admirably supported by the Academy. The recording is clear, well balanced, and lumi-nous. [A:11

Kenneth Dommett

MOZART: Sinfonia Concertante K364 Li Concer-tone K190 Edith Volckaert (yin)/ Atar Arad (via)/Rainer Küchl, Erich Binder (vIns)/Otfried Ruprecht (ob)/Cornelius Herrmann (vIc)/Mozarteum Orch/Hager Teldec 6.42526 (NC) (Conifer)

In July, precisely the same coupling was released by Chandos and in June we had a sparkling performance of the Sinfonia Con-certante by lona Brown and ASM (with Josef Suk as violist) from Decca. This new version is almost as good as the latter, both musi-cally and technically, but it lacks the sheer joie de vivre of the British version. However, the many solo strands of the Concertone, particularly the two important violas, are heard to great advantage in Teldec's excel-lent recording. Quite why a different pair of concertante

violinists was chosen for the latter work is not obvious, unless it was to offer the instrumentalists from the orchestra as wide a share as possible in the solo honours. Edith Volckaert and Arad (the sleeve does not make it absolutely clear that he is the viola soloist in the Sinfonia however) have a firm, direct style, a shade edgy in the highest reaches of the tessitura, and they combine well with one another. Kuchl (well-known as a quartet player) and Binder sound more relaxed in the charming concerto grosso, and the playing of the oboe and cello soloists deserves their separate billing. In both works the textures are clearly caught by the fine quality of the recording, and in the Concer-tone particularly the detail is instructive and refreshing. A touch more of that elusive sparkle would have merited the star, but there is not much in it. [A:11

Kenneth Dommett

MOZART: Serenade No.9 in D, K.320 'Posthorn' 2 Marches in D, K.320a LPO/Schónzeler CFP 41 44641 (41 44644) Reissue from 1977

The Posthorn Serenade, so named because it uses that instrument in the 2nd Trio of the 2nd Minuet, was probably written for a court function and would have been framed by

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1954 91

two marches serving as entrance and exit music. This reissued recording has sought to maintain that tradition, employing the works which were most probably composed for use with this Serenade. The first March is elegantly played, the col legno section being particularly attractive. It is followed by a performance of the Serenade that is consis-tent in its delicate balance of woodwind dialogue, its well-turned phrases, and its appropriate gradation of dynamics. The posthorn, as is to be expected, has trouble in stabilising its intonation at first, but on the whole makes a satisfactory if brief contribu-tion. The clear recording is set in a pleasant acoustic, and if stereo spread is not as broad as it could be, the result is still adequate and pleasing. [8:1/2]

Barbara Jahn

MOZART: Divertimento in D, K334 LI March in D, K445 ASM Cham Ens Philips 411 102-1 digital 1411 102-4)

Mozart's delectable Divertimento for solo strings and two horns, written for his Salz-burg friend 'Siegerl' Robinig in the summer of 1780, is a work of sizeable proportions and undeniable charm. Yet it is in some ways a deeper piece than the other two similar Divertimenti composed for Countess Lodron (K247, 287), with several touches of the questioning excursions into minor territory which are specific to Mozart.

In this new recording, the first for a very long time, these special characteristics are admirably displayed, and the modest forces of the Academy's Chamber Ensemble ensure absolute clarity of line and an opportunity — not all that frequent as it happens — to appreciate the contribution of the horns. The performance is concluded by the March which from the nature of its scoring suggests that it belongs to the main work, and the manner in which it is played reinforces the association. Tempi throughout are extremely well judged, never rushed, yet the music remains buoyant and bright as it should. The recording itself is nicely balanced, spacious and warmly welcoming. [A:1)

Kenneth Dommett

MOZART: Gran Partita K361 Wiener Mozart-Bláser/Harnoncourt Teldec 6.42981 digital dmm 14.42981) (Conifer)

This is first-class in every way. The recording has a vivid presence which would be hard to equal, and an immediacy that gives one the feeling of being in the company of the players. And what playing! It is easy to see that these brassy, almost blatant Viennese horns and incisive oboes will not please everyone, nor will the fact that no effort is made to emulate period fashions or to embrace ancient instruments. This is a per-formance designed to make the best of present-day techniques without necessarily abandoning style. The crisp detached 'French overture' semiquavers of the intro-ductory Adagio to the first movement proc-laim this straight away, and throughout it is possible to detect niceties of performance for which Nikolous Harnoncourt, the director of this recently formed ensemble, has already made a name for himself.

Like most performances nowadays this one has the benefit of the researches of Leson and Whitwell, discernible in many slight but important deviations from the old printed texts; but success does not depend wholly on scholarship, and this performance has a sweetness and strength unmatched by any of the several other commendable recordings of this nonpareil of music for wind instruments. True to modern research, a double-bass is used here and, almost for the first time on record, takes its place unequivocally beside its twelve companions. [A•:1*]

Kenneth Dommett

MOZART: String Quartets K499, 575 Melos Qt DG 410 998-1 digital 1410 998-4)

The Melos recordings of Mozart's ' Haydn' Quartets were issued piecemeal in 1977 and 1978 and reissued as a set in 1981, but the last four have been a long time following on. Here presumably is the first of the two records that will complete the series, which has now acquired digital sound and with it a clear-cut recording to match the ensemble's positive and slightly athletic playing. But the little that has been sacrificed in the way of sensitivity and warmth — more noticeable in the slow movements than elsewhere — is offset by secure ensemble and a strong rhythmic pulse. The performance of K499 is both powerful

and persuasive, but the first of the 'King of Prussia' quartets would perhaps have benefitted from a less assertive approach. The cello's important role, which Mozart (unlike Boccherini in his quartets for the same monarch) carefully integrated into the ensemble, is heard to advantage here in a recording which preserves a natural balance in the face of the music's prima facie efforts to upset it. There are several alternative recordings, but these Melos performances have so much to recommend them that potential listeners need not worry too much about the opposition. [A:1]

Kenneth Dommett

MOZART: Piano Sonatas K331 and 332 LI Fantasie K397 Mitsuko Uchida (pno) Philips 412 123-1 digital 1412 123-4)

This is Mitsuko Uchida's first incursion into the recording studio, and the beginning of a new Mozart sonata cycle. Some may not consider this a worthy test of skill, but it is evident from her discussion with IH ( p.72) that she regards these works highly and finds in the music a great deal to test her interpretative powers. Fier performance of the familiar A-major with its 'Turkish' finale demonstrates this point clearly. Under her fingers the entire sonata, but especially the first two movements, acquires an almost Brahmsian grandeur. The variation first movement benefits — and suffers — from this treatment. It certainly gains stature, but the weighty cadences rob the music of some of its 18th century lightness. The recording presents a rather curious aspect here too: occasionally the highest notes appear to detach themselves to the right, and one gets the impression that the pianist has her back to us. The F-major sonata is musically not in the

same class. Uchida plays the first repeat of the opening movement but not the second, which might have made a stronger case for it, but she certainly plays it con amore and with rather less emphasis than either of the other two items. The Fantasy is a problem. Mozart did not finish it and the published ending is unsatisfactory. Here the solution is to return to the opening bars, but the transition and change of mood are too abrupt to be wholly satisfactory. The playing, however, is consistently ravishing. The soft sound of the specially tuned Steinway gives the music a pearly luminosity, and the eloquence of Uchida's playing has an intensity rare in recorded Mozart sonata performances. In spite of the over-emphatic cadences of K331, worth the star. [A/B:1 *1

Kenneth Dommett

MOZART: Piano Sonatas K570, 576 LI Adagio K540 Claudio Arrau (pno) Philips 411 136-1 digital 1411 136-4)

It takes a great pianist to find something new to say about Mozart's piano music that is neither sensational nor eccentric. Listening to Arrau playing Mozart's penultimate

sonata, K570, will confirm that what passes too often as more or less routine Mozart is quite the opposite. Here is a new view of the sonata even though it might perhaps be argued that Arrau% reading is too overtly influenced by his admiration for the 19th century repertoire. But the score confirms the startling dissonances in the first move-ment and the strong Romantic pull of the Adagio, while the uncommon practice of observing every repeat gives the work unusual stature. Beside it the last sonata seems relatively

slight, and Arrau makes rather less of its first movement than I expected. The need to change over at this point doesn't help pre-serve the mood either, though the remaining two movements rebuild it successfully and the finale has a marvellous lightness about it. The Adagio, on the other hand, is a true adagio, slow, penetrating and dark. Here again the Romantic image is strongly man-ifested and again the music sustains the association. The piano is sensibly distanced and the sound natural. [A:1*/1]

Kenneth Dommett

ORFF: Carmina Burana Roberts/Greenberg/Bowman/Berlin ASO & Ch/ Chailly Decca 411 702-1 digital (411 702-4)

An uncommonly resolute pedal-D from the timpani augers well, but not many bars pass before one realises the the Berlin chorus is rather pale and monochrome, words poorly pointed and projected. Yet this is no routine Carmina. In the main Chailly paces the proceedings keenly, making much of the work's more fragrant departures, coaxing delicacy from pages where one had almost forgotten it existed. Especially enchanting are some of the Spring and Court of Love numbers, but the little orchestral Dance 'On the Green' lingers in the mind too. The soloists all have their moments: I don't think I have ever heard a baritone make more of Omnia Sol temperat than Stephen Roberts, but the weighty Estuans Interius is unfortu-nately a little too much for him. As to his colleagues, James Bowman is luxury indeed for that whining swansong, and while Sylvia Greenberg doesn't quite succeed in ironing out all the creases in her phrasing of the ravishing In truttina, hers is a performance of much charm. Soundwise, the Berlin venue of Jesus

Christus Kirche provides an ample and sonorous ambience, and Decca have cer-tainly made the most of it. To my mind the choir are set just a little too far back for comfort, anything below mf verging on the indistinct, and I would certainly have wel-comed a touch more immediacy and bril-liance from the brass — trumpets especially. But the all-important percussion lines come through adequately. [A:1)

Edward Seckerson

RAMEAU: Zoroastre Greta de Reyghere, Mieke van der Sluis, Agnes Mellon (sops)/John Elwes (ten)/Gregory Reinhart, Jaques Bona, Michel Verschaeve, Francois Fauche, Philippe Cantor (basses)/Collegium Vocale, Ghent/ La Petite Bande/Kuijken Harmonia Mundi 1C 157 1999813 digital (4 recs) (NC) ( Conifer)

That the central philosophical issue in Zoroastre, Rameau's fourth tragedie lyrique composed in 1749, concerns itself with the archetypal conflict between the ' light' pow-ers of benevolent magic (Zoroastre) and the 'dark' magic of Abramane ought not to fool us into believing that the opera unrelievedly pursues a moralistic treatise. Rameau's works for the theatre were, in addition, vehicles for an array of spectacular effects, lavish costume, and, of course, the ballet. On record we have to be content without

the spectacle, but Sigiswald Kuijken entices some splendid evocations from La Petite Bande: from the opening overture with its

92 HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

terrors of the people oppressed by the devilish Abramane (unison repeated notes and swirling scales), to entrances of 'indians' and general gavottes, rigaudons and gigues. It is sometimes a surprisingly ' big' instrumental sound, but the playing can switch beautifully from the majestic, grand manner to catch the inflection of the bounc-ing dance-inspired movements so effort-lessly; and much of the success of the recording is due to this instrumental sup-port. John Elwes as Zoroastre carries much of the drama, and his mellifluous tenor timbres and musicianly portrayal deserve praise, as indeed do all of the vocalists for the purity of their approach, and Agnes Mellon (always a favourite!) makes a mel-tingly vulnerable Céphie. There is a useful booklet in three languages, but with a lib-retto in only two — French and German — which is a pity. To my initial discomfiture the opera is cut

at a very low level, but once adjusted (and with Teldec mastering no need to worry about any additional noises off!) it gives a full, warm, clean stage, with characters set sharply and naturally on the instrumental support. For the ballets and dances the focus switches without fuss onto La Petite Bande, who, it might be quibbled, are split a merest hint too distinctly to left and right. The question of the chorus is less happily resolved, though, as they are slightly over-blown and noticeably more distant and too reverberantly recorded. A small price, however, for a splendid production. [A*/A:1•1

Roger Bowen

SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 14 in d, 'Death & the Maiden' U 'Quartettsatz' in c Vermeer Qt Teldec 6.42868 digital dmm ( NC) (Conifer)

This is an outstandingly fine record, even with a pair of works as frequently and as excellently presented on disc as these. The Vermeer Quartet come from Chicago, and on this showing there can be few finer teams either side of the Atlantic. They reveal superb musicianship, great power yet also delicacy, full tone, marked dynamic contrast, and above all a deep feeling for Schubert's textures, structure and rhythmic elan. The firm, incisive attack has nothing in the least relentless about it, and their control of tempo, though firm, is not in the least inflexible. The recording too is of very high standard — close, even immediate (with intakes of breath clearly audible, yet not obtrusive), spacious, too, and with silent surfaces. These are vivid readings, tech-nically assured yet not ostentatious. Schubert's lyricism is as finely realized as is his strength and boldness. (A:11

Peter Branscombe

SCHUBERT: Sonata in A, D 664 U Sonata in a, D 784 Jean-Claude Pennetier (pno) Harmonia Mundi HM 1132 (HM 40-1132)

This is a thoughtful, frequently sensitive coupling of two fine and often-heard sonatas by a French pianist who, though he has recorded the Schubert piano trios, is better known to record-collectors as a Brahms player. Among his virtues are a refusal to take anything for granted (though this does sometimes lead to mannered phrasing), an unusually wide dynamic range coupled with a fine feeling for tonal gradation, and a sure technique. Where comparisons are meaningful, Pennetier emerges with credit. Brendel and Richter, in a large box and a two-disc album respectively, have a different appeal. And Ashkenazy, in a famous old issue from 1967, has, in the only other one-disc coupling, a clear edge with his inclusion of the Hungarian melody and 12 early waltzes D 145 as generous extras. Pennetier, however, finds more in the A-major slow movement, even if some of his expressive devices suggest a style appreci-ably later than Schubert's. The recording has

both the sparkle of the upper register and a firm, sonorous bass line; but there is an unwelcome hiss. [B:21

Peter Branscombe

SCHUBERT: Sonatas — Op.78 in G U Op. posth. 143 in a Howard Shelley (1-pno) Amon Ra SAR 13 digital (CSAR 131 ( H.R. Taylor/ Gamut/Essex Dist.)

