This 1973 Electrophonic ad captures the brief moment when quadraphonic sound looked like the next major step beyond stereo. The system combined a Garrard record changer, 8-track capability and four spherical speakers, with support for both discrete and SQ-matrix four-channel playback. Electrophonic was part of Morse Electro Products, which was actively pushing affordable quadraphonic equipment to the mass market during this period.
Quad promised to surround the listener with sound from four speakers instead of the traditional two, but competing formats including SQ, QS and CD-4 made the market confusing and ultimately helped prevent the technology from becoming a lasting standard. Ads like this are a great snapshot of an era when home audio companies were trying to sell surround sound decades before it became commonplace in home theater.
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