- EDITORIAL--The Custom Touch, By E. Dell
AUDIO NEWS--What's new on the audio marketMAIL--Readers speak outNEW CHIPS ON THE BLOCK--Analog Devices' AD629 Diff Amp Burr-Brown DVD Audio Playback Chip Ohmite Heatsink Resistors Ohmcraft Audio Resistor. By CH- BOOK REVIEW--Radio Tubes and Boxes of the 1920s. By SF
SHOWCASE--Magnetic Recycle, By AE- TEST TRACKS--Readers' favorites to test audio systems
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Editorial
The Custom Touch
By Edward T. Dell, Jr.
Our town is remarkable for a number of reasons, despite its small size-about five thousand souls. Most remarkable to us, of course, is that it is home to some 30 periodicals, including two weekly newspapers. It has a world-class summer theater and is home to the MacDowell Colony, where forty artists of all kinds are in unfettered residence on a 400-acre preserve working uninterruptedly in isolated cottages, year round.
Most recently our local hospital added a first-class three-story Wellness Center, which offers a broad range of services for those recovering from physical trauma, as well as all forms of exercise and workout routines. Classes abound, two pools welcome, massage can be scheduled, and the dressing rooms offer every comfort including steam rooms and saunas. The planning survey indicated that membership might reach 300. Over a thousand have signed on and there is a waiting list.
The completeness and quality of this installation is what strikes the visitor most forcefully. Top quality and thoughtful planning are evident every where you look. The evident thoroughness of the planning is startling. They thought of everything. But not quite.
Peterborough has a significant elderly population, which has grown steadily partly because of a major retirement complex completed a few years ago.
These older citizens make good use of the Center's facilities.
However, there was one thing the planners missed.
Those who have had the splendid pleasure of using a sauna will have noted that the benches are usually stepped, with the first at normal seat level above the slatted floor. But there is always a higher seat one level above the lower one. The steam is better at the upper level, of course; the sweat breaks out sooner.
For some of the older folks, however, that upper bench is hard to reach with out help. One of these citizens noted the problem and went to the managers with an offer to help. A week later he presented them with two beautifully handcrafted handles, fashioned of oak stock, complete with bronze mounting screws. The maintenance staff mounted these on the rear wall, allowing those needing help a handy assist in accessing the top bench.
The volunteer made these handles in a home workshop. Thus a handcraft offering remedied a shortcoming in what is a wonderful, modern, and highly satisfying facility. But the architect and the engineers had not anticipated this particular, homely human need.
Yes, they had remembered all sorts of other needs. Large mirrors over wonderful sinks, lotions, hair dryers, tissue, cotton balls, hair spray, shampoo, body wash, stacks of fluffy towels, a water extractor for wet bathing suits-and much else. But no handle to hoist your aging body to the upper deck of the sauna bath.
Our human capacity to look creatively at what we are offered in today's world can see the small improvements that even the professionals may miss.
How many of us have driven a car in which we find inconveniences any designer/engineer would have caught had s/he driven the vehicle for five minutes?
A whole new discipline named ergonomics has arisen to address this problem. Great strides have been made toward thinking ahead about such is sues. Many products strike us as having origins where someone has given a lot of thought to the human experience in using them. But there is almost al ways some small, and sometimes large, omission, or some adjustment which only real-world use will uncover.
Such situations in audio equipment are exactly what amateurs are best at assessing. Most consumer products are, as we all realize, a result of a com promise of features to meet a marketing price point. Such compromises are not "mistakes" or even shortcomings, seen from the perspective of the art of the possible. But the history of this periodical includes a long list of improvements--starting with the first issue of Audio Amateur in 1970. A remarkable number of these have become part of the industry's standards.
There is really no substitute for creative interaction with the things we use every day. Such thought and response has been one of the bedrock foundations of the audio amateur enterprise.
- E.T.D.
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BOOK REVIEW
Radio Tubes and Boxes of the 1920s
Reviewed by SF
Radio Tubes and Boxes of the 1920s, by George A. Fathauer, Old Colony Sound Lab, 305 Union St., PO Box 876, Peter borough, NH 03458-0876, 603-924-6371, FAX 603-924-9467, e-mail custserv@ audioXpress.com, $26.99, 105pp., soft bound, 8½ × 11, $26.95. BKV4
Most books about vintage radios feature photographs of luminous tuning sets peeking seductively out of curvaceous wood cabinets. Radio Tubes and Boxes of the 1920s, on the other hand, presents the radio boom from the in side out. Rather than consoles, what you will find pictured here are hundreds of radio tubes, posed beside their original cartons. In addition, there are brochures and ads, plus announcements about tubes of special significance, all of which provide a unique "insider's view" of the radio boom.
