All:
I had an experience last night which I must share with the group. I think it's important that everyone takes note of this when shopping, or even when not shopping, but just playing around and trying out gear.
My dealer just got this Nagra PL-P preamp in, and he told me I needed to come hear it before it got sold. Well I put it off b/c I ain't looking for a preamp, and in fact if I was, I could not afford the Nagra unless I made my wife WALK to work.
So last night I was sitting around, and I called. He says "come on over man". So I rolled over there. When I got there, he was showing me some Quad 63's that he had taken in on trade that were immaculate! So he asked if I wanted to hear them, and I said yes. You see, he knows I'll listen to ANYTHING.
So we moved them up to the two channel room. I had never heard 63's, but I spent a little time listening to the 989's. When I got back from my 989 experience a couple of years ago, I told him right off the bat that I was going to buy some Quads. He looked a bit confused. He was asking me about the setup, and I told him that they were using Halcros for amplification, and the TAG preamp that I was talking about earlier.
He says "Man you were hearing those Halcros. You weren't hearing the Quads. That was the amps for sure.". . .
I trust the guy, and although it was hard to believe, I read other things about Quads, and was a bit less excited about them.
2 years later, it's payback time. I get to hear some Quads again. And since a lot of Quadphiles like the 63 better than the 988/989, I was ready for it.
We plopped them down where the Piegas had been, and sort of eyed them to get them in place. Plugged everything in, and took off listening. As soon as I heard the first track on the Quads, which was the first off Brian Wilson's Smile disc, I was pretty excited. I mean these things are a lot like I remembered the 989's sounding.
We switched to some other stuff, and listened some more. As the Quads charged up, they kept getting better until I was convinced that I was taking those home with me. I mean the midrange is glorious! Vocals are eerie! The soundstage is immersive, and the timbre on every instrument is so nice, and correct.
He puts on this duet track with Ray Charles and Willie Nelson, and as soon as I heard it, I though it was Willie Nelson. And then. . It was like. . Well. . It might not be. . His voice was. . Maybe he has a cold or something, but it's so close. And then he starts playing the guitar, and it's confirmed. It's definately Willie Nelson. No doubt.
I was so pumped man, and I seriously was thinking hard about buying these and replacing my current speakers.
Then my dealer says "Well. . . let me swap preamps. . . ". .
I then remembered about the Halcros, and I thought. . Well OK then. . I'll just see if he was right, or if the Quads really are the bomb.
We swapped for the Perreaux top of the line Pre. It was the SM6 from the Reference series. Having had the base, cheap Perreaux preamp in my system which I thought was very transparent, the SM6 is 1.5x as good.
The second I played the first track, it was evident that we took a huge leap backwards. Nothing else changed except the preamp. The voice was now unmistakably Willie Nelson's voice. It was, without a doubt, Willie Nelson. There was not enough transparency there to make me doubt that it was. Much of the timbre of the guitar was gone, and the soundstage was now not even nearly as good as with the Nagra.
Don't get me wrong. The sound was similar to what I get at home. My system is setup better, and the Piegas just kill the Quads, which I found out last night. But when we threw that Nagra back in, it was like magic. I was ready to just sell all my gear, buy the Nagra, and use it with headphones. Seriously. . .
But my dealer says that having ONLY headphones would drive me crazy, and he's right.
If I walked in and heard the Perreaux setup, I would have been completely satisfied, and said "man those Quads aren't bad little speakers!".
Instead I walked in, and could have easily walked out with those Quads and made a
HUGE mistake.
So be careful when you're out there. Some dealers aren't so scrupulous, and would let a guy make that mistake to sell him more gear.
Ohh, and if anyone wants to donate a Nagra preamp to the needy, you can contact me at this address, and I will take care of the details for you.
