House move has ruined my Rega/Quad sound

  • Thread starter Deleted member 824153
  • Start date
Ok, a bit of tinkering with the furnishings has them firing down the room but the seating has been rearranged to create more of a equilateral triangle.

Don't the Quads still sound rather lightweight and lacking impact? I wish you well because I understand how we can get attached to some of our music playback gear and are reluctant to let go but... I think you're flogging a dead horse. Sorry.

I've used various speakers (around eight in all) from 5 ltr designs to 50 ltrs in all sorts of rooms (12sqm up to 100sqm and many in between) and no matter the positioning of speakers and listener in a large room, a small speaker always sounds tonally lightweight and lacks drama/impact. However, these aspects may not be as important to you as they are to me and, assuming the speakers are high quality, you should still be able to achieve an uncoloured sound with a credible soundstage.

What about adding a sub (did someone mention that already?). That should work although the max. volume will still be limited - unless the sub has a high-pass filter for the "satellites" to remove the bass burden.
 
Don't the Quads still sound rather lightweight and lacking impact? I wish you well because I understand how we can get attached to some of our music playback gear and are reluctant to let go but... I think you're flogging a dead horse. Sorry.

I've used various speakers (around eight in all) from 5 ltr designs to 50 ltrs in all sorts of rooms (12sqm up to 100sqm and many in between) and no matter the positioning of speakers and listener in a large room, a small speaker always sounds tonally lightweight and lacks drama/impact. However, these aspects may not be as important to you as they are to me and, assuming the speakers are high quality, you should still be able to achieve an uncoloured sound with a credible soundstage.

What about adding a sub (did someone mention that already?). That should work although the max. volume will still be limited - unless the sub has a high-pass filter for the "satellites" to remove the bass burden.
The honest answer is yes. The Quads do almost everything excellently but they can’t defy the laws of physics. They are superbly detailed, neutral and their imaging is first rate but they can’t move large volumes of air. I will be looking for replacements but they are still highly enjoyable for now.
 
After a lot of exploring, I finally found the perfect sound for me: Rega Apollo CD player, Rega Brio and - the stars of the show - my Quad 10Ls. It sounded brilliant in my old room which was 4.5 metres square.
We’ve just moved into our new house and the system is now in a room 2 metres longer, meaning the speakers are now 2 metres further away and the sound is lost. It sounds like I’m listening to it all from the other end of a tunnel.
Before I felt I could shake the artist’s hand and join them on stage. Now I just want to call out “eh? What was that?”.
Turning up the volume does not help and listening across the room isn’t an option. I’ll give it all a chance to bed in but do the laws of physics mean I’ll simply need bigger speakers (13cm drivers on the Quads....)?.
If so, where and what would you recommend looking at? Budget ÂŁ5-700. Happy to go used. Thanks
I'm afraid it is the physics of the room which is affecting the sound. From you description it sounds like the speakers are pointing down the long axis of the room and this can induce standing waves. Is there scope to move your listening position 2m closer to the speakers? I too experienced something similar with my own setup many years ago. A friend asked me to "look after" his system which was an audiolab 8000s with mission 753 and it sounded fabulous in my house which had wooden floors. I moved to a house with concrete floors and the bass became boomy and uncontrollable. Eventually got mission 782 and all was well...
 
The Quads are simply too good to give up on so I’ve been experimenting. Rearranging a few furnishings and furniture, changing distance of the speakers from the side and rear wall, and moving them 30cm further apart has got the good old sounds back. Sure, they’re not bass monsters but I never wanted that.
Just goes to show, the most effective solutions are usually the cheapest, if you’re prepared to invest a little time 👍
 
So..... After some rearranging, I got the Quads back to near their best.
And these became available nearby.......
1606686998413.jpeg

I couldn’t resist. Things of beauty. You can see the relatively diminutive Quads.
 
So..... After some rearranging, I got the Quads back to near their best.
And these became available nearby.......
View attachment 1413046
I couldn’t resist. Things of beauty. You can see the relatively diminutive Quads.
Look forward to hearing what you think about the 300s.
 
Look forward to hearing what you think about the 300s.
Good question. They share many of the similarities of the R100 I used to own. Oh so refined and civilised with a wide soundstage. They have good bass extension, as you’d expect with the size of the cabinet, and have no trouble filling a room with lovely sounds. instruments sound very real and the whole sound is natural and balanced. They don’t quite have the imaging of the Quads, or the clarity, but the Quad is essentially a monitor speaker. They are eminently listenable and excel with female voices. Lots more listening to do 👍
 
excel with female voices
Quite agree with that. I listen to a lot of female singer songwriters and Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon are an absolute joy. I have all Joni Mitchell on CD and Simon mainly on SACD. Very wide soundstage with SACD. Had mine now for six years after upgrading from the R100s, so same journey as you.
 
I’ve got a few favourite test CDs to run through them. They’ve had a bit of Bellowhead this evening and sounded very good. KEF and Rega work very well with each other. At some point in the future, the Brio may need to be replaced with something with a few more watts to cope with the impedance drop of these things (down to 3.1 I think) but very happy at the moment.
Oh and they’re simply one of the best looking speakers you can buy 👌
 

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