HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: technics vs denon
Date: 14 Dec 92 10:04:06 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol

In article <Bz1u1H.KH9@ssesco.com> nau@ssesco.com (William Nau) writes:
>In article <1992Dec10.104835.11018@bristol.ac.uk>, smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee) writes:
>|> Is this maybe a cultural difference?  I never thought I'd see the words
>|> 'Marantz' and 'high-end' used in the same sentence.
>
>Marantz has a wide variety of equipment.  THey make shit for Sears, but
>also make some stuff that will clearly give Denon/Yamaha a run for their
>money.

Did occur to me that it might be that Marantz market different parts of
their range on different sides of the pond.  (And, I should probably
admit that I own a Marantz EQ551 -- gathering dust in the attic -- and
an SP50 -- in active use.)

There are certainly cultural differences as well.  For another example,
Technics is much more highly regarded in the UK than it seems to be in
the US.  Not that I'd tack the label high-end onto Technics either, but...

-- 
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
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: rbutler@athens.cc.bellcore.com (butler,richard)
Subject: Re: hooking portable CD to tape-less car radio
Organization: Bell Communications Research
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 21:44:08 GMT


 
 	It may also be possible to hook the CD player up to the radio
 directly.  A friend of mine gave me a unit which is to be installed
 between the radio and the antenna.
 	When the unit is powered on it effectivly shuts off the antenna
 so the only broadcast is whatever you feed into the line in jack on the
 unit.  The person that gave this to me runs a limo service and in his
 opinion the sound out of this was better than using a tape adaptor for
 the CD player due to the elimination of motor noise.
 	I haven't installed the unit myself (too lazy, I guess) but if
 you are interested I could look at it and try to figure out where he 
 got it.
 
 Rich Butler
 Bell Communications Research
 rbutler@cc.bellcore.com
From: mani@aix.Berkeley.EDU (Mani Varadarajan)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: analog pride
Date: 20 Dec 92 19:32:46
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Distribution: world
	<1992Dec18.205458.14740@news.ysu.edu>
	<H.eg.EZcrjgTNPM2@jonh.wimsey.bc.ca>
Reply-To: mani@sprite.Berkeley.EDU
NNTP-Posting-Host: aix.berkeley.edu
In-reply-to: jhenders@jonh.wimsey.bc.ca's message of Sat, 19 Dec 1992 16:24:10 -0800

   >Norman P. Tracy (znpt01@trc.amoco.com) wrote:

   >This makes me think of TV shows that are filmed (using movie film) rather
   >than video (like Cheers as opposed to most sitcoms).  Film gives a more
   >unrealistic, softer look.  The crispness of video makes shows look "cheap".
   >Maybe this is just because we are conditioned by movies...

I don't think that film gives a more unrealistic look; in fact,
i believe that film reproduces colors much more realistically
than videotape does.  Bright colors tend to dominate too much
in videotape, and lighting conditions affect it a lot more than
film.  

Film is just far better to look at.

Mani

Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: walshs@cs.uwp.edu (Steven Walsh)
Subject: Sony DAT walkman for sale!
Organization: University of Wisconsin - Parkside
Distribution: rec.audio
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 20:00:31 GMT

I am selling my Digital Audio Tape portable recorder.
It comes with rechargable battery (lasting two hours), charger, AC adaptor,
carrying case, digital cable, and analog cable.  The unit also comes with 
a pack of 10 one hour tapes.  The unit records in all frequencies.

Sony's TCD-D3

$435

Steven Walsh
walshs@cs.uwp.edu
(414) 654-4473

Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: kong@leland.Stanford.EDU (Kong Kritayakirana)
Subject: Acurus/Aragon
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 22:39:50 GMT

Acurus and Aragon are made by 

	Mondial Designs
	2 Elm St.
	Ardsley, NY 10502
	914-693-8008

A good place to mail order Acurus and Aragon at discounted price (something like
5% NOT 25%, mind you) is

	SoundEx
	800-444-2040, 215-640-4433

Very nice people. No 6th Ave. type cheating or bait 'n' switch. Recommended.
From: kirk@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Kirk Lindstrom)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Watts/channel question (Was: Sony ES vs. Sony A/V receivers)
Date: 17 Dec 92 16:10:25 GMT
Article-I.D.: hpcc01.3340334
Organization: Shredding the water of SF Bay, HP-OCD

