WEBVTT Kind: captions; Language: en 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:29.001 This is [...] 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:04.000 the English horn over the viola tremolo type of listeners. 00:02:05.001 --> 00:02:09.000 Now all the Smiths simply go to prove two things. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.000 One, different Smiths enjoy listening to music differently. 00:02:14.001 --> 00:02:20.000 Two, almost every home music lover is in search of the same thing. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:26.001 The truest, most lifelike reproduction of the original music possible. 00:02:29.001 --> 00:02:32.000 [...] perfect fidelity. 00:02:39.001 --> 00:02:41.001 Or high fidelity. 00:02:48.001 --> 00:02:50.001 Or high five. 00:02:52.001 --> 00:02:55.000 But what is high five? 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.000 And what's the difference between a high fidelity record player and any 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:00.001 good ordinary record player? 00:03:01.001 --> 00:03:04.001 So let's ask Smith. He should know. 00:03:06.001 --> 00:03:12.000 Excuse me. Could you tell us? 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:17.001 Oh yes, pardon me. You're listening, aren't you? 00:03:21.001 --> 00:03:26.001 Well, all right. It just so happens I know a Smith or two who also know a high 00:03:26.001 --> 00:03:29.001 five when they hear it. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:37.000 No, that's not 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:39.001 the high five. That's Smith. 00:03:40.001 --> 00:03:41.001 What'd you say? 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:46.000 I said, you're Smith. And could you tell us what high five is? 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:47.001 That's what I thought you were. 00:03:47.001 --> 00:03:48.000 [...] 00:03:48.001 --> 00:03:49.001 [...] 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.000 Why, sure, you bet. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.000 Certainly I can tell you what high five is. 00:03:55.001 --> 00:03:56.000 What is it? 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:01.000 High five is sound reproduction from an instrument that has been especially 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:06.000 designed and constructed to give you sound that will be as nearly as possible. 00:04:06.001 --> 00:04:09.000 The same sound you would hear in the original playing. 00:04:10.001 --> 00:04:14.001 What you get in a high five set is best described as presence, a feeling of 00:04:14.001 --> 00:04:16.001 life and nearness in the music. 00:04:17.001 --> 00:04:20.000 If you've heard high fidelity reproduction, you'll be hard to 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:21.001 satisfy with anything less. 00:04:22.001 --> 00:04:24.001 Say, you really did know, didn't you? 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:29.000 Now, can you tell us how does one get high fidelity reproduction? 00:04:29.001 --> 00:04:35.000 I can. You know, of course, that most people hear sounds within a frequency range 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:38.000 of 20 to 15,000 cycles. 00:04:38.001 --> 00:04:40.001 I do? No, I don't. 00:04:42.001 --> 00:04:46.001 Well, you know that the phenomenon called sound is a wave in the air 00:04:46.001 --> 00:04:48.001 pulsing at a certain speed. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:53.001 Now, these waves hit the eardrum and are turned into vibrations, which the brain 00:04:53.001 --> 00:04:55.001 translates into what we call sound. 00:04:56.001 --> 00:05:01.001 Now, the waves pulsing slower than 20 times per second and faster than 15,000 00:05:01.001 --> 00:05:05.000 times per second are mostly missed by the human ear. 00:05:05.001 --> 00:05:08.001 Now, these pulsations are referred to as cycles and 00:05:08.001 --> 00:05:10.000 are counted so many per second. 00:05:10.001 --> 00:05:15.001 Thus, the number of cycles per second in a given sound are described as its 00:05:15.001 --> 00:05:18.000 frequency. Are you with me? 00:05:18.001 --> 00:05:21.000 Not exactly with you, but somewhere nearby. 00:05:22.001 --> 00:05:27.000 Well, you can see the high and low frequency cycles of sound in 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:28.001 that motion picture film you're showing. 00:05:29.001 --> 00:05:31.000 Now, watch while I sing a low note. 00:05:33.001 --> 00:05:39.001 La. That was a low frequency sound, as you can see. Now, a high frequency sound. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:47.000 As you saw, that one pulsated much faster. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:53.000 Of course, most hi-fi enthusiasts insist that a hi-fi set must be able to 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:56.001 reproduce all frequencies up to 15,000 cycles per second. 00:05:57.001 --> 00:06:00.000 Of course, when I build them, yes. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:04.001 Well, what would you say it takes to be a do-it-yourself hi-fi 00:06:04.001 --> 00:06:06.000 enthusiast like yourself? 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:12.001 Oh, doesn't take much. Only money or thorough knowledge of electronics. A lot of 00:06:12.001 --> 00:06:15.001 spare time. Your wife threatens to leave you. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:22.001 But if you want real hi-fi, well, and that's one, Smith, 00:06:22.001 --> 00:06:24.001 speaking. There are others. 