QUAD - The Crème de la Crème of Audio - Can I FIX it?

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In this video I attempt to repair a Quad audio system. It hasn't worked in 20 years. Apparently back when this was released it was highly regarded and very well respected. Even 30+ years later they still go for hundreds of pounds on eBay due to the reputation of them.
In this video you will see a Quad 306, a Quad 34 and a Quad FM4 with no power.
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Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series. Many thanks, Vince.

[@trevorjones5625]

Cheers for the video mate. I used to work at Quad building the speaker cabinets and spraying the speaker membranes with carbon. Your little discs are also carbon sprayed on one side. My mum worked there for 23 years before Mission took them over. She retired 3 months later and they gave her a brand new set of Mission 77 speakers. I still have them to this day and they work fine on my 30+ year old JVC UX1 Micro System. There is still a little company of ex employees in Huntingdon that service and repair anything Quad. And did you know Mike Oldfield recorded Tubular Bells in a studio full of Quad equipment including 26 Electrostatic speakers. He was our biggest customer in the UK. Most of the equipment was shipped to Japan as at the time they couldn't emulate it as it was all hand soldered.

[@Mymatevince]

This is amazing, a few comments came in about the little discs mentioning they might be silver plated, but now we know it's carbon!!!! Also the Tubular Bells bit is just the icing on the cake. Thanks Trevor! Can I pin this comment so others get to read it? No problem if you would rather not 👍👍👍👍

[@trevorjones5625]

@@Mymatevince By all means. Its history.

[@Mymatevince]

@@trevorjones5625 Nice one 👍

[@pr00fx6x9]

Put me right in an era that I wasn't even a part of yet! A nice bit of audio history, thank you for sharing.

[@ayenoone]

Tubular bells tho 🎧

[@andrewwesthead6618]

Vince - thank you for the interesting video and getting it work again. Rob W is my brother. This QUAD held pride of place in my dad's audio kit (slightly disorganized as it was) and visitors would sometimes come around just to see it and listen to it. He was not a very outgoing person but rather loved music, especially classical and jazz, and so it was his companion for many years. Unfortunately, he died a few years ago now. To see it working and hear music from it again brought a sudden and unexpected wave of emotion to me as I recall him sitting listening to it all those years ago. Thanks again.

[@ashleychambers7602]

A good friend of mine had a pair of quad speakers but after his wife had the lounge redecorated the speakers had to go. My friend went to a local hifi shop called lodge, the sales guy unboxed quite a few speaker brands for my friend to listen to but none sounded like his quads. When the sales guy found out what he was listening to at the moment he packed everything away and told him we’ve nothing here to compete with those speakers 😂

[@misterbonzoid5623]

She sounds like the wrong sort of wife.

[@briangray00]

I had/enjoyed some of the old ones that looked like radiators. I don't blame his missus. Fantastically precise. The criticism was that they didn't convey bass. It's probably true, but I adored mine. Dried my underpants very efficiently too.

[@ashleychambers7602]

@@briangray00 😂😂😂😂😂😂👍

[@howardsimpson489]

ESL '57, they look like radiant heaters but sound divine.

[@saudade369]

Wives , don’t you love them ….. I see so many middle age men at auctions selling off their equipment or collections , whether it’s Hifi , cars or stamps , because , “ its either me or the Hifi that the wife said had to go “ . Anyway, I’m just off t9 the auction with my quad speakers .

[@GreenJimll]

I'm so glad Vince finally heard me yelling at my laptop, "There's a fuse! In the socket. A fuse! Look there - a fuse!" I was beginning to go a funny colour....🤣🤣

[@johnr6168]

I've had a Quad FM4 for around 30 years. It still does duty from time to time. I used to work for BBC Radio and we used Quad power amps for driving studio monitor speakers for around 20 years. As with any other fine equipment, you'll only get the best out of it if its partnered with other quality gear.

[@MyTubeSVp]

When I was 14 in 1977, I bought 2 used Quad 303’s and used them well into the 2000’s. I forgot what I did with them, but I remember all the fun parties I used them for! Great kit!

[@coryengel]

A word of advice at 40:52: you’re melting solder above the tuner’s faceplate. Since occasionally molten solder drips or sizzles, it’s a good idea to not have it near any cosmetic finishes you don’t want marred. I learned this the hard way.

[@cerberus50caldawg]

Same bit of advice can be said for soldering electronics while in the comfort of your own bedroom while in your underwear. For obvious reasons... learned this the hard way as well! 😝

[@trippmoore]

@@cerberus50caldawg at least you were smart enough to wear underwear... learned this the hard way as well.

[@SyndicateofGamers]

@@cerberus50caldawg i once dropped the soldering iron whilst modding an xbox, and stupid reflexes my hand swung and caught it... as in the hot metal end. dropped it immediately, half my skin tore off onto the iron, and cause me about a months worth of blisters and discomfort

[@gdj6298]

@@SyndicateofGamers What did you shout, without swearing.....?

[@SyndicateofGamers]

@@gdj6298 can't remember exactly but knowing me plenty of f's and c's

[@ridefast0]

When starting up decades-old audio gear, with linear power supplies, I like to use a variac to increase supply voltage slowly, from zero to nominal over a period of hours, to give the old electrolytics a chance to re-form their dielectrics. Never had one go bang. Those filter caps on the other hand might need to be changed as a precaution. I remember the Quad stuff first time round and my memory is trying to tell me that the Quad 306 amplifier had a 'Current Dumping' circuit, and probably about 50-70W rms continuous per channel for two channels.

