Good question, Kate. I was prospecting for a hi-fi system in 1970. In the course of shopping around, I listened to a few quadraphonic systems. With vigorous music, like jazz, the effect was amazing - foot-tapping just doesn't begin to describe it, it was totally energising! I suppose I was deterred by the cost, and the space and room design required for four respectable speakers. I suspect that those were the reasons for its general failure to take off.

An additional point for me was the fact that I listened to a lot of classics, which benefited more from a high quality stereo sound stage.

"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once" - John Wheeler