wm (11/01/82)
I hope people don't take my last message as an indication that I am an audiophile! Actually, years ago there was a movement in the photography field toward cheap cameras with plastic lenses. I'm not talking about the commercial photography field, no, these were artists who were tired of realistic looking pictures and wanted the worst camera money could buy. Being snobs, they suddenly singled out one particularly nasty japanese cheapie, which suddenly became very valuable, fetching appropriate high prices. I like to think I am doing the same for music. I only play my records with steel needles. Of course, I keep a piece of emory cloth nearby to put just that proper point on it. To tell if you have a good, "needle sharp" point, just play one of those soft vinyl records that RCA was putting out a few years back. I tell you, this technique redefines the groove on the record, sort of a "high definition" playback. To avoid any unnecessary coloration of this glorious sound, I couple the needle directly to a diaphram and a resonator box. The purpose of the box is to get rid of those annoying high frequencies that color the sound and bother the cat. Naturally, careful instrumentation has been used to gather all the meaningful specifications. But by including the sound reproduction phase into the analysis, the system performs with absolute 0% distortion of any kind, i.e. the sound that comes out of the box is exactly what I hear! Transistors? Just a passing fad. Tubes? Haven't proven themselves yet to *my* ear. If you want to know the problem, it is that electricity causes distortion. If you don't believe me, stick your fingers in one of those new-fangled wall sockets. If experience is any indication, you will get pretty distorted. I call this distortion "electrostatic" distortion. It's easy to remember because everyone knows that static is bad for records. Companies are just now acknowledging this problem, with devices like Zero-stat that tries to eliminate electrostatic distortion. But they do it by just putting more electricity on, but of the opposite polarity. Sort of a negative feedback. Soon, however, alert researchers will discover that negative feedback causes a whole slew of problems (anyone who gets that pun can call themselves an audiophile). Well, in conclusion, I say that in all things simplicity is best. My only change is that now I have an integrated system. Everything is in the tonearm, steel needle, diaphram, resonator box. Now, where is that recording of Bach I left on the floor a minute ago? Wm Leler - UNC Chapel Hill