david@uwm.UUCP (David Robinson) (01/08/91)
The following article is from POSITIVE FEEDBACK, the newsletter of the Oregon Triode Society, and is Copyright 1990, all rights reserved. This article may be reposted or reprinted, as long as it is not resold, and as long as proper attribution of the source is made in full. Please keep this header in all copies made of this article. David W. Robinson Editor, POSITIVE FEEDBACK david@agora.rain.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE UGLY TRUTH Charles Wiens Back in the early days of my audio career, I had the unbelievable good fortune of being yanked off the dbx, Inc. 3bx assembly line (where I was doing the firm more harm than good) and thrown into an empty room with a desk, an oscilloscope, and a budget. I was told to design a subwoofer. This came about as a result of making it known (as loud as possible) that I had read the vented loudspeaker works of A.N. Thiele and Richard Small and actually understood them! This revelation put me on a level just below God at dbx, since at that time (1978) no one on the planet understood the Thiele-Small equations. Frankly, I didn't either. However, I was sick of screwing up 3bxs, and figured that I could work through them, given enough time and equipment. I was right, but it did take a while. During this time I was not loved by the Chief Engineer, one surly Dan Talbert, for I came in with only an anthropology degree and he wanted the subwoofer project for himself. At any rate, since this was the company's first loudspeaker, I was visited on a daily basis by every door-to-door salesman in the country. This was an experience that I truly relished, since they all left car loads of free samples. Within a couple of months my office was heaven on earth; barely accessible without knocking over some strange magnet assembly from Sony, or tripping over the ever-present 30" EV woofer. One of these samples was a box of a dozen 2" drivers from Matsushita with the surprising ability to reproduce a bandwidth of 50-16,000 Hz within a 3 db window when placed in a very small enclosure (about 60 cubic inches). Naturally, its efficiency was only slightly above absolute zero, but it gave me a great idea for an experiment in ego-busting psychoacoustics which I aimed at the great Dan Talbert. At that time the dbx reference room consisted of a 1600 watt/channel amp built in-house, AR-9 loudspeakers, and a turntable from Linn-Sondek. After tweaking up a pair of these 2" specials as well as I could, I placed one on each AR-9, hooked them up, and waited for DT to enter. When those ominous footsteps approached, the tiny speakers were turned up to the maximum extent of their little diaphragms' excursion. Dan entered the room and immediately uttered the words I had dreamed of hearing for weeks: "Don't those AR-9s sound wonderful? Why can't you do that?" I never told him what he was actually hearing, but everyone else heard about it. The episode was good for many an after-work beer. Unfortunately, karma tends to even out our lives. Several weeks later I walked into a Cape Cod gift store with some of these same drinking buddies, and was struck by what seemed to be the finest sounding stereo I had ever heard. None of the components were visible, but the string quartet that was playing practically reached out and touched me from thin air. I could see the instruments, their placement in the room; I even thought that I could identify the sound of a Stradivarius. About the same time, I also discovered the source of this musical ecstasy: A small Radio Shack receiver and a pair of 4" car speakers (with whizzer cones, no less!) hidden amongst the pottery. Touche', Charlie. The point of these two experiences is simple. We will always hear what we want to hear. The finest audio equipment available today is indeed excellent. It is also extremely expensive, and perhaps often no better than its slightly modified '50s and '60s counterparts. I certainly believe in obtaining the finest components one's budget will allow, but bear in mind that enjoyment of the music is the most fun of all. I have seen many an audiophile's love of music turn sour when the rent can't be met or the phone is disconnected. Our should not be a hobby of ego, but one of enjoyment and relaxation. Be careful with your cash.
david@uwm.UUCP (David Robinson) (01/08/91)
The following article is from POSITIVE FEEDBACK, the newsletter of the
Oregon Triode Society, and is Copyright 1990, all rights reserved. This
article may be reposted or reprinted, as long as it is not resold, and as
long as proper attribution of the source is made in full. Please keep
this header in all copies made of this article.
David W. Robinson
Editor, POSITIVE FEEDBACK
david@agora.rain.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AUDIO TIPS
John Pearsall
As an installer who thought that he had seen everything, I can assure you I
hadn't when I chanced to run up against a really intractable problem in
Bellingham, WA, about a year ago. I had just installed a large mega-system
with fine components, great interconnects, super speaker cable--the works.
But we got a loud hum on all sources. I tried every ground loop solution
that I knew, but to no avail. A frustrating four hours went into the
detective work; it was definitely a 60 Hz hum, but from where?
