Up Date or Up Grade equipment?

ajanzalone

I have "Quad 405" dumping amp. 100w RMS

I can up date or replace key capacitors, "diodes and resistors and opamps" for about $260.
Of course the Quad people say it is an amazing up date!

Or would I do better to find a newer quality Amp, maybe 10 years or less, in age?

Any thoughts?
Tony

ben62670

Is that a quote to have it done for you? little high. Quad 405's have a fallowing, but...

dave shepard

I feel that if you think you need to change the parts inside and amp to tweek the sound you would be better off finding a differant amp. You can do part swaping to the inside of the amp but you are also changing the design of the amp and it might not perform correctly and the sound might not be what you are looking for. IMO it is best to find something that will perform the way it was designed to fill your needs you just have to do some leg work and listen to a few, the choices are endless.

Early B.

Buy another amp.

ajanzalone

ben62670 wrote: »

Is that a quote to have it done for you? little high. Quad 405's have a fallowing, but...

Ben
yes a quote from a recognized Quad tech

Tony

ben62670

I studied the quad 405 a bit. I have couple boards to build here, but with gain clones so cheap I abandoned the 405. minor mods can help, but that is a 70's amp that just really isn't worth dumping cash into.

ajanzalone

ben62670 wrote: »

I studied the quad 405 a bit. I have couple boards to build here, but with gain clones so cheap I abandoned the 405. minor mods can help, but that is a 70's amp that just really isn't worth dumping cash into.

Yes, I was suspecting a newer unit would be more cost effective.

It is overwhelming though, trying to figure out what is high end and yet not too old, to spend my $$$ on.

I don't want to get something that will also need immediate up dating.
But cost is a factor 1k or less .....

but I don't want to downgrade either as this Audio Research/ Quad/ Polk 10 setup still sounds great.

Tony

ben62670

Check out George Daniels GFA-535. I am a friend of his, but it is a good price. Adcoms are true to sound.
Ben

Lowell_M

If your budget is $1k or below, I would look higher into the ADCOM range and find a GFA-555. You can usually find them for around $300. Or..... I don't think you could go wrong with a Marsh A200s either for around $500-$600. Ether way, if you get it and don't like it you can sell it and you will only be out the shipping cost.

candyliquor35m

houston cl: Carver TFM-55 Power Amp, 380 watts x 2 - $400 (Sealy)

http://houston.craigslist.org/ele/826690236.html no affil.

you could see if the guy is willing to ship it. I can go check it out for you.

ajanzalone

candyliquor35m wrote: »

houston cl: Carver TFM-55 Power Amp, 380 watts x 2 - $400 (Sealy)

http://houston.craigslist.org/ele/826690236.html no affil.

you could see if the guy is willing to ship it. I can go check it out for you.

mmmm where is it located, i am in florida?

I noticed a lot of the Carver TFM-15CB for sale also... 100w i think?

Thanks
Tony

candyliquor35m

ajanzalone wrote: »

mmmm where is it located, i am in florida?

I noticed a lot of the Carver TFM-15CB for sale also... 100w i think?

Thanks
Tony

sealy is about 30 miles west of houston

ajanzalone

candyliquor35m wrote: »

sealy is about 30 miles west of houston

I e-mailed him on this unit
Tony

TroyD

For 1K ......you can do better.

Stretch that a bit and there is a nice Krell in the FM. Look on A'gon and you can usually pick up a Classe 100wpc amp for less than that.

Lots of options in the ~1K price range.

BDT

schwarcw

I second what Troy is saying. That Krell is an excellent amp.

candyliquor35m

be patient and wait for something in the $500 range. A krell driving some polk 10's is overkill and a $500 amp is a helluva lot easier to resell than a $1000 amp. The $500 savings can be used to buy a nice warm tube pre like a cj-7 or 10al with tf's in it.

F1nut

candyliquor35m wrote: »

be patient and wait for something in the $500 range. A krell driving some polk 10's is overkill and a $500 amp is a helluva lot easier to resell than a $1000 amp. The $500 savings can be used to buy a nice warm tube pre like a cj-7 or 10al with tf's in it.

Once again, that's just a whole lotta bad advice.

The better the amp, the better those speakers will sound.



Ajanzalone, try something new, only way to know.

F1nut

Sealy, TX.......I've been there, no reason to ever return. Although, the Sportsman's Lounge does serve some pretty damn good quail. If memory serves, you get 3 quail for something like $10.00 and on Friday's, all the quail you can eat for the same.

They make you check your piece at the door, regardless.

snow

F1nut wrote: »

Sealy, TX.......I've been there, no reason to ever return. Although, the Sportsman's Lounge does serve some pretty damn good quail. If memory serves, you get 3 quail for something like $10.00 and on Friday's, all the quail you can eat for the same.

They make you check your piece at the door, regardless.

How many quail can you eat?



