Associate Technical Editor, Ralph Hodges reports on the Chicago Consumer Electronics Show and its forecast of what the coming year holds in the way of New Audio Products.
THE audio industry's biggest, brashest-- and sometimes funniest-sales and showcase event is something called the Consumer Electronics Show. Held twice a year (spring and fall) in centrally located Chicago, it is a "for the trade only" affair at which manufacturers huddle with their most important market contacts to try to predict the component design approach that will attract the eyes, ears, and dollars of the audio consumer in the year to come. It is here too that foreign dignitaries of the trade come to get a good look at the U.S. market, to decide if they want to dip a toe or two into its vastness themselves. And, of course, it is here that audio dealers from around the country get their first real Nance to see, inspect, and order the new io products that will begin arriving at r stores in early autumn-just about , in fact.
This year's show was not the biggest ve seen, and not every exhibiting manufacturer had a new product to show off (although some had a dozen or more).
Indeed, some of the regular exhibitors at the McCormick Place exhibition hall did not even show this year. Significantly, however, the prophets who keep track of these presences and absences, treating them as omens of dire consequence, were for once silent; it is a fact that the economic situation for the industry looks, if not unequivocally brighter, at least not unpromising. After a long year of watchfulness, concern, and indecision, the captains of the industry see a clear channel (or maybe two) and are getting their ships under way again.
To the sound-centered audiophile, any concern with the well-being of the audio industry may smack somewhat of crass commercialism. But the industry's faith in itself is important to the consumer, because faith is what it takes for the manufacturer to invest the capital, the engineering time, and the tooling up required to produce new and improved products. Based on specific product sales figures for last year, manufacturers think they have found a survival strategy for the coming year. It is: design more high-end super-audiophile products, deliver more performance in the low-end budget models, and do the best they can with the in-betweens. The various hardware manifestations of this approach are to be seen and discussed in the pages that follow. On with the show. . .
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Receivers (Stereo and Quadraphonic)
Although there was plenty of four-channel equipment to be seen at the CES, there was little new equipment.
Why? For several reasons, among them the fact that most manufacturers already have an existing line of four-channel receivers, in many cases tooled up for at great expense scarcely a year ago. Since then there have been no startling, easily applied advances in decoder or demodulator technology, and many manufacturers seem to feel that the current models are state-of-the-art enough to satisfy current demands. Other manufacturers want to wait and see what happens in a new area of four-channel activity: the very-high-end (which is to say expensive) audiophile market, about which more later. Others just want to wait and see what technical or market developments may pop up.
Two major exceptions to this were Akai and the MX division of Magnavox, both of which unveiled large new quadraphonic units with power outputs in the neighborhood of 40 watts per channel, built-in Dolby-B noise-reduction circuits, and facilities for CD-4, full-logic SQ, and RM matrices. The Akai AS 1080DB, in what is being called the "Yamaha-type" styling, has level meters and Dolby calibration controls for all four channels, plus an unusually long, narrow tuning scale. The MX 1681, a prototype, has what is surely the industry's largest digital-readout tuning indicator seductively aglow in brilliant red.
Nor has MX stopped there. The similar Model 1671, with a conventional tuning dial, is available at about $800, and going down from that level- in features, power output, and price-are three more quadraphonic units. Also from MX (it is obviously a very big year for their design New Audio Products department) are at least seven stereo receivers ranging in power from 15 to 60 watts per channel, the top-of-the-line Model 1581 also offering Dolby circuits.
Akai also showed a smaller four-channel receiver, the Model AS-1070, and three new stereo receivers, all in the same conservative styling.
Sansui was a third company to intro duce a four-channel receiver. The Model QRX 5001, the least expensive in the line, incorporates the most elaborate form of QS Vario-Matrix decoding as well as SQ and CD-4 facilities. Power is 17 watts per channel over a bandwidth of 30 to 20,000 Hz.
H. H. Scott had some new stereo receivers to present, the standout among them being the RD 1000 digital FM model. The tuner section is a true frequency-synthesizing facility with quartz-crystal oscillator and phase-locked loop.
