CD-4 "test" records

[quad4all]

Over the last years I've tried many different CD-4 setups, the most expensive included a Ortofon MC 30 Super II cartridge on a high-end S-shaped tonearm and even a JVC CD-4 1000 as demodulator. Now I use a Revox B790 linear tracking turntable with a Technics SH-400 demodulator and the Panasonic EPC 450/II cartridge, which much cheaper and easier to get and in between I experienced with the 4DD-5 the Marantz CD 400 and some builtin demodulators as well. Also I visited a few of the "big" quad guys in the USA and in Germany and had a chance to see and listen to their CD-4 setups.
Usually I test the quality of my setup with one LP

B.W.Stevenson: Calabasas the last track on side 2

this record is very easy to get, sounds great but on this last track there are 2 passages where a female chorus sings rather loud in the rear channels and this always and I repeat always gives at least a little bit of distortion not just on my setups, but at all the visits I made so far (well a few didn't have their CD-4 equipment ready for play when I visited).
Recently I found (it was always there, I just never cared) that the Technics Sh-400 has a Hi-Blend switch and if I set it to On the distortion
is kind of muted, but of course it's still here and audible if I switch Hi-Blend to Off.
So this is my test record. I'd love to hear your eperiences with this particular track on that record and what other "difficult" records you have.
Another one I found recently is
Woody Herman: Children of Lima last track on Side 2 , very loud passages at the end of a 24 minutes side.

 

[JonUrban]

Over the last years I've tried many different CD-4 setups, the most expensive included a Ortofon MC 30 Super II cartridge on a high-end S-shaped tonearm and even a JVC CD-4 1000 as demodulator. Now I use a Revox B790 linear tracking turntable with a Technics SH-400 demodulator and the Panasonic EPC 450/II cartridge, which much cheaper and easier to get and in between I experienced with the 4DD-5 the Marantz CD 400 and some builtin demodulators as well. Also I visited a few of the "big" quad guys in the USA and in Germany and had a chance to see and listen to their CD-4 setups.
Usually I test the quality of my setup with one LP

B.W.Stevenson: Calabasas the last track on side 2

this record is very easy to get, sounds great but on this last track there are 2 passages where a female chorus sings rather loud in the rear channels and this always and I repeat always gives at least a little bit of distortion not just on my setups, but at all the visits I made so far (well a few didn't have their CD-4 equipment ready for play when I visited).
Recently I found (it was always there, I just never cared) that the Technics Sh-400 has a Hi-Blend switch and if I set it to On the distortion
is kind of muted, but of course it's still here and audible if I switch Hi-Blend to Off.
So this is my test record. I'd love to hear your eperiences with this particular track on that record and what other "difficult" records you have.
Another one I found recently is
Woody Herman: Children of Lima last track on Side 2 , very loud passages at the end of a 24 minutes side.

I used to use the James Taylor "Gorilla" Quadradisc and the track "Lighthouse". There are backing vocals from David Crosby and Graham Nash that are squarely in the rears. When all is setup correctly, I could hear David Crosby clear and solo sing the verse "There is a Shipwreck lying at my feet, some weary refugee from the rolling deep" before Graham Nash comes in with a harmony. If I heard only Crosby and no JT, I knew I was set up well.


I am sure there are many others.......................

 

[ress4278]

Over the last years I've tried many different CD-4 setups, the most expensive included a Ortofon MC 30 Super II cartridge on a high-end S-shaped tonearm and even a JVC CD-4 1000 as demodulator. Now I use a Revox B790 linear tracking turntable with a Technics SH-400 demodulator and the Panasonic EPC 450/II cartridge, which much cheaper and easier to get and in between I experienced with the 4DD-5 the Marantz CD 400 and some builtin demodulators as well. Also I visited a few of the "big" quad guys in the USA and in Germany and had a chance to see and listen to their CD-4 setups.
Usually I test the quality of my setup with one LP

B.W.Stevenson: Calabasas the last track on side 2

this record is very easy to get, sounds great but on this last track there are 2 passages where a female chorus sings rather loud in the rear channels and this always and I repeat always gives at least a little bit of distortion not just on my setups, but at all the visits I made so far (well a few didn't have their CD-4 equipment ready for play when I visited).
Recently I found (it was always there, I just never cared) that the Technics Sh-400 has a Hi-Blend switch and if I set it to On the distortion
is kind of muted, but of course it's still here and audible if I switch Hi-Blend to Off.
So this is my test record. I'd love to hear your eperiences with this particular track on that record and what other "difficult" records you have.
Another one I found recently is
Woody Herman: Children of Lima last track on Side 2 , very loud passages at the end of a 24 minutes side.

I played the passage you mention on the BW Stevenson record and there is no distortion.

 

[Cai Campbell]

I'll have to try that BW Stevenson record. For testing front/back separation, I use Gordon Lightfoot "Sundown" or Average White Band "AWB". To check for rear-channel distortion, I play the last bit of Duke Ellington "New Orleans Suite", side 2.