>>In any case, be careful when purchasing a receiver.  Don't
>>concern yourself too much with wattage ratings (you'll never hear 
>>the difference between 45 and 50 watts a channel, all other things
>>held equal).  I'd much rather have a 40 w/ch amp that could drive
>>4 ohm loads @ 80 w/ch than a 60 w/ch amp that shuts down trying
>>the same thing.
>
>Talking about watts per channel....
>I'm looking at getting a new receiver (probably one of them new A/V Pro
>Logic ones) and one of the salesguy told me that for the type of music I
>listen to, instrumentals and classical, clipping is of an issue hence I
>shouldn't get any receiver with less than 100 w/ch for the front
>channels at least. I was looking at getting a "no so expensive" unit
>with maybe up to 80 w/ch up front, maybe even down to 70 w would do?
>What do you all think about clipping? 
>
>I was also looking at the above mentioned Sony but if it's only 75 w
>up front... and clipping is an issue, I might have to rule this one
>out.
>
>Thomas.
----------
Sounds contridictary, but it is sort of an apples and bananas comparison.
I've heard that the Sony's like those sound ok as long as you don't demand
too much from them (like driving a 4 Ohm speaker).  A "quality amp" will
deliver 50% to maybe 100% more power into 4 Ohms than it will into 8 Ohms.
There is a huge marketing war in consumer audio - especially to get 100 WPC - 
so mfgrs seem to be doing just about anything to get that magic number.
The worst trick I've seen is "for driving 8-16 Ohm speakers".  This tells me
that I'd almost cut the power output rating in half when comparing it to
"real" amps that rate 4-8 Ohm loads.  Real expensive, quality amps will
drive 2 and even 1 Ohm loads.

The best way to see if the amp AND speakers will work for you is to listen
to them both with a few CDs of the most demanding music that you like.  Your 
ears will tell you the answer.  Just make sure that if you can't listen to
both together before purchasing then you can return it with FULL REFUND (not 
store credit) after a week or two.

Kirk out
From: kirk@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Kirk Lindstrom)
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 03:31:18 GMT
Subject: Re: Capacitor Question
Organization: Shredding the water of SF Bay, HP-OCD
Newsgroups: rec.audio

I'm not an expert on this, but that has never stopped me before
from adding my $0.02 worth. 8-)

Isn't the purpose of resistors in parallel with stacked capacitors
to insure that leakage doesn't cause one capacitor to get more than
its maximum rating?  If so, I'd model the capacitors as current
sources set to their leakage values at max operating temp.  If both
leak equally, there is no problem as the voltage drop across each cap
will be the same so model the ckt as one current source and two
resistors.  Lets try some graphics:

            -----        -----    
500V  >-----| R |---|----| R |---|---> 0V
            -----   |    -----   |
                    |            |
                    ---( Ileak )--
                          -->

Remember that at DC, the caps are modeled as open ckts.

The trick is to make   500V/2R >> Ileak 

Lets make 500/2R=100Ileak  or R=2.5/Ileak
If Ileak = 1mA then R=2.5k ohms,  Idiss=500^2/2500=100 Watts!
This tells me you don't want to use a capacitor with 1mA leakage

I have a 1150 uF 200VDC Mallory capacitor I'm going to use in my old
Marantz when I get around to upgrading it.  I just measured it with an 9
volt battery attached and it draws <3uA fully charged at room temp.  I'd
check tables for leakeage vs temp, Voltage and age, but lets assume it
leaks 10uA.  Then R=250K and Idiss=1Watt.  More reasonable.

Since this is a home project, electricity costs $.15/KWhr or $.15 per
1000 hours.  My system is on 5 to 10 hrs a day so lets use 
10hrs*365days=3.65kWhr/yr or about $0.50 per year which is reasonable
for a good output power. 8-)  If you assume a 10 yr life for the amp,
then I'd buy a single, more expensive capacitor if the cost difference
were less than $5 or I had a problem with overheating and I wanted
minimum power dissipation.  To really protect the caps while turning
on and anything else, you might want to invest in a pair of surge
protectors and wire them in parallel with the caps such that they prevent 
your caps from ever getting beyond their max rating.

Enough is enough!  Does this make sense to people that have designed
amps themselves?  Or am I out in left field and should stick to
IC amps where 1pf is a big capacitor?

