SIGNALS & NOISE (Letters to Editor) (Dec. 1991)

Don't Mention It

Dear Editor:

I suppose we don't need unsightly or confusing interconnects or power cords to use the Lirpa Labs Stealth DSP module (April). Lirpa Labs was not mentioned in the Ad Index. The reality of this product is dubious at best, but if it is real, please place my name on the interested buyer's list. My system needs new and interesting components to keep it happy. To my meager knowledge, there are no other surrealism processors available.

-Drain Bammage; Seattle, Wash.

Wise Investment

Dear Editor:

I recently inquired about a loose power switch on my Adcom GFT-555 tuner. An Adcom representative asked me if I thought I could replace the switch myself since there was no soldering involved. I assured him that I would be able to perform the task. He agreed to send me the needed part free of charge, and I was in receipt of the part in just two days.

It's nice to know that some companies, such as Adcom, take care of the people who have invested (wisely) in their products.

-Ronald Bessell; South Euclid, Ohio

Rapture in Maryland

Dear Editor:

As a dedicated reader of your publication and an ardent music enthusiast, I always appreciate learning about and hearing equipment constructed with quality and care in which I may have a buying interest. In the past, both your readers and staff have provided me with this vital information, and now I'd like to return the service.

During a recent search for a second set of speakers, I "discovered" a small but talented local speaker manufacturer who builds both finished speaker systems and speaker kits for discriminating audiophiles who don't want to (or can't) spend their very last dollar on high-end speakers but still want to enjoy the best in sound reproduction. For the past 30 years, The Speaker Factory at 9141 Arbuckle Drive, Gaithersburg, Md., has been manufacturing systems of impeccable sound-reproduction quality compared to highly advertised systems selling for three and four times as much. It's musical rapture you experience when you listen to the smooth response, clean bass, and extended highs produced by The Speaker Factory's array of systems.

I feel an obligation to other readers to let them know that The Speaker Factory exists. I am sure most readers will agree that not only is the talent which creates the sound important to us, but the accurate reproduction of that recorded sound is equally important, especially at reasonable cost.

-Richard H. Bender; Gaithersburg, Md.

Fight the Power

Dear Editor:

The quality of recorded music is approaching that which is live. It's a pleasure playing with tapes of Pocket Songs and the Singing Machine, integrating my clarinet in its three registers. I play the gambit, from gutbucket blues, symphonic themes, and ethnic music--all with authentic background music on tape. I take full blame if my clarinet squeaks. I also take home a salary above that which most bandleaders receive.

There is, however, a contributing factor that subtracts from my musical performances here in South Florida.

The power is inconsistent, and as a result I find myself playing at times a halftone lower, thereby changing the character of the original key heard by the orchestrator.

If it can happen to me, it is happening to audio connoisseurs with state-of-the-art technology. They are not hearing musical instruments playing in the recording studio at 440 pitch reproduced as such on their expensive audio equipment. It is not fair for power companies to decrease by even a halftone. Everything, including highway lights, runs well at 440 pitched power.

All they need do is use their access to technology so that we may have the best use of ours. If they flinch, a "battery" of a boycott would alter their mind-set, although audio connoisseurs among the employees of utility companies are not asked to support us.

-Owen Enge.; Lauderhill, Fla.

(Audio magazine, 12/1991)

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