Superman, meet Kryptonite
Well, I think the Quantum 3's have really met their match. There is one track off of the Nine Inch Nails Ghosts CD, track #10 on disc 2, that I've long used to see just how well built a cabinet is. Invariably, anything less than something Bob made fails this test, with the exception being the TLS-50's, which passed with flying colors. This is the sort of track that brings out the worst in speakers, and it did quite a number with the Quantum 3.
As I mentioned (numerous times) above, I'm less than impressed with the cabinet of the Quantum 3- Large surfaces that are not braced with a driver good down to the mid-high 20's makes for very lively walls. When I played the above mentioned track, at moderately high levels (10-15 watts input, as per a rough calculation), I thought for sure the cabinet would self destruct. You could actually see the top of the cabinet vibrate, and the lower portion, below the woofer, was vibrating like it was in some earthquake.
There are two things I intend on trying. The first, and less severe one is to install braces above and below the woofer- this will be complicated by the fact that the input panel is exactly where the lower brace would end up, so I might need to figure on a couple diagonal braces going from just below the woofer to either rear corner.
The second thing, and much more severe, would be to scrap the cabinets entirely and work with Boy Wonder to build new ones, as we did for the JVC zero9's. I'm not keen on this route, however, and (for the time being) neither is Bob, who is not really looking for another project right now.
I do feel compelled to say, however, that as good as these speakers are, the cabinetry employed is of inexcusably poor quality and not very well thought out. Although the materials used (1-inch veneered chip-board) is about par for the time for a higher-end speaker, the lack of any resonance control or bracing, particularly when such large panels are used, is almost negligent. I've owned and seen speakers of much less lineage built to a higher standard, even if they do not necessarily perform as well. This is something unbecoming the "... third-best speaker in the world."
Further experimentation will hopefully allow the speaker to maintain that claim in some basis of reality.
