Volume - I Issue - II Network AAA U U DDDD IIIII OOO A A U U D D I O O AAAAA U U D D I O O A A U U D D I O O A A UUU DDDD IIIII OOO BBBB IIIII TTTTT SSS B B I T S BBBB I T SSS B B I T S BBBB IIIII T SSS & Audio Software Review (c) Copyright 1987 by Michael A. Murphy All original materials Copyright by the Author ======================================================================== CONTENTS Editorial Compact Disc Reviews 1) Strong Persuader - Robert Cray Band 2) The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby and The Range (By Thom Shulok) 3) Three Hearts in the Happy Ending Machine - Daryl Hall Questions & Answers Record Reviews 1) KBC Band - KBC Band 2) Communards - Communards 3) London 0 Hull 4 - The Housemartins 4) Boomtown - David + David Speaker Review - Spica TC-50 ======================================================================== Welcome to the second issue of Network AUDIO BITS & Software Review! This issue contains several Compact Disc and Record reviews, our first equipment review (the Spica TC-50 speakers), and introduces a new Question and Answer section, which I hope will be useful to you all. This issue contains two reviews from sources other than myself. Dave Holmes has contributed the speaker review and Thom Shulok has contributed a Compact Disc review. I'd like to thank them both for their contributions and their interest. I do hope that they will continue to submit reviews and that their work will encourage others to contribute reviews. Some of you may be interested in the equipment which I use to listen to the software which I review. I recently purchased a pair of Energy Pro 22 Monitor Speakers which I am quite pleased with. My Compact Disc player is a CD-120 by Philips/Dual and is probably a first generation player. I bought it from a friend who works in an audio store and is constantly upgrading, updating, or just plain trying out new equipment. I also bought my Harmon Kardon T-40 turntable from this same friend. ...And my Harmon Kardon CD-91 cassette deck, though I got that from the store, not directly from my friend. I am currently using a Yamaha R-5 Natural Sound Receiver which belongs to a roommate. I plan on getting an amp/receiver when funds allow. I also use my AKG K-135 headphones when reviewing discs and records. I am quite pleased with the performance of all of my components and would recommend products by these companies. I might mention that Philips/Dual is a part of Magnavox. Now, on to the reviews! ======================================================================== Strong Persuader Smoking Gun Robert Cray Band, The I Guess I Showed Her Producers: Bruce Bromberg & T Right Next Door (Because of Me) Dennis Walker R Nothin' But a Woman Mercury 830 568-2 M-1 A Still Around Released: 1986 C More Than I Can Stand Total Disc Time: 39:26 K Foul Play Source - CD S I Wonder SPARS Code: N/A Fantasized New Blood Performance: 9.5 Sound Quality: 9 "Strong Persuader" is Robert Cray's major label debut. He's been working the blues circuit for more than a decade and has 4 previous records, all on independent labels, which may be difficult to come by if you want to hear more of his music. "Strong Persuader" delivers a mixture of silky-smooth vocals, slick horns and, at times, explosive guitar licks. Cray's vocals are up front and powerful, but they don't overshadow the rest of the strengths of this disc. And there are many strengths. All the songs have a similar theme, which could get very repetitive if not delivered well. But Cray delivers. His guitar and vocals serve to tell the stories as best they can be told rather than using the stories to showcase his talent. This disc is a good example of the sum being greater than the two parts. Both the stories and their telling could overshadow each other. But they maintain that thin line where they support each other extremely well, adding strength to both. The best cuts on the disc are "Smoking Gun", "Right Next Door (Because Of Me)", and "Foul Play." The rest of the cuts are all solid and enjoyable. These three really stand out though. Throughout the disc Cray's tales are about unhappy lovers, and more specifically lovers who suspect infidelity. "Smoking Gun" tells the story of a passionate crime, of coming home to find someone else sharing your bed with your lover. "Right Next Door (Because of Me)" tells a story of an arguing couple whom Cray can hear through thin walls. The argument is about the woman's unfaithfulness and Cray is the one she's been involved with. The woman is "just another notch on my guitar/She was right next door/and such a strong persuader." In "Foul Play" Cray is suspicious of his lover since she has taken to working overtime every Wednesday. The imaging on this disc is excellent. Particularly notable is the track "I Wonder." Cray sounds as if he is right in front of me, the drums slightly off to his right and behind, keyboards to the left and bass to the right. Cray's roots are in the blues and soul that were in their heyday a generation or more ago. He gives those roots some 80's polishing and scores extremely well! ======================================================================== The Way It Is On the Western Skyline Bruce Hornsby and the Range Every Little Kiss 1986 RCA T Mandolin Rain Time: 43:15 R The Long Race Producers: Bruce Hornsby A The Way It Is Elliot Scheiner C Down the Road Tonight Huey Lewis K The Wild Frontier Engineers: Elliot Scheiner S The River Runs Low Jim Gaines The Red Plains Catalog Number: PCD1-5904 SPARS Code: A?D Performance: 9 Sound Quality: 9 Who would have thought that such a talented musician could be lurking somewhere in Tidewater Virginia. Well, Huey Lewis evidently did since he is solely responsible for bringing this gem into the light. Make no mistake, these guys didn't just show up on stage one fine day in 1985. Bruce and various members of his band have worked the Virginia club scene for over eight years, and his hard earned musical maturity is evidenced by his first major release. This band is definitely rookie- of-the-year material, and Hornsby's vocals and musical arrangements are a breath of fresh air in an often stagnated pop scene. In fact, one complaint often leveled at such innovators is that all their songs sound the same, but how can you fault a band for sounding like themselves? The recording quality of the disc is just about as good as one can expect considering the analog source. The tape hiss is not at all obtrusive, and I find it doubtful that anyone will find its presence noticeable, even during the quiet passages. The clarity and separation of the music is, of course, excellent and is well suited to the high energy piano segments that leave analog mediums gasping. If you own an analog copy of "The Way It Is", I think you'll find the CD a decidedly worthwhile investment. "The Way It Is" contains mostly fresh music since nearly all the tracks were penned in 1986 with the singular exception of "The Red Plains" which was written in 1984. The musical arrangements are original and this helps explain the difficulty one encounters when trying to classify Hornsby's music. Perhaps his self-proclaimed "new rock of the south" is the most accurate. Irrespective of category, this is a solid debut. The CD opens with the "country-esque" "On the Western Skyline". A song that taps the near universal sentiment that our certain someone is indeed out there. Moreover, most of the cuts on the album involve loves, both lost and found, and a particularly rousing variation on this theme is "The Long Race". Totally upbeat and propelled by some down- home guitar funk, this is one of the most energetic songs on the album. Competing for this honor is "The Wild Frontier", a flat-out rocker, fully equipped with guitar fuzz and feisty percussion. Of the three released hits on the album, "Mandolin Rain", a ballad, appears to be the best, suffering somewhat less from chord repetition than the other two - "The Way It Is" and "Every Little Kiss". "Down the Road Tonight" clearly shows the Huey Lewis signature, right down to the harmonica (played by Lewis). Lewis and Hornsby have a close association as Hornsby has written songs for Lewis, most notably Jacob's Ladder, and Lewis has assisted Hornsby both in production and musical backup. The penultimate track, "The River Runs Low" introduces an interesting piece of trivia to the Hornsby story. This album was released twice. The second release, aside from a new album cover, adds a completely re- recorded version of this song. The new version has decidedly slicker production, but the actual improvement is debatable. Anyone having the original CD (PCD1-8058) may well have a collector's item (if you want to sell it, drop me a line!). The final cut again reiterates the groups musical identity. This group ain't country, and they ain't rock'n'roll. Well, what are they?? Simple. Bruce Hornsby and the Range. BY: Thom Shulok (SHULOKT @ VTVM1) ======================================================================== Three Hearts In The Happy Ending Machine Dreamtime Daryl Hall Only a Vision Producers: Daryl Hall, David A. T I Wasn't Born Yesterday Stewart, Tom "T-Bone" Wolk R Someone Like You Engineers: Manu Guiot, Jon Bavin A Next Step RCA PCD1-7196 C For You Released: 1986 K Foolish Pride Total Disc Time: 47:38 S Right as Rain Source - CD Let it Out SPARS Code: N/A What's Gonna Happen to Us Performance: 7 Sound Quality: 8 The music in Daryl Hall's 2nd solo effort (I'm not sure whether the first album has ever been released, but it does have a catalog number) doesn't sound much different from his previous works with John Oates. But then, why change something that works... The music and production easily equal Hall & Oates efforts of the past. The music is enjoyable and catchy, sometimes overshadowing the potentially excellent lyrics. I'd loved to hear these songs done acoustically or with a minimum of production help. Helping Daryl out on this disc are David A. Stewart of the Eurythmics who plays guitar and co-produces (his hand in the production is evident, though he is usually a little more subtle with production than this), Robbie McIntosh of the Pretenders, and adding backup vocals on one track each are Bob Geldof and Joni Mitchell. The disc is clean, virtually no