Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

The music, chosen by the panel members, was transferred to a recordable CD (CD-R) using the Meridian CDR deck. The only non-musical pieces used—pink noise and JGH's speaking voice—were auditioned in mono only. (JGH scored his own voice as simply a generic voice.) All the musical material was stereo, and five of the musical selections, plus the speaking voice and pink noise, were used each day. Three other musical selections, changed each day, were included to provide a reasonable combination of consistency and variety.

The program material consisted of excerpts from the following:

1) Pink noise (mono, left loudspeaker only) from Stereophile Test CD 1, STPH 002-2, band 4.

2) JGH's speaking voice (dual mono) from Stereophile Test CD 1, STPH 002-2, band 5, index 19.

3) Duruflé, Requiem, Op.9, "Kyrie," Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Robert Shaw, cond., from Telarc CD-80135.

4) Acoustic drum solo from Stereophile Test CD 2, STPH 004-2, band 3.

5) Fairfield Four, "My God Called Me This Morning" from Standing in the Safety Zone, Warner Bros. 9 26945-2.

6) Duke Ellington, "Jubilee Stomp" from Dick Hyman Plays Duke Ellington, Reference Recordings RR-50DCD.

7) Jennifer Warnes, "Ain't No Cure for Love" from Famous Blue Raincoat, A&M YD 0100/DX 3182.

Excerpts from the following were added on the days noted:

Day One

8) Eddy Louiss, "Le Retour de la Baleine Bleue" from Sang mêlé, Nocturne NTCD 101.

9) Rickie Lee Jones, "Comin' Back to Me" from Pop Pop, Geffen GEFD-24426.

10) Britten, Sinfonia da Requiem, Op.20, London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Richard Hickox, cond., from Chandos 8983/4.

Day Two

11) Robert Lucas, "Don't Your Peaches Look Mellow" from Luke and the Locomotives, AudioQuest AQ-CD1004.

12) Michael Jonasz, "Le Temps Passé" from la fabuleuse histoire de Mister Swing, WEA 2292-42338-2 (France WE 893).

13) Albeniz, "Festival Day in Seville" from Trittico, Dallas Wind Symphony, Frederick Fennell, cond., Reference Recordings RR-52CD. (Excerpted from HDCD Sampler, Reference Recordings RR-S3CD.)

Days Three & Four

14) Crash Test Dummies, "Superman's Song" from The Ghosts that Haunt Me, Arista ARCD-8677.

15) Lesley Olsher, "Lay All Your Love On Me" from Lesley, ViTaL VTL 011. (Excerpt for these auditions taken from a CD-R of the master tape, not the production CD, which was equalized rather differently.)

16) Francetti, Cristoforo Columbo, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian Radio Chorus, Budapest; Bruson, Ragatzu, Scandiuzzi, Berti; Marcello Viotti, cond., from Koch Schwann 3-1030-2.—Thomas J. Norton