Quad 909 Purchase

[admin_exported]

Hi people, after much procrastination and review reading, ive ordered a Quad 909 power amp. I know you will think im crazy but i actually purcahsed on blind faith. I didnt audition the amp because i figured it would sound totally different in the shop compared to my home anyway (due to different room acoustics ect).

I will be using the amp with a range of Epos speakers including the M12, M15 and M22 (I own all three). My previous amp was a Cyrus 8vs (70watts) and just couldnt drive any of my Epos speakers adequatlely.

The Quad will deliver 140watts of grunt so im hoping it will do the trick. Some say the quad is laid back which is a bit concerning, but i find it hard to beleive the Quad would be laid back (how could it be laid back when its so powerful lol). Would be interested to hear some opinions,

Thanks : )

 

[drummerman]

There are Quad users on the forum that can advise you on that but power output is no indication whatsoever on how something will sound other than that it will likely go a little louder. Creek products would have been on my list simply because of the companies affilitation with Epos but your quad amp seems to be quite well regarded.

 

[Anonymous]

Look I'm going to be honest....buying anything hifi without a home demo with well run in equipment in your room with your system is madness.Everything inter-reacts to the point that reviews are nothing more than very rough pointers in planning a short list .

If the amp is new how long are you going to give it to run in before you decide if you have made the right choice and without any comparison of new models you will never know.

If power is the only issue and you actually liked the sound of your cyrus 8vs why not buy a cyrus 8 power amp + 2x psxrs off fleebay and if it still did not do the trick at least you could get your money back.

And finally if you buy anything hi fi by reading the spec's or reading reviews you will overlook some of the best equipment out there and you will be buying blind and on a wing and a prayer.

Ever wondered why so much hifi equipment is for sale second hand and barely out of the box?

 

[mitch65]

I have to admit to buying on blind faith in the past but this has always been with used equipment and, as maxheadroom has said, if it sounded c**p you could always sell on with little or no loss. I do not claim to be a great fan of Cyrus but I have to agree that lobbing a power amp or two onto the end of your integrated - if that's the sound you like - might have been a wiser choice and if that didn't work then selling on would be no problem.

 

[jc.com]

I bought mine unheard, though I had previously used (and still have somewhere) a Quad 33/405 combo, so I expected it to be OK - and it was. No regrets here. Life's too short to spend all your time a) in hifi shops and b) worrying that you didn't audition every possible combination to get the best sound.

 

[Anonymous]

The Quad 909 is a superb power amp for the money and unless you have some specific colouration requirements, e.g. bright or ultra warm, then you can't go wrong. It has plenty of volts and can deliver 22amps peak current so it should drive your speakers fairly well. They're built like a tank, Quad provide superb service and you'll always be able to sell it for a decent price.

My biggest concern for getting the best out of it would be to ensure that you have a decent preamp. The Quad 99 is OK but I think you can do better for less. Passive pres work well and you could even grab a used AVI S2000MP for less than £300.

Please let us know how you get on with it.

 

[Frank Harvey]

The 909 is a great power amp. Not many £1k power amps can drive KEF Reference 201/2's well! They have a beautiful midrange. It is true you'll get better at the frequency extremes, but very few will touch the natural midrange of the Quad. I'm sure you'll be very happy.

 

[Anonymous]

Thankyou for all the feedback people.

Igglebert I promise I'll post back my findings after I've run in the Quad and given it a good listen to. I will be using the Quad 909 with a Creek passive pre amp (OBH-22), which I currently own and am lead to believe can outperform many expensive active pre amps.

I would have considered the Creek Destiny (100watts RMS), but I wanted something with even more power. I didn't want to go into bi amping my Cyrus because bi amping doesn't actually increase the amount of volume (Cyrus told me this personally on the phone) and all the fuss with PSX-R power supplies seems over the top (how many boxes does one need to do a simple job lol).

