HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Universal Remotes
Date: 15 Sep 92 09:18:22 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol

In article <1992Sep14.204713.4167@bmerh85.bnr.ca> shiv@bnr.ca (Shiv Naimpally) writes:
>The first type [pre-programmed] are especially useful if
>you have no original remote (you stepped on it, lost it, etc.).

Or, as happens over here, if your TV/video/whatever didn't come with
a remote, because you bought it 'second-hand' in a pub from someone
who didn't manage to find the remote when they were stealing the box.
(Interestingly, according to a friend who lives in 'that sort' of part 
of town, there are 2 sets of prices for stolen electronics, which are
based on an interesting variant of morality.  Equipment which comes 
in its original box with remote, instructions, etc, is assumed to have
been stolen from a shop (big business), which is 'fair', and commands
a higher price.  Equipment which comes 'bare' is assumed to have been
stolen from a house, which is 'underhanded', and is worth a lot less,
the differential being much more than simple lack of a remote would
account for.  Anyway...)

>But I have found that the pre-preprogrammed codes don't cover every
>possible device. 

One of the British hifi mags tried one of those a month or two ago,
believe it was the Memorex which gets mentioned in here occasionally,
and found that it couldn't handle most of the equipment they tried it
with.  Their suggestion was that if you get one, make sure you'll be
able to return it if it doesn't work with your stuff.

>Similarly , I have found that learning remotes
>can have problems learning with certain brands (eg. Yamaha).

You might try covering part of the 'window' of the original remote,
when you're using it to train a learner.  I had a problem teaching our
Technics remote about our Arcam CD player.  The Arcam remote, instead
of a smooth window at the end, has two separately visible LED 'humps'.
While experimenting with various orientations, I discovered that if I
made sure the learning remote could only see one of the humps
(eventually by masking-tape over the other) then it had no trouble
learning.  When the learning remote could see both LEDs, it couldn't
cope. 

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!uknet!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132
From: kurts@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Kurt Strain)
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 23:42:30 GMT
Subject: Re: Green Pens & CDs (was Re: Very expensive cables)
Organization: Outpost 1T
Newsgroups: rec.audio

In rec.audio, myers@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Bob Myers) writes:

>   > Do expensive cables really make a difference?

>   No. 

Yes they do sometimes.

>   > Do I need to upgrade my speaker cable as well to hear any difference?

>   Nope.  See above.

Depends.  You have to experiment.

>   > Are these expensive cables just a way for manufacturers to make more money
>   > out of their gullible customers?

>   Absolutely. 

Sometimes. 

>   > Or are my ears not very good?

>   Your ears are fine. 

Your ears are fine.


>   Contrary opinions will no doubt be posted.  If so, folks, at least please
>   bring some new reasons.

Nope.


Newsgroups: rec.audio,misc.forsale
From: cht@phoenix.irv.icl.com (Cuong Tran)
Subject: FOR SALE: Brand New Yamaha DSP-A1000
Organization: ICL North America, Irvine, CA 92718
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 19:10:23 GMT


I am posting this for my friend. Please contact him at the phone
number below:

*****************************************************************

For Sale: DSP-A1000 in brand new unopened box. 
	  Asking $1,250.00

If interested, please contact Vu at 1-408-263-4830.

*****************************************************************

-- Cuong Tran
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: strong@tc.fluke.COM (Norm Strong)
Subject: Hsu Subwoofer
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 14:25:48 GMT

Having seen advertisements for, and read a review of, the Hsu Subwoofer,
I'm interested in some anecdotal reviews.  Has anyone bought, or at
least heard, one of these things?  

The most fascinating aspect of the Hsu is the paper tube used as an
enclosure.  Having used plenty of paper tubes as rocket and bomb
casings, I'm well aware that paper tubes are stronger than wood boxes,
stronger even than cast iron of equal weight.  The choice of a large
paper tube for a woofer enclosure sounds like excellent engineering.

Why two woofers?  I have to assume that it has to do with the difficulty
of mixing the signals from both channels without the use of electronics.
Also, of course, the output is doubled.  

