Lafayette Radio and Quad

[emaidel]

Audiophiles? The ones that spend 1200 USD for a cable?

Yup, that's us. I do draw the line, however, on price. I purchased $800 12' speaker cables, but wouldn't dream of spending $17,000 or more for "better" ones.

I am a firm believer that cables make quite a difference, but the price tag on many is nothing short of ridiculous. I recently purchased a digital coax cable to connect the digital output of my CD player to my D/A converter from Monster Cable that cost me $80. I am delighted with the results, but was aghast at seeing that one could actually spend $3,900 for such a cable! Not on your life!

 

[Quadzilla]

Yup, that's us. I do draw the line, however, on price. I purchased $800 12' speaker cables, but wouldn't dream of spending $17,000 or more for "better" ones.

I am a firm believer that cables make quite a difference, but the price tag on many is nothing short of ridiculous. I recently purchased a digital coax cable to connect the digital output of my CD player to my D/A converter from Monster Cable that cost me $80. I am delighted with the results, but was aghast at seeing that one could actually spend $3,900 for such a cable! Not on your life!

I'm with you emaidel, I am a Cardas junkie; but we seem to be in the minority around here. Now rant and rave about friggin' cheap-assed Oppos and you will make some friends. Spending more than ten bucks on a pair of cables will get you branded a snob.

 

[emaidel]

Spending more than ten bucks on a pair of cables will get you branded a snob.

Then, I guess I'm a snob...

 

[zabble]

I'm all for good cables. I've done blind listening comparisons and could tell the difference between cheap ones and better ones. Mind you, the difference is often very subtle and not always worth the extra expenditure. There does get to be a point of diminishing returns. At this point, the extra amount you pay is usually disproportionate to the amount of audio improvement you can hear. One can easliy be suckered into paying too much.

 

[Quadzilla]

I'm all for good cables. I've done blind listening comparisons and could tell the difference between cheap ones and better ones. Mind you, the difference is often very subtle and not always worth the extra expenditure. There does get to be a point of diminishing returns. At this point, the extra amount you pay is usually disproportionate to the amount of audio improvement you can hear. One can easliy be suckered into paying too much.

I like to get used ones and let somebody else pay to take them out of the package. I picked up a nice pair of Cardas cables to connect my moving coil step-up transformer to my preamp ... less than half price ... and from another Canadian, so cheap shipping and no customs hassles.

http://www.canuckaudiomart.com/details/74980-cardas_cross_05_m/

 

[Quadzilla]

WHAT A COUNTRY !!! We have managed to hijack a Lafayette quad thread and turn it into a cable debate. Sorry guys.

 

[Decoder Man]

I have had several SQ-W's pass through my hands. They were identical except for one. Where all other units had "LAFAYETTE" printed on the escutcheon with capital letters this one, was "Lafayette". All the others had an inspection tag on the bottom with the year it was inspected. This one had "Inspected by" with initials. It never dawned on me to compare stock numbers. Is it possible the change in letter style would indicate the addition of Veri-Blend?

Glad to be of help. Do you know if your SQ-W has the Vari-blend circuitry? It was never printed on the outside of the unit, but was included in those manufactured around 1975. Either way, you've got the best there was at the time. And, I'm sure you'll agree with me that the Composer-A circuitry is pretty impressive.

 

[emaidel]

I have had several SQ-W's pass through my hands. They were identical except for one. Where all other units had "LAFAYETTE" printed on the escutcheon with capital letters this one, was "Lafayette". All the others had an inspection tag on the bottom with the year it was inspected. This one had "Inspected by" with initials. It never dawned on me to compare stock numbers. Is it possible the change in letter style would indicate the addition of Veri-Blend?

It's entirely possible the one with "Lafayette," with both upper and lower case letters has the Variblend circuitry. The Lafayette logo changed around 1974 to a more attractive one, with upper and lower case letters. The new logo appeared on most Lafayette-branded equipment , as well as, I believe, the SQ-W decoder. So, congrats!

 

[Decoder Man]

Don't congratulate me. I did not see your thread until after selling the unit. I received a good price for it so I'm not too disappointed.

Dave

It's entirely possible the one with "Lafayette," with both upper and lower case letters has the Variblend circuitry. The Lafayette logo changed around 1974 to a more attractive one, with upper and lower case letters. The new logo appeared on most Lafayette-branded equipment , as well as, I believe, the SQ-W decoder. So, congrats!

 

[emaidel]

When new, both SQ-W decoders (with, or without Variblend) sold for $99.95. What did you get for yours?

 

[Decoder Man]

This particular unit went for $349.95. The two previous went for $300.00 each. I do recall one selling (not mine) for $800.00 in 2004 on Ebay.
I have one in mint condition in its original box which I keep as a backup to my Tate.

Dave

When new, both SQ-W decoders (with, or without Variblend) sold for $99.95. What did you get for yours?

 

[deja vu]

emaidel, sort of a goofy question for you - for those of us satisfied with sythnesizing rather than decoding, are the composer settings the same on the sq-l and the sq-w????

 

[emaidel]

are the composer settings the same on the sq-l and the sq-w????

