Quad kit bright, warm or neutral?

[FennerMachine]

What sort of sound would you expect to get from Quad 67 CD player, Quad 44 pre and Quad 303 power?

Would you expect warm, neutral, bright, other?

The reason for the question is that I've been demoing many speakers using my Quad kit.

Some music sounds bright and harsh but other music sounds natural.

This occurs more with some speakers than others.

Is it a characteristic of this Quad kit, a sign that something is out of spec (likely the CD player as the amps have been serviced), or the quad kit just revealing whatever is in the recording?

 

[BigH]

Maybe a sign your amp. has not enough power to drive some speakers. From what I heard about Quad its warm.

 

[bluedroog]

Quad is just warm of neutral in my opinion, although I haven’t first hand experience of all the kit you mention, I am a 909 owner.

 

[FennerMachine]

Maybe a sign your amp. has not enough power to drive some speakers. From what I heard about Quad its warm.

A better/newer/more powerful amp might help.

I did try the CD player on a Roksan K2 BT amp. It had better control of the low end but the top end was still bright with some music. A Marantz 15S2 CD player on my Quad amps sounded a bit smoother and a bit better in the low end but not as natural.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

It's not your kit, it's modern speakers. They're designed to be detailed, in other words forward. Something like Vienna Acoustics or Sonus Faber might be the go, or some Neat models, the Elit and up which use a more restrained tweeter than the other models.

 

[Coll]

It's not your kit, it's modern speakers. They're designed to be detailed, in other words forward. Something like Vienna Acoustics or Sonus Faber might be the go, or some Neat models, the Elit and up which use a more restrained tweeter than the other models.

I agree with this, I have been involved with hi fi since the 60s over the last couple of years I have replaced all my kit and have found it hard to get a non forward sound. A long time ago speakers used to have a frquency response up to about 15000 hz and fall away but these days they go very high.The old LS3A speakers had a falling high frequency response and you can still get them but they are small and dont give much bass.

 

[Coll]

It's not your kit, it's modern speakers. They're designed to be detailed, in other words forward. Something like Vienna Acoustics or Sonus Faber might be the go, or some Neat models, the Elit and up which use a more restrained tweeter than the other models.

I agree with this, I have been involved with hi fi since the 60s over the last couple of years I have replaced all my kit and have found it hard to get a non forward sound. A long time ago speakers used to have a frquency response up to about 15000 hz and fall away but these days they go very high.The old LS3A speakers had a falling high frequency response and you can still get them but they are small and dont give much bass.

 

[BigH]

It's not your kit, it's modern speakers. They're designed to be detailed, in other words forward. Something like Vienna Acoustics or Sonus Faber might be the go, or some Neat models, the Elit and up which use a more restrained tweeter than the other models.

SO why do some sound bright and others sound natural then?

 

[plastic penguin]

Personally I believe it's a combo of room acoustics and varying recording quality. If a recording is bad you can smooth out some of the nasties but can't eradicate all....

Can't comment of Quad amps, but from what I've read over the years they, according to the reviews, tend to be on the smooth side of neutral.

 

[BigH]

Well I still think the Quad amp. is part of the problem this is from the OP's other on going post: "The Marantz electronics cost about £3000 a piece so that's not a fair comparison to my electronics.

So we tried my Quad kit with both the Dali and Tannoy speakers.

The Quad amps have enough power to drive the Helicon’s with no sign of stress at the levels I listen at. They Quad and Marantz kit sound completely different though!

The Quad sound more edgy, verging on harsh at times."

I would agree that many modern speakers do sound different, they have more detail and clarity which to some will sound bright or even harsh, I found that when demoing, I also found many were not good at low volumes and had to pushed to get going like the Kef LS50s, did not get that room filling sound at low volume, could be the kevlar drivers? Also metal tweeters do not suit some listeners.

 

[floyd droid]

What sort of sound would you expect to get from Quad 67 CD player, Quad 44 pre and Quad 303 power?

Would you expect warm, neutral, bright, other?

The reason for the question is that I've been demoing many speakers using my Quad kit.

Oh go on then I will ask the question everyone else has failed to raise.

Exactly what 'many speakers' did you dem. Gawd knows how peeps can throw a light on your results without knowing what speakers you demmed.

But somehow they think they can , pure genius.

Quad stuff aint bright.

 

[FennerMachine]

From memory I've demoed the following speakers:

Store 1: Spendor SP2/3R2, Spendor A6R, PMC Twenty 23, Quad ESL 2805

Store 2: Harbeth M30.1, SHL5

Store 3: Tannoy Precision 6.2, 6.4, Definition DC8, Elac stand mount (not sure exact model), Dali floor standers (not sure exact model, from the range below Helicon), Dali Helicon 400, Monitor Audio Silver RX8, Quad 23L2

The easiest to listen to speakers out of all of these have been:

Spendor SP2/3R2 – a little forward, a bit of hardness in the treble

Harbeth – a bit iffy with bass on some music but no harshness at all. Could listen all day with no fatigue but a bit boring

Quad ESL 2805 – amazing with some music but lacked something with a few tracks and also awkward to place in a small/medium room

 

[davedotco]

From memory I've demoed the following speakers:

Store 1: Spendor SP2/3R2, Spendor A6R, PMC Twenty 23, Quad ESL 2805

Store 2: Harbeth M30.1, SHL5

Store 3: Tannoy Precision 6.2, 6.4, Definition DC8, Elac stand mount (not sure exact model), Dali floor standers (not sure exact model, from the range below Helicon), Dali Helicon 400, Monitor Audio Silver RX8, Quad 23L2

The easiest to listen to speakers out of all of these have been:

Spendor SP2/3R2 – a little forward, a bit of hardness in the treble

Harbeth – a bit iffy with bass on some music but no harshness at all. Could listen all day with no fatigue but a bit boring

Quad ESL 2805 – amazing with some music but lacked something with a few tracks and also awkward to place in a small/medium room

That's a lot of speakers, covering a wide range of types, some very different and some rather good.

