Quad 988 / 989 reliability ??

9rw, congrats, I guess you have been lucky. On principle, the 989 is a wonderful tansducer, though voiced a tad darker than the 63s to these here ears. But then again, that soft bubbling last night coming from the right speaker near well drove me nuts. Ironically this morning it was quiet and left the blubbering noise to its left companion.I guess I'll listen to nothing else but Mahler, Berlioz and Heavy Metal from now on....)-:

Just to put comments in context I have had so-called 57s for over 25 years, I had 63 for 5 years. I found that these speakers were no more unreliable than cone speakers. For example I have a pair of broken Celestions that are no longer supported by the manufacturer or importer. All in all I think that the SLs are more robustly manufactured. Both the late Peter Walker and Roger West are brilliant designers but contemporary SLs are a tour de force that are properly engineered in many categories including reliability.

Ivanj, I've also moved from the 57s to the 63s. I fact I still drive 3 pairs of 63s. Apart from the usual servicing of the 63s, I've never had any trouble at all. As long as Walker was in charge quality controll has always been excellent. I am talking of the 989 only.

Detlof: The bubbling noise that mysteriously moves from one channel to the other could also mean there's a problem with one of the components upstream. It's worth checking out at least.

Also, before commending HIFI Farm for having so much integrity, you should find out why it is no longer a Quad dealer.

Detlof,
Thanks for your reply.
What do you mean by "usual servicing"? thanks, Matt