THE TUBE THAT LAUNCHED A BOOM
Although a great many '20s tube types are shown here, the 201A triode is by far the most prevalent. The reason is not hard to fathom: The 201A was the first "acceptable" tube in America, in the sense that it was cheap, reliable, and efficient in use.
This commercial and technical breakthrough was the brainchild of Irving Langmuir at General Electric. Technically, the 201A was a tube of many firsts. It was among the first commercial tubes to include a getter, a thoriated filament, and a hard vacuum. These three techniques combined their strengths to provide a tube preeminent in its practicality.
The 201A's influence was widespread: all told, there were some 500 brands offered during the '20s! While many of these tubes were produced in small batches (and some were rebrands), today you can only marvel at the variety.
The typical 201A had a mu of 8, an "output resistance" of 12,000, and a plate current of 3mA. Puny, perhaps (by today's standards), but nonetheless sufficient to power the radio boom.
TUBES ON THE WILD FRONTIER
Throughout the '20s, radio manufacturers came and went, some years by the hundred. The one constant throughout the changing fortunes of the radio boom was the demand for tubes. Since tubes were the softest commodity of the radio industry, there was enormous interest in cracking the market. In an effort to stand out amid the ensuing mad scramble for market share, tube marketeers of the '20s raised hyperbole-in-advertising to an art form.
Take the Myers Company, for example, whose slogan was "Myers tubes, practically unbreakable." And, yes, they were glass tubes (but with Bakelite end caps)*. Sovereign's ads were a step more brazen, however, claiming "No hum, no microphonics, no noise." What I want to know is, did they turn the damn things on?
Televocal tubes were "quick heating" and, I take it, designed for persons of dubious patience. The "ever-depend able" 222 from Diatron would "increase volume" and give "the finest quality of tone." The ostensibly rugged tubes from Triad promised to "reduce service calls" while the apparently invulnerable Milo Radio tube was "the tube that never fails." The extramundane tubes from the Van Horne Company would "make a world of difference in your reception." The Gold Seal Company employed a yet more celestial approach, exhorting its customers to "enjoy perfection." And the Crosely Corporation anticipated the modern demand for realism with their slogan: "You're There With a Crosely Radio Tube." Then again, there was Magnavox. I will let their ad copy stand without comment: "The most noticeable feature of the new Magnavox Radio Tube consists in eliminating the grid."
THE NAME GAME
In addition to the rampant sloganeering, many manufacturers banked on romantically tinged brand names to spruce up their profile-names such as Air-King, Blue Streak, Mello-Tron, Music Master, Royal Blue, Sky-Sweeper, Songbird, and Sunlight Crusader. Then there were the tonalists: Belltone, Cleartone, Golden tone, and O-T Silvertone ("Clear as a Silver Bell"). And the one-upper 'tones: Live-Tone, Real-Tone, Tru Tone, Wonder Tone, and of course, Perfectone.
Like the 'tones, the 'trons came in for more than a few cloying acronyms. Amplitron, Cleartron ("The Master of Space"), Duratron, Dynatron, Musiktron, Radiotron, Supertron, Teletron, and, of course, Thermatron. These are not so bad, but there were some truly vacuous names as well: Blazing Train, Blo-Pruf, Echotron, Good Luck, Goode Tube, Magictron, Kazoo, Ozarka, Uni tone No Bee, and my personal favorite Vacobub (a beautiful bulb in spite of its goofy name).
Not all tube companies relied on hyperbole, however; many were quite sober and straightforward in their ap proach to advertising. Moreover, there existed a panoply of comforting blue chip name brands: Cunningham, Gen eral Electric, Hytron, Ken-Rad, National Union, Philips, Raytheon, RCA, Sylvania, Tung-Sol, and Westinghouse, among others. All of the foregoing are revealed in color, many for the first time, in the more than 400 color photos of this compact encyclopedia of radio tubes. The brands are conveniently arranged in alphabetical order.
THE PHOTOS
As a dedicated tube man, I found that many of these photos took my breath away. Of particular note are the "blues." Arcturus, for example, produced a lovely series of tinted blue bulbs. I must admit, there is something alluring about a blue tube (yes, even the gassy ones).
Another beatific blue tube of note is the Beacon Blue, which had a curvaceous pear shape and smooth, tipless crown. And, of course, there is the fabulous Brightson True Blue, which came packed in a blue, velvet-lined case. It was accordingly touted as "The Finest Radio Tube in the World!" Maybe not, but at least you knew it would arrive safely.
Sodion, on the other hand, doggedly pursued authentic technical innovations, not all of which were uniformly successful. The D-21 employed an elongated-and frosted-glass envelope of elegantly smooth proportions. Gorgeous, I think, is not too strong a word here. Their boxes and cartons, not just the tubes, could in many cases be striking.
The De Forest D-series tubes, for example, came packed in metal canisters, complete with the Master's visage conspicuous on the can. The metal packaging was evidently intended to project an aura of rugged dependability.
