Editor's Review (Nov. 1972)

THE AES CONVENTION was held in New York's plush Waldorf-Astoria this year and the exhibition itself seemed rather less cramped in its new quarters. The usual elaborate studio equipment was on display-most of it beautifully styled with a superb finish. One large console by Rupert Neve attracted some attention because of the small sign reading "Delivery In 30 Days." In an industry where it is normal to wait for six to nine months for custom-made equipment, this is a revolution indeed! Upstairs, there were several demonstration rooms and both Sansui and CBS were showing off their respective quadraphonic systems. The former was using their new "Vario-Matrix" system I mentioned briefly in August, and CBS was using a logic system via a new Lafayette four-channel receiver.

The Sansui room was crowded with studio equipment and they were emphasizing the separation characteristics of the system which they insist is not logic controlled. CBS was playing some of the new discs-including those made by EMI, and I am really looking forward to side-by-side A-B comparisons between the two systems-as well as with the RCA-JVC discrete. Electro Voice was using their universal decoder with four of their new speaker systems which use a 6-in. bass unit and a slave radiator. Bass seems to be well maintained down to 40 Hz-maybe even lower. The enclosure is vented and is quite small--being less than a cubic foot. However, an equalizer is necessary to lift the response below 100 Hz or so. Bose was demonstrating their new 801 which is the performer's version of the 901.

Well, not quite because all the eight speaker units are facing forward, but the equalizer is still required. The enclosures are about the same size as the 901's, but they are built into a portable case. Several can be stacked if required.

Power handling capacity is quite high and the Gramophone's John Gilbert said it "was more than enough for English ears." JVC was demonstrating their discrete system-again emphasizing separation, and nearby DBX was showing off their professional noise-reduction unit. Some good sound was to be heard from the EPI room where some new column systems were featured--including the Microtowers which cost less than $100.00 a pair.

Schwann Likes

The Schwann Record Guide--sorry, Record and Tape Guide--recently had a contest to find out what composers people liked least. As they put it, "music of a composer I would just as soon not hear for the next five years!" About 2200 replies were received, which astonished the Schwann people but they were even more surprised by the results-or so I would imagine.

Would you believe the top 13 hates were Schoenberg, Wagner, Bruckner, Bartok, Stravinsky, Ives, Liszt, Berg, Hindemith, Webern, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, and Bach? Schoenberg, Webern, and Berg, yes--but Bach and Mahler? and Haydn, Vivaldi, Johann Strauss were not far behind on the un-preferred list either. Beethoven and Mozart collected quite a few votes too, so I am left wondering what composers would make the preferred list-perhaps Schwann could make another survey?

Video-Discs

The Decca-Teldec Video-disc now has a formidable competitor in the just announced Videodisc from the Dutch Philips company. Turntable speed is 25 rpm and playing time is said to be 45 minutes for each side of a 12-in. disc. The system bears no resemblance to the Teldec as a neon-helium laser beam is used instead of a stylus. The signals are in the form of pits or microscopic indentations which modulate the laser beam. This is reflected to a photo-electric detector and converted to signals which are applied to the TV screen. The video image can be "frozen" if required but users cannot make their own discs. On the other hand, the laser disc players should be cheaper than tape units and they will have obvious applications in the industrial and educational fields.

G–Ratings

A Japanese magazine has recently tested some of the new cassette tape recorders and I was intrigued to note that marks were awarded for "Gorgeousness." This desirable feature must be far more difficult to measure than signal-to-noise, for instance, and I was impressed with such items as recorder A having a G-rating of 61%, but recorder B made only 52%. I congratulate the engineers concerned on their perception. If they will let us into the secret, we will certainly include G-ratings in our list of specifications.

G.W.T.

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(Source: Audio magazine.)

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