This issue makes it difficult for me to avoid a conclusion which has been looming in my mind for some time: music, at least some-times, does sound better and becomes more intelligible when played on contemporary instruments. I did not wish to think so, but I now do. This music is so delicate, without being in the least fragile, that a modern concert grand is bound to overwhelm it.

In this case, Howard Shelley gives a per-formance which is highly intellectual, in the sense of having been studied to the last nuance, but which does not in the least smell of the lamp: it sounds as spontaneous as spring. Brendel does it differently; but there are many ways of interpreting great music, and this one will stand on its own feet. The instrument is a superb piece by

Johann Fritz (Vienna, 1814). This is the kind of sound which Schubert heard, and doubt-less made; and it has its own beauty which need apologise to no Steinway. That beauty is marvellously caught by the recording, which displays the most subtle nuances of tone and timbre, including those action-noises and the odd inner conversations — chunterings, chucklings, mutterings — which these older instruments have with them-selves. I have listened repeatedly, and with growing admiration. I cannot think, off-hand, of a better recording of a fortepiano than this one; and with such music, and such playing, there is only one assessment: [A*:11

Peter Turner

SCHUMANN: Requiem in 0h, Op.148 Li Requiem für Mignon, Op.98b Helen Donath, Brigitte Lindner, Andrea Andonian (sops)/Doris Soffel, Mechthild Georg (cons)/Nicolai Gedda (ten)/Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (bass)/Dussel-dorf Ch & SO/Klee HMV ASD 1467561 digital dmm ITC-ASD 1467564)

During the later years of his life Schumann became increasingly interested in writing for chorus and orchestra, and his appointment in 1850 to direct the forces of Düsseldorf should have been an ideal opportunity to try out that interest. In the event, he had already begun to suffer symptoms of mental illness and was unable to fulfil his Düsseldorf duties satisfactorily. But he was still able to com-pose, and the two works on this disc attest to the strength of that ability. The Requiem für Mignon is charming and shows few signs of diminution in Schumann's powers; but the Latin Requiem, though more interesting than many textbooks would have us believe, does have moments of weakness that need to be hedged around in performance.

Unfortunately the forces arrayed for this recording don't seem to smooth the path enough, and with an orchestral contribution that does not always bring out the most relevant lines the Requiem is not heard to its best advantage; also, although the chorus can summon drive and force, the episodic nature of the work is emphasised rather than ameliorated. In Requiem für Mignon the climaxes are rather underplayed and bass lines are not emphasised at cadential points in order to point the structure. The recording does not help, and it is only in the sound of the treble voices, both solo and choral, that definition is good, though with some emph-asis of sibilants. The rating, then, must be somewhat mixed. (B/C:2/31

Doug Hammond

SCHUMANN: Troisieme Grande Sonate Op.14 Novelette Op.21/8 El Romance No.2 in F 11

Allegro Op.8 Marc Raubenheimer (pno) Decca 414 035-1 digital (414 035-4)

The second of Schumann's piano sonatas, originally published in correct chronological order in 1836, revised by the composer in 1853, and then termed "Troisième', is not only technically very demanding, but is also an extremely difficult work to interpret, with its whole structure pervaded by a theme of Clara Wieck, which is used as the subject of variations in the slow third movement. For those who already know the work this new recording should give them plenty to think about. The brilliant, burgeoning virtuoso from South Africa, Marc Raubenheimer, who was killed in the recent tragedy of the Madrid air crash, had a special empathy with the Sonata which led him to a reading ( based on the 1853 revision) that is unusually personal and deeply felt. I can imagine that if you don't know the

work well his flexibility of accentuation, especially in the first movement, could leave you confused, as could the obscuring of inner contrapuntal lines that only leaves a hint of their existence for those who already know them to be there. However, his trans-cendental virtuosity in the Finale should, I think, be equally persuasive for initiate and old-hand alike. The three shorter pieces are more straightforwardly viewed, yet are tre-ated to the same deep understanding that the Sonata enjoys. All are recorded in a relaxed, undemonstrative manner that inter-poses little between the performances and the listener, so despite aspects of the inter-pretation that could be faulted, this is a disc to which I intend to return on many occa-sions. [A:1*111

Doug Hammond

SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphonies No. 6 & 9 Concertgebouvv/Kondrashin Philips 412 073-1 (412 073-4) Live recordings

Friend and confidant of the composer, the man entrusted with the premieres of the 13th and 14th symphonies — is it any wonder that Kondrashin's Shostakovich should prove that little bit special? This was the first of the current Philips series ( see ' Notes', June p.69), to go on my turntable, and considering that a full twelve years separate the record-ing of the sixth from that of the ninth ( 1968 and 1980 respectively) the sound — courtesy Netherlands Radio — is laudably consistent in its quality. A little fuzzy in the middle perhaps and somewhat constricted tonally, but adequate under the circumstances. As to the performances, No.6 comes off

the page with a deal more vibrancy than the Ninth. The opening measures stride bravely forward, the urgency of it all immediately involving. Some have favoured a more spa-cious view of this movement, in even greater contrast to the raucous high-jinks which lie beyond it. Indeed, one could argue that Kondrashin loses here something of the music's desolation. In compensation, though, how effectively he conveys the underlying uncertainties, the restlessness of his flutes, for instance, as they brave the icy terrain of the middle section. The playing, in general, isn't always immaculate — the open-ing of the sixth's finale comes very notice-ably adrift — but character and conviction are beyond reproach, all the solo voices being keenly profiled, all the big tuttis wonderfully assertive. Rarely, I'll wager, will you hear a more foul-mouthed band of trumpets than here lead off the concluding vulgarities of No.9. 113/C:11

Edward Seckerson

SHOSTAKOVICH: Music for the film 'The Gadfly' USSR Cinema SO/Emin Khachaturian CFP 41 44631 (41 44634)

The Gadfly: exotic Italian locations, scenes of heroism and romance — or so the publicity

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 93

blurb might have read. Shostakovich scored this Feinzimmer film in 1955 two years after his great 10th Symphony, by which time he had clearly mastered the art of cinematic composition and could come up with the appropriate imagery and pastiche at the drop of a hat. He does it well. Good, workmanlike formula stuff, its greatest claim to fame now being the movement entitled 'Romance' which Thames TV borrowed for their Reilly, Ace of Spies series. The sound is really rather good — a super-

ior example of Melodiya engineering marred only by some unfortunate cut-reverberation at the end of one or two bands. [B/A:1]

Edward Seckerson

SIBELIUS: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6 SNO/Gibson Chandos ABRD 1097 digital (ABTD 1097)

Once again the SNO's imperfections of ensemble, the irritation of far too many untidy ends, are a blight to one's enjoyment. No.3 — a reading of some sinew, with inner tensions moderately well sustained through to the first movement recapitulation and boldly assertive colours from the horns and cellos — does at least succeed in transcend-ing the printed score on occasions. I think especially of the icy calm at the heart of ( i) and the recapitulation itself, the SNO strings digging deeply into the return of the rhyth-mic opening figure.

No.6, on the other hand, never really aspires to much more than a sporadically competant read-through. The opening pages are insecure to say the least, one's first impression that of an uphill struggle for unanimity. Everywhere the lack of control on Gibson's part, the dearth of tonal and phrasal nuance, the failure to relate one passage to the next, rob the piece of its hold, its mysterious logic. What is arguably the tightest of all Sibelius' symphonic creations emerges here loosely, incoherently.

Vibrant and immediate Chandos sound, but hardly competitive artistically speaking. [A:2/3/4]

Edward Seckerson

SMETANA: Libuse Benackova-Capova/Depoltova/Soukupova/Zitek/ Svorc, etc/Czech Nat Theatre Orch/Kosler Supraphon 1116 4211-4 (4 recs) ( Bond St Music)

This new recording of Smetana's festive opera arrived too late to be considered in my recent centenary survey of the composer's work. It is of a performance given, approp-riately enough in view of the composer's wishes, at the reopening of the Prague National Theatre last year. One might have expected it to be digital, nevertheless it does give a pretty faithful account of the theatre acoustic and also conveys the repressed electricity that productions of Libase seem to generate in Czech audiences. Yet, consider-ing that it is ' live' there is not much move-ment on stage — although the audience is very well-behaved. Comparisons with Krombholc's 1974 ver

sion show that there is still something to be said in favour of the singing on that old issue, though technically the new recording is superior. Unhappily there are some gusty voices in the present National Theatre com-pany, with a heavy vibrato one hoped had disappeared by now. Vera Soukupova (Rad-mila) and Antonin Svorc (Chrudos) are the worst offenders, and even the usually impeccable Benackova-Capova in the title role is guilty of some forced tone. But she gives an impassioned account of the last visionary scene, which makes up for every-thing in the eyes of the audience. Vaclav Zitek gives eminent support as Premysl, and Eva Depoltova is as dependable as ever. Kosler, whose reputation as an opera con-ductor matures steadily, was an excellent choice to direct this prestigious performance and he holds it all together admirably. [A:1]

Kenneth Dommett

STENHAMMAR: Excelsior! Op.13 D Symphony No.2 in g Gothenburg SO/Jiirvi BIS LP-251 digital dmm ( NC) (Conifer)

Stenhammar's Second Symphony, com-pleted in 1915, is contemporary with the Sibelius Fifth and is a remarkable though still comparatively unknown masterpiece — in this country at least. Following Nielsen's example, the composer made a conscious effort to rid himself of his Wagnerian (and Brahmsian) links and create something genuinely Scandinavian, a symphony on the grand scale yet free from rhetoric. The result is a powerful, almost austere work that recalls Sibelius as much as anyone, though it is in fact quite original in conception and execution. In this recording of a concert performance it receives a reading of noble proportions fit to stand beside Stig Wester-berg's, while the audience does not obtrude — though its presence is obvious during the intervals, as it is ( after a decent pause) at the end. The Gothenburg hall, one of the best in

Europe acoustically, offers an excellent sonic view of this concentrated score, and BIS's invariably clear and unfussy recording, now digital and enhanced by Teldec's dmm pro-cess, makes the most of an/Vs authoritative interpretation.

Excelsior!, a concert overture dating from 1898, may appear to owe its inspiration to Longfellow but is actually indebted to Goethe's Faust. It is a rich, confident score which proclaims the strong influence of the German Romantics on the young Stenham-mar, but it is nonetheless a worthy addition to our growing knowledge of his stature as one of the great Scandinavian composers of the early years of this century. [A:1]

Kenneth Dommett

TCHAIKOVSKY: Symphony No.6, 'Pathétique' Philharmonia/Kletzki CFP 41 44621 (41 44624) Reissue from 1960

Any performance of such a well-known classic that can move as much as this must have something very special to say. Add to this the fact that it is 24 years old and can still satisfy despite the restrictions which any recording of that age has to contend with, then we are blessed with an interpretation that really gets to the heart of this subjective work. It is in complete sympathy with the complex emotions that drove Tchaikovsky to write in this way. Only a handful of perform-ances can match the beautifully hushed, forbidding opening here, the limpid grace of the 2nd movement waltz, and the exciting swells and troughs of the 3rd movement. All this is followed by an account of the adagio lamentoso finale that makes one only too aware that it was to represent Tchaikovsky's epitaph. In total, this is a performance that remains in the memory. [(3:11

Barbara Jahn

TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No.2 PostnikovaNSO/Rozhdestvensky Decca 410 113-1 digital (410 113-41

I thought Mr and Mrs Rozhdestvensky's tempi for the First Concerto inordinately broad, but listen here to the opening state-ment: bloated, sluggish (allegro brillante?), its festive grandeur vulgarised, the rhythm flaccid and indistinct. No, I'm afraid 'cumber-some' and 'unwieldy' are again the words I must reach for to describe this reading, the end result not so much imposing as over-blown: grandiloquence turned to bombast. From Postnikova, not by any stretch of the imagination the subtlest of players, we've so much heavy-handed and really rather four-square pianism that what sensitivity and imagination she does occasionally display is apt to slip by un-noticed. I think here of the

coda to Tchaikovsky's lovely slow move-ment — a passage of rare fantasy that she brings off rather well. Good, too, is the high-spirited Finale. The performance is given without cuts, by

the way — yet another reason to mourn its shortcomings since the deletion of the Haas/ Inbal set leaves only the mutilated Graffman/ Ormandy version in the catalogue. How anyone could blithely hack minutes off the aforementioned Andante movement beats me. Here lies the most distinguished music in the piece: more a triple than solo con-certo, with violin and cello in turn taking up at length one of the composer's most capti-vating melodic ideas. Rozhdestvensky's Vienna soloists seize it here with sweetness and charm. The recording, like that of con-certos 1 & 3, is heavily weighted in favour of the soloist, though not at the expense of orchestral detail. [A:3]

Edward Seckerson

VERDI: Rigoletto Field (sop)/Rigby (m-sop)/Davies (ten)/Rawnsley (bar)/Tomlinson (bass)/ENO Ch & Orch/Elder HMV SLS 2700325 (2 recs) (TC-SLS 2700325)

In the booklet accompanying this recording Jonathan Miller attempts to justify his up-dating of Rigoletto by pointing out that the original 16th century setting is just as anachronistic as his version which takes place in the 1950s. The actual period in which the work is placed, however, is surely much less important than is the style of the plot, which is typical 19th century melod-rama — a better-off relation of Maria Marten and the Red Baron! The music and the libretto are both typical products of the mid 19th century and there is certainly no question of an anachronism there. This performance by the English National

Opera Company seems to have been recorded in a studio and has the accompany-ing advantages and disadvantages. The sound is crystal-clear, if a little over-bright, but the atmosphere is less exciting than it would have been if ' live'. All the artists sing well with impeccable diction. John Rawnsley is in excellent voice and has no difficulty coping with the high tessitura of the title role, and Arthur Davies is vocally a first-rate Duke. Helen Field has a pleasant lightish soprano voice and sings competently as Gilda. However, the sense of style and a feeling of deep dramatic involvement is missing, and I feel that this is the fault of the production rather than the artists. The recording is clean and reasonably

spacious, but there is little sense of perspec-tive. It sounds as if the soloists were lined up before a series of microphones rather than dispersed in a stage setting. If you enjoyed the production at the Coliseum then you will certainly want to buy this as a souvenir of the occasion, but otherwise this can hardly be recommended as a definitive version of the opera. [B:2]

