Long Beach Review

[Ryan H. Turner]

Normally I'm pretty long-winded with my reviews, but today, I'm not feeling so wordy. As a matter of fact, I had to really fight with myself because I came away from the Long Beach show feeling QUITE let down by a lot of what I saw and heard on the field. But that's what reviews are...opinions and observations...and folks seem to like to read them no matter if the reviewer was let down or not. I seriously was thinking on the drive home however that I might be better served listening to my mom's advice from my early years...."If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Yeah...seriously....well...here's a quick recap of the night. This review ain't winning any awards...and it may jar a few folks as well.

SITE: Veterans Stadium in Long Beach. GREAT viewing stadium. Artificial turf. Great facility for the most part. Crappy sound system (I was the announcer) that "blew up" just before the second half started. Impulse got no intro as I scrambled to figure out the circa-1800 era amp. TUBES???? Good Lord!!! Also, acoustics where I was sitting...not too hot. Could hear other corps warming up all around (as well as the single mallet player playing scales OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER in the parking lot--gee, hope you're warm) and it was pretty distracting. Don't know if the audience could hear what I was hearing on top of the pressbox. I hope not. Very distracting.

DREAM--they only presented the first 3 tunes of their show, and they have a ways to go to clean things up. Drum line had some visual issues, but it's understandable as they are on learning overload as they try to "catch up" with the rest of the corps. Fun music. GREAT sop soloist throughout the show. Some points when the horns REALLY sounded great. Other times--eh. But they have some momentum this year, and this small but mighty group will be fine.

JESTER--this is directed SOLELY at those in charge of Jester, and not the kids themselves. This is a CLASSIC case (and irritatingly so) of giving TOO much for the skill level of the kids. PERIOD. You want to grow Jester and knock it up a level, start getting realistic with what you can DO, not what you WANT to do. I felt really bad for the kids. WAY above their heads. Constant struggle throughout the show which showed bad programming, and apparently either not enough rehearsal time or inefficient rehearsal. This set me in a mood to be sure for the rest of the night.

ACADEMY--one of the very few bright spots of the night, but even then....well, let's just say this. This corps is following the rules of DCI. Great. They're going to destroy Division II IF they went back. They're like Magic from a few years ago. CLEARLY not a Division II corps. So I can't use or think the term sandbagging. So this is very encouraging. Academy has it together apparently. Their show??? I'm a drill designer. I always look at thing visual then I listen to horns next. Sorry...visual book for the most part was lacking across the board. I was ESPECIALLY dismayed with the ballad section. Drill to me made no sense whatosever. Line segments that were disconnected? Just not condusive to my visual sense of what was going on. And the guard???? They may be fairly talented work wise, but oh my. The decision for the orange weirdness in their uniforms and some of the flag choices (color wise) had NOTHING to do with the music and was to me quite distracting. Horns and drums sounded fine--very dark "Phantomish" sound--but not as much power as I would think they COULD produce. Maybe that's still to be seen. This corps will go places--it's here to stay. Visually though.... :sshh:

BLUE DEVILS B--Never have been a fan of this group. Don't know why. They just don't produce for me anything to remember or anything that I think is interesting or fun to watch. This year however, with original music by John Meehan, I was starting to get into what I was watching and hearing. Until....the return of the BOP BOP BOP chordal attacks in the horn line. You know...the old drum corps standby that makes up for lack of melodic development that features lots of drum ramming. Eck. It's old. REALLY old. Tired of it. And I turned off from the show. Drumline very talented. Horns had more UMPH than in previous years. Guard seemed fine. Show programming....eh. Some parts WERE nice. Seriously. But some parts musically.... THIS AGAIN?

SCV CADETS--Clearly Cadets are having issues with something. Corps MUCH smaller than previous editions. Lots of visual and musical issues out there. Visual package way watered down from what I know that their VERY talented designer CAN put out. Don't know what it was or what's going on there. They have a LONG ways to go to clean things up. Can't say too much more than that. But they got a nice score from the judges, which was about 5 points higher than what was on my paper. I kept thinking--early in the year, Turner, it's early in the year. But man...I don't know. I hope they can pull it off.

