Great build quality and vitualy indestructable power amp, unconditional stable into any load! 'The closest approach to the original sound'

Din sockets a bit of a pain but technically better than phono sockets. Why else would Quad use them?

I really take exception to the review posted by Henry Hill. Is the man a complete moron or is he suffering from some horrible disease of the ear (or mind)? If so, he has my utmost sympathy. If not, opinions from this person on the quality of hi fi sound reproduction is highly suspect and should be considered with the contempt it deserves.

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Ex hi fi engineer - heard just about everything.

Personality, aftersales service even on vintage models, low purchase price if you look around.

None really

Twinned with matching control unit, Thorens deck with SME arm and a vintage pair of Tannoy Cheviots, the sound never ceases to excite. If you can put up with the sometimes temperamental swithches on the control unit, its hard to match the sound without spending many thousands more. I wont be getting rid of this system.

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Quad valve amp

Neutral, likes difficult loads

Limited power

Cute little 45 watt/channel antique powers the original Quad ESL well, but is quite an eye opener with the smaller Magnepans. Lends them extension and weight in the bass that goes beyond power rating. Overbuilt and able to handle difficult loads. May not have the hyper detail of today's crop of the best, but always honors the music. Presently serving in my video system as a subwoofer amp powering a pair of 15s. Lotsa fun, cheap and versatile.

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Audire,Bryston,Lecson,etc

It's ability to get on with it's job

Connector's both power and audio

Iv'e owned mine for a couple of year's now after reading a UK hi-fi mag review awhile ago. I also heard the 33/303 many years earlier, as my friend's dad was an audio enthusiast. I have a 33 and bi-amped 303,plus an fm2.First thing i did was to replace the smoothing caps in the power supply in the 303's, as they were sounding tired. Next to come under the soldering iron was the volume pot, this was changed to a Blue Alps 50k dual log (e-mail me for instruction if you so wish). Just these two easy tweaks made a big difference on a superb sounding set up.The set up is LP12/Akito/K9, AH Tjoeb99 and IPL S3TLM's (check out tnt-audio for IPLs S3's)
Kit speaker's. All cables are of tnt/IPL recipies.
The sound of this lot is WARM,SMOOTH and EXTREMLEY life like. Just a small outlay of monies on the tweak's i did has turned what i paid (350£) for the whole lot in to a system costing three to four times as much.

sound

age(??)

funny, reading similar opinions to mine. I listened as a child often to a combination of Quad 33/303 w JBL two ways (Lancer 99) and a Thorens 124MkII w SME of my grandparents, the whole package was delivered in 1967. Now inherited this stunning-sounding set, i would (as musician) even master on it for its detailed sound. Unfortunately the age take its price, low scratching, independent of volume control movement/position is hearable, an overhaul too expensive. so i'm currently looking out for a review of the new 99 series, if any of you encountered one, would you pass me the url?
Again, this quad ampl. is the last for me, considered the other opinions and, plus, the "career" of the 405 amp in pretty many p.a. systems.

david

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80's integrateds (marantz, denon, technics a.s.f.)

Bang for the buck, a dependabilty high water mark, SOUND.

Ummm, kinda frumpy looking? Obviously not the ultimate in any sense (except maybe value).

Holy crap! (eloquent start huh) I have just elected myself the official king of good sound on the cheap. M&K towers with dual amped subs for 400$ (Classic Audio, Seattle), old Magnavox CDB 624 cd trans, CAL sigma II and Music Metre Signature dig. cable (300$ brand new, Advanced Audio Systems, Tacoma), Quad 303 amp 200$ (Hawthorne Stereo, Seattle), Older Tara labs Time and Space speaker cable (cheap), Music Link Transparent plus interconnect (140$ demo, Definitive Audio Seattle), Music and Sound interconnects, old and nearly free. Creek OBH-12, 240$ (Hawthorne). I got this combo hooked up just yesterday, and it kind of freaked me out. I'm hearing a soundstage that at times is FEET beyond lateral boundaries of the speakers, mids are very nice and highs are lacking any sign of getting on my nerves. I'm hearing wierd things like little breaths that I never heard before, and a certain realism that makes me wonder for a second if certain sounds are coming from somewhere other than the speakers. On Julie Miller's "My blue pony" there are some pedal powered organ sounds that are erie sounding. It's hard to pick out pieces of this system and say "The amp sounds this or that way", but it's safe to say that it's pretty dynamic, relatively smooth, quiet. Linn and Naim for instance are more sophisticated sounding, but good sound is like fast cars, "Speed costs money, how fast do you wanna go"? Next it's try a "Foreplay" DIY active pre, a better tube in the DAC, replace the old Tara and Music and Sound stuff- loads of fun,

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Parasound, Audiolab, NAD, HK, assorted garbage.

Good clear sound.

DIN plugs, I fitted phonos to mine.

I was given my 33/303 when a friend died. I didn't really know what I had but I made a few induiries, connected it up and was very impressed. I'm not really an audiophile more of a muso, but I had never had such a good sounding system before.

I made a few enquiries and found that the 33 pre-amp is the weakest link. I got rid of this by using an Alps vol pot wired straight into the interconnect from the CD, another big improvement.

BUT OH DEAR! I was then persuaded by Quad to send it back for a service (£40 plus parts) for a "definite improvement", they said they would bring it back to its original spec.

When it came back it sounded dull, flat and mushy in the midrange and high frequencies, and has lost all its presence and clarity. The bass is a little improved but on the whole it has turned from a great sounding amp which I loved into a dreary sounding cheap amp which I hate and don't want to keep.

I have noticed they have swapped a few caps for new ones at a different value, this may be the cause, or it could be that the original components were selected well for the design and the modern equivalents are just not as good. Maybe they just set it up wrong. Anyway it sounds crap now and I am not happy with them.

Quad have asked for it back for another look, it's there now and I'll keep you posted of developments. But right now after five weeks without music, £100 spent in total, and the possibilty of no way back to what it was... I wish I'd never bothered.

I'll post an update of what Quad do or say to sort it out.

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Used with Tannoy R1, cheap Technics CD player.

The sound. Styling. Build quality

Din plugs other than that none

Even though I just bought this in the spring I'll never sell it. Sounds good, looks interesting, built like a tank. The imaging when combined with my 33 is great, beats the HK amp that I used to own.

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quad 33, fm3

Warm sweet sound

None

This is one hell of a amp. I never expected to hear such sweet sound from my small Mission 732 speakers. It's full of details and warmth, you'd have to hear it to understand what I mean. If you see it somewhere, get it. Trust me you will not make a mistake.

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Magnum, Rotel

Most durable amp I ever used.

design

I've used this as amp for bassguitar (really!) and it has a tremendous power.
It survived life on the road for 5 years.
I also used it for normal hifi purposes.
It has been abused in every way, but just keeps working.

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Luxman , Marantz