Summary:
I decided to upgrade my previous system, consisting of- Quad 34 (pre)
- Quad 405.2 (power)
- B&W 801F
mainly due to the weakness of the 405.2 to drive the 801's,
which I decided to keep (I did not listened anything better,
up to now). I started with a couple of FET, pure class A
monoblocks from AM Audio, an Italian hi-end manifacturer,
for their impressive stability and current capability (see
separate review). Then I decided to change the 34, a nice
control unit with a big problem: the output level of 0.5 V
fits well with the 405.2 but is un-able to drive most of
the power amps on the market (!).
I then listened to the pair pre 04F + MM20 of the same AM
Audio manufacterer (vinil) against a tube pre-amp (Beard).
Though the tube sound is really fashinating, the details
provided by MM-20, a J-FET, passive RIAA phono stage,
are superior and dynamics impressive.
Though I did not perform comparisons among other units, I
am very pleased by this unit:I would then give 5 star,
which is not still available outside Italy.