Advice on purchase of Quad 909

captrajesh

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Hello everyone,

Could anyone advise me on purchase of Quad 909 Power Amp?

Is it a VFM proposition?

How does it sound?

Is is necessary to go for the Quad Pre also or does it sound good with any other pre-amp?

I'd really appreciate some expert advise.

Thanks:)
 
capt.
What speakers are you planning to run with them ?
they are powerful and from all i have heard of them have a good midrange.. but speaker pairing would be important to know..and also what you are going to use for a Pre-amp

maybe you have seen this review ?
http://www.stereotimes.com/amp081602.shtml
 
Just go for it, Quads set the music right. Depends how old is your piece and money you are getting it for.

Better yet with a Quad 909Power. If not now then in future do look up for it.
 
Hello everyone,

Could anyone advise me on purchase of Quad 909 Power Amp?

Is it a VFM proposition?

How does it sound?

Is is necessary to go for the Quad Pre also or does it sound good with any other pre-amp?

I'd really appreciate some expert advise.

Thanks:)

hi captrajesh,

if you plan on buying the quad posted by gops in this forum ask him for a listen - and let us know.

regds
 
@ Capt
I have a Marantz Integrated amp as well ..along with 99Pre-909Power Quad.

I can tell u that with a sound like of Quad 909, ur ears will 'not get tired' of music, the highs are moderate, they are not exaggerated and bright.

When i suddenly switch from Marantz to Quad 909 with the 99Pre ..i do feel a drop in high frequency, but its as much drop as is needed to round off n smoothen the 'sharp corners' in a statue of a beautiful female.

Do give the Quads a listen, you should fall in love with them.

To tell you, recently at the last Delhi Hifi meetup, Quad bookshelves+99Pre+909Power stood out and were voted as 'Best' sounding among other set ups.

Had u been in Delhi, i would have treated you to the Quad sound. Its a sheer delightful and musically 'balanced' sound.


Cheers
 
What speakers are you planning to run with them ?

My speakers are three way towers made by our own Viren using drivers from my Kenwoods. They sound just fabulous; I rate them higher than anything costing thrice the price. They are the last ones I'd change.

what you are going to use for a Pre-amp

I'm open to the idea. Donno what sounds best with them. I'm a game for anything at this price point.


Yes I saw it. That's what has cranked me up.

It may be just me, but I find the Quad 909 power amp has slightly recessed highs - but very clean through the midrange and treble. Though this gives them a sophisticated sound character, it's not one I prefer.

Thank you very much for your opinion on this Cranky. I'll update you after I audition the stuff.

hi captrajesh,

if you plan on buying the quad posted by gops in this forum ask him for a listen - and let us know.

Thank you Suri. I'll post you the update.

I can tell u that with a sound like of Quad 909, ur ears will 'not get tired' of music, the highs are moderate, they are not exaggerated and bright.

When i suddenly switch from Marantz to Quad 909 with the 99 Pre, i do feel a drop in high frequency, but its as much drop as is needed to round off n smoothen the 'sharp corners' in a statue of a beautiful female.

Do give the Quads a listen, you should fall in love with them.

To tell you, recently at the last Delhi Hifi meetup, Quad bookshelves + 99Pre + 909Power stood out and were voted as 'Best' sounding among other set ups.

Had u been in Delhi, i would have treated you to the Quad sound. Its a sheer delightful and musically 'balanced' sound.

Thank u very much for the detailed explanation Sidharth. You have really got me turned on now.:)
 
I'm in agreement with what Sid has written abt the Quad amp.In my impressions follg the 7th Feb meet, iI had touched upon the slight rolling off of the highs that I had noticed but it was nicely done-just a wee bit to make it smooth & non fatiguing for extended listening but not so much as to lose/subdue details& texture.
This the way I prefer my sound.
Regards,
Kamal
 
capt..want any more inputs ? :D
if possible do try it out with Virens speakers once...and you could even check out with Viren if he could make a low gain simple preamp for you to go with this..o else get the Prometheus TVC
 
capt..want any more inputs ? :D
if possible do try it out with Virens speakers once...and you could even check out with Viren if he could make a low gain simple preamp for you to go with this..o else get the Prometheus TVC
Captain, I think what Arj has said is a very good idea! You could ask Viren to make a pre for you. Esp since he s the one who made the towers for you and he s also familiar with the 909 power amp.
Happy auditioning! Coming to Tiruvananthapuram?
 
Capt Rajesh :

I've the Quad 606 mk2 purchased in 1995 in the UK. The 606/606-II/707/909 all are the same amplifier, i.e. from 1986 to present (24 yrs). Quad also has a 909 Mono which is a bridged-909. I've also the 306 Power amp since 1986 (Viren has them too) and again - the 306 and [606/606-II/707/909] share the same circuit along with the 34 Preamp (and also used 44/66 preamps). Reason being my 'late father' was a complete Quad man with ESL-63s.

That Stereotimes review says most of what I would like to. I also want to say that Quad is 'weak in Preamp dept' like most other major manufacturers. Very few of the major manufacturers I've come to see manage to get their preamps perfect, transparent and musical at the same time (a very difficult feat to accomplish).