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:30.000 This Smith, for instance. Another do-it-yourself hi-fi enthusiast. 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:35.000 Oh, no. No, no, not me. I'm a component parts man. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.001 Of course. Stupid of me. What do you mean? 00:06:40.001 --> 00:06:47.000 I simply mean that I assemble my hi-fi set from preassembled component units. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:50.001 [...] 00:06:50.001 --> 00:06:53.000 And amplifier? 00:06:54.001 --> 00:06:55.000 Record player. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:58.000 And do you think you can tell us what hi-fi is? 00:06:59.001 --> 00:07:04.001 Oh, yes. Yes, of course. You know that sound waves... 00:07:04.001 --> 00:07:09.000 I know, I know. We're up to where the sound comes out of the record. 00:07:10.001 --> 00:07:11.000 [...] 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:15.001 Well, as the record plays, the needle wiggles at the right number of cycles 00:07:15.001 --> 00:07:17.000 per second, which have been recorded. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:23.000 Now, this creates electrical impulses, which are then boosted by this amplifier, 00:07:23.001 --> 00:07:28.001 and then pushed out through that speaker in the form of sound waves. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:33.001 Then I suppose that the bigger and better the speaker, the higher the phi, so to 00:07:33.001 --> 00:07:36.000 speak. If you don't mind a bad pun. 00:07:37.001 --> 00:07:42.000 Oh, I don't mind a pun. But you have to be careful with statements like that. 00:07:42.001 --> 00:07:43.001 I said something wrong? 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:48.000 Well, I just don't want you to get the idea that merely by adding a big speaker 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:51.000 to an ordinary record player or radio, you get high fidelity. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:57.001 All the components of a real hi-fi system have to be of the same high quality 00:07:57.001 --> 00:07:59.000 and properly balanced. 00:07:59.001 --> 00:08:02.001 I see what you mean, and I'll watch that from now on. 00:08:02.001 --> 00:08:07.000 And tell me, do you have to be an electronic genius with nothing but spare 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:08.001 time for this kind of hi-fi? 00:08:10.001 --> 00:08:16.001 Oh, no. Don't know. I simply buy the components, build and finish a cabinet for 00:08:16.001 --> 00:08:18.000 each, and hook them together. 00:08:19.001 --> 00:08:22.001 None of that messy do-it-yourself stuff for me. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:35.001 And there's still another Smith's opinion on the subject of hi-fi. Are there 00:08:35.001 --> 00:08:38.000 more? At least one. 00:08:40.001 --> 00:08:46.000 There's this Smith, who seems to be enjoying all the advantages of true hi-fi 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:47.001 the easy way. 00:08:48.001 --> 00:08:54.000 Would you call yourself a component parts man, a do-it-yourselfer, or one? 00:08:54.001 --> 00:08:58.001 No, I'm strictly an enjoy-it-myself hi-fi enthusiast. 00:08:59.001 --> 00:09:02.000 I see. You like it the easy way. 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:08.000 And yet every component of this set is the finest hi-fi equipment made. 00:09:08.001 --> 00:09:10.000 I get perfect high fidelity. 00:09:10.001 --> 00:09:16.001 Still, my work is confined to stacking records or loading paper, flicking a 00:09:16.001 --> 00:09:20.000 switch, and listening. And what listening? 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:33.001 For menoral listening, it just can't be beat. I beg your pardon? 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:35.001 For what kind of oral listening? 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:40.001 Menoral. That's what I've been listening to. Music from one sound source, like a 00:09:40.001 --> 00:09:44.000 record or a radio. Then this stereophonic sound. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:49.001 Perhaps I better let you hear the difference. That would be just dandy. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:58.001 Now this is a stereotape player. The sound here has been recorded on the tape 00:09:58.001 --> 00:10:02.001 magnetically. But mind you, this stereophonic tape player is 00:10:02.001 --> 00:10:04.000 not just ordinary hi-fi. 00:10:04.001 --> 00:10:05.000 It isn't? 00:10:05.001 --> 00:10:11.000 No, sir. This is hi-fi plus. This is a new dimension in sound. This is... 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:12.001 This is what I want to hear already. 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:16.000 Okay. But when I push the button on the tape, you'll have to turn off 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:17.001 the projector. Have you got that? 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:21.000 When I see you turn on the tape, I turn off the projector. 00:10:21.001 --> 00:10:21.001 Right. 00:10:28.001 --> 00:10:29.000 [...] 00:10:27.001 --> 00:10:33.001 Hey, that was great. Sensational. Terrific. 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:35.001 What is it? 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:40.000 I told you. Stereophonic sound. A new dimension in sound. 