But none of them seen to suit you.

I wonder why....... :?

 

[FennerMachine]

Indeed DDC!

It could be that I'm looking for something that does not exist within my budget and will have to settle for a compromise.

Maybe my electronics are not up to the job.

The Dali Helicon 400 sounded great with £3000 Marantz CD player and £3000 amp but that combo lacked sound stage depth which my Quads added at the expense of overall clarity and smoothness. As my budget is a total of £3000 that's almost a moot point but at least give a point of reference.

 

[CJSF]

In the previous thread the OP says he likes his 'Castle Richmond II', 30 years old but as listening levels are low, I suspect they will go on for a while yet?

Which begs the question in my mind, is it simply the fact the he wants something new, but likes the classic Quad kit? Does it matter what speakers have been auditioned, a few have been mentioned in the previous thread, as has been pointed out, so many modern speakers do have issues to the more mature hifi ear.

I have worked this one through, old speakers, 23 years and counting, that I like the construction thinking and sound of; a smallish stand mount type, silk tweeters and a transmission line folded horn that is supposed to give base to 35hz. All this gives a sound that I like, its sort of LS35a with knobs on, yes the 35a was my standard reference speaker in the 80's

Knowing what the speaker sounds like and is capable of meant that I was able to fashion the electronics around the sound I like, giving me a reference point in my mind to refer to and trust.

There is your starting point, speakers you know and love. In my case, I have developed the sound stage, detail, and particularly the base, which is fuller, tighter and recently chest rattling with recordings that has the balls. A bonus, I have found some recording that have relay blossomed reveling themselves as previously unappreciated gems.

I know those than know me will point and say, 'but you are a vinyl freak' . . . true, however, the other bonus is that with this painstaking electronics manipulation, I have extracted so much more from CD's and Spotify, to the point where I regularly listen to both with great pleasure. True, its selected material, but that applies to Vinyl as well.

I would suggest looking at valve amps, its a whole new world, but there are good and bad here to, I suspect (???) your Castles may have been developed using valves at some point?

CJSF

 

[FennerMachine]

I think I'm going to have to do more demo's but mix it up a bit.

I'll demo a few more speakers, maybe Focal as there is somewhere near I can go to demo them.

I will also demo some amps and CD players with my Quad and Castle speakers.

I don't really want to transport my Quad speakers unless I have to. It might be easier to get some home demo's of amps.

It might take a while before I find what I'm looking for.

Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions and help on the various threads I've started regarding my various upgrade options. Please keep the suggestions and advise coming!

 

[davedotco]

Indeed DDC!

It could be that I'm looking for something that does not exist within my budget and will have to settle for a compromise.

Maybe my electronics are not up to the job.

The Dali Helicon 400 sounded great with £3000 Marantz CD player and £3000 amp but that combo lacked sound stage depth which my Quads added at the expense of overall clarity and smoothness. As my budget is a total of £3000 that's almost a moot point but at least give a point of reference.

I feel that it is time to try something radically different.

Get to a couple of compedent dealers and get them to play you their favourite amp - speaker combo under £3.5k.

See if anything takes your fancy, if you can, get to Icon Audio and try a pair of there own loudspeakers with, say, a Stereo 60.

 

[FennerMachine]

Contacted Icon Audio via their web form.

Also Emailed local shop and said that I was planning on trying other kit with my speakers. He agrees that it's worth looking at the system as a whole but also to plan for the possibility of upgrading in the future.

 

[floyd droid]

Contacted Icon Audio via their web form.

Icon are rip off merchants when it comes to dems. Unless its all changed what they do is thus.. You pay for the amp but dont get on with it so they take it back and wallop you a 10% 're-stock' fee. Now then , lets say you tried their 6k monos !!!!. Dave Ds is a good idea if you are near enough for a taster i guess.

Where are you based ?.

 

[floyd droid]

maybe Focal as there is somewhere near I can go to demo them.

Oooh that will be fun , I can hear the ruddy things now ,lol. But hey they may well float your boat , doubtful but stranger things have happened.

 

[plastic penguin]

maybe Focal as there is somewhere near I can go to demo them.

Oooh that will be fun , I can hear the ruddy things now ,lol. But hey they may well float your boat , doubtful but stranger things have happened.

Now now...

Focals are fabulous speakers with the right amplification.

(Get your hair cut )

 

[FennerMachine]

Thanks for the heads up!

I would go to demo at theirs. I would only take for home demo if it was on the basis that it could be returned with no catches & try to take their demo amp/speakers so returning is a non issue.

I'm based in Daventry.

 

[FennerMachine]

What's the issue with Focal?

 

[floyd droid]

Focals are fabulous speakers with the right amplification.

(Get your hair cut )

When did you last get your ears syringed . Cant remember ? stick some Focals with yer Leema that will do the trick. I've run Focals with amps reccoed by the Focal rep , they are still shi*e.

 

[floyd droid]

What's the issue with Focal?

Tsch tsch tsch , all I hear from Focals is their ruddy tweeters.