CompuServe Messages

Hmmmm, that's not what I've always understood was the difference between 4and 2-head decks. You are, of course, right about the difference between the optimal gap for record and playback heads (the record head should have a smaller gap than the play head, from memory). However, what I remember is that all the heads are combination heads. One set is sized to fit into the smaller track afforded by the slower speed, this is the set in 2-head decks. The other set is larger to avail itself of the extra track width afforded by the 3x faster tape speed. Presumably this is more advantageous than separate record/play heads. Just going to the faster speed with the smaller EP heads improves the frequency response with the extra tape/head speed plus a slight increase in S/N ratio from the extra tape covered during the same field sweep. With the extra head width given by using separate SP heads (one would assume triple) the increase in S/N ratio is much improved, probably about the same as going from 4-track cassette (stereo) to 4-track 1/4" reel-to-reel (as a rough guess). Unfortunately I can't remember my source for this info, but it's probably audio magazines from the turn of the decade. At least it's what I always thought. Can anybody confirm this? Also, here's something I've always wanted to know but never asked. What was the fifth head in a 5-head deck for? VHS Hi-Fi requires an extra 2 heads as far as I know.