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Should I upgrade from B&W CDM 7SEs to Quad 22L2s

I have endured my current setup for about a year now. Been in this addiction for about that long. I am driving the B&Ws with a Rotel BB-1080. Source is a CI-Audio VDA-2 fed by a squeezebox, with a Monolithic PA-1 preamp. I am about to upgrade my amp to an Odyssey Stratos Stereo with upgraded caps. Wanted advice as to whether I should change out my speakers for the Quads. Don't know where I can audition the Quads here in Minneapolis, so was hoping to get some input as to the virtues of going ahead with this switch. My main problem the B&Ws is its harsh treble. I am hoping the new amp will smooth it out, but I am pretty pessimistic about that. Will the Quads be less treble heavy, and overall a better speaker. Thanks in advance for all counsel.
adamaley
adamaley OP
50 posts
 
Thanks for the invitation Jdodmead, I might take you up on that offer someday, if and when I have the budget for that much of a speaker upgrade.
goatwuss
877 posts
 
With all due respect.... cables will not fix your problem. The B&W CDM series is bright. I don't think the tweeter integrates well with the mids, sounds like you don't either...

Yes, the Quads are much better speaker overall. More coherent, less bright (smooth soft done tweeter), and much more transparent. The B&Ws sound like a box with some drivers in it. The Quads sound much closer to real music.
crankshaft
27 posts
 
I found that the Quad 22L and the Rotel made a good match. The Quads were laid back and the Rotel's power and aggressiveness seemed to match well.
adamaley OP
50 posts
 
Hopefully, I'll be adding the Odyssey Stratos to my setup pretty soon. I feel like I should see how they fare with the B&Ws and, if bearable, patiently wait to fund the Quad purchase, or maybe some other speaker. Currently I am trying to wrap my head around the various aspects of the Odyssey Stratos amps. I would prefer to go for the Odyssey Stereo Extreme. Does anyone know exactly what upgrades are done to this model from the regular Stratos through the Stratos Plus. Thanks for all the advice.
adamaley OP
50 posts
 
Don't want to be one that starts a thread and leaves it to die. I received an Odyssey Stratos Stereo Extreme SE last week and have been doing some prolonged listening. The improvement has been overwhelming to say the least. Many thanks to Bluelight988 for a wonderful transaction and heaps of good advice. I have the amp bi-wired into my speakers, and I am singularly impressed with the added warmth of the system. It has gone a long way in taming most of the high frequency energy. I still do feel a speaker change is in order. My B&W CDM 7SEs still seem heavily unbalanced to me in spite of the fact that the new amp provides improved bass, more rounded, 3d sound, deeper and wider soundstage and details galore. I do need to say though that I am impressed with what they do with this amp. I would never have believed they could sound this good. Unfortunately, this glimpse of the better life only makes me want to upgrade them. I am looking at the Quad 22l2s and Odyssey Loreleis. So, jdodmead, you might just be getting an email from me. I'll have to be patient though, I dont want to hear how good your's sound before I am ready to take the plunge. In the meantime I am looking to either upgrade my cables from Blue Jeans Speaker cables to the Greg Straley Reality cables. Any thoughts?
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