Sly & the Family Stone Greatest Hits - 4.0 Audio Fidelity Multichannel SACD (October 2015)

[fredblue]

Fred, our .99 Only store has HDMI, mini USB, standard USB, iPhone car chargers, S-Video, mini-headphone, RCA to Mini, etc cables for $1.00. That's right even parallel printer cables I bought there for a buck many years ago.

This cheap Chinese junk is not supposed to work right? You should be able to hear the loss of soundstage, dynamics, etc. with cheap cables right??? Let me tell you about those cheap .99 USB cables vs. the high priced USB audiophile USB with gold connectors and sexy snake skin shielding - no never mind, we need not go there. But I will say my printed pages look vibrant and crystal clear and sharp with that .99 cable. I would master a Japanese CD-4 of Marvin Gaye with a set of those dollar store cables if it was what I had to work with. LOLOLOL

Don't get me wrong, I like the poundshop! I just hate their batteries!

Anyway, we better get back on topic, this is a QQ Poll -- we're gonna get our asses booted out in a minute..!!! :yikes

 

[seilerbird]

I won't be buying this collection. It does not include Family Affair, their best song.

 

[quicksrt]

I won't be buying this collection. It does not include Family Affair, their best song.

Well, I'd hope you have their best song on another disc.

But anyway, I see you are brand spankin' new here!!! Welcome, and I hope you find other Audio Fidelity SACDs with quad layer that knock your socks off. I mean the quad layers are what it's all about at QQ right, and Audio Fidelity doing such a bang up job and all, I'm sure you have lot's to say on these awesome discs, I mean the ones that you do buy.

 

[seilerbird]

Well, I'd hope you have their best song on another disc.

But anyway, I see you are brand spankin' new here!!! Welcome, and I hope you find other Audio Fidelity SACDs with quad layer that knock your socks off. I mean the quad layers are what it's all about at QQ right, and Audio Fidelity doing such a bang up job and all, I'm sure you have lot's to say on these awesome discs, I mean the ones that you do buy.

No, I just started and I have very few surround discs yet. I have ordered my SACD player last week and I am waiting for it to arrive then I will go nuts building my collection. I just got the Let It Bleed DVD-audio today and it is fabulous. I see you are from Surf City, I used to live in Santa Cruz myself. I ran the Santa Cruz Cannabis Buyers Club during the 90s.

 

[milt]

No, I just started and I have very few surround discs yet. I have ordered my SACD player last week and I am waiting for it to arrive then I will go nuts building my collection. I just got the Let It Bleed DVD-audio today and it is fabulous. I see you are from Surf City, I used to live in Santa Cruz myself. I ran the Santa Cruz Cannabis Buyers Club during the 90s.

Let It Bleed DVD-A?
Really?
Where did you buy it?
I won't ask what you're smokin'

 

[blue.monk]

And because I've lived with the sometimes wonky nature of the quad album for over forty years, its quirks have never bothered me much

That's an aspect I've frequently thought about when listening to these discs. Coming into the world of surround in the early 2000's my first exposure was to Elliot Scheiner's work and the like. The modern mixes often offer up a more musical and stable soundstage (for lack of better terms) in comparison to many 70's quad mixes where the placement choices can at times feel hasty or arbitrary (even considering the limitations of 4- and 8-track recording). So sometimes I scratch my head in bemusement while listening.

But don't get me wrong, I'm loving these discs - quirks and all. Every one has been a fun listen as well as a nifty slice of 70's musical history. And I especially appreciate this forum as a resource for learning more about the historical context. In fact, I've learned more about the history of quad, its equipment and associated releases over the past few years than I ever did back in the day. So thanks, folks!

 

[alk3997]

...

But don't get me wrong, I'm loving these discs - quirks and all. Every one has been a fun listen as well as a nifty slice of 70's musical history. And I especially appreciate this forum as a resource for learning more about the historical context. In fact, I've learned more about the history of quad, its equipment and associated releases over the past few years than I ever did back in the day. So thanks, folks!

This is where I initially learned about quad...
http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalogs/1976/

(page 32-33)

I know, OT...

Andy

 

[fredblue]

7.5 rounded to 8 for me. I understand the quirky mix thing. No points detracted for that.
To me, at times, the drums sound a little "scratchy." I guess a little too much crammed in one speaker.
To be fair, my rears are small speakers. I'd love to queue up all the AF 4.0 discs sometime on a full-range quad system.
I bet it makes a difference. Still, there are AF 4.0 releases that sound better on my system and to these ears, like Streetlife Serenade.
A very cool, worthy title. Glad I can experience it.

Btw, regarding off-center mono, can AF tell a bad pressing by the limited edition number? Does anybody have more info on whether the corrected discs are ready?

