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WHILE STATESIDE audio dealers were taking a first look at the latest electronic goodies during this year's summer CES in Chicago, military audiophiles stationed overseas were already, in many cases, putting the new equipment through its paces in their own homes. Because it's now a fact of life in the high fidelity business that the military market comes first.

So great is the military's appetite for quality stereo gear that many of the world's manufacturers, especially the Japanese, give overseas exchanges and audio clubs first crack at their new models.

Earlier this year, while still in the prototype stage, equipment ticketed for Chicago unveiling was sneak-previewed in Tokyo for buyers representing AAFES, Europe, AAFES, Pacific and Navy exchanges, who gathered to select items for the new editions of their mail order catalogs.

They also chose items to be stocked in exchanges in Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Guam and elsewhere in the Pacific, as well as Europe, and shipments began as soon as equipment reached production.

Thus some new models are already on sale to the military overseas when U.S. dealers first see the equipment at their annual trade show.

The new 1976 Mail Order Catalog from AAFES, Pacific includes in its line-up of front-loading cassette decks the Akai GXC-710D, Pioneer CT-F9191, Sony TC-204SD and Teac A-400, all of them newly unveiled at CES and covered in this two-part report on the Chicago show.

The new Technics SL-1500 direct-drive turntable, Sansui's FR-3080 and SR-525, plus Kenwood's KD-3033 and KD-5033 turntable models, are also in the catalog and on the way to stores, as are four of the new Sansui loudspeakers also covered in this CES report.

The trend to "super-stereo," with separate preamplifier and power amplifier components, is also reflected in the exchanges' most recent product selections.

Sansui's BA-3000 and CA-3000 amp and pre-amp, plus the AIM 1000 integrated amplifier and matching TU-9900 tuner, are available by mail order. The Marantz 125 tuner, and Pioneer's SA-9500 integrated amplifier, for which a matching tuner is also available, are likewise in the AAFES, Pacific catalog.

And many more "separates" unveiled at CES will be available at military discount prices overseas through audio clubs and hobby shops.

Here's the concluding part of our annual stand-by-stand report of new products shown to the trade in Chicago, picking up where we left off last month.
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Latest cartridge from Pickering is a 4-channel model, XUV/4500Q, the firm's second cartridge designed to play CD-4 discs. These records have rear-channel information that is FM-modulated at 30,000 Hz and Pickering claims the new cartridge will track them at less than a gram, with frequency response of 10-50,000 Hz and channel separation of 25 dB at 30,000 Hz.

Stylus tip is a tri-radial design that Pickering calls Quadrahedral. The cartridge will, of course, play matrixed QS and SQ discs and conventional stereo, as well as CD-4. Stateside price of the XUV/4500Q is $139.95.
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• The Pilot name, one of the audio industry's oldest, is now owned by the giant Mitsubishi company of Japan, which also owns Onkyo.

At CES, Pilot introduced two stereo receivers and a stereo amplifier, all in the moderate-power, medium-price range. The Pilot 540 receiver offers 40 watts per channel minimum RMS at 8 ohms from 20-20,000 Hz with no more than 0.3 percent total harmonic distortion (THD). Suggested retail price is $419.90. Model 525 is similar, but rated at 25 watts per channel with 0.5 percent THD and priced at $349.90. The Pilot 225 stereo amplifier has the same specifications and control features as the 525 receiver's amplifier section.
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Two more front-loading cassette decks bring to three the component-styled tape machines offered by Pioneer. Model CT-
F9191,the top of the line, has a U.S. price of $449.95. It has two motors, one an electronically-controlled DC servo motor for record/ play and a separate fast forward/rewind motor. Tape motion is solenoid controlled, with direct switching from one mode to another without having to press the stop button. Wow and flutter is 0.07 percent WRMS.

