Quad 909 Review?

[mdunjic]

I think I have someone local, who specialized in Quad HiFi electronics … repairs, refurbishment and mod improvements … will contact them this week for fm4 repair and also discuss potential refurbishment of my old 306 and 34 … potentially also 909s to bring them to the level of more modern components and specs (they are about 15 yrs old already)

 

[DSJR]

I don't believe that all electrolytic caps should be replaced regardless as some just do not go off so much with time, but I speak from first hand experience regarding the 405, 34 and FM4. 66 preamps could suffer dry joints, but the 606's, at least from the mk2, may be absolutely fine so please don't start worrying. My power amps are old (one a well used pro model from late 80's or so and the other nigh on fifty years old now) but the supply caps seem fine and I'm not touching them for the sake of it

 

[mdunjic]

I don't believe that all electrolytic caps should be replaced regardless as some just do not go off so much with time, but I speak from first hand experience regarding the 405, 34 and FM4. 66 preamps could suffer dry joints, but the 606's, at least from the mk2, may be absolutely fine so please don't start worrying. My power amps are old (one a well used pro model from late 80's or so and the other nigh on fifty years old now) but the supply caps seem fine and I'm not touching them for the sake of it

Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with my 909s, as they sound very nice to me ... 306 may be the same age as 606 mk2 I think, probably fine too (sounds great btw). Mainly FM4 repair for now

 

[mdunjic]

My local Quad guy

Home, Dada Electronics North America

Dada Electronics North America is a partner of Dada Electronics Europe , servicing Canada and the USA.

dadaelectronicsnorthamerica.com

 

[mdunjic]

For the brave at heart ;-), this is an independent explanation of how “current dumping” principle works by cleverly combining feed-forward principle within the context of global negative feedback and measurements bridge

https://www.dadaelectronics.eu/uploads/downloads/05_Other-Quad-Documents/Current-Dumping-Review-M-Mcloughlin-WW-1983.pdf

 

[mdunjic]

QUAD 520f + JBL S3100 !!

Indeed … JBL’s 94 dB / 2.83V @ 1 m sounds wicked ;-)

 

[Farenheit]

Indeed … JBL’s 94 dB / 2.83V @ 1 m sounds wicked ;-)

The QUAD 520f only amplifies the mids / highs. For the 15 "bass I use a 350Wx2 YAMAHA 3500s PRO stage and room correct with DBX 360 VENU.

I know; I'm a bad boy ...

 

[mdunjic]

The QUAD 520f only amplifies the mids / highs. For the 15 "bass I use a 350Wx2 YAMAHA 3500s PRO stage and room correct with DBX 360 VENU.

I know; I'm a bad boy ...

Hopefully their voltage gains match closely ;-)

Is that dbx an external active crossover?

 

[Farenheit]

Hopefully their voltage gains match closely ;-)

I equalize levels with its potentiometers, emitting a signal through the DBX and measuring the outputs with a voltmeter.

 

[mdunjic]

The QUAD 520f only amplifies the mids / highs. For the 15 "bass I use a 350Wx2 YAMAHA 3500s PRO stage and room correct with DBX 360 VENU.

I know; I'm a bad boy ...

I am better ‘behaved’ apparently

 

[mdunjic]

I equalize levels with its potentiometers, emitting a signal through the DBX and measuring the outputs with a voltmeter.

Attention to detail matters !

 

[Farenheit]

I am better ‘behaved’ apparently

.

Anyway, I suppose I will not normally use more than 15% of the total power, since as you well know the JBL have 94db / m of sensitivity, but they are the most reliable and quiet amps that I have.

 

[mdunjic]

.

Anyway, I suppose I will not normally use more than 15% of the total power, since as you well know the JBL have 94db / m of sensitivity, but they are the most reliable and quiet amps that I have.

Even with my Neat Motive 1s (sensitivity 87db / 1w / 1m) I am tolerated to listen at max 80 db spl … so all this available bi-amping wattage is more or less wasted ‘reserve’ for when I am left ‘home alone’

And of course we never sit at exactly 1m away from speakers

 

[mdunjic]

The final setup after downsizing from two Quad 909s to just one … my conclusion is that there is no real need for bi-amping these Neat Motive 1 speakers … waste of money … now, the 2nd Quad is going to a modern refresh to DADA Electronics Canada and after it comes back will become the our main amp.

Wow … SMSL SU-9n and Benchmark LA4 duo really work well with the Quad power amp … my source is dedicated Lenovo laptop with 16GB RAM, 6 core AMD CPU, and 1GB uSD card running Roon Core

 

[dlaloum]

The final setup after downsizing from two Quad 909s to just one … my conclusion is that there is no real need for bi-amping these Neat Motive 1 speakers … waste of money … now, the 2nd Quad is going to a modern refresh to DADA Electronics Canada and after it comes back will become the our main amp.

Wow … SMSL SU-9n and Benchmark LA4 duo really work well with the Quad power amp … my source is dedicated Lenovo laptop with 16GB RAM, 6 core AMD CPU, and 1GB uSD card running Roon Core

I look forward to your report on the difference post the DADA refresh... - are you doing any upgrades at the same time?

 

[mdunjic]

I look forward to your report on the difference post the DADA refresh... - are you doing any upgrades at the same time?

Depending on the price … will discuss tomorrow and make a call … will definitely report back

 

[DSJR]

What upgrades do you need to do to a 909? It is what it is, a blkuff looking powerful mature design amp which drives most things well. The early Chinese made 909's did have issues due to sh*t caps being used, but that was sorted years ago I gather and the current Artera version need apolise to nobody!

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

Picked up a QUAD 405-2 on Craigslist several years ago. It had been used by a band for a bass head, lol, so it was pretty scratched up, and had 1/4" phone jacks. Replaced those with RCA jacks, and recently painted it with Krylon Satin Khaki (impossible to match the original color without paying a small fortune). Turned out well, I think.

 

[restorer-john]

I've owned (and restored) the 405-2, 34 and FM-4 tuner all in the original Quad rack/holder.

All the components were secured from the rear and sat almost in space from one another. All the pieces had the dreaded DIN connectors (with factory bungs over the RCA chassis holes on the power amp- so it was around the time they were offering both) which had been butchered by a 'tech' with a soldering iron tip to take normal 180degree 5 pin DINs.

The 34 preamp was a functional mess due to the classic failures of the electros, leaking and eating up the double sided PCB. The CMOS input switching was noisy/failed and needed work, I rebuilt the preamp, replaced all the DINs with originals and used the trio for a short time (after fabricating all the DIN leads and a new MDF rear panel for the rack/sleeve/stand thing.

It didn't come remotely close to the big Japanese pre/powers I was using at the time and I promptly lent it to my Dad for a few years to play with, then I sold it for way too much money. To me, it was just a typically weird English design with nothing good going for it, mediocre performance and horrible functionality. The much vaunted "tilt" control is really pretty useless if you ask me- give me separate bass/mid/treble controls anyday and properly labelled switches.

Fun nonetheless, but the power amp is hardly anything to get excited about IMO.

The 909 however is a different beast.

 

[TomJ]

the Artera Stereo power amp has had its bandwidth tweaked slightly over previous versions and I love it more than ever

High praise here as well: http://www.meridian-audio.info/public/hifi_news_quad_artera_review_-_november_2015[4916].pdf
For a "current dumping" design, its 12A output current limit has puzzled me (small LPS, filter capacitance, heatsinks) but its users love them and its power reserve tests well on the bench. If I ever replace my 20 yr old Krell (?) I thought I'd get either the AHB2 or this, but recently its US pricing jumped up 50%.