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Monos for Quad 989

I'm getting a deal on a pr.of Quad 989s and thought that with the savings, I would increase my investment in amplification. I plan on going mono blocks and my research to date has me narrowing the choices to: Audio Research VM220, Audio Research VS110, Atma-Sphere MA-1 mkii3, or V4 Quick Silver. I am not able to easily preview any of these monos and before I make an investment, I'd like to get feedback from Quad owners who have any of these amps and/or owners of these amps. I'm most interested in your comments about sound, reliability, heat (no kids in the house but we do have a dog), customer service, etc. By the way, I have been a solid state owner for a long time but am looking forward to making the switch to tubes but know nothing about upkeep,etc. Also I am looking to purchase something that will last for years--maybe the last amp I will ever buy!!!
winston50
sbank's avatar
sbank
3,378 posts
 
I've owned the Atma MA1s, and think highly of them. Also, owned Quad ESL63USA's, but not at same time. I would recommend calling Ralph at Atma-Sphere, and asking him about user's matching experience w/Quads. Impedance dips are the question. Autoformers eliminate any matching problems if they exist, but autoformers impact on sonics is debatable.
If you are limited to your list, I'd give the Quickies 2nd vote, although I like their Triode monos better than the V4s.
If you want to consider others, check out the Dehavilland line, they offer the benefits of SETs, but are designed to drive a wider variety of speakers including your quads. Kara is also awesome to work with. Cheers,
Spencer
detlof
1,899 posts
 
I would second Sbank's advice and check with Ralph of Atma-Sphere. Also his other suggestion are well worth investigating. I've owned Quads for years, loved them with Jadis monos (80s and 220s), even drove a pair of 989s with the Jadis 500s which was overkill. Happy hunting.
winston50 OP
3 posts
 
Thank you for your responses. I did reach out to Atma-Sphere and spoke with Adam, Ralph was taking a well deserved day off. The recommendation, based upon clients that have Quads, are the MA-I MkII.3 monos. However, in the interim another brand has been offered up to me for considration. This is VAC, specific recommendations are: Standard 220 Monoblock, Renaissance 140 or MKIII Signature Triode Monos. I'd like to get feedback on these as well from the community. If those that are so kind as to respond would please provide some insight into some of the issues originally raised in this email: sound, heat, customer service, etc. Please note that I am more than willing to expand my consideration set of amplification choices.

Thanks to all who respond
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