Like the CT-F7171 introduced earlier, the new deck has Dolby noise reduction circuitry and separate bias and equalization switches for chromium dioxide and ferric oxide tapes. So does the other new model, CT-F2121, with wow and flutter rating of 0.12 percent WRMS and a U.S. price of $199.95.

Pioneer has also broadened its range of separate components. There are four new integrated stereo amplifiers, headed by model SA-9900, rated at 110 watts per channel minimum RMS at 8 ohms, 20-20,000 Hz, with no more than 0.1 percent total harmonic distortion. Its U.S. price is $749.95.

Model SA-9500, with 80 watts per channel at the same 0.1 percent THD rating, costs $499.95. Model SA-8500, also rated at 0.1 percent THD, offers 60 watts per channel at $399.95, while the budget model, SA-7500, has a 40-watt rating at a slightly less demanding 0.3 percent THD, and a $299.95 price tag. A feature of the new Pioneer amplifiers is a two-way tape duplicating and monitoring circuit, permitting the user to monitor either tape deck or any selected program source while dubbing tapes.

Pioneer is also into "super-stereo" separates with a rack-mounted power amplifier called Spec 2. It packs 250 watts per channel, minimum RMS at either 8 or 4 ohms, 20-20,000 Hz, with no more than 0.1 percent THD. Price is $899.95. The matching Spec 1 preamp costs $499.95. A new tuner, styled to match the integrated amps, the model TX-7500, has phase-lock-loop stereo multiplex demodulator and a $249.95 price.

Latest Pioneer turntable is the belt-driven PL-15D/II semi automatic single play model. Its tone arm returns to the rest position after playing a record and the motor shuts itself off. Wow and flutter is rated at less than 0.08 percent WRMS and rumble is -48 dB. U.S. retail price, $129.95.
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Two medium-size speaker systems in the moderate-price class were unveiled at CES by Rectilinear. Model 4-1/2 has 10-in. woofer, 2-in. dome midrange and 1 -in. supertweeter, but no crossover circuitry or special controls. Rectilinear says that elimination of the extra circuitry was achieved by preselecting components with frequency response characteristics that would not have to be altered by crossovers. The 4-1/2 is an acoustic suspension design suitable for bookshelf or floor placement. A pedestal that tilts the speaker 10 degrees is offered as an optional extra. Price of the 4-1/2 will be about $225. The second new model is the Rectilinear 2, a two-way system of similar design, priced at about $129.
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In line with a trend toward high-powered components with professional rack-mounted styling, Rotel has a new integrated stereo amplifier with large handles on either side of the front panel. Another styling departure is the positioning of input and output terminals on the side of the chassis instead of at the rear.

The jumbo amplifier, model RA-1412, features two independent power supplies with separate power transformers. Rated at 110 watts per channel, minimum RMS, with both channels driven into 8 ohms from 20-20,000 Hz and no more than 0.1 percent THD, the U.S. retail price is $750.

A companion tuner, the RT-1424, will be introduced in November, featuring built-in Dolby noise reduction circuitry and priced at about $450. There will also be another integrated amplifier, the RA-1312, with the same styling but a power rating of 80 watts per channel and priced at about $600.
Rotel's newest stereo receiver, model RX-7707, has a distinctly continental look and is intended primarily for the European market. The FM band is tuned by means of five varicap diodes that can be preset for the desired stations and selected electronically at the touch of a button. The AM dial is tuned manually.

Unlike other Rotel components, the new receiver has four slide controls for bass, treble, balance and volume. Power rating of the RX-7707 is 35 watts per channel RMS at 8 ohms, from 20-20,000 Hz with 0.5 percent THD. Stateside retail price will be about $450.
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There is a choice of styling on a new super-power amplifier from SAE. Mark XXV has the usual SAE black-and-gold front panel, while the professional version for rack-panel mounting (with the ubiquitous handles) has an all-black front and is known as the Mark 2500. Power rating is 300 watts per channel, minimum RMS, with both channels driven from 20-20,000 Hz at 8 ohms, with 0.05 percent THD. At 4 ohms impedance power rises to 450 watts per channel at 0.1 percent THD.

