Disclord
900 Club - QQ All-Star
Here's a picture and info about Sansui's last QS decoder made for the US market (I don't know if it was sold elsewhere). It was sold in 1986/87 and I scanned the pic and info from a 1986 US Sansui catalog called "Sansui's World" that features Sansui's version of the Pioneer CLD-900 CD/LD player, which Sansui called the "Lasertron" - the catalog also features Sansui's 14-bit Tri-Code PCM recording adapters for VCR's, VHS Hi-Fi VCR's and other gear with a 'home theater' slant - they even have an A/V processor that has dbx II noise reduction built in.
Notice that the QS decoder is part of an A/V "control center" and video processor that also includes an FM tuner, sub-harmonic synthesizer and amplifiers - kind of a precursor to today's "do everything" receivers. There's no suggested price listed, but I imagine it was well over $500 for all the features it has. The spec's in the back of the catalog do not state if it's a Vario-Matrix QS decoder or not - probably not, even though you can still get the 3 IC's required for a Type-A Vario-Matrix decoder. It's not a licensed Dolby Surround decoder either, which is odd for the time as most companies quickly learned that the Dolby Surround logo boosted sales, even if it was a non-logic version. Proton found that consumers skipped buying their advanced logic decoder (based on the Aphex Ratio-Metric Logic system) in favor of non-logic versions because Proton didn't have the "Dolby Surround" stamp of goodness on the front panel.
Anyway, here it is, the last QS decoder sold in the USA.
Notice that the QS decoder is part of an A/V "control center" and video processor that also includes an FM tuner, sub-harmonic synthesizer and amplifiers - kind of a precursor to today's "do everything" receivers. There's no suggested price listed, but I imagine it was well over $500 for all the features it has. The spec's in the back of the catalog do not state if it's a Vario-Matrix QS decoder or not - probably not, even though you can still get the 3 IC's required for a Type-A Vario-Matrix decoder. It's not a licensed Dolby Surround decoder either, which is odd for the time as most companies quickly learned that the Dolby Surround logo boosted sales, even if it was a non-logic version. Proton found that consumers skipped buying their advanced logic decoder (based on the Aphex Ratio-Metric Logic system) in favor of non-logic versions because Proton didn't have the "Dolby Surround" stamp of goodness on the front panel.
Anyway, here it is, the last QS decoder sold in the USA.