• Check out the Annual AK Secret Santa exchange Program, signup before November 23rd in the AK Charities & Christmas forum!

Quad 11L Classic

Isn't it time to change your sig? No more Harbeths after all. ;-)

Well I thought I read that you sold them but now I'm not so sure. Color me confused.
 
Last edited:
I just wrote a long post and had the page suddenly change back to the previous page making my post disappear.
Have you had the page that you are reading on this forum suddenly jump back and revert to the previous page?
It happens to me a lot here. Well hell, I am not going to write it all over again now.
 
KevinCorr said:
I just wrote a long post and had the page suddenly change back to the previous page making my post disappear.
Have you had the page that you are reading on this forum suddenly jump back and revert to the previous page?
It happens to me a lot here. Well hell, I am not going to write it all over again now.
Click to expand...

No, I've not had that happen here...
 
My living room speakers are Quad 11L original in piano black with a small NHT sub. My wife likes these so I could put them on her new evolving HT with Yamaha avr, B&W center and a small Velodyne sub.

If I do that I have an excuse to get better speakers for my main living room 2 channel music only system.
This could be powered by either the Rotel 1070 integrated amp and Rotel RCD 1072 cdp and tuner, but more likely with the Onix OA21S Integrated amp and Apollo cdp. That leaves the Rega units up for my den, vinyl room and the monster HK amp for my wife's the second 2 channel TV and music room. I do move gear from room to room.

The Yamaha dealer offered me a demo pair of B&W 685 in fake wood for $500. One advantage is that it is local, no shipping. Negative is that they aren’t so nice looking.
Another option would be to go for a pair of those beautiful Quad 11L Classic in wood, since I like the Quad sound. Those are beautiful which is more important to me than it should be really. The price will be a little higher than the B&W due to shipping cost.

I prefer my old Quad 11L with a small sub woofer. I regretted not having got the 12L or a set of floor standing speakers. One question is if the 11L Classic are adequate without the sub? I don’t remember Art mentioning using a sub for music with Quad. Is that correct? The main room is only 24 feet square.

I compiled a list of other speakers in the price range of the Quad Classic and B&W 685 which were recommended by forum members and magazines. This is what is missing from the post that disappeared.
 
KevinCorr said:
My living room speakers are Quad 11L original in piano black with a small NHT sub. My wife likes these so I could put them on her new evolving HT with Yamaha avr, B&W center and a small Velodyne sub.

If I do that I have an excuse to get better speakers for my main living room 2 channel music only system.
This could be powered by either the Rotel 1070 integrated amp and Rotel RCD 1072 cdp and tuner, but more likely with the Onix OA21S Integrated amp and Apollo cdp. That leaves the Rega units up for my den, vinyl room and the monster HK amp for my wife's the second 2 channel TV and music room. I do move gear from room to room.

The Yamaha dealer offered me a demo pair of B&W 685 in fake wood for $500. One advantage is that it is local, no shipping. Negative is that they aren’t so nice looking.
Another option would be to go for a pair of those beautiful Quad 11L Classic in wood, since I like the Quad sound. Those are beautiful which is more important to me than it should be really. The price will be a little higher than the B&W due to shipping cost.

I prefer my old Quad 11L with a small sub woofer. I regretted not having got the 12L or a set of floor standing speakers. One question is if the 11L Classic are adequate without the sub? I don’t remember Art mentioning using a sub for music with Quad. Is that correct? The main room is only 24 feet square.

I compiled a list of other speakers in the price range of the Quad Classic and B&W 685 which were recommended by forum members and magazines. This is what is missing from the post that disappeared.
Click to expand...

I don't use a sub for anything but HT. I prefer music systems without them. The 11L Classic aren't as attractive as they appear in the pics. The Cherry ones look pretty good and the Deep Rose, not as much. The finish is not well done. They do look better than the B&W's but not by as much as it may seem.
 
Hey Kevin, I hope I didn't sound like I'm not excited about the Quad's because I really do think they are amazing for the outlay and some. I like their sound better than the B&W 685's but I can only say that from memory. To be fair the 685's have never been in my home. TSTO has them for $449 and free shipping down here...probably not so much up there.
 
I've been listening the 685 from many amplification and they always suprise me (bass can be muddy), but difinitely a keeper.
 
