advertisement


Are my Quad Esl 63s off colour?

Scale, transparency and holographic- Avalons

Won’t be as cheap for a good pair as some old esl’s but can go reasonably close to the wall, ridiculously well built and reliable. Never heard anything better tbh
 
eisenach said:
, and from those who've moved from ESLs to conventional speakers. Which ones have the magic transparency of the Quads?
Click to expand...
None.
Box speakers do some things better though. Bump and thump, for starters.
If you find a box speaker that does midrange like a quad, let me know and I'll buy a pair.
 
stevec67 said:
None.
Box speakers do some things better though. Bump and thump, for starters.
If you find a box speaker that does midrange like a quad, let me know and I'll buy a pair.
Click to expand...

Lol!
They threw a hissy fit on and off for about five minutes yesterday after playing for an hour and then managed the rest of the day without problem.

DimitryZ said:
The channel imbalance and a strange noise once in a great while is actually something i experienced with my 988s. This was a sign of future panel failure, but it took at least a year or more to fully develop. Hopefully, in your case it may be never or at least a very long time.
Click to expand...

Fingers crossed, that's useful to know. Thanks.

So far today they're behaving themselves and for the kind of music to which I mostly listen, they are great. This is on:
31ZJmKoW3DL.jpg

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000001RR5/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
and sounds wonderful Lovely music and beautifully recorded, with just the right amount of recording venue ambiance. It seems to be available on YouTube, too:
... and there seems to be two more discs in the series!
 
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
Paul Burke said:
Scale, transparency and holographic- Avalons

Won’t be as cheap for a good pair as some old esl’s but can go reasonably close to the wall, ridiculously well built and reliable. Never heard anything better tbh
Click to expand...

A quick search throws up several models. Avalons aren't speakers I know. Did you have a particular model in mind?
 
eisenach said:
Just fizzed again, again after an hour or so.

Harbeths, anyone? If so, which?
Click to expand...

No, don't do that.
There really aren't many good loudspeakers out there.
Take your 63's to Quad for a full repanel, about £1250 I think, and they should then see you out.
You can't get much for that price if you buy something else.
You knew that ESL's had a running cost. Cone speakers deteriorate too.
 
eisenach said:
Just fizzed again, again after an hour or so.

Harbeths, anyone? If so, which?
Click to expand...

Is it fizzing, or ticking? You’ve checked it is the speaker itself already I think? Have you removed the blanking plug and checked the red LED yet? And where are you based - Thüringen, Austria? That’s only an hour and a half from me...I’d be happy to take a look at them if you like? If it’s the panel glue failing then it’s a straight forward if lengthy job to reglue them. If it’s the 1000uf cap SQ is talking about (I never heard of this issue Si, do you have more info?) then I’d need to research a bit first...but regardless, I’d suggest reglueing all panels at same time.

Maybe PM me, amd we can discuss (if you’re in Thüringen :)).

Richard
 
Crappy cap, next to a big IC, getting boiled away day after day.

Mostly though it's glue failure which then causes flapping which leads to arcing and if left blown parts.
 
And the truly sad thing, is that many decades after Peter Walker's passing, Quad still has not learned how to make an actually reliable ESL.

If i lived in the UK or near an ESL guru i would still own this truly great speaker.

There are gurus on the continent...i think one is in Netherlands.
 
Dowser said:
Is it fizzing, or ticking? You’ve checked it is the speaker itself already I think? Have you removed the blanking plug and checked the red LED yet? And where are you based - Thüringen, Austria? That’s only an hour and a half from me...I’d be happy to take a look at them if you like? If it’s the panel glue failing then it’s a straight forward if lengthy job to reglue them. If it’s the 1000uf cap SQ is talking about (I never heard of this issue Si, do you have more info?) then I’d need to research a bit first...but regardless, I’d suggest reglueing all panels at same time.
Maybe PM me, amd we can discuss (if you’re in Thüringen :)).
Richard
Click to expand...

Hello, Richard!
That's a really generous offer. Thank you.

Unfortunately I'm no longer in Thüringen (I spent a few months near Mühlhausen in Thüringen a few years ago, great for a Bach enthusiast), the legend is just there because of the avatar picture of the Bachhaus in Eisenach (user name); I'm in Herefordshire, just under two hours from One Thing in Coventry from whom I bought them 6 or 7 years ago, so they're the obvious first port of call for repairs.

It's definitely a fizz and reduced volume on the one speaker, but strangely it only seems to happen for a few seconds on and off for about five minutes after I've been listening for 50-60 minutes. After that it behaves again. I found someone on a website somewhere (Audiogon?) who reckoned that he'd cured a similar problem, caused by dust he assumed, by giving the speaker a few whacks of the side! So, I tried that when I switched off this evening and we'll see what happens tomorrow.

