New Speed Queed FL - Overview
I was doing business on the other side of town today and I went in to a medium appliance store and found the new Speed Queen FL Washer. I'll give a quick run down of it:
Model: CTS90AWN
Price: $1119.00 (On Sale)
Drum: SS Perforated Drum, no tilt, very small (About
maybe 4 pair jeans worth max)
Door Opening: Tiny at best!
Size: It comes on it's own tiny pedestal, which
doesn't have a drawer in it. It's about 8"
shorter than a Whirlpool Duet on its pedestal.
Build Quality: Seems sturdier than a Duet, however the control
panel is basically a decal pasted on a strip of
vinyl that is glued to the front of the machine!
To make matters worse, on the display model it
was coming unglued and curling up at the edges.
Yes, there are four large screws on this control
panel about 2 inches in from each side, but
these are not functional, they are there for
looks, I think. Not good for a machine of this
price point.
Selling Points: Due to SQ'a comittment to the Coin Laundry
business they now bring you commercial quality
and reliability to your home.
All Metal Transmission, no plastic gears.
Stainless Steel Inner Tub and Porcelin outer
tub, not plastic like other brands.
Energy Star Rated. The saleman said it uses
less water than a Duet does (probably due to
small tub size) but washes the same way.
Easy To Use Control Panel. Basically two dials
and a start button. You get to decide what Wash
/Rinse temperature YOU want for each cycle.
Left knob controls wash/rinse temps, right knob
selects fabric types (Speeds) and there is an
xtra rinse button as well as a start button.
That's it! I like the idea of being able to
select the water temps you want rather than
being programed into the cycle type.
Metching Dryer: Standard Drum size, large door opening. Same
exterior size as Washer, so they look matched.
Smooth Stainless Steel Drum.
When doing a side by side comparison with a Whirlpool Duet and a Bosch Nexxt, both the Duet and the Nexxt had really large drums and door openings. The Bosch seemed to be the sturdiest
of them all with the SQ close behind.
Yes, Amana and SQ used to both be Raytheon companies, but a few years ago I read somewhere that they sold off Amana, and I think even though it wasn't mentioned I think at that time they sold off SQ too. In fact back in the early 90's, Wards carried both Amana and SQ. They were identical machines except for a few decorative changes on the control panel. I almost bought one, but we got a better deal on the Whirlpool set from an appliance store.
Has anyone used one of these new Speed Queens yet?