Of course, finishing is a problem (thus the stocking), and you have to
keep it dry.  But nothing's perfect.  :-)
-- 

Norm Strong  (strong@tc.fluke.com)
2528 31st S.   Seattle WA 98144   USA
From: palane@iastate.edu (Paul A. Lane)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Green Pens & CDs (was Re: Very expensive cables)
Date: 4 Sep 92 21:23:57 GMT
Article-I.D.: pv742b.palane.715641837
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA

In <1992Sep3.180204.12249@wdl.loral.com> trw@spl1.spl.loral.com (Tim R Witort) writes:

>In article <JEFF.92Sep3085130@dsp.sps.mot.com>, jeff@dsp.sps.mot.com (Jeff Enderwick) writes:

>|> what is a "green pen" for a CD ?

>  Well, no smiley on the end, so I'll assume you're serious...

>  Some people claim that drawing lines on the non-label side of
>their CDs with a green marking pen make the CDs sound better.

>-- Tim

There has been some recent experimentation, not only with the type of pen,
but with the sorts of designs used.

Individuals attempting tic-tac-toe or checkerboard patterns reported a
marked (sic) increased in digititis, presumably from the digital nature
of discrete lines. One individual attempting a reproduction of a pointalist
(ok, so I can't spell) painting was unfortunate enough to blow out his amp.

On the other hand, designs which involved varying gradations of ink density
seemed much more promising. At this point, a dark outer ring fading to clear
seemed best, though one must avoid a repeat distance which is an integer 
multiple of the laser wavelength.

For more industrious individuals, sticking to impressionists is recommended
and for god's sake, avoid Picasso!

Paul Lane - a beam of green in the night
Organization: University of Maine System
Date: Friday, 11 Sep 1992 15:18:52 EDT
From: <IO10046@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: ONKYO

    I am in the market for a new cd player.  After visting a HiFi store
I became interested in the ONKYO line of CD players.  Good reliablity,
good features, good prices.  Could I get some feedback on the ONKYO
cd players and their equipment in general?  I don't know a whole lot
about the company.  Any bad experiences?

-Aaron Brasslett
-University of Maine

 Note:  Please do not suggest any SONY products ES or otherwise.  I
have had enough of poor equipment and poor service from them.
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: lauson@en.ecn.purdue.edu (Patrick W Lauson)
Subject: Re: Speaker efficiencies (was:  Re: Amp/speakers cut out -- Why?)
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 92 21:11:07 GMT

In article <1992Sep9.174140.27581@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> tlode@nyx.cs.du.edu (trygve lode) writes:
>
>In my main video system, I have a couple of VMPS ST-IIa/R speakers for the
>front speakers; the literature that came with them claims an efficiency of
>101 dB (1W/1M) (none of the drivers are horn-loaded) and a -3dB point at only 
>17 Hz.  Now, just for fun, I A/Bed them with a pair of B&W speakers that
>claimed an efficiency of 90 dB--and if there is a difference in the volume
>produced by these two pairs of speakers with 11 dB different claimed
>efficiencies, it was small enough to be hard to tell.  Further, the 
>Morel tweeters used in the VMPS speakers are only rated at 90 dB
>efficiency themselves, which suggests to me that it would be difficult 
>to design a speaker with 101 dB efficiency around them.
>
>So, how fast and loose do manufacturers play with specs like this?  Are
>there tests out there that actually give the results given?

After a frequency response plot is printed out, the engineer will 'eyeball'
it.  What you look for is an average output level.  After you find this
average level, you find the -3dB points.  The average level will
be your sensitivity, and the -3dB points will be the limits of your
frequency response...  

I, personally, have a problem with the fact that the standard is to
measure at 1W/1M.  My preference would be to see the measurements taken 
at 2.83V/1M.  For an 8 ohm system, your sensitivity would be the same,
but for a 4 ohm system, your sensitivty would increase by 3 dB.  I believe
this is the way to do it, b/c if you do an A/B test on a 4 ohm and an
8 ohm speaker (with identical sensitivities), you will indeed have 3 dB
more output out of the 4 ohm speaker.  Amplifiers, after all, vary by
voltage, not power.  This bugs me much more than the debate about the
measurement of impedance...  Anybody else feel this way?
-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------
| Pat Lawson                     :  Go Buckeyes!!!!!!            |
| lauson@en.ecn.purdue.edu       :    Scarlet and Gray Rules!!!! |
------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jj@alice.att.com (jj, curmudgeon and clueless old white boy)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Green Pens & CDs (was Re: Very expensive cables)
Date: 4 Sep 92 14:15:29 GMT
Article-I.D.: alice.23630
Reply-To: jj@alice.UUCP (jj, curmudgeon and clueless old white boy)
Organization: NJ State Home for Bewildered Terminals

In article <1190761@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com> kurts@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Kurt Strain) writes:
>In rec.audio, M.Willis@ee.surrey.ac.uk (Mike Willis) writes:
>>   60 pound interconnects are rather like green pens for CDs. Aimed at the gullible.
>You are wrong.  50 pound interconnects are rather like green pens for CDs. 
>If you bought 40 pound interconnects you are smart, but 50 is gullible.

