PRE-AMP FOR Quad 909

[admin_exported]

Hi, looking for advice on an alternative pre-amp for a Quad 909 power (alternative to the Quad 99Pre of course). Really would like to brighten up the dynamics which are bit too Quad-smooth for me right now. Was thinking of something from Cambridge Audio (?the 840) which I'm told are quite snappy and might balance out the warmth of the 909. Alternatively a Rotel (which I won't get the oppurtunity to try out unfortunately) Obviously I'm afraid of loosing some quality. Is there anything in valves that might be suitable? And as a second question, does it make any sense to have valves in a pre-amp?

Was also thinking of the Primare i20 used as a pre. Would really appreciate if anyone out there could share their experience with pre-amp selections for the 909!

 

[Mike_Schmidt]

I have heard the 909 package in whole and loved it. I am a cyrus fan though and think there Pre amp would live'n things up from where you are now. Just a suggestion and now I think its only about 600 pounds down from 1000 which the Pre Xvs stood at.

 

[Anonymous]

Well a good preamp should impede or colour the signal as little as possible. If the Quad 909 is inherently warm then you can only change this by colouring the signal. Valves in a pre, in theory, can help ensure that the signal remains faithful to the source, with no transistor compromises getting involved.

The Cyrus Pre is supposed to be OK but really comes to life with a separate PSU. I've heard it being described as a little bass light so it might give you the balance you're looking for.

The Quad 99 pre is excellent and provides tone controls with a 'tilt' facility so that you can tweak the sound to taste. Personally, I would get one of these and look to cabling, speakers and source to get the presentation you like. Try some silver plated speaker cables (e.g. QED XTube 400) and interconnect (Nordost Blue Heaven in my experience sounds bright, perhaps due to the lack of bass warmth). The source could help give the sound you're after too, the Cyrus 6SE and 8SE springing to mind.

Finally, speaker positioning can help. Try different loading in your stands if you have bookshelf speakers. Keep them away from walls too so that less there's bass and lower-mid reinforcement adding to the overall warmth.

Enjoy...

 

[Anonymous]

thanks, I will certainly try tweaking the 99. That's an interesting comment about valves for the pre-amp - so a good valve pre-amp should have the least effect of 'colouring' the sound . Can you suggest any valve pre-amp that might be worth trying (not requiring a new mortgage of course!).

 

[Anonymous]

lkev:
thanks, I will certainly try tweaking the 99. That's an interesting comment about valves for the pre-amp - so a good valve pre-amp should have the least effect of 'colouring' the sound . Can you suggest any valve pre-amp that might be worth trying (not requiring a new mortgage of course!).

That's certainly my understanding but I'm ready to be educated/corrected! I've been going through these motions too as I'm going to upgrade my 405 to the Netaudio MK3 next year. I've been considering a used Croft or Conrad Johnson PV10. I'll probably end up with a 99 though

Take a look at Emporium Hifi for used kit, just remove the spaces I added:

http : // stores . ebay . co . uk/EMPORIUM-HIFI_VALVE-AMPS_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ5QQftidZ2QQtZkm

 

[Anonymous]

hi have you considerd going the passive pre-amp route, this is the most direct route to your speakers nva sell them on e-bay and very good they are,, and a nice price to i also think they do a remote control passive pre as well..

 

[Anonymous]

dvdaudio:hi have you considerd going the passive pre-amp route, this is the most direct route to your speakers nva sell them on e-bay and very good they are,, and a nice price to i also think they do a remote control passive pre as well..

That's an excellent route to take and Creek do a good box, the OBH22. The only problem that I can see is the one that put me off, the number of inputs.

 

[Andrew Everard]

The Quad QC 24 preamp might be worth an audition, too...