[@jamesbuttigieg2879]

I've only just come across your channel and boy was it a great experience. I'm amazed with your natural investigation logic to get to the root of the problem. It's also wonderful to see such good old equipment being saved from land fill.

[@binkman853]

Rewatch of this - great content as always. Huge thanks to you and all the patreon supporters that make your content possible.

[@nigeltorr7132]

Just one observation..when I did Electronics at college..the first week was all about safety and horrific videos of burns from people wearing chains and rings etc.. that may touch high voltage circuits..mainly caps etc in tv's but might be worth removing your rings when working on things with possible high voltages and currents in future:)

[@christopherleck]

Notice the tuner is now saving the correct frequency. The dropping of .05hz was probably a built in mechanism to let you know the battery was failing or failed.

[@muppetpaster]

It was.

[@ericpilboue3276]

I have a quad 303 in my electronic workshop, to listen music and as a test amplifier, very easy to fix and well made by hand, all the wires attached with waxed thread are in perfect condition, better than rilsan at the same age.

[@kanguruster]

I'm happy to hear you've discovered Quad! For my 6th form electronics course extension here in Australia (1982), I built a tilt tone control, just like on the preamp in your stack. I should have just built a bass lift instead because that's how I always had the tilt control set.

[@wingingit3071]

Hey Vince, great video as always :) great to see a user serviceable fuse... I grabbed a faulty switch lite locally for 20 pounds, the pins in the usb c have been mullered by the previous young owner, ordered the part and will fit it once it arrives, happy days!

[@paulbunting4260]

I like the video vince, well done on the repair. My only suggestion in no power faults is always check the fuses first. Once fuses are checked or replaced check the power rails shorting to ground without powering up the device. If its shorting then investigate thoroughly.

[@izzzzzz6]

Did anyone else wince every time he shifted it around on the bench without any soft cloth to protect it? Mains AC is not negative and positive. It's Live and Neutral ! Everyone needs a few boxes of fuses, you can buy selection packs with hundreds of fuses, many different sizes and values, you need this! I was thinking the same thing about those discs, wondering if one side was coated and supposed to exhibit an amount of resistance. If you have to take stuff like that to pieces i would warm it first with a heat gun on gentle or with a hairdryer or blow heater. I don't mean to sound rude but it really hurts to see such an old piece of equipment being restored with such a lack of finesse. All that scratching on the board could have been avoided with a bit more time spent with some finer tools / materials. And just put a cloth down to protect the paint, i know it's not in amazing condition but still!

[@Ascania]

As you apparently were looking for a production date inside the power supply section and not finding it there, may I remind you that the the IC labels include a manufacturing date codes. In this case, the TMS1000 microcontroller clearly shows it was manufactured in 1986.

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Ascania 👍👍

[@lorencarvajal8848]

loved the post. very impressed with locating the issues. brought back old memories!!! Always loved quads and their electrostatic speakers. Also gland the issue was so easy to fix. Seen to many designs that catastrophically failed if any part went bad.

[@user-wo1eh1xn3b]

Vince, this was an amazing watch. I brought back so many good memories. My Dad was a total hi-fi enthusiast, and liked to tinker with electronics. He would have really enjoyed watching you systematically go through the components, working out the faults, and repair his old Quad system. He bought this from an old school hi-fi shop in Whitehaven, Cumbria, called Elliot’s (now long gone unfortunately), probably in about 1989-90 ish. I remember this being used for probably 20 years, set up with floor standing B&W speakers, sounding amazing. It stopped working probably about 10-15 years ago and was sat gathering dust for years. After he died a few years ago I wanted to keep this to see if it was repairable…..and even if not, keep it as it just looks great! To see it working again is incredible and reminds me so much of my Dad and his love of music, hi-fi equipment, and curiosity for learning how things work. I can’t wait to hear it playing with a nice set of Mission speakers waiting to be plugged in. Thank you! (And thanks to John for passing this on to you). All the best, Rob.

[@Mymatevince]

Hey Rob, thank you so much for commenting and I'm really glad you liked watching it. Great to hear the background story on this, your dad had good taste 👍 So far, overall the comments from other viewers have been really positive on this video, so thank you for giving me the chance to showcase it. I'll return it to John early next month and hopefully it will get back to you in one piece. Funnily enough I have just been working on your N64...video out next week! Cheers.

[@musicandfilms9956]

Wow. A school had its own hi-fi shop. I wish mine had done.

[@user-wo1eh1xn3b]

@@Mymatevince thanks Vince, cant wait to hear it playing again, and glad its got so much interest.

[@rosalynadams3758]

Loved watching you work on the Quad. I own 13 year old Quad pre/power amps that I absolutely love in my system. I dread the day that they go wrong but watching this gave me hope that they could be saved. Thanks for a great video.

[@wrappeda]

Hi. FYI, Quad (can't remember what the actual company is now, but can be looked up) are very accomodating when you have problems. We had a stupid fault on our Quad 44 preamp which just required a resolder. Unfortunately, while unattended for 5 minutes one of our Labrador puppies got at the PCB and did terminal damage to it. At quite modest cost, Quad supplied a new PCB + gold module connectors and a new relay to replace the one that had been mangled. We rebuilt it and all was good. There are many full schematics on the web + upgrades should one wish to go that route. Also had dealings back in the 80's and they were brilliant, supplying new components for nothing after I inadvertently blew up the 405 power amp through my own carelessness.

