QUAD 11L or B&W 601/602 S3?

L

lfgj

Guest
I have the chance to get a pair of 11L's. I've listened to them before, about 6 or 7 weeks ago, and from memory they were superb in most departments, even the bass was good from such a small speaker. BUT, before I take the plunge, I also like the look of the B&W 601 & 602 S3's - which unfortunately were not available to demo at the time - has anyone here been able to compare both, or got any opinions on either? I'm slightly concerned that I'll regret getting the 11L's and wish they had more bass (I know I demo'd them, but it was a while back and it's hard to 'picture' the sound now, although I remember I preferred them to the KEF Q1's, Aegis Evo 3's & Mission M52's). Anyone:confused:

PS: I have an average size living room of approx 14' x 14' if that's any use...
 
well just wrote out a long reply and deleted it so here goes with a shortened version.

tried 11L's in demo room, very bass light i thought, but really smooth and fast and stayed in control at really high levels and not once did they sound edgy , but had a rel strata that i could add if needed if the bass was too light at home.

tried the 602's and thought they sounded a bit fuller but not so smooth at higher levels.

tried the Q1's and really enjoyed them, very clear and neutral and for the price they are damned good, but still prefered the smoothness of the quads.

Dynaudio 42's ?? i think that was the model, were not too bad either but they sounded , well, dry, i guess is the best to describe them, but to be fair really did enjoy listening to them.

took the 11L's , 602's and a pair of castle floorstanders at about £600 home with me for the weekend.

once at home in my room with carpeted floor and 2 sofas also 14x14 room ( 11ft ceilings ) the bass on the quads was fine, didnt even bother plugging the rel in.

the 602's were also good but the bassslines on a couple of tracks i know very well were not as good as on the quads, in fact there was 2 gaps in the bass lines were it starts and stops halfway through that just melted into one continuous one on the 602's.

Oh and the castle's I wont even talk about them, i dont want to offend anyone, real shame though as they looked so nice.

tried them on a 3802, quad 77 and a cyrus.

ended up with the quad 11L's.
 
Cheers Giz - a lot of useful info there - come to think of it, I listened to the KEF Q3's, not the 1's (and they were pretty good, just not as open sounding as the 11L's)- I was originally thinking of getting floorstanders, but the Quads left me with the best impression overall. I'm just totally paranoid that I'll regret not going for the 12L's as they are a bit bigger, and therefore should have more bass. But if you say you didn't need the use of your sub, then I guess I've nothing to worry about!:)

If I found I needed more bass, then I could always go the sub route I suppose - are there any decent budget ones, and can they be fitted to a standard stereo amplifier?
 
Originally posted by lfgj
If I found I needed more bass, then I could always go the sub route I suppose - are there any decent budget ones, and can they be fitted to a standard stereo amplifier?

There are some good budget subs (as well as some bad ones) and the current best value for money is the Velodyne at £325 from the Power Buy Forum.

It can be connected to a stereo amp by wiring it to the speaker outlets.

I haven't heard the Quad speakers but they come highly recommended by What Hifi. I don't normally take much notice of mag recommendations but this time they have thrown every superlative that they could think of at these speakers so presumably they must be well worth a listen.
 
look out for a st series second hand

you can pick up a strata for about £200 and these are pretty good.

Uncle Eric is doing power buys at the mo with velodyne subs and they all seem to be getting praise from forum members on here and on avs.
 
you beat me to it Ian J ;)
 
I think gislaroc sums it up nicely with regard the speakers he has listened to. The QUAD is a lovely speaker and at last some serious competition to the AVI (£600 ish).

The other standout one for me is the Q1, and don't forget this is a £250 speaker some pick up for nearer £210. This is a very different price to the castles (agree totally with you no comments!) and the others here. The B and W is off the pace somewhat IMHO in this company.
 

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