Lafayette LA-524 (1972)
The Lafayette LA-524 is a compact SQ decoder and auxiliary amplifier. It let a listener add a rear-channel pair to an existing stereo system for early quadraphonic playback. Audio (July 1972, p.42) ran a full test report, called it a “remarkably compact” unit and published measured specifications. It decoded both CBS SQ and Lafayette’s own COMPOSER matrix. Controls were bass, treble, loudness and high filter, plus a headphone jack. Advertisements from the period - in HiFI/Stereo (May 1972) and High Fidelity (June 1972) - pitched it as the straightforward way to convert a two-channel setup to four.
Known specs from the Audio review: 60 watts total (IHF) at 4 ohms, 0.1% distortion, power bandwidth 35-30,000 Hz, hum and noise -70 dB, input sensitivity 275 mV. Original price was $79.95. Surviving documentation is thin. The LA-524 was one of several matrix-decoder add-ons Lafayette offered in the early 1970s, while consumer quadraphonic formats briefly competed before settling on SQ and QS.
- Type: SQ decoder / auxiliary amplifier
- Power output: 60 W total (IHF) @ 4 Ω
- Distortion: 0.1%
- Frequency response: 35–30,000 Hz
- Hum & noise: –70 dB
- Input sensitivity: 275 mV
- Decoding: CBS SQ, COMPOSER
- Controls: Bass, treble, loudness, high filter, mono/stereo, headphone jack
- Price new: $79.95
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