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Shakespeare unwittingly formulated the best definition of high fidelity: "This, as it were, to hold the mirror up to nature." For at its best, high fidelity is indeed a true mirror for music, reflecting every color, every detail, and - with stereo - every dimension of an original performance.

Or you may think of high fidelity as a means of transportation that takes music through time and space and delivers it to your living room. A Strauss waltz recorded in Vienna, a symphony from London, musical comedy from New York, jazz from New Orleans - endless varieties of musical pleasure come to you electronically.

Stereo, if played with high fidelity components, brings the original performance even closer to you. For with stereo, the sound spreads out in your living room to make the most of your natural two-eared way of hearing - to let you experience music in its realistic three-dimensional depth.

Orchestral climaxes in high fidelity stereo convey an almost tangible sense of fullness and weight, and the subtle strands of melody stand out as if traced with a delicate brush. Stereo even carries stage action - from an opera, a Broadway musical or play - right to your listening chair. Singers and actors make their entrances and exits, walk upstage and downstage in the phantom theatre that stereo creates.

These advances in sound vastly enrich modern home life. For the first time in history, people who don't themselves play an instrument can enjoy the pleasures of music with their families, informally and at their leisure, because the tonal richness of high fidelity sound rivals that of an actual performance.

Musicians themselves - from Harry Belafonte and Mitch Miller to Eugene Ormandy and Leopold Stokowski - have adopted high fidelity components as the logical way to listen to music at home.

As the Boston Symphony Orchestra's Musical Director, Erich Leinsdorf, puts it, "The recording of music today has been perfected to such a degree of fidelity to live performance that records provide - particularly when aided by good playback equipment - not only keen documentation of actual performances for those in near proximity to live music, but also a means of having music for those who are too far removed from music centers to attend concerts conveniently or with any degree of regularity."

Today's high fidelity components are a pleasure to the eye as well as a joy to the ear. Modern styling has made every component - record player, tuner, tape deck or recorder, amplifier and loudspeaker - a handsome addition to the living room or den. Components don't strike a jarring note, either musically or visually. They've been designed by America's leading interior decorators and designers with a view to making any component a compliment to any woman's flair for style.

Is your living room styled in French Provincial, American Colonial, Scandinavian Modern? Whatever the plan, you'll find a wide range of components and cabinets for housing them designed to blend in tastefully with the prevailing decor.

Unlike ordinary radios or consoles, components never dominate their surroundings. Rather, they adapt readily to fit your plans. Where an ordinary console (gemeint ist ein Musikschrank) may claim nearly a whole side of your room, a component system (Einzelgeräte) needn't take up any floor space at all.

For instance, you can arrange components on shelves, suspended from walls or arranged as room dividers, creating an atmosphere of functional good looks that harmonizes beautifully with contemporary trends in decor. Such arrangements are also economical - they save the cost of cabinetry, a major factor in the price of ordinary consoles.

Or you may prefer to mount components in furniture you already own - an antique cupboard, perhaps, or a chest or sideboard. This, too, saves both space and money and assures that your sound system fits in with the decorating scheme of your home.

Finally, you can buy a cabinet specially designed to hold the components you select and styled to fit in with your present furniture, should you desire to do so. No ordinary console offers this adaptability to the needs of home planning.

Performance, of course, is by far the most important difference between high fidelity components and ordinary radios and phonographs. A component system is like a doctor's prescription - everything that goes into it is specified clearly.

For each individual component, you get a spec sheet that states its exact capabilities. This booklet will give you some basic guidelines for interpreting these specifications so you can pick knowingly the components best suited to your particular needs.

But even if technical specifications make no more sense to you than does the average doctor's prescription, the very fact that the component manufacturer is willing to lay his cards on the table before you is an assurance of value.
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You're dealing with known quantities. No caveat emptor here. Published specifications take the guesswork and the gamble out of buying.

The situation is quite different when you buy a console. Only rarely does the manufacturer tell you about the capabilities of his set.

Think of it this way: with a console, you're taking a pot luck with whatever the manufacturer has put inside the cabinet. Buying components, on the other hand, is like ordering a la carte. You choose each item to meet your particular preference in performance, features, looks and price.

A record company once advertised its wares as "the gift that keeps on giving." As an advertising slogan, that phrase has three rare distinctions: it's felicitous, truthful, and it makes sense. Yet its truth applies in an even wider sense to high fidelity sound equipment.

High fidelity sound creates an appetite for as well as an enjoyment of good music. It makes household chores easier to do. It entertains and diverts. It also develops music appreciation.

High fidelity has been called a bridge between music and the listener. No matter where or when the music you want to hear was sung or played, high fidelity puts it always in the present, always on the spot. High fidelity enhanced by stereo is an enduring adventure in the personal discovery of music, for it reveals more in the music than you've ever heard before. In that sense, a component system truly is a gift that keeps on giving.
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The term component high fidelity system may sound forbidding, conjuring up visions of complex knobs on gadgets being twiddled by white-smocked scientists. Actually, a component system simply means a working unit consisting of separate parts. One component system already familiar to you consists of head, torso, arms and legs. Like the human body, the component parts of a high fidelity system each carry out a specific function. Together, they form an operating chain along which the sound travels until it emerges lifelike and full blown.

The first link in this chain is a program source - equipment for playing records, receiving radio broadcasts, or playing or recording music on magnetic tape.

A record changer (or separate turntable and tone arm) rotates a record and brings it in contact with the cartridge, a small, sensitive device that traces sound vibrations engraved in the record, converting them into electrical signals.

A tuner plucks radio signals out of the air and converts them to the same sort of electrical signals, while a tape recorder or tape deck converts magnetic signals on recording tape into electricity.

The second link is the amplifier, which receives these signals and makes them strong enough to power a loudspeaker. Amplifiers sometimes come as two separate units: preamplifiers, which contain tone and volume controls, and power amplifiers, where most of the actual power boosting takes place.

The final link is the loudspeaker, which converts electrical signals from the amplifier back into audible sound vibrations and projects the sound into the room. Listeners who want the sound all to themselves can have it by using high fidelity stereo earphones.

Later chapters describe each of these components in detail and give you some tips on selecting the ones that are just right for you.

Connecting individual components is hardly more difficult than plugging in a lamp, since all the connections are marked and clear instructions come with every component. If you have any doubts, moreover, your high fidelity dealer will do the job for you.

With components, you can let your system grow. Suppose you start off with just a system for playing records. At a later date, you can add a tuner, then a tape recorder and perhaps extension speakers for your bedroom or an outdoor speaker for your garden or patio. Getting your sound system step by step makes it easier to pay for, too.

Good components are obsolescence-proof. A surprising number of components sold ten to fifteen years ago (wir sind im Jahr 1963!) still are giving faithful service, providing the same high quality sound they did on the day they were purchased.

The term high fidelity has been applied to just about everything, including soft drinks and lipstick. So it's not surprising to find just about every radio and table phonograph flying the hi-fi banner.

High fidelity, simply defined, means high faithfulness - in the case of sound reproducing equipment, high faithfulness to the sound of the original performance. Hence the first thing to consider in assessing high fidelity is the nature of sound.

