Review: Ken Kessler

Baffled by its name, I assumed Polish manufacturer ‘Fezz’ took it from its distinctive toroidal transformer covers, which reflect the shape of the famous Moroccan hat if not the city itself. Here was a valve amplifier with the full complement of toroidal transformers – not all that common with tubes – but there’s even more novelty to the Sagita Prestige preamplifier (£3499) and Titania power amplifier (£3495). Eastern European price advantages are just the start.

Hi-fi’s style icons of the ’60s are reimagined here over a half century later combining a sympathetic industrial design with a performance beyond the reach of its ancestors

It’s taken long enough but Quad has finally revived one of the best-selling pre/power amp combinations of all time. Between 1967 and 1982, 120,000 Quad 33 ‘control units’ were sold, while the 303 power amplifier remained in production until 1985 to reach 94,000 sales. So these new Quad 33 and 303 models have big shoes to fill, but retaining the original model designations and dimensions are a start. And that’s pretty much where the resemblance stops. Welcome to the 21st century.

Whether it be cars or guitars, anniversaries benefit small manufacturers because they present authentic marketing opportunities. One of these is a reason to release a special model while another is to declare one's provenance. You can't fake longevity, so the real value is that anniversaries cannot be 'made up' as they arrive only with the passage of time. And while it's hard to believe, 2024 marks the first half-century of Utah-based Wilson Audio Specialties, and the designated birthday cake is The WATT/Puppy you see here.