[@rosalynadams3758]

@Annie Masters Thank-you so much for that information. It's good to know that they take such good care of past customers like that and when and if I have a problem I'll try them 1st. I listened to lots of different amps when upgrading 13 years ago and the Quad 99/909 pre/power amp's were the only ones I loved and still do. I'm glad you managed to get yours up and running again, with their help. Long may our respective Quads live on.

[@lisbitsandpieces647]

@@rosalynadams3758 Quad always took long-term support seriously, and looked after old equipment. An odd little vignette on this: when they changed to using metric screws and threads, they had the problem that people might get confused when old equipment was in for repair, and force a new metric screw into a casting with holes tapped for imperial threads, thereby ruining a casting that would be hard to source. So someone came up with the clever idea of simultaneously changing from slot-headed to cross-headed screws so it would be obvious at a glance whether a screw in the repair place was imperial or metric.

[@theelmonk]

That generation of equipment was far more repairable than modern stuff and will remain so. People are still maintaining vacuum tube gear, after all!

[@donwest5387]

buy replacement components now

[@saudade369]

I’m always envious and admire people,who can understand what to me looks like a thousand piece jig saw of all the same colour pieces . It amazes me to see how you can differentiate between the possible issues . I am daunted just looking at joining the interconnects .

[@knoxyish]

back in 88 i used a quad 606 power amp with a meridian 208 cd/pre amp with mission 753 speakers .the first thing i thought when the tuner wouldn't power up the glass fuse!!! that 406 set up was and is class .

[@jarls5890]

I remember back in the late 80's I was gawking at the exact setup you show in this video - at a local high-end audio shop. Really wanted this, but was out of my range at the time as I was 15 or so. It appealed as it looked like nothing else around at the time. And nothing else in the shop sounded like them with the quad speakers hooked up to it. Some years later I ended up buying a Mission Cyrus amp that in many ways share the same aesthetics.

[@plasma453]

Quad is very high quality my uncle bought his new in 1981 and it still sounds great. Interesting this one was owned by a GP as my uncle was a consultant anesthetist.

[@alanbenson1505]

Must be the clinical sound quality, eh? 🤣

[@Finchcustomputters]

Something nice about having separates like that and proper speakers. I remember seeing quad in the posh hi-fi shop in Preston when I was a kid and I always wanted something like that when I was older.

[@markcarrington8565]

Hi Vince, great video. Must confess I winced when you plugged it in after changing the fuse. I blew up an amp a while back after I shorted a connection. Taught me a valuable lesson! Since then I made myself a dim bulb tester, which uses a 100Watt incandescent light bulb, not easy to find anymore but well worth it.

[@howardsimpson489]

I bought several when they started to disappear, about the price of a packet of matches.

[@SGLastMileFails]

Hi Vince! Just came back to this video to thank you for inspiring enough confidence in me, that I took the chance on buying a broken Rotel CD player for 25 quid, in the hope that I might actually be able to fix it. The CD deck was advertised as able to power on but unable to open the disc tray. Naturally I assumed it was simply the drive belt for the tray eject/close mechanism that had gone to goo. I bought it and tore into it, but alas it was not only a broken belt, the gear that moves the laser lens assembly up and down had worn down and become brittle. That means that while the deck will actually read the CD and display the number of tracks on the TOC, it simply will not play since the laser couldn't move along. Tracked down a replacement gear for under 5 quid posted, and it now lives again! An expensive deck that still goes for a couple hundred quid, used in working order, these days for 30 pounds! Your videos made me believe that with some logical troubleshooting steps & methods, as well as a good amount of luck, repairing stuff doesn't require a garage full of expensive, specialist tools. Basic tools & subject to the availability of parts, a novice can get the job done eventually. Thanks mate! Keep doing what you enjoy, and I'll keep enjoying watching what you do! Cheers!

[@Mymatevince]

Well done for giving it a go and congrats on the successful fix 👍👍👍 One of many I hope.

[@barrieshepherd7694]

Came across your channel by accident and found this video very interesting. Brought back memories of my early career in BR. We used Quad 50E, mono multi-tap transformer output, amps for station PA. They were virtually bomb proof! If I remember correctly we had around 30 located in Kings Cross station distributed across 4 equipment racks around the station for the PA. It was very interesting to see the quantity of analogue circuitry in the tuner, clearly indicating why the cost was so high. Nowadays of course a SRD receiver chip a DSP chip and a small micro would be all you would need - how times have changed 🤣 the most expensive components in modern audio equipment is probably the human interface devices (knobs and buttons!)

[@bobbobovich4356]

Receiver, DSP, couple tactile moms, input jack, pot, couple of posts/banana sockets, 50+50W(pk) class D board the size of 20 Pall Mall from aliexpress for $5. You'd have a receiver amp smaller than half lb of butter that would have people in the 60's looking for the hidden hifi system. Hell, double the size and add arduino with bluetooth, wifi, remote control/smart home integration, and full colour oled display hahaha. Still, I'll keep my 405 and it's big black frontal heatsink 😉

[@MrPitatom]

Hi Vince. You're a great analytical technician. I too work on many high voltage equipment and the risk of electrocution is high. That is why I purchased an isolation transformer to protect myself when working on high voltage equipment. They are a good insurance policy to protect your life. And regarding the tape input and output, there will be two sets of sockets. The REP pair (replay) will be to receive the audio from the tape deck, and the second pair, REC, is to send the audio from the pre-amp to the tape deck to record the music onto tape. Great video, thank you.