I'm sorry, you're both wrong.  Most preamps and amplifiers will
be pulled right off the shelf by 50 pound cables, and 40 pound cables.
Now, then, 10 pound cables are OK, as long as you only have one set
of cables per amplifier or pre-amp, and Class A amplifiers will
often stay on the table with much heavier cables, until they start
to float from all the hot air they generate.

Me? I use nice, light radio shack cables that don't stress the
amplifier or the speaker.  All they do is hang on the end of their
nice little gold-plated connector and help make music.
-- 
Extremism *Copyright alice!jj 1992, all rights reserved, except transmission
   in the    *by USENET and like facilities granted.      Said permission is
  defense of     *granted only for complete copies that include this notice.
 liberty is no vice.  *Use on pay-for-read services specifically disallowed.
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: miles@ms.uky.edu (Stephen D. Grant)
Subject: Klipsch, bad? good?
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1992 04:45:11 GMT
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences

I've heard the name Klipsch before but am not familiar with their speakers.
I am looking at a pair of KG 5.2 's and would like some feedback.
They sound pretty good, and I have all but bought them.
What are the good/bad points about these speakers?
Thanks.

Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: bill@bilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion)
Subject: Re: Home-made audio rack - looking for suggestions
Organization: W. J. Vermillion - Winter Park, FL
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 14:35:23 GMT

In article <5163@gold.gvg.tek.com> chrisc@gold.gvg.tek.com (Chris Christensen) writes:
>In article <rolfe.715815450@sfu.ca> rolfe@fraser.sfu.ca 
>(Christopher John Rolfe) writes:

>>	I would suggest that you stay with an all-wood or other
>>non-conducting material design.  It will save you from potential
>>ground loops.  If metal frames are desirable for strength make sure to
>>use those fat rubber washers to isolate the gear from the frame.

>I just built another rack for my sound reinforcement system,  that
>makes five.  I have never had any problems with ground loops from
>mounting the equipment ( I use tapped rack rails).

>My racks have anywhere from 4 to 15 bits of equipment mounted in
>each rack.  I have both balanced and unbalanced equipment and I don't
>use ground lifters!

>I recommend that you use tapped rack rails and rack any and all of the
>equipment you have,  then trouble shoot any ground loops.


Chris - I am going counter from your recommendation on this
one.

In the studio ALL of our equipment, from power amps, to speaker
EQ, to periphral gears was mounted in wooden racks.

The power amps were mounted in a door that would open to give
access to the back of the amps - very compact and it works.

The compressors, EQ, digital effects, everything, were mounted
in custom made wooden racks.  We actually had the front of the
cabinets curved to match the pivot of an engineers arm so that
everyything was at the same distance from the engineer, but
that is perhaps overkill - but it surely was nice.  All
engineers from out of town who used it loved it.

All the mouting rails were hardwood.  Doesn't take much to go a
long way and therefore was not that expensive.

This ensured that nothing touched.  We also physically grounded
all units with a single point ground from the chassis and
removed the grounding connector on the 3-prong plug.

Again this was studio work and no re-inforcement so we were
going for the quietest environment possible.

The ONLY hum problems we had were from a power tranformer
located about 100 feet from the building that would induce hum
into the playback head on the Stevens 821B.   We would orient
the machine for lowest noised pickup.  

Our philosophy was to avoid any potential ground loops before
we started.   Our designer/consultant was Bob Todrank of Valley
Audio.  His installations were really some of the finest you
would want to see .It was actually TMI when we started and we were the
first under the Valley Audio name.  We sort of put them in
business.

