Supporting Szmels Is it "Stick It to Steve" time again (October "Letters")? I hope not. For more than eight years I have been enjoying the work of Steve Simels. I haven't always agreed with his reviews, but I have always agreed with his insight and sense of humor. I have sorely missed his old column, "Simels Live." Thanks, Steve.
DALE L. HOUSELY Torrey, Utah Nailing Nash STEREO REVIEW seems to be suffering from an identity crisis. Articles such as the one in October on the band Exile have no place in an audiophile publication. It is also unfortunate that the editors trust the musical taste of Alanna Nash. It is invariably bad.
TROY JOHNSON Blaine, Mont.
Knifing Blades I disagree with a remark in William Livingstone's October review of Ruben Blades's "Buscando America." That cheap and vulgar piece of garbage can't be taken as an example of "authentically Latin" music! No way, Jose!
C. SANTIAGO Ponce, Puerto Rico
Digital Quad
At last someone has touched upon something I have been asking the silent majority for months: "What about four-channel CD's?" Out of the world of myriad concentric rainbows comes Myron Berger's article "Enhancing Digital Sound" (September) with three or four paragraphs about four-channel sound (I can understand his reticence). But is the public ready for another four-channel white elephant? After all, once quadro quirked, twice imaged, right? Wrong. I know what their devious 88K-sampling minds are up to! "You want sonic space that surrounds both performers and listeners? Well, you got it: sixteen discrete channels with additional jacks for fu ture expansion." Oh yes, dear reader, we've unleashed a monster. Why couldn't we have stayed in our belt-drive vs. direct-drive euphoria? Wasn't life simpler then? Are we destined for a world chrome short age? Aren't you hurting your dog's ears with all that high end? Will someone please regulate those my opiated eastern human silicon chips before 3D television strikes? (Nothing personal, mind you.) It's enough to make one long for a "Mr. Microphone" commercial. Well, on second thought, maybe not.
ALAN S. PROCTOR
Uxbridge, England
Beatles on CD I have been a subscriber to STEREO REVIEW for almost a year and honestly wait in anticipation for the next issue, especially any news about CD's since I have a CD player. At present I own about eighty-five CD's and enjoy them all. I wonder, though, when, if ever, they will come out with the Beatles' albums on CD's. I think that would really help this new medium take off.
R. LEASE
Aurora, Colo.
The EMI labels, including Capitol, have been slow to issue CD's of all types of music, not just the Beatles. As far as we know, the only Beatles CD so far is a Japanese issue, probably a pirate, of " Abbey Road." Turntable Feedback I was amazed to see an article on turntable feedback in the October issue. I too had a major feedback problem, so bad that at high volumes the woofers would reverberate. I was told about heavier mats and isolation bases, but none of these methods seemed to work.
It was then that a fellow audiophile told me to set the table on a pair of cinder blocks. When I did, the density of the turntable's platform increased so dramatically that there is now no trace of audible feedback. Cinder blocks seem to be the most sensible and inexpensive solution to the problem.
RON LONDON; Newark, Dela.
Jacksons' Tons Regarding Mark Peel's review of the Jacksons' "Victory" album (October):
Did the group really travel with 50,000 tons of sound equipment? That is roughly equal to the weight of the Ger man battleship Bismarck in World War II. Seems a bit like, uh, overkill.
CHUCK PETZEL; Dutch Harbor, Alaska
They didn't let us put the gear on the scales, but it seemed like a good guess. Getting the Bass Thanks for the article "Where's the Bass?" by Julian Hirsch (September).
I've owned a pair of good three-way speakers for years, and I was never happy with the imaging. After reading the article, I became fascinated with the idea of getting big sound from a sub-woofer and two small satellites. I decided to try it in a small way, with a 12-inch single woofer from a mail-order discount house and two mini speakers from Radio Shack. I hooked up my $270 do-it-yourself three-piece system, and I was amazed at the sound. The subwoofer provides good, deep bass, and the little speakers belie their big sound. Best yet, the imaging is all I could ever expect.
I sold my $1,000 three-way speakers and "upgraded" to a better system at one-fourth the cost. The money from the sale of the speakers will buy me a Compact Disc player.
NORM GUILBERT JR.
Greenwich, Conn.
