Service Section

New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 815, 11 March 1955, Page 25

Service Section

Readers with specia) problems in the care end maintenance of radio receiving sets are invited to send inquiries to the Editor of "The Listener." Names and addresses are required. Wherever given, either in "The ~

possible, replies will be Listener" or by letter. o~

7M, CAMPBELL’ (aamitasia) « writes as follows: I am fond of classical orchestral music. Many items come through (from Auckland stations) quite satisfactorily. But more frequently than I like, there occurs this feature, that the bass booms out and the first violins squeak like mice. Tonight I listened to Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto played by Artur Schnabel with the Philharmonia Orchestra, from 1YD (Auckland). In the first movement particularly (but also in the second) the double bass and the tympani sounded like a bass solo, with orchestral and piano accompaniment. The first violins did not have anything like the volume they should have. This very feature is marked almost always when I hear one of my favourites, Schubert’s C Major Symphony, "The Great." It does not matter what the orchestra is; almost always the bass is too heavy by far, and the treble portions too light; and much of the brilliant orchestration depends on the first violins being adequately heard. But other items have come through magnificently; well balanced and _ satisfying; though the quality has not been uniform. I have spent pounds on my set, had a new loudspeaker; had the treble boosted; yet the trouble is the same. Now I would like to know whether it is:(1) A fault in my set. ® (2) A trouble arising from atmospherics between the station and my set. (I live in a quiet neighbourhood with nothing I know of to cause trouble.)

(3) Something in the transmission system at the station. (4) The nature of the needle used. (5) The fault of the record; perhaps an old, used one; or perhaps one of the last to be struck off the matrix in manufacture. (6) The fault of the placing of the instruments in relation to the recording instruments at the making of the record. (7) The acoustics of the room where the record is made. (8) The peculiar quality of the instruments of any orchestra. (9) Something to do with the rate at which the bass notes reach my set as compared with the treble. If you can give me any light on this subject, and better still, if anything can be done to improve it, I will be grateful. In radio reproduction two predominant considerations determine the _ relative volume of bass and treble. First, placement of the instruments in relation to the microphones. Second, the amplification in the electronic chain from microphone to loudspeaker at low and high frequencies. In recording and broadcasting, the placement of microphones is usually decided by a musician and technician in co-operation, the aim being to give the conductor of the orchestra, for example, the effect he wants. Individual opinion enters strongly here and the artist must be free to express his own personality. It is the aim of the engineer to preserve this expression-which means that his equipment must give equal amplification to all frequencies. In broadcasting and recording, this objective is usually attained, but in the radio receiver economic considerations set a limit, The usual radio receiver is built in such a way that it is possible to tune in a large number of stations, and this requirement imposes a restriction on the response to the higher frequencies. It is likely that the correspondent would get greater enjoyment trom a good local station receiver fitted with a high fidelity amplifier and speaker. A radio dealer specialising in this field should be consulted, but it must be realised that the cost of such equipment is high. ~--