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In Reply to: RE: Congratulations! posted by Mr Blue Sky on September 03, 2014 at 22:17:25
Dude I can't hear the ringing in my ears because my head is spinning. Audiophiles are fricken insane!
Mine is a 1963 Plymouth Valiant - I mean, it's a 1969 bulgin power cord dented gold brick that takes 72 hours to even start sounding un-muddy and it is the most beautiful LUSH yet decent imaging / detail / bass (tube midrange, solid state bass but with character and imaging) amp I've ever experienced. Maybe too beautiful - at least according to the Quad 606, but I preferred it by a landslide on the 57's and 63's, so much so I'd never go from 63's to 57's again - extra octave, way better dynamics, one way point source imaging.
Now, let's be real - they're 40 years old now, we're getting into electrical hazard territory - but I recall one Stereophile or TAS artice where the guy was waxing poetic about the 303 - he bought one at a garage sale or something - plugged it in - and said "it worked perfectly" - but that was Quad back in the day. And that article was probably 20 years ago.
I had a net-audio one - did not like it. Went back to my bulgin power cord dented 1969 Valiant. I'm not saying rush out and buy one - take some time, but my bet is a 1970's 303 will work better than a 1990's somethingorother. I had a Nad 3020 once - the 303 danced circles around it and did a little tapdance on it's head. But the 3020 was probably past it's prime. The 303 - after 72 hours - was not. Full disclosure, I did not give the 3020 72 hours - it was off by a country mile.
It's also possible they were voiced more "modern" over the years - perhaps some Quad expert here knows that. Mine, being 1969 - was voiced to the Quad II tube amps by Peter Walker IN NINETEEN SIXTY NINE (or 67 or whatever). Perhaps the older are better - I wouldn't know, I've still got the same 1969 one I bought in university.
Religion is the world's oldest profession
Follow Ups:
Well I hope that if I get the restored amp that it hasn't lost the magic. My experience dictates that bringing amps "up to modern standards" most of the time means the death of the original alluring qualities.
I have a "Chinese" 909 which still has all the audiophile unapproved Chinese caps, etc, etc.
I have removed the Quadlink board ( eliminated the power on led, oh dear) which made a dramatic difference in overall transparency.
The 909 makes my US Monitors dance and sing. My tube amps get used about once a month for a while.
The single 909 has plenty of power in my 20X20 room, but I run the Quads from about 100 hz up, subs below.
I would think a 909 would be fine with 57's if you were careful with the go pedal.
I have the audiophile approved "better" reservoir caps, etc, and some day I will get around to swapping them out, but right now I can's spare the amp out of the system that long.
We agree on that, I'm looking for another 606 MkII and want an original. If I'm alive 20 years from now, I'll still be listening to my current 606. If you see an original 303 with a bulgin power cord (the round one) and can hear it working, you might get lucky - but in the $500 range I wouldn't sneeze at a newer 303 either - they didn't change that much I'm sure.
Damn me to hell though I do want to hear the Quad QMP current dumping "briged 909" (260 watts?) type deals in my massive room, it's just a 606 really (with the interference of their Quadlink thing). But it's quite possible Quad is just a roll of the dice on inconsistent chinese built crapola these days, and I've had some experiences with newer stuff that leads me to think that. Not sure if Stereophie/TAS open amps up to peer inside any more - and even if they do, they should buy one off the shelf - take the roll of the dice the rest of us do.
But honestly, I can't really imagine improvement on my 606 in my current room - really can't - at least not at the still quite low volumes I listen at.
Religion is the world's oldest profession
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