heed quasar quasar - image hifi

The fact that the guys atHeed Audio know theirbusiness should now be

obvious to the readers of imagehi-fi, at least since our review ofthe Orbit psu (6/2000): a RegaPlanar 3 equipped with thisdevice took pricier record decksvirtually by storm, and what ismore, without putting insur-mountable financial hurdles inthe way of vinyl lovers. Moreprosaically: this analogue per-formance-enhancing drug isbloody cheap in comparison withrival products, not least thoseselling in huge quantities.

The Hungarian manufactu-rer saw an even bigger challengein designing a reasonably pricedphono stage.

“The signal processing of car-tridges ist one of the most deli-cate jobs in amplification”, saysAlpár Huszti, spokesman ofHeed Audio, all the more sobecause it isn’t done merely byboosting a few hundred micro-volts to a few hundred millivolts.The 60 dB necessary for that – athousandfold amplification infact – also gives rise to huge noiseproblems. What is more, it is nota relatively simple linear but afrequency-related amplificationjob. It is well known that anequalisation curve is applied inthe cutting of LPs, whereas aboost of around 20 dB in bassresponse is necessary when thedisk is actually played. Nowonder the range of first-class

phono stages is fairly easy tosurvey. Before proceeding to thequestion of whether the arrival ofthis Heed component haschanged the face of the phonostage market, let’s make onething clear: at the moment, youcan’t get more phono stage forless.

The Quasar is a two-boxdesign with separate cases for thepower supply unit and the actualamplification circuits, which arenot based around the ICs used byeverybody else at this price-level,but built as a discrete design inthe best audiophile traditions. Italso means that it is built in dual-mono configuration from thepower supply upwards, includingseparate earthing throughout!

The Quasar works both withMM (the fairly high capacity of470 pF did not bother my LinnK9 at all) and MC cartridges ofall kinds due to its three differentsettings for sensitivity (100, 220and 600 microvolts) and load(100, 220 and 470 ohms). Thevarious settings can be appliedby jumpers on the PCB, and canbe freely combined.

The Quasar is equally armedfor all eventualities at its outputend: pre-amps can be fed via its“Low Out”, whilst its muchlouder “High Out” can drivepower amps directly.

If you have a look inside thepsu, you will immediately realizewhat the Hungarians mean by“battery-like” power supply. Theunit is constructed around amassive 60 VA toroidal trans-former with low-density magneticfield and minimal dispersion, aswell as 2 capacitors per channelwith a 40,000 µF filtering capaci-ty in total. These capacitors, inorder to reduce internal resistanceand ESR (Equivalent SeriesResistance) to a minimum, areconnected in parallel.

A word about optics and buildquality. Of course, more‘lifestyle’-oriented componentscan be found elsewhere, but thisunpretentious Hungaro-duo has asolid heavy-metal charmthroughout. Finish is, both elec-tronically and mechanically, firstclass. No screech, no rattles, and

the only thing you might wish foris a removable power cable – notfor hooking up some idiot-wire,of course, but to provide a bitmore flexibility in its placement.

Such trivialities are gone withthe wind when the Quasar startsto play music. The thing isincredibly fast, its fine dynamicsare more nimble, and its rhythmis crisper than anything on thisside of £800. Bass has real grip,wonderful body and precision,and is coal-black down under,mid-band is bold and punchy,upperbass is just fabulous. Goinginto the suboctaves, contourssoften up to a minimal degree,but there is no lack of pure power.Impulse-shocks can never upset it– its generous power supplywould never allow that to happen.

And the Quasar is quiet. Notas dead quiet as the Linn Lintobut a quantum-leap less crackly,pasted, and blotted than many ahigh-end braggart box with achic logo stuck on the front. Thisastonishing lack of noise is pre-sumably godfather to the Heed‘sfantastic sense of space. Thesoundstage is not only vastlywide, unbelievably deep andquite high, but it shines with aninner composure, imperturbabil-ity and plasticity only availableotherwise from the very bestphono stages. I rank the Quasaramong them without hesitation,even at the risk of being throttledby the high-price lobby.

And I would enthuse evenfurther. The midrange has colourand fire, aura and attack, and thetop, even if not the most extend-ed, delivers detail en masse, ismeticulously clean, and possess-es, what one rarely finds, air and(!) luminosity.

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The Heed Quasar is the answerto the fervent prayer of all cost-conscious analogue fans: it doesMM, it does MC, it is flexible, itis robustly built, and sonically – aphenomenon!

Phono Stage Review

Heed QuasarHeed Quasarreviewed by Ulrich Michalik, photographed by Rolf Winter

It costs less than twometres of mains cableanywhere else, soundslike a world beater, it’scalled Heed Quasar,and is possibly one ofthe biggest bargainson today’s high-endmarket.

Heed Quasar Phono Stage

Input................2 x chinch (MM/MC)Output...........2 x chinch (High/Low)Spec.facilities...ext. psu, adjustable

MC Sensitivity/Impedance Dimensions..........9/7/23 cm (each)Weight......1 kg (amp), 1,5 kg (psu)UK Price..................................£550Warranty..............................3 years

TSOURCE the loft studio9 knowles hill roadnewton abbotdevonTQ12 2PHTel.: 01626 369952cell: 07812 190489 (Heed Hotline)eMail: robert@tsource.co.uk

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