Hi there,
I have recently salvaged my old 33 and 303 Quad amp from my dad's in France. A very dusty farm house! It's clearly in desperate need of TLC!
I want to build a new system with "modern" speakers and cd player. I've looked at getting it upgraded by Fidele Audio in Scotland. They will do a full upgrade of both the 33 and 303, for £375.
Quad on the other hand are much closer to me but form what I understand will only do a basic service. My gut feeling is that Quad is the logical place to end it. I would love to get opinions on the relative pros and cons of both options.
many thank's
Will
I have recently salvaged my old 33 and 303 Quad amp from my dad's in France. A very dusty farm house! It's clearly in desperate need of TLC!
I want to build a new system with "modern" speakers and cd player. I've looked at getting it upgraded by Fidele Audio in Scotland. They will do a full upgrade of both the 33 and 303, for £375.
Quad on the other hand are much closer to me but form what I understand will only do a basic service. My gut feeling is that Quad is the logical place to end it. I would love to get opinions on the relative pros and cons of both options.
many thank's
Will
I had Quad service an old 303 and FM2 years back. Don't spend a lot of money on old Quad transistor gear (except maybe the tuners, which are quite good). The 303 is very dated sonically. Early variants of the 33 preamp are chronically unreliable because of a flawed design. They are also very dated sonically. You'd get much better results from slightly less old Naim gear IME.
Hi guys,
Thank's for the replies. I'm sending the amp to quad to get serviced. I'm now thinking of either replacing the 33 with something "better" such as the 34 or later.
I'm putting together a system from scratch, bar the 33&303, that I've had since i was 15 and recently salgaged from my dads farm house.
As speakers I'm looking to use Dynaudio focus 110. Next will be finding an appropriate CD player.
I recently sold all my cyrus hi-fi and dali Ikon 6, which to be honest i never warmed to, so I'm looking forward to a warmer and hopefully fuller bass sound. The style of music i listen to tends to be quite bassy.
Cheers
Will
Thank's for the replies. I'm sending the amp to quad to get serviced. I'm now thinking of either replacing the 33 with something "better" such as the 34 or later.
I'm putting together a system from scratch, bar the 33&303, that I've had since i was 15 and recently salgaged from my dads farm house.
As speakers I'm looking to use Dynaudio focus 110. Next will be finding an appropriate CD player.
I recently sold all my cyrus hi-fi and dali Ikon 6, which to be honest i never warmed to, so I'm looking forward to a warmer and hopefully fuller bass sound. The style of music i listen to tends to be quite bassy.
Cheers
Will
I’ve owed at least a dozen Quad 303. As said earlier it is a very dated sound… you can do a lot better today and not have to spend a lot of money. An LM3875 (or 3886) amplifier for instance (that is what i was listening to when i got my last Quad 303). And the ACA (soon available again at the diyAudio Store) id a step up the ladder from that.
What kind of speakers do you have?
dave
What kind of speakers do you have?
dave
Also, the 303 was designed by a legendary audio engineer. I grew up listening to that amp. I did not know back then there was way better sounding tube amps dating back to the 50s (40s?). The 303 was such a weak link compared to some of the speakers it was connected to.... Did people just want to believe that the transistor stuff sounded good?
I originally got the 33/303 at 15 years of age, 42 now. was my first ever hi-fi purchase. So getting it serviced etc is a labour of love I guess. I may pass it on to fund my new system mind....
I'm getting a pair of Dynaudio Focus 110. any ideas on amp choices to run these speakers? Very general question i know!
I'm getting a pair of Dynaudio Focus 110. any ideas on amp choices to run these speakers? Very general question i know!
I think that the design and appearance of the 303 is its best quality. It really is magnificent - a timeless, simple and beautifully constructed piece of industrial art. It's just a pity that the electronics are now dated and the smooth sound quality isn't all that wonderful, even restored.
After 50 years, it has value as a collectible but I think it best to keep the restoration budget in check. Otherwise, if you decide to sell it after spending ₤375+, you'll be hard pressed to recover your total costs. It has to be immaculate to reach the top in a competitive market where there is a good supply of them.
After 50 years, it has value as a collectible but I think it best to keep the restoration budget in check. Otherwise, if you decide to sell it after spending ₤375+, you'll be hard pressed to recover your total costs. It has to be immaculate to reach the top in a competitive market where there is a good supply of them.
I turned a pair of them into mono blocs, effectively doubling the power supply and leaving spare output transistors on the heatsink if you had a blow up.
TLS.org | Quad 303 monobloks
dave
TLS.org | Quad 303 monobloks
dave
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