Quad ESL 57 electrostatic speakers - Jerry's Blog

[JANDL100]

As some of you may have seen from the eBay section of the Wigwam, I've just become the proud owner of a pair of Quad 57 speakers.

I've hankered after a pair of these for years (decades, in fact), and I finally succumbed to an eBay BIN auction for the princely sum of £350 just a few days ago.

They are in nice clean condition with just a few shallow dints to the bronze grilles. They are fitted with the One Thing Audio HT blocks to ensure correct power supply to the stat panels and have been recently serviced.

I started off by firing across the width of my listening room, which is my favoured orientation cos I like the sound of most speakers that way - it seems to give the soundstage room to breath and that way my 42 inch plasma screen can sit neatly between and behind them for when I get the urge to watch Independence Day or Lord of the Rings (yet again!).

They sounded pretty fine this way, even though they only had about 2 feet of space behind them - conventional wisdom says you need at least 4 feet.

I've been driving them with my new Krell KSA50 power amp - and the sound is marvellous!

 

[JANDL100]

I then get this posted from arch-trouble maker, murray johnson.

Sigh.

murray johnson wrote:

Do the OTL amps drive them Jerry?

My OTLs ....

Well, enquiring minds wanted to know - including mine.

So I've just now swapped out the Krell for my OTL valve monoblocks.

I had feared that that as the Quads drop to exteremely low impedances at high frequencies, the OTLs wouldn't be able to cope - they tend to chicken outinto low impedances, like all OTLs. In fact I had kind of hoped this would be the case, tbh, as I am running out of room and I really haven't the space to sensibly store the very large lump of metal that is the Krell if the OTLs had out-performed it.

However, the OTLs drive the 57s stonkingly well!

Amazingly so, no power limitations that I could find at all. They go LOUD without stress. Interesting. I guess there is little power draw at high frequencies, so the low impedance there doesn't matter. And at lower freqs the impedance of the Quads soars to 40 ohms or so - ideal for the OTLs.

That's a good rationalisation anyway, and seems to fit the observed performance.

In terms of sound quality there isn't much at all in it.Several folks have been assuring me by PM and in the open forum thatthe KSA50 is one of the very best sounding amps that Krell ever made. The OTLs lose a tad in image focus and gain a little in musical fluidity. In terms of tonal richness, rez and dynamics they sound similar and fab.

So, the Krell is now back in situ, and the OTLs are still up for sale (see the Classified section

).

 

[JANDL100]

Speaker stands - what to use?

I'd heard that they are best raised a foot or so off the floor - but the only stands I have around are about 43cm tall - nice wide base though, to provide stability for the very-wide Quads. These are shown in the photo in the first post here.

I had started a thread asking for advice on the best stands for the Quads - but I am now coming to the conclusion that the ones I happened to have lying around may well be very well suited.

Any thoughts on that, folks?

I am kind of tempted by the One Thing Audio Rupert stands - but they are £200 .... nice though

....

 

[jonjin]

Great reading... what music do you normally listen with? Which test tracks?

JJ

 

[russ abbott - royds broth]

Jerry why not make some...They don't look to hard and you could prob get materials for £20

 

[Stupinder]

Jesus Jerry. you're as untidy as i am! Phew thought i was alone. One day i will post some pics and you'll see what i mean!!

Didnt mean to call you jeebus just bad grmer innit what.

Must say tho' since reading hifi mags as a yoof i always longed after a pair of the quad electrostatics, and later the hybrids. done by others

 

[JANDL100]

More untidyness! Tch, tch ... disgustin' innit!

I'll tidy up now I've settled on a new position for the speakers!

I've now rotated the setup by 90 degrees, with the speakers firing down the length of my 12x20 foot room. There is now a bit over 4 feet behind the speakers (rather than 2 feet, when firing across the width of the room).

Sound is now much more out of the box ... err, panel. Makes the previous setup sound flat and 2D. Much better - but at the cost of a little bass weight. The highs were getting a bit steely at high levels, this has now disappeared with more space behind them.

I prefer it - but I may well swap my solid core LFD cable for some multi-strand stuff - see if I can get the slight loss inbass weight back. (Sorry, James

- I know all cables sound the same really!).

And, yup, the speakers are almost vertical now - worthwhile improvement in presence and rez. Thanks Andy.

Listening so far has included some big orchestral stuff (Wetz 1st symphony, Mendelssohn 3rd symphony), vocals courtesy of the lovely Cecilia Bartoli (Arie Antiche), Loreena McKennitt (Parallel Dreams) and Eleanor McEvoy (The Rain Falls).

