Can a home theater receiver do quadraphonic audio?

So, Kent... what constitutes a "proper Quad receiver"?

Don't know if you read about my listening "habits," but it's nearly all internet radio. I'm just looking/listening for the best synthesized sound I can get.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, there's a Sansui QRX-6500 on the way to my house. Does that qualify?

Hope you enjoy the Sansui. Looks like an awesome unit. Let us know how it stacks up against your surround receiver.
 
All matrix surround systems rely on phase differences to extract the additional channels. These differences are caused by multiple microphones in multiple places. You'll find, for instance, that a Mercury Living Stereo recording - made with only three microphones - won't decode very well. But most any pop/rock recording will give excellent results. But not, as said, what the producer intended.

Happy trails,
Larry B.

I've tried the mercury and the living streo three mike recordings in "3 stereo" mode on my Tecnics the results varry and I think I'm only gettin a sum of L/R in the center interesting though but hard to locate the the instruments.

I downloaded from somewhere the Admiral phantom center channel demonstration record It gave interesting results in "3 streo".
 
Yes, essentially. Unlike its lame predecessor, ProLogic II does a creditable job of synthesizing a surround field from two channel recordings. In fact, PLII is the closest modern-day approximation to original Sansui QS, with the addition of modern digital processing. You won't lose a thing, all of the original signal will be heard. However, since the 2 channel source hasn't been encoded, what you'll hear will be different from recording to recording...the results will be unpredictable….
This is the best answer so far. Almost every modern AV receiver has some form of Dolby Pro-Logic II built into the unit.

OK... I am often able to tell a difference from one recording to another when I am listening to ... say Pandora One. Some songs definitely sound "better" (more separation or discrete sounds emanating from one speaker to another) than others... though none seem to sound poorly….
That is inherent in using a matrix decoder to decode ordinary two-channel music sources. Some will produce great results and other sources not so much.

The only time listening to quad that has sounded poorly was when I put on some CDs and sent the sound thru the "matrix" setting. I tried the SQ Logic setting and it wasn't any better. Perhaps this Sansui QRX receiver may do a better job than the little Sanyo….
That has also been my experience. Some ordinary two-channel stereo sources will sound really good played back through a matrix type decoder and some will sound much better when played back using just a two-channel stereo setup.

You may also find that some music, when heard on the streaming services will sound better, or worse, than the same music played from a CD. Why is this so? As it turns out many, almost all, radio stations run the stereo signal through one or more processers to “enhance” the sound. These processers can change the amplitude and phase relationships between the two channels of an ordinary two-channel stereo source. The end result is that the processed sound can give the audio signal, delivered to your system, amplitude and phase differences that the matrix synthesizer can work its magic on. In essence the FM broadcast or streaming source can decode better than the CD of the same song derived from the same CD.
 
Back
Top Bottom