SAE's Mark VIB digital tuner now has two lower-priced companion models, the Mark VIII (about $600) and Mark XXXII (about $350). The latter will shortly have a matching integrated stereo amplifier, Mark XXXIII, rated at 75 watts per channel and priced at about $450.
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New amplifiers head a big list of products introduced by Sansui at this year's CES. The jumbo model, BA-5000, is a rack-mounted power amplifier rated at 300 watts per channel, minimum RMS, with both channels driven, from 20-20,000 Hz, at impedances of 2, 4 or 8 ohms, with no more than 0.1 percent THD.

A strapping circuit is built-in for converting the amplifier to monophonic use with a power rating of 600 watts RMS at 4, 8 or 16 ohms. With similar styling, but without the front-panel handles, model BA-3000 offers 170 watts per channel into 4 or 8 ohms or 85 watts into 16 ohms, with THD no more than 0.05 percent.

Sansui's matching preamplifier for the BA series is model CA-3000. It features two separate power supplies, one for each channel, and a phono equalizer with separate amplifier sections for bass and treble. There are inputs for two record players and three tape decks, with provision for dubbing between any two decks while listening to any of the three decks or any other input source.

Sansui's line of integrated stereo amplifiers is now headed by model AU-20000, rated at 170 watts per channel, minimum RMS, with both channels driven into 8 ohms from 20-20,000 Hz at no more than 0.05 percent THD.

Next is model AU-11000, offering 110 watts per channel at 0.08 percent THD, followed by model AU-9900, with 80 watts RMS per channel, also at 0.08 percent THD. All three models have tone controls for bass, midrange and treble. The new matching stereo tuner, model TU-9900, features a choice of wide or narrow FM IF bandwidth, the latter position employing a narrow-band ceramic filter to further reject adjacent signals. The FM multiplex demodulator employs phase lock loop circuitry and distortion is rated at 0.08 percent in stereo, 0.06 percent in mono.

On the 4-channel front, Sansui has a new medium-priced quadraphonic receiver, the QRX-5001, with all systems (QS, SQ and CD-4) built-in. Power rating is 17 watts per channel, minimum RMS, with all four channels driven into 8 ohms from 30-20,000 Hz at no more than 0.5 percent THD.

There is also a new 4-channel component, model QSD-1, offering Sansui's latest QS vario-matrix decoder and 4-channel synthesizer in a rack-mounting chassis.

In three new loudspeakers Sansui features a baffle board construction with three built-in exponential horns that direct rear waves generated by the tweeter to the top and sides of the enclosure. Sansui claims the new tweeter baffle improves both high frequency dispersion and transient response. Called the "LM" (Linear Motion) series, the speakers are vertically styled two-way designs: LM-330 with 10-in. woofer, LM-220 with 8-in. woofer and LM-110 with 6 1/2-in. woofer.

Also new are model SP-2500X, a 5-speaker, 3-way system rated at 100 watts; SP-5500X with five speakers in a 4-way configuration rated at 120 watts; and SP-7500X, also a 4-way, 5-speaker design but with a 130-watt rating and featuring a 16-in. woofer.

Latest Sansui turntables are the fully-automatic single-play model FR-3080 with belt drive and equipped with Shibata stylus for CD-4 discs, and a deluxe manual model, SR-525, with electronic servo-controlled direct drive and a wow and flutter rating of 0.03 percent WRMS.

There are three new Sansui headphones, all of the non-isolating type that sit lightly on the ears and do not seal off the listener from sounds around him. Model QH-44 is a 4-channel model, while SH-15 and SH-5 are both for stereo, the latter an ultralight design.
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An all-new, top-of-the-line FM receiver from H. H. Scott, the RD-1000, features digital tuning with programmed memory. Up to ten FM station frequencies can be entered by means of the tuner's keyboard programmer, with any of the preselected stations called up at any time by pressing a single button. Stations can be selected manually by punching the desired frequency on the keyboard, or the FM band can be scanned up or down in either "stereo only" or "all station" mode. Signal strength is indicated by four Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) on the front panel. A separate LED indicates the presence of multipath distortion in the incoming signal.

