The Strides of Stereo

The true high-fidelitarian has been described as a happy crossbreed of perpetual malcontent and eternal optimist – a man never quite satisfied with his sonic lot but always convinced that perfection lies just around the corner. His quest for more life-like sound led him recently to stereo and to a wholesale conversion of apparatus. But it's not in the nature of the high fidelity beast to remain content for long. Today we find him exploring some new refinements–integrated components, phantom channels, ambiophony, tape cartridges, FM multiplex – and avidly eying a parcel (text continued on page 72) of new gear on the audio dealer's shelves. A virtual explosion of new recordings – 4-track and stereo disc – and of new recording companies, whet the appetite.

Most of the news in stereo is developmental, rather than inventive, as we shall see. For example, observe those all-in-one stereo pickups in the dealer's window. They're the result of a trend to integration that got under way a few years ago with the Shure Stereo Dynetic Reproducer – a sleek piece of audio jewelry that married a made-for-each-other (continued on page 76)Strides of Stereo(continued from page 72) cartridge and tonearm into one indivisible unit. The Shure pickup sounded as well as it looked and set a pattern for similar efforts by EMI, Fairchild, London-Scott and Weathers. These integrated pickups all share one common concept: that a cartridge and its transport mechanism work most efficiently when treated as a single entity. Within that concept, of course, there's a good deal of variation in design. We happen to be especially partial to the London-Scott pickup, not only for its clean sound and ease of handling, but also for the fact that its manufacturer has thoughtfully produced an interchangeable head for 78-rpm records. It slips on the London-Scott arm in place of the stereo cartridge and automatically increases stylus pressure. With it we've had a glorious time listening to our prewar Bix Beiderbecke and Claudia Muzio shellacs. On an up-to-date stereo rig they sound better than ever.

Take a look at a column-like piece of equipment from EMI and you'll discover that the principle of integration has been extended to amplifiers and speakers as well. Here again the idea is to mate two components for optimum efficiency. Speakers are by nature uneven performers. In an integrated unit the amplifier is specifically designed to compensate for the peculiar foibles of its accompanying speakers. EMI's Model DLS-1 is an amplifier-speaker system that comes in a vertical enclosure a bit over four feet high. If you were to remove the grille cloth you would see at the base a 25-watt amplifier and above it three speakers which share various segments of the frequency spectrum from 30 to 15,000 cycles. The unit was originally designed for monitoring work in the London studios of EMI (a firm that puts out recordings on the Angel, Capitol and His Master's Voice labels) and was made to please the exacting ears of such splenetic auditors as Maria Callas and Sir Thomas Beecham. It's custom built and by no means inexpensive ($594 per unit), but the sonic results are exemplary. The Integrand Corporation in Westbury, Long Island, manufactures an integrated amplifier-speaker system that's about half the size of the EMI and about half as expensive, and other firms are tooling up.

Phantom channel is a circumlocution for "third channel." Whatever you call it, its visible form is a third speaker set between the left-right channels, and its function is to plug up stereo's so-called "hole in the middle." We have always considered this awful hole to be more a visual than an auditory problem. When you see an eight-foot chasm separating Speaker A from Speaker B, you can easily convince yourself that there's a paucity of sound in between. Actually there may be plenty, depending on the acoustics of the room and the relative angling of the speakers. We remember an early stereo demonstration given by Westminster Records in which three large speakers were set up before the audience. At its conclusion everyone remarked on the solid wall-to-wall impact of the sound, and there was much knowing discourse on the virtues of using a third channel. It was only then that Kurt List, Westminster's musical director, confessed that the center speaker was a dummy. He had placed it there simply to prevent our attention from focusing too securely on the left and right sound sources.

Since that experience we've never been much bothered by a hole in the middle. But if it bothers you, don't fret; the matter is easily set to rights. Most of the new stereo preamps and control amplifiers have a tap at the rear marked "Center Output." Merely connect this to a separate amplifier (your old mono job in the attic will do nicely) and connect the amplifier to a third speaker placed midway between the basic stereo pair. The result is a phantom channel combining the left and right stereo tracks in presumably equal proportions. If you still detect an acoustic cavity, consult a psychoanalyst.

