Quad 44 Brochure

Page 2

QUHD 44

If everything were perfect, a control unit would
consist of a volume control and a programme selector
switch. Unfortunately this is not the case. Today/s
music listener is faced with two major problems, how to
ensure that his choice from the myriad range of pickup
cartridges, tape recorders, radio tuners and
microphones is correctly terminated by his amplifier;

(a recent but by no means exhaustive guide lists 165
stereo pickups, 162 cassette decks, 44 open reel tape
recorders, 115 radio tuners, 190 microphones, to say
nothing of add-on equalisers, expanders, noise
Suppressors, etc); and how to cope with the problems
of loudspeaker/room and programme/room interactions
which become increasingly appa rent with the steady
improvement in the technical quality of programme
material.

The Quad 44 has five inputs, Disc, Tape1 and 2,
Radio and Auxillary, which will terminate correctly
virtually every applicable programme source available
now and in the foreseeable future. All five inputs are
interchangeable, so that any combination of inputs can
be obtained, and options such as moving coil pickup, or
microphone inputs can be included.

The Quad 44 has tone controls, consisting of Filter,
Bass and Tilt which enable the listener to correct for
those acoustic problems which are amenable to
frequency response shaping. Used intelligently these
controls can improve the results obtained from almost
any programme.

The performance of the Quad 44 meets the simple
Quad criterion, that programme fed through the unit
shall suffer no audible degradation, in other words, with
the filter switch in the Cancel position there shall be no
audible difference between the programme at the
input' to and output from the Quad 44, when compared
at identical levels. This is true for all inputs when used
with their specified source impeda nces and within their
specified input signal limits.

The Quad 44 will sound no better. or worse than
the programme fed into it.

Construction and inherent reliability continue in
the Quad tradition and reflect care in both design and
workmanship. While there should be no need to remove
the cover of the Quad 44, except when changing input
modules, it is worthwhile to look insidejust to see how
high fidelity equipment should be manufactured.

It is extremely unlikely that the Quad 44 will be
out-dated, since any future developments in programme
source or circuit technology can readily be
accommodated simply by changing input modules.

Servicing is very simple and quick since all the
active circuitry is carried on plug-in modules which
are readily interchangeable.

As with previous Quad pre-amplifiers great care
has been taken to ensure that the probability of
interference from external sources is reduced to a
minimum._

INPUTS/OUTPUTS

In standard form the Quad 44 is supplied with five
inputs, one for Disc, two forTape, one for Radio and
an Auxiliary, selected by pushbuttons on the left of the
front fascia. Switching is electronic and completely
silent. All inputs are built on identical format boards
with gold plated connectors to the mother board and
can be interchanged or replaced as necessary simply
by undoing two screws and withdrawing the module.

With correction for RIAA ore-emphasis when using a disc source.

Any combination of inputs can be used to suit the
user's needs. A third (and fourth and fifth) tape input
can be substituted for one of the existing inputs, with
the facility to record on one or all tape machines, and
to dub from one to the others. A second disc input can
be substituted when both moving magnet and moving
coil cartridges are being used.

Disc

The Disc input has three sensitivity settings and
can either be purely resistive or provide extra capacity
if required to match the load requirements of a
particular cartridge, selected by switches accessible
through a small door in the top of the control unit.

The Disc input is designed to provide an exact
inverse of the RIAA recording characteristic. When the
correct sensitivity setting is chosen, the dynamic
range of the programme is optimised in relation to the
input noise level and the input cannot be overloaded.
Performance of the Disc input is totally unaffected by
the source impedance of the cartridge. A high pass
filter is incorporated to remove spurious signals below
20Hz. Input to Disc is via either a standard 5 pin Din
socket or phono sockets.

Disc input boards providing up to 20dB more gain
and with suitable load impedances are available from
your dealer for use with low output moving coil
pickups, and can be used as an alternative or in addition
to the standard disc input.

Tape

The Quad 44 is provided with two identical Tape
inputs, which provide optimum matching for all
commercially available open reel and cassette recorders.
The correct record level and replay sensitivities are
selected by switches on the Tape boards accessible
through the small door in the top of the control unit.

Recording can be made on either or both machines
at once and dubbing either way is possible, simply by
pressing the appropriate pushbuttons. The signal at the
record out socket is unaffected by either Volume or
Tone and Filter controls.

Radio &Auxiliary

The Radio and Auxiliary inputs provide a flat
response over the audio band with an input sensitivity
suitablefor most radio tuners including the Quad FM3,
and since the load impedance is very high the output
from sggy source. including a ceramic cartridge may
be u .

Output to Amplifiers

The Quad 44 has three outputs, low level using the
standard 4 pin Din socket to drive the Quad 405 or
Quad 303 power amplifiers and amplifiers with similar
input sensitivities, medium level via phono sockets to
drive amplifiers with an input sensitivity of between
0.77 5 and 2 volts, and high level via phono sockets with
a maximum output of 5 volts.

A.C. Input and Outputs

The Quad 44 has a double insulated power supply
and is suitablefor operation on 120v or 240v 50 or
60Hz. There are three switched A.C. outlets to supply
the power amplifier and ancillary equipment.

CONTROLS
Volume
The Volume control is of the detente type with a
specially designed law to give the user maximum