Good preamp to match Quad 606 Mk1 amp?

Would like to ask owners and those familiar with the 606 amp what is a good preamp under RM2k new or used (i prefer used) that is good with the amp. Doesn't have to be a Quad Pre as I've read conflicting accounts with some owners saying they're the best and some saying the Quad Pre's are lethargic and veiled. Thanks for feedback. TT on me if you can hunt me down. Also I've read here that some liked the passive pre made by local Euphonic Research, has anyone tried that with the Quad? Source will be Meridian 506 or Marantz CD63SE noki if that has any bearing at all.

Yours, itchy agin, moderneagle

Guess you need to listen to the different pre yourself then decide. I don't own the 606 but have all the smaller ones, 303, 306, 405-2. Friends having the 606 use either Quad 34 or Quad 66-Pre (cw remote), sounded very good to me.
Kind regards.
chamts

To the eagle,

Confucious says when bekside itchy, best to scratch it.

Get rid of the Quad altogether. Get a real Pre/Power Amp.

And his speakers ?.....

Speakers keep lah ... Best in the world already mah !

On a more serious side, for a FACT, I KNOW that a very good preamp to mate to a Quad monobloc power amp is the FM Acoustics 155. Somemore the speakers are BBC-type.

When want to get rid of the Quad altogether & especially at low prices, call me... :-) ....

hahah...low price...you want, I oso want, countless others oso want!...

WongKN wrote:

On a more serious side, for a FACT, I KNOW that a very good preamp to mate to a Quad monobloc power amp is the FM Acoustics 155. Somemore the speakers are BBC-type.

Wah ... someone here also start talking "FM Acoustic" already ...... be careful, it can be a very expensive and dangerous poison here.

Dei, the eagle is asking for help so I give help la. I am not the one with the itchy bekside la.

Thank you all for your offers to buy my quad for a cheap price. Sadly, I'm keeping my quad, my personal agenda is my old quad has magic so I'm never selling it having had it for so long only.

Thanks Mr. Mod for the sound advice. But going to FM is simply too rich for my wallet unless someone gets born again, renounces all worldly possessions and sells to me for less than RM2k.

BTW, anyone here has tried passive Promitheus Pre modeled after Optimus Prime? My friend is checking for me whether a used one, the C Core high end model, is still available for sale.

Yours, still on AM, moderneagle

p/s Mr. Mod is helpful to a certain frequency.

WongKN wrote:

On a more serious side, for a FACT, I KNOW that a very good preamp to mate to a Quad monobloc power amp is the FM Acoustics 155. Somemore the speakers are BBC-type.

I also know the dCS Debussy or Scarlatti into the FM Acoustic 155 and Quad 606 is heavenly.

mugenfoo wrote:Speakers keep lah ... Best in the world already mah !

A friend told me that in the past, the one who laugh last has the last laugh but nowadays you better laugh first otherwise no chance for you to laugh at all.

Yours, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, moderneagle

mugenfoo wrote:Get rid of the Quad altogether. Get a real Pre/Power Amp.

Quad amplifier also world class one as the patented Current Dumping Design won Design Council Award and Queen's Award For Technological Achievement.

Any other amplifier has the same accolade?

Hi ModernEagle,
How about Audio GD C-2 SA? Headphone and pre-amp at once. I think no more than RM1300. Furthermore, R Core Transformer. Best bang for buck factor based on the construction and the component use.

No idea how it will match with your Quad though.

adrian4454 wrote:Hi ModernEagle,
How about Audio GD C-2 SA? Headphone and pre-amp at once. I think no more than RM1300. Furthermore, R Core Transformer. Best bang for buck factor based on the construction and the component use.

No idea how it will match with your Quad though.

This has got to be the best recommendation so far.... for real.

Ok where do I get this unit from? R Core Trans is it the same construction as the Trans based unit in the Promitheus?

You can see that Mugen is trying to tell that I must be joking..

Anyway, I dont know about the Promitheus, but you can go to the link below to have a look:
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/C-2SA/C2SAEN.htm
Unfortunately, they do not really list out the Output impedance of the RCA.. you can email them to find out.

They do have dedicated pre-amp as well. But it is out of your budget.. not by much.

If you like to look at circuit and quality components, this can be addictive.. because the price doesnt represent it!

Hi Moderneagle.
I may be wrong, but it seems you are striking out Quad pre-amps from your candidate list without even listening to them ??? :-(

I've heard them before in Sam's place. Not striking them out per se actually. But I do like to try out something else and a passive pre is quite appealing especially the ones based on the transformer, part of my exploratory endeavor if you get what I mean. I can always get a quad pre if it doesn't work out, that gives me an excuse to put up another system in the office in future with the spare 1626 SET amp I have. So yeah, like mr mod said, itchy. Hope you don't mind bro.

Yours, blues for alice, moderneagle

On a serious note, a passive pre-amp may be the best back for buck in a particular price range and if you have only 1 or 2 music sources, but once you move up the scale, nothing beats a proper traditional "active" pre-amp in terms of sound qualiy and all its usual features and basic amenities.