We can't find "ambiophony" in our dictionary, but we're assured by the hi-fi cognoscenti that it will be on everybody's lips before long. The term refers to the phenomenon of background acoustics – the impalpable ingredient that makes an orchestra in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw sound different from an orchestra in Detroit's Ford Auditorium. Theoretically, a well-made and well-reproduced recording should convey a pretty fair notion of hall acoustics. Practically, say the ambiophonists, the four walls of a small apartment living room can't possibly do acoustic justice to a hundred-piece orchestra unless some electronic help is forthcoming. Enter now various reverberation devices which purport to inflate your living room to concert hall proportions. They are being much touted this winter by makers of phonograph consoles (Philco and Zenith, for example) and are also being sold as accessories to owners of component equipment by Fisher and Sargent-Rayment. Fisher's Dynamic Spacexpander sells for $59.50, Sargent-Rayment's Reverberation 202 for $47.75, and both are connected between the preamp and power amplifier stages in the component chain. Results? Well, it depends. If you want to bestow an appropriately church-like acoustic ambiance on an organ or choral recording, the reverberation device will do it nicely. If you want to make David Oistrakh sound as if he were playing in the middle of a huge empty vodka barrel, the reverberation device can do that as well. But who wants it to? We see considerable merit in the concept of ambiophony, and we'd be the first to admit that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony sounds cramped in our living room. But we also believe that the present reverb accessories can stand improvement and that they may distort more recordings than they improve.

You'll have to wait for the latest developments in tape cartridges, because they're not yet on the market. But if all goes according to schedule, we'll be hearing plenty about them before the year is over. In case you haven't kept au courant with the progress of recorded tape, a bit of past history might be helpful before we gaze into the crystal ball. Recorded tapes began to make a sizable dent in the market about five years ago when they were the only practical stereo medium. At that time they ran at 7-1/2 ips (inches per second), came on open reels, were recorded on two tracks, and cost a good deal of money. The arrival of stereo discs in 1958 knocked the props out from two-track 7-1/2-ips tape, because the discs were far cheaper and at least comparable (if not absolutely equal) in stereo quality. Whereupon RCA Victor announced a stereo tape cartridge which was to be not only competitive in price with the stereo disc but just as easy to use. Its reels, encased in a plastic container, required no threading, and its tape ran at 3-3/4 ips and used four tracks instead of two. For a variety of reasons, this development never got off the ground, and in time RCA beat a silent retreat. Meanwhile, the Ampex Corporation (Ampex is to tape apparatus as Rolls-Royce to motorcars) began boosting four-track open-reel tape at 7-1/2 ips. A subsidiary of Ampex, United Stereo Tapes, started distributing an impressive array of recorded tapes at reasonable prices, and soon the tape business came to life again. By the end of 1960 every major record company was issuing four-track 7-1/2-ips tape and total sales for the year were estimated at ten million dollars.

One of the prime advantages of four-track 7-1/2-ips tape is its compatibility with existing tape players. Almost any tape-transport mechanism can be adapted from the old two-track to the new four-track operation. You merely order a conversion kit from the manufacturer of your tape player and do it yourself, or consign your tape equipment to the ministrations of a competent service man. Either way, the change-over shouldn't cost more than fifty dollars. Of course, four-track heads are standard equipment on all the new tape players, and you'll (continued on page 90) Strides of Stereo (continued from page 76) find some beauties on the market today – from sources both foreign (Ferro-graph, Sony, Tandberg, Uher) and domestic (Ampex, Bell, Viking, Webcor).

At this point we'll bring in that crystal ball and direct your attention to a plastic wafer the size of a graham cracker. What you see is a new tape cartridge developed jointly by CBS Laboratories and the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. Within the graham cracker is enough tape to play for sixty-four minutes; moreover, with the cartridges stacked on an automatic-changer spindle, you can enjoy (if that is the word) five hours of nonstop music. In the CBS-3M cartridge the tape has been slowed down to 1-7/8 ips; and though it's only 1/7 inch wide, there's room for three separate tracks. Two of the tracks contain the usual left-right stereo channels, the third is for a reverberation signal that's supposed to provide concert hall illusion (ambiophony again). Peter Goldmark, head of CBS Labs, claims that the 1-7/8-ips cartridge will have better sound quality and better durability than a stereo disc, and for the moment we'll have to take his word for it, since the cartridges and apparatus to play them won't go on sale until later this year. Also expected later this year is an improved version of RCA Victor's tape cartridge. Whether either the CBS or RCA device will replace stereo discs or four-track 7-1/2-ips tape in the fi man's affection remains to be seen.

