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I have been collecting classical recordings for more than ten years and, like everyone else, have purchased the entire range of quality from mediocre to superior. Now I fear I may have stumbled onto yet another threat to buyer satisfaction. I purchased "Luciano Pavarotti: World's Favorite Tenor Arias" (London OS 26384) from a reputable record shop. When I opened the package, I noticed the dust liner was turned to the open side of the album. Moreover, someone had made notations in pencil of surface defects at the corresponding place in the texts. When we assume we are getting factory-fresh merchandise, it is pretty discouraging to have such deceitful practices thrust on us by companies of Decca-London's stature. -Scott A. Merrill, Chillicothe, Ohio. We feel certain that Decca-London is not to blame. Next time you're in a record store, take a peek into the back room. We bet you'll see facilities for shrink-wrapping albums--including, if the management is so inclined, those that have been returned for one reason another. My sound system consists of a Sony STR6800 receiver, Sony TC-650 tape deck, Sony PS-3300 turntable with an Audio-Technica AT-14Sa cartridge, and two Sansui SP-2000 speakers. Six months ago I added a DBX Model 118 dynamic-range enhancer to my system and have had nothing but problems since. I have gone through six tweeters and don't know why. My DBX instruction manual contains cautions about potentially dangerous oscillation if recording on the tape deck with the function switch of the receiver in the AUX position. I have never recorded when the receiver function switch was in the AUX position! But since I have tapes with different program material on each channel, I naturally want to listen to one channel but not the other. To do this with my tape deck it is necessary to flip a deck monitor switch into the SOURCE mode during playback. When that is done, the "off" channel's VU meter pegs the needle to the right. Is it possible that the dangerous oscillation can also be caused by doing this? I did have the receiver function switch in the Aux mode, but was not recording. If this is the problem, then isn't the manual's warning misleading, not taking into account this possibility? -William Tsarones, Elyria, Ohio Six tweeters? That should get you the Persistence Award for 1978. What you have done is to neglect the fact that when the tape recorder is switched to SOURCE, signal is fed through it just as surely as if you were recording. Thus, when you flipped the receiver switch through AUX, you set up exactly the sort of feedback loop that DBX warned you about. The final sentence in the second caution notice advises that you turn down the amplifier control when first playing a tape, just in case there is feedback. Had you done this, your tweeter would have, in all likelihood, survived. And had you considered the danger of feedback (as a prudent user of a complex interconnection would do), the loud and clear warning shouted by the pegging VU meter would have enabled you to save the last five tweeters. Sorry, this looks like pilot error to us. Will using a Watts Dust Bug, the Discwasher cleaner, and Sound Guard preservative--each according to directions, of course--damage my records? -Barrett Whitene, Gastonia, N.C. We see no reason why it would. We regret that, due to the volume of reader mail we get, we cannot give individual answers to all questions. ------------- (High Fidelity, USA print magazine) Also see:
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