Happy Days!, My Quad died and was resurrected within 24 hrs!
Discussion
Having given 11 years of trouble free service since its last visit to Quad, my pre-amp died yesterday...
I should add that it was built in the early 80's and has only ever been serviced ( as a precaution only) once in its entire life.
Funnily enough I was going past Quad's service department this morning and though I would pop it in on the off chance that they might estimate it for me, they reckoned they could service the pre-amp and my 405-2 amp with a fair chance of getting it working again.
This was at 10.00am
At 1pm I got a call to say it was on soak test and would be ready at 2pm
At 2pm I collected the amp and pre-amp and by 4pm I was back home with the revived pre-amp and a refreshed 405-2, new electrolytics etc...RESULT!!
The difference in sound is brilliant, and the pre-amp is completely fixed.
Quad really know their stuff with Hifi, and I am bowled over by the fact that they could achieve this result in only a few hours.
If you have a 405-2 amp which is a few years old (they all are now!) then I would whole heartedly reccomend getting all the elctrolytics changed as it transforms the amp!, you wont notice the degradation over the years but let me tell you when the refresh is done you'll remember that warm wide sound that quad are famous for.
As you can tell I'm well chuffed!, big thanks to Quad - one of the few English Hifi makers still going strong AND able to look after their customers.
I should add that it was built in the early 80's and has only ever been serviced ( as a precaution only) once in its entire life.
Funnily enough I was going past Quad's service department this morning and though I would pop it in on the off chance that they might estimate it for me, they reckoned they could service the pre-amp and my 405-2 amp with a fair chance of getting it working again.
This was at 10.00am
At 1pm I got a call to say it was on soak test and would be ready at 2pm
At 2pm I collected the amp and pre-amp and by 4pm I was back home with the revived pre-amp and a refreshed 405-2, new electrolytics etc...RESULT!!
The difference in sound is brilliant, and the pre-amp is completely fixed.
Quad really know their stuff with Hifi, and I am bowled over by the fact that they could achieve this result in only a few hours.
If you have a 405-2 amp which is a few years old (they all are now!) then I would whole heartedly reccomend getting all the elctrolytics changed as it transforms the amp!, you wont notice the degradation over the years but let me tell you when the refresh is done you'll remember that warm wide sound that quad are famous for.
As you can tell I'm well chuffed!, big thanks to Quad - one of the few English Hifi makers still going strong AND able to look after their customers.
Edited by hman on Wednesday 6th May 22:25
Edited by hman on Wednesday 6th May 22:26
I'll give another thumbs up to Quad.
I've got the classic 34 pre, FM4 tuner, 306 power combo but was missing the nice stand that it mounts in. Now bear in mind that this was a £50 optional extra back in 1986 and is for a set-up that hasn't been in production for over 15 years I wasn't hopeful. 2 weeks ago I phoned Quad to see if they knew of any suppliers and blow me over - they hold them in stock at £45+delivery, cheaper than they sold in the 80's!. My kit now looks like this:
I've got the classic 34 pre, FM4 tuner, 306 power combo but was missing the nice stand that it mounts in. Now bear in mind that this was a £50 optional extra back in 1986 and is for a set-up that hasn't been in production for over 15 years I wasn't hopeful. 2 weeks ago I phoned Quad to see if they knew of any suppliers and blow me over - they hold them in stock at £45+delivery, cheaper than they sold in the 80's!. My kit now looks like this:
hmmmmmm,
I didnt realise they made a stand for those!!!
I may be purchasing one of those this afternoon for my FM4, 405-2 and 34 pre-amp!
Question, have you had the dreaded internal battery leak on your fm4?, I was warned about it by quad yesterday....
I didnt realise they made a stand for those!!!
I may be purchasing one of those this afternoon for my FM4, 405-2 and 34 pre-amp!
Question, have you had the dreaded internal battery leak on your fm4?, I was warned about it by quad yesterday....
Edited by hman on Thursday 7th May 10:57
The 405 is wider than the 306 and the stand is different. I think teak was the favoured colour 
Edited to add:
I haven't had the battery leak yet, but my transformer on the FM4 has just gone pop, so I need to get it back to Quad, who've quoted £30 for a new transformer and about £30 for labour. I'm Suffolk based but haven't found an excuse to head over Huntingdon yet...
Edited to add:
I haven't had the battery leak yet, but my transformer on the FM4 has just gone pop, so I need to get it back to Quad, who've quoted £30 for a new transformer and about £30 for labour. I'm Suffolk based but haven't found an excuse to head over Huntingdon yet...
Edited by apguy on Thursday 7th May 10:54
apguy said:
The 405 is wider than the 306 and the stand is different. I think teak was the favoured colour
Edited to add:
I haven't had the battery leak yet, but my transformer on the FM4 has just gone pop, so I need to get it back to Quad, who've quoted £30 for a new transformer and about £30 for labour. I'm Suffolk based but haven't found an excuse to head over Huntingdon yet...
Drive to huntingdon, drop off kit. Drive down here, buy me slap up lunch. Drive back to Huntingdon pick up mended kit drive home....Edited to add:
I haven't had the battery leak yet, but my transformer on the FM4 has just gone pop, so I need to get it back to Quad, who've quoted £30 for a new transformer and about £30 for labour. I'm Suffolk based but haven't found an excuse to head over Huntingdon yet...
Edited by apguy on Thursday 7th May 10:54
Job dones
i'd be interested to hear how much of a difference your upgraded 405's are over the standard refresh, we could easily do a side by side comparison on my ls35a's if you like!
Do you have a sub to go with the linns, the reviews reckkon they need one - do they really?
I'm running a b&w sub unit (8x6" drivers) which gives the low end that the ls35a's were never designed to give!!!
Do you have a sub to go with the linns, the reviews reckkon they need one - do they really?
I'm running a b&w sub unit (8x6" drivers) which gives the low end that the ls35a's were never designed to give!!!
I ran the Kabers with one standard 405 before and there was no problem with bass or volume.
The tri-amped 405s sound superb - really crisp and musical. Effortless power.
I am also experimenting with a Beresford DAC as the pre-amp instead of the 34. I am using the optical out from my computer soundcard using flac files and it sounds out of this world. What an upgrade for only £100 and it plugs straight into the 405 (you'll need a 4 pin din to phono lead if you are using an original 405).
Your B&W sub sounds good.
The tri-amped 405s sound superb - really crisp and musical. Effortless power.
I am also experimenting with a Beresford DAC as the pre-amp instead of the 34. I am using the optical out from my computer soundcard using flac files and it sounds out of this world. What an upgrade for only £100 and it plugs straight into the 405 (you'll need a 4 pin din to phono lead if you are using an original 405).
Your B&W sub sounds good.
Edited by Ecurie Ecosse on Saturday 9th May 13:29
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