Quad 11L2 vs Dali Lektor 2 vs AVI Neutron 5

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Hi all,

Here's the situation:

Recently moved house. Large'ish living room, 20m^2, with high ceilings. Speakers need to sit on bookshelf in alcove on each side of the fireplace breast due to pressure from wife and also considering our toddlers (floorstanders or stand mounts is a no-no). I can get away with a complementing subwoofer in the corner, hidden next to the sofa.

I've currently got an Arcam 5 integrated amp driving a pair of Monitor Audio 201's which are just over 10 years old. I don't like the way they sound in this room. I've always found them fussy about placement and they are not happy with their back next to the wall. Indeed I've only previously enjoyed them in small rooms, with the listening position close to the speaker.

So I'm looking for a new set of small speakers (the alcove is only 24cm deep) that are not intimidated by the large room, can sit with their back against the wall and are not too fussy about placement. And as mentioned I'm not too worried about deep bass as I'm happy to complement them with a subwoofer if need be.

I listen to rock/guitar (Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Kent) and jazz (E.S.T, Keith Jarret, etc).

I've had some advise here before and also looked around some HiFi shops in London. My current short list is:

Monitor Audio BR2 - sounds good in the demo room but I'm worried I'll get home and find them all too similar to my old 201's. Also they are on the large side
Quad 11L2 - never managed to listen to them, and the dealers insist they are best suited for classical music
Arcam Muso - never managed to listen to them, are they suitable for music?
Dali Lektor 2 - sweet sounding in the demo room but would they get lost in my large room at home?
AVI Neutron 5 - never managed to listen to them - they are rear ported, so can I put them against the wall?
Tannoy Revolution Signature DC4 - pricy, however if they fit the brief it may be worth spending the extra ££

Also prepared to upgrade the amp if required to drive the speakers I get. Have been eyeing up the Cyrus in the shops...

Any bit of advise would be much appreciated. I'm booked into another audion on Saturday but I doubt I'll be able to listen to all these speakers, and even so, I find it difficult to imagine what they would sounds like at home. Sound I need some guidance to get me on the right track.

Perhaps it's an impossible brief and I should settle with surround satellite speakers and a sub in the corner -- but I want to believe that I can do better than that...

Help!
 
Forget the Quads. They are incredible speakers for the money and I love mine, but they need careful set-up to perform at their best. In this case that means solid stands and plenty of space. They won't suit your needs in my opinion.

The BR2s are pretty flexible about positioning but I think you'd need to put the tuning bungs into the front mounted port to avoid too much bass.

The Dali Lektors would be well worth an audition in your own room. Ask your dealer - I don't think its too much to ask and he/she might get further business from you if they look after you this time.

Avoid the B&W 685s. Great speakers in some ways but they won't take kindly at all to being placed on shelves.
 
Rear ports are generally used to allow rear wall reinforcement to "boost" bass. Thus, they're not necessarily a bad thing but you need to make sure you're confident that your alcove will give you enough room to tune the sound. You can always put a foam bung in a port, not to everyone's taste.

A small pair of good speakers with a sub can sound deceptively big, especially if you don't go for a mini-sub like my Rel Quake. The AVI Neutrons are tiny but sound very nice. If you add something like a BKElec or MA sub then you'll be surprised by the sound you get.
 
Thanks guys! So it sounds like I should look closer at AVI Neutron 5 vs
Dali Lektor 2 on Saturday. Would probably pair them with a BKElec
XLS200 in that case. Could I sensibly drive AVI Neutron 5 with my Alpha 5 or should I look at upgrading the amp too?
 
if i put the bungs in my dyn's, they have to go against the wall or there is no bass. they do sound better without them though.
 
The Neutrons have a sensitivity of 87.5dB/W/M and recommended amplifier range of 30-150W. The Alpha 5 is 40W into 8ohms. I think it'll be fine for most reasonable listening levels but some more headroom would be a big benefit. They're only small speakers with limited bass extension so the demands being placed on the amp should be limited too.

Why not wait for the release of the 2.1 Neutron set up? Sub, Neutron 5s, DAC and amps all in a neat package. Looks fantastic!

Clicky
 
I would try and find a pair of Mordaunt Short MS10i's in good condition. I've used some with amplifiers from Arcam, including the A38/28, cyrus, rega, naim. They did'nt sound outclassed playing next to PMC DB1i's/ Rega R3's. It's basically Epos with a different badge.

Recently had a dem with the slightly larger 20i Pearls/Naim XS/CD5x. Matched superbly.

