advertisement


Effed up Quad 909 (UK made)

Thomas,

It might work out cheaper if we send it via Czech post (very good service) - Renata will investigate the pricing - you can send be the postage cost via PayPal... I'll let you know once the unit is ready.
 
Yes, but please insure or send as registered. Do you have my address on the box or should I PM it to you?
 
Thomas,

Your units tested, and packed - it weighs 12.2kg which will cost about GBP53 to post from Czech - or can you arrange collection your end cheaper?

While cleaning the exterior of your amp I noticed small scratches on the top lid - I really hope that they where on the Amp when it arrived (and not caused by me) as I didn't pay attention to the original condition of your unit. While working with it on my lab I had it sitting on a soft cloth, so I'd like to believe I did not cause them...

You mentioned power-on thumps, I measured there level to be about 200mW into 8ohms, so nothing too scary. The extra Tantalum caps you added (and the power consumption of the new servo Opamps I added) will change its characteristic, hopefully for the better.

Please allow the amp to warm up, and let me know how it sounds :)
 
Great, thank you. I got 50 euros with DPD here, but they probably can't tell the time they arrive for pickup. So if you prefer, you can send it with the Czech post and please as registered mail. Please let me know the shipping in euros.
 
Zombie said:
Great, thank you. I got 50 euros with DPD here, but they probably can't tell the time they arrive for pickup. So if you prefer, you can send it with the Czech post and please as registered mail. Please let me know the shipping in euros.
Click to expand...

Well no problem about collection time, I'm here all the time working on the MDAC2 PCB :)

The only problem with Czech post is that the unit is insured to a limit of about GBP500....

If you can arrange DPD collection your end and its insured for its full value then I might be a better option...

The units packed and ready to go at anytime...
 
OK, I'll contact DPD.

Btw, do you have a laser printer to print out a pdf and attach it to the box?
 
Steve,

Please forgive me if I appear rude - I'm late with everything I'm working on - and writing is not easy for me so replies get delayed then lost in the mists of time...

Jo 90 said:
What experience have you with the 99 preamp
Click to expand...

Very little, I've always felt the design is over complex and not HiFi in its purest form.

The design is full of Opamps and uses CMOS switches in the signal path - these are not renowned to be sonically transparent.

Jo 90 said:
I have replaced all electrolytics with low esr types and also double screened the toroidal psu.
Click to expand...

Electrolytics are horrid sounding components, I've yet to hear a Cap that was sonically transparent - but if you have them in the signal path then upgrading to a better quality part is going to be beneficial and a good start.

Once the production was transferred to China errors crept into the BOM and the high voltage CMOS 4000 series signal switches where replaced with 5V logic level 74HC series parts and the units will fail over time... sadly such qualify fade is to be expected when "experienced" engineers (and designers) are replaced by "Engineering teams" in Asia.
 
Barrymagrec said:
I thought the Elite series was almost exactly the 99 series in a different case?
Click to expand...

The Elite series is 100% the original 99 except with a new front panel (stuck onto the original Die-cast) and Blue LEDs - the CD player is however a new design.

The Tuner was "designed" by Dominik and myself, 100 Pcs where made as the 99 Series, then rehoused into the "new" Elite housing - they didn't even ask as for any information when they transferred to the Elite so it must be 100% our original design for the 99 Series.
 
So this is markering blabla: "The Elite Pre --- and a great deal of work has been undertaken to further enhance the excellent levels of musical transparency delivered by its 99 Series predecessor. This has been achieved by careful component selection and re-tuning of the signal path..."
 
The early 99 FM seems to have been a disaster. Had one that was repaired at Quad but it soon showed the faults again...if someone reading this has a 99FM case I'm interested.
 
Yes, I must get round to trying to fix mine - I was going to make an adaptor to read the PIC code and blow another one as I am moderately sure that is the problem, but never seem to get the time. On the other hand the "temporary" replacement, a black John W unit has been working well for some years - different PIC interface?
 
Zombie said:
So this is markering blabla: "The Elite Pre --- and a great deal of work has been undertaken to further enhance the excellent levels of musical transparency delivered by its 99 Series predecessor. This has been achieved by careful component selection and re-tuning of the signal path..."
Click to expand...

Total marketing "Blabla" IMO!

You only need to see internal pictures of the original 99 Pre and the Elite to decide for yourself.

Sadly as a great British company, Quad is no more - that said the UK service department is TRULY excellent and dedicated - you still receive the true Quad service via Rob and his team, they also go a long way to correct "damage" from China - basically the ESL's are rebuilt in the UK to insure reliability etc.

I also heard that there are plans to return production of the ESL's and Quad tube amplifiers back to the UK - this will be a very positive step IMHO, as I mentioned the new ESL's are rebuilt in the UK anyway.... The Transformers for the Quad tube Amps are also made in the UK, shipping these back and forth to China is not cheap... so might as well make the whole units in the UK :)

Ignoring the Chinese "engineering teams" there are no designers left at Quad... I basically see today's Quads 'new designs' as Chinese's designs living off Quads British legacy... It really breaks my heart.
 
Barrymagrec said:
Yes, I must get round to trying to fix mine - I was going to make an adaptor to read the PIC code and blow another one as I am moderately sure that is the problem, but never seem to get the time. On the other hand the "temporary" replacement, a black John W unit has been working well for some years - different PIC interface?
Click to expand...

Barry,

I was reliably told that Quad lost most of its legacy engineering documents a few years back (before we worked at IAG) when a disgruntled manager who had been fired walked in one holiday weekend and physically removed the filing cabinets that had been shipped from the UK to Asia with the historical engineering info - as a result IAG had zero info on the Quad Bus (commands etc) so Dominik and I had to reverse engineer the Command set (and Bus interface etc) - and design the Tuner within 2 weeks (it took a month in the end) - but its a decent sounding tuner, and sounds better in our test to the Acuphase beast I have as a reference (we used an "Off Air" FM Generator for our tests). Sonically its better then the Acuphase, I'm not sure about its RF performance as we where working in China at the time and whos to say what the transmissions are like!...
 
Well mine works very well, the only irritation being that the black case and blue LEDs don`t match the rest of the system.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top