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Is It Possible?

Help!!!

Is it possible for a pair of Quad63 sounds better than a pair of Focal Utopia Scala I?  I am was using the Scala in my system and was very happy with the overall result, except for an occasionally bright sound on certain recordings.  I recently bought a pair of non-working Quad63 at a garage sale for $250, had them serviced for about $650.  I was going to use the quad in my office for background music, but I decided to have a A/B test against my beloved Scala.  I almost fell of my chair when heard what came out of the Quad. The vocals and the instruments just came alive, especially the female's voice.  The only advantage I gave to the Scala was the soundstage, which is wider and a little deeper than the Quad.  How can this be?  What am I doing wrong with the Scala?  How can a pair of $900 speakers sounds much better, in my opinion, than a pair of speakers that cost me almost $25,000?

myaudio168
roberjerman
2,086 posts
 
The founder and owner of SME had an array of 16 horizontally and vertically stacked 63's in his listening room! I saw the pictures! And he could afford any speaker in the world!
michaelgreenaudio's avatar
michaelgreenaudio
643 posts
 

"Welcome to modern high end audio.
But yet every year speakers make huge leaps and gains rendering the previous model hopelessly obsolete"

I wasn’t sure if you were making a joke or not so don’t take this wrong if you were.

The HEA market is a very small part of the playback hobby. Long after the over priced, over built era is long gone products like the Quad will be admired for thousands, maybe tens of thousands. The 57 and 63 models, set up well, can hold someone’s attention for hours and days of constant play. Most "modern" speakers haven’t a prayer in doing this before the owners start making "bad recording" excuses.

There are far more listeners who have moved back to proven designs then there are modern purchases.

Michael Green

http://www.michaelgreenaudio.net/

whart's avatar
whart
1,930 posts
 
I owned a pair of Crosby-modified ’63s which I enjoyed several decades ago, after an even longer love affair with the original, a/k/a the ’57, which I’ve owned since 1973. I had those restored somewhat recently, after languishing in packing crates for years. They are now set up as a second system in our "front parlor." They are extremely forgiving, and despite their obvious limitations, make music in a way that is stunning. They are just so engaging to listen to; i could easily live with them as a main system notwithstanding their limits. They are far different in presentation than my bigger horn based system, but the focus is not on the WOW factor-- they pull you in.
I’ve known many Quad owners over the years who are recidivists--they eventually sell them, only to buy them again. I’m glad I have mine. I enjoy them immensely.
scorpio1951
171 posts
 
  Don't let the prices of the two speakers confuse you. It is how they sound that counts. The Quads are a great speaker. If you like them enough, sell your other speakers or use them in  a second system in your house. 
analogluvr
800 posts
 
@michael green.  I was being very sarcastic.  It was a shot against those who believe you need to have the latest greatest thing to get good sound. The longer I spend in the hobby the more I realize that this couldn't possibly be further from the truth. It's definitely related to the similar belief that  you need to spend a ton of money to get good sound. I mean obviously the review were's and advertisers need to convince us of that to sell us the latest most expensive crap.
My speaker system dates from the 60s and when I go to shows I really don't hear anything that I want to replace it with.  I believe one could augment the top and bottom of the quad 63's and have a state of the art world beater. 
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