A musical note may be high or low - it has a certain pitch. Through its sense of pitch, the human brain interprets the frequency or sound vibrations. Frequency is simply the number of vibrations per second. Each vibration is called a cycle, and therefore is expressed in cycles per second, or cps.

Musical sounds range in pitch upward from about 20 cps. The first requirement of high fidelity is that the component parts must be wide-range in character - wide enough to encompass frequencies from, say, 20 to 20,000 cps.

Such wide-range response is necessary to reproduce every musical sound from the deep bass all the way to the uppermost overtones that impart character and clarity to the sound of each musical instrument. Some components extend their response considerably beyond the audible frequency range to assure a wide margin for covering the extreme bass and treble.

The loudness or softness of a given sound is another important characteristic. It's important that your sound system reproduce accurately the loudness relations between the different sounds in music. No note should be lost, none stressed unduly. Impartial reproduction of all frequencies is a necessity for truthful reproduction.

This ability to give every note its due - no more and no less - is known as flat frequency response. Deviations from this requirement are measured in decibels, or db - a measure of relative loudness.

To qualify for high fidelity, the frequency-response characteristic of components shouldn't deviate more than a few db from flat response.

In ordinary radios and phonographs, deviations are much greater, usually resulting in deficient bass and erratic treble. The effect is a thin, harsh and cramped sound that lacks the easy, unforced feeling of natural instrumental music.

Tone color is yet another vital musical attribute. A cello and a trombone each play the same notes, but even the casual listener can't mistake one for the other.

Each has a characteristic tone color or timbre, formed by the overtones which each instrument produces in addition to the basic frequencies of the notes it plays. To reproduce voices and instruments in their true tonal colors without altering their character or individuality, high fidelity equipment must retain the original balance and proportion of these delicate and often elusive overtones. Any significant deviation from the true values becomes audible as distortion.

Absence of distortion is perhaps the most crucial requirement of high fidelity - and the most difficult to attain.
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There are two principal types of distortion: harmonic and intermodulation. Manufacturers express each, in specifications for their equipment, as a percentage of the total sound. No sound equipment on the market today is entirely free of distortion.

But in contrast to ordinary radios and phonographs, high fidelity components keep distortion so low that even the experienced ear has trouble detecting it.

What's more, high fidelity components maintain this low distortion level over the entire tonal spectrum and over a wide dynamic range. Components can accommodate the natural spread of music from very soft to very loud passages. There's no sound breakup or screech whenever a fortissimo comes along.

Component manufacturers talk a great deal about distortion in their equipment precisely because it's so low. On the other hand, console and portable manufacturers rarely talk about distortion in their equipment, because it's so high.

To hear the difference for yourself, play the same record first on a high fidelity component system, then on a console. Listen carefully to the loud passages, then to the soft ones and note the differences.

If you've gone shopping for a home music system recently, chances are that some salesman has asked you whether you want stereo or regular hi-fi.

With components, you don't have to make a choice. Any sound reproduction, stereo or otherwise, first of all, should be musically true and pleasing to the ear. Hence it must be high fidelity.

Stereo provides an added dimension of depth and directionality of sound. But stereo depends on high fidelity components for sound which is true to the original. You can get stereo with ordinary phonographs - and it sounds like ordinary phonographs.

You get true high fidelity only with components, and it sounds much better. The choice you do have to make is between two (or more) channel stereo sound and single-channel mono-phonic reproduction - the kind provided by your table radio.

When you combine stereo with high fidelity, you experience the uncanny sensation of a symphony orchestra, a Broadway musical or a small jazz ensemble unfolding within your living room.

What creates the stereo effect? The reason we have ears - and eyes - in pairs is to aid us in the perception of distance and space. When we look at an object with two eyes, we see spatial relationships - particularly in depth - that are missing in anyone-eyedview.

Something similar holds true when we listen with both ears. Two-eared listening lets us distinguish space relationships more clearly - the left and right sides of an ensemble as well as its front, middle and rear - and the overall feel of the hall where the musicians are playing. These are the dimensions of stereo.

What stereo has done is to duplicate the human hearing function by providing a second sound channel for us to listen to.

Stereo sound starts in the recording studio, where, in effect, two separate microphones, each acting as proxy for one of your ears, pick up the slightly different sounds from the left and right of the orchestra or dance band. Each track is recorded separately, reproduced separately by your stereo component system and emerges finally from separate loudspeakers in your living room.

The creation of stereo and stereo equipment hasn't rendered obsolete the many fine monophonic recordings already on the market, some of which you probably own now. Any record - including those made as long as 50 years ago - can be played satisfactorily on your stereo system. Chances are that two-channel reproduction will improve their sound.

• Anmerkung : Das stimmte damals nicht und stimmt heute noch nicht. Die Nadel- oder Diamant-Spitzen sind unterschiedlich dick !! und diese beiden Radien sind eben nicht kompatibel bzw. tauschbar.

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The size of a speaker, however, is no index of its merit. Many bookshelf loudspeakers - so called because they can be mounted on or in bookshelves - roll out ample sound right down to the low reach of the bass fiddle, combining compactness with full tonal range.

Whatever their size, the fact that component loudspeakers come separately from the rest of the equipment is a tremendous advance over ordinary consoles, where all the works are crammed together.

For one thing, components offer you complete freedom in placing your speakers where they not only look good, but sound good as well. For instance, only separate speakers can be spaced properly to give you the maximum stereo effect.

You lose the stereo effect entirely with some consoles simply because the loudspeakers are too close together. Moreover, the built-in speakers in many an ordinary console shake up the whole unit as they vibrate. These vibrations eventually reach the turntable and tone arm and are picked up by the cartridge along with the vibrations from the record groove. The result is a dull rumbling background noise called mechanical feedback. Separating your loudspeakers from the rest of your equipment is an effective means of preventing these vibrations from sneaking back to the cartridge and interfering with its job.
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High fidelity stereo records make the world's great musicians your permanent house guests, always ready for a command performance. You select the program. You choose the hour. And you don't even have to dress for the occasion. In the comfort of your home, chances are you'll be more receptive to the music than you are in the formal atmosphere of a concert hall.

Perhaps you'll be the only listener - relaxed, absorbed and carried beyond your everyday problems. Or maybe you prefer to ask some friends over to listen to a lifelike recreation of the latest Broadway hits - complete with the original cast and a casual snack at intermission. Stereo almost takes you onto the stage, making the show as fresh and vibrant as it was in the theatre on opening night.

Whatever your taste or whatever your mood, records - and component high fidelity equipment - let you find the music to match it. Tonight it may be Tosca, straight from La Scala in Milano. Tomorrow it may be folk music, fresh from Greenwich Village's Village Gate. Or jazz, straight from the Newport Jazz Festival. Or perhaps, in a more intimate mood, you want to share with President Kennedy's guests (wir sind hier noch in 1963) the riches of a Pablo Casals concert at the White House or abandon yourself to the enticements of a Parisian chanteuse.

All of these come alive with high fidelity components which keep the sound faithful to the music in all its original persuasiveness and beauty, with every note colorful and vivid.

For playing records on a component music system you need either a record changer or a turntable fitted with a tone arm. With either type you need a cartridge - the small device at the end of the tone arm which picks the sound out of the record groove. High fidelity changers, turntables, tone arms and cartridges differ from ordinary record reproducing equipment in that components ferret out all of the sound hidden in the record groove.

