Authorized dealers for Quad QII-Eighty

Holt Hill — online and in-store — Andover, Massachusetts, United States (website)
Acoustic Technologies — online and in-store — Montréal, Québec, Canada (website)
Acton Gate Audio — online and in-store — Cymru, United Kingdom (website)
Alen Audio — in-store — Extramurs, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain (website)
Alma Music & Audio — online and in-store — San Diego, California, United States (website)
Alpha Audio Pte — online and in-store — Singapore, Singapore (website)
Analogue Seduction — online and in-store — Whittlesey, England, United Kingdom (website)
Area Hifi — online and in-store — L'Eixample, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain (website)
Aris Audio — in-store — Salt Lake City, Utah, United States (website)
Art & Voice — online (website)

and 102 more verified dealers

Quad QII-Eighty

Name: Quad QII-Eighty
Brand: Quad
SKU: qiieighty
Price: 5999.95 GBP
Availability: InStock
Rating: 93 (3 reviews)

Quad’s QII-Eighty marries lush valve colour with unexpectedly agile, controlled bass, delivering a spacious, finely separated sound that stays composed as levels rise. Home Theater Review admired its authority and air, while LowBeats found vivid detail, natural tonal richness and impressive drive from this 80W KT88 monoblock.

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Specifications 2 reviews & sources

WATT RECOMMENDS

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93/100

Deliciously Crispy

Sound Quality

94/100

Build Quality

91/100

Value for Money

93/100

Pros

Deep, powerful bass remains controlled and articulate, with convincing body, decay and scale.

Spacious, resolved presentation gives vocals clear separation and instruments generous air.

Combines colourful, natural valve tonality with lively detail and springy rhythmic drive.

Handles demanding loudspeakers with surprising assurance, losing only minimal bass control in testing.

Cons

Connectivity is minimalist: the amplifier offers single-ended RCA input only, with no balanced option.

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What Reviewers Are Saying

"Compared with these intensely lively, breathing grooves, every transistorized alternative seemed uninspired and dull—as if you were playing the same music again on the morning after the party."

— LowBeats

"It is ballsy, with deep, rich bass, big-sounding, with loads of air around instruments, timeless styling and that Quad sound."

— Home Theater Review

SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 94/100

Reviewers portray the II-Eighty as an unusually vivid and natural-sounding valve monoblock, combining lush tonal color with substantial bass control and an open, involving presentation. Its presentation is praised for making performances feel physically present rather than merely detailed.

Transparency Resolution

95/100

LowBeats heard a “true fireworks display of lively detail” with Piega Coax 611 loudspeakers, alongside unusual intimacy and physical presence on Ann Clark’s “Borderland.” Home Theater Review likewise heard convincing decay, body and scale, while describing a seamless view into the performance.

Tonal Balance Musicality

95/100

Home Theater Review found the sound distinctly valve-like and lush, with deep, rich bass and generous air around instruments. LowBeats praised its colorful, natural character and stressed that it is not merely a cozy, warm tube design, but one with lively musical drive.

Dynamics

91/100

The amplifiers reportedly rose to increasing musical demands and removed a sense of mild compression heard elsewhere in the comparison. Bass remained thunderous yet controlled, while LowBeats found the design agile, with springy bass and only minimal loss of bass control or level when driving demanding loudspeakers.

Soundstage Imaging

93/100

Home Theater Review repeatedly heard extra space around vocalists and clear separation that made individual singers easy to follow. The presentation was also described as more involving and realistic through its seamlessness, while LowBeats noted substantial spatial detail, naturalness and tonal color.

Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.

Build Quality

91/100

LowBeats describes the monoblocks as made with utmost precision. The specified KT88 valve complement, selectable 4- or 8-ohm output matching, low stated noise figure and dedicated monoblock layout support a thoughtfully engineered amplifier intended for serious loudspeaker matching.

Value for Money

93/100

At the listed price of about $6,000, these are a substantial investment, but LowBeats explicitly calls them hard to beat sonically at roughly half their original price. That reviewer also felt they could reach levels of musical performance normally unavailable at this budget, giving the premium convincing support.

Reviews & Sources

Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.

Online Reviews & Mentions

Quad II-eighty Tube Amplifier Reviewed - HomeTheaterReview

Quad II eighty: ikonische Röhren-Monos für 5.000 Euro - LowBeats

YouTube Reviews

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Specifications

Model: QII-Eighty
Input Sensitivity (nominal): 1V RMS for full output
Power Output: 80W RMS
Output Impedance: 4 Ohms or 8 Ohms, selectable
THD @ 80 Watts: 2 x EF86 0.5% - 30Hz - 15kHz 1.0% - 20 - 20kHz
Residual Hum and Noise: Better than -94dB
Frequency Response: 10Hz - 30kHz (+0dB, -0.5dB) 3Hz - 50kHz (-3dB)
Damping Factor: 16 @ 1kHz (referred to 8 Ohms)
Power Consumption: 240VA maximum
Valves: 2 x 6SL7 1 x 6SN7 4 x KT88

Manufacturer's Description — Quad

Power Amplifier

Designed by Tim DeParavicini, the QUAD II-Eighty takes inspiration from the original QUAD II amplifier. It is an 80-Watt mono power amplifier following in the tradition and philosophies of Peter Walker. The output section consists of 4 KT88 valves running as two pairs in push-pull with the hallmark QUAD topology of partial cathode loading in the output transformer.

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Authorized dealers for Quad QII-Eighty

Holt Hill — online and in-store — Andover, Massachusetts, United States (website)
Acoustic Technologies — online and in-store — Montréal, Québec, Canada (website)
Acton Gate Audio — online and in-store — Cymru, United Kingdom (website)
Alen Audio — in-store — Extramurs, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain (website)
Alma Music & Audio — online and in-store — San Diego, California, United States (website)
Alpha Audio Pte — online and in-store — Singapore, Singapore (website)
Analogue Seduction — online and in-store — Whittlesey, England, United Kingdom (website)
Area Hifi — online and in-store — L'Eixample, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain (website)
Aris Audio — in-store — Salt Lake City, Utah, United States (website)
Art & Voice — online (website)

and 102 more verified dealers

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