Official QQ "What's your Go-To Surround Demo Quality Q8"?

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JonUrban

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What Q8 do you use when you want to dazzle your friends and family? I'll sticky this thread and it can be used as a reference for other members going forward. If you see a title already listed that you use, go ahead and mention it again. This will build up it's reputation.

NOTE: You can list more than one title, but put them in an order of preference. Keep your favorite show piece as #1.

Remember, the main point of the demo here is SURROUND! :banana
 
Having been a Q8 fan back in the 70's, it would be really hard to answer this question. Considering the Prehistoric Q8 format, the words "dazzle" and "Q8" cannot be used in the same sentence. Come on; this format is 40 years old. Lets face it, the sound quality was dreadful. THe switching sound it makes from one song to another is unecceptible. I don't mind thinking back to that time. A lot of great memories. Frankly, if I still had my Wollensak 8080 Quad 8 track, and my ol' Sanyo Receiver, I would hide it in the basement. I wouldn't want anyone to see it, as they would think I had lost my mind. In those days it was cool & fun, but today, it belongs in the Smithsonian Institute. Frankly, considering the poor sound quality, why would anyone want to bring this stuff out on CD, etc.
 
Hey there Mr. Hookup, and welcome to the forum. Nice to see a long time quad fan find us.

Actually, I think you'd fall out of your listening chair if you heard some DVD-A's that folks have made from the lowly Q8. It's quite hard to believe............
 
I think Frankenstein is my go-to. Probably as good as any. My dad's was Money, but I can't reproduce it the way he could in the back of his is '72 Ford van.
 
For Q8, it has to be Chase: Chase.

Though it could be Joe Walsh: Smoker... depending on the audience.
 
For Q8, it has to be Chase: Chase.

Though it could be Joe Walsh: Smoker... depending on the audience.

I love Joe Walsh's music, and own many of his albums on vinyl and CD, including theis one. Having said that, the Q8 I heard of this album (admittedly a DTS transfer) has some of the worst sound quality of any quad that I have ever heard. Maybe just a bad tape?
 
For me it mostly one song here, another there. For individual songs I'd have to say I Shall Sing from Garfunkel or Jet from Band on the run or Batuka/No One to Depend On from Santana III. For a whole album I'd have to give A Space in Time as right up there but Waitress in the Donut Shop is just so great sounding for the non rock fans. Another really produced record is All American Boy by Rick Derringer.
 
Paul Simon.... Kodachrome!! Love that organ that comes out of the rear that is hidden in the stereo format.. Also, the guitars and bass in the rear are squeaky clean..
 
As a whole cart, some wonderful titles i've used for demoing are:
Sly & F.S. Greatest Hits *CANADIAN* release (not USA, neither 1st nor 2nd edition). USA releases suffers of saturation.
Deep Purple Machine Head UK release.
Carly Simon Best of
Eagles One of these nights (purple shell, slightly better tape than orange shell).
Rick Wakeman "Six wives" UK release (less hissy and slightly clear than USA)
Carpenters "Now and then" and "The Singles".

As "single tracks", plenty of choices: MFSB "Tsop", Steve Miller "Fly like an eagle", Tomita Snowflakes (excerpts...).

In the "wish it was better but can't really shine" are most of the WB grey carts and yellow Ampex-duplicated carts; soundwise the WB Paranoid or Machine Head are wonderful quad mixes - and i like more the USA mix of MH than the UK one -, however these carts are really "hit or miss", and too many times these are on the "miss" side of things.
 
Actually, I think you'd fall out of your listening chair if you heard some DVD-A's that folks have made from the lowly Q8. It's quite hard to believe............

The sound is there, you just gotta know how to extract it. I'm running twin Pioneer 12-band Eq's (twelve bands per channel!!) and I can make most Q8's sound great. The worn-out ones obviously, there's no going back but nice, well preserved Q8's sounds great. The trick is to spend the hours to get the height and azimuth correct on your deck. If you don't do that, anything else that you do is pointless. Most people know about height adjustments, not everyone bothers with the azimuth. Then again, not all decks can adjust their azimuth! But why are you using such a cheap Q8 deck anyway? lol.

Regardless, I love the 8-track format in all it's forms. I even have some 4-track cartridges just for fun. I like the clunky ka-chunk when they change tracks. I can't say I own a single Q8 that splits a song. Stereo 8 yes, but not Q8.

I would have to second the Chase song "Open up Wide" as a good song to demo. My Quad mix of Marvin's "Grapevine" is also pretty stellar. Drum and Congo hit from rear, FL starts pounding the organ rhythm. Then drum starts BL, Tambourine & Conga in BR, Guitar from FR - Marvin up front, girls in back, Horns x4. Somebody go back in time and smack Berry Gordy. Motown was made for Quad.
 
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If we're talking about a q8 that is discrete in the most wildly overblown sense, I would have to nominate Mandingo III. There is so much going on on this tape that it sounds like they recorded to two 24 track decks and synched them together. Multiple percussion, horns, moogs, and guitars oozing from every speaker. I played it for a friend of mine who is very much into percussion (being a player herself), and she said it was too much for her. Admittedly, sensory overload does kick in fairly quickly and some of it can be a bit cheesy, but this tape is undoubtedly one of the best workouts of all four of your speakers.
 
Q eight, your right about the height and azimuth. I messed with the adjustments on my second technics deck, I did it by ear though. Is there a proper way to do this? I heard of a test cart, but I wouldn't know what to do with it from there
 
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