I used a 1961 Bell integrated tube amp that put out 20 watts.It had 16 ohm taps and I wired the stacked Quads in series /parrallel and kept the impedence at 16 ohms.There was no need to turn the volume past 10 o'clock to fill a 34x26x8 room.Before the Bell I used an Atmasphere MP3, pre and Atmasphere stereo 30 OTL amp to similar great sound but at far greater cost,so don't overlook 20 to 30 watt used tube amps.There is a fellow in Montreal that I was going to use to avoid border/duty hassels(I'm Cdn).Go to the ESL 57 Hotline site.
Restoration of Quads Vs Newer Models
Having read posts recently debating Martin Logans vs Magneplanars, I am wondering if the best choice between those two might be QUADS?!
One of my earliest audiophile experiences was hearing a true HQD system with stacked ESL 57s, circa 1979. Compared to my plastic Soundesign stereo, I would say it changed my life.
Later, I remember the 63s, often matched with Entec woofers at Lyric hi fi in NY, although I never had a real demo.
I last heard a pair of Quads a few years or so ago (circa 2000 - the 989s?) and although it was in a typically overcrowded hi fi showroom with too many other speakers and a short demo of some music I had never heard before....they sounded surprisingly good, and with perfectly satisfactory - if not earth shaking - bass.
(By the way, this was really in contrast to my impression of Quads, which is that they are a great speaker for listening to Baroque chamber music at moderate to low volumes when your head is in a vice.)
My postiive memories, however, combined with another thread on taming high frequency fatigue and the importance of coherent midrange, makes me wonder more about Quads.
Have any of you lived with and loved Quads , listening to a wide variety of music? Is there a consensus on the best version? What about these people that restore them, stack them etc.
Are the later models even better -- more of a good thing?
Or is there some wonderful qualities to the older models that would make it better to restore older speakers than to buy new ones?
Any and all comments greatly appreciated.
One of my earliest audiophile experiences was hearing a true HQD system with stacked ESL 57s, circa 1979. Compared to my plastic Soundesign stereo, I would say it changed my life.
Later, I remember the 63s, often matched with Entec woofers at Lyric hi fi in NY, although I never had a real demo.
I last heard a pair of Quads a few years or so ago (circa 2000 - the 989s?) and although it was in a typically overcrowded hi fi showroom with too many other speakers and a short demo of some music I had never heard before....they sounded surprisingly good, and with perfectly satisfactory - if not earth shaking - bass.
(By the way, this was really in contrast to my impression of Quads, which is that they are a great speaker for listening to Baroque chamber music at moderate to low volumes when your head is in a vice.)
My postiive memories, however, combined with another thread on taming high frequency fatigue and the importance of coherent midrange, makes me wonder more about Quads.
Have any of you lived with and loved Quads , listening to a wide variety of music? Is there a consensus on the best version? What about these people that restore them, stack them etc.
Are the later models even better -- more of a good thing?
Or is there some wonderful qualities to the older models that would make it better to restore older speakers than to buy new ones?
Any and all comments greatly appreciated.
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