Quad S-2


Recently acquired a pair of these speakers to replace my trusty 14 year old Castle Richmond 3i's.  According to the manual they need 50 hours run in before sounding their best. I've got about 30 hours on mine to date, but am already really impressed with them and they are a significant upgrade on the Richmond 3i's, which were very well regarded in their day.  I haven't owned or heard many speakers in my lifetime for comparison, but these do sound extremely good to my ears and are highly regarded by the few owner reports that I've come across.  So, I'm a little puzzled as to why they don't appear to be very popular, at least I rarely see them mentioned on hi-fi forums.  I wonder if the reason could be that Quad are not a go to speaker brand like KEF, B&W or Dynaudio to name a few? Or, perhaps more likely, that people, especially those in the UK, tend to shy away from what was originally a UK manufactured speaker that is now a part of the IAG group and manufactured in China? Then again, the answer could be simply that the S-2 simply doesn't appeal to many folk, perhaps due to a dislike of ribbon tweeters?
moffer

Showing 3 responses by moffer

That figures for the US, but doesn’t explain why they don’t appear to be popular in the UK.

Will enjoy! Thanks rob.
Think I overlooked your post, tle.

Not sure how long Quad has been taken over by IAG, but now they have you would think that marketing would have substantially improved since they’ve been part of a large Chinese outfit.
Thanks milpai, I’m really enjoying the S-2’s they are cracking speakers. I’m not at all bothered by the lack of press they get or how many people own them. I was/am just curious how such a great little speaker is not more popular than it appears to be. I see what you mean about setting them up properly...I’m surprised how an inch or two difference of toe-in can affect the sound. My old Castles were never this fussy about positioning. Anyway, I think I’ve finally got ’em as good as I can with just a couple of degrees of toe-in and near 2 foot from rear wall to front baffle.