Oh EB, I know technically speaking with a properly setup 5.1 arrangement you shouldn't miss out on all the rear low end info of Quad mixes it ought to be redirected to the sub.. but.. if you can accommodate them in your listening area you have to get full range boxes back there! My rears are set to crossover at 40hz and is there ever a lot of bass oomph back there with many old Quads..!!! (The Doobie Brothers Quads are really quite something in this regard with huge amounts of low bass in the rears, I can't imagine how they would sound with satellites for surround..!!)

 

[edisonbaggins]

While there is room for full-range surrounds, I'm actually not sure the room design is conducive for full-range fronts. Because of a walkway to the kitchen, I don't think the angles would be quite right. That's why the current fronts are mounted with wall brackets. I'll have to recheck the angles. Maybe the fronts wouldn't be off by enough to tell a difference. How in the world do you verify the angles, anyway? I guess I could print a layout of the angles and hold the paper just so and eyeball where the pointed lines would end up?
I'd also have to find the world's greatest deal on something of decent quality (to be worth the bother) or I could be bachin' it in Bag End before we know it!
I'm very happy with my set up though. Albums that are supposed to sound amazing, like Hand. Cannot. Erase. do, in fact, sound amazing!!!

 

[alk3997]

It's more important to have speakers that sound the same as music is panned across them then to have full range speakers in the surround channels. You should, however, make sure that your crossover frequencies (probably 80Hz or 60Hz for your setup) are setup properly and that your subwoofer is also set to match the crossover frequency. Basically you don't want to be able to tell when the subwoofer is being used or the small satellites are being used as frequencies go up (or down). What type of subwoofer are you using? Placement of the subwoofer in a room can have a large effect on bass.

As fredblue said, you shouldn't be losing bass. All of your speakers should be set to "small" on your AV receiver, of course.

Andy

 

[edisonbaggins]

That makes sense. I'm not experiencing any weird bass issues (that I know of). I have a 12" Polk sub. Yes, my speakers are set to small in my receiver. I think that means all I have to do at the sub is adjust volume to taste, right? For 5.1, 5.0 and 4.0?
I guess I just wonder if full-range fronts and surrounds will have better response than my small Definitive speakers?
All I can say is, 5.1 albums that are reputed to sound great, sound great on my setup. 4.0 that is reputed to sound great, sounds great.
Occasionally, 4.0 that others feel is pretty damn good, but is maybe controversial to some extent, tends to feel not-quite-right on my setup. I just wonder if it is because these 4-corners mixes were intended for mammoth corner speakers.

 

[Franklin]

Are you sending multi-channel analogue to your surround amp?

 

[edisonbaggins]

No. PCM or DSD over HDMI. I switch between both, but usually go with PCM.

 

[rtbluray]

From Audio Fidelity's Facebook page:

Re-press! Re-press! Re-press! Sly Stone’s “Greatest Hits”
Earlier we made the announcement that there was a defect on the Sly Stone’s “Greatest Hits” SACD layer that occurred in Authoring, not in the studio. That problem was corrected and a new master was delivered to the pressing plant. The plant sent us new test pressings which were perfect and immediately approved to proceed with production. Unfortunately the pressing plant erred and did not use the new master to manufacture this 2nd run of Sly Stone’s “Greatest Hits.”
Currently the third run of Sly Stone’s “Greatest Hits” is being manufactured in Austria and we hope to have the new corrected discs to you ASAP.
We appreciated your patience and understanding.
Kind Regards and Happy Holidays.

Makes me really glad I'm haven't purchased this SACD yet.

 

[rtbluray]

This is the accompanying picture that Audio Fidelity posted on their Facebook page with the post from above. So it looks like all of the correct pressings of this SACD will have a '3' by the catalogue # to indicate that it's the 3rd (and correct) pressing.

 

[cupboy]

Are they offering replacement copies?

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Are they offering replacement copies?

Yes when they are available..

 

[edisonbaggins]

Any word on how we make the request? I think it would be important to have the correct mono track on this one. The quad mix isn't straight up my alley.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

Any word on how we make the request? I think it would be important to have the correct mono track on this one. The quad mix isn't straight up my alley.

It will announced on here when the time comes...this will take some time as the plant is in Austria...

 

[ArmyOfQuad]

They sent me a replacement. Word is many of the replacement discs people are getting have the same issue. I haven't had a chance to verify mine yet, but I got a -2, so seems like I'm in that group. Lovely..... I really don't want to start saying bad things about Audio Fidelity, but at this point how can I not? They've made audible mistakes in 3 releases now, have indicated they will not be offering a fix or replacement for one of them, have said nothing to me of the other, and sent out bad replacement discs on the one issue they did agree to fix. And this is supposed to be an audiophile label? Typically audiophile labels pay attention to the detail of the quality of the product they release, and stand behind it. I'm sorry, but lately, Audio Fidelity is coming off more like a cheapo budget reissue label. Yes, they're doing great work, and the quad reissues are wonderful.....but, that doesn't excuse things like this.