VinylRadio
Member
Great, thank you. Written evidence that it would be better to spend more
Is the £650 a fair price then?
Exposure IV or Quad 303/33
- Thread starter VinylRadio
- Start date
Is the £650 a fair price then?
VinylRadio
Member
Thank you, it would not be my aim with these, simply a decent reproduction, classical, jazz etc.
VinylRadio
Member
Super Info, thanks. So just not massively loud. Forgive my ignorance, but how would one judge how loud so as not to damage them?!
pocketkitchen
Registered User
It’s very hard to answer that as the sound level any speaker will generate is very dependant on room volume. I’d simply accept that the 57s are a stone cold classic and if they don’t work in your room will be easy to move on for little or no cost.
chartz
If it’s broke fix it!
I would say you should get about 98 dB full power at one metre, maybe a bit more with bass free music.
So at three or four metres you will get a bit less sound pressure.
They are exquisite speakers within their capabilities and in the right room at the right spot. Don’t overload them and you’ll be fine.
Their only slight issue is the tiny listening window. You really have to sit between the speakers at the right distance and at the right angle or there will be no treble! Do experiment, you will know when it’s right: a magical stereo perspective will appear!
They are highly directional speakers.
Oh, and leave them plugged for a few hours if they haven’t been charged for a long time, before listening to any music.
So at three or four metres you will get a bit less sound pressure.
They are exquisite speakers within their capabilities and in the right room at the right spot. Don’t overload them and you’ll be fine.
Their only slight issue is the tiny listening window. You really have to sit between the speakers at the right distance and at the right angle or there will be no treble! Do experiment, you will know when it’s right: a magical stereo perspective will appear!
They are highly directional speakers.
Oh, and leave them plugged for a few hours if they haven’t been charged for a long time, before listening to any music.
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lencotweaker
Mostly dreaming of record players
not sure, check sold prices on eBay to get an ideaGreat, thank you. Written evidence that it would be better to spend more
Is the £650 a fair price then?
VinylRadio
Member
Wow, thank you to everyone for your thoughts and useful insights!
Picked up the speakers and we thought they sounded great. More bassy than I was expecting, based on what I’d read (remember, bit of a audio-noob and certainly never had anything that would be considered decent on here!). Of course, they may fail tomorrow, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed! They haven’t been serviced, but are in good physical condition and cheaper than most I’ve seen. Again, fingers crossed!
The Boss (and myself) was a little surprised by the size. Just handed the man the money and got outta there, before she could think about it too hard.
It was a very quiet drive home…should be OK though, as she has great style and these are gorgeous!
Now the amp. I do like the look of these older Exposure units, but it’s hard to go against the majority and the 303.
Picked up the speakers and we thought they sounded great. More bassy than I was expecting, based on what I’d read (remember, bit of a audio-noob and certainly never had anything that would be considered decent on here!). Of course, they may fail tomorrow, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed! They haven’t been serviced, but are in good physical condition and cheaper than most I’ve seen. Again, fingers crossed!
The Boss (and myself) was a little surprised by the size
. Just handed the man the money and got outta there, before she could think about it too hard.It was a very quiet drive home…should be OK though, as she has great style and these are gorgeous!
Now the amp. I do like the look of these older Exposure units, but it’s hard to go against the majority and the 303.
Dowser
Learning to bodge again..
If the 57s have never been serviced then it is highly likely that the EHT units are below spec and need replacing/fixing (bunch of diodes & caps plus a resistor or 2…but older ones are encased in a box of wax which needs melting off first). Lack of sparkle and life from mid-range up were the symptoms on mine.
foxwelljsly
Me too, I ate one sour too.
I think OTA make up rated drop in replacements for them, incorporating clamp boards. They’re a no-brainer if they haven’t been done.
If I were the OP, I’d buy the quad pre/power and get new EHT units fitted to the 57s and get the amps serviced, rather than buying the Exposure pre/power.
VinylRadio
Member
Thanks. I’d be happy to get the Exposures serviced, but are you saying that it would not be worth the money, as they are not significantly better than the Quad bits?
Good info, thanks.
chartz
If it’s broke fix it!
foxwelljsly
Me too, I ate one sour too.
Definitely worth the money, but A fully serviced 33/303/57 system just seems right to me and saves you a few squids.