[@johnchetwynd3618]

Quad is high end stuff. Listened to a set up using their electrostatic speakers, it blew me away. I used to repair Armstrong hi fi, another good quality U.K. manufacturer

[@blusnapper]

During the 60’s my first serious piece of hifi was the Armstong 621 amp. This was followed a few years later with the Quad 303 and Quad Electrostatic Speakers. Amazing clarity, the sound blew me away! Happy memories.

[@doctormollusc5124]

I love your videos, and I'm so into doing this stuff myself... I have the advantage of audio experience, but the disadvantage of not getting my act together to make awesome videos 😊. I've got to say, I've been shouting at the screen about the integrated fuse for a few minutes! 😂. Sending the love man ❤

[@MichaelArchambault]

Nice! Was happy to see another audio repair; I sub’d to you a while back as I stumbled across your B&O repairs. I admit that I skip the car and boat videos, heh. The speakers are a nice tease and I look forward to seeing what system you picked up with them!

[@hermanmunster3358]

RECord and REPlay or playback. One set of phonos is for the input FROM the tape, Left and Right. The other is to send your source signal TO the tape for recording, Left and Right. So REP is for PLAYING BACK your tapes, and the other is for RECORDING to tape. That is standard to have four RCA's to create your Tape Deck LOOP.

[@tollerdogz]

Just to add that the highest quality tape decks had separate record and playback heads. The tape passed over the record heads first, then the playback heads. This made it possible to record from the source via the pre-amp record outputs, while simultaneously monitoring the actual recording quality from the playback heads through the replay sockets, power amp and loudspeakers. The best quality loudspeakers were often referred to as 'monitor speakers'. Sadly, your B&O ones, while nice, are not in that class.

[@andymouse]

The Tilt control enables you to either attenuate the bass and lift the treble, or lift the bass and attenuate the treble, in steps of 1dB. so basically it's a rich man's tone control ! and all this swings around middle of our hearing range (about 1Khz) it was invented by the guy who started Quad...cheers.

[@jameshodgson1609]

Just found this video and it’s great to see you delving into the wonderful world of Quad. Just about to switch on my Quad FM3 / 34/ 405-2 to Listen to folk show on BBC radio 2 one of the corporation’s remaining gems

[@crcomments8509]

One thing I noticed, when you are working on the unit you are reaching over the unit to switch the power on, you should ensure that the mains sockets to the side of you, so you don’t need to reach over. It’s also provably worth you investing in a mains isolation transformer (gives you a bit of added protection). If you ever do any similar units that have a custom mains input socket (e.g Pioneer CD players) and solder the mains lead into the unit, make sure you tape up the custom plug, I learnt that the hard way.

[@tomd2917]

The contact discs in the switch looks to be silver plated on one side - silver oxide is the black you see, RF connectors are often silver plated and black but always seem to make good contact,

[@mrbbt2220]

My parents bought this new in 1988. It's still going strong and sounds great👌

[@justsomeone89]

I spotted that RIFA cap as soon as you opened the power supply. Those are such a common issue.. I had the same issue on a sowing machine from the 80's. It smoked the room and made an awful sound when it did. It was so violent that it scared me. When i opened it, i saw the burst RIFA... Replaced it with a different brand. EEVBlog featured them in vlog #1183 , because they are always failing in older devices. If they look crusty... they are... Moisture gets in, and after years of not using they will fail when you plug them in. I would recommend replacing them in the other units too. Because if they burst, it is possible you cannot read the value any more.

[@duncan-rmi]

^^ this. ALWAYS open the gear & triage it for these little buggers, + other caps (bulging or burst electrolytics, shorted tants), memory batteries, stuff like that. & bring it up on a variac.

[@drmoss_ca]

I've had Quad 34, 44, FM4, 306, CD66, CD67, 24p, QC-24, II/forty, 989 speakers and 2905 speakers. Love them! I have upgrade kits for the caps from the Netherlands, and also a new battery for the FM4.

[@charlesdeens8927]

These fixes were so satisfying. Excellent vid!

[@wastelandwanderer3883]

I haven't looked at the other comments, but a good safety precaution when working in electronics, especially when high voltages may be present, is to remove all jewelries: shorting a circuit with a ring makes for a bad day.

[@sneugler]

Nice repair, a note on the RIFA caps though. It's not required to purchase a new one made by RIFA, any safety cap with the same ratings (class X2 47nF-100R) will do just fine and can be found for less than half of the price :)

[@peterlarkin762]

Any will do, but it is a critical device... Make sure it's over 400v AC rated, these are often not spec'd at RMS voltage.

[@howardsimpson489]

I have just checked a lot of old valve black and white TVs, even with a variac, the RIFA capacitors went bang at some stage, about ten of them. So much for safely compliance.

[@I_Don_t_want_a_handle]

As a newly working teenager in the 1970s and Mike Oldfield fanatic I desperately wanted a Quad system. I could never afford it and by the time I could I had come to the conclusion that it did not matter what I played music on as I couldn't practically tell the difference between a Quad system and a Boots £30 special. Put them side by side and the difference is obvious. Use a Boots £30 special for long enough and it sounds no different ... my ears adjusted, apparently. So I saved myself £1k. Which of course I spent on fast women and cars ...

