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Quad 989 repair - California

Does anyone know if I can have my quad 989 repaired in California, Nevada or Arizona?

I had a pair of Quad 989s shipped from England to Palm Springs a couple of months ago. One of the 989s was fizzing and ticking on arrival.

Insurance has refused to pay out on a nice little get out clause (we won't pay for internal damage unless external damage is also evident). This means shipping the speaker to QSandD is NOT an option (they want $750 for shipping alone, not including repair). I could I'm sure find cheaper shipping options but the possibility of more shipping damage concerns me. So I'm looking for somewhere within driving distance of Palm Springs I can take the 989.

I spoke to True Sound in Northern California and they told me to sell the 989s as they are. Is finding someone to repair my 989 really going to be that difficult? If so then True Sound are probably correct, they aren't worth keeping.
growly
10 responses Add your response
acbc
38 posts
 
Hi, you'll be hard pressed to find a better sounding speaker at any price under $15K. I know there are those that say they're shy on base, I don't find that to be true.

Before you bail, contact the repair shops bellow and see if they can help you. Often, they have deals with freight companies that could make the shipping more acceptable.

At the very bottom I included the contact info for the US rep for Quad. From what I understand they also do repairs- that might be a good source for support.

Good luck.

Note: I swapped out the standard power cords with Pangea AC-9's (shielded and low cost)and that did improve base response considerably.

www.qsandd.com/hifi_repair.htm

www.oocities.org/drquad@pacbell.net/

TAIGA LLC
310 Tosca Drive Stoughton, MA 02072
Mr.Jeff.Sigmund
781-341-1234 ext. 22
jeff.sigmund@taigallc.com
fvl
10 posts
 
Very interested in the answer here, since I have a 988 that needs a new panel (QS&D is great, but shipping is painful). I'm in No. Cal. -- did True Sound say they could do the repair?
rottenclam
59 posts
 
Interesting that Nick at True Sound advised you to sell them. I was in his store / shop about 6 years ago, and he had some Quad 63 ESLs on his bench that he was repairing. Perhaps he is not messing with Quads anymore.

Try user 'Kentaja' from Electrostatic Solutions. He is out of Kansas (so shipping would be expensive), but he may be your guy. You may just be out of luck when it comes to a California Quad tech.
growly OP
3 posts
 
Thanks for the reply Acbc. I returned to England for a while and tried to forget about the 989.

I had decided to bite the bullet and ship the 989 to QSandD; but my emails have gone unanswered, my call went to voicemail and they haven't replied to that, and so I've come to the conclusion they are out of business, or disinterested.

I've contacted Taiga, and http://pkant.htmlplanet.com/elstatr.htm
and Electrostatic Solutions today. I will keep my fingers crossed and let you know what happens.
johnsonwu
469 posts
 
FIzzing and ticking upon power on may not be the dreaded panel arcing problem.
It may be as simple as that 220uF Lytic right @ the input that needs a replacement. Lytics do fail over time. Mine did.
Re-doing the panels of course involve expert workmanship and knowleddge. Replacing that cap is a 2 minute job for anyone good with a soldering iron.
Ask around and see if you can get a technician who knows the basics of electronics and spend $10 on that bipolar lytic... (Mundorf ad Madisound or ebay)
acbc
38 posts
 
Any progress?

If you haven't already you might want to also try.

http://quadsunlimited.us/#/contact-us/4534267357

Check out their website. They do much more than repairs.
http://quadsunlimited.us/#

Good luck I hope this gets resolved quickly and as inexpensively as possible.
growly OP
3 posts
 
I sent my 989 to Kent McCollum - estatsolution.com, Kansas City. Shipping was reasonable.

His assessment: The top bass panel is damaged. Stator delamination, damaged diaphragm, the glue holding the plate together has failed.

Two more original panels have signs of delamination and he is going to reglue these too.

This is the speaker that Quad in the UK repaired 5-6 years because of fizzing crackling noises. It is 'unfortunate' that $8000 speakers can fail because of dried out glue. I didn't realise how lucky we Quad owners are in England, their repair costs (replacing panels) are very reasonable.
growly OP
3 posts
 
I don't think I'll buy another pair of Quad electrostatics. I sent my speaker for repair to Kent at estatsolutions and it arrived this morning. I plugged it in and it seemed fine. So I moved my other 989 from the corner into position, plugged it in, and fizz pop fizz! Now my other 989 has died. Quad must use glue from the dollar store, or perhaps in the UK the poundshop, or in china the renminbi store.
acbc
38 posts
 
Hi, sorry to hear that it didn't work out. Quad/IAG should do better job supporting their brand. Every time someone has a bad experience its a lost future sale. I love my 989's, but in the back of my head I worry about what you just went through. One could only image what could be if they actually made these things easy to own. As you travel to the UK on a regular basis you might want to pop by their offices and "let them have an ear full!" one day. I appreciate your frustration and your determination to move on, but you never know you may come across a set of ESL's in future that are in good shape - best of luck.
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
HI. At one point, I played with the idea about picking up a pair of Quad electrostatics. But in light of the grief I have read about, not just here but elsewhere, Quads are off the table. While I don't abuse my system, I don't baby it either. I would find it a major PITA to use a SPL meter to make sure I don't overdrive the speakers.

Btw, I used to own a pair of Infinity 2000a electrostatics (tweeters only) back in the 70s. What a nuisance. I think their power handing capability was a "max-Q" of 35 watts per channel. And yes, I blew the tweeter panels.

I wonder if the ESL 63s have a better build quality and are more reliable. My recollection of Quad "back in the day" was that you had to be careful not to overdrive them or else snap, crackle and pop.

Sorry for your troubles.
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