The Quad thread

[deepak]

Depends on what your budget is. I've recently gone to using a TentLabs CD player, which sounds completely stunning - a real giant killer. It is nominally a DIY player (!) but is actually supplied as completed electronics modules, requiring screwing together into the casework and wiring up. Link is here Tentlabs DIY CD player .

I actually got mine in a known not-working condition as payment in lieu for some business advice. Turned out to be a weakness in a power supply regulator, and current production now incorporates my fix. In any case, Tent repaired the unit free of charge without quibble (5 year warranty).

If you don't feel comfortable building the unit, you can pay more and take delivery of a built one.

The caveat is that if your budget is the sort of price for a used CDP-2, the Tent is going to be a very expensive option.

Nice! I've been ninja stalking Tent Labs CDPs, but I never see them for sale in the US. Though for me the ideal would be the Tent Labs CDP's DAC circuitry/output stage in a stand alone DAC.

pw I'd go with your gut feeling on what you want to do. If the Quad sounds good I'd buy another used unit rather than paying for diagnostics, repair and shipping both ways. You could probably recuperate some money on Audiogon with your malfunctioning CDP

Edited September 18, 2010 by deepak

[bjarnetv]

i found some money in my wallet and decided to spend them

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3702[/ATTACH]

i never liked the stock 200uf cap, so i have been running my esl63 without any input caps. i decided to go for 100uf, to keep the slightly forward midrange, and replaced the cheap 1r5 resistor with a wirewound one.

to keep things short; more bass, crisper treble, same sweet midrange and a soundstage as deep as space itself!

best bang for the buck upgrade ever!

[Dusty Chalk]

Not sure exactly what you are getting at Abby, but after I read your post I broke up with my girlfriend. Is that what you wanted me to do?

Hell no, I'm pretty sure Abby was suggesting a threesome.

[Grahame]

You know how it goes [post|jack|pussy|willow]*2 . You decide to get something, then look what happens.

Quad Hifi - Performance Series - Elite Series

Quad's new Elite range - hi-fi news - whathifi.com

Quad Elite Series Audio Components - eCoustics.com

Interesting that the CD player/DAC now uses a top-end Crystal 24-bit/192kHz DAC, (Crystal CS4398) which replaces the older 24-bit/96kHz one

PDF brochure here http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/downloads/QH10-BR0002%20-%20Elite%20Series.pdf

Not all manuals are out yet, but some are Quad Hifi - Downloads

Why, they are even doing their own cables!

Interesting to see what the US prices will be, and when the Quad Platinum system will be available!

Duggeh, care to comment on the new aesthetics?

[Duggeh]

I'm interested in the choice to produce a TOTL analogue tuner when the uk government is planning to switch off FM and AM transmission within 5 years.

(They'll never ever do it, it'd be bigger electoral suicide than publicly hanging Kylie minogue and Stephen Fry)

Also, no ELITE 909? shameful.

As for the looks, they'll never beat the 77-Carbon range for loveliness.

[postjack]

They seem remarkably similar to the old series. and I agree, no 909 is a shame. the stereo amp is also rated at max power. it's crazy quad would publish max power over rms power. they are pretty though.

maybe this will drive old cdp-2 prices down even more.

[TheSloth]

Well this is the replacement for the 99 series. There is the still the higher end 'platinum' line yet to be released.

[Duggeh]

Interestingly though, ELITE replaces 99 in a modus which continues the Quad broad history of very very long product cycles compared to most other companies. The exception being 66 to 77 series in the early to mid 90s.

Don't expect ELITE X / ELITE 2000 / ELITE Pro / ELITE N / iELITE / ELITE-Q / ELITE 2G / ELITE* / ELITE Carbon until 2020 on this basis. But I would expect an L-3 series, an electrostatic 10,000 series, a II-120 or II-150, multiple cable options beyond count, a self branded hi-fi stand, power cables, a basic range (including an integrated amp), and a DAC-only product based on the CDP-2 family within that gap the way the brand is being unrolled as part of a larger corporate identity.

[blessingx]

Would it ge crazy to add a http://emotiva.com/ultra_sub10.shtm to a pair of 12Ls in a small bedroom setup? And if not, running both off a single RCA out (with splitters I guess)? I'm stupid on subwoofers.

Edited October 8, 2010 by blessingx

[postjack]

Would it ge crazy to add a Emotiva Ultra Series 10 Subwoofer to a pair of 12Ls in a small bedroom setup? And if not, running both off a single RCA out (with splitters I guess)? I'm stupid on subwoofers.

well i'm listening to dubstep right now so anything involving moar bass sounds like a plan to me.

seriously though I think it could sound good, so long as you aren't too dead set on achieving perfect integration. i played the speakers + sub game for a while (my speakers were full size though, the 22L) and was generally satisfied with the results. i haven't tried my sub with the 63s, i should give that a shot.

splitters should be fine, that was how i ran my sub + speakers setup: two splitters on the preouts, one to the sub, one to the power amp.

[Dusty Chalk]

I fully intend to add a sub to my 12L's (probably SVS in my case). I listen to them in the nearfield in an office environment (which I think counts as a small room).

Sent from mah Droid

[audioz22]

Ok, my last post was deleted, so please excuse my over-familiarity. I'll try and be a humble noob for a while.

I've been fond of Quad gear for quite some time. Found the Electrostatics a touch too flat for beat music, but instantly fell in love with the Quad 12ls and picked up a Quad 99 to power them. I thought the Quad 909 was amazing, but felt, at close to 3k, it was overpriced.

