Please tell me what this thing does......the Realistic Stereo-4

[audio]

I've got this device which is a Realistic Stereo-4. On the top it says: Realistic/ELECTRO-VOICE, Model ARS-4, 4-Channel Stereo Adapter. On the front there is a knob that turns the unit on and is the Master Gain. The other knob on the front(there are two) is a 3 way switch which has Source Decode 4, Tape Decode 4, and Tape Mon 2 positions. The rear has rca jacks for left and right input, tape out, tape in, front out, and rear out. The unit feels cheap and my gut feeling tells me it is worthless garbage. However, I have no clue what it's purpose is. I have a feeling somebody here knows what this is. ???

[poweragemk]

Sounds quadraphonic...say, a crappy manual downmixer for 8-tk quad tapes to play on a regular stereo?

But I'm just guessing.

[Rick B.]

EV was an early quadraphonic system. It could derive a quad effect from 2-channel recordings. I believe that Surf's Up by the Beach Boys was encoded for EV.

[poweragemk]

Originally posted by Rick B.
EV was an early quadraphonic system. It could derive a quad effect from 2-channel recordings. I believe that Surf's Up by the Beach Boys was encoded for EV.
Electronically rechanneled for Quadraphonic...fake quad...how awful. I vote that you bury that piece in your backyard, prix, and perform voodoo cleansing rituals to rid your house of its evil spirits :)

--MK

[quadjoe]

Originally posted by poweragemk

Electronically rechanneled for Quadraphonic...fake quad...how awful. I vote that you bury that piece in your backyard, prix, and perform voodoo cleansing rituals to rid your house of its evil spirits :)

--MK

Actually, it's not strictly "fake" in the same way as Electronically re-channeled for Stereo records were. The EV system was a matrix system that decoded 4-channel sound from an encoded 4-channel recording, but the EV recordings are few and far between (Yes, the Beach Boys Surf's Up is such a recording, and I own one :) ). An interesting (or not, you choose) effect could be obtained from playing a stereo recording through the decoder: the more out-of-phase signals there were on the original recording produced more of a "quad" effect (sometimes pleasing, often strange, and always not what the artist/recording engineer intended). That said, the Realistic Stereo-4 Prix has is indeed a piece of junk: I listened to one in the store waaay back in the '70's and I still remember being completely unimpressed.

Prix, if you want to hear some quad recordings, you'll need to get some vintage quad gear and the best way to go is Reel-to-Reel tape, followed by CD-4 vinyl (which requires a special cartridge/stylus and a demodulator), and then Q8 tape, all discrete formats. For SQ (Columbia's matrix system) the Tate SQ decoder is acknowledged to be the best, for QS (Sansui's matrix system) get a Sansui QRX x001 series receiver (which will also have SQ and CD-4 capability). Personally, I don't think it's really worthwhile if you don't already have a library of quad recordings to listen to: most of the equipment is 30+ years old and in need of TLC, and the software is increasingly difficult to find in good condition. I think you're better off getting into DVD-A and SACD for surround sound music, and I'm now starting to see many recordings being offered in 5.1 formats that were formerly available in Quad back in the '70's.

[-=Rudy=-]

There is actually a cheap (almost free) way to create a type of "quad" or "surround" system that only needs speaker wire and two speakers. All you do is connect the positive leads of the rear speakers to the amp, and the grounds of the rear speakers to each other. This makes the rear channel the "difference" signal...actually doesn't sound bad with some recordings! (Just make sure your amp does not have floating ground connections.)

No idea if that RS/EV box attempts to do the same thing electronically...it sounds like it does something different.

[cleandan]

Oh sure, I take the time to go get the stuff, carefully package the stuff, and then ship the stuff, all so prix can come here and get told to throw it away....sheesh. LOL. I see you now have the packages. When I was packing the stuff I wondered about that cheapo looking/feeling gizmo myself and almost called to ask if you simply wanted to toss it instead of shipping it. Have a great day.

[audio]

If anyone wants this piece of gear, speak up. I am giving it away for free. You pay shipping and it's yours. I'm keeping it until the end of the day today and then it's going in the trashcan out on the curb.