Quad 988 / 989 reliability ??


It's well known that the old Quads (57 and 63) had some reliability problems, and that repairing them can be expensive. Is there enough data our there on the 988 / 989 to say anything about their robustness and reliability ? Have any of the 988 / 989 users who are reading this had any problems ?
mbonn
The quad 988,989 is essentially the same speaker as the 63,they all use the delay line design,cheap circuit board and electronics,I know I have taken them apart.Quad is now owned by a chinese company,but they are still made in England.They have never been a benchmark in rugged design,but the sound when properly set up is beautiful,I presently own the 989 .I had some problems with burning holes in the panels of one speaker I sent it back to qs&d twice and then finaly was given a new speaker,Randy by the way was very helpful in repairing and then getting me the new speaker.That was over a year ago and I have not had any problems since.Some people will tell you the new 989 quads are brighter, darker,have flabby bass,dont do this dont do that blah blah blah,point being they take time to match equipment,room and proper room treatment to get them right but when they are they are awesome.I know people who have had problems with sound labs also, but once they worked out all the bugs they wouldnt own anything else ,and the same can be said for quads.You just have to decide if your willing to go through the effort to get there.By the way the problem with mine was somewhere in the clamp circuit,possible faulty capacitor.I would like to hear from others about what they have experienced with equipment matching ,room treatments etc.to get the new model quads to work there best.
9rw, the bubbling noise, alas , is NOT upstream. That was checked. Mbonn, by usual servicing I mean, that the plastic foil in the 63s covering the panels has to be restreched or replaced every 2-3 years of fairly heavy use. If one is handy and sufficiently careful with the use of a heatgun or hairdryer, this can be done at home.
Steveboeck is essentially correct to my mind. Only regarding the parts quality, which has gone from bad to worse and quality control of the new Quad speakers has gone completely down the hill, alas. However, if set up and driven right and if you have a service departement near, it is still one of the best transducers to be had anywhere!
And here I thought this was a forum for audiophiles to excange ideas and share knowledge,not free, crass advertising by dealers trying to push their latest product line.At least now I know I will never buy anything from the previous poster.
For anyone interested in what makes the new Quad tick compared to the old here is a breakdown of the differences as we see them.
There is a fairly good deal of difference in the way these spaekers sound compared to the original 63's and the later 63 USA monitor. First The construction quality is not at all the same as they have used a much cheaper plastic to contain the electronics than in the 63's. All the electronics are now contained on a single circuit board of a lower quality creating several problems. If you have a problem with protection it requires a new board ,if it's delay lines,a new board ,if it's power supply ,a new board.This certainly will cause a higher cost to the customer after the warrenty period if work is needed. Along with the lessor expensive parts come some distinct differences in tonality. We still sell after market speakers certified with full warrenty form the 57's to the latest 63's and find a more desirable balance over the new models. In my opinion ,and I've sold the speaker for 20+ years and have used hundreds of different components ,the new speaker offers some advantage in volume but never in the area for which they became famous ,long term listenability.As for the realibility we are in close contact with many people who are intimate with these speakers and issues still exist with realibility.. In one of my home systems there sit's a pair of 30 year old 57's and there great. I think better than any of the products produced since, but I certainly recommend auditioning more modern designs be they one's I carry or any other qualified dealer before purchasing the newer speakers. There are many that will produce a higher level of detail, sheer dynamics, better listenability and will not fall apart under maximum listen conditions.