The Marco-boy main system, as of August 2020

[southall-1998_mk2]

Cheers, mate. It's great! A perfect 'second amp' - well behaved and just does what it says on the tin. It would be interesting having two, one for each channel, as some folks do to great effect. That's something I may look at in due course, and perhaps also adding a Quad 34 preamp to match!

It would make a nice little 'unobtrusive' solid-state alternative amp combo, then just keep the Croft for the Copper amp... Decisions, lol

The Copper amp is still significantly better, as you can imagine, but not to the extent that when I switch to the 306, that sounds 'broken', no siree... Far from it. It's just a different type of listen, and still eminently enjoyable. Furthermore, today I plumbed in the LDR (Stereo Coffee) of Chris', and it's SUPERB - best 'passive' I've heard so far by a country mile - and it goes great with both the Copper amp and 306!

So that's in the equation, too... And there's MORE, lol - I'm also experimenting with cables. I've recently gone for Mark Grant HDX1s throughout, for interconnects (and digital coax between the Sony transport and DAC), which for me are his best cables yet, and superb value. I've also taken delivery of some of his 6mm Van Damme speaker cable, which I'll be comparing with my rather more expensive VDH 'The Wind', so we'll also see how that goes

Marco.

Those Van Damme Copper Hi-Fi Speaker Cables are very good value. How many meters did you opt for?

S.

[Marco]

Hi Shane,

Although my speakers are reasonably near the electronics (spaced fairly widely apart), my amp is on 15 layers of Mana supports, and so rather 'airborne', lol (it's at shoulder height, and I'm 6ft2ins)...

Therefore, a fair bit of cable is needed to reach it, especially the length supplying the L/H speaker, as my rack isn't in the middle of the speakers, but instead to the side of the R/H one (when viewed from my seating position). Plus, I dislike unequal lengths of speaker cable, preferring instead to have some excess on one side, in order to keep the lengths the same.

So... With the above in mind, I opted for a 7m pair, allowing a little extra length for routing the cables neatly and unobtrusively

Marco.

[Marco]

Wonder what this would sound like with a 306: https://www.hifix.co.uk/quad-elite-pre-pre-amplifier

The Elite seems reasonably well regarded... Any views, Geoff?

Or this perhaps this new one on the block: https://www.whathifi.com/news/new-qu...f-tilt-control

Marco.

[walpurgis]

Wonder what this would sound like with a 306: https://www.hifix.co.uk/quad-elite-pre-pre-amplifier

The Elite seems reasonably well regarded... Any views, Geoff?

Or this perhaps this new one on the block: https://www.whathifi.com/news/new-qu...f-tilt-control

Marco.

I've not tried the Artera/Elite gear Marco. I get the impression from what I've read here and there, that it's better sounding than earlier offerings. Of older Quad stuff, it's always been the power amps that shine.

[Marco]

Yup, that's also the impression I've been getting whilst researching things...

Didn't realise that Quad preamps from an earlier era were quite so coloured. It's baffling, as it goes against their mantra of 'the closest approach to the original sound', so I don't understand what they were trying to achieve, in an era where Peter Walker championed his 'purist' approach..

Why hobble an essentially neutral, accurate sounding power amp, with the opposite in a preamp? Doesn't make sense to me... Perhaps it's easier to build a good power amp than a good preamp?

Anyway, if at a later stage I decide to get an SS preamp for the 306, it'll be a more modern one.

Marco.

[Barry]

All pre amps of the late '60s were sonically poor compared to their partnering poweramps, irrespective of being valve or solid-state designs.

Outfits like Dada, NetAudio and Red Hill Audio offer various modifications to the Quad 33 which go some way towards improving the performance. But unless you can pick one up cheap and in good condition (and admire the styling), then I would say use a passive volume control and input switch box with a modern phonostage.

[Marco]

Thanks, Barry. yes there is the option of modifying the 33, as I've already touched upon. Do you, or indeed anyone else here, know how effective they are, as in the 'before & after' result, sonically, of a stock vs modded 33?

Essentially, how much better does it get after being 'doctored'?

Marco.

[Marco]

Anyone...?? Come on, surely some of you Quad fans must've modified a 33 preamp!

So, don't be shy, tell me what difference it made

Marco.

[DarrenHW]

Cheers, mate. It's great! A perfect 'second amp' - well behaved and just does what it says on the tin. It would be interesting having two, one for each channel, as some folks do to great effect. That's something I may look at in due course, and perhaps also adding a Quad 34 preamp to match!

It would make a nice little 'unobtrusive' solid-state alternative amp combo, then just keep the Croft for the Copper amp... Decisions, lol

The Copper amp is still significantly better, as you can imagine, but not to the extent that when I switch to the 306, that sounds 'broken', no siree... Far from it. It's just a different type of listen, and still eminently enjoyable. Furthermore, today I plumbed in the LDR (Stereo Coffee) of Chris', and it's SUPERB - best 'passive' I've heard so far by a country mile - and it goes great with both the Copper amp and 306!

If I were to go down the passive route, I'd go LDR in favour of any Quad preamp (purely based on internet research). The Quad 66 is intriguing, although my interest is really due to my fondness for the partnering "Control Panel", but maybe that's just because I still miss my B&O Master Control Panel 5000, which I think is far sexier, but if that Liquorice Allsort system sounded as good as it looked I wouldn't have got rid of it.

So that's in the equation, too... And there's MORE, lol - I'm also experimenting with cables. I've recently gone for Mark Grant HDX1s throughout, for interconnects (and digital coax between the Sony transport and DAC), which for me are his best cables yet, and superb value. I've also taken delivery of some of his 6mm Van Damme speaker cable, which I'll be comparing with my rather more expensive VDH 'The Wind', so we'll also see how that goes

Marco.

You're not wrong, those IC's are a proper bargain. I think I'll pick myself up a pair when I eventually get the Garrard spinning again. My current DIY efforts were built with Mogami 2549 / MS Audio, what were you using before the HDX?

[Macca]

Okay my two cents:

The 33 is a waste of time. You'd have to mod it anyway if you want to use a DAC or CD player into it as they'll overload the line inputs otherwise.

I've compared a 34 to a Croft Micro Basic and I can't imagine anyone would prefer the 34. Looks good and good build quality but like the 33 it's veiled. I don't know how you'd begin to sort that out as my guess it is just how the design is. If you really want one to match the 306 the best mod would be to rip all the gubbins out of it and turn it into a stepped attenuator passive.