Monitor Audio Gold 10's or Quad 12L

Quad Owner posting. (21Ls) 1 I have not heard the Monitor Audio but I want to echo what the mmajor2@uic.edu has written. I have heard the 12Ls and the 11Ls as well.

The Quad's are very very sensitive to upstream equipment. If there is a bright component or an 'etched' sounding cable in your signal path the Quad's will be very fatiguing - I suspect the exact same of the Monitor Audios as they are also very good quality speakers.

My Quads were very fatiguing until I fixed my system.
I HAD:
NAD C350 - Black Rhodium AST 200 Bi-Wire - Pioneer DV353 - Monster Interlink MkII Interconnect.

I now HAVE:
NAD C350 - FT Audio LW1S2 Passive Pre-Amp - Kimber 4strand Copper OEM Interconnect with WBT clone ends between source and pre-amp and another run between pre-amp and amplifier - NearSota Speaker Wire in bi-wire configuration - Toshiba SD-430V [Both Source and Amplifier are to be replaced as soon as funds allow]

I have tried a large number of sources and a few amplifiers with my speakers. (See my post history for in home CD player Comparison Roksan/Rega/Cary/Creek/Cambridge/Arcam)

I am not the only Quad owner I know to have serious issues with Black Rhodium and the Quads and cannot in good concious recommend them to any Quad owner. Only now having transformed my system, with more improvements on the way - is the system musical, involving, detailed with a decent soundstage (although my poorly designed room is playing havoc with that).

Again, and something most people forget, The Speaker is NOT the most important component in the signal chain. Your speaker is ONLY as good as what it is fed. You spend 80% of your budget on speakers, great fantastic, but if your feeding it from poor quality components through poor quality interconnects that expensive speaker will sound horrible. Garbage in Garbage out. Speakers are not capable of correcting poor quality amplification or data being sent to them. Some speakers are more sensitive to poor quality equipment than others. Quad's are sensitive to this, and again probably so are the Monitor Audio's.

I'm sure the Quad's will sound very nice, and so will the Monitor Audio Gold 10s try to audition them in your home if possible and also be cognizant of the impact that other components can have upon your listening experience.

Anyone can e-mail me to talk about this or the Quad's if they'd like.

Nathan Klassen

Although I respect most responses to these comparison questions I laugh when people make a statement that Monitor Audio speakers are bright, and that is all they write. Care to explain a little further? What associated equipment are you using? Have you burned the speakers in? Most likely not! I could go on but I won't. Sorry if I sound condesending but I am sick and tired of Monitor Audio speakers being associated with the term "bright" it sounds so unfriendly when actually these speakers are very friendly. Maybe in the past these speakers may have been a bit "tiny" but the new drivers have improved the sound significantly. I am a proud owner of a pair of Monitor Audio GR20s and S8s. They are connected with Zu Cable biwire Wax to Plinius 8200MKII integrated. My CDP is a Jolida JD100 Mod 1. After burning the speakers in for a good 200hrs I have found the speakers to be extremly dynamic with a tight bass. The mids and highs are equally smooth and fluid. The other beauty of the speakers are they are easy to drive and they are fantastic in HT setup. Plus I have found that there is no need for a sub with either speaker in HT unless you have a very large room. Even though I have listened to other speakers I take my experiences at face value because I have no idea if the speakers are burned in. A home audition is a good way to go if you are allowed to keep the speakers for a week or two. Enough of my rant but unless you have owned these speakers and have experimented with other equipment please just say that you are not familiar with the speakers. So my response to the Quads is I really don't know I have never owned them so I can not give an educated response. All and all I think it would be hard to find a better speaker for your price range than the GR10s or S8s. Take your time and try to listen to each speaker as much as possible before making your decision. Good luck

hi everybody,

I'm looking for 4 of thoses Quad 12 L.
Those or :
- Diapason Micra III or Prelude III (bigger)
- Castle Trent II

What do u think of those one ?
Do someone sell its Quad 12 L ?

Eric from France

Another vote for the Quad's.

I would definately go with the Quads. They are one of the best speakers in its class

just listened to Monitor Audio Gold 10 for the last two nites in a row.........seem a bit too bright...at least for my taste. Interestly, i was comparing them to the Monitor Audio Silver 8 small towers and found them a little less bright...........I guesss the flip side to that is that their highs aren't as good. Its all personal taste i guess.

I currently have NHT super zero with NHT SubOne 250W subwoofer - - - the super zeros don't seem to add or take anything......dunno.......MA Silver 8's sounded so good in the middle and upper bass.

walt

Quad's. Monitor audio sound a little bright.

I have not yet heard the Quads, but can say that the Monitor Audio Gold 10's are a fine sounding small speaker for the money...as you stated, they are quite uncolored, are easy to drive, and are quite attractive as well. For about the same price, also listen to the Revel M20's. Another fine speaker for the price.