Can I Live With A Hardwood Floor?

an isolation transformer is a device about the size of an amp that your equipment plugs into - it will not adversely affect your SQ

since you are on a budget (yet have Quads??) you will want to be very careful about wasting money:

- you probably do not have line noise - most noise is from bad gnds, gnd loops, or is generated INSIDE your own equipment

- you may well want to add some absorbers and diffusers (or a combination unit) - you can read about them extensively in the Master handbook of Acoustics (I saved money by checking it out from my city library (twice)).  And you can build both types of room treatments yourself - I posted some links on here somewhere before

Room Treatments will be by far the most cost effective way to get better SQ

'I posted some links on here somewhere before'
Yes, thank you.  

The top of the line 1,5 Kv isolation transformer called the Blitz is around $1200 plus shipping so probably in the range of $1500. I currently have a BPT 3.5 Sig+ on my front end but balanced transformers hefty enough for amps, and I have mono blocks, would be pretty costly. Hence the search for something hefty and price smart. 
I have searched for balanced transformers for a couple of years. There is a 24 amp Equi=tech on reverb for $1500 but I believe it requires 220 V.
Best deal I have found is SAC. If you email them they are very good about returning and will give you all the details. Best of Luck!

dentdog thanks for the info. My amp runs off a battery so no issue there. Akiko offers a Squeeze Box and DAC Power Supply for 350 euro and given that my sonic objections are confined to my DAC, I'm thinking that this would be an affordable antidote.The SAC interests me but I'm looking for a better college to teach in so $1,500.00 is a little steep for the moment.
I have been looking at acoustic foam to place along the slanting attic walls. The house is a shotgun style built in 1887 and so I;m hoping that $60.00 worth of foam will help with the occasional shrill and separation distortion in the treble. A proper wool carpet would be nice as well.  

goofyfoot
Can I Live With A Hardwood Floor?

Cement slab floors are the best, but some like myself and you have hardwood suspended floors, but the floor itself will become a soundboard if the speaker is coupled to it in any way, really screwing with the bass.

The best is to totally decouple the speaker from the floor, by ways of thick amounts of Sobothane type materials between speaker and floor to stop any bass energy from speaker being transmitted into the floor.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-Sorbothane-4-x-64mm-Isolation-Pods-Domes-Feet-2-5in-Dia-LARGE-BIG-PODS-/370465792771?hash=item56417b6303:g:UA8AAOxy4dNS6cB0
It says 4 will take 34kg, which just happens to be your Quads weight, so I would use 6-8 per speaker so they don’t squash as much.
  
Also have a look in their ebay shop, as they have screw in Sorbothane feet as well and many others.
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/m.html?_odkw=&_ssn=dang-good-stuff&hash=item56417b6303%3Ag%3AUA8AAOxy4dNS6cB0&item=370465792771&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2046732.m570.l1313.TR4.TRC2.A0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=Sorbothane&_sacat=0


Cement slab floors are the opposite, you want to couple the speaker into them via spike or cones.

Cheers George