Quad HIFI Ideas?

[Ian Shaw]

Hi Guys,

Hope I'm in the right forum, but I saw other posts about quad gear so here goes:

I have an old quad system in the loft given to me by my Dad before he passed away some years ago. It's a 405 power amp, 33 pre amp & an FM tuner from memory. My old man was a bit of a HIFI buff & he also had those huge electrostatic speakers the size of radiators at one point. They took up most of the lounge much to my Mum's dismay.

I did set it up & test it a few years back & although it worked it all sounded very bassy & no treble.

So I'm just wondering what to do with it really. I see the power amps are quite popular in studios, so I could sell it, but the FM tuner? does anyone really listen to FM anymore.

I could get it all serviced assuming quad are still in existence and use it myself but I already have a good Arcam system & tbh usually listen to stuff via Spotify these days. Obviously, it has some nostalgic importance to me but seems a waste just sitting there not being used.

Any suggestions?

Ian

PS Anyone remember the test record that came with Quad systems with tube trains & aircraft sounds to test the speakers had been set up correctly?

[ef37a]

Don't say that about FM! Any excuse and they will shut the transmitters down! (FM will actually feed into a post I am about to make in SoS, not sure where atmo?)

If you are not going to use the system you would be best I think to flog it on the Bay. The 405 especially might need a service, especially if it is an early one. If Quad are still have the same customer care as of old (shared with CTH and others of that era) they will have the ser # on file and can advise you.

Hugh said in another post that the 33 pre amp is noisier than modern gear? No doubt it could be modded but why bother?

I have an Arcam system! Alpha 6+ amplifier and an Arcam CD unit (that plays silly buggers but eventually works ok!). Feeds a pair of Mission 770s. All shoved in a tiny spare room atmo and I need to get it sorted for my old(er) age.

Dave.

[CapnStratagee]

There is still quite an avid QUAD fanbase out there.

QUAD themselves are still in existence and provide good customer service, so you have a couple of options really:

1. Send it to QUAD for a service
2. Upgrade it, take a look at DADA electronics http://www.dadaelectronics.eu/Home.htm

If you have a facebook account I recommend the british hifi appreciation page. A post on there would give you plenty of advice and interest.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/484246431649826/

I run a 44 pre amp into a 405/2 power amp. The amp was serviced not so long ago and the only upgrade I have done is to add a Tisbury phono stage as the 44 phono is useable but can be improved. That's if you are into vinyl.

By all accounts, the QUAD upgrades bring the amp upto modern standards, but the amp itself is a classic innovative design for it's time - current dumping and all that. It was designed to serve the electrostatic speakers you mention. The 405/ESL combination is stuff of dreams, your father had good taste.

Nick...

[cyrano.mac]

See what an ESL63 is capable of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ypMzQfr92Q

[Hugh Robjohns]

It's all been said... there is a huge demand for all your components -- the 33 preamp, 405 amp and fm3 (or fm4) tuner -- and they will sell for good prices almost regardless of their condition to vintage high buffs.

If you want to keep and use them yourself they will need to be checked and serviced before hooking them up to your favourite speakers. The big electrolytic capacitors in the 405 will probably need replacing and the rest of the units might need some TLC too. As has been said, the current Quad company in Huntingdon will do it for a good price, but there also several independent specialists that will do it too, and they can also apply a range of worthwhile performance upgrades -- especially to the 405 and 33.

[Ian Shaw]

Thanks for the replies.

i'm gonna get it all out of the loft this weekend & hook it up to see what's working, & contact Quad & see roughly what it would cost to get to serviced before I make a decision.

Don't say that about FM! Any excuse and they will shut the transmitters down! (FM will actually feed into a post I am about to make in SOS, not sure where atmo?)

I have an Arcam system! Alpha 6+ amplifier and an Arcam CD unit (that plays silly buggers but eventually works ok!). Feeds a pair of Mission 770s. All shoved in a tiny spare room atmo and I need to get it sorted for my old(er) age.
Dave.

Sounds your Arcam system is in a similar state to mine! Also, to my ears ,FM still sounds better than the digital stuff!

See what an ESL63 is capable of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ypMzQfr92Q

Those are the ones my dad had. For some reason his Mantovani records still sounded terrible on them

[Sam Spoons]

I had an Elkie Brooks album that was almost unlistenable on the Kef 104s, very harsh and brittle in the high mid

[Arpangel]

These units still sound very good indeed, and are well worth using, I have a 405 and a 33 preamp. The 33 has a lovely sound, quite rich and smooth, the perfect thing for taming the high end on some modern CD players.
Quad I've found aern't easy to contact at all, they are now part of the IAG group, and customer service has gone down hill a bit. I wanted some leads made up for mine, and ended up using an independent chap. Once you could speak to Quad on the telephone, not anymore.

[Martin Walker]

Thanks for the replies.

i'm gonna get it all out of the loft this weekend & hook it up to see what's working, & contact Quad & see roughly what it would cost to get to serviced before I make a decision.

