the closest approach to the original sound.
L2 Series Loudspeakers
P e r f o r m a n c e
s e r i e s
2
The Quad
Philosophy
Quad has, since the 1950s, led the
field in loudspeaker development. The
famous Quad electrostatics are now,
quite rightly, regarded amongst the very
finest loudspeakers money can buy.
With a fifty-strong R&D team, our
research into acoustics and reproduction
leads the field in development of
quality hi-fi equipment. British design
and engineering coupled with the
industry’s most efficient manufacturing
facility combine to create products
unequalled in terms of value and
performance.
Our philosophy is simple - that of
producing ‘the closest approach to the
original sound…’.
Our philosophy is based upon a belief
that hi-fi should add nothing nor remove
anything from a recording – merely
reproduce it. The resulting sound
should be without artefacts, distortion,
colouration and truly revealing of the
recording process.
Buying a first Quad system is often
a revelation to customers. Although
neither artificially impressive nor
imposing, it will produce a natural
performance and an ease of listening
that is captivating from the start.
Quad products are sometimes seen as
the kind of products bought at the end
of a journey through hi-fi; we believe
they mark the beginning.
The Quad
L2-Series
L2 is our new entry point into
loudspeakers, but these are by no means
‘budget’ loudspeakers. Using advanced
composite driver materials, rare-earth
magnets, advanced alloys, quality
terminals and finished in a choice
of high-gloss, piano-lacquered real
veneers, they are fully representative
of Quad’s commitment to quality and
performance.
Voiced for a clean, natural mid-range
performance with crisp, clean detail
and a taut, punchy bass performance,
L2 series loudspeakers excel with wellrecorded, complex music scores. The
layering of each instrument or vocal
texture is clear and precise, allowing
the listener to pick out nuances
previously overlooked. Providing a
‘window’ on the recording, the natural
tone of the recording is fully preserved
to create a real insight into the original
performance.
Our manufacturing facility is possibly
the world’s most advanced in terms
of loudspeaker production. From
raw material to finished product, the
entire process occurs under a single
roof. Diaphragm production, voicecoil winding, magnet assembly, PCB
printing, crossover manufacture, die-
casting of chassis, terminal plate,
terminals, dispersion guide, even the
spike assembly all take place in the
same building.
Each cabinet is crafted from a
eucalyptus based 25mm MDF, using
computer controlled precision routers,
before being assembled. Every cabinet
is unique, finished with a real veneer
– not reconstituted wood pulp as other
manufacturers use – with seven coats of
piano lacquer – each applied by hand,
then dried at ambient temperature
for 24 hours, then finally hand cut
and polished before the next coat is
applied. These are fine furniture grade
finishes using the same techniques as
are used to produce the world’s finest
pianos.
Whatever your musical tastes, or
listening objectives, be they traditional
2-channel or AV, the L2-series
loudspeakers will delight and deliver
flawless performances, unequalled
reliability and remain a stunning
centrepiece of your audio system for
many years to come. Backed with
the support of our famous service
department, as with all Quad products,
the L2 series represent a very worthwhile
investment.
4
The original L-series entered hi-fi’s hall of fame in 2002,
with the 11L winning What Hi-Fi? magazine’s prestigious
‘Product of the Year’ Award – an accolade that was repeated
the following year, and again in 2004, winning best in
class. Around the world the pattern was repeated with
major awards from leading magazines on every continent.
6
L2 Series
Technology
Designing loudspeakers is still very
much an art form, yet modern materials
and components allow us to push
the performance envelope further than
ever before.
Neodymium magnets are used in
the L2 tweeters. These are a form
of ‘rare-earth’ super-magnet. Because
they are so strong and small, when
properly employed, they create a very
concentrated magnetic field – ideal
for the small excursions required for a
good high-frequency response.
Whilst most moving-coil tweeters
use copper voice-coils, we have
developed for the L2 series a new
wound aluminium alloy voice coil
– capable of higher power handling
that the copper equivalent, with
better thermal stability and a wider
bandwidth. This is largely responsible
for the improvements to detail and
resolution over the original L-series.
A good bass driver chassis design is
essential for smooth mid-range. A poor
chassis creates reflections from the
cone movement that are passed back
through the cone and cause a temporal
smearing effect, akin to ‘ghosting’ of a
television signal.
At Quad, we are fortunate as we
have the capability of designing and
manufacturing any chassis structure.
With our own tool shop, die-casting
machines, and drive unit assembly
plant, we can control the complete
process from design to manufacture.
The L2 series uses a new low-profile
version of the 4-arc driver chassis used
in the original L-series. While the same
curved, self-bracing design is used, all
the legs are now profiled and narrowed
to minimise cone reflections.
The audiophile grade crossover is
carefully orientated to minimise
magnetic induction and, on bookshelf
models, we have added our unique
twin port arrangement (designed to
reduce distortion by up to 50%).
Technical Improvements
Metallised Polypropylene low-loss
capacitors are used in an audiophile
grade crossover. All components are
mounted on glass-fibre PCBs with noninterlacing tracks. Perfect layer, aircored inductors are used, mounted
cross-axially to preventmagnetic
intermodulation.
