VIDOX Decoder

[Sonik Wiz]

Many years ago I saw an ad (maybe in the Evolution newsletter?) for two quad decoders I was not familiar with. The company's name was VIDOX & they were in Switzerland. They ogffered a CD-4 demodulator and a Variomatrix QS/SQ decoder. The former was pretty straight forward but seemed to be high quality. The Variomatrix decoder was similar to the QSD-2 but had a seperation control and way to plug in your own decoding coefficients for Matrix H or whatever. Of course I sent away for the literature & I just ran across again yesterday:

Naturally I can't help but wonder if someone on QQ has owned or heard of these units? A search on the forum or google returns nothing. A true mystery.

 

[kfbkfb]

Some interesting claims made about the VID-112:

Plays early RCA and WEA CD-4 discs without problems.

Works with some Stereo Phono Cartridges.

(seems to be the same chipset as the CD4-50)

Kirk Bayne

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Some interesting claims made about the VID-112:

Plays early RCA and WEA CD-4 discs without problems.

Works with some Stereo Phono Cartridges.

(seems to be the same chipset as the CD4-50)

Kirk Bayne

Thanks for the reply!
Indirectly they have mentioned CD-4 discs could be problematic. Rare comment since anyone else in retails sales at that time would say just the opposite.
Somewhere buried in the forum is a lengthy regarding playing CD-4 with modern stereo cartridges. Several models passed the test. My AT 440 cart paired with a Clarion demodulator will play CD-4 even tho it's been a few years that I've bothered to do so. Wasn't the JVC CD$-50 a highly regarded model?

Knowing Variomatrix circuits pretty well I was baffled at first how a separation control could be facilitated. I think an adjustable DC bias on the FET chip IC would control the amount of cross talk cancellation delivered to the matrix chip.

 

[rustyandi]

I remember way back there were people in Germany that had Sansui dealer ship
for a while and there was a in house upgrade for the QSD1 to what was called the QSD3
40 db front to back 50db diagonal
As far as I know no one else had it

 

[winopener]

Could them be a kind of OEM products? The cd4 decoder could be sourced from JVC and the matrix from Sansui.

 

[Soundfield]

Conversely it could be for OEM use. I note that the Variomatrix unit does not carry the VIDOX (or any) name. Maybe the intention was for this to be badged by other mainstream suppliers. That would seem to fit in with the rather odd fact that it does not have a mains power supply (very strange in the seventies) but operates from 30V d.c. (indeed, what retail customers would have such a source available?) – but allowing manufactures to install their own, suitable for the particular mains voltage wherever in the world they may be based. Further, the terminology “user” does not seem to be in the sense of a retail customer i.e. – “users circuit may be added”. This implies to me that VIDOX would incorporate a particular decoding variant (and presumably replace the “USR” legend on the front panel) required by the third party on-seller.

So if those things ever did see the light of day I doubt it would have been under the VIDOX brand. But I suspect that these data sheets were fishing for business that never materialised.

 

[Soundfield]

I've also just noticed that those leaflets say PRIZE rather than PRICE!

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Per Soundfield:

Conversely it could be for OEM use. I note that the Variomatrix unit does not carry the VIDOX (or any) name. Maybe the intention was for this to be badged by other mainstream suppliers.

That's a very sharp assessment I think you are right. I was so interested in other aspects of the tech info I didn't even notice it did not carry the VIDOX name on the case.

 

[odru]

I know the guy behind the Vidox. He is swedish and was the chief designer of Luxor units; made in Motala, Sweden. I bought the last cd4 card (with CD 392's IC's) he had and a small stock of sansui vario-matrix IC's.

 

[Sonik Wiz]

I know the guy behind the Vidox. He is swedish and was the chief designer of Luxor units; made in Motala, Sweden. I bought the last cd4 card (with CD 392's IC's) he had and a small stock of sansui vario-matrix IC's.

I think your reply is fascinating, thank you.Can you give any further info on units produced/sold? Or comment on earlier notes where this might have been a unit designed for OEM re-badging?

 

[odru]

I think your reply is fascinating, thank you.Can you give any further info on units produced/sold? Or comment on earlier notes where this might have been a unit designed for OEM re-badging?

Hi.
I managed to track him when investigating the Vidox name for Nick Perugini( a well known name in the quad community ). The guy lives in Gothenburg, Sweden. He told me the Luxor brand checked out the various quad systems in the 1970's, but when the quad interest rapidly faded they decided not to continue. I cannot give any info on number of units produced/sold or OEM questions, but you might check with the guy himself. His name is Kent Adeborn and can be contacted on www.thebertils.se. On the home page he is the guy to the far left. He is also active on Facebook.
Hopefully this info can bring you further.