Quad 988 / 989 reliability ??

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.

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.

Hififarm:I called qs&d today to find out if they had been seeing a larger than normal return of 988&989 Quads,they told me that the return for repair was no more or less than for any other quad model.I also questioned them about the major differences in the electronics,all of the components are the same as the 63s except that everything was now on the one circuit board,hence the larger base of the new speakers.Granted the new quads sound different than the older models but who is to say that one sounds better than the other,how about different.I have listened to the 57s in many different configurations a great speaker to be sure but also with its own shortcomings.I have owned and listened to many a very fine speaker systems in the thirty years that I have been in this lunatic hobby and I have to say that the new quad models are among the most musical I have heard.You stated that you were once a Dunlavy dealer,I had pair of the SC4 for several years a very accurate and musical speaker indeed,but to my ear the 989 kills them.I dont know what your relationship with IAG is or was but to use this forum to attack the Quad line is unscrupulous at best,considering you are former dealer of Quad ,sounds like a personal problem to me.So as to the original question that began this thread, the reliability of the 988,989. All electrostatic speakers from day one have been problematic to some degree,the Quads are no different.If you are willing to put up with something more than normal setup, equipment and room requirments ,they will reward you with some of the most breathtaking sound you can imagine.

Detlof: You may have had more problems with the 989 than previous speakers you have owned but the fact of the matter is the 989 is no more or problematic than many others. I have owned electrostatics my self, I have not had problems with my 989s for the last 18 months. At some point in time someone will have aftermarket upgrades to the electronics for the new generation Quads as with all previous models.I am sorry that you are having problems with your 989s,I am just enjoying mine.Later steve.