News and Offer from Sound Lab at Calif. Audio show

Thanks for helping RW.
(Just for reference and transparency I’m the guy in Japan)

Couple notes
– the Frame style (A) was not really available for a few years and was still not when I made the website a few months ago, but it is again available but note it is only available for the 7 cell width models.

– radiation angle – only for 7 cell width models

Cheers, Chris

Hi RW, beautiful room and speakers. As you probably know Brett is still the one making all the panels and production for the speakers. Great guy and dedicated to carry the legacy forward. He will be in Oakland with me this July for the first two days of the show I believe.

Let me know I can help more, I will be at the California Audio show and happy to discuss if you can come.
Or you can email me directly and discuss more before the show: cstubbs@soundlabelectrostats.com
By looking at your room and furniture I think you would definitely enjoy a taller speaker (G7, 8 or even possilby 9)

(I have been a dealer for Sound Lab since 2012)

SoundLabs larger models are quite efficient – 90db for the larger taller models

the smallest speaker is rated around 86db.
(G5-4C, or the G7-3C)

NOTE: because the Sound Lab are much taller than QUAD, you will get much more energy coming over your table and to your sitting position in the room – a big improvement I think in my opinion.

Also note: the tall SL also makes full use of the ‘line-source’ benefit … throwing sound naturally that will be heard in the kitchen easily. Point source sound loud close to the speaker (sorry if I am telling u something u already know)… and volume decreases quickly as you move away, and very much so with anything blocking the speaker source, but with SL even if you walk right up to the speaker, it is not loud and if you walk away, the volume is basically the same from almost anywhere in your room … even when something might be blocking the lower parts of the speaker because it is so tall… do I make sense?

Well, Sound Lab is very good anywhere basically. The 45 degree dispersion is well controlled so you have very few wall reflections even in a narrow room (and toe-in a bit makes sure of that too)
If you had to choose which room to put Sound Lab, you may enjoy the listening and sound from a larger room with the SL having more space and you could think of getting the 7 cell (widest) versions which have the benefit of slightly better lower frequency response. (wider panels reduces bass cancellation but they all sound excellent) If you were to think of the narrow room, then a more narrow SL would fit better (visually) and because they are tall will certainly sound better than the shorter Quad (in my opinion) – you may start with one (for whichever room) and I suspect you might fall in love with them and want for both rooms 🙂

Some of my youtube videos may give you some idea…the sound samples sound better with headphones, but keep in mind it is just an idea!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZG5iGMnIfCSBvVodwmIw4A

They are beautiful – the wood is walnut.
The subs have a slightly customized back plate which has two sets of posts, 1 set completely by-passes the x-over and other controls (level and damping) and 1 set which uses the controls. I thought for sure I would want to bypass the controls but actually I have found it works wonderfully well using just my Berning amps to drive both the full range and bass panel wired in parallel (which is how Roger has them intended) Note the bass panels are additional energy for the room…the full range panels function normally with the full signal.

Hmm question: did both quads sound good (or similar) in the larger room?

The room is of course so important.

I suspect your long narrow room may ‘load’ music energy better and especially so with the larger quads so they could ‘see’ above the table height etc.
But in the big room- especially opening to a kitchen, larger tall SL with 45 degree dispersion would definitely help bring that room to life. I am sure.

Thanks for the photo, I notice that the right speaker does not have any wall behind it the same as the left speaker does, this would have rather significant effect on the overall balance and imaging … the back wall is really quite important. Is there any option for that?
And please see the red arrow pointing at the ‘beam’ this might be a problem for height if you plan to position your speakers there.
What do you think?

If you would like to discuss further on an order I might suggest to email me directly.
Do you have the current price list?
I can do my best to have Roger keep the current price for your order until the July show (easier to do if you are thinking of a larger model, because the price increases will be more significant for the smaller and more narrow models because actually the fixed cost for producing these are quite high and not much different from the larger ones)

And Brett just texted me back – current lead time is about 7 weeks – and that is about as good as it gets!

I would agree with you. The time for production does vary depending on orders. I think it is usually around 2-3 months … give me a moment and I will ask how it is just now.

Some photos in construction I took last year when I visited.
One of them shows Brett using a heat gun – which brings Mylar to critical temperature – quite useful because after many years giving it a ‘heat treatment’ is easy and brings mylar back to perfect tension.
(which is unlikely to change, but after many moves over many years may warrant the servicing)

It’s a good question. Since 2006-ish Sound Lab introduced new generation of extremely rugged, durable panels and with the newest super glues – basically the panels are extremely reliable. Many Quad owners must have repair work after few years because they are rather susceptible to breakdown (I mean no disrespect).
New Sound Lab panels especially since after 2012 really do not require repair – the insulation is excellent. Taken care of they will last for years and years – one of my pairs are 13 yrs and no problem. Should there be an accident and need repair, it is best to send back to Utah. They are all custom made, made by experienced family staff and hand crafted, not mass produced at all. Extremely easy to talk to and to receive support from Sound Lab.

Yes, that is basically correct. But it is important to note that the curvature appearance of SL does not mean the cells are curved… the cells are flat and are angled at the joining points of each cell in order to achieve the ‘curved’ dispersion. There are important reasons for all this – I can attach information if you wish. But the bottom line is the SL (from what I have heard and other Quad people have told me) is that SL sound very natural and a lot of that has to do with the way in which Roger has designed them to disperse.