MYSTICAL-- Read review of Jester above, and it applies. Mystical has a long ways to go as well, and unfortunately, this is another case of bad programming and design in my book. Pure and simple. I'm going to be brutal for a second...but there were times in this show when I was looking at the field wondering how in the world the talent on the staff could have sincerely been able to look at each other in the stands at a rehearsal or in a meeting and say, "This is going to be cool". You have 18 horns. HELLO??? Could I get a drill that will help them at least SOUND more cohesive? Perhaps it's my lack of an ability to see things as I'm supposed to either because it's too early in the season or I need another read on this...but I was really irritated by what I saw and heard. Sorry. There's no other way about it. And it's what's being put out there--and the kids are only doing what they're being told to do. Mystical needs to clean it up (obviously) but they need to SERIOUSLY look at the visual package. It's a hindrance right now--both design and technique.

IMPULSE--last year, Impulse came out with their most ambitious music to date and at their first show, left me flat because they didn't have that "Impulse" feel to what they were doing. Another case of "early in the year stupid" for me. 3 weeks later and Impulse was well on their way and had done what they needed to do to re-engage the audience. Same thing this year. They use the music from "The Incredibles" which is cool stuff in and of itself. But they have a ways to go to start to sell it. MANY things with this corps WILL gel. I can see it. Design wise--pretty good. Not a HUGE fan of some of the musical direction they took--a little too much in the "texture development and mood setting" area and not enough just straight out fun and loud. BUT, on the other hand, good staging, strong guard, drum line a MAJOR power house...lots of good things out there in its infancy that will come together. Impulse rewarded with what I think is their highest opening night score ever. I just hope they can sprinkle the magic kabuki dust on the show and start being Impulse. I look forward to a few weeks from now when I see them again.

MANDARINS--BEST Mandarin corps to date?? Potential is there. BIGGEST that's for sure. That's cool. I love the unique look of their uniform, and guard costuming was pretty original and unique to each member, but at least not a glaring distraction. Everything is fairly solid with the corps. But it was an early in the year thing and they have lots to clean which is sort of obvious to anyone with a modicum of experience in the activity--so me saying it was a waste of time. I think Mandarins will definitely make it to semi finals again. Good music out there. Recognizable. I like to see them again when I'm not feeling so grumpy.

ESPERANZA--Best sounding Esperanza to date. Fairly strong guard although not up to last year's standard. Drums ok. Pretty "by the numbers" show for this group. Not as big as last year. Didn't grab me and make me real interested in things like last year. Nice attempt to get some GE going with a section of music where the horns come down into the pit and start to wail. OK--that was fun. Other than that--I'm not a big fan of Emerson's Piano Concerto. Hopefully I'll see Esperanza again in a few weeks and get a better read on things. Right now--seemed flat and like I said, "by the numbers".

PACIFIC CREST--It's all about the guard. Yeah. I know the horn and drum guys are saying "WTF?" but seriously...this show is guard. PC has their strongest guard to date, and outside of a couple of times when PC wowed me visually or the drumline came across with some tasty stuff, I was strangely following the guard. I guess it was either the design that led me to watch the guard, or, they were just good. Oh wait...THEY WERE GOOD. I think they won the show???? Well deserved. Complaint about the show? Perhaps it was the acoustics, but I sure wish PC would just open up their sound. I heard what I wish I could have heard MORE OF on their last note. THAT was loud. Everything else...I can't help but think of the word SAFE. Oh...and on a side note. They're score was TOO FAR AWAY FROM VANGUARD'S. I won't go any further because I don't want to "offend" the judges...it's just my knee jerk reaction to things. But PC's show either was higher than a 65, or, well.....you do the math and read my next review. Oh yeah...kudos (AGAIN!) to their drill design. Couple of neat ideas out there. One was a neat block maneuver that sort of made me think of a wave going across the field--and then, he takes half of the block and goes back against the block in contrary motion....really neat moment. I actually applauded. About the only time all night that I did. <**> :sshh:

