Thanks Mike. I reckon I prefer what I understand to be a ‘warmer’ sound. Do you know what settings would achieve a warm sound from Tilt?
This is what the manual shows
Tilt
Tilt adjusts the whole frequency response in a natural way. There are seven types of Tilt that can be set in dB (Bass,Treble):
[(+3,-3)] , [(+2,-2)] , [(+1,-1)] , [(0,0)] , [(-1,+1)] , [(-2,+2)] , [(-3,+3)].
The default setting is [(0,0)].
When I was cramming up on Tilt today online I came across a great offer for the Quad Artera Stereo Power amp from a renowned Hifi dealer. A customer had returned within 30 day so they were selling for only £1099 (RRP £1649), so I jumped at it.
However I may have made a schoolboy error when it comes to matching the Quad Power amp with my speakers, which are Gato FM-50’s. The Quad power amp is 8 Ohms but my speakers are 4 Ohms which with my limited understanding of these things might mean the speakers impedance is too low. It does say though that it is nominal impedance of 4 Ohms, does this mean this is the lowest but may be higher? Perhaps someone could clarify? I’ll put the specs from the amp and the speakers below. Can anybody see a problem with matching this power amp with my speakers due to the mismatch in ohms between them?
Quad power amp.
SPECIFICATIONS
(Measurement made with 230V supply, one channel driven and applied to either channel)
Rated Output Power 140W 8 ohm (<1% THD,1kHz)
Total Harmonic Distortion <0.003% (100W, 1kHz)
<0.03% (100W, 20Hz-20kHz)
Frequency Response -0.5dB (20Hz-20kHz, ref. 1kHz)
-3dB (20Hz-70kHz, ref. 1kHz)
Input Sensitivity 980mV(RCA line in)
Input Impedance 10kohm (Balanced)
15kohm (Unbalanced)
Signal to Noise Ration(S/N) 115dB (A weighted, ref. 140W)
Power Requirement
240V~50-60Hz
230V~50-60Hz
115V~50-60Hz
100V~50-60Hz
Maximum Power Consumption 750W
Standby Power Consumption <0.5W
Gato FM-50 Speakers.
|FREQUENCY RESPONSE| 32 Hz – 35kHz|
|SENSITIVITY (2,83V) |88dB|
|RECOMMENDED POWER AMPLIFIER |50 to 300Watts|
|NOMINAL IMPEDANCE | 4 ohm|
The 8ohm on the power amplifier is just the standard used so you can evaluate across offerings.
The quad will be happy at 4ohm and will put out 200 watts so matches the speakers well.
Cheers Ged, appreciate the info.
Power amps make almost as much of a difference in sound as preamps do. Anyone who says differently has bad hearing or lack luster equipment where they can’t decern the differences due to the lack luster gear used.
When I switched out my Quad Artera Pre for the Pass Labs XP-20, there was a large jump in improvements all the way around, though not as large as I had expected. That was until I upgraded my Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2 amp to a pair of custom Odyssey Audio Stratos monoblock amps. Those two amps completely transformed my system into something truly spectacular, to the point that I no longer have a desire to upgrade anything in the system.
The best line of advice I can offer you is just buy and try different equipment in your own system so YOU can hear and determine what sounds like what in your room.
“Supposedly without coloring the sound…”
Nothing like blatant contradiction, huh?
If you’re using tone controls to make the sound warmer or cooler, you are in fact coloring the sound. That’s kind of the point of tone controls.
One of many reasons I don’t use tone controls, and the fact that my Pass Labs preamp doesn’t have them anyway.
I run the Artera Pre flat with a pair of Audiolab 8300Mbs in balanced mode via XLR. All I can say is it sounds fantastic.
My understanding is that warmth comes from a more forward midrange; which tilt does not really effect. So…
After 6 months of performing flawlessly my Quad Artera Stereo Power Amp died on me yesterday and there is no power to the unit. 
Did some normal troubleshooting, removed from hifi rack and plugged amp into another socket, changed the 13A fuse in the plug but still no power.
Contacted the shop where I bought the amp, they have arranged uplift and will send to Quad for repair.
Just wondered if anybody else had experience of a Quad amp doing similar, or any other power amp for that matter and what was the outcome? In over 30 years of buying quality hifi gear I’ve never had an amp die on me so nothing to compare to.
Apparently the turnaround time is up to 60 days, and given that I partnered this Quad power amp with the Quad Artera Pre amp I have no amp to plug my speakers into!!
Oh well, headphones it is for the foreseeable!
My Quad Artera Stereo amp was installed in February 2017, and has been going faultlessly since then (touch wood). Admittedly, I don’t have it on all the time, but so far, so good.
There may be internal fuses for a sudden death
Looks like one embedded into the “Kettler plug” for mains
Quad service when I used them was superb , and quick . They used to restore to “original spec” after repairs . That was a few years back but then Quad doesn’t break down to often , I had a 405 II for 15 yrs. 
It’s a nice drive to Huntingdon ?? cut out the middle man
Yeah, I noticed it had an internal fuse Mike but it wasn’t obvious(to me at least) how to get access to it. Even then I’m not sure I would have bothered in case I did something to invalidate the warranty. I’m in Scotland so I’ve packed it up and it will be picked up by courier(free of charge) on Monday. I’m hoping it’s a quick fix because if it’s up to 60 days I don’t think I’d cope with headphones only.
I’m actually thinking of buying a wireless speaker to get me through this period so any recommendations welcome as it’s not an item of hifi kit I’m familiar with!
There are hundreds, I have a BeoPlay A1 in the kitchen
Cheers Mike, I’ll have a look and see whats available. Can you pair these bluetooth speakers with a hi fi music streamer, or do they only pair with laptops and phones etc?
I have never tried I just use an old iPad
Thanks Mike.
Still awaiting news on whether my Artera Power Amp can be fixed or not, as per my post Sept 15 upstream.
Meanwhile this rebooted combo looks interesting. Anybody ever own the originals? Might be a route I go down if I get refunded for the Artera power amp.
How does the 33/303 combo compare to the Artera Pre/Power combo?
I have the Artera’s but as I said my Power amp is in for repair currently due to no power to the unit. My dealer says I have the option to get a refund so wondering whether I should stick with the Artera’s or consider the 33/303’s?
Well yes - they did sterling work for years before eventually getting replaced with the 44/405 combination. Then they were in turn replaced by the Artera Link and Artera Stereo. Still happy after all these years.
Another YouTube on these Quad icons…
I started with 33/405 then upgraded to 44 and had the 405 upgraded to 405-II spec
Running ESL 63 what a combo