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Help mismatch maybe?

Hello folks,

I recently purchased a pair of Quad 21L2's here on Agon. I tried them with some older Adcom electronics, which were uninvolving. Having read alot of good things about Nad products, and since they were in my price range, I purchased a C372 Intergraded amp here on Agon. The sound of the Nad and Quads are very detailed which I like more then less. Although, I would like the sound to be a little fuller & organic in the midrange. As it stands right now, the system sounds as though the treble control is almost maxed and the bass control is half way on the minus side. (I am in tone defeat mode).
My wife who is also my listening buddy, finds the setup too bright for her ears, and she is unable to listen with me now, unless the volume is very low. Our listening tastes in music range from Classical, to Classic Rock to Jazz, to Female/Male vocals, and everything in between.

Our front end consist of a Arcam FMJ CD23. IC's are of the Monster, and Z squared varity. PC's are PS and Z squared types. SC's Monster M2's Speakers are on the long wall in a Near Field configuration far away from the side walls and at least 3 feet from the rear. I have tried various placement scenario's and the NF seems to be the best overall.

Now, Is it possible That the Nad and the Quads are a mismatch?
If so, I would like to keep the Quads. If it's the electronics, I would like to stay with a Intergrated amp.
Are there any simular experiences, or recommendations you could offer?

Any help along these lines would be appreciated.
Thanks.
mickey13
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,314 posts
 
Atmasphere,

OK, but the Quad 21Ls in question here are not electrostats. They are conventional box designs (2 way floorstanders) with a 6 ohm nominal impedance, I believe.
simone
29 posts
 
Mike
I have a second system with the Quad 21L2, Nad C325 BEE, Cambridge 640C CD player & Kimber 8tc Speaker wires, on the long wall in a room approx your size. Speakers are 2' from the rear wall and about 60" appart. Try to tilt them back to the top of the front screws, listen and lower a little at a time,see if that helps. Also while your away let the system play the Quads need time to break in.
Good luck
Mike
mb9061
137 posts
 
Tilting them can help a bit, but I was never happy with the result as it threw the sound stage up a bit and there was a slight loss of focus. That, and I'm using the 22L2's as my example which have the additional driver.

Biggest influence on bass from my experience is (a) amplification and (b) speaker placement from rear wall that doesn't exceed 24" and isn't less than say 16" when dealing with rear ported floor standers.

You may consider auditioning a MF A3.5 if the A5 is out of reach. Even an A3.2CR which can be had for around $600 used. These amps have the most low end of those I've demoed or purchased so far and they don't dissapoint. I know we all have our favorites, but I can attest that they work beautifully with the Quads as I've had both the A308I and the A5. They do wonderfully well in home theater duty as well. Some will mention MF amps add "coloration" to music like cardas golden cross interconnects, but everyone has their own taste and it sounds like low end response is what you're looking for (I can't necessarily reccomend the golden cross ICs though, I didn't care for them but others do...).
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,314 posts
 
"Even an A3.2CR which can be had for around $600 used"

... or MF A3CR in about the same price range. I bought exactly for a similar bass/loading issue with my larger Ohms and it really nailed it.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,844 posts
 
Mapman, ya learn something new every day. I would not have thought that Quad would do something like that... from the looks of it, with the woofers in parallel and Quad's tendency in the last 20 years to use transistors, my bet is that these speakers are Voltage Paradigm devices- doing what they could not do with ESLs (although I am sure the ESLs have higher resolution...).
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