SCV-- I'm at a loss of words. Did I just see a show that can be "blamed" on early season jitters? Did I just hear a tired horn line maybe because they had been rehearsing all day? Did I just see a guard performance from SCV that made me cringe a few times, not to mention, they're totally unprofessional "dress" out there? Did I (gulp!!)...did I just see a drill design for their remaining 3 minutes of the show that in THIS observer's eyes take a major step DOWN from the first 7 minutes?????? Trust me...if you know ANYTHING about my past reviews of SCV and my adoration of this organization, those questions above were as hard for me to type as they were for some to read. I do NOT know what's up in SCV land but I will say that I am surprised and quite frankly let down by what I saw and heard. Hence...looking at PC's spread score wise (7 points!) was really shocking. Now--let's be honest. It's not all doom and gloom. SCV's hornline sounds great at times, moreso in the first half than the second half. Drums seem as solid as ever, even if it was strange to see the snares at their knees and they were playing match grip. But hey. I'm dealing with that change. But man....If I don't see a big change visually for the last 3 minutes of the show, well...SCV just won't be able to be in Top 5. That pains me so much to write that. But I was sitting there in my seat in the sky sweating it out, wondering what on earth was going on. I think the audience was too. And the guard....you all need to figure it out. How you could be let out on the field wearing what you were wearing is beyond me. Not cool from this observer's standpoint. SCV has a long way to go to clean things up--technically and design wise.

BRIGHT POINTS IN SHOW--PC, Academy, weather, facility viewing wise, some potential in some shows

NOT SO BRIGHT POINTS IN SHOW--Let down from SCV, designer/directors out of touch with achievement level of kids versus programming, facility acoustics, P.A. system, small crowd (BOOOOO!), drum lines (I don't know how many) that think it's now a requirement to stand in a random pod and "jam" or move around to the music ala Cavies 2000--let's get original folks, drum lines that "check out" of ballads and go park it--BOOOOOO!!, distracting guard costuming, or LACK THEREOF

[Machine]

Thanks for the review. Can you provide more detail on SCV's guard uniforms? The only pictures I've seen, they were wearing all black leotards, yeah they looked blah but not offensive. Are these their show uniforms?

[morganhill]

Normally I'm pretty long-winded with my reviews, but today, I'm not feeling so wordy.  As a matter of fact, I had to really fight with myself because I came away from the Long Beach show feeling QUITE let down by a lot of what I saw and heard on the field.  But that's what reviews are...opinions and observations...and folks seem to like to read them no matter if the reviewer was let down or not.  I seriously was thinking on the drive home however that I might be better served listening to my mom's advice from my early years...."If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  Yeah...seriously....well...here's a quick recap of the night.  This review ain't winning any awards...and it may jar a few folks as well.

SITE: Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.  GREAT viewing stadium.  Artificial turf.  Great facility for the most part.  Crappy sound system (I was the announcer) that "blew up" just before the second half started.  Impulse got no intro as I scrambled to figure out the circa-1800 era amp.  TUBES????  Good Lord!!!    Also, acoustics where I was sitting...not too hot.  Could hear other corps warming up all around (as well as the single mallet player playing scales OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER in the parking lot--gee, hope you're warm) and it was pretty distracting.  Don't know if the audience could hear what I was hearing on top of the pressbox.  I hope not.  Very distracting.

DREAM--they only presented the first 3 tunes of their show, and they have a ways to go to clean things up.  Drum line had some visual issues, but it's understandable as they are on learning overload as they try to "catch up" with the rest of the corps.  Fun music.  GREAT sop soloist throughout the show.  Some points when the horns REALLY sounded great.  Other times--eh.  But they have some momentum this year, and this small but mighty group will be fine.

JESTER--this is directed SOLELY at those in charge of Jester, and not the kids themselves.  This is a CLASSIC case (and irritatingly so) of giving TOO much for the skill level of the kids.  PERIOD.  You want to grow Jester and knock it up a level, start getting realistic with what you can DO, not what you WANT to do.  I felt really bad for the kids.  WAY above their heads.  Constant struggle throughout the show which showed bad programming, and apparently either not enough rehearsal time or inefficient rehearsal.  This set me in a mood to be sure for the rest of the night.

