I love how involve your audience in your growing experience with different products, designs and philosophies. Instead of telling people what to think you are sharing, and you never come from an arrogant point of view, that’s a bit of a superpower, and I respect it. I have a deep background and many of these things and I’m always still a student after 63 years.
I just bought the Quad S2 . Don't have them yet. So I was delighted to come across this review. I do like Eva Cassidy, Clasical music and also rock. So we shall see.
Quad S2 owner and photographer (or at least for a while) here, you are hitting the nail on the head here with the lens analogy. And yes, the S2's are amazing! I have a fully treated room, the speakers well positioned and tweaked with vibration dampening and weights on top, a good sub perfectly dialed in, and I'm now running electronics for about $6k. The Quad S2 just keep on rising to the challenge. It's astonishing. I have heard an objectively better system, but that was Wilson speakers + amp and DAC from Electrocompaniet totalling about 7x the price of my system. S2 + room treatment and vibration dampening/isolation is the proverbial sh*t. Have a nice day! /Filip from Sweden
I'm using REW with an affordable measurement microphone and it really helped with positioning my speakers. I got rid of a peak at about 55 hz by moving the speakers step by step into the room. At one point it didn't get any better, which was about 3 feet from the wall. It's a fun and cheap way to get better sound quality and learning to understand what's happening in the room.
So awesome, those Quad speakers are truly magnificent. The Decware speakers you ordered look really sophisticated, looking forward to hearing how you find their sound.
@@beslemeto I have not heard the Epos ES14, maybe they are wonderful - they seem to be very hard to find. I see used ones in poor condition. With an original retail price of 4200 euro for the newer N model, you can buy many pairs of the Quads for the same price. But still, the Epos simply destroy them? I highly doubt it… Not much does in terms of size to be honest, at least amongst the speakers I have listened to.
I found a second hand pair and bought it. I tried with class a amps today. It is very different after my monitor audio bronze speakers. It kind of fills the room. I need to listen more. Thanks for the video.
You have quite an array of speakers there. Must have been fun to listen to and compare them. What stands to me is that you seem to know what you like, while also being able to appreciate what each speaker has to offer.
I love that you've found the pair of speakers that work best for you and your space! I love the excitement you get from music when you find a step up in sound quality!
I have the quad too. I have it with my Vincent SV 500 amplifier and a REL t/5 sub. I doubt it gets better for a mid room set up. I agree with you wholeheartedly.
I had the quad S2’s and they were pretty wonderful- once you dialed them into the room. Your impressions are dead on. Hit way above their price level. I just needed to move to sealed speakers to make my small space work better as a listening room. My only issue with them was that they needed more room than other speakers to get the right coherency relative to the ribbons’ dispersion. Can’t get too close to the S2 🙏🏼
i never realized the RP-600s were so big! on seeing these three, i immediately guessed you’d favor the Quads. last year i bought my first pair of ribbon equipped speakers, and they made me a convert. i’d never heard the like before. every music hobbyist needs to listen to ribbons at least once
I thought I might throw another part to the equation. The leads to the speakers can also add another dimension to your listening experience A friend of mine had the original Quad amp setup, it totally blew my picture that a group of little boxes could produce such incredible sound. Kiwi Rod
The Quad's are a wonderful choice. In fact, all the Quad speakers I've heard so far through the years have been a truly nice listening experience. BTW, your listening descriptions were fine! Transparency is a very good descriptive word for the Quads. Happy listening! 😊👍🎶🎶🎶
I am very excited to watch the videos you will make as you change the components in the crossover of the RP 600. I am very curious as to the things that you will notice.
You did your homework with trying out these speakers. 👍🏻 for the ascend acoustics and decware. Really look forward to your findings with them. Edit: Wanted to see if you had heard of Philharmonic. That’s another speaker company that’s kinda obscure but seems very special.
I finally got to test my 2 pair of S2's. I hooked both pair to my Mac 4100 Receiver. The source was my modded CAL Delta CD Transport into a Denafrips II DAC, First disc in was a MOFI DSOTM. Of course took it easy at first to check things out, get dialed in. The first 5 minutes was a little thin sounding, was to be expected I know these aren't huge JBL Studio Monitors here, I wholly understand that. After 20 minutes, things began to change, the sound became fuller, warmer. Mind you, I'm keeping the volume dial at about 8:30-9 tops at this point. Normal "lowish" listening levels. Couple more discs in the tray, a Steve Miller, Stones Let it Bleed, few tunes here and there. Seems I'm becoming more acclimated and dialed into their sound character, and adjusting as well. Played a bit with toe-in, and distance from the back wall, spacing. Just getting vaguely dialed in as you would with any speaker. Getting better, but not optimal for now. The 4100 has 5 tone controls, messed with them a bit. I noticed that cranking lower registers on the dials ain't no way gonna give you the slam like they're a pair of JBL 4343's. None the less I wanted to slightly test their boundaries. After about an hour of listening, I did dial in a bit more volume to see how the Mac handled all 4 Speakers and once. I was at about 10-11 Oclock on the dial and things are cooking pretty loud in a 12x14 room. The Mac had no problems driving them, but did note the Mac was a bit warm. But not excessively so. As I folded for the night, I came away extremely pleased with these speakers. They do sound exceptionally nice, clean, tight, precise, just right sums it up. Probably a cliche, but Quad did hit it out of the park with these little speakers. I'm happy with the purchase, no regrets, and sure they're not quite broken in yet, but will go easy with them for more time for further break-in. At ths point just a few hour's use. Sure, a nice little Subwoofer or 2, and one could have a very nice set up in an average listening room at meager cost outlay. I see MusicDirect is still stocking the larger Floor Standing S4 Model. This one might really be the cat's meow. The asking price has opened my eyes some with earnest interest.
I tried today to further "physically" dial in these speakers. I have them set on vintage 18" Boxes-Cubes that I made when I was a Sophomore in high school, 1970. I decided to check Driver tightness on them with the correct size Allen Wrench Bit. A wise thing to do on any speaker....."if you can gain access to the screws". And that was one quality I really liked about the S2. The drivers aren't buried under cosmetic trim. I precisely checked, and fine "torqued" all driver mounting screws, 5" driver, and "only" the outer mounting screws on the ribbon tweeters. My fingers-hands have built-in torque wrenches. The tip for the day. This was always a consideration with the JBL Speakers, to check those driver's are secure and buttoned up. As time passes, they can-will vibrate loose.
I currently own.....mofi 10 s...bryston mini t's...buchart s 400 .2 with silver wire...jbl ls82...falcon acoustic 's ls5a gold.badge....and audiovector arret 1s.... with subs of course....and more.....i.also have a collection of classic vintage stuff like onkyo M510 and the dx line....in storage...but I need help buying a tube integrated for winter.....line magnetic? Gallon se ? Or Black ice audio...something. in this line of thought...I currently use all schitt audio mono's and tube and all cary audio in main room ....i.need an integrated self bias tube.....what would u recommend....I also use class d wyred for sound..and smsl with the jbl l82...I won't buy a better dac until I get my tube integrated.... and I only have 1 room for guest left....lol..
I love the fact that you are exploring, discovering and sharing what you are experiencing and hearing, through your journey through audio with an open mind, so that we are all learning from it. Different type of speakers, horns, coax, ribbon tweeters etc = different experiencing.. that's the beauty of it. So many roads to enjoy music. Bravo! 🤗
You are so right about measurements. The sound of a speaker is greater than the sum of its parts. Taking measurements is ok, probably handy for troubleshooting, but tells you nothing about experiencing the sound. Heresys are full of resonances and other glitches, but they SOUND great.
