Hi,i my name is Steve and I'm here to talk about the Quad Vena II integrated
amplifier. This is a stereo integrated amp, and we got to hear it a couple of
weeks ago in a training session with some other speakers from Quad and
Wharfedale. We heard this amp driving a small pair
of Quad bookshelf speakers, and then a pair of Wharfedale floor-standing speakers,
and this was in our pretty large training room, and this amp was able to
deliver plenty of sound to fill the room, so we were all pretty impressed by it.
And as I said, it's rated at 45 watts per channel, but it's also rated at 65 watts
into four ohms which means that it's got a really solid power supply. In fact,
I want to show you what's going on in here.
It has this big, toroidal transformer, and that's what supplies the power, and you
might not find a transformer that size in a 100 watt per channel or 150 watt
4-channel receiver. I mean, this is really unusual and it's kind of the key to to
the power that this amplifier supplies.
But I think one thing that really impressed all of us along with the power
was just how versatile this integrated is, and in fact, the trainer referred to
this as a "Swiss Army Knife" of integrated amps, and that's a great description
because it's got a really versatile set of both analog and digital inputs on the
back, so you can connect a lot of gear. You can see in the front panel there are
input selection buttons, for you know, several sources, so it's very easy to to
select your source. On the analog side, you've got two sets of stereo analog
inputs for components like a tape deck or something like that. There's also a
dedicated phono input, and this will work with moving magnet cartridges so if you
have a turntable with a moving magnet cartridge this has a really good phono
stage, make the record sound really good. And then there's also a stereo output, so
if you decided at some point that you know, maybe you've got a pair of larger
speakers or something or move it to a larger room and you needed more power,
you can still use the great pre-amplifier section and DAC in this
integrated amp, but then just connect it to a more powerful amplifier. On the
digital side you've got both Toslink optical and coaxial inputs and outputs.
The outputs you would use to to maybe feed another DAC, although frankly the
DAC in this is so good that I doubt that you would want to connect it to an
outboard DAC. The inputs are Toslink optical and coaxial as well for
connecting like, maybe your TV. You use one of the optical inputs for that and
then there's also a type-B USB input, and that would be for connecting your
computer so you could get better sound from all the music that you have
stored on your computer, or if you listen to Spotify something like that through
your computer, running it through this DAC will give you a much better sound.
These days, a lot of amplifiers are Class D, which means they use a switching
power supply. This one is a type a AB, which is more of an old-school amp
design but it's a very tried-and-true design and I think, you know, really
one reason why you'd get just really great warm sound from this amplifier.
That's about it for the Quad Vena II. If you have any questions about this or any
of our other integrated amps, give us a call or chat with us online, or send us
an email.