I've used ESL 63s with an Exposure integrated and it sounded great as well. Should you ever want to get conventional speakers and go a bit louder, the exposure pre/power would be better. I can guarantee that if you are plugging a turntable in, the Exposure would be the preferable option as their phono inputs are exceptional.
And, as others have pointed out, you can always buy the dedicated power supply for the exposure pre amp should one pop up.
So, I think I've persuaded myself that the Exposure would be the better bet.
TonyScarlett
pfm Member
Difficult choice, the Quad 33/303 are stone cold design classics imo & sound lovely as well. The 33 in particular is a much better preamp than people give it credit for. In fact I prefer my 303 being fed by the 33 than a passive preamp that others recommend, just more "weight" to the sound.
Never heard 57's or Farlowe era amps so can't offer any advice in that regard but to my eyes the early Exposure gear has a bit of a rough & ready home built look to it. Has a reputation for great sq though.
As mentioned either would need a going over by an experienced tech before serious use.
TS
Never heard 57's or Farlowe era amps so can't offer any advice in that regard but to my eyes the early Exposure gear has a bit of a rough & ready home built look to it. Has a reputation for great sq though.
As mentioned either would need a going over by an experienced tech before serious use.
TS
colasblue
pfm Member
To bring a bit of balance, whilst the 303 is a perfectly sensible thing to drive the 57's and it has good aftermarket support and quite a lot of upgrade options, there are some potential issues. One is that for the earliest models you can't easily get exact replacements for the original output transistors so you will probably be forced down an alternative route (of which there are plenty available) if there is any failure in that department. The amp then won't be completely original in spec which might bother some people. OTOH some people prefer to have them substantially upgraded with much better modern components.
A rather bigger issue is the 33. There's no getting away from the fact that by modern standards it isn't actually a very good preamp and lacks clarity compared with more modern options. There's also no available modification or upgrade to bring it up to modern performance standards. Another big issue which actually kills off quite a lot of them is that the switchgear can fail and is not repairable or replaceable.
The Expo kit by comparison can mix it with pretty much anything from the current era and is fully repairable (though again some transistor substitutions are necessary).
A rather bigger issue is the 33. There's no getting away from the fact that by modern standards it isn't actually a very good preamp and lacks clarity compared with more modern options. There's also no available modification or upgrade to bring it up to modern performance standards. Another big issue which actually kills off quite a lot of them is that the switchgear can fail and is not repairable or replaceable.
The Expo kit by comparison can mix it with pretty much anything from the current era and is fully repairable (though again some transistor substitutions are necessary).
TonyScarlett
pfm Member
Can't agree with your statement about the 33, property serviced 33's used in direct mode (bypassing the tone controls) sound excellent ime, as I mentioned above I prefer mine to a passive preamp into a 303.
One issue to bare in mind (I think it may already have been mentioned earlier in the thread) is the input sensitivity of the 33 may not suit modern sources. Easily solved by using the tape input which has adjustable sensitivity or using attenuators.
TS
Tony L
Administrator
The correct output transistors can still be found with a little searching, e.g. here are some on eBay. I stockpiled a few a decade or so ago.
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
TonyScarlett
pfm Member
The other advantage with the 33/303 is that they are popular enough that stripping tatty examples for spare parts is probably not as frowned upon as it is with some other less popular amps. In that respect I really don't see any issue with spare parts in the short to medium term.
Contrast that with a lot of vintage amps where most spare parts are basically unobtanium.
TS
Contrast that with a lot of vintage amps where most spare parts are basically unobtanium.
TS
colasblue
pfm Member
I was thinking more about the very earliest actually
Did Quad ever actually fit transistors labelled 2N3055? even though they are equivalent.
later (1980's) example
Did Quad ever actually fit transistors labelled 2N3055? even though they are equivalent.
later (1980's) example
Tony L
Administrator
I researched this ages ago, and have obviously forgotten everything I learned since, but IIRC the former is an RCA specific product number, the latter the same thing under a more general name. Think 12AX7 vs. ECC83. The key is the ‘H’ at the end which refers to ‘hometaxial’, an early type of transistor design. Versions without this are IIRC not exact equivalents.
PS My spares are all RCA 38494, so I can’t be sure.