AUTO
The SONY CDX-A30 ($500)
has a 10-disc capability,
while the Pioneer CDX-M50
($460) holds six. The SONY
can connect directly to the
SONY XR-7280 radio/tape
deck.
If you want the ease (and
economy) of taping your own
cassettes while also reaping
the high fidelity of CD, you
can now purchase digital
audio tape (DAT) recorders for
your home and in-dash DAT
players for your auto. Threats
of litigation abroad for several
years kept the DAT recorders
off the store shelves. But slow-
ly, DAT equipment and tapes
are showing up.
"As of now, you can't find
prerecorded DAT tapes too
many places and the number
of titles is limited:" says
Mickey Shorr's Mike Leblang.
"In terms of sound quality,
both CD and DAT is the
same," says Jam Sound's Rod
Fields, "but the selection of
CDs is vast. Not true when it
comes to DAT."
It will be interesting to see
if the tiny, easy to store DATs
will change the minds of con-
sumers as they enter the
market in the next year.
RON GASBARRO
Special to The Jewish News
n the 1960s, legend Mo-
town producers Brian
Holland and Lamont
Dozier would take the
master copy of a record
and play it through a radio
speaker to make the final cut
because that was how the au-
dience would hear the music
— through tinny AM radios.
Gone are the flat-sounding
car radios of your dad's Ford
Falcon. Now you can turn
your car into an amphi-
theatre of sound so realistic,
so loud, it's a wonder you can
hear the ringing of your
cellular phone.
Auto audio today means 15
hours of continuous compact
disc playing, digital sound
processing (DSP) that makes
the music so lifelike you'd
think the performer is stash-
ed in the glove compartment,
and voice recognition
modules that free your hands
to actually drive the car.
Whew! How do you choose?
Basically, you want some-
thing that sounds great and
can be counted on to work.
Well, you can saunter into an
audio shop and ask one of the
guys who sell day in and day
out.
"Anything by Kenwood,
Clarion and Pioneer is a sure
bet," says Rod Fields,
manager of Jam Sound Audio
in Ferndale. "Name brands,
especially, always seem to
work. They don't break down
as frequently, if ever, as off-
brands seem to. The radio
receivers actually pick up
more stations than cheaper
radios. All in all, they're more
reliable!'
Adds Mike Leblang, assis-
tant manager at Mickey
Shorr, "I'd recommend Ken-
woods and Clarions. You get
more features for your money
as well as quality. With the
less expensive brands, you
save some bucks but you
forfeit quality of sound!'
So you listen to these guys
and you believe what they
say. But yet, it's your car and
it's not as if you can test drive
a complete system the way
you can a new BMW.
Choosing a radio/tape
player and speakers is not the
same as equipping your home
with a sound system. The
dealer's showroom is not the
same acoustically as the in-
terior of your car. Your car is
smaller than your living room
and so the volume goes from
soft to deafening faster.
Also, your house is sta-
tionary and so your home
stereo system always sounds
the same. Your car stereo, con-
versely, is zipping along at 60
mph, fighting wind and
I
Auto Audio
Today's car sound systems are hi-tech and
high quality with compact disc playing
and digital sound processing.
engine noise and road
conditions.
In response to public de-
mand, the better car stereo
manufacturers have worked
on perfecting their products
because consumers want the
same sound quality in their
cars as in their homes.
The - latest Consumer
Report's poll names the
following as the rIbp Five auto
radio/tape players: the SONY
XR-7280 ($550), followed by
the Kenwood KRC-710 ($449),
Pioneer's KEH-5100QR
($340) and their KEH-8686
($350) and the Alpine 7293
($430).
Some of the raved-about
features included things like
tape scanning that samples
each tape selection, loudness-
compensation switches and
electronic volume controls.
Those panned included
models by Kraco, Craig,
Panasonic and Jensen, so re-
jected because of such flaws as
loss of station settings if
disconnected from the car bat-
tery, poor knob layout and the
tape deck's lack of Dolby
noise reduction.
