SIGNALS & NOISE (Letters to Editor) (Apr. 1988)

Defining Service

Dear Editor:

It is refreshing that some people are concerned with service. Service is something we have taken seriously for many years. Unfortunately, offering quality service often does not translate into more sales. Customers are rarely interested in hearing about service when they are deciding where to buy.

Stores have found that if the question of service comes up, all they have to do is say, "Sure, we'll take care of you." When we say that, we mean that we have our own separate service department and calibration department whose quality of work is very high because it is controlled directly by us. But service, as defined by another "high end" store in town, means it has a person that either takes the broken pieces to a "contract" service station or ships it back to the factory with too often dubious results because neither has to answer to that store.

Craig J. Rutten; Owner/Manager, C & S Audio; Colorado Springs, Colo.

In Defense of CDs

Dear Editor:

I'm writing to thank Anthony Cordesman for his fine review of the Tandberg 3015A CD player ("Auricle," November 1987) and to share with you some of my observations on CD sound. I purchased a Tandberg CD player a few days ago, after listening extensively to it and other current models. I think it was the hardest purchase decision of my life, though now that I have a player, I think it was worth the effort.

One of your readers wrote to you recently, complaining of having just bought "another" excessively bright CD in spite of a favorable review. I don't recall which CD it was, but I suspect the problem was with the CD player and/or its cables, rather than with the disc. I've played a couple dozen widely different CDs on my Tandberg, and so far I have found none to be "unlistenable"--as some people think many CDs are. My main complaint with CDs has to do with obnoxious remastering, as on The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper, which I found to have exaggerated bass and too-subdued vocals. Also, some classical piano recordings sound as if they were made underwater. I had a Denon LP that sounded the same way, so I don't think this problem is with the discs themselves but rather is due to the digital mixing and/or digital recording. Has anyone else noticed this "underwater" effect? If so, does anyone have an explanation as to why it occurs? Some CDs are noticeably more clear and dynamic than others, but, as I've said, I haven't found any "unlistenable" ones.

I think it's amazing how little critical listening is apparently going on in audio stores. And ignore the so-called "audiophile" cables; using garden-variety interconnects will produce a much more musical sound (unless you're willing to spend $350 per meter). Most CD players are too bright sounding to my ears, while CDs sound good to me, with a few reservations.

Paul C. Welz; San Francisco, Cal.

The Power of Silence

Dear Editor:

Edward Tatnall Canby's entreaty to listeners to seek the cleansing effect of silence ("Audio ETC," November 1987) demands a response. As one of those born, as he puts it, a few decades ago in the age of occasional silence, I find myself increasingly assaulted by society's noise. I ask myself, is everything else "unnatural," or is it I that am not right? We can gain some insight if we realize that what is perceived as "natural" has changed constantly over the generations. Perhaps now the natural state is one of constant visual and aural bombardment. If we agree that each generation perceives normality differently, then the overriding question becomes: Will the existing environment equip the current generation in a better or worse way than their predecessors to deal with the problems that they will inevitably confront? I do not know. I suspect that, if people are preoccupied with increasingly sophisticated mass stimuli, they may have less time for creative and analytical thinking--a dangerous condition, as history has shown. If this is the underlying process (dare I say design?), then the problem is much more than one of simple annoyance with noise.

But societal concerns aside, Mr. Canby's argument for silence has much merit. Masters in the use of sound have always known the value of silence. In music class, we were taught about quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes (the sound) while the corresponding rests (the silence) were always an afterthought: "Oh, by the way, this whole note also has a rest, and its symbol is like a hat turned up, so that it can catch all the silence...." Beethoven knew how to use silence.

In his music, pianissimo follows sforzando--the rhythm is tortured by scattered, unpredictable silences. Affectation never enters into his use of the materials. All is for but one ultimate goal: To let the listener know what is in his soul. In the fourth movement of his Ninth Symphony, choir and orchestra reach a shattering climax with the words, ". Und der Cherub steht vor Gott! Vor Gott! Vor Gott!" There is then absolute, utter silence. He knew exactly where to write it in. This is truly inspired mastery in a method of organizing sounds and silences that we know as music.

In his later years, Beethoven came to know silence quite intimately. It is an ultimate irony that fate was to draw a curtain across the most precious sense of a most gifted man. Yet out of his isolation and despair came sounds the likes of which the world had never before heard. Beethoven's impending deafness, and the desperation and resolve that it brought, were of course the impetus for his Fifth Symphony. In this, we hear what a mighty work silence has wrought! If the Creator does indeed have designs upon each of us, then His reason for walling up Beethoven in silence must have been to bring forth all that was inside this man.

But I have digressed in making a point. Mr. Canby's plea for silence is really a plea for a balance in things.

Ecclesiastes tells us, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." At its heart, this is a call for balance.

I fear that our society's preoccupation with experiences and stimulation will lead to our ultimate downfall. I fervently hope that we will have the wisdom to step back from the noise and learn something from the silence.

Bill Werner, Jr.; Minneapolis, Minn.

(Source: Audio magazine, Apr. 1988)

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