It also has a memory bank for ten pre-tuned stations, any one of which can be recalled at the touch of a single button.
The tuner also scans upscale or down and can be set to stop at all stations or just those broadcasting in stereo. Programming and manual tuning is through a small keyboard similar to that on push button telephones, and station indication is of course digital, using LED's. Power output is 100 watts per channel.
Nikko introduced seven new AM/stereo FM receivers, all with direct-coupled amplifier sections and phase-locked-loop multiplex circuits. Hitachi (25 and 40 watts per channel, respectively) with phase-locked-loop multiplex sections.
Particularly good-looking new receivers were shown by Harman/Kardon (the Model 430, with separate power sup plies for each channel and a simple, delicately styled front panel) and Rotel (the Model RX-7707, a striking low-silhouette design in the European manner, with presets for five FM stations, any of which can be selected at the touch of a contact switch). The Tandberg receiver line did not stand still either: new for this year is the TR-1040, FM only, again with low-line contours and five pre-tunable stations, at about $550.
Akai AS-1080DB appeared with three stereo receivers in the medium-price range, and Technics by Panasonic, after concentrating its energies in the four-channel arena for so long, appeared with four stereo models ranging in power output from 15 to 58 watts per channel. Also presented were four new models in Fisher's Studio Standard line, ranging in price from $230 to $450.
From Marantz there was the new Model 2250, and Sylvania introduced two new units of modest power output Models RS 5742 and RS 5741-to rein force the low end of its growing line. Pi lot, pointing to its new association with giant Mitsubishi International of Japan as a provider of new technical resources, brought forth the Models 525 and 540 Scott RD 1000
The under-$200 receiver continues to be pioneered by, well, Pioneer, with its Sound Project line, as well as by Superscope. And now there is also Sansui, with its new Models 331 and 221 aimed at that general price level. In addition, there is Concord's tiny Model CR-60 (4.5 watts per channel from 70 to 20,000 Hz with less than 2 percent harmonic distortion) at the very reasonable price of $119.95.
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Amplifiers and Preamplifiers
The real action at CES this year was with the amplifiers, which bulked up in the center of almost everyone's display area, each bigger and burlier than the next. Consider, for example, the JVC J M-S1000 power amplifier, a substantial contender weighing in at just over 67 pounds, 180 watts in each of its two channels, and a handsome front panel bearing large meters, LED display for peak-level indication, speaker switching, switchable power limiting, and a number of other nice touches. Combine two of these worthies with JVC's J P-V 1000 preamplifier, and you'll have four first class channels of amplification, since the V1000 is a deluxe four-channel unit dominated by four large level meters and concealing JVC's seven-band SEA equalizer behind a flip-down panel. This does not yet give you SQ, QS, or even CD-4 capability, which can be acquired through the addition of the JVC CD4 1000 "professional" demodulator, a unit fully as big as the preamp, studded with controls, and billed as the best performer available.
For the budget minded, there's always the JVC' JA-S20, a stereo integrated amplifier with construction and features of the same caliber as the S1000 but rated at a "mere" 120 watts per channel. At the Sansui exhibit, the discriminating eye would certainly be caught by the BA 5000 stereo power amplifier: 300 watts per channel. An alternative slightly lower on the power scale is the BA 3000.
Either could be combined with the matching CA 3000 stereo preamplifier.
At the lower end of this line are the AU-20000 integrated stereo amplifier (170 watts per channel) and its brethren the AU-11000 (110 watts) and AU-9900 (a "trifling" 80 watts per channel), all of them with imposing black front panels and none weighing less than 40 pounds.
Just a few steps away was Pioneer and its brand-new SPEC 2 power amplifier at 250 watts per channel, together with its companion unit, the SPEC 1 preamplifier. The SPEC 2 has peak-reading out put-level meters on its front panel, and the SPEC 1 provides Pioneer's "twin" tone-control system plus mixing facilities for the microphone input. Then, from SAE, came the 2500 power amplifier (300 watts per channel), available in a utility model (Mark 2500) or a domesticated version (Mark XXV). Dynaco's Stereo 410 is a stripped-down Stereo 400 providing identical performance (200 watts per channel) but without such extras as Dynaguard or level controls and costing $399 for the kit, $569 wired.
