What's the Latest QUAD TAPE Added to Your Pile? Q8, Q4

[Quad Linda]

Yes, I'd agree that Come From the Shadows was a very discrete mix. It's also her best album, IMHO. It was the first A&M Quad and was QS. It predates all the Q8 only and SQ A&M titles.

 

[Circular Vibes]

I have the Joan Baez tape, but I didn't know it came out after the QS LP. An enjoyable mix. I also enjoy the CD-4 LP of Captain And Tennille's Love will Keep Us Together.

 

[Quad Linda]

I didn't mean to imply that Come from the Shadows was released first on QS only. I believe it was released simultaneously with the Q8 in it's original "diamond cut" slipcase. It was the first A&M Quad.

I have the Joan Baez tape, but I didn't know it came out after the QS LP. An enjoyable mix. I also enjoy the CD-4 LP of Captain And Tennille's Love will Keep Us Together.

 

[dr8track]

Picked up four great Q8 titles in great shape that have eluded me over the years. Chicago X, Jeff Beck Wired, Weather Report Tail Spinnin, Rick Derringer Spring Fever.

 

[Philip Spinner]

To me, being a life-long railroad fan, there isn't anything more exciting (in a family context ) than to have your quad system turned up and playing the sounds of a steamer (or even a diesel) and train passing in front of you. OK, the only thing more exciting is when it happens in real life.

And I always thought the Gremlin was a neat little car. I borrowed my brother-in-law's while our car was layed up due to an accident my wife had with it in the winter of 1983-84. The choke butterfly was missing but he said just keep pumping it and it will eventually start. It was an extremely cold winter, kind of like this one, but he was right. It always started.

Doug

If anyone wants to hear a real live mainline steam engine there will be one running between Detroit and Ft. Wayne the weekend after 4th of July.
Phil.

 

[Q-Eight]

Bunch of tapes coming in:

The Chi-Lites Greatest Hits, Santana I, Capitol Q8 Sampler tape, James Taylor - Gorilla, Soundtrack to Funny Lady and Love Story.

 

[timbre4]

Phil - that is probably #765 steam engine? We are going to see the planes, trains & automobiles in Owasso MI this weekend (June 20-21) and I believe it will be there too.

The DTS CD with the train and thunderstorms is a dramatic capture.


From QQ deep space

 

[John Svensson]

OT but..... I live 10 miles from an operating steam powered locomotive: http://www.steamintohistory.com , and I routinely ride the bicyle trail alongside their trackage which stretches for 21 miles.
Oddly enough, it is an 1860-70's steamer built in 2012, and not in China but actually Illinois! The first steam locos built in the US since perhaps the late 1950s, when a few industrial type locos were last built. John

 

[roundhousequad]

just picked up one been trying to find for a long time BTO BTO

 

[Q-Eight]

Just picked up two today:

Al Hirt - Paint Your Wagon (better condish than the one I already got)
John Keating 250 Years of Film Music (being a completeist again)

Still bummed for not getting that Dizzy Gillespie Q8 last week. I REALLY wanted that one.

 

[Q-Eight]

Woohoo! Just scored The Ventures Only Hits tape 2 for a very decent price. Been after that one for a while to complete the set. Saw a set with box go for big money a few weeks back.

 

[Circular Vibes]

Woohoo! Just scored The Ventures Only Hits tape 2 for a very decent price. Been after that one for a while to complete the set. Saw a set with box go for big money a few weeks back.

Congrats on the win! Let us know how it sounds please. I have two of the Japanese quads and find them to be lacking in discreteness but not in fidelity.

 

[Q-Eight]

Only Hits is a funny mix. I can't tell if the source was 8 or 16-track, but it's not as discrete as you'd hope. It's a better mix than Hawaii Five-O which I know stemmed from an 8 track.

 

[Circular Vibes]

Thanks Q-Eight, I will be keeping my eyes open for my own copy.

 

[Q-Eight]

Scored a few tonight. Completed my Frank Sinatra collection!

My Way, Main Event & Some Nice Things.
Also nabbed another Project 3 to add to the pile: Permissive Polyphonics.


Was amazed to see what those Chicago boxes are bringing. I stopped following II after $60 - I saw CTA close at almost $160!

 

[Q-Eight]

A couple more:

R.E.O. Speedwagon - This Time we Mean It
Dave Mason - It's Like you Never Left
Redbone - Message from a Drum (later printing, much better sound than first run!) Must've been a popular title, as I've seen it in all 3 styles of cartridge now.

 

[zabble]

A couple more: Message from a Drum (later printing, much better sound than first run!) Must've been a popular title, as I've seen it in all 3 styles of cartridge now.

How can you tell which is the better-sounding one by looking at it?

 

[winopener]

Other than specific duplication problem, that may had happened at any time, Columbia carts had 3 different kind of closing snaps that make it easy to tell which is earlier or later.
Look at the bottom of the cart:

1st style: no closing visible (it's on center of the cart)




2nd style: two closing fully visible




3rd style: two closing half visible

 

[Q-Eight]

How can you tell which is the better-sounding one by looking at it?

Because I have the ability that only I and three others at my store do. But seriously, I think Columbia may have raised their standards as the Quad-era went on. Early titles in the 30xxx series do tend to be a bit dull in sound and are not processed with Dolby. Starting in the 32xxx series, tapes began being processed with Dolby. I'm speculating, (however the proof is in the pudding) that early tapes that got a second or third release DO get processed with Dolby however they don't change the cartridge art to reflect this. Many later tapes do sound very, very good. Take Bob's latest conversion of Labelle. That tape came from my collection and the sound is unbelievable. You'd be hard pressed to tell that came from an 8-track.

Anyway, I've had enough tapes pass through my hands to be able to tell you that some later Columbia re-issues sound much better than their earlier releases. As winopener pointed out, you can gauge a tapes' release by it's cartridge style be it early, mid or late. An early 30xxx series tape first release would be in a two-latch style cartridge. Any other style means it was a re-printing at a later time.

There are some tapes floating around that came from the Gerbino collection that have some very late titles (ie: E,W&F "Spirit) in an early, two latch cartridge.
I've bought some of these tapes and found them to be copies and the quality so-so. The artwork was also a reproduction, not an original slicker.

 

[jberger]

I recently picked up the Ford quad demo 8 track at an estate sale (got a pair of Magneplanars and a Fosgate decoder, too!)