Quad 77 CD Player
Launched in early 1996, The Quad 77 CD Player was the successor to the very highly regarded Quad 67CD which had been in production for only 3 years which is quite a short space of time by Quad's standards.
The Quad 77 CD Player was basically a revision of the Quad 67 and featured the latest transport from Philips, the CDM12 (the Quad 67 CD used a Philips CDM9 transport. Both the Quad 77 and 67 CD players used the same Crystal DAC, the CS4328KP which was a 18-Bit-Delta-Sigma type which was able to produce a very transparent undistorted analogue sound.
The Quad 77 CD Player like other models in the 7 series came in two flavours. There was the standard version which was officially known as the Quad 7712 which could be used in any system and then there was the Quad 7714 which could only be used in a QUADLINK system.
Reviews of the Quad 77 CD Player were very favourable with many journalists pointing to its very open portrayal of music that was able to extract a lot of emotion and air off the CD. Hi-Fi World reviewed the Quad 77 CD Player in November 1995 and wrote that it was a "Competent, entertaining machine with neat styling and remote".
The Quad 77 CD Player was in production until the advent of the Quad 9 series in 1999 and sold nearly 3500 units and about the only gripe people had at the time with the Quad 77 CD Player was its £850 price tag compared to the slightly cheaper Quad 67CD player.
This entry was posted on Wednesday June 7th, 2006 at 4:29 PM and is filed under CD Players. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.
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3 Responses to Quad 77 CD Player
Bill parish Says:
January 1st, 2009 at 10:46 PM
Having owned the legendry Quad 33/303/FM2 system for years I decided to update to the 77amp/cd/tuner a few years ago.
Whilst the audio quality is fine, the remote control system has proved to be a dog and is now becoming extremely unreliable. Unfortunately the remote system electronics architecture is completely different to everything else on the market - so you can forget about after-market remote control replacements.
Having spent a great deal of money on this system I feel badly let down by Quads' lack of development of what was undoubtedly a hugely over ambitious system for them.
I doubt very much if I will buy another Quad system.
Unfortunately Quad is just another British manufacturer trading on a name. It should be allowed to quietly die.
Andries Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Hi Bill,
I have the Quad 77 set as well for over 12 years now (with KEF reference speakers). Remote has been cumbersome and is not working anymore for some years now. Must admit that the quality of the set is superb, although my next choice will not be a Quad anymore.
Matthew bradley Says:
June 3rd, 2009 at 4:00 PM
I bought a second hand quad 7712 cd player and a second hand 77 integrated amp about 10 years ago. i added a 99 series power amp to the mix to bi-amp my speakers and it sounded a lot more weighty. i chose quad 77 kit after hearing loads of different kit at the marriot hotel hi fi show and the quad 77 stuff sounded the best in my opinion. a friend of mine recently bought a quad 99 series cd player and bi-amps it through a parasound pre-amp and two quad 77 power amps. we've tested the old quad 77 cd player and the new quad 99 cd player through a graham slee solo headphone amp and sennheiser headphones and both agree (reluctantly) that the old 77 with its 18 bit dac is better than the new 99 with its 24 bit dac. dont be too quick to diss the quad 77 gear or chase new specifications banded about such as "24 bit". go to a show, audition loads and go with your ears, not your eyes, wallet or sales bull. you'll never be happy.