Pioneer SPEC 1
The Nikko 60-watt-per-channel Class A (!) power amplifier noted at last year's show can be switched to Class B operation for an output of 200 watts per channel. It is now called the Alpha, and it has been joined by a companion preamplifier called, logically enough, the Beta. The Kenwood X-1000, also from last year, is one of the few FET high-power (150 watts per channel) amplifiers available.
And Crown has redesigned the D-150 power amplifier and rechristened it the D-150A.
From Audio Research, which is still purveying vacuum-tube amplifiers, comes an improved version of their D 76 stereo power amplifier, the D-76A, and a new 150-watt-per-channel leviathan, the D-150. This phenomenon has three self-contained cooling fans, four output tubes per channel, a line-voltage monitoring meter on the front panel, and output-level meters that are also used to set the bias for each tube. Price, under $2,000.
Enough? Nay, join us for a fast secondary tour of the hotels in downtown Chicago and an assignation with the new Audionics Point Zero Three, a 100-watt-
per-channel power amplifier; or the first of the new ESS "Eclipse" series, the Model 500 power amplifier; or perhaps the astonishing Stax DA-3000, a 150-watt-per-channel Class A (again!) transistor unit that can be used with the Stax SRA-12S preamplifier / headphone amplifier. Also now ready for production are two models from Dunlap Clarke, the Dreadnaughts 1000 and 500, seen as prototypes last year.
And we are still not through with super-power amplifiers. The respected Lux equipment from Japan has reappeared under the Luxman name, the line including more than a dozen models led by four elegantly styled stereo power amplifiers ranging in power from 300 to 75 watts per channel. Luxman also offers two stereo preamplifiers with several unusual features, and three integrated stereo amplifiers ranging in power from 110 to 50 watts per channel.
Also in the running is Fisher, with a high-power basic amplifier, the Model BA 4500, 150 watts per channel, and a deluxe preamplifier, the CA 4500. And rumored on its way, though not actually at hand, is the stunning-looking Galactron equipment from Europe, now being considered for distribution in this country by Hervic Electronics, and a 200-watt-per-channel tube power amplifier from a company called American Audio Labs.
Phase Linear's new Model 2000 ($299) is a comparatively straightforward stereo preamplifier that does not incorporate the remarkable signal-processing features of the Model 4000 but does have an ingenious circuit for the enhancement of recorded ambiance without the need for additional speakers.
(Incidentally, the 4000's unique signal-processing capabilities--the "autocorrelator" noise-reduction system and the dynamic-range expander-can now be added to any system via an outboard accessory to be sold by Phase Linear for $349.)
Preamplifiers from BGW are at last becoming available, and the first to appear will be the Model 202, a conventional-appearing design. The second, the Model 201, will be even simpler, and lacking tone controls.
Bozak's new preamplifier, a companion to its large Model amplifier, is designated the Model 919 Audio Signal Processing Center. It has unusually elaborate input-mixing facilities with obvious applications in discotheque and public-address work. And Great American Sound Company's stereo preamplifier has appeared. Dubbed the Thaedra, it has some unusual circuits and another feature that is beginning to turn up in the most esoteric equipment: a special high-gain section for use with low-output, moving-coil phono cartridges. Also weighing in with a preamplifier was IAD. Its B3C unit incorporates the IAD dynamic-range expander.
Two power amplifiers were also presented, their model numbers (B3D-20 and B3D-75) indicating their total output capability.
Yamaha's C-1 all-FET preamplifier was designed as a companion to the B-1 FET power amplifier. Space prohibits inclusion of a full description of the unit's control facilities, but they are as complete as any to be found on con sumer equipment. Among its more un usual features are some nonstandard equalization options and a built-in pink-noise and sine-wave generator that can be used in conjunction with the peak-reading meters to test external equipment (rear-panel meter inputs will accept phono jacks and speaker lines).
