SpeakerTalk

centaurus · Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 4:43 am Post subject:

Bought the 405-2 and 34! came with some nice straightwire DIN cables too! original box, manuals and brochures.

the guy was totally awesome! it's fun when you meet really cool neighbors that live up the street Wink

he's much more hard-core than myself. eggleston andra II speakers and all levinson gear. he wanted to come buy an hear all my crap though. great chap!

we had a good time. first up was the McIntosh MC60s/MFA Magus C/KEF Calinda as a baseline. he thought it was very smooth and involving. BUT, then we put the Quad 405-2 in the mix (kept everything else the same. keep in mind the 405-2 has not been switched on for 3 years. HOLY CRAP! it's like reuniting a long lost family member! the 405-2 and the Calindas got along famously. and, for the first time, i understood the love for the 405-2. it sounds like a bloody tube amp with balls! he said he's NEVER heard it sound this good.

next up was switching the Calindas for the 104/2. bass was tighter, but there was more of it. the soundstage was not as exciting as with the calindas, but everything sounded decent. then we tried the 34 preamp with the 405-2 and the 104/2. ta-da! bass got very tight, and the soundstage bloomed. not quite as smooth as the magus, but a far better coherent presentation. it's all about synergy, i guess. it's quite apparent that KEF used Quad when designing their speakers. although it was probably the 606/34 combo for the 104/2.

i will have to try the 34/405-2 and calindas together. ah, so many choices.

so far, the Calinda/405-2/Magus C is pure magic. the 405-2/34/104/2 sounded very good, but was not quite as magical. more impact, but not quite as sexy. i can't see myself selling my macs, but maybe it's time for a more comprehensive rebuild. they had a quickie job done 6 years ago.

i'll play with the 405-2 as is for a while, but will probably try some mods. seems like the grace-audio/folsom mod is the most cost effective. $99 for all new essential parts, removal of the current limiter and burr-brown op-amps.

ah, audio is fun, ain't it?

see ya,
Robby

oplancq · Intermediate Contributor 50+ Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 61

Olivier
_________________
Olivier

centaurus · Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 4:05 pm Post subject:

Hi Oliver,

so you use a 606 on the 104/2?

yeah, the 405 is way overmatched for the 104/2. they don't like to go much below 6 ohms, especially stock. if your refresh job also removed the current llimiter circuit, then the 405 can't drive the 104/2.

i'm suprised the VTL's have enough juice with the 104/2 they are 75wpc, right?

Robby

oplancq · Intermediate Contributor 50+ Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 61

Olivier
_________________
Olivier

centaurus · Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 7:03 pm Post subject:

well, regardless of what sounds better with the 405-2 (Calinda or 104/2), i think i will keep the 104/2. they are very cool and I'll just stash them away for the day i find a great deal on a big ass amp.

as far as the 405-2, i probably should have passed and used the money to have my McIntosh MC60's gone through (they had a quick restore a while back).

but, for $250USD for the amp and the matching 34 preamp plus the original boxes, i figured what the hay?

i listened to the 405-2 for a while on my KEF Calindas. sounded very nice. incredible midrange and soundstage. very balanced as well. but, the high frequencies were a bit grainy and recessed. i guess that well known "405 haze".

well, the amp is now at my friend's who restores classic audio for a living. he's going to do both the dc-daylight and ludwig mods. so, burr-brown op amps for the class A stage, modern "dumpers", convert to non-inverting, increase the current limiters to trip on only below 2 ohms, twice the amount of power supply filtering, RCA jacks, 5 way binding posts and change the driver topology to eliminate noise and hum.

depending on how far we go with it on the power supply end, it should be capable of 200wpc into 4 ohms. so, basically a 606 that sounds better Wink

see ya,
Robby