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Anyone admit to buying Quad 34 because it looks cool

The tilt control is a pivot point at IIRC 1Khz about which the whole frequency response can be tilted, i.e. turn it one way and things get warmer and duller, the other brighter and leaner. It works rather better in practice than I've described it. Quad tone controls are always very well thought out and usable IMO, though by saying that I've never needed tone controls at all. I'm happy moving things about until it sounds alright flat - I'm only prepared to live in places with nice sounding rooms!

Tony.
 
seagullsnacker said:
That really must have been a lot of 'em...they were in every shop I worked in...all on 10 hours a days...6 days a week...52 weeks a year...say what you like about Quad sound (which I always found was fine) they built 'em well!

My FM4 is I suppose getting on for 25 years old now...and it still sounds great!

Big'up'tha'Quad.

Paul
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There were hundreds of them. Each shop had at least two sets as I recall and some 3 or 4. As a testament to reliability, I believe we only had 3-4 faulty pre's and 1 x faulty 303 or 306 in many years.
 
Still have a 33 and 34 ("grey") as spares, both are iconic designs. If you were kicking off a system on a shoestring you couldn't beat a 33, circa £40 and still working after 40 years...

Pete
 
A 33 was my first introduction to old kit, I had what I thought was some OK equipment until a mate brought round his 33/303 and it murdered my Pioneer A400, which was the media darling of the time. The same friend had a Garrard 401/SME 3009 and Celestion Ditton 44s, and I was mystified why he'd have such a collection of scruffy old gear, until I heard it.
 
RHCD said:
what does the central 'TILT' control do? I see there is balance as well, on the right, so it isn't that...
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Turning the control does this to the frequency response:

tilt.jpg


It alters in room balance and can be useful for things like reducing chestiness from radio voices where a wrong mic has been used or the balance incorrectly adjusted.
Or pepping up old and tired analogue recordings, or soothing and adding some body to old and less than great CD transfers.
 
Steven Toy said:
Same here which is why I still go for the hierarchy of source -amps - speakers.
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I've come to the conclusion that's rather outdated, my hierarchy is:

1) Mastering (I want the best cut of a given title be it vinyl or CD). This is unquestionably the most important aspect we have control over and represents the biggest sonic difference anywhere in the replay chain.

2) Source component, though there is a far bigger differences between analogue sources than digital. I find myself perfectly happy using a £500 CD player, though I do have probably the best record player I've ever heard.

3) Speakers. The most character / personality in the system by far and the least perfect component technically, so the one that requires the most thought, and also the most matching with the room. You need to get this one right.

4) Amp. Must be a good match with the above, though if you choose the speakers well you certainly don't need to spend a fortune.

Tony.
 
I was dropping off some bits and bobs at the local council tip last week and noticed a woman unloading a quad 34, 306 and FM4 and putting on the "electrical items for sorting and disposal" table.

I had to do a double take!! Obviously it all went straight in my car boot and i thought to myself that even if it didnt work it must be easily servicable by quad.

A week later and its cost me 15 quid for a couple of din to phono leads and its up and running like a dream. Absolutely nothing wrong with it and im actually really enjoying the sound of it all.

Iv got it hooked up to my monitor audio RS8's via a ca dac magic and pc and a project xpression III turntable.

Hows that for a bargain eh? I guess she just had no idea what it was, or maybe her husband just got on her wrong side one day lol.
 
Its not as insightfull as my kandy amp but still its a very nice listen. Im now torn between keeping it as an occasional back up system or selling it and using the money for something more worthwhile. I'm just not sure I can part with it now though, I always wanted a Quad amp, it was the first "real" hi fi I ever heard and as a teen it blew me away my when my dads mate played dark side ofthe moon to us on his 33 303.
 
stevec67 said:
I've heard stories of ESL 57s in skips with 33/303s nearby.
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One of my friends came to the conclusion that people tended to throw out really good stuff, so he bought himself a tip / dump for a while to run as a business. He very nearly caught a pair of ESLs and Quad IIs, but he only spotted them after the bulldozer had run over one of the speakers. He still got the IIs and one ESL.

I know of other stories too, another friend found an EMT turntable (a 950 IIRC) in a skip outside of Granada Studios in Liverpool, and another found a perfectly working Korg MS20 synth. Never happens to me, I've found sod all despite eying up every skip I pass.

Tony.
 
Stop talking these things up or I will never get one at a decent price to go with my 306!
 
I agree with some of the above posters, 33 takes the prize. If one really needs to have electrical apparatus standing about in the living room, that is exactly what it should look like, IMO (not to speak of some of the nice filtering and extended mono-switching functions..).
 
@zoidburg if you want a quad amp to collect and which sounds nice why not sell the 34, they fetch about £100-120, and put it into a nice 33/303. Great sounding amp, and the 33 is a design classic. The 303 looks like a battery charger but at least you can hide it!

The 33 is (as you probably know) Quad's first foray into tranny amps, so I'd say as a collectable it's right up there. Also bear in mind where it sat in the range when it launched, Quad already had the Quad II and had to persuade people that transistor technology was the way forward. Cue the 33/303, and being Quad do you think they allowed a product to launch that wasn't as good as the "old technology" they were trying to get people to part with money to replace? No, I don't think so either.
 
stevec67 said:
The 303 looks like a battery charger but at least you can hide it!
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How dare you! I display mine with pride.

4635010791_26818fd676_z.jpg


I noticed yesterday that Dada do some resprayed Quad parts, so I've just bought a new front panel for my 33. It should hopefully look pretty much mint after that as the knobs, case and back panel are all great, so it might be worth getting it serviced at some point (I'm not even sure if it works properly). It means I've got the set anyway as I still have the FM3 from my very first system. The 33/303 are both very early ones with four digit serial numbers, they were bought in 1970, the 303 being a 'Mk I' and the 33 having the apparently troublesome white edge connectors. Other than the 33 front panel (which had something stuck too it that I was unable to remove without damage) both are in stunning condition as they spent their whole life bolted into a radiogram type cabinet. The DIN sockets etc all look absolutely mint.

Tony.
 
My father was a collector of rubbish....

two quad 405s, two 303s, a 33 a FM3, FM4 a quad 44, a sugden tuner and plenty of other stuff. The 405s were crap..as they hummed like a humming thing. A few new caps and we are off. I still prefer the 303s to the 405s for some reason. The 33 looks great, but doesn't work for me. In particular low level channel balance is awful and the sound is a bit veiled. I also require remote control for full enjoyment.
 
mudlark said:
The 33 looks great, but doesn't work for me. In particular low level channel balance is awful and the sound is a bit veiled. I also require remote control for full enjoyment.
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Worth having a look at the Dada site, in the downloads section (you need to register to see it) there is a very comprehensive explanation as to how to upgrade the 33 and apparently make it pretty competitive. It involves uprating the PSU voltage, altering the input gain for a modern line level and replacing all tired or low-grade components (they do a kit). I'd be tempted to do it if I had the skill, but the crap quality circuit boards of this period of Quad kit puts me off - I understand the tracks lift if you even look at them funny.

Tony.
 
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