J M Hughes

In the early '80s, I worked part time in a record shop and was able to compare different CD pressings. I noticed differences in sound quality between CD pressing plants, and Sonopress were definitely my least favourite.Their discs always seemed to have a bright/thin sound. Back then (this was about 1985) Sanyo seemed to be the best. Polygram pressings seemed to vary in sound according to how thick (transparent) the aluminium coating was. When buying Polygram discs for myself, I used to hold the CD against a bright light and compare the density of each pressing. Generally, the 'thicker' the aluminium coating (ie less transparent) the cleaner the sound seemed to be. However, other pressing plants (including Sonopress) seemed to produce CDs with a consistent aluminium thickness - if you compared different pressings, they all looked pretty much the same. I have some Japanese CD imports from 1984, among them a Sony/Columbia disc of Michael Tilson Thomas conducting Debussy's La Mer. The original LP sounded fabulous, and I was very pleased to get this recording on CD as an import - even though it was hugely expensive. When CBS finally issued the disc themselves (around 1986/87 if I remember correctly) it sounded nowhere near as good as my early Japanese copy. Even more strange, the CBS issue was pressed in Japan! I found the same with some of Lorin Maazel's CBS Mahler cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic - my Japanese copy of the 7th symphony (which I actually bought in Japan) sounds better than the CBS/Sony issue where it was coupled with symphony No 6. Regarding Sony, as a generalisation I would say their Austrian CD pressing plant (DADC) produces some of the best-sounding (and best looking!) CDs. Even so, there are strange exceptions - discs that don't sound quite as good as the 'same' thing pressed elsewhere. My early Japanese CBS pressing of Glenn Gould's Goldberg Variations (the 1982 digital recording) sounds much better than Sony's remastered SBM version for the Glenn Gould Edition. Yet, without exception, every other reissue in the GG Edition sounds better than the original CBS (Columbia) issues. In Europe (I'm UK based) virtually all Sony/Columbia/RCA CDs come from the DADC Austria plant - but I'm not sure about discs made for the US market; they may be pressed locally. J M Hughes

Dear Mr McDermot, Thanks for dredging up my 21 year old Impulse H1 review []. Truly, the internet is a wonderful thing - LOL! I must say, I never expected my past Sins and Misdemeanors to come back and haunt me when I posted the Heresy III review here. But, I suppose it's Guilty as Charged. Yes, I did remove the midrange and tweeter resistors from my original H1s. I wouldn't do that sort of thing today - or, if I did, I'd not blazon it forth in a review. But (to quote Bob Dylan) I was so much older then... The Impulse H1 review has a certain proseletysing quality; it might be 21 years old, but sadly I'm not sure it's Come of Age. Hopefully the Heresy III review manages to sound committed and enthusiastic without being too partisan. But, you have to remember - the Impulse piece was penned in 1989 and I was writing for the UK. Many of the speakers available then were soggy inefficient 'monitors' that sounded flabby and dull. I was trying hard to make a case for something very different. I'm on my second pair of Impulse H1s. The set I use now (circa 1991/2) have more or less standard crossovers with tweeter damping resistors. For what it's worth, my views about getting rid of tweeter resistors have changed dramatically. While you undoubtedly get a crisper more articulate treble without them, often you sacrifice musical coherence and integration in the process. Tweeter damping resistors have a downside, but it's a Battle you have to lose in order to win the War - you have to have SOMETHING there. However, I still believe in hard-wired crossovers - doesn't everyone?! To add a touch of irony, last year I auditioned one of the latest speakers from a small UK company called Aspara Acoustics - basically the two guys behind the original Impulse speakers. I found their new speakers sounded way too bright, and lacking in bass/treble integration. I strongly suspected the tweeter was being used without any sort of attenuation - and turns out it was. I conveyed a certain displeasure, and designer Brian Taylor agreed to listen again. He did, and completely concurred with my findings, adding a resistive T network for the tweeter! I did not review these speakers, incidentally Not sure about Robert Shaw - was he in Jaws? The only Robert Shaw I know is the choral conductor based in Dallas. He colaborated with Toscanini, and made many fine recordings for the Telarc label. Jimmy Hughes