John Freestone

VIVALDI: Concerto for two violins in a (RV 522) D Concerto for three violins in F (551) D Concerto for flute and violin arr. from Concerto in d RV 514 D Concerto for two violins in g (517) Stern/Zukerman/Perleman/Oistrakh (vIns)/Rampal (fil)/Saint Paul CO/Zukerman/NYPO/Mehta/Jeru-salem Music Centre CO/Philadelphia Ens/Ormandy CBS 74119 (40-741191 Reissues from 1978, 81, 82

Isaac Stern plays throughout, with the asso-ciating violin soloists presented above in batting order, as are the accompanying chamber orchestras. The style of perform-ance has (perhaps surprisingly) changed rather less than the standard of recording between 1978 and 1982, with the Oistrakh/ Stern Concerto in G-minor easily the least acceptable recording, the opening (familiar) item very well recorded, and the remaining two concertos somewhere in between. It is

94 HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

the actual quality of the sound that is variable, rather than any wide difference in recording techniques applied. Although these performances are by no

means models of style, they do display good taste and a positive response to Vivaldi's lively individuality, and admirers of Isaac Stern — of whom I have been one for many years — will be foolish to miss an opportunity to hear him playing at his best in association with first-class — and sympathetic — col-leagues. 1A/B/C:11

Stephen Daw

WAGNER: Die Walküre Act III Helen Traubel/Herbert Janssen/NYPO/Rodzinski CBS 61452 (40-614521 Reissue from 1946

Rodzinski 'scrambles' his Valkyries for aerial manoeuvres which leave the singers breath-less and able only to snatch at words. Tempi are so fast (at around the hour for the complete Act) that two LP sides suffice. The only justification in the reissue of this near 40-year-old performance is the singing of Helen Traubel as Brunnhilde. However, her singing alone cannot make this anything other than a historical reissue, with Rodzins-ki's tempi and Jannsen's constant struggle with Wotan's music — particularly his limp entry 'Wo ist Brunnhilde?'. Traubel's Brunn-hilde shines throughout, notably at the end of Scene 1 where she gives the shattered Notung to Sieglinde and pronounces Sieg-fried's name for the first time. Collectors-only recommendation, I'm afraid, in view of the speedily efficient conducting and the poorly cast Wotan. But the sound is surpri-singly atmospheric for its age. [H:1/31

David Prtikel

CLASSICAL COLLECTIONS ACADEMY BY REQUEST — Wunschkonzert Works by Bach, Borodin, Gluck, Grieg, Handel, Schubert ASM/Marriner HMV ASD 1436421 digital dmm (TC-ASD 1436424)

This record does not include any reissues despite the appearance here of some works already recorded by ASM/Marriner. The ten digitally derived items benefit from direct-metal-mastering, and for the most part this stands them in good stead. The reverberant acoustic sometimes muddies the textures, but the recording quality is never less than good. Three of the pieces are in arrange-ments by Neville Marriner, whose Sheep May Safely Graze and Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring are taken rather faster than is the norm, but this gives the music drive and impetus. His arrangement of the Nocturne from Borodin's 2nd String Quartet is the highlight of the disc for me, with Kenneth Sillito and Denis Vigay playing the solo roles in this beautiful love song most movingly.

All the performances on this disc are Romantic in interpretation, but the kind of stillness created in Handel's 'Pastoral Sym-phony' from The Messiah and the joyful exuberance and carefully contrasted areas of light and shade in The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba should be compensation enough. Paul Davies must be mentioned for his commanding flute solo in Gluck's Dance of the Blessed Spirits (a piece that often suffers from mediocre performances as a result of its deceptive technical simplicity and resul-tant widespread popularity with the lesser flautists amongst us). With the inclusion of a strong reading of Schubert's Rosamunde Entr'acte and a dynamically powerful Pre-lude from the Holberg Suite, this disc of extracts will surely please the audience for which it is intended. [A/B:19

Barbara Jahn

CBS MASTERWORKS PORTRAITS

BACH: Italian Concerto and other keyboard works Glenn Gould (pno) CBS 60253 (40-602531 Reissues

BEETHOVEN: String Quintet Op.29 17 Piano Quar-tet Op.16 Trampler (vIa)/Horszowski (pno)/Budapest Of CBS 60257 (40-602571 Reissue from 1963, 67

GABRIELI: Canzoni and Sonate Cleveland, Philadelphia & Chicago Brass Ens CBS 60265 (40-60265) Reissue from 1969

scorr JOPLIN: Rags E. Power Biggs (pdl hpd) CBS 60269 (40-602691 Reissue from 1973

LISZT: Piano Concerto Nos. 1 & 2 D Totentanz Rosen (pno)/Entremont (pno)(Watts (pno)/NPO/ Pritchard/LSO/Leinsdorf/Philadelphia/Ormandy CBS 60271 140-60271) Reissues from 1959, 77

MENDELSSOHN: Octet Op.20 D Trio No.1 Op.49 Marlboro Fest Ens/Schneider (vIn)/Casals (vIc)/ Horszowski (ono) CBS 60272 (0p.49 @)) 140-60272) Reissues from 1962, 66

MOZART: Clarinet Concerto 1(622 D Clarinet Quin-tet 1(581 Marcellus (clt)/Cleveland/Szell/Wright (clt)/ Schneider (vIn)/Cohen (vIn)/Rhodes (vIa)/Parnas (vIc) CBS 60273 (40-602731 Reissues from 1967, 70

MOZART: Piano Quartets 1(478 & 1(493 Members of Budapest Ot/Horsowski (pno) CBS 60277 (40-60277) Reissue from 1964

SCHUBERT: Impromptus Op.142 Serkin (pno) CBS 60282 (40-602821 Reissue from 1979

HINDEMITH: Symphony in E D Symphonic Meta-morphoses NYPO/Bernstein CBS 60288 (40-602881 Reissue from 1970

The latest collection of CBS Masterworks Portrait reissues is headed by a Bach piano recital. No ordinary Bach recital however in the hands of the late Glenn Gould, whose recordings are experiencing a renaissance after his tragic death last year. This recital picks pieces of Bach from here and there, coupling a complete performance of the Italian Concerto with Gavottes from the English and French Suites, Minuettes from the French Suites, one of the 30 Goldberg Variations, two Preludes and Fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier and the Minuets and Gigue from the Partita No.1. Gould plays with fascinating precision, but I cannot find this recital anything other than eavesdrop-ping on a great musician's 'work-book'; the billing 'Gould plays Bach' says it all. The clarity, precision and freshness are undeni-able, but this one is for Gould fans not for the general collector. The recordings are slightly distant and dynamically unexciting. [A/B:1*/1] The Budapest String Quartet team up with

Walter Trampler in a successful version of Beethoven's String Quintet Op.29. The play-ing is fresh and lively, marred only by some ragged pizzicato towards the end of the second movement. The mid sixties record-ing is inelegant and two-dimensional. An earlier collaboration between Roisman, Kroyt and Scheider of the Budapest Quartet with pianist Mieczyslaw Horszowski pro-vides the Op.16 Piano Quartet on Side 2. This

piece is surprisingly under-represented in the catalogue and the coupling is especially welcome. The earlier recording is slightly hissier but less closely balanced. The last touch of good humour is missing from this performance. [B:1/21 The result of three modern brass ensem-

bles playing Gabrieli is altogether too slick and speedy. The execution is crisp and precise but leaves little time for the listener to savour the antiphonal effects. The record-ing doesn't help particularly in this respect either; although dividing the forces up across the sound-stage, it allows little inter-play with the acoustic which is heard as a resonant wash. The final Canzona played first by four trumpeters is perhaps the best item of the disc. 113:21 There can be no excuse for playing

Joplin's Rags on a pedal harpsichord other than to say 'who the hell needs an excuse'. The recording does everything in its power to clarify and magnify the already powerfully vivid instrument and the equally colourful performer. The collection is a good mixture of the familiar and the not so well known; if you, like me, feel the essence of Ragtime is in its rhythmic precision you'll find something to enjoy in this issue. However, Biggs tends to err towards faster tempi than I would like and seems dragged along by the awesome mechanics of his instrument. Tin hats recom-mended! [A:1/D:41 take your pick. CBS have packed a disc full of Liszt by

splitting the Totentanz across the sides, coupling each half with the two Piano Con-certos. Though there is nothing inherently wrong with coupling performances by more than one performer in a recital of this type, credibility is strained here by the span of recordings from an annoyingly dated sound in the First Piano Concerto to a fair quality mid-seventies recording; three soloists, three orchestras and three conductors are involved. Rosen's account of No.1 is glitter-ingly virtuosic, though Pritchard seems to rush the orchestra. Andre Watts misses the deep bell- like sonority of the opening chords in Totentanz, and plays the difficult arpeg-gios for effect rather than precise execution. The terrifying tread of this piece I find entirely missing. Entremont's collaboration with Ormandy is very hissily recorded, but the performance is both muscular and clean. [A/B/C:1/31 'Moderately fast but with dash' says the

score, but the Marlboro Festival Ensemble play far too excitably in the opening move-ment of the Mendelssohn Octet. Sadly too, the recording quality presents a waspish edge to the hard-bowed quartet of violins. Curiously, the beautiful Andante is drawn out, which loses the sense of suspended melody. Throughout there is the feeling that what would have worked in performance is not necessarily appropriate for repeated listening from LP. The Trio coupling comes from a live mono recording made in 1961 at the White House. The high hiss level and boxy quality now place this in the Historic category; though each instrument is clear there is an accretion of distortion and some loud stage noises. The music-making is of the highest order (though Casals indulges in some unduly heavy bowing in the opening Allegro); recommendation here would be for Casals collectors rather than as a general coupling of the Trio and Octet. (C/H:2/11 Though an obvious and delightful cou-

pling, the Mozart Clarinet Concerto and Quintet have only once appeared together (Benny Goodman). The pity of this present coupling is that it features two clarinettists. The Quintet is given a delightfully buoyant and lightweight performance with a beauti-ful rhythmic Minuet. The Allegretto is regret-ably too accented, but the 1968 sound is pleasingly smooth. Soloist Harold Wright is generally fluent but commits one or two indelicacies towards the end of the Minuetto. The Concerto is played convincingly by Robert Marcellus, though the early recording smears the image of his instrument out in front of the orchestra. Szell and the Cleve-

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST I984 95

land provide stylish accompaniment but the recording quality begins to interfere with listening enjoyment when the sound-stage becomes clogged and glutinous. [A/C:1] The Budapest Mozart Piano Quartets suf-

fer from a characteristically 'period' early sixties recording, with glassy piano and two-dimensional close-up sound. The treble quality of this transfer is particularly fati-guing. The performances are a bit 'gung-ho' in the Allegros (though K493 fares better in this respect). Though there is some fine piano playing in the Andante of K478, the string players don't have the delicacy and articulation for Mozart's cascading figures. IC:21

Serkin's 1979 recording of the Op.142 (D935) Schubert comes up against plenty of competition, but mainly from two-disc sets of the eight Impromptus. The recording is analytical and dry with the piano close to the listener, hemmed in by a quirky coloration and a restricted dynamic. Serkin's playing seems spikey and unrelaxed, particularly the opening of the Impromptu No.2, while the popular No.3 is simply soporific — an unsym-pathetic recital all-round. [13:2] There is no currently listed version of the

Hindemith Symphony in E-flat composed as his first major score in America in 1940. The Bernstein coupling with the Symphonic Metamorphoses is brisk and energetic. The symphony is particularly rewarding and it comes as some surprise that it has not been recorded more recently. The only criticism of this performance could be in Bernstein's rather hasty manoeuvres through the funereal Adagio. The exciting account of the Weber Metamorphoses is slightly better sounding, though is still a little screechy and 'tubby' in the bass but without the Sym-phony's boxy quality. The percussion and trombones in the Turandot Scherzo are particularly effective. [B:11

David Priikel

ENGLISH MUSIC OF THE 18th CENTURY London Baroque/Ingrid Siefert/Anne Ráhrig (On)/ Charles Medlam (ni)/William Hunt (violone)/John Toll (hpd) Amon Ra SAR 14 digital (CSAT 14) ( H.R. Taylor/ Gamut/Essex Dist.)