Standard features in car
radios now include digital
tuning with programmable
buttons that let you lock in
anywhere from 12 to 30 radio
stations, scan/seek buttons,
useful if you're traveling to
other cities and auto preset
that sets the tuning buttons
to the first few strong stations
if finds on the dial — also a
help when venturing into un-
familiar geographical areas.
Perhaps the most important
feature to consider when buy-
ing a receiver is ease of con-
trol. Can you find your
favorite station while
maneuvering in traffic? Are
the buttons well-lit for night-
driving? Are the knobs large
and logically arranged?
SONY, Pioneer and Sherwood
seem to excel in this area.
Some models of Alpine and
Craig make it hard on the
driver.
CD Players
Used to be, car CDs were
prohibitively expensive and
were fraught with all sorts of
flaws like skipping. But in-
creasingly you will find car
CD players slashed in price
from the high $500s to $299
or less. The product is a bet-
ter one, quality-wise.
CD players can be installed
in-dash or, for security's sake,
in-trunk; or you can hook
your portable, personal CD
player to your car's existing
stereo system. Manufacturers
who offer the latter include
JVC, Proton, Radio Shack and
Sansui.
Some receivers have a front
CD-input jack so you can plug
in your portable CD player in
seconds. Radio Shack sells the
cord that allows you to do this
for under $5.
Other options include the
cassette-like Recoton CD-20
adapter for $30 that plays a
disc through your tape player.
For $80, the SONY XA-7A —
a modulator that connects to
your antenna — lets you hear
a CD by turning your FM dial
to the far left, around 88.3
MHz.
Some receivers have a rear
jack so that the CD player can
be mounted in or under the
dashboard and permanently
wired to the receiver. The
Radio Shack Optimus CD36
($350), for example, can con-
nect either to the rear jack or
between the stereo and the
front speakers.
In lieu of the standard tape
deck altogether, you can buy
a full-sized receiver/CD
player. These substitute the
tape slot for the CD playing
mechanism in the front, easi-
ly accessible while you are
driving. Some have a
removable faceplate as a
security feature, like the
Pioneer DEH-80 ($540).
Of course, changing a com-
pact disc is not as simple as
changing a cassette while ex-
iting on to a busy highway.
You can't throw a delicate,
naked CD to the dusty, dirty
floor as you can a tape. CDs
also are most costly to
replace.
'lb solve that problem, there
are multiple disc changers
that can play hours of your
choice music automatically.
They mount in your trunk
(Remember, unlike cassettes,
CDs do not warp from the
heat). The player is then con-
trolled via your receiver or by
a small controller on your
dash. These changers hold
magazines containing any-
where from five to 12 discs —
or four to 15 hours music.
What's New And
Super-Duper?
Hands Free Hi-Fi — Sanyo
has just introduced to the
market a truly roadworthy
piece of car sound equipment,
a voice recognition module.
The EX-W2 ($1,300) includes
an AM/FM tuner, cassette
player and CD player but
that's not the best part.
By speaking into the unit's
microphone — the mike clips
to the sun visor — you can
make the EX-W2 perform
various functions. For exam-
ple, the phrase "tape, fast for-
ward, play" does just that. If
you issue the command
"tuner, one;' the system swit-
ches to the preset radio sta-
tion number. There are a total
of 20 words and phrases that
are recognized by the system.
Sanyo boasts a 90 percent
recognition rate, even in
heavy traffic and they say
that younger voices are more
successful at getting the unit
to work, although they have
no explanation.
The system has some
limitations. For example, the
unit can be programmed to
recognize only one user's
voice. Although the tape
player will eject tapes in voice
command, it cannot slide in
the next one.
DSP — Digital Sound Pro-
cessing is all the rage among
auto audio authorities. It
works on the principle that
the place where live music is
played, be it a stadium, con-
cert hall or jazz club, has its
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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