USEFUL takes & comments tying to other channels - y'all can be the Uncle Doug of tube amps for music re-production! PS was the same amp & source used on these three?
I think you’re hearing the lack of “smear” in the upper freq’s. The Fyne uses a 1st order crossover on the tweeter. I’ve fooled around with DIY speakers for 40 years. It’s only been when I threw the computer out the window and went back to researching 1st order crossovers. Mainly because of a cryptic comment I got from Peter Lederman about them. Quad doesn’t say what they use, but looking at the Stereophile test, it’s not conventional 2nd order. Speakers are a lot like circuits, measurements don’t tell all the tail. Good descriptions of the sounds you heard.
I completely agree. Simplicity in the crossover is the key. But. It require well designed speakers. Without breakup and or resonance in the band you tailor it to. If speaker is good, using 1st order is disturbing the sound less than 2nd or 3rd order of course. It is not only storing energy in caps or inductors, it is about phase shift which is equation of many variables. To some extent managable but never ideal...
@@yellow_noise3 SB Acoustics are what I used when I first tried again. Low Le and very reasonably priced. You might be interested in an abandoned patent I found. Search Ian Howard Knight crossover….you’ll find it.
Great review.Think the few I have heard of the Quad S2 rave about them ("A British Audiophile" guy named Aroun did one I think) amd for $2K they deliver the goods.The concentric drivers deliver the goods (Kef,Fyne,Tannoy,Mofi) and while I get the off axis at distance I think the whole coherence thing really comes in near field where sometimes I wonder how folks are using two way separate drivers on an desktop or less than 3-4 feet and get coherence.Still if your a few fet away and they blend makes sense the Quags might win out.I had a number of older 11L and 12L pairs that were ok but these ribbon jobs seem from reviews to get it the way sat the KEFR3's do at a few hundred more (I own LS50's but R3's are better).The Klipsch are still and amazing value though at their PP.You speak of Wall Of Sound well nothing like hearing live rock like the Good Ol; Grateful Dead or Allman Brothers on a big Klipsch like Cornwall and above.Sure they don't image well but who cares?Next speaker I'd ;ove you to try are the MoFi Soundsource 8's Thanks for your work
Cannot wait for the Decware DM945 review. I have a pair of Decware/Lii Song Zen Master ZF-15L Open Baffle that I will be hooking up as the Demo was at another level.
Another short mini update with the little S2 Speakers. I grabbed a pair of Audioquest Y-Cables and I'm now feeding one pair of S2 with the McIntosh 4100, and the other pair with a Marantz 2238B. Just some stupid stuff with "No particular place to go!" I like keeping electronics in use. Have the Denafrips Terminator II DAC running to both. I liked the sound, but as you know, and volume-etc adjustments cannot be done via remote control. Got lots of nice CDs to monkey with. It's an "on the cheap escape". This same room once served 2 MC-2105's, 4 JBL Jubal Speakers, TEAC 3340S-etc in the 70's-90's.
Interesting review, thanks for sharing! For choir recordings I recommend the album "Light Eternal". On some speakers you hear weaknesses in resolving the singers from each other, on some you even hear nasty resonances (IMD) when multiple Soprano singer's voices overlap.
Wow! Well Said, your discription of the differences in the sound of these spearkers is spot on. I also watched PS Audio's "sound of tweeters". You and Paul are singing in the same choir. Thank you!
The ultimate tool for testing speakers are our ears! And all ears are callibrated a little different, not absolutely even between left and right. I love your no nonsense approach. No hype no gimmick, just plain honesty. And that is good enough for me!
I find that in addition to ears, like you say, foot rubs work as well as a nice tea with some rum in it. Also very helpful are certain funguses and warm blankets and neck massages while you listen. These are the tools one must master to become a professional speaker reviewer. 😊
DWL...I totally agree with you. That is why we are here. To enjoy the little pleasures of life and to each their own. There are too many critical reviewers out there. Each with their own ego and hidden agendas.
I have the older model of RP600M. I was considering Danny's crossover upgrade. He raved about how much they improved the speaker.. The graphs of the differences looked good. It came down to doing a lot of listening on TH-cam (I know, it's less than ideal) and comparing the crossover upgrade to the stock speaker. I decided that I prefer the stock crossover sound.
Excellent review/explanation I have Fyne f502sp speakers and am pretty happy with them, I dont have a Quad dealer near me but I aspire to hearing the quad amps and speakers one day
Iron core inductors typically show lower dc resistance (dcr) compared to air core inductors of the same inductance. A lower dcr is preferred to preserve damping factor (low amplifier output impedance). At high power levels with bass content, an iron core coil will saturate, with increased levels of distortion. But, high quality laminated steel or toroidal inductors can handle very high levels of power. A general rule of thumb is: Use air core coils for tweeters, iron core for woofers.
The cheap iron core inductors use small gauge wire and have the same or higher DCR that a large gauge wire air core one. Most of the time it's about $$$ to hit a price point.
When you do the Klipsch crossover upgrade, you should only upgrade one for a short test period using some good mono recordings to compare the differences.
I am Really looking forward to Seeing you do some crossovers. Of your own design that the rest of us can try with speakers that have matching specs to the speakers that you have their .
As a custom color lab tech at a large photo store (Showcase), I got to see different glass. While there are a lot of factors, the bokeh is where you really appreciate the extra $.
Yep and that's not something people measure. Especially things like the focus transition next to the focus plane. That's where glass like the Nikon 58mm f1.4G shines, but in testing doesn't measure well. And if this was Showcase in ATL, I used to go there all the time :)
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics I thought you must have. It was an amazing place to work for anyone serious about photography. I got to print form some pretty amazing negatives.
I again farted around with my S2 Speakers a couple days ago, and feel I found some improvements in this set-up and was drawing from old experiences. That not only did they need to be closer to the back wall, but also spread further apart. Closer together really made the speaker sound much smaller. These aren't my JBL 4430 Monitors, that where no matter where you place them, "You are there!" LOL Horizontal dispersion as has been noted in a number of reviews is good. (It's vertical dispersion that is a bit narrow) The speakesr did gain greater heft and sonic size when placed further apart, where the side walls seem to better help the speaker project into the room. Bass response was improved. Also too, I'm figuring I'm at about the 25-28 hour mark with break-in, and that the speakers are performing better and loosening up some from when they were fresh out of the box. Not uncommon with many great speakers being parked in corners, let's take the Klipschorn, or the Hartsfield.
Makes sense that the quads might have a lot of resolution as the Quad electrostatics have tons of it. I mean, the designers definitely know what resolving power sounds like.
Some of hearing more high frequency detail can be attributed to having a more narrow directivity. There is less smearing, because you are not getting so many early reflections.
I have the RP600Miis as my L/R speakers in my H/T. I noticed a difference in both bass and treble when I changed my speaker wire from standard random gauge Monster cable-style zipwire to Mediabridge12g cables I found on Amazon. I also added one to my RP504Cii center channel speaker. At $20/piece I thought it was a worthwhile upgrade.
Upgrade the crossover on the Klipsch. I put Auricap XO in my RP5000f and it was a nice change. Then I tried Jantzen Z and it was like a whole different speaker. I just got some Omegas and while good/different, they didn't put the Klipsch to shame.
I've tried several other speakers in the under $2000 price point, none sounded like these Quad S2. I do plan to upgrade the crossovers, worth spending $150ish to see what it does.
I may have mentioned this in the past but if you come across a cheap working pair of the original NHT SuperZero speakers (c1995), you should give them a go. There is nothing really special about their design although they do have a very solid cabinet and are intended to be used with a subwoofer. It could be this fact that allowed the designers to optimise the mids and highs which is why they sound so good.