Another expected arrival was the EPI Epicure preamplifier-not the very complex one seen briefly last year, but a simpler version, the Model 4 (about $350), uncompromised in its performance specifications but without the built in oscilloscope and associated circuits.
Also, Infinity's Class-D power amplifier and FET preamplifier reappeared.
It was a good year for the integrated stereo amplifier, suggesting that this component may be coming into its own once more. In addition to those models already mentioned, Pioneer brought out three new units to supplement the deluxe SA-9900 introduced earlier this year. A stunning debut was made by the Rotel RA-1412, a husky, glamorous unit with .large meters and rated output of 110 watts per channel. Three smaller integrated amplifiers, 70 to 35 watts, brought up the rear of the Rotel line.
Sherwood's SEL-400, intended as a companion to its SEL-300 digital-read out tuner, is rated at 85 watts per channel and has facilities for the Dynaquad four-channel synthesizing system Sherwood has espoused for several years.
Fisher presented three integrated amplifiers exemplifying a new styling scheme the company has adopted and ranging in power from 65 down to 13 watts per channel.
Harman/Kardon has a new integrated amplifier, the A-401, that is modest in power (20 watts per channel) and in price (under $200) and tastefully simple in appearance as well. A little larger (25 watts) is the Pilot 225. And from SAE there was the Mark XXXII I at 75 watts per channel. Finally, a host of British and British-inspired integrated amplifiers made an appearance-in some cases it was their first-at the show, brought in by such manufacturers as Cambridge Audio (the Classic One), Harrison (S200), and Sinclair. (overleaf)
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Yamaha C-1
Luxman M-4000
Rotel RX-1412
New Audio Products of which (the Model H) also uses a passive radiator.
Probably the most novel new-principle speaker at the show was the HPM 200 from Pioneer, a large system that makes use of two high-polymer-film drivers for high frequencies. The film, which becomes a piezoelectric transducer when an audio signal is applied, was first used in the company's SE-700 head phones. Now it has been formed into cylinders (for omnidirectional lateral radiation) that expand and contract with the audio signal--perhaps the closest approach yet to the "pulsating sphere" model of speaker operation.
Rectilinear brought the new Models 2 and 4112 to the show, together with a further-refined version of its venerable Model III, the Ilia. And Tannoy, still producing its famed coaxial two-way driver, presented a variety of new cabinets for it, all distinguished by a contemporary design touch.
That much out of the way, it is time for a dash, in no particular order, through other speaker introductions of note.
Several BIC Venturi systems have been updated in various ways, including the addition of piezoelectric tweeters. Kenwood and Sansui both showed substantial additions to their speaker lines. In particular, Sansui introduced an LM (Linear Motion) series equipped with cone tweeters mounted so that both their front and rear radiations reach the listener, while Kenwood showed three book shelf models and an enormous horn-loaded system, the Model 7. Jennings Research, a new company, has combined graceful styling with good acoustical design to create the Contrara Group of (currently) three models in shelf- and floor-standing configurations. British speakers abounded, particularly notice able being the high-style Gale GS401 and products from such companies as KEF, Jordan Watts, and Celestion, plus a ribbon tweeter from Decca. The H. H. Scott speaker line was also present, with the new Model S-100, a three-way five-driver system with 15-inch woofer, most prominent.
The first signs of a mini-trend might also have been spotted at the CES: a return to the add-on super woofer of yore, a driver enclosed in its own, often large cabinet (not a great inconvenience, since it can be placed freely almost any where in the room), and connected to the system either via an electronic crossover and its own amplifier or a special passive network. The concept has been part of several existing commercial systems-
Infinity's Servo-Statik I (now in an improved version, the IA) with its "bass commode," and the new Frankmann Stereo Speaker System from King Research. Now, however, add-on woofers for use with any system are available from Dahlquist, Hegeman, and a new company, Bottom End. This last sup plier also sells a variety of passive cross over networks for connecting the woofer in. And at this point, sadly, lack of space compels me to leave a host of other de serving and interesting products in this area unmentioned.
