I get these phone calls, friends of friends, people I haven’t seen in ten years, complete strangers. Not one of them wants to know how I am, few say thank you, all of them are about to buy a hi-fi or video deck so what would I recommend. I sigh, play the answer man, and more often than not they get off the phone annoyed with me. What did I do? Simple, I got too technical. There’s no one word answer to how to buy electronics, if there was I’d have more people thinking kindly of me.

Trying not to take any knowledge of hi-fi for granted, it’s still difficult for me to explain how to buy a hi-fi system if a half dozen basic concepts . aren’t understood. Thes6 concepts relate to the function of particular pieces of equipment. There is a chain that links the needle in the record’s groove to the sound that comes out of the speakers. This chain has only a few links, but knowing what each is and why it’s there is important if you want a hi-fi system that works.

Turntable/Cartridge/Stylus: This part isn’t too difficult to understand. This is the record player. Turntables are either manual, semi-automatic, or automatic. With a manual turntable you put the recqrd on, you put the needle at the end of the tone arm in the groove, and you pick up the tone arm when the record has been played. A semi-automatic turntable usually means the tone arm will rise by itself, find the first groove, and when the record ends rise again and return to its rest arm next to the record. An automatic turntable, also called a reqord changer, is the only turntable that will play more than one record automatically. The records are stacked on the spindle, drop one at a time, the tone arm rising, playing the record, then repeating the process. Most serious hi-fi buffs stick with manual or semi-automatic turntables because of their greater precision and accuracy. The cartridge which goes at the end of the tone arm holds the stylus. The stylus used to be called the needle.

Amplifier: Here’s where the going gets thick. There are Integrated Amplifiers, Pre-Amplifiers, and Amplifiers, also known as Power Amplifiers.

Pre-Amplifier: The signal from the turntable goes to the pre-amp. The pre-amp slightly adjusts the volume level of the signal, also adding equalization (bass, midrange, treble), volume control, stereo balance, and other function switches lik^ bass and treble filters, tape record and monitoring, and input selection. The pre-

amp comes before the amp. Hi-fi purists often have pre-amps that have only volume and stereo balance controls. The pre-amp can be as simple as the $ 11 unit sold by Recoton.

Amplifier: The, signal from the pre-amp goes into the amplifier where it is amplified and sent on to the speakers. The amplifier sometimes has a volume control and meters, sometimes not. All it does is make the sound louder. How well it does that, and with what fidelity and lack of distortion is what you pay for. The amp is called the power amp because it adds the power to the signal.

Integrated Amplifier: This unit is actually a combination in one box of a pre-amp and an amp. It has volume, tone, stereo balance, and other controls, the signal goes into it from the turntable and out of it to the speakers. When someone in a hi-fi store tri^s to sell you an amplifier, most likely they’re talking about an integrated amplifier containing everything you need besides a turntable and speakers. Purists are leary of integrated amplifiers because they like

everything in its own box.

Receiver: A receiver is an integrated amplifier with a radio tuner added. With an AM/FM stereo receiver you need only turntable and speakers to complete the system. Putting pre-amp, amp, and radio receiver all in one box usually means short cuts or circuits performing more than one function, so the overall quality and power of a receiver is apt to be less than if you bought the components separately.

Tuner: A radio tuner is just the radio reception circuits, it has no pre-amp or power amp built-in. If you already have a pre-amp and power amp, or an integrated amplifier, you don’t need a receiver, you need only a tuner. Since tuners have less circuitry than receivers are apt to be less expensive, although there are hi-tech, ultrasophisticated tuners that produce incredible radio reception at high prices.

Tape Recorder: A tape recorder means a tape unit which has pre-amp and possibly power amp built-in to the box with the tape mechanism.

Tape Deck: A tape deck needs external pre-amp and power amp components to function. If you have a complete stereo system and want to add a tape unit, buy a tape deck not a tape recorder. Tape decks cost less th^in comparable tape recorders.,

Extras: Except for the speakers, the above

units in various combinations will result in a hi-fi system. There are a number of outboard units sold to compliment and enhance the basic system. The most important is the Equalizer. The equalizer allows more precise control of the tonal (frequency) response of the record’s sound that the tone controls on the pre-amp, although the tone controls are ineffect equalization. The most popular equalizers are called Graphic Equalizers because they feature sliding controls that allqw you to visually see the shape of the equalization curve from bass through midrange to treble. The more sliding controls per channel on a graphic equalizer the more precise the control and the more Expensive the unit. A 10 band per channel graphic^ equalizer is the most common in hi-fi systems. The equalizer plugs in between the pre-amp and the power amp. If you have an integrated amp you can only use an equalizer if there are input and output jacks on the back of the integrated amp that allow you to take the signal out of the pre-amp section of the integrated

amp, run it through the equalizer, then send it back into the power amplifier section of the integrated amp. Many integrated amps have this facility.

Speakers: The most important thing to know about speakers is how they sound playing the music you like at the volume you like. Technically however it is important to check that the ohmage of the speaker matches the ohmage of the power amp (usually 8 ohms) and that the speaker can handle the amount of power supplied by the power amp (a speaker matches the ohmage of the power amp (a speaker rated to handle from 10 to 50 watts will be blown up by an amplifier that puts out 200 watts and probably won’t work very well with an amplifier that puts out 15 watts).

Cables: Cables connecting turntable or tape deck or tuner to pre-amp to equalizer to'power amp should be as short as possible (one foot is better than two feet in length, three feet better than six), and the ones with the gold plated endsare better than those without. Cables connecting the power amp output to the speakers’ input should also be kept as short as possible and the heavier the better. By that I mean that 14 guage is better than 16 or 18 guage cable, an^ 12 guage is the best, no matter what they tell you al the local hi-fi store.

Now, aren’t you glad you asked?,