I enjoy your speaker reviews especially because of your reference point being your speakers and how they sound to you Looking forward to your continuing speaker evaluations Now that I am fully tube based thanks to you I am building speakers with high sensitivity, 90 plus, full-range speakers and live cabinets per Real World Audio inspiration I really have become a devotee of what Real World Audio TH-cam channel is up to
Never heard of these Quads... And a great price too! Great find! And agree on the bay window, I have sheers on mine, they do have a positive effect on the music. And agree with your photography analogy, spot on. And you need to try a pair of Zu's... No crossover and measure all over the map... But they sound so good with tubes. ;-)
Almost 9 years ago I had the Quad 12 L2 together with a sub. The 12 L2 had a Softdome tweeter that was really really good. No sharpness but very detailedand airyAnd these little gems could play really loud. Together with the sub I reached 80 to 90 DB at the listening distance of about 4,5 m
Three different types of speakers will sound different. When you upgrade the horn based Rp 600s, maybe consider the sheets of No-Rez and a set of Tube connectors. The co-ax the emt tweeters, as well as the horns, are almost always going to have their own sound characteristics. Yes, you should be hearing a difference. And it seems like you're hearing the differences that are generally common to hear. Your ears seem to be right on track.
I agree, but also disagree. Those Swan DIY 2.1 speakers I build with the soft dome tweeters sound very similar to the RP600M, yet are a very different "type" of speaker.
P.S one speaker that would blow your mind though at a higher price point is the Totem Tribe Tower which is a small tower with 2 4:" mid woofers and soft dome.Sound huge compared to their size
Looking forward to your xover upgrade to the rp600m. Are you going to keep the values the same as original and just upgrade the components quality? Hope so because I have been thinking of doing the same to mine. Great video. Marc in Ottawa
Im only 5 minutes in but id like to add that the directivity index of a speaker is JUST as, if not MORE important than the speakers frequency reaponse, yet its often disregarded
Ribbon and amts are known for having worse vertical off axis response. Iron core is definitely known for sounding worse unless its for a woofer playing only up to 100hz or so.
Hey! While you are enjoying Quad's sound, can we hope that one day, you could explore that great amp circuit made by Quad in the late 50's the 'Quad II' a 12 watt class A amp monobloc that sounds like heaven.. I use a pair of these on my Tannoys. I bet it would not be so difficult to build a stereo version of it. I bet some would love this kt66/6L6 amp. Just an idea.😊
Steph, were you using a tube amp/s to power these bookshelf speakers? Sorry about the question, it may be that tube amps are the only kind of amp you use.
I had mentioned PSB and never got back to you. I have Alpha PS3's which crap out at about 53Hz. People still ask if I'm using a sub. I listened to Henry Kloss Baby Advents for 20 years. Someday I would love to hear a pair of Pasif 50's ... especially bi amped with monoblocks. I couldn't really find any PSB's for your criteria. Too little bass and too little impedence.
After a few listening sessions with the Quad S2, I have come away with a few conclusions-realizations. They are really nice speakers but I also understand they are what they are, small bookshelf mini-monitors. This is no condemnation, they don't do anything wrong. But if you're looking for a speaker to move air, shake the pictures on the walls, have low register visceral impact and realism, these aren't it, and cannot provide such. I'm also quite aware that even much larger speakers than these can lack as well if we're talking clean lower registers.. Some of the lack of better bass response is probably also because I don't have them parked right up against the back wall. I'm about 15" out. Would've been cool if Quad would've produced a matching Sub in this S series to go with what was in essence an almost complete home theater set up. The sub is the only component that was missing. Of course there's 100's of other Subs out there. Which I'm sure would help with the lower Hz reproduction. As I close, I've no regrets, I'm extremely pleased with the S2.
It could be early reflections from the room; depends on treatment. Wide dispersion like the Quad ribbon will have more reflected sound even if the tweeter itself is clean. If the room is suitably treated however, there may be less differences in regard of clarity
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics i understand what you described for the quad 2, the blackness/air between instrument like they are handing there in the air. I've heard those ribbon tweeters before, the plucking of strings is amazing
I'm not seeing any difference in the room SPL between the quad S2 and the Klipsch at the same position on the volume knob, if there is any, it's VERY minor. I listen between 80-85db in room, which is 1/2 on the volume knob of my 300B amp.
$100K could buy 1 Klippel speaker measuring system or 2 Ron Brenay sound sheds. Since Ron's highly treated room can also produce good measurements, he got the better deal. That said, I still trust Erin's subjective judgment.
perfect speakers for your valveamps.....try old B&O speakers from start 1968 - 1975 that is all about musik, Biiig warm airy vibrating liquid sound then you can skib all that talk about little there and litle there and micro ditail there.....just lean back with a big smile and enjoy
An interesting comparison. When it all comes down to which speakers I think measurements are not the criteria for making a decision it's all about how they sound in your listening room. Question: would the Quad S2 work well in a 16ft x 10ft room with an 8W tube amp.
I'm not trying to rain on any parades here, and it is highly unlikely I will ever be spending in excess of $1000 for 2 speakers, but while we are not doing much of anything, watching U-tube, this is worth a look. I just checked out a review on the KLIPSCH OJAS KO-R1. $8500 worth of self indulgence.
They do look very cool though. But they also simply look like old Altecs. Therefore, there's no need to buy them. One can simply shop for a pair of vintage Altecs.
12:55 I don't think it is beyond measurements. Many frequency response of speakers have heavy smoothing applied ( 1/3 octave or more ). the claim is that smoothing removes artifacts and those narrow dips and peaks are not heard by our ears. i think it is used to hide flaws which we can actually hear.
Now that makes sense, and possibly what sounds good to out ears won't look good on a graph? Also testing using a single frequency at a time isn't the same as how something reproduces multiple frequencies at the same time.
Another Speaker in this Quad S series, was the S4 floor standing Speaker. And this appears to be another which has now sadly vanished like a fart in a windstorm. This one might've been all the S2 was, and more. These sure look nice, don't they!? I think at the end, MusicDirect had these very cheap. An old saying comes to mind, "you snooze, you lose"...th-cam.com/video/zgq2qHzdm58/w-d-xo.html
My comment above was evidently wrong, as of today I see MusicDirect still shows the Quad S4 in stock, and currently even has an open box pair for even less money. I'm sure they are also outstanding for their price. They of course aren't a Bookshelf Speaker though
I prefer since Decades Wideband and Coaxspeakers,…because no multi-way speaker can do this imagine. Single way makes only one mistake,….Multiway makes multi mistakes. But this is only my experience. Multi-way can only play louder but not better.
Quad don't have good marketing and was not in big box stores so a lot of people didn't take them seriously, the model you have I think was a second generation, the first didn't have enough bass and major speaker companies like Klipsch was at a price point affordable. Plus people don't want to spend a lot of money for FYNE especially for a book shelf speaker.
Got to say to these eyes the Fyne’s are really ugly. The Quads look amazing. P J Comeau of IAG has decades of speaker design experience and some have become iconic. He knows his craft and with the might of the Audio Group behind him they can do things at prices other smaller boutique brands can only dream of. Everything manufactured in house too. I had Quad 11L Classics for a long time and loved them in different systems and rooms. Anyway, great impressions thank you.