All the instruments used for this recording are 'genuine' period pieces except for the violone (double-bass viol). The harpsichord is a magnificent two-manual made in Lon-don by Jacobus Kirckman in 1756, the full glory of which is displayed in Arne's Sonata No.2 in E-minor, and in Stanley's Concerto Op.10/4. The other composers are Avison, Handel and Abel. It is a recital full of riches, and will beguile an hour, I suspect, for many a year. These musicians are building up a fine reputation, and it is easy to see why: their playing, besides technical excellence which one may take for granted, has an inner life which seems to spring from love and enjoyment — qualities which cannot be assumed or acted if they aren't there. It becomes difficult not to respond. Such communion is made easier by fine

recording, and another reputation is being built up by Amon Ra for that. This one is no disappointment. For my part, I regret that they should have seen the need to go over to digital mastering; but at least they produce some of the best examples of that technique. On this issue there is an occasional sharp-ness, an acidity about the upper string tone which may or may not arise from the digits (the instruments themselves are not exactly 'early' — they are well within the Cremona period). For the rest, the detail is excellent, separation exemplary, and the sound lively and fully distinguished between the players. This is a fine issue. [A:1/1')

Peter Turner

FREDERICA VON STADE Arias by Massenet, Mozart, Offenbach, Rossini & Thomas; songs & duets by Brahms, Chausson & Schumann

Judith Blegen (sop)/Frederica von Stade (m-sop)/ various instrumentalists, orchs & conductors CBS M 38315 140-M39315) Reissues from 1975-78

These items are clearly selected to show many facets of the art of Frederica von Stade. She is excellent in the operatic arias, especially 'Bel raggio' from Rossini's Semi-ramide and in a sensitive performance of 'Que mes soeurs sont heureuses' from Mas-senet's Cendrillon. She is joined by Judith Blegen in duets by Brahms and Schumann, but unfortunately the balance is rather unsatisfactory and the voices do not blend well. While sung with obvious intelligence, Chausson's Chanson perpetuelle is not entirely satisfactory; the words are very indistinct and clarity of diction is an essential element in interpreting works of the French school. Made over a period of four years, the recordings are variable, with an over-rever-berant acoustic in the duets. [13:21

John Freestone

GREGORIAN CHANT Schola of the Hofburgkapelle, Vienna/Hubert Dopf Philips 411 140-1 digital (411 140-4)

This is not, in my opinion, one of the better chant records. I found it rather characterless, with a tendency to be slow, uniform, episo-dic and rhythmically unorganised. Ensemble does not always reach the standard one expects from professionals, and there is only sli9ht dynamic sense. The fact that there are noisy intakes of breath throughout may be due to the recording, but they become vastly irritating as time goes on. Those unkind things said (and there is no

point in treating performers on this level as though they were in primary school) the programme contains several chants which have often been recorded elsewhere, but they include the Offertory Jubilate Deo, which might be described as a Gregorian showpiece. This version, though including a crescendo on the last neume, shows clearly the disaster of wholesale rejection of the 'old Solesmes' markings. The recording — aside from those gasps! —

is a perfectly good one, with nothing observ-ably 'digital' about it. Collectors will get this one, but I should not recommend it as an introduction for the enquirer into the Grego-rian treasury. [A/B:2/3]

Peter Turner

HIS MAJESTIES SAGBUTTS AND CORNETTS Works by Adson, Bassano, Brade, Gibbons, Hing-eston, Holborne, Locke, Simpson, Tomkins His Majesties Sagbutts and Cornetts Meridian E 4577077 (45 rpm) ( NC)

The ensemble ' His Majesties Sagbutts and Cornetts' ( sic), taking its name from the music supposedly composed by Matthew Locke for the coronation of Charles II, was formed in 1981 as a result of the enjoyment that its six members experienced when playing together in a variety of freelance ensembles. They are joined here by two guests, Alastair Ross on organ and Charles Fullbrook on percussion. Their programme consists entirely of English music dating from the end of the 16th century to the middle of the 17th, although two of its composers, William Brade and Thomas Simpson, worked mainly in Northern Ger-many at that time. The group show themselves to be in

complete sympathy with one another: their articulation is uniformly precise and neat, their dynamics sound spontaneous and yet well-rehearsed, and they balance perfectly with each other. Add to this the dexterity which they display on those winsome-toned authentic instruments (as in, for example, Holborne's Faine Round) and you have the ingredients of some very special perform-ances. Happily, the recording is equally special: to be played at 45 rpm, all is clean and crystal-clear, with precise positioning

and a natural reproduction of timbres. My only reservation is in John Gibbons' Organ Prelude, in which it is difficult to decide whether the 'extraneous' noise emanates from the tone and mechanism of the instru-ment itself or from the recording. However, the rest is outstanding. [A•/A:11

Barbara Jahn

LUTE RECITAL Anthony Bailes (Ite) HMV ASD 1465781 digital dmm (TC-ASD 1465784)

For this recital Anthony Bailes has chosen music of the 16th and early 17th centuries: Capirola, Holborne, the Gordon of Straloch lute-book, Kapsberger. There are no familiar concert encores here, I fancy. He also uses three different instruments, with 6, 8 and 10 courses respectively: they are as beautiful as the music and are clearly distinguished by a fine recording. This is, as so often with lute-records, closely-miked (or sounds so) so that though we get great, lapidary detail, we also get anything else close too: in this case the loud intake of breath by the player — sniffs, almost. Pardonable this may be, and in a large room virtually inaudible; but here it happens so often that distraction seems inevitable. This is a terrible shame, as Mr Bailes takes

us through his nicely varied programme persuasively and with formidable technique. What the answer to close-miking may be I do not pretend to know, as the lute is not a powerful instrument, and requires close attention; but we do not normally listen with our ears only a few inches away from the strings. It is all very difficult; but I urge you not to be put off, as in all other respects this is a fine recording, and the recital too good to miss. [A/B:1)

Peter Turner

ORGAN FIREWORKS Music by Brewer, Bonnet, Guilmant, Hovland, Johnson, Monnikendam, Preston, Widor Christopher Herrick (org) Hyperion A 66121 digital INC)

These are all 20th century 'fireworks', implying virtuosity, which they certainly get from this player throughout a technically sizzling performance of some very deman-ding material. The organ is the well-known Harrison in Westminster Abbey, which copes reasonably enough with a wide range of pieces from European through English to American. The programme is a good mix, and not the collection of over-exposed lolli-pops that the title might lead one to expect. A considerable dynamic range has been

built on a quiet background (the odd slight traffic sound is inevitable but does not distract). The recording has good balance, clarity and depth of sound-stage, as well as very good bass extension. In short, enter-taining and recommendable. [A":11

Trevor Attewell

PLAISIRS D'AMOUR Songs by Brahms, Gounod, Grieg, Martini, Schubert, Schumann, Richard Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Zelter. Arrangements by Cluilter & Willan Susan Kessler (m-sop)/Geoffrey Parsons (pno) Meridian E 77074 INC)

Susan Kessler the Australian mezzo-soprano is obviously a highly intelligent musician. The programme she has chosen shows her skill in shaping a recital, and her command of languages is exceptional. She also has considerable interpretative gifts and uses her powerful voice with good technical con-trol. However, the actual timbre of the voice when she sings at anything above piano is unpleasantly hard, and when she sings forte it becomes positively harsh, as for example at the climax of Tchaikovsky's Why. Perhaps with greater experience in the recording studio this could be corrected, but on the

96 HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW Al:GUST 1984

record under review it is a very serious handicap. As is to be expected, Geoffrey Parsons accompanies superbly and the qual-ity of the recording is very good, with fine piano tone and excellent balance between voice and instrument. [A:31

John Freestone

RCA MAESTRO — GREATEST HITS

BACH: Works including: Air on G string 11 Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring E] Minuets in G & g Various Artists RCA GL 89297 (GK 89287) Reissue from 1971

BEETHOVEN: Works including: movements from 'Moonlight' Sonata 11 Symphonies 5, 6 & 9 Various Artists RCA GL 89288 (GK 89288) Reissue from 1971

BRAHMS: Works including: movements from Symphonies 1 & 3 . 1 Piano Concerto No.2 17 Hungarian Dances 5 & 6 Various Artists RCA GL 89295 (GK 89295) Reissue from 1972

CHOPIN: Works including: Polonaise in A h Fantaisie-Impromptu J 'Revolutionary' Étude Van Cliburn (pno) RCA GL 89290 (GK 89290) Reissue from 1972

MENDELSSOHN: Works including: movements from A Midsummer Night's Dream I Violin Con-certo I Symphony No.4 Various Artists RCA GL 89294 (GK 89294) Reissue from 1972

MOZART: Works including: movements from Symphony No.40 H Don Giovanni IA Cosi fan tutte Various Artists RCA GL 89291 (GK 89291) Reissue from 1973

RACHMANINOFF: Concerto No.211] Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini — 18th Variation Li Preludes in g and c Van Cliburn (pno)/CSO/Reiner RCA GL 89292 (GK 89292) Reissue from 1972

STRAUSS FAMILY: Works including: Blue Danube El Die Fledermaus Overture tales from the Vienna Woods CSO/Reiner/Boston PO/Fiedler RCA GL 89296 (GK 89296) Reissue from 1971

TCHAIKOVSKY: Works including: 1812 Overture Serenade for Strings — Waltz Marche Slave Various Artists RCA GL 89289 (GK 89289) Reissue from 1971

WAGNER: Works including: extracts from Lohen-grin 111 Tannhiiuser Tristan & 'solde Various Artists RCA GL 89293 (GK 89293) Reissue from 1971

With the series name 'Greatest Hits' it would seem that RCA have as their primary target the newcomer to 'Classical' music. It is sad then that they have chosen to include per-formances, transcriptions and arrangements that are often totally out-of-keeping with the original concept of the music, and are even, at times, in the worst possible taste. The Bach disc suffers more than most in

this respect. It opens with a transcription for orchestra by Eu9ene Ormandy of the Toc-cata and Fugue in D-minor: the piece stag-gers under the most romantic instrumenta-tion and interpretation, with extreme fluctua-tions of tempo. This can be outdone, however, by the tasteless arrangement by Robert Russell Bennett of A Mighty Fortress is our God, replete with tubular bells and side-drums, and performed with exagger-ated care by the Robert Shaw Chorale. Five

over-recorded but pleasant performances by Gustav Leonhardt of harpsichord pieces freshen the palette on Side 2, as does Bream's Bouree from Lute Suite 1; but overall I could not recommend this disc. [B/C:1/3/41

Beethoven's 'greatest hits' fare better in performance. Reiner with the Chicago SO give very sensitive readings of the opening movement and allegretto from Symphonies 5 and 6 respectively. There is a vigour and force to No.5 that is quite exhilarating, whilst the woodwind and brass adopt a totally different tone quality for No.6 and achieve a most bucolic atmosphere. Unfortunately, both have to contend with a thick recording that clogs the textures. The Ode to Joy from Symphony 9 is aurally more comprehensi-ble, but a certain fuzziness still remains and the performance whilst excellent in places is rather unequal. A laboured performance by Horowitz of the Moonlight Sonata's 1st movement completes the disc, but recording is even worse here, with intrusive hiss and a hasty cut-off at the end to remove applause. MiC/D:1/2/31 The Brahms disc probably contains the

best and worst performances of this batch of records. Van Cliburn's 1st movement of the 2nd Piano Concerto is very fine indeed. There is a great power and intensity here and a marvellous integration with orchestra, despite the fact that the piano gets increasingly out-of-tune as the movement progresses. This same piano seems to have been used for the Waltz in A-flat and Rhap-sody in G- minor. It is to his credit that Van Cliburn can evince such a variety of tone-colours and timbres from the ' instrument' in the latter work. What offends sensibility far more, however, is Marian Anderson's pain-fully out-of-tune Cradle Song, in a dreadful arrangement for recorders, etc. It must qual-ify for nomination as one of the most gruelling performances on disc. (B/C:1*/1/41 Only solo piano works make up the Van

Cliburn Chopin disc. On the whole, his performances are characterised by a sensi-tive attention to line and the use of differing tone-colours to differentiate between those lines to give, in places, a fresh view of a formerly routine phrase or section. The opening Polonaise in A-flat and the Revolu-tionary Étude sound like old recordings and the piano seems to be fighting for dynamic power. Elsewhere, a brighter-toned piano is used in a more sympathetic acoustic and the result is much more satisfactory. [B/C:1*1/2] An extremely good performance of the

2nd and 3rd movements of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto by Erick Friedman and the LSO under Seiji Ozawa is the treat that serves to illustrate the incongruity of cram-ming together a composer's 'greatest hits' in this way, for it is immediately followed by a very close recording of the Spinning Song for piano solo which dispels all the magic created. The juxtaposition of works for large and small-scale forces has to be handled with more care and sensitivity than here. The incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream is represented twice by the Chicago SO/Martinon, once in a deft and neat per-formance of the Scherzo, and secondly in a rather noisy, brass and percussion - heavy reading of the Wedding March; both suffer from a poor recording. The Boston Pops Orchestra/Fiedler fare little better in their typically colourful, romantic performances of the War March of the Priests and Spring Song: both are riddled with hiss. [B/C:1*/1/3) The Mozart collection mixes not only

orchestral with solo instrumental items, but also juxtaposes vocal works in an ill-consi-dered way. Placido Domingo and Ezio Pinza, the soloists in the two differently cast extracts from Don Giovanni, are much too closely recorded and are again accompanied by a distracting amount of hiss. Pinza, who also sings the extract from The Marriage of Figaro, seems to be endeavouring to get as far ahead of the orchestra as possible, which hardly makes for easy listening. The trio from Cosi fan tutte is sensitively done on the whole and is mostly in tune, although the

orchestra is barely audible when the soloists are in full flight. But the best vocal item features Margaret Price with the ECO/Lock-hart in Exultate jubilate. Happily, it has the blessing of a better-than-usual recording. Reasonable readings of Eine kleine Nacht-musik and the Andante from Concerto No.21 are the best of the remaining extracts here. [A/B/C:1/2/31 Van Cliburn is again the soloist on the

Rachmaninov disc. His solo performances of the two Preludes are the most interesting here. Although idiosyncratic, they contain much that has been perceptively thought through and there are numerous examples of his previously mentioned skill for contra-puntal highlighting. A more acceptable recorded sound accompanies these Preludes than can be heard in the complete 2nd Concerto and the 18th variation of the Paga-nini Rhapsody. Both suffer from a clogged sound that becomes claustrophobic, espe-cially when thrown into relief by the more spaciously recorded solos. The performance of the Concerto is disappointingly scrappy from the Chicago SO/Reiner and cannot be recommended. [B/C:2/3) Probably the most successful record of

this batch is that featuring the ever-popular works of the Strauss Family. Many of the old favourites - Blue Danube, Pizzicato Polka, Tales from the Vienna Woods, Thunder and Lightening Polka, Emperor Waltz, Die Fledermaus Overture, and Vienna Blood - are included and are played with a natural empathy by the Chicago SO/Reiner and the Boston Pops Orchestra/Fiedler. On the whole, the recording quality for the latter orchestra tends to be rawer, with brighter timbres and a more closely miked sound, but both are acceptable and carry these pleasing performances quite happily. [B/C:1*/1] A very interesting version of the 1812

opens the Tchaikovsky disc. Here we have the Bells Temple University Choirs with Philadelphia/Ormandy creating a very atmospheric, nationalistic sound for the opening of the work. The lyrical sections for orchestra alone show a more-than-usually obvious link with Tchaikovsky's ballet music, before a battery of electronic cannon and percussion, and the full force of the Phi-ladelphia Brass Bands blast them into obli-vion. Until this last onslaught, the recording copes well, but this is more than can be said for most of the other works represented here. A spirited performance of the Marche Slave from the Boston Pops drowns in hiss, as does their very romantic, mellow reading of the Andante Cantabile from the Op.11 String Quartet. Tchaikovsky's ballet music is represented by a dramatic performance of the final scene from Swan Lake. Unfortu-nately, the syncopated section is difficult to grasp aurally, which rather spoils an other-wise very good extract. [ 3/C:11 The eight extracts from five of Wagner's

operas are very mixed, as they come from seven different performing casts. For me, the Liebestod from Tristan & lsolde given by the Philadelphia/Ormandy is the finest perform-ance here, with Reiner/Chicago SO's Prelude to the Meistersingers coming a close second. Side 2 contains three extracts from Tann-häuser: the first is a very trebly, unclear recording of the Festmarsch; the second, the Pilgrim's chorus, is sung in English land rather sharp by the tenors) in a performance that gradually becomes frenetic and aurally incomprehensible as the dynamics increase; the third is a very well sung performance by Sherill Milnes of the Evening Star, which suffers from an over-close recording of the soloist and his abrupt demise at the end of the band. Nothing, however, can rival the demise of the Valkyries in Stokowski's per-formance with the Symphony of the Air. Here, in a very reverberant acoustic, the tempo becomes slower and more laboured, the recording thicker and more clogged, until eventually the Valkyries are forced to scream themselves into oblivion at the end of the disc. (C:1*/2/31