Kirk out
=> "We are what we pretend to be."  -  Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Kirk Lindstrom - OCD Product R & D | Hewlett-Packard Co.  M/S: 91UA |
|   Engineer/Scientist, Hardware     |                                |
|------------------------------------| Optical Communication Division |
|       kirk@hpoclpa.hp.com          |                                |
|    Kirk Lindstrom / HP0100/UX      | 370 W. Trimble Rd.             |
| ph 408 435 6404 | fax 408 435 6286 | San Jose, CA  95131-1096       |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+



Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: bill@verdix.com (William Spencer)
Subject: Re: Amp Distortion vs. Source Distortion
Organization: Verdix Corp
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 23:34:04 GMT

kong@leland.Stanford.EDU (Kong Kritayakirana) writes:
>On Fri, 11 Dec 1992 23:35:45 GMT sloan@iastate.edu (Eric R Sloan) writes:

>>The other night I came home to find the most horrible distortion I had ever
>>heard coming from the speakers. Under investigation, I discovered that the
>>distortion was not coming from the amp, but that the certain type of music
>>he listens to uses a lot of distortion for effect (My Life With the Thrill-
>>Kill Cult,  Ministry, Nine-inch-Nails, etc...) 
>>
>>My Question is "Will this distortion on the sorce material fry the speakers
>>as easy as a clipping amp?"

>I assume your friend is playing the music from tape or CD. Then the answer is
>NO if your amp is not clipping. The reason speakers get fried is because of
>high order harmonics above 20kHz going to the speakers.

The only thing unusual about 20K and over is that you won't hear what's 
happening. Speakers are rated using signal favoring upper bass and lower mids.
DErate for increased treble content. Tweeters don't care if the signal is 
distortion or just a really high pure note, if there's enough of it they'll
blow.

Bill s
From: u882819@bruny.cc.utas.edu.au (Robin Geoffrey Mc Donald)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Vifa SubWoofer HELP
Keywords: subwoofer base
Date: 20 Dec 92 12:07:34 GMT
Organization: University of Tasmania, Australia.

I have some spare time coming up & I would like to build a sub woofer
I would like to use a Vifa woofer.
any one with any experience or pointer to articles 
please reply
		Thanks in advance
					Robin
Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: j_adams@fc.hp.com (John Adams)
Subject: Re: Magneplanars again...from he who wishes to know.
Organization: HP SESD, Fort Collins, CO
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1.4 PL6]
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 21:10:29 GMT

Mike Sikorsky (sikorsky@ee.ualberta.ca) wrote:
: 
: - what is the preferred trim and cloth cover combination?  I'm fond of
:   black/black, but that combination tends to show off how dusty my
:   environment is...I noticed a post mentioning the cover will affect
:   the audio...I don't see how different colors do this, unless of course
:   there is a marked physical difference between the white/black 'socks'.

My IIIa's have the "dirty white" cover which do NOT show dirt.
These wouldn't have been my first choice but I'm quite happy with the
white.

Having never auditioned the white/black models side by side I cannot
comment about the sound.  Personally I would tend to believe that room
acoustics would play a greater role in the sound than the cloth covers
(but hey, I'm glad I bought the white anyway!).


: - is each speaker stable, physically?  Do the stands/feet brace the system
:   well?  These would be near a heavy traffic zone, and who knows what stray
:   air currents could do...8-)  Are spiked feet and Uranium weights a nice
:   touch to stiffen the planar?

I wouldn't try using them for blocking tackles but it'll take more than a
strong breeze to blow'em over.  The support system, which are simply metal
feet bolted to the frame, rests flat on the floor will probably weaken if
placed on spikes.


: - I haven't seen the 2.6's in a while, and I have poor pictures of them;
:    do they stand perpendicular to the floor, or are they slanted somewhat?

Perpendicular.


: - are they mirror images of each other, with a dedicated L/R setup?

No, the tweeter is placed on the one edge of the speaker.  Depending upon
your room you may find that the "inside" placement may sound better than
the "outside" placement.


: - how well matched are they to each other?  Some box (ugh!) designs are
:   tuned slightly different in respect to each other, hence the sound can
:   be inbalanced...I'll test at the dealer, anyways, but personally, it
:   doesn't seem like planars can really be 'tuned' in any way (correct me
:   if I am wrong) other than physical placement.

There is no left/right speaker.


: - I'll definately post my experiences at the dealer and my listening room
:   impressions again.  When I buy, i'll no doubt be seeking advice on
:   a few matters, so stay tuned.  I'm probably going to dive in and get them
:   between Xmas and mid January, cash pending.
: 


If I'd had to pick between getting the car repaired or purchasing
new speakers...go with the speakers.

