So, does anybody like...... stuff?

[ThatAMCGuy]

Been pretty quiet around here lately. Any moment now you'd think a funeral is gonna break out.

Let's have a just for shits & giggles discussion thread going. Obviously, we're all here because we love the automobile. (I heard a good term the other day; "Petro-Sexual". Thank you, Richard Hammond)

Surely we must all have other hobbies right? I can't imagine anybody being a one trick pony! What else are you passionate about?

Me? I like Quad. No, not the four-wheeled, off road buggies. Quadraphonic Sound! Step into the wayback machine Sherman! All the record companies back in the early 70's thought Quad was going to be the best thing since sliced bread. Stereo was a big hit. Why not add two more speakers?

RCA, Columbia/Epic, ABC, Elektra/Asylum, Fantasy, Arista, A&M, Capitol, UA, Mercury, Warner Brothers..... everybody got on the Quad bandwagon and brought us not only some absolutely amazing albums, but some equally as baffling!

Tommy James & The Shondells in Quad? YES! How about The Archies? Yeah, they had one too!

Some of the amazing examples are albums from the Doobie Brothers, Black Sabbath, Eagles, Jefferson Airplane, Jim Croce, Steely Dan, Mountain, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Sly & the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Santana, The Raiders, Simon & Garfunkel, Loggins & Messina, Edgar Winter, Johnny Winter....even Elvis!

And who can mention Quad and NOT mention ..... Dark Side of the Moon? Playing the song "Money" in Quad with each of the cash register sounds jumping out at you from each corner of the room will make a believer out of you!

The only real way to experience Quad is the discrete method. Quad 8-tracks and Quad reels are the best. The LP systems (QS & SQ) were neither compatible, nor very good. CD-4 was such a headache that it actually got it's own nickname: "Sandpaper Quad".

I could go on and on and on..... the history behind everything is just as fascinating.

This thread is useless without pictures, so here's something to feast your eyes upon!

 

[Chrycoman]

I too am into tunes, but not to your level....

 

[Bob]

That's quite a collection! I don't remember quads, just regular 8 tracks. They were the most horrible things. They would squeak and eat the taps regularly. It seemed like you had to constantly take them apart and fix them until you got mad and threw them out the window. Mmmm... yes remember that was a common thing to see along the highway, an 8 track with the tape hangin' out of it

 

[ThatAMCGuy]

My family wasn't exactly rolling in money when I was growing up, so even in the 80's all we had were LP's and 8-tracks. I kinda learned to fix them out of necessity if we wanted to have stuff to listen to in the car, truck or at home. I eventually got really good at it. Since I'm practically OCD and also paranoid, I follow the general rule of preventative maintenence: "If it can go wrong, it WILL go wrong." So, with that in mind, every tape I own gets the full monty. Replace the foil splice, reinforce it on the back. Lube the rubber roller, lube the center hub and ensure proper tape tension. I don't think I've had a tape go wrong in 6 or 7 years.

 

[Bad Buick GN]

so??? have you had an eaten tape, since you jinxed yourself a year and a half ago?

 

[ThatAMCGuy]

Trying to think..... I did have one tape have the splice let go, but I caught it in time before any major damage was done. Of course, it was a tape where I thought the splice was good and not one that I R&R'd. Of the ones that I've done, not a single failure to report!

Also, I've almost doubled the Quad collection since starting this thread. I'm very close to 450 Quad tapes, and have completed the A&M, Capitol and Asylum/Elektra collections.