Excellent (well, tbh, superb) transients - guitar, harp, drums. Lightning fast, but tonally full. Nice

Vocals are very "present" and focussed. Given the 4 foot rear space setup, the emotion of the singing comes across much better, partly due to the less stressed sounding treble, I think.

I get the feeling thatlower stands would give a worthwhile increase in bass weight. When I heard them at the seller's place he had them sitting directly on the floor, powered by a big, old fashioned Exposure amp - and the bass was a bit over-whelming. A compromise state seems to be called for, I think.

 

[icehockeyboy]

Mark at Missing Link uses a quality sub with his 'lectros. The sound is wonderful.

If you dont want to use a sub, recently i swopped ic's (you know the ones Jerry) and found a load of bass I didnt know was there!

 

[JANDL100]

Hmmm, yeah - I've gota REL Strata 5 sub that I haven't fired up yet with the 57s - I may well do that sometime soon and see how it goes.

Go on, Ice, remind me which cables you're on about!

 

[icehockeyboy]

The ones from you!

 

[harv]

icehockeyboy wrote:

The ones from you!

Jerry how do they compare to your previous statics ? IIRC you've run ML and Audiostatics ?

and how big is the waiting list for the krell ?

 

[JANDL100]

Hi Harv !

harv wrote:

Jerry how do they compare to your previous statics ?

Don't know yet - still trying to set them up to good advantage in my room.They are currently sitting on small 8 inch high plastic stools ..... based on this I may well invest £20 ina couple of10 inch high wooden stools I saw at a charity shop this morning!

IIRC you've run ML and Audiostatics ?

Yup, I've had a few stats- ML CLS2z, Quad 63, Electrostatic Research Vista 2, Audiostatic DCI Wings.

and how big is the waiting list for the krell ?

Sign up here ....

Marvellous beastie, it is.

 

[THE TICK TOCK MAN]

Interesting thread Jerry, one of the best sounds I have ever encountered was THREE pairs of ELS57's stacked and stripped for maximum danger and highest sound quality in a relatively small front room in a Victorian town house driven by some experimental transformer coupled valve amps. Only problem is apparently OTLs work well with a single pair of 57 but stack them and it all goes terribly wrong I hate to think what 3 pairs must be like electrically. Looked terrible sound sublime, Miles Davis Tutu, was lifesize in front of me. I considered walking up and asking for Mile's autograph. Only weakness they didn't have the impact of a good pair of horns but they didn't have a horns colourations either. Go on go three high you need them more than you know.

 

[JANDL100]

THE TICK TOCK MAN wrote:

OTLs work well with a single pair of 57

Damn right - I've a pair of Chinese OTL monoblocks - stunning with the 57s .... makes me kind of sorry I bought the Krell! :roll: But only ' kind of'!

Go on go three high you need them more than you know.

Thanks TTM - but that's the kind of encouragement I don't need!

 

[JANDL100]

Latest news with the 57s ..... they seem most happy on a small, wobbly plastic stepping stool - 7 inches high. The sound is the best I've heard so far - fluid & musical. Makes the 57s on metal stands sound a bit disjointed & mechanical. Whodathawtit?

On a lighter note, here's a cute pic of Lara and a Quad speaker .....

Somewhat less cute is her new-found preference for using my Krell amp as a cat-warmer - seems that I'm not the only one around here to appreciate Class A amps - so I've placed a glass sheet (suitably spaced) over the Krell to keep her damp little feet from doing any harm!

 

[THE TICK TOCK MAN]

Another cat lover, just like the guy with the stacked trio of esl57's it must be fate trying to tell you something. His however were naked :shock:and the cats knew just how close they could get before their fur stopped looking like they were being electrocuted and it actually happening. I believe at some time or other Tim DP made a pair of esl57's with customized otl's built into them. Mind you it could be an urban legend I think HifiWorld ran an article about it many moons ago.

 

[Martha's dad]

Try putting the cat on stillpoints - improves sound of cat significantly.

 

[TIU]

Good buy Jerry, two big claw sharpening panels for the cat and a nice warm place to sleep in afterwards.

 

[rag]

Bugger, I dumped a pair of ESL 57s into landfill 13 years ago along with a Quad amp, ERA turntable, SME arm and hundreds of LPs. Thought they were worthless back then. Wish I'd stored it all now