Quad 2905

[richidoo]

A pair of Quad 2905s arrived at my house today. Imagine that!? Carl helped me unpack and set them up. Thanks Carl. 

I like these speakers. They are very easy to listen to, and seem to have infinite, non-fatiguing resolution. Bass is just 'there,' just like the mids, no drama, nothing special - which is actually pretty special. Tone, space, PRaT, are uniquely excellent in my limited experience. The performances sound very deliberate and conscious with the tempo seeming slower. The emotion these speakers emit is intense. I can't do anything else when I am in the room, which is a problem because it is connected to kitchen. Dinner is late tonight. I will need a pair of crappy inwalls for cooking. Detail is effortless and allows hearing the most subtle recording artifacts and tonal colors. But detail is not annoying or aggressive, it's just there, like live music. I just might keep these for a while......

[Carlman]

I didn't realize Quad had come this far... Last time I'd heard them they were boring at best.  That was 5 or 6 years ago and were about half the size... and on Conrad Johnson gear... and poorly setup.  Given the short demo and the time that had traversed, I didn't really know what to expect from Rich's new Quad's but I was excited to hear them. 

I had the most emotional connection with the music that I've ever had at Rich's house listening to these speakers.  If these aren't a long-term, perfect solution for Rich, his room, and his tastes, I don't know what is.

The music was effortlessly flowing and all the detail was delicately presented.  They're really hard to describe... The detail and transparency is all there.. but it's not that simple.  The presentation 'style' isn't a coloration... so, they're not warm, veiled, or sterile... but they are delicate-sounding.  They reproduce the whole instrument... As if you could turn 1 mic on a violin into 10, spread out to capture the whole instrument's sound at once. 

The decay is unreal... It's like everything gets arranged where it should be when presented. 

Even with no expectations, I came away surprised at how thoroughly enjoyable these Quads sound.  Just amazing at the emotion, detail, and beautiful presentation of these speakers.  I greatly appreciated gettng to hear them.

-C

[Bigfish8]

Rich and Carl:

First of all, congratulations on the new speakers.  I have heard anything but positive comments about the new Quads.

To both of you, I am very envious that you were able to spend time with the new babies tonight!

Ken

[Carlman]

It made me wish I had a room to listen in.... It inspired me to come home and setup my secondary system and then re-arrange all the furniture around it so I could at least listen to something...

I had asked our local EE, Sol, to take a look at my Musical Fidelity X-150... and it is now sounding better than ever... but it's just a taste compared to the whole buffet at Rich's right now.  I do feel lucky to have had a chance to hear that tonight.

-C

[Phil]

Rich,

You lucky dog!   

I'm curious about how you have them set up.  I've read that they need to be a good distance from the back wall and are best a short distance to the listener. 


Phil

[richidoo]

Phil,
I think you're right. I want them to be louder on peaks, and less room sound, so I will try your suggestion today. I have them in same spots as the other speakers but it is not ideal. The Quads are very lightweight compared to what I'm used to so sliding them around is easy. Once I find a spot there are feet and counterweight to add to the bottom.

Loud organ music and orchestral crescendos hit the SPL limiter but compressed rock plays loud and clear with no strain. The Snappers seem to be a good match, so far. Room needs treatment, too much echo.

Glad to hear you got something setup at home Carl. You'll be in the new room very soon! Should I bring home the Macs and we'll set up the Piegas in the LR? 
Rich

[Carlman]

Glad to hear you got something setup at home Carl. You'll be in the new room very soon! Should I bring home the Macs and we'll set up the Piegas in the LR? 
Rich

I'd rather put you to work on the basement...   But if you're ready to remove the Mac attack, that's fine.  I can see how you'd want to get everything you're not using out of your house.  It's a sign you've got something you really like.

-C

[richidoo]

Selfish as I am, I think living without hifi is torture, so I am thinking merely of your sanity. I think you manage pretty well with the Era's.

Gotta go rearrange the LR now.... 

[richidoo]

The SPL rev limiter was my tube amps, the worn out power tubes were not too happy with the reactive load (I think.) With ss amp the volume is more than enough for any kind of music. I have been playing Shostakovich Symphonies 5 and 9 all day today with no want for power. I think it is just old tubes. New tubes going in tomorrow, then some burn in. Gonna try the Korato tomorrow also. THAT will be fun!

