As the person responsible for putting the subwoofer idea into your head (I think it was my post, anyway) I'll chip in on the first two responses to this thread.
I think you have to find a quad dealer who also sells a quality subwoofer (add REL to the list ... yes they fire down, but they will work for purposes of finding out whether you like the subwoofer concept). Ask for a demo of the 988s with a sub and see if you like it.
The reason that I think you need to take time to do a demo, is that many audiophiles don't like subwoofers, and will advise you that they are a bad idea. I have found that those that don't like them hold this view for one of two reasons:
1) Deep bass is just not important to them.
2) They have have never heard a correctly setup subwoofer.
I would hazard a guess that the two above posters fall into category 1). However their tastes might be different from yours.
Personally deep bass is important to me because music is just not enjoyable without it. Minimonitors sound lifeless to me, and without the depth and scale I couldn't care less about imaging and transparency. If you don't have a smile on your face and tapping feet what's the point ?
My main speakers, Spica angelus, though much cheaper, and I would expect inferior, to the quads have been compared to quad electrostatics in that they excel (within their price bracket) in the same areas as the quads. Midrange, imaging, and microdynamics are excellent. However until I added the sub I just didn't enjoy listening to them because without the deep bass there was no scale to the music, no rhythm, no pulse.
Last weekend a friend visited and listened to my system. He fell into category 2) above. He said he had never heard a subwoofer system that sounded truly integrated and would therefore never buy a subwoofer, instead opting for large, bass-producing main speakers. After listening to my system he completely changed his mind about subwoofers. He commented that the sub made the spicas come alive, without detracting from them in any way. He also commented that he could absolutely not tell that any of the sound was coming from the sub until I turned it off halfway through a track.
Anyway, the point of this rambling post is that you should go and listen to some 988s with a good subwoofer, from a dealer that believes in the subwoofer setup and see if it moves you. You'll know within the first 30 seconds of listening whether you're onto something, or whether you really need to change your main speakers.
I think you have to find a quad dealer who also sells a quality subwoofer (add REL to the list ... yes they fire down, but they will work for purposes of finding out whether you like the subwoofer concept). Ask for a demo of the 988s with a sub and see if you like it.
The reason that I think you need to take time to do a demo, is that many audiophiles don't like subwoofers, and will advise you that they are a bad idea. I have found that those that don't like them hold this view for one of two reasons:
1) Deep bass is just not important to them.
2) They have have never heard a correctly setup subwoofer.
I would hazard a guess that the two above posters fall into category 1). However their tastes might be different from yours.
Personally deep bass is important to me because music is just not enjoyable without it. Minimonitors sound lifeless to me, and without the depth and scale I couldn't care less about imaging and transparency. If you don't have a smile on your face and tapping feet what's the point ?
My main speakers, Spica angelus, though much cheaper, and I would expect inferior, to the quads have been compared to quad electrostatics in that they excel (within their price bracket) in the same areas as the quads. Midrange, imaging, and microdynamics are excellent. However until I added the sub I just didn't enjoy listening to them because without the deep bass there was no scale to the music, no rhythm, no pulse.
Last weekend a friend visited and listened to my system. He fell into category 2) above. He said he had never heard a subwoofer system that sounded truly integrated and would therefore never buy a subwoofer, instead opting for large, bass-producing main speakers. After listening to my system he completely changed his mind about subwoofers. He commented that the sub made the spicas come alive, without detracting from them in any way. He also commented that he could absolutely not tell that any of the sound was coming from the sub until I turned it off halfway through a track.
Anyway, the point of this rambling post is that you should go and listen to some 988s with a good subwoofer, from a dealer that believes in the subwoofer setup and see if it moves you. You'll know within the first 30 seconds of listening whether you're onto something, or whether you really need to change your main speakers.