There's a Quad 405 near me - should I buy it or not please?

[Tony L]

who'd have thought a stereo 20 would drive JR 149s?

The 149s, like LS3/5As are a very easy load barely dipping below 8 Ohms, and even then only in the extreme treble where there is usually far less energy. I should also caveat my liking the combination by pointing out I listen very much in the near-field and at moderate levels. I’m very much of the mindset that you don’t use little speakers to fill big rooms or listen to them loudly! Want loud? Need big. Every time.

 

[mandryka]

And in all fairness Rogers recommended amps as low as 20W, though that was their lower level

https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/jr-loudspeakers/jr149.shtml

 

[davidsrsb]

JR149s suit the 405. The 405 MK1 was an over cautious design that does not like 3R B&Ws, the MKII was better, but the 306 and later models really got it right for driving nasty reactive loads
The 405 has a noisy input stage and is not ideal for ~100dB/W speakers as you will get annoyed by hiss.

 

[lordsummit]

The 306 is lovely, I’ve not heard a 405, so can’t compare, but I have heard a 303 struggle to drive modern speakers. It’s not pretty. The 306 is silent into the 95Db/w speakers I use (unless there’s music playing of course) no hiss is evident. If you were to be using Klipsch though my experiences with the heritage range suggest that the 303 would be a pretty good match. They don’t need loads of power up them.

 

[Arkless Electronics]

I quite like the 405. I rate it as far better than the 303. There are loads of mods that can be done to them to improve them and a quieter op amp should sort the hiss.
I have a couple in for modding and recapping at the moment and will likely offer a 405 specific upgrade service shortly.

 

[stevec67]

I've had 405s, I biamped them for a while, they were great. That fixes their ability into low impedance loads. The mk 2 is better. With mods they are very good.

 

[Darmok]

Very few Quad 405s went into recording studios, it was the Quad 50E mono block that were the yard stick along with the H&H mono blocks.

If you decide to use a 405 with a pair of Quad ELS 57, you must use a pair of output limiting resistors else, well, you can guess.

 

[Arkless Electronics]

Very few Quad 405s went into recording studios, it was the Quad 50E mono block that were the yard stick along with the H&H mono blocks.

If you decide to use a 405 with a pair of Quad ELS 57, you must use a pair of output limiting resistors else, well, you can guess.

Many 405's were used in studios as were 303 earlier. The BBC used loads of them and they were built in to several of the BBC active studio monitors...

 

[Darmok]

Many 405's were used in studios as were 303 earlier. The BBC used loads of them and they were built in to several of the BBC active studio monitors...

From you, I stand corrected.

Doesn't the Quad 50E have an output transformer and can supply music through 100v line speaker chains?

 

[beammeup]

Well thanks for all your advice - I WENT AHEAD AND BOUGHT IT!!.

They were a lovely old couple and owned the Quad from brand new - comes complete with box and manuals. FURTHERMORE they had the matching Quad 44 preamp - I COULD NOT RESIST or bear to see them parted - so I bought that too.

All in mint condition, with their original boxes.

 

[Stunsworth]

Congratulations. I used a 44/405 for a number of years. In fact I bought a re-capped 405 a couple of years ago for the office system.

 

[Craig B]

Quad 405 and an Au101 do not even stand in the same continent.

Yes, one of them doesn't hiss like a snake into high efficiency speakers.

 

[Darmok]

Congratulations. I used a 44/405 for a number of years.

Same here, after a few years returned to Thermionics and remain there.

 

[stevec67]

From you, I stand corrected.

Doesn't the Quad 50E have an output transformer and can supply music through 100v line speaker chains?

Yes, correct. The 50d, 50e, 303 and 405 were all BBC favourites.

 

[Martyn Miles]

I use a 405 as a PA amplifier.
At home a 303 is used in an audio system.

 

[Tony L]

Very few Quad 405s went into recording studios, it was the Quad 50E mono block that were the yard stick along with the H&H mono blocks.

The 405 was the next generation and usually partnered with the next generation of Tannoys (SRMs, SGMs etc). Just about every studio I visited in the ‘80s used this main monitor rig.

 

[Tony L]

Well thanks for all your advice - I WENT AHEAD AND BOUGHT IT!!.

They were a lovely old couple and owned the Quad from brand new - comes complete with box and manuals. FURTHERMORE they had the matching Quad 44 preamp - I COULD NOT RESIST or bear to see them parted - so I bought that too.

All in mint condition, with their original boxes.

Excellent stuff! Mint and boxed is exactly what you want as you will find them very easy to move on should you not care for them (clean 44s are really quite hard to find). If they really are nice ones be very reluctant to have them ‘modified’ or ‘upgraded’ as you will devalue them.

 

[jackbarron]

Well thanks for all your advice - I WENT AHEAD AND BOUGHT IT!!.

They were a lovely old couple and owned the Quad from brand new - comes complete with box and manuals. FURTHERMORE they had the matching Quad 44 preamp - I COULD NOT RESIST or bear to see them parted - so I bought that too.

All in mint condition, with their original boxes.

That's a smart move. I had a 405-2, which I then had updated. I used it with a 44 and later on an updated 34. Wish I hadn't sold them.

The updating was done by a chap on pfm, who is known for his Quad expertise.

Jack

 

[Darmok]

The 405 was the next generation and usually partnered with the next generation of Tannoys (SRMs, SGMs etc). Just about every studio I visited in the ‘80s used this main monitor rig.

Excellent, thanks for this correction Tony.

My 44 came to me s/h fitted with a pair of cannon XLR/3 sockets, so must have come out of a pro install.

I bought it from a Hi-Fi shop in Hither Green, south London, can't recall the retailers name.

I guess someone here will?

No, it wasn't Billy Vee.

 

[Craig B]

Was it Tune Inn?