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New QUAD 33 / 303 to be released...

X

xtal_recorder

pfm Member
Apologies if this is old news but couldn't find anything on the forums...

Has this been in the pipes for a while?

QUAD 33 - QUAD

www.quad-hifi.co.uk www.quad-hifi.co.uk

QUAD 303 - QUAD

www.quad-hifi.co.uk www.quad-hifi.co.uk

QUAD-33-Artistic-1-1-scaled.jpg


QUAD-303-Artistic-2-scaled.jpg
 
Wow! Looks very intriguing. I love the 33/303 design, and have owned several over the years. I doubt I’d be able to resist a purchase if the 303 stays largely faithful to the original circuit design. I imagine the 33 will be a ground-up circuit design.

As an aside, I’m sure I didn’t imagine this, but seem to recall somebody on here mentioning there’d been rumours of Quad moving amp manufacture back to the UK. Wondering if the pandemic scotched those plans, if indeed the rumour was true.
 
Nice, a design classic, updated. I love the 303 and to a lesser extent the 33, but the 303 is a pig to package in a modern hifi rack or room.

I can't see why you would want the 303 to remain faithful to the original design. The Darlington triples were motivated by the low gain power transistors of the time, there's no need to replicate that with modern devices. Land Rover Series 2s of 1967 had carburettors, but you would be mad to put them on a modern SWB LR because computerised EFI does everything so much better.
 
Oh ! Looks nice.
Will the price be in the same ball park as the Nait 50 and/or will they build limited quantities to make it rare ?
Interesting to follow……..
I'm a Naim fan but one thing is for sure : Quad ALWAYS has been a serious manufacturer with top quality products so it’s a good start right there.
 
Gervais Cote said:
Oh ! Looks nice.
Will the price be in the same ball park as the Nait 50 and/or will they build limited quantities to make it rare ?
Interesting to follow……..
I'm a Naim fan but one thing is for sure : Quad ALWAYS has been a serious manufacturer with top quality products so it’s a good start right there.
Click to expand...
I'm in the same place, a long term Naim owner who always admired Quad's look and sound. I could be very tempted...
 
stevec67 said:
Nice, a design classic, updated. I love the 303 and to a lesser extent the 33, but the 303 is a pig to package in a modern hifi rack or room.
Click to expand...

Only if one bought-into the ridiculous hi-fi rack aesthetic of the ‘80s and onwards. I really like the 303 as it is narrow and takes up so little width. The 33 is nice and compact too. You can sit both next to one another in the space a typical 17” black box occupies with space between.

PS The new 303 has the wrong number of heatsink fins.
 
Tony L said:
Only if one bought-into the ridiculous hi-fi rack aesthetic of the ‘80s and onwards. I really like the 303 as it is narrow and takes up so little width. The 33 is nice and compact too. You can sit both next to one another in the space a typical 17” black box occupies with space between.

PS The new 303 has the wrong number of heatsink fins.
Click to expand...
I didn't buy into any "ridiculous aesthetic" but the 303 is too tall to go easily into most domestic setups. Believe me, I've tried.
 
Will it even be a discrete transistor Class AB?
It's not easy to find power transistors these days.
I see what looks like a standby switch. Standby power limits mean that the amplifier has to be turned off fully
 
I think it Looks great. I wonder how it will sound ? I have not heard any of the new Quad gear beyond a couple pair of there bookshelf speakers.
 
stevec67 said:
I didn't buy into any "ridiculous aesthetic" but the 303 is too tall to go easily into most domestic setups. Believe me, I've tried.
Click to expand...

53635125288_14338f0fff_b.jpg


I’ve always preferred narrow kit. The Rega Apollo, 303 make far more aesthetic/practical sense to me than say the huge Chord streamer/DAC in my system. I figured out quite a while ago that tall mass-loaded hi-fi racks sound terrible from a record player’s perspective, so I prefer to spread a system out low and sideways.

The 303 is the shape it is at least in part as it was the replacement for the Quad IIs. It occupies exactly the same footprint as a single II, which was useful at the time as so much lit was mounted out of view in big cabinets etc.

PS I’m not suggesting my table is ideal from the turntable’s perspective, it would be far happier on a Lack or something like that, but it is certainly far better off where it is than on a tall hi-fi rack laden with heavy amps etc.
 
Seems like a good time for these to make a reappearance.

Most components are now expected to be on top of a sleek looking sideboard / low shelf so having a Museum of Modern Art exhibited (no less) design classic front and centre would make it an attractive purchase for many.

I wonder if they'll revive the FM3 as a streamer...
 
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