Im too from the 57's and 63's loving club.I think with proper room size and equipment the ESL are some of the best sounding speakers ever made.Since I downsized my home I bought the S2 from the recommendations of Stereophile and other magazines and blogs.It took about 100 hours before the speakers came to life,the ribbons was truly stunning.Almost the same feelings I had when I first heard the ESL 57's.The total lack of colouration and the speed and details the ribbons provided was amazing from a small monitor.The bass had weight and extension beyond what you expect from a small driver.Fit and finish was top notch,there was no visible seams and the curved edges gave it a wonderful profile vs boxy cabinets.Its highly reveiling monitors.You must have a decent front end.These speakers will show its weakness if not.I can honestly say I put these speakers against any sub $3000 speakers and wouldnt be surprise S2 will be more enjoyable to listen to.
Quad S-2
Recently acquired a pair of these speakers to replace my trusty 14 year old Castle Richmond 3i's. According to the manual they need 50 hours run in before sounding their best. I've got about 30 hours on mine to date, but am already really impressed with them and they are a significant upgrade on the Richmond 3i's, which were very well regarded in their day. I haven't owned or heard many speakers in my lifetime for comparison, but these do sound extremely good to my ears and are highly regarded by the few owner reports that I've come across. So, I'm a little puzzled as to why they don't appear to be very popular, at least I rarely see them mentioned on hi-fi forums. I wonder if the reason could be that Quad are not a go to speaker brand like KEF, B&W or Dynaudio to name a few? Or, perhaps more likely, that people, especially those in the UK, tend to shy away from what was originally a UK manufactured speaker that is now a part of the IAG group and manufactured in China? Then again, the answer could be simply that the S-2 simply doesn't appeal to many folk, perhaps due to a dislike of ribbon tweeters?