Will Quad 989s work well in my active room?


I am considering purchasing the Quad 989 and am concerned whether or not they will work in my room. Room size is 20' by 18' with 7' ceilings. The room is very active- located in basement with carpet and pad on concrete slab and sheet rock walls.

I have auditioned the 989s and really like them. Unfortunately, the planar design and several comments in Audiogon concerning the sensitivity to placement have me wondering whether or not I will really be able to enjoy the quality of the speaker in my room.

I understand that the active nature of the room will be an obstacle for any speaker I use, but I am wondering if my room is going to work against me such that I would get better results using a dynamic speaker such as a Piega or Harbeth.

At the same time, I am somewhat hopeful that due to the low ceilings, the Quad might be the better speaker to chose to avoid a thundering bass issue.

Any insight into this would be appreciated, including ways to tame the room or other speakers/components that I should consider. Fortunately, I recently moved from city to suburban life and am building this system from the ground up with no existing electronics that need to be accommodated.
eetheredge
Why don't you just ask for a home demo ? Any good dealer (in the UK at least) would give you a home demo if you're comtemplating spending 3500-4000 GBP (600-7000 USD) on a pair of speakers.

You room shouldn't be a real problem. But you ought to hear them in the room
Hello Eetheredge,

Quads will work fine in your room. Just give them some space behind to breathe.

By "active", I presume you mean your room is acoustically very lively, with lots of reverberant energy. That's not necessarily a bad thing. You'll be hearing more of the speaker's power response in a lively room, and the Quads will probably have smoother power response than more conventional speakers would.

When you talk out loud in that room, how does your voice sound? How does it compare to other rooms in your house? What the room's acoustic signature does to your voice is a good indication of what it will do to a loudspeaker, and from there we can plan on what's the best approach to take.

But to get back to your original question, Quads will work quite well in your room - just don't shove 'em into the corners or up against the wall. They gotta have some breathing room.

If you aren't yet committed to the Quads, you might consider Sound Lab electrostats. They do an exceptional job in some areas that might be of particular benefit in your situation (including very smooth power response). The Millennium-3 is in the size/price ballpark of the Quad 989. Disclaimer - I own & sell Sound Labs.

Best of luck to you!

Duke
There is nothing about your room size that would prevent them from sounding good. You will have to treat some of the weaknesses though. That may sound daunting at the outset, but remember it is cheaper to treat a room than it is to buy new speakers, and room treatments will outlast most componants (they way many people go through gear here) whether speakers or electronics, and they can make a huge difference in the systems sound quality.

The room should be done anyway. So buy the Quads (which I have heard and thought they sounded very good) fix the room a little and enjoy some beautiful music.