20 quid of ebay and loads of cash left. S/h Naim Nait 5 or a creek evo perhaps ... ?
 
I ended up buying the AVI Neutron 5 from Bartletts HiFi in London. I was blown away by the resolution of these speakers and I don't think I'll be getting a sub straight away either -- they have a surprising amount of kick for such a small cabinet. Couldn't be happer! This will give me years of listening pleasure.

Although, I must admit they sounded better on the Cyrus 8SE in the shop than my crappy CD player at home... I can see another project coming up...

Thanks for the advise everyone, it was extremely helpful.
 
Eddie Pound:
Good choice.

The N5 are better than even SA1s.

An opinion that I would strongly disagree with. But hey, it's all about personal preference
emotion-1.gif
The problem with the SA1s is that they need a good source and amp to get them to do their thing.
 
Leema Xeros - 5 star review about 9 months back or so. £650 and apparently a belter of an all rounder. My impression is they'd leave the rest standing with the exception of the AVI - never heard them, but they sound well worth shortlisting.
 
matthewpiano:Forget the Quads. They are incredible speakers for the money and I love mine, but they need careful set-up to perform at their best. In this case that means solid stands and plenty of space. They won't suit your needs in my opinion. The BR2s are pretty flexible about positioning but I think you'd need to put the tuning bungs into the front mounted port to avoid too much bass. The Dali Lektors would be well worth an audition in your own room. Ask your dealer - I don't think its too much to ask and he/she might get further business from you if they look after you this time. Avoid the B&W 685s. Great speakers in some ways but they won't take kindly at all to being placed on shelves.

hi, how much space do the quads mentioned need ? i am looking for a realy warm speaker in a small bedroom ( classical, ambient, meditatave etc.

many thanks, and apologies for butting in.
 
Hi, I have the Quad 11 L2's (now relegated to 'spare') I found them far too bright for my liking and wouldn't class them as warm....
 
Antman:Hi, I have the Quad 11 L2's (now relegated to 'spare') I found them far too bright for my liking and wouldn't class them as warm....

thanks.
 
storsvante:I ended up buying the AVI Neutron 5 from Bartletts HiFi in London. I was blown away by the resolution of these speakers and I don't think I'll be getting a sub straight away either -- they have a surprising amount of kick for such a small cabinet. Couldn't be happer! This will give me years of listening pleasure.

Yay!

See, if Ashley would only give WHFS&V a review pair, they'd sell millions
emotion-2.gif
 
Speaking of Ashley and AVI, I heard the new ADM9.1 at the weekend. I was very impressed with their clear, open sound, tight bass and overall design. For the money I don't think you can go wrong, even for double the money. It really needs the sub to go with it to add some richness and welly to it, something to counter the almost studio like sound they produce.

It got me thinking as to whether I should sell up and buy some. Then I got home, plugged in an AVI S2000MP preamp and quickly realised how much better it sounded
emotion-1.gif
Phew, nearly had a mid-life crisis.
 
I think Gramophone magazine rated that legacy pre-amplifier very highly.

Re: active loudspeaker bass response, speaking generally, it is much tighter, so takes some adjusting to. Although I believe it is correct, having heard many monitors of friends who are musicians.
 
Indeed Gramophone did rate it well. The only catch is that if it dies it may be unrepairable as it pre-dates the EU legislation about lead.
 
Antman:Hi, I have the Quad 11 L2's (now relegated to 'spare') I found them far too bright for my liking and wouldn't class them as warm....

The Quads are very very neutral and need careful partnering. They are not actually a bright speaker but they are very revealing and will show up any tendency to brightness within a system. I do agree that they would not suit the needs of the poster who is looking for a warm sound though.
 
Can anybody advise which will sound better a Quad 22l2 or 11l2 with a L2 sub-woofer in terms of music. I audition 11L2 in one of my friend's house and the sound-stage was amazing. Few people say for music Tower speaker are better and few advise a bookshelf with sub-woofer is better.
 
I think this is a personal preference choice rather than which sounds better. I prefer the accuracy of a pair of standmounters and am happy to augment them with a sub to get some greater depth. Some people hate subs, hate the sound they make, hate setting them up and think they're slow. You might prefer the sound of floorstanders as they'll be much more heavy handed but will sacrifice speed and accuracy due to their range and larger cabinets resulting in a boxier sound.

At least witha sub and stand mount you have more room tuning options.
 
how would be Quad 11l2 or 12l2 with Quad L2 Subwoofer ? Is There any other better than this.
 
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