Was in WHS last Sunday where I occasionally thumb through a Hi Fi mag. Bought Hi Fi Choice to fully read a review of Quadral's Chromium Style 8s - very good reviews are a starting point for shortlisting stuff. Although my Totem Arros are hugely entertaining, they lack bass heft. Rang around a few dealers I know of during the week but drew a blank. Rang Tony Sallis of Coherent Systems who had a pair to demo & some to sell, a friend took me over to Chalfont St Peter for a listen.
They are not tiny! They are beautifully made floor standers about 1.1m high with curving sides with two bass cones, a mid above with a ribbon tweeter near the top of the piano-black high-gloss cabinet but are fairly narrow. No spikes, they sit on attached plinths of the same profile. I took my Primare power amp & M-DAC, speaker cable, short XLRs and a handful of both classical to electronica discs. It took me about 5 seconds to clock that they were pretty exceptional. Tony did suggest that running my DAC straight into my power amp was a compromise that robbed the bass of some definition so will investigate the matching Primare Pre32 that would also allow for vinyl replay without converting to digital then back.
As for for SQ, the review was rather accurate: a very natural sound with no part of the very wide f range drawing attention. They do go deep, they have grunt when required but the treble is amazing with an even distribution in a room without it beaming directionally. Where the Arros are entertaining, these Quadrals are absorbing! They image extremely well as do the Arros but underpin most of my listening with rather tight tuneful bass. Other aspects worth mentioning is that their sonics don't change with volume so they sound good at low volume but can go ridiculously loud, really loud! They are only polite when the music is. Are fairly sensitive (89dB) nominally 8 Ohm that dips to 5 so are easy to drive. As for detail, they are astonishing. They may have a daft name but there's nothing chromium about their sound! £1750 well spent!
Tony also demo'd these Quadrals with some rather high-end electronics - sometimes at ear-bleeding volume but they failed to show any real flaws. I don't think I've ever heard such flawless speakers under £10k. Mr Sallis did power up his TAD CR1s - even more flawless but a somewhat more than the Quadrals that were not disgraced by the comparison!
I had to change my Hi Fi Rack's position once home then powered them up. I can't stop grinning. Gone is the boom from certain recordings, they seem to be reasonably unfussy regarding positioning and sound amazing out of the box. They have two substantial posts near their base. I'm currently using them with the grills in place. As for the Arros, sold to the friend to go with his new MF M3si and M3CD. I apologise for feeling so damn smug!
They are not tiny! They are beautifully made floor standers about 1.1m high with curving sides with two bass cones, a mid above with a ribbon tweeter near the top of the piano-black high-gloss cabinet but are fairly narrow. No spikes, they sit on attached plinths of the same profile. I took my Primare power amp & M-DAC, speaker cable, short XLRs and a handful of both classical to electronica discs. It took me about 5 seconds to clock that they were pretty exceptional. Tony did suggest that running my DAC straight into my power amp was a compromise that robbed the bass of some definition so will investigate the matching Primare Pre32 that would also allow for vinyl replay without converting to digital then back.
As for for SQ, the review was rather accurate: a very natural sound with no part of the very wide f range drawing attention. They do go deep, they have grunt when required but the treble is amazing with an even distribution in a room without it beaming directionally. Where the Arros are entertaining, these Quadrals are absorbing! They image extremely well as do the Arros but underpin most of my listening with rather tight tuneful bass. Other aspects worth mentioning is that their sonics don't change with volume so they sound good at low volume but can go ridiculously loud, really loud! They are only polite when the music is. Are fairly sensitive (89dB) nominally 8 Ohm that dips to 5 so are easy to drive. As for detail, they are astonishing. They may have a daft name but there's nothing chromium about their sound! £1750 well spent!
Tony also demo'd these Quadrals with some rather high-end electronics - sometimes at ear-bleeding volume but they failed to show any real flaws. I don't think I've ever heard such flawless speakers under £10k. Mr Sallis did power up his TAD CR1s - even more flawless but a somewhat more than the Quadrals that were not disgraced by the comparison!
I had to change my Hi Fi Rack's position once home then powered them up. I can't stop grinning. Gone is the boom from certain recordings, they seem to be reasonably unfussy regarding positioning and sound amazing out of the box. They have two substantial posts near their base. I'm currently using them with the grills in place. As for the Arros, sold to the friend to go with his new MF M3si and M3CD. I apologise for feeling so damn smug!
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