Quad ESL 989 and Maggie 3.6s

I do not know much about the Quads but what I think I remember reading is that they didn't need needed anywhere near that much power and that they were fairly efficient.

Take a serious look at Eminent Technology - at less than half
the price of the 3.6r's, I think the LFT-VIIIa would more than
hold their own.
www.eminent-tech.com

Check the build quality of Maggies. I am sure that Quad, no matter who actually owns the name now, can't do much worse. If you want Maggies do yourself a favour and buy them new from the dealer nearest you.

You know, I've considered Soundlabs -- I've only heard wonderful things about them, although I've never seen a pair.

You guys are now making me feel like I shot myself in the foot with the MC-501s! They haven't even arrived yet (but paid for and shipped) but I've been very excited. I currently have Electrocompaniet AW-220 mono blocs, which are very fine in and of themselves.

Soundlabs are sublime, well to me. Everytime I hear them I leave amazed. That said, the 989 Quad is almost the equal of the Soundlab Ultimates to me, but they are different speakers, and have different strengths. The bass from the SL's is amazing.

All that said, I have never had any problem with the build quality of the Maggies. They can be upgraded with with a better speaker stands (Mye stands are the best I have seen), and those adept at it can upgrade the crossover network. But for $4500, I don't think anything touches them. After having seen some posts on the Eminent Tech speakers I did a test drive and was impressed. At their price point, but they are not Maggies, certainly not in the same league with the 3.6R as far as dynamics, range or coherency. IMHO.