Will rebuilt Quad ESL 57s take the place on a great $30K dynamic speaker?


In the ‘90s I lived joyfully with Quad 57s for 10 years. Have always missed them.

Especially since Electrostatic Solutions rebuilds came to light, I have looked for a used pair. My system today is far better than what I had back then.

I was very curious to hear what they would sound like now.

I love my current speakers, but have experienced some fatigue in loud, full passages. And I realized that most of what I listened to was acoustic Jazz and Classical. But with a good amount of Pop singer/songwriter.

The Quads beautifully reproduce solo or otherwise “gentle” music. They are magical with voices. Eg.: Opera that I never got into much is now sublime. And voices in general.

But on something like Peter Gabriel, the fall apart. “So” which was a favorite recording is problematic at best.

I am leaning toward the Quads since they do “moderate” unlike almost any.

But I do miss the dynamics. Bass and treble.

 

 

 

mglik

Showing 2 responses by noromance

My best result with Quad 57’s was as follows -
Remove steel grils
Put them on stands about 18" off the floor
Tilt the panels up to more vertical and angle in slightly

I have them on 20" stands, grilles off, vertical and toed in. Monoblocs under each speaker with 2’ of UP-OCC copper in Teflon. I find the toe-in to ear position critical. The "head-in-a-vice" gives the best imaging and detail.

I had 57s in the 80s but they vibrated and resonated. I traded them in for Spendors and immediately missed the crystal clear midrange. Decades later, I bought an immaculate, consecutive serial number pair of black 57s. I run them with the front grills removed and they are simply perfect. 35 watts of push-pull vintage tube monoblocs make them sing.