Quad ESL-63

Post any interesting items from ebay here...
Forum rules
1. No ad-hominem
2. No spamming or shilling
User avatar
Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Posts: 30758
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: Muppet Labs
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 48 times

Re: Quad ESL-63

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Lindsayt wrote:If you find a pair for the right price in the right condition, then by all means give them a go. For some they are a final destination speaker. I've liked all the Quad ESL's I've heard including the 63's. I really like the electrostatic midrange.
The 63 had miles of wire in the signal path (analogue delay lines) that were part of the point source circuit, it seriously ferked them up musically compared with the 57.

User avatar
southall-1998
Posts: 2649
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:16 am
Location: Neath, Wales
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 11 times
Wales

Re: Quad ESL-63

Unread post by southall-1998 »

Well, the 57's are on my ''want list'' I must make sure to have a good amp prepared !!

S.
Shane Lonergan.

User avatar
Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Posts: 30758
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: Muppet Labs
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 48 times

Re: Quad ESL-63

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Also the early 63's were lethal for NVA amps. They employed a crowbar circuit to protect the speaker from overload. What it meant is the sensing circuit for the crowbar would detect high voltage and throw the electronic bar across the speaker inputs and present a dead short circuit to the power amp :shock: I couldn't believe it, these people were supposed to intelligent electronic designers. They changed it in about a year as so many people were banging on their door with blown up amplifiers.

User avatar
zebbo
Posts: 1738
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 8:22 am
Location: As close to France as you can get.
Has thanked: 7 times
Been thanked: 28 times
Great Britain

Re: Quad ESL-63

Unread post by zebbo »

I tried some here a few years back, can't remember what amps I had. They did sound wonderful with a "walk-in" size soundstage and the ability to make your hair stand on end with a good female vocal. However, to get them to sound like that they had to be a stupid distance out into the room which took them out of the running. :cry:
Audio Grail "Sable" Garrard 401 with Cumbrian Green Slate plinth / Audiomods 6 / Benz Micro Gullwing SLR, Phono 2, NVA INT400sa. (Oh and a Copland CDA823 CD Player, for when I fancy a bit of the devil's spawn!) :lol:

jammy395
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Quad ESL-63

Unread post by jammy395 »

Ok....If God & Satan sat down over a wee dram to design a loudspeaker.

Surely the Quad ESL would be the outcome.

Magical and a Sin to boot.

:guiness;

_D_S_J_R_
Posts: 4185
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:53 am
Location: The end of the road in Suffolk Coastal.
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 6 times
Wales

Re: Quad ESL-63

Unread post by _D_S_J_R_ »

Dr Bunsen Honeydew wrote:Strange I love the 57 but hate the 63 :?
So did I until I heard some well off the floor. They had some treble clarity once sited so (the grilles angled treble downwards in the domestic versions) and the bass was better! My favourite stands for them were the Arcici ones although at a friends place and sitting on low seating, the Stand & Deliver? stands worked well on a wooden floor.

Shane, the thing now isn't anything to do with sonics, it's to do with glues coming unstuck and mass panel failure! These things don't seem to last as well as well cared for 57's do and the Yahoo Quad site has been full of tales of woe about rustling and crackling noises due to failing adhesives...
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...The time has gone, The song is over, Thought I'd something more to say...

_D_S_J_R_
Posts: 4185
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2014 9:53 am
Location: The end of the road in Suffolk Coastal.
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 6 times
Wales

Re: Quad ESL-63

Unread post by _D_S_J_R_ »

By the way, I directly compared some good 57's to the ATC SCM20 (original model) and the ATC's were as good as the Quad in bass and midband, and this pair creamed the 57's in the treble due to superior dispersion - they didn't 'beam' cymbals at you! Make of that what you will, but rose tinting can do a lot for vintage audio :lol: :guiness; :whistle:
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...The time has gone, The song is over, Thought I'd something more to say...

User avatar
terrybooth
Posts: 4396
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 6:49 pm
Location: West Yorkshire
Has thanked: 499 times
Been thanked: 246 times
Great Britain

Re: Quad ESL-63

Unread post by terrybooth »

I swapped my 57s for a pair of Kans!
Pioneer PL71/DL103/ Phono2/HiFiPi/P90SA/TIS/CubixPro

Andrew
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Quad ESL-63

Unread post by Andrew »

Good move, Terry :D :guiness;

User avatar
Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Posts: 30758
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:26 pm
Location: Muppet Labs
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 48 times

Re: Quad ESL-63

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

57's are not perfect far from it, many compromises in the design. Notably they require valve type voltages to drive the plates, so there are step downs and step ups all over the place. The logic would be to take the direct drive of the output stage valve straight to the plate, yet only Lurcher (AoS name) seems to have done this.

Could never be a production model unless amps were built into speaker cabs as it would be illegal to have hundreds or even thousands of volts running in speaker lines.

But for me the 57 was the best development tool available to me at the time as moving coil speakers were just not open or clean enough for what I was trying to achieve with the circuit. And I needed to hear very clearly into the music. Though I heavily modded my 57s to help achieve this.

Post Reply