The amplifier section is rated at 100 watts minimum RMS per channel with both channels driven at 8 ohms from 20-20,000 Hz with no more than 0.15 percent THD. Inputs are provided for two tape decks, and an accessory input for equalizers, noise reduction or other signal processing devices is switchable from the front panel. The Scott RD-1000 will be available in early 1976, priced Stateside at about $1,500.
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While Shure Brothers' enormously successful top-of-the-line cartridge, the V-15 Type III, is unchanged this year, the company has a new "number two" model, the M95ED. Shure says the cartridge's design feature is a thinner, uninterrupted pole piece that minimizes magnetic loss at high frequencies and results in a flatter frequency response.

The M95ED has a nude-mounted, biradial elliptical stylus and tracks at 3/4 to 1 1/2 grams. Recommended retail price in the U.S. is $59.95. For owners of turntables with arms that require slightly heavier tracking force, Shure offers the same
cartridge with stylus designed to track at 1 1/2 to 3 grams, model M95EJ, priced Stateside at $44.95.
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• Anmerkung : Shure bietet zu dieser Zeit - Sommer 1975 - immer noch kein CD-4 Abtaster an. Das Modell 24 kam erst später in 1976, als Quadro schon tot war.

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Two more front-loading cassette tape decks, both with Dolby, were released by Sony at CES. Model TC-204SD, priced Stateside at $349.95, has 3-position bias and equalization switches for normal, ferri-chrome (FeCr) and chromium dioxide (Cr02) tapes.

There is also a provision for Dolby FM, with rear panel calibration controls. Model TC-209SD, priced at $549.95, has extras such as automatic memory, FET preamp circuitry and feather-touch transport control buttons. Both decks feature a new ferrite-and-ferrite record/playback head.

There are also four new cassette decks' with top loading. Model TC-117 is the budget model, priced at $149.95, while Model TC-136SD has Dolby noise reduction, mike/line mixing, a ferrite-and-ferrite head, and a $299.95 price tag. Model TC-138SD at $399.95 also has a memory tape counter and a separate line-out level control. The fourth new model, TC-153SD, is a stereo portable that is powered by either AC or a battery pack. Price is $369.95.

In the open-reel tape format, Sony introduced the TC-880-2, with 10 1/2-in. reel capacity. Its four heads include quarter-track playback as well as two-track stereo recording and playback. Each track can be recorded independently in synchronization, and a special editing control is provided for cueing or redubbing material on any segment of tape.

The tape transport is servo-controlled with "logic" function and also features variable pitch control permitting adjustment of tape speed by as much as 7 percent. Frequency response is 20-47,000 Hz, ±2dB, at 15ips with ferri-chrome tape. Wow and flutter is rated at 0.02 percent. Price of the top-of-the-line deck is $2,495.
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• Anmerkung : Das ist leider nur sehr rudimentär, denn dieses TC-880 hatte Lichzeigerinstrumente, etwas sehr Teures und Außergewöhnliches aus der Studio-Technik.

