First of all, thanks goes out to Jon Urban for creating and maintaining this fantastic forum, which attracts creative and remarkable people. Jon, Thank You!
The case of the Sansui QSD-1 has been Resolved by The Master. I did not think that I would be writing this…I thought that, at best, the Surround Master would match my QSD-1’s performance, but I was wrong, it is clearly superior. My QSD-1 was refurbished with the blend resistors removed, but it cannot match the deep corner to corner and front to back separation of The Surround Master. I am still trying to deal with its sound quality…it is very, very good!....Sound Quality?..That will take another post……I can’t jump to conclusions, because I have to deal with the excitement factor, but I can deal with placement issues. I have a receiver equipped with DTS NEO X….it is a joke compared to The Surround Master….. Please don’t laugh or smirk at me when I say that I have listened to my QS albums hundreds of times and have found them to be a bit on the smeary and disappointing side. For the first time, through The Master, they sound specific…I have finally heard a discrete sounding sound field…. I’m really looking forward to going back through my collection….after 30 yrs!
This unit has no volume or balance controls…at this price point you cannot expect them, and so to fully take advantage of its capabilities, you must be able to adjust signal levels independent of the unit. You must be able to adjust the rear channel volume levels. It is essential!
For this quick evaluation, I only listened in the four channel mode…I will tackle the 5.1 installation in a later post.
This device is a small plastic shell that does not visually inspire confidence; in fact looking at the small skimpy plastic slide controls scared me, if you know what I mean, but it’s what’s under the hood that counts and ( VAROOM!!!)you will not be disappointed. It has turned everything that I listened to into sonic bliss-to-bumpers-shaboom-varoom… I will detail my equipment at the end….now to the listening.
At first, I was only interested in the unit’s ability to compete with the Sansui VarioMatrix….I listened to cut 5 ( This Jesus Must Die) of the remastered 1970 JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. Voices move from front left to right and to the right back, then to front as well as center and in all quadrants at the same time…..Through the QSD-1 they were “virtually discrete”…through the Resolve they were discrete!….The voices were at the speaker or sidewall, not almost at the speaker, sidewall and just a smidgen elsewhere, but actually there!. The voices were cleaner, more complete ….my brain didn’t have to work to finish the placement. Cut 9 (The Temple) is similar….voices everywhere…..and always clear and distinct………
Next I played Paul McCartney’s PRESS TO PLAY…cut 3 ..(Talk No More) Once again voices are placed very specifically around the listener to a degree that amazed me. The mind was relieved of work. I’ve listened to this album a hundred times… I know that placing a single voice in a single spot is not supposed to be difficult for high separation decoders…but DLP ll and NeoX don’t do it as well as the QSD-1 does it…and the QSD-1 does not do it as well as the Surround Master does it! The voices were complete and solid …not virtual but real.
Next I listened to Cirque Du Soleil’s IRIS…I saw and heard this at The Dolby Theater in Hollywood….It was a surround spectacular in person …A mix of live and recorded music surrounding the audience. This recording duplicates the experience… it also produces a height effect and a 360 degree sound field…and The Master extracts every bit of detail………The Master placed instruments at the speakers, in between...Everywhere!.....I was stunned!
I love the stereo cd version of DARK SIDE OF THE MOON synthesized by both the Tate ll and the QSD-1……particularly, as an example…at 1:52 of cut 2….”here for today, gone tomorrow”….the voice moves from over the right shoulder to right front ..across the front to the left and ends at the back left…. Through The Master it was spectacular and of course it was followed by the famous clock sequence which kills the QSD-1. In fact, I can say I prefer the derived quad version through The Master to all other presentations….but I must say the fidelity, not presentation, on the Blu-Ray is special.
The Surround Master reaches farther out into the corners, and that makes a dramatic difference…..it stretches the sound farther in all directions….and at the same time it is cleaner….. At first I thought it was strident, but then I listened to the Delos recording of Vivaldi’s THE FOUR SEASONS conducted by Gerard Schwarz….I was thrown by the string tone that I had not heard before….It could be just a rush of excitement….but I will do some extended listening just for sound quality tomorrow. The depth captured by The Master on this recording is breathtaking!
Here are two other points. Point one is that Chucky and company have promised a SQ software upgrade for a nominal cost to this unit…if it works as well with SQ as it does with QS…..it is simply a stunner! My second point is something you will just have to try for yourself to believe….The surround position on the Tate ll and the QS position on any Type A VarioMatrix unit will do a wonderful job of decoding a CD-4 record. I mean it will sound close to what you would hear through an original CD-4 demodulator…..For instance, if you listen to NO SECRETS by Carly Simon and move to (Your So Vain), you will hear the guitar riff move around the room almost exactly as you would hear it through the demodulator. This has been consistent with every CD-4 record that I own. The Surround Master has only improved upon the effect…It is not perfect, but close! Try it!
It might provide the solution to the great problem…one unit for all three of the prominent quad delivery systems…and a phenomenal synthesizer, which to my mind is its greatest use.
The Surround Master SM-465 is, at its price, a dream come true for anyone in love with multi-channel sound….It is clear that the folks at Reality Technologies have given us an extraordinary chance to experience sound at its best.
Dwight.
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