I have owned Quad ELS75’s since the mid seventies, but replaced them a few years ago with the modern 2805. I had two reasons. The first was that their life expectancy is finite, and they had already survived longer than could be expected. The second was esthetic: the 2805 really fits a lot better in our modern interior.
Sonically it was an improvement as well, even if the ELS57 is still a very good speaker, and even if the difference was not dramatic. The 2805 can handle more power, has much better bass, and disappears in space like no other speaker. The downside was that it is less efficient, which I cured by replacing the refurbished Quad 303 power amp with a refurbished Quad 606-2. In the end I decided I wanted even more low bass extension in our new and much larger living room, and I succesfully added a subwoofer (B&W PV1d with Antimode 8033 room eq.).
ELS57’s are very amp unfriendly by the way. The Quad 303 was more or less designed for them, but other amplifiers vary (i.e. have been known to self destruct or destroy the speaker).
Sonically it was an improvement as well, even if the ELS57 is still a very good speaker, and even if the difference was not dramatic. The 2805 can handle more power, has much better bass, and disappears in space like no other speaker. The downside was that it is less efficient, which I cured by replacing the refurbished Quad 303 power amp with a refurbished Quad 606-2. In the end I decided I wanted even more low bass extension in our new and much larger living room, and I succesfully added a subwoofer (B&W PV1d with Antimode 8033 room eq.).
ELS57’s are very amp unfriendly by the way. The Quad 303 was more or less designed for them, but other amplifiers vary (i.e. have been known to self destruct or destroy the speaker).