I could use some input...

Greetings All:
My name is Bob, and I live in the USA, specifically the state of Washington. I could use some input from those who are familiar with the Quad Z series of speakers, particularly the Z3 speakers. I have the Z2 which is a standmounted speaker but I would like to move up to the Z3, a floorstander. I am looking to make the move so as to have a more "full range" speaker and perhaps clear out the subwoofers that I am using with the Z2 speakers. My concern is this: looking at the specs for the Z3, it does not seem to extend very low for a fairly large three way, especially a speaker with two seven inch (175mm) woofers. Is there anyone who owns these that can tell me if they do indeed play deeper than 50Hz or should I look elsewhere for speakers? I really enjoy the ribbon tweeter in the Quads, and I am getting a very nice midrange sound plus an excellent treble. The subs (REL) fill in for the deeper bass but again, it would be nice to have less equipment in the room.
I appreciate any and all help; many thanks!

According to Quad bass response is -3dB at 50 Hz. I agree that is not especially impressive for a big floorstanding speaker. Even with room/boundary gain you are not going to get much power in the low bass. So if your room is large they might actually sound a bit bass light with some music. I'd look for a speaker that is going to be no more than -3db down at around 30hz to 35hz if you want to give up the subs and not miss them.

You could take a look at the PMC range. They tend to have extended bass for their size. Not cheap, but nice quality.

I have the Z3 on demo and my customers have never commented on any loss of bass. They do things differently to the stand mounts, bass aside, they offer a larger sound stage, fuller mid and have an easier, more refined sound overall.

If you want proper, deep bass, you will need to consider larger speakers with larger bass drivers. Even the 'transmission' designs with small drivers don't do low bass - they peak at 100 -120 Hz and then drop from there.

The Z2 has the same quoted bass response as the Z3. I would imagine that the bass on the Z3 would sound fuller and more effortless, due to the extra drivers, but not necessarily much deeper. Kind of more of what you already have.

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Originally Posted by hifi_dave

If you want proper, deep bass, you will need to consider larger speakers with larger bass drivers. Even the 'transmission' designs with small drivers don't do low bass - they peak at 100 -120 Hz and then drop from there.

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Sorry but that's not strictly true. You can get deep bass with the tiny drive units In a pair of headphones, and I thought the little IPL transmission lines I heard produced quite Impressive deep bass for their size (It was a 4 or 5" driver) compared to my 10" ported speakers (Mine had more midbass punch though).

Scanspeak produce small drivers with a very low fs and high xmax that will produce very deep bass In an appropriate box. You do pay for It with a loss In efficiency though.

Thank you all for your input and replies. I truly appreciate all the help. But, for the time, I am passing on a Z3 purchase. While I tend to agree with "fatmarley", in that I have owned some speakers with relatively small drivers that delivered some very good bass (Peachtree D5, Totem Model 1, DALI Opticon 2 and a pair of Dynaudio Audience 42 to name a few) I still would think that the Z3 should be at least a hair or two better in the bass than the Z2. But again, it is a moot point as I am going to keep the Z2 speakers for the time being and see what else is out there. My biggest problem is that here in the Seattle area there are not a lot of high end stores, and the ones there are seem to all carry pretty much the same brands so variety is not all that possible. Portland, Oregon has some stores with some nice speakers but it is a four hour ride which makes it difficult to demo speakers as well. I have some rather unique amps in that I have a pair of Raymond Lumley Signature 150 Megavox and at 45 kilos each it makes moving/transporting them to stores for a listen with their amps exhausting as I am not a young man anymore. While the Internet might be helpful for purchasing if one knows exactly what one wants, it is not too much of a help for people who want to shop for speakers and audition before you buy.
Again, thank you to all. I knew I would get some excellent responses and help here and I was not disappointed.