Record Players table was a trend. Last year it was an avalanche. This year, however, it is merely a revolution that succeeded.
With the introduction of the Concord line of single-play turntables, Benjamin, one of the few remaining holdouts among the major record-player sup pliers, has also come into camp. Which means, perhaps, that it's time for a counter-trend, led by Technics with the SL-
1350, one of the few single-play turn tables (and a direct-drive model at that) to evolve into an automatic. This year Technics also shares with Rotel the distinction of having the least expensive direct-drive single-play unit on the market. The two models- SL-1500 from Technics and RP-3000 from Rotel both list at $199.95, including arm, dust cover, speed-adjustment controls, and stroboscope display.
Last year BIC excited interest with its introduction of a pair of belt-driven automatic turntables. This year there is a third, the Model 940 at just over $100.
And Garrard and BSR, thinking the idea a good one, have come along with their own variations. Garrard now offers a belt system driven by an idler in the Z2000B and 990 B automatic turntables (the former incorporating the Zero Tracking Error tone arm), and a new belt-driven single play, the 125SB. BSR has two belt-driven automatics, the 200 BAX and 100 BAX, and the single-play 20 BPX.
Dual 1249 And then there is Dual, with the belt-driven 1249 automatic turntable. Several items in the Dual line have seen styling and feature modifications this year. In the case of the 1249 the tone arm is new, with anti-skating calibrated for spherical, elliptical, and Shibata-type styli. A stroboscope pattern is cast into the edge of the platter, with markings for 50- and 60-Hz line frequencies. The Dual 510 is essentially a single-play 1249.
In other multiple-play units, Elac Miracord has announced the Model 825 at the attractive price of $130. Further, MX now has some automatic turntables to be reckoned with in three models, two with stereo cartridges and one with the Audio Technica 12S CD-4 cartridge.
Glenburn continues to add to its large line of inexpensive automatics.
Among single-play turntables, the Rabco ST-7 from Harman/Kardon is probably the big event of the year. Externally it is a refinement of the Rabco ST-4, with a straight-line-tracking tone arm driven by a rotating shaft, but in this Garrard Z2000B incarnation it is coupled with a turntable driven by a Hall-effect d.c. motor, fine tunable at both its 33 1/3- and 45-rpm speeds with the assistance of an illuminated stroboscope. The arm, too, has undergone major revision, with considerable attention being paid to mass and bearings. All arm functions are con trolled electronically through a contact switch array at the front edge of the motorboard.
Sony is bringing out a direct-drive turntable (about $580) with a tone arm fabricated of carbon fiber, a material possessing a very high stiffness-to-mass ratio. Thorens, with the new belt-driven TD-145C, has incorporated an automatic tone-arm-lift mechanism that operates (through a purely electronic motion-sensing system) anywhere on the record surface, so that any abrupt movement of the arm will raise it from the record.
Connoisseur is preparing a new mod el, the BD-3, with a cueing system that raises the platter to meet the tone arm instead of lowering the tone arm to the platter. The full-size, two-piece platter is driven by an inner section that, when cued, rises from beneath the motorboard to engage the outer rim, lift it, and set it in motion. The system permits instant start-up and eliminates the drift that frequently occurs when a tone arm is cued.
Uher of America has taken on distribution of the full line of Lenco single-play turntables, consisting of five basic models, two of which offer all four speeds from 16 2/3 to 78 rpm and can be adjusted for any intermediate speed.
Two 33 1/3 and 45-rpm turntables are coming from Toshiba, one a direct-drive model at under $230 and the other a belt-driven unit for $100 less.
Phono Cartridges
A few new phono cartridges made their first appearances at the CES. The Model X-1 is JVC's ultimate CD-4 cartridge, with a frequency response up to 60,000 Hz. Its construction involves a beryllium cantilever and a laminated core. Although its formal introduction to the U.S. market is uncertain as yet, JVC hopes to be able to make the Model X-1 available within the year. Also using a beryllium cantilever is the latest version of the QDC- 1 q from Micro-Acoustics. And among several new and improved models from Audio-Technica is the AT2OSLa, a limited-production version of the company's finest stereo / CD-4 design selling (through special order in most cases) for $175.