[@Mymatevince]

😂👍👍👍

[@TheDjcarlos67]

That Quad set up and those speakers!!! Quad are the Rolls Royce of HiFi… sacrilege 😂😅

[@drummerboy1390]

‘Better than Bang & Olufsen.’ That made me smile.

[@jackb8682]

I was a "Hi Fi" freak in the 70's and 80's and used to drool over Quad equipment in the magazines and dream about the day when I could afford such "top shelf" gear. Thanks to your video (great work) I finally get to see inside some gear they made back in those days. VERY DISAPPOINTING. Looks like any other cheap, high volume, consumer electronic stuff, mass produced using low price components. Maybe I'm spoiled, I work in RF engineering and as user of a wide variety of high end test equipment I do know what quality electronic equipment looks like inside. The way Quad gear was marketed you would think it was the best of the best.... gold standard. Just goes to show the power of advertising. Spend enough on it and you will convince a large enough number of people to part with large wads of their cash regardless.

[@libertas3830]

Actually, the long-departed but illustrious founders of Quad specifically aimed to design hifi that challenged the assumption that quality sound could only be produced using expensive components. Their founder Peter Walker famously caused a scandal by demonstrating his audio designs using simple electrical flex for speaker leads instead of the eyewateringly expensive alternatives used by many audiophiles. Quad's stated preference was for clever circuitry that avoided using flaky parts with high tolerances that affect the sound too subtly to be discerned by human hearing, bringing affordable and reliable quality sound reproduction to many people for the first time. Their chosen components did not require the very highest tolerances but worked well together - hence the use of Quad by the BBC and in many PAand cinema systems. That's why so much Quad stuff is still in regular use today with minor maintenance as Vince has shown us here. Quad's customer service was legendary unlike almost all their now long-forgotten "high-end" competitors.Their equipment was not stratospherically priced - instead it was marketed to be "reassuringly expensive" enough not to be rejected out of hand by hifi industry opinion formers (often motivated by their profit margin). This is the same reason why so many fantastically but affordable Japanese hifi was eschewed by the hifi mafia in favour of local kit that cost a bomb and exploded if you looked at it the wrong way or didn't a;ign it with leylines (cf British Leyland cars!).

[@223Sako]

You should take a look at a Quad 405 internally, they are really well put together. They might use some bog standard parts but the build quality is excellent. I have one from the early 1980's aside from capacitors being replaced it still works as well as the day I bought it. The may not have the sort of parts that Krell or Audio Research use but when a Krell KSA50 cost best part of £2000 you could pick up a 405-2 for £200

[@tharkthax3960]

Brill video, you have a decent personality and are willing to take advice, excellent, and a great end result! Thankyou

[@LOrealHardly]

Think Techmoan would be very interested in these units, Vince. Electrolytic capacitors can go to near zero resistance when unused for a long time, so fuses go and other board damage can happen. When I'm powering up electronic equipment that has been off for a long time. flip them on then off as quickly as I can. This lets the Caps take a charge and self-restore a little bit. Haven't watched all the video yet but I'd also pop the socketed IC's, out and back in as they may have risen and allso may have some build up on the contacts.

[@daviddobeson7509]

I dream of owning Quad audio gear. During Uni holidays in 1973 in Sydney, Australia, I worked for "British Merchandising" who imported and sold top end UK audio equipment. These included Leak, Garrard, Goodmans and, at the top end and most expensive, Quad. The Quad 303 amp matched with the Quad electrostatic speakers was easily the best audio combo that I have ever heard. With 20 year old ears I could "see" every instrument in an orchestra: it was the definition and "sharpness" that registered. A "system" cost well over $1000 back then and many times that today so I will have to rely on my memory rather than waste my money trying to relive my audio youth. Dave D Sydney

[@musicandfilms9956]

Describing Goodmans as top end audio shows how far they fell. Such a shame. Leak and Garrard, of course, don't even exist any more.

[@nudebaboon4874]

​@@musicandfilms9956 Goodmans name is now used by Argos, and yes, very much bottom end. However, look up, LEAK STEREO 130 and LEAK CDT should cheer you up!

[@allanokeeffe9499]

The Leak and Garrard names still exist. Leak is now part of the same Chinese company that bought Quad. Garrard is owned by SME, a high end British turntable manufacturer.

[@toadinthehole8085]

This man is brilliant, so happy I found your interesting channel. Inspired.

[@Phiyedough]

Interesting to see what the more modern Quad equipment is like. I have their valve pre-amp and FM tuner but not the power amps (they had one for each channel). Only the power amps had a power supply, so the other components were not stand alone units. They pick up the HT and heater supplies from one of the power amps.

[@Dave-yo9tt]

Although the power leads can be attached in any order, the Amp is usually the primary feed for the low power devices... Great work, keep it up!

[@tolstoi77]

Great, a new hifi repair video :) I was about to write about the RIFA before seeing the second part of the video. So, note that there will be some in the other two components too. I'd recommend to change them as a preventive measure, even if they are not blown (for now).

