Unfamiliar with QS

[RockTheCasbah]

Not too long ago, one of my buddies acquired a piece of property that had some old hifi equipment leftover. He wasn't too familiar with any of it, so I took a look at it. A sony reel-to-reel player, some JVC receiver, some receiver i have never heard of, and something that caught my eye. A Sansui DS-77 "Audio/Video Surround processor." Date on the back says it was made in 1985. It has 4 modes: Simulated Stereo, Stereo Hall, Cinema Surround, and (what REALLY got me excited) QS! Now, I've been planning to run Quad someday, but I saw this and bought the thing off him for 10 bucks. Now, I know QS is a quad format, but other than that, I don't really know a thing. I know that no CD's (that I am aware of) support Quad, so I guess the next step (after i get my G-8000 hooked to this thing) is to find a source capable of playing back quad material. I don't know whether to go with Quad 8-track, LP, cassette tapes, or reel-to-reel or whatever. Can anyone maybe help point me in the right direction here? LP would be my preferred way to go, but what other equipment will I need, and where can I readily find source material other than eBay? (I want Dark Side of the Moon really bad in Quad)

 

[RockTheCasbah]

Oh Yeah, I read a post somewhere saying something about problems with Quad LPs (I don't know if it's channel separation or whatever). But If that's the case, should I look towards another playback medium?

 

[sspsandy]

This processor was discussed in another thread, and apparetly even though it lists QS, it is not an actual Variomatrix processor, but an enhancement for surround video. If you are serious about playing quad, whther SQ, QS, or CD-4 there are many threads here that cover the subject extensively. A good processor and/or quad receiver is the way to go. There are varying results depending on how much you are able to invest. The Fosgate Tate II 101A is top of the line for SQ quad and synthesizing surround, as are the Sansui QRX-...001 receivers for QS and synthesizing quad, as well as the Sansui QSD-1, QSD-2, and QSD-1000 processors, none of them are cheap. EBay seems to be the main resource, although frequently items get listed here in the Swap Meet section. The rumor that quad on lp is no good is wrong, but you need decent gear to get decent results. As well, there are a number of cds with quad encoding, there's a list of them in this forum. These days, you can probably get the most bang for your buck by picking up a good 5.1 receiver and a decent multi player that supports DVD-A/SACD like the Pioneer DV-45A, there are many more titles to choose from, and more coming out all the time. And a good receiver will have decoders built in like Pro-logic II, Circle Surround, Logic 7, etc which will do a decent job playing back the Dark Side of the Moon quad lp, as well as there are DTS conversions of the Q8 floating around, and the 5.1 SACD is quite good too. Good LucK!

 

[john e. bogus]

I would add to Sandy's comments by saying that a lot of this stuff is where you look for it. Ebay is a great resource for sure, as there's always plenty of quad recordings and equipment listed there, but be prepared to pay top dollar for many items (this is not to say that there aren't still plenty of great deals on Ebay!).....some of the best scores can be found off the beaten path. Check the local used record shops and record conventions for albums. Become a regular at thrift stores and garage sales. Make your interest in quad known at the local independent (non-national chain type store) hifi shop, and see if there's any kind of audio club in your area. As far as format goes, I'd advise getting set up for both LP's and the modern digital surround formats....popular quad titles that cannot be found cheaply as the original LP's are being reissued in modern surround formats, but beware that in many reissues the original quad mix has been altered..... There's plenty of info on this board that will get you started in any of the quad formats, including a list of CD's that should play in quad through your decoder....you might find that you already have a few of them in your collection, and many of them can be purchased used for quite reasonable prices.

Yours Truly,
john e. bogus

 

[RockTheCasbah]

Hmm..that is if my decoder can actually do real QS, that is. (I'm guessing). So there are CD's that work in Quad, I see that the Beastie Boys "Hello Nasty" CD is listed. I'm supposing this CD wasn't actually designed for Quad use, but just somehow happened to work. I've been thinking of buying another copy to replace my thrashed one anyways. Oh yeah, I don't suppose you can find "The Clash - London Calling" on any quad format (except F8) can you? Anyways, back to my original question... Where can I find information comparing the different Quad formats? I know what discrete and matrix means, but that's all I really know. Anyways, yeah, I'll shut up and listen now.

 

[sspsandy]

The information is in these very forums, just use the dropdown box at the bottom and choose the start from the beginning option and get prepared to read. A good decoder will create a quad effect with most stereo lps and cds, with varying results. The ones you find listed under Stereo sounding good in surround are ones that are most quadlike. But there are others.

 

[A/V SQuad]

"A Sansui DS-77 "Audio/Video Surround processor." Date on the back says it was made in 1985. It has 4 modes: Simulated Stereo, Stereo Hall, Cinema Surround, and (what REALLY got me excited) QS! Now, I've been planning to run Quad someday, but I saw this and bought the thing off him for 10 bucks. Now, I know QS is a quad format, but other than that, I don't really know a thing."

Hooded Crow commented on a newsgroup several years ago that "also have a Sansui DS-77 decoder and it also has a QS button on it. I'm guessing that is is also QS without vario matrix. The DS-77 was released in 1985 for use in dolby surround. So it is obsolete as far as dolby is concerned so it should be cheap if you find one. But the separation isn't that great on QS.

Sansui made a big deal about bringing QS back with several units in the 80s (the QSD 1000 being the exception), calling it "multi dimension" on one unit, but it was a slightly improved version of the early decoders reduced to chip form (although Ive never owned one, so I'm not sure of this). What I am sure of is that they were NOT Vario-Matrix or logic enhanced at all, the "QS" mode put on to give an alternate for music listening rather than the "Dolby Surround" mode, which was awful for music listening OR movie sound, in my opinion."

Tho' Vario-Matrix is the QS holy grail, most of the older (70's) Sansui units work OK. If you have anything with a Pro-Logic decoder, you may find that gives you equal or better results than the DS-77.

 

[RockTheCasbah]

Yeah, but I could care less about pro-logic. I want real quad. Time to find a vario-matrix decoder...

 

[fdrennen]

Yeah, but I could care less about pro-logic. I want real quad. Time to find a vario-matrix decoder...

Don't discount DPL for a long time I did not have a qs/sq decoder and I listened to my Quad records through a home theater receiver. It does work, although you get a different perspective. I would like to use my center channel speaker with my setup, but I can't figure out how to do it without turning it into mono.