Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

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antonio66
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by antonio66 »

Everyone kept telling me to buy stands for my 57's, which I did and this made quite an improvement. I also placed some rubber washing machine feet under the rear of the base, so the base was parallel with the stand. I also purchased a REL T5x sub, I wouldn't go back to listening without the sub now. You could try moving them further apart, something I cannot do in my room due to the width, but I always feel I'm missing out on stage width by not being able to. I have to say they look great in your room.
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savvypaul (Sun Feb 12, 2023 10:51 am)

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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by savvypaul »

Here, I'm just going to enjoy them for what they are, so a subwoofer is unlikely but I will play with positioning and maybe some of the Aquadthing stands. The coherence, clarity and sheer musicality are enough for me not to be craving more...at least for now.

When I want my full range fix, the Cubes will go back in.
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by antonio66 »

I ordered a pair of these to use as stands https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275387964824 ... 1113.m2109

I have found a photo of my Quads on the stands viewtopic.php?f=3&t=51427
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CycleCoach (Sun Feb 12, 2023 11:52 am) • savvypaul (Sun Feb 12, 2023 12:34 pm)

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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by CycleCoach »

Some thoughts on my "new" ESL 57s:

I think they’re the absolute creamy centre sound-wise.

I can honestly say that for the human voice, they’re the best thing I’ve heard so far.

It’s real in a way that boxy speakers don’t seem to do.
There’s no dazzling, sizzling treble, it just rolls off in a polite and orderly manner.

Equally there’s no earth rumbling bass. They go low enough for me to feel that visceral "tap on the chest" telling me that there's bass there, but again, it's gently rolling off so you don't get that ultimate “slam” like you can with a 12 inch woofer.

So they're not a bar of Cadbury's Fruit and Nut milk chocolate, they're more like a Werther's Original, which is perfectly formed and ultimately satisfying.

I can see (hear) why people want to add subwoofers or, as was the case with mine, a super tweeter, to fill out what they feel is missing. (I removed those Tweeters straight away.)

Where you might stand on this possibly tells a great about your attitude to listening. Are you all “HiFi” or are you all about the music? Because if you’re the latter, then, warts and all, these iconic speakers deliver musical emotion and performance better than almost anything I’ve ever heard.
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antonio66 (Mon Feb 13, 2023 1:04 am) • Bencat57 (Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:33 pm)
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by TheMarlin »

A lot of Hifi people misunderstand subwoofers. They think of 18 years olds in their first car, with a hair moving sound system, and bass notes heard a mile away.

That’s not what it’s about.

It’s about taking a the very low end load off a speaker that just doesn’t have the range, and freeing it up to do what it does best.

In my experience, Quads with a subwoofer sound WAY better. They sound even sweeter, as they’re no longer struggling to hit sub frequencies.

It takes me about a weekend to properly balance a sub with speakers. Most of the time, you wouldn’t know it was there, it’s only when these frequencies and pushed forward that the sub does its job. And, if it’s properly balanced with the speakers, it should be a seamless handover, and sound very natural.

Some good news, subs are directionless, so you can hide them behind some other furniture if you want.

Seriously, don’t dismiss a sub with Quads. Try it. Heck, I’ll loan you a sub, I have a spare in the garage.

Martin Logan Electrostatics have subwoofers built in!
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CycleCoach (Mon Feb 13, 2023 12:29 pm)
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by savvypaul »

I used a subwoofer (which I still have) with Klipsch Heresys and I broadly agree with everything you've written. It's just not a priority, as the Cubes are my no.1 go to. Our interest in the Quads is the back story about Richard using them to design the NVA circuit...and they sound delightful as they are, and it would be great fun to stack them.
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CycleCoach (Mon Feb 13, 2023 12:30 pm)
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by Latteman »

savvypaul wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 12:15 am

Image
They fit will, makes me think I would be able to accommodate a set👍🏼
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savvypaul (Mon Feb 13, 2023 12:56 am)
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by savvypaul »

I think the other thing is that I'm deliberately playing to the 57s strengths - unamplified instruments, vocals, chamber music, folk, country - all sounding magical. There's a direct connection when playing this music that I've not quite heard from any box speaker... but the 57s (sans sub and supertweeter) will not cut the mustard for rock / full orchestra. I have the Cubes for that...
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by CycleCoach »

TheMarlin wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 3:47 pm A lot of Hifi people misunderstand subwoofers. They think of 18 years olds in their first car, with a hair moving sound system, and bass notes heard a mile away.

That’s not what it’s about.

It’s about taking a the very low end load off a speaker that just doesn’t have the range, and freeing it up to do what it does best.

In my experience, Quads with a subwoofer sound WAY better. They sound even sweeter, as they’re no longer struggling to hit sub frequencies.

It takes me about a weekend to properly balance a sub with speakers. Most of the time, you wouldn’t know it was there, it’s only when these frequencies and pushed forward that the sub does its job. And, if it’s properly balanced with the speakers, it should be a seamless handover, and sound very natural.

Some good news, subs are directionless, so you can hide them behind some other furniture if you want.

Seriously, don’t dismiss a sub with Quads. Try it. Heck, I’ll loan you a sub, I have a spare in the garage.

Martin Logan Electrostatics have subwoofers built in!
I'm sure that a sub could make a positive difference. I was just making the point that it seemed unimportant to me if it did because the basic speakers are doing something musically which seems RIGHT.
For me it's certainly nothing to do with HiFi per se.
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TheMarlin (Tue Feb 14, 2023 11:59 pm)
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Current System: Linn LP12 Lingo Ekos Troika, NVA PHONO2 with BBPSU, NVA AP20 (White), Quad ESL 57s &/or NVA Cube3s (White)

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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by Bencat57 »

Nice to see the Quad ESL 57 getting a bit of love on here as when they have an NVA Power Amp attached they do make some beautiful music . Very soon I will have my amp upgraded to S300 level and i am very much looking forward to this as a combination .

Couple of comments stands are essential and they need to bring the Quads off the floor about 12 - 18 inches which frees up the bass a little and puts the treble output a little closer to a listeners ears . I also advocate that you need to find a way of making the panels lean forward so they are firing straight in to the listening room not beaming up at the ceiling . I would also comment that it is surprising how much closer to a back wall they can be used but they do need decent space from side walls .

Now sub woofers , personally I am not that keen with any speaker but I have heard them sounding self effacing and musical in some passive systems . With electrostatics I have yet to hear any sub including those fitted to Martin Logans that match the speed and transparent nature of the static panels . Statics have that sound because they have no real box around them and adding any form of boxed driver to them is very hard to disguise. Sealed units would be better than ported as they just might offer the sort of speed that the bass needs to match the Quads . This does not come cheap and in general will need two one each side in order to get the soundstage and imaging to to be right .

The best sub system I have ever heard and really wished I could get at home but at the time could never afford one was the Celestion 6000 system . This consisted of two SL600 si speakers mounted on a frame which had a large dipole sub woofer each side . Now the SL600 speakers is one of the few speakers that ever got close to the Quads in sounds and I owned a pair for many years until my Krell KSA 50 blew them both up . I never was able to find the subs and they are rarer than hens teeth now so probably with never get one of these at home and see if my memory is as good as I think it is .

All of you have fun and listen to some great music .
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Grumpytim (Thu Feb 16, 2023 6:18 pm) • CycleCoach (Thu Feb 16, 2023 9:42 pm) • antonio66 (Fri Feb 17, 2023 12:42 am) • TheMarlin (Fri Feb 17, 2023 4:41 am)

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