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Quad ESL 63- how should it sound?

I am new to the world Quads and ESL so bear with me… I recently came into a pair of ESL 63’s. Based on the serial numbers they are approx. 1989 vintage.   I am not sure if they are working correctly. They both put out sound. There is no crackling or popping or any other strange noises at any time. Is sound supposed to come out of all 4 of the panel sections?   Is each panel section supposed to handle a specific frequency range? When I put my ear right up to the panels, I hear no sound on the top quarter, a lot of sound on the 2nd quarter down (or middle), some sound on the 3rd quarter down, and no sound on the 4th panel down. Overall the sound is fairly balanced but a little thin and you have to crank up the volume on the amp to get a “normal” sound level compared to my Klipsch KLF-20’s (which are I guess much more efficient).   This is running on a Denon AVR-3805 rated at 120wpc into 8 ohms. When I run them on my Sansui Eight (rated at 65 WPC) I don’t have to crank it up as much, but a little more compared to my Snell type E IV’s that I normally run on that receiver.   So my main question is, do you think some of my panels are “dead”? Should a different sound be coming out of each of the 4 panels or should the sound only be concentrated in the center of the 4 panels? Thank you!


tuskman79

Showing 1 response by diravi

diravi
1 posts
 
Bonjour,
in case your problem is still current:
physically, the ESL-63 is comprised of 4 electrostatic panels stacked vertically, one upon the other.  The top and bottom panels produce bass, and the middle pair of panels handle midrange and treble.   It is also the mid-pair which are arranged electrically to perform as concentric elements.In your case, the Top and bottom panels are not working, presumably damaged; and the lower middle panel produces low output.a complete overhaul of the speaker is necessary.
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