Advice on Quad power amps.

[walpurgis]

i'm perfectly happy with the Little Bear, so maybe transparency doesn't have to cost a fortune.

The Little Bear is very clear and transparent, unfortunately the 20K pot fitted in mine does not suit the Quad 306, but works OK with my other power amps. It also sounds a sight nicer than the Tisbury I had for a short spell.

[Macca]

Thinking of knocking the Khozmo on the head, I'm thinking its too revealing for my rather budget system. I really want something to take the edge off of that scratchy 60s beat/rock that I love.

So that's not working out either? You could try a Marantz CD player. I've got a 67SE here, it practically remixes the recording but there are no hard edges at all. Great for some music, odd with others.

If that doesn't work it's blanket over the speakers time


You're not using some weird speaker cable are you?

[walpurgis]

You could have a look for a NAD 1020 pre-amp. That has a pretty innocuous sound and they can usually be picked up for around £100.

[Mikeandvan]

The Little Bear is very clear and transparent, unfortunately the 20K pot fitted in mine does not suit the Quad 306, but works OK with my other power amps. It also sounds a sight nicer than the Tisbury I had for a short spell.

Geoff, could you possibly make sense of this info I read on another forum about the 306, concerning attenuator loading? I thought it needed a higher rating, like 50K. Thanks.
"I tried mine with a couple of Audio Synthesis passive preamps, which are similarly very high quality stepped attenuators. It works very well. The 306 sensitivity is perfect for passive, the input impedance a little low at 20k IIRC, so assuming nice low impedance sources best to go with a 10k attenuator. Choose low capacitance and ideally short interconnects and you will have a great amp combo.The Khozmos are very good IMHO.

[walpurgis]

Not really. Not having used the passives mentioned I can't say.

I can lend you a 20K Little Bear to try if you like. You'll see what I've been getting at.

[Mikeandvan]

So that's not working out either? You could try a Marantz CD player. I've got a 67SE here, it practically remixes the recording but there are no hard edges at all. Great for some music, odd with others.

If that doesn't work it's blanket over the speakers time


You're not using some weird speaker cable are you?

Sorry I haven't got the Khozmo yet, told Arek to put it on hold. I'm thinking its too hifi for my set up.

[Mikeandvan]

Not really. Not having used the passives mentioned I can't say.

I can lend you a 20K Little Bear to try if you like. You'll see what I've been getting at.

Thanks Geoff, I'll consider that.

[fatmarley]

Thanks Geoff, I'll consider that.

They only cost about £25 delivered. You should get one just to use as a reference for anything else you try.

[Macca]

Sorry I haven't got the Khozmo yet, told Arek to put it on hold. I'm thinking its too hifi for my set up.

My experience has been that if you improve the quality of the system the older, dodgier recordings get better - not in terms of fidelity but they start to make more sense as music. Deliberately hobbling the system in an attempt to make them listenable is not the way to go. Like I said you might as well just put blankets over the speakers and have done with it.

[walpurgis]

They only cost about £25 delivered. You should get one just to use as a reference for anything else you try.

That's why I have one. Sounds decent enough anyway.