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Quad 11L Classic

Just a note to say the review of the Quad 12L is in the March 2012 issue of Hi Fi News & Record Report. It has a red Thorens table on the cover. It's a very good magazine, I always enjoy reading it. In the same issue is a review of the vintage Kef 105.2, an honest appraisal of where this vintage classic stands in sound quality today (the summation is "its ok but time has marched on in some very important ways").
 
The Quads are due in today. My first opportunity to hear them will be tomorrow night after the DeJohnette/Corea/Clarke concert.
 
Art K. said:
The Quads are due in today. My first opportunity to hear them will be tomorrow night after the DeJohnette/Corea/Clarke concert.
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I've been watching this thread and looking forward to hearing what they're like, should make an interesting alternative to the P3ESR's. I received my P3's just before the weekend and was listening to the improvements they've made since I owned the originals back in the early 90's. Have fun at the Shedd.
 
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I have the 12L2's in my third system. Really nice looking speakers (cherry gloss) and great for the price ($1200 retail and half that if you look around).

They do most things well at that price point, but I do find the lows kind of wooly and they can be overly refined or polite. They do rock out though, get very loud without significant breakup. Overall great budget monitors.
 
I am enjoying my 11L2's so far. The silk tweeter is easier to handle over longer listening periods compared to B&W 685's.... at least with the Brio-R. Vocals are the best with these speakers.

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Has anyone here bought or had a chance to listen to the Quad 23L Classic floorstanders yet? Or read any reviews?
 
uppingto said:
Has anyone here bought or had a chance to listen to the Quad 23L Classic floorstanders yet? Or read any reviews?
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Closest I've seen is a review of the 21L2 in Hi Fi World from June 2008, summing up they said;

For
- Silky treble
- Fine levels of detail
- Taut dynamics
- Superb gloss finish

Against
- They're a bit short

Okay Art i'm greedy, can we have some more photos? Whats the finish like?
 
Spektre said:
Closest I've seen is a review of the 21L2 in Hi Fi World from June 2008, summing up they said;

For
- Silky treble
- Fine levels of detail
- Taut dynamics
- Superb gloss finish

Against
- They're a bit short

Okay Art i'm greedy, can we have some more photos? Whats the finish like?
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Gloss finish is not available in the U.S.

They arrived a few minutes after I made it home. We were stuck in traffic for 3 times our normal commute due to an accident.

Well, they sent me the wrong finish. I asked for Cherry as that's what the AV furniture and coffee table are. The invoice says cherry but the speakers are the Rose finish. As for sound I only listened to 2 songs on a cold Marantz AVR so I really don't have a clue yet..we'll see. I'll call the dealer in Pennsylvania tomorrow morning and ride his ass for sending me the wrong friggin' speakers. You guys know that I have boxed up and sent more gear back in the last 6 mos than anyone should in a lifetime so I won't be gentle.

I'll hear these again tomorrow night after the concert.
 
Sorry to hear you received the wrong color speakers. I can see that being very annoying.

I know I'm reviewing different Quads (11L2), but I thought I'd chime in. I feel that these speakers perform much better in larger rooms. Especially in the lower octaves. In my 20x20 living room they sounded beautiful compared to in my 10x10' office.
 
cj.tt said:
Sorry to hear you received the wrong color speakers. I can see that being very annoying.

I know I'm reviewing different Quads (11L2), but I thought I'd chime in. I feel that these speakers perform much better in larger rooms. Especially in the lower octaves. In my 20x20 living room they sounded beautiful compared to in my 10x10' office.
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Give me a big room always regardless of the types of speakers...I'll live with it :smoke:
 
Art K. said:
Gloss finish is not available in the U.S.

They arrived a few minutes after I made it home. We were stuck in traffic for 3 times our normal commute due to an accident.

Well, they sent me the wrong finish. I asked for Cherry as that's what the AV furniture and coffee table are. The invoice says cherry but the speakers are the Rose finish. As for sound I only listened to 2 songs on a cold Marantz AVR so I really don't have a clue yet..we'll see. I'll call the dealer in Pennsylvania tomorrow morning and ride his ass for sending me the wrong friggin' speakers. You guys know that I have boxed up and sent more gear back in the last 6 mos than anyone should in a lifetime so I won't be gentle.

I'll hear these again tomorrow night after the concert.
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Wow....you just can't catch a break can you. Here's hoping you get the right ones quickly...They should overnight them to you.
 
Art K. said:
The Classic series is said to be a considerable improvement to the L2 series.
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And the L2 series was supposed to be a significant/dramatic improvement over the original series...

It all smacks of marketing over hype yet again and the argumentum ad novitatem (appeal to novelty or newness) fallacy. The original series were classics...but wait! those were wayyy improved with the L2 series...but wait! the L2 series has now been dramatically improved upon! Those other 2 lineups were crap or at least severely lacking...but we sold them and marketed them as otherwise in any case and all the reviewers (pro and user) were wrong! These new ones are the best and you need to upgrade!...for now anyway, until we introduce newer versions in a few years that make these sound bad that you should of course upgrade to.

Continuous up-marketing for more money of course, happens with everything.

Now this is not to commit the luddite fallacy (older is always better): perhaps these new versions really are improvements (significant or otherwise) over the older versions. But it's best to wait a year or so after any new products are introduced imo to begin to see if they really are better than their predecessors after all the novelty hype dies down. For my part I hope they are, for, as they are great speakers already, especially at that price point (I recommend putting the L2 series on the list for budget monitors), if they are improved into something better it will be a delight! :music:

Perhaps I'll even finally replace my 12L2's with the newer version if they are really better, although I've been really meaning to upgrade in any case to another tier in that 3rd system (perhaps put in some Dynaudio Confidence C1's I've long liked but never bought). It only gets background music use but it does get used quite a bit, especially by my gf. I could always put the 12L2's in the solarium or deck in a system I need to make out there one of these days (not to mention the gazebo...it's never ending I tells ya!).

Anyway, hope you enjoy them, again my 12L2's are really great speakers for the price (especially for background listening) and very nice looking and well built. I might look around and see if someone I know is interested in buying and auditioning the new 12 version. Or perhaps I even will to compare to my 12L2's directly (and eventually blindly) but probably not as I'd rather just try something else altogether (good rationalization to spend more eh? :D).
 
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