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Stephan 👍👍👍

[@offcalhayden]

Hey vins I like your video on KZbin channel I subscribe to your channel

[@mrpetit2]

Regarding the contacts on the platelet turning black: My guess is that one side is silver plated and turned black, the other side is just the base metal (aluminium or nickel undercoat plating). Silver is of course a better conductor, but can turn black. The reason why maybe only one side was silverplated, is to reduce cost. Silver is expensive and if you're just only using 1 side, why plate the other one. But one can argue if it indeed is silverplating that has turned black if the silverplating really is an improvement.

[@andrasszabo7386]

That tuner used to have a backlit screen, if I am correct. Cool video anyway, Vince! In my country, in Hungary where I live, collectors would have cut throats for the hi-fi stuff you have in your hands. NiCd and NiMH batteries are interchangeable in those devices. NiCd got discontinued because someone in EU said it has hazardous materials inside. But in my opinion, manufacturers got rid of it because those batteries did not want to die that often, and people could not be forced to replace their equipment too often, so they would not spend money on new stuff too often.

[@cjmillsnun]

Cadmium is extremely nasty particularly when placed in landfill. NIMh is more reliable than NICd anyway.

[@andrasszabo7386]

@@cjmillsnun I had an original cordless drill battery manufactured in 1976, completely died in 2019. Maybe it answers the question as to why nobody wants to make it anymore.

[@johnr6168]

Yes, the display is phosphorescent vacuum type, complete with horizontal hot cathode wires.

[@freebornjohn2687]

I had a wonderful sounding pair of Quad ESL 57s with valve power amps sadly I had to sell them as they couldn't fit in my new house. Quad made one of the best CD players around the same time of your amps the Quad 67.

[@77appyi]

there are 4 plugs for the tape from the tape player, there will be the input for the preamp from the tape deck but also from the preamp there will be an input to the tape deck so you can record from a source like a tuner or CD, etc

[@Martyn-ey9lw]

Great vid Vince. Excellent attention to detail, changing the RIFA cap around so it's easier to read in future, except it is now the opposite way to the ic's (to read)😄😄😄 Keep up the good work Vince.

[@Mymatevince]

Hahaha, so in fixing my OCD from my view I created future OCD for the next person that needs to do real work in there!!! 🤣

[@Martyn-ey9lw]

@@Mymatevince What matters is the good intention to make things easier for repairers that come after you. It's a bit sad on my part to spot it😄😄. Great work Vince, really enjoy your videos.

[@SleepToTheSounds]

Nice work again Vince see you also fixed the tuning issue where it took .5 off each time ! Thanks for the video

[@DG-mi2mc]

16 minutes i was like, he really doesn't see the FUSE, does he 🤣🤣🤣 Thanks for uploading longer videos, loving it!!

[@cameradoctor205]

Yep, I was yelling at the screen :)

[@Mymatevince]

I know!!! Can't believe it took me so long to see it when it is printed on the back!!!!! 😂

[@thehighwayman78]

16:00 finally! I've been going "check the fuse!" The last 15 minutes 😂😂😂

[@brianjames6890]

Really enjoyed watching your upload Vince. Well done. Please keep on repairing.👏👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿👏👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@Mymatevince]

Thank you Brian 👍👍

[@marcparnell8233]

Having been a gigging musician for a long time a fuse on the kettle plug is a very common find, and also something I always carry, especially using dodgy pub electrics, great vid

[@llf8404]

Looks like you have a nice piece of sound equipment now. The rec an play in the back is to connect a tape rack so you can record and play. From the radio, an auxiliary device or a turntable; actually did not see audio in for this last one; but still could be added. Congrats!

[@jonathanhall2401]

My Dad had the top two units along witha Phillips CD palyer in 1982, In 1987 I bought a Mission Cyrus 1, a Denon DCD-300 and a pair of Monitor Audio speakers, that was my first HiFi.

[@jason7741]

Great video as always Vince, love the intro music too, reminds me of a 70s/80s sitcom such as Terry and June 😊

[@Mymatevince]

😂

[@j4ckcampbe11]

I read a lot of comments, but didn’t see anyone answer the question about the four phono plugs for the tape player. Rec stands for Record, and Rep stands for Replay - in other words, input and output. The ability to record and share your LPs or create your own mixtapes was the main reason you wanted a tape deck all those years ago. So, one for L/R input and one for L/R output. In the states, they would have been marked Rec and Mon for monitor.

[@adrenna123]

When this came out, the higher end tape decks were 3 head meaning there was a separate record from the play head. This way, you can listen to the actual recording on the tape and not the source.

[@wrappeda]

Hi. FYI, Quad (can't remember what the actual company is now, but can be looked up) are very accomodating when you have problems. We had a stupid fault on our Quad 44 preamp which just required a resolder. Unfortunately, while unattended for 5 minutes one of our Labrador puppies got at the PCB and did terminal damage to it. At quite modest cost, Quad supplied a new PCB + gold module connectors and a new relay to replace the one that had been mangled. We rebuilt it and all was good. There are many full schematics on the web + upgrades should one wish to go that route. Also had dealings back in the 80's and they were brilliant, supplying new components for nothing after I inadvertently blew up the 405 power amp through my own carelessness.

[@alexandrabakker3944]

Nice set. I have a technics sh-dv280 complete set at home still fully working, it's still looking great and sounds good.

[@nemesis2264]

I've got the Technics SC-DV290 myself that I purchased in 2003 when it had just been released. 20 years later it is still as good as new and sounds just as good.

