"Is it live, or is it Memorex?" is a question that's been asked since 1877 when Tom Edison recited "Mary had a little lamb" into his tinfoil phonograph and heard the machine repeat back the nursery rhyme. Sound reproduction has improved since Edison's first recording; electronically controlled recording and reproduction, magnetic tape, vinyl records, stereo and quadrophonic contributed to the quality of the reproduced sound. Still, almost one hundred years from that first recording, the "fidelity of sound reproductions is questionable.

The purpose of the sound system is to retrieve audio information, amplify it, and reproduce it as sound; The perfect system should produce sound that's indistinguishable from the original. Every sound is produced by a performance. The fidelity of the sound, when reproduced, to the original performance is crucial to the effect produced by the sound. For one hundred years audio has, been the technology of "almosts": how close can technology corhe, through human manipulation, to the perfect reproduction of sound? Sound reproduction has advanced to the point where we accept the medium and concentrate on the message.. But the rriedium isn't yet transparent; it colors the final effect, often lirriiting the fidelity of the effect to the original action which produced it.

There are limits to electric sound matching real sound, Recording technology and plastic media impose practical boundaries, the reproducing system in no way resembles the original instruments that made (the sound, and no two people hear the same sound the same way. Despite these limits, it has recently become, apparent that the fidelity of sound reproduction is nowhere near what it can be.

Until the advent of rock and roll, sound reproduction concentrated on \ producing "concert-hall realism." "High fidelity" was coined in the midThirties and attention was given to whatever details might turn your living room into a concert hall. By the midFifties two events seriously affected this quest for perfect sound reproduction: stereo and rock music. Stereo reinforced the belief that reproduced sound is an illusion: rock music introduced the idea that the original sound, its (recording, and its reproduction could all be generated by like electronics. In combination with mid-Sixties cultural perceptions, stereo and rock altered the course of sound reproduction. NASA's integrated technology and Japanese mass production sophistication further affected the sound.

Today it is difficult to establish what real sound is. Electric guitars and synthesizers have introduced a new point of reference. There is no Concert hall ambience in a hot guitar solo, there's only an electric surge. That electric surge may be distorted by yoqr hi-fi system, but you'll never knovi with present technic^.' So perfect sound, the absolute reproduction of the original, has become less necessary to the overall effect of reproduced sound in our times.This can be extended to the point where we can consider some of the failings of modern sound reproductions as a reproducer to have contributed to the development of modern sound development: the car. radio speaker with its compressed blasts of air relating back" to the rock musicians who are making sound to be played on that speaker.

Still, there is a point where some sort of judgment must be made. Do we Think of our hi-fi systems as noise generators or noise reproducers? Most hi-fi systems, even , the most expensive, warp the sound coming through them. You are not hearing exactly the sound that was originally recorded. With rock it doesn't seem to matter, it's not noticeable, in fact. But the truth is that highfidelity is limited-fidelity.

Is there a way of reproducing sound exactly asjt is recorded? Is there a perfect sound? And if there is, does it really matter that much? In the next couple of columns I'll examine the potentials for perfect sound. The ideal is a turntable, amplifier, and speakers which reproduce the sound exactly as it was recorded, complete with all the original illusions. This ideal means that the home sound system must function with absolute Accuracy. {

The typical hi-fi system does not have the potential to reproduce sound perfectly. Now I should explain that there are hi-fi systems which will give perfect reproduction and that when you hear them the effect matches hearing the original master tape of the recording session. In the next column I'll outline the prototypes of this system.

In the last hundred years we've developed a system for the reproduction of sound. There's no reason why we should stop now, as we move to the point where perfect sound is possible. Of course, perfect sound does reverse many of the trends and sharp ideas produced by the application of sixties" technology to sixties" music. But I have heard the perfect sound and I guarantee that is an experience that makes the most expensive sixties" hi-fi sound garbled and undramatic.

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In my investigation of the perfect sound I've discovered that many of the principles of contemporary sound reproduction are just plain wrong. Loud, for instance, does not mean powerful in terms of perfect reproduction. Stereo is better than quad in the perfect state. Arid, most surprising of all, when perfect sound reproduction is achieved you can close your eyes and almost feel the musicians standing there breathing as they play./It is honestly amazing.