Internal bracing is applied to even
the bookshelf models now, designed
specifically to randomise the internal
reflections and cause rapid dissipation
of internal standing waves for a clean,
fast bass response.
The theory of
Good Design
According to Quad’s philosophy
a good loudspeaker should add
nothing, nor remove anything from the
recorded sound. Many loudspeakers
on the market adhere instead to a
philosophy of extending the high
and low frequencies to make an
artificially ‘impressive’ loudspeaker.
Such an approach can sound good in
the dealer’s demo room but is quickly
fatiguing and often masks the more
subtle nuances of a recording.
Our engineers focus instead on the
audible range, ensuring as smooth
as possible an integration between
bass and treble. This is the most
crucial region of any loudspeaker’s
frequency response. The human ear
is at it’s most sensitive through the
vocal range of frequencies, which
is also the range that moving-coil
loudspeakers crossover from using the
mid/bass driver to the high frequency
tweeter.
The art of a good crossover is
simplicity, but for other manufacturers
the crossover needs to compensate for
slight miss-matches between bought
in components – Quad doesn’t buy
in components, we make them all
in-house, so our loudspeakers are
designed in perfect synergy. Our
crossovers are extremely simple and
retain all of the precious mid-range
detail and purity that can so easily
be lost. We use the highest quality
components and windings to ensure
nothing is compromised.
8
Quad
Driver
Technology
Freedom to create our own chassis
designs, means we are able to stretch
driver technology to the absolute limits.
The new L2 series bass driver chassis is
an excellent example of this. Using
very low-profile legs, we can virtually
eliminate the temporal-smearing effect
of rearward waves being reflected back
through the cone – it’s as if the cone
were itself just floating in free space.
The new L2 series tweeter is the first of
it’s kind to use an aluminium voice coil.
This provides much wider bandwidth,
and hence resolution. Because of
it’s unerring accuracy, a holographic
sound-stage reminiscent of the famous
Quad ESL is possible. Dispersion is
optimised for a real in-room response
to ensure that you hear more
of the music as it was recorded and less
room effect.
Quad has led the way in producing
one of the most remarkable subwoofers
for a new generation of audiophiles.
The sealed box, exceptional ‘tri-lam’
driver and powerful amplifier add up
to a performance that leaves little to
be desired.
Each subwoofer is also supplied with a
full function remote control, allowing
the listener to adjust the volume,
crossover and phase from the actual
listening position. Up to four individual
settings can be stored in the memory
and can be recalled at the press of
a button.
10
Dual Catenary tweeter dispersion plate – cast from Aluminium, the new tweeter
plate enhances the dispersion characteristic, to prevent ‘beaming’ and to widen
the listening ‘sweet spot’. Polar response is exceptional with the frequency range,
even 45 degrees off-axis, being flat and extended.
This results in a consistently high standard of performance, regardless of where the
listener is sat in the room and reduces the effect that room furnishings have on the
in-room response.
12
The
L2-Subwoofer
Technology
A revolutionary drive unit material
is only the start of the technological
innovations that make this new Quad
subwoofer a fine addition to any
surround or stereo system.
The ‘tri-lam’ cone is a composite
construction comprising of a
hydraulically moulded and thermoset
lamination of three materials. The inner
layer is bi-directional weave carbon
fibre, the two outer layers are bidirectional weave glass fibre. The outer
rim of the cone incorporates
rim-edge stiffening within the design. The
resulting cone is extremely rigid and
lightweight, ensuring very low energy
losses, even at extremes of volume,
and without the delays associated with
high-mass paper pulp or plastic cones
commonly used in subwoofer drivers.
Further innovations include a powerful
300WRMS amplifier module coupled
with a brand new filter stage. A
microprocessor controlled filter
section has been developed adjustable
between 35 and 85Hz in 10Hz steps
– each having a discrete path for the
cleanest signal possible.
A full function remote control allows
the user to calibrate the subwoofer
(crossover, volume and phase) from
the listening position and store up to
four settings in the memory, which can
be recalled at the touch of a button.
Finished in the same choice of high
quality piano lacquered veneers as
the existing L-series models, the L2subwoofer is as attractive a piece of
furniture as it is accomplished as a
reference subwoofer.