The quads offer higher value as they are a discontinued model and are normally on sale for a lower price, part of the same sister company as whaferdale
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics I think it's the whole line they are slowly being phased out, apparently they haven't been very popular and dealers are struggling to shift them, thus the big discounts
Subjective speaker compairsons is interesting. But i have come to the conclusion that for me, the by far most important aspect of them all is: How musical is the end result? No toetapping? Thats the definition of a completely worthless music playback system in my opinion. 😊
you really need to hear the details in the midrange of tekton speakers with the midrange tweeter array, See if Erik at Tekton will let you demo a pair of Dynamite Monitors....I know what your getting at, There is so much missing in the midrange details and dynamics in virtually all speakers especially these small 2 ways.....You won't believe how tektons sound, the separation and details is astounding . You literally won't believe what your hearing and that you've missed it all these years.
I have heard his speakers, they didn't sound anything like these Quad S2. And honestly, I don't care how good his speakers are, he is a jerk and I don't want to have anything to do with him. If I don't give his speakers "The best ever" glowing recommendation, he will demand I take down the video and will threaten legal action.
@SkunkieDesignsElectronics AMT and ribbon tweeters offer their own magic on the top that nothing can touch. They only lack vertical off axis. But in near and midfield they are unreal in detail...look at elac carina also.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronicsQuite right. That man's behaviour is disgraceful and he is entirely unrepentant. Also his speakers look home made, and not in the artisan sense.
@@StrangeBrewReviews The ELAC sound nothing like the Quads, two way with an AMT is an almost impossible solution. The AMT tweeter cannot crossover low enough.
@Skunkie. I was surprised that the Quad's won out here. I thought, for certain, you would have picked the Fyne audio speakers. While I have heard little on the S2's, what I have heard was that the speaker doesn't produce a lot of bass. That is understandable given the size of the speaker and the smaller woofer. The ribbon tweeter is a big deal and there are many people that like that sound. My impressions on a ribbon tweeter is that they are on the opposite end of bright. They are definitely more mellow. Detail is their big claim to fame. As I got older with my high end hearing roll off, ribbons just don't do it for me. I, though, prefer more of a horn sound and this is one of the reasons why I went with the Klipsch RP-600m. For certain, the bass on the RP-600m will probably out do the Quad...easily. The high end, however, leaves much to be desired and sadly, the RP-600m turned out to be a disappointment for me. The biggest offense on that speaker is the hole in the midrange at 1.5khz. For me, it is very noticeable. I was going to do the mod that Danny at QR-Research offered, but in the meantime, I had found the Q-350s. So more than likely, I will sell off the Klipsch's. Speaker placement is definitely key and as you figured out, with a smaller driver and such a tiny bass port, getting the speaker closer to the wall will boost the bass response. As it is, the KEF Q-350's I have are probably closer to the Fyne audio speakers you have in that they are the same size and also concentric drivers. KEF states the low end roll off is 63hz. However, the bass output compares to that of the RP-600m's which Klipsch states is 45hz. I can say that is probably about right. The KEF is very odd in that not all the songs I play on it, match that of the RP-600m's, but certain ones do and, in some cases, I dare say the output goes even lower. I have the KEF speakers placed about 7" from a reflecting surface (a stack of boxes). So, I could be getting some more low end that way. The high end is far more clearer and more tamed than the tweeter on the Klipsch. Much less listening fatigue from these speakers. Getting back to the Quad's. $800 is pushing it for a speaker of it's size. At the regular price, it would be a definite no for me. Also at the current price. It would be a big maybe if the speaker had a larger woofer. One thing I am curious about is the build quality of those Quads. It would be cool if you could take them apart and show us video of how the the cabinets are constructed; if there are braces inside, if the woofer has a cast frame or not, and the big one...how is the crossover built. Are there iron core chokes? What are the quality of the capacitors, etc. I know you don't have big, expensive measuring gear and I certainly trust your subjective testing of the speakers, but seeing the internal build quality would help to determine if the asking price is justified. As it is there are many speaker companies out there that "troll" you and charge way more than what a speaker is really worth. (Then again, that is generally the case with many hi-end audio products). Then there are some that put too much into the looks of the cabinet, but really don't sound much better than speakers selling for half the price (or more). As for the RP-600m's. Perhaps if I had a tube amplifier to test them out on, I might be singing a different tune, but with what I have here, and I have several different amplifiers of differing grades, I really just don't like the midrange response on those speakers. I think they would definitely need Danny's upgrades. However, I think it is a moot point now because of my purchasing the Q-350's, I have to sell of the RP-600m's to recoup the cost! Anyway, nice detailed review as always!
You'll be wasting your time and hard-earned money on bullshit tweako crossover mods. If you want better sound, get better speakers. At best, you'll get imaginary confirmation bias results from any tweak fairy tale twit crap.
THAT IS GOING TO BE A REALLY REALLY CAN OF WORMS 🪱 LOL Some call it snake oil, a friend of mine lifted his speakers cables about 6" of the concrete floor of his listening room & it made quite a difference. Kiwi Rod
I love how involve your audience in your growing experience with different products, designs and philosophies. Instead of telling people what to think you are sharing, and you never come from an arrogant point of view, that’s a bit of a superpower, and I respect it. I have a deep background and many of these things and I’m always still a student after 63 years.
I'm definitely still learning, almost daily!
Glad you like the Quad S2's!
I just bought the Quad S2 . Don't have them yet. So I was delighted to come across this review. I do like Eva Cassidy, Clasical music and also rock. So we shall see.
You made a good choice!
Quad S2 owner and photographer (or at least for a while) here, you are hitting the nail on the head here with the lens analogy. And yes, the S2's are amazing! I have a fully treated room, the speakers well positioned and tweaked with vibration dampening and weights on top, a good sub perfectly dialed in, and I'm now running electronics for about $6k. The Quad S2 just keep on rising to the challenge. It's astonishing. I have heard an objectively better system, but that was Wilson speakers + amp and DAC from Electrocompaniet totalling about 7x the price of my system. S2 + room treatment and vibration dampening/isolation is the proverbial sh*t. Have a nice day! /Filip from Sweden
very refreshing approach, thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
I'm using REW with an affordable measurement microphone and it really helped with positioning my speakers. I got rid of a peak at about 55 hz by moving the speakers step by step into the room. At one point it didn't get any better, which was about 3 feet from the wall.
It's a fun and cheap way to get better sound quality and learning to understand what's happening in the room.
One of the most clarifying reviews watched on you tube in the last years , so thank you , I just wish had watched this review few month's ago
So awesome, those Quad speakers are truly magnificent. The Decware speakers you ordered look really sophisticated, looking forward to hearing how you find their sound.
I was not quite impressed with them! My Epos ES14 are simply destroying them in any way!
@@beslemeto The Decware?
@@adamfrandsen No the Quad S2.
@@beslemeto I have not heard the Epos ES14, maybe they are wonderful - they seem to be very hard to find. I see used ones in poor condition. With an original retail price of 4200 euro for the newer N model, you can buy many pairs of the Quads for the same price. But still, the Epos simply destroy them? I highly doubt it… Not much does in terms of size to be honest, at least amongst the speakers I have listened to.
@@beslemeto Didn't care for those either. Fun with movies. Not with music. Took the life out of music. Could be I don't like Kevlar.
I found a second hand pair and bought it. I tried with class a amps today. It is very different after my monitor audio bronze speakers. It kind of fills the room. I need to listen more. Thanks for the video.
Great to hear!
You have quite an array of speakers there. Must have been fun to listen to and compare them. What stands to me is that you seem to know what you like, while also being able to appreciate what each speaker has to offer.
I love that you've found the pair of speakers that work best for you and your space! I love the excitement you get from music when you find a step up in sound quality!
I've got the Quads with the Audio lab 6000a + CDT, they sound great.
