Coincident Technology Speakers

A correction and a couple of further comments related to what I said above:

The correction is that the PX25 amp I'm using at the moment is of course an Audion, not an Audio Note.

The sense of warmth that Harry Pearson found in the midbass of the TVs is detectable on my speakers as well, in comparison to some other speakers of similar quality. I think it slows them down just a bit. I understand that the changes to version II were intended to address this issue, among others. I haven't heard the II, though. I think this slight warmth adds to the musicality of my original version, though perhaps at the expense of their Abso!ute neutrality :-) I'll emphasize that this is only in comparison to a very few other speakers, all of which of course have colourations of their own to muck up the comparison in other ways.

I also think the SEIII has more explicit imaging than the TE or TV, probably because it uses fewer drivers. And on that issue, I'm amazed at how well the 9 drivers per side on the TV integrate. I listen within 8 feet of the speakers, and I never hear separate drivers. I have heard other speakers pull a better disappearing act, but usually at the expense of the authority and fullness the TVs being to the table.

I currently run Coincident Victories with Coincident mini subs. I suspect that the Quads and the Victories have similar extension into the lower octaves with the TV's extending a little further. My choice in going with the Victories was room size. The TV's would be a bit much in my 12 x 15 room. The mini subs when properly placed help fill out the low end without drawing attention to themselves. I'd recommend the Victory over the Eclipse line. The Victories closer to the electrostats in speed and more transparent.

kjl,

I am a long time owner of Quads that like you, find them a bit frustrating at times. Last year when I was particularily PO'ed at them, I bought a pair of Partial eclipses to see if I could live with them. The short answer was no. I wasn't willing to give up the nuance that the Quads provide. I did think the Partial's did provide a great bang for the buck and they were definitly more extended on the bottom and capable of being played at higher leavels without fear of damage. In the end, I Quads resolution and musically nature kept me. As for the Quads, I haven't heard a speaker better them in sound staging when properly set up. This means getting them off the floor and way off the back wall - 5' minimum. For the 63's which I use, the Arccii's are essential. I have heard them on the floor and they do sound much smaller that way. I don't know if there are stands available for the 988's but I would look into it before buying another speaker. As far as weight goes, the Quads are not amplifier friendly. I looked on the Thor web site and see that your amp only has 4 & 8 ohm taps. I think what your experiencing is an impedance mis-match. The Quads have a very steep impedence curve in the lower frequencies reaching 30 to 40 ohms at 40 Hz. I have tried the 8 ohm tap with my amp (an ARC D115) and experienced dreadfully thin sound. Through the 16 Ohm tap it is an entirely different matter. I have suprised more than a few people with the low end response of the 63's. I not saying that you'll get more extension - about 40 Hz in my room, just a lot more heft. I hope this helps.

Regards,

Scott