Ordinary phonographs all too often fail to liberate the entire range of sound contained in record grooves. Their cartridges distort the sound in the very act of drawing it from the groove, leaving the music sounding harsh and shallow.

Moreover, ordinary phonographs not manufactured to the high standards of high fidelity equipment impose rapid wear on records so that a disc deteriorates audibly after only a few dozen plays.

High fidelity components lengthen the life of your records, letting you enjoy them hundreds of times without noticeable wear. Good equipment thus not only sounds better but protects your investment in your record collection and preserves discs that may be impossible to replace.

To distinguish high fidelity record changers from the ordinary variety, the term "automatic turntable" has been used for those units which meet exacting high fidelity standards.

Their hallmarks are well-balanced, carefully machined turntables and adjustable counterbalances at the rear of the tone arm. Some listeners, however, prefer to buy a turntable and tone arm separately.

The essential quality requirements for turntables and tone arms are the same whether they are bought separately or as part of a complete changer unit. As far as the turntable is concerned, it must spin the record at precisely the right speed. Moreover, the speed mustn't waver; the turning rate must be rock-steady. Many portable phonographs and consoles use light two-pole motors to power them. These units don't pull evenly. They chug.

The resulting waver in pitch is called flutter, a kind of tonal shiver that makes the music - especially on long sustained notes - sound weak and tremulous. To avoid flutter as well as a slower variation known as wow, the speed of a turntable should be constant within 1 per cent. High fidelity turntables attain this standard by using precision motors with four or more poles. The greater number of poles used in constructing the motor smooths out the speed.

Like all rotary devices, turntables are prone to vibration which, if it's picked up by the cartridge and amplified along with the music, emerges from the speaker as rumble, a low-pitched disagreeable sound that can mask much of music's tonal detail.

To avoid rumble, good turntables or changers have all their rotating parts balanced carefully, machined to fine tolerances, and running on precision bearings. Such manufacturing techniques don't come cheap, which explains why a quality turntable really is worth its price.

High fidelity turntables also use shock mounts for motors and special drive systems to turn turntable platters and filter out any residual vibration.

Since nearly all of today's records run at 33 1/3 rpm (except pop tunes recorded at 45 rpm), a single-speed turntable may be all you need. Only if you have a valuable collection of old 78 rpm records or are interested specifically in current pop music will you have any occasion to use turntable speeds other than 33 1/3 rpm. However, most home music-listeners like to have a record player that will play records of all speeds, "just in case."
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• Anmerkung : Der ganz neue DUAL 1009 kam erst zum Ende 1963 zur Funkusstellung in Berlin richtig raus und der hatte all diese Eigenschaften inklusive der 4 Geschwindigkeiten und er mischte den gesamten Weltmarkt auf.

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One main difference between the tone arm in a portable phonograph and the one in a high fidelity component system is the way in which each is counterbalanced, to provide the lightest possible weight on your records during playing. Ordinary arms have a spring to lighten their weight. The spring tends to pull them upward, out of the record groove.

As a result, the needle jumps a groove, only to come crashing down somewhere else on the record when you walk across a loose floorboard or bump accidentally against the phonograph. To overcome this problem, some manufacturers design their arms to track records in a heavy-handed way, wearing them out before their time.

With high fidelity arms, you don't have to tiptoe around the record player. They have a stable balance attained by using a counterweight which lets them ride out ordinary floor vibration without jiggling and jumping. Spring tension is in fact used occasionally in high fidelity tone arms - but only to provide a fine adjustment of the downward stylus force, never to balance the weight of the arm itself. To reduce friction drag and to let the tone arm follow the undulations of a warped record more easily, quality arms employ precision bearings in their pivots.
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The cartridge or pickup is mounted at the end of the tone arm. With its stylus or needle, it reads the music from the record groove, translating the mechanical wiggles into an electric signal that can be amplified.

As the gateway by which recorded music gets into your sound system, the cartridge determines sound quality at its source. If the cartridge fails to read out all the music contained in the record groove - if it clips off highs, swallows up bass, or throws in distortion - no later correction is possible. No matter how good your amplifier and speakers are, they can do no more than reflect the virtues or shortcomings of the signal furnished them by the cartridge.

Tracing record grooves is a tricky job because the track the stylus must follow is extremely complicated. Imagine the wild zig-zag ride of the stylus in the spinning groove, tossed back and forth thousands of times each second as it follows the wiggles at a rate up to 20,000 cycles per second.

What you may hear as a shiny smooth trumpet note is to the stylus a gruelling stretch of hairpin turns on a bumpy road. And in stereo, the swinging isn't just from side to side. The frantic motion goes up and down as well - like a cross between a roller coaster and a snake dance. All along this fast and furious ride, the stylus must really hug the road. Any skidding or cutting across curves means distortion, for then the sound waves no longer are reproduced accurately.

If you think of the record groove as a twisty road, it's easy to see why the mechanical motion of the stylus in the groove is the main key to the fidelity of a cartridge.

One cartridge specification, compliance, tells you how readily the stylus yields to guidance from the record groove. This, in turn, is a measure of how accurately it will follow, or track, the twist and turns.

As a rough guide, remember that a compliance of 5 x 10~6 cm/dyne is quite good, and anything beyond that is even better. The most compliant cartridges made today have ratings as high as 20 x lO-6 cm/dyne or more.

With the usual high-compliance cartridges, you need less weight to bear down on the stylus point to make it track. Indirectly, therefore, the recommended tracking pressure for a given cartridge is also an index of its compliance. For a high-compliance cartridge, the tracking pressure may be less than two grams (about 7/100 of an ounce) - so light that a light breeze could blow the tone arm off the record.

At such featherweight pressure record wear virtually vanishes, and if you keep your records reasonably dust-free, they'll last just about indefinitely. Also, the stylus (it should always be diamond-tipped), encountering less friction, should last at least five years in normal use. It is in this area of increased compliance that the most dramatic progress has been made in recent cartridge design.

But there's one catch. Only high fidelity tone arms operate under such nearly weightless conditions. The ordinary kind of tone arm used on most inexpensive record players has too much frictional drag and stiffness. So if you want to use a first-rate cartridge, you must put it in a first-rate arm.

The cartridge's frequency response should be uniform at all audible frequencies so that no tones will be emphasized unduly and none slighted. That is the meaning of flat response. The specifications of a good cartridge should tell you not merely its overall range but also the maximum deviation from flat response within that range, for instance 30 to 18,000 cps ±3db. The 3db figure tells you that at no point within the audible range does the response of the cartridge vary by more than 3db from the ideal flat response, which is a very acceptable standard for high fidelity use.

Channel separation is another consideration in selecting a stereo cartridge for your system. In every stereo system, signals from each channel tend to sneak over into the other, diminishing the stereo effect by the amount of such channel cross-talk.

The less channel separation, the less stereo effect. Component high fidelity cartridges generally have channel separation of 20 db or more. Separation generally is measured at a fixed frequency - say 1000 cps. In a good cartridge this separation should extend beyond 10,000 cps without diminishing appreciably.