Other manufacturers found different ways to project quality in their presentation. Arcturus boxes, with their celestial scene and observatory, seemed to gaze heavenward. More down-to-earth, but nonetheless appealing in its own right, was the Leader box-a plain-as Jane cardboard cylinder carton à la Quaker Oats.
Lightning bolts were a common styling motif, and Continental Tube Labs chose to use a myriad of bolts. The tube packed within Continental's lightning-laden box was evidently lightning proof, being fully ensconced within a copper sheath of--shall we say--masculine proportions. The "copper condom" would not be amiss here.
Most of the tubes from this period exhibit the classic pear shape ("S" envelope) with clear glass, although there are countless variations among the brands. Quite a number of tubes had at tractive logos affixed to the glass. The bases could be interesting, too, as they were often of ceramic or metal-with some brass, some nickel, and some brightly polished.
THE PUBLISHER
This eye-popping picture book originates from Sonoran Publishing of Chandler, Ariz. Sonoran is the dream child of George A. Fathauer (son of George H. Fathauer) of the famous father-son team who built up Antique Electronic Supply from a gleam-in-the eye beginning in 1982. Having built AES into a high-profile purveyor of radio parts and receiving tubes, the two Georges then sold the company in 1994, only to come full circle. Later that same year, the younger George fired-up Sonoran Publishing with the aim of producing world-class books about his original interest-antique radios and their in nards. George Sr., too, has returned to his roots; having become a specialty dealer of collectable radio tubes. Sonoran Publishing is committed to preserving the heritage of the radio age in all its complex dimensions. This is the first book by the publisher himself, and it is an auspicious debut. The book's physical execution and graphical presentation are first-rate--reminiscent of the superb 70 Years of Radio Tubes and Valves (also from Sonoran Publishing). The photos and the paper in both books are of equal high quality.
Information on Sonoran's books is available at their website sonoranpub lishing.com.
IN RETRO
Mr. Fathauer has fashioned a dazzling panorama of thermionic incunabula for the tube world. The emotions evoked by the various photographs, brand names, and slogans range from the sublime to the ridiculous; but throughout it all there is an abiding sense of wonder.
Radio Tubes and Boxes of the 1920s will surely rocket to the top of every tube collector's wish list, and tube lovers of every lineage will no doubt find something of interest here.
The basic feel of the book is wall-to wall tubes and their containers. That, plus the many period ads and announcements, all combine to instill a palpable feeling of "you-are-there" (re-tubing, it may be, the elegant receivers of yesteryear). Anyone interested in vacuum tubes should consider owning this book, as it rounds out an important stable of tube classics by Tyne, Stokes, Thrower, and Mager. These latter books highlight the historical and technical aspects of tubes. In contrast, Radio Tubes emphasizes their aesthetical side-their color, their diaphanous beauty, and their sensuous curves--revealed here as in no other book I have yet seen.
* The colorful career of Elman B. Myers is detailed by Gerald Tyne in Saga of the Vacuum Tube, wherein Myers is drawn as the archetypal "bootlegger."
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Davis, H.B.O., Electrical and Electronic Technologies:
A Chronology of Events and Inventors from 1900 to 1940, The Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, N.J., 1983.
MacLaurin, W.R. and Harman, R.J., Invention and Innovation in the Radio Industry, Macmillan Co., N.Y., 1949.
Mager, B., 75 Years of Western Electric Tube Manufacturing, Antique Electronic Supply, Tempe, Ariz., 1992, Second Ed. 1994.
Stokes, J.W., 70 Years of Radio Tubes and Valves, 1982, Second Edition, 1997, Sonoran Publishing, Chandler, Ariz.
Thrower, K.R., History of the British Radio Valve to 1940, MMA Internat'l Ltd., Hants, England, 1992.
Tyne, G.F.J., Saga of the Vacuum Tube, 1977, Third Printing 1994, Prompt Publications, Tempe, Ariz.
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Test Tracks
Some technically fine recordings with mediocre performances make some systems sound better than they are by presenting rarely heard sound quality without the distraction of seductive music. Some technically weak albums (e.g., "spiked" treble or bass) may enhance the sound of some cheaper systems and sound execrable on a good system, making the better system seem at fault. Test albums need to span a range of ensemble sizes and complexity while being enjoyable-garage doors and synthesized pianos won't do it.
I employ three auditioning systems--one relatively expensive; one decent, in expensive system; and a boom-box. If an album pleases me musically and sounds progressively better at each level, it becomes a candidate.
1. Music for Two Guitars (Oscar Caceres and Turibo Santos, Musical Heritage Society, MHS 1944 LP).
From its opening Scarlatti sonata, this relaxing set, mostly of duo guitar transcriptions, spans five centuries of com position. The Scarlatti and Cimarosa sonatas are particularly intriguing, but the entire album is a perfect "lights out" escape into other times and places. High-end systems, panels, and electrostatic speakers really shine with this recording, while lesser systems tend to constrict its lifelike image.
