Re: Quad sound

[Keith Barry <barry@meol.mass.edu>]

As I recall, there was an incompatibility problem with Quad. I was always
amazed to hear how lifelike my uncle's quad system sounded. That went in the
trash 10 years ago, but I still use some quad headphones re-wired. However,
if I recall correctly, there were 2 or 3 different systems of decoding.
Another problem was in car stereos. If people wanted a quad receiver, they
would have to buy a quad 8-track deck, also. That would eliminate the
availability of 90% of the tapes that were on the market. Records and
players were never really marketed in quad because of the different stylus
used in playback - cone-shaped. That would eliminate 90% of the records that
were on the market. Plus, it had a less "you are there" and more of a
"gimmicky" ping-pong thing happening. I guess that people just didn't want
to have to update their systems. Also, there is a page related to quad - not
much on the broadcasting side, but still worth a look:
http://www.rdrop.com/~dano/tunes/quad.html 

                                        K. Barry


At 01:12 PM 5/7/97 -0400, Larry Weil wrote:
>>
>>How many other stations gave it a try in New England?  Did it fail for
>>technical reasons, or because the public never really embraced quad
>>receivers?  Did quad work similarly to stereo with a pilot tone for a
>>decoder?
>>
>>Ed Hennessy
>
>There was no pilot tone or additional subcarriers, it was simply done
>through phase control on a standard stereo signal, which could be decoded
>by an adapter from the audio outputs of a standard stereo reciever.  Kinda
>like "surround sound" is being done now, but the public didn't fall for it
>back then.
>
>The station I remember doing it for a brief stint, I think around 1973 or
>1974 in New York was WQIV 104.3, which after that went back to being WNCN.
>
>I seem to remember that one of the chief proponents of quad was one Harry
>Maynard, who wrote for several audiphile magazines and hosted the weekly
>program "Men of HI-FI" on WNYC.  He also tried to publish a "Radio Guide"
>(or was it "FM Guide") magazine in New York, which I believed also had a
>Boston edition.  I wonder if anyone knows if Harry is still around and what
>he may be doing these days.
>
>Larry Weil
>Lake Wobegone, NH
>
>
>
>

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