Barbara Jahn

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 97

Rock Pop. Jazz &e

ROBYN ARCHER SINGS BRECHT, VOL.2 HMV EL 2 700491

This young Australian actress is a Brecht specialist, and although in Britain it may now be less trendy than it was to be a Brecht fan, this record is a timely reminder that his was a giant talent which went far beyond The Threepenny Opera — and, after Weill had gone to America and to Broadway fame, went much farther to the left. Half this record features later settings of Brecht's words by Hanns Eisler ( 1898-1962) and Paul Dessau (1894-1979), and bitter words they mostly are, as translated by John Willett, another Brecht specialist, whose excellent notes on a double sleeve do much to illuminate the texts and put them in their historical setting. Miss Archer's singing spans, as it must, the range from grim to comic; as a voice hers is far more pleasant to listen to than Lotte Lenya's. Marriage to Weill, and stardom in the 1950s revivals of Brecht, gave her record-ings the reputation of being the most authentic; but where her 'Mack the Knife' was harsh and bitter, Miss Archer's is light and casual. Perhaps Brecht meant Dreigros-chenoper to be comic rather than symbolic after all. Dominic Muldowney (32) conducts the London Sinfonietta, and two of the settings of Brecht poems are also by him, so altogether this record is a collaboration by young people of talent for whom Brecht is a figure to be honoured, perhaps even their guiding star. It's not a record for all tastes,. but it has far more meat in it than your average collection of hits from the shows.[A/ B:1/21 Denis Argent

COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA: THE GREAT CON-CERT Festival 231 via Import Music Service

IMS could not have known that this double album from France would serve as a memo-rial album, but it was issued in the month of Basie's death. Recorded in London in 1966, it presents the band minus the greatest soloists ( Pres, Dicky Wells, Buck Clayton, Harry Edison), but plus the extra bite of hi-fi era recording. There have been other bands, usually American, with vivid brass and full, rich sax section recording, but Basie's will go down in the histories as the one which kept closest to basic jazz — even in such univer-sally popular arrangements as 'April in Paris', which is of course here, along with 'One o'clock Jump'. The live recordin9 from what must have been a limp acoustic in a London hall, probably the RFH, is not up to best studio standard, but should not offend sound buffs. What matters is the excitement of the occasion which comes across. I like to think that right to the end the Basie band was the way Harry Edison, quoted in Stanley Dance's The World of Count Basie, described it in the 1940s: 'What a thrill it was to play with that band! It was the greatest thrill of my life. We couldn't wait to 9et on the bandstand at night. It was just like a horse prancing to get out on the racetrack. We were nervous if we weren't on the band-stand'. [B: 11 Denis Argent

GEORGE BENSON: BREEZIN' WB 3111-1 (256 199) 138m 42s) 0

GB on CD finds this normally relaxed guitar-ist pulling up his socks and sharpening his plectrum: it's a thinner, less forgiving sound than the vinyl version which was always evocative of the lazy days and carefree moods suggested by its title. In some ways the music benefits from digitisation, with parts untangling, crisper percussion and steadier bass, though the tape hiss betrays

its age. I can happily live with this sound, but there's something missing — it might even be the dust on my old LP. 03:11

Felicity Mulgan

BLANCMANGE: MANGE TOUT LONDON SH 8554

Once more into the electro-pop breach. You're familiar, of course, with the singles, 'Don't Tell Me', 'That's Love That Is' and 'Blind Vision' ( all included here) and are, therefore, aware of the nature of the game. Yes, it's generally a case of Stephen Lus-combe's keyboards sweet assisting Neil Arthur's vocal sour, as the twosome go about their task of making young girls part with their pennies. Blancmange have attempted to move on though. On 'Time Became They Tide', they sound distinctly un-poppy thanks to the employment of a string quartet. Then on 'See The Train' they scene-shift by becoming an a capella group, switching yet again on the trumpet-enhanced re-run of Abba's 'The Day Before You Came' (a ditty which contains the oddball yet delicious line: 'There is, I think, not a single episode of Dallas that I did not see') — all indicating that there really is life after pimples. Not many complaints then. After all, how could I possibly be too hard on an outfit that subtitles an album 'Dancing Round Our Handbags'? [A:1] Fred Dellar

DAVID BOWIE: LOVE YOU TILL TUESDAY DERAM BOWIE 1

Eight songs taken from the soundtrack of Love You Till Tuesday, a somewhat obscure 1969 Bowie movie, the most interestin9 point of the proceedings involving the ori-ginal version of 'Space Oddity', which, in revised form, became such a massive hit some months after the film was completed. Okay for registered Bowie nuts — though you're hereby warned that the fill-up spaces include one allocated to the dreaded 'Laughing Gnome'! (8/C:21 Fred Dellar

BUGGER ALL STARS: BONZO BITES BACK Bead 21

The Bugger All Stars or 'The Buggers' as they are more colloquially known on the improvised music scene in London, caused some concern in the Arts Council who were willing to give them financial support, but were not happy about the name of the ensemble. This kind of consternation pleases the Bugger All Stars who seek to cause confusion with their ambiguity. They are a curious collection of players ranging from violinist Phil Wachsmann, whose credentials are impeccable, to Hugh Metcalfe, guitar (and gasmask) whose performance is in line with the great English tradition of eccentrics, although I have always found him straight-forward to deal with. Others may have different tales to tell. The live recordings here capture what you

are likely to hear at one of their gigs — but unfortunately not what you are likely to see. Metcalfe's little trick with the gasmask, which has a mic inside it, is an example of the dedication to iconoclasm these Buggers bring to their performance. Would you like to sit and play a guitar all night while wearing a gasmask?

This is the second of their albums, and while both get down some of the unnerving/ amusing lunacy they specialise in, I've decided that flat round vinyl is not enough — they need to put out a video. [B/C:2/3]

Ken Hyder

CHINA CRISIS: WORKING WITH FIRE AND STEEL Virgin CDV2286 (40m 22s)

China Crisis are to hippiedom what Joe Jackson is to bebop, so be warned: you're either sympatico with fourth generation psychedelia or you'll hate it. I found it amusing, because I remember the stuff first

time around, and the progeny of Earth Opera, the Peanut Butter Conspiracy, and 13th Floor Elevators actually do a much better job. Don't read the lyric sheet, though, or you'll start referring to yourself as ' moi'. The sound of China Crisis is perfect for CD, because the band seems captivated with the use of sonic gimmickry unimagined by their ancestors, and such studio trickery benefits from the often hygienic feel of digital. Bass freaks will love some of the low-end tomfool-ery, which came in handy when I was assessing the new sub-woofer for the LS3/ 5a. Great stuff, but then I'm sure the valves in my system added the wonderful ambience. [A: 1/2] Ken Kessler

CREEDENCE CLEAR WATER REVIVAL: PENDULUM Fantasy FASLP 5007 CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL: MARDI GRAS Fantasy FASLP 5008

These are but two of a whole raft of Cree-dence re-issues, all again available after years of import-only status. We've singled out the Mardi Gras and Pendulum LPs because they've been harder to locate than the first five CCR titles, and listening to them with hindsight ( hindhearing?) reveals the two LPs to be far better than their reception first time around. Great rousing rock and roll, Fogerty-style, and offering much better sound quality than we seem to recall. For both of them [A/B:1 I. Ken Kessler

THE EAGLES: THEIR GREATEST HITS Asylum 105-2 (43m 09s) LINDA RONSTADT: GREATEST HITS Asylum 106-2 (38m 23s)

These CDs have more in common than the label and the fact that they're both compila-tions. The Eagles and Ms. Ronstadt both exemplify West Coast rock of the 1970s, and the recordings span the same era. Whether or not you like the Eagles and/or Linda Ronstadt will be the sole determinant regarding the purchase of these discs. The odds are that you already have most of the material, and any remarks about the artistic merit are moot at best. I happen to enjoy both when in the mood for easy-to-digest music, and the two compilations are nicely representative of their subjects' earlier works. Unfortunately, the warts-and-all pre-sentation of CD makes it too easy to discern the age spread of the material, with tape hiss appearing or disappearing relative to the tracks' vintage. It's almost impossible to give these CDs single letter ratings for recording quality, because both discs contain sounds ranging from the superb to the mediocre. At their best, these discs are wonderful for offering the squeaky-clean sound that so well suits West Coast rock, but in one or two instances, particularly with the Eagles' Take It To The Limit', there's a loss of weight when compared with the vinyl. There are, however, tracks on these discs that are ideal ammunition for pro-CD'ers eager to stifle the antis. I'll let you find 'em. For both titles: (A/C:1/1•1 Ken Kessler

EURYTHMICS: SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS RCA RCD 25447 (42m 37s) 0

Herein lies a cautionary tale: Upon first listening, this CD, to quote a friend, ' blew off my socks' and inspired me to write an A* review. Then I returned to it a few days later only to find that third and fourth and fifth listenings revealed some unpleasantness I hadn't noted first time around. The reasons I missed it probably have to do with insuffi-cient valve warm-up and too much love for the material than I care to acknowledge, along with an overall technoid feel to Euryth-mics recordings that easily misleads. (As in: How do you review a Tomita recording using 'real' instruments as your traditional refer-ence?) Whatever, this CD suffers from the

98 HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

same hollow, glassy vocals that mar the Paul McCartney Pipes of Peace CD. Amidst posi-tively glorious percussion sounds and terrific imaging and more sonic hooks than a tackle box, are vocals of a most unnatural sort; they do little to reaffirm the opinion that Annie Lennox is the finest British chanteuse since Dusty Springfield, which, I believe, she is. Still, the songs are breathtaking — includ-ing a wild cover version of Sam and Dave's 'Wrap It Up' — so don't write this off com-pletely. [B:1*1 Ken Kessler

PIERRE FAVRE & TAMIA: BLUES FOR PEDRO ARCANJO T Records T-GEM-1003

Pierre Favre is a drummer's drummer, or rather a drummer's percussionist. Often he's so tasteful you hardly notice him, and he seems permanently to concern himself with the delights of subtle sounds. This unusual record is a remarkable meeting of voice and percussion and consummate control. Favre has at his disposal a seemingly enormous bag of percussive tricks and sounds, and Tamia also possesses an impressive collec-tion of vocal colours. The pair manage to fill out the soundscape without overdoing it. There's great attention to detail and there's a lot of careful thinking going on. Whether it's jazz or not, I couldn't say. This music prob-ably belongs to that distant edge of the European improvised music scene where it nuzzles up to contemporary classical music.

It's not at all what you might expect, for the overall feel and impression is one of cool relaxation. It's an album which bears repea-ted listening. [A:1/2] Ken Hyder

ELLA FITZGERALD & ANDRE PREVIN: DO GER-SHWIN Pablo Today 02312140

Actually, the title splashed across the sleeve also incorporates the track name 'Nice Work If You Can Get It', which is quite appropriate, because it sounds like they were having fun. I worship Ella and I worship Gershwin, which means that I'm pro two out of three; this might imply an instant rave review, but I'll do my best to be objective. (To be fair, my only objection to Mr. Previn is his misguided use of superlatives.) This isn't Ella's or Andre's first attempt at 'doing Gershwin', but it's one of the nicest because it's instrumentally lean. Previn on keyboards is a lot more palatable than Previn on TV or video, and Ella just gets better with age. While Ella doesn't tear away as she might have in her youth, there isn't any sense of restraint; rather than that, she and Andre have opted for a mellow inter-pretation of the Master's best songs, and the effect is perfect Late Night Lounge. My pressing was a bit noisy but flat as a pancake, and there were no horrendous traces of digital- is. This is a ' nice' record in the best sense of the word. [A:1/11Ken Kessler

DAVID GILMOUR: ABOUT FACE EMI/Harvest SHSP 24-0079-1 (TC-SHSP 24-0079-4)

If one can believe the publicity ( and why not?), Gilmour was the brains of Pink Floyd, and in going solo he is putting his own creativity on the line. That he is successful on this record is beyond argument; how much you like the result is another matter, depend-ing on your temperament and how you feel about the world you live in. This is a gloomy record; sad songs, but at least the words (some by Pete Townsend) mostly have metre and rhyme. 'Cruise' is a simple solo sung straight; with a last line that mentions hard rain, you know you are back in the days when the fashion for self-pity was born. But Gilmour's voice is strong and clear com-pared with the nasal whine of Dylan. The dirge 'Out of the Blue' is like latter-day Lennon, with the usual feeble fatalist/pacifist despair. The players are an all-star group,

recorded in Paris, and among the resources is a Fairlight digital synthesiser; the effects include some startling bass at the end of Townsend's 'All Lovers are Deranged'. I prefer Shakespeare's version: that the luna-tic, the lover and the poet are of imagination all compact. And nobody could accuse this record of being short of imagination. [A:11