Hi Ian,

If this hasn't been switched on for years then do be careful:

If you want to keep and use them yourself they will need to be checked and serviced before hooking them up to your favourite speakers. The big electrolytic capacitors in the 405 will probably need replacing.

There's a small possibility that one of these electrolytic capacitors might go bang when you first switch on

Martin

[ef37a]

"Also, to my ears ,FM still sounds better than the digital stuff!"

^ Probably all that inter-band jiggery-pokery Hugh mentioned in another thread!

I think it is ALL digital now Ian.

Dave.

[Ian Shaw]

There's a small possibility that one of these electrolytic capacitors might go bang when you first switch on

Martin

Thanks, Martin, I'll look forward to that!

[Ian Shaw]

So, it's out of the loft.

It's actually a 405-2 power amp, 34 pre-amp & FM4 tuner. All in original boxes with manuals.

Not sure if it's got all those din connectors though. If you see a puff of smoke it's probably me!

[Ian Shaw]

Here's a pic, I hope:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0uomfyhepcqdzhn/Quad.png?dl=0

[Drew Stephenson]

pic errors out for me. Permissions maybe?

[Sam Spoons]

Works for me, and leaves me slightly green with envy............

[Ian Shaw]

Well ,it all lights up as it should. All the connecting leads are present & correct. I'll find a better way of posting a pic once I've tried it out

[Drew Stephenson]

Apologies, works on a different browser for me.

[Martin Walker]

Wow - still give me goosebumps seeing that 'so individual' Quad gear after all these years

Martin

[Sam Spoons]

FWIW I still own that other '70s classic a Sugden A48 (yup the orange and brown one.....)

[Ian Shaw]

FWIW I still own that other '70s classic a Sugden A48 (yup the orange and brown one.....)

Touché. Anyone beat that?!

Wow - still give me goosebumps seeing that 'so individual' Quad gear after all these years

Martin

I remember going some HIFI specialist with my Dad to demo the quad setup with the electrostatics & the guy put on my favourite Genesis album- Trick of the Tail, I think- I was pretty much pinned back in the chair by the volume, but ,man, what a sound!

[Logarhythm]

Touché. Anyone beat that?!

Love the colours on that Sugden
At risk of extending the 70s hifi love-in, I have a Sansui AU 20000 that I'm rather fond of:

[Sam Spoons]

Swap you then The Quad was the one when I were a lad (33/303 back then) when I was buying the Sugden was more 'affordable' and considered pretty good. I don't run a 'hifi' any more as I do any listening in the studio.

Do you still have the electrostatics? A mate of my dad had a pair and they were awesome.

I also have a Quad 522 (a 405 in a rack case with BBC mods applied) which was my main PA amp for several years before settling down to studio life. It's awaiting some TLC as I type before returning to the studio.

[John Willett]

That Quat setup is perfect

The 34 pre-amp was basically a 44 in a smaller box. I think it missed rhe excellent tilt tone control the 44 had.

The ESL 63 were superb loudspeakers (Tony Faulner used (uses) them as main monitors for classical music recording. They did lack deep bass, though. But they are prone to being affected by room acoustics as they have a fig-8 radiation pattern.

I still think that system would still run rings around most modern hi-fi systems.

[ef37a]

I was approached many years ago by one of the most successful disco businesses in the town to fix the power amp/deck preamp that had failed. This used the ubiquitous 2N3055s and was optimistically rated at 70W pch.

After it had failed a second time I convinced them to splash out on a pair of Quad 50Es. "But only 50 watts" they bemoaned. "Trust me" I said and was proved right. The 50Es easily kicked more A than the cheap disco amps and went on without trouble for years. At least I never got another call!

I knew of the Quads because dad was chippy forman for an organ builders and they were using the same amps to power a pedal board speaker (monophonic Germanium transistors!)

Dave.

[Arpangel]

Quad and a lot of other established British brands were a victim of the Japanese hi-fI boom of the 70's, products by the likes of Trio, Sony, Pioneer etc were really much better value for money, better built, and in some cases sounded way better than a lot of British hi-fi at the time, they were also more reliable and less idiosyncratic.
I had a Quad 303/33 in 1978 and my friends Trio pre-power combination just blew it out of the water sound wise, it was quite depressing.
I'll never forget that system of his, it sounded stunning, Michell Hydraulic Reference turntable, Trio LO series pre/power amp, Infinity hybrid electrostatic speakers, and a Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck. The Infinity spekers overcame the lack of bass you get with electrostatics, they had a 12inch bass driver, but with electrostatic units handling the mid and top.
But now older hi-fi is far superior to a lot of new stuff, I think it was the use of discreet components back then, cheap generic IC's are used a lot these days.
I'm looking at buying a new amp, short list is a Croft Integrated, or if I can run to it a McIntosh of some sort, but the jury is out, can't think of anything else though that can compete, at the moment.
PS, a very underrated brand at the time were Ferrograph, they had a lovely amplifier, sounded wonderful, wouldn't mind one of those if I could find one.