A final consideration is the tip of the stylus. Some manufacturers offer a choice of stylus tips with a radius of either 0.7 or 0.5 mil. One mil equals 1/1000 inch. The smaller tip fits more snugly into tight record grooves and produces higher fidelity from stereo records. However, it tends to rattle loosely within the groove on some older monophonic records.

• Anmerkung : Hier wird die (tatsächliche) Inkompatibilität von Mono- und Stereo-Nadeln (nur) angedeutet.

The larger size is an industry compromise, producing the best results with both types of records obtainable from a single needle. If your collection includes 78rpm records, you'll need a 3 mil stylus as well, to track the much wider grooves of these older records.

Even the most carefully stated specifications can't tell you exactly how a cartridge sounds. There are differences in tonal coloration that can't be pinned down in figures and can be expressed only subjectively. Most audio fans, for instance, agree that some cartridges have a warm and silky sound with the bass seeming round and full.

Others tend toward brightness and brilliance. Which you like better is strictly a personal matter. Let your audio dealer play the same record for you with several good cartridges so you can hear the difference yourself. Then let your own ears make the final choice.
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The amplifier is the heart and the nerve center of your music system. It receives the tiny electrical impulses from a phono cartridge, radio tuner or tape recorder and amplifies them until they're strong enough to drive a high fidelity loudspeaker system.

It also accommodates the necessary controls for switching among tape, tuner or record player, and for adjusting volume, stereo balance, treble and bass in addition to all the other operating factors. The part which contains the various controls is called the "preamplifier" (preamp for short); the part which pumps out power to the speakers is the "power amplifier". In most cases, these two sections are combined into a single piece of equipment, called an "integrated amplifier".

But in equipment with very high power output, the preamplifier and power amplifier come as two separate pieces. This permits the preamplifier with its controls to be placed conveniently, while the larger high-wattage power amplifier can be kept out of sight.
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The power of an amplifier is rated in watts,* much the same way that the power of an automobile is rated in horsepower. The total number of watts produced by an amplifier is divided between the two stereo channels so that what is described as a 50-watt stereo amplifier actually delivers 25 watts per channel.

One of the first things to decide when you go shopping for an amplifier is how much power will be enough for you. In the view of most high fidelity experts, "the bigger, the better" - but the price of amplifiers goes up rather steeply as power output increases, so it's a good idea to ask yourself just how much power you really need.

First, let's clear the air of a popular misconception. A 100-watt amplifier doesn't play ten times as loud as a ten-watt amplifier, since the human ear doesn't translate the power output of a sound system into a directly proportional sense of loudness.

Why, then, pay a premium for those extra watts if you can hardly hear them? The answer is that sheer loudness isn't necessarily high fidelity sound.

Let's say that you have a 5-watt amplifier and a 40-watt amplifier playing alternately through the same loudspeaker.

• Anmerkung : Im Jahr 1963 war ein 2 x 30 Watt (Sinus an 8 Ohm) Receiver ein wirklich dickes und leistungsfähiges Teil - siehe den SCOTT Soundmaster 380 von 1963.

Even at the identical volume, chances are that you will be able to pick the more powerful one blindfolded (Blindtest). You may not be able right away to put your finger on why it sounds better. But somehow the bigger amplifier is able to get the music across more convincingly. There is a margin of naturalness and ease that makes for greater listening pleasure.

What lies behind these subtle differences gained by the extra watts? The key to the problem is power reserve. Certain passages in music are like steep hurdles to the amplifier: the crash of a kettledrum, a chord struck fortissimo on the piano, the deep bass of the bull fiddles or the swelling sonorities of the full orchestra. At those moments, the power content in the music jumps tremendously.

Consider, for example, what happens to the amplifier in a typical portable phonograph or console. It may be idling comfortably along through a mezzo forte string passage, singing sweetly.

Suddenly the score calls for trumpets and drum in fortissimo. What happens if there isn't a sufficient margin of power? The music sounds just as loud, but the weak-muscled amplifier breaks up into distortion. At the climax, the sound becomes harsh and noisy.

This may last only a moment. As soon as the loud passage subsides, the phono amplifier returns to its best behavior. But the listener subconsciously remembers the momentary spells of distortion and acquires a vaguely uncomfortable impression of the overall sound texture.

This is one of the main factors in listening fatigue, the odd feeling of discomfort and irritation caused by listening to sound which is distorted slightly. By contrast, an amplifier with sufficient power reserve glides smoothly and imperceptibly over such tonal hurdles. Even the heavily scored passages remain transparent.

So the question is how much power you need to achieve unfettered sonority in your particular setup. The first thing to consider is the efficiency of your loudspeakers. Inefficient speakers absorb more power than efficient ones to produce the same volume of sound.

Incidentally, to say that a speaker is inefficient is not to disparage it. In tonal quality an inefficient speaker may be equal to or superior to an efficient one. The term merely means that it gobbles up more watts. The manufacturer of your loudspeaker very likely recommends a minimum wattage to drive his unit. That's a good starting point for your calculations.

Oddly enough, your home decorating scheme also affects the number of watts you're going to need. Rugs, pillows, upholstered furniture and heavy draperies swallow up a lot of sound. To make up for this absorption, you need to pump more sound (hence more watts) into the room.

If, on the other hand, you live in a modern, uncluttered interior with plenty of blank wall space, the sound will be multiplied by reflection with a resultant saving in watts. The difference in power requirement between the two types of decor may be as much as 50 per cent.

Now that you've considered the various factors involved, you can plan your power budget from the table on page 31. Remember that your musical taste and personal listening habits also enter the picture.

To shake your walls with Wagnerian thunder at concert volume naturally requires more wattage than to give a convincing account of chamber music or a modern jazz combo. But most likely you want your system to be able to handle all kinds of music, including the most massive orchestrations at full volume. The power figures in the chart are based on that assumption.

Suppose the chart tells you that you need 15 watts for your particular requirements. For stereo, this should be interpreted as 15 watts per channel. Why do you need twice as much power for stereo? Because the requisite amount of power must be delivered to each loudspeaker to drive it effectively.
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Next to power rating, the most important thing about an amplifier is the amount of distortion inherent in it. Distortion means that the amplifier alters the original sound in the process of amplification so that what comes out of the amplifier is no longer a true replica of what went in.

No amplifier, even the best, is entirely without distortion. But only component amplifier manufacturers and producers of the best console phonographs specify the distortion produced by their amplifiers. Manufacturers who don't specify usually have comparatively high distortion figures. The aim of high fidelity equipment is to keep distortion so low that the human ear can't hear it.

• Anmerkung : In der off-duty stand es dann mehrfach explizit, daß die amerikanische Wettbewerbsbehörde (FTC) dem völlig irren Wildwuchs an Leistungsbezeichnung quasi per Gesetz in 1974 den Garaus gemacht hatte und alle - wirklich alle - müssen !!! die RMS Angaben aufzeigen, immer und in jedem Prospekt und jeder Anzeige, selbst Kofferradios müssen das haben. Die Strafen sind "heftig".

There are two kinds of distortion outlined in amplifier specifications: harmonic distortion, which affects the balance of overtones and thus falsifies tone color; and intermodulation distortion - usually called IM distortion - which results from interaction of low and high notes within the amplifier and tends to produce a harsh, grainy sound.