But Quad power amps on their own are special. Yes, many will laugh at this but drive them with a "quality Passive preamp" since input sensitivity of 909 is so favorable at 775mV and with an excellent drive from a quality source, that 909 will perform outstandingly for the money. You can even set the input sensitivity to 500mV with a change of 1 resistor internally.

Another important point to note is that there's a particular single capacitor sitting at a very critical signal path in the entire [306/606/606-II/707/909] power amps that's holding up the bandwidth of the amplifier. Its a lousy electrolytic cap. Replace it with the finest of the Blackgate N-type (while its still available!!) and man! - you are ready to FLY! :ohyeah:

Few other small mods are there that takes this amp way, way ahead. Terms like muddy bass, closed-in highs etc will disappear forever. It becomes one of the best values in the HiFi world with outstanding reliability the Quad amps offer. Seldom have I ever heard a Quad breakdown. And if it does, no fret, so much of its spares are in the markets that you can get it upon its feet in no time..... :)

I've said enough! (was 11 months with IAG in HK/Shenzhen late 2007-8 where these are made). Now - rest upon you!

regards!

I've heard one with a passive pre-amp and audio_engr is very very right! It sounded like a million bucks. The Quad pre is really not worth it. Pair it with a passive pre and you're good to go! Incidentally, very good passive pre's are available for dirt cheap! In fact, there is an axiom passive pre that a forum memebr has that would go with this very well... Try contacting Binoy Mehra.... don't know his hifi forum nom de plume!
 
One word of caution with the Axiom type preamps: these dont do any impedance matching so you need to look at the Quad's input impedance (ideally it should be 100k ohms, min 50k ohms). With TVC preamps like the Promitheus, this is less of a concern. In either case, you need to keep wire runs short.

BTW, recently picked up a Promitheus TVC. Have tried it with a number of power amps and it is utterly transparent although the lack of gain can be a problem with some sources and amps.
 
Hi Captain,

I have heard the 909 quite extensively and critically about a year ago, when I was considering my amp upgrade. If you are interested, a report of that audition is given here http://www.hifivision.com/amplifier...n-speakers-feasibility-study-6.html#post32599.

The strengths of this amp are the midrange, huge drive (dynamics), and a full bodied sound. There are better possibilities if you are particularly interested in the frequency extremes. But the midrange is smooth, detailed, uncompressed and open with a lot of musicality, as much as one can imgine with amps of a much much higher cost.

If one can partner this amp with a suitable passive pre, a source with proper gain, and proper low-capacitance interconnect of a short length (as has already been suggested by very experienced and respected members) and the matching pair of speakers, you may have very good results. I do not know the speakers you have, but if you have single drivers then do not settle for anything before proper auditioning, because single drivers' strenths are also midrange and possible relative weakness may be the frequency extremes, and particularly the high frequencies where the 909 may not be the best, as commented by others and if my memory serves me correctly, I tend to agree. In that case, it may be better for you to have speakers which have exceptional high frequency response as well as a decent mid to show the excellent mids of the 909 and again a decent bottom end. I guess the whole synergy also depends a bit on the genre of music you like, something I do not know.

I think your Marantz 6003 CDP should match well, also for the reason that generally Marantz does a good job with high frequencies to balance the possible relative lack of it in the 909. I have heard the 6002, but not the current 6003 and liked it for the price, definitely.

Another thing I'd say: do not get fooled by the modest price of the 909. I agree with the review arj presented here. You need to treat this with a bit of respect in the sense of giving it good cables etc. If you look at my audition report above, you'd see some evidence of that. I think the sound changed immensely when the stock quadlink connector (between 99 pre and 909 power) was changed to a mid-level XLO cable.

I'd tend to think the Promitheus TVC to give good results here. Of course some worry would be there regarding the bass.

One word of caution: Dinyaar tends to think that the current 909s quality is not that great. Well the looks are terrible in my opinion. But regarding the quality control of the current lot of quads, I'd refer you to the more knowledgeable lot :).

I am sorry if I have confused you more, but I have a tendency to look at all possible sides (even some impossible sides, just to make it more interesting). The search becomes an engrossing matter :).

Regards.

PS: My apologies. Somewhere I read you have the towers made by Viren, but was not sure, hence wanted you to be careful about using the 909 with single drivers. Now I have discovered that you have multidriver speakers made by Viren using the drivers of your Kenwood. Okay, then.
 
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Dear Asit,

Thank you very much for your detailed response. I've also read your audition report & noted the contents which are very informative.

After reading the advices given by so many Audio experts who have owned/listened to the Quad 909, I've concluded that it is a very musical Amp having it's greatest strength in producing exceptional midrange and decent highs and lows.

That it should be paired with a passive pre-amp to bring out the best.

Actually speaking, I have not really narrowed down on Quad only. I'm open to an idea of any other Amp.

One of the members have given me a lead which led me to Bryston Amp and the other to Marantz Integrated.

Hope to take a call ASAP.

I sincerely thank one and all for the valuable advices.

Warm regards


Rajesh
 
Hi captain , Whats the marantz Amp you are considering. If you have marantz in mind then go for PM 15 and above .
 
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