About the time that I was doubting my skill and sanity, the clouds parted
and the gods smiled on me. The Perreaux tuner in this all-Perreaux system
had a non-threaded coax connector, and the CATV (Cable Company) FM lead fell
off. The hum stopped. Like a toothache that disappears, this brought
comparable relief.
I took out the meter and there it was: About 300 millivolts of raw AC
coming in from the street pole, to be transferred to the chassis of the
system.
Six months later, I ran into a similar case in Tigard, OR, with about 180
millivolts on the lead. In both cases the cable guys were called and the
problem was fixed in about ten minutes. Live and learn, huh?
* * *
Another subject: What does a crawlspace, garage, or unfinished basement
have to do with the economics of installing a fine sound system? Here's
what it can do for you if you have one of these under your listening room...
...what to do with wire is a bitch. It is always in the way. It is
unsightly. It is expensive at best, and ridiculous when you have to go
around the perimeter of the room. So--why not run it under your floor in
the shortest and neatest fashion. Not only can you cut many feet off the
cable cost, but it is so nice when the cable disappears from the living
space. As in the usual case, plan very carefully, because splices are a no-
no.
* * *
There is a good alternative to the above. Your amplifier(s) can be placed
at the speaker end of the room if you can (A) get AC to them easily, and (B)
drive long lines with your preamp output stage...that is, high current, low
impedance out. They could be either balanced or unbalanced lines, but both
are effective with the right driving source. And since only about 2 meters
of speaker cable is needed, buy something really special. Now that mono-
block amps are becoming more common, this drive scheme is probably ideal.
Think about the concept a little for current or future equipment.
* * *
A better wire marking tag has shown up at the various retailers who sell
bulk barrel food. It is like a bread tag, but is all white and has a 7/8"
by 1 3/8" piece of card stock attached to it for writing. (I've found that
a fine roller ball pen in black is best.) See if you can talk somebody out
of a few dozen.
* * *
Do you want to de-gauss your moving magnet cartridge with a Flux-buster?
Well, you can de-gauss the coil forms and pole-pieces in the body of the
cartridge, but you must remove the stylus assembly so that you won't also
de-gauss the tiny permanent magnet on the cantilever.
As for MC cartridges: Just follow the directions, of course...
* * *
If you have a new Moving Coil cartridge, but lack the patience to break it
in while having to listen to it, here's what I did. I mounted an Ortophon
MC in a high quality, low mass arm on a Dual automatic. Using decent vinyl
and turning it over fairly often, I put the 20+ hours on the cartridge in a
few days of attended break-in. The Ortophon X3MC and the X5MC sound a bit
strident until after at least 15 hours. However, I would suggest that you
not break-in a really expensive coil in a real dog of an automatic. Make
sure it is a pretty sophisticated one. If all else fails, go ahead and
settle in the new cartridge the old way and just wait it out.
* * *
Now is the best time to tear the system down and clean everything. Use
contact cleaner and carefully assemble or replace any nasty looking wire
with the best you can afford. Now's the time to try the Tip-Toes, speaker
spikes, damping feet, a new equipment stand, install a new FM antenna,
special wire, AC line conditioning, buy a vinyl cleaning system, improve
your storage for recordings and, in general, improve what you have for the
indoor season. While you're at it, clean up that sloppy video system and
enjoy a better picture, too. Wire quality makes a difference in video
pictures and video recording quality, so invest a little money here, as
well.