Same here, I have tried lots of speakers with the Audiolab and I absolut love my quad S2
I have the quad too. I have it with my Vincent SV 500 amplifier and a REL t/5 sub. I doubt it gets better for a mid room set up. I agree with you wholeheartedly.
I had the quad S2’s and they were pretty wonderful- once you dialed them into the room. Your impressions are dead on. Hit way above their price level. I just needed to move to sealed speakers to make my small space work better as a listening room. My only issue with them was that they needed more room than other speakers to get the right coherency relative to the ribbons’ dispersion. Can’t get too close to the S2 🙏🏼
Yeah, I would NOT use these as desktop speakers! Don't let their small size fool you into thinking they are nearfield speakers.
i never realized the RP-600s were so big! on seeing these three, i immediately guessed you’d favor the Quads. last year i bought my first pair of ribbon equipped speakers, and they made me a convert. i’d never heard the like before. every music hobbyist needs to listen to ribbons at least once
I thought I might throw another part to the equation.
The leads to the speakers can also add another dimension to your listening experience
A friend of mine had the original Quad amp setup, it totally blew my picture that a group of little boxes could produce such incredible sound.
Kiwi Rod
I plan to talk about my speaker cable experience soon.
The Quad's are a wonderful choice. In fact, all the Quad speakers I've heard so far through the years have been a truly nice listening experience. BTW, your listening descriptions were fine! Transparency is a very good descriptive word for the Quads. Happy listening! 😊👍🎶🎶🎶
I am very excited to watch the videos you will make as you change the components in the crossover of the RP 600. I am very curious as to the things that you will notice.
You did your homework with trying out these speakers. 👍🏻 for the ascend acoustics and decware. Really look forward to your findings with them.
Edit: Wanted to see if you had heard of Philharmonic. That’s another speaker company that’s kinda obscure but seems very special.
Sadly they are all 4 ohm.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics Ah! Too much of a power hog for tubes.
I finally got to test my 2 pair of S2's. I hooked both pair to my Mac 4100 Receiver. The source was my modded CAL Delta CD Transport into a Denafrips II DAC, First disc in was a MOFI DSOTM. Of course took it easy at first to check things out, get dialed in.
The first 5 minutes was a little thin sounding, was to be expected I know these aren't huge JBL Studio Monitors here, I wholly understand that. After 20 minutes, things began to change, the sound became fuller, warmer.
Mind you, I'm keeping the volume dial at about 8:30-9 tops at this point. Normal "lowish" listening levels.
Couple more discs in the tray, a Steve Miller, Stones Let it Bleed, few tunes here and there. Seems I'm becoming more acclimated and dialed into their sound character, and adjusting as well.
Played a bit with toe-in, and distance from the back wall, spacing. Just getting vaguely dialed in as you would with any speaker. Getting better, but not optimal for now.
The 4100 has 5 tone controls, messed with them a bit. I noticed that cranking lower registers on the dials ain't no way gonna give you the slam like they're a pair of JBL 4343's.
None the less I wanted to slightly test their boundaries.
After about an hour of listening, I did dial in a bit more volume to see how the Mac handled all 4 Speakers and once. I was at about 10-11 Oclock on the dial and things are cooking pretty loud in a 12x14 room.
The Mac had no problems driving them, but did note the Mac was a bit warm. But not excessively so.
As I folded for the night, I came away extremely pleased with these speakers. They do sound exceptionally nice, clean, tight, precise, just right sums it up.
Probably a cliche, but Quad did hit it out of the park with these little speakers.
I'm happy with the purchase, no regrets, and sure they're not quite broken in yet, but will go easy with them for more time for further break-in. At ths point just a few hour's use.
Sure, a nice little Subwoofer or 2, and one could have a very nice set up in an average listening room at meager cost outlay.
I see MusicDirect is still stocking the larger Floor Standing S4 Model. This one might really be the cat's meow. The asking price has opened my eyes some with earnest interest.
I wish Hifi stores had employees like you to explain to potential customers how speakers sound etc. Great video!
I appreciate that!
I tried today to further "physically" dial in these speakers. I have them set on vintage 18" Boxes-Cubes that I made when I was a Sophomore in high school, 1970. I decided to check Driver tightness on them with the correct size Allen Wrench Bit. A wise thing to do on any speaker....."if you can gain access to the screws". And that was one quality I really liked about the S2. The drivers aren't buried under cosmetic trim.
I precisely checked, and fine "torqued" all driver mounting screws, 5" driver, and "only" the outer mounting screws on the ribbon tweeters. My fingers-hands have built-in torque wrenches.
The tip for the day.
This was always a consideration with the JBL Speakers, to check those driver's are secure and buttoned up. As time passes, they can-will vibrate loose.
Your topics get me interested and anticipate the next videos everytime. Keep doing what you're doing.
Your channel is rocking !!! This is getting great 👍
I currently own.....mofi 10 s...bryston mini t's...buchart s 400 .2 with silver wire...jbl ls82...falcon acoustic 's ls5a gold.badge....and audiovector arret 1s.... with subs of course....and more.....i.also have a collection of classic vintage stuff like onkyo M510 and the dx line....in storage...but I need help buying a tube integrated for winter.....line magnetic? Gallon se ? Or Black ice audio...something. in this line of thought...I currently use all schitt audio mono's and tube and all cary audio in main room ....i.need an integrated self bias tube.....what would u recommend....I also use class d wyred for sound..and smsl with the jbl l82...I won't buy a better dac until I get my tube integrated.... and I only have 1 room for guest left....lol..
I love the fact that you are exploring, discovering and sharing what you are experiencing and hearing, through your journey through audio with an open mind, so that we are all learning from it.
Different type of speakers, horns, coax, ribbon tweeters etc = different experiencing.. that's the beauty of it. So many roads to enjoy music. Bravo! 🤗
You are so right about measurements. The sound of a speaker is greater than the sum of its parts. Taking measurements is ok, probably handy for troubleshooting, but tells you nothing about experiencing the sound. Heresys are full of resonances and other glitches, but they SOUND great.
USEFUL takes & comments tying to other channels - y'all can be the Uncle Doug of tube amps for music re-production! PS was the same amp & source used on these three?
Absolutely the same amp/source, would be a useless comparison otherwise :)
Very good speaker review.
Well described . Music Direct's Mobile Fidelity distribution is the importer for the Quad speakers.
I think you’re hearing the lack of “smear” in the upper freq’s. The Fyne uses a 1st order crossover on the tweeter. I’ve fooled around with DIY speakers for 40 years. It’s only been when I threw the computer out the window and went back to researching 1st order crossovers. Mainly because of a cryptic comment I got from Peter Lederman about them. Quad doesn’t say what they use, but looking at the Stereophile test, it’s not conventional 2nd order. Speakers are a lot like circuits, measurements don’t tell all the tail. Good descriptions of the sounds you heard.
I am willing to bet putting too much stuff in the signal path might make the measure good, but the magic disappears.
Don't forget the importance of ribbon tweeter.
I completely agree. Simplicity in the crossover is the key. But. It require well designed speakers. Without breakup and or resonance in the band you tailor it to. If speaker is good, using 1st order is disturbing the sound less than 2nd or 3rd order of course. It is not only storing energy in caps or inductors, it is about phase shift which is equation of many variables. To some extent managable but never ideal...
Like most things in audio, there are so many different things going on at the same time!
@@yellow_noise3 SB Acoustics are what I used when I first tried again. Low Le and very reasonably priced. You might be interested in an abandoned patent I found. Search Ian Howard Knight crossover….you’ll find it.