The 1000uf thing is intriguing; I've not seen it mentioned elsewhere.

True to box-swapping form, though (I thought I'd banished it!), a problem is an upgrade opportunity, and I have been wondering about 2805s, which some claim to be a significant step forward from the 63s, although others reckon the Chinese build is less reliable.

First world dilemmas!
 
Last edited:
eisenach said:
Hello, Richard!
That's a really generous offer. Thank you.

Unfortunately I'm no longer in Thüringen (I spent a few months near Mühlhausen in Thüringen a few years ago, great for a Bach enthusiast), the legend is just there because of the avatar picture of the Bachhaus in Eisenach (user name); I'm in Herefordshire, just under two hours from One Thing in Coventry from whom I bought them 6 or 7 years ago, so they're the obvious first port of call for repairs.

It's definitely a fizz and reduced volume on the one speaker, but strangely it only seems to happen for a few seconds on and off for about five minutes after I've been listening for 50-60 minutes. After that it behaves again. I found someone on a website somewhere (Audiogon?) who reckoned that he'd cured a similar problem, caused by dust he assumed, by giving the speaker a few whacks of the side! So, I tried that when I switched off this evening and we'll see what happens tomorrow.

The 1000uf thing is intriguing; I've not seen it mentioned elsewhere.

True to box-swapping form, though (I thought I'd banished it!), a problem is an upgrade opportunity, and I have been wondering about 2805s, which some claim to be a significant step forward from the 63s, although others reckon the Chinese build is less reliable.

First world dilemmas!
Click to expand...
If you are this close to an ESL guru, you have no excuse. Bring them in for an overhaul.

There should be upgrades available for the 63 as well. Newer Quad models is the same speaker in a slightly more rigid cabinet. Sometimes they try to stick more bass panels in as well. Its the same speaker, however.

Happy New Year!
 
eisenach said:
Hello, Richard!
That's a really generous offer. Thank you.

Unfortunately I'm no longer in Thüringen (I spent a few months near Mühlhausen in Thüringen a few years ago, great for a Bach enthusiast), the legend is just there because of the avatar picture of the Bachhaus in Eisenach (user name); I'm in Herefordshire, just under two hours from One Thing in Coventry from whom I bought them 6 or 7 years ago, so they're the obvious first port of call for repairs.

It's definitely a fizz and reduced volume on the one speaker, but strangely it only seems to happen for a few seconds on and off for about five minutes after I've been listening for 50-60 minutes. After that it behaves again. I found someone on a website somewhere (Audiogon?) who reckoned that he'd cured a similar problem, caused by dust he assumed, by giving the speaker a few whacks of the side! So, I tried that when I switched off this evening and we'll see what happens tomorrow.

The 1000uf thing is intriguing; I've not seen it mentioned elsewhere.

True to box-swapping form, though (I thought I'd banished it!), a problem is an upgrade opportunity, and I have been wondering about 2805s, which some claim to be a significant step forward from the 63s, although others reckon the Chinese build is less reliable.

First world dilemmas!
Click to expand...

Ah well, no worries. To be honest, giving them a good slap is the last thing you should be doing given the known glue issues on the panels. Mind you, fizzing amd reduced volume is not experience of flapping stators.

If you choose to sell faulty, and can pack them for shipping, I’d be happy to buy them and have a courier collect :)

@DimitryZ - I’m really not an ESL guru, I simply could not justify cost of sending them off for repair when mine failed, so decided to tackle it myself. Scary when you start, boring as hell once you’ve applied your billionth dot of glue carefully, very satisfying when they work afterwards.
 
I may have missed it but has the problem actually been narrowed down to the speakers via swapping channels? This seems like a simple test, and could prove it's not a speaker problem and save a lot of time and money.

Reading between the lines it seems like the desired outcome is a change of speakers.
 
Finally got round to swapping the speakers round this morning. So far there's been no misbehaviour but I'm pretty sure it's the speaker.

I've just looked up my records. I bought them in September 2011 from One Thing as fully rebuilt and refurbished. I'd forgotten, but they had to go more or less straight back for a fix and if I remember rightly, the problem was very similar (but more serious and frequent) to what's been happening over the last few days. I can't remember what OT did to fix them but they've been fine since until now. Another drive to Coventry seems like the sensible option if things don't settle down.

booja30 said:
Reading between the lines it seems like the temptation is a change of speakers.
Click to expand...

Fixed that for you! ;) :)
 
Channel imbalance is usually HT board related, or if related to a specific panel only then a slack panel with failing membrane. Rattles and pops and fizzing to machine gunning, thats loose stators and arcing.
 
Would also suggest that you could contact AQuadthing Audio in Leicestershire . Andrew is a real whizz on quads and can perhaps offer you some advice on the likely cause of the issue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top