Home Vintage Asylum

Classic gear from yesteryear; vintage audio standing the test of time.

RE: Advent Model 500 Soundspace Controller

Phil, hi. This machine was made in the generally atmospere of 'Quad' or the notion that 4 channels were better than 2. There were quad LPs introduced in the early 70's that used modulation of a carrier frequency to encode the other 2 channels. RCA pressed some of these. Needless to say the carrier encoded information suffered immediate degradation from just being played. Dyna had the Quadaptor out at this time - a simple passive box to derive 2 back channels from phase relationships in the main channels. It was hit or miss. As I recall it was kind of impressive on one Simon & Garfinkle song. There were other 'derived' 4 channel schemes like SQ. This whole Quad thing was perceived by the record companies as the next 'Stereo' and another reason to be unhappy with what you had. It become a slow train wreck marketing fiasco. The Advent box was one of the first devices to use digital sampling to 'gimmick up' rear channels. It was total frustration if you had a good pair of ears. Keep in mind one had to have identical speakers front and back. This was often an unmet ideal. Even when so doing getting the balance right, spacing of speakers right, created a situation where your higher brain functions were on alert at all times during listening. Ugh! As others here have said there were technical downsides that sunk performance right out of the gate. Sampling rate was dictated by early technology. In short - it Never Sounded Right. After fussing with one for a month or so I decided the whole idea of it was so compromised it was unlistenable. It Looked really Cool though just sitting there with the power on. I couldn't stand the thing as far as sonics were concerned. Another early device that was unlistenable was the Girrard 'click & pop' removing box. How to ruin your sound and go completely mad at the same time.


This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
  McShane Design  


Follow Ups Full Thread
Follow Ups
  • RE: Advent Model 500 Soundspace Controller - elektron 08/7/0904:46:43 08/7/09 (0)

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?
Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
  Remember my Moniker & Password  (What's this?)    Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:
Message:   (Posts are subject to Content Rules)
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:  Automagically notify you when someone responds.