Quad ESL 57 legs

[burgunder]

I have a pair of Quad 57s that needs legs.

Has anyone found some prefab legs that fit, or has anyone got some simple idea for legs?

And what are the dimensions of the original legs?

The height seems to be 13 cm.

But what about the top and bottom of the legs and the distance between the screws on the mounting plate? I seem to get 6,0(1) and 3,4 cms

 

[ChrisP]

I'm in the same position myself, I bought a pair off ebay a while back with no legs... There are some basic instructions for a stand in here www.quadesl.com/pdf/quad_book.pdf But it's nothing like the original legs.

 

[rayma]

There are some basic instructions for a stand in here

The Quads sound much better on stands that get them off the floor by around 18",
and vertical instead of angled.

 

[Zung]

Yes.
Even the great P. J. Walker Himself suggested at least 12" or so off the floor.
And according to the Quad book ("Quad: The Closest Approach"), the first auditions at the factory were done with the ESL on a chair!

 

[rayma]

Yes.
Even the great P. J. Walker Himself suggested at least 12" or so off the floor.
And according to the Quad book ("Quad: The Closest Approach"), the first auditions
at the factory were done with the Quad on a chair!

The difference is quite large, and all in favor of stands.
The old Arcici stands would be easy to copy.

 

[Zung]

Here's Mr. P. J. Walker's hand drawn "blueprint".

 

[burgunder]

Splendid!
So he want the speaker 30-40 cms of the floor and with a solid "wall". I wonder if that will improve bass? Other that that it seem to be perfect for two 12" or 15" open baffle subs.

Also thank you for the other suggestions. It seems a bit difficult to drill new holes for Sheldons legs without taking the whole speaker apart tough.

 

[Zung]

I also have more questions than answers on this topic.

I have my ESL-57's sitting on top of the subwoofers with some odd pieces of wood to shim them to the right angle; that's my temporary measure for the last half century or so, still working on it.

My thoughts, in no particular order:

1. Stands: removing only the back panel gives you pretty good access to the bottom plate. You can even use wood screws from the outside without removing anything at all; just be careful, but that's not the problem.
2. Removing the low frequencies to the ESL is always a good thing, from an electrical and vibrational point of view. I bi-amp mine, X-Over is at 80Hz, hi-pass is a first order single capacitor, and lo-pass is a 4th order Linkwitz style.
3. The construction of the ESL is not exactly a masterpiece of mecanical engineering: when driven full range, they shake like mad. Removing the lows helps a lot, but what about rigidly coupling the subwoofer to the ESL? That'll surely inject at least part of the vibrations back to the ESL, no?
4. Because of the extreme directionality in the vertical plane, you need a way to aim the "laser beam" to your ears, and that rules out screw-on stands or subwoofers.
5. I've tried the HQD thinggy, but that's not practical at all, plus the angling of the original design is WAY off. I guess Mark Levinson used it to hit the reflections of his room, à la Bose 901, but that didn't work for me at all.
6. I've been thinking about the Arcici stands rayma mentioned, but haven't got around to anything concrete yet. Ideally, some sort of "A" frame with a flat top that lets you tilt the panel while coupling the whole thing as rigidly as possible to the floor. The subwoofers are coupled separately to the floor, which becomes some sort of "common ground". Anybody?

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the current state of my mess, but I'm always on the lookout for improvements.

 

[stokessd]

I'm in the same position myself, I bought a pair off ebay a while back with no legs... There are some basic instructions for a stand in here www.quadesl.com/pdf/quad_book.pdf But it's nothing like the original legs.

Thanks for the plug of my modest website.

Here's the link for the PDF of the stands that I used for years with my original quads. I've suggested that people get a local cabinetmaker to build them in whatever wood you'd like.

http://quadesl.com/origRefs/eslstand.pdf

I drilled two holes through the bottom of the frame and install t-nuts on the frames, which the stands bolt into.

Sheldon
quadesl.com

 

[rayma]

Here's the link for the PDF of the stands that I used for years with my original quads.

Can you post a photo of the stands installed on the Quads?

 

[burgunder]

There's also this posibility. https://mniec.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/quad-esl57-siderails.pdf

But I must say that I prefer the look of the original feet. At some point quadesl.nl which is now closed offered a somewhat higher version of the original legs they were 20 cms or so intead of 13 cms, but I don't remember the exact hight.

 

[stokessd]

Can you post a photo of the stands installed on the Quads?

These pictures are 20 years old from an apartment I used to live in:

Sheldon
quadesl.com

 

[AVWERK]

Like most here, you must get the Quads up off the floor if you want them to give their most transparent capability.

I made these to fit over the 988 base without the sheet steel base plate.
I actually use a squeeze clamp in back to secure it tight.
Sand filled tubes.

11” works out in my room with the 57 and 988



Regards
David

 

[burgunder]

Like most here, you must get the Quads up off the floor if you want them to give their most transparent capability.

I made these to fit over the 988 base without the sheet steel base plate.
I actually use a squeeze clamp in back to secure it tight.
Sand filled tubes.

11” works out in my room with the 57 and 988 View attachment 703147

View attachment 703148

Regards
David

Great work the flimsy ESL 57 will probably benefit from the extra weight and rigidity.

 

[AVWERK]

Thanx
Since I have torn down both models to their bones the 57 actually has better damping in how it’s made overall.
The 988/989 has a very flimsy and resonant aluminum frame with many ways to flex and creak against its connection points

The steel base plate and the small plastic posts of the base are a disaster.
The base volume is a resonant cavity and should be left off or allowed to breath in some way . With every bass note this frame construction leaves me shaking my head
Maybe the reason they put all the panels in rubber mounts to isolate the cheap frame.
Tightly coupling the panels to this frame would excite this mess
The best you could do is replace the “L” channel with a thicker one since the stock one flex’s like crazy

A new frame design is somewhere in the works down the road for my 9xx series..,

Regards
David

 

[chrisb]

Sheldon - how exactly did you ballast those skinny stands?

 

[Zung]

Sand filling would be a great way to go.

 

[stokessd]

Sheldon - how exactly did you ballast those skinny stands?

They are surprisingly stable, but I made them so you can fill the stands with bags of shot or sand. In all the years I had them, I never filled them

Sheldon
quadesl.com