[@xXBeefyDjXx]

Can't say I've heard of QUAD, but a good video! Tip: It's extremely common for soldered on batteries (especially Varta) to explode/leak everywhere, the electrolyte remains acidic *and* capacitive so it will eat away at any traces as well as bridge anything it's found it's way to. Very common to see this kind of thing cause all sorts of weird behaviour in older electronics, even new ones! *Always*, always always! Remove them first and give the board a good clean with some white vinegar to dissolve acids and then IPA clean. Check traces for breaks, patch up where necessary then continue diagnosing if still faulty... Easy oversight on the fuse, we're all guilty of that at some point lol

[@ssgeek4515]

This is all about just'having a go' I commend you for preserving sir👍

[@Lempke1972a]

I always like watching your watches Vince, nice MoonSwatch you got there!

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Lempke, I really like this watch. One of my favourites despite the bad press they get with watch fans! 👍

[@stuallen7367]

This extract explains tilt control.. A headliner is re- introduction of Quad’s tilt control, first seen 1982 on the Quad 34 preamplifier. This gently alters overall spectrum balance: you tilt one way or the other, in steps, for a warmer sound or a less warm one. Tilt is a simple and elegant replacement for bass and treble controls, suiting a system that is pretty well balanced in the first place and just needs some tiddling. Here, you make one simple adjustment. Backing up Tilt is Bass Boost that measurement showed quite strongly increases bass. Quad say it adds bass to small loudspeakers.

[@Okurka.]

worst.poem.ever

[@davidbramley6730]

Drove a pair of lentek monitors with this set up. Still got those filing cabinets. Lentek was in Huntington. Well known for head amps.

[@michaelcharach]

Great video. I would have installed one of those cheap Bluetooth adapters in the back of the box. Wonder if it is possible to restore that scratched up volume knob

[@alangunn7254]

Thanks for an interesting video! :-) I was shouting “there’s a fuse on the mains socket” but I think that just proves that I’m 60! 🤪

[@RWL2012]

A few years ago I heard a 60s Quad system with electrostatic speakers and it was a really good experience :) The main unit with the radio and turntable was a big wide piece of furniture and there was enough "table" room on it to place the later added 80s CD player and cassette deck (as "auxiliary" sources) on top of it!

[@davidsmith-ih2kk]

What a wonderful stereo system, and such a good fix, I'm so glad you could fix it so well for a friend of a friend. I guess disc would be ok for 1930's only record discs in those days no DVD or CD so maybe in the 1980's it's a carry over from then. Lovely video Vince, as to the Rolls videos not being put forth by KZbin maybe its because your electronic fix it videos are more numerous and consistent, to me it looks sometimes as if you have lost faith in the Roller videos, but I have to say I look out for them all the time, being the sticky beak I am I love seeing and hearing your Dads neighbourhood it's such a change from a yellow or blue mat not that I don't love your electronics fix it videos. I love all your videos I was so impressed with the R2D2, you got an absolute bargain for that. One last sticky beak thing I notice the Nintendo Switches poking out from their hiding spot behind the curtain. A lovely video fix Vince really well done. As to the Rolls if you were to give it up I think your fans would understand, it's a difficult set of videos to produce and incredibly time consuming for you to produce for minimal revenue, and an incredibly large expenditure, personally I love the Rolls videos, I just say this because I personally would understand if you gave it up, it is so difficult to do and such a time consuming project. But I say this GOOD LUCK VINCE 👍 in all your endeavours. One last thing I am so happy a great company as PCB WAY sponsor some of your videos a real plus for you Vince a real plus.

[@believeinyourself4457]

I suspect there are some folks out there who would pay handsomely for a repair video of their own systems you fix, in life, the more context there is, the greater the depth of joy available to be generated.

[@tollerdogz]

Do you mean 1930's 78rpm "gramophone records" made of shellac and played with a metal needle? Vinyl LPs played at 33rpm ruled for four decades until digital CD's eventually took over. During the 1980's both were available. Vinyl is experiencing a comeback and many think it has a unique 'warm' sound compared to digitised music. The input selector buttons on the Quad did far more than simply switch between sockets - each selection had its own associated pre-amp circuits. The 'disc' input on the Quad is equalised for the very low level output of a high quality magnetic cartridge with diamond stylus. Because of the way these worked the signal from the cartridge was not 'flat' and it had to be equalised and amplified in the disc stage of the pre-amp. Tape decks required a different equalisation - the high frequencies were boosted in recordings and reduced on playback to minimise tape hiss. The output from a radio tuner was high level and 'flat', as was the output from a separate CD player, and these required no equalisation. The Quad was (and still is) one of the best available systems. It was very expensive and only the wealthiest of HiFi enthusiasts could afford one.

[@MrPlynskey]

Interesting video thanks. My friend has a £40k QUAD set up with the electrostatic speakers. Unbelievable sound quality.

[@Jim_M_75]

What a piece of kit, cheers Vince.

[@andykrousti1831]

Loving the Moonswatch Vince! Great vid as usual!

[@billlamond1847]

Remember this kit from the 70s and did give it some consideration but went down another path it was thought to be good and it was. Great vid very informative if you have this in your system. ATB.

[@crcomments8509]

The unmarked marked sockets next to the CD input is actually a second tape output (you can copy a CD to two tapes simultaneously). REP on the other tape connections is short for Replay, the output from the tape goes there.