-- 
Bill Vermillion - bill@bilver.oau.org  bill.vermillion@oau.org
                - bill@bilver.uucp 
                - ..!{peora|ge-dab|tous|tarpit}!bilver!bill

Newsgroups: rec.audio
Newsgroups: rec.audio

> It's more important to keep your cables as short as possible.  Ideally,
> you want to have you power amp in between the speakers so the cables
> can be as short as possible.  The problem with cables is they have a 
> certain amount of inductance that makes them a low pass filter.
> Thus, some people will argue that a poor cable will round off the high
> ends near 20,000 Hz.  Most of us can't hear much beyond 15,000 Hz, so
> this may or may not be valid.  But shortening the cable is the best
> way to reduce inductance.

I would disagree; if it's low inductance you're after, the best way to
reduce it for any given length of cable is to simply twist the conductors,
thereby reducing the loop area.  The problem with shortening the speaker cables
(which WILL reduce the total inductance, no argument there) is that it may
be done at the expense of longer interconnects; the interconnects are
the more critical of the two, with longer ones meaning greater capacitance
at what are almost always much higher-impedance nodes, and greater opportunity
for noise pickup.

However, I wouldn't be overly concerned with inductance in any reasonable
length of speaker cabling; the output of the amp and the speaker itself
make for a pretty low-impedance circuit, and so you have to get quite a bit
of inductance in the cables before the "low pass filter" thus formed will
have much of an effect at audio frequencies.  (For example, let's assume
- for simplicity's sake - that the speaker could be modelled as, say, 16
ohms resistive.  The RL filter thus formed would have to have a total series
inductance (what we're accusing the cable of) of 25 uH to bring the corner
freq. down to even 100 kHz; if you're using ordinary 16 AWG zip cord, this is
about five feet of cable, WITH NO TWISTS (i.e., flat, parallel conductors the
whole length).  The inductance goes directly with the length, so you could
have 25 feet of flat zip cord and still only be down to 20 kHz cut-off.  Twist
the cable every few inches, and you'll fix *that* problem pretty quickly!
(And don't forget, I was pretty generous here with the load impedance.) Simply
using larger, closer-spaced conductors (I figured the above with a center-to-
center conductor spacing of 0.2", which is a bit on the high side, given that
16 AWG zip cord only has 0.05"-diameter conductors!) and you'll drop the L
as well.


Bob Myers  KC0EW   Hewlett-Packard Co.      |Opinions expressed here are not
                   User Interface Tech. Div.|those of my employer or any other
myers@fc.hp.com    Fort Collins, Colorado   |sentient life-form on this planet.
From: smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Stacking audio components
Date: 11 Sep 92 15:57:39 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol

In article <92254.105018SXK129@psuvm.psu.edu> SXK129@psuvm.psu.edu (Spaceman Spiff) writes:
>What I want to know is- is it o.k. to place one component on top of the other
>or will it affect the cooling in a major way? This will only be for a short
>while (2 weeks, tops) until I get a rack.

The CD shouldn't need too much cooling, and doesn't make much heat, so
(assuming the sizes work) stack the receiver on top of the CD.  As I
said, the CD doesn't need much, and the receiver will have as much
there as it would sitting on a shelf, so no problem.  If, for size
reasons, the CD has to go on top, I'd raise it up a bit (maybe 1/2 or 1
inch) using some sort of feet under its builtin ones -- either
expensive high-grade super-navcom-rubber feet, or a few chunks of scrap
wood.  Most (non-audiophiles) probably wouldn't bother with that
touch.  Most people probably stack their gear without ever bothering to
even think about it.

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!uknet!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132
From: kurts@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Kurt Strain)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Very expensive cables
Date: 11 Sep 92 17:07:57 GMT
Organization: Outpost 1T


    In article <1992Sep10.073117.2195@lugb.latrobe.edu.au> writes:

>My problem is this. An audio sleeze goes to Pirelli or whichever manufacturer
>of 50c/m cable. He pays $2/m for the same stuff with pretty coloured insulation
>and his name on it. He might even stuff it through a bit of hose with cotton
>packing around it. He then sells it for $50/m, with the L, C, R specs
>printed on it. 
 
 Shouldn't this go to the newsgroup alt.conspiracy?
From: smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Sony's CD advertising
Date: 11 Sep 92 13:57:09 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol

In article <1992Sep10.172824@trc.amoco.com> znpt01@trc.amoco.com (Norman P. Tracy) writes:
>  But with portable CD players shrunk down to the size of three
>  stacked jewel boxes do MD/DCC really offer added convenience to offset the
>  inconvenience of buying new hardware & software at premium prices?  I don't
>  see it unless the public is so enchanted with 'digital' that they are drawn
>  into the stores in a trance like state to flip down their overburdened charge
>  card for this latest new gee-whiz.  Rather I think the public also remembers
>  4-tracks & 8-tracks, and Beta vs. VHS, and RCA's failed video disks and will
>  thus be a hard sell for Sony and Philips in the middle of yet another format
>  war.

Current betting in the UK hifi mags seems to be that the public will
indeed remember those, particularly the Beta/VHS/V-2000 VCR wars, and
the more recent collapse of one of the two (incompatible) satellite
broadcasting companies over here (meaning that a chunk of the country's
home satellite TV dishes are about to become just so much expensive
scrap metal) and will decide to sit on the fence until it becomes clear
which of MD or DCC is going to win.

The hypothesis continues along lines that so many people will do this
that neither MD nor DCC will catch on in the home consumer market, at
which point Sony and Philips will bring out the format they've got
hidden up their sleeves just now, CD-R (recordable CD) at 'normal home'
rather than 'esoteric professional' price levels.

Sounds possible to me, and wouldn't surprise me if it happens that
way.  If either MD or DCC does catch on, my bet would be on DCC, for
reasons of (semi-)compatibility.  50% of the music sold in the UK is on
prerecorded cassettes (CC), which would seem to imply that there are a
lot of people out there with large CC libraries.  My guess is that
being able to play these will give DCC an edge, regardless of the
comparative technical merits of the formats.  

Easier to convince your non-hifi partner to let you upgrade a box, than
to convince them to let you add yet another box to that stack that's
already taking up half the living room.  And remember, if someone does
base their music system largely around CCs, that carries a strong
implication that they are probably more concerned about convenience
than about absolute sound quality.  The technical merits are, in my
guess, not even going to be an issue for most of these people.

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!uknet!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132
From: schuster@panix.com (Michael Schuster)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Headphones
Date: 12 Sep 92 02:11:26 GMT
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix & Internet, NYC

In article <NAN.92Sep11141509@ertou.ucsc.edu> nan@ertou.ucsc.edu (Nan Ellman) writes:
>
>
>One side of my Senheiser hd430 headphones stopped working recently. I
>checked that it wasn't the cord that was the problem. Since the
>headphones disconnect easily from the cord and the headset, I am
>hoping I can just replace the single speaker instead of buying a whole
>new set. 
>
>Does anyone know if this is possible? Who makes Senheiser headphones?
>They say they are made in Germany. Is there a US distributor I could
>deal with? 

Try:

Sennheiser Electronic Corporation
10 West 37th Street
New york, NY 10018

212-239-0190

Ten years ago when I ordered earpads for my HF224's the drivers for
your phones cost $27.56 each.

-- 
_______________________________Mike Schuster________________________________
NY Pub. Access UNIX/Internet: schuster@panix.com | 70346.1745@CompuServe.COM
The Portal (R) System: schuster@cup.portal.com   | MCI Mail,GEnie: MSCHUSTER
From: scott@psy.uwa.oz.au (Scott Fisher)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Off-center sound stage?
Date: 8 Sep 1992 08:30:48 GMT
Organization: The University of Westrn Australia
NNTP-Posting-Host: wapsy.psy.uwa.oz.au

tlode@nyx.cs.du.edu (trygve lode) writes:

>Another possibility is that it may be a problem with the hardware itself;
>try swapping the speakers and/or the left and right channels of the 
>source and amplifier.  (It's also conceivable that it's a cable, so
>you'll want to try swapping those as well.)

Just a thought,

Get someone else to swap them for you (randomly) and keep you in the
dark as to what way they are...single blind experiment, and record
which way they were vs where you said the sound-stage was shifted.

Otherwise you are likely to play tricks on yourself.

Regards Scott.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Scott Fisher [scott@psy.uwa.oz.au]  PH: Aus [61] Perth (09) Local (380 3272).                
                                                             _--_|\       N
Department of Psychology                                    /      \    W + E
University of Western Australia.                 Perth -->  *_.--._/      S
Nedlands, 6009.  PERTH, W.A.                                      v       

Joy is a Jaguar XJ-6 with a flat battery, a blown oil seal and an unsympathetic wife, 9km outside of a small remote town, 3:15am on a cold wet winters morning.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Newsgroups: rec.audio