I.Q. Speakers from Germany ????

IQ (= Intelligent Quality, if my memory serves me well), were active in the 80ies and 90ies when they put a plethora of different series on the market. The TEDs were fairly high up in the hierarchy and depending on the model went for something between DM 2000 and DM 3000. The all time flagship was the System One consisting of 2 separate subwoofer towers + 2 mid/high towers, the design of which Manfred Diesterich (yup, now Audiophysic) had been involved in. These went well over DM 20k and were reference gear to a few magazines. I can't judge the sonic qualities of the IQs from personal experience, what I do recall is they always looked like they were really superbly built. The company doesn't exist anymore for quite some time, well, at least not that I know of.
Give me until the weekend, perhaps I can find something on the TED 400.

Rated 4 ohm, and 87db....thats all I know.

I would be happy to post a picture if someone can advise how.

I found a A/B test in Stereoplay of Sep. 93 (reliable magazine, three decades in the business, tests always accompanied by extensive measurements).

TED 400 was indeed also designed by Manfred Diesterich and cost DM 2k at the time of its release in 1993. A 4 Ohm, 87,5db bass-reflex design as mentioned before with max. SPL quoted at 104db (at 400Hz, distance 1m). Stereoplay ranked it "top class, level 3", with the likes of Dynaudio Contour 1.3 or B&W Matrix 805.

I quote from the Stereoplay test: IQ TED 400 showed many positive aspects: balanced and colourful - as opposed to coloured though; add a powerful bass that was also very firm and a sustainable fundament. With the volume pumped up, the IQ was superior to the class best (ALR Nummer 3) and qualified itself as the unbeatable "party"-speaker. On the other hand the class reference sounded altogether more harmonious and at normal sound levels more refined, so that IQ closely missed the reference titel in its class. However, it deserves downright "very good" for price to quality.

If you can read German (or have someone to translate), I'll mail you the full test on the 5 contestants.

Wow, thanks very much Karelfd.
I was thinking that the bass should be more pronounced given the size of the woofer system, i think 2 8", but maybe one is passive. I suspect it is the power i am driving them with, so based on the info you have given me, i think i should upgrade my power before upgrading speakers.

Any power suggestions for a next step? Should they be bi-wired? Is speaker wire an issue at this level?

Any thank you for the offer to send the report. Turns out my Mother-In-Law speaks German.

Is there a way to share pics?

To upload a picture, go to the :

1) www.audiogon.com page.
2) On the bottom of right culumn, you will see "My page" -
Left click on the mouse on that.
3) On the middle of the left column, you will see "Virtual systems" under "Interaction" - Left click on Virtual systems.
4) On the bottom, you will see "build a system" - Left click on that.
5) You can build your system, and when you click on a CD player for instance, there is a small box asking you if you want to upload a picture. That will allow you to upload a picture.

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Speaker wire is an issue at that level - what does your cable say on it ? What brand ?

If you bi-wire, it will be better but not absolutely necessary - if your current wire is not long enough. Since you said it's pretty thick, it might be already good enough.

I like this cable - IXOS XHS706 13 AWG GAMMA GEOMETRY SPEAKER WIRE

You can google search for it to buy.

Hope this helps,

I wholeheartedly agee with Gonglee3, cable is an issue. I looked up your other thread and saw you're not sure what cable you're presently using, we should try to find that out first. I presume you're living in the USA where you'll find loads of reasonably priced cables from brands that I have no personal experience with, however, such as Speltz Anti Cables or Morrow. Of the brands I do know myself, you could look at the likes of Kimber 4TC or Purist Vesta on Audiogon or usedcable. I have to point out one potential problem: you won't know what the cable does in your system until after you hooked it up. I would therefore think, you should have the question of a new amp out of the way first (btw you mentioned Rotel in your thread; if it's one of the more recent series, I believe that should be a nice match with the IQs), upon which you could get more precise advice e.g. by starting a thread here ;^).

I am not convinced bi-wiring is always a blessing (certainly not in recent years, where every cheapo box flashes double or triple binding posts as a sales pitch; sorry for ranting, this does absolutely not apply to your IQs but I had to get this off my chest). By the nature of it, it must be more expensive though. Good jumpers, or a bi-wiring adaptor may be at least equally satisfying.

I am a bit worried over your remark about bass quality as it flies in the face of test results to some extent. Your IQs will have their fair share of mileage, of course, are you sure the bass drivers are still OK? Another possible explanation may be that your present amp just cannot deliver the goods, the IQ's impedance curve dips a few times below 4 ohm. (Btw I would strongly advise against a solution where you continue to use your old HK as pre-amp.)

All of the above imho; hope I didn't sound too much "I'm the headmaster"-like.

i've posted some pics of the speakers under Steve's IQ Speakers in the Virtual systems section (thanks Gonglee3)

the speaker wire is Superflex by Monster Cable.

Monster cable superflex is an entry level mid-fi cable - noticeably better than using just any electric cable, so I would look to other places for the weakest link, and work on upgrading those, and upgreade the speaker cable later, if you want something more.

If you bring the rest of the system to a good mid-fi level, you will be in a bit of sonic heaven...

Gentlemen
I'm back tinkering around with my system
I'm still enjoying the speakers but am considering replacing the capacitors as i have a positive result from re-capping my NAD 2200.

The existing capacitors are Technik and a quick email to them has Technick suggesting that they can be updated with Audyn Capacitors.

The speakers have two crossovers each with one capacitor in each, so i am only buying 4 caps therefore the cost of the caps is somewhat irrelevant relative to the labor so i would like to get good units. Suggestions?