[@HaralHeisto]

I friend of mine had a set of these, but without the rear bracket. If you tried to run them just stacked on top of each other, the heat from the amp would cook the radio tuner! That inch of airspace is actually required

[@EJP286CRSKW]

Actually the tuner could cook itself. The 7812 regulator runs pretty hot, and needs that heatsink inside the PSU cage. But my FM4 has been on top of two 306s for 25 years, not cooked yet.

[@TheSkaldenmettrunk]

Wow.. that's really some high end stuff. Imagine playing some Vinyl on that❤

[@coolissimo69]

Great fix Vince awesome sound.

[@rohanchapman4159]

Have a pair of Quad speakers, they are beautifully made and sound incredible at any volume,

[@izzzzzz6]

Oh nice. I have that lot without the radio but with a 2nd 306. Thinking to convert each 306 into a bridged mono block.

[@tim9778]

Hi Vince. The reason you have four sockets for tape is two are to send the signal you wish to record to a tape player, and the “ rep” are, I think for replay, in other words the output from the tape recorder. A high end unit like this would probably have a facility known as “ tape monitor” designed to be used with three head tape machines.( usually very expensive, (Revox, Tandberg etc)This was so the user could listen to the actual signal coming from the tape play head as it was being recorded. Cheers!

[@michaeltongue]

I have two of those systems and I'm listening to this video through one :-) I have one for my music attached to a Brenan streaming / CD device and one attached to my computer.

[@u28909z]

Quad did an upgrade which eliminates the battery, they did mine about 5 yrs ago. Might be worth asking them about it.

[@DJRicoche]

Hey Vince, love the videos as always. That tuner screen must have a blacklight or be vaccum fluorescent. I'm kind of surprised you didn't fix it so the tuner display is legible! I think a revisit is needed for that alone!

[@simontillson482]

It is a vacuum fluorescent display, and the phosphors lose brightness over time. Not really fixable apart from replacing the display unit itself, which is a horrible job. Think loads of heavy duty pins coming out of a glass envelope… not an easy desolder job!

[@smacedorj]

The happiness on Vince's face for being sponsored is priceless. :)

[@mndlessdrwer]

If I'm correct, the reason you have three bridge rectifiers is because that's a multi-tap transformer and the windings are broken out at three places for three different voltages and need to be independently rectified into DC current so you can power the chips with the voltages they need (typically 12V for the amplifier circuit and 5V and 3.3V for the logic).

[@EJP286CRSKW]

In this case 30V for the display, 12V for the audio, and another 12V for the RF/IF.

[@Reaktanzkreis]

The tuning circuits of the front end unit need the 30V for the varicaps. 12V are for the audio circuits and 5V for the logic circuits and the seven segment diplay. QUAd made well designed and high reliable Hi-Fi Components. I used to work 2 years for the german general import company in Hamburg. I repaired lot of those gear, the most of them were mistreated by its owner. No real defects. Some overheated 405 which were build in in furniture blow the speaker safety triac parallel to the speaker terminals. I had a Quad 303 in my car powered by a homebrewed inverter. It sounds incredible with my Blaupunkt radio cassette and two 10" Isophon speaker chassis in the back. ☺..long time ago. That was before car-hi-fi was invented.

[@EJP286CRSKW]

@@Reaktanzkreis Rubbish. See the schematic. The 30V supply is connected to the LH end of the transistor ladder that controls the signal strength indicator, and IC18-19 that control the numeric display: see top of C46. The varicaps are connected to ground and the reference tuning voltage via point G, which is between 2.0 and 8.2V.

[@Reaktanzkreis]

@@EJP286CRSKW Yes , you are right. Sorry! I mistook it with an Revox B760. I recently got one in for repair. The Revox tuning voltage is in the range of 5-25V. My Quad equipment is gone with many others , a fire destroyed my workshop in 2020 with loads of old hi-fi , ham radio and test gear. A Li-Ion battery start the fire , it was on charge when something went wrong.

[@andytipping70]

Hi Vince - that blue bodied battery is a nickel cadmium battery - you are very lucky that the damage is so light after so many years. The replacement will have a green body - - which uses nickel metal hydride technoogy - supposedly with less leakage and safer for engineers to come into contact with.

[@andytipping70]

as per usual, I should watch till the end before commenting lol .

[@Mymatevince]

😂 I always appreciate the help Andy!!!!

[@howardsimpson489]

Don't lick your fingers after pulling the nicad, cadmium is very toxic.

[@alanhilton7336caradventure]

Never heard of QUAD lol.... but you are a Jedi master of electronics's after bringing that unit back.

[@TKs3DPrints]

years ago in the late 80s i used to have a quadraphonic amp 4 speaker setup etc. not a Quad system. cant remember the make. it was awesome. but not many albums in true quadraphonic. i did have a couple of albums dark side of the moon was one. and i played it to death.. if i had it to high a volume i would pop all the fuses in it. and was not a problem back then. then they changed the fuses to quick blow antifuse's and they cost a lot money and they popped all the time. i was not a electric wizard. and there most probably a reason they kept popping. ended up selling the amp. i look back in regret. when i watched you changing the fuses. it brought it all back to me.. :)

[@M1LAD81]

Nice work, Vince. I would love to see you fix some vintage Naim products or even vintage Nakamichi. High end audio of the 80's and 90's.

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks M1, I did buy a Nakamichi Music bank over a year ago and I still haven't unpacked it. I think it is in a bad way, but it could be an interesting video. It was £50 from eBay 👍