Well, there was an immediacy and coherence to the Quads that I have not experienced with any dynamic driver speaker. The Quads also excelled at midrange layering and dimensionality.
But the Sashas are so much better overall speakers, especially for my room size and listening preferences, that I don't miss the Quads. If I ever downsize my listening room I would consider Quads again, but that is not in the forseeable future (at least I hope not!)
The Sashas are "dark titanium" which is a dark grey. After my Quads, I was looking for speakers with the same resolution, transparency and coherence but with additional extension, dynamics and tone. I also moved into a large open listening room and wanted speakers to better fill the room.
I auditioned a lot of speakers but every time I heard the Sashas, I found myself saying "that's it!"
When I first got them, I was using McIntosh electronics. It was good, but in the end sounded a little veiled and lacked bass definition. After much research I decided on the Lamm gear. All I can say is that the combination gives me everything I was looking for including great tone, micro and macro dynamics, coherence, transparency and resolution. The Lamms control the hard-to-drive Sasha's really well yet they have the finesse and dimensionality of some of the best tube amps I have owned. I think it is a special combination.
Thanks for the info. I've been tempted to get Kessler's book...I think you just pushed me over the edge. I've read a lot about others raising their Quads off the floor as well, but nothing yet about anyone doing that with the 2805's. I may have to give it a shot just to see what happens, although the soundstage height is currently about 4 - 6 feet at the center image, which sounds fine to me. If I do raise them I'll post my experience here.
I picked up a cherry MoFi copy of "Le Jazz Grand" today by Michel Legrand with an all star line up. I've never heard of the guy, but man am I glad I bought it - it's the best $9.99 I've spent in a long time! The instrumental tones from baritone sax to cymbols sound great on the Quads.
Let me know what you think of the 2805's when you give them a listen.
Thanks for your feedback on my system and sorry I haven't checked for new posts in a couple of weeks.
These are my first Quads and the dealer is about 150 miles away, so I have had to do my own experimentation with set up. The speakers are currently in a 9' equilateral triangle (measured from speaker center) with my listening seat and toed in just about directly at the sweet spot. They are about 6' out from the front wall. I have tried a wider speaker placement, but the center image seemed to loose some body and solidity. It would be nice to have some experienced Quad listeners to help me really dial them in, I'm sure I can get even better sound but don't know which way to adjust them...I would appreciate any advice on set-up!
Most of my listening is vinyl acoustic rock and jazz. This includes James Taylor, CSNY, Grateful Dead, early Beatles, Allison Kraus, Eva Cassidy, Chicago, BS&T, Cat Stevens, etc. For jazz - Basie, Ellington, Davis, Coltrane (some...not all), Patricia Barber, Holly Cole, Ray Brown, etc. Nothing too hard or too big scale. While I listen to classical at work, I wouldn't know where to start on buying records.
A question for you...How do you like your Dynaudio Special 25's? I have been toying with the idea of getting a world-class stand mount to use in addition to my Quads.
I don't plan on adding a sub because the Quads are so seemless and I don't think a sub would integrate well. Also, the 2805's have respectable bass for the kind of music I listen to.
The Perseus, which I have had highly modified, is one of the most transparent preamps I have owned or heard. It betters the Rogue 99 Magnum by far in terms of transparency and lack of character, but is also better than other tube and ss preamps I have owned. I think it is a great buy for the price.
I might try some other phono stages, maybe some tubes, but I'll keep the Stealth because of the overall synergy currently in the system.
