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Still playing with Quad gear after all these years !

Ianp

Ianp

pfm Member
We'll my final default system seems to be my Falcon LS3/5a and original Quad IIs/QC24, though I did seem to acquire a pair of the QII Classics recently.

I shall however be picking up a 909 to try this afternoon which I'm very interested to hear, and am expecting quite a different presentation.

I do seem to have slipped back into my comfort zone, and it is rather comfortable :)

Any views on the 909 with the LS3/5a ? Ken Kessler is very keen indeed from one of his reviews.
 
I went through a Quad electronics phase a couple of years ago.

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Yes, I enjoyed it. Quite an interesting journey.
I can't say it set my world on fire.
Comfortable is the right word, I guess.
But I'm usually looking for more from my music than that and I was happy to move on after a while.
But then, I like to swap things around. So nothing stays for that long. (Except my speakers, it seems).

I've previously owned Quad 63, then 57 stats.
 
I've owned both a QSP and Artera stereo power and really liked both.
Within my system, IMO they were better than any amp I've heard with my speakers prior to the current BAT.
 
I started with Quad amps with my first system in 1978 and returned after a long absence early this century. I can’t imagine not having a 303 somewhere now. It has become a fixture.

The consistent thing for me is (assuming easy to drive speakers) Quad kit just gets out of the way. It doesn’t draw attention to itself. Whenever I have it in a system I just go through a music discovery and buying phase. It just breaks that whole ‘small incremental upgrades’ thing that is the illness in audio. My main system has been static for best part of a decade now. I can’t see it changing much in the future either. I’m sure I’d feel just the same with a full Quad system too, e.g. 22/II, ESLs. Kit that does what it needs to do without any attention-seeking.
 
Compared through some Ruarks, Jezmond Tutu’s ZAP250 to my serviced Quad 606.

The only major difference was the top end on the Avondale was a little edgier or shimmery. I quite liked the ZAP, Jezmond’s golden ears thought the Quad was better on the Ruarks. There was more warmth on the 606.

I had it off to Quad and they’d put the 909 PSU complete into it as well as the service.

Mods are possible I'm told, mines stock.

It was better after the service, but it had never been touched.
 
I seemed to have had lots of Quad gear over the years from Quad II's through 33/303, 34/306, 520, 99/909; it never disappoints. Currently using Elite Pre & QSP power into old Rogers speakers which I know would not satisfy some people but to me it always sounds excellent.

Also using Quad 10L speakers on my desktop in my 'working from home' setup although it seems Derek Hughes and Spendor had quite a big hand in their development and production.
 
calorgas said:
I seemed to have had lots of Quad gear over the years from Quad II's through 33/303, 34/306, 520, 99/909; it never disappoints. Currently using Elite Pre & QSP power into old Rogers speakers which I know would not satisfy some people but to me it always sounds excellent.

Also using Quad 10L speakers on my desktop in my 'working from home' setup although it seems Derek Hughes and Spendor had quite a big hand in their development and production.
Click to expand...
Have always been keen to hear the 10L
 
Ianp said:
We'll my final default system seems to be my Falcon LS3/5a and original Quad IIs/QC24, though I did seem to acquire a pair of the QII Classics recently.

I shall however be picking up a 909 to try this afternoon which I'm very interested to hear, and am expecting quite a different presentation.

I do seem to have slipped back into my comfort zone, and it is rather comfortable :)

Any views on the 909 with the LS3/5a ? Ken Kessler is very keen indeed from one of his reviews.
Click to expand...
I've always enjoyed Kessler's take on hifi and there certainly isn't anything wrong with playing with kit you enjoy. Sounds like a sweet system, especially if your space is limited. Hope you continue to enjoy. :)
 
Ianp said:
Have always been keen to hear the 10L
Click to expand...
Well worth keeping an eye out for if you like small speakers like the ls3/5a. Not the same but similar in many ways and a worthy contender. (The yew veneer is very nice too. )
 
Full monty Quad system, old style: 33/303/FM3/ESL57 and 66 CD player. A Dual 1229, because Quad never made a turntable. So I chose something contemporary to play records.
What cartridge? A Shure V15 III or a (better) AT VM740ML.
 
I had a 34/405-2 as a student in 1983. I’ve been through a journey with Naim and modified Naim and now have two systems both based around Quad:

Artera Play+, IcePower mono blocks, Shahinian Obelisk Mk1

and

34/FM4/405-2 with NetAudio upgrades into Totem Sttaf

I also have a 66 Pre/66 Tuner/66 CD/306. it’s great kit, sounds excellent, just gets out of the wall and lasts and lasts.

I’d like to hear a QC24 and a pair of Artera monoblocks.
 
The only Quad gear I have are two sets of 33/303. I haven't listened to any of the other equipment they've marketed. I like the design of the 33/303 and the fact that you could leave it on all day without it costing you a small fortune in energy use. There's the nostalgia aspect too.. This is equipment I looked on with awe in the 70's and early eighties but could never afford myself. Being a tinkerer I like the fact that there is so much information on them on the Internet and they are very easy to work on as a DIY amateur electronics practitioner. And, of course, they sound good too! I use a Townshend Allegri with my 303 and it sounds superb through the Proac dB1's.
 
401 then LP12 into Quad 33/303/ESLs from new 1974 to 1988. It worked particularly well with live FM broadcasts but was too revealing for recorded broadcasts and LPs. CD was particularly bad so would be no use these days as my only source is CD
 
CD is really fine through a 33/303 setup. Perhaps you used the radio input? The tape input can be set to 1 V, which is perfectly adequate. I have almost no difference of level with the disc input.
 
chartz said:
CD is really fine through a 33/303 setup. Perhaps you used the radio input? The tape input can be set to 1 V, which is perfectly adequate. I have almost no difference of level with the disc input.
Click to expand...
It would have been the Radio 2 input. and a Mission DAD7000. The Radio 1 input was a Kenwood/Trio tuner. I must admit that the idea of using the Tape option never occurred to me., I rejected the CD player after about 3 hours as the sound was ridiculously toppy, coarse, muffled with the sound decaying in a series of steps. It was 1994 before I heard a Naim CD3 which started my CD collection with flat earth dynamics., not purity of sound. Some thought that 57s were flat earth speakers and Naim tried to stiffen them up but I am not convinced.
 
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