background noise at all. But then, there's enough music around so that background noise would never be noticed. At times the sound is cluttered with all of the production trickery. There's an awful lot going on here musically. This is a good example of 'with less, there could be a lot more to this record'. "Foolish Pride" has some real heartfelt lyrics and imagery, but it is so much like earlier Hall & Oates music that it can be ignored. If you're just gonna make the same music, bring John back... "What's Gonna Happen To Us" is probably the best track on this disc. The production is toned down enough to give this song some real feeling. And the lyrics deserve it. If the rest of the disc were produced like "What's Gonna Happen To Us", then this could be a really excellent recording. As it is, it's pleasant, catchy, bouncy, and ultimately meaningless. So close, yet so far away. ======================================================================== Questions & Answers - Information! The content of this particular section of Network AUDIO BITS will depend almost entirely on the reader. In the future I will publish questions and their answers. I would like to keep this as informal as possible. From time to time an informative article may appear under this section. There are a few people around the net now who have volunteered to act as gurus for this section. For now, any questions should be sent to me, MURPH@MAINE. As this section takes shape in the coming months, I may change this procedure. If any of our gurus cannot handle questions, I may publish the question and ask for reader response. There's no restriction on questions. Just that they somehow pertain to audio, its frustrations and/or enjoyments, practices, neat tricks, etc. So, ask away...! ======================================================================== KBC Band Mariel KBC Band It's Not You, It's Not Me Producers: KBC Band, Jim Gaines T Hold Me & John Boylan R America Engineers: Jim Gaines, Paul Grupp A No More Heartaches Arista AL-8440 C Wrecking Crew Released: 1986 K When Love Comes Total Disc Time: 41:11 S Dream Motorcycle Source - LP Sayonara Performance: 7 Sound Quality: 8 The KBC Band are Paul Kantner, Marty Balin and Jack Cassady. All of whom are former members of Jefferson Airplane/Starship. Kantner and Balin were both driving forces of the Airplane/Starship at one point, and the similarity to their Airplane/Starship recordings is evident in their delivery on this lp. Their sound is unmistakeable. The combination of, and trading off of, lead vocals by Kantner and Balin are as strong as any past recording. I keep expecting Grace Slick to chime in with them, but of course, she never does since she's with the band Starship now, which is composed of other former members of Jefferson Starship/Airplane. I believe Kantner holds the rights to the name Jefferson Starship. I don't find it any surprise to note that the three strongest tracks on this record are the ones written by Kantner and Balin. "America", "Dream Motorcycle", and "Mariel" are all strong rockers. "Wrecking Crew" was written by two of the backup band members and is also a strong tune. With the exception of the closing song "Sayonara", the rest of the tunes are only fair. The band seems to have a definite preference for performing their own material. The other cuts just don't have the same feeling and energy. "Sayonara" is the one exception. It's the only true ballad on the lp. "Sayonara" generates some powerful feelings, feelings that everyone has had at one time or another. "Funny how a love so strong came to an end/Oh funny how you lose a friend" are lyrics that almost anyone can identify with. The showpiece of this album, "America", opens with a few notes from the National Anthem and closes with a few notes that sound quite similar to the opening passage of "We Are The World", depicting a pride in our country's past and a hope for its future. In between, the lyrics and music paint a depressing, haunting picture of what too many lives in America are like these days. But they also speak of a glory and pride that can still be had in this, the land of opportunity. Unfortunately, with all the senseless waste and needless poverty, some of these characters will never have an opportunity. There seem to be a lot of protest songs around lately. With more elaborate production, better technology, and a public that listens to the music more than the lyrics, it isn't as obvious that these are protest songs, akin to the 60's protest era. Rock & Roll artists have always been cast as revolutionaries and are generally people who question the status quo. Who knows, if more people really heard the lyrics instead of the music, maybe this world would be a better place to live. I think the ending of "America" is a tribute to this kind of hopefulness. How fitting. ======================================================================== Communards Don't Leave Me This Way Communards La Dolorosa Producers: Mike Thorne T Disenchanted Engineer: Carl Beatty R Reprise MCA 5794 A So Cold the Night Released: 1986 C You Are My World Total Disc Time: 43:11 K Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?) Source - LP S Don't Slip Away Heavens Above Performance: 9 Forbidden Love Sound Quality: 9 Some of you will be turned off immediately by the Communards because their two members are gay, and make no bones about it. Those of you that don't give their music a chance will be missing out on some unique pop music. Jimmy Somerville's distinctive falsetto combines with Richard Coles, a classically trained musician, to give pop music a breath of fresh air. What distinguishes this record from the Bronski Beat's (Somerville left Bronski Beat in May of 1985) music is the style change. There are still some techno-pop cuts, laden with synthesisers, but the refreshing tracks on this record are the ones where Coles shows off his talent on the piano. His feel for the music and Somerville's voice are excellent. The only song on the LP not written by the Communards is the one they released as their first single, "Don't Leave Me This Way," which is a cover of the disco era hit by Thelma Houston. I don't expect this album to yield more than a minor hit or two. But then, this isn't your general Top 40 fare. The music here is cohesive, tight and inspiring. Somerville and Coles work very well together. The Moody Blues successfully integrated rock and classical music. Coles and Somerville have successfully done the same with pop and classical music. ======================================================================== London 0 Hull 4 Happy Hour The Housemartins Get Up Off Your Knees Producer: John Williams Flag Day Engineer: Bodger T Anxious Elektra 60501-1 R Reverends Revenge Released: 1986 A Sitting on a Fence Total Disc Time: 35:59 C Sheep Source - LP K Over There S Think For a Minute Performance: 8 We're Not Deep Sound Quality: 8 Lean On Me Freedom The Housemartins music is bright and bouncy. Their lyrics are, for the most part, pointed, political, and thought provoking making this record somewhat enigmatic. The production is minimalistic, which gives the band a rough, acoustic-powered edge, making this record even more enigmatic. My favorite cuts are "Sheep" and "Over There." "Sheep" is lyrically sparse with a repetitive chorus. The lyrics and the presentation compare man to sheep and proclaim, rightly, "It's sheep we're up against." "Over There" describes a fence, built between two people, two towns, or perhaps two nations. It matters not, the message is the same. One person is trying, but the other won't take down the fence. "But it seems I've given all that I can give/This is the fence that hate built" is a picture we can all relate to, on a personal, local, or national level. "Flag Day" is notable because it's the one song on the record where the music lives up to the lyrics. Both have a stark, depressing quality about them. This record has a quality about it similar to Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." The music is bright, bouncy, infectious and hopeful. Yet the messages in the lyrics are serious and sobering. There are many other groups and performers who use their music as a political message. There are few who've taken a serious message and given it this sort of bright musical treatment. I find this a unique approach. I think it shows an optimism and maturity that other bands would do well to observe. ======================================================================== Boomtown Welcome to the Boomtown David + David Swallowed By the Cracks Producer: Davitt Sigerson T Ain't So Easy Engineer: Not Credited R Being Alone Together A&M SP 5134 A A Rock for the Forgotten Released: 1986 C River's Gonna Rise Total Disc Time: 40:42 K Swimming in the Ocean Source - LP S All Alone in the Big City Heroes Performance: 10 Sound Quality: 9 David + David are David Ricketts and David Baerwald. Ricketts handles the music while Baerwald handles the lyrics and the lead vocals. Both Davids play several instruments and can play most of the instruments that the other plays. The best asset of this record is the songwriting. The characters created with their lyrics are all real and believable. The lives and cultures described are very real in and around L.A., where David + David hail from. Their characters could also come from almost any major city across our country, so their music, though locally inspired, is not local at all. The pictures they paint with their lyrics and music are generally depressing ones. Yet there's an element of hope in their voices and style. Tough and scary, realistic and honest. The music on this record doesn't promote a lot of fun. It is a very thought provoking record. It's not something you'll want to put on to dance to or to listen to lightly and forget about 5 minutes later. This record answers the question of "Where's the beef?" It's here. In the pathetic, depressing lives of the characters (whom we've all known about before, but are so well depicted here) David + David portray in "Boomtown." The best examples of their abilities are the cuts "Welcome to the Boomtown", "Swallowed By The Cracks", and "Heroes". This records cuts through the bull and delivers honesty, truth and reality. We need more of this in