S.P. Fidelity Sound Systems was founded in 1936 by Peter Walker and later that year became the ‘Acoustical Manufacturing Company’. In its early days, the company produced public address systems and relatively compact amplifiers. It was not until 1949 that the company’s name was changed to Quad, an acronym of ‘Quality Unit Amplifier Domestic’, one of their first products being the Corner Ribbon Loudspeaker, which had higher frequencies than had ever previously been achieved. Around this time, Walker and Gilbert Briggs, founder of Wharfedale, held a demonstration at Carnegie Hall in New York for a crowd of 3000 people in an attempt to prove that recorded music could compete with live music. Quad products were used at this demonstration, and proved to the audience the undeniable quality and clarity of well-designed hi-fi equipment.

In 1952, Quad designed and released the Quad II, one of the most famous and enduring amplifiers of all time. Hundreds of thousands were built and sold up until the late 1960s, and they are worth thousands of dollars to this day. Quad amplifiers and speakers gained a reputation for having incomparable transparency and clarity. By the late 1950s, Quad was established as a forerunner in the audio electronics industry with innovation and production moving rapidly.

In 1967, Quad made the step from valves to transistors. The transistor products designed by Quad were revolutionary, employing electronic techniques that solved the problems that plagued early transistor designs. In 1978, Quad received the Queen’s Award for Technological Achievement, the only one ever given to a hi-fi company. In the 1980s, Quad launched FRED, an acronym for ‘Full Range Electrostatic Doublet’, better known as the ESL63. This product took the concept of electrostatic speakers to a new level and was an immediate and immense success, becoming the reference standard in countries across the world.

Quad’s reputation and success continues to this day. The company’s most recent development has been the re-release of the famous Quad II, updating its design to handle the increased load of modern loudspeakers, while still maintaining the exceptional quality and finesse of the original product.