solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Apr 18, 2016 16:57:56 GMT
Last Saturday I brought my dishwasser to its final resting place. It still worked but had gotten a much newer one recently. So I brought it to the local garbage collection point. When putting it on the container I saw a Quad 33 and Quad 303 lying on the floor between the rest of the junk. Before one asks ... alas .. no FM3 tuner. There was grease smeared all over the 33 preamp and there were no cords with it. Quickly grabbed the combo and threw it in the car. The wife (who went along for the heavy lifting) wasn't amused with me taking home that ugly piece of garbage. I told her it was a shame to 'dump' a Quad set like that. Now I have another project on hand... Am going to fully restore/recap/repair/complete/clean/adjust and improve the set and put it on sale. The 33 preamp is missing one of the 'doors' on the rear and is clearly used but not severy scrathed. The 303 looked O.K. just the power cord and interlink were missing. Quad amps are a real beauty inside for the technician. A true master piece. All one needs to fully take these devices apart is 1 flat screwdriver.. No torx, philipshead, weird nuts or hidden 'clips'. Inside the 33 looked clean. Ofcourse the 30-40 year old amp has dried out capacitors, pots and switches need cleaning. Already recapped and improved the Quad 33. Just waiting on the power plug and 4 pin DIN plug. The 303 power amp wasn't as good looking inside. 3 of the 4 capacitors had been leaking all over the PCB. So that needs to have resistors, adjustment pots and all electrolytic caps replaced.  Still working on those PCB's. |
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howie
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Post by howie on Apr 18, 2016 21:16:25 GMT
So glad you rescued her.
My first serious amp was a 33/303, bought in 1972, using up the whole of my first pay packet, and it served me well for 22 years. It was working fine but I just felt I needed a change.
I didn't want to get rid of it so it's been in various cupboards for the last 20 years.
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Apr 18, 2016 21:46:21 GMT
You may want to recap before switching them on again....
It does have a specific appearance.
I think of it as old the Citroen DS ... not a great looker untill you discover what it is and then learn to appreciate and take the looks for granted or even like it.
Perhaps I may not even want to part with the set again after it is working again ?
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howie
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Post by howie on Apr 18, 2016 22:27:53 GMT
That's how I feel, it's like it's a part of me. Something to do with it being my first amp and it's rich, lush, sweet sound. For years I thought it was a tube amp (I knew nothing about HiFi in those days) because it has a tube -like quality.
I will be really interested to learn how it sounds once you have restored it. From memory I think it was 40W per channel-could be wrong there though.
I had to take it back to Quad once to have a cap replaced. I couldn't believe they were operating from what was nothing much more than a large shed in an industrial estate.
They also used to offer an upgrade with modern connectors instead of DIN sockets, but I never bothered. I paid £99 for both units and 20 years later Quad wanted £200 for the upgrade.
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Apr 20, 2016 14:20:23 GMT
The 303 has been repaired and technically improved. Only needs a power cord (plugs are inbound from the UK) and adjustments.  Refurbishing this set will cost me around E 60.- in parts and approx 10 hrs of work. Should be able to sell this combo for around E 250.- if not... I'll keep it. The Quad 22 and 202 were tube amps. They were replaced by the 33 and 303 which was the first SS amp from Quad. Later the 44 preamp came out (with the famous 'tilt' buttons) and the legendary 405 power amp. The 303 is 45 W per channel into 8 Ohm. The 405 is 100W per channel into 8 Ohm I kept all the wiring and connectors original. |
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Javier
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Post by Javier on Apr 20, 2016 19:31:41 GMT
I love restoration projects!
Looking very good Frans, what about the pre? Didnt ut need any attention?
Silly question, would replacing all old parts with new higher quality ones improve measured performance or is it only topology that limits it?
Sent from my GT-I9505 using proboards
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howie
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Post by howie on Apr 20, 2016 19:38:14 GMT
That's amazing, Frans. I read that Quad took a long time bringing out the 33/303 because it had to compete, sound wise, with all those lovely tube amps that were around at the time.
Can't wait to hear how it sounds.
I had those big rather square Leak speakers which added to the warmth of the sound and a Goldring deck. For only 45W per channel I do remember I could get insane volume.
The whole house would shake to Mahler's 8th Symphony, with neighbours regularly complaining to my parents about my loud music.
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Apr 20, 2016 19:41:35 GMT
Don't know yet if the pre-amp needs some extra work.
The potmeters and switches are known to be scratchy but can be taken apart and cleaned.
Hell of a job though.
In the pre-amp all electrolytic caps have been replaced and coupling caps have been increased in value (lower frequency cut-off point is lowered)
When I have made the mains cords I can test and see what more needs to be done.
Higher quality parts won't improve the measurements compared to when it was new but am fairly certain that measurements would be worse when I would have done them before the part replacements.
Limited by the design.
The Quad has very little active parts, a very basic schematic.
The correlation between measured performance and reported performance are far apart.
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Crispy
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Madrigal music is playing - Voices can faintly be heard, "Please leave this patient undisturbed."
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Post by Crispy on Apr 20, 2016 20:28:30 GMT
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howie
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Post by howie on Apr 21, 2016 9:37:52 GMT
I had 'scratchy' problems with the 33's balance control every few years, but the other controls were fine. I think you now have at least £350 worth of amplifier.  |
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Rabbit
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Post by Rabbit on Apr 21, 2016 10:34:50 GMT
Oh, stop it!!! You'll start me off, going around dumps now.....
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howie
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Post by howie on Apr 22, 2016 6:58:20 GMT
Maybe you can find that matching FM3 tuner for Frans.  |
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solderdude
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Post by solderdude on Aug 6, 2016 6:53:07 GMT
Finally had some time to restore (and improve) the Quad 33 pre-amp. Recapped the whole thing. Removed the +7V power supply (isn't used). Changed coupling cap values where I deemed it necessary to improve LF extension (did likewise in the 303) accidentally broke the small indicator light and replaced it with an orange LED so it fits the orange accents on this amp. Took apart all of the potmeters (they were all scratchy/intermittend). Cleaned up all board connectors. Lowered the input sensitivity of the 'radio 2' input so it can be used as line-level input (for the EMU0204 in this case). The switches (much to my surprise) were all still O.K. so fortunately no action needed.  Now playing as a desktop amp for the computer. The 33 has 2 power outlets (American sockets) which are used to power the sub and the 303. So when I need some sound all I have to do is turn up the volume on the 33 and the 303 + sub also swicth on. This rig (EMU + quad) is not for serious listening though, I don't use a PC for that. Just for quick evaluation of music and for testing/measuring headphones. |
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juke
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Post by juke on Aug 6, 2016 22:08:22 GMT
Pure nostalgia!
Great refurb/upgrade Frans.
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