Denis Argent

HUMAN LEAGUE: HYSTERIA VIRGIN V2315

Shrewd lot, the League. Bringing in the girls — those two, very ordinary, Sheffield teena-gers — was just one masterstroke. At once the League won the affections of the Smash Hits reading, teeny tights-wearers who tend to take one look at the Tracies of this world and rightly declare: 'That ( Phil Oakey/Paul Weller/God willing) could be me up there!' Musically too, the League have rarely missed a trick. On Hysteria it sounds as if every beat, every nuance, every catchy chorus-line, has been fed into a computer at least a couple of times, just to work out the exact chance of acceptance at Top Of The Pops level. Even 'The Lebanon', an admittedly attractive single, seemed a calculated move. At once, it made the League sound politically aware and also, by letting Jo Callis sally forth on guitar (for once), partially or temporarily killed off the band's purely synth-pop image. But did the League really care about the Lebanon? The girls always seemed that they might just as well be rabbitting on about the wonder of Woolies. Depth was never one of Human League's strongpoints. So are they dishonest? I think not. They're merely a product of pop. Singer Oakey once admitted that his only purpose in life was to sell as many records as Fleetwood Mac. And Hys-teria, an album which contains as many purpose-made hooks as a Barnsley butcher's window, should see him edging ever nearer towards that very goal. [A:21 Fred Dellar

MICHAEL JACKSON: FAREWELL MY SUMMER LOVE MOTOWN ZL 72227 JERMAINE JACKSON: DYNAMITE ARISTA 206 317

A new Michael Jackson album? Well, yes — inasmuch that none of the nine tracks com-prising Farewell My Summer Love have ever previously gained a release. Seems that some careless Motown janitor swept a whole batch of Jackson tapes under the carpet during 1973 and only just remem-bered where he'd stuck them. And now, thanks to a series of fresh overdubs and mixes performed by Tony Peluso, Michael Lovesmith and Steve Barri, these selfsame tracks have been spruced up in readyness to meet their public and hopefully gain a few royalties for young Mike, thus saving him from starvation. Actually, it's not at all a bad album. There are well-performed covers of Smokey's 'You've Really Got A Hold On Me' and Al Green's ' Here I Am', a pretty, seasonal title track, penned by Keni Lewis; an effective disco stomp in ' Don't Let It Get You Down' and a typical chunk of Supremerama called 'Melodie', several of the songs benefitting from arrangements contributed by James Anthony Carmichael, a name not unknown to devotees of Lionel Richie. So even if 'To Make My Father Proud' proves to be one of the naffest things that the frail black kid in the shades and Sergeant Pepper uniform has ever put on disc, who cares? One hard-to-swallow never marred a summer album. Or so I've been told. [A/B:2] Meanwhile, Jermaine — the Jackson who

got away — has fashioned himself a present-able debut album for Clive Davis' label. Though he and his assembled cohorts Michael Sembello, Ray Parker Jnr, Michael °martian, Dick Rudulph, etc — have generally opted to grab a slice of the electro-funk market, it's often Jermaine's excursions into lighter things — such as the lyrically inept but melodically attractive 'Do What You Do' —

that cause the greatest outbreaks of lip-licking. And yes, brother Michael does turn up to duet on one track — providing his Thriller instinct on 'Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin', an intriguing, percussive swirlabout. Then, you didn't really expect him to skip out on this one did you? Incidentally, Mom Jackson gets a namecheck here, Jermaine closing the set with a down-on-bended-knee tearjerker titled 'Oh Mother'. Oh, brother! [A:1]

Fred Dellar

JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO: MILK & HONEY Polydor 817160-2 (36m 45s)

There's a sneaking suspicion that this would never have been released — at least not in exactly this form — had John not been murdered. Yoko's offerings ( I'm loath to call them songs) have had the benefit of polishing, while John's were mixed without his guidance. I don't find the poppy, light-weight stuff as offensive as some have found them, and I think that 'Borrowed Time' is just dandy. It lacks the sense of completeness that Double Fantasy bore, and I'm afraid that future generations will treat this as an histor-ical curio. One thing about the CD, though, that makes it preferential to the smoother sounding, less grainy vinyl version: in digital form, with machines like the ace Yamaha X1 player, you can skip the Yoko tracks with the touch of a button, or program the player to avoid them altogether. [A/B:H] Ken Kessler

BOB MARLEY: LEGEND Island BWM1 Bob Marley died in 1981 at the age of 36, already a world superstar, champion of Rastafari beliefs and the liberation of the citizens of the Third World. But the fact that Legend shot straight to the top of the British album charts and was Island record's big-gest selling album after only three weeks is testimony to the more widespread popular-ity of his immense and consistently inspired output, music which brought Reggae to the rest of the world. The selection features ten greatest hits dating from the album Catch a Fire to Uprising, all of which entered the charts at some point, and though the sleeve-notes over-intellectualise Marley's achieve-ment, the album is surely proof that ' Legend' was not just a posthumous decoration. [B:1*]

Felicity Mulgan

PAUL McCARTNEY: PIPES OF PEACE Parlophone CDP 7 46018 2 139m 06s)

Paul McCartney, we've been led to believe, was instrumental in getting EMI to join the ranks of CD-producing record companies, this giant being one of the last majors to resist. I suppose that it's best to listen when one of your biggest money-spinners says 'Jump', and I'm glad they did: Pipes of Peace translates well into CD form. At this stage, discussions of the recording's artistic merit are academic at best, for it yielded the requisite number of hits and is now as familiar as Tug Of War. Historically, it will probably be regarded as only a slightly above-average McCartney effort, but it is eminently listenable and loaded with hooks. What makes it so suitable for CD is the marvellous weight to the percussion and lots of bass activity. There are enough bits of sonic trickery, many involving rapid tran-sients, that wonderfully exploit the on-off-ness of digital, but nasality on some of the vocals precludes an A-rating. Oh, and I can't understand why EMI CDs should cost £3 more than other labels' discs. [B:1/21

Ken Kessler

PAT METHENY: REJOICING With Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins ECM 1271

I have to admit that I'm not a great lover of jazz guitar as a whole, and I'm not a great fan

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100 HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

of Pat Metheny. I suppose it's the ultra-smooth thin-sounding jazz guitar I dislike the most. It often sounds as if it was being played only for other jazz guitarists. With this album, however, Metheny does

the trick. Several of the pieces are more rhythmically straightforward — or should I say more conventionally jazzy — than a lot of Metheny's work. And on these pieces, he has also adopted a more traditional jazz guitar sound. What makes the music come alive is the contribution of the other two players on the date, Haden and Higgins, who provided the propulsion behind early Omette Cole-man records. Since that time Haden has gone on to play in a number of differing settings while Higgins has gone further into the modern mainstream, setting up for him-self a reputation away from the avant garde.

Higgins especially shines on this album, whether it's with smooth, insistent evocative brushwork or sizzling time-playing on cym-bals, snare and bass drums. Incidentally the brushwork is recorded exceptionally well. You can actually hear that different strokes create different sounds. These two swing so strongly it would be hard to mess up a session with them. Metheny makes the best of it. On 'The Calling', for example, he employs the electronic trickery which can sound so tedious in other albums. But this time he makes the sustain into a vocal-like quality and wails over the top of droning and rumbling and tumbling from Haden and Higgins.

For me, this is the highlight of the album, and its effect is all the more dramatic coming after purer, less strident material. [A*: 1/2]

Ken Hyder

RANDY NEWMAN: TROUBLE IN PARADISE Warner Bros. 9 23755-2 (39m 57s)

I know people who wouldn't cross the street to hear Randy Newman, but then I wouldn't get out of my chair to hear Dire Straits, so we're even. Newman combines gritty, often whiny vocals with some of the nastiest lyrics this side of Tom Lehrer, and I reckon that most of the time he's just too close for comfort. Trouble In Paradise isn't his nastiest or even his most melodic, but it's a rare disc that makes you even think about the lyrics these days. The sound is richer than I expected from CD, at least richer than most of the others I've heard at home, but there's an over-damped character to the proceed-ings which gives it a studio feel that robs the sound of the intimacy needed to make a Newman performance worthwhile. Still, it's good stuff, though I'd start with earlier Newman titles if you want to come to grips with the man and his vision. [A/B:1]

Ken Kessler

ONE THE JUGGLER: NEARLY A SIN Regard PL70256 One the Juggler is the first card in the Tarot. It's also the name of a London-based rock quartet formed in 1982, who've so far failed to live up to the predictions made for them by record-biz stargazers. The fact is that OTJ are good-looking,

fairly exotic — two of them are Romany gypsies — and technically very proficient. But musically their shining and colourful gypsy caravan gets itself hopelessly entangled in the tinsel and tat of early seventies glam rock. Nearly a Sin is an ugly hotch-potch of Mott the Hoople, T.Rex, and Ziggy Stardust era David Bowie, minus the sparkle and melody: if any tunes at all swirled up in the OTJ crystal ball, the band must have been looking the other way at the time. Nevertheless they do play with admirable

enthusiasm throughout and, in the rare moments when they shake off their most obvious influences — as on the odd and intense 'Blind Old Senator/Sick Old Matador' and curiously spellbinding 'Django's Com-ing' — a powerful and original sound begins to emerge.

With more concentration on the group they could be, rather than all the groups they'd like to have been, OTJ could start turning up a few trumps.

Martin Townsend

CHARLIE PARKER: BIRD ON VERVE VOL.4 Verve 817 445-1 BIRD ON VERVE VOL.8 Verve 817 449-1

Some of the music on this Verve reissue series is a bit silly if you are a hard-line Parker fan. There's a lot of material where Bird is playing in musical situations where he's ill-matched by his sidemen. And the stuff with strings is only for those who must have EVERYTHING the man had committed to tape.

I've selected two of the series for your attention. It's true that one side of Vol.4 has Parker with strings, but it's the flip side where the action is. For that's where you get to hear Bird with Machito — who died only a couple of months or so ago — and Machito's contribution to the expansion of jazz. Machi-to's Afro-Cuban version of jazz was a fore-runner of many other latin jazz extravagan-zas. Hearing Bird in this context is a stimulat-ing experience. You want to dance and groove in your head at the same time.

Vol.8 is a more familiar context, with Bird fronting a small group in 1953/54, except he's the only horn player present, and conse-quently we get to hear a lot of Parker. The sound, although it's historic, is perhaps better than most Parker discs. The drummers in two of the three groups on the album, Max Roach and Roy Haynes give Parker the bounce his music required and some tracks like ' Now's The Time' stand out as examples of how much bebop could swing. To dyed-in-the-wool boppers, these reis-

sues won't be anythin9 new. But there's a strange resurgence of fifties jazz going on in London clubs where people are dancing to Art Blakey discs. A few bands are jumping on the bandwagon, and good luck to them. But if you're not familiar with the man who started the whole modern thing, you could do worse than start out with Vol.8 in this series [H:1]. Vol.4 is the second choice, remembering that the Afro-Cuban tracks constitute only half the album. [H:1] Ken Kyder

LOU REED: NEW SENSATIONS RCA PL84998 The long winter of Lou's discontent appears to have made if not glorious, certainly a very pleasant summer. The old low life cynic kicks off with the single 'I Love You Suzanne', a modern offshoot of the old Contours/Dave Clark 'Do You Love Me?' — dumb, riffy fun aimed fair and square at pop radio. And that's roughly the way it stays — simple, undeveloped personal songs with a joy in the electric guitar riff and an overall first take demo feel that's more endearing than annoying. Occasionally, Reed touches on earlier, inner city life as in the affectionate 'Turn To Me' but for the most part he's happy to let Grandmaster Flash take care of that stuff while enjoying a holiday with Fernando Saunders' bass and Fred Maher's drums along for company. ' Doin' The Things That We Want' — a celebration of Travis Bickle and Johnny Boy, goes so far as to suggest that Lou's low life is enjoyed from a cinema seat these days. Hell, he's just a simple, vulnerable human being like you and me! Reed's co-production (with John Jan-sen) is simplicity personified. Rolling Stone goes so far as to suggest this is Reed's best record in 14 years. It's not, but there's some warmth here — recommended for ears which have been pushed in the direction of other people's contractual obligations. [111:2]

Rob Mackie

LIONEL RICHIE: CANT SLOW DOWN Motown MCD 06059 MD

Mr Richie is currently Motown's hottest

property. Maybe he's not up there with the Marvin Gaye's and Smokey Robinsons of that label, but he's certainly well able to produce good dance music, and, more importantly, hits. This album has spawned four or five singles — 'Stuck on You' has just been released— including the wonderful no.1 chart hit 'All Night Long', a track whose use of whooping, partying background crowds comes off well on CD, 'Running with the Night', and 'Cant Slow Down'. If, like me, you find another chart success, 'Hello', sen-timental and hard to stomach, you'll be glad to find it's the final track! Unfortunately the sound on CD is generally sharp and tinny, though I'm sure this will not affect sales adversely. [B/C: 1/2]

Felicity Mulgan

SCARFACE: SOUNDTRACK MUSIC MCA MCF 3198

I was too young to see the original Howard Hawks film in 1932, and now I would not want to see this update for free. Film buffs will know that the early murder in the 1932 film was a textbook instance of the imagina-tive use of music — whistled music, from the killer who stopped only for the few seconds of the shots. I expected some ingenious modern scoring in this remake, but mostly I found special-effect gurgles of synthesisers and hoarsely-articulated pop songs with throbbing bass guitar. Hoarse, that is, from the male singer; nasal in 'Rush Rush' from the supposedly fabulous Debbie Harry. 'Vamos a Bailar' by Maria Conchita is nice South American pop. 'Shake it Up' and 'She's on Fire' are just hookline stuff with a gentleman grunting periodically — or is that synth? 'Tony's Theme' is the nearest to mood music — curiously Bach-like, in the manner of the overture to some Good Friday cantata, but then there is some on-the-beat wordless chanting which is very 1984. One feels that that is the kind of music Giorgio Moroder would like to write all the time. But, as ever, Hollywood ultimately calls the tune, and the tune nowadays is pop. [B:2]