Moving-Coil Forever
In response to Daniel Sweeney's November article on "Esoteric Phono Cartridges": I am sated and totally bored and, more important, amazed by the so called "experts" who still debate the pros and cons of moving-coil pickups. I couldn't care less if a non-moving-coil model is made of plutonium or 24k gold, there is no comparison between a cartridge and a superb moving-coil pick up. Period!
THEODORE MEYER; Chapel Hill, N.C.
Erratum
Through an oversight, we failed to credit the calligraphy on pages 46-53 of the December issue. It should have been credited to Don Grimes Design.
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ADs (Jan. 1985):
AKG
ANY WAY YOU PLAY IT.
Compact Discs, audio or video tapes, records or AM/FM stereo reception, any way you play it you'll hear it better with AKG headphones.
Used by professional audio engineers around the world as recording studio monitors, AKG headphones help to "fine tune" the recordings that you listen to.
AKG, the innovator in headphone design for over 30 years, has introduced such "firsts" as open air and passive diaphragm technology and the unmatched dynamic/electro static two-way system.
Whether it's one of AKG's lightweight or studio models, there is one designed for you ... any way you play it.
And for the finest stereo phono cartridges, ask your dealer about the AKG Transversal Suspension System.
77 Selleck Street Stamford. CT 06902. AKG, 1984, (Akustische and Kino-Gerate, GmbH Austria )
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Parasound. A taste of the new working class.
For three years we've been quietly redefining ideas of value with a whole new class of audio and autosound products.
A sparkling example: The LTd900, a fully automatic direct-drive turntable with 0.1° linear-tracking accuracy. Priced under $200.
A great reason to celebrate.
Parasound. For people who pursue value. And when you're savvy enough to spend less-- to get more--that's working class.
Parasound --- Parasound Products, Inc. 680 Beach Street, San Francisco, CA 94109, USA, (415 ) 673-4546
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Announcing the RODRIGUES CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST
WHAT are they talking about in the drawing below? What is crotchety old Mr. Tweakingham saying to his faithful retainer Manchester? you decide. Our faithful artist Charles Rodrigues has drawn the cartoon, and Stereo Review is holding a contest to discover who can supply the funniest caption for it.
The winner will receive the original signed drawing shown here, a cash prize of $100, and the glory of seeing his or her name published in this magazine along with the winning caption when the results of the contest are announced.
Anyone may enter, and there is no limit to the number of times you may enter, but each caption submit ted must be on a separate sheet of paper that also contains the clearly legible name and address of the per son who enters it. Entries with more than one caption per page will be disqualified. All entries must be received by Stereo Review no later than March 1, 1985.
The panel of judges will include members of the editorial staff of Stereo Review and Rodrigues him self. Entries will be judged on the basis of originality, appropriateness, and humor. The decision of the judges will be final, and we will engage in no after-the-fact discussions of our IQ's, ancestry, qualifications, or individual and collective sense of humor.
The winning caption (and a selection of near misses) will be published in the June 1985 issue. The usual restrictions and disclaimers are printed below.
Send entries to:
Rodrigues Cartoon
STEREO REVIEW
One Park Avenue New York, N.Y. 10016
-------- No purchase is necessary. Anyone may enter except the sniff of Stereo Review and its parent company (and their immediate families). All entries be come the property of Stereo Review and none will be returned. If you wish to be notified of the results of the contest by mail. send a stamped self-addressed envelope to the above address.
In the unlikely event of duplicate entries. the one first received will be considered the winning entry.
The names of the winner and a dozen runners-up will be published in Stereo Review and may appear in promotional literature for the magazine. Submit ting an entry will be deemed consent for such use.
Stereo Review will arrange the delivery of the prize; any tax on it will he the responsibility of the winner. The judges have every intention of reaching a decision in time for the publication of the results in the June 1985 issue, but Stereo Review reserves the right 'o delay the announcement until July if the response is overwhelming.
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That's right, Hal. Like you and a lot of folks out there, I know the frustration that FM multipath causes-and what it does to our nerves and general dispositions is well known. And that's why I'm glad to support research to end FM multipath once and for all!"
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"No, we're not just married. Why do you ask?"
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Audio Q&A by Ian G. Masters (Jan. 1985)
Classical Music Reviews (Jan. 1985)
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