Quad 988 / 989 reliability ??

Very sadly the old saying "you cant judge a book by it's cover" is true in far too many cases in this business. It may be true we supercede brands as do many other dealers and most of the time there is good reason. In some cases it's reasons that are beyond the control of the dealer and in others it mutual. Sometimes design flaws make it impossible to offer the kind of service necessary to maintain relationships ,sometimes personalities don't jive. Whatever reason the fact remains most relationships begin with good faith. Many of the companies we sell are 20+ year relationships and many more are the longest some manufactures have with a dealer, but some do become short lived. If from our side you could look at the short lived one's service and reliablity are the reason for most that end. Still yet we will always service and maintain every piece we sell to the absolute best of our ability. You don't stay in business 23 years otherwise.

HiFiFarm: Looks like you stirred up a hornet's nest with your first post of 9/7. Then, in the first of your 2 posts of 9/9 (3rd line) you stated that you "replaced a number of pairs at your own expense". Are you implying by this that the manufacturer would not honor the warranty on defective product, and that you, the dealer, had to "eat it" ? I find this hard to believe.

Hififarm:I called qs&d today to find out if they had been seeing a larger than normal return of 988&989 Quads,they told me that the return for repair was no more or less than for any other quad model.I also questioned them about the major differences in the electronics,all of the components are the same as the 63s except that everything was now on the one circuit board,hence the larger base of the new speakers.Granted the new quads sound different than the older models but who is to say that one sounds better than the other,how about different.I have listened to the 57s in many different configurations a great speaker to be sure but also with its own shortcomings.I have owned and listened to many a very fine speaker systems in the thirty years that I have been in this lunatic hobby and I have to say that the new quad models are among the most musical I have heard.You stated that you were once a Dunlavy dealer,I had pair of the SC4 for several years a very accurate and musical speaker indeed,but to my ear the 989 kills them.I dont know what your relationship with IAG is or was but to use this forum to attack the Quad line is unscrupulous at best,considering you are former dealer of Quad ,sounds like a personal problem to me.So as to the original question that began this thread, the reliability of the 988,989. All electrostatic speakers from day one have been problematic to some degree,the Quads are no different.If you are willing to put up with something more than normal setup, equipment and room requirments ,they will reward you with some of the most breathtaking sound you can imagine.

Steveboeck, I've had and have Sound Labs, MLs, Servostatics, StaxF1 and the Stax stacked, Dutch ELS, the name of which I don't recall, as well as the Quads in all configurations. Sound Labs (Pristine) and Staxes have been completely unproblematic, not the Quads though alas, and the 989 is the worst of the bunch in my experience.

Detlof: You may have had more problems with the 989 than previous speakers you have owned but the fact of the matter is the 989 is no more or problematic than many others. I have owned electrostatics my self, I have not had problems with my 989s for the last 18 months. At some point in time someone will have aftermarket upgrades to the electronics for the new generation Quads as with all previous models.I am sorry that you are having problems with your 989s,I am just enjoying mine.Later steve.