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Records and the IRS It was heartening to see your article "Are Your Old Records Worth $55?" [January]. Messrs. Biel and Brooks are quite right in stating that price guides give relative, not absolute, values and that donating records to an institution will often be of more value than trying to sell them, especially if an accredited appraisal is made. I do not agree that the IRS presents undue difficulty in such cases, however; it has accepted substantiated (and substantial) evaluations I have made of private collections. Julian M. Moses American Record Collectors' Exchange New York, N.Y. Expert Advice In "A Personal Approach to Choosing Components" [December], Alfred Myers advises that "discounts of 25% or 30% are not at all uncommon." Well, we all know that no dealer can give such discounts and maintain a service facility for the benefit of those who cannot repair their own equipment. Servicing dealers would be eliminated if such discounts were really that common. Every such "expert" as Mr. Myers should have to operate a stereo shop; maybe he would reconsider his ideas about discounts. Lonnie W. Vickers; Vickers Electronics and Vickers Audio; Durham, N.C. Mr. Myers replies: Within the city limits of White Plains, New York, there are no fewer than six audio dealers. They range from a high-end "salon" that never gives discounts, and also has no in-house servicing, to mid-priced stores that provide knowledgeable help, attractive listening rooms, in-house servicing, and discounts. There is also a local dealer who, if his advertising is to be believed, will beat any price-and has a large, prominently displayed sign that states, "We Service What We Sell." All of these stores coexist quite nicely: The arrival of the "throat-cutter" did not drive the older firms into bankruptcy. Though I certainly do not dispute the fact that a dealer must make up for the increased overhead of having a service department, surely part of those costs is covered by what he charges for service. And with the elimination of strict list pricing and the rising cost of audio gear (especially imported brands), shopping for the largest discount is the only way many can get what they want. Having read your article, subtitled "Six Experts at Work Within Three Budgets," I wish to object strongly to the use of the word "experts" to describe these audibly handicapped and/or overpaid consultants. Peter E. Sutheim presented a sensible approach to buying a stereo system and, within the limits of the subjective method, chose a good $3,000 system. How ever, the other five quasi-experts' selections leave much to be desired. They failed to recognize some critical points in the selection of a good system, notably: 1) extracting as much information from the record as possible and 2) sound. A Denon DP-2500 turntable may have "astonishing" speed accuracy, but how much in formation does it extract from the record groove? Unfortunately, not as much as a Connoisseur at less than half the cost, and not nearly as much as a Linn Sondek LP-12, which could and should be included in most $5,000 systems. Your experts failed to mention the majority of fine European and American products available. I suggest that they, and your readers, locate some of these and give them a good listen. Alan Pratt Temple; Terrace, Fla. To remind Mr. Pratt of the introduction to the article: "The purpose of this article is to help readers explore the reasoning that goes into the selection process; it is this process rather than the results that we believe to be of importance. It's of no real value to a reader to know what model a particular expert likes if they do not share the same high fidelity objectives and priorities." Naturally, there will always be discussion and argument when it comes down to picking specific pieces of equipment. Ed. Ambience, Reverb, Quad The Aeolian Skinner reverberation system mentioned in "Ambience and Space: Six Experts on the State of the Stereo Art" [November] may have been exciting from a technical point of view in the 1950s, but it had deficiencies as a substitute for the real thing. It was demonstrated at the 1957 national convention of the American Guild of Organists in Houston. Its artificial reverberation made pipe organ sounds more pleasant than they were in the unaided dry room, but the effect was not natural to my own and to many others' ears. An explanation put forward at the time was that we were hearing a promotional setup rather than a custom installation. Yet a more sophisticated system would not have re moved the incongruity of other sounds in the room. I remember feeling ill at ease, and in retrospect I think this was because audience sounds were not reverberant. I not only was isolated from the musical ambience, but was receiving conflicting cues about the room's characteristics. In situations where ambience is sup posed to be perceived as real--as in the kind of space in which classical music is performed--I suspect that artificially generated reverberation will never be entirely satisfactory. Douglas Johnson; Athens, Ga. After reading "Ambience and Space," I came to the same conclusion that HF's spokesman apparently did, i.e., that these people are trying to sell quad under a different name. And really, I don't know what is so bad about quad. Since acquiring a Sony SQ decoder, I have used it constantly for all program material. The problem is lack of software: A few encoded records are still coming out, but no quad tapes are being produced. All that is needed is in the master tapes of the leading companies, and all that has to be done is to re-master them for quad. Why doesn't somebody do that? There must be a few others in the world who are willing to pay for quad. Paul A. Elias; Greenwich, Conn. Czech-mate I can endorse everything Harris Goldsmith said about the Harold in Italy recording by Josef Suk on the viola with the Czech Philharmonic under Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau [November]. This is one of my favorite works, and I have never heard a better version-though, curiously enough, another of my favorites stems from the same source. This is the mono version featuring the great Czech violist Ladislav Cerny with the Czech Philharmonic under Vaclav Jiracek. Cerny, founder of the pre war Prague Quartet, was a contemporary of Adolf Busch and Joseph Szigeti but, being a violist, was not as celebrated as they. In his role as a teacher, he was responsible for encouraging most of today's fine Czech chamber ensembles. Though I usually distrust violinists who take up the viola, I make an exception for Suk, who plays the lower instrument so well. He has made three superb recordings with the Smetana Quartet playing the first viola part: Dvorak's quintet (Supraphon) and Mozart's C major and G minor Quintets (Denon). Fischer-Dieskau, incidentally, goes from strength to strength as a conductor. I also have his fine Brahms Fourth Sym phony on Supraphon and Schumann's Second and Third, both with the Bamberg Symphony on the German Acanta label. But "the Viennese Bruno Walter"? Good gracious, Mr. Goldsmith, Bruno Walter was not only born and bred in Berlin, but was even trained at the Stern Conservatory there. Though I must admit that he found his true artistic home in Vienna, it was his rejection by his hometown in 1933 that almost broke his heart. Tully Potter Billericay, Essex, England Korjus and Brunnhilde In "Behind the Scenes" [December], HF mentioned that Miliza Korjus "is currently learning the role of Brunnhilde-not bad for a former light coloratura in her seventies." This is really not so surprising. During her concert career, Korjus often programmed the Wagner Liebestod with full symphony orchestra. She had the breadth of tone to do so. I remember one Chicago concert in which her singing of "Elsa's Dream" and the Liszt "Oh, quand je dors" were singled out by critics for special praise. Not very many years ago she made a number of records on the Venus label, and the voice was remarkably fresh. The Rev. Clifford Brier; Oswego, Ill. Warp Woes For my birthday, my wife bought me the Warner Bros. "Superman" album. The record was so badly warped that my Shure M95ED cartridge would not track it. We re turned it to the store, which had no more copies, and bought another elsewhere. Same song, second verse: another trip to re turn the second album. Can you imagine the hassle if we had ordered it from a mail order service? I think it is a shame that music com posed by John Williams and played by the London Symphony Orchestra ends up on a paper-thin record that is so badly warped that you cannot play it. What good does it do to acquire a good stereo system when the record companies are turning out junk? D. Dickman Los Alamos, N.M. ----------------- (High Fidelity, Apr 1980) Also see:
Predictable Crises in Classical Music Recording, by Allan Kozinn
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