Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

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savvypaul
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by savvypaul »

I'm taking a bit of a different approach. Instead of adjusting the height / rake of the speaker, I am adjusting my sitting height, and distance from the speakers. I've now got the speakers around 6 feet apart (measured between the centre of each speaker) and I'm sitting around 6 feet away on a very low chair (around 30cms sitting height). I have tried them up on stools, tilted forward but I'm missing a bit of body that is added by coupling with the floor using the original legs. I suspect that there are many variables, distance from wall behind, distance from side walls, distance to listening seat, room geometry, etc etc - so I wouldn't make any universal assumptions. YMMV, indeed.

This sort of tweakery and sacrifice to get the best out of them is probably what puts many people off them - but I love it, lol.
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antonio66 (Sat Feb 18, 2023 2:51 am) • CycleCoach (Mon Feb 20, 2023 10:51 am)
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by savvypaul »

I've been searching for a way to describe the 57s without repeating the many thousands of words that others have already written about them. All I can say is that it feels as though there is very little hi-fi between the music and me...and I can't really ask for more than that.
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Lindsayt (Fri Mar 03, 2023 9:30 pm) • Latteman (Sat Mar 04, 2023 12:10 am) • SteveTheShadow (Sat Mar 04, 2023 7:43 am) • CycleCoach (Sat Mar 04, 2023 12:08 pm)
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by CycleCoach »

savvypaul wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 7:43 pm I've been searching for a way to describe the 57s without repeating the many thousands of words that others have already written about them. All I can say is that it feels as though there is very little hi-fi between the music and me...and I can't really ask for more than that.
Having had the opportunity to listen to Paul's setup on Thursday evening, I can confirm the startling revelation about a low sitting position. It definitely "filled out" the bottom end in a surprising way. It's not ultimate ooomph, but it's natural and convincing.
I did feel that, at the lowest I sat, (I was literally sliding my arse off the seat to get my head lower: now rectified I believe because Paul bought a more suitable chair,) that as you got the best "bottom end" you started to lose a smidge of resolution on vocals.
So what I'm saying is that it's a pretty tight sweet-spot, but bugger me, it's worth it!
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by Bencat57 »

Okay I now have my NVA Amplifier back . This started out as a used P60 which worked and sound great with my Quad ESL 57 . Then a fault and lots of other things happened that have resulted in my current NVA power amp now being a direct equivalent to the S300 as currently supplied .

I collected this from Paul and Mark on Thursday and after my drive to Durham and back same day proved to myself yet again that I am getting old and was just too tired to get things plumbed in . Friday and my delightful grand daughter Freya was round so nothing could be done till Freya left . Finally stripped out my XTZ and replaced things with the S300 using the NVA RCA cables I bought recently . Mark had warned me that the additional set of Transformers and Capacitors for the upgrade were not fully burned in yet . So Friday night left the system playing at lowish levels all night and through Saturday . Had brief listens at various times on the Saturday and things were sounding very nice . Resisted the temptation to shorten the burn in and my first serious listen was today .

Now one of the things in the past with quite a few different amplifiers that had always annoyed me was I like BBC 6 Music and the Cerys show on Sunday . But after a while i would notice the lower quality of the sound and just switch it off . The NVA changed all that and made even daily shows like Craig Charles listenable . There is no disguise to the 320 kpbs 48Hz AAC stream but NVA amps just seemed to let you hear the music and not get distracted by the medium . Now perhaps others would dust off their best recordings and showcase the way it makes this sound better and I have no doubt over the next few days I will be doing this as well . For me though what I am most impressed with the S300 is that it makes anything you play have emotion and connection you listen to the music , the voice the playing and just forget how it is being delivered .

So I will state without any doubt in my mind that NVA Amplifiers work very well with Quad ESL 57 speakers they make them sing and sound wonderful . This I am sure is true of the S150 and S180 but you really do notice the just more of everything good that the S300 brings . You keep all the musical quality of the range but you add a bit more of everything playing tracks like Steely Dan which were probably stitched together from many recording sessions and players and then put on to the final version should sound broken and messed around with as they were . Yet listening to some of my favourites I am amazed and how together and tight they sound as a band when they are not . The next step up for me would be Monoblocks but I am happy right now with were I am and will leave that sort of upgrade to if the lottery win ever comes .

One thing I would ask advice on is that I would like to buy a used Valve Power amplifier which would suit the Quads just to have an alternative . Has anyone any experience with amps that work well ?
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CN211276 (Sun Mar 05, 2023 2:26 pm) • CycleCoach (Sun Mar 05, 2023 3:17 pm) • Lindsayt (Sun Mar 05, 2023 3:39 pm) • Latteman (Sun Mar 05, 2023 9:49 pm) • antonio66 (Sun Mar 05, 2023 11:15 pm) • savvypaul (Tue Mar 07, 2023 12:44 pm)

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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by CN211276 »

This is an interesting thread not least because of the role the 57s, by then already an antique, played in the design of NVA amps. I am intrigued that it appears the design has not progressed in nearly seventy years, although the modern ones are more pleasing to the eye. From what I pick up from forums, in spite of what they have going, they do not seem to have anything like the popularity of so many other brands, Harbeth, Spendor, PMC etc and I don't think this can be completely put down to the protection circuits compromising sound quality. The flat earth and the popularity of Naim amplification in the 80s and 90s would also have been a barrier.

From when I read hifi magazines forty years ago I can recall a group test when what must have been the latest Quads were compared to other similarly priced speakers. There was no outright winner but for clarity the Quads came out on top. What let them down was bass performance and positioning constraints.

There seems to be no shortage of 57s on eBay at varying prices which probably reflect the amount of maintenance required. For anyone with a suitable room and a liking for the type of music where they shine most they would be a good buy.
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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by savvypaul »

antonio66 wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 3:49 am Everyone kept telling me to buy stands for my 57's, which I did and this made quite an improvement.
You were right about stands. I thought I would lose bass by lifting them higher, but I get more bass - I guess the floor was cancelling out some of the rear radiation. With the Quads you seem to have to think the opposite way to what you would do with box speakers.

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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by CycleCoach »

I'm ordering a set tomorrow if I get time. They look dead neat.
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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 antonio66 »

@savvypaul They look great, any thoughts on buying a small sub?

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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by Lindsayt »

antonio66 wrote: Thu May 25, 2023 5:45 am @savvypaul They look great, any thoughts on buying a small sub?
To play in the bath with? :whistle:

Or the type that you play in the bedoom with? :shock:
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savvypaul (Thu May 25, 2023 8:52 am) • antonio66 (Thu May 25, 2023 3:17 pm)

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Re: Quad ESL 57 buying advice, please

Unread post by savvypaul »

antonio66 wrote: Thu May 25, 2023 5:45 am @savvypaul They look great, any thoughts on buying a small sub?
The 57s don't need that compromise, imo. By ear, I would say they go to around 40hz. I am going to try a supertweeter, though.

I have a sub that I use with Royd Edens.
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