Quick Answer: The Crystal Quest Whole House Water Softener with Pre/Post Filtration is a conventional salt softener on a 5600 control valve, with a sediment cartridge in front and a carbon block behind. It suits a city-water home that wants softening plus taste and odor polishing from one order, and that has household pressure inside Crystal Quest's 35–60 PSI window. Skip it if your pressure runs higher and you don't want to add a regulator, or if you'd rather have a metered valve as standard. In that case, the Fleck 5600SXT 64,000-grain or the AFWFilters 5600SXT with upflow carbon is the better fit.
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Most softener reviews start with grain capacity. With this one, start with a line further down Crystal Quest's spec table: PSI range, 35–60 PSI. Plenty of American homes run 60–80 psi at the main. If yours is one of them, that single number shapes the whole buying decision. Grain capacity comes second.
I haven't installed this system. Everything below comes from Crystal Quest's own product page, the Amazon listing title, and what customers say about the company on review sites. Where a spec isn't published, I say so. I don't fill the gap with a guess.
In this guide
- What you get in the box
- That 35–60 PSI window, and what to do about it
- Timed regeneration is standard, metered is an upgrade
- Sizing it for a real household
- Fiberglass or stainless: Crystal Quest's own warning
- Where the filters help, and where they don't
- What isn't published
- Who should buy it, and who shouldn't
What you get in the box
Crystal Quest sells this as a three-part train:
- Sediment prefilter cartridge. It catches sand, rust and grit before they reach the resin.
- Softener tank with Crystal Quest's "Eagle" resin. Calcium and magnesium are exchanged for sodium (or potassium if you use KCl).
- Carbon block postfilter. It polishes taste and odor after softening.
Both cartridges are 2-7/8" x 20". Crystal Quest lists the replacement sediment cartridge as CQE-RC-04015 and the carbon block as CQE-RC-04014. The control head is a 5600 electronic valve, and the brine tank is about 18" x 33" (130 L / 36 gallons).
Crystal Quest offers two resin volumes:
| Size | Grain capacity | Service flow | Media tank | Floor space (media + brine) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 cu ft | 45,000 | 9–11 GPM | 10" x 54" | 30" x 20" x 64" |
| 2.0 cu ft | 60,000 | 10–13 GPM | 12" x 52" | 30" x 20" x 62" |
Both use 1" pipe size, and both carry the same 35–60 PSI range.
That 35–60 PSI window, and what to do about it
Here's the practical issue. A softener valve rated to 60 PSI on a house that runs 75 PSI is running outside its published range every hour of the day. That stresses seals and fittings, and it can give the company a reason to deny a warranty claim. Before you order, screw an inexpensive pressure gauge onto a hose bib and read your static pressure, early morning and evening.
- Under 60 PSI all day: no issue. Carry on.
- 60–80 PSI: you'll want a pressure-reducing valve ahead of the system. Many homes already have one, so check where the main enters.
- Under 35 PSI (some wells with low pump settings): the low end matters too. Backwash and brine draw need enough pressure to work properly.
Our guide to water softener pressure requirements covers why both ends of the range matter for regeneration.
Timed regeneration is standard, metered is an upgrade
Crystal Quest says the base 5600 head uses timed regeneration, and a metered (demand-based) valve is an optional upgrade. That's worth paying attention to.
A timed valve regenerates on a calendar, whether you used 200 gallons that week or 1,200. That wastes salt and water when the house is quiet and risks running out of capacity when guests are over. A metered valve counts gallons and regenerates only when the resin is actually close to exhausted. For most families, I'd treat the metered upgrade as part of the price, not an extra. If the listing you're looking at doesn't say metered, ask Crystal Quest before checkout.
Sizing it for a real household
Take a family of four with 15 gpg hardness. They use about 75 gallons per person per day:
- 4 people x 75 gallons = 300 gallons a day
- 300 x 15 gpg = 4,500 grains a day
- On the 1.5 cu ft (45,000-grain) model, that's roughly 10 days between regenerations at full rated capacity. In practice it's fewer, because nobody runs a softener at maximum salt dose.