L2 Series
Specifications
Model
Transducer Complement
Bass Driver
Mid Driver
Soft Dome Tweeter
Nominal Impedance
Freq Response +/- 6dB
Upper Freq Limit -10dB
SPL 1W @ 1m
Power Handling
Continuous Programme
Recommended Amp
System Fb
Crossover Frequencies
Dimensions (HxWxD) mm
Gross Weight
Carton Size (HxWxD) mm
Model
Transducer Complement
Bass Driver
Mid Driver
Soft Dome Tweeter
Nominal Impedance
Freq Response +/- 6dB
Upper Freq Limit -10dB
SPL 1W @ 1m
Power Handling
Continuous Programme
Recommended Amp
System Fb
Crossover Frequencies
Dimensions (HxWxD ) mm
Gross Weight
Carton Size (HxWxD) mm
9L2
2 Way
4” / 100mm
-
1” / 25mm
6 Ohms
50Hz-28kHz
32kHz
85dB
75 Watts
30 - 120 W
60Hz
2.2kHz
248 x 152 x 205
9.2kg
322 x 398 x 258
L-ITE Sat
2 Way
4” / 100mm
-
1” / 25mm
6 Ohms
70Hz-28kHz
32kHz
86dB
75 Watts
30 - 120 W
70Hz
2.2kHz
225 x 135 x 160
6.2kg
278 x 426 x 192
11L2 12L2 21L2 22L2
2 Way
5” / 125mm
-
1” / 25mm
6 Ohms
45Hz-28kHz
32kHz
86dB
85 Watts
30 - 150 W
55Hz
2.2kHz
310 x 190 x 243
12.6kg
405 x 313 x 495
L2 Centre
2 Way
5” / 125mm x2
-
1” / 25mm
6 Ohms
70Hz-28kHz
32kHz
88dB
70 Watts
30 - 150 W
60Hz
2.0kHz
163 x 428 x 206
8.8
273 x 255 x 505
2 Way
6.5” / 170mm
-
1” / 25mm
6 Ohms
45Hz-28kHz
32kHz
88dB
100 Watts
30 - 200 W
50Hz
2.2kHz
330 x 205 x 253
15.2kg
440 x 325 x 530
L-ITE Centre
2 Way
4” / 100mm x2
-
1” / 25mm
6 Ohms
80Hz-28kHz
32kHz
87dB
85 Watts
30 - 120 W
75Hz
2.5kHz
135 x 340 x 160
6.2
240 x 191 x 400
2 Way
6.5” / 170mm
-
1” / 25mm
6 Ohms
35Hz-28kHz
32kHz
88dB
125 Watts
40 - 200 W
40Hz
2.2kHz
780 x 205 x 263
34kg
970 x 365 x 630
2 Way
6.5” / 170mm
6.5” / 170mm
1” / 25mm
6 Ohms
30Hz-28kHz
32kHz
89dB
150 Watts
50 - 300 W
35Hz
150Hz, 3.0kHz
850 x 205 x 278
38.1kg
1035 x 375 x 630
Finishes (all models)
L-ITE Series Surround Package
Piano Cherry
Piano Rosewood
Piano Birds Eye
Piano Black
Piano Silver
Transducer Complement
Amplifer Output power
Line Input Sensitivity
Freq Response (boundary)
Low Frequency Limit -10dB
Avg. Max output @ 1m
Dimensions (HxWxD ) mm
Carton Size (HxWxD) mm
14
Model
Model
Bass Driver
Input Impedance
Crossover Range
Gross Weight
L2 Sub
Single Tri-Lam Driver
12” / 300mm
300 Watts
250mV for 100W output
10 kOhms
25Hz-95Hz
32Hz
113dB
35-85Hz
535 x 345 x 465
31.6kg
555 x 470 x 640
L-ITE SubL2 Sub
Single Tri-Lam Driver
10” / 250mm
300 Watts
250mV for 100W output
10 kOhms
25Hz-95Hz
32Hz
108dB
35-85Hz (plus bypass)
485 x 288 x 435
28.5kg
418 x 544 x 617
L2 Series Surround Package
Quad Product Range
Refer ence
s e r i e s
Electrostatic Loudspeakers
• ESL - 2805
• ESL - 2905
P e r f o r m a n c e
s e r i e s
ESL - 2805
Loudspeakers
• L-ITE 5.1 System
• L-ITE Mini Loudspeaker - Pair
• L-ITE Centre Loudspeaker - Single
• 9L2 Loudspeaker - Pair
• 11L2 Loudspeaker - Pair
• 12L2 Loudspeaker - Pair
• 21L2 Loudspeaker - Pair
• 22L2 Loudspeaker - Pair
• L2 Centre Loudspeaker - Single
• L2 Subwoofer - Single
• L-ITE Subwoofer - Single
Clas s i c
s e r i e s
Electrostatic Loudspeakers
• ESL - 989
• ESL - 988
Amplifiers
• II-forty Power Amplifier (mono)
• II-Classic Power Amplifier
• QC-twenty four Pre Amplifier
• QC-24P Phono stage
Electronics
• 99 CDP-2
• 99 CD-S
• 99 Pre
• 99 Stereo
• 99 Tuner
• 909 Stereo
• 909 Mono
99 - Pre Amp
99 - Power Amp
Quad ll-Forty Power Amp
QC24 Pre Amp
Quad Electr oacoustics Ltd,
IAG House, Sove reign Court, Ermine Business Park,
Huntingdo n, Cambs, PE29 6XU
Tel :- 01480 447700, Fax :- 01480 431767
www.quad-hifi.co.uk
The inf ormatio n in this b rochure is s ubject to cha nge witho ut
notice. All right s rese rved © 2006 Quad
Quad i s a m ember of the Inter nat ional Audio Group
Qu.L2.1 1.2 006
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