Dear Editor (Mar. 1981)

A Letter-Perfect System

Dear Editor:

Looking through the Annual Equipment Directory (Oct., 1980), I have come up with the following system: APT amplifier, AGI preamp, NAD tuner, STD turntable, ADC tonearm, AKG cartridge, ESS speakers, and an SAE cassette deck using DAK tape. Add a GLI equalizer, indoor antenna from BIC and an ADS signal delay.

The system will be marketed under the APTAGINADSTDADCAKGESSSAE DAKGLIBICADS (Ap-tagi nad-stad cag-ess say-dak gli-bicads) label.

Sid Lee; Big Sur, Calif.

Change Platters and Dance

Dear Editor:

In November, Audio brought me something I've been waiting years to see: A beautiful write-up of the great Capehart record changer. I always wondered why no high-fidelity magazine had ever spotlighted this "mechanical marvel," as you justly call it.

I owned one of these Capeharts in the 1940s and later purchased another one built into an RCA Victor Model QU8 con sole, which was an improvement over the Capehart in that it used a magnetic cartridge and had a screw-type recorder surpassing the Presto professional systems of that era.

The Lincoln Series 50 record changer (which I owned up to 1956) was another "marvel." It was manufactured and marketed by Lincoln Engineering Co., of St. Louis, Mo., until they sold it to Fisher.

After that it dropped out of sight. Al though it wasn't as trustworthy as the Capehart, if well cared for it did its job nicely. Also, the Lincoln 50 played both sides of all modern records, including 45s, 78s and LPs.

I haven't been able to figure out why some enterprising manufacturer has never copied the Capehart and modernized it to handle LPs. I know it "would cost too much to make," as you state, but I know it would sell. How many turntables are there on the market now that cost $700.00 on up--and their only specialty is that they will play in a preselected groove. In fact, I just read about a $15,000 turntable that doesn't even do that! I have never accepted the argument that a record changer is not desirable to day because of playing time per disc side. I long for a changer that will play both sides of a record so I can listen to a symphony or an opera without having to stand up at the end of the first few movements to turn the disc over.

Let's campaign for a modern, LP-capable Capehart. With the great advance in modern electronics it shouldn't be at all difficult to redesign it for long-playing records. This would be a "super marvel"--and I would be the first in line to buy one.

-Carlos Diaz-Granados, V; Miami, Florida

Nordine on the Air

Dear Editor:

I have always enjoyed your magazine for the good equipment reviews, history, new products, Prof. Lirpa, features and the like. However, I do have a little gripe concerning the time it takes before an album gets reviewed, be it good or bad.

Specifically the Ken Nordine review (Nov. '80, pg. already the album, Stare with Your Ears, for close to a year before I saw your review. Nordineites can be fanatics.

After mentioning the Word Jazz al bums and his recent commercials, nothing was said about what he's been doing lately. He has his own half-hour show, Monday through Friday, on Public Radio (in this area, WBEZ, Chicago). The con tent of this program quite often transcends his latest album, and his audience is legion. Why else would Rita Jacobs Willens of the Midnight Special recommend his program on one of her rival stations (WBEZ vs. WFMT)? Why else would Studs Terkel have Ken for a guest? Gripes excluded, Audio is one of the best magazines on the stands, one to which I shall always subscribe.

-Bruce G. Goetzinger; Racine, Wisc.

Errata:

The prices shown in our October issue on page 125 for The Classic Trumpet Concerti of Haydn & Hummel (Delos Digital Master Series DMS-3001) and The Sound of Trumpets (Delos DMS-3002) were incorrect. The price for each of these records is $17.98.

In "Construct an Indoor/Outdoor FM Antenna" (January, 1981) Figs. 4 and 5 were transposed.

(Source: Audio magazine, Mar. 1981 )

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