Is Quad ESL57 most amazing speaker of all time?


Just had to try one of these as i had heard so much about it. Enjoyed a lot of old Quad stuff so thought must be good. Recently in my room passed the following speakers, Spendor BC1 spendor SP1, Harbeth 30 and 40's. Reynaud offrandes, audio physic avanti, Audio note ANE spx, Avantagrde duo's(modified subwoofers), tANNOY GOLD DUAL CONCENTRICS, ETC ETC ETC.

Within minutes i heard more from a recording than i ever had with any other speaker I have knowm. The realism and detail due to the fast transients are absolutely astonishing. Ok will not go loud bass a little monochrome, but how could you live without that midrange?? It is that good. I was using jadis JPL pre and a good old cheap Quad 606. I didnot even have the chance to drag out the megabucks Audio Note signature 300b mono's before I blew the treble on one unit. Apparently very common. Only the Audio Note speaker approaches the Quad for sound quality although the audio note gets the emotional aspects spot on, the Quad as good as it is in communicating the emotion is just so scarily intimately accurate. Accurate to the point that it is unrealistic. By that I mean that you are so intimate with the musician or vocalist its as if you got up on the stage and sat beside them to hear details you never would if you were in the audience.

Is there any body else out there who can see where i am coming from??? Or is this just a one night stand??
audiojoy4

Showing 1 response by kentaja

You don't have a one night stand. What you have is probably the finest production loudspeaker ever conceived. Perfect? No. But it has been an amazing speaker for 50 years and few others have truely improved on the beauty of the ESL. Once you hear the siren call!

Limitation in bass output and dynamic capabilities is largely a function of set-up, power amps, etc. The speakers will do honest bass down to about mid 40s with spenty of slam! If a clean 95-100dB output is not enough, then yes, get something else.

Hard to beat for the sheer ability to get lost in the music!

Get your speaker repaired. It is well worth the effort.