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B&W Matrix 801 II and Quad ESL-63 Sound Question

Posted by George S. Roland (A) on April 17, 2015 at 08:01:49

Hi,

In comparative listening to these two speakers over about a year's time, a question has come up for me upon which some of you might care to comment. It concerns overall sound and onset transients.

The overall quality is a bit softer, gentler, slightly less forceful presentation from the Quads that reduces tension and allows for a very pleasant listening session. It seems a bit more diffused-sounding. In general, the B&Ws have more detail. I simply hear more content with them than with the ESL-63s. However, this additional content is accompanied by a bit harder-sounding onset transients, a more forward presentation and, I would have to say, a bit more stressful listening experience at times.

In theory, it seems to me that the lighter, faster diaphragms of the electrostat ought to produce a faster, cleaner onset of sound, but that does not seem to be the case. It leaves me wondering whether the B&Ws are simply overly-crisp and the Quads accurate or the reverse--that the B&Ws are accurate and the Quads overly diffuse? Or might this be due to the larger radiating surface of the Quad's diaphragms?

As an aside, I also found bass performance interesting. I listened to the bass tracks of Stereophile's Test CD # 2 bass decade warble tones through the two speakers. Without the B&W Bass Alignment filter in the circuit, the Quads produced lower bass than did the B&Ws! With the Bass Alignment filter in the circuit, the B&Ws bass performance was equal to the Quads. Here I am speaking only of the audibility of these deep bass test tones, not the quality of the bass when reproducing music where the B&Ws have a more robust, forceful quality. This surprised and interested me because Quads are almost universally dissed for having "no bass". I have always found Quad bass, while a bit lean, to have good depth, clarity and seamlessness with the rest of the sonic picture.

BTW, for those who might ask, I am doing these listening comparisons with both solid state and valve amps (Parasound A-21 and Audio Research VT-100 respectively).

George

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