tonerei
pfm Member
I haven't been here for a long time but noticed this thread. I've owned a pair of Quad 989s for few years and haven't found anything else that comes close. The clarity and soundstage accuracy is astounding; a piano sounds like piano in my room and all the instruments in an orchestra are easily identified. I drive mine with a 25W/channel valve amp, designed by me but similar to the Radford STA25. I've also used the 989's with a Leak TL20 and Quad11/22 both which work well. I've tried customer's Quad 33/303 and 34/405 but they sound dead. The only downside of the 989s is that they show up poor recordings. Had some ESL 63s on loan about ten years ago and they are very good but like the 57s, lack bass.
I have only heard one pair of 989's and initial listening blew me away but when I heard the same pair in a different setting they didn't really sound great.
Hope to get a pair of 989's eventually to test out the bass theory. OTA suggest that the larger Quads were not properly integrated with the treble panels as it was just a bolt on job rather than development done by PWalker.
Have a new pair of OTA 63's and they sound great but bass is a little lean. Turns out the HV is down on both pairs and the EHT boards need to be replaced. Will report back when I get them installed on whether that improves the bass response.