Preamp to use with Quad 909 Amp

can any one tell me how old the quad 99 is...if it had or has a replacement...also the the price i have on retail is 900 to 1000...is this correct....last but not least,i understand there were issues with a popping noise being made and a long stay at repair centers to attemt to correct this...some times three months...
please advise...like this unit to go with an aragon 4004 amp
but don't want any headaches..was going to buy used off agon..
thanks...sean

I'm using a 909 with a Hovland HP-100 with built in phono and the combination is wonderful. Speakers are Nola Viper Reference with Scoutmaster table and Kubala Expression cables. It's very full, rich, detailed and powerful. Amazing soundstage! I'm am however very intrigued with the possibility of all tube system and am thinking of replacing the 909 with a pair of Mckintosh 275's.

Hi Jim
I have 2 Quad 909 power amps. I used Quad 99 pre-amp, at first, with them and was fairly happy. They seem to be made for each other and for the price 99 is a great deal. My speakers are Neat Motive 1, and I am bi-amping them with 2 Quad 909s. My source is Quad CDP-2 CD player (CD and DAC) and Mac Mini with 500 GB hard disks and tons of WAV (uncompressed) ripped songs - Mac goes through CDP-2's DAC.

In the meantime I have replaced my Quad 99 (couple years back) with an oldie but goodie Krell KRC-3 pre-amp (used bought for 1200$ CAD on Audiogon). Quad 909s and the whole system sounds even better.

So I believe that Quad 99 is an obvious choice, if you are on a tighter budget. But you may get better sound out of Quad 909 with somewhat more transparent and more expensive second hand pre-amp (Krell KRC-3 I can recommend, but any of Herron pre-amp would work good as well).

BTW I still own and use Quad 99 pre in my TV set up, driving (what else ? :-) Quad 306 power amp (50w / ch but basically the same current dumping design as 909) and pair of Monitor Audio Radius 90 bookshelf speakers - fantastic for TV setup.

Hope this helps.

Hi Jim,
I bought the Quad 11L's. These are superb little speakers, stand mounted monitors. Their reviews were so impressive by so many I bought them. They are a great match for the all Quad system.

However, I am keeping a pair of Quad 22L's in the back of my mind for a future purchase.

Hope this helps, Happy Listening,
Bennett

Did you finally buy the preamp? Would appreciate your thoughts once you install it.

Years ago I used Quad 606 with a Jeff Rowland Consonance Preamp. I did like it very much.
That preamp sounds very good and has all you need, the phono section is adjustable.
Still own the 606, now my lovely wife uses it with a 66 preamp and a 67 Cd Player.

Thanks Hififile. I think I am going to buy the Quad 99. The 909 amp sounds great. It is the best I have heard with my Proac response 2 speakers.

Thanks for your advice.

Which Quad speakers did you buy?

Hi Jim,
For years I used an all McIntosh/Magnepan system (very good). I recently bought the Quad 909 amp, 99 pre, 99 cd-p, and quad speakers. The sound is simply phenomenal. I also love the ease of use and system synergy of the 99 preamp with 909 amp. 1 button turns them on, off, adjusts sound etc. The 99 pre has very versatile functions. And it comes with a very good phono preamp installed. Quality control and fit and finish are very good too. Highly recommended!!

Stick to all Quad system they were made for each other! I tried many preamps with my old and trusty Quad 606II but none sounded better than the Quad preamp 66. If you don't get the 99 you will never know what you are missing. Quads are known to be poor mans Mark Levinson when it comes to the mids. You spoil the mids and you get nothing!

Just my $0.02

Thanks TJ. I will check out the pricing and see if any are for sale.

How about a Musical Fidelity A3CR or A3.2CR.
Both do a great job and have
phono (MC & MM) and remote.
Prices here are $1000 or less.

TJ