To keep these forms of distortion from being noticeable even to demanding ears, high quality amplifiers shouldn't have more than 1.5 per cent IM distortion or 1 per cent harmonic distortion when operating at full rated output. The lower these figures, the better.
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To deserve the name of high fidelity, an amplifier must cover the entire audible range - say, 20 to 20,000 cps. Moreover, its response within this range must be uniform - the amplifier mustn't play favorites with any notes but should reproduce all of them impartially, just as they occur in the original music.

To assure this, the deviation from flat (i.e. uniform) response should be stated clearly by a plus-minus figure - 3db would be a reasonable maximum. Remember that console or phonograph manufacturers who don't supply this figure usually have a reason for not doing so.
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Not the least pleasure of high fidelity equipment, as contrasted with ordinary radios and phonographs, is that it allows you to hear music against a background of virtual silence.

This makes every musical detail, especially soft and subtle nuances of sound, far more perceptible. The hum level of amplifiers is therefore an important consideration. When you turn on the switch - if you're not playing anything - your sound equipment ideally should be completely quiet.

Hum is measured in decibels that express the difference in loudness between a test tone played at full amplifier output and the residual hum of the electric current. If your specifications read - 50 db, the hum will be almost unnoticeable against the music, even in the quietest passages. If the specifications read - 70 db, it means that you will hear almost no hum even against complete silence.
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Don't let all the knobs and switches on your amplifier or preamplifier intimidate you. Their purpose is to increase your pleasure in listening. The number and kind of controls provided on various amplifiers differ with the individual model.

The operating instructions furnished with your equipment will tell you what all the knobs are for, and half an hour's fiddling with the controls will put you at ease in their use. The effectiveness of these controls in adjusting tonal balance and stereo sound distribution is one of the great advantages of component high fidelity equipment.

Loudspeakers, like people, come in a variety of shapes, sizes and types. Even in character, they reflect an almost human diversity. Some are mellow, others brilliant. With so wide a choice, you have an excellent chance of finding a pair of speakers to suit your ears, in harmony with your home, and attuned to your budget.

Some speakers, for instance, are designed expressly for the apartment dweller with limited space at his command. They're neat, small and slim, but can sing out with full-throated gusto that belies their compact dimensions. Other speakers, designed for the audiophile with unlimited room, can fill even a baronial hall with rich sonority.

More than any other single component, your speakers determine the quality of the sound you hear. Since we can't hear electricity as such, we need a device for translating the electrical impulses created by the amplifier back into sound.

A speaker does this by moving a diaphragm such as a paper cone back and forth in rhythm with the electrical waves. The cone, in turn, sets up sound waves in the listening room which are - or should be - just like those produced by the musicians originally in the concert hall or recording studio.

Minute differences among loudspeakers create differences in sound, or add coloration to the sound Within limits, these variations are helpful, for they allow you to choose a speaker whose tonal character matches your own taste.

Most of us have developed definite tastes in listening. Some people like to sit first row center in the orchestra. They generally prefer speakers with coloration which makes the sound bright, immediate, with a feeling of being close to the source.

Others, who prefer balcony seats where there's a better over-all blend of orchestra or singers, will find loudspeakers with a more distant, warmer sound quality more to their liking.

Personal tastes notwithstanding, there are a number of objective standards to consider when choosing a loudspeaker, too.

The most important of these is clarity. Can you pick out the individual instruments in an orchestra? Can you separate the double bass from the tuba, a fiddle from a flute? The best way to judge clarity of two or more loudspeakers is to visit a high fidelity salon, taking with you one of your favorite records. Ask the dealer to play it, switching back and forth from one speaker to another.

Differences in coloration and clarity become apparent to you immediately, even if you don't think your ears are educated enough to appreciate such subtleties. As you listen, keep these questions in mind: Do the violins have a silky sheen? Is there solid weight in the cellos and contrabass? Does the percussion sound sharp and crisp? Does the brass come through with a tingling edge, but without harshness? All of these are important clues to the quality of a loudspeaker. Try the speaker of your choice at different volume levels. Music doesn't always shout. That's why it's just as important for a good speaker to play soft passages without loss of clarity as it is to take an orchestral climax in its stride without strain.

Nearly as important as tonal clarity is the uniformity with which the speaker handles notes between the upper and lower extremes of frequency. Every speaker has inherent resonances that emphasize certain frequencies more than others. These resonance peaks are responsible for the individual coloration of different speakers. Excessive peaks (more than 5 db) can make a speaker sound harsh or boomy.

Another index to a speaker's performance is its transient response - the way it handles sharp, short sounds such as drumbeats, woodblock clicks and other short percussive effects.

These transients provide a crucial test for loudspeakers because they require the speaker cone to start and stop moving instantly, essential if the speaker is to preserve fine musical detail and retain transparency of sound.

Because a single loudspeaker (Chassis) has difficulty in covering the whole audible frequency range, high fidelity speakers tend to specialize - with woofers to reproduce bass frequencies and tweeters for high notes. Sometimes there's a special midrange speaker to reproduce the notes in between.

Woofer and tweeter may be combined physically within the same loudspeaker frame, a unit known as a coaxial speaker. Or they may be separate units housed in the same enclosure. To channel the bass impulses to the woofer and treble tones to the tweeter, a complete speaker system also includes a frequency crossover or dividing network.

• Anmerkung : Das war das Wissen von 1963. Professor BOSE hat es in 1970 dann gezeigt, mit Einschränkungen kann ein Chassis sehr wohl alle Frequenzen wiedergeben, mit der BOSE 901 mit einem Equalizer.

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As for the speaker enclosure, it's no ordinary box. It plays a vital part in sound reproduction, for without the proper enclosure, a loudspeaker loses much of its power and color.

Virtually all the low notes rely on the speaker enclosure for proper reproduction. The reason why the bass disappears in an unenclosed speaker is that the sound waves pushed along in front of the speaker cone merge with those from the rear surface to cancel each other. The cancellation effect is most noticeable in the low frequencies. (Wir nennen das den akustischen Kurzschluß)

The main job of the enclosure is to keep the sound waves from behind the speaker from weakening those in front. The simplest way to do this is to seal the enclosure, line it with sound-absorbent material and thus trap the back wave in the box.

Many excellent speakers use this infinite baffle (die unendliche Schallwand) principle. Others use a variation, the acoustic suspension principle. But since the back wave remains shut up in the box, it's evident that half the sonic energy the speaker produces never reaches the listener's ear.

As a consequence, such speakers tend to be inefficient. Efficiency is no index of speaker quality; it merely means that such speakers use a fairly high amount of power to produce a given volume of sound.

There are several other types of enclosure design which allow the back wave to contribute its energy to the audible output of the speaker. Since these enclosures are less demanding in terms of amplifier wattage, they're classified as more efficient.

The most popular types use the bass reflex principle. The back wave emerges from the box through a port or vent opening. These enclosures are designed so that the liberated back wave reinforces rather than cancels the front radiation from the speaker, providing more efficient conversion of amplifier wattage into sound. Consequently, vented enclosures are popular among owners of amplifiers with modest power output - say, less than 20 watts per channel.