pop music today. ======================================================================== Product Review: Spica TC-50 Manufacturer's Specifications: Two way acoustic suspension speaker. Combination 1'st order Butterworth and 4'th order Bessel crossover at 2 kHz. Drivers: 6 1/2" Audax doped paper mid/bass driver and Audax soft-dome tweeter Frequency Response: 55 Hz - 14 kHz +/- 3 db Impedance: 4 ohms Power handling: 50 watts continuous program, 100 watts peaks Dimensions: 13" W by 15 1/2" H by 11 5/8" D. Connections: Five way binding posts Weight: 20 lbs. each Price: $420 per pair (walnut formica), $450 per pair (real oak veneer) I figure the best way to start any review is to let everybody know what my listening room looks like so here it is. I'll only do this once to preserve everybody's sanity. The room is approximately 16 feet long, 12 feet wide, and has 8 1/2 foot ceilings. I also put up 128 square feet of Sonex acoustical foam recently to help deaden the high frequency slap echo problems I'd been having. There are three windows (marked by plus signs). There is fairly heavy carpeting on the floor, and the speakers are on stands that raise them about 3 feet off the floor. I plan on finishing up the room with Sonex when the funds avail themselves (don't hold your breath). I'll let everybody know when the room is finished in that respect. + /---------------------\ +/ Components \+ / \ / \ | --- --- | | | |<--Speakers -->| | | | --- --- | | | | | | | |/ | Glass (always | Doors closed) | |\ | | Listening | | T.V. Chair Chair | ------- -------- Opening to the dining room Now that that's out of the way, on to the good stuff. I'll start off by saying that I've been living with a pair of these for a little over a year and a half now so I am quite familiar with their strengths and weaknesses. Before I get too far into this I want to say that I was using these with a pair of Dahlquist DQ-1W subwoofers for about a year. When paired with a good fast subwoofer these speakers sound as good as most of the competition in the $1200 - $1500 range. The subwoofers were stolen around the end of November though so this is going to be a review of the way they sound when used without a subwoofer (sigh!). Some of you are probably a little giddy right off the bat because of the frequency response listed in the specifications. There is good reason to be hesitant about the low end. In spite of the fact that they're rated all the way down to 55 Hz, the rolloff begins at 100 Hz and is rather steep, don't expect any real bass response below about 70 Hz or so. The "lack" of upper frequency extension however has not been noticeable at all, even upon doing A B tests against other speakers with a much more extended high frequency response. You can either attribute this to my hearing (which I don't think is at fault) or the fact that there are precious few recordings that have any high frequency information above about 14 Khz anyway. These are also not a real power house speaker. They are rated at 50 watts maximum continuous and 100 watts peak. They will play loud enough for me but this might not be true of all people. They are not fused either so you have to be careful. You could fuse them quite easily by making a trip to Radio Shack to buy some inline fuse holders and placing them between the positive end of the speaker cable and the positive input on the back of the speaker. I'm not sure what fuse value to use, just call an electronics store and tell them you want a fuse that will blow before the speakers see a 50 watt continuous signal level (probably between a 2 to 3 amp slow blow). Before any gripes can be made about the frequency response we must look at the design philosophy behind these speakers. The speakers are not designed to be a full range system and Spica makes no pretense that they are. They are designed to be very coherent over the frequency range that the ear is most sensitive to, hence there is also very tight quality control. All speakers are individually matched to within .5 db. If you're looking for a full range speaker system, this is not for you. They should be used with a subwoofer to realize their full potential, but as I said earlier, when used with a subwoofer these sound very good! If you have a very small listening room you would also probably find them quite bearable, but you really do miss the deep bass response. What bass response there is is extraordinarily tight and well defined. The bass is in no way boomy, but on the contrary is very natural sounding and fast. They are very similar sounding to electrostatics in some respects, mainly their speed and transparency. Most dynamic drivers have a tendency to sound sluggish after you have heard an electrostatic design, but the Spicas retain most of the low level detail in the recording. This is largely a result of the Spicas using a 6 1/2 " woofer. It is much easier to control the pistonic motion of a small woofer as opposed to a large one. You really hear all the detail that was picked up originally in the recording. Watch your choice of speaker cable too, you can pick up changes in wire very easily with these. I am currently