Aurum Cantus Leisure 2 vs Quad 12L

One of my audio pals ran Leisure 2 SEs for over a year until he got his present Gradients. (He had Exposure SS amplification but switched to Kora tubes.) He also had Quads--don't remember if it was the 12 or the 22--but felt the AC speakers were much better. I had a couple of sessions with his Leisure 2 SEs and thought they were great: remarkably good in the bass for such a small speaker, and wonderful, pristine highs all the way out to forever.

Note, that was the Leisure 2 SE. He also had the Leisure 2 model, in the rectangular cabinet. It was less transparent than the SE and more coloured in the mids. It still had great highs, and seductive mids despite the colouration.

Hope this helps.

You can try the speakers from Raw Acoustics in Surrey, B.C. I believe there is a demo pair of HT-3s floating around in Ontario. You'll have to get a hold of 'em to confirm that.

is there a reason you would ditch apogees's for either of these? maybe i don't entirely understand if this purchase is in addition to.....if you are looking for a great small speaker with a silky smooth character try a gradient prelude.

Hi Jaybo,

I will never ditch my apogees, I already have a custom made coffin for them to be placed by my side of the grave. I did sell the Diva’s and I cried for weeks. I did not have room to accommodate a 6 feet tall speakers any more so….. I have a pair of Mini Grand with the last edition ribbon placed with the Mahogany trim and I also have Sonus Fabers but I need something for my bedroom so…..something much smaller with good looks

Thanks

the gradient from may audio will capture that magic to a degree for your bedroom. keep those apogees

You can improve the sound of your Mini-Grands with a replacement crossover. I replaced mine about 3 years ago and I'd never go back to the original crossover from Apogee. Times and technology have changed, but the ribbons are still far ahead of box speakers.

http://www.northcreekmusic.com/Stage/StageCrossover.htm

-Rick

I have the Apogee DAX3 crossover!
Check their forums....great stuff, I am a long time member!

http://www.apogeespeakers.com/mainpage.htm

Ravi

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.

I have owned the AC L2se, Quad 12l, 12l Active and 21L2.

It is going to come down to your musical preferences. If you listen exclsuively to Norah Jones and Diana Krall- light jazz, strings, etc than you will really like the AC. The tweeter is really smooth and airy.

However, the Quads are better all around performers in my opinion. They can play loud- they are more coherant from top to bottom and throw a wider, deeper and more pinpoint soundstage. They excel on normal music- rock and pop.

I found myslef to be smitton with the ACs initially but it wore off in only a few months. The Quads I appreciate more and more everytime I sit down.

$.02.

-Rob

Normal music Gracie ?

Versus the music every seems to fall in love with after they get into this hobby. Audiophile labels, high res, whatever you want to call it.

-Rob

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!

Were just posting our experiences right? I think your theory on speakers being good or bad is flawed to an extent.

The fact is that a Klipsch speaker is going to have different attributes than a Magnepan. Both can be good. That is a fact. Speakers sound different, yes? Could this difference cater better or worse to a specific genre? Apparently your answer is no. Mine is yes.

I found the Lesiure 2 became congested and the woofer and ribbon start sounding like individual speakers when the they were asked to play loud. The Quads dont do this IMO. That was the intent of my comment.

Obviosuly this was not an issue for you with the AC.

Two different experiences with the same speaker- not unusual.

-Rob