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What It Takes. Behind the latest hi-fi labels on the records are few major new technological developments. Recording equipment is getting better all the time, but the process has been essentially the same since the general acceptance of the long-playing record, magnetic tape and the condenser microphone.* What makes records better today is not so much electronic as esthetic know-how. To recreate "concert-hall realism." the recording director jockeys heavy, sound-absorbing flats around the studio, hangs big curtains across the hall, or records the sound "dead" and pipes it into a reverberation chamber to liven it up again. But there is now a sharp division of opinion on what is a "faithful" recording. Some sound men believe in much clipping of flawed passages and splicing in better ones from other takes. Others prefer to capture the heat of an inspired performance despite some imperfections.
What does hi-fi mean in the home? Manufacturers are mass-producing record players which they label hifi, to the indignation of dedicated audio fans, who insist on buying components separately (the fanciest equipment stores feature elaborate switching panels, so that customers can compare components on the spot). It is next to impossible, the dedicated argue, to buy a real high-fidelity rig in one box—the limited speaker enclosure will probably cause a booming bass or fuzzy drum rolls, and up to half of the price goes for cabinetry instead of equipment. The best buys among the package units—perhaps not as hi as fi should be, but certainly better than most old-fashioned phonographs—sell at around $150. A good custom hi-fi rig costs at least twice that much, and the price can go as high as $2,500.
In the wrong equipment, a great deal can go wrong with sound. Its top can be lopped off, like a headless amateur photograph, making a violin sound like a flute because its characteristic overtones are gone; its bottom can be restricted, making the basses sound an octave or more higher (or not at all). Overtones can be added that were never played by the musician (harmonic distortion) or be thickened (intermodulation).
Expensive equipment is not necessarily a guarantee against such hazards. But a good hi-fi system must include at least a turntable (price $60), a diamond stylus ($20) and magnetic cartridge ($15), a good amplifier ($100), and a loudspeaker system ($150) which now usually consists of at least one woofer (a speaker designed to reproduce low tones) and tweeter (high tones). Tweeters may be cones (sweet, not too brilliant), horns (plenty of highs and often tinny), or the newly developed electrostatic type, in which a flat sheet of metal foil moves in the open air. Most speakers still need an enclosure of some six cubic feet, but it is no longer necessary to have huge coffins standing about the living room.*
Looking Forward. When the all-out audiophile swings into action, his pet weapon is the tape recorder, with which he captures music for future use from his FM radio or his own and his friends' LPs.
At the current price of tape (up to $5 per hour), the tapeworm's music will cost him about as much as the most expensive LP; often it will sound better,† because tape at its best reduces surface noise.