Apologies for the length of the post.

I’ve recently got some better spec hifi, and whilst it’s much better than what I had since student days (NAD314/MS MS25i) I’m trying to get it “right” and am not quite there yet, so would like to hear some opinions.

My setup is an Audiolab 8000s (made in China variant) driving a pair of Monitor Audio RS6 speakers, fed by a Raspbery Pi with a PI-DAC+ streaming either FLAC or Spotify 320.
I also have a Quad 33 pre 405 (mk1) power amp which was passed down to me by my father, he owned it from new and it’s never been serviced.

So… I have two issues.

1. The RS6’s are quite bright, and I find them tiring after reasonable volume listening. I know that’s a known issue with these speakers. I have 3 year old twins, and since buying these speakers, my son doesn’t like it when I play music – I suspect it’s painful for him, so regardless of anything else, they have to go in favour of speakers with gentler high end. I want him to like, not fear music ! Apart from that treble issue I love the speakers, the bass and midrange are great, plus they look rather nice which helps.

2. A middle ground amplifier is needed !
The Audiolab / RS6 setup is very clean, detailed, but not very musical, it’s just not very engaging so when set up this way doesn’t get listened to that much, by either me or my wife
The Quad / RS6 setup sounds almost muffled – I do like the detail that the Audiolab brings and miss it when in this setup, but it is a more pleasant sound plus the extra “grunt” of 100w vs 60w seems tanginable. When the quad is wired up we seem much more likely to listen to the stereo for the evening than put the TV on.

Finally, my questions
* Would changing the speakers make the Audiolab less clinical and more engaging? I was thinking MA RX6, Dali Suite 2.8, B&W floorstanders?
* Would getting the Quad serviced and possibly upgraded to Mk2 or Mk3 spec get enough detail back in it would fulfill that middle ground ?

What kind of music do you play?

Keep an eye out for some Linn Kan speakers. They will certainly be more musical and less harsh. Might not be cheap – apparently the ones I have had from new in 2000 are worth more than they cost then!

Rachel

No, and no idea.

This is what comes of buying magazine recommended stuff unheard.

I has an 8000a, it was shite. I also heard lots of kit recommended by magazines that was flawed.

Cynic-Al, a bit harsh maybe?

For me, the fun of building a hifi setup from second hand parts (apart from the improved bang/buck) is that you can trial stuff at home and buy/sell with minimal to no loss. The clever bit that I’m asking for help with is moving beyond random trialling and choosing the next, optimal kit based on what I’ve learned from what I’ve learned so far.

I has an 8000a, it was shit

It’s an 8000s, different amp than an a

Would changing the speakers make the Audiolab less clinical and more engaging

No. It’s a clinical amp. Less bright speakers may take the edge off though.

When the quad is wired up we seem much more likely to listen to the stereo for the evening than put the TV on.

Sounds to me you prefer a smoother Sound? As it’s more relaxing than urgent.

See my contribution on interconnects in the other recent hifi thread.

I tried some Qed reference 40’s very relaxing listen, a bit smooth for my taste but lovely sound.

What cables connectable 8000a to the quad? I’m guessing that’s the muffled sound reason. Changing interconnects bought on line so you can return them if not suitable is a cheap way of getting a sound you like. I recently found chord Cobras to be very detailed compared to qed reference.

Lastly, why not hook up the quad, and run 2 sets of speaker cable, one from the Quad, one from the 8000a and use the selector switch on the 8000a for whatever type of music you want? Detailed clinical when the kid isn’t about or muffled sound via the quad.

Fair point op, but most components inherent sound can’t be changed/hidden.

Chl my point is audio lab were king of the mags 20years ago but their stuff wasn’t great.

I doubt you’ll get what you want without changing both I’m afraid! I softer amp might make the speakers brightness more tolerable, or you could put a resistor on the crossover

I always thought the audiolab stuff I heard was overrated and a bit sterile. Mate tried an 8000a and went for a much cheaper and better Creek, I went for Quads instead of the pre/power Audiolab.

Quad power amps are pretty excellent based on the 306 I started with, then changed to a 707 (got 3 in the chest under the TV) and now 909 mono-blocks.

They are much better than Quad pre-amps allow – I think it was only at the 77 series that their pre-amps started to become good.

Does your 8000s have a split between pre-amp and power-amp – if so you could try running the 8000s pre-amp into the Quad power amp.

If that works OK you could consider getting the 405 serviced.

check you aren’t using some flat speaker cable like the Nordost flatline, that can sound very sharp. The Van Damme 2.5mm stuff is cheap and works as well as anything with my Quads.

The two logical ways of dealing with it are to increase the padding on the tweeter by changing/adding a resistor to the high pass section of the crossover – but that requires some expertise. A simpler solution would be to get some thin felt and fix it over the tweeter (it must NOT touch the dome) to act as an acoustic resistance, thus lowering the output slightly. You may find this also evens out the on-axis vs off-axis response as it causes some diffraction.

Or you can do what the magazines prefer and spend money on cables or buying/selling different components in the endless vague hunt… 😉

I have 3 year old twins, and since buying these speakers, my son doesn’t like it when I play music – I suspect it’s painful for him

Maybe he doesn’t have your taste in music. 😉

I ran some MA’s with an Exposure amp to good effect years ago. Always hated Audiolab gear very cold and bright. I worked in a Hifi shop back then and we sold AL but I never liked it.

Try ringing or emailing my father who has repaired and serviced Quad equipment for decades, he’s happy to advise over the phone or email and does many repairs via mail order. London Sound – londonsound@msn.org – 020 8868 9222

Thanks all !

I also posted this on a hifi site, and the feedback is pretty similar…

In short the speakers are going – regardless of anything else I’ve tried the brightness remains. I’m not quite sure what to choose yet, but it will be something other than Monitor Audio, I know the later RX speakers have a tamer tweeter, but that sounds like a minor tweak.

After the speaker swap has happened I’ll re-experiment with amps – starting with the three I’ve already got. My old friend ran some Acoustic Energy AE109s off his 8000a and it was a great, warm sound so it’s clearly possible.

Running the Quad power without the Quad pre is a good shout – I’ll try that. The 8000s has multiple modes and so yes I can run it as a pre to the Quad power amp.

Solomanda, thanks for the contact – yes I’ll give you Dad a call at some point.

Slowoldman – yes, we do have quite different tastes. I just don’t dig “the wheels on the bus” in quite the same way he does!