If you get the car fixed all you will want to do is go down to the hi-fi
shop and listen to the speakers you cannot afford.

If you buy the Maggies you'll be content to stay at home with them 8^)


John Adams
From: thompson@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: What is a pre-amp?
Date: 16 Dec 92 16:26:26 CST
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services

Hello everyone,

What is a pre-amp and what does it do?

Thanks,

-- 
| Charles A. Thompson      | thompson@ukanvm.cc.ukans.edu        |
| University of Kansas     | thompson@ukanvax.cc.ukans.edu       |
| > They call me SkiBum <  | 32 bit OS/2 2.0 is for you!         |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| Listen to Rush Limbaugh from 12-3 EST on the radio EVERYWHERE! |
------------------------------------------------------------------
From: wrogers@brtph377.bnr.ca (Greg Rogers P840)
Subject: Opinions on Rega Planar III & Linn Basik II
Organization: BNR Inc. RTP, NC
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 18:14:00 GMT


I have the opportunity to buy a used Rega Planar 3 turntable with a Linn
Basic 2 tonearm and I wanted some opinion on what you all thought.

The turntable is about 3 years old, but was only used about a year. It
seems to be in very good condition. He is asking $300 for it. Which I 
understand is a very good price.

This will be my last turntable so I want it to last for years. So is this
turntable worth getting? 


Newsgroups: rec.audio
From: srgcraf@grace.cri.nz (Ross A Fletcher)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Nakamichi 582
Date: 20 Dec 92 23:42:44 GMT
Organization: Industrial Research Ltd

I have a ten year old Nakamichi 582 deck that works fine. For those of you 
know this machine the pin head lights on the solenoid switches blow from 
time to time and the one on the STOP button prevents playback when it 
blows.  While this is a pain in the neck I have solved it by shunting a 
resistor across it.  However I had a more serious problem with the bias 
recently and it cost a bomb to fix 'cos I have no circuit diagram.  I tried 
to contact Nakamichi about this (N Z agents keep "going under") but can't 
get a reply.  Can anyone out there help with a copy of the workshop manual 
or photocopy thereof.  I am happy to recompense you.  Please e-mail me if 
you can help.  Thanks in advance.  

Ross
From: fineberg@wilbur.nas.nasa.gov (Samuel A. Fineberg)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Mobile Fidelity....
Date: 14 Dec 92 20:33:17 GMT
Reply-To: fineberg@nas.nasa.gov
Distribution: na
Organization: CSC, NASA Ames Research Center, NAS Division

In article <1992Dec14.172739.26180@oakhill.sps.mot.com>, rvkl60@aus18a25.sps.mot.com (Tom Mathes) writes:
|> In article <1992Dec12.210233.16182@nntpd2.cxo.dec.com> winalski@adserv.enet.dec.com (Paul S. Winalski) writes:
|> >
|> >In article <1992Dec11.223240.3067@holos0.uucp>,
|> >lbr@holos0.uucp (Len Reed) writes:
|> >
|> >[regarding MFSL gold discs]
|> >|>
|> >|>Anyway, no one has offered any reason to believe that gold discs would
|> >|>produce fewer raw errors, perhaps leading to fewer uncorrectable errors.
|> >|>Since disc players are made with aluminum discs in mind, it seems likely
|> >|>that gold discs would be no better, and perhaps worse, than aluminum ones.
|> >|>It reminds me of those idiot CD rings that add mass to the discs: they
|> >|>only reason they don't break players or make for more errors is that there's
|> >|>enough tolerance in the players that they aren't adversely affected.
|> >|>I suspect gold discs are the same.
|> >|>
|> >
|> >The claim is that, since gold is a more malleable material than aluminum,
|> >the gold foil will adhere more closely and more smoothly to the pits in the
|> >CD, thus providing a better surface to be read by the laser, and reducing the
|> >number of read errors.  As far as I know, nobody has ever conducted experiments
|> >to test this hypothesis.  I noticed that MFSL has stopped making this claim
|> >in their packaging of Ultradiscs.  I think maybe the Federal Trade Commission
|> >got after them and told them to either back up the claim with facts or to stop
|> >making it.
|> >
|> >For both CD rings and gold plating, another claim that has been made by their
|> >proponents is that, although the error correction logic may correct any read
|> >errors, the invocation of this circuitry leads to second-order jitter effects
|> >in the power supply of the CD player, effects that are picked up by the DAC
|> >and analog components of the player and that result in audible distortion.
|> >Once again, there haven't been any properly conducted studies to determine
|> >the validity of the claim.
|> >
|> >--PSW
|> 
|> I own a few of these discs.  The gold metalization does have one
|> advantage over aluminum: it can't oxidize over time.  It may be
|> a remote chance, but if there's a defect in sealing a standard
|> CD, the aluminum layer will eventually oxidize and make the
|> CD useless.  A similar defect in the MF discs will not cause
|> a problem, since the gold won't oxidize.
|> 
|> As for sound quality, I do notice a difference.  I listened, back
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I'm not surprised about this, but it isn't the gold.  Its the fact that
MF did a better analog->digital mastering.  Tranfering analog discs to digital
is hard, and can easily be botched.  The mastering has a lot more effect on the
sound you hear than the metal used, whether you use stabilizer rings, or
even how good your CD player is.  