As best as I can recall, yes they are. Composer "A" is the most impressive, creating many quadraphonic effects that often rival (or even, surpass) those encoded on quadraphonic discs, and Composer "B," which is simply the basic SQ-M (non-logic) system, which I felt always did a mediocre job of simulating quad effects.

 

[dwight]

Dear Emaidel, This thread has really been deep mining my memory banks. Lafayette Radio and E J Korvette, both in Towson Maryland, during the late1960's, early 70's, are where I plowed my early quad investigations. It was Lafayette that demonstrated the Dynaco Quadapter with two Dyna A25's up front and two at the sides, not in the rear, and suddenly the the aural space made sense to me. I bought four A25's, a Qdapter, and a PAT-4 preamp. Of course in those days you really got to know the sales staff, so I would just visit on regular basis, at least twice a week, just to chat, listen, and of course once in a while buy. I remember hearing that "CHASE" horn really circle the room when the SonySQ 2020 hit the shelves, real separation, and I stupidly bought it, even though I was warned by staff that Lafayette's full logic with variable blend would be far superior and that I should wait. They were right and I really grew tired of the incessant pumping the Sony was guilty of. When the variable blend unit was released I remember... I think his name was Jeff, going to some trouble to switch the rear speakers to the side for me, and we were both very impressed by the results. Those were the days, right? Speakers and electronics were four shelves high, wall to wall, in an all glass listening room. Thanks for your post and for stirring the old memory pot. Lafayette certainly played an important role in the formative days of Quad.
Dwight

 

[emaidel]

Thanks for your post and for stirring the old memory pot. Lafayette certainly played an important role in the formative days of Quad.
Dwight

I'm happy to have done so. I worked for them for 14 years, and then was offered a job as a National Sales Manger for PIckering - hardly something to turn down after so many years in retail. Lafayette was the foundation for many who pursued careers elsewhere in the audio industry, and was regrettably bankrupted by one person, and one person only: Arthur J. Blackburn, brought in as President in 1976 direct from J.C. Penny.

Blackburn thought everything was a "widget," and that if a certain widget didn't sell, then all that was needed was to put it in a warehouse for a few years, and then it would somehow come back into vogue. He used this inane thinking when he ordered the purchasing agent for Citizen's Band (CB) equipment to purchase a staggering $15 million (at cost!) of 23-channel CB equipment just after the FTC announced that, after a certain date, and prior to this equipment's arrival on U.S shores, that only 44-channel equipment could be sold. No company anywhere could overcome such a huge loss, and that $15 million brought a 55 year-old institution tumbling down. Hopefully, somebody shot Blackburn.

Insofar as your Quadaptor, Lafayette actually beat Dyna to the punch with its own "Dynaquad" adapter which had a geared volume control, and came with three sets of speaker wires: 2 3' cables to go from the amp/receiver to the adapter; two 6' cables for the front speakers; and 2 15' cables for the rear. All were 16 guage zip cord, with RCA plugs on one end to go into the adapter, and stripped, tinned ends on the other, all clearly marked "+" and "-."

Once SQ hit, the Quadaptor never sold again, even with its price reduced to only $15. And, you experienced quad for the first time, just as I did: via this Dyna setup, with four identical speakers (KLH-6's in my case).

 

[dwight]

Emaidel, I'm sure it must have been the Dynaquad Quadapter, one and the same. The mention of Pickering brings to mind Empire, Shure, inner groove distortion and other fun impediments to perfect sound forever.
Dwight

 

[QUADradial]

I still mourn the loss of Lafayette. We had one in Totowa, NJ. I spent many a day wanting to go to that store to look at all the quad gear. I still have old Lafayette catalogs from 1970-75 or so..

 

[emaidel]

I still mourn the loss of Lafayette. We had one in Totowa, NJ. I spent many a day wanting to go to that store to look at all the quad gear. I still have old Lafayette catalogs from 1970-75 or so..

I was the one who re-wired the sound room in that store for quadraphonic sound!

 

[QUADradial]

I swear, if I am in that area and pass the building, I get sad. What did it become...a mattress center or shoes or something??? I left Wayne, NJ 25 years ago...
I remember walking into the place and the "listening room" was just off to the left. The counter was in the back... I was like 7 or 8!

 

[emaidel]

I was a good deal older than 7 or 8 when I rewired that store's sound room!

Not too long ago, I was having a conversation wtih my brother in law about the lack of quality service one gets when asking a retail salesperson a question about just about anything. First, you have to find a salesperson, and then when you ask a very difficult question, such as, "Why is this model better than that model?" you're lucky if that salesperson even acknowledges that you asked him anything in the first place!

I had recently gone to Best Buy looking for a relatively cheap ($100 or so) subwoofer to replace that which died in my so-so surround system. I couldn't find anyone who could help me at all, and those to whom I spoke were incredibly ignorant about just about anything in the store. At that point, after my brother in law stated he'd experienced much the same recently, he then said, "I miss Lafayette."

Yeah, we really did try to help our customers, and made it a point to know all we could about the products we sold. Unfortunately, that era is gone, and the one to blame is not the retailer, but, I"m afraid, the American consumer who in large measure refuses to patronize a retailer who charges more for service, and instead patronizes such places as Wal-Mart.