So the 1.5 cu ft size is plenty for that household. The 2.0 cu ft model makes sense if you're above about 20 gpg, have iron to account for, or have five or more people. Bigger isn't automatically better, either. An oversized tank on a timed valve sits for long stretches between regenerations. See how to size a water softener to run your own numbers, and is a higher grain rating always better for the case against going big "just in case."
Fiberglass or stainless: Crystal Quest's own warning
Crystal Quest offers the media tank in fiberglass or stainless steel. Its own page warns that stainless tanks can develop pinholes or rust in humid spaces, where salt is present, or where condensation isn't wiped off. It recommends fiberglass in those conditions.
Read that literally. A softener's job involves salt, and most softeners live in basements, garages or utility closets where condensation happens. Unless your install spot is dry and climate-controlled, the fiberglass tank is the safer choice. The stainless version mainly earns its keep as a look.
Where the filters help, and where they don't
The sediment prefilter is a real plus if you get grit or occasional rust. Sediment fouls resin and wears out the valve's seals. We explain why in a sediment prefilter before a softener.
The carbon block on the outlet improves taste and odor after softening. Note the placement, though. Carbon after the softener doesn't protect the resin from chlorine. If your city chlorinates heavily, the resin still takes the full dose. Whether that matters depends on your chlorine level and how long you keep a softener. It's covered in our piece on running a carbon filter and water softener together.
You'll also be changing two 20" cartridges on top of buying salt. Budget for that ongoing cost before you compare this system with a softener-only unit.
What isn't published
I looked for these and couldn't find them on the product page:
- Warranty terms for the softener specifically. On its Trustpilot profile, Crystal Quest describes a one-year limited warranty on systems against defects in materials and workmanship. Ask how that applies to the tank, valve and resin, and get the softener's terms in writing before you buy.
- Maximum hardness, iron limit and salt use per regeneration.
- NSF/ANSI 44 certification. The page shows an "IAPM Tested Performance" badge and an ISO 9001:2015 certificate for the company. Neither is the same as a system certification for softening.
On the customer side, reviews of the company mostly praise helpful staff and quick shipping, along with a few complaints about installation fittings and occasional order mix-ups. I didn't find reviews about the softener itself, so there's no long-term owner track record to report.
Who should buy it, and who shouldn't
It's a reasonable buy if you're on city water at or under 60 PSI, you want softening plus sediment and carbon filtration in one shipment, and you'll take the metered upgrade.
Look elsewhere if:
- You want a proven, widely serviced setup with a metered valve as standard. The Fleck 5600SXT 64,000-grain system runs on the same valve family, and its SXT controller meters water use. Any water treatment shop can service it. The 64k size suits harder water or larger households. A downside: it doesn't include filtration. Check price on Amazon
- You want the carbon filtration done as a tank, not cartridges. The AFWFilters 5600SXT + upflow carbon (32,000 grain) pairs a softener using 10% crosslink resin with a coconut-shell carbon tank. That means no 20" carbon cartridges to buy. At 32k it's sized for smaller households or moderate hardness, so do the math above before you choose it. Check price on Amazon
- You'd rather keep things simple. The iSpring WCSTB45KG (45,000 grains) is a softener only, with a brine tank and no pre or post filters, which is the right call if your water has no grit or taste problem. iSpring's listing describes a programmable control valve that works out regeneration from your water use and hardness, with a digital display. Support is a 1-year manufacturer warranty plus a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is thinner than the big Fleck resellers offer. Check price on Amazon
If the Crystal Quest still fits your house after the pressure check, buy it through Crystal Quest directly. Its Amazon listings weren't in stock when we last checked, so confirm the metered upgrade, tank material and warranty terms with the company when you order.