Quads 57 -

Jarraa - GREAT response-stick to QUAD ESL57's!!
I run STACKED 57's with IMF TL subs @ 40HZ.
All four refurb's by Wayne as well as te custom stands to accomodate the subs. They look great and sound fantastic!

I have had them for over 10+ years and would not move on to anything else! Why?
Because IT IS A REFERENCE SYSTEM - PERIOD!

Yes, it is not for everybody but mine has the finesse of a small system and the largess of horns (or other large speakers). Plus discoveries/recommendations found on my system generally transfer to other set-ups but not vice-versa.
The Quad electrostatic sound, done right, is truly an addicting sound. Namely it just sounds LIVE.
OTOH, most people experience ESL57's that were "tired" and they did not know it. So unless someone had a pair from Wayne and did not like them then they have not experienced what they truly sound like.

I agree with Weseixas.
And stands are important.

A word of caution though...
Wayne's '57's are sooooo good that they will reveal any flaws in the equipment feeding them.
So they have IMMENSE sound quality and will accurately reproduce the good and the bad.
So basically they are a "demanding mistress" in that regard.
They like vacuum tubes, great vinyl, proper cables, proper interconnects, etc. So do not worry that they "top out" at some point as the rest of your system becomes upgraded.
This is NOT the case with most speaker systems!
At some point, they are what they are and they can not sound any better no matter is done. Perhaps that is what is happening with your present speakers.
Also...57's MUST be set up properly in the room in terms of placement to the listener. They need to be precisely placed as "close enough" (as in box speakers) just won't cut it.

I do not know your room but let's say that for you a rough start would be 6-7 feet back from the speaker and the '57's are 3-5 feet (center to center) apart.
they would be 2-3 feet from the back wall and a foot or so from the side walls. They need to be pointed in so that they are each exactly equidistant from the center listening chair.

Quads are as close to a massless driver as you can come other than the Ionovac tweeters and the Ribbons but those are far less efficient than the Quads.

As a result Quads are so quick, so utterly transparent and life-like that they make all other speakers seem veiled.

Believe it or not I use the Kimber Cable speaker wire.
I forget the model number but it is black (negative) and brown (positive) wire that is braided.
I believe that there are four wires of each color (they are NOT teflon).
I think that it is the least expensive of all of the Kimber braided speaker cable.
I have 25+ foot runs from my amps to the stacked ESL57's so I needed something that was good but did not break the bank.
I run my stacks in parallel (and connect to the 8 Ohm tap on my A-340A's) so I use a piece of the Kimber to jumper between them as well.
BTW. I tried less expensive speaker wires but the Kimber gave me the best results so REAL speaker wire does make a difference. OTOH, interconnects seemed to make a bigger improvement in my system than the speaker wire - but every little thing helps when you have "The demanding Mistress - ESL57's"! :)

No, actually 8 Ohm is the correct setting for the stack as the impedance curve is not flat. It is a compromise and it depends on the amplifier being used.