An audiophile's dream collection assembled by Delos' acclaimed acoustical guru John Eargle and Stereo Review's David Ranada.

DISC 1 is a 70-minute Dolby Surround music sampler supervised and annotated by acclaimed audio guru John Eargle. Each of the 23 tracks was carefully selected for the full enveloping quality of Surround Sound and the natural sense of ambience.

DISC 2 features ultra-precision test tones compiled by Stereo Review's Technical Editor, David Ranada. Ranada also contributes notes and diagrams. Over 35 setup and alignment tones have been created uniquely and exclusively for this release, and will not be available anywhere else. These tones will help enhance the performance of stereo, Dolby Pro-Logic, and Home THX systems.

As a bonus, Brad Miller has provided a sensational collection of sound-effects tracks. This set is everything you'll need to get the most out of your Surround Sound and Home THX systems! If you have installed a system for hi-fi videocassettes and laserdiscs, try using the built-in surround capabilities for listening to music.

Over the last six months Delos has been creating a catalog of classical Surround Sound titles. "Surround Spectacular" is designed as a special introduction to this new way of listening to music.

About the Music Disc, John Eargle says:

"The subjective qualities of both intimacy and grandeur, elusively sought after by recording engineers in normal stereo recording, are far easier to achieve in a multi-loudspeaker setup. The marriage of two-channel stereo and five-loudspeaker seems to be a natural one, if care is taken in preserving musical values. Everything on this program is stereo-compatible and may be enjoyed in that format as well.

Complete Contents

DISC 1 - THE MUSIC

1. Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra (excerpt). Gerard Schwarz, conductor; Seattle Symphony
2. Respighi: Roman Festivals, Ottobrata (excerpt). James DePreist, conductor; Oregon Symphony
3. York: Bantu. Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
4. Palestrina: Alma Redemptoris. Dennis Keene, conductor; Voices of Ascension
5. Handel: Water Music, Alla Hornpipe. Gerard Schwarz; Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
6. Bach: Toccata in D Minor. Robert Noehren, organ
7. Wagner: Lohengrin, Prelude to Act III. Gerard Schwarz, Seattle Symphony
8. Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite, On the Trail (excerpt). Gerard Schwarz; Seattle Symphony
9. Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man. Gerard Schwarz; Seattle Symphony
10. Duruflé: Requiem, Sanctus. Dennis Keene; Voices of Ascension
11. Satie: Gymnopédie No. 1. Wendy Kerner Lucas, harp
12. Debussy: Arabesque No. 1. Carol Rosenberger, piano
13. Dvorák: Serenade for Winds, Minuet (excerpt). Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
14. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Autumn, Movement III. Gerard Schwarz, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
15. Gershwin: Porgy and Bess Medley (excerpt). Eugene Rousseau, saxophone; Frederick Fennell, conductor; Indiana Wind Ensemble
16. Falla: The Three Cornered Hat (excerpt). Della Jones,soprano; Gerard Schwarz; London Symphony Orchestra
17. Dvorák: Stabat Mater, Movement V (excerpt). Zdenek Macal, conductor; Westminster Choir; New Jersey Symphony
18. Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. Todd Wilson, organ
19. Piccolo: O hear us, Lord. Donald Pearson, conductor; St. John's Cathedral Choir
20. Hanson: Dies Natalis (excerpt). Gerard Schwarz; Seattle Symphony
21. Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture (excerpt). James DePreist; Oregon Symphony

Disc 1 Total Playing Time: 66:31

DISC 2 - THE TESTS

1. SOUND EFFECTS
   • Jet flyover (USMC MkLk, Bangalors, and FA-18s)
   • Fire Department Code 3
   • Canadian Pacific Railroad
   • Hawaiian surf
   • Light rain with thunder
   • WWII Aircraft (Reno Air Races)
   • Steam Locomotive 4501 passes in a thunderstorm
2. STEREO SETUP AND IMAGING
   • Stereo channel identification
   • Stereo phase
   • Stereo balance
   • Left-Right frequency balance
   • Stereo center imaging
   • Stereo half-left & half-right imaging
   • Continuous wideband stereo pan
   • Stepped wideband stereo pan
   • Continuous narrowband stereo pan
   • Stepped narrowband stereo pan
   • Speaker comparison level-matching
3. SUBWOOFER EVALUATION AND SETUP
   • Low-frequency sweep with voiceover
   • Low-frequency sine wave sweep with harmonic
   • Subwoofer level (with meter)
   • Subwoofer phase: 200Hz
   • Subwoofer phase: 160Hz
   • Subwoofer phase: 125Hz
   • Subwoofer phase: 100Hz
   • Subwoofer phase: 80Hz
   • Subwoofer phase: 62Hz
   • Subwoofer blend (slow)
   • Subwoofer blend (fast)
4. SURROUND SOUND SETUP AND IMAGING
   • Surround-Sound channel identification
   • Surround-Sound speaker balance
   • Surround-Sound speaker balance with subwoofer
   • Surround-Sound center speaker phase
   • Surround half-left & half-right imaging
   • Ambience/Reverberation clicks
   • Continuous wideband Surround-Sound frontal pan
   • Stepped wideband Surround-Sound frontal pan
   • Continuous narrowband Surround-Sound frontal pan
   • Stepped narrowband Surround-Sound frontal pan
5. REFERENCE TONES
   • Band-limited pink noise
   • Stereo pink noise
   • Left-channel pink noise
   • Center-channel pink noise
   • Right-channel pink noise
   • Surround-channel pink noise
   • Left-channel match tone
   • Center-channel level-match tone
   • Right-channel level-match tone
   • Surround-channel level-match tone

Disc 2 Total Playing Time: 58:47