The Quad thread

[wgb113]

First post...just wanted to say hello. I picked a paid of 12L actives up used about a month ago and have been very pleased. I realize most of you are fans of their electrostatics but wanted to show their other speakers some love. This is my first pair of active speakers and I'm very happy with the results. After watching for some Dynaudio BM6AmkII on eBay for months I came across these on AudioGon and bit the bullet. They remind me of my first god pair of speakers, NHT SuperOnes, in the imaging and midrange department, with a more weighty low-end and cleaner highs. Since taking these pictures I've added a pair of Auralex SpeakerDudes which did make a slight improvement, and helped by angling them down slightly. For serious listening I pull them out to the front edge of the desk and use a much more comfy chair.

[The Monkey]

A fine first post. Nice setup.

[aardvark baguette]

Nice diy speaker stands too. At least I think they're diy.

I think more people here actually have dynamic quads than esl stuff. Its kind of a cult.

[Duggeh]

Quad stats are just so small tho.

[mypasswordis]

You don't think it would have anything to do with the ESLs needing a dedicated room, special amplification, costing a lot more, and being much rare, would you? Along with most of the vintage ESLs needing some sort of repair work to bring up to snuff.

Quad stats are just so small tho.

It's true. 6 ft tall min, but something like this is better:

I need to take a pic of me + my speakers. I've been saying it all along with all the 'stat headphones I've owned, and I'll say it again with my Acoustats: if you think 'stats lack bass after hearing them there is something wrong with your hearing.

[postjack]

First post...just wanted to say hello. I picked a paid of 12L actives up used about a month ago and have been very pleased. I realize most of you are fans of their electrostatics but wanted to show their other speakers some love. This is my first pair of active speakers and I'm very happy with the results. After watching for some Dynaudio BM6AmkII on eBay for months I came across these on AudioGon and bit the bullet. They remind me of my first god pair of speakers, NHT SuperOnes, in the imaging and midrange department, with a more weighty low-end and cleaner highs. Since taking these pictures I've added a pair of Auralex SpeakerDudes which did make a slight improvement, and helped by angling them down slightly. For serious listening I pull them out to the front edge of the desk and use a much more comfy chair.

First, welcome to head-case!

Second, and someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but currently Quad 12L actives might be the most popular speaker on head-case, meaning I think more of us own Quad 12L actives then any other speaker. I used to own them and sold them for some reason I can't remember.

Third, I also love those speaker stands, are they DIY or did you buy them somewhere? I see you have the Benchmark DAC-1, how do you like it? Its generally not appreciated around here but I've always been curious to hear one due to the high praise it receives elsewhere, the mainstream audio press in particular.

[wgb113]

Thanks everyone. To answer some questions:

1) Yes, the stands are DIY. A lot of people with desktop computer setups seem to go for the Ikea Lack shelf + Capita leg combo. My local Ikea was out of Lack shelves in both black and white (only had red) so I picked up the legs, swung by Home Depot and grabbed a 24" x 12" x 3/4" piece of oak and stained it to match the desk (wenge). At the time my heart was set on those Dynaudios.

2) I like the Benchmark. My goal with this computer-based setup was Keep It Simple and for it to sound revealing. I have always had a thing for headphones and I wanted some new ones. I also wanted an outboard DAC and a pair of active speakers. At the time I had a Cambridge Audio DacMagic in my HT setup connected between my AppleTV and Rotel Pre/Pro. That combo sounded better to me than the Arcam CD73 it replaced. When I got the itch to build a more serious 2-ch setup in the office, I got that headphone itch at the same time. I could have kept the DacMagic and bought a headphone amp but again, I wanted to keep it simple. I sold it off for $200 and a pair of Sennheiser 580s that I converted to 600s. I picked up the Benchmark DAC1 USB used on AudioGon as well. To me it sounds as nice as the DacMagic did and the headphone amp makes a noticeable improvement over every other headphone jack I have at my disposal (all standard). I picked up the AKGs shortly after and lastly the Quads.

I'm REALLY enjoying this setup at the moment. It leans to the analytical side for sure but that's what I wanted out of it. I'm debating between treating the room with DIY treatments combined with the Behringer DEQ2496. The latter is an interesting piece that would keep me entertained for a while.

Bill

[deepak]

You don't think it would have anything to do with the ESLs needing a dedicated room, special amplification, costing a lot more, and being much rare, would you? Along with most of the vintage ESLs needing some sort of repair work to bring up to snuff.

