Fosgate Tate II 101A

I figure the most infamous SQ decoder of all time should have its own topic. I don't really have anything useful to say at the moment except that I'm still lovin' mine! Just wish the dang thing had an on/off switch. The power supply in these things is god-awful noisy!

How different is this unit tfrom the Tate "tetrasound" 101.
That's what I have. I got it from "Quad Incorporated"!!
Thanks Larry

Anyway, I sent it back to Tate and they "upgraded" it to what Jim Fosgate said was "as best as he could do" with that unit. Of course, that was about 15 years ago!

:-jon

Cai,
My tate is very quiet. Are you sure the caps are good in the powersupply section of your unit. You might want to send it off to Popham. The power supply problem can take out the chipset. That's a bad thing....

I had all the caps replaced including those for the power supply by Quad Bob. He even calibrated the power for correct voltage. It is noticeably quieter and performance was certainly improved overall, but the power supply still buzzes. The buzzing does not find its way into the audio, but if you stand within four feet of the unit you can hear the power supply buzzing. I've had the buzzing problem with both Tates I've owned and just figured it was the nature of the beast. Are you saying you don't hear yours buzz at all? Perhaps I should send it off to Mr. Popham...

If I put my ear up to it, I can *faintly* hear it. Itwas a bit louder before I recapped it...but still, 4 feet?!!

Sounds to me like the transformer laminations are loose. Is it a low frequency buzz, or a high frequency whistle ?. If it is low, it could be the transformer core resonating. My recollection of the 101 is that it uses a very small low profile transformer held on to the pcb by the input / output connections to the transformer. It was prone to damage during shipping if the postal gorillas gave it their usual care and attention, and the transformer was ripped out of the pcb. Your particular 101 may have the transformer loosened, and thus vibrating against the main pcb. It is worth a look inside to check .. need i say disconnect from the supply first !!

Cheers

Malcolm

I dunno, maybe I'm just being ultra-sensitive. The power supply is not loose. It buzzes EXACTLY like the other one I owned and it was in just as primo of condition. The buzzing isn't loud. It is very soft, but I can detect it from about four to five feet away if I listen for it. It's only noticeable when my system is sitting idle and probably nobody but me would notice it. I strive for perfect silence when nothing is playing and the Tate raises the noise floor just a bit because of its buzz. Like I said, I'm probably being ultra-sensitive since I don't think there is a problem. Well, it's a design problem. The power supply is simply loud... I've heard the complaint before. Also, there should be a power switch on the thing. I don't like it running all the time anyway.

Well, I don't want to send it off if it turns out just to be me. If any of you knuckleheads are ever in Seattle, stop by and you can check it out and let me know if its any louder than yours.

I have an Audionics Tate and it is absolutely silent. However, I have a fan on my power amps that is rather loud. Since the system is not in the listening area, it isn't a problem. This also absolutely stops turntable feedback. Of course if you do this, you will need a quad scope so you can check the balance. monitor speakers work too.

The Quadfather

Cai,

When I got mine and plugged it in, I thought the unit had arrived DOA. I actually had to put my ear to the unit to hear the power supply. I agree with you about the on/off switch. Never made much sense for a unit that was so expensive not to have one.

I'd definitley send out the tate to Popham. I had QuadBob restore my 9001 and he badley screwed it up. This was after it being in his posession for a year. I'm afraid to send it back for him to fix. Dan

Oh great to hear. QuadBob has my QRX-999 (for almost a year) for restoration. I hope it returns OK. I have not bugged him, as I know how time can fly...

:-jon

Yeah... he had my Tate for almost a year and when it came back it did not work properly. I had to send it back to him and waited and waited and waited... it got to the point where I had to call him every single day before he finally realized he better get the thing finished just to shut me up. Talk about lame! When all was said and done it turned out great, except for the buzz, but it is better than it was. Sounds like its not as good as it should be, though. Okay, I'm convinced. Time to send it out AGAIN and shell out some dough AGAIN. Argh. What is Mr. Popham's contact info?

