Speaker Asylum: More 22L impressions: big, detailed, deep sound, and disappear... by machani

I took tucker's suggestion and moved my speakers out a bit - 7' apart, 30" from the walls, 9' from the listening position and slightly toed in. This is still far from ideal, but the best I could currently manage given my cabling and furniture restrictions.

The soundfield width, depth and height expanded. The sound comes layered, with singers and instruments positioned clearly within their own space. In short the speakers simply disappear with many tracks.

The midrange presents itself clearly, with background sounds coming crystal clear from their positions in the soundstage.

The bass is defintely non boomy. It seems fast, controlled, and weighty (but perhaps not as tight as the bass in the 21L). It comes accross naturally and effortlessly and I can feel the oomph from instruments like tuba and bass drums with the added benefit of directional cues (something a subwoofer cannot hope to produce).

Other than the presentation of the bass, I think there is still a difference between the 21L and 22L in their presentatations of the upper midrange/lower treble (as I recall my showroom audiiton of the 21L).

I think the crossover was intentionally set higher in the 22L, at 3KHz, versus 2.2KHz in the rest of the series, probably to make the upper midrange/lower treble presentation less forward. (IMO, this could hardly be as a result of a design 'mistake' although it will make the speaker measure differently).

As Nathan stated about the reviews of the Quad L series, the 21L's have a hint of forwardness in the midrange. The reviewers seem to prefer this sound. (Note that in addition to HiFiChoice reviews which Nathan has referred to, WhatHiFi also has given 5 stars to 11L, 12L and 21L but 'only' 4 stars to 22L. The GoodSound reviewer's favorite also is the 21L.)

The 22L's slightly recessed upper midrage/lower treble, IMO, could contribute to the perception of added depth in the soundstage. That said, there is absolutely no veiling of the midrage that I can perceive, just in the presentation.

Now, I have not read all the editorial reviews of the L series, just a review of 11L by WhatHiFi and a review of the 22L by GoodSound. But there clearly seems to be a difference between what the sound engineers at Quad intended and reviewers' expectations. The sound on the 22L presentation is big, detailed and deep. The owners of 22L (including Duckman) seem to universally love their speakers. Could the reviewers be missing something?

My speakers have all of 12 hours on them and I'm amazed how natural and musical they sound and they are able to throw a convicing soundstage. The integration of three drive units is exceptionally smooth for a speaker that is still ways to go before break in. It gives me goosebumps to think how they will sound when fully broken in.
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C N Machani