[Review] Quad Esl 57 Electrostatic Speakers

The thing about hifi, is its taken me on some very interesting journeys, generally your word is your bond and the people you meet are a very likeable bunch. Over a coffee and a pile of music whether selling or buying I've had some great afternoons. On Saturday I made a pilgrimage to Leicester from Manchester and met Paul Greenfield from Classique Sounds. He had a pair of Quads that he thought would fit my bill. Having sold my hornings, I was looking for a speaker that was similarly quirky, (ie removed from conventional cone technology) and had wondered about panels before, as they are a little more girlfriend friendly in a small flat, rather than the coffin sized hornings. Paul specialises in classic hifi from names like Quad, Garrard and Leak, and knows his stuff as well as a good cup of tea.
I listened to my own selection of Cinematic Orchestra's Ma Fleur, Zero 7, and Airs 10,000Hz album. These speakers sounded amazing, the delay on instruments such as keyboard was remarkable. They lacked that, directional punch that you get with some speakers, but that just made things sound more natural, - the same things that initially attracted me to the hornings. Bass seemed fine, I daresay if you are into dub reggae or drum and bass, you should look elsewhere, treble didnt go as high as some speakers, which I find can be obtrusive anyway, but again the glorious mid ranges and particularly voice and piano sounded beautiful. They coped admirably with the electronica of Air too. The soundstage was not perhaps as deep as the hornings, but as a cohesive experience I think I am a convert. I feel my speaker journey may well have ended.

I had to say yes to these, considering the quads are such an old design they can still hold their corner against contemporary exotica. Thinking, as with some hifi that hearing them on the sellers reference system, that they might not sound so good on my own - how very wrong I was! Electrostatics love quality valve amplification, even after my big sell off I kept my Trilogy 958 mono's, they are a great pairing.

I had a great day, and I'm very happy. Paul was the perfect host, with a passion for classic hifi and non of the hard sell. I'd heartily recommend the Quads, the Leak amps on the demo were a treat too. Paul can be reached on +44(0)116 2835821 or www.classiquesounds.co.uk. I'd rate Classique Sounds as a superb seller and I'm not given to plugs!

 

Welcome to the club!

 

which speakers are better? the quad 57 or 67? ive been thinking about a pair of these, but really wouldnt have the foggiest where to start........what are pros and cons of each model

 

I guess you mean 63, the successor to the 57. The best source of information is the Quad group on Yahoo! a mine of information on all things Quad. You'll find strong advocates of both, but my overall impression from what I've read is that the 63s are slightly better (I've never heard the two side by side and wouldn't presume to comment).

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/quadhifi/

 

thanks tones, i did mean the 63

 

why not ask Paul at the number above, he's sold hundreds of the things by all accounts!

Apparently they love the resolution of vinyl, so can't wait til I get my new phono stage.

ps: its a nice club by the way Tones!

 

Another great place for Quad:

http://www.quad-musik.com/

Manfred Stein refurbished my ESL57s when I won them on eBay Deutschland. He did a great job, he's an agreeable guy with excellent English and he likes people to visit. He took over the jigs from Quad when it stopped ESL production - his pride and joy is Peter Walker's original Meccano set membrane stretching device!

 

57's beam somewhat - ideal for the single listener sitting very still but in bigger roooms may be more forgiving. 63's I prefer by a long way even above the new esl's infact I've had a few pairs of each in my time and now using a pair of refurbished, silver cap modified Quad ESL63 PRO's - more rigid studio version and they are great.

 

The 63's may be better they have improved power handling and are more neutral and offer an more expansive soundstage however I think driving properly is a expensive proposition compared with 57's

FWIW I much Prefer 57's they appear less neutral but they are not difficult to drive with even very modest power valve amplifiers and in my opinion offer a more musical result in most circumstances.

Ultimately the best one for you may depend on your amplifier.

For me the "simplification" of a 9 or 10w single ended amplifier together with passive (TVC or resistive) preamp and quad 57's have some qualities not easily equalled elsewhere at realworld prices.

Andy

 

Agree with you there 100%!

 

Anyone have any thoughts about valve amplification for 63s when using a TVC and a CDP with only 0.6v output?

 

are the quads easy to drive? and what about solid state...do they sound good with ss? what sort of prices dou you pay for either model and what should you attempt to look for/avoid.?

 

I'm currently driving my 57s with an old "chrome bumper" Nait 2, and it does a good job.

My impression is that 57s that aren't in the process of disintegration go on eBay for at least £400. If they haven't been refurbished, it's then advisable to get this done (after all, the last 57s were made in the 1980s). I believe that One Thing Audio is the place in the UK

 

Re Amps

See
http://www.quadesl.org/Amplifiers/amplifiers.html
http://www.quadesl.org/Amplifiers/AmpList/amplist.html

Sorry can't do the short link thing.

I know these are also potentially the answer to my question about 63s, but I'm interested in members views/experience.

For SS I think my Moon W5 sound pretty good with 63s


Re buying

There are plenty of 63s on flea bay. Just do a search of completed auctions to see what they go for. Try to find pair that have recently been back to Quad for a check-over. Replacement panels are are reasonably expensive. I'd try to find a pair that are in use and I'd avoid anything being sold on by a "backyard dealer". (In reference to another thread, you may find yourself talking to people over 25!)

 

fair play Don, got me there!

 

According to Noel Keywood of Hi-Fi World, Quad 57's are difficult loads to drive with Solid State, because they have such wide ranging Impedance. 2 - 32, or thereabouts. When I bought my 57's, I was driving them with a NAD 7155 Receiver ( circa 1985 ) which are rated at 45 watts; supposedly plenty, but if I tried to turn the wick up, they distorted something rotten. I now use a World Audio Designs K5881 MkII. Only 20 Watts ( Equivalent to about 50 from Solid State ), but very clean; great quality and good sound-stage. Really great for acoustic instruments and vocals. According to HFW, even a Leak Stereo 20 will drive 57's easily, as long as you don't want to wake the dead.

 

2 Ohms at HF and capacitive.

Well bolted down (ie stable) SS amps will have no problem with this but some of the silly audiophile stuff will protest.

They don't actually need a powerful amp because the input transformer can only handle about 15w and will (deliberately by design) saturate if presented with much more. Power isn't required - stability is.

 

I power my 63s with two Monarchy Audio SMPros and they really rock. All types of music has an immediacy and clarity that I haven't heard on other speakers. Perhaps they may not be the most accurate but they do make music so very enjoyable - especially piano and acoustic music. The separation of instruments and voices is awesome and cheap double/triple recording of the same voice is so clear that it annoys! I use a passive TVR pre and a Behringer sub for the bass.

 

Interesting, the Monarchy amps are supposedly 'zero feedback', and that would usually make them very upset at low impedance capacitive loads.

As someone said to me once, they probably have local, but not global feedback.

 

The Quads are great, but where's the bass? They seem to have left it orf donchaknow.