Ramblings
November / December 2007

 

Innovations At JBL

  JBL has just published The JBL story: 60 years of Audio Innovations, an eponymous coffee-table-sized tome covering all aspects of the company’s product lines for home, studio, and theater. The text, which assumes a basic knowledge of audio, is intertwined with color pictures of the consumer electronics you fondly remember and the giant studio monitor you wished would fit in your home. Featured prominently are the flagship JBL drivers, which were the heart of the speakers. Also included are archival diagrams and old advertisements from the JBL archives. The book begins at the founding of Lansing Manufacturing Company (1927) and peeks behind the scenes at the engineers and technicians (the innovators) and the record producers and musicians (the early adopters). Distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation, this glossy work is available for just $20.00 at Amazon.com and should be part of any T$S reader’s library.

The text was written by the estimable, John Eargle, shortly before his unexpected death. Many of you may recognize John from his work as a recording engineer for Delos records, but this was only the tip of his accomplishments. With masters degrees in both music and electrical engineering, he authored ten books covering a range of topics from the design and use of microphones and loudspeakers to the science of recording engineering. At JBL, John was responsible for many innovations in driver design. His lengthy list of accomplishments are on the JBL web site "Remembering John Eargle" htp://jbl.com/d_john_eargle.aspx.

John worked with my father at RCA records. Every time I met him at an Audio Engineering Society or Consumer Electronics Show conference, I was struck by his generosity and warmth of personality. He always patiently answered my many questions with thoughtful responses, even though the demands on his time at these events were significant.


The loss of the "real" Tower Records web site, and alternatives

Last year, Tower Records went bankrupt and shuttered its stores, but the web site remains. Caiman Inc acquired Tower Records’ logo, Tower.com, and the company’s intellectual property for $4.2 million in a March bankruptcy auction. For purchasers of classical music, the site is a shadow of its former self. Inventory appears to be way down. The advanced classical search engine is gone. We now have only the scantiest of information on each classical CD. Searches can no longer be arranged by release date and MP3 clips of individual tracks have been stripped from the classical material.

Amazon is probably the first site that comes to mind as a replacement. Their software engineers have added an advanced classical search capability in the manner of the former Tower site. You can sort by six different methods including release date and price. Unlike Tower, all-label sales and special deals are anathema at Amazon. Indeed, it is even impossible to identify what is on sale. Even when Tower was at its height, Amazon was the go-to site for used recordings. You can often get a better deal used, but be warned that every disk not direct from Amazon is hit with a $3.00 shipping charge. My favorite site is www.recordsinternational.com Their mantra is "Records International specializes in bringing unusual repertoire to collectors of classical music. We assume that you already have enough versions of the "standards" and know them well enough to be curious about what else was going on."

With so many sources offering standard fare, from terrestrial radio to satellite radio to your cable box, I find the less traveled path more intriguing. Many of these unknown composers rival the best. Every month, Records International presents one-hundred new releases, each carefully annotated with an introduction by the owners of the web site. These summaries are indispensable in guiding you through the selections. Without the descriptions, it is impossible to distinguish the Von Klenau from the De Grandval. I gobble up the Vaughn Williams derivatives and stay away from the material they say is for fans of Richard Strauss. Twenty percent of the titles are exclusive or very difficult to get from other sources. The balance may be found slightly cheaper elsewhere, but if you cheat, the company goes out of business. All recordings from a given month’s catalog are in stock. Annotated catalogs dating to 1997 are on the site. These items have to be back-ordered and many may no longer be available. For this reason, ordering each month is the best way to avoid disappointment, although this approach costs more in handling fees than if you try to group orders.

If low prices are what you are after, then head to www.berkshirerecordoutlet.com. This is the close-out capital of classical music. The search engine is absolutely primitive; it is highly advisable to know what you are looking for before entering. Rock-bottom prices are common, even for CDs still in print. Sometimes, if you are very lucky, you might find an out-of-print recording for $5 that sells elsewhere on the web for $100. Before browsing the Berkshire Record Outlets holdings, I would advise requesting a printed catalog.

Next up for $ensible prices is www.jr.corn. Click Music, then Classical. Now look at the price list on the lower left of the web site. Normally, most full priced CDs are at $15 - $20, but once every two months prices collapse to $11. These sales are not announced, so check the site frequently. Sales appear to start Sunday and extend for about a week. You get what you pay for in terms of search and album information but what the site does offer is way better than Tower. Be careful to consider shipping, which will wipe out your savings when purchasing only a couple items.

If you must purchase on impulse, www.hbdirect.com may be the best place to go. They have a large selection of sale items each month, although prices never hit J&R levels. Unique to H&B is their willingness to identify sale items up front on the home page. Amazon never does that. Unfortunately, H&B is not does not show whether a title is in stock. Their search capability may be the best of all the sites and the album descriptions are excellent. There are no MP3 clips of the tracks. For out-of-print CDs, go to Amazon, but be warned that bargains are far and few between because these sellers know their markets. For example, five copies of the Bloch Sacred Service with Robert Merrill and the NY Philharmonic under Bernstein start at $80 and go to $100. When you hit that type of price, you may want to Google the CD to see if Ebay or some other site is offering it for less, but do not count on it.

www.arkivmusic.com is a specialty site for classical CDs. How they can accomplish this when the trajectory of classical sales in the U.S. is on the decline is fodder for discussion in another issue. For now, I will point out that they have thousands of out-of-print masters that can be cut to a CDR. Big names, like Sony and RCA, have authorized this for some of the back catalog. Forget a booklet with these CDRs. You may not even find out what tracks are on the disk.

 

Coming Attractions

Audio Technica AT-LP2D-USB Turntable with USB output; KEF Reference floor standing speakers; Ohm Walsh 200-S3 floor standing speaker, Onkyo TX-SR705 AV receiver with Audyessy; NHT Classic Four Home Theater System; NHT Controller AV Pre/Pro; NHT Power 5 power amp; Phase Technology PC 1.5 and PC3.5 bookshelf speakers; Rotel RQ-970 phono preamp.

Erratum: The italics in the letter from Steven Sullivan in Issue 113’s Forum section had italics in place that gave the misleading impression that DAR had written a large response. In fact, DAR made no such response to part 1 of Mr. Sullivan’s letter.

-DAR