PS Audio's new "Gain Cell" Amplifiers . . .

The Gain Cell design of PS Audio and that of Quatre/QMI are unrelated. The marketing pitch for the Quatre Gain Cell implied a complimentary symmetrical channel design that was supposed to cancel out non-linearities.

I spoke recently to Dave Gore, designer of the Quatre/QMI Gain Cell series. He commented that he did not claim to invent the term Gain Cell and felt it rather generic.

Bob

Whatever happened to Dave Gore?

I used to work for Quatre.

The Gain Cell amp we made had terrific bass - and was highly regard in it's day. I wouldn't call it rough. In a showdown (Audio Critic) against Audio Research, Threshold, GAS and quite a few others - it came out as the winner. More liquid-sounding than the GAS.

It is still a pretty good amp. Still has great bass. And yes, it did have stability problems. Had a proclivity for going into DC offset and lunching a woofer.

Dale,

I used to have a Quatre driving the Fried Model "H" and I agree with you about the sound and stablilty. Mine cooked itself (but I still listen to the "H" sub using it as as a coffee table for the TV system).

Ross

p.s. I wish the Audio Critic would return

my quatre toasted as well. Sounded Ok for the day.

If you used the Quatre Gain Cell on an 8ohm load - you're likely to not see any issues. It didn't like going lower that 4 ohms.

I tried one fairly recently - and on air suspension speakers (I didn't have anything ported to try it) it still sounds awesome. I mean awesome. Like a big fat Krell amp in the bottom. A good amp overall, but if you're looking for a subwoofer amp and you're looking at a nominal 8 ohm load - use it. I'm sure you'll be impressed.
I remember back in the day someone bringing in an ancient AR3a. And the bass with the Gain Cell was staggering. I was marketing director of the company, and I would tell people with Dahlquist DQ 10's - instead of getting a subwoofer, try this amp first. It was miles beyond anything at the time. And the different was not subtle.