Lafayette LR-4000 (c. 1972–1974)
The Lafayette LR-4000 is remembered mainly through its advertising. Lafayette introduced it in late 1972 as its most sophisticated four-channel SQ receiver, at a list price of $499.95. The centerpiece was a built-in “wave matching full logic” SQ decoder. Lafayette ads also noted that CBS, the company that developed the SQ matrix system, used the LR-4000 when monitoring SQ records in its own work. That claim appeared in a Lafayette advertisement in High Fidelity (June 1973, p.87).
Independent documentation is thinner. High Fidelity’s consumer guide for January 1974 (p.51) simply lists the LR-4000 as a quadriphonic FM/AM receiver in a wood case, measuring 21 by 5½ by 15¾ inches. Lafayette’s later ads also pulled a few lines from Modern Hi-Fi & Stereo Guide applauding the receiver’s four-channel flexibility and unusually low amplifier distortion. Even the power figures in Lafayette’s own materials don’t agree: one ad cites 57 watts per channel RMS, another 41 watts continuous (RMS) per channel with 200 watts IHF. No full bench test appears to have survived in the available record, so the precise amplifier performance is unresolved.
Lafayette clearly meant the LR-4000 to lead the early SQ receiver market. No service literature and no detailed sales history have surfaced in the usual collector sources.
Similar items on eBay
No exact Lafayette LR-4000 listings are live right now — these searches show current Lafayette and similar vintage audio gear on eBay:
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.
Related Models
- Lafayette LR-120DB
- Lafayette LR-1500T
- Lafayette LR-3500
- Lafayette LR-440
- Lafayette LR-500T
- Marantz 2226 (1974-1976)
- Marantz 2226B (1979-1980)
- Marantz 2235 (1974-1977)
- Marantz 2238B (1978-1980)
- Marantz 2250B (1978-1980)