Sam
From: smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: Watts/channel question (Was: Sony ES vs. Sony A/V receivers)
Date: 17 Dec 92 10:38:59 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol

In article <1glf7sINNl9v@iskut.ucs.ubc.ca> twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) writes:
>I'm looking at getting a new receiver (probably one of them new A/V Pro
>Logic ones) and one of the salesguy told me that for the type of music I
>listen to, instrumentals and classical, clipping is of an issue hence I
>shouldn't get any receiver with less than 100 w/ch for the front
>channels at least. I was looking at getting a "no so expensive" unit
>with maybe up to 80 w/ch up front, maybe even down to 70 w would do?
>What do you all think about clipping? 

Clipping is nasty, sounds horrible, and is probably the most common cause
of speaker death.  Definitely to be avoided.

However, it's not quite as simple as your salesbod seems to be saying.
Getting lots of RMS watts IS one answer, but not the only one.  Another
approach is to get a lower-powered amp which has lots of 'headroom'.
Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be specced in any consistent way.
Basically, though, what it means is that while the amp has a lower
continuous power capability, it is able to handle fairly short
transients at much above its rated power, without clipping.

The better the amp, the more likely you are to find generous headroom.
Among things that mere mortals can afford, amps made by Harman Kardon
and by NAD tend to offer generous headroom, so that you could go for
lower RMS power and still feel comfortable.  These almost certainly
aren't the only 2 companies who build amps this way, but they are the
only 2 which I'm sure of; maybe other readers can suggest others, or
maybe you can find a new salesbod who understands this and so is more
in tune with reality.

-- 
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: bellutta@ohsu.EDU (Paolo Bellutta)
Newsgroups: rec.audio
Subject: Re: >Why do people buy speakers that cost >$1000/pair ?
Date: 14 Dec 92 22:17:21 GMT
Article-I.D.: ohsu.1992Dec14.221721.6092
Organization: Oregon Health Sciences University

In article <24386@alice.att.com> ark@alice.att.com (Andrew Koenig) writes:
> In article <Bz2F5I.6GC@comp.vuw.ac.nz> brian@comp.vuw.ac.nz (Brian Boutel)  
writes:
> 
> > Suppose for a moment that there are differences, and that you can *learn*  
to hear
> > them. In that case, should you learn, and then need to buy better cables,  
or not
> > learn, and save money?  
> 
> Suppose for a moment that there are no differences, but that you can *learn*
> to pretend there are.  In that case, should you learn, and impress your
> friends, or not learn, and stay honest?

There is no question that if you are a serious listener (vs. a casual
listener), you will *learn* to hear the difference between a "bad" and a
"good" sound.  On the other hand, there is no question that sometimes
you are fooled by some external influences.  

I personally don't care if my system impresses my friends or not.  I just
care that my system sounds as natural as I can afford.  I really don't
care if I have to use unortodox methods as soon as my system sounds better.

If and when I start to hear some deficiencies in my system, I'll try and
find what is wrong and do some changes (in more than 20 years I changed
100% of my system 3 times, and 4 times I had some major changes).

--
La miglior arma inventata dall'uomo e' stata la parola
 _   /|  | Paolo Bellutta ---------- bellutta@ohsu.edu
 \'o.O'  | B.I.C.C - Oregon Health Sciences University
 =(_o_)= | 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd. - Portland, OR
    U    | tel: (503) 494 4804 --- fax: (503) 494 4551