Quad ESL57

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ItsQuad

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Joined 2018
#1
Some months ago I "inherited" from my father a setup consisting of Quad 303, 33 & FM3, a Garrard 401 & SME 3009 and a pair of Quad ESL 57s. They have spent the intervening time up in the loft. A few days ago I brought them down and wired up the Quad items. I set them up with a CD player which I also inherited and have been listening to them.

Out of interest I turned up the amplifier today and noticed that on one of the speakers there were small, faint flashes (¿sparks?) on what I believe is the middle panel.

Can anyone tell me what the significance of these is and whether they will do or they indicate damage?

For what it is worth, the setup and the speakers sound absolutely wonderful - sadly, my wife is not entirely happy about having such huge speakers in the living room - but I will work on that.
 
#2
You will need the arc clamping boards and rebuilt tweeter panels. This will allow any amp to be used without worry.

It will be worth any price to bring these up to working condition as these have some of the most coherent resolute midrange performance and no speaker made today has downward dynamic range like these jewels

There is plenty of info right here on DIY, just search for it

Regards
David
 
#3
Can you hazard a guess as to how much it would cost (in the UK) to get new tweeter panels fitted? The ESLs sound wonderful but I still have "domestic harmony issues" retaining them, let alone shelling out actual money on them - sad but all too true.

From what I have read (probably inaccurate), clamping boards should not be required if one is using the original Quad 33 & 303 combo, only if one is using some current "monster" amp outputting megawatts. True / False?
 
#4
Quad 303 is designed to be safe with quads but do not do justice to the quads. The best 25 to 75 watt tube amp you can afford is a good way to go. Some of the pass amplifiers are probably good as well. Oh, the 33 preamp is really dated as well. I love the looks of the old quad transistor stuff, grew up listening to it, but it’s pretty low resolution.
 
#5
Quad ...the never ending ESL story...Just pull up the post after post here on this site,of people not having years of great music an sound ,but people working on these speakers for ever... then if you do spend the Big money too have them reworked,dont play them to loud....less youll need more money.
Sale,Sale,Sale, less you are way into Diy….. or need a dead end Audio hubby
Get a used pr of Martin logan Aerius i or Aeon i... in the end wife well like look better,an they well sound great ..….
just my 2cent...good luck
 
#8
I've owned my Quads since the early nineties. At first a lot of panels went bad because they were already 30 years old at that point. Since then, one panel dies about every ten years. All parts can be gotten for them - something that can be said about very few speakers. You can buy panels from several companies in the US and UK. If you're not near someone who can install a new panel, then you'd be better off installing it yourself. It's about a three hour job - and I'm not particularly skilled. So, take what's been said above with a grain of salt. A Martin Logan dealer freely admitted to me that the Quads are in a different class than the ML hybrid designs.
 
#14
Galu said:
I understand your sentimental attachment and it's a good reason for not letting the ESLs languish in your loft.

I don't know where you are located. If you are in the UK you could speak to Sheldon Stokes, who comes highly recommended in the field of Quad ELS repair.

SDS Audio Labs - Home of Quad Loudspeaker Rebuilds for Over 20 Years
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reference! I am in the States, but I get over to the British Isles as much as I can.

You have a damaged treble panel, the treble panels on these older quads are quite fragile and once the damage has been done it leaves conductive trails so more damage in the same area is easier.

I do have a lot of info on my site about these speakers, and because fixing the quads is just a hobby/sideline for me, I am pretty free to share my expertise and help others who need some advise.

Drop me a line or ask questions here and I'll try to answer them as best as I can. I'm not on here every day, so sometimes if life gets in the way, I can be a little slow replying.

WRT the "domestic harmony issues", I don't have a solution to that. I don't find the original ESL's to be particularly attractive or to have a place in a modern home living space. They really look like a science fair project in terms of build quality and finish. In that regard the newer models are much better.

Sheldon
quadesl.com
 
#15
If you know what you are doing or are prepared to learn a lot, you can definitely service every part of your HiFi. But, if you are based in the UK go to quad near Cambridge and get them serviced you may be amazed how cheap they will service this old kit.
 
#16
ItsQuad said:
...sadly, my wife is not entirely happy about having such huge speakers in the living room - but I will work on that.
Click to expand...
I have been owning (?) ESLs for 30 years now. My wife had enough time to get used to them. Now I hear less and less sentences such as "what are those ugly electric radiators?" and "my tiny computer speakers do it equally well" and "we don't have room for those" and "they do our nice living room ungraced". Mostly "push'em to the wall so that we can move around". My answer used to be: "they are here just for testing", "I keep them until I find something better for cheap" and so on. Now they belong to the scene of the room.
 
#18
lcsaszar said:
I have been owning (?) ESLs for 30 years now. My wife had enough time to get used to them. Now I hear less and less sentences such as "what are those ugly electric radiators?" and "my tiny computer speakers do it equally well" and "we don't have room for those" and "they do our nice living room ungraced". Mostly "push'em to the wall so that we can move around". My answer used to be: "they are here just for testing", "I keep them until I find something better for cheap" and so on. Now they belong to the scene of the room.
Click to expand...


Probably, the best workaround is “they are here just for testing”, haha😀
 
#19
I was a Quad dealer in northumberland (UK) back in the late 1970s I personally loved the products,esl speakers and current dumping amps. Great sound, trouble was back then everybody wanted brushed chrome,as many flashing lights as a christmass tree and of course vu meter needles dancing all over the place and yes most customers DID think the electrostatics were heaters!!! I sold one outfit in 5years yes one outfit in 5years. The Jap stuff (Technics/Panasonic) used to fly off the shelves. Actually ended up loosing the dealership at the end due to lack of sales. Keep the kit if you can the esl is a wonderfull experience drool drool But the sparking you mention is NOT GOOD its how you normally destroy these speakers. (They wont play loud) have it checked out. Best regards John
 
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