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MB Quart owners - Raise your hands!!

kbott said:
was wondering when you'd chime in here bill. those are nice speakers from other threads those may never have had grill covers seems that they may have been an option as others have mentioned that they could be ordered with different colors for the grill cloth other domains i've seen on eBay also don't seem to have grills either
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Grills only sit in the corner around here anyway....:D I think that these were a studio monitor, at least the design and cab's seem to point in that direction. Great speakers, love em'!
 
How did I miss this thread as it's pretty old? You can probably tell I'm a bit of a fan by my username. I've been using MB Quart speakers for years. I would say after the Domain series I kind of lost interest in their speakers, I'm not positive if that is when MB Quart as we knew it (German) ceased to exist or not, I'd have to look at their time line. I was a bit set off on the Domain series at first compared to the series with my 2000's, 600's, and even 1002's but they still sound pretty good especially for what their price ranges were.

I currently have
- Quart 2000 - bought new in 1994
- Domain 55 with black ash grills - I got these free from a good friend who was sick of moving them whenever he moves (his loss for sure). I was actually with when these were purchased back in about '96 and remember him having to choose the grill color, I remember he wanted the piano black but they didn't have them in.
- Balcony
- CTR Stage (x2) I bought one new in '96 and received the other free with the D55's
- QL A40 OCTA - received these free with the D55's also
- QL A46 OCTA

previously owned
- Quart 600 (should have kept)
- Quart 1002 may also be known as QL-1002 (very inferior replacement of the 1000)
- Point 5 (.5)
- CTR (I believe that was the center channel model prior to the CTR Stage)
- QLC-604 (I wasn't too impressed)
-Quart Three

Currently searching for
- Quart One (2 pair)
- Quart 390
- Quart 1000
- Quart 2000

I would also like to find either a single 600, 1000, or 2000 to make a custom center channel out of.

I also own multiple sets of MB Quart car audio speakers and have owned many others too, of the top of my head I can only think of a couple model numbers out of the many so I won't list them.

I'm looking forward to getting my paws on some of the German Maestro equipment as soon as I get an opportunity to since they are founded by former MB Quart employees from the original German company.
 
I first ran across this great brand when I bought a pair of the German-made Domain 20 bookshelf speakers for $60 on CL. They are only about 8" square but throw out substantial and precise sound.

Next, I found a pair of the Domain 55 towers and was blown away. Titanium tweeters, two 6" midranges and a port in a heavy cabinet. They look like typical home theater towers but are far, far more sophisticated. I' m running these with a Parasound amp and couldn't be more impressed with the detail and clean vibes.

Look for the German made versions (at least 10 years old), not the Maxxsonics stuff- they bought the name but have nothing to do with the German engineers and manufacturers that are now called Maestro.
 
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I am planning to grab two of QL C 304 CTR center speakers to use them as bookshelf speakers in my son studio (basically for music and monitoring). ~$250

Any problem with that approach?

Do anyone recommend them?
 
kind of weird. I was looking at eBay on MB Quarts yesterday and if you're talking about the 280's there they look in great shape They seem a little overpriced but soundwise maybe not. To me there's two values, the market value and then the acoustic value. Sometimes the two match and sometimes they're way apart.

Personally I would look at the 280's vs the centers
 
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Thanks Kbott, we are in the same page.

I am the search of a "great sound for the value" (<$500) bookshelf speaker pair to build a "beginner" or close to an audiophile stereo setup for my older son. Any additional suggestion for that price range?

I am somehow bias towards slightly brighter speakers (expanding over 20KHz up) i.e. Klipsch as RB 61 II or KEF. I never auditioned MB Quarts but for the comments here in this forum it appears that they are of a good quality (probably no audiophile) and overly brigther due to their type of tweeter, so I am undecided on 280 versus Rb 61II.

In addition:

A) I am not sure how aging can or may affect the speakers as MB Quarts are like 20 yers old compared to almost new Klipschs.

B) Are these new Klipsch made in China?
 
If you're looking at spending up to $500 for a pair of speakers your choices on the used market are really numerous I've gone through probably 100 plus pairs of speakers in the last couple years and my Quart 390MCS are my main pair and it will take a lot to displace them.

You may also want to look at Canton, Focal, Magnat, and ADS offerings
 
audio1025 said:
I first ran across this great brand when I bought a pair of the German-made Domain 20 bookshelf speakers for $60 on CL. They are only about 8" square but throw out substantial and precise sound.

Next, I found a pair of the Domain 55 towers and was blown away. Titanium tweeters, two 6" midranges and a port in a heavy cabinet. They look like typical home theater towers but are far, far more sophisticated. I' m running these with a Parasound amp and couldn't be more impressed with the detail and clean vibes.

Look for the German made versions (at least 10 years old), not the Maxxsonics stuff- they bought the name but have nothing to do with the German engineers and manufacturers that are now called Maestro.
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Hello I just picked up a pair of Domain 55's Does anybody know the thread size for the spikes?
 
I bought a pair of 980s over 25 years ago in Germany.

Still have them. Still use them every day with a chunky Quad amp.

Over the years I have walked into HiFi shops, had a listen, and waked straight out. I am not in a hurry to be rid of my big Quarts.

http://www.hifi-wiki.de/index.php/MB_Quart_980_S

And in my present lounge

IMG_1534.JPG


DAC-pre and power amp hiding in box under the TV. Squeezebox on top of box. Server in next room. 10m HDMI connects to TV and a network cable runs to the Squeezebox, though it works just as well wirelessly.
 
You will get lots for the money with MB Quarts. They are nearly all rubber surrounds, so they age well.

rafael1970 said:
Thanks Kbott, we are in the same page.

I am the search of a "great sound for the value" (<$500) bookshelf speaker pair to build a "beginner" or close to an audiophile stereo setup for my older son. Any additional suggestion for that price range?

I am somehow bias towards slightly brighter speakers (expanding over 20KHz up) i.e. Klipsch as RB 61 II or KEF. I never auditioned MB Quarts but for the comments here in this forum it appears that they are of a good quality (probably no audiophile) and overly brigther due to their type of tweeter, so I am undecided on 280 versus Rb 61II.

In addition:

A) I am not sure how aging can or may affect the speakers as MB Quarts are like 20 yers old compared to almost new Klipschs.

B) Are these new Klipsch made in China?
Click to expand...
 
MB Quart 490

I have a pair of Quart 490 MCS that I bought long ago. Is that good? :-) Long overdue to upgrade my equipment, but haven't yet been inspired to replace these based on what I've heard in stores.
 
Today I picked up a pair of QL 1002 S because they were a bargain. Okay, I don't really need new speakers, but I simply was curious how sweet these babies may sound.

I must say that I am impressed by the clarity of the mids and the highs. My usual standard speakers in my living room are B&W CDM 9 NTs. And the MB Quarts seem to be in a very similar range in terms of sound quality. Very impressive.
 
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Has anyone experience of upgrading ageing capacitors in Quart crossovers?

I have a 25 year old pair of 980s. I am reluctant to replace the the reversible electrolytics with best quality polyprops. The result might be better, and it might not.
 
I've got a pair of Quart 690 MCS towers. Solidly built and sound great. I use them for a two-channel stereo setup, and I can't imagine ever getting rid of them!
 
Labarum said:
Has anyone experience of upgrading ageing capacitors in Quart crossovers?

I have a 25 year old pair of 980s. I am reluctant to replace the the reversible electrolytics with best quality polyprops. The result might be better, and it might not.
Click to expand...

I've replaced in my 350s the electrolityc in parallel with the woofer with a K73-16v PETP cap, and the MKT in series with the tweeter with a Polypropylene 3% and I've removed the resettable fuse in series with it.
The improvement is quite outstanding: those towers become fast, crystal clear, the instruments are phisically there now...

It takes a day to become familiar with the new sound but this is fantastic, MB made drivers for AVALON... I now understand why!
 
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