[bifor]

I do find that my quad 2905  are  somewhat rolled off in the treble ,lacking in presence and sparkle. I have tried all type of top notch   amplifiers ( both ss and tube) and all possible positions in my 6x7 mt dedicated room with no effect.
Do you think that they might  benefit from a supertweeter ( suggestions  please ) and do you generally agree  that the 2905 are lacking in treble ?
Thanks
Bruno

[James Tanner]

Hi bifor,

Have a look at my Quad review - somewhere in this forum - but the point is I found the Quad 2905 extremely directional and very sensitive to room size and listener position.  If you move off axis at all the top end rolls off very very quickly.

james

[bifor]

Thanks James.
So what is the best route : experimenting with a supertweeter or building a steel clamp to maintain your head on axis or else?
Seriously; the Quads have so many virtues ( I have had all their models in my audiphyle career) that it is a pity that this aspect is not properly addressed .
I am genuinely interested in knowing what other people think on this aspect of their performance.
Cheers
Bruno

[James Tanner]

Hi Bruno,

I eventually had them in a small room (14x12) - on the long wall) and sat/listened in a position as if they where a large set of headphones angled at my ears.  They sounded great in that setup but it was a one man show.

I found in my larger room 23x16 they simply did not have enough dynamics to fill the room very well.

james

[planaria]

I found the Quads to be a bit thin and edgy at high frequencies, the 2805's more so than the 2905's. This was helped by upgrading the signal shaping caps and resistors, but not cured. After all, the caps are 220uF electrolytics - that takes a notable array of film and foil to replace - and anything less than a wholly f&f array is a compromise.

At a similar cost, a more dramatic improvement can be obtained by upgrading the step-up transformers to the Vanderveen design made by Plitron (they sound fine with no caps at all). Also, amps which cannot overdrive the Quads allows one to bypass the protection circuitry. Mr. Tanner, has Bryston considered such a thing? Also, are you using HexFred rectifiers in the current generation of SST?

As for filling the room with music, I added another pair of Quads - problem solved. A bit pricey, perhaps, but it produced a qualitative improvement to the listening experience. What is more, it was discovered and recommended by Mr. Walker himself. After the step-up transformers, in my room (65 cubic meters irregular) more Quads was the best upgrade possible (given a reasonable standard of electronics and analogue source).

[planaria]

I should have added that you can completely change the sonic character of the Quad 2x05's by changing the value of the caps in the existing circuit (less capacitance for more treble) or by changing the value of the resistor with the Vanderveen design (less resistance more treble). By playing with the resistors I was able to give the 2805's and 2905's a very similar sonic character.

[Napalm]

Thanks James.
So what is the best route : experimenting with a supertweeter or building a steel clamp to maintain your head on axis or else?
Seriously; the Quads have so many virtues ( I have had all their models in my audiphyle career) that it is a pity that this aspect is not properly addressed .
I am genuinely interested in knowing what other people think on this aspect of their performance.
Cheers
Bruno

I would look into a preamp that has tone controls.

Nap.

[planaria]

Not really viable for enhanced Quads, Nap.

Filters introduce distortion in both R and C; even nude Vishays and teflon caps have obvious signatures. RC, especially as implemented in commercial tone controls, is a valid solution for records with punishing EQ, which are unplayable otherwise, but not for general listening. My old ARC SP10, for example, had provision to bypass the balance control.

Terry