Amplifier advice for quad z4

firearm12

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Hi friends,

I have recently acquired quad z4 speakers. I am using Naim nait xs2 amp to drive them. It works well but somewhere I feel the speakers are much more capable, maybe Naim doesn't have the grunt, though it sounds very good but I feel that music is not as open as I would have liked and bass instruments like tabla lack some energy, can this be because of low power of amp or lack of synergy? My speakers are 4ohm 90db and my amp rated at 100w/4ohm 70w/8ohm. I cannot turn volume dial more than 10oclock without going deaf, it goes that much loud and amp is never hot. Are there any other signs to look for that can tell that amp is running out of juice? Any advice on which amp to go for if I decide to change amp.
 
Burn in speakers for minimum 50 hours before any judgement call. 100 hours is better.
 
Even I had the Naim XS2 with the Harbeth Compact 7ES3 and like you I could never turn the volume more than 10 O clock.. It means the amp has enough power to drive the speakers... As Joshua says, give the speakers a proper run in of 100 hours and then check.. The drivers would have opened up a little by then and so would the sound...
 
Firearm

It's not the power alone... It's the balance

Your speakers impedance dips to 3.7 ohm and they have 5 drivers I think.

These seem to be demanding speakers

Can't fault the Naim amp nor the speakers

They are what they are..

Just that your speakers may need an Amp that provides much more headroom and power.

Maybe a better source too overall..

Welcome to the market

:))

Regards
 
Firearm

It's not the power alone... It's the balance

Your speakers impedance dips to 3.7 ohm and they have 5 drivers I think.

These seem to be demanding speakers

Can't fault the Naim amp nor the speakers

They are what they are..

Just that your speakers may need an Amp that provides much more headroom and power.

Maybe a better source too overall..

Welcome to the market

:))

Regards

Thanks, quad says prefeered amp rating is 60w -250w. I also read in a hifinews review that it dips below to 1ohm at 584hz. What do you think would be the preferred power to comfortable drive these speakers. One thing that pokes my mind is that amp should get hot if it's not able to provide current, but in this scenario it doesn't get any hot even at high volumes, is this not true.

'Quad’s stated minimum impedance of 3.6ohm,
our measurement recording a dip to a full 1ohm lower at
584Hz. Impedance phase angles are fairly well controlled
but in combination with the low modulus the EPDR dips to a
minimum of 1.3ohm at 99Hz and again to 1.4ohm at 838Hz,
so the Z-4 is a tough load to drive
.'
 
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The clue lies in the higher rating mentioned in the speaker spec.

It will perform best if you have a 175w Amp at 8 ohm and approaching 275w at 4 ohm

I am talking SS Amp

In terms of Naim.. Something like a NAP 300 DR

But this is only my observation based on my audio journey..

YMMV
 
Hi friends,

I have recently acquired quad z4 speakers. I am using Naim nait xs2 amp to drive them. It works well but somewhere I feel the speakers are much more capable, maybe Naim doesn't have the grunt, though it sounds very good but I feel that music is not as open as I would have liked and bass instruments like tabla lack some energy, can this be because of low power of amp or lack of synergy? My speakers are 4ohm 90db and my amp rated at 100w/4ohm 70w/8ohm. I cannot turn volume dial more than 10oclock without going deaf, it goes that much loud and amp is never hot. Are there any other signs to look for that can tell that amp is running out of juice? Any advice on which amp to go for if I decide to change amp.

A simple visit to my house can solve your problem. I have a similar setup. Speakers 89db 4ohm load; Quad 100wrms.

HiFi Rig: Cambridge Audio Cxn + Quad 405 MK2 + Piega Classic 3.0
 
Very difficult to judge as could be so many factors involved. Why not write to quad and ask what amp(s) do they recommend to use with their speakers? What about placement of speakers? Can you share a picture of the set up please?
 
A simple visit to my house can solve your problem. I have a similar setup. Speakers 89db 4ohm load; Quad 100wrms.

HiFi Rig: Cambridge Audio Cxn + Quad 405 MK2 + Piega Classic 3.0

Thanks but not sure that would solve my problem, still would like to listen to your setup some day.
 
Very difficult to judge as could be so many factors involved. Why not write to quad and ask what amp(s) do they recommend to use with their speakers? What about placement of speakers? Can you share a picture of the set up please?

Quad artera amp is matching one they have. It's rated 140w/8ohm
 
Thanks but not sure that would solve my problem, still would like to listen to your setup some day.

You mentioned that at 10 O clock position it goes so loud and you can't bear it. Maybe amp gets into distoration mode. With my setup I have the rasie the volume to 1 O clock position for music to become soulful.
 
You mentioned that at 10 O clock position it goes so loud and you can't bear it. Maybe amp gets into distoration mode. With my setup I have the rasie the volume to 1 O clock position for music to become soulful.

Its surely not distortion or clipping although the sound hardens a bit on high volume. I think Naim amps can sound very loud below 10 o'clock, @panditiji also confirmed the same. I am trying to find if i really need more power or a different amp
 
After changing the spdif cable from digione signature to my dac, the sound has become much less wooly in bass and more immediate in midrange, more musical to me. I never thought spdif cables can affect sound like this. I am now using cablesetc spdif cable bought from Amazon.
 
Hi friends, i did a little observation today with the smaller quad s2 bookshelves which are still lying with me. I connected one quad s2 speaker to one of the stereo channel output and one quad z4 to other and played some songs and listened to each one of the speakers one by one with my ear very close to the tweeter, a sort of a/b comparison. Every song I played, smaller speakers produced clear and sweet treble on whereas the big z4 tweeter sounded very shrilling and bit distorted treble. What am I doing wrong here. IMO quad z4 should have sounded better but it sounds so much shrilling. Please help I am greatly puzzled by this result.
 
I think all this might be related to the high resolution of z4 and they are showing up shortcomings of my chain mercilessly. quite astonishing that they respond to any change i do in room or their position by an inch, or any cable changes. I am finding them congested in bass/midrange and shouty on treble whereas I am looking for a relaxed bass/miss and open treble which can fill the room. I have written to quad also, let's see how they respond.
 
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