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When Quad meets Flat Earth

sideshowbob

sideshowbob

Champagne fascia aficionado
Anyone else ever felt like trying out a Quad 33 with a NAP 140? Thought not. It actually sounds very good, even though the thought of it can make some people's heads actually explode.

mashup.jpeg


(There is a reason for this, I'm currently restoring this Quad 33 and thought I'd slot it into the system to test out my work. Don't worry, I'm not using a Naim 4 pin DIN to connect the two, as that would almost certainly blow up the Quad - the little black box sitting on top of the 140 is a DIY pass-through, I have a Quad-wired DIN->RCA cable going into it, and a Naim-wired RCA->DIN cable going into the 140).
 
Ah, Flat Pipe & Slippers.

I hope the speakers are something suitably genre defying
 
I really like the 33. My favourite (have 3) is an "Avondale" modified one which sounds rather good into an EWA M-50 or occasionally a Quad 520.
I think that the received wisdom of the 33 being well past it's sell by date is a little unfair - OK the phono stage could be a tad more dynamic
but a well serviced one is really nice - how does it sound into the 140?
 
Indeed this is much fun, but as a non quad ampman what doth the cancel button do?
..take out the tone controls,
cancel all inputs....

Im now old enough to want to shed much of my hifi load but if I had an itch to add to Existing Naims, Wilkinson valve monobloks and ancient tannoys it would be a full pipe and slippers set up to listen too at last and for some unsuspecting youth to inherit. Lord only knows about the albums
 
Interesting...........
I may want to try my Classe Audio CP35 preamp with my Naim NAP110 for a similar test.
The CP35 being almost tube like with a super sweet treble should be a good match with the get up and go of the 110.
My concerns are the followings though:

1: do I only need a cable that goes from two RCA to one 4 pin DIN ?

2: will this be a mismatch for the gain and will be out loud with a 1/32 turn of the volume pot ?

Any advice welcome !
 
Gervais Cote said:
Interesting...........
I may want to try my Classe Audio CP35 preamp with my Naim NAP110 for a similar test.
The CP35 being almost tube like with a super sweet treble should be a good match with the get up and go of the 110.
My concerns are the followings though:

1: do I only need a cable that goes from two RCA to one 4 pin DIN ?

2: will this be a mismatch for the gain and will be out loud with a 1/32 turn of the volume pot ?

Any advice welcome !
Click to expand...

Yes, a 4 pin DIN to RCA cable is what you need, have a look on eBay, there are several sellers. Make sure you get one which says it is designed for Naim, as not all DIN cables are wired in the way Naim gear requires.

As for gain, you'll have to try it and see. I'm not familiar with the specs of your preamp, and the sensitivity of your speakers will also be a factor. The Quad 33 has very high output for modern sources but gives good enough range on the volume control with the NAP 140 into LS3/5as that I don't need any additional attenuation with my DAC. YMMV.
 
NeilK said:
how does it sound into the 140?
Click to expand...

I was pleasantly surprised, it not only sounds very good, there's no hum or nasties, even using an MC head amp into the phono input for a very low output Ortofon SPU. I changed a couple of bulging caps on the phono board, but with modern caps of equivalent values, and have done the same with the output boards. Otherwise it's all Quad original (apart from the sleeve, which I've resprayed).
 
sideshowbob said:
Yes, a 4 pin DIN to RCA cable is what you need, have a look on eBay, there are several sellers. Make sure you get one which says it is designed for Naim, as not all DIN cables are wired in the way Naim gear requires.

As for gain, you'll have to try it and see. I'm not familiar with the specs of your preamp, and the sensitivity of your speakers will also be a factor. The Quad 33 has very high output for modern sources but gives good enough range on the volume control with the NAP 140 into LS3/5as that I don't need any additional attenuation with my DAC. YMMV.
Click to expand...
My Classe Audio preamp is from the 90’s and was primarily designed to be used with CD players so should be okay. Thanks a lot for the advice.
 
By the way, make sure that you use the tape input for your CD player or DAC set on 1 V.
This way, the volume knob is used on position 5-6 typically, with either CD (tape) or 'disc'.
The FM3 is a little louder, but this can be altered inside the tuner if needed.

Please give the little 33 another chance, it's really better than what most people say. It images very well too, with a lot of stage depth. But it must be restored with fresh, possibly better components where needed, a thorough cleaning of all connectors (mine were all gold plated).
The basic topology is fine — if a little simplistic by today’s standards.

Better than the more complex 34? Yes, absolutely!

Obviously, I also have top-notch preamps (including valve) to compare it to.
 
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A 33 is a very nice pre, with an excellent phono stage. The main criticism I have of it is that it is very susceptible to noise on the mains supply. Some would call this "revealing" but I'd be more inclined to say "poor noise rejection, and I've not measured it but I bet PSRR is less than great." The house where I lived at that time had a CH pump that injected mains noise, to the point where it would set off the burglar alarm's tamper setting, and I had an old fashioned fridge that used to generate spikes. Fitting suppressors helped, but the 33 was still noisy. That said, I don't know its service history. The 303 had been serviced and caps renewed, so that was as it should be. In the end a change to a 44/405 solved it.
 
My 33 is not noisy at all, with either the 303 or the 405 — I guess the ESL’s hide some of that?
That said, it’s not really noisy with my efficient speakers (95 dB/W/m) either.
My mains are very quiet, and I can’t hear any spikes from the many appliances I have.
 
No mains noise from mine, either. Pretty happy with the restoration I've done on this. I didn't want to change anything that didn't need to be changed, as I'm keen to keep it as close to original as possible. And it sounds fine just as it is, I really don't see the need to mod it a la Dada Audio and the like. Next step is to find a 303 in need of a bit of TLC to pair it with.
 
My 33 is a bit weird. It was serviced by Amplabs last year before I bought it. I had mains hum problems straight away so sent it off to get checked by Amplabs again. In their setup it had no hum and they couldn’t even make it hum on purpose.When I received it back, the hum I used to have was now only present on the right speaker and somewhat quieter, I think. I tried the 33 in my second system upstairs and there was now louder hum on both channels. No idea what to do about it or what is causing it. Neither the previous owner or Amplabs had any hum with it and if Amplabs don’t know what’s wrong, then I’m pretty much stuffed.

I’ve tried removing everything else (router, Roon Nucleus, Chromecast, lamp) from the mains block except the 33, 303 and either a CD player or turntable and the hum is completely unchanged. I’ve replaced the DIN to DIN lead between the 33 and 303 and got a new Bulgin mains lead to no avail. I also got a turntable grounding lead and attached one end to the 33 and the other to the grounding post on my mains block and there was no change. My other 33 is an older one which have a different earthing arrangement from the later ones, the later ones being better apparently - but the old one doesn’t hum! Fortunately I’m using LS3/5a so the hum is quieter than it would be with something like Tannoys.

Any ideas?
 
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