REGARDS SNOW

F1nut

More than I should.

ajanzalone

F1nut wrote: »

Sealy, TX.......t 3 quail for something like $10.00 .

mmmmmmm 3 Quail? ......... is that Peak or RMS ........

never leave your piece at the door:eek:

Tony

ben62670

Quail is awesome, but they are small. After having quail you won't ever want to touch pheasant again.
Ben

ajanzalone

I e mailed and he replied quickly, he would ship ......
I inquired as to the MFG date & Condition? ...... but no reply so far ......
Funny how people get quite when you ask specifics ....
It looks a bit rough on the Craig-list Photo http://houston.craigslist.org/ele/826690236.html no affil.

I believe I should go to 150w minimum or higher, (really + 200w) on the next unit .....

After some slow investigation, I have narrowed the choices to:
Adcom GFA 555 II
Adcom GFA 555
Rotel RB 1080
Carver TFM 25
Carver TFM-42
Carver TFM-55
SUNFIRE SERIES II

Any thoughts on these for my Polk 10's
**(Music Use ... Grieg Piano Concerto , Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Neil Diamond - love the prologue in the Hot August Nights, Eagles, Al Jerou, George Jenson, ...etc)

Tony

Hawkeye

Stretch for the Krell.

candyliquor35m

ajanzalone wrote: »

I e mailed and he replied quickly, he would ship ......
I inquired as to the MFG date & Condition? ...... but no reply so far ......
Funny how people get quite when you ask specifics ....
It looks a bit rough on the Craig-list Photo http://houston.craigslist.org/ele/826690236.html no affil.

I believe I should go to 150w minimum or higher, (really + 200w) on the next unit .....

After some slow investigation, I have narrowed the choices to:
Adcom GFA 555 II
Adcom GFA 555
Rotel RB 1080
Carver TFM 25
Carver TFM-42
Carver TFM-55
SUNFIRE SERIES II

Any thoughts on these for my Polk 10's
**(Music Use ... Grieg Piano Concerto , Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Neil Diamond - love the prologue in the Hot August Nights, Eagles, Al Jerou, George Jenson, ...etc)

Tony

both my tfm-42 and tfm-45 I had to send in for routine maintenance ($200) after I bought them. Cap replacement, cold solder repairs, bias adjustment, etc so keep that in mind.

ajanzalone

ajanzalone wrote: »

I have "Quad 405" dumping amp. 100w RMS
I can up date or replace key capacitors, "diodes and resistors and opamps" for about $260.
Of course the Quad people say it is an amazing up date!
Or would I do better to find a newer quality Amp, maybe 10 years or less, in age?

I e-mailed the "Quad repair center" and explained I have decided to upgrade my amp to a newer higher end product, rather than update my Quad 405, for a more cost & audio effective, improvement ..... etc

This was the reply i received:

---

"So many of these so called "Audiophiles" speak without ever having dealt with products.
I own extremely high end audio equipment and a modified 405 is one of the best.
As a matter of fact dual mono Quad 405's are the best I have ever heard."

---

I am so confused .......:eek:
Or is this a American/Brit thing?

But I have time to weigh it all out!
Tony

F1nut

Nobody likes their baby called ugly.

I like the sound of Quad's speakers, their amps, less so. I like the older KSA Krell amps, their newer stuff, not at all. Perhaps a modded Quad amp is much better. I mean, that's what mods are suppose to do, make it better.

ajanzalone

F1nut wrote: »

Nobody likes their baby called ugly.

Perhaps a modded Quad amp is much better. I mean, that's what mods are suppose to do, make it better.

Well I would like to believe that a mod could work.....

but it is still only 100w amp and it is hard to accept that the newer electronics would not
surpass 1977 technology of even a very high end vintage product?

Tony

F1nut

100 wpc amp can be more than enough power. Of course, that's somewhat dependent on how efficient the speakers are, but it also depends on the amp. Is it Class A? Is it high current? Is that 100 wpc rating very conservative?

There are plenty of vintage pieces that still sound great and are highly sought after. Check out the price of a Marantz 8B tube amp.

fossy

that is a darn good price on the TFM -55 if it's working properly-- last couple that i watched on e-bay(eprey ) went for $560 & $600 ---

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=110281564610

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=150285257665

another decent used amp is parasound

ajanzalone

F1nut wrote: »

100 wpc amp can be more than enough power. Of course, that's somewhat dependent on how efficient the speakers are, but it also depends on the amp. Is it Class A? Is it high current? Is that 100 wpc rating very conservative?.

I believe it is Class A/ current dumping, a very unique Audio design.

quoted from stereophile.com
"In "current dumping," a low-powered, low-distortion class-A amplifier is used to control the amount of current passing through a pair of heavy-duty "dumping" transistors, and it is the latter which provide the driving power (100Wpc) for the speakers."

The Quad up grade tech has also shown interest of buying or trading for it from me, if I don't want to update.

I do not know the efficiency of my Polk 10's

Tony