Japan Atlantic: SQ!

[winopener]

Since the early quad years in Japan saw a multitude of matrixed systems it has been wondered many times what system used these early quads pressings. While some can be still a mystery today, this photo shows a Japanese Atlantic SQ lp, sq logo on obi and label.
Kinda unique, or there were more?

 

[JonUrban]

Nice find! Never saw one ever.

 

[EMB]

Same here...but what is it? A mood music album, or a comp of hit or Lp cuts from other sources?

ED

 

[Quad Linda]

NEVER saw an Atlantic SQ before. Thanks!

 

[EMB]

Now all we need to do is HEAR it. Easier said than done, probably....

ED

 

[winopener]

Don't think you're gonna waste too much money for it, however that's the source of the information:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CD-4-CHANNE...8684181?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item43b2916e15

 

[ChristopherLees]

ahh but if you just look at the label through that plastic cover, you could almost imagine it being led zeppelin iv

 

[EMB]

Almost, heh...but at that ridiculous BIN and probably $20 for postage, who would bother?

ED

 

[timbre4]

You think you know the quad formats/labels and then this just appears one day. Wow.

 

[jaybird100]

This was apparently pressed by Warner-Pioneer, and most likely before Atlantic (in the US) committed to CD-4.

 

[bmoura]

Don't think you're gonna waste too much money for it, however that's the source of the information:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CD-4-CHANNE...8684181?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item43b2916e15

Great eBay listing: SQ CD-4.... Huh ?

 

[bmoura]

This was apparently pressed by Warner-Pioneer, and most likely before Atlantic (in the US) committed to CD-4.

Actually Elektra was the first of the WEA labels that worked on CD-4 via their CEO Jac Holzman. He also advised the other WEA labels on all things Quad in the 70's.

 

[jaybird100]

Actually Elektra was the first of the WEA labels that worked on CD-4 via their CEO Jac Holzman. He also advised the other WEA labels on all things Quad in the 70's.

Brad Miller, of MoFi fame, had his Mystic Moods albums on Warner Bros, but threatened to pull his repertoir from that label if WEA had gone ahead with their original plans to go QS for their quad releases. This was well covered in Billboard Magazine back then, and the decision to go to CD-4 instead of QS was due, according to the articles, a result of Miller's push. The only way he would allow his music to be released in quad was in a discrete format. I have to wonder what would have happened if they had stuck to their original plan.

 

[cupboy]

.....The only way he would allow his music to be released in quad was in a discrete format. I have to wonder what would have happened if they had stuck to their original plan.

RCA and Arista would have had all the CD-4 recycled-vinyl to themselves.

I don't think the Mystic Moods would have been much of a loss though. I'd have called his bluff.

 

[jaybird100]

RCA and Arista would have had all the CD-4 recycled-vinyl to themselves.

I don't think the Mystic Moods would have been much of a loss though. I'd have called his bluff.

True; their pop and rock repertoir had a lot more clout to it than Mystic Moods. Besides, the shot in the arm that QS would have gotten would have made it more feasible for Sansui to license out Vario-Matrix circuitry to other manufacturers.

 

[quadtrade]

The problem was the ability to properly decode a matrix system was not in the marketplace yet. Sounded like mush. Quad was wobbling because of that. Plus tapes were more than lps, they broke, not everyone wanted to screw around adding an 8 track under the dash. Reels were beyond most people ability to afford. The industry wanted an easy discrete lp system, so they invented cd-4. That worked out well.

Brad Miller, of MoFi fame, had his Mystic Moods albums on Warner Bros, but threatened to pull his repertoir from that label if WEA had gone ahead with their original plans to go QS for their quad releases. This was well covered in Billboard Magazine back then, and the decision to go to CD-4 instead of QS was due, according to the articles, a result of Miller's push. The only way he would allow his music to be released in quad was in a discrete format. I have to wonder what would have happened if they had stuck to their original plan.

 

[bmoura]

The problem was the ability to properly decode a matrix system was not in the marketplace yet. Sounded like mush. Quad was wobbling because of that. Plus tapes were more than lps, they broke, not everyone wanted to screw around adding an 8 track under the dash. Reels were beyond most people ability to afford. The industry wanted an easy discrete lp system, so they invented cd-4. That worked out well.

The stories I recall on this were that Jac Holzman lead a team at WEA studying which Quad system to go with. Their recommendation was to with CD-4. Which WEA did.

 

[jaybird100]

The problem was the ability to properly decode a matrix system was not in the marketplace yet. Sounded like mush. Quad was wobbling because of that. Plus tapes were more than lps, they broke, not everyone wanted to screw around adding an 8 track under the dash. Reels were beyond most people ability to afford. The industry wanted an easy discrete lp system, so they invented cd-4. That worked out well.

CD-4 worked well when everything was just exactly right...which it rarely ever was. Tone arm settings were more critical, capacitance of the wiring between the cartridge and demodulator had to be very low, and demodulators were finicky at best. Add to that the poor quality of the pressings foisted upon us here in the US (the Japanese pressings were always better, but not readily available to us), and the limited audible high frequency range (topped out at 15 kHz), and you can see the format, despite the discrete separation, wasn't the best choice. The matrix formats, also not ideal, did offer some advantages over CD-4, in that no special cartridge or stylus were needed, pressing quality was not as critical, since a carrier-based system tended to make surface noise worse, and no worries about losing four-channel information when the record was played in stereo. Had WEA gone with QS, as originally planned, I think the rush to improve the decoders would have made for units that could render near-discrete performance much quicker than we had. Sansui was just about there with the QS Vario-Matrix, and they would have been glad to license out the technology to other audio makers as well.

 

[quadtrade]

Getting ready to ebay it. Here is one that has some really nice music and a great surround style. These have a real nice full mix, someone knew what to do, the Japanese were a lot better at mixing in those days.

 

[Quad Linda]

Love the CATalog #: QL 5036.

Kwad Kitty often sleeps like a CATalog.