Quad 303 Power Amplifier

 QUAD 303 - 2024 edition

Every aspect of the QUAD 303 Power Amplifier has been re-engineered beyond a simple update of components. Originally designed for domestic use, it also became a favourite in broadcasting and recording studios for its reliability. The new model surpasses the original’s standards while maintaining its ethos, with modern design and functionality that reflect its enduring appeal, even earning a place at the Museum of Modern Art.

Key features

• A completely re-engineered with modern design, surpassing the original while retaining its reliability.
• Uses QUAD’s ‘symmetrical triples’ for ultra-low distortion and stability, ensuring near-perfect audio clarity.
• Features a fully complementary output stage with premium transistors for better performance under tough conditions.
• Equipped with a custom toroidal transformer, delivering 50W @ 8 ohms to handle demanding speakers with ease.
• 5 Year warranty

Technological Advancements

The QUAD 303 stays faithful to its roots with QUAD’s ‘symmetrical triples’, ensuring low distortion and stable performance under dynamic conditions. This advancement means distortion levels are now almost negligible, far below what is detectable by the human ear. The ‘triples’ design also protects the output transistors, enhancing reliability without complex circuitry.

Complementary Output Stage

Unlike the original’s quasi-complementary stage, the new QUAD 303 employs a fully complementary output stage, using premium transistors for better linearity and stability under challenging conditions. With this, the amplifier handles overdriven or disconnected speaker scenarios effortlessly, maintaining excellent sound quality and reliability.

Modern Features and Power Output

The new QUAD 303 incorporates a custom low-noise toroidal transformer and advanced feedback topology for thermal stability and dynamic power delivery. Rated at 50W @ 8 ohms, it handles modern audiophile demands and drives even the most challenging speakers with ease. The amplifier’s design remains iconic, with durable materials and rugged construction that offer both style and substance.

QUAD’s Legacy and Modern Excellence

By revisiting the QUAD 33 and 303 components, QUAD reaffirms its longstanding legacy in the British hi-fi industry, blending authenticity, pedigree, and innovation. This new iteration pays homage to QUAD’s past while showcasing its excellence in modern audio engineering. The QUAD team involved in this project possesses nearly 200 years of combined engineering experience and over 100 years dedicated to QUAD’s unique designs and service, further reinforcing the brand’s enduring commitment to quality.

The Team Behind the Innovation

The development of the new QUAD 33 and 303 was overseen by a team of experts, including Rob Flain and Paul McConville, two of the most experienced QUAD service engineers. Jan Ertner, with three decades of QUAD design expertise, Peter Comeau, the mastermind behind some of QUAD’s most successful loudspeakers, and David McNeill, who has been at the forefront of QUAD’s innovations for two decades, all played key roles. Together, they ensured that the new products could uphold the legacy of the iconic 33 and 303.

Who is Quad?

Quad is a highly renowned manufacturer of quality hifi electronics and loudspeakers, having developed award-winning audiophile-standard products standard for over 80 years, their highly acclaimed reputation is well-earned. The company originally built speakers for public addresses, moving onto domestic hifi following the end of the war. The first commercially available products were the Quad 22 Pre-amp and Quad II Monoblock Power Amplifiers, both of which were on the market for ten years to great success. 

Quad now develop a wide range of hifi products at varying price points, such as the S Series, Z Series, Electrostatic Series of loudspeakers and accompanying amplifier ranges the Vena and QII Series. Quad also build a range of Active Loudspeakers. Quad continue to win the hearts of critics and consumers alike with each release and each product bears the same original design philosophy set out by founder Peter J. Walker; to design and engineer a product that offers 'the most accurate' sound response for the best price.