Isn't it time that Audionics and Fosgate release the service info on these units? It is rediculous to have only one guy in the world that can fix these things.

The Quadfather

Howdy Boyz!

Bob recapped my Tate and replaced the supply (UPS damage) and it works perfectly! No buzz and done in 3 weeks. Bob has done a lot of work for me and all has gone well! Knowing Bob as I do, if ever there is a problem (with quadies gear) from all of our discussions, Bob will try to do his best to make it right. It may take awhile but a better guy you'll be hard pressed to meet!

ANASAZILANDS (DAVE)

I just bought a Tate for $250. Does anybody know the procedure of shipping this thing without the damn power supply breaking? I'll instruct the seller. Thanks!! Dan

Hi Dan!

Have the seller open the unit and put some foam (1 inch thick) on top of the transformer and close it up. That should do it.

ANASAZILANDS (DAVE)

Hi All. I just received my tateII 101a today, and sorry to say I'm not that impressed with it , maybe my expectations were to high! but I got some very nice results from a cheepo,electro voice evx-4 decoder. maybe i'm doing something wrong . any suggestions from the group might help!? also received a tascam 388-8 track reel to reel and mixer. should make some nice q8- to d.t.s. conversions possible with this one ! Also having problems with my cd-4 decoding as the record gets to the center it gets distorted , using a pioneer qd-240 decoder any help would be welcomed as i don't have any owners manuals for any thing but my qs 1 sansui decoder but no records for that one "yet". Thanks in advance Rob

O.K. I was wrong ! Before you shoot me for saying the tate was not what I expected , 1. before you open your mouth , make sure you have the quad " Dark Side of The Moon" on the turntable , not the stereo version ! I take back what I said . I hope Jim Fosgate didn't read my note ! It's almost as good as the q8 discreet tape , front to back is excelent! But, since I never got a q8 Tape of it with out some type of audio drop out, and its' crappy tape quality! I'll have to spend some time cleaning the recording from l.p. before I convert it to d.t.s.
Rob

From what I understand the Q8 version, at least the U.S. version was decoded from an SQ master. They probably used a Scheiber decoder, which was the predecessor to the Tate. So, if you are decoding with a Tate, your results will be better than the U.S. Q8. I had a friend that sent me a DTS encoded version that had been lifted from the SQ LP using a laser turntable. It is very clean, no pops and clicks, and the decoding is great. It sounds almost discrete. The Tate does a good job, it's not just hype. Although laser turntables aren't good for CD-4, (most are not rated high enough in frequency response) they're great for SQ and QS. I don't have one though. (pout) (drag foot) Anyway, I like my old Marantz table.

The Quadfather

Hey Allaround surround:
Distortion toward the end of the record? What kind of cartridge and stylus are you using on your CD-4 setup? Some are not that good, even if they are rated for CD-4. That was a problem I once had. Now, I can't tell the difference between the inside or the outside of the record. They both sound good. I use an Audio Technica Trackmaster 8. That would be the same as the AT331LP. Your Pioneer demodulator is probably OK, but you might need to finely adjust the carrier level. This should be done s-l-o-w-l-y while listening with the separation pots turned down. That gives you only the subcarriers. Listen to only one channel, left or right, at a time. I find this works best with headphones. Adjust for the least distortion. The right point might not be apparent if you are close, but of course, if you hear the distortion all the time, it is probably your stylus. Some turntables don't work good with CD-4. I use a Marantz 6300. It works great. I have found that demodulators vary too. I have two JVC 4DD5 demods. One works great, the other, not as good. But it is probably just a matter of alignment in this case. Getting a CD-4 system to work right can be frustrating at times. If you get the stylus/ cartridge/turntable combo right, you're almost there. Incidently here's my setup, which I know works well.

Marantz 6300 turntable
Audio Technica Trackmaster 8 cartridge with linear contact stylus (this cartridge has been renamed as the AT331LP)
JVC 4DD5 demodulator, well tuned.

Incidently anyone else that has a CD-4 setup that works well, let's get a list going for those who haven't acheived CD-4 subliminance yet. Those would be mostly newbies.

The Quadfather