CD,
TUNER, PRE/POWER
AMPS
Quad
Elrte
system
(fsssototaD
After a decade,
Quad's
amazingly
successful 99 series is to be replaced by a new
range. Can
the Elite components
improve
on their
illustrious
predecessors?
Review: Ken Kessler
Lab: Paul Miller
ild confession:
for a decade,
the bulk of
my listening has
been through a
Quad
99
system. lt consists of a CD
vendors will
get
out of an Elite system
owner are speaker cables and upgrades for
the Ac cables for those so inclined.
True, there will be
purists
and cable
addicts who will
want to connect these
conventionally, but
to do so would be to
give
up secure communications that ensure
the stability of all functions and the remote
control
operation, to say nothing of single-
button
power
on/off for the entire
stack.
(You
will notice an anomaly here: while
the CD
player,
amps and
preamp
can be
purchased
separately for conventionally'
wired use with other makes or equipment,
the Elite FN,4 tuner
does not have its own
power
supply nor Ac cable ingress, so it
can only work in an Elite system, via
Quad
Link
for its
power.
oddly, as the music
signals travelthrough
the
Quad
Link ribbon
cable, the Elite FlVl does
have RcA line level
outputs to feed into a recorder, etc.)
While the models seem minimalist, they
abound
with so many features
-
accessible
via the remote
-
that
you
must read the
owner's manual. otherwise, how would
you
know the means of accessing the l\4M
or lVlC settings for the rather fine
phono
stage? Or how to set the comprehensive
tone controls, with their spiritual roots in
Quad's
tilt controls of
yore?
NEWTRANSPORT
lnside, the Elite CDS CD Player boasts
a
new transport mechanism and servo
system to differentiate
it from its
predecessor.
A Crystal 24-bitl1 92kqz DAC
replaces the older 24'bitig6kHz chip used
in the 99. The Elite FM Tuner is a
'clean-
sheet design' built
around a high
grade
FM stereo decoder with discrete Class A
stages, coupled to Class A output stages
with high
quality polypropylene
capacitors
in the signal
path.
It offers 20
presets.
Both feed off the Elite Pre
via
Quad
Link
for total connectivity to these sources,
while Amp Bus connectivity controls
player, preamp
and 909
power
amp. They
have
been working for roughly ten hours
a dayfive days a week,
as my desk system,
playing
through Spendor 153/5As
and also
accepting signals from my computer and
an iPod dock.
I cannot even think of a
system
-
outside
of that in my car
-
with
which lshare as many hours.
You might imagine, then, that the
news of a replacement system for a
ranqe launched
in 1999, and with which
lam on such intimate terms,
would lire
my curiosity. After all, aside from the
occasional
hlccup from the CD
player,
the 99s have
been as reliable, robust and
musical as their
great-grandparents,
the
much-loved 33/303 system. Which,
I might
add, was my desktop system for six or
seven
years
prior
to the arrival of the 99s.
Thus, the new
Elite system certainly had its
work cut out to impress me.
fiIE
LINE-I'P..
With two
more units to be released,
including a model
to replace the CDP
CD
player
with its on-board
digital
preamp,
and a direct replacement for the 909
power
amp,
the initial Elite selection
consists of the
'Elite
CDs'
cD
player
(t800),
'Elite
FM'tuner
(E600), 'Elite
Pre'
preamp
(8850) and two
power
amps
-
the
'Elite
Stereo'and
the'Elite Mono'. We reviewed
the system with
the latter (8650 each).
Like the 99s, each
Elite unit is a compact
32 1 x70x3 1 0mm. They stack
perfectly,
thanks to cleverly-shaped aluminium
cases which accept
the feet of the model
above in a
gentle
recess.
Best of all, if one
purchases
the whole system, the units
can
be connected by the
Quad
Link system
which daisy-chains the lot using supplied
ribbon cables.
The only sales that wire
RIGIff: CDS innards r€veal a single lalge
motherboard and morsthan-ample
power
supply. Tho6e who
misr the cDP with tull digital
preamp
will w€lcome the Elite version,
to follow
48
|
www.hif inews.co.uk
I
JANUARY 2011
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