Some very large speaker systems use the horn principle, which is extremely efficient. The horn operates something like a megaphone, transferring sound from the speaker cone into the room. Inherently non-resonant, horns present no problems of boominess, but they must be fairly large to cover the low bass region. To make horn enclosures presentable in the living room, they're usually doubled up and tucked into an attractive piece of furniture.

Since the speaker and its enclosure depend on each other in their function, they must be matched carefully. If you buy speakers alone (i.e., without enclosures), follow the manufacturer's recommendation for a suitable enclosure. When he builds a complete system, the manufacturer takes pains to assure a proper match at the factory.

The manufacturer also specifies the minimum amplifier wattage you'll need to drive the speaker (power requirement) as well as the maximum wattage it can handle (the power rating). The latter should not exceed the peak power output of your amplifier.

Mechanical details in loudspeaker design differ widely among various makes and models, and among knowledgeable hi-fiers you may hear arguments about cone tweeters vs. horn tweeters, or partisan pleas for or against acoustic suspension speakers, electrostatic speakers, rigid cone speakers and so on.

Each of these items is an earnest effort to attain that ultimate realism in music reproduction that is the enduring quest of high fidelity. But the ultimate proof of any speaker, regardless of its design, lies solely in the listening. Only your own ears can tell you whether a certain speaker brings you the true sound of music.

The perception of sound is, after all, an individual matter, and sonic realism and musical pleasure ultimately become matters of personal taste. Because components allow you such a wide choice of speaker sounds, they offer a much greater assurance of lasting satisfaction than is possible with any pre-packaged console.
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• Anmerkung : Bei uns wurden erst zum Ende 1963 - zur Funkausstellung - die ersten UKW-Stereo Testsendungen ausgestrahlt. FM-Stereo gab es in USA schon früher.

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If you've never heard radio programs through a high fidelity component sound system, you're in for a pleasant surprise. Most listeners' initial reaction is "But it doesn't sound like a radio at all." There's no comparison between high fidelity reception, especially in stereo, and the performance of any ordinary receiver.

Realism in radio reaches its highest level in frequency modulation (FM = UKW) broadcasting, developed for the sake of greater fidelity. Moreover, FM is the only form of broadcasting offering programs in full stereo. But superior tonal quality isn't all FM has to offer. Programs, too, are tailored to meet the taste of high fidelity listeners.
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FM offers you an endless supply of good music, ranging from the classics to the best in light entertainment. Independent FM stations also bring you stimulating current affairs broadcasts.

Where but on FM could you hear a superb Shakespeare performance in Mobile, Alabama, or a controversial play by Bertold Brecht in Worcester, Mass.? How else could a listener in Columbus, Ohio, hear the complete Salzburg Music Festival, listen to Aldous Huxley discuss ethics or J. Robert Oppenheimer on the role of science in modern life?

Such fare is typical of independent FM stations springing up all over the country. Many operate on a wholly non-commercial basis, being endowed by colleges, public school systems or corporations. Some are supported entirely by voluntary contributions of their listeners. Few ordinary radio stations, beset by commercial pressures to aim for a mass audience, can afford the luxury of such diversity in programming and the level of taste typical of many independent FM broadcasters.

Today (also 1963), some 1200 FM stations are spread over most of the United States, serving nearly every major listening area. Of these, almost 300 are broadcasting in stereo, 712 offer independent programming and 228 are entirely non-commercial.

FM stations, however, cover very limited areas. Listeners away from major metropolitan areas still depend largely on AM, or amplitude modulation, radio for broadcast service. Whether you need AM or FM (or, more likely, both) depends mostly on the type of programming available in your area. Your local audio dealer can advise you. Both forms of radio can be included in your high fidelity system.

To listen to radio broadcasts at their best, in AM or FM, you need a tuner, a device that pulls radio signals from the air and feeds them to your amplifier and loudspeakers.

An FM tuner furnishes wide frequency range, covering the whole audible spectrum. It has low distortion, absence of static and fading, no interference from two stations located next to each other on the dial, full dynamic range, silent background, and the same high-quality reception day or night and regardless of the weather.

Even with AM, though its frequency range is limited and it's prone to static, you get better sound from components than from an ordinary radio. In both cases, you're able to use the controls on the amplifier and tuner to filter out unwanted sound, or to adjust the quality of the sound to fit your own personal taste.

Unlike ordinary radios, tuners are built to quality standards to match the tonal demands of high fidelity. They come in several types to meet your particular requirements. There are tuners for AM or FM only, for both combined, or combined with a high fidelity amplifier on a single chassis.

FM tuners are available with or without stereo sections. However it's not necessary to buy a tuner with FM stereo now if there's no stereo broadcasting in your area. Any modern FM mono tuner can be converted to stereo easily with the aid of a low-cost stereo adapter.

To make your choice, consider the following pointers: If you live in a major metropolitan area, chances are that everything you'll want to hear - including the ball game or an occasional radio network broadcast - is available on FM in addition to high fidelity music, drama and discussion programs. In that case, an FM-only tuner is what you're looking for. On the other hand, if you're in an area where not all the programs you want to hear are on FM, you'll need an AM-FM tuner. And for the listener located at some distance from a major population center, an AM-only tuner may be the answer.
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Within the past few years, FM stereo has come along - largely as a result of the pioneering work of the high fidelity component industry. If you live within range of a station broadcasting stereophonically - your audio dealer can advise you on this - you'd be well advised to consider an FM stereo tuner, which pulls in the present monophonic broadcasts with full fidelity as well as providing you with stereo.
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• Anmerkung : Ein sehr wohlmeinender Ratschlag, der aber sehr oft voll daneben lag. Ausserhalb der großen Städte, von denen es sicherlich ganz ganz viele in den USA gibt, ist die Hifi-Händlerdichte sehr bescheiden. Es sind oft 100 Meilen bis zum nächsten Hifi.Studio oder Hifi-Salon gewesen.

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Conditions for FM reception are similar to those for receiving television. The maximum range of the signal may vary from 30 to better than 100 miles, depending on the broadcast signal strength as well as on other factors. If your home is on high ground, you'll be able to tune in to more distant stations than you can if you live in a valley where radio signals are blocked by surrounding hills.

The sensitivity of a tuner is an index of its ability to pull in weak signals from distant stations. It's expressed as a certain number of microvolts (abbreviated uv). The smaller the number, the greater the sensitivity of the tuner. For example, a tuner with 4uv sensitivity might be fine for listening to nearby stations; a tuner with 2uv sensitivity would be more desirable for listening to distant stations.

A good antenna gives your tuner a far better chance of catching FM stations clearly and reliably. The farther you are from the station you're trying to receive, the better your antenna should be. Moreover, a good antenna improves the performance of any tuner, regardless of its sensitivity.

If you live in a city where all the stations are close by, an indoor antenna may suffice. If you're in the suburbs, you may want to add a roof antenna for best reception, especially for stereo where a good strong signal contributes much to the quality of sound.

If you live in an apartment house with a master TV antenna, try plugging your FM tuner into the TV antenna socket. Sometimes this works quite well. And in fringe areas or in low-lying locations, you may need a multi-element antenna and possibly a rotator similar to those used for TV in your neighborhood.
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Other tuner specifications of interest to you are those for distortion and hum, which should be as low as possible. In stereo tuners, the separation between channels should be at least 25 db. This means that any left-channel signal sneaking over into the right channel (or vice versa) would be 25 db softer than the signal properly belonging in that channel. Under practical listening conditions, a separation of 25 db makes such spill-over virtually unnoticeable.

