Quad Cartridges & Phono Pre-Amps

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humprof

Junior Senior
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Jun 10, 2016
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I know Oxford Dickie’s name isn’t, uh, universally revered in these precincts. I think that most of the unpleasantness involving OD happened before I became active here, but I gather that before he left QQ, he regularly attracted the sorts of ego-snits and troll-fights that can make the internet such a tiresome place. (Seems that any time a bunch of passionate nerds get together, no matter what the object of their shared obsession, there will always be a few who possess an abundance of self-regard and a paucity of tolerance and civility…)

That said: the man has done some brilliant decodes—and seems to have figured out how to get amazing separation out of matrix recordings. And now that he’s slowly closing down his blog, he’s begun to put into writing some of the principles and procedures that he’s mainly kept in his head.

I have almost zero technical understanding of surround engineering and (re)production, and I have no intention to assemble a quad system of my own. But I love reading tech-oriented documents, discussions, and arguments anyway, even when it involves equipment I will never own or use. (That’s one of my favorite things about QQ, actually—the fact that it’s such a repository of nerdy technical expertise.) So that’s why I found OD’s latest post, “You can’t correct a bad start,” fascinating. Maybe some others will, too, regardless of the source.
 
Don't be too upset that he is packing it in. There are several QQ members who know MUCH more than he does about analog quadraphonic sound, and they are happy to share their knowledge without arrogance and condescension. The truth is that his ego far exceeds his knowledge and ability. If he is giving up, maybe he has finally come to that same realization.
 
Don't be too upset that he is packing it in. There are several QQ members who know MUCH more than he does about analog quadraphonic sound, and they are happy to share their knowledge without arrogance and condescension. The truth is that his ego far exceeds his knowledge and ability. If he is giving up, maybe he has finally come to that same realization.

is this necassery? john recently asked for there to be no dicky bashing and yet here you are enjoying yourself at the expense of someone who is not able to defend themself. for me it says a lot about you. bully
 
I perused the linked article, and while he had a few valid points, I can't say I've ever experienced the problems he pointed out.

I started off with a Benjamin Miracord changer fitted with a Shure V15 type 5 MR cartridge, going to an Altec 724 tuner/preamp with a Sony SQD-1000 decoder. It wasn't the best gear available, but it was the best I could afford at the time, and the quads were pretty darn cool. I was working at Altec at the time, and some of the engineers and I would go to each others' homes at lunch and play a record or two, and when they came to my place, they certainly noted a few deficiencies (mostly lack of bass and the fact that my apartment's living room sucked acoustically), but they certainly didn't gripe about the quad or even the stereo separation.

Sure, cartridges and preamps can make a difference. Every component can make a difference, though. Cartridges and preamps are relatively cheap, though, so they're easy to get high-quality gear (although like anything else in our hobby, you can spend as much as you've got).
 
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