Shure has a new pickup, the M95ED, said to be second in performance only to the V-15 Type III. And from A KG comes an announcement of a five-model line of magnetic cartridges, the first to be available in early fall at about $85. A new U. S. company, Sonic Research, is scheduled to introduce the Sonus line of magnetic pickups in early fall, beginning with five high-quality models. And Stax has a new capacitive model that sells, with its radio-frequency oscillator (shades of the old Weathers pickup), for $650, including all the electronics and a tone arm.
Tape Equipment
The cassette format is obviously growing stronger every year. This sea son Marantz presented a line of cassette decks-six in all-divided between top-and front-loading configurations, with the most elaborate (Model 5420) featuring mixing facilities for four inputs, including pan-pots for directing signals to the left or right channels or anywhere in between. A new front-loading machine from Kenwood, the Model KX-620, made its debut too, as did two such units from Pioneer. Pioneer's top model, the CT-F9191, has a two-motor transport, solenoid controlled, with a domed trans parent cassette-well cover behind which the entire cassette can be seen, JVC's latest front-loader, the CD-1960, boasts what the company calls a Sen-Alloy head, a material that reportedly comes close to matching the magnetic proper ties of pure crystalline iron. The same head is also provided in a new portable stereo model, the CD-1635. Sony, too, showed a new stereo portable, plus vast other additions to its cassette line in top-and front-loading configurations.
Nor were three-head cassette decks absent from the show. Several appeared under the Akai label, all with closed-loop dual-capstan drive, and one, the G XC 760D, with three motors. Akai also showed a number of more conventional two-head machines. Hitachi presented a three-head transport, the D-3500, together with a pair of two-head decks.
And Fisher announced two three-headers, one at an astonishingly low price about $230.
Teac's new offerings were evenly split between cassettes, open-reels, and mixers. The front-loading A-400 has rotary-switch controls instead of the usual push keys, while the A-170 (at about $230) is Teac's lowest-price full-feature cassette deck (switchable bias and equalization, Dolby noise reduction in IC form). In open reel, Teac's A-2300SD is a Dolbyized version of one of the company's most popular 7-inch-reel machines. The A-6300 features automatic reverse in a 10 1/2-inch reel configuration.
For this year, Teac initiated a new line of consumer live-recording products
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Teac Tascam 5 Yamaha TC-800GL Toshiba PC-6030
New 11 Audio Products under the Tascam label. The Model 5 mixer, a reasonably portable eight-input, four-output design with features that precisely parallel those of a professional mixing desk, sells for about $1,500. The smaller Model 2 mixer from last year was also presented in its final production form.
Among the cassette machines, the styling coups of the show were brought off by Toshiba and Yamaha. The Toshiba PC-6030 has a vertical front-loading format with a dual-capstan closed-loop drive and continuously variable bias adjustments for standard and chromium-dioxide tapes. Yamaha's TC-800 GL has an angled base that supports the transport surface at an angle of about 30 degrees from the horizontal. The controls are all pushbuttons or sliders of very unusual appearance, and the unit can be operated from the a.c. line or from batteries.
Uher came to the show with a number of new cassette and open-reel products.
The CG-320, a compact cassette unit with internal speakers, can also be powered by a.c. or 12-volt storage battery. The CR-210 is said to be the world's smallest stereo cassette portable; it has built-in condenser microphone and speakers and automatic reverse in both playback and record modes. An open-reel offering, the SG-520, has four tape speeds (7 1/2 to 15/16 ips), inter changeable head assemblies for quarter or half-track operation, and built-in power amplifiers.
The excellent Wollensak cassette transport has been adapted by 3M to front-loading use and installed in the new 3M CTR-1, an instrument of consider able size and grandeur. It is the most elaborate cassette deck ever made by the Minnesota company, and the first 3M consumer tape machine in memory not to carry the Wollensak brand name.