Another feature of a good FM tuner is that it holds the station you've selected firmly tuned in without letting the program drift away - a problem you'll encounter with some table radios and consoles.
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Of all the high fidelity equipment you can introduce into your home, a tape recorder is the most versatile. It is at once a music maker and a music storer. You can reproduce music from tape as you would from a disc; you can build your own library of music by taping music broadcast by local FM stations. Tape also lets you record lively mementos of family events, of parties and visits, of your children singing or speaking.

If you're a home movie fan, a tape recorder enables you to add sound to home movie or 35mm slide showings. Some recorders have a special feature called sound-on-sound, which lets you combine two or more separate recordings. That way, you can record background music or sound effects for your films, and later on add dialogue or narration. Or you can accompany yourself making your own music.

A tape recorder is a highly effective teaching aid. Children can use one to practice a foreign language, hear how their piano exercises sound to others, repeat school lessons. Some battery-operated portable recorders are even used by college students to record classroom lectures. Then they play back the tapes when they're preparing for an exam.

You can record a radio broadcast. A recorder also lets you copy your friends'records. Or to keep irreplaceable collectors'items in your own collection from wearing out, you may want to transfer them to tape.

The first step in choosing among the various types of tape recorders is to decide just how you'll be using your machine. If portability is important to you, you'll be interested in the many luggage-style tape recorders that can be taken anywhere. Most of these have built-in playback amplifiers and loudspeakers so you can play your freshly recorded tapes right on the spot. They're also fine for taking taped music with you on weekend and vacation trips. Such recorders can serve as a sound system away from home.

If you don't want to be without a favorite recording during a holiday, just put it on tape and take the reel along with you.

The ultimate in portability are the small battery-operated tape recorders. They don't have to be plugged in and can record unobtrusively anywhere. They're handy in the classroom, for the tourist who wants to capture his vacation in sound as well as on film, for recording outdoors or in cars.

Their fidelity generally doesn't match that of the bigger machines, but they compare favorably in music reproduction with most transistor radios of comparable size. Most of these battery portables record and play back monophonically only.

If you don't expect to go traipsing about with your recorder but intend to use it as a stay-at-home adjunct to your stereo system, you can save money by buying a tape deck. It's a recorder without speakers and playback amplifiers. Instead, it plays back through your regular home-based amplifier and loudspeakers, functioning as an integral part of your sound system.

Like any other tape recorder, the average deck lets you record either by microphone or directly from such program sources as your tuner or records. Decks are popular with high fidelity listeners, for they lend themselves easily to custom installation into cabinets along with the rest of your equipment. Alternatively, most tape decks are available with attractive bases that can be placed on shelves, sideboards or other open surfaces without any need for custom installation.

If you're interested in tape playback only, you can save still more money with a playback-only deck - a unit which contains only playback facilities and works in conjunction with your regular amplifier and speakers. The saving to you is roughly the cost of a recording preamplifier, which isn't supplied with these units.

Most stereo tape recorders today accommodate four separate sound tracks on standard quarter-inch recording tape. Two tracks in each
direction of tape travel provide left and right channels for stereo. This four-track arrangement also lets you play the commercially produced prerecorded tapes that offer much of the repertoire of major record companies in non-destructible tape form.

Some older recorders are designed for two-track operation, which permits easier editing of tapes. Most of the battery portables also use the two-track format. But it's in four-track form that today's large catalogues of prerecorded operas, symphonies, jazz, show tunes and dance music are being issued. Many four-track recorders also give you the option of recording monophonically on all four tracks, which lets you put up to eight hours of music monophonically on a single seven-inch reel of tape.

Virtually all recorders also offer a choice of two or more tape speeds. The most common is 7 1/2 inches per second. Since the frequency range of tape recorders increases with tape speed, some models also offer a higher speed of 15 ips for the ultimate in fidelity. But 7 1/2 ips these days provides a response more than ample for all normal requirements of high fidelity. It's also the standard speed for prerecorded tapes.

Slower speeds such as 3 3/4 and 1 7/8 ips offer greater tape economy. At 7 1/2 ips, a 1200-foot tape reel holds one hour of stereo material, two hours at 3 3/4 ips, four hours at 1 7/8, eight hours at 15/16 and 30 minutes at 15 ips. To compute monophonic recording time, simply double these figures, since you use only one track at a time.

Typical frequency response figures for a good recorder at various speeds might read 50-15,000 cps at 7 1/2 ips; 50-8000 cps at 3 3/4 ips. To qualify for critical high fidelity use, the frequency response of a tape recorder should be flat within ±3db, harmonic distortion shouldn't exceed 2 per cent and the signal-to-noise ratio should be at least 45 db.

Flutter and wow, which express irregularities in tape motion with effects similar to those caused by the corresponding deficiencies in turntables, ideally shouldn't exceed 0.1 and 0.3 per cent respectively. If you don't want to bother with such technical details, there's a simple way of assessing the overall performance of a tape recorder.

Bring one of your own records to your audio dealer and ask a salesman to dub some of it onto tape on the machine you want to evaluate. Then play alternately the record and the copy on tape through the same amplifier and loudspeakers and see how close the tape comes to duplicating the original sound on the disc. By doing this with two or three tape recorders you can make direct comparisons. In particular, listen for sustained notes or long-held chords on the piano, which give a good indication of the speed accuracy as well as of flutter and wow.

Tape recorders differ in the number and variety of operating features they offer. Some have provisions for sound-on-sound that let you combine two separate recordings. Some also have switching facilities for alternate playback of two- and four-track tapes, and some allow you to monitor a recording while you're making it directly from the tape rather than from the input signal.

Similar divergence exists in the arrangement of controls, the type of recording indicators (meters or magic eye tubes), and in the manner of threading the tape through the mechanism. Choose whichever seems the most convenient and practical to you.

Regardless of the way the controls are arranged, the recorder should run smoothly and without too much mechanical noise and vibration. Test the recorder by putting it through its paces. Note whether it responds to such commands as fast forward, stop, reverse and so forth without jerking the tape.

To make live recordings you will, of course, need some microphones. In some cases you get a pair with your recorder. In others, the choice of microphones is left to you. For most types of recording, relatively inexpensive dynamic microphones give excellent results and even less expensive ceramic mikes often are satisfactory.
If you're planning to do some professional recording, or to record under unusual conditions, better get some advice from your local high fidelity dealer on what kind of microphone to use and how to go about the job you have in mind.
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So you've decided to buy high fidelity components! Your next step is to enlist the services of a high fidelity dealer to help you select the components which are right for you and to advise you on fitting them into the decor of your home.

Where do you find a qualified high fidelity dealer or audio specialist? High fidelity components are sold in a wide range of stores, including electronics wholesalers, audio salons, department stores, discount houses, music stores, record and camera stores.

Of course, you have to find the right dealer. To help you, the Institute of High Fidelity has set up guidelines for separating audio specialists from casual dealers in "hi-fis" and "stereos".