Denis Argent

SCHLIPPENBACH QUARTET: ANTICLOCKWISE FMP 1020

Time has sorted out the serious from the not so serious among the avant garde of the late sixties and early seventies. Playing free jazz then was an adventure, and although it was on the fringes of festival-jazz where the money was, there was always a chance that things might change. Economically, it hasn't changed, except to get worse. The main-stream has taken in some of the freedoms, some of the devices for collective improvisa-tion to enlarge its vocabulary. But unadulter-ated free jazz remains beyond the pale. The members of this quartet — Alex von

Schlippenbach, piano, Evan Parker, saxo-phones, Alan Silva, bass and Paul Lovens, drums — were around in the beginning, and they're still around. So what has changed? Players like these musicians have gone on developing. Free music isn't a static way of making music. They have refined their indi-vidual techniques on the instruments, and also their approach to the music. Collec-tively, and that's what matters in this music, they have sorted out what works, and what doesn't, when to play, and when not to play densely, when to play sparsely. Their intui-tion has matured to the point where the musical jigsaw of a spontaneous perform-ance is more likely to fall into place. This album shows that kind of eclecticism. In arriving at this kind of maturity there is a new danger — the danger of familiarity breeding predictability. It's a danger this quartet has avoided. The music on this album is full of surprises, but perhaps most of the surprises are more likely to be pleasant ones. But what we're dealing with here are the kind of subtleties which will fall on deaf ears for those who failed to pick up on this music in the first place. If it sounded like noisy

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102 HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 19S4

anarchy to you ten years ago it won't sound any more intelligible to you today. And that's a pity, for this music is saying what it always wanted to say in a much more developed fashion today. Those who are well into this music will

recognise this album as a good example of how the music has progressed. And those who want to give it another go could do worse than to start here. [A:1/2I Ken Hyder

SEMPRINI: CONCERT HOUR Pno, and cond New Abbey Light SO EMI SH 1078281 (TC-SH 1078284)

This mono reissue in the EMI Retrospect series dates from 1957, but many readers will, if they are honest with themselves, admit that Semprini, either in person or on the radio, had a lot to do with their musical education. Music, of this popular classical type, was not exactly rationed in those days, but neither was there the overkill of concerts which nowadays fills two pages of the Saturday papers. Semprini was a true stroll-ing player; he towed his own caravan from concert to concert around the provinces, and whether solo or with regional semi-profes-sional orchestras, he gave value for money. This selection is typical: plenty of familiar pops — 'Ritual Fire Dance', Rubinstein's 'Melody in F', 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' — but also some less familiar Chopin and his own 'Concerto Appassionato', which is still better than most of those 'film music' con-cerrtos. Because of its date the rating must be H, but it still stands a lot of replaying. Music for pleasure indeed. Denis Argent

McCOY TYNER: DIMENSIONS Elektra Musician 960 350-1

Of those players who reached prominence in the 1960s, McCoy Tyner has been the most consistent in his output. It's true that his music has not always had the intensity of the Coltrane quartet of which he was a member. But then there has been nothing as strong since. And where others ditched acoustic instruments and plunged into the fusion market, Tyner stuck to the ivories and carved out for himself a style and a niche which represents one strand of the continuing jazz tradition. His own particular penchant is for driving south American rhythms which are individual to him and his band. He manages to get all his drummers to play his particular latin-style jazz in much the same fashion. His punchy comping has as much to do with the overall rhythmic effect as the drums — more so in fact. So here we have the new McCoy Tyner

album, and what's new? Well, he's ploughing the same sort of furrow as he as done for the past ten years, but with the combination of John Blake, violin and Gary Bartz, alto, there's a different sound going on. The alto and violin is an unusual com-bination in jazz, but it works well. There's a lightness and agility in the pairing and a lush thickness of colour in that register. Bassist John Lee does what's required in this band, which is to lay it down simple and strong, while Wilby Fletcher, back in the band, on drums, does the business of providing the fireworks. It's a very pleasant album with enough drive to get you on your feet. [A:21

Ken Hyder

VARIOUS: FOOTLOOSE CBS 70246

The soundtrack to the recent teen dance-a-thon, this album topped the American charts and has since spawned a multiplicity of hit singles throughout the universe, ranging from Deniece Williams' Let's Hear It For The Boy', Bonnie Tyler's 'Holding Out For A Hero' and Shalamar's 'Dancing In The Sheets' through to the Kenny Loggins penned-and-performed title track, an item that provided Jim Messina's one-time sidekick with his first-ever British hit single. Just why sound-

tracks such as Footloose, Against All Odds and Breakdance should become such big business at a time when cinemas are sur-rendering in scores to the advancing legions of video stores-cum-chip shops, is not for me to ponder. But, like the continuing success of Crossroads, it is one of the great mysteries of our age. [A:21 Fred Dollar

CLIFFORD T. WARD: BOTH OF US Philips ( Ireland) 814777-1 (814777-4) Another misery man, but more melodious than most. His is a high-pitched ' head' voice, almost nasal ( but Al Bowlly, also reviewed this month, sometimes hit an even higher register), and there is a nice restrained non-pop accompaniment. But to enjoy these songs I suppose one must suffer the aliena-tion of living in Ireland, and understand the feelings behind a sour song about the TV news and 'a beggin' tin in Dublin streets' — is that fantasy or social criticism? 'Waiting for the Garda' is not about crime or sectarian violence; it's supposed to be a love song. And at least the final song, which starts 'What did we do wrong?', a common thought for 1984 balladeers, ends with the words 'The best is yet to come'. Still, the general tunefulness makes up for the gloomy words, and it may well be that the bards of Ireland's remote past, when it was the home of a high culture, were just as unhappy. [A/B:2]

Denis Argent

ROGER WATERS: THE PROS AND CONS OF HITCH-HIKING HARVEST SHVL 24-0105

An aural road-movie here, I think. Or rather, just a kitbag-full of pretentious piffle as Roger Waters, now more punk void than Pink Floyd, fantasises about bed and Bond. Amid the sounds of the autobahn, the snatches of dialogue (thank you, Jack Palance) and bouts of heavy breathing, Waters manages to slot in his 'songs' — dirges that come stirred if not shaken by his intermittent howls — while his back-up team strive energetically to make it all sound interesting .. . Eric Clapton almost pulling it off single-handedly with appealing dollops of slide-guitar, while David Sanborn supplies enough hip horn to make you grab his Backstreet for a period of re-examination. So much for the pros of Water's hitch-hiking spree. Unfortunately, the cons are far more numerous. Just file under 'uneasy rider' and wait for the AA to haul the whole sorry mess away! D10:31 Fred Dollar

NEIL YOUNG: HARVEST Reprise 2277-2 (37m 36s)

Harvest remains one of Neil Young's most cohesive recordings, and I still like it in spite of some rather dated lyrics and sentiments. The sound is classic Neil Young, with extra-nasal vocals and jangly back-up, supplied by bits of Crazy Horse. Now I've got a place in my heart for this disc as far as sonic reference goes, because it came out during one of my most active periods in hi-fi awakening. Additionally, I recall it as being a gem of a disc for Hafler-based rear-channel set-ups. In other words, it provided a wonderful wash of sound, especially if enh-anced by the then-popular herbal intox-icants. Well, my Hafler set-up is gone, and I abandoned consciousness expansion a dozen years ago, but that was voluntary. I didn't ask the CD to remove what 'air' was in the recording. Added to the excruciatingly obvious tape hiss and you've got a prime case for restricting CD manufacture to recordings of recent vintage. [C:11 Ken Kessler

ZEE: IDENTITY EMI/Harvest SHSP 240101-1 (TC-SHSP 240101-8)

Identity hidden by the title Zee (which ensures that it comes last in these pages) is

that of Richard Wright, ex-Pink Floyd, and Dave Harris, former singer and guitarist with the electro-funk band Fashion. The record has a pretentious sleeve, with all the a's, o's and u's given German umlauts and all the e's French grave accents. The label is equally perverse, having all the titles listed on the B side. However, the music survives all that nonsense and turns out to be, in the first track at least, surprisingly ordinary synth-rock. Since the words are mostly inaudible throughout the record (no libretto on the sleeve) and the tunes achieve memorable melodiousness only occasionally, there is nothing much left except the studio wizardry of the Fairlight computer. If pressed, I would award a 8 (for Byte?). The music, I'm afraid, rates a 2/3. Denis Argent

CAPSULES CREW CUTS: VARIOUS ARTISTS Island (MA 11 Mini LPs seem to be the latest new concept in vinyl marketing. This one has only six tracks, a sort of cross between a 12in. and a full-length album. The style is heavy techno pop featuring 'No sell out' by Malcolm X, and names like Grand Mixer D.ST., Warp 9, Art of Noise. See your barber for details. [A:21

THE HUNGER (LES PREDATEURS) ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK IMS ACH 005 A mixed bag of a soundtrack, containing arrangements of well-known classical pieces and original music composed by Michel Rubini and Denny Jaeger — electric, synthe-sised, mysterioso. Its strong selling point is the inclusion of an aria from Delibes opera Lakme, now being used as background music in a British Airways TV ad, which has apparently sent the nation into raptures. [A/B:2(

OnsiggilleauftleleollesM00014060 INTI ILLIMANI: RETURN OF THE CONDOR BBC REH 515 This is a charming collection of Latin Amer-ican popular/folk inspired music — more rootsy and ethnic than some other styles to have emerged recently from the same sub-continent — using some interesting instru-ments from further afield, as well as the oft-heard beautiful pipes and flutes. [A/B:11

SHOCKABILLY: COLOSSEUM Rough Trade Rough 68 Give Alvin and the Chipmunks a whole load of methedrine, a few gallons of cheap vino, and let them loose in the studio, and you might be able to duplicate the madness in these grooves. Shockabilly is a warped ensemble of American basket-cases who do strange things to songs like 'Homeward Bound' and Roger Miller's redneck ditty 'Dang Me'. Great stuff if you're into things like breeding bats, and should help clear hangers-on from any party. [A:7)

Adiagedisle~011010101•10011~ AL STEWART: RUSSIANS AND AMERICANS RCA PL70307 Al Stewart's voice suggests that he was the type of kid you used to beat up at school. Hell, even Donovan and Tiny Tim outgrew their twee stages. Still, the Americans seem to like him ( including one of my best friends who has the good taste to like the Kinks and Squeeze), so this should sell. To be fair, the track ' Rumours of War' is almost heavy, but his political version of Len Barry's classic '1-2-3' is nauseating. [A/A*:2]

0101111.4«ftelleihMefflisileAMI YARBOROUGH & PEOPLES: BE A WINNER Total Experience FL 89384 Competent disco from a slick duo that should be emulating Womack and Womack instead of Imagination. Rumour has it that at least one of the songs on this LP hit Number 1 in the USA, but that doesn't stop it from being a 'dance to' only disc. [A:21 ,it

HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984 103

686-2599 CLASSIFIED 686-2599 Advertisements for this section must be pre-paid. The rate is 25p per word ( private), minimum £5.00 Box Nos. £2.50 extra. Trade rates 32p per word, minimum £8.00. Copy and remittance for advertisements in October issue must reach these offices by 10th August addressed to: The Advertisement Manager, Hi-Fi News & Record Review, Link House, Dingwall Avenue, Croydon, Surrey, CR9 2TA. Please include name and address. NOTE: Advertisement copy must be clearly printed in block capitals or typewritten, illegible copy will be returned.

Replies to Box numbers should be addressed to the Advertisement Manager, Hi-Fi News & Record Review, Link House, Dingwall Avenue, Croydon CR9 2TA, and the Box No. quoted on the outside of the envelope. The district after Box No. indicates its locality.

Sex Discrimination Act 1975. No job advertisement which indicates or can reasonably be understood as indicating an intention to discriminate on grounds of sex (eg. by inviting applications only from males or only from females) may be

accepted unless; (1) The job is for the purpose of a private householder or (2) It is in a business employing less than six persons or (3) It is otherwise excepted from the requirements of the Sex Discrimination Act. A statement must be made at the time the advertisement is placed saying which of the exceptions in the Act is considered to

apply.

FOR SALE - Private APPROXIMATELY 7000 records (singles and LPs) for sale, in excellent condition. A wide-ranging collection including a large Beatles section. Further details on request and offers to Box No. 0715.

GENUINE BARGAIN - pair QUAD ESL63, new, boxed. House move forces sale. £800. R. Dorrian 0429 71577 after 6p.m. ( H)

SPENDOR SPI SPEAKERS used few hours only £400 o.n.o. Tel: 01-670 5700 West Dulwich. ( H)

SANSUI AUD5 amplifier. One year old Pioneer 120 turntable, excellent condition. SA Soundisc Yulon Record Clamp Griffin Anacoustic mat. All makers boxes. £130 the lot or would split. Tel: Ludlow 890457. ( H)

QUAD ELECTROSTATICS. Early pair of ori-ginal design. £200. Tel: (0334) 76161 exten-sion 8193 (office hours) or (0334) 75586 evenings. ( H)

MICHAELSON and Austin TVA1X 100 w.p.c. Valve power amplifier £400 o.n.o. Must sell. Linn LVX on Linn arm-board £50. Both boxed. Box No. 0714. ( H)

NYTECH CTA 252XDII with dust cover. 2 years old in perfect condition. £150 o.n.o. Phone Horncastle ( Lincs) 3257. ( H)

BEARD P50 Amplifier, beautiful, £350. TD124 II, Dynavector DV505 Arm, Supex, immacu-late, £250. Denyo Au3000 Amplifier, Aurex Micro Tuner ST1OL, both excellent, £30 each. Also immaculate Yamaha T2 Tuner, £200. Wanted Marantz ST7 Tuner. Telephone Guildford 893672. ( H)

QUANTUM IA150 Stereo Amplifier, brand new and boxed £90. Audio Technica stereo headphones; Point 3 £9; Point 4 £10. Koss P19 headphones £6. All brand new. Tele-phone Loughborough 508919 or Tilton 689. (H)

BAILEY transmission line speakers. KEF units. Well made. 90 x 46 x40cm. Heavy. Quality sound, £210 o.n.o. Hallam 0932 45588, 0483 ( Guildford) 224849 evenings. ( H)

SANSUI 9090 Receiver. In first class condi-tion. Recently serviced. ( See " Hi-Fi Choice" No.7). £170. Phone (01) 505 0564. ( H)

ROGERS BBC MONITOR speakers - 3 speaker model - £150 pair. Shure V15 Ill cartridge £10. Tel: 07357-3994. ( H)