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The 10-octave equalizer offered by Soundcraftsmen has been slightly modified and is now known as the 20-12A. The unit's ± 12 dB slide controls have a firmer action, while its front panel and walnut-grained vinyl case have been restyled. Stateside price of the 20-12A is $299.50. Also announced was a new professional version, suitable for rack-mounting, which features a LED front-panel display for balancing input and output signals. It is priced at $550.
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Cartridge maker Stanton has a new turntable, called the Gyropoise, that features a magnetic suspension bearing to keep the platter from making vertical contact with the turntable mechanism. Belt driven using a 24-pole synchronous motor, the Gyropoise has a wow and flutter rating of 0.07 percent (weighted, DIN) and rumble level of -60 dB. It is a manual single-play design, with single-pivot tone arm suspension, and comes equipped with a choice of Stanton 681 Triple-E or 780/4DQ cartridge, the latter suitable for discrete CD-4 records as well as stereo. The 681 Triple-E is Stanton's latest top-of-the-line stereo cartridge, identical to the 681 EE that it supersedes except for a reduction in stylus mass Stateside price of the cartridge is $82.
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A top-of-the-line electrostatic headphone system, PEP-81, is the latest Superscope entry. Priced Stateside at $150, the system includes one stereophone and a control console that will handle two 'phones (an extra headset costs $78). The headphone is of the isolation type and can be operated in either self-energized or AC-powered mode. Superex also has a new medium-priced dynamic headphone, the Classic CL-1, which is also an isolation type but features lightweight cushions designed to rest lightly on the ears, while still excluding environmental noises. Prices of the Classic CL-1 is $55.
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Now there is a fourth tape formula, called Super Avilyn, introduced by TDK at the Summer CES in Chicago. But it won't require still another bias/equalization setting on cassette machines, says TDK, because it is designed to operate with the same bias and equalization used for chrome tape.

Avilyn is a ferric oxide formula to which a touch of cobalt has been added — but not, emphasizes the manufacturer, to be confused with cobalt "doped" tapes. Thus it is actually an improved ferric oxide, but with high coercivity that is specifically tailored to make it compatible with the chromium dioxide settings included in cassette tape decks now on the market. Known as the SA-60, the Avilyn tape from TDK will retail in the States for $3.59. An SA-90 cassette will be introduced later.

TDK also has a new low-priced cassette called the Maverick, a standard ferric-oxide formula in C-90, C-60 and C-30 sizes, plus an 8-track cartridge called the "D" that is also lower-priced than the company's premium-grade SD series. In the open-reel line prices have been slightly reduced on TDK's top-grade Audua-L tape, and 3600-ft. lengths are now available on a new plastic, 10 1/2-in. reel with NAB hub, priced in the States at $18.99. The same tape on a metal reel costs $23.95. Since the Audua-L requires high bias, TDK now has a second open-reel line, the "S" series, designed for normal bias. Like the Audua-L, it is available in 1200, 1800 and 3600-ft. lengths, the latter costing $16.99 on the new plastic 101/2-in. reel, or $20.95 on a metal reel.
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• CES marked the Stateside debut of Teac's front-load, component-style A-400 cassette deck, already on sale in Pacific exchanges and on the way to Europe.

It features a servo-controlled motor and a tape transport system operated by means of two rotary levers, one for fast wind/rewind and the other for play/record. Included are Dolby circuitry, separate bias and equalization switches, and LED peak level indicators as well as VU meters. Price of the A-400 in the U.S. is $329.50. There, is also a new top-load deck, model A-170, which offers Dolby and separate switches for bias and equalization, at $229.50.

Dolby noise reduction circuitry has been added to the Teac A-2300S open-reel deck, along with a Dolby FM switch for decoding Dolbyized broadcasts. This model, known as the A-2300SD, will be available in the U.S.A. for $739.50.

Teac's top-of-the-line open-reel machine for 10 1/2-in. reels, model A-7300, was previewed at last year's CES and is now being delivered in the States, priced at $1,399.50. It is joined in the l0 1/2-in. reel category by the new A-6100, actually a 7-in. reel model with 10 1/2-in. reel adaptors provided as standard equipment. The A-6100 is a halftrack stereo deck fitted with an extra 1/4-track stereo playback head. It has a 3-motor, pushbutton microswitch tape transport with cueing control and is priced Stateside at $999.50.
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As a follow-up to their successful SL-1300 direct-drive, single-play automatic turntable, the Technics people at Panasonic have a new multiple-play model which they claim is the first direct-drive record player that is also a record changer.

