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Feedback QLN Prestige Three Speakers Requested

Forum Members -

While I have another thread asking for general advice on speakers & preamps/power amps, I was hoping to hear feedback specific to the QLN Prestige Three speakers. I am close to purchasing a used pair and would welcome input from folks who own and/or have heard the speaker in-person. 

Based on their reviews and sound clips I've found, they appear to be what I'm looking for: 

 

  • Laid back, yet immersive sound 
  • Musical vs. analytical presentation 
  • Sounds good with tube amplification 
  • Great base for a smaller floor standing speaker 
  • On the warmer and smooth side 

At the end of the day, I'm looking for a speaker that is warm, laid back and musical. After work, while making dinner, or relaxing in the living room, I'd love the speaker to help create a relaxing and comforting environment in my household. 

Musical taste: Classical piano and cello sonatas, acoustic guitar, slowcore/shoegaze rock, bossa nova, electronica/techno and lots of 90's English guitar bands. In brief, I'd like to be able to play lots of different styles of music. I'm finding that's not the case with my existing system, unfortunately. 

I'd replace the Dynaudio Heritage that just fall short on base response... 
 

The Current System 

  • Dynaudio Heritage Special Speakers 
  • Innuous Zenith Music Server
  • Merason DAC1 
  • Qualiton/Audio Hungary Tube Preamp
  • Qualiton/Audio Hungary 100 Watt Power Amp
  • Cardas Clear Interconnect and Cardas Cygnus Speaker Cables 
  • Lessloss Power Cable for Power Amp 


**I've got a Linear Tube Audio Microzotl Preamp on the way to replace the Qualiton/Audio Hungary Tube Preamp 

My Question for Forum Members: 
What are your impressions of the QLN Prestige Three? Based on what I'm looking for, do you recommend the QLN Prestige Three? If not, what else might you recommend that fits what I'm looking for? 

THANK YOU! 
 

bluethinker66
bluethinker66 OP
42 posts
 

@soix @jeffstrick - I'll share my impressions once I get everything up and running. I'm very curious how the LTA preamp will pair with the Audio Hungary 100 watt tube amp and QLN speakers. 

I somehow suspect that particular combo might not have been tried too many times, but who knows, right?! 

Should be fun. 

jeffstrick's avatar
jeffstrick
176 posts
 

Enjoy the journey. 

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,692 posts
 

@bluethinker66 Incidentally, my friend was running his QLN 3's with Audio Hungary a50i integrated amp. I also owned the same amp and loved it. He was very satisfied with this combo. I'm quite sure the combo of LTA preamp and AH 100 watt amp will be phenomenal. The QLN 3s are not difficult to drive. Good luck!

grislybutter
3,258 posts
 

@bluethinker66 how are the QLNs?

bluethinker66 OP
42 posts
 
@grislybutter - Thanks for the prompt! 

THANK YOU to everyone who made a comment and suggestion here. I read them all over the past few weeks and were all greatly appreciated. 

I did end up pulling the trigger on the QLN, purchasing them from a sound engineer in New York. I asked him to make a recording of some music I know intimately, using the QLNs as speakers, as a final validation before purchasing. For any early 90s shoegaze fans out there, I had him record some Ride and Stone roses tracks along with some classical tracks (Satie, Brahms). 

He's a recording engineer, so the recording he sent me sort of blew my mind. The QLN speakers sounded majestic - big, balanced, detailed and musical. 

So I pulled the trigger and had them sent to Portland where I live. When they arrived, I was overly eager to set them up after a long day and ended up doing a little damage to one of them. Ugh... Its ok, because it's cosmetic and sort of made me double-down and commit to them as "my speakers." 

How do they sound? Am I satisfied with my purchase? 

Short answer? Absolutely. I love them and anticipate having them the rest of my life. 

The QLN Prestige Three speakers are incredibly balanced and musical sounding speakers. From the reviews I'd read, I did expect more bass output, but I'm satisfied with what they deliver. The top end treble is enjoyable and never bright. I am coming from the Dynaudio Heritage Special speakers where the amount of top end treble detail delivered sort of blows you away - at moments the detail is mesmerizing and hypnotic, but sometimes morphs into overly bright and overwhelming. I'll miss some of that detail and focused details of instruments from the Dynaudio Heritage Specials, but I'm comfortable trading it for the more balanced delivery of the QLN Prestige Three. 

A few posters suggested and for-warned me the QLN Prestige Three might sound overly polite or "held back." It's true. I can see how the QLN Prestige Three could be characterized that way. These speakers DO NOT demand your attention. 

What they do seem to offer, in contrast, is a listening environment where you just want to listen to the music and forget about the audio equipment. I'm typing here in the living room and could easily spend the day listening to music for the entirety of the morning and afternoon.. and maybe into the evening. These QLN speakers just make it easy to relax and decompress. In this overly frenetic world we live in I consider that to be a wonderful quality! 

Many of us on this forum seem to have the "upgradeitis..." I now have the same affliction. It's crazy how a "I'd like to purchase a proper" audio system leads us down this path, huh?! 

NEXT STEPS 

I've got the Linear Tube Audio MicroZotl Preamp coming next week and will provide a report once I've got it set up in the system and had some run-in time... 

I'm currently driving the QLN Prestige Threes with a Qualiton/Audio Hungary 100 watt power tube amp. It sounds fantastic and I'm happy with it. 

HOWEVER, the AUDIO UPGRADEITIS IS REAL! So, I'm wondering about the Balanced Audio Technology (BAT) VK255SE solid state amp that delivers 150 watts into 8 ohms. I heard it recently and found that it's mantra of "warmth of tubes and details of Solid State" was accurate. If there was any possible improvement to the QLN Prestige Three it would be to drive it with more power. The audio studio engineer I purchased the QLN Prestige Three speakers from, when he made the sample recording, was using one of his powerful studio equipment amps to record, and boy did the QLN speakers sing with that power. 

Will update all on my audio journey/affliction! 


 

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