Great review.Think the few I have heard of the Quad S2 rave about them ("A British Audiophile" guy named Aroun did one I think) amd for $2K they deliver the goods.The concentric drivers deliver the goods (Kef,Fyne,Tannoy,Mofi) and while I get the off axis at distance I think the whole coherence thing really comes in near field where sometimes I wonder how folks are using two way separate drivers on an desktop or less than 3-4 feet and get coherence.Still if your a few fet away and they blend makes sense the Quags might win out.I had a number of older 11L and 12L pairs that were ok but these ribbon jobs seem from reviews to get it the way sat the KEFR3's do at a few hundred more (I own LS50's but R3's are better).The Klipsch are still and amazing value though at their PP.You speak of Wall Of Sound well nothing like hearing live rock like the Good Ol; Grateful Dead or Allman Brothers on a big Klipsch like Cornwall and above.Sure they don't image well but who cares?Next speaker I'd ;ove you to try are the MoFi Soundsource 8's
Thanks for your work
I listened to the MoFi 10, they are good! Sadly both of their offerings are too large physically for my use case.
Cannot wait for the Decware DM945 review. I have a pair of Decware/Lii Song Zen Master ZF-15L Open Baffle that I will be hooking up as the Demo was at another level.
Another short mini update with the little S2 Speakers. I grabbed a pair of Audioquest Y-Cables and I'm now feeding one pair of S2 with the McIntosh 4100, and the other pair with a Marantz 2238B. Just some stupid stuff with "No particular place to go!"
I like keeping electronics in use. Have the Denafrips Terminator II DAC running to both.
I liked the sound, but as you know, and volume-etc adjustments cannot be done via remote control.
Got lots of nice CDs to monkey with. It's an "on the cheap escape". This same room once served 2 MC-2105's, 4 JBL Jubal Speakers, TEAC 3340S-etc in the 70's-90's.
Interesting review, thanks for sharing!
For choir recordings I recommend the album "Light Eternal". On some speakers you hear weaknesses in resolving the singers from each other, on some you even hear nasty resonances (IMD) when multiple Soprano singer's voices overlap.
I'll check it out! Found a sealed copy for $6 on Ebay :)
Beyond measuring .........indeed and well said !
Wow! Well Said, your discription of the differences in the sound of these spearkers is spot on. I also watched PS Audio's "sound of tweeters". You and Paul are singing in the same choir. Thank you!
The ultimate tool for testing speakers are our ears! And all ears are callibrated a little different, not absolutely even between left and right.
I love your no nonsense approach. No hype no gimmick, just plain honesty. And that is good enough for me!
I find that in addition to ears, like you say, foot rubs work as well as a nice tea with some rum in it. Also very helpful are certain funguses and warm blankets and neck massages while you listen. These are the tools one must master to become a professional speaker reviewer. 😊
DWL...I totally agree with you. That is why we are here. To enjoy the little pleasures of life and to each their own. There are too many critical reviewers out there. Each with their own ego and hidden agendas.
I have the older model of RP600M. I was considering Danny's crossover upgrade. He raved about how much they improved the speaker.. The graphs of the differences looked good. It came down to doing a lot of listening on TH-cam (I know, it's less than ideal) and comparing the crossover upgrade to the stock speaker. I decided that I prefer the stock crossover sound.
Interesting. I did purchase the version 2 RP600M and ended up returning them.
Such a great video❤, I may put my hands on a second hand Quad L11 bookshelfs.
Excellent review/explanation I have Fyne f502sp speakers and am pretty happy with them, I dont have a Quad dealer near me but I aspire to hearing the quad amps and speakers one day
Iron core inductors typically show lower dc resistance (dcr) compared to air core inductors of the same inductance. A lower dcr is preferred to preserve damping factor (low amplifier output impedance). At high power levels with bass content, an iron core coil will saturate, with increased levels of distortion. But, high quality laminated steel or toroidal inductors can handle very high levels of power.
A general rule of thumb is: Use air core coils for tweeters, iron core for woofers.
The cheap iron core inductors use small gauge wire and have the same or higher DCR that a large gauge wire air core one. Most of the time it's about $$$ to hit a price point.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics Definitely. 👍
When you do the Klipsch crossover upgrade, you should only upgrade one for a short test period using some good mono recordings to compare the differences.
I agree! Differences are easier to perceive between speakers using mono. This is not widely known!
I am Really looking forward to Seeing you do some crossovers. Of your own design that the rest of us can try with speakers that have matching specs to the speakers that you have their .
this is how reviews,,, should be done,,, logic ,, truth,,, clarifying,,, u da best... thanks,,,, mo work for me ha ha
A British Audiophile (Tarun) reviewed the Quad Revelas and liked them a lot.
I did the gr-research upgrade on my klipsch rp8000f's, and it sounded way more detailed around the 2k mark. Air core inductors are just better.
It's also due to the frequency response changes..
As a custom color lab tech at a large photo store (Showcase), I got to see different glass. While there are a lot of factors, the bokeh is where you really appreciate the extra $.
Yep and that's not something people measure. Especially things like the focus transition next to the focus plane. That's where glass like the Nikon 58mm f1.4G shines, but in testing doesn't measure well. And if this was Showcase in ATL, I used to go there all the time :)
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics I thought you must have. It was an amazing place to work for anyone serious about photography. I got to print form some pretty amazing negatives.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics my favorite lens is definitely my 135mm f/5.6 Nikkor. 😎
Now I hang out at Wings Camera :)
I again farted around with my S2 Speakers a couple days ago, and feel I found some improvements in this set-up and was drawing from old experiences.
That not only did they need to be closer to the back wall, but also spread further apart. Closer together really made the speaker sound much smaller. These aren't my JBL 4430 Monitors, that where no matter where you place them, "You are there!" LOL
Horizontal dispersion as has been noted in a number of reviews is good. (It's vertical dispersion that is a bit narrow)
The speakesr did gain greater heft and sonic size when placed further apart, where the side walls seem to better help the speaker project into the room.
Bass response was improved. Also too, I'm figuring I'm at about the 25-28 hour mark with break-in, and that the speakers are performing better and loosening up some from when they were fresh out of the box.
Not uncommon with many great speakers being parked in corners, let's take the Klipschorn, or the Hartsfield.
Yeah, they really like being near/in the corner of something!
Thanks for an objective review on a subjective matter. In other words, your opinion is what counts to us.
Makes sense that the quads might have a lot of resolution as the Quad electrostatics have tons of it. I mean, the designers definitely know what resolving power sounds like.
I have been a Quad ESL owner since 1981. I now have two pairs of 57's. They do sound special!
Some of hearing more high frequency detail can be attributed to having a more narrow directivity. There is less smearing, because you are not getting so many early reflections.
I have the RP600Miis as my L/R speakers in my H/T. I noticed a difference in both bass and treble when I changed my speaker wire from standard random gauge Monster cable-style zipwire to Mediabridge12g cables I found on Amazon. I also added one to my RP504Cii center channel speaker. At $20/piece I thought it was a worthwhile upgrade.
Upgrade the crossover on the Klipsch. I put Auricap XO in my RP5000f and it was a nice change. Then I tried Jantzen Z and it was like a whole different speaker. I just got some Omegas and while good/different, they didn't put the Klipsch to shame.
I've tried several other speakers in the under $2000 price point, none sounded like these Quad S2. I do plan to upgrade the crossovers, worth spending $150ish to see what it does.
I may have mentioned this in the past but if you come across a cheap working pair of the original NHT SuperZero speakers (c1995), you should give them a go. There is nothing really special about their design although they do have a very solid cabinet and are intended to be used with a subwoofer. It could be this fact that allowed the designers to optimise the mids and highs which is why they sound so good.
