Remove the Quad metal grills as well as the plastic dust covers. Trust me, you'll forget about expensive upgrades in a big hurry.
Quad ESL 57 system upgrade help requested
Happy Holidays Everyone:
I am looking to you for guidance and wisdom regarding a system upgrade that I am embarking on.
I have a quasi Mark Levinson HQD System. I love my stacked Quad ESL 57’s but I am looking to upgrade some or all of the following components to take my system to the next level.
I hope that you can help.
I am open to tube or solid state electronics but it will be hard for me to part with my Bedini amps that drive my stacked Quads. I have heard great things about modified idler drive turntable, but I am open to all suggestions. Since my system is old, whatever I don’t change will probably need new internal components and/or modifications. I would welcome recommendations regarding this as well.
Here’s the rest of my system:
-A Forsell Air Force One Turntable with a Forsell Tangent tracking tonearm which I definitely want to change
-A Koetsu Onyx long body cartridge - retipped
-A pair of Bedini 25/25 1mg amps in bridged mono mode driving my stacked Quads
-A third Bedini 25/25 1mg driving a pair of modified Decca ribbon tweeters
-A Mark Levinson ML3 amp driving dual Fried 10” woofers in a single transmission line cabinet – I need very fast, detailed subs to keep up with my stacked Quads
-A Convergent Audio Technologies SL1 Mk 2 Reference preamp –I don’t listen to any digital sources. Vinyl playback is critical. I’ve heard great things about Shindo, Nagra, Aesthetix, VAC and Jadis but am open to all suggestions
-A Symmetry ASC1 crossover
-A Symmetry ASC2 crossover – ideally looking for one crossover to replace the two Symmetries
-A Yamaha T2 tuner – quality FM is very important to me. Considering Marantz 10B or a McIntosh MR 71 – again, very open to suggestions.
-A pair of STAX Lambda headphones
-A Stax SR-12 headphone energizer/preamplifier – love Stax, but open to alternatives
-A Revox A77 Reel-to-Reel tape recorder – ½ and ¼ track recording and playback are key. I have heard good things about the Technics 1500 or Otari 5050 B Mk.2 but welcome your recommendations.
-Mark Levinson speaker and interconnect cables – they have to go.
-A VPI 16 Record Cleaner – looking for simultaneous dual–sided cleaning
I also own a SOTA Star Sapphire turntable with a Sumiko 800 "The Arm" tone arm which is not being used along with a Stax SR 7 headphone energizer and a rebuilt Janis W1 subwoofer.
I listen to rock, jazz and large scale classical.
My room is 14’ by 20’ by 9’.
Budget is wide open. I could go as high as $50,000 but I am open to great used equipment as well as new. Bottom line - I am looking for the best possible sound from reliable manufacturers that provide great customer care. My spending hours of constantly tweeking and adjusting my system are long behind me. I want a wonderful system that I can spend my time listening to that won’t put me to in the poor house.
I look forward to your timely replies.
Enjoy and happy listening.
Thanks in advance.
Rich
I am looking to you for guidance and wisdom regarding a system upgrade that I am embarking on.
I have a quasi Mark Levinson HQD System. I love my stacked Quad ESL 57’s but I am looking to upgrade some or all of the following components to take my system to the next level.
I hope that you can help.
I am open to tube or solid state electronics but it will be hard for me to part with my Bedini amps that drive my stacked Quads. I have heard great things about modified idler drive turntable, but I am open to all suggestions. Since my system is old, whatever I don’t change will probably need new internal components and/or modifications. I would welcome recommendations regarding this as well.
Here’s the rest of my system:
-A Forsell Air Force One Turntable with a Forsell Tangent tracking tonearm which I definitely want to change
-A Koetsu Onyx long body cartridge - retipped
-A pair of Bedini 25/25 1mg amps in bridged mono mode driving my stacked Quads
-A third Bedini 25/25 1mg driving a pair of modified Decca ribbon tweeters
-A Mark Levinson ML3 amp driving dual Fried 10” woofers in a single transmission line cabinet – I need very fast, detailed subs to keep up with my stacked Quads
-A Convergent Audio Technologies SL1 Mk 2 Reference preamp –I don’t listen to any digital sources. Vinyl playback is critical. I’ve heard great things about Shindo, Nagra, Aesthetix, VAC and Jadis but am open to all suggestions
-A Symmetry ASC1 crossover
-A Symmetry ASC2 crossover – ideally looking for one crossover to replace the two Symmetries
-A Yamaha T2 tuner – quality FM is very important to me. Considering Marantz 10B or a McIntosh MR 71 – again, very open to suggestions.
-A pair of STAX Lambda headphones
-A Stax SR-12 headphone energizer/preamplifier – love Stax, but open to alternatives
-A Revox A77 Reel-to-Reel tape recorder – ½ and ¼ track recording and playback are key. I have heard good things about the Technics 1500 or Otari 5050 B Mk.2 but welcome your recommendations.
-Mark Levinson speaker and interconnect cables – they have to go.
-A VPI 16 Record Cleaner – looking for simultaneous dual–sided cleaning
I also own a SOTA Star Sapphire turntable with a Sumiko 800 "The Arm" tone arm which is not being used along with a Stax SR 7 headphone energizer and a rebuilt Janis W1 subwoofer.
I listen to rock, jazz and large scale classical.
My room is 14’ by 20’ by 9’.
Budget is wide open. I could go as high as $50,000 but I am open to great used equipment as well as new. Bottom line - I am looking for the best possible sound from reliable manufacturers that provide great customer care. My spending hours of constantly tweeking and adjusting my system are long behind me. I want a wonderful system that I can spend my time listening to that won’t put me to in the poor house.
I look forward to your timely replies.
Enjoy and happy listening.
Thanks in advance.
Rich