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Old 6th Aug 2018, 2:42 pm   #1
Bobdger
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Default Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

Refurbishing Classic Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers.

New article in RS designspark Aug 03 issue.

Bob.

https://www.rs-online.com/designspar...c-loudspeakers
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Old 6th Aug 2018, 5:50 pm   #2
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

Excellent article, thanks for the heads-up.
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Old 6th Aug 2018, 7:09 pm   #3
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

I remember visiting an Audio Exhibition somewhere in London around 1970 and witnessed a pair of these on the Quad stand for demonstration, they sounded absolutely fantastic!

Alan
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Old 6th Aug 2018, 11:50 pm   #4
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

I repaired a pair of these about 10 years ago - with much trepidation! Enjoyed them for a year or so and then sold them to a chap in Australia, who paid £250.00 for shipping on top of the bid price! Once a year for several years after he would send me an email telling me how much he was still enjoying them - that's how well loved they are.
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Old 7th Aug 2018, 2:14 pm   #5
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

Quote:
Originally Posted by alanworland View Post
... they sounded absolutely fantastic ...
They're still very hard to beat, as long as you don't want extreme bass at high volume. But getting the best out of them means you need to have a room layout which allows them to be at least a metre or so from the wall behind them. Unfortunately the positions of the doors in my living room prevent that .

Cheers,

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Old 7th Aug 2018, 3:04 pm   #6
Bufo Bill
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

My Mono Quad set up in action this afternoon. Why Mono? My current situation is somewhat sparse economically speaking. One speaker and one Quad II makes it affordable, and I don't miss stereo. I suppose it's an extension of the vinyl/compact cassette revival.
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Old 7th Aug 2018, 3:16 pm   #7
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

Unless your room is pretty big, you may find mono very satisfactory. Ever since I first set up a Quad system for a colleague in the 1960s, that first stunning 'open window on to the studio' impression provided by the Quad Electrostatic has stayed with me. I've never heard a conventional cone speaker system to rival its realism. BBC monitors come close, but I've found the Quad unique, within of course its power limitations.

A pair in stereo can take you actually into the studio, but the mono 'open door' is impressive in itself.

Martin
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Old 7th Aug 2018, 3:23 pm   #8
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

I have a pair that I refurbed about 17 years ago and are in regular use. They stay plugged in to ensure the charge remains. Work needed was to replace the treble units and replace the resistors in the crossover fitted inside the transformer. Only part replaced in the power supply was a single resistor (330k) I think. Prefer these to the later 63's, of which I also have a pair stored away in their boxes since I moved home about 10 years ago.
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Old 7th Aug 2018, 3:43 pm   #9
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bufo Bill View Post
My Mono Quad set up in action this afternoon. Why Mono? My current situation is somewhat sparse economically speaking. One speaker and one Quad II makes it affordable, and I don't miss stereo. I suppose it's an extension of the vinyl/compact cassette revival.
Bill.
I had a mono system with a Quad 57 driven by a Linsley Hood class A amplifier 40 odd years ago - I`m still of the opinion that it was as good a setup as I have ever had.
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Old 7th Aug 2018, 4:35 pm   #10
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

Excellent Bufo. Yes you are a trend setter-small but perfectly formed! Somewhere I have one of those "Back To Mono" badges sponsored by Ringo Starr in the 80's! The early Dylan masters were re-issued in Mono and Stereo editions a few years back. Also on Vinyl I think. Overall I'm happy to listen in most formats and configuration... coming from the generation that had to struggle or self build to have any kind of a player. My first system was a cheapo deck and separate arm on a home made mount and played through a Sobell Radio-Mono of course! "Freewheelin" Bob never sounded better. I'm sure there was an article in Wireless World re building Electrostatic Speakers at some point but I think it was a bit complex!

Dave

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Old 8th Aug 2018, 8:16 am   #11
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

I have always had a soft spot for Quad electrostatics having been very impressed by them at the Bristol HiFi show many years ago. Of all the speakers I've heard for a complex orchestral piece they were by far the best. Sadly I missed out on a pair of 57's some years ago as I was not confident of getting permission to place them in the lounge which is probably still the case!
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Old 8th Aug 2018, 8:39 am   #12
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

I have a set of 57's SHMBO said not having those in the house so I built a mancave 5m X 9m to home them I will post photo's when finished
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Old 8th Aug 2018, 10:55 am   #13
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

At the time that the 57s were designed, I guess their 'convector heater' appearance might have seemed sensible, but I fear that they really don't fit in today's living rooms.

Martin
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Old 8th Aug 2018, 10:58 am   #14
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

Especially not 1m into today's living rooms. Still, the silver lining is that they've therefore not become eye-wateringly expensive.

Cheers,

GJ
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Old 8th Aug 2018, 11:26 am   #15
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

According to the Quad advert attached, the 57 Electrostatic was used by the BBC Transcription Service. It would be interesting to hear the back story on this because I believe that the BBC normally managed to find something wrong with commercial speaker offerings.

Martin
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Old 8th Aug 2018, 10:09 pm   #16
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

Quote:
Originally Posted by nutteronthebus View Post
I have a set of 57's SHMBO said not having those in the house so I built a mancave 5m X 9m to home them I will post photo's when finished
Hope the mancave is a low humidity one. They're known to prefer dry conditions.

(still chortling at Martin's comment on the NIH syndrome...)

David
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Old 9th Aug 2018, 8:14 am   #17
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

I built it that way with vapour shield over a osb 3 wall with 100mm of Kingspan then cedar timber inner walls and cedar cladding on the outside
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Old 9th Aug 2018, 9:43 am   #18
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

I no longer have a SWMBO but 45sq m is bigger than my back garden!
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Old 11th Aug 2018, 2:44 pm   #19
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

I first heard the electrostatics at the Science Museum, where there was a Quad setup with the speakers suspended in mid-air in the amateir radio station exhibit, long since removed. It was playing Radio 3, and sounded wonderful. I changed ESL57s for 63s, then went to PMC for professional purposes. I still have the 63s, and must get them going again, but for sheer immediacy the 57s take some beating. They have their limitations, as we know, but within that envelope - wow!
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Old 11th Aug 2018, 2:55 pm   #20
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Default Re: Quad Electrostatic Loudspeakers

A lot of the audio exhibitions used to take place in the Hotel Russell, Russell Square.