ACADEMY--one of the very few bright spots of the night, but even then....well, let's just say this.  This corps is following the rules of DCI.  Great.  They're going to destroy Division II IF they went back.  They're like Magic from a few years ago.  CLEARLY not a Division II corps.  So I can't use or think the term sandbagging.  So this is very encouraging.  Academy has it together apparently.  Their show???  I'm a drill designer.  I always look at thing visual then I listen to horns next.  Sorry...visual book for the most part was lacking across the board.  I was ESPECIALLY dismayed with the ballad section.  Drill to me made no sense whatosever.  Line segments that were disconnected?  Just not condusive to my visual sense of what was going on.  And the guard????  They may be fairly talented work wise, but oh my.  The decision for the orange weirdness in their uniforms and some of the flag choices (color wise) had NOTHING to do with the music and was to me quite distracting.  Horns and drums sounded fine--very dark "Phantomish" sound--but not as much power as I would think they COULD produce.  Maybe that's still to be seen.  This corps will go places--it's here to stay.  Visually though....  :sshh:

BLUE DEVILS B--Never have been a fan of this group.  Don't know why.  They just don't produce for me anything to remember or anything that I think is interesting or fun to watch.  This year however, with original music by John Meehan, I was starting to get into what I was watching and hearing.  Until....the return of the BOP BOP BOP chordal attacks in the horn line.  You know...the old drum corps standby that makes up for lack of melodic development that features lots of drum ramming.  Eck.  It's old.  REALLY old.  Tired of it.  And I turned off from the show.  Drumline very talented.  Horns had more UMPH than in previous years.  Guard seemed fine.  Show programming....eh.  Some parts WERE nice.  Seriously.  But some parts musically....    THIS AGAIN? 

SCV CADETS--Clearly Cadets are having issues with something.  Corps MUCH smaller than previous editions.  Lots of visual and musical issues out there.  Visual package way watered down from what I know that their VERY talented designer CAN put out.  Don't know what it was or what's going on there.  They have a LONG ways to go to clean things up.  Can't say too much more than that.  But they got a nice score from the judges, which was about 5 points higher than what was on my paper.  I kept thinking--early in the year, Turner, it's early in the year.  But man...I don't know.  I hope they can pull it off.

MYSTICAL--        Read review of Jester above, and it applies.  Mystical has a long ways to go as well, and unfortunately, this is another case of bad programming and design in my book.  Pure and simple.  I'm going to be brutal for a second...but there were times in this show when I was looking at the field wondering how in the world the talent on the staff could have sincerely been able to look at each other in the stands at a rehearsal or in a meeting and say, "This is going to be cool".  You have 18 horns.  HELLO???  Could I get a drill that will help them at least SOUND more cohesive?  Perhaps it's my lack of an ability to see things as I'm supposed to either because it's too early in the season or I need another read on this...but I was really irritated by what I saw and heard.  Sorry.  There's no other way about it.  And it's what's being put out there--and the kids are only doing what they're being told to do.  Mystical needs to clean it up (obviously) but they need to SERIOUSLY look at the visual package.  It's a hindrance right now--both design and technique.

IMPULSE--last year, Impulse came out with their most ambitious music to date and at their first show, left me flat because they didn't have that "Impulse" feel to what they were doing.  Another case of "early in the year stupid" for me.  3 weeks later and Impulse was well on their way and had done what they needed to do to re-engage the audience.  Same thing this year.  They use the music from "The Incredibles" which is cool stuff in and of itself.  But they have a ways to go to start to sell it.  MANY things with this corps WILL gel.  I can see it.  Design wise--pretty good.  Not a HUGE fan of some of the musical direction they took--a little too much in the "texture development and mood setting" area and not enough just straight out fun and loud.  BUT, on the other hand, good staging, strong guard, drum line a MAJOR power house...lots of good things out there in its infancy that will come together.  Impulse rewarded with what I think is their highest opening night score ever.  I just hope they can sprinkle the magic kabuki dust on the show and start being Impulse.  I look forward to a few weeks from now when I see them again.

MANDARINS--BEST Mandarin corps to date??  Potential is there.  BIGGEST that's for sure.  That's cool.  I love the unique look of their uniform, and guard costuming was pretty original and unique to each member, but at least not a glaring distraction.  Everything is fairly solid with the corps.  But it was an early in the year thing and they have lots to clean which is sort of obvious to anyone with a modicum of experience in the activity--so me saying it was a waste of time.  I think Mandarins will definitely make it to semi finals again.  Good music out there.  Recognizable.  I like to see them again when I'm not feeling so grumpy.