There's no doubt, however, that FM stereo multiplex will get an enthusiastic reception the moment it makes its belated debut. Stereo broadcasting at present entails transmission of the A and B channels on two separate wave lengths – generally from the AM and FM transmitters of the same station. This is a far from ideal system and can be regarded as at best a stopgap measure. Multiplexing, which permits the simultaneous transmission of two separate signals on one static-free FM wave length, is the obvious answer. The difficulty has been that there are six versions of the answer. Six different multiplex systems have been submitted to the Federal Communications Commission for approval, each of them having the virtue of compatibility (which means that a tuner adapted for multiplex can pick up both channels of a stereo signal, while a regular FM radio tuned to the same wave length will pick up only the normal monophonic signal). From these six multiplex systems the FCC must choose one as the industry standard. Its decision has been pending for two years. As soon as it comes, FM tuner makers will go into high gear to bring forth the adapters you'll need to receive stereo multiplex broadcasts. Most recent FM tuners already have a plug in the back for a multiplex adapter, so it's merely a question of paying the requisite coin of the realm (about $50) and hooking the multiplex gadget into your stereo setup. Inputs for left-right tuner channels are standard equipment on all stereo preamps and control amplifiers.

In case you're beginning to wonder whether every interesting stereo development is in the nature of a Future Trend, relax: right now the shops are full of new equipment calculated to entice even the tone deaf. For instance, that old problem of changer vs. turntable is being resolved by some ingenious compromises that promise to give us the best of both components. Exhibit A is a new device brought out by the Rek-O-Kut Company that transforms a turntable into an automatic record player. It's called the "Autopoise" and can be attached to any of Rek-O-Kut's S-series tonearms. You press a button and "Autopoise" starts the motor, lowers the arm onto the record, lifts it upon completion of the side, returns it to the arm rest, and shuts off the motor. The gadget does everything except change the record. If you insist on automatic change and still hanker after turntable quality, investigate Exhibit B – the Garrard Automatic Turntable. This English import has a six-pound cast turntable, a heavy-duty motor, and a dynamically balanced tone-arm with built-in pressure gauge. There's a removable spindle in the center; leave it on and you have an automatic changer, take it off and you have a professional-type turntable. Similar turntable/changer combinations are offered by United Audio (Dual 1006) and Miracord (Model XS-200).

Incidentally, the built-in pressure gauge is becoming standard equipment on most of the new tonearms. You'll find automatic calibration on the Empire 98, ESL S-2000, Rek-O-Kut Gyro-poise, and Shure Professional tonearms, to name a few. If you're one of those timid souls who are perpetually worried about ruining delicate stereo pressings with too-heavy stylus pressures, worry no longer. Get a calibrated arm, set the pressure gauge to the number of trams recommended for your cartridge, and forget about it.

Builders of stereo amplifiers are currently engaged in a hotly contested power race. The sweepstakes began about a year ago when Harman-Kardon brought out its Citation II Stereo Power Amplifier – an impressive hunk of equipment that weighs 60 pounds, delivers 120 watts (60 watts per channel), and costs $229.50 factory assembled. Word soon got around that it was very possibly the finest power amplifier ever made. No doubt cunning circuitry and top-grade parts had much to do with its sterling performance, but so did all that comfortable wattage. Hence, the power race. You can now get stereo power amplifiers in the 90-to-120-watt range from Acro, Fisher, Sargent-Rayment and H. H. Scott, as well as from Harman-Kardon. Saul Marantz, whose uncompromising dedication to producing quality equipment has long been appreciated by audio connoisseurs, has enlivened the contest by marketing a new single-channel amplifier (Model No. 9) conservatively rated at 70 watts; with two of them for stereo, you're in the 140-watt class. Anyone who followed Detroit's horsepower race a few years ago knows that this sort of fever can be extremely contagious, and the chances are that the biggest, most powerful amplifier has yet to be built.

All these super-power amplifiers must be used in conjunction with a control preamp, of course. If you incline to the Citation II amplifier, you'll probably want its partner, the Citation I preamp, which has also received some loud hosannas for its absolutely flat response and simple flexibility. It will set you back about $280, assembled at the factory and housed in a walnut cabinet. Other preamps of comparable quality and in the same general price class are available from the Messrs. Fisher, Marantz, McIntosh and Scott.

Stereo control amplifiers (in which the preamp and power amplifier share the same cabinet) haven't yet gone quite so far in the power race, but they're getting heftier all the time. Fisher's X-202 is a solid 50-watt job that tips the scales at 32 pounds and costs $229.50. We had one in use for several months and found nothing to complain of. Scott's time-tested Model 299 control amplifier has been upped from 40 to 50 watts, and for the real megalomaniac the firm puts out its Model 272 at 88 watts. General Electric, Grommes, Cros-by and Stromberg-Carlson also make stereo control amplifiers in the 50-wattor-better category.