Matching eight-track cartridge decks are offered in the CTR-2 and CTR-3 (Dolby), which provide fast-forward speeds of five times playing speed-the fastest presently available and only the beginning, according to a 3M spokes man. Another user of the Wollensak transport, the Neal Model 103, was seen at the show for the first time, having been brought over from its native En gland where it is highly respected. And in other cassette developments, Harman/Kardon announced a successor to the HK 1000, the Model 2000, with a new transport. Technics brought forth two new cassette decks as well, at $200 and $300.
The open-reel scene was dominated by Akai and its introduction of five new models covering just about every function and feature available, including four-channel recording with track synchronization (the GX-630DSS). However, Tandberg did present the 3500X, a medium-price, three-speed deck avail able with Dolby noise reduction as the 3600XD.
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Accessories
For the first time, to my knowledge, the CES brought together "professional-quality" hardware for all three of the major four-channel disc systems under one roof. Aside from the super CD-4 demodulator by JVC mentioned earlier, there was Sansui's QSD-1, a very elaborate Vario-Matrix decoder operating in three frequency bands and providing all the Sansui synthesizer functions as well.
I did not note a Paramatrix SQ decoder (CBS Labs' most sophisticated decoder) among the equipment on exhibit, but Audionics did reveal a prototype of its "Shadow Vector" SQ decoder, designed to decode SQ material with full separation but without the disturbances of the reverberant field that gain-riding techniques are said to introduce.
New headphones were, of course, plentiful. Among the standouts were the Koss ESP-9B, an updated version of the famed ESP-9 electrostatic headset; several dynamic and electret phones from Audio-Technica; three new lightweight dynamic headsets from Telephonics--all at $50 or less; and a new model from Sansui.
There was also a demonstration of a new Sheffield record encoded with the DBX compander system (alas, I missed that one), as well as the introduction of a new "professional" DBX compress or/limiter, the Model 161, at a quite modest price. Among other gear of interest to serious recordists: a new series of elaborate mixers from Lamb Laboratories; multi-band equalizers from Soundcraftsmen (the TG-2209-600) and BSR (the Model FEW-3, which is avail able with a test record and an inexpensive sound-level meter). Advanced audiophiles will want also to note that the entire series of CBS test records is once again available.
Finally, it is a pleasure to report that the 2001 mobile sound system from Analog & Digital Systems has reached its final form. Using very small but remarkably potent bi-amplified speakers (a total of about 80 watts per channel is provided by the system's amplifiers), this high-quality ensemble is suitable for car, boat, or mobile-home use, and is de signed to be powered by a 12-volt storage battery. And perhaps the ultimate accessory for high-fidelity systems was shown once again: Advent's fantastically impressive Video-Beam TV projection system with its 24-square-foot (!) picture and $3,695 price.
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Last Words
There it is, all umpteen thousand square feet of the CES for the summer of 1975--or as much of it as there was room for in these pages. We are sorry there wasn't space for more, and we also tender apologies in advance for any errors of commission or omission, wrong model numbers, prices, and specifications. The pocket-portable tape recorder with which I take notes on the show floor did not acquit itself in its usual flawless manner (it was, after all, last year's model), but all that product literature took care of the worst dropouts.
I will close with the usual cautionary remarks about shortages, design (and mind) changes, unexpectedly high demand, and other unforeseens that may prevent the products mentioned from appearing in stores on schedule or at all.
In any event, I doubt that anyone will have trouble satisfying his or her whims or urgent requirements from among this year's products. They make up a glittering assemblage. If you wish further in formation about any of the products mentioned, write directly to the manufacturer in question (in most cases we simply do not have any further information). If you'll send a stamped, self-ad dressed long envelope to STEREO RE VIEW, Dept. CES, 1 Park Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10016, we will be happy to send you a sheet listing the addresses of all the manufacturers mentioned. And now I'm going home to sleep for at least a week.
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