I would have considered the Cyrus mono blocks (Cyrus Mono X) but here in Australia the distributor makes the prices much higher than what they are in the UK. I asked for a home demo of the 909 but the shop wouldn't have it, nor would they loan me one overnight. Listening to the 909 in the shop seemed pointless because they use different speakers and components, not to mention the different room acoustics.

I'm not saying a review can tell you if you'll like how something sounds, but I believe it can give you a rough indication of what to expect. Nevertheless if I'm not happy with the 909 I can always look at selling it.

What i want is a stunning midrange, and according to the reviews ive read, the Quad delivers. I suspect the 909 will work a treat with my passive Creek pre amp, i'll keep you posted and thanks again people : )

 

[Anonymous]

Living in Oz with a dealer that's lets say is less that helpfull does make a difference!

I'm sure you will be happy with the quad and my comments were general and not aimed at the quad itself.

Re the cyrus .....I was drawing on my own experience of this make. Just before christmas I demo'd a new pair of kef ref 205/2s with a cyrus 8vs2 on its own. The whole lot just did not gel and the cyrus sounded as if were struggling and lacking. Now as I own an 8vs2 +smartpower+ and 2xpsxr's bi amped and wired with isotek mains conditioning and chord cables I asked the dealer for a further demo but set up with as close approximation to this as could be had( They used an 8 power insted of the smartpower +)

The result was as different as night and day. Yes you see cyrus tests in magazines but never do you tend to see the whole package tested when set up properly. Cyrus gear is modular and like many people mine has been collected in part over a number of years.

IMHO cyrus gear never fails to amaze with its ability to raise its game. I thought mine would be really left struggling by the quality of the kefs....but it just aint so and I have to be honest I wouds struggle to justify the outlay necessary to get a significant improvement.

Even the addittion of a new naim dac has had the same effect....yes, yes I know its the dac doing the change but the point is the cyrus lets it happen and in a way that does not draw attention to itself or make it sound as if is in any way struggling to keep up.

Now then the kefs can be tri wired and amped.......hmmmmm now there's a thought.....second hand smartpower+ with another psxr total cost around £600.....anybody care to comment.

 

[Anonymous]

I've always fancied trying that little Creek passive pre. The ALPs POT in it is meant to be superb and you get a remote control too, excellent.

 

[Frank Harvey]

maxheadroom: Re the cyrus .....I was drawing on my own experience of this make. Just before christmas I demo'd a new pair of kef ref 205/2s with a cyrus 8vs2 on its own. The whole lot just did not gel and the cyrus sounded as if were struggling and lacking.

Yeah, there's no way the 8vs2 was going to get the job done with 205/2's!! Best amp I've found with these so far is the Bryston 4Bsst2 - amazing combo.

Now then the kefs can be tri wired and amped.......hmmmmm now there's a thought.....second hand smartpower+ with another psxr total cost around £600.....anybody care to comment.

Personally, I'd be looking at Mono X's to drive and control the 205's properly.

 

[Anonymous]

How does the midrange of the Cyrus Mono X amps compare to the midrange of the Quad 909?

The Creek passive pre is amazing value for money and it does indeed come with a remote. I put it up against an active NAD pre and and the Creek took the NAD to the cleaners. Someone also told me they put the Creek up against an active Bryston pre amp and that the Creek thrashed the Bryston.

For the money you really can't go wrong with the Creek OBH-22, but make sure your cd player puts out enough volts to drive the passive Creek.

 

[mitch65]

quantum:

How does the midrange of the Cyrus Mono X amps compare to the midrange of the Quad 909?

The Creek passive pre is amazing value for money and it does indeed come with a remote. I put it up against an active NAD pre and and the Creek took the NAD to the cleaners. Someone also told me they put the Creek up against an active Bryston pre amp and that the Creek thrashed the Bryston.

For the money you really can't go wrong with the Creek OBH-22, but make sure your cd player puts out enough volts to drive the passive Creek.

Creek beating Bryston? You'll have the Bryston Hit Squad after you with talk like that!

 

[Anonymous]

Lol i know, but the thing about that little Creek passive pre amp is that it interfers less with the sound compared to an active pre amp (even if the active pre is high end). Im sure all the Bryston power amps would beat the Creek power amps though hehe.

