Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

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Fretless
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by Fretless »

I tried Magnepans but the Cubes are far better dynamically.

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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by savvypaul »

Fretless wrote: Mon Apr 12, 2021 10:33 am The Dutch folks call their modified versions the 'ESL Plus' and claim that they have improved on the originals.

I've read that the German 'Braun LE1' was a close relative...

Image

Not many made, though.
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by 29mile »

As already noted get as original ones as you can. I had a set in the 90's matched with an AP20 and they were wonderfully open detailed and beguiling. They do need plenty of space to breathe around them though. One of mine went bang unfortunately and I naively had them rebuilt by Quad who fitted protection circuits which totally killed the dynamics and openess. Sold them very quickly after that. I think that's why Richard never liked the 63's as they had similar circuits inbuilt. He said he had 'dozens' of mods for the 57's but sadly never documented them anywhere ( in pre forum days ).
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by Latteman »

Any update Paul ?
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by savvypaul »

Latteman wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 7:31 pm Any update Paul ?
I think I will struggle to accommodate a pair in my room, as they really want at least 4 feet behind them. Would like to hear them with NVA, though.
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by Latteman »

Yep- shame about space required- I have them on my bucket list of hifi
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by Bencat57 »

I own and use a pair of Quad ESL57 . Mine were serviced and upgraded by AQuadThing were Andrew Jones knows as much about these speakers and there service and repair as Quad seem to .

I have to disagree with some of the views here as there are updates that both improve the sound quality but more important help solid state amplifiers to work well with the Quads and prevent the arcing that takes place .

If you are buying a new pair my advice would be to go one of two ways . First look out for a pair that has been fully worked on and updated by One Thing . Get the serial numbers of the Quads from the seller and contact One Thing . They will be able to tell you exactly what they did and when . They will also advise when they are due for any further service .

Second option is either find and buy as cheap a pair that you can find and then send them to AQuadThing and get them fully updated and serviced. Once this is done they will as quiet as is they are not switched on and will last you around 10/12 years with no further work . You could also contact Andrew at A QuadThing as he often has some speakers that he will sell you at a reduced price if you pay for the full upgrade .

I do not think unless you are really lucky you are going to get a really good pair cheap .

Stands for the Quad ESL57 are essential . The original mono design was made to incline backwards and bounce the sound off a ceiling this was when most were very high not todays low ceilings in modern rooms. To redess this you need a stand that raises the Quads abotu 12/18 inches off the floor and tilts the speaker forward until it is straight facing the listener. There are ready made Rupert Stands available but if you are either handy with woodwork or have a local joiner you can go too then i think you could easily make a sensible set without too much expense .

Room positioning is a difficult one the given wisdom is that as these are true dipoles then they need to be at least 2 ft away from a rear wall and six inches away from any side wall . Many myself included just do not have that space so compromise is needed . I have found that anything over eight inches from a back wall can work it just needs time and experiment with position and toe in . Side wall is pretty fixed and six inches is minimum . However and I apologise to Richard who i am sure would not of approved of there is a modern technology solution that works and enables as I have to place the Quads flat against a back wall and still get the Quad sound you expect. DSP is the answer and in my case DIRAC Live which in its current versions takes in to account all room reflections and room echoes and time domain issues and offers a correction . Best thing then it offers you a huge manual ability to change and alter the filter applied in real time and listen to the results and then adjust it to suit you . Once set you then just leave it to do what it needs to .
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by Latteman »

Be great to get Nva & a pair together at a demo/show
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by Bencat57 »

I hesitated about adding this but I feel it sensible to offer the experience I had . I knew that the NVA amps were rated to be very good with Quad ESL 57 and as I have and use NVA amps every day in my active set up I like NVA amps. However I have to say that I did not find it the best match and could not really enjoy the two . I think there is a reason for this and it is pure guess work as i have no way to test it . My ESL 57 have had the One Thing Widget installed which makes it easier for some solid state to cope with driving the ESL 57 which are a very resistive load. Richard when he used NVA with the ESL 57 was probabluy using an original set and as the NVA are good at driving a resistive load they worked well . It may well be that the addition of the Widget while helping other solid state amps to drive the quad gets in the way of the NVA and just stops it doing the job it can do .

As i say only a guess but for me and my pair of ESL 57 not a perfect match with NVA .

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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by savvypaul »

Bencat57 wrote: Thu Apr 22, 2021 2:11 pm I hesitated about adding this but I feel it sensible to offer the experience I had . I knew that the NVA amps were rated to be very good with Quad ESL 57 and as I have and use NVA amps every day in my active set up I like NVA amps. However I have to say that I did not find it the best match and could not really enjoy the two . I think there is a reason for this and it is pure guess work as i have no way to test it . My ESL 57 have had the One Thing Widget installed which makes it easier for some solid state to cope with driving the ESL 57 which are a very resistive load. Richard when he used NVA with the ESL 57 was probabluy using an original set and as the NVA are good at driving a resistive load they worked well . It may well be that the addition of the Widget while helping other solid state amps to drive the quad gets in the way of the NVA and just stops it doing the job it can do .

As i say only a guess but for me and my pair of ESL 57 not a perfect match with NVA .
If it's anything like the protection circuitry that Quad put in the 63, then Richard said words to the effect of 'they totally fecked it up'.

He told me his only complaint about the original 57 was a fairly narrow sweet spot.
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