NOW HEAR THIS. At L Midland, Tel: Banbury (0295) 711803, specialist field in transmis-sion line speakers - we make two monitors finest quality reproduction. Made to order. Normal retail price £745 and £920 available from source at considerable reductions. Don't hesitate - phone now. ( H)

OLIVER CROMBIE records. Due to the huge success of our compact disc sale and the many requests from you our customers, we have decided to offer a permanent discount of 10% on all compact discs including imports. Mail order post free, access and visa welcome. Tel: 01-455-0066/1078. 16, Golders Green Road, London NW11 8LL. (J)

ORACLE USERS, a new power supply - the illapse - must be heard on your own system to be appreciated. Price £49.95. For more information contact 11 Gordon Road, Blyth, Northumberland. Tel: 0670 363538. ( H)

ELECTRONIC antistatic dust remover, mains operated, works on negative ion principle. £15 per unit special discount for bulk purch-ases. T.T.I. Ltd 26 Upper Addison Gardens W14. 01-602-6251. ( H)

VALVES: KT77 Gold Lion, £ 10; KT66(GE), £10; KT88(GE), £ 10; 6L6GC(GE), £3.50; ECC88 & ECC83 (National), £2.25; ECC83 (Telefunken), £2.65. P&P £1 per order. Export at cost. Pair matching £1. G.P. Ormiston, 6, Farthing Grove, Netherfield, Milton Keynes MK6 4HH. (H)

FOR SALE - Trade

QUAD 33 UPDATE

This versatile control unit was Introduced In the 1960 s. but modern source material has demonstrated that the 33 adds a richness or bloom to all Inputs Our plug-In SBIOIA circuit boards replace two internal Quad boards. bypassing tone and balance controls, giving an Immediate Improvement In disc. radloiCD. and tape treble clarity and bass lightness S11101A pair - £2.1 50 with Instructions

Our 80200 (a pin DItii in-line attenuator matches 2,..utput CD players into typical 100mV Radio-Aux MINN ( like Quads I dramatically Improving Image transparency 88200 - C.9 80

SOUNDOOX, 35 FINCHES PARK ROAD, UNDFIELD,W.SUSSDI RH16 2DA

SONY ELCASET CASSETTES. LC60 type 1 £1.00. LC90 type 1 £1.50. LC60 type 2 £ 1.50. LC90 type 2 £1.99. Callers welcome 11am-7.30pm 6 days. SHADOOS 162 Wilmslow Road, Rusholme, Manchester M14 5LQ. Tel: 061-224 4215. (D)

COMPACT DISC ENTHUSIAST'S CLUB. Free membership and lists of over 1000 titles, monthly updates. Run by enthusiasts, for information contact: "Valentines", 46 Gais-ford Road, Worthing, W. Sussex. ( H)

efFnOMPACT

[ I I

DIGKAL AUDIO

THE COMPACT DISC LIBRARY

unique "try before u buy" scheme

many imported titles send a large s.a.e to:

12, QUANTOCK CLOSE HARLINGTON MIDDX UB3 5LS

104 HUI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 1984

686-2599 CLASSIFIED 686-2599 SERVICES

VALVE EQUIPMENT REPAIRED, Up-rated, huge stocks of valves. THE VINTAGE WIRE-LESS CO., Tudor House, Cossham Street, Mangotsfield, Bristol BS17 3EN. Tel: 0272-565472. ( H)

Audio Repairs by Electronics Engineer, 35 years' experience. Extensive facilities enabl-ing High Standards with Official Approval from QUAD, RANK, LEAK, SANSUI, and elsewhere. QUALITY VALVED EQUIPMENT restored close to design wherever possible. 7 days personal service. Location: Woodford Essex. Tel: 01-504 5467. (X)

DISC CUTTING. Master and demos. Press-ings Cassettes, mobile recording studio. Free brochure. TAM Studio. 13a Hamilton Way, London N3. Tel: 01-346 0033. (X)

SER VICES

spendor For repairs to Spendor and other high quality loudspeakers.

Reconditioned and ex demonstration loudspeakers occasionally available for sale at a considerable discount.

Barnard Electronics Tel: 01 531 8705

SOCIETIES

BERLIOZ SOCIETY. Founded thirty years ago, this Society provides a meeting ground for people who love the music of Hector Berlioz and are interested in the highways and byways of his life and work. Monthly meetings in London, quarterly Bulletin. Send s.a.e. for details to: Hon Secretary, 2nd Floor Flat, 115 Harley Street, London W1. (X)

WANTED

QUALD-ESL speaker frames wanted, black front grilles preferred. Tel: St. Andrews (0334) — 72303 evenings excluding 16-24 July. ( H)

QUAD VALVE amplifiers, Garrard 301, Thorens TD124, Decca FFSS. All Valve equip-ment considered for purchase. THE VIN-TAGE WIRELESS CO., Tudor House, Cos-sham Street, Mangotsfield, Bristol BS17 3EN. Tel: 0272-565472. ( H)

WANTED Tannot full range speaker units: IS". 12" and 10" monitor gold, red and silver

)))) dmans lull range speaker unit ( pairs). Wont 80 I both old and new types' SALE, pick up arm: models 3009 and 3012 old fashioned Garrard turntable: model 301 Quad amplifier: type 22 pre-amplifier and Quad 11 pinker amplifier

Please write to/or ring with price tlIss T lwanaga. Ur; Japan. 96 George Street London 11111 51a. Tel: 01487-5038

Absolute Sound

Aerco

Alternative Audio

Aston Audio Ltd

Audio Excellence

Audio Projects

Audio Tel

Audition Hi Fi Studio

Aurak

Avalon Hi Fi Studio

B&W Loudspeakers

Barnard Electronics

Bath Classical Records

Beckenham Record Centre

Billy Vee Sound

Boothroyd Stuart

Bowers & Wilkins

Brady & Son, W. A.

Chichester Hi Fi

Cleartone Hi Fi

28

50

36

100

20, 74

102

12

100

100

74, 100

IFC

105

100

100

70

16, 18, 20

102

22, 102

102

64

Compact Disc Library, The 104

Concordant Audio 84

Cosmic Hi Fi 52

ADVERTISER'S INDEX Exchange & Mart

Five Ways High Fidelity

H.T.S. Japan

Hampshire Audio Ltd

Hampstead Car Stereo

78

100

105

44

58

Harrow Audio 84

Hi Fi Markets 4-9, 14

Hi Fi Surplus Store 76

Hightown/Norman Audio 62

Kimberleys

Linn Products

Merrow Sound

Merseyside Acoustic Dey.

Naim Audio

Nick Dakin

Parabolic Stylus Co

Phase 3 Hi Fi

Photocraft Hi Fi

Practical Hi Fi

Pure Gain

QED Audio Products

Quad Electroacoustics

Radford Electronics

42

OBC

102

78

24

100

16

102

100

100

32

12

10

20

Radford Hi Fi 60

Radlet Audio 16

Rayleigh Hi Fi 38

Reading Hi Fi Centre 54

Russ Andrews 100

Russ Andrews Turntable 12

Rutter, L.J. 102

S.M.E. Ltd 84

Sevenoaks Hi Fi 30

Simply Hi Fi 26

Sound Advice 100, 102

Soundbox 104

Sound Organisation 58

Sounds Expensive 84

Spalding Electrical Ltd 48

Stanford Distribution 32

The Music Room 18

Thomas Heinitz 32

Top Tape 80

Wiley, Eric 102

Wilson Stereo Library, The 36

Hl-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW AUGUST 19114 105

o o

u

MIRACLES DO HAPPEN on occasion. Because I'm a vinyl junkie, I ' consider the biggest miracle of the

past few years to be the sudden acknowledgement by the record industry for the need to re-issue long-deleted material and to offer some gesture towards pop history. The appearance of Rhino Records, a Los Angeles-based label, turned the task of archivist from torture into pleasure, and their reissues and compilations have set the pace for other, similar labels outside of the US. We have Charly and Edsel, the Germans

have Line, and the French have Eva, all of these labels making life that much sweeter for record collectors, pop historians, or plain old normal music lovers who want to fill gaps in their collections. But there's a rub: these labels focus on the obscure, the forgotten, the cult items. And while they perform the most admirable services with material that could only otherwise be acquired by paying rip-off prices from collectors' shops, the major labels continue to treat major artists with utter disrespect.

For years, music lovers have expected shoddy compilations from the major labels, who are unlikely to put the material ( even under licence) into the hands of compilers who care. While Charly and Edsel have secured the permission to release— with their intelligent handling — much of the great R+B from the 1960s, popular music of ' hit' calibre stays firmly under control of the original label. The result? Total incompetence. Bands like the Kinks have had their hits re-packaged so many times that it's now possible to buy more Kinks compilations ( all including ' Lola') than there are original LPs. Does a year go by without another Stones compilation, containing songs from the previous compilations? And when is MCA going to stop milking Buddy Holly? But single artist compilations aren't the

only example of gross commercial exploitation or packaging ineptitude. Just as bad are the 'various artists' compilations allegedly presented with themes. You know the type, with titles like '25 Years of Pop' or 'Great Sounds of The Sixties'. A recent example of the latter, so utterly horrendous in every respect, has prompted this tirade, and it stands as a textbook example of the contempt with which the record companies treat their artists ... and us. With great fanfare, Reader's Digest

launched their latest package, Pop Jubilee: 25 Years of Great British Hits. It alleges to be some kind of survey of British pop music's

CH«, Bowie, Elton, only ono third • Digootoblo?

lat

last quarter century. A lavish, 8-LP box set with booklet, it costs a not-inconsiderable £27.95, and the huzzah smacked of a monumental achievement. But let me offer some excuses for Reader's

Digest by describing the type of consumer to whom my criticisms won't serve as a deterrent. For every collector or purist buying a compilation to acquire certain needed tracks, there are a few hundred who buy compi!ations just for the sheer quantity of material contained therein. If you weren't around in the 1950s, it's a lot easier to buy a compilation of the era's biggest hits than to attempt to assemble a collection of originals. And so it should be. This takes care of all the thrown-together Ronco/K-Tel packages, which are purchased strictly for quantity. The Reader's Digest box purports to offer

more. OK, 8 LPs is not really enough to cover the most productive quarter-century of the

BACK 5100a

Ken Kessler looks at the s ros and cons of corn s ilations and 'best of' • acka • es

most productive country, but it could have been done. What would you include in a compilation if someone asked you to prepare a survey of UK pop, personal favourites aside? ( In other words, no more than a couple of tracks from even the biggest of artists.) How many of you immediately assumed

that such a package should include tracks by the Beatles? David Bowie? Cliff? Marc Bolan? Paul McCartney? Hot Chocolate? Led Zeppelin? The Jam? I didn't ask if you liked them, just 'should they be included?'. Well, they're not in Pop Jubilee.

Please — 1don't want to hear about difficulties with the labels which own the material. Reader's Digest is not a cowboy outfit, incapable of presenting a case. Even the series of LPs that accompany the part-work History of Rock pulled it off, with a Beatles box and whole sides of Cliff and Bolan. But what if we do accept that Reader's

Digest just couldn't get permission? Surely there's enough left to fill 8 discs with some semblance of historical perspective.

Well, they committed the cardinal sin. The tracks are jumbled up, thrown in, with poor attempts at chronology and 'Theme'. Oh, the

LPs have titles but the selections don't bear them out. What's Steeleye Span doing in between Roxy Music and Status Quo? Why so many Quo, Elton John, and Stones tracks, when other hit-makers are completely ignored? You can't even credit this box with value

for money, because the price would pay for 10 or more MFP releases. I can understand the Ronco/K-Tel angle,

which promises nothing more than a lot of music— random though it may be— with no pretences whatsoever toward package integrity. But Pop Jubilee manages to do less with 111 tracks than MFP does with 12. Even the liner notes are suspect. Will someone tell the author that Jackie de Shannon may have written 'When you walk in the room' but she did not write ' Needles and Pins'? It was Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzche.

Did Reader's Digest bite off more than it can chew? It would appear so. Some years back Sire records released three double LPs in a series about the history of British rock music, and nobody faulted it. See For Miles Records has been pumping out magnificent compilations, and good old EMI's Merseybeat package is a delight. So how could the mighty Reader's Digest screw up so badly? On the same day that Pop Jubilee arrived, I

received three of the new MFP compilations from their series of 1960 material. Because they were all single artist compilations, there won't be any mistakes made in the shops: you either want collections of Manfred Mann, Cilla Black, and Gerry and the Pacemakers hits or you don't. I happen to adore the first, like the second, and enjoy the third, and welcomed these The Very Best Of packages. But the Cilla LP (a reissue, in fact, of a disc of the same name which appeared last year on EMI) is a model for all compilations, be they various or single artist.

All of her hits are here, andthey're in chronological order— not the case on the Manfred or Gerry LPs, but then they're not packaged as surveys of the artists' careers. The sound quality is very good considering that there are 10 or so tracks per side, with only pre-echo to illustrate this compromise. The liner notes are entertaining and informative, and I know that if I ever have a child who one day wants to walk down my Memory Lane that these compilations — especially Cilia's— will demonstrate with some coherence what the sequence was like first time around. If 1 let the child near the Pop Jubilee he or she will leave the experience thinking that 'Dandelion' is a major Stones achievement, or that ' Mirror Mirror' ( by Pinkerton's Assorted Colours) is a 'great British Hit' ... and I'd hate that. The kicker is that MFP's masterpieces sell

for £2.25 each, and offer close to 20 minutes more music per disc than the slices of Pop Jubilee. To really twist the knife [ shouldn't that read 'To twist the knife really'? — Ed), the other Lps in MFP's series include collections of Number 1 hits and (this is novel) also-rans that only reached Number 2. Maybe Reader's Digest should stick to

things like ' Hello, I'm Joe's pancreas ...'

THE VERY BEST OF CILLA BLACK MFP 41 56531 THE VERY BEST OF MANFRED MANN 1963-1966 MFP 41 56511 THE VERY BEST OF GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS MFP 41 56541 (NB: This compilation includes four tracks never before available.)

106 111-F1 NEWS & RECORD REVIEN' AUGUST 1984

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