Upgrade from Quad 11L?

I have reviewed the Quad 11L speakers in issue 176 of The Absolute Sound. They are extremely well built, the manufacturer even uses Lyptus for their plywood, a very hard and stable timber from Brazil to make them impervious to vibrations. The bottom line is that your speakers are no slouches by any stretch of the imagination, and are in fact bloody fine music makers. I exercised them with 3 sources (a PDA, EAD T000 + D7000 CD combo, and TEAC Esoteric X-01 Limited CD/SACD player), 2 preamplifiers (ARC LS2-B and ARC Reference 3), and a variety of power cords and interconnects, including Cardas Golden Reference, Audioquest Quartz, AudioQuest Sky, Nordost Blue Heaven. My conclusions were that the more quality you feed into them, the more music the little things are going to give you. . . and do they ever stage well!
Before you change anything else, I suggest you may want to play with interconnects and power cords on your entire system. I have become extremely fond lately of the Furutech Evolution series or wires.

I suspect that this far you haven't even scratched the surface of what the Quad 11Ls can give you in music enjoyment! G.

Agree with idea to experiment with wires. Contact The Cable Company for advice and access to demos. Or, check out these Internet vendors:

http://www.anticables.com/products.html

http://www.audioartcable.com/

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/

http://signalcable.com/

http://marc.stager.com/silver/

http://zebracables.com/

Have the active 11's and they are just too small 12's are better but for cost if you have space go for 21's or 22's if you like sound and want to stay in same line.If you need bookshelves NHT Classic 3's are harder to find now but for a <$1 speaker they rock.Add a good fast sub (for cheap HSU VTF or Aperion 8) and you'd have a great system with way more body.I am interested that Timrhu didn't like actives but you have good electronics so I'd go un-powered if buying 12's.Real Brit sound and very good product as a line.

But I'd also listen if I could to Epos,Totems or if you can swing $1500 Usher Tiny Dancers (used though power might be issue there) if committed to monitors.The one I want to hear is the Zu Tone (and whole line for that matter.
Cheers
Chazz

Many thanks to all! I'm going to think hard about working on cables, wires, and isolation devices (although I've always been skeptical about spending $100s rather than $10s on wire). Thanks for the suggestions about where to start.

Timru's experience with the 12L actives is helpful; I no longer feel like I'd be missing out if I don't go in that direction. And I like the idea of making the most of what I have. (I'm going to read your review of the 11Ls, Guido. I do love them.)

"The Bends" is my favorite Radiohead as well, Timru, but I've been blown away by the recording quality of "In Rainbows" (and Wilco's new album, too).

Sorry, Timrhu, I missed the "h."