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Quad ESL 57 in small room (with my pix now working)

Both ESL variants work great in small rooms with some time spent experimenting.

Both designs are so far ahead of what often passes for high-end conventional 'speakers that even less than optimally positioned ESLs are usually preferable.

Rosewind has experience with Magnepans from what I understand so perhaps the ESL's won't be "so far ahead" of that particular loudspeaker - but yes - I would understand the ESL's are likely to be better than conventional cones. Hopefully Rosewind will be aware of this having owned various Maggie models which as you know are not conventional speakers either..

Iansr's ESL 57s will soon be mine. Yay! Here is a photo of wall-mounted ESL 57s - actually there are two more standing on the floor below the hanging ones: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WEPgSYqlyaRj0BmbJkXn3JDASC12gH4M/view?usp=sharing
So it can be done. Sweet!

Don't let new equipment excitement skew you in favour of listening to the ESL's above and beyond your Maggies. I'm counting on your level headed judgement so that I know what route to take - Maggies or ESL's :)
 
I remember the feeling of being enveloped in sound from the Magnepans. I had the MC1s + Dynaudio subs placed behind me when I was working at my desk. I would just have to swivel my chair and I would be in my best listening spot. The MC1s are quite special in that they are placed on the wall and have to be put at an angle from the back wall to be at their best. If you did not angle them out, the sound would be like that of a cheap transitor radio.

I also have experienced Magnepan 12 and 1.7i in my small room.

Expection bias? Noooooo way!
 
I also have experienced Magnepan 12 and 1.7i in my small room.

Expection bias? Noooooo way!

So how did the 12 and 1.7i sound? Like a transistor radio when your listening experience was not optimal too? Anyway, it'll be very interesting when you get your ESL's.
 
No. The Magnepan 12s which I only had in the house for a very short time and the 1.7i were all wonderful and very, very natural. I eventually sold the 1.7s because they were a too massive presence in my small room. In addion to this my ears seemed to have some sort of reaction to the higly resolved treble. But I do miss the naturalness of the sound from these.
 
Ah OK - that makes sense. I guess the Maggies would be overwhelming in that room. Not only that but Magnepans prefer a lot of space around them - and decent amplifier power to work their magic as this interesting YouTube video shows:
 
You don't need a zillion watts in order to run the Maggies. But it helps. The MC1s I managed to run using a Nait 2. What I found the most amazing with both MC1 and 1.7 was that they made good near field monitors. The music washed over you like waves and immersed you.
 
That's good to know... anyway I can't wait until you make comparisons with the ESL in that room of yours.
 
You will have to be patient. The seller is on vacation this week. The shipping boxes arrived last week. I don't think my ESL57 toys will arrrive in time for Christmas.
 
I have asked Ian to wait for the Christmas package surge to subside before shipping the Quad ESL 57s. I feel that is safer. The good thing is that by the time they arrive, I will also have an EAR 869 in the house. That one will be a good match with the ESL 57s, I hope.
 
When I ran ESL 57 many moons ago, I tried several amplifiers amo

Sugden A21a
Nait 2
Futtermann (clone)
Copland EL 84 based
And probably STA 25

Wife hated them, called them heaters, but I doubt I've heard better mids
Bas was much better than expected, the Futtermanns really excelled there but at a risk
The little Copland did so very well and I guess many other choices would work

Regret I never tried them with a 303 but its never too late..
 
There are lots of 303s on the market in all sorts of conditions. So you should be able to get one if you want. Too bad you did not hang on to the STA 25 ... That is one I would like to hear some day.
 
There are lots of 303s on the market in all sorts of conditions. So you should be able to get one if you want. Too bad you did not hang on to the STA 25 ... That is one I would like to hear some day.

The STA 25 was a mates, great amp
 
I have had to have a rethink about my setup as we need to free up cash for my daughter's driving lessons and an upcoming Tenerife holiday . This means that I will swap my EAR 912 for an EAR 868PL and EAR 509s,so for a short while in January I will be able to compare the following set-up wirh my Quad ESL-57s (before one or two of the amps will have to go) :
EAR 868PL + EAR 869
EAR 868PL + EAR 509
EAR 869 alone (no phono stage)

It will be sad to see the Ear 912 go, but family is more important than hifi. And if I can keep the 868PL I will still have a very good pre.
 
Quad 57s should not be used on their side as others have already mentioned. Thery are almost square, so there would be no space saving even if you were to turn them sideways.

The rear of the speaker is covered with burlap, so rear radiation is attenuated, especially in the treble, and the speakers can be placed next to a side wall and close to fhe wall behind, provided that you angle them towards the listening seat.

If you value your speakers do not use them with an amp capable of putting out over 33 Volts peak, I.e. 66 V pk to pk.
High power amps will produce arcing which will damage the panels. Have the voltage clamps installed before you put the speakers into service. The Crown is a no-no. Stay with amps that are known to have good stability into capacitive loads and are rated at 50 W/8 Oms or less.

Unless it has been refurbished, the 57 should not be expected to sound at its best. So be prepared to have the panels and power supply checked and/or replaced.

Even factory spec 57s will not have a neutral balance in room, so be prepared to experiment with eq.
 
I have had to have a rethink about my setup as we need to free up cash for my daughter's driving lessons and an upcoming Tenerife holiday . This means that I will swap my EAR 912 for an EAR 868PL and EAR 509s,so for a short while in January I will be able to compare the following set-up wirh my Quad ESL-57s (before one or two of the amps will have to go) :
EAR 868PL + EAR 869
EAR 868PL + EAR 509
EAR 869 alone (no phono stage)

It will be sad to see the Ear 912 go, but family is more important than hifi. And if I can keep the 868PL I will still have a very good pre.

If you really want to run Quad 57s with high power valve amps use the lowest Z (2 or 4 Ohm) tap to be safe.

FWIW, you do not need to spend a lot of money to get a a pre- / power-amp combo that works well with the 57. IMO, of course.
 
Quad 57s should not be used on their side as others have already mentioned. Thery are almost square, so there would be no space saving even if you were to turn them sideways.

The rear of the speaker is covered with burlap, so rear radiation is attenuated, especially in the treble, and the speakers can be placed next to a side wall and close to fhe wall behind, provided that you angle them towards the listening seat.

If you value your speakers do not use them with an amp capable of putting out over 33 Volts peak, I.e. 66 V pk to pk.
High power amps will produce arcing which will damage the panels. Have the voltage clamps installed before you put the speakers into service. The Crown is a no-no. Stay with amps that are known to have good stability into capacitive loads and are rated at 50 W/8 Oms or less.

Unless it has been refurbished, the 57 should not be expected to sound at its best. So be prepared to have the panels and power supply checked and/or replaced.

Even factory spec 57s will not have a neutral balance in room, so be prepared to experiment with eq.


This
 
Thanks. I know about the 33 volt limitation and the limited treble dispersion. I will place the Quad ESL-57s on top of book-filled Ikea Kallax bookshelves angled down towards my listening position.

Also I am going to test the 57s with and without a preamp. In fact I may end up with the Ear 869 as an integrated amp and an external phono stage - either a Quad QC24 P or a Benz Micro PP1 or an EAR 88pb. I will make sure to have a good listen to various combinations stated in the earlier post.
 
I will place the Quad ESL-57s on top of book-filled Ikea Kallax bookshelves angled down towards my listening position.

Not sure that is a great idea.

I have not owned 57s, but had 988s, and the main reason they had to go was the fact I couldn't keep them in the position where they sounded really good.
They simply needed more space than I could afford them.

I had them around 2ft from the wall and it wasn't enough, when they got to around 3ft they started to work properly, the difference was not subtle. When they were around 12-18" from the wall, where she was happy with them, I say happy but that is probably not how she would describe it, they just didn't sound good at all, flat, muddled and just not right at all.

Maybe the 57s are easier to place? But just the very nature of their design would say they need space to do what they are meant to do?
 


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