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.000 Stop saying that and tell me what. 00:10:42.001 --> 00:10:42.001 How? 00:10:43.001 --> 00:10:46.001 Well, it's fairly simple. I've heard that before, too. 00:10:47.001 --> 00:10:51.000 Well, you know that natural sound is received through our 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:53.000 two ears from all directions. 00:10:53.001 --> 00:10:57.000 So when you sit in a concert hall, you hear the music not only from directly 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:00.000 ahead, but from both sides, overhead, and below. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:05.000 But because one ear is usually a little farther from any one sound than the 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:09.000 other, you don't quite hear the same sound at the same time in both ears. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:11.000 Thus you can determine direction. 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:14.001 And that's what happens with the two-speaker system. 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:19.000 Yes, but be careful. Don't get the idea that two speakers on an ordinary hi-fi 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:22.000 set will give you a stereophonic sound. They won't. 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:28.000 You see, stereophonic sound for the home is recorded on two separate tracks, each 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:31.000 one giving special emphasis to certain sections of the 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:33.000 orchestra, as heard from those positions. 00:11:33.001 --> 00:11:38.001 Now, when played back simultaneously on two separate systems, the sounds are 00:11:38.001 --> 00:11:43.001 blended together to achieve a new dimension in sound, impossible to obtain 00:11:43.001 --> 00:11:45.000 in a monoral recording. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:51.001 But I'm able to use the speaker on my regular hi-fi because the manufacturer has 00:11:51.001 --> 00:11:53.001 made provision for this sound of the future. 00:11:54.001 --> 00:11:55.000 You get the idea? 00:11:55.001 --> 00:11:59.001 Oh, yes. I've got it. But I wish you'd explain it to me. 00:12:00.001 --> 00:12:01.001 It's really very simple. 00:12:01.001 --> 00:12:03.001 Now, let's not start that again. 00:12:06.001 --> 00:12:10.000 You remember when these were standard equipment in every parlor? 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:12.000 Sure. A stereoscope. 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:17.001 Hey, a ray of light. Stereoscope? Stereophonic. 00:12:18.001 --> 00:12:22.001 Right. That's where the name comes from because the visual principle involved 00:12:22.001 --> 00:12:24.000 here has been applied to sound. 00:12:24.001 --> 00:12:28.001 The only difference between these two pictures is that they were photographed by 00:12:28.001 --> 00:12:32.001 cameras set slightly apart, about as far apart as the distance 00:12:32.001 --> 00:12:34.000 between one's two eyes. 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:39.000 And when seen through the viewer, the two blend together to create an illusion of 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:41.001 depth and width. You see what I mean? 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:43.001 Oh, yes. I've got it. 00:12:44.001 --> 00:12:48.001 Now, in stereophonic recording, the same principle is used. 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:55.000 Two separate groups of microphones are placed from 8 to 20 feet apart, and each 00:12:55.000 --> 00:12:57.000 group records on a separate track. 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:02.001 I'm with you now. The separate soundtracks play over separate speaker systems. 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:07.000 Correct. And when the listeners are centrally located in front of the two speaker 00:13:07.000 --> 00:13:11.001 systems, they get the illusion of sound coming from a wide area, as if a 00:13:11.001 --> 00:13:13.000 full orchestra were in the room. 00:13:13.001 --> 00:13:17.001 Sounds great. But who can afford a full orchestra in the living room? Or 00:13:17.001 --> 00:13:19.001 even a reasonable facsimile? 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:25.001 You can. Nearly everyone can. They're amazingly inexpensive. And new and more 00:13:25.001 --> 00:13:29.000 exciting stereophonic tapes are being put on the market every day. 00:13:29.001 --> 00:13:30.001 Would you like to hear a sample? 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:31.001 I'm with you. 00:13:32.001 --> 00:13:37.001 All right. Let's try Ferdy Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite, as recorded by the Boston 00:13:37.001 --> 00:13:39.001 Pops Orchestra, without the feedler conducting. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:43.000 It'll make you feel as if you're really in the Grand Canyon. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:48.001 Wait a minute. I can do a few tricks, too, you know. You let me hear the Grand 00:13:48.001 --> 00:13:50.000 Canyon, and I'll let you see it. 00:13:50.001 --> 00:13:52.000 It's a deal. Are you ready? 00:13:52.001 --> 00:13:53.001 Let her go. 00:14:09.001 --> 00:14:39.001 All right. 00:14:39.001 --> 00:15:09.001 All right. 00:15:09.001 --> 00:15:39.001 All right. 00:15:39.001 --> 00:16:09.001 All right. 00:16:09.001 --> 00:16:39.001 All right. 00:16:39.001 --> 00:17:09.001 All right. 00:17:09.001 --> 00:17:39.001 All right. 00:17:39.001 --> 00:17:49.001 All right.