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Review: Quad U S A ESL-989 Speaker

Category: Speakers

I have owned the QUAD ESL-989 for over a year now, and will not think of giving it up for any other speaker. They suit my musical tastes perfectly, as I listen solely to classical music, and particularly enjoy vocal music, especially Bach's cantatas.

The most important aspects of sound to me are precise definition, and reproduction, and the QUAD speakers do this nearly perfectly. They allow pinpoint resolution of each component of the orchestra, but I cannot solely attribute this to the speakers alone, as my amplifier, pre-amplifier, and SACD player also have a significant role to play in musical reproduction.

As I mentioned, the sound stage is unparalleled. The upper- and mid-range frequencies are flawless. The bass (which I only hear when listening to the organ or cello) is precise and causes my body to resonate, as well as the furniture that I sit on, but oddly enough it does not shake the floor, so I must say that this would be the only weak point of the speakers.

I have heard speakers that cost 30 times the price of the QUAD's, and they don't come close to matching the precise sound reproduction. I don't think I'll ever own any other pair of speakers.

Associated gear
Cardas Golden Reference speaker cables
drbond

Showing 1 response by clodius

clodius
3 posts
 
Hi

I have a pair of Quad's 989 too and enjoy them a lot. I had many planars in the past (CLSII, Final, Quad's ESL63 USA, Sound Lab Auras,Apogee Mini-Grand's, Magnepan 3.6). The Quads are the most complete speakers that I had in terms of soundstage, coherence, overall natural sound reproduction and in a reasonable size package. The Sound Lab's were close to that quality too. All the other ones were lacking something or adding too much. I use Audio Research gear to drive them. Have anyone tried to pull the sock down and with what kind of sound results ans aestetics ?

Claude
819-845-8684
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