My quick reccomends, besides the Beethoven Qts (of course) and Debussy Qt (oh my god) are Shostakovich: Almost every of the 15 are great, I have the complete set by the Borodin Qt and newly: Peter Maxwell Davis: String Quartet--very interesting, short early English Avant-Garde noise from the 60s. Also, my favorite Debussy Qt currently is by the Rubin Qt, a little-known all-female Qt from eastern Europe somewhere, on a little label called New Classic Colours. Enjoy. Bob K.