An audio specialist, the Institute says, must have demonstration facilities for the equipment he sells - an area for listening, to help you determine how the various components will sound when you get them home and a means for switching back and forth rapidly among components, to help you judge for yourself which sound you like best.

An audio specialist must also offer his customers the products of at least six component manufacturers - in order to assure you a reasonable selection from which to choose. Some stores of each type mentioned above meet these requirements - and some don't.

Those who do exist in virtually every city in the country. To help you find the one nearest you, the Institute of High Fidelity has published a list of major audio specialists which is free on request to the Institute, 516 Fifth Avenue, New York 36, N.Y.

In addition, some dealers carry the IHF Registered Audio Specialist shield in their store windows. Others are listed under the IHF shield in the "High Fidelity" listing of your telephone directory's Yellow Pages.

Your high fidelity dealer should be something of a personal confidant. Tell him about your musical tastes. Let him know whether you plan to listen alone or in company. Give him some information about the room in which you plan to install your equipment (you can sketch it on page 64, together with your furniture, tear the page out and take it with you when you go to shop, if you so desire). And be frank about your finances.

Be sure to let the dealer know if you plan to have components set into furniture you already own. Or you may discuss the possible arrangement of components as wall units, room dividers, shelf installations, perhaps even the mounting of components in a closet door, which is an inexpensive and space-saving way of housing them.

Shopping for components in person is a good idea for several reasons. A good dealer or a friend can recommend a turntable or an amplifier, since these components produce almost no sound of their own. But only you can select the loudspeaker you like best - and the best way of doing so is by taking time to listen to several in the price range you're considering.

Because speakers are so important to the complete system, most audio specialists advise budgeting half your total outlay - if you're buying a single program source - for speakers. You can buy high fidelity components by mail, too - but you'll have to forego the dealer's personal advice and help and the opportunity to listen to your purchase in advance.

Sometimes it will be possible to get a discount on the components you buy. Some dealers charge full list price for the components they sell; others offer discounts of as much as 20 per cent on the same products. As with the components themselves, however, you get what you pay for.

The dealer who charges you full price generally offers a number of services, including free home delivery and installation, a store warranty on your purchase in addition to the manufacturer's, personal consultation before and after the sale and other handy extras.

As the price drops, so do the services the dealer offers. Some stores offering substantial discounts expect you to help yourself, carry your purchase home and install it yourself, much as you would with groceries from the supermarket.

If you're a bit of a do-it-yourselfer, you can save money by buying at discount. On the other hand, if you'd prefer to have the dealer install your equipment for you, you may want to buy from a store which includes this service in its purchase price.

There are no special bargains in high fidelity, for - unlike the prevalent practice in the radio and home appliance field - the nationally advertised prices of components represent realistic value that leave no room for catch-as-catch-can discounting. When you buy components, you get a bargain without bargaining.

You'll save time and confusion if you tell the dealer right at the outset how much money you want to spend. In terms of cost, there are three main classes of component systems: economy, ranging from $200 to $350; solid middle, priced anywhere from $400 to $750; and de luxe, which starts at about $800.

Economy systems sound infinitely better than consoles costing the same, or even a few hundred dollars more. And, despite their modest power outputs, they produce plenty of sound to fill the average listening room. The solid middle offers the discriminating listener the highest return in listening pleasure for each dollar spent. You get full-range frequency response, extremely low distortion, virtually silent background plus ample power even for large rooms and thundering musical climaxes.

If you're interested in a dream system - priced upwards of $800 - you'll find an added authenticity of sound, a subtler transparency of texture and a feeling of unrestrained openness in sound that one critic describes as sonic bloom. Moreover, you get the satisfaction of knowing that your equipment represents the ultimate frontier of the audio art.

And if music is truly your passion, you may feel that the closest possible approach to perfection is in itself a pleasure worth the cost.

If you're interested in a dream system - priced upwards of $800 - you'll find an added authenticity of sound, a subtler transparency of texture and a feeling of unrestrained openness in sound that one critic describes as sonic bloom. Moreover, you get the satisfaction of knowing that your equipment represents the ultimate frontier of the audio art.

And if music is truly your passion, you may feel that the closest possible approach to perfection is in itself a pleasure worth the cost.

Remember that, unlike a console or portable phonograph, each component you buy is an investment. The introduction of FM stereo, for example, rendered obsolete thousands of consoles and table radios.

Owners who replace these units with stereo models find that their entire original investment - ranging as high as $750 - has been lost, since these models have no resale value. Components, on the other hand, always retain a portion of their original value. The amount depends on the quality of the original unit, its age, and its condition.

A few ten-year-old amplifiers (monophonic) bring as much as 80 per cent of their original purchase price. Most components bring at least 50 per cent of their original price on a trade-in against new equipment.
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Remember that, unlike a console or portable phonograph, each component you buy is an investment. The introduction of FM stereo, for example, rendered obsolete thousands of consoles and table radios.

Owners who replace these units with stereo models find that their entire original investment - ranging as high as $750 - has been lost, since these models have no resale value. Components, on the other hand, always retain a portion of their original value. The amount depends on the quality of the original unit, its age, and its condition.

A few ten-year-old amplifiers (monophonic) bring as much as 80 per cent of their original purchase price. Most components bring at least 50 per cent of their original price on a trade-in against new equipment.
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One way of reducing the cost of high fidelity - and at the same time developing an educational hobby - is by building your own components from kits rather than buying them ready-made.

Since labor is an expensive ingredient in most components, you can save as much as 40 per cent by doing your own assembly work. There are kits for just about everything, including loudspeakers and tape decks.

The widest selection, however, is in amplifiers and tuners where some models are identical in appearance and performance with factory-finished models. Originally, kits were designed to help do-it-yourselfers get into high fidelity on a budget. In recent years, however, some manufacturers have designed kits which require little previous do-it-yourself experience and no background in electronics.

It's not at all uncommon for a doctor or a lawyer to relax in the evening soldering together a tuner kit - as much for the fun of it as for the pleasure to be derived from the finished product. Because many of today's kits are foolproof, even a novice can tackle one without qualm. Experience is a good deal less important than the attribute of patience and the ability to follow step-by-step instructions.

One way of reducing the cost of high fidelity - and at the same time developing an educational hobby - is by building your own components from kits rather than buying them ready-made.

Since labor is an expensive ingredient in most components, you can save as much as 40 per cent by doing your own assembly work. There are kits for just about everything, including loudspeakers and tape decks.

The widest selection, however, is in amplifiers and tuners where some models are identical in appearance and performance with factory-finished models. Originally, kits were designed to help do-it-yourselfers get into high fidelity on a budget. In recent years, however, some manufacturers have designed kits which require little previous do-it-yourself experience and no background in electronics.

It's not at all uncommon for a doctor or a lawyer to relax in the evening soldering together a tuner kit - as much for the fun of it as for the pleasure to be derived from the finished product. Because many of today's kits are foolproof, even a novice can tackle one without qualm. Experience is a good deal less important than the attribute of patience and the ability to follow step-by-step instructions.

At last you settle back to enjoy your component high fidelity music system. After a few days, you'll find yourself forgetting all about the components and just listening to the music. That's the ultimate test for component stereo. You shouldn't be aware of your components as you listen. There should be nothing between you and the music - nothing to keep you from sitting back, relaxing, and enjoying it.

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