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Auction find Quad amp issues

kwmason

kwmason

Won Ton On
Hi all,

after my nice find in the local auction house (Quad 33/303 tuner and garrard 301 with sme3009 and Wharfdale w3 speakers) upon trying the turntable the speaker output was almost inaudible even with my ear up against the speakers - phono stage issue i assumed. So adding an aerial lead to the tuner i get the same (slightly louder)

Full volume is giving a just a say hearable sound.

Any clues on things to try or send for a full service - and who would you recommend to service these?

cheers
 
The Quad gear needs to be sent to Quad. Faulty or not it will benefit from being checked, then you know you are listening to a correctly-working system. Fixed price service. It is the courier costs which will make it seem a bit expensive.
Their prices are very reasonable, their service is outstanding, you can totally trust them not to rip you off. They will only do what is necessary.
The Quad service will add significant value should you later decide to sell.

The Garrard will need a service by now. It will all need lubricating at least.
SME used to service 3009, but I don't think they do anymore.
 
Try some different speakers first. The controls on them could well be virtually open circuit... depending on year made they could also have the quick rot foam surrounds... they went back to cloth after a while.

Also check the leads and that phono plugs etc are not so corroded as to be causing the problem.

I also service Quad gear of course, should it be more than the speakers.
 
Try connecting the speakers up to another amp to make sure it's not them at fault.

If not, send the 33/303 to Quad or Jez Arkless of this parish to get both fully back to spec.
 
Have you popped the case on the 33 and made sure the boards are all pushed in properly? It would be worth removing and refitting them a few times as the connectors are notoriously iffy. Also go through and switch all the buttons a few times as again these can be rather flakey and there is a chance it may wake up. You do have the orange ‘stereo’ button pushed in?

PS FWIW I’m very much of the ‘don’t plug anything in prior to giving it a good inspection’ mindset, so I’d pop the lid on the 303 and look for leaky caps etc. I actually go further than that and check rails, bias etc, but I realise many don’t.
 
Test individual components in isolation to see where fault lies - assuming you have spare pre/power amps.
 
To reiterate earlier comments, my first port of call would be to try the garrard / arm / cartridge through another amplifier first. If this a success, then you can focus on the 33 /303 combo and / or associated connectors as the likely source of the problem.
 
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