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
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