using Livewire BC-8, a considerable improvement over the monster cable I was originally using and even the Livewire BC-6. Back to the lack of bass problem though, you will miss it! It may take a week or two before it starts getting to you but I can almost guarantee that it will. At the same time, the trade offs that have been made on this design are very musical ones. There are very few speakers that I have heard that reproduce the midrange as well as these, regardless of price. And there isn't anything that I have heard like them in the $400 - $500 class of speakers that are out there. The imaging is very precise with good placement of instruments and people around the sound-stage. The stage height is also very good. This is a speaker that really does disappear and let you just listen to the music. With all too many speakers that are out there you are always under the full realization that you are listening to speakers. Set up is fairly easy. The tweeter should be at about ear level, they should be away from both side walls and rear walls and toed in towards where the listener's seat will be. They spread a very good image almost regardless of where you sit in the room without the beaming effect that some speakers have. Some of my favorite CD's for reviewing speakers (and components in general) are the Telarc: Vivaldi "The Four Seasons", L'Oiseau Lyre: Mozart "Symphonies No. 38 & 39", L'Oiseau Lyre Pachelbel "Canon", Proprius: "Jazz at the Pawnshop", DMP: Flim and the B.B.'s (any of their disks), Warner Brothers: Paul Simon "Graceland" and "Hearts and Bones", Geffen: Peter Gabriel "So" and "Security", Windham Hill Shadowfax (any of the disks). There are others too but I am most familiar with these and have heard them on many different systems. The cut "Mercy Street" off of Peter Gabriel's new album is a good test for voice. Through the Spicas you really get the uncanny feeling that he is right in the room with you, especially at the very end right before the fade out. If you are familiar with Peter Gabriel's voice then the "Security" album is a good choice for realism. The Vivaldi is a very good test for the way violins should sound, I'd never heard a better rendition before getting the Spicas. The Flim and the B.B.'s cd's are all good tests of a speakers low end capability and ability to handle dynamic contrasts. This shows up a minor weakness with the Spicas, the lack of bass really begins to show with very dynamic music. They sound a little on the constricted side when it comes to dynamic range. This problem is largely alleviated with the use of a subwoofer however. "Jazz at the Pawnshop" is superb for making you believe you are in a bar listening to a small jazz ensemble, only it's right in your listening room! Listen for the voices of the people, hands clapping, glasses being "clinked" together, even the occasional phone ringing in the background. To sum up, the Spicas have one of the best midranges that I have heard with an upper end that is neither harsh nor laid back. The Spicas are an obvious choice for auditioning if you had any plans at all about going to a subwoofer based system, or you already have one and are thinking about changing satellites. They might also do quite nicely for someone who is in a small listening room or listens to nothing but chamber music, or any music that doesn't really have any deep bass content. If you are looking at speakers in the $400 - $500 range you should put them high on your list of speakers to audition before making a final decision, assuming of course that you can find them anywhere near where you live. I had to drive all the way to Boston to audition the ones that I wound up buying! I used a pair of Dahlquist DQ-1W subwoofers along with a Dahlquist DQ-LP1 active crossover for almost a year and can say that they provide a good match to the Spicas. I should be receiving a pair of VMPS Original Subwoofers and a GSI Model X-1 crossover soon at which point I'll do a followup as to how good a match they make with the Spicas. The VMPS subwoofers are considerably cheaper than the Dahlquist and have received very good reviews in various circles, at which point you could put together a great sounding full range Spica based system for as little as $800. As with any component your ears will be the final determining factor as to whether or not they suit your tastes. Speakers are very subjective, more so than anything else I think, and therefore should warrant more listening time before deciding on a final purchase. One should also keep in mind that you reach very specific price/performance ratios with speakers. There are many more expensive speakers that sound better but at a considerably higher cost, and even most of these (that I've listened to) do not cover the midrange much better, if at all. Too much emphasis is placed on the frequency extremes, just listen to any speaker with a lifelike sounding midrange and you're likely to be hooked for life. The extremes are important too but not nearly as much as the midrange, which is where most of the music lies. DMH ========================================================================