 

[the record spot]

If you've bought direct, from an online business, (or from a business seller on Ebay via Buy It Now) you have 7 days at home to try it out, from the day AFTER the amp arrives and you can return it at no cost to yourself, save the return postage. Distance Selling Regulations mate. So, if you bought a pup, you won't be lumbered with it.

It's a different story buying from a shop, some will permit a home loan, but others (like Richer Sounds) don't. You can exchange, but money back is another matter entirelyand they're not obliged to do so.

 

[mitch65]

the record spot:If you've bought direct, from an online business, (or from a business seller on Ebay via Buy It Now) you have 7 days at home to try it out, from the day AFTER the amp arrives and you can return it at no cost to yourself, save the return postage. Distance Selling Regulations mate. So, if you bought a pup, you won't be lumbered with it. It's a different story buying from a shop, some will permit a home loan, but others (like Richer Sounds) don't. You can exchange, but money back is another matter entirelyand they're not obliged to do so.

Good point I keep forgetting about long distance selling regs (sure a few online retailers feel the same)

 

[mitch65]

quantum:Lol i know, but the thing about that little Creek passive pre amp is that it interfers less with the sound compared to an active pre amp (even if the active pre is high end). Im sure all the Bryston power amps would beat the Creek power amps though hehe.

Basically one bit of wire between source and power via a volume control, keeping it simple

 

[Frank Harvey]

quantum: How does the midrange of the Cyrus Mono X amps compare to the midrange of the Quad 909?

Cleaner, less warmth.

The Creek passive pre is amazing value for money and it does indeed come with a remote. I put it up against an active NAD pre and and the Creek took the NAD to the cleaners. Someone also told me they put the Creek up against an active Bryston pre amp and that the Creek thrashed the Bryston.

"Thrashed" is usually one of those words people use when they can't put into words the differences. I doubt very much it thrashed the Bryston at all. A cheaper active pre, yes, that's entirely feasible, but a well designed, high quality pre is an entirely different matter. No doubt the Creek is excellent for the money, and is far better value for money than the Bryston is. But......

 

[Anonymous]

Comparing a passive pre to an active pre is kind of like trying to compare red wines but one has a dash of lemonade in it...

 

[Frank Harvey]

It does depend what you're comparing. A bad passive against a well designed active there'll be no contest, just as a good passive may sound better than a badly designed active. There are very few really well designed active pre-amps around, so I'd agree that when looking at budget pre-powers, a passive pre is a good option.

I think the assumption that just a bit of wire is the best way to go. If that was the case, you could bypass a passive pre altogether by using a variable output CD player direct into a power amp. This option has proved that it's not necessarily the best way to go.

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:
[snip]

I think the assumption that just a bit of wire is the best way to go. If that was the case, you could bypass a passive pre altogether by using a variable output CD player direct into a power amp. This option has proved that it's not necessarily the best way to go.

David,

On this note, do you think that the combo of CDP-2 plus 909 is not a good one? It seems very cost-effective if one doesn't have analogue sources.

Hedgehog

 

[Frank Harvey]

If people aren't going to use any analogue sources it's certainly an option. As we have the CDP2 and the 99 Pre on demo, a few people have tried it with and without the 99 Pre - from their findings I'd say it's 50/50 as a preference.

 

[Anonymous]

I think the point is that a reasonably cheap passive pre amp such as the Creek OBH-22 would likely outperform many active pres even if they were double the price. I would like to ask for some more opinions about the quad sound.

People say the 909 doesnt have lots of treble or base, but has a great midrange. That suits me fine, but im a bit worried the midrange on the quad might not be as crisp as some other amps.

People say the quads midrange is exemplary, but how would one describe the quads midrange? Is it crisp and clear? How would the quads midrange differ to the midrange of cyrus mono x amps or a byrston amp even?

 

[Frank Harvey]

Natural.

 

[Anonymous]

Natural sounds like it could mean bland or dull lol, i hope my interpretation is wrong.