Aurum Cantus Leisure 2 vs Quad 12L

I just replaced my Quad 12L monitors with a pair of Aurum Cantus Leisure 2SE's from Kellsie Audio Video. I bought them used here on A-gon. The Aurum Cantus, IMHO, are definitely a superior speaker, in every respect. The Leisure 2SE's are a serious speaker. Bass is deeper and more realistic. I bought them for the ribbon tweeter to achieve better extension and clarity, and in that regard, they delivered superbly. But I did not expect the bass they reproduce. Mid range is excellent, imaging is excellent - overall they sound much bigger and musical. After listening to the Aurum Cantus, the Quads just sound flat and un-involving. In addition to all of that, the finish is first rate, the matching stands are beautiful. These speakers are real show-stoppers.

Robr45 - I guess I need to buy a different set of speakers for each type of music I intend to play? I never did understand the point of view in which someone buys a set of speakers for the type of music they prefer. I believe speakers are either worth their salt or they aren't. If they sound good with Norah Jones, why wouldn't they sound good with classical or jazz or loud rock and roll music? The fact is, they do. They either reproduce bass, have good imaging and detail or they aren't good in those areas. In this case after owning the Quad 11L's, I traded them for 12L's because we moved the system into a bigger room. I loved the 11L's and thought (mistakenly) that the 12L's would provide more of the same great sound. But they didn't. Either the crossover design, bigger box or bigger woofer made the midrange in the 12L's muddier, less defined, almost lethargic compared to the 11L's. The bass was fine, but the dynamics were lost, their was loss in detail and everything sounded slower. We plugged in the Aurum Cantus Leisure 2SE's, which were used and fully broken in and the veil came off! The light and airy upper end response you described is exactly right. They sounded much faster, more open, sweeter, more detailed and imaged as well or better than the 12L's. The bass was more tuneful, less thumpy and for lack of a better word, more "bass-like". And we played them LOUD. And we mixed it up, we went way past female vocals: blues, jazz, country, the Dead, J. Buffet, heck we even played the radio! And, as my theory holds, good speakers sound good with everything thrown at them, not just with an artist or two. And of course, none of this really matters because we like what sounds best to each of us, individually. If you've found what you love, more power to you! Too many never get there, they just churn and churn and churn, spending thousands and never really enjoying the journey. You don't have to spend thousands in this hobby and you don't have own the latest and greatest, you need to find what you like, personally and just enjoy it! Cheers!