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Quad S-2

Recently acquired a pair of these speakers to replace my trusty 14 year old Castle Richmond 3i's.  According to the manual they need 50 hours run in before sounding their best. I've got about 30 hours on mine to date, but am already really impressed with them and they are a significant upgrade on the Richmond 3i's, which were very well regarded in their day.  I haven't owned or heard many speakers in my lifetime for comparison, but these do sound extremely good to my ears and are highly regarded by the few owner reports that I've come across.  So, I'm a little puzzled as to why they don't appear to be very popular, at least I rarely see them mentioned on hi-fi forums.  I wonder if the reason could be that Quad are not a go to speaker brand like KEF, B&W or Dynaudio to name a few? Or, perhaps more likely, that people, especially those in the UK, tend to shy away from what was originally a UK manufactured speaker that is now a part of the IAG group and manufactured in China? Then again, the answer could be simply that the S-2 simply doesn't appeal to many folk, perhaps due to a dislike of ribbon tweeters?
moffer
lfssbn1's avatar
lfssbn1
54 posts
 
Stereophile praised them, and if one wants to spend time browsing around European, including the UK audio reviews, admiration is abundant.
chrisr's avatar
chrisr
543 posts
 
I have the s2 on my shortlist, along with dynaudio x18, b&w 706 or used nautilus 805.  
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,778 posts
 
Guys we sell both the Quad S series and the Z series, we also sell Dali, Kef and many others. 

We feel that the Quads both the S series and the Z series offer extraordinary sound quality for the money.  The Quad designed ribbon tweeter is both smooth and yet has fantastic detail. 

The Quads throw a huge sound stage and have suprisingly deep bass for the size of the cabinets.

 The Z1 has an even larger sound stage and an even cleaner midrange 

If Abrasia says the Quads aren't exciting, I think he means that they don't have that type of etteched in your face kind of detail that some people may find to be exciting, the top end of the Quad's strikes a perfect balance  of detail with listenablity. 

Personally he haven't found a competitive speaker in this price point  which can rival them, we are awaiting the new Kef R 3 monitors which will make a fascinating comparison between these two loudspeakers.

For the record both the S series and the Z series are highly rated and have won loudspeaker of the year in the UK. 

As per distribution Mofi distribution is slowly putting out more dealers as more people become aware how remarkably good the Quads are.

Most of today's value oriented loudspeakers B&W, KEF, Golden Ear, Dali, and many others starter models other than things like the B&W 800 or KEF Reference series are made in the companies own factories in China. 

Quad is owned by IAG a very large Chinesse company who owns many audio brands, they are very vertically oriented and they make their own drivers, cabinets, crossovers, even the binding posts and mounting plates are made in house, the quality of the product is top notch.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Quad dealer
wcfeil
464 posts
 
The topic is specific yet this self absorbed dealer smears yet one more thread with his pomposity and shameless advertising making sure other product lines are mentioned. 

LOL
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,778 posts
 
Fail it is called a discussion

Please add to the discussion do you sell Quad loudspeakers? We do.
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