That's all for this time--good listening. david@uwm.UUCP (David Robinson) (01/08/91)
The following article is from POSITIVE FEEDBACK, the newsletter of the Oregon Triode Society, and is Copyright 1990, all rights reserved. This article may be reposted or reprinted, as long as it is not resold, and as long as proper attribution of the source is made in full. Please keep this header in all copies made of this article. David W. Robinson Editor, POSITIVE FEEDBACK david@agora.rain.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- VINYL REFLECTIONS: HANDEL'S MESSIAH Larry Sturtz Ah, 'tis the season. As I write this there are only 37 days until Christmas. Since I traditionally do all my shopping on December 24th, that leaves plenty of time for a holiday diatribe on the entire bloated business. ["Uh-oh," mutters the Editor. "Look for cover, friends...LS is in 'curmudgeon mode.'" DWR] Just think, I'm in this lousy frame of mind and without the advantage of even one audition of "Jingle Bell Rock," et al. I shall spare you, however, and focus one what is for me a holiday bright spot. I am referring to the annual performance of Handel's Messiah by the Portland Baroque Orchestra. More info later. While my mind is on the subject, a brief review of recorded Messiah's seems in order. Let's start with Beecham's late 50's set on RCA LDS 6409, 4 discs. This golden era Soria set has 10++ sound according to Mitchell. That's the good news. On the bad side Beecham outdid himself in reorchestrating and adding parts for modern instruments. It's exciting and appalling and deserves a listen. The first cymbal shot is a shock, but the singing and playing are wonderful. In any case, acquire it for collectability if the price is right. Recommended as perhaps the third Messiah in a large collection. There are many sets done in the late 19th century "bigger is better" style. Large orchestras and even larger choruses dominate. Both Malcolm Sargent's and the Adrian Boult are prime examples. Not recommended. If you like this kind of Messiah go to a sing-it-yourself and at least participate. One of (if not the) first smaller scale, quick tempo performances was conducted by Hermann Scherchen on Westminster XWN3306. In spite of less than first rate singing and playing, the performance is involving. Sound is barely passable 50's mono. Worth a listen . In the 60's Colin Davis conducted the London Symphony, Heather Harper, Helen Watts, John Wakefield and John Shirley-Quirk in what was the benchmark performance for many years, Philips C71 AX300, 3 discs, also on cassette and rereleased on CD. A magnificent performance just now beginning to show its age in light of all the original instrument releases. If you're only going to have one Messiah you can do far worse. LP sound is a little grainy but listenable. In my case sound quality is not an issue; the performance is involving. A criticism often heard is that there is little ornamentation provided by the soloists. I'm not bothered. Listening to the same ornaments in a recorded performance becomes tedious after a few hearings. If ornamentation is your thing it is provided in two admirable sets, Charles Mackerras on Angel and John Tobin on british GFH. The latter is very difficult to find, but worth the bother. It was briefly available on execrable Protone cassettes. ["'Execrable' and 'cassette' represent a fine coupling of adjective and noun, opines the Editor. As always, LS, "the man with Living Presence," speaketh sound revelations...] While I don't recommend either of these worthy sets as "only" Messiah's, they are deserving of study--especially Tobin. The Argo set, D18D3, with Neville Marriner and the Academy of St.Martin-in- the-Fields wins the quick tempo award. The performance is based on the first London performance of March 23, 1743, performing edition prepared by Christopher Hogwood who also plays chamber organ. Razor sharp precision and superb singing make this set thoroughly recommendable. Typical Decca clear sound. An underrated set. Of the many original instrument sets we'll discuss four-the reason being they are the four I have; Hogwood, Oiseau D189D3, Pinnock, Archiv 423630, Gardiner, Philips 411041 and Christophers, Hyperion A66251. The last three are digital. In general I find Gardiner's tempos, soloists and orchestra preferable to the others. But, for reasons that escape me, he recruits a congeries of counter-tenors to take the alto choral parts. Their infernal hootings ruin the entire proceedings. The deployment of falsettists to substitute for a shocking lack of castrati seems at best ill advised. Seems sexist. If this feature bothers you less than me then this set is recommended highly. Pinnock takes a more conservative approach. The original instrument swells are less pronounced, there are only a few counter-tenors and the singers use a bit of vibrato even if the string players don't. The tension level is lower than Gardiner, not a plus. I guess I'm disappointed that Pinnock isn't Gardiner without counter-tenors. Oh well, somewhat reluctantly recommended as the first Messiah on your shelf. I believe that only a few LP sets were issued meaning CD's or cassettes are it. If Pinnock's digitalis puts you into arhythmia then Hogwood might resuscitate you. The best original instrument soloists including Emma Kirkby perform with the Academy of Ancient Music. Late analog sound. Thoroughly recommendable to escape Pinnock's digits with little compromise. Finally, Harry Christophers leads the Sixteen Choir and Orchestra in an emaciated digitalized performance which does zip for me but others have been more positive. My perceptions are precision and bloodlessness. Maybe you hadda' be there. These omnibus essays written for POSITIVE FEEDBACK have been about works I consider indispensable. In every case I've concluded by saying something like you can't have too many. Messiah is near the top of my can't have too many list. Even bad performances can't stop the magic. Handel's genius transcends. Hear as many as you can. Stuff your shelves with as many as you can afford. If you are in Portland, Oregon on December 15 or 16, 1990 take in the performance by the Portland Baroque Orchestra. You will not be disappointed. If you have access to Fanfare back issues try to find the series of Messiah reviews by John Bauman. They are scholarly and discuss differences in performing editions, compare performing forces and generally offer much greater depth on all fronts.