If a reaction does set in and we all start yearning suddenly for high fidelity "compacts," a West Coast outfit called Transis-Tronics will already have done the pioneering. As you can guess from the name, they're making transistorized equipment. Transis-Tronics' latest model, the S-15, is a book-size, tubeless, transformerless, 40-watt stereo control amplifier which weighs a mere 7-1/4 pounds and costs a mere $129.50. For the man who requires more power the company makes the S-25, also tubeless but not transformerless, hence, larger, heavier, and more costly. In addition to their diminutive size, the acknowledged advantages of transistors are lack of heat (no warm-up time, no deterioration of parts), lack of hum, and lack of microphonics. However, there have been disadvantages too, such as background his (concluded on page 94) Strides of Stereo (continued from page 90) and instability, and they have caused most designers of amplifier equipment to give transistors a wide berth. The Transis-Tronics people feel they have the difficulties licked, and to back up their belief they're giving a two-year guarantee with each new instrument.

Speakers, of course, have been getting more compact ever since the advent of stereo. The challenge has been to retain big-speaker quality within little-speaker dimensions. Edgar Villchur's acoustic-suspension principle espoused by Acoustic Research and KLH has had a wide and merited vogue, and you certainly can't go wrong with, say, the AR-3 ($231) or the KLH Four ($224). But a good many other small speaker systems are also now clamoring for your attention. G. A. Briggs, the doughty Yorkshire-man who designs and manufactures Wharfedale speakers, has recently introduced the Wharfedale '60 Achromatic speaker system, which uses a nonresonant sand-filled panel to boost bass response. The Dukane Corporation is sponsoring the French-developed Ionovac speaker system, utilizing ionized air to propagate high-frequency sounds in place of the conventional vibrating diaphragm ($139.50 for the two-way, $187.50 for the three-way bookshelf models, $199.50 for the stand-up corner model). Harman-Kardon is plunging into the speaker act with the Citation X, an omnidirectional honeycomb speaker system ($250). Weathers Industries has its Trio-phonic Speaker System consisting of two small upper-range units and a hideaway bass speaker with its own amplifier ($169). And the Advanced Acoustics Corporation urges you to consider the "440" Bi-Phonic Coupler, an unbaffled speaker system employing a flat wooden diaphragm instead of a paper cone for sound radiation ($134). As we go to press, we have not yet auditioned the completely new Harman-Kardon Citation X speakers, which should be available by now at $250 each, but we hear great things about their design and suggest you give them a close listen before making a decision.

Which one of these is best? It's a question only you can answer: the only sensible way to choose a speaker system is to listen to several and choose the one that sounds most pleasing to you, preferably in your own pad. The better dealers, if they're convinced there's an ultimate sale in the offing, will let you try a couple of speaker systems at home before you make up your mind.

All the systems mentioned above ought to pass muster from the decorative point of view. On the off chance that your listening room is baronial, you might want to consider a couple of mammoths, the KLH Nine full-range electrostatic system (70 inches high, $1030) or the JBL-Ranger Paragon system (103 inches wide, $2070). There are some rooms of goodish size in which there is no substitute for a physically large sound source, such as the Ranger Paragon provides.

In the matter of FM tuners: with the FCC decision on multiplex just around the corner, it would seem prudent to make certain that the tuner you choose has provision for easy multiplex adaptation. You'll find a good selection purveyed by Fisher, Bogen, H. H. Scott, General Electric, Sherwood, Madison-Fielding, Pilot and Sargent-Rayment, and the new Harman-Kardon Citation III.

If you're not all thumbs, you might consider constructing a piece of equipment from one of the many do-it-yourself kits on the market. You'll not only find yourself disbursing less cash, but when you solder the last connection, flip the switch, and discover that the damn thing really works, Edison and Marconi will just have to make room for you in the Hall of Fame. Stereo power amplifiers are the quickest, easiest, most foolproof kits to assemble. Start off with one of these, then promote yourself to the preamp and tuner class. The Heath and Dynaco outfits manufacture a full line of kits (amplifiers, preamps and tuners in a variety of models), and you can also find a good selection of kits offered by mail-order houses such as Allied Radio and Lafayette. Acro, Citation and Eico gear is available in kit form, and the McIntosh and H. H. Scott people have recently gotten into the act with a build-it-yourself amplifier and FM tuner.

Lest we forget, all this shiny new equipment is made to reproduce music, and it's worth repeating that there's now an extraordinary amount of memorable music-making on stereo discs and tapes. Stereo recording techniques have noticeably improved over the past couple of years; we still encounter an occasional lemon, but the over-all standard is beyond cavil.