Word: fi
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...moment. Stereo seemed the an swer to the wildest dreams of the hi-fi industry, which has always made the most of planned obsolescence. Whatever the hi-fi fan bought, it was declared outmoded by all the pseudo-scientific trade journals almost before he could get it wired up, with the warning that only a still newer gadget could keep him in the forefront of the hip. For the trade, stereo had a classic simplicity: all the hi-fi fan had to do was exactly duplicate the equipment he already had (any change or cheaper equipment would spoil the "balance...
Forked Tongue. There will remain a hard core of hi-fi fans who will continue to ignore stereo. For one thing, stereo in all its forms is still more expensive than comparable monaural sound. For another, critics complain that stereo speaks with forked tongue. Despite claims that it delivers concert-hall realism, it is really mechanical realism. "We do not hear live performances 'stereophonically,'" says Composer Igor Stravinsky. "Whereas the angle formed by a live orchestra and our two ears is about six inches, the angle at which the stereo microphone hears the same orchestra...
Musical Walls. But as long as there are gadgeteers, the stereo business is bound to grow. Richard Ekstract, a director of the H-Fi Show, already is foretelling the day when whole houses will be jumping with electronic sound. Wall paint, says he, will contain "special sound-conducting chemicals mixed right into it. All you'll have to do is take your record player, a 3-in. by 3-in. box powered by molecular electronic amplifiers, and tune it onto your wall frequency. The walls will change color according to the music being played...
...animated Canada "overrun by Canadians and smugglers." the show presents Dudley Do-Right of the Mounted Police; and in a satire on hi-fi and electronics there is a tape recorder that plays bagpipes when it is fed Scotch tape. Also, there is a biweekly revival of Aesop, who tells fables for our prime time, such as one about a neurotic lion who would rather sing than roar. Every time he tries to roar, he sneezes. ''You need help. Leo baby," says his friend the fox. And with the fox as agent, Leo becomes a celebrated pop singer...
...Emerson Radio & Phonograph Corp. Only three-eighths of an inch thick, it clearly reproduces high-frequency sounds that are scratchy on many present speakers, can be hung on a wall like a picture frame. It will enable Emerson to cut the size of existing hi-fi rigs by two-thirds...