Designated the SL-1350, it uses an umbrella-type spindle that will handle a stack of up to six records. The tone arm is an extra long, modified S-type with gimbal suspension, using the same universal plug-in shell system as single-play turntables. The changer mechanism can also be programmed for repeat play. U.S. retail price of the Technics SL-1350 is $349.95.

The SL-1300 now also has a companion "step-down" model, SL-1500, that will sell in the States for $199.95. It, too, offers direct drive. A third new model, the SP-10 MKII, is an improved version of Technics' original direct-drive turntable, introduced without tone arm. The MKII has faster start-up and stopping time and improved specs: wow and flutter of 0.25 percent WRMS, and rumble suppression of 50 dB (unweighted DIN A) or 70 dB (weighted DIN B). Turntable speed is quartz crystal controlled. U.S. price is $499.95.

The Technics line of stereo receivers, with new brushed-aluminum front-panel has phase lock loop multiplex circuitry in the FM tuner section of all four models and a linear dial scale for both FM and AM.

Model SA-5350, priced in the States at $349.95, is rated at 29 watts per channel RMS into 8 ohms with both channels driven from 20-20,000 Hz and with no more than 0.5 percent THD. The highest powered model, SA-5550, costs $479.95, while model SA-5250, producing 23 watts per channel at 0.5 percent THD, is priced at $299.95. With 16 watts per channel, rated at 0.8 percent THD from 40-20,000 Hz, model SA-5150 costs $229.95.

While Technics' front-load cassette deck, model RS-676US, is unchanged, there are two new top-load models at lower prices. Model RS-625US has Dolby noise reduction and hot-pressed ferrite heads, plus memory rewind, and a U.S. price tag of $299.95. Model RS-263AUS is an improved version of the RS-263US, now including a "peak check" switch on the deck's recording level meters. The U.S. price ($199.95) is unchanged. Technics also has a new timer-adaptor accessory, model RP-905, that can be set to record a broadcast automatically. It works with any Technics solenoid-controlled cassette deck that has provision for remote control, such as the RS-676US, RS-279US and several earlier models, and costs $69.95.

Also unveiled at CES was a new two-way bookshelf speaker system, the T-100, with 8-in. woofer and 2-in. tweeter. While it is an acoustic suspension design, the speaker has relatively high efficiency and can be used with amplifiers rated as low as five watts. U.S. price is $79.95.
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Distributed in the U.S. market by Elpa, the Swiss-made turntable line has a new model featuring an electronic sensing system to lift the tone arm at the end of each record and shut off the power. Called the TD-145C, it is a belt-driven, single-play design, cued manually with a viscous-damped lever. Its sensor is actuated by any increase in the velocity of the tone arm motion, such as that caused by lead-out grooves at the center of a disc. It is also triggered in the event of a power failure, the platform automatically rising to lift the tone arm and stylus out of the groove. The tone arm is a straight-line, gimbal-suspension design featuring a magnetic-type antiskate control. Arm and platter are mounted on an independent chassis, thus isolated from the motor and control assembly. Price of the complete TD-145C turntable, including base and dust cover, is $299.95 in the U.S.A.
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Having introduced a vertical-FET power amplifier at last year's CES, Yamaha followed it up this year with an exotic preamplifier, the C-1 Master Control Center, featuring a signal generator with four sine wave frequencies for calibration and alignment plus pink noise for acoustic measurement and compensation adjustments. Equalization controls for presence and acoustic balance are included, as well as conventional tone controls. All stages of the C-1 are FET circuits.

Also radical is Yamaha's new cassette deck, model TC-800GL, a portable that features a sharply tilted profile, styled by Italian designer Mario Bellini. It has a provision for operation with an external automatic timer, plus variable pitch control, memory rewind and a limiter circuit. Wow and flutter are rated at 0.06 percent WRMS. Powered by a 12 volt battery pack or optional AC, the TC-800GL is priced in the States at $390.
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