By Larry Klein
Advice on readers' technical problems
Little did this clean-shaven, short-haired young hi-fi technician realize that twenty-odd years later he would he Technical Director of STEREO REVIEW.
Weather or Not
Q. Am I alone here in the South with the problem of daily changes in humidity and barometric pressure causing my speaker sound to alternate between great and terrible? I suppose an equalizer would help but I have never seen any mention of the effect of air quality on the sound we hear. Could you direct me to an article on the subject?
ERIC BECKUS; St. Petersburg, Fla.
A. Someone once asked me, "Why do you other questions?" I replied, "Why shouldn't I?" So . . . Mr. Beckus, are you sure it's your system that is being affected, and not your ears? As far as I know, the sound quality of well-made speakers is reasonably immune to the effects of humidity and barometric pressure. I can't see how any of the electronic elements could be temporarily affected either, but I do understand that phono-cartridge stylus suspensions can respond to extremes of temperature by shifting their resonance frequencies. I doubt that that is what you are hearing, though, particularly if the effect is present on FM or tape. Do any readers have additional ideas on the subject?
"Amateur" Construction
Q. I have recently read a report on tests made by a Japanese magazine on over thirty preamplifiers and power amplifiers. To my surprise, some of the most prestigious U.S.-made equipment produced such comments as "Irrespective of their merits, their workmanship, including features and construction, is extremely amateur-like." I would be interested in your comments.
DAVID FONSECA
East Ridge, Tenn.
A. There's a kind of technical snobbery involved here that's worth discussing. Or maybe it's not snobbery, but only a different value system whose parameters haven't been made explicit. About twenty-five years ago I worked for several years for an electronics manufacturer who was producing both radio TV service instruments and military-specification test equipment. I did trouble shooting on both types of products and was struck by the contrast between the precisely squared-off cabled wiring, extensive use of terminal boards, and carefully paralleled parts layout in the military equipment and the seemingly random wiring and helter-skelter parts arrangement of standard commercial units (this was long before printed-circuit boards were common). At that time it was standard U.S. wiring practice in all consumer products (TV's, radios, and hi-fi equipment) to wire in the parts by their leads in the shortest, most direct way possible with no consider for under-chassis aesthetics. True, there were a few premium-price U.S. hi-fi components that used terminal boards and squared-off cabled wiring, but such niceties were mostly found in the Leaks, the Quads, and other expensive British imports. How ever, it became clear to me fairly quickly during my troubleshooting and repair work on test equipment and audio components that neatness counted for little or nothing in respect to performance. In fact, a good case could be made against cabled wiring in respect to its contribution to excessive circuit capacitance and unwanted couplings. The only things that can be said for the costly military-spec assembly procedures is that the physical arrangement does make it somewhat easier to troubleshoot the equipment if you have the appropriate manual, and the semi-modular construction frequently expedites field replacement of entire sections of the circuit without the need to locate the specific part at fault. Then too, of course, such construction does contribute somewhat to ruggedness-an important point for military electronic equipment, most of which must with stand heavy physical and environmental abuse. But home audio equipment is seldom parachuted into Arctic installations or taken into the Georgia swamps for a field exercise.
It is my view that a home component should be built so as to provide reasonably long life under normal home use, be rugged enough in physical design to withstand the rigors of cross-country shipment (from manufacturer to dealer), and work well enough to be audibly indistinguishable from others in its power/distortion/price class. Any audiophile who wishes to pay a premium for special physical appearance, extra-rugged construction techniques, or heavy-duty design is certainly entitled to do so. But he should know that what the extra cost is buying is not necessarily "extra" sound quality. Which brings us back to the "amateur-like" comment. The aesthetics of sound reproduction should not be confused with the aesthetics of under-chassis wiring.
Things that look better do not necessarily sound better-and vice versa.
Old Discs, New Cartridge
Q. If I play records that are in poor condition with a new, expensive cartridge, will they pose any threat to the stylus? I have heard that a bad record can screw up a tip. Is that so?
GREGG MASCHMANN; Arnold, Mo.
A. A worn record will not damage a new stylus unless there is abrasive grit in the record grooves. Such dirt can not only cause an increase in noise, but it will act as a sort of grinding compound to cause faster wear on your new stylus than would normally occur.
However, even if the older records reduce stylus life by a third (an extreme case), I see no reason not to play them-assuming that they are listenable. Consider the relative costs of replacing the discs vs. that of replacing your stylus.
Some readers have reported (with amazement) that new cartridges have actually cleaned up the sound of their old discs. This happens because a non-conical stylus may ride on a different portion of the record groove walls, and hence play less, or even none, of the damaged groove areas. In addition, the newer cartridges are less likely to have peaks and resonances that will emphasize noise and distortion.
If you have many damaged records, it might be worthwhile for you to check into the kind of electronic noise-reduction devices de scribed in the article "Noise Reducers" in the October 1977 issue of STEREO REVIEW.
Best Components?
Q. I would like to buy an amplifier (or turntable, speakers, etc.) for my stereo system and would like to know which ones you think are the best.
MANY READERS; Everywhere, U.S.A.
A. Every day we receive eight to ten letters like the one above, addressed to Julian Hirsch or to me. Some of the questioners include a list of perhaps fifteen or twenty components available to them in an overseas PX or at their local dealers and ask us to pick the ones that offer the most for the money or make the best matched system.
Our answer to the majority of these inquiries is simply that we are not about to recommend components without having first subjected them to laboratory tests and/or extend d use. Neither I, Julian Hirsch, nor any moral blessed with only ordinary human powers an really judge the fine points of a component's performance from viewing its front panel or reading the advertising copy provided by the manufacturer. I sympathize with readers who would like to have some clue as to the quality of a component before they in vest their cash in it, but I'd rather keep my tentative or half-formed opinion
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Source: Stereo Review (USA magazine)