The THS-1000 was originally purchased for my home theatre system which comprised of a Denon A1D, TU-1500 and DVD-2900.
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| Front |
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| Without cover |
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| Back |
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sound Dynamics THS-1000
This is my tiny dual-purpose 10in sub-woofer rated 100W RMS with peak of 400W. The unit has a solid built quality and weight over 10kg. It is my the only other non-British made (Canada) speaker in my collection.
The THS-1000 was originally purchased for my home theatre system which comprised of a Denon A1D, TU-1500 and DVD-2900.
The THS-1000 was originally purchased for my home theatre system which comprised of a Denon A1D, TU-1500 and DVD-2900.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Marantz PM-45
This little known Marantz was once What Hifi Stereo of the Year 1988 (http://www.dutchaudioclassics.nl/marantz_award_winning_products_list_1984-2003/)
Rated at a reasonable 50W RMS per channel into 8ohms, it does pack quite a punch and is barely warm even after continously use for 12hrs! Details specs are available at http://www.dutchaudioclassics.nl/?strPage=Info&strBrand=Marantz&strType=Marantz_pm45&blnSefURL=true
The original unit sounds sweet with good details and respectable bass. However my unit required about an hour of running in before the sweetness appears. And there is the off-tone issue as per my original Luxman and Audiolab. Hence it was time to recap.
After I replaced the electrolytics on the power amplifier board, I proceeded to replace the dark green ploy caps in the pre-amp section (aka previously middle of the pix below) with EPCOS (blue) poly of the same values. That did the job!
Recapping was an easy process as all components are easily accessible with the base plate removed.
The PM-45 is a nicely balanced unit altogether!
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| Front |
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| Rear |
The original unit sounds sweet with good details and respectable bass. However my unit required about an hour of running in before the sweetness appears. And there is the off-tone issue as per my original Luxman and Audiolab. Hence it was time to recap.
After I replaced the electrolytics on the power amplifier board, I proceeded to replace the dark green ploy caps in the pre-amp section (aka previously middle of the pix below) with EPCOS (blue) poly of the same values. That did the job!
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| From top |
Recapping was an easy process as all components are easily accessible with the base plate removed.
The PM-45 is a nicely balanced unit altogether!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Quad FM-3 (2nd unit)
The FM-3 is a simplistic looking FM only tuner which accompanies the Quad 33 and 303.
Even so do not be deceived by the simplistic looks. It's a very nice sounding FM tuner and easily betters my Sansui TU-D99X (rated at no#30 at FMTUNERINFO). I would dare say it cames pretty close to the performance of my Meridian 201 - a very nice tuner as well.
Power is provided via Bulgin plug and output via the British traditional socket e.g 5-pin DIN. Aerial can be connected via a Quad 3-pin connector or the more popular 75ohm aerial socket.
There is an adjust for fine tuning but I hardly use it. It maybe useful when tuning for distant or weak stations.
After recapping the PSU filters, I changed some of the poly(s) with Wima(s). There were minor improvements, most noticable are the headroom improvement and clearity of the reproduction.
Please note I did not perform any additional changes on my 1st FM3 (soon to came), except to replace the 3 electrolytic caps. My 1st FM3 has gold-plated pins on the MPX IC whilst the 2nd does not.
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| Front |
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| Rear view |
There is an adjust for fine tuning but I hardly use it. It maybe useful when tuning for distant or weak stations.
 |
| Top |
After recapping the PSU filters, I changed some of the poly(s) with Wima(s). There were minor improvements, most noticable are the headroom improvement and clearity of the reproduction.
Please note I did not perform any additional changes on my 1st FM3 (soon to came), except to replace the 3 electrolytic caps. My 1st FM3 has gold-plated pins on the MPX IC whilst the 2nd does not.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Quad Pro-63 (ESL)
Though largely based upon the successful ESL-63, the Quad Pro-63 was created according to Philips Recording Studio specifications in Europe.
Most noticable differences are the use of steel instead of aluminium for support and handles on sides. Power handling is about 100-150W. Each speaker weights about 16kg. I was not able to locate the sensitivity for the speaker on any documentation but estimate it to be about 78dB or79dB - losely based upon the volume dial to achieve approximate volume from my SL6S.
The Pro-63 are not easy speakers to drive. Long ago I owned a Pioneer A400X which was able to drive the SL6S effortlessly. However when I transferred the speaker cables from the SL6S to the PRO63, there was no sound when the volume was at 9 o'clock??? Initially I though either the PRO63 or the A400X had developed an issue. I decided to slowly turn the A400X volume until I could hear something. Music was finally audioble at about 2 o'clock!!!
The Quad ESL(s) are well-known for superb and realistic imaging but poor bass. I normally use the Sound Dynamics THS-1000 subwoofer (100W) to accompany the Pro-63 (and SL6S).
My Pro-63 are placed on the non-Quad stands which were design with a gently tilt to project the image upward.
I was lucky enough to obtained the pair from a well-off gentleman who had several pairs of Pro-63 in his home. The serial number is 29xxx and estimated to be from about 1988.
Most noticable differences are the use of steel instead of aluminium for support and handles on sides. Power handling is about 100-150W. Each speaker weights about 16kg. I was not able to locate the sensitivity for the speaker on any documentation but estimate it to be about 78dB or79dB - losely based upon the volume dial to achieve approximate volume from my SL6S.
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| Side view |
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| From rear |
The Pro-63 are not easy speakers to drive. Long ago I owned a Pioneer A400X which was able to drive the SL6S effortlessly. However when I transferred the speaker cables from the SL6S to the PRO63, there was no sound when the volume was at 9 o'clock??? Initially I though either the PRO63 or the A400X had developed an issue. I decided to slowly turn the A400X volume until I could hear something. Music was finally audioble at about 2 o'clock!!!
The Quad ESL(s) are well-known for superb and realistic imaging but poor bass. I normally use the Sound Dynamics THS-1000 subwoofer (100W) to accompany the Pro-63 (and SL6S).
My Pro-63 are placed on the non-Quad stands which were design with a gently tilt to project the image upward.
I was lucky enough to obtained the pair from a well-off gentleman who had several pairs of Pro-63 in his home. The serial number is 29xxx and estimated to be from about 1988.
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