The selling proposition for the new Quad L-ite Plus surround speaker system is simple: it's 'capable of delivering a full-scale cinematic experience from sleek, compact speakers, beautifully constructed to grace even the most stylish of rooms.'
Oh, and as well as black and white, Wizard of Oz fans can buy the new speakers – which will sell for £1200 for a complete 5.1-channel set-up – in high gloss ruby red.
The Quad L-ite Plus is designed to build on the success of previous L-ite systems by incorporating drive unit technology from the company's L-Classic range of full-size speakers.
The long-throw mid/bass drivers (one in each satellite, two in the centre speaker) have 10cm cones using Quad's bi-directional Kevlar weave for strength and stiffness without excessive weight, and are driven by a double hand-wound voice-coil and a high powered magnet assembly, mounted in a die-cast aluminium chassis. A profiled phase-plug is used to improving integration with the tweeter.
That 25mm tweeter uses a soft fabric dome with a waveguide, also for better integration, and the 25cm-tall cabinets are profiled with smooth, curved surfaces to aid dispersion. The speakers are finished in multiple layers of high-gloss lacquer.
An all-new active subwoofer is used in the L-ite Plus system: it houses two mechanically-opposed bass drivers, driven by a 200W amplifier. The drivers use Duo Tri-Lam cones, constructed from a layer of bi-directional woven carbon fibre sandwiched between layers of bi-directionally woven glass fibre. Bass extension is down to 35Hz (+/-3db), or 30Hz at -6dB.
The Quad L-ite Plus goes on sale in May and, as well as being available in that £1200 package of four satellites, a centre and a subwoofer, the speakers can be bought separately: the satellites are £250/pr, the centre is £200, and the subwoofer is £600.
Written by Andrew Everard
