The Elite Pre offers state of the art performance and utilises unique operating features, which puts it in a class of its own.
Through careful component selection and a retuning of its signal path, the Elite Pre has even further enhanced the musical transparency delivered by its 99 series predecessor. Along with the updates, Quad has still maintained its advanced features including QUADLINK and AMPBUS connectivity. These features allow the user to connect an almost unlimited number of sources, each with optimal synchronisation. A highly specified phono stage for analogue turntables is built in. All inputs including the phono input for moving-coil and moving-magnet cartridges have adjustable sensitivity settings, making the Elite Pre a usable and integral part of every system.
Elite Pre's flexibility also extends to the wide range of tone-control adjustments, noiseless solid-state signal switching, and digitally addressed analogue volume and balance controls. These track both left and right channels with an unprecedented accuracy, which is better than 0.1 dB.
Encased in a modern aluminium casework design constructed using superior class cast alloy and finished in deep grey with a matte black front panel which maintains Quad's bold but stylishly elegant aesthetic, the Elite Pre guarantees a valuable investment that will last a lifetime whilst garnering much merit over years of use.
The history of Quad is one of technical achievement in the field of sound reproduction. It is a story that began with the Quad 1 amplifier, which brought the benefits of 15 years knowledge and experience in professional audio and industrial products to the task of making the most accurate domestic audio amplifier of its age.A few years later, in 1953, the product which set the standard for amplifiers was the Quad II Power Amplifier, the time of Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation and the year in which Mount Everest was finally conquered. This amplifier pioneered the principle of cathode coupling through the output transformer to reduce harmonic distortion to almost negligible levels. Such was its clear superiority that this model remained in production for 18 years. Three years later, in 1956, Quad demonstrated the first true full-range electrostatic loudspeaker. This remarkable product (known later as the ESL 57) used a virtually mass-less plastic film as a moving diaphragm between two charged plates. Compared with moving coil loudspeakers, the ESL 57 was free of unwanted colourations and distortions. This landmark product remained in production, virtually unchanged, for 28 years.
Find out more about Quad