Quad's beautiful amp looks like it's straight out of a 70s sci-fi movie

Following the success of its 22 and 33 pre-amps, Quad has launched a new integrated amplifier that mixes old and new to stunning effect.

The design looks like something you'd have got in the 1970s if you'd asked someone to design a sound system for a spaceship, and its design DNA goes back even further. It takes stylistic cues from the original 22 preamp and its successor, 1967's 33.

So the design is based on the 22's layout and colour scheme, with a modern take on the 33's two-tone design.

I think it's absolutely gorgeous, and while the outside harks back to the past the inside is anything but old-fashioned.

QUAD 3: key features and pricing

The Quad 3's Class AB output stage is fed by an ultra-low noise toroidal transformer and delivers 65W per channel into 8 ohms or 100W per channel into 4 ohms.

The integrated amplifier adds a new dimension to Quad's audio offerings, because where 2024's 33 pre-amp is strictly analoguem the Quad 3 has a built-in ES9038Q2M DAC that enables you to use digital sources too.

There is USB, HDMI 2.1 ARC/eARC and Bluetooth with aptX HD on board, and there's an ultra-low noise phono stage and headphone amp too. That's a lot of options in a very small package, just 30cm wide.

The flush-mounted rotary controls may look retro, but here they're digital controls with multiple functions, including source selection, bass, balance and tilt. Tilt adjusts both ends of the frequency spectrum together, for example by reducing bass and lifting treble or vice-versa.

And while the controls are digital, the settings they adjust are analogue: there's no digital signal processing going on when you boost the bass or tilt the overall audio.

The DAC means there's excellent Hi-Res Audio support here. It offers PCM at up to 32-bit/768kHz and DSD to 22.5792MHz (DSD512) via USB. There's also full MQA decoding and the amp is also Roon Tested.

The Quad 3 is available now for £1,249 (about $1,691 / €1,465 / AU$2,608).