SOUND+IMAGE: 30 years ago

Vol 2 no 2 1989

Thirty years ago we were in our second year, with Vol 2 no. 2 featuring seven full reviews — two NEC VHS video cassette recorders (the entry-level unit being $969 and the premium player $1889) , the diminutive Bose AM5 Acoustimass speakers ($1499), a NAD multichanger CD player ($1299), the Marantz PM-94 integrated amplifier ($2999), and finally the two reviews shown below.

Sharp’s CX-2168 was described as having “sleek styling” while its Linytron picture tube was flat and square, with a 51cm diagonal (that’s 20 inches in the imperial measurements to which TVs have since returned!). Reviewer and Editor Richard Morgan concluded that the price of $1259 was “a fair ‘whack’ in the old hip pocket”, but “it’s a television receiver which will take you into the next millennia!” Yamaha was clearly going for a record number of fascia buttons with the AVX-100 4-channel AV amplifier (below right); it delivered either two-channel front and two-channel Dolby Surround or, for the more adventurous, three channels at the front (combining L-R for the centre) and mono surround. Our personality of the month was Annette Shun Wah from SBS, and music reviews included Yello, the CD reissue of Led Zep IV at the “bargain” price of $17.50 ($40+ at today’s prices), and The Jesus & Mary Chain — “a load of crap” intoned Mr Morgan of the Barbed Wire Kisses B-sides collection.