It's true. 6 ft tall min, but something like this is better:

I need to take a pic of me + my speakers. I've been saying it all along with all the 'stat headphones I've owned, and I'll say it again with my Acoustats: if you think 'stats lack bass after hearing them there is something wrong with your hearing.

The big Sound Labs have genuinely scary bass. The dealer even put on home theater bass test discs and I was mighty impressed.

I must have a pair of 945s or Ultimate PX-1. But I'm going to settle for Maggies for the time being, $33k speakers are just out of the question at the moment. But a kitty had been started the moment I heard them!

Edited April 25, 2010 by deepak

[Duggeh]

The big ones must be scary. I had a terrible bass distortion issue with my M3s, after I turned the volume up to a certain point I got this horrible rattling slappy flapping distortion which I assumed was the amp starting to dry heave.

It was the panels in my double glazing unit resonating. So now my next upgrade has to be curtains.

[spritzer]

Dynamat the windows, sunshine fucks up the mylar anyway...

[Craig Sawyers]

I look forward to your progress and eventual completion of the dipole subs, and how well they integrate with the 57. Are you ever considering building a direct drive ESL amp at some point in time? Yes I realize that wouldn't work so well with the subs so I think I answered my own question.

During measurement of the bass, and curing the various buzzing and rattling in the earlier post on this, I found out why although the imaging in most of a female voice was perfect, sibillants were skewed towards one speaker. Very careful measurement revealed that although the response of both treble panels was very close in shape and extension, one of them was between 4 and 6dB lower in output.

I'd got a pair of old-stock panels from One Thing Audio near Coventry UK to replace the burnt out ones originally in there. So I phoned them up. Yes, he said, that can happen - there is a progressive degradation of the coating on the mylar (perhaps through sunshine?) that leads to panels of different vintage having markedly different sensitivity.

So they are building me a new pair of panels, built onto original stators. They are going to charge me the difference between the price of the old panels (

[jinp6301]

question about the 12L actives,

are they only good for nearfield or are they good as real, put them on stands, sit on the couch, speakers?

[The Monkey]

Just get them, Jin. And find a pair for me while you're at it.

[Knuckledragger]

Just get them, Jin. And find a pair for me while you're at it.

^ What he said.

[Dusty Chalk]

question about the 12L actives,

are they only good for nearfield or are they good as real, put them on stands, sit on the couch, speakers?

They're not room filling speakers, but at the levels that I listen at, they are adequate for a normal size room. I have to admit I've never cranked them, though. I do remember turning them up a little bit, and they handled it better than my Spendor S3/5a's (which quickly get congested if pushed at all -- probably the sealed nature of those).

[wgb113]

There's a nice piano black pair on AudioGon at the moment.

[The Monkey]

I want a better deal than that.

[The Monkey]

I'm having a hard time deciding whether I should pull the trigger on some Quads. (dew et, I know.)

[postjack]

which quads?

[Salt Peanuts]

I'm guessing 12L or 11L actives.

[postjack]

deeeew

[Knuckledragger]

I am still unsure exactly what "euphonic" means, but what I like about my 12L Actives comes down to this:

They're very forgiving of bad or mediocre material. I play a lot of old vinyl rips that where done on frightful equipment, not to mention music that was recorded straight to 2-track in someone's basement in 1991. I never feel like I'm wading through mud listening to the Quads. Conversely, when I play FLACs of properly recorded ambient music done by a studio wizard like Geir Jenssen, it sounds glorious. I sit too near them, and they sound fine. If I lean back in my chair, the imaging gets much better and they sound great.

I have no doubt that the 12L Actives would be well trounced by similarly sized Harbeths driven by a properly matched amp. I don't know of any speakers that sound as good and are as flexible as the Quads in the same price range. Listening to them reminds me of hearing B&W 302s about a decade ago.

All of that said, I have a tin ear and you should disregard this entire post.

[Knuckledragger]

1991 was arguably the peak year for the UK rave scene. The point being I listen to a lot of electronic music recorded on substandard equipment. There are no SACD re-issues of Mescalinum United.

[The Monkey]

Jesus. Lane Mart has one more, but I worry that they could be Shelly's returned pair.

[bjarnetv]

just a small update on my quad adventures.

i was considering making new steel frames for my quads, seeing as the black "tombstone" look isn't exactly easy on the eyes.

unfortunately though, i'm pretty broke, so i decided to just sand down the previously painted wooden parts, hoping it would make them less ugly.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3095[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]3096[/ATTACH]

ended up way better then i expected, feels almost like getting a new pair of speakers

now i just need to sand down the lower "plank" and get hold of some gray speaker cloth.