jm (04/08/83)
Dropped in to our local "psuedo-hi-end" stereo store
(Chelsea Audio, Beaverton Town Square, Beaverton OR),
and listened to the new Sony CD player.
It was playing through a Mark Levinson Preamp/Amp
combo, and into a large pair of Infinitys (Ref. Std. ?).
Astounding. Simply Astounding. All local people are
encouraged to spoil their ears and go hear it.
The amp/spkr combination was said (by the salesman)
to be non-optimum, but the best they could do at the
moment. The ML amp didn't have enough current drive
capability for that particular spkr. Personally,
I could hear some part of the chain limiting the bass.
Presumably the speakers. Hard to tell. Dynamic
range was in the dangerous category. A lot of people
are going to turn their woofers into icbms with this
baby.
Very easy to use, self explanitory controls. Very nice
"feel". Operates like you'd expect a piece of good
electronic equipment to operate.
Not cheap. Chelsea got in 14. With no disks to demo.
They borrowed one disk from the rep and sold 11 units in
2 days. They have one left, with 2 being held as demos.
More are coming. For $875 you get a player and 3 disks.
The disks sell for $16 and the player for $900 normally.
I listened to parts of 3 disks. 2 classical and Barbara
Streisand/Berry Gibb. The 2 classical disks were digital
masters. No Noise (I Mean NONE!). The Streisand/Gibb
was conventionally recorded and had noise. After the
quiet from before, this was disappointing. But not the
fault of the player or the process.
Salesman said that Sony CEO Aiko Morita (sp) was trying
(personally) to talk the US record companies into releasing
their "software" (as he put it, which is, I suppose a correct
term to use here) for digitization. They still want to have
nothing to do with it. They are still fighting to get
a tax put on cassette tapes. (side note: Phillips (of Holland)
invented both the cassette (trademark: Compact Cassette),
and the disk (trademark: Compact Disk) smart guys, eh?)
I think this one's gonna catch on too. . . . .
Jeff Mizener
Tektronix Inc., IG/ADG
Beaverton, OR
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ARPA: tekid!jm.tek@rand-relay zzz (04/29/83)
I've spent the last several years in the (usually vain) pursuit of clean recordings on disk. So when I heard of this new CD and read some of the earwitness accounts, I was absolutely horrified! You mean no more running back to the record stores claiming my new album I just bought skips?? No more of this "I'm taping now, don't breathe when you're in the room -- it might skip the record..."?? So I went to check it out at Q Audio (in Cambridge). They had an entire shelf full of disks for it. So I selected Mozart's K.467 piano concerto, since I've heard all kinds of performances of it and could recognize differences easily. I was absolutely struck dumb! There was *NO* noise, and the bass was crisp, and even the softest passages stood out from the silence in the background. I can't afford the $900 they're asking for it, but I can guarantee that I'll be scrimping on my food budget at school here for the next year, and scraping together any money I can get to get one by this coming G.Washington's B-Day sale extravaganza that happens every year!!! If you want to get goosebumps, even from music you might not particularly like, just from the quality of the playback, do yourself a big favor and seek out the nearest demo, kick back, and enjoy. Yes, now there is something to look forward to for those who cringe at frequent clicks and pops of standard vinyl -- a new reason for living... -Mike
ray (05/02/83)
Shouldn't you have said that it was an EARwitness account????? :-)(-: (You figure it out) Ray Allen (416) 978-5036 ...!decvax!utzoo!utcsrgv!ray