Art, do you have any idea how these would compare to the similarly sized Epos bookshelf speakers? I have a friend who's looking for sort of an interim speaker while his child is going through toddler-years, to set on a shelf. I thought the Epos were nice but I've not heard the Quads. They wouldn't be right up against the wall, but fairly close. Driven by a Creek integrated.
 
Thanks. I only listened to the B&W at the store. They sound good there. Absolute Sound are big fans of the 685 giving them an award a couple yrs ago. Still on their best in category list. This pair is kind of beat up cosmetically though. I subscribe to Absolute Sound and Stereophile just to see what is on the market and I like the music reviews. The problem is that they are always enticing with a new product. In this category, this month Stereophile shows the Dali Zensor 1: "With certain recordings the Sali's bass performance fooled me into thinking I was listening to large floorstanding speakers...speakers set a new benchmark in it's class that will be tough to beat." $475

I agree that it is better to have speakers for music that don't "need" a sub. Simply better. I got in that habit of using small monitors w/sub many years ago with my Rogers LS3/5A. They just don't have to range to be realistic for a jazz fan who has seen live: Ray Brown, Esparanza Spalding, Buster Williams, Ron Carter, Christian McBride, Percy Heath to name just a few. I have vowed to not get any more speakers with out adequate base. The B&W and my Castle Severn (wife's master suite) are about as minimal as I would go now.

I have not heard the Quad Classic but I would probably like them as well. I assume the Classic has similar range to the 685?
 
JohnVF said:
Art, do you have any idea how these would compare to the similarly sized Epos bookshelf speakers? I have a friend who's looking for sort of an interim speaker while his child is going through toddler-years, to set on a shelf. I thought the Epos were nice but I've not heard the Quads. They wouldn't be right up against the wall, but fairly close. Driven by a Creek integrated.
Click to expand...


I'm guessing you mean the Epic 1, correct. I have not listened to the Epic series yet, John. I will make it my business to do so fairly soon though.

Every Epos speaker that I've heard have a few common characteristics. They are just a bit edgy at the top, these are less so according to some folks. They are wide open in the midrange which can be quite addictive and they have a taut low end. The midrange almost always draws the most attention with Epos and not because it's warm and full but because it's open and clean...if just a bit dry.

The Quads don't draw attention to any one part of their sound. I like that...they have a nice deep bass response for a standmount with small drivers. The highs are clean and detailed yet never edgy at all. I'm surprised by how much detail they retrieve while remaining a warm and friendly listen. Lot's of competition in the $400-700 price range but I would put these against any and feel confident that they are at least as good if not better than most...of course preference plays a big part in it.

I love the Quad's.

At present, while my Dyn's are getting some living room time, my Quad's are on the home office Expedit with a Marantz AVR streaming computer music about 6 inches from the back wall and they sound better than you would expect considering their placement.
 
KevinCorr said:
Thanks. I only listened to the B&W at the store. They sound good there. Absolute Sound are big fans of the 685 giving them an award a couple yrs ago. Still on their best in category list. This pair is kind of beat up cosmetically though. I subscribe to Absolute Sound and Stereophile just to see what is on the market and I like the music reviews. The problem is that they are always enticing with a new product. In this category, this month Stereophile shows the Dali Zensor 1: "With certain recordings the Sali's bass performance fooled me into thinking I was listening to large floorstanding speakers...speakers set a new benchmark in it's class that will be tough to beat." $475

I agree that it is better to have speakers for music that don't "need" a sub. Simply better. I got in that habit of using small monitors w/sub many years ago with my Rogers LS3/5A. They just don't have to range to be realistic for a jazz fan who has seen live: Ray Brown, Esparanza Spalding, Buster Williams, Ron Carter, Christian McBride, Percy Heath to name just a few. I have vowed to not get any more speakers with out adequate base. The B&W and my Castle Severn (wife's master suite) are about as minimal as I would go now.

I have not heard the Quad Classic but I would probably like them as well. I assume the Classic has similar range to the 685?
Click to expand...

Every month ole Robert Reina finds a new benchmark in some category...lol! I'm sure that little Dali sounds pretty good though. Cute little bugger.

Love that list of live artists as well, Kevin. But you knew I would!:yes:

The Quad 11L Classic has a very similar low frequency extension to the B&W's going to 48hz +/-3db vs 49hz +/-db for the 685.
 
Art K. said:
I'm guessing you mean the Epic 1, correct. I have not listened to the Epic series yet, John. I will make it my business to do so fairly soon though.