ESPERANZA--Best sounding Esperanza to date.  Fairly strong guard although not up to last year's standard.  Drums ok.  Pretty "by the numbers" show for this group.  Not as big as last year.  Didn't grab me and make me real interested in things like last year.  Nice attempt to get some GE going with a section of music where the horns come down into the pit and start to wail.  OK--that was fun.  Other than that--I'm not a big fan of Emerson's Piano Concerto.  Hopefully I'll see Esperanza again in a few weeks and get a better read on things.  Right now--seemed flat and like I said, "by the numbers".

PACIFIC CREST--It's all about the guard.  Yeah.  I know the horn and drum guys are saying "WTF?" but seriously...this show is guard.  PC has their strongest guard to date, and outside of a couple of times when PC wowed me visually or the drumline came across with some tasty stuff, I was strangely following the guard.  I guess it was either the design that led me to watch the guard, or, they were just good.  Oh wait...THEY WERE GOOD.  I think they won the show????    Well deserved.  Complaint about the show?  Perhaps it was the acoustics, but I sure wish PC would just open up their sound.  I heard what I wish I could have heard MORE OF on their last note.  THAT was loud.  Everything else...I can't help but think of the word SAFE.  Oh...and on a side note.  They're score was TOO FAR AWAY FROM VANGUARD'S.  I won't go any further because I don't want to "offend" the judges...it's just my knee jerk reaction to things.  But PC's show either was higher than a 65, or, well.....you do the math and read my next review.  Oh yeah...kudos (AGAIN!) to their drill design.  Couple of neat ideas out there.  One was a neat block maneuver that sort of made me think of a wave going across the field--and then, he takes half of the block and goes back against the block in contrary motion....really neat moment.  I actually applauded.  About the only time all night that I did.  <**>  :sshh:

SCV-- I'm at a loss of words.  Did I just see a show that can be "blamed" on early season jitters?  Did I just hear a tired horn line maybe because they had been rehearsing all day?  Did I just see a guard performance from SCV that made me cringe a few times, not to mention, they're totally unprofessional "dress" out there?  Did I (gulp!!)...did I just see a drill design for their remaining 3 minutes of the show that in THIS observer's eyes take a major step DOWN from the first 7 minutes??????  Trust me...if you know ANYTHING about my past reviews of SCV and my adoration of this organization, those questions above were as hard for me to type as they were for some to read.  I do NOT know what's up in SCV land but I will say that I am surprised and quite frankly let down by what I saw and heard.  Hence...looking at PC's spread score wise (7 points!) was really shocking.  Now--let's be honest.  It's not all doom and gloom.  SCV's hornline sounds great at times, moreso in the first half than the second half.  Drums seem as solid as ever, even if it was strange to see the snares at their knees and they were playing match grip.  But hey.  I'm dealing with that change.  But man....If I don't see a big change visually for the last 3 minutes of the show, well...SCV just won't be able to be in Top 5.  That pains me so much to write that.  But I was sitting there in my seat in the sky sweating it out, wondering what on earth was going on.  I think the audience was too.  And the guard....you all need to figure it out.  How you could be let out on the field wearing what you were wearing is beyond me.  Not cool from this observer's standpoint.  SCV has a long way to go to clean things up--technically and design wise.

BRIGHT POINTS IN SHOW--PC, Academy, weather, facility viewing wise, some potential in some shows

NOT SO BRIGHT POINTS IN SHOW--Let down from SCV, designer/directors out of touch with achievement level of kids versus programming, facility acoustics, P.A. system, small crowd (BOOOOO!), drum lines (I don't know how many) that think it's now a requirement to stand in a random pod and "jam" or move around to the music ala Cavies 2000--let's get original folks, drum lines that "check out" of ballads and go park it--BOOOOOO!!, distracting guard costuming, or LACK THEREOF

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A very good review, Ryan. I was also in attendance at the Long Beach show and even though some of your comments were rather, for the lack of a better word, blunt, I am afraid I have to agree with you. (Never thought I would live to see the day where I was shocked and disappointed with an SCV performance. GR must be rolling in his grave.) Also disappointing was the small crowd and the lack of the Blue Devils. (One show in CA before going to Europe and then onto 2nd season tour?! Not fair to those of us living on the West Coast with no plans to travel east this summer! Here's hoping for bigger and better things to come for the Great West. We are all really looking forward to 2007 when DCI FINALLY brings it's Championship to San Diego! Thanks again, Ryan.

