wd25a, are they for me?

[vitalstates]

I would like to reinforce whats been said about the Quad.

I had a 44/405 in the early/mid eighties, driving kef 104ab and I had exactly the same problems, i.e it only sounded 'reasonably' good at higher levels. Higher levels were unacceptable for me as well.

I auditioned an MF A100 and wow, all the detail and magic at 1/10th the volume. I was told at the time it was down to the transition to class A, but who knows??? bottom line is I've never looked back. Now I have a bit of experience I can honestly say that I've never since heard a Quad set-up that didnt have that dull/woolly feel to it, especially at low levels. I do believe some people prefer that quad sound but its definately not for me. I'm sure somebody out there has a completely different sound with a different speaker partnership but I havnt heard it.

Regards

Ed

[Cobblers]

I've gone for the basic tweeter kit with flat pack.

Ed,
I wasn't so keen on the quad 44/405, when I heard it with box speakers. Dad's still got this old kit knocking around.

It was probably the 1st Hifi amp I heard though, along with the Quad 57's, fm4 and RD11 turntable with Ortofon MC . This combo sounded marvellous.
I think much of the die hard Quad thing for some people comes entirely from the rep of the electrostatics. Then again I bet it sounds marvellous with the Ls3/5a's, those are in storage too! -not to be sold.

I always wanted an A100 as dad had the ma100 monoblocks for a while.
I went for Cyrus 2 with PSX (great with LS3/5a's) and loved that to bits though it was a bit hot in the treble with the HB1's.

I now use an Audio Innovations series 500, which technically measures like a bad joke, so I recall. Strange that it sounds so flippin good. Hopefully it will sound even better with the WD25a's.

[Shane]

Originally Posted by Cobblers

I think much of the die hard Quad thing for some people comes entirely from the rep of the electrostatics.

Yes, that's true up to a point, but there's more to it than that.

From the fifties to the eighties, Quad meant absolute quality. The quality of construction was second to none (there's still a wonderful feeling of solidity and permanence to a 303 power amp) and the customer service was outstanding, but at the same time discrete. It wasn't so much that the equipment performed well, that was always assumed; it was the fact that anything returned to the factory would be turned around in two days restored to new condition that had faithful customers writing to Hi-Fi News praising the company to the skies.

Think of Rover in the days of All Creatures Great and Small, encapsulating everything that was percieved to be great about British industry.

They're Chinese as well, now...

Im going to have to take your opinion on the 44/405 at the moment.
When i have some better speakers ill be able to judge it better.
All i know at the moment is its better than my old cyrus straightline, although the 405 has had the full net audio treatment.
Someone said that they also think the quad sounds wooly at low volumes, but as every amp ive tried so far (not very many), all with my missions, has ended up with the same result i tend to think the speakers are top of the replacement list.
Once i have better speakers so i can actually hear whats going on, ill be able to judge the quad more acurately.

Unfortunately the purchase of new speakers is going to be delayed, i just ended up throwing silly amounts of money at an absolutely ancient car (and no, its not a bloody rover ) so im going to have to re gain some cash before i get extravagent again.

Im sure once ive got decent speakers my longing for a decent valve amp project will be irresistable, but one thing at a time

Thanx for all your help/opinions and exspertise (how the hell do you spell that?)

[pre65]

hi-exspertese is the plural ie more than one expert with expertise.

Philip

[Cobblers]

Originally Posted by Shane

Yes, that's true up to a point, but there's more to it than that.

From the fifties to the eighties, Quad meant absolute quality. The quality of construction was second to none (there's still a wonderful feeling of solidity and permanence to a 303 power amp) and the customer service was outstanding, but at the same time discrete. It wasn't so much that the equipment performed well, that was always assumed; it was the fact that anything returned to the factory would be turned around in two days restored to new condition that had faithful customers writing to Hi-Fi News praising the company to the skies.

Think of Rover in the days of All Creatures Great and Small, encapsulating everything that was percieved to be great about British industry.

They're Chinese as well, now...

I far prefer the Quad II's with 57's than the 405 (like most people I suspect)
It was surprising to find how great these amp's sound with the 57's and 63's, even with the more suspect (apparently) 22 pre in the driving seat.

It is a shame about the Chinese take over. I do not think that is a xenophobic thing to say either, it's just a shame to lose another great name.
All power to their elbow though, I doubt they would sell 1/100th of the product in this country without the brand name, even with the same level of product.

[Global]

Originally Posted by graeme

405 has had the full net audio treatment.

It's not really a Quad then - it's much better!

Mark

[Cobblers]

I finished building the wd25a (standard tweeter design) last night after a few hours of sanding and varnishing.

I was hugely impressed from the 1st few bars. Many people claim various box speakers sound like panels, and usually this is total nonsense, but these do, very much so.

Completely box free presentation, incredibly open, natural sounding electrostatic like bass (not at all punchy, if you like that sort of presentation then these might initially disappoint with some pop recordings)
Much like David Price, they remind me of my old original Paper cone Heybrook HB1 s3's with the speedy open airy transparent quality, but these are obviously much, much better than that.

Incredible coherence, I can see why Peter isn't that keen on 3 way designs now, if you can get a delicate midband like this from a 10 inch drive unit.
(Though of course I am not saying a 3 way design cannot be very good).

This speakers balance is well suited to accurate reproduction of acoustic sounds. As I listen to mostly Classical this suits me perfectly.

They work very well at very low volumes too, which I like, for late night listening.

Well done Peter

[Cobblers]

A week on from initial build my admiration for these speakers has only grown.
They work extremely well with any genre of music that I have tried. These speakers have already had several hours of use every day, it's hard to switch off the system, at the end of an evening.

Classical, Rock, Ambient, Funk, Jazz, Tecno, and Electronic on Vinyl and CD, all presented with a big, open, fast yet powerful sound, with low perceived colouration.
Fabulous Dynamics as you would expect.

The room does not sound small anymore.

In case you haven't cottoned on, I like 'em!