[Audio Empire]

On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:17:06 -0800, wrote
(in article ):

Just went on youtube, searched Quad esl, clicked on "QUAD ESL 57 DEMO -
Archie Shepp Quartet- Everything must change"

I suggest that all you lurkers, posters and whomever go there and take
a listen. Even with dinky computer speakers the unmistakeable purity,
clarity and realism of this 53 year old design sees off so many modern
high-end systems that I am left wondering, have we taken a wrong turn
somewhere along the way to better sound?

Comments welcome, but please do not shoot the messenger!!!!

ESTG in sunny Nassau Bahamas/




I dunno. I certainly can't tell anything about a pair of speakers from a
You-Tube video. Maybe it's just me, but we really aren't listening to the
Quads, but rather the microphone used to make the video and of course, the
computer electronics and speaker system.

That's not to take anything away from the Quad ESL-57s, you understand. They
can be quite magical as long as one keeps in mind their shortcomings. First
of all, they are a "one man" speaker, and only sound their best from the
"sweet spot". Secondly, their best consists of a lovely and extremely
realistic sounding midrange, but not much below about 60 Hz or above about 7
KHz. They also won't play very loud and, if one isn't careful, they'll arc at
"high" volume levels, damaging both the diaphragms and the power supply.

Over the years there have been many attempts to circumvent these
shortcomings. I recall that in the middle 1970's, Mark Levinson sold a
speaker system based upon Quad ESL-57s that actually made them sound really
spectacular. He built a frame that held TWO ESL-57s base to base so that they
both curved back from the center. Between the two Quads he mounted a piece of
matching hardwood (to the frame and the ESL's trim) in the center of which he
mounted a Decca ribbon tweeter. The array was suspended by two pillars by
large handscrews (like one of those portable black-boards one often sees in
corporate conference rooms) and the two ESLs could be tilted for or aft
around that axis (again like a blackboard). The base of the two pillars was a
large box containing a subwoofer, which, IIRC, was self-powered and crossed
over from the Quads at about 50 Hz.

By doubling up on the Quads (the Mark Levinson contraption had a total of
four ESL-57s, two per channel), Levinson was able to get the Quads to play
louder and to go lower, BEFORE they crossed-over the the sub-woofers! The
addition of the then state-of-the-art Decca ribbon tweeter, with it's wide
dispersion, finally gave the speakers the highs that they needed and weren't
so "beamy" at high-frequencies as were the Quads alone.

I thought that the Levinson system sounded really excellent. It was easily
the best ESL system I had heard up to that time (the Infinity ESL system
wasn't out yet, I don't believe). I also remember that Levinson wanted an
awful price for the system - around four grand as I recall (anybody remember
for sure?). While $4000 doesn't seem like a lot for speakers today, in the
mid 1970's it was astronomical.

As for Quad ESL-57s today, it's rare to find an undamaged pair. Here in the
USA, there doesn't seem to be any refurbishing facilities although I know
that there is one in the Netherlands which will actually improve the speakers
with modern sputtered, low-mass diaphragms and improved power supply, and
there is possibly one in England (Quad doesn't repair the original ESLs
anymore, from what I understand). The problem with the Quads is that the
original coating on the diaphragm breaks down (it was "painted" on) and the
power supply fails as a result of chronic arcing as well as component aging.

I'd say that if someone really likes the way a pair of Quad ESL-57s sound,
they should audition a pair of Martin Logan speakers. Even the (relatively)
cheap $2100 "Source" speakers should easily outperform a pair of ESL-57s.
OTOH, don't short-change the new $2000/pair Magnepan MG-1.7s. They will
outperform most speakers at any price (except for really deep bass) and are
certainly better than any Martin-Logan electrostatics; up to the Vistas,
anyway.