This is my first system and as a university student I sort of worked my budget as well as I could. As such I have had to make some compromises, but not as many as I had thought.

All Prices Canadian in Canadian $

All items purchased new.

Quad 21Ls = $1200

NAD C350 = $500

AST200 Bi-wire Terminated = $200

Monster IL400 MKII 2m = 40ish

Total = $1940 CDN

US$ = $1500 or so.

My upgrade order was less than ideal: Speakers, Integrated Amplifier, Interconnect, Speaker Wire.

The reason for this was that I managed to sell off my previous speakers, Nuance [why did I buy these again? sigh],

so I replaced them, then I managed to sell off my old Pioneer Receiver [fondly remembered], then I purchased some better interconnect, and finally upgraded the speaker wire. A proper CD player to take over the CD duties from my Pioneer DV353 is next on the list.

Some thoughts on the entire process.

First I had been dreaming of better speakers after visiting a local dealer, Canadian Hifi (Thanks again Rob!). Realizing the speakers I possesed at the time did not involve me in the music, provide imaging or have a real soundstage, but did have ok bass, I was frustrated and looked for a way out. Soon after I managed to sell off my speakers and the quest for replacements began.

The quest was entirely too short. I had been doing research and had previously narrowed it down to: Paradigm Studio Reference 20s, Paradigm Monitor 5s, B&W 603s, or the Quad 12L.

I was adamant about departing from floorstanders to a bookshelf for asthetic and future transportation considerations.

A month prior I had spent a good hour or so with the Quad 12Ls on a Classe setup, and still had a solid recollection of their tonal qualities.

I came with a litmus test CD and my usual battery of CDs and DVDs as well. Mother's Little Helper from the Rolling Stone's 40 Licks. An odd choice to be certain, the reason being is that there is, on poor systems, a subtle bass guitar in the background that can be hard to distinguish. If system A cannot bring this sound out and forward it is not worth my time. The paradigm's running through a higher end Marantz Receiver with a Denon CD Changer (understandabley not ideal components) could not bring it forward. Both me and my friend considered the presentation to be uninvolving and fuzzy, lacking clarity and sharpness. The salesmen were not able to correct these problems as their more experienced associates were not available. Being disappointed with the Studio 20s, I did not audition the Monitor series.

Off to the local B&W Dealer. We listened to the 603s on Atlantic Speaker stands powered by an Arcam AVR200 with an Integra CD player as the transport. The B&W 603 is a beautiful speaker and we spent almost 2 hours with it. The system as a whole lacked punch, PRAT wasn't there. Linkin Park sounded lazy and slow to us and not involving. Classical sounded wonderful, but that was it. Nothing within my collection of CDs blew me away or sent chills down my spine. Bjork, Diana Krall, Chopin, Rolling Stones, Linkin Park, Pink Floyd, Amon Tobin and a few others supplied by the dealer who criticized our music as being "not complicated enough" to demonstrate the qualities of the speakers. Perhaps this was the case, but a speaker must sound good playing what I listen to for me to consider it.

These were a definite option, and in retrospect I realize that a great deal of my negative bias is probably due to the Arcam AVR200. I prefer the punch of the NAD and am not a huge fan of the sound of the Arcam that I listened too. So I have been beset by the thought that perhaps I would have chosen the B&Ws if I had heard them on the NAD. In the future I have learned that if something doesn't sound right get them to change a component in the system to something that may suit your style better.

Having just heard Breathe on the B&W 603s we raced down the street and through it on the Quad 12Ls - goosebumps in effect, and asthetically fantastic I had found my speakers, sort of. After a few more songs including an energetic and involving reproduction of Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory we both knew that I was getting Quad's that day.

Which to choose?

The 12L the 11L or the 21L?

My goal was to spend around $1000 CDN.

That limited me too:

12L + Stands

and

11L + Stands + Entry Level Subwoofer.

Now the 11L & the 12L both sound fantastic. The 11L does not have the bass of the 12L but of course with a subwoofer does surpass it. However I felt that purchasing a subwoofer that would essentially be a "throw away" would be less than ideal.

The dealer at that time mentioned the 21L as an option. I bought the 21L unseen and unlistened too. It does retain the tonal qualities of the 21L, the responsiveness, depth of image, everything, but adding a deeper low end. As well they are take up a little less space than the 12Ls + Stands would, and look stunning.

I love my 21Ls. My girlfriend loves the 21Ls. The first night I had them she went through her music collection and spent the next day talking about them to her disinterested friends (much to their dismay) and she is not one who would normally be interested in speakers, this is high praise for my speakers in my mind.

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The NAD C350. Basically one of 3 Integrateds in my Price Point. NAD C320BEE and the Cambridge A500 where the others. Again the NAD was purchased based on recommendations and its flexibility. The ability to use it as a Pre-amp, or power-amp for bi-amping down the road, appealed to me a great deal. I can even chain another poweramp to it as is. A feature the C320BEE lacks.

The NAD C350 powered my speakers much better than my Pioneer VSX-D509s (of course) providing a wider soundstage and a further improvement in how involving the music experience was.

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The Interconnect

I work at a monster retailer and wanted to replace the $5 interconnects I had laying around (my reciever used all digital interconnects so I had no decent analogues), they were a good upgrade, they haven't detracted at all from the experience. I didn't notice a significant change in soundstaging, bass improved, detail improved, and my volume knob does not have to be set as high as it used to.

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The Bi-Wire

Simply, the system now has bass. Bass was always present to a degree with my old Pheonix Gold banana plug terminated speaker wire but still soft. The AST200's have really brought not only bass to the foreground but I am also able to follow things in Mike Oldfield that I could not before, details that washed together before now separate and build. On Her Majesty's Secret Service by the Propellerheads (now my reference song for testing) became quicker, more responsive, with the bass far exceeding the expectations I ever had for a speaker with a 6.5" woofer. Bi-Wiring is NIGHT AND DAY on these speakers.

If anyone has any questions let me know.

My CD player is still being researched and funds are not available to buy one for a while.

As it is I am able to discern between good and poor recordings, I am able to pick apart classical pieces, and I spend a great deal of time simply enjoying the music. I am incredibly happy with my purchase as a whole. This will expand into a 5.1 channel movie/music system in the future. And I will begin again building for a 2 channel music system :)

Hope this was interesting!

Nathan Klassen