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Old 20th Sep 2020, 8:34 am   #40
Radio Wrangler
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
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Default Re: Quad FM3 no stereo

Where do I begin?

The ESL is a wonderful speaker to listen to, but it is somewhat fragile. Maybe modern trends in music have exacerbated this, but I do think they are a bit too sensitive to their environment (humidity, dust) and rather fragile. The moving coil speaker, by separating the air displacer from the motor can shift large amounts of air without compromising sensitivity much. The electrostatic speaker is limited in throw by the choice of gap and it's trapped in a nasty compromise where more throw means less sensitivity. Driving such a light air displacer is still a wonderful thing, but it has its limits.

The QuadII really is nothing special, except for the output transformer. I wouldn't call it sh*t, it was rather good but apart from that transformer, everyone else was making similar things.

I love the looks of the 33 and FM3. That flash of orange makes it. In what became a sea of brushed aluminium and then satin black, it was refreshing! Peter had it right.

I don't like equipment without mains switches, or with them hidden round the back.

But the ESL and QuadII are holy cows, so taking pot shots at them doesn't go down well, even when accurate.

David
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