A PROSPECTIVE PURCHASER BEMUSEDLY PUZZLES OVER-AND UNDER-SOME OF THE APPROXIMATELY 60 FINE HIGH-FIDELITY AMPLIFIERS AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET TODAY
HOW TO BUY HI-FIDELITY
A corps of experts chooses good sound equipment for the readers of LIFE
The popularity of high fidelity phonographic reproduction, which was increasing when LIFE initially reported on "hi-fi" 20 months ago (LIFE, June 15, 1953), has increased even more sharply since. As a result, because of manufacturers' competition and widening public knowledge, poorer "components" have been weeded out and the problem confronting today's purchaser is simply that of selecting, from a wide variety of good equipment, items that best suit him.
To help him LIFE recently collated the views of a number of experts on the basic components at various price levels-the record changer that spins the records, the amplifier that intensifies their sound, the speaker that reconverts electrical waves into sound waves, the enclosure that houses it and finally the radio tuner or receiver. These appear on the following pages, and the views expressed are the experts', not necessarily LIFE's. The prices were supplied by some of the nation's larger, old-line, specialized hi-fi dealers and so may vary with the locality and the store. To a novice the text that follows will explain some of the odd lingo he hears from hi-fi friends and dealers. The accompanying drawings are fanciful, intended not so much to describe the components as to suggest some of the attributes they possess and prospects they present.
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(from the chart on the second and third pages)
DREAM SET
McINTOSH 50 W-2
We are now in a realm where money is no object. We have a preamplifier (the part of the amplifier having the tone and equalizing controls) separate from the rest, because this offers a more precisely built mechanism and remote control. With the McIntosh 50-watt amplifier, the Marantz Audio Consolette preamplifier is recommended. Consultants agree this provides
the finest performance. Price of both: $405
ALSO RECOMMENDED: Fisher 50-C preamp and Fisher 50-AZ 50-watt amplifier, $257.
JIM LANSING D-30085-M
At this point instead of one speaker which serves several functions a set of different speakers is used. They come housed in specially built enclosures. The Jim Lansing speaker, which is part of that manufacturer's "Hartsfield" system, consists of a 15-inch woofer and horn type of tweeter which together make use of a newly developed type of acoustical lens. "Hartsfield"
speakers and enclosures together cost 726
ALSO RECOMMENDED: the justly famed Klipschorn system, price of which is $696.
JIM LANSING 30
The enclosure for Lansing "Hartsfield" speakers is of unique construction which cannot be tampered with. It includes an acoustical lens that disperses high frequency sounds with great efficiency. The result is enormously rich. This enclosure comes as unit with speakers, and price of the whole system is in caption above.
ALSO RECOMMENDED: the K-357-7 Klipschorn enclosure, designed to fit in a corner, using the whole room as an extension of its horn. Price is in previous caption.
GARRARD RC 90, REK-O-KUT B-12H
The dream set includes two record players. One is a Garrard changer and the Pickering cartridge 260DD and two diamond styli were selected to go with it. The other player is a Rek-O-Kut Rondine B-12H turntable on which each record has to be changed manually. Similar to transcription turntables used in radio studios, it outperforms any changer. With it goes a Pickering 190D arm (which minimizes "tracking error" by the needle), a diamond and a sapphire stylus. Total cost: 329
FISHER 50 R AM-FM
This is a tuner in keeping with the foregoing equipment. It is among the most sensitive of all in "fringe areas" and conjoins beautifully with the Fisher amplifier. Its six-position selector includes such ultra-refinements as FM reception both with and without automatic frequency control (for use when the weak station you want to receive is adjacent to a very strong one). It also gives AM-Broad and AM-Sharp for best AM reception under varying conditions of interference. Price: 165
TOTAL $1,625
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STYLE FOR SOUND
In its early days hi-fi was the hobby only of "sound-hounds" who rejected handsome cabinetry as an unnecessary luxury. In a way they were right. Amplifiers work equally well in or out of cabinets. Speaker performance is affected not by being housed in mahogany rather than plywood but by the housing's rigidity and size.
Today, however, furniture makers and custom decorators offer fine cabinets appropriate to fine sound, in a variety of styles and for many decorative uses. Some hold only the basic things, some are marvelously complete. In samples shown here the prices quoted are for cabinets only, not the equipment in them. Points to remember in buying: make sure the cabinet ventilates properly, affords ease of repair and will hold components the size of those you want.
TAPE RECORDERS
As the high-fidelity enthusiast advances, he often goes from ordinary vinyl records to magnetic tape recordings, making his own or buying them already recorded. Tape plays longer without interruption than records (as much three hours), has equal range, makes no surface noise and it shows no wear. Here are some good tape recorders.
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Originally Posted by BMWCCA
