Ultimate quad receiver
MitsuMan said:
I've been seriously considering picking up a quad receiver. I see so many of them available, and I remember thinking it was the coolest thing ever when they came out.
What is all of your opinions on what you feel was the best unit available? I am familiar with the Pioneers and Technics of the period, as well as a Kenwood.
(Chris, no need to bash the Technics in this thread please. :thmbsp: )
Well, the right answer is really whatever trips your trigger from looks to sound and performance! My own "first" quad receiver was a Panasonic
SE-4400........very much a "low" to mid-fi receiver with a built-in Q8 deck and turntable in the top. At the time it was all I could afford.....and it took me to two years to pay off the $300 it cost! But, I loved it nevertheless.....it was reliable, and gave me my own first real "quad" experience! :thmbsp:
And, while everyone probably has their own opinions on this topic (with personal thanks for those who mentioned my restorations!
) there are a couple of FACTS that should heavily influence the discussion.
Sansui and Marantz were the ONLY manufacturers to produce quadraphonic receivers designed and built to the same quality standards as their top of the line stereo models.
All the other manufacturers made a conscious decision to produce quadraphonic receivers "cheaper" so that the cost of their "top of the line" quads fell at the same price point as the competitions stereo models.
This fact becomes obvious when you simply examine the suggested list price of various models:
Marantz 4400 - $1250.00 (with the decoder module and CD-4 demodulator an added expense)
Sansui QRX-9001 - $1150.00 (all quad formats supported and built-in)
for comparison:
Sansui 9090db - $800.00
Sansui QRX-7001 - $800.00
Pioneer QX-949A - $800.00
Kenwood KR-9940 - $800.00
So, what did you get for the "extra" $450.00 in the case of the Marantz 4400 or $350.00 in the case of the QRX-9001?
For the Marantz it was the built-in oscilloscope, a very good receiver tuner, and 50wpc X4 from a solid Marantz amp design.
For the Sansui QRX-9001 it was the most powerful "quad" receiver amp made at 60wpc X4, their great Vario-matrix decoder/synthesizer (which Dolby ProLogic II made today WISHES it could match!) and JVC's last and ultimate design for a CD-4 demodulator circuit. The 4 gang tuner is basically the same as the TU-717, and as mentioned by LBPete here.......it shares many of the common pcbs with the 9090db.
I personally own both the Marantz 4400 as well as the QRX-9001 and QRX-999, ok...........and yes just about every OTHER quad receiver as well!
So, it is pretty easy to narrow the contender field to these two competing models.......the Marantz 4400 and the Sansui QRX-9001. What "tips" the scale for serious quadraphiles to the Sansui QRX-9001 is its ability to handle the original quad formats.......from discrete sources OR through its internal decoders. The 9001's Vario-matrix decoder/synthesizer was simply the best in the business (then and now).......the heart of which was Sansui's custom designed and built IC decoder circuits. No other manufacturer (Marantz included) went to such lengths or spent the R&D time to develop a serious competitor.
The CD-4 demodulator built into the QRX-9001 was licensed from JVC and based upon their last commercial design and built around the CD4-392 IC that JVC designed and introduced in 1975. This design is ONLY found in the QRX-8001/9001/999, along with a very late introduced outboard demodulator by Grundig (sold in Europe only), and JVC's own CD4-50 outboard demodulator introduced in late 1975. Both of the "outboard" demodulators I just mentioned are ULTRA-rare and when they do finally show up on Ebay.......their sale price shows the rarity and value placed on them by serious quadraphiles:
JVC CD4-50 Demodulator
While the JVC demodulator definitely has a better stock phono preamp, its actual demodulator design and board layout are virtually identical to the Sansui licensed design!
The Marantz decoder module even in its final incarnation (the SQ-2B)...simply isn't in the same league as Sansui's Vario-matrix which with slight modification can match the much later Jim Fosgate designed Matrix decoders like the Audionics Space & Image Composer (orig. list $1,100.00 in 1979) or his TATE II Model 101A decoder/synthesizer (orig. list $500 in 1982).
So, the achilles heal of the Marantz 4400 is its lack of top notch quad decoding/demodulating ability. And this is the Sansui QRX-9001's forte.
But, the QRX-9001 isn't perfect by any means........it's "flaws" include the fact that Sansui was really pushing the design envelop in its construction....thus it has a tempermental "stereo X2" mode, and those pesky 54 solder pass-through joints in really the most complex receiver of any type produced during the '70s! Complex enough that TODAY, finding one in original complete working condition is pretty much impossible. I've seen the Ebay listings....."perfect working order", "just checked by my Tech".....etc. etc. The truth is they DON'T work properly.........but that is what I'm all about!
And while the time, effort and expense to properly restore a QRX-9001 might make most of you around AudioKarma cringe.......for those of us who are seriously addicted to surround sound (in all its incarnations both past and present)........nothing else can match it once its restored. It is truly unique, irreplaceable, and a bargain compared to putting together the equivalent from separate components!
QB
