I have all of these files on my PC that I ripped from my Q8s. Actually, I haven't listened to them critically in some time. My intent was to make a Cat Stevens DVD-A for the car with "all the good tunes", so I guess I'll have to check them out soon.
As per the question at hand, I honestly don't ever remember "reversing" the phono leads to improve CD-4 performance. This is an interesting thing to try. Don't know why I never did. Has anyone else tried this with success?