Time to move on, Quad, Coincident or Ref 3a

"Musically is one aspect I cant give up"

Then don't overlook the Silverline Bolero. If that don't put a 'musical' smile on your face, nothing will. It's by far the most musical speaker I've ever owned. If your interested its been reviewed by several magazines on the net and I think Potis of 6moons hits it fairly closely. If you get interested and want specific input, ask.

Have you heard these speakers? Of all of the speakers I've heard in my life, the Quad 2905's were easily the best to these ears. I don't have them because I'm in a 10x12 room. If I had the room, they'd be sitting in it right now.

The amp you have makes a big difference. 3 watt SET for the Coincidents or 200 watts for the Quads? We need to know more...

Absolutely no way to answer your question with info provided.

-Rob

Wow, four very different loudspeakers.

I don't have much experience with the current Quads, so I'm not the best resource to speak on them. Of course, history is on the side that Quads will provide you with musicality.

Coincident Super Eclipse is a nice speaker, but I think the Total Eclipse would be worth moving up to instead. I currently have a pair of Coincidents, so I'm obviously a fan. While they do well on low power, which is what they are well known for, they do even better with more (tube) power.

Heard the Grand Veenas a couple of weeks ago with a friend, using a BAT tube power amplifier. I'm left tremendously impressed with them, to the point where I'm hoping to purchase them at some point.

All are quality designs..I can only speak with regard to having owned the Quads and VSA speakers..."life is too short"...I agree. Ive been with more than a few speakers over the years.

My personal favorite of all the speakers owned would definitely be the Quads..even with their well documented short comings in areas of real life dynamics. The way they present music so naturally is captivating. Thats said, I can honestly say that the Emerald Physics CS-2 is a better speaker in every regard. They have the natural tonality of the Quads with the dynamics and gusto of expensive box designs. I would try to get a listen if poss. You may end up with a speaker that gives all the attributes you are looking for. The caveat is that you need to bi- amp them, but hi dollar amps are not required here.

i am looking to change speakers as well. the quads i am considering are the quad 57, 2 pair rather than one in stacked mode.

i have no interest in the current quads. i owned the 63s for over 6 years. the 57 has the least inaccurate midrange i have ever heard.

the current quads are reworked 63s. you can check with quad to verify what i have said.

before considering the current quads, i urge you to listen to a pair of 57s.

i have had a ref 3a grand veena for about 3 months. to maximize performance it seems to like being placed so that it fires down the long wall maybe 9-10 ft between speaker and you if speakers are 50-60 inches apart due to 3 ft distance between the highest and lowest driver of each speaker (for intergration). my music reference rm 9 mk 1 has three different feedback/dampning levels and likes the least feedback the best. a new pair needs 250 hours to open up. it will reveal all other shortcomings in your setup. good luck

What amp to you plan to use?

Rlw3,

The basic question: are you happy with them??

Franks :

I will be using antique sound labs cadenza 845 push pull or antique sound labs 805 explorer single ended. Both splendid machines imho.

Kehut :

Thanks but that sounds like a step into terra incognito. I may not be prepared for it yet.

Regards,

Please consider the Manger Zerobox 109, or if the space and budget allows a Zerobox 103/3.

Quad 2805 or Reference 3A Grand Veena would be my choices- both are very musical and are audiophile favorites The Reference are smaller "visually" and might "fit in" a greater variety of room situations from what I have read. I've owned Quad's several times and loved them. Still, I always considered them a speaker for mid to small music and never seemed to have the weight for big music pieces. Let your ears, music tastes and room guide on this one. Good luck.

alumet1969 yes i am happy with them. they seem to like the no feedback switch on my music reference rm9. my rm9 used to have a low, medium, and high feedback /dampning that i had changed to no,low,and medium feedback. the whole speaker sounds constricted as feedback is increased. wish i had more room in my room though. the high end is so extended i want to audition a revel 15a sub so the bass is as extended as the treble... the veena clearly announces all changes in equipment and the smallest of location changes. great results require work & patience