On a more aesthetic level, might as well just go for a matching Quad pre amp for the 606 . At least they both look good together !

In my very limited experience with passive preamps(only once), the results are not very favorable. Tread with caution please. I believe an active preamp matched with the Quad will likely yield better results. If keeping the 606, the 66 pre matches it both sonically and aesthetically.

123_rocketman wrote:

mugenfoo wrote:Get rid of the Quad altogether. Get a real Pre/Power Amp.

Quad amplifier also world class one as the patented Current Dumping Design won Design Council Award and Queen's Award For Technological Achievement.

Any other amplifier has the same accolade?

That award is for year 1900.

Now, is 2011. Wait till the Queen heard of the New Krells and her jaws dropped down to the floor.

VS126 wrote:

123_rocketman wrote:

mugenfoo wrote:Get rid of the Quad altogether. Get a real Pre/Power Amp.

Quad amplifier also world class one as the patented Current Dumping Design won Design Council Award and Queen's Award For Technological Achievement.

Any other amplifier has the same accolade?

That award is for year 1900.

Now, is 2011. Wait till the Queen heard of the New Krells and her jaws dropped down to the floor.

Hmm, 1900? Peter Walker wasn't born yet, I think. And he got the award from QEII and not her mother

Krell probably would be awarded by Abe Lincoln?

Anyway I'm pretty sure the good queen herself wasn't directly involved in doing the technical eval on the amp. Most likely was a council of learned men similar to our MSC MDEC MACC? or it could be the royal butler I don't know.

So, I'm hoping my friend can arrange for a trial of the Promitheus passive pre for me. I hear what you typhus are saying about sticking back with a Quad Pre like the 66. Kinda hard to come by this model and not exactly cheap either I believe. There's only one man in malaysia i know who has some for sale and that's the Sam man. At last count only 12,000 units were created and divided by the number of people into quads it becomes rather rare, endangered even which makes it's trade almost illegal.

Yours, Sadowsky NYC, moderneagle

Just like Ryder's experience, eventually there is no substitute for a proper "active" pre-amp. Even some folks who have sworn by passive pre-amps for many many years, also eventually made way for a vastly superior sounding "active" pre-amp.

Back in the heydays, that Harbeth dealer was always advocating passive pre's as a lower-cost entry point for people to buy his bundled Quad PowerAmp + Harbeth speaker (& voltage stabilisers & open-frame stands).

So, do be abit more careful with the Promitheus Pre-amps and do try it for an extended period if you're serious about buying one.

Lastly, it being largely hand-made, watch out for certain irregularities
such as unequal gain at certain volumes (a very rare occasion, but it
did happen before). But if you dig such "handcrafted" gear, then you
should be prepared to accept such slight deviations as part of the
"essence" of these devices.

mugenfoo wrote:

Back in the heydays, that Harbeth dealer was always advocating passive pre's as a lower-cost entry point for people to buy his bundled Quad PowerAmp + Harbeth speaker .

MF, I am surprised. You have been around but you look so young.

You are right, I was offered too long time ago.

good afternoon. hope you may share what pre was eventually matched with the quad 606 mk1. even better if you may share your 'journey' and how you reached your destination/conclusion.

Hi I finally got a matching 606 Preamp of the same vintage to go with the amp. Journey hmm.. Tried a local made passive pre which wasn't half bad at all, asked around (dudes here) and generally came to the following conclusions
1. Matching Pre and Amp from different manurefacturers and expecting a great result is statistically going against the tide so to speak
2. Using the same make and family model will be aesthetically more pleasant
3. For the price budgeted (2k+), the 606 Pre fits the bill plus I won't lose much should I decide to put it back to market

Cheers.

Moderneagle is back from his Slumber.

ETM,

Listen to the wise man. He is awake.

Agree with that 66 preamp will not loose much even if want to sell later. It has to the remote to work. Was told for warmer laid back sound (lots of vocals listening) the 34 preamp maybe better, but no remote. But for faster sound, more slam, (drums etc) 66 better. .. Good luck...

good morning and thanks for the update moderneagle. the quad 66 + 606 is very good. i heard the same combo twice already, once at torpical audio and the other at a friend's place.

Hi Moderneagle...can u share what pre and speaker do u match with ur 606 ..?

Hi Fizi I'm running both Quad Pre and Power with the Harbeth C7ES3 - It's the the natural choice so good you can even eat it on it's own. Cheers!

moderneagle wrote:Hi Fizi I'm running both Quad Pre and Power with the Harbeth C7ES3 - It's the the natural choice so good you can even eat it on it's own. Cheers!

well match combination

moderneagle wrote:Hi Fizi I'm running both Quad Pre and Power with the Harbeth C7ES3 - It's the the natural choice so good you can even eat it on it's own. Cheers!

Are using quad 66 as pre..?

Ya ya sorry my bad. Didn't say it clearly, it's the 66Pre with the CDP sized remote which can double up as a weapon against the wife and kids (Disclaimer: For the sole purpose of domestic self defence and pest control).