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Your binary's message above on polarity resembles your own --

a mass of confusion, misinformation and insults, and one in which the both persist. Just a few examples:

"Clark refuses to accept any definitions of correct polarity: ...the one that Japanese cartridge manufacturers followed when 4 channel discs were being promulgated." That one was, as I pointed out long ago, precisely the opposite of general practice. What a great choice!

"From there on out the AES [Committee's proposed standard] defines the direction of the positive pulse in various media." It does no such thing. One challenge: Does it define the above-referenced Japanese "standard" or the more common one? Well? Well? We await chapter and verse. The proposal has several other weakness as well; its non-adoption by the AES reflects that very fact.

"Clark's very consistent refusal to name anything as being correctly polarized..." How many times must one repeat: There is no definition of "correct polarization" on any recorded medium: 78s, tapes, LPs or CDs. I have however been at pains to point out which items are one way, which the other; neither is "correct". And neither of you two seems able to grasp this point. Why?

"If any one blames Clark, it is simply because he has set himself as the self anointed 'guru' of polarity." On the other hand, "Clark could be leading this charge but isn't." Hmm... you two are definitely not on the same page here... perhaps a conference call to hammer it out?

Oh, and another conference call may be needed: Is it, "His book based on research done prior, is now almost 20 years old"? Or is it, "Maybe sometime soon you'll tell what audiophiles baffled by the fact that half their discs sound 'off' should do about it"? I'd like to see some resolution here.

"If it is truly a matter of taste as Clark seems to be saying..." No one who's ever more than superficially read my book, columns or comments on AA has come up with that glorious piece of misinformation.

"Where are the reviewers who should be backing up his statements?" Like, where is John Atkinson?

Which brings me to a book by the aforementioned Clark Johnsen that should be on every stereophile's reading list. Entitled The Wood Effect, it is a thorough examination of the history of Absolute Phase audibility, expanding into a more general exposition on some of the wrong turns taken during the development of sound reproduction...

What does it sound like? "Wrong polarity is the muffling distortion," writes Johnsen, and it seems generally agreed that to listen to a recording with the wrong polarity is to suffer from a lack of realism, a lack of body to instrumental tone, a lack of integration within the soundfield, and less natural-sounding applause. Unfortunately, as there is no necessity for engineers to preserve absolute polarity during the production of a recording, a recording has a 50% chance of being wrong. In fact, as reported in The Wood Effect, which includes considerable documentation of the subject, Japanese-pressed LPs even have alternate tracks in opposite polarity!

The aspect of Clark's book that I found fascinating, and one which ties in with the general theme running through this essay, is that despite the evidence for its existence, despite there being almost no opposing evidence, the engineering establishment seems to dismiss the matter of the ear's sensitivity to absolute signal polarity.

Thus is the thrust of Clark Johnsen's tour de force.

I don't know, where IS he?

"The sad truth is that Clark can not stand any one else in the polarity spotlight." Right. Banish John Atkinson, bring on George Louis. That's what I say.

"He would rather leave the situation in shambles and confused than to attempt any chance at a solution." Only a miserably creepy person could believe that absurd claim. In fact I put some (unavailing) effort into the AES Committee's draft proposal, and have an invention to solve the problem -- unfortunately no manufacturer has been interested.

"Deep down inside, Clark has limited understanding of things technical and is afraid of revealing it." Oh bring it on. Bring it on! With every wayward step my antagonists reveal their unbalanced minds. In fact I have a university physics degree and decades of experience in optical systems, including Systems Engineer on the Mars Lander Camera (Viking '76) -- a digital optical device, by the way; in 1970 I was studying sampling theory and anti-aliasing. But then, everyone knows that already.

On and on the calumny goes. One needn't speculate as to motive, for the arguments are so feeble and false. One is only sorry the bandwidth has been wasted here, but better a defense be mounted now, lest the slander and waste continue.

clark

PS Question to self: But will it ever stop?


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