Quest Z vs Aerius i

[EricE]

Since getting the Quest Z's a year or so ago, the Aerius' have only been doing surround duty....

Just for fun I moved them up to the front channels last night and took a listen to them on the 2 channel setup. I placed them just in front of where the Z's are about 8ft apart and about 9 feet to my seating position on the front row couch. Wow did they sound different than the Quests....

The good points first:
They sounded more open and had a deeper soundstage.
Highs were more defined and "sharper"
Seemed to play louder... My pre has a display for volume and I sometimes play between 50-60 on the display. Last night I was playing low 40's and it sounded just as loud or louder than the Quest Z's. It sounded like the Aerius had higher sensitivity than the larger Quest Z's...

The bad points:
Could not play the low bass notes like the 12" woofers of the Z's
They look so small size wise.

Could there be something wrong with my Quests?????
I know of the damaged cap on the left Quest that will be fixed soon but how could that affect the highs?

 

[Barbados]

If your Aeriuses sound more open, throw a much deeper sounding soundstage with "sharper" highs then something is wrong with your Quests, system or both. Not trying to be rude here at all. When I started with the Logans, the Quests were my fronts and the Aeriuses were used for my surrounds and sides. I experimented with this system for 4 years before upgrading the Quests to the Monolith IIIx. The Aeriuses are mute and closed in compared to the Quests. Additionally, the Quests are far more transparent.

By the way you have a beautifully setup system!

 

[Sky Saw]

They sounded more open and had a deeper soundstage.
Highs were more defined and "sharper"
Seemed to play louder... My pre has a display for volume and I sometimes play between 50-60 on the display. Last night I was playing low 40's and it sounded just as loud or louder than the Quest Z's. It sounded like the Aerius had higher sensitivity than the larger Quest Z's...

It sounds like your Quests need to hit the showers!

 

[EricE]

I think a good wash might be the next step after the cap fix.

I may also be overstating the effects because I actually was looking for a rich warm sounding speaker when I still only had the Aerius's as my main speakers. I was lucky enough to find the Z's for sale locally and I took the plunge.

I also think that the extra foot of placement in front of the Z's gave the better soundstage which I heard from the i's.