Nice approach of testing❤
I enjoy your speaker reviews especially because of your reference point being your speakers and how they sound to you
Looking forward to your continuing speaker evaluations
Now that I am fully tube based thanks to you I am building speakers with high sensitivity, 90 plus, full-range speakers and live cabinets per Real World Audio inspiration
I really have become a devotee of what Real World Audio TH-cam channel is up to
Never heard of these Quads... And a great price too! Great find! And agree on the bay window, I have sheers on mine, they do have a positive effect on the music. And agree with your photography analogy, spot on. And you need to try a pair of Zu's... No crossover and measure all over the map... But they sound so good with tubes. ;-)
Sadly I know they are just way too large for my space. Maybe in the future Zu will make some smaller speakers.
Almost 9 years ago I had the Quad 12 L2 together with a sub. The 12 L2 had a Softdome tweeter that was really really good. No sharpness but very detailedand airyAnd these little gems could play really loud. Together with the sub I reached 80 to 90 DB at the listening distance of about 4,5 m
I normally listen at mid 80db SPL and these have no issues doing with with my 8W 300B amp.
Three different types of speakers will sound different. When you upgrade the horn based Rp 600s, maybe consider the sheets of No-Rez and a set of Tube connectors.
The co-ax the emt tweeters, as well as the horns, are almost always going to have their own sound characteristics. Yes, you should be hearing a difference. And it seems like you're hearing the differences that are generally common to hear. Your ears seem to be right on track.
I agree, but also disagree. Those Swan DIY 2.1 speakers I build with the soft dome tweeters sound very similar to the RP600M, yet are a very different "type" of speaker.
P.S one speaker that would blow your mind though at a higher price point is the Totem Tribe Tower which is a small tower with 2 4:" mid woofers and soft dome.Sound huge compared to their size
I just watched a GR Research video before your video where he mentions the air core inductors. Jinx.
Looking forward to your xover upgrade to the rp600m. Are you going to keep the values the same as original and just upgrade the components quality? Hope so because I have been thinking of doing the same to mine. Great video.
Marc in Ottawa
What I like about a good ribbon tweeter they don't have a 'sound' the clarity is natural.
Great review! Were you using your low powered tube amps with the Fyne F500? That’s great to hear if the F500 run with low powered tubes. Thx!
Yes I am!
Oh, I’ve had the Sierra NRt version, be interested in what your ears hear😊
Im only 5 minutes in but id like to add that the directivity index of a speaker is JUST as, if not MORE important than the speakers frequency reaponse, yet its often disregarded
Ribbon and amts are known for having worse vertical off axis response.
Iron core is definitely known for sounding worse unless its for a woofer playing only up to 100hz or so.
Hey! While you are enjoying Quad's sound, can we hope that one day, you could explore that great amp circuit made by Quad in the late 50's the 'Quad II' a 12 watt class A amp monobloc that sounds like heaven.. I use a pair of these on my Tannoys. I bet it would not be so difficult to build a stereo version of it. I bet some would love this kt66/6L6 amp. Just an idea.😊
Is there a schematic of this anywhere?
Steph, were you using a tube amp/s to power these bookshelf speakers? Sorry about the question, it may be that tube amps are the only kind of amp you use.
Yes it was.
I had mentioned PSB and never got back to you. I have Alpha PS3's which crap out at about 53Hz. People still ask if I'm using a sub. I listened to Henry Kloss Baby Advents for 20 years. Someday I would love to hear a pair of Pasif 50's ... especially bi amped with monoblocks. I couldn't really find any PSB's for your criteria. Too little bass and too little impedence.
After a few listening sessions with the Quad S2, I have come away with a few conclusions-realizations.
They are really nice speakers but I also understand they are what they are, small bookshelf mini-monitors. This is no condemnation, they don't do anything wrong.
But if you're looking for a speaker to move air, shake the pictures on the walls, have low register visceral impact and realism, these aren't it, and cannot provide such.
I'm also quite aware that even much larger speakers than these can lack as well if we're talking clean lower registers..
Some of the lack of better bass response is probably also because I don't have them parked right up against the back wall. I'm about 15" out.
Would've been cool if Quad would've produced a matching Sub in this S series to go with what was in essence an almost complete home theater set up. The sub is the only component that was missing.
Of course there's 100's of other Subs out there. Which I'm sure would help with the lower Hz reproduction.
As I close, I've no regrets, I'm extremely pleased with the S2.
Yeah that far from a wall or in a large room isn't how they are gonna work. For some folks/music a sub would be required as well.
I think A Waterfall graph showing the decay and ringing . Would show the difference in what your hearing
Stereophile published them for Quad S2 ribbon tweeters.. They have a very clean response.
It could be early reflections from the room; depends on treatment. Wide dispersion like the Quad ribbon will have more reflected sound even if the tweeter itself is clean. If the room is suitably treated however, there may be less differences in regard of clarity
Is 10w enough to drive those quad s2?
I'm using an 8W max 300B SE amp and listening at 4ish watts.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics what db level dose it reach up to?
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics how's the dynamic of quad s2 compare to the klipsch? I believe the klipsch is more sensitive
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics i understand what you described for the quad 2, the blackness/air between instrument like they are handing there in the air. I've heard those ribbon tweeters before, the plucking of strings is amazing
I'm not seeing any difference in the room SPL between the quad S2 and the Klipsch at the same position on the volume knob, if there is any, it's VERY minor. I listen between 80-85db in room, which is 1/2 on the volume knob of my 300B amp.
$100K could buy 1 Klippel speaker measuring system or 2 Ron Brenay sound sheds. Since Ron's highly treated room can also produce good measurements, he got the better deal. That said, I still trust Erin's subjective judgment.
With your recent speaker upgrades, can you hear a big difference between your EL34 amp and the 300B amp?
Yes I can. I could before but it's more obvious now that it has a bolder midrange.
Are you able to listen to the Willsenton amps with these new speakers? Great stuff as always.
That's next, I have some new tubes to try in the R8. Also need to swap in the ISO tranformers!
perfect speakers for your valveamps.....try old B&O speakers from start 1968 - 1975 that is all about musik, Biiig warm airy vibrating liquid sound then you can skib all that talk about little there and litle there and micro ditail there.....just lean back with a big smile and enjoy
An interesting comparison. When it all comes down to which speakers I think measurements are not the criteria for making a decision it's all about how they sound in your listening room. Question: would the Quad S2 work well in a 16ft x 10ft room with an 8W tube amp.
They are sensitive to positioning and it woiuld depend on the SPL you are wanting, but they should. The Sq Ft of my room is similar.
Loving my Fyne Audio F500. Klipsch are fatiguing for me.
The F500 are VERY nice sounding speakers!
I'm not trying to rain on any parades here, and it is highly unlikely I will ever be spending in excess of $1000 for 2 speakers, but while we are not doing much of anything, watching U-tube, this is worth a look. I just checked out a review on the KLIPSCH OJAS KO-R1. $8500 worth of self indulgence.
These S2 are on sale for under $800 :) But yeah, I can't see spending $8500 on speakers anytime soon.
They do look very cool though. But they also simply look like old Altecs. Therefore, there's no need to buy them. One can simply shop for a pair of vintage Altecs.
I think that what you are hearing and describing is the decay structure of each note.
I suppose the bay window is double glazed so it must be much less problematic than the old single glazed ones.
12:55 I don't think it is beyond measurements. Many frequency response of speakers have heavy smoothing applied ( 1/3 octave or more ).
the claim is that smoothing removes artifacts and those narrow dips and peaks are not heard by our ears.
i think it is used to hide flaws which we can actually hear.