Every Epos speaker that I've heard have a few common characteristics. They are just a bit edgy at the top, these are less so according to some folks. They are wide open in the midrange which can be quite addictive and they have a taut low end. The midrange almost always draws the most attention with Epos and not because it's warm and full but because it's open and clean...if just a bit dry.

The Quads don't draw attention to any one part of their sound. I like that...they have a nice deep bass response for a standmount with small drivers. The highs are clean and detailed yet never edgy at all. I'm surprised by how much detail they retrieve while remaining a warm and friendly listen. Lot's of competition in the $400-700 price range but I would put these against any and feel confident that they are at least as good if not better than most...of course preference plays a big part in it.

I love the Quad's.

At present, while my Dyn's are getting some living room time, my Quad's are on the home office Expedit with a Marantz AVR streaming computer music about 6 inches from the back wall and they sound better than you would expect considering their placement.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the detailed response. I think he was looking at both the Epic 1 and 2 and maybe leaning towards the 2, so maybe the 12L would be the more direct comparison. The Epos were a very attractive speaker, but I just thought that they were edgy on top, like others have heard. I had thought maybe it was the Naim Uniti they were being driven by but have no other listening experience with that unit. My friend leans a bit more towards a spacious/warm-ish sound than the Naim/Epos was offering but he liked it alright. For whatever reason, Quad popped into my head as something else he should audition, as I think he'd like them given how you've described them. But I also think the Epos might match up well with his Creek, so I doubt he really could go wrong. They'll certainly be better than his old budget B&Ws.

Thanks for you help.
 
Thanks for the input guys. Lucky right now most of my house in under construction and I only have one system running. Everything else is boxed up. Castle Severn w/Rega Mira3, Apollo and Rotel 990 tuner. When I get the house finished the rega goes to the vinyl room and the Castle goes back to the wife's suite so I am planning ahead. Better get back to work. Cheers.
 
Art K. said:
They are a very good speaker and a steal for the asking price.
Click to expand...

I know the thread dates from a while back but I'm interested in the Quad 11L or 12L Classic. In Europe the Quad 12L Classic are about 1/3 more expensive than the Quad 11L. Do you think that they are worth it? My room is about 14'by 14' and I'm worried that the Quad 11L are a bit too small for my room.
 
Welcome to AK.

I have not owned or heard the 12L Classic. I'm not even sure they have landed here in the U.S. I can't even buy the center channel for my home theater here in the states. IAG hasn't replied to my inquiry about it's availability. If your room is 14x14 ft the 11L's will have no problem filling it. If the room is 14x14 meters you may want to go with the bigger speaker, though it may be at the expense of some of the magic of the 11L's strengths.
 
Art K. said:
Welcome to AK.

I have not owned or heard the 12L Classic. I'm not even sure they have landed here in the U.S. I can't even buy the center channel for my home theater here in the states. IAG hasn't replied to my inquiry about it's availability. If your room is 14x14 ft the 11L's will have no problem filling it. If the room is 14x14 meters you may want to go with the bigger speaker, though it may be at the expense of some of the magic of the 11L's strengths.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I'm new. I've just started getting into music more seriously and came across your review of the Quad 11L Classic, as I'm interested in a warmer but detailed speaker. My room is 14 by 14ft.

For the living room I've just bought the Epos Epic 5 with NAD C326BEE after auditioning them in a shop and they're just sweet sounding, not bright to my ears, as I don't like bright speakers, they give me a headache.

Now I'm looking for speakers for my study and hesitating between Epos Epic 2 or Quad 11L or 12L Classic.
 
Art K. said:
Welcome to AK.

I have not owned or heard the 12L Classic. I'm not even sure they have landed here in the U.S. I can't even buy the center channel for my home theater here in the states. IAG hasn't replied to my inquiry about it's availability. If your room is 14x14 ft the 11L's will have no problem filling it. If the room is 14x14 meters you may want to go with the bigger speaker, though it may be at the expense of some of the magic of the 11L's strengths.
Click to expand...

I've just received the Quad 11L Classic in Piano Cherry and have been playing them for about 20 hours. They're opening up quite nicely and I love them.

At the moment I'm driving them with a NAD C326BEE but that one is meant for the Epos Epic 5, so I was wondering if the Rega Brio-R would be a good match for the Quads? I was also looking at the Creek Evolution 2.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom