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RHINO QUADIO batch #6 - Speculation Extravaganza!
- Thread starter J. PUPSTER
- Start date
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Tate II: Too late and extremely pricey. The Lafayette SQ-W was quite good, but I distinctly recall playing 25 or 6 to 4 for a friend in SQ. We both thought it sounded very good, but then we looked at the Lafayette decoder and saw that it was set to Composer A (QS non-logic) and not SQ full logic. So things were not so good before the Tate.
Jumped in too soon: You could have taken those words right out of my mouth. But if I had a dollar for every technology that was brought to bear slightly before its time, I'd be challenging Musk for worlds richest person.
Had you played it in the correct matrix you might have found it even more pleasing.
And had you the money for one of the TATE'S , your experience with SQ recordings would definitely have improved. Yes it was a bit pricey but the real wealthy decoder was one of the Scheiber 360's , which was more than 3x that of a Fosgate Tate II .
I also had a Sony SQA 2030 decoder and found SQ very good when played back through a set of decent speakers , in fact I also utilized the Regular Matrix mode for QS , and it was quite effective.
But then I got my hands on a Sansui QSD 2 , and QS never sounded better.
My preference was definitely for the Fosgate TATE II, though.
And after Fosgate( mid 80's ) there were 3 or 4 SQ Decoders made by Aphex , but a little more money than the Fosgate.(about $200-$400, depending on the model).
And after the APHEX Decoders, there was a Proton SQ model . I never saw it but thanks to the late great Disclord , we know of it's existence.
25 or 6 to 4 from the SQ LP: Yes, it was a bit more pleasing, but the front to back separation was so much more obvious the first time I played the discrete Quadio. Prior to that, I had never known that the horns were discrete in the rears.
Do you recall the approximate year that the Tate II came out? If I recall correctly, it seemed that it appeared pretty late in the game (perhaps 1977?) along with having a rather high price.
The S&IC came out in 1979 with the Tate 1 (National chips). I think about 1980 (or 1981) the Tate II chips appeared. The Composer was modified apparently first with a daughter board to accommodate the new chips. The main board was then modified to accommodate the new chips. I purchased my composer about 1982 and it had the new board and chips.
It was after that (or during that time) Fosgate started producing the Tetrasound using the Tate II (Exar chips).
A Tetrasound car decoder had been promised as well, back in 1979. I was ready to purchase it at any price! Sadly they (Fosgate Electronics) went bankrupt but latter remerged under a slightly different name Fosgate Research Inc. producing the Tate II, Model 101A.
Edit: So the Tetrasound (Tate II) decoder came out in 1982. Jim's new company was called Tetrasound Inc. That company must have failed as well and was reborn as Fosgate Research Inc. The new Model 101A was almost a clone of the Tetrasound 101!
https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/tetrasound-101-precursor-to-the-tate.30238/
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I’m not sure where you’re seeing that statistic, I don’t know anyone who still has just a DVD player. Streaming is what rules the video world now.
Oh no. No quad in the shop. Once the QRX box got opened, we all looked at the insides and marveled at it (we were all electronic techs, AMD-3 was the shop) that sucker went into the box and into a storage area with a big pad lock on it and never came out till we got back to Norfolk, when I had to drag it back down the steps by myself! (What a strong guy I was!)
I just was on the Sound Concepts mailing list so I got their catalog in the mail. Almost everyone in my shop was set to buy audio stuff at the Naples audio exchange, so there was a lot of discussion. Quad, Stereo, Sansui, Marantz, JVC, stuff like that. Most could not afford the baggage of quad, but those that might have gone for it were put off by the lack of material to play.
I think most of us old quad guys buy all 4 Quadio's, and all of the D-V releases because we became conditioned back in the '70s to buy quad stuff from artists we did not know or even like just because there was nothing else quad to buy. I mean, I would never have bought E Power Biggs, Danny Davis, Enoch Light, Mystic Moods, show tunes, even Tomita, stuff like that, if they were not quad. I would never have given them the time of day. And some of you have to admit, you did the same thing...............come on. Admit it
I admit! I admit!
Yes I admit it , as well.
Considering the selection of artists that came out in quad , you had to buy in the hopes you might really find something that was worth the chance .
I bought some I regret (Souther , Hillman, Furay come to mind) but there were a small number I got to really appreciate, jewels such as Jackson Browne Late For The Sky , and James Taylor Gorilla.
But I also pinned for The Beatles , The Rolling Stones , The Who , Genesis , Yes ,
More- ELP , David Bowie etc.
And hoped like hell some of these artists would finally appear , what with the advances in quad , via SQ Tate , and the new shiny cd.
Considering the selection of artists that came out in quad , you had to buy in the hopes you might really find something that was worth the chance .
I bought some I regret (Souther , Hillman, Furay come to mind) but there were a small number I got to really appreciate, jewels such as Jackson Browne Late For The Sky , and James Taylor Gorilla.
But I also pinned for The Beatles , The Rolling Stones , The Who , Genesis , Yes ,
More- ELP , David Bowie etc.
And hoped like hell some of these artists would finally appear , what with the advances in quad , via SQ Tate , and the new shiny cd.
Probably 1982 , I bought mine in early 1983. I think they started taking
pre orders firstly...so that might bring it to 1981.
Also my first one wasn't working quite right so I had to return it for their testing and they sent me another unit with the same serial number etched into it to avoid customs hassles.
By the end of 1975 there was a ton of quadraphonic on tapes and LPs I was drooling to hear. It was the big rock stuff. Edgar and Johnny were still superstars, Aerosmith, Purple, Sabbath, BOC, Tull. Alice Cooper, Floyd, Wakeman, Chicago, BS&T, TYA, Loggins & Messina, Seals & Crofts, Guess Who, Grand Funk, Doors and on and on. There was a ton of quad out there but the different formats were making it a confusing and more expensive mess. I've previously mentioned that I saw the quad section at Odyssey Records in Las Vegas explode in size in the spring/summer of '75. Then in '76 Aerosmith Rocks came out in quad. so I saw no signs it was dying until '77.
So many titles to want to hear and so little money. But time was on my side! I could hold out for another 50 years sure, no problem. LOL!
quadrifonico
Senior Member
i still pray for a reissue of Aretha,,,i missed that at that time
Aretha Franklin, Billy Cobham, and DP's Strombringer are three quad mixes previously out on silver disc that I hope to see out again in the not too far off and distant future.
quadrifonico
Senior Member
Stormbringer and spectrum I have on DVD and SACD, but I wouldn't mind buying Billy again on blu-ray
I have the European DVD of Strombringer, but still don't feel like I truly own it in quad as it sounds a bit dull and weak. The other two sound fine and I can wait until the end of 2025 and be happy with what I have.Stormbringer and spectrum I have on DVD and SACD, but I wouldn't mind buying Billy again on blu-ray
quadrifonico
Senior Member
Well yes it's of course not the same thing. A lossy 5.1 DVD and a high res quad blu-ray
I probably would have bought Tomita and Subotnick even without quad. There was a cut from “Snowflakes are Dancing” used on a commercial in those days, and it just seemed weird and wonderful. Of course, they both used surround to great effect, and I’m glad I have the quad I do.
That’s not to say I didn’t buy stuff “just because” it said “quad” on the jacket. And in doing so, I discovered a lot of music I wouldn’t have heard otherwise.
It wouldn't surprise me if this was actually sourced from a 7 1/2ips consumer quad reel, given how crusty it sounds (not helped by the "megaphone effect" center channel) but also because in that same era that deluxe edition of Black Sabbath's Paranoid was released in Europe with the quad mix sourced from a CD-4 LP. It seems to me like there's a commonality there in that they either didn't know that the discrete quad masters were held in the US, or didn't want to foot the bill for a transfer of those tapes.
Anyone think batch 6 will kinda break with "tradition" and include 2 rock albums (a quick check of the QQ label pages showed that Elektra and WB had several rock quad mixes)?
Kirk Bayne
Kirk Bayne
Well it will break with tradition in that something previously unissued will appear. And some of the previously unissued quad mixes are rock titles. And two rock titles go together like peanut butter and jelly, or cookies and milk, or in fact like Alice Cooper and Black Sabbath. So I can imagine two rock & roll things in the pipeline. Another jazz album too. And a repeated artist? The three unissued rock artists' quad mixes I see on the table are Rod Stewart, J. Geils, and Foghat. I'm feeling good about Stewart's Atlantic Crossing getting cleared. That leaves Foghat as an artist not yet issued on Quadio, leaving Geils for the next round or two.
So the break with tradition for me would also be an artist getting their second Quadio album issued in this series. Deep Purple or Randy Newman?
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Intriguing process of elimination and one that I can definitely get behind!
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