Quad 21L

I auditioned 21L's against 12L's.

I started with the 12L's and was in awe of the transparency and precision imaging which is absolutely even across the soundstage. There was clear separation of instruments right out to each speaker. The 12L's are also really dynamic and can keep pace with anything. However my previous speakers (Mission 752's) were floorstanders and the relative lack of 12L bottom end was detracting from my great respect for them. The bass of the 12L's doesn't put a foot wrong it's just that the 12L's only give an impression of deeper notes - just enough to remind you that something is there or should be. The ambience I had been used to was suffering slightly as a result.

When I switched to the 21L's I was stunned by the increase in scale. They sound much bigger than the 12L's even though they use what looks like the same drive units. The 21L's have very slightly less resolution and the imaging wasn't as tack sharp out towards the speakers. Further in it was about the same - really excellent. I experimented and found that the 21L's like being further apart than the 12L's and the detailed soundstage can be equalled by giving the 21L's and extra 0.5m of spacing. The speed of the 21L's was slightly less than the 12L's also.

But in return for this slight overall softening the 21L's give a very good pay back. The sound is a big, bold, lively and musical presentation that still has superb transparency and detail.

I opted for the 21L's. What did it for me was noticing that while listening to the 12L's I had been enjoying their great talents, BUT after a couple of minutes with the 21L's I had forgotten that I was supposed to be auditioning a pair of speakers and had slipped right into my favourite CD's that I had taken with me and was tapping my foot and enjoying guitar riffs. Job done.

Another factor in choosing the 21L's over 12L's was that these speakers are also to be used with DVD as the sound source. A bit of low end weight in the sound is important with movies.

Further the bottom half of a 21L looks a heck of a lot better than any speaker stand I've ever seen.

Having got my 21Ls home and after a bit of running in I still couldn't get them to sound close to the Class Act they were in the listening room. I came to the obvious conclusion that this was due to the lower quality of the other components I'm using, however I had to accept room acoustics are now playing a much bigger role than they were with my previous speakers Mission 752's. The 21L's dig much deeper and excite room resonances if not very carefully placed. They really need around 3m of spacing and need to be well clear of any corners. Excellent speakers overall.

I tired of my old Tannoy Mercurey M2 speakers and decided to purchase the Quad 11Ls, which had good reviews by WhatHifi and the dealer. Having listened to them I was keen, but wanted more bass. Roll on the 21Ls. These are basically the floorstanding version of the 12Ls, which share the same tweeter as the 11s, but have a bigger bass driver.

Even playing the 21s through my old £200 Technics CD and Denon amp, I was amazed by the difference in the sound quality. Gone was the muddy, boomy sound of the Tannoys, and instead (after a run-in of a week or so) I had delightfully clear treble, smooth vocals and taut, rhythmic bass. Switching from Cable Talk to QED Silver Anniversary cable, and then biwiring, tightened the bass and sweetened the treble further. Even with these humble components the 21s sing. The Denon is only 50W, but managed easily to drive the 21s to much higher volumes than the Tannoys, with much less distortion.

Obviously though, the Quad 21Ls ideally suit better components, so I recently upgraded to the Arcam CD92 and A85. This has now brought the best out of the Quads. The Quad 21Ls are very neutral and laid back, and as such match the Arcam setup well, as they are of a similar nature. I like my music smooth and detailed, but maybe others prefer it with added excitment.

The Quad 11Ls were more detailed, but don't have sufficient weight, and don't go as loud. The 21Ls are excellent, but are possibly too big for my room, as ideally they need more breathing space. The 12Ls may have been a better compromise sonically, but however, I much prefer the look of the floorstanders, and the black finish matches the piano!