Sean,
I have not looked that deep into the Quad 99, nor have I heard one. I have heard all the preamps that I recommended, and I'm sure they sound much better than the Quad, however, you did mention that you would sacrifice sonic integrity for tone controls, that's when I recommended the Quad. I have heard some inexpensive Quad speakers that sounded pretty decent for the $$$, so I assumed the Quad preamp would also be decent.
Certainly it will not sound as good as Classe, Threshold, Klyne or even Forte, but those preamps don't have tone controls.....which may explain why they sound better.
John
I have not looked that deep into the Quad 99, nor have I heard one. I have heard all the preamps that I recommended, and I'm sure they sound much better than the Quad, however, you did mention that you would sacrifice sonic integrity for tone controls, that's when I recommended the Quad. I have heard some inexpensive Quad speakers that sounded pretty decent for the $$$, so I assumed the Quad preamp would also be decent.
Certainly it will not sound as good as Classe, Threshold, Klyne or even Forte, but those preamps don't have tone controls.....which may explain why they sound better.
John