Which to choose? A Quad 66 or a Croft 25 Basic?

[YNWaN]

Well I AM, for some cack-handed reason

Umm...indeed

[DSJR]

Great - thanks for the reassurance.

I have to come clean and admit that I’m not chasing complete neutrality. The fattening of the sound by the A48 flatters the leaner, scratchier examples of fifty year old vinyl that I love so much. I don’t want to lose the warmth (and the tone controls allow me to lift the bass by a few dB at around 60-80 Hz when necessary), hence my consideration of valves and/or class A, but I do want to open the soundstage and improve the bass timing which is particularly slow at the moment.

The Crofts, with both valves and mosfets, are possibly the golden ticket. Unless anyone suggests other alternatives, these are what I shall listen to asap.

How does the Croft combination compare with the modern Sugden A21 series 2 integrated? An amp that may be considered a natural progression in my system...

I've only heard current Sugden a very few times, but very warm toned and slightly silky-soft comes to mind - nothing like the fun, evrr-so-slightly dirty punch of your amp..