REWIRE YOURSELF

REWIRE YOURSELF

The Sound Evolution

Richard Robinson

It’s not that I want to make you nervous about the stereo system you’ve spent your hard earned money on, but in all probability the sound coming out of your stereo isn’t anywhere near what you should actually be hearing, or even close to what’s actually been recorded on the record or tape you’re playing.

A harsh assessment of current audio technology, but the truth is that most of the stereo components available to music listeners tend to color the sound (read “distort” for “color”) instead of reproducing it faithfully. Most turntables, tape players, preamplifiers, amplifiers and speakers impose conscious limitations on prerecorded sound.

In fact, the very term “high fidelity” remains an anachronism, since sound technology has yet to reach a point where completely accurate recording and reproduction of sound is possible. The process by which sound is captured, duplicated and then reproduced as an electronic signal by electro-mechanical devices makes true “fidelity” practically impossible.

Fortunately, the human ear and* brain adjust extremely well to reproduced sound, in the same way the eye and brain adjust to TV as life. So by and large, music listeners aren’t consciously aware that what they’re hearing isn’t what is actually being played be it through their Sony Walkman or their state-of-the-art stereo component system.

Efforts are being made to create stereo components that provide accurate reproduction of sound. Some of these high technology components are revolutionary, some are exotic, and all are necessarily expensive since they embody a conscious effort to do something right regardless of cost. Not surprisingly, it’s smart American manufacturers who are in the forefront of the search for fidelity, since Japanese manufacturers are much more interested in mass production quotas and making plastic look like metal.

One area where a considerable amount of research and development has produce ed some remarkable results is speaker technology. Just about anyone can glue together a wooden box, cut a hole in one side, screw in a loudspeaker and ship it to your local stereo retailer. In fact, there are dozens of manufacturers who do just that. But there ate also a handful of manufacturers whose aim continues to be the development of the speaker into a device that provides absolutely faithful sound reproduction.

Among those who are working to introduce true fidelity into the stereo sound business is Electro-Voice. They have just1 announced two new speakers that promise tp make records and tapes sound even better (or at least sound like they’re supposed to) . This is their CD series, the CD Model 35i and the CD Model 35. Of course, the cost of these speakers is significant—the CD 35i retailing at $750 per speaker, the CD 35 at $550 per speaker—but the pressure on your ears make them worthy of serious consideration by anyone who wants to genuinely enjoy stereo sound.

“These speakers aren’t revolutionary, but evolutionary,” says Tom Zoss, ElectroVoice’s Marketing Manager for Hi-Fi Products. “We’re bringing to the consumer market something we’ve been selling to the professional market for a year and a half.”

Zoss explains the basic' problem with most mass produced speakers by pointing out that the CD speakers produce “essentially full frequency sound at over 100 degrees of dispersion.” This means that no matter where you stand or sit in front of the speakers or what kind of room you put them in, you’ll actually hear what the speakers are doing. This, by the way, is not the case with many speakers, most having very limited angles of dispersion and are severely affected by their placement, the result being that they usually sound much better when you hear them in the stereo store than they do when you buy them and bring them home.

To achieve these advances and evolution in speaker sound, Zoss says that E-V has completely re-engineered the tweeter assembly. They’ve beefed up the magnetic structure, using new materials, and rebuilt the cross-over circuit, making sure that the tweeter, mid-range, and woofer give smooth frequency reproduction no matter what particular sound you’re listening to or where you want to stand to hear it.

The result are speakers with rather startling specifications. A box design (with angled front corners), the CD’s are 32” high, 21” wide, and IOV2” deep. They’re what Zoss modestly calls “terribly efficient” and what we’d call “unbelievable” with only 3.6 watts needed to get sound out of them, yet they can handle up to 100 watts of continuous power and peaks of 400 watts. Phase problems have been eliminated, and a frequency response of 40-30K means everything on the record or tape can be reproduced by the speakers. And when I say “everything,” I mean all the harmonies and harmonics that add life and color to the sound will come out of these speakers and not get lost. The result for your ear is a more lifelike sound, with clarity and detail. In fact, as Zoss accurately points out, you’ll “hear things you never heard before.” And remember: these things are sitting on your records waiting to be heard.

What’s most interesting and encouraging about these E-V CD speakers is that they are indeed “evolutionary.” They have been designed to solve the basic problems that confront any speaker, ndt by radical ideas, but by workmanlike efforts to refine what’s good about the box speaker and improve existing drawbacks.

Of course, you may not be in a position to spend $1,500 or even $1,100 on a pair of speakers. But if you’re interested in what recorded music can sound like, you might stop by your local stereo equipment retailer and give a listen to the CDs. It could turn out to be a surprising experience.