Suitable amplifier/receiver for Thorens td150/shure v15 typeii under £300?

[Barry]

Since I'm accused of this, I'm going to call it Jez and claim you probably have very old memories and haven't followed what can be done (later and in my case, via the excellent dada update kit) to a 33 without replacing all the boards a la Net Audio. Mine certainly doesn't 'suck' at all in comparison with a passive although very low bass is lightened, despite the C400 change to 1uF and this slight low bass lightening is perfect for the 303, which goes off at sub-terrainian frequencies, I think due to the capacitor loading. All old gear will probably need some work and the 33 needs more than most to fully update it, but I've been genuinely surprised how my 33 has come up (I say mine, it's on permanent loan at present) with some carefully considered updates, the pair sound enchanting together and THEY HOLD THEIR VALUE better than most. Sure, preamp design came on a long way after the 80's, let alone the mid 60's when the 33 (and basic single rail Naim preamp designs of old) were conceived, but Quad did the best they could with what was available back then and this basic circuit can be usefully tweaked to be far less invasive.

I think at present, I'd rather have an updated Quad 33 to an early DIN equipped 34, which can sound dynamically 'foggy' to me. The later 34 and 44 were rather more open to the source I remember.

Sorry Jez and all, I'm just looking at a vintage source the OP has and thinking of a 'period' amp to help get the best out of it that doesn't reproduce the flaws instead of the music. I can get half decent sounds from an 8000A, but there's still a touch of 'grain' there I remember, fixed in the later 8000S which lacks a phono stage, so defeats the task at hand.

Loads of other good 80's UK made amps for around £300. Onyx was good back then, Naim Nait 1 and 2's are fetching stupid money now and quite outside their ability set imo, but would make a good financial investment when their lack of power and terminal soft-clipping compression got annoying - in my opinion.

Good post Dave.

[Arkless Electronics]

Since I'm accused of this, I'm going to call it Jez and claim you probably have very old memories and haven't followed what can be done (later and in my case, via the excellent dada update kit) to a 33 without replacing all the boards a la Net Audio. Mine certainly doesn't 'suck' at all in comparison with a passive although very low bass is lightened, despite the C400 change to 1uF and this slight low bass lightening is perfect for the 303, which goes off at sub-terrainian frequencies, I think due to the capacitor loading. All old gear will probably need some work and the 33 needs more than most to fully update it, but I've been genuinely surprised how my 33 has come up (I say mine, it's on permanent loan at present) with some carefully considered updates, the pair sound enchanting together and THEY HOLD THEIR VALUE better than most. Sure, preamp design came on a long way after the 80's, let alone the mid 60's when the 33 (and basic single rail Naim preamp designs of old) were conceived, but Quad did the best they could with what was available back then and this basic circuit can be usefully tweaked to be far less invasive.

I think at present, I'd rather have an updated Quad 33 to an early DIN equipped 34, which can sound dynamically 'foggy' to me. The later 34 and 44 were rather more open to the source I remember.

Sorry Jez and all, I'm just looking at a vintage source the OP has and thinking of a 'period' amp to help get the best out of it that doesn't reproduce the flaws instead of the music. I can get half decent sounds from an 8000A, but there's still a touch of 'grain' there I remember, fixed in the later 8000S which lacks a phono stage, so defeats the task at hand.

Loads of other good 80's UK made amps for around £300. Onyx was good back then, Naim Nait 1 and 2's are fetching stupid money now and quite outside their ability set imo, but would make a good financial investment when their lack of power and terminal soft-clipping compression got annoying - in my opinion. Cyrus 2 but only with PSX as it has a half decent phono stage and the leaner tones would suit the Shure.

It's unlikely he OP wants to start messing with mods and upgrades to a 33 and I 100% stand by what I said. It sucks big time and is highly unreliable. The only place for a standard 33 is as an objet d'art or a door stop.... Such fun having to fiddle with the plug in boards every few hours to stop them crackling etc...
Also the OP has already ruled out 33/303 on WAF grounds...

[Simon75]

Thanks for the advice, it's given me plenty of food for thought. Currently considering the rotel ra610, the price is appealing and the phono stage gets decent reports.

[DSJR]

Very old and may be crossover distortion prone (audible distortion, this) if memory serves. Worth getting a good engineer to look it over and re-set the quiescent currents if necessary. Don't dismiss an equivalent period Yamaha CA600 (800's and 1000's are even better) as they sound less strained I recall.

[Simon75]

That's interesting you mention the Yamaha CAs, I was just looking at them this morning, I may well go with that option. Looks like they would retain their value if I opted for something different later down the line.

[Barry]

It's unlikely he OP wants to start messing with mods and upgrades to a 33 and I 100% stand by what I said. It sucks big time and is highly unreliable. The only place for a standard 33 is as an objet d'art or a door stop.... Such fun having to fiddle with the plug in boards every few hours to stop them crackling etc...
Also the OP has already ruled out 33/303 on WAF grounds...

Really? Everyone I know who has used one (including myself) has never complained of this. Highly unreliable? If they were, I doubt the BBC would use them.

[Simon75]

Looks like a Yamaha ca410 is going for a reasonable price. Any experience of this model?

[Arkless Electronics]

Really? Everyone I know who has used one (including myself) has never complained of this. Highly unreliable? If they were, I doubt the BBC would use them.

That's how I found them to be and several friends who owned them. Not unreliable in terms of breaking down altogether but in terms of crackles and pops due to dirt on edge connectors etc and therefore regularly needing a thump or a play with the plug in boards to re seat them.
I love their styling and they are par for the course with most other late 60's pre amps but I don't regard them as good enough for use in a modern hi fi system by some margin... Unless of course one is trying to get a retro sound... soft, diffuse, rounded off and lacking at frequency extremes etc.

[Simon75]

Or the Yamaha ca610?

[Barry]

That's how I found them to be and several friends who owned them. Not unreliable in terms of breaking down altogether but in terms of crackles and pops due to dirt on edge connectors etc and therefore regularly needing a thump or a play with the plug in boards to re seat them.
I love their styling and they are par for the course with most other late 60's pre amps but I don't regard them as good enough for use in a modern hi fi system by some margin... Unless of course one is trying to get a retro sound... soft, diffuse, rounded off and lacking at frequency extremes etc.

Are you talking about the internal boards or the two user-changeable tape and disc input boards? Once fitted the internal boards make a good connection and there should be ant problems with dirt etc.. It is possible that the edge connections of the two input sensitivity/impedance matching boards might become dirty through poor handling, but as I say I have never experienced any problems there - when I have had to change the board, the contact area clearly showed witness marks where it had securely mated with the socket.

Implementing the NET or Dada upgrades to the 33 improves the performance to one commensurate with a "modern hi fi system".