How do Quad ESL speakers sound?

[synthfreek]

I've always wanted to hear a pair.

[George Roland]

I have only heard Quad 2905s and my own, recently-acquired, ESL-63s, so I can only speak about them. My ESL 63s sound very detailed, cohesive and liquid with very high timbre resolution and no listener fatigue. I have found them to be among the least colored speakers I have ever heard. They do not go very deep in the bass though the bass that is there is detailed. They will not play at ear bleeding levels, but for voice, classical and acoustic music at reasonable volume levels, they are wonderful.

If you were inquiring about the original ESL, now also called the ESL-57, I cannot help you. I'd love to hear a pair of these myself!

Try posting a note on the Planar Speaker Asylum and see if anyone in your area has a pair you could listen to. If you're ever in N.W. PA, you can come hear mine.

Enjoy your music!

George

[artto]

Pretty much what George said.

I have heard Quad ESL57 many times under a variety of conditions. These are very “beamy”. There’s one and only one, very localized position for listening. While this is true of any “stereo” setup, it’s particularly true of this speaker. Probably the most ascribed description of its sound is “clarity”. It won’t play very loud, not all that dynamic ~ which is probably why they sound very detailed. IMHO this clarity can be achieved with a Klipschorn, but not easily nor cheaply.

For what it’s worth, both SME (tonearm manufacturer) and Mark Levenson used stacked ESL arrays in their setup. The Mark Levenson system was dubbed the HQD. It used two stacked Quad ESL57 with a horn loaded Decca ribbon tweeter on each side along with and a pair of large subwoofers loaded with Hartley 24” drivers ~ hence the “HDQ” designation.

A little known fact conveyed to me by Mark Levenson’s national sales manager (in response to my sheepish reply that I owned Klipschorns ~ jeered by the audiophile community even more then than now) is that Mark Levenson grew up with Klipschorns, his father had a pair. And that the legendary Levenson ML-2 power amps were primarily designed with two speaker systems in mind, the Quad ESL and the Klipschorn. A number of years later, after many years of absence from the Consumer Electronics Trade shows, when Klipsch finally did start showing up again I’ll give you one guess what amplification they had. Yeap, all Mark Levenson.

Edit: IMO Klipsch missed a great opportunity to pickup the Levenson product line when they went belly up (better choice than Mondial/Aragon). Maybe there's a future match with Klipsch buying McIntosh (now that they seem to have gotten their act back together)? hint hint, nudge nudge.

[synthfreek]

Thanks for the info George and artto. I've read about ESL's for years and have lusted over them ever since. My experience with electrostatic speakers is pretty much zero except for a few short listens to some lower-end Maggies and some Martin-Logans(years ago) and I remember liking the sound a lot. Just kind of curious really as I think my amp setup would not like ESL's.

[artto]

My experience with electrostatic speakers is pretty much zero except for a few short listens to some lower-end Maggies and some Martin-Logans(years ago) and I remember liking the sound a lot.

Just reminder ~ Maggies are not electrostatics ~ they are actually conventional dynamic type speakers. They are basically a conventional driver turned "inside out" if you will, with the voice coil being attached to the diaphram (flat unfolded cone so to speak) in a dipole configuration. They tend to fall apart after about 10 years, at least many of the earlier ones did. A similar fate for Ohm A & F and Ohm won't repair them.

[artto]

Just kind of curious really as I think my amp setup would not like ESL's.

The Dynaco should have no problem driving the ESL's at low to medium levels in most conventional residential rooms. It should be a very good match actually.

[George Roland]

Fascinating information about Mark Levinson's growing up with Klipschorns and developing amps with them in mind. Thanks!

I agree about the Dynaco amps. I use an ARC VT-100 MK I with my ESL 63s, which is likely overkill at 100wpc, but I have it and like how it sounds. The 60 watts of a Dynaco Mk III would probably be great with ESL-63s. I auditioned them at the seller's house. He was using a McIntosh MC-275 tube amp...very fine sound indeed!

I have owned Magnepan MG 1.6 QRs, and, for awhile, had them in my listening room with the Quads where I could compare them closely. In my space, the Maggies needed to be played fairly loudly to sound good--the Quads performed more cleanly and with greater detail at low listening levels. Also, I think the Quads were, ultimately, clearer and less colored. Maggies are very coherent, but not as transparent as Quads. They sound ever so slightly veiled by comparison.

George

[LarryC]

And that the legendary Levenson ML-2 power amps were primarily designed with two speaker systems in mind, the Quad ESL and the Klipschorn.

The ML-2 monoblocs were near-perfect matches for the K-horn. Their Class A circuitry was very clean and grain- and edge-free. Some who were used to the artificial clarity of added grain and edge had to relearn what to listen for in order to appreciate ML-2's. Second, they had very low gain, which minimized noise from pre-amp circuitry after the volume control, which is a common cause of electronic noise on K-horns. I had a pair for 20 years, and only high-quality tubes could better them in clarity and sound quality. I still have higher noise levels, though.