Quad S-2


Recently acquired a pair of these speakers to replace my trusty 14 year old Castle Richmond 3i's.  According to the manual they need 50 hours run in before sounding their best. I've got about 30 hours on mine to date, but am already really impressed with them and they are a significant upgrade on the Richmond 3i's, which were very well regarded in their day.  I haven't owned or heard many speakers in my lifetime for comparison, but these do sound extremely good to my ears and are highly regarded by the few owner reports that I've come across.  So, I'm a little puzzled as to why they don't appear to be very popular, at least I rarely see them mentioned on hi-fi forums.  I wonder if the reason could be that Quad are not a go to speaker brand like KEF, B&W or Dynaudio to name a few? Or, perhaps more likely, that people, especially those in the UK, tend to shy away from what was originally a UK manufactured speaker that is now a part of the IAG group and manufactured in China? Then again, the answer could be simply that the S-2 simply doesn't appeal to many folk, perhaps due to a dislike of ribbon tweeters?
moffer

Showing 1 response by abasia

I have heard the S and Z series and eventually settled on the Z1s. It's not going to be a popular because it is not an exciting speaker. It's the type of speaker that you probably won't bring home if you only spend 10-20 minutes auditioning, but the choice would be clear if you really take your time to listen to all of the details and dynamics. It's also one of the more analytical speakers, and at that price point, most people would go for accentuated bass and highs, or focused vocals. But yeah, if people took the time to listen, they will find Quad speakers to be very revealing and satisfying.

My youtube vid review of the Quad Z1s https://youtu.be/kEca-2rjLik