[84BDsop]

I was WONDERING what happened at the Impulse point in the program! Maybe you should bring a megaphone as a backup...

I couild hear corps warming up from BOTH sides of the stadium during Mandarins' performance...

Sunglare was EXTREMELY bad on the field during our performance (but that doesn't extirely excuse the performance)..there were points where I leterally couldn't see a #### thing. Hadwe gone on 2 corps later or the show started a half hour later, it wouldn't have been an issue. The glare wasn't nearly as bad on our last rehersal runthrough last week...must've been the angle...sun was hgher yesterday.

Still...we got our traditional bad 1st show out of the way...we'll definitely be working on these things today.

[gdisney]

Sunglare was EXTREMELY bad on the field during our performance (but that doesn't extirely excuse the performance)..there were points where I leterally couldn't see a #### thing.  Hadwe gone on 2 corps later or the show started a half hour later, it wouldn't have been an issue.  The glare wasn't nearly as bad on our last rehersal runthrough last week...must've been the angle...sun was hgher yesterday.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah - we started wearing sunglasses this year. I for one was tired of imagening where the drum major might be, if I could see.

Hey Ryan - do you think corps are generally more unprepared this year than in previous for the June shows? That seems to be more and more of a recurring theme.

[elementwrx]

From what I hear, SCV is fixing some of their drill in the closer....Not completely sure what it meant, but I assume they know that the drill isn't too hot.

SUPPOSEDLY it'll be in tonight...dunno if that's true or not.

[Eddie]

wow... I hope thiongs look better tonight in Riverside.

[PeeWee]

From what I hear, SCV is fixing some of their drill in the closer....Not completely sure what it meant, but I assume they know that the drill isn't too hot.

SUPPOSEDLY it'll be in tonight...dunno if that's true or not.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I have heard this too. This is a good thing, from what everyone in the drum corps community has been saying about SCVs show.

Stay tuned!

[Ryan H. Turner]

Hey Ryan - do you think corps are generally more unprepared this year than in previous for the June shows?  That seems to be more and more of a recurring theme.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's a great question Mr. Disney--part of me wishes I could say, "Why, back when IIIIIIIIIII marched we always went out with our whole show at the first contest." But I think in my 3 years of VK from 85-87, we didn't. Mainly it was the need to keep adding skits and gags. But I don't recall guards from back in my day being so tremendously unprepared. ALL corps with the exception I think of PC had VAST chunks of show where they were at right shoulder. Or worse--just marching around with no equipment at all. I also completely understand the creative process...and how corps DO have the luxury that I may not have in the band world of doing the first few competitions and "scrapping" something and starting over (and if what I'm hearing is true about SCV and their show--it's NEEDED!).

But yes...overall, it's a general feeling I got in the pressbox of several corps not being as ready as I've noticed in the past. And the part of this equation when it comes to guard is CLEARLY the fault of the winter guard activity. Oh wait...I said fault. That connotates negativity. I'll say CLEARLY THE REASON. How's that? Kids that march in winter guard truly do not have the time nor ability to focus so heavily on winter guard AND corps at the same time, so they wait until May to "join up" with their corps. And the crossover of instructors from WG to DC is tremendous as well, so I'm sure that these folks have a lot on their plate and have to completely change gears and focus and build a show with choreography set on a football field stage vs. a gym floor stage. Some may call that a fault. I won't get into that argument. But it IS the reason.

One corps staff member came up and talked with me last night and lamented, quite bitterly might I add, that it would have been nice to HAVE KIDS SHOW UP ON A REGULARL BASIS TO REHEARSAL!! Can't argue with that. Would this instructor's corps been that much better this beginning part of the season had ALL of his kids showed up ALL the time? You think? I could see this instructor's frustration....so how do you deal with that one as well?

In other words...bottom line....many factors seem to affect the typical corps nowadays in getting their shows complete for the beginning of the season and seemingly more prepared. It seems this season there's been a confluence of sorts in regards to this subject.

Edited June 25, 2005 by Ryan H. Turner

[bakerm16899]

Excellent review Ryan. Sorry to hear about the "quality" sound system.

What do you think it will take to get PC's score more in line with where SCV is, as you mentioned the very large 7 point gap?

Mark