December 15, 1977
For The Holiday Season
A Guide
by Jay Shannon can hardly afford to spend $l,OOO
Collegian Staff Writer on a stereo, this article will deal
With the Christmas season fast with equipment in the S4GO-$5OO
approaching many students may range.
be hoping for that special gift of a If you are the least bit con
stereo or may be in the .market cerned about the quality of sound
for one if they have some extra that your system produces, the
Christmas cash. This article has first type of equipment, up to the
been included in The Collegian to $2OO range, should definitely be
provide a few basic buying tips avoided. These compact stereos
for anyone who may not be quite generally provide poor sound and
as informed about stereo tend to damage records so that if
equipment as they would like to you should eventually purchase
be. higher quality components, the
In recent years, the home sound could be very distorted. If,
stereo industry has expanded in however, all you want is
leaps and bounds as more and something to just play records
more people have realized how and don’t care much about their
enjoyable and worthwhile quality sound, then a stereo of this type
sound reproduction can be. One might suit your purpose,
of the major markets for stereo If you are interested in clear
equipment has been that of young sound, then the time it would take
adults and college students, to to save the extra money for. a
which we all belong. As we were better system would be worth it.
growing up during the 60’s and A component system costing
70’s, music became increasingly $3OO-$4OO would consist of a small
important to the point where AM-FM stereo receiver which
nearly all of us have some in- would produce 8-12 watts of
terest in music of one form or power, a belt-driven turntable,
another. This phenomenon has and a 6-8 inch speaker system,
produced a generation of ex- These small systems have
tremely discriminating equip- become very popular for
ment and recording consumers, providing quality sound for the
The variety of equipment now person on a low budget. Of course
available is mind-boggling. It tape players or more expensive
ranges from the very simplest of equipment can be added on later,
stereos in the $lOO-$l5O range to Even though most compact
multi-component systems costing stereos do not provide very good
several thousand dollars. But sound, there have been some
since the average college student recently released models which
Christmas Sale |L
Special f
| 20% to 50% Off 7
a See Our Sale Tables At Your ||||
Behrend
Bookstore
•Service Lab
•Auto HiFi Systems
•Tape Machines, Mikes
•HiFi Accessories
•Tape, Plugs, Cables
OAlllin -mil# 5154 BUFFALO ROAD
%I IN ■■■■■- ■unis 1 MILE EAST OF K-MART
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To Buying Stereos
Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year
SOUND THAN ENT.
f
4
Behrend Collegian
now use some of the technology
employed in better systems to
give a sound' close to some
inexpensive component stereos.
These systems also tend not to
damage records terribly and are
moderately priced in the area of
$275-$325. A stereo of this type
might be a good alternative for
those with serious money
problems or a limit on space for
their equipment.
This article is not intended to
be very technical, but here are a
few things to look for which might
be helpful in comparison shop
ping.
The power output of a receiver
isn’t really very important in
picking a quality system, but it
must be considered in picking a
system which suits your needs. A
small receiver putting out 10-20
watts per channel is adequate
power for any dorm room or
small apartment situation and
will range in price from $2OO-$250.
The amount of total harmonic
distortion produced by a receiver
refers to the tonal accuracy of the
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note being reproduced and is
usually given as a percentage.
The lower the distortion the
better it will sound. Some of the
best receivers available have a
THD level as low as .08 per cent.
If the distortion level is 1.0 per
cent or higher, the distortion
could be rather noticeable,
especially when the volume is
turned up. These figures will at
least give you some basis for
comparison.
When buying a turntable it is
important to know if you prefer a
manual, automatic, or semi
automatic, model. A manual
requires that you do all the work.
You must put the tone arm on the
record ana you must pick the arm
up at the end of it. A fully
automatic turntable will play
through the record and return the
tone arm after it is over with just
the flick of a switch. A semi-
automatic requires that you put
the tonearm on the record but
will return it after the record has
played. If price is a major con
cern, you should stick to the
manual or semi-automatic
models since they are generally a
little cheaper. A typical low
priced turntable will range from
$BO-$125. Another important item
to remember when turntable
(continued on page 4)
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CONTACT Dave Jordan
212 Niagara Hall
899-9089
j Kodak)
Basketball Underway
Another basketball season is
underway and compared to last
season, it has already been a
success for the Behrend Cubs
basketball team. Four games
into the season, the Cubs have
already matched last year’s
victory total of two. Behrend
suffered through a 2-20 campaign
last year. But much more is
expected this year. Behrend
plays in District 18 and in an area
composed of the Big Five:
Behrend, Gannon, Edinboro,
Mercyhurst, and Alliance. While
not predicting any cham
pionships, second year Coach
Leon Wright thinks that his team
can be competitive this year.
Speed is the Cubs’ forte, as they
play a running game and have a
fine fast break against those who
feel they lack the height to be
competitive (only one player
stands above 6’4”), Coach Wright
argues that Behrend’s size is
comparable to that of most other
teams. He says that there are
many players on the team who
play taller than they actually are.
Depth may also help this year’s
Service Lab
Offers:
During 77-78 Term
10% off on labor
charges to all college
students.
Ready to serve you with
Technical Expertise in
our Service Lab.
Page Three
byJohnßlimmel
Sports Editor
(continued on pagt 4 >
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