Quad 21L2 speakers

[FennerMachine]

I've been offered a pair of Quad 21L2 speakers for a good price.

I have nor demoed them yet but have heard the Quad L-ite speakers and they sound OK.

Would they work well with my system? How would they compare to the Mission 782's? Obviously a demo would be a good idea but I can't demo at home first.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

Quad make great looking speakers - not heard them though and up until a couple years or so WHF use to love them. Those quads are in the same price range as your Missions and they're bigger so should give more bass and they work well with quad ampage. If you feel the bug, give them a try and put your 782's back in the closet.

Let us know your findings.

Me, I've heard my speakers perform as I would imagine I'd want them to and would not change them less they failed, I'd quicker change the amp

good luck.

 

[ear]

Agree.

 

[wilsmusic]

I have these speakers and enjoy them very much. I listen mostly to electronica and jazz and this is where they excel in my view, though I am looking at buying a power amp to bring a bit more tautness to the bass at some point soon. Rock sounds a bit polite though. Not sure how they would compare to your missions.

 

[Anonymous]

As above

Ive owned the 22L2s in gloss black and they were stunning speakers (with an Arcam Alpha 10/10P combo) but they were a bit too bass heavy at times (room dynamics mostly) so dropped to MA RX2s and then up to RX6s when we moved...

Demod the 21L2s and 22L2s extensively with the Arcam set up and found them both to be fantastic. With electronica music; deep, solid & punchy bass and superb dynamics/vocals/mid and top end as well...

For their current prices they're a speaker well worth demoing!

 

[FennerMachine]

Well, that's settles it then.

I'll buy them and give them a good try.

If I don't like them I could probably get back close to what they will cost me.

 

[FennerMachine]

Got them today. They look good.

More importantly they sound good straight out of the box, only used them for just over an hour.

 

[Anonymous]

Got them today. They look good.

More importantly they sound good straight out of the box, only used them for just over an hour.

Great 8)

And theyre only going to get better

 

[Thompsonuxb]

How do they compare to the Missions.............

 

[FennerMachine]

I've used them for less than 2 hours so far.

I would say so far I prefer them to the Missions.

Specifics I will leave for another day. I need to give them a more thorough testing and allow them to loosen up a bit.

I don't think they will work well with my Mission centre for movies so will need to start looking for a matching centre! Or I could just go 2.0 for movies as I don't use my system for movies very often. That's one of the reasons I bought the 751BD, to make it more convenient to watch movies & TV shows I've got on Blu-ray and DVD but its still probably only once or twice a week.

 

[FennerMachine]

I still haven't had a good chance to have a proper listen!

When I get home from work hopefully!

I have already ordered a L2 centre to go with them, found an offer that was too good to miss! The Mission 782's and 78c will almost definitely be going now, no need to keep as spares. I think I'll keep the 78DS rears for now.

 

[FennerMachine]

How do they compare to the Missions.............

Finally had a few good listening sessions over the weekend.

I've also now put the speakers on granite which has helped with bass and clarity, although that could be partly due to the speakers running in. The speakers come with spike shoes that I'm using on the granite. I have the speakers firing straight with no toe-in. I might experiment with toe-in in a few weeks.

So, Mission 782 floor-standers vs Quad 21L2 floor-standers, subjective comparison:

The Quads have deeper more controlled bass, faster with all frequencies, everything seems to stop and start with no overhang unless its supposed to. Voices at first seemed unnatural but now they are run in a bit they seem more natural. Instruments are placed solidly with a nice sound stage. They have sounded good with everything I have thrown at them so far.

I would compare the Quads to some PMC speakers I demoed about a year ago but less forward and a bit warmer. They are non-fatiguing.

The 782's are not bad speakers but the 21L2's are overall better in my opinion and with my system.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

I expected them to have a "warmer bass" suprised they have better mids and tops or a more "natural sound" to the mid range. But saying that I know with the wrong amp the 782se upper frequencys do grate and they are not the easiest speakers to drive - they do need an amp with power to drive them right. and they do expose an amps weakness....well they are in my house anyway.

I look forward to your next upgrade - it'll be the pre/amp combo I bet................

 

[FennerMachine]

Thompsonuxb, I think you're right about the 782's.

The Quad 303 is only 45W, the 782's need 50W to 200W and are a 6ohm load.

The Cyrus amps I used to use where powerful enough (105W mono mode) but a but harsh.

In the right system they should sound great.

I'll be selling them soon so hopefully someone can get some good use out of them!

I've had the urge to upgrade for years, every system I've ever owned in the past 10 years I've wanted to upgrade, change, modify as I've never been really happy. Until now. I think that all the main issues I've ever had are fixed with keeping most of the best bits I liked from all the various systems. I know I could improve but at what cost? I bought these speakers to go with the Quad 44 and 303, both of which have been serviced within the past year, and they work great together! The only thing I might do is to get matching rear speakers (centre already ordered). My Denon AVR might be failing with its pre-outs, I've got to test it with a ground-loop isolator but if it is faulty I'll just get it serviced as my audio processing is done by my 751BD.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

Lol....that upgrade urge is a killer - I got it and its left me fustrated trying to work out how I can get back the sound I had - but with it sounding better, if you get what I mean. I understand now that WHF and I have very different taste with regard music reproduction (judging by their recent write ups on amps)

I know the 782se I own are very good speakers , capable of creating that holographic soundscape I desire. with the right power

well....heres to the urge ..... :cheers: