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Have Quad ESLs had their day?

brecklandboy said:
If I was in the market for a secondhand pair of 'stats, then a good owner history would be high on my pre-purchase checklist.
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Something my brother observed some years ago bears thinking about - people who buy equipment of such calibre / single minded purpose new and have kept it - actually are rarely likely to abuse it. It's expensive, a luxury, and likely far behind other household priorities. etc.

I've never had a problem resulting from buying good things s/hand on that basis. But then I don't 'turn-over' kit/ am not, never have been , a box-swapper.
 
Sheldon Stokes is one of the gurus for sure, and more than that, has been very generous with help and experience.

I was under he impression that there was very little difference in the later editions 2805/2905 as regards the electronics, but the physical construction was clearly more rigid. The panels themselves certainly look identical. If they have solved the glue issue then that is good news indeed and props to Quad for doing so.

Looking back over the contributions here, it would seem fair to say that accommodating them is a fairly major barrier for a good proportion of people. The 63s are easier to accommodate than the 57s (imho) and easier to drive too I think.
 
After reading the above ( and I always wanted a pair of ESLs ) I was thinking the Spendor BC1 might be in a similar
position.
Spares, especially bass/mid. drivers are difficult to obtain and cabinets are unobtainable.
I treat my pair very carefully.
Never over-driven, or rock type music played through them.
I’m not of fan of rock anyway.
Lovely speakers, and I’d really miss them.
 
All hifi as we know it has had its day. No manufactured item lasts for ever without maintenance. The numbers of people prepared to spend the time and money will decline. It will become more specialised but like steam engines and pre war cars there will always be a following.
 
My 63s are going nowhere @fran , nor the SE hybrid amps driving them. Perfect synergy, and since lifting them up even higher off the ground (see here) I think I will just be playing with sources going forward.
 
It is hard to quantify if Quads are slowly dying out. Not aware of any sales figures available to back it up one way or the other. I currently have two pairs of 63's Quad renovated and OTA renovated and whilst I have the room I can't imagine not having a pair of Electrostatics.

The market is limited especially because of the size of the speakers. I know a fair few people who have either sold them on because of lack of space. Plenty more who love them but stuck because of the same problem.

@DimitryZ springs to mind as an example of one who loves them but because of reliability issues and pro repair shop costs will not consider going near them. He is right that Quad really at this point should have made panel replacement a simple bolt out bolt in job and replacement when necessary at a reasonable price. Why haven't they engineered electrical connectors to facilitate this? Having said that after recently having to delve into the insides it is not really difficult until you get down to the labour intensive part of disassembling and going through the rebuild process. Of course having Fran and few other friends with a good working knowledge and understanding of the Quads made going at this fairly comfortable for me. OTA have suggested that the newer Quads are more difficult to dismantle and as a result are more costly to repair. That's crazy especially when the panel construction is exactly the same as the 63's.
 
I get the impression that Quad do not sell the current versions of their 'stats in huge numbers.

The Quad dealer network has seen a lot of changes over the past decade or so and many agents do not seem to have 2912s for example, on permanent display / demo. Marketing of these speakers by I.A.G. does not seem to be very prominent either and notwithstanding the impact of Covid , Quad no longer has a universal presence at UK hi-fi shows. The prototype '8 panel' super ESL ,which briefly appeared at the Munich hi-fi show around 3 years ago has still to be launched as a full production model.

Quad really need to be 'banging their own drum' more energetically , I feel, l before the electrostatic speaker slowly fades from the memory of modern hi-fi enthusiasts.
 
Hello everyone, I just registered in hopes to get some input.
I am a fan of Stax headphones, and recently discovered the Quad 57 which got my attention due to the fact that they're also estats. I managed to listen to them yesterday on a nearby store that has them for sale for 1250€. There's no info on them aside from the fact that the store promises they've been checked and well taken care of (but no idea about refurbishing etc). The serial number is around 40000 on both. They sound fine but I felt like the room wasn't doing them justice and I didn't like how the center image sounded near to the floor instead of in front of my eyes which is what I like. I can fix that by getting new stands made, I guess. Also they're crazy directional which is a bit of a problem because I need that perfect center image at all times but I can get used to it if I find the sweet spot and stay still.
I don't know if I should buy them or not. I just turned 25 and these would be my 2nd pair of "decent" speakers, my first one being the JBL 530 which I use on my computer desk as nearfield and I love how they sound, but I need something for the livingroom which would be the Quads if I buy them. The livingroom is 3m wide by 5 meters long. Untreated, sadly. I would also power them with a vintage Sony class A solid state amp that puts out 18 Watts.

The thing that makes me doubt if they're good for me or not is the fact that I never really listen to classical or orchestral music, I mainly listen to 70's and 80's music, which is lots of japanese fusion jazz and stuff like Dire Straits, Michael Jackson, Toto, and tons of 70's funk. I guess they would work because 70's music has lots of horns, saxophones and pianos, and I've been reading the Quads do well with that... But at the same time I'm not sure if they'll be the best option for me.

I don't plan on playing them really loud... and I will refrain from playing metal music on them since I've read it's not ideal.

What do you guys think? I'm really lost here because if I buy them and they don't play nice with my amp and I'm not happy with the placement, it's gonna be a tough sell in my area...

Thanks.
 
They don’t rock, don’t have any bass and the sweet spot is minuscule.
Forget about it.
57’s user here.
 
LazyHammer said:
Hello everyone, I just registered in hopes to get some input.
I am a fan of Stax headphones, and recently discovered the Quad 57 which got my attention due to the fact that they're also estats. I managed to listen to them yesterday on a nearby store that has them for sale for 1250€. There's no info on them aside from the fact that the store promises they've been checked and well taken care of (but no idea about refurbishing etc). The serial number is around 40000 on both. They sound fine but I felt like the room wasn't doing them justice and I didn't like how the center image sounded near to the floor instead of in front of my eyes which is what I like. I can fix that by getting new stands made, I guess. Also they're crazy directional which is a bit of a problem because I need that perfect center image at all times but I can get used to it if I find the sweet spot and stay still.
I don't know if I should buy them or not. I just turned 25 and these would be my 2nd pair of "decent" speakers, my first one being the JBL 530 which I use on my computer desk as nearfield and I love how they sound, but I need something for the livingroom which would be the Quads if I buy them. The livingroom is 3m wide by 5 meters long. Untreated, sadly. I would also power them with a vintage Sony class A solid state amp that puts out 18 Watts.

The thing that makes me doubt if they're good for me or not is the fact that I never really listen to classical or orchestral music, I mainly listen to 70's and 80's music, which is lots of japanese fusion jazz and stuff like Dire Straits, Michael Jackson, Toto, and tons of 70's funk. I guess they would work because 70's music has lots of horns, saxophones and pianos, and I've been reading the Quads do well with that... But at the same time I'm not sure if they'll be the best option for me.

I don't plan on playing them really loud... and I will refrain from playing metal music on them since I've read it's not ideal.

What do you guys think? I'm really lost here because if I buy them and they don't play nice with my amp and I'm not happy with the placement, it's gonna be a tough sell in my area...

Thanks.
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Where are you located?
 
Quads are genre-agnostic IMO. As mentioned upthread they sound great on techno, in fact German electronica/techno guru Oliver Lieb lists a pair of 63s in his equipment on one of his albums. They have volume limitations, though they go louder than I’d ever want. They’ll show up bad recordings etc, but good ones will shine. They are just wonderful loudspeakers, though the beaming is an issue. Not for off axis listening.
 
Bad or so-so recordings (and MP3s) always sound terrible on ESL’s, and on any revealing speakers.
They also sound awful on my A9’s !
 
chartz said:
They don’t rock, don’t have any bass and the sweet spot is minuscule.
Forget about it.
57’s user here.
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The bass is enough for me, from what I heard yesterday at the store. But maybe the tubes they were using helped with that, and my solid state amp might take some of it away.

Yes I can get speakers that hit harder which would be great for the music I listen to, but how much am I giving up in terms of imaging, resolution, clarity... that's the thing...
 
chartz said:
Bad or so-so recordings (and MP3s) always sound terrible on ESL’s, and on any revealing speakers.
They also sound awful on my A9’s !
Click to expand...

I listen to exclusively great recordings with a lot of dynamic range which is why 90% of my music library is 70's and 80's music. Also forgot to mention my sources will be a Sony CDP 555ESD and a Sony DAS-703 DAC.
 
They can make the shelves rattle on the right note, and sound incredibly natural on jazz, even big band.
I have drums in my music room and they sound remarkably close.
In most recorded pop music, bass is enhanced and sounds nothing like real instruments.
ESL’s do. What they don’t like is EQ’d or compressed music.
They love valves and Quad amps in my experience.
 
I’d research the Sony amp a bit, especially if it is old and maybe in need of a service. Some kit really doesn’t like driving ESLs at all. Sony made some great stuff at their higher ranges, but I’ve no idea how it responds to such a wide impedance range.
 
LazyHammer said:
Spain.
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Ah ok. Yes a difficult decision as it would be difficult to arrange repairs if required. I think that price is very high for something without any history. I bought a pair of 57's that had been completely redone by Onethingaudio. The treble panels were about 1yr old the bass panels were older. Seller had receipts. The EHT's had also been sorted. I paid £800. They came with Rupert stands :) I think you could do better for that money. There are plenty of opportunities if you can wait it out or maybe make a low offer on them and see what happens.
 
Tony L said:
I’d research the Sony amp a bit, especially if it is old and maybe in need of a service. Some kit really doesn’t like driving ESLs at all. Sony made some great stuff at their higher ranges, but I’ve no idea how it responds to such a wide impedance range.
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The sony amp I acquired it recently and it's in perfect condition and serviced. It sounds wonderful in Class A mode with Stax headphones. But I also have no idea how it would work with the Quads.

Here's the amp I have: http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-TA-N86B.html
 
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