Now that makes sense, and possibly what sounds good to out ears won't look good on a graph? Also testing using a single frequency at a time isn't the same as how something reproduces multiple frequencies at the same time.
Another Speaker in this Quad S series, was the S4 floor standing Speaker. And this appears to be another which has now sadly vanished like a fart in a windstorm. This one might've been all the S2 was, and more. These sure look nice, don't they!? I think at the end, MusicDirect had these very cheap. An old saying comes to mind, "you snooze, you lose"...th-cam.com/video/zgq2qHzdm58/w-d-xo.html
My comment above was evidently wrong, as of today I see MusicDirect still shows the Quad S4 in stock, and currently even has an open box pair for even less money. I'm sure they are also outstanding for their price. They of course aren't a Bookshelf Speaker though
I prefer since Decades Wideband and Coaxspeakers,…because no multi-way speaker can do this imagine. Single way makes only one mistake,….Multiway makes multi mistakes. But this is only my experience. Multi-way can only play louder but not better.
perhaps it is the amt tweeter.
It is a ribbon tweeter, not amt.
Yeah they advertise it as a "True ribbon".
August 25, 2020
Tharbamar: Quad S2 or Wharfedale Evo 4.2 Speakers? [4K video/AAC 192kbps]
th-cam.com/video/iAlvnmcWjPM/w-d-xo.html
Quad don't have good marketing and was not in big box stores so a lot of people didn't take them seriously, the model you have I think was a second generation, the first didn't have enough bass and major speaker companies like Klipsch was at a price point affordable. Plus people don't want to spend a lot of money for FYNE especially for a book shelf speaker.
Got to say to these eyes the Fyne’s are really ugly. The Quads look amazing. P J Comeau of IAG has decades of speaker design experience and some have become iconic. He knows his craft and with the might of the Audio Group behind him they can do things at prices other smaller boutique brands can only dream of. Everything manufactured in house too. I had Quad 11L Classics for a long time and loved them in different systems and rooms. Anyway, great impressions thank you.
The quads offer higher value as they are a discontinued model and are normally on sale for a lower price, part of the same sister company as whaferdale
Just this model or the whole lineup? On the quad website it doesn't say these are NLA.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics I think it's the whole line they are slowly being phased out, apparently they haven't been very popular and dealers are struggling to shift them, thus the big discounts
Subjective speaker compairsons is interesting. But i have come to the conclusion that for me, the by far most important aspect of them all is:
How musical is the end result?
No toetapping? Thats the definition of a completely worthless music playback system in my opinion. 😊
Nice take !
100%, what I call the smile factor.
Is your listing room cluttered ?????
LOL
Kiwi Rod
My whole HOUSE is cluttered!
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronics Their's me using my psychotic ability
you really need to hear the details in the midrange of tekton speakers with the midrange tweeter array, See if Erik at Tekton will let you demo a pair of Dynamite Monitors....I know what your getting at, There is so much missing in the midrange details and dynamics in virtually all speakers especially these small 2 ways.....You won't believe how tektons sound, the separation and details is astounding . You literally won't believe what your hearing and that you've missed it all these years.
I have heard his speakers, they didn't sound anything like these Quad S2. And honestly, I don't care how good his speakers are, he is a jerk and I don't want to have anything to do with him. If I don't give his speakers "The best ever" glowing recommendation, he will demand I take down the video and will threaten legal action.
@SkunkieDesignsElectronics AMT and ribbon tweeters offer their own magic on the top that nothing can touch. They only lack vertical off axis. But in near and midfield they are unreal in detail...look at elac carina also.
@@SkunkieDesignsElectronicsQuite right. That man's behaviour is disgraceful and he is entirely unrepentant. Also his speakers look home made, and not in the artisan sense.
That was what shocked me: his "response video" and the ugly disdain towards someone as honest/Kind as Erin is.
@@StrangeBrewReviews The ELAC sound nothing like the Quads, two way with an AMT is an almost impossible solution. The AMT tweeter cannot crossover low enough.
Very funny. The quad for 850€ not available in germany. The rp600mk ii for 400€ and the fyne for 900€. 👍👍🇩🇪🤔🤔
@Skunkie. I was surprised that the Quad's won out here. I thought, for certain, you would have picked the Fyne audio speakers. While I have heard little on the S2's, what I have heard was that the speaker doesn't produce a lot of bass. That is understandable given the size of the speaker and the smaller woofer. The ribbon tweeter is a big deal and there are many people that like that sound. My impressions on a ribbon tweeter is that they are on the opposite end of bright. They are definitely more mellow. Detail is their big claim to fame. As I got older with my high end hearing roll off, ribbons just don't do it for me. I, though, prefer more of a horn sound and this is one of the reasons why I went with the Klipsch RP-600m. For certain, the bass on the RP-600m will probably out do the Quad...easily. The high end, however, leaves much to be desired and sadly, the RP-600m turned out to be a disappointment for me. The biggest offense on that speaker is the hole in the midrange at 1.5khz. For me, it is very noticeable. I was going to do the mod that Danny at QR-Research offered, but in the meantime, I had found the Q-350s. So more than likely, I will sell off the Klipsch's.
Speaker placement is definitely key and as you figured out, with a smaller driver and such a tiny bass port, getting the speaker closer to the wall will boost the bass response. As it is, the KEF Q-350's I have are probably closer to the Fyne audio speakers you have in that they are the same size and also concentric drivers. KEF states the low end roll off is 63hz. However, the bass output compares to that of the RP-600m's which Klipsch states is 45hz. I can say that is probably about right. The KEF is very odd in that not all the songs I play on it, match that of the RP-600m's, but certain ones do and, in some cases, I dare say the output goes even lower. I have the KEF speakers placed about 7" from a reflecting surface (a stack of boxes). So, I could be getting some more low end that way. The high end is far more clearer and more tamed than the tweeter on the Klipsch. Much less listening fatigue from these speakers.
Getting back to the Quad's. $800 is pushing it for a speaker of it's size. At the regular price, it would be a definite no for me. Also at the current price. It would be a big maybe if the speaker had a larger woofer. One thing I am curious about is the build quality of those Quads. It would be cool if you could take them apart and show us video of how the the cabinets are constructed; if there are braces inside, if the woofer has a cast frame or not, and the big one...how is the crossover built. Are there iron core chokes? What are the quality of the capacitors, etc.
I know you don't have big, expensive measuring gear and I certainly trust your subjective testing of the speakers, but seeing the internal build quality would help to determine if the asking price is justified. As it is there are many speaker companies out there that "troll" you and charge way more than what a speaker is really worth. (Then again, that is generally the case with many hi-end audio products). Then there are some that put too much into the looks of the cabinet, but really don't sound much better than speakers selling for half the price (or more).
As for the RP-600m's. Perhaps if I had a tube amplifier to test them out on, I might be singing a different tune, but with what I have here, and I have several different amplifiers of differing grades, I really just don't like the midrange response on those speakers. I think they would definitely need Danny's upgrades. However, I think it is a moot point now because of my purchasing the Q-350's, I have to sell of the RP-600m's to recoup the cost!
Anyway, nice detailed review as always!
Best measurements are your ears
You'll be wasting your time and hard-earned money on bullshit tweako crossover mods. If you want better sound, get better speakers. At best, you'll get imaginary confirmation bias results from any tweak fairy tale twit crap.
THAT IS GOING TO BE A REALLY REALLY CAN OF WORMS 🪱 LOL
Some call it snake oil, a friend of mine lifted his speakers cables about 6" of the concrete floor of his listening room & it made quite a difference.
Kiwi Rod