I'm thinking of getting one of these power amps. Can find no reviews. Or
else I am looking at the Quad 405. Can anyone tell me what the Mark series
power amps are like? (I will be running it with SAE Mark IB pre-amp and Kef
Concerto speakers).

Thanks.

"roke" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking of getting one of these power amps. Can find no reviews. Or
else I am looking at the Quad 405. Can anyone tell me what the Mark series
power amps are like? (I will be running it with SAE Mark IB pre-amp and
Kef Concerto speakers).

Thanks.
IME, the old SAE stuff is overrated. It has all the defects of that period.
It is much noisier than modern equipment.

In article ,
"Robert Morein" wrote:

"roke" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking of getting one of these power amps. Can find no reviews. Or
else I am looking at the Quad 405. Can anyone tell me what the Mark series
power amps are like? (I will be running it with SAE Mark IB pre-amp and
Kef Concerto speakers).

Thanks.
IME, the old SAE stuff is overrated. It has all the defects of that period.
It is much noisier than modern equipment.

My experience supports your statement. I had a 1980-ish vintage amp and
preamp that were noisy and very prone to failure (especially the amp).

Jenn wrote:
In article ,
"Robert Morein" wrote:

"roke" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking of getting one of these power amps. Can find no reviews. Or
else I am looking at the Quad 405. Can anyone tell me what the Mark series
power amps are like? (I will be running it with SAE Mark IB pre-amp and
Kef Concerto speakers).

Thanks.
IME, the old SAE stuff is overrated. It has all the defects of that period.
It is much noisier than modern equipment.

My experience supports your statement. I had a 1980-ish vintage amp and
preamp that were noisy and very prone to failure (especially the amp).

On the other hand the QUAD 405 is rock-solid, totally dependable and
pretty much indestructible. If you can get one, the 405mkII is better as
it provides more current into difficult loads, but as I recall, the KEF
Concertos weren't that difficult to drive, so the 405 Mk1 should work fine.

Only issue I can think of is that the QUAD power amps need only 500mV
for full power. Most preamps are designed to work with power amps
needing 1-2 volts, so you may find that the volume control is somewhat
fierce. That's easily solved with a 6 or 10dB attenuator at the output
of the preamp.

S.

In article ,
Serge Auckland wrote:

Jenn wrote:
In article ,
"Robert Morein" wrote:

"roke" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking of getting one of these power amps. Can find no reviews. Or
else I am looking at the Quad 405. Can anyone tell me what the Mark
series
power amps are like? (I will be running it with SAE Mark IB pre-amp and
Kef Concerto speakers).

Thanks.
IME, the old SAE stuff is overrated. It has all the defects of that
period.
It is much noisier than modern equipment.

My experience supports your statement. I had a 1980-ish vintage amp and
preamp that were noisy and very prone to failure (especially the amp).

On the other hand the QUAD 405 is rock-solid, totally dependable and
pretty much indestructible. If you can get one, the 405mkII is better as
it provides more current into difficult loads, but as I recall, the KEF
Concertos weren't that difficult to drive, so the 405 Mk1 should work fine.

Only issue I can think of is that the QUAD power amps need only 500mV
for full power. Most preamps are designed to work with power amps
needing 1-2 volts, so you may find that the volume control is somewhat
fierce. That's easily solved with a 6 or 10dB attenuator at the output
of the preamp.

S.

I've never owned a Quad, but have been impressed on casual listening. I
sure love the ESLs!

Serge Auckland said:


Only issue I can think of is that the QUAD power amps need only 500mV
for full power. Most preamps are designed to work with power amps
needing 1-2 volts, so you may find that the volume control is somewhat
fierce. That's easily solved with a 6 or 10dB attenuator at the output
of the preamp.


To keep things standardized, it's better to put the divider in the
power amp.
I do that, anyway.

One other thing of concern: a CD player puts out 2 Vtt max.
Most preamps are too sensitive at their inputs, a voltage divider at
the CD input, consisting of 2 resistors solves that as well.
That way, switching from CD to another source won't leave you with
bleeding ears and a quick twist of the volume knob every time ;-)

--

- Never argue with idiots, they drag you down their level and beat you with experience. -

Sander deWaal wrote:
Serge Auckland said:


Only issue I can think of is that the QUAD power amps need only 500mV
for full power. Most preamps are designed to work with power amps
needing 1-2 volts, so you may find that the volume control is somewhat
fierce. That's easily solved with a 6 or 10dB attenuator at the output
of the preamp.


To keep things standardized, it's better to put the divider in the
power amp.
I do that, anyway.

One other thing of concern: a CD player puts out 2 Vtt max.
Most preamps are too sensitive at their inputs, a voltage divider at
the CD input, consisting of 2 resistors solves that as well.
That way, switching from CD to another source won't leave you with
bleeding ears and a quick twist of the volume knob every time ;-)

Good points.

S.

"Serge Auckland" wrote in message
...
Sander deWaal wrote:
Serge Auckland said:


Only issue I can think of is that the QUAD power amps need only 500mV
for full power. Most preamps are designed to work with power amps
needing 1-2 volts, so you may find that the volume control is somewhat
fierce. That's easily solved with a 6 or 10dB attenuator at the output
of the preamp.


To keep things standardized, it's better to put the divider in the
power amp.
I do that, anyway.

One other thing of concern: a CD player puts out 2 Vtt max.
Most preamps are too sensitive at their inputs, a voltage divider at
the CD input, consisting of 2 resistors solves that as well.
That way, switching from CD to another source won't leave you with
bleeding ears and a quick twist of the volume knob every time ;-)

Good points.

S.

Much appreciated.

Ro

On Thu, 25 May 2006 18:08:45 GMT, Jenn
wrote:

In article ,
Serge Auckland wrote:

Jenn wrote:
In article ,
"Robert Morein" wrote:

"roke" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking of getting one of these power amps. Can find no reviews. Or
else I am looking at the Quad 405. Can anyone tell me what the Mark
series
power amps are like? (I will be running it with SAE Mark IB pre-amp and
Kef Concerto speakers).

Thanks.
IME, the old SAE stuff is overrated. It has all the defects of that
period.
It is much noisier than modern equipment.

My experience supports your statement. I had a 1980-ish vintage amp and
preamp that were noisy and very prone to failure (especially the amp).

On the other hand the QUAD 405 is rock-solid, totally dependable and
pretty much indestructible. If you can get one, the 405mkII is better as
it provides more current into difficult loads, but as I recall, the KEF
Concertos weren't that difficult to drive, so the 405 Mk1 should work fine.

Only issue I can think of is that the QUAD power amps need only 500mV
for full power. Most preamps are designed to work with power amps
needing 1-2 volts, so you may find that the volume control is somewhat
fierce. That's easily solved with a 6 or 10dB attenuator at the output
of the preamp.

S.

I've never owned a Quad, but have been impressed on casual listening. I
sure love the ESLs!

In that case you should be introduced to a person named Phil Allison
over on aus-hi-fi.

On second thoughts maybe not... :-)

"Serge Auckland" wrote

Only issue I can think of is that the QUAD power
amps need only 500mV for full power.

The Quad 405-2 signal input level:0.5V rms +/-
0.5 db for 100 watts into 8 ohms. Amp loads
input by 20K ohms in parallel with 220 pF.

Signal input overload: instantaneous recovery
up to +20dB overload.

Stability: Unconditionally stable with any load
and any signal... according to the brochure.