I've mounted them on my desk recently, and hoping to expand the desk to accommodate. Getting some weight under them without setting up resonance in the desk is a considerable challenge, but well worth it imo.

[aardvark baguette]

Getting some weight under them without setting up resonance in the desk is a considerable challenge

No it isn't. Get the primacoustic pads. They weigh a fucking ton. I think the foam is denser than the mopads too. I've owned both.

Primacoustic Acoustic Solutions

[postjack]

Ok, my last post was deleted, so please excuse my over-familiarity. I'll try and be a humble noob for a while.

I've been fond of Quad gear for quite some time. Found the Electrostatics a touch too flat for beat music, but instantly fell in love with the Quad 12ls and picked up a Quad 99 to power them. I thought the Quad 909 was amazing, but felt, at close to 3k, it was overpriced.

I've mounted them on my desk recently, and hoping to expand the desk to accommodate. Getting some weight under them without setting up resonance in the desk is a considerable challenge, but well worth it imo.

909 at $3000? I paid $500 for mine. well $1000 for the 99 pre/909 combo.

[deepak]

909 at $3000? I paid $500 for mine. well $1000 for the 99 pre/909 combo.

You might be conversing with a bot

[Voltron]

or an idiot.

NUMBER ONE ANSWER!

[blessingx]

well i'm listening to dubstep right now so anything involving moar bass sounds like a plan to me. seriously though I think it could sound good, so long as you aren't too dead set on achieving perfect integration. i played the speakers + sub game for a while (my speakers were full size though, the 22L) and was generally satisfied with the results. i haven't tried my sub with the 63s, i should give that a shot. splitters should be fine, that was how i ran my sub + speakers setup: two splitters on the preouts, one to the sub, one to the power amp.

I fully intend to add a sub to my 12L's (probably SVS in my case). I listen to them in the nearfield in an office environment (which I think counts as a small room).

Thanks guys for the earlier comments. Ultra 10 ended up working out well. Had to turn way down to avoid overtaking the 12Ls, but everything active and with cut-offs creates a nice pretty compact system. Exactly what I was hoping for. Emotiva sale still going on if anyone is in a similar situation.

Edited October 27, 2010 by blessingx

[audiosceptic]

Well my Quad 63 saga is over after a few bumps in the road. As I stated earlier the ESL63's I bought from Wayne Picquet at Quads Unlimited arrived with broken bases but sounded great. I reluctantly shipped them back to Wayne where he replaced the bases and shipped them back to me in borrowed Quad factory boxes. I had to return the boxes immediately so I was discouraged to find one of the speakers was intermittently cutting out. Wayne had me try and disable the protection circuitry by cutting a wire but that didn't work. Not having good boxes to ship them back again, Wayne questioned if there was any way I could get them to Kansas City where Kent McCollum from Electrostatic Solutions was located. I happened to have a friend in KC that I wanted to visit so I finally took them to Kent earlier this week. He found a bad solder connection on one of the panels so he fixed it and took a look at both speakers to make sure all was well. He did this all free of charge or Wayne paid for it. My speakers are now home and sound glorious. It was a hassle but well worth the effort.

Kent is a great guy by the way. I spent some time with him discussing Quads and listening to my speakers through his very impressive Audio Research setup. One thing he did was spread my ESL63's very far apart with the listening chair pretty close to the speakers. Listening to Dire Straits in that system was amazing. The soundstage was huge. I'm going to try and move some crap around in my listening room to get more space between the speakers.

[deepak]

Kent is a great guy by the way. I spent some time with him discussing Quads and listening to my speakers through his very impressive Audio Research setup. One thing he did was spread my ESL63's very far apart with the listening chair pretty close to the speakers. Listening to Dire Straits in that system was amazing. The soundstage was huge. I'm going to try and move some crap around in my listening room to get more space between the speakers.

I have noticed the same soundstage effect with Maggies (probably true for any speaker) when they are separated very far apart. It's an interesting sound, but IMO the soundstage isn't realistic. The Cardas speaker placement guide for planars still has the most accurate soundstage and imaging in my room. When the recording expands beyond the speakers it works even with the speakers closer together, but most rock isn't really mixed that way.

[postjack]

hey audiosceptic, do you know how close to the speakers the listening chair was when he had them spread far apart? I'd like to try this in my den.

[audiosceptic]

hey audiosceptic, do you know how close to the speakers the listening chair was when he had them spread far apart? I'd like to try this in my den.

The chair was no more than 8 feet it front of the speakers which were 20-25 apart. It seemed weird having them so far apart and sitting so close but the image was pretty cool. I had never seen a setup like that or heard one but I'm going to try it once I lug some stuff around.

[Dusty Chalk]

I'm having trouble picturing that -- were they heavily toed inwards? So they were...(does some quick calculations)...~14 feet from the speakers?

[audiosceptic]

I'm having trouble picturing that -- were they heavily toed inwards? So they were...(does some quick calculations)...~14 feet from the speakers?

I don't know about heavily toed inwards. They weren't exactly facing the listening position but certainly toed in somewhat. Again, nothing I had seen or heard before but coming from a guy who lives and breathes Quad ESL63 speakers this was an interesting setup. I'm going to try it and see what happens.

[PFKMan23]

So I'm thinking of getting into speakers and have the Quad 12L active as my likely target. Any idea what's the going rate?

[postjack]

So I'm thinking of getting into speakers and have the Quad 12L active as my likely target. Any idea what's the going rate?

~$600 methinks?