I moved the Quads out about 8 feet from front wall, with the seat about 7 feet back from speaker plane, And speakers spread 90+ degrees apart, toed almost straight out. That sounded best so far after some fine tuning. Then I put them back in normal spot, but even closer to the wall, like 2 feet, with absorbtion behind them, good but not wide enough and more aggressive and grumpy sounding. They wanna be out a bit, wide and listening up close, just like Phil said!!! Thanks Phil!  Question is do I have a place like that (for the long term) in the house?? I'll try some furniture rearranging tomorrow, maybe in another room.

Bass is big and very clean. It plays 40Hz flat, 35 is -6dB and attack is great, detail of a cello or bass violin down low is WILD! There is great bass here, it is not a 57.
Rich

[Carlman]

.......... detail of a cello or bass violin down low is WILD! There is great bass here, it is not a 57.
Rich

That got me thinking... about why I had such a 'wow' moment w/ the Quads.  They really do allow you to hear the complete sound of an instrument. 

For instance on a violin, they reach to both extremes and play the quircky/wavy resonant sound of the deeper notes and the tiniest of highs that seem to jump out of the neck... all at one time, without any peaks in one area or another.  THAT's the one thing that I found very unique about the Quad's.  I have never heard another speaker do that as well.

It accurately provides tone, but then it also provides the tone of every part of the instrument... You could easily pick out what strings, bow material, etc. if you knew the instrument.  Those details are there but they aren't over presented... it's a finesse-thing.. Those details are there if you want to dig in but because they're so easily preseneted, you can just relax and enjoy the music.  What more could you want?!

-C

[bpape]

You guys have me drooling    again.  I used to run panels exclusively (have had Acoustats, Maggies, and Sound Labs).  Regardless of their shortcomings, there's just something about panel sound that is something very special.  Quads are a different animal yet IMO in terms of coherence.  I've not heard the new ones but the olds ones were truly something special.

If I had the time and could find a cheap airline ticket, you might have an uninvited guest... 

Bryan

[miklorsmith]

Yeah, very nice!  Are those full stats, or a hybrid?  I haven't heard Quads before.  I've heard some big Maggies (don't remember which) and the Martin Logan Summits.  Neither of them did it for me for different reasons but there were elements that I could understand people falling for.

Maybe these close the gap and further the art.  Certainly the descriptions don't make them seem "hi-fi".  It's funny how that term has a negative connotation now.

[bpape]

The Quads are full stat.  My old Acoustats and Sound Labs are full stats.  The Maggies are EM and ribbon.  If you've never heard the Maggie 20's, you're missing something.  They're a whole different animal than the rest of the Maggie line. 

My first intro to Quads was a LONG time ago with Harvey Rosenberg at CES.  He was showing the small quads (57's!) driven by Futterman OTL-1's.  Not much bottom end but the rest was simply staggering.  To this day, I've still never heard mids and lower highs like that.  Quads emulate a point source by having larger and larger concentric 'rings' in the panels that propogate properly in time and also use proportionately larger sections (and more sections) for bass reproduction than for mids and highs.  It's kinda like the ultimate 'coax' speaker but with a diaphragm that weighs next to nothing so it's lightning fast, delicate, smooth, etc.  They get ALL the harmonics and overtones right.  I'd love to hear the new ones.

Bryan

[richidoo]

We'd love to have you, Bryan! I got a spare bedroom... This meet will be pretty fun. Is that what that smiley means, drooling? I thought he was smoking weed... haha

The no crossover aspect is awesome. Having heard that with Feastrex and now quads I think it is really a great thing to go for. I think that's a lot of the coherence. The other thing that is just wicked is the imaging. The mass is so small that the speakers can track each other down to the most minute details which show clearly in the center image. Vocals just hover in space right in front of you (on good records).

Carl, you heard them in the normal speaker position before they were fully charged! Wait til you hear them out from the wall and sitting close up.

They are not hifi like hyped EQ to be more stimulating, but in a way they are hifi in the John ATkinson sense of low distortion. Takes a little getting used to from higher distortion speakers. But not hard

[miklorsmith]

One of the things that keys my interest is no/low XO design.  I have found there is a higher incidence of enjoying speakers with a minimized XO footprint.  These sound super, I will have to find out if there are any around these parts I can hear.

EDIT - it seems there is a dealer in town but I'm 95% certain they don't stock them.     Bummer.  Or, maybe for the best.  There is No Way they would work in my room.