Quad ESL 57's...Best Spkr Cable?

Use a flat cable from Nordost, Goertz, or Magnan. You'll find that many cables have a chestiness in a baritone voice that these cables do not. Do not confuse this with an absence of warmth or bass.

Audio tekne is the best for these speakers.

In my experience electrostats do well with a wide, flat cable. This geometry minimizes time smear related to the skin effect, wherein low frequency signals travel in the conductor and high frequency signals travel along the surface, resulting in slightly different arrival times. Most speakers are smeared enough that this makes little difference, but not a full-range electrostat. A wide, flat conductor tends to give better clarity and dynamic impact with an electrostat.

A wide, flat geometry also has very low series inductance. An inductor rolls off high frequencies, and the lower the speaker's impedance, the lower the rolloff sets in. With most speaker/wire combinations, any rolloff is well above the range where it can have an audible effect. However, because electrostats have a very low impedance at high frequencies, they are more susceptible to series inductance in the speaker cable reducing the sense of air that comes with an extended top end.

I own and sell electrostats, and I also own and sell Magnan Signature cables, but I think well of the Nordost Valhalla and the Goertz. I know of at least one Original Quad refurbisher who uses the Magnans in his reference system.

Congratulations on owning a pair of Original Quads. That's one of the finest speakers ever made.

I concur with the other posts about good results with Nordost and Magnum.I also sell these brands and have used them with Quad 63 as well as older Quad 57.I currently have use a pair of 57's in one of my systems and have audio tekne which pushes the performance even higher than the other cables.Like Audiokenesis states inductance is a culprit and this may be why AT is better it has none.It also has eliminated skin effect as it is insulated with natural enamal.Any cable using Plastic,Teflon or any type PVC will create a pulsing and storage effect which is very audible once you hear your system without this effect.

In my opinion after going through dozens of cables, I found that in my system (Martin Logan Prodigy) only two brands came out on top:
The Nordost Valhalla and the HMS Grand Finale MK II. I feel that electrostats need cables with a fast signal propagation. And both cable brands really bring out the best of ESL.

Chrsitain Brouwer
HMSCables

Mr Brouwer,

Did you try the Magnan Signature?

Are you related to Brouwer the mathematician?

My thanks go out to all who chose to honor my question with their opinions and expertise... R.L.

So far the best I have used is MIT 750 Tube Terminator.Very Holographic.

just wondering if you tested any of the flat cables, thanks paul

After many hours of listening and testing, **I prefer Audio Note ANL copper speaker cable on Quads. They outperform MIT, Goertz, Monster, Audio Research, 12 guage copper wire etc. They beat the others hands down, the entire family agreed, wife and kids. They sound the most musical, detailed, free of strain. There is a difference.