[MHS is still very active in the CD era. Their address is 1710 Highway 35, Oakhurst, NJ 07755.] Look into MHS, which has been re leasing gems like this and the sadly ignored Hummel Mandolin Concerto (MHS 1701, LP) for years. They seem able to find performances of great early literature that orchestral programmers have overlooked. I've had much luck finding MHS LPs at estate sales and used record shops.
2. Poulenc, Concerto pour 2 pianos et orchestre (Katia and Marielle LaBeque, Seiji Ozawa with Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philips D 105623).
You need some piano. If one piano is good, then two pianosThe dynamic range on this album is wide, the inter play between the two pianos and orchestra reveals a system's resolving power, and the music is downright fun.
Besides the Poulenc concerto, there are four more of his works for two pianos and Milhaud's Scaramouche.
3. Berlioz, Symphonie Fantastique (Ataulfo Argenta with the Paris Conservatory Orchestra, London CS 6025).
This is one of the classic interpretations of the Fantastique and has been reissued on archive labels. I prefer its rhythm and balance across the movements to any of the many recorded and live performances I've heard. It offers excellent tests of full orchestral dynamics and very subtle, realistic explorations of the bass range. Only the best systems reveal everything on this recording.
Although this is my favorite, there are many fine CDs and LPs of this work.
The Fantastique makes a fine system tester in terms of varied orchestration and nuance.
4. West Side Story (Original Broadway Cast, Columbia CK 32603).
I've owned the LP since 1960 but purchased the CD on J. Gordon Holt's recommendation and could not believe how much better it is. An inferior sys tem will not handle the chorale "Tonight," making this a great recording for exposing purportedly "high end" systems that lack cohesiveness.
Don't mistake the movie soundtrack for the highly musical original cast album.
5. Stravinsky, L'Histoire du Soldat (Robert Mandel with Ars Nova, West minster WST-1401, LP).
This elegant interpretation of a thorny, yet accessible, 20th century work pro vides an almost microscopic audio study of the chamber ensemble. This is Stravinsky's version of the Faustian theme, and a demonic work it is, as well as a surprising musical adventure. Each playing reveals something new. Most live and recorded versions that I've heard seem disjointed by comparison.
6. Mozart, Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra (Robert Marcellus with George Szell, Cleveland Orchestra, Columbia LP MS 6968, reissued on CD).
Szell was one of the great orchestral accompanists for soloists, and this exemplifies his best. Marcellus, whose career tragically ended early due to a crippling disease, blends with Szell in a performance that is mostly duet for clarinet and orchestra. One passage in the first movement is so strikingly coordinated that hairs on the back of my neck liter ally rise whenever I hear it played on a good system.
I've owned many versions of this work and have often heard it live. This stands out as my favorite interpretation of my favorite work. The CD does not sound quite as good as the LP, but don't let that stop you. Thea King's Hyperion release of this concerto has the advantage of the richer sound of the basset clarinet, but Marcellus's performance, for me, rules.
7. John Prine, In Spite of Ourselves (Oh Boy Records OBR-019).
Auditioning audio systems can become tedious by about the fifth store, so it's best to carry one album that can loosen you up while still giving you some perspective on the systems. Prine's
"Bruised Orange" offers a wider range of sounds and somewhat higher fidelity, but he did audiophiles a favor by set ting up duets with a variety of female voices and then highlighting his own and their voices quite nicely.
This album also brought to mind the question of live versus recorded performances. I recently heard Prine sing a number of duets with Iris DeMent at a live concert. Her voice sounded awful--scratchy, sibilant, and distorted. When I got home, I put on the album, and there she was in all her glorious clarity and twang. The hall acoustics and horn tweeters at the concert had ruined the work of a fine performer.
When we audiophiles sanctify "the absolute sound," we need to remember that there aren't many venues where we get to hear it. My wife, a piano fan, often prefers some of our recordings to the sounds we get in many halls (al though Vienna's Musikverein certainly provided an exception).
At stores that don't feature phono hookups, I replace the LPs in this list with CDs: a good concert band CD (the break strains in "Semper Fidelis" and "Footlifters" can turn most systems to mush), a complex orchestral album (Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat, Lon don 414039-2/10), and a jazz combo (Dave Brubeck's Time Out).
Desmond Grier; Minneapolis, Minn.
Let's hear from you. Simply describe your seven favorite pieces (not to exceed 1000 words); include the names of the music, composer, manufacturer, and manufacturer's number; and send to "Test Tracks," Audio Amateur, Inc., Box 876, Peterborough, NH 03458.
We will pay a modest stipend to readers whose submissions are chosen for publication.
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