ToTo Man
the band not the dog
Many of you will have probably seen my ESL 63s in the Classifieds in recent months. I have just received an offer for them (thank you malcesine!) and the reality is setting in that in just a few days time I may no longer be the owner of these legendary speakers. Once they’re gone, they’re really gone.
Why am I selling? Partly due to the layout/size of my 4.1m x 3.8m room, and partly because I hoard far too many speakers and just don't have the floor space to store and rotate them. Oh, and also the fact that my dad getting fed up moving stuff around for me!
The general consensus seems to be that ESL63s perform best with a minimum of 1 metre clearance behind them, but I've also read of folk using them in very large rooms and having them positioned quite far down the length of the room with loads of space behind them. Due to the layout/size of my room, any time I use the Quads they are always fairly close to a surface behind, whether it be a wall or my other speakers. Thus, if the former is true, then I suspect I've never heard them at their best.
Even with compromised positioning they still sound amazing; so smooth, effortless and uncoloured especially in the midrange. However, I've never been able to recreate the bass response that my conventional box speakers produce (I experience cancellations with the Quads between 50Hz-80Hz). I’ve always just put this down to the 63's design and considered it a small compromise that had to be made for all of the many other wonderful attributes of this speaker.
However, having hooked the 63s back up to my system today to test and confirm their operational condition, for the first time I measured the speakers in what I'd call an "ultra-nearfield" position with the mic just a few cm's away from the centre of the panel, and this is what I got:
As well as the super-low distortion that’s considerably lower than any other speaker I’ve measured, I’m quite staggered by how smooth the response is. This is the first and probably only time I’ll be able to post a frequency response graph with zero smoothing applied! I’m also shocked to see that the speakers are flat all the way to 40Hz. If only I could get this “ultra-nearfield" response at my listening seat.
So, before I make the decision to sell that I may regret for years to come, I want to ask if it is possible to obtain a bass response from the ESL63 that’s closer to its anechoic response by using it in a larger room and/or pulling it further away from the rear wall? Would other ESL63 owners please share their secrets?
Why am I selling? Partly due to the layout/size of my 4.1m x 3.8m room, and partly because I hoard far too many speakers and just don't have the floor space to store and rotate them. Oh, and also the fact that my dad getting fed up moving stuff around for me!
The general consensus seems to be that ESL63s perform best with a minimum of 1 metre clearance behind them, but I've also read of folk using them in very large rooms and having them positioned quite far down the length of the room with loads of space behind them. Due to the layout/size of my room, any time I use the Quads they are always fairly close to a surface behind, whether it be a wall or my other speakers. Thus, if the former is true, then I suspect I've never heard them at their best.
Even with compromised positioning they still sound amazing; so smooth, effortless and uncoloured especially in the midrange. However, I've never been able to recreate the bass response that my conventional box speakers produce (I experience cancellations with the Quads between 50Hz-80Hz). I’ve always just put this down to the 63's design and considered it a small compromise that had to be made for all of the many other wonderful attributes of this speaker.
However, having hooked the 63s back up to my system today to test and confirm their operational condition, for the first time I measured the speakers in what I'd call an "ultra-nearfield" position with the mic just a few cm's away from the centre of the panel, and this is what I got:
As well as the super-low distortion that’s considerably lower than any other speaker I’ve measured, I’m quite staggered by how smooth the response is. This is the first and probably only time I’ll be able to post a frequency response graph with zero smoothing applied! I’m also shocked to see that the speakers are flat all the way to 40Hz. If only I could get this “ultra-nearfield" response at my listening seat.
So, before I make the decision to sell that I may regret for years to come, I want to ask if it is possible to obtain a bass response from the ESL63 that’s closer to its anechoic response by using it in a larger room and/or pulling it further away from the rear wall? Would other ESL63 owners please share their secrets?