[Patrick Turner]

Tom Alaerts wrote:

Here is a classification of the best speakers ever made:
1. Quad first series ESL of 1957. The speaker designer's reference.
2. Quad ESL63 of 1981.

Have you heard any of the newest Quads? First reactions are very good.
I love the 57, but it's a bit too limited as a universal speaker, the
63 can handle more music, but the midrange is -ever so slightly- less
superb than in the 57.

Personally, while I always loved Quad ESLs (myself I only have quad
electronics), I also think that there are many really superb speakers
these days. I think that the advantages of ESLs were more evident in
the past than nowadays.

Some other speakers which impressed me as much as ESLs -but in
different ways- over the years: big magneplanars with ribbon tweeter,
certain more upmarket Sonus Faber speakers, JBL S2600 (hardcore model
with an Everest-type horn), Bert Doppenberg's horn speakers with AER
fullrange drivers, and a speaker with those German white ceramic driver
units from Thiel (the German Thiel Acuton, not the American Thiel).

enjoy, Tom

The trouble with ESL57 is that many have come to the end of their service
lives and need to be
re-built by a specialist, and when listening to any given pair, you may be
hearing sub-optimum
music because of the panel problems.

There are a few guys in Oz here that do the restoration work of replacing
the
membranes for about aud $3,000 a pair, John Hall of melbourne is one,
and I think EAR Audio in Perth offer a kit, as well as their own brand of
ESL.

So afaiac, I wouldn't pay more than $100 for an old pair of Quad ESL57
because I know that sooner or later
I'd have to re-build them at rather a high expense.

I'd love to have a pair though just to see if what they say is true, that
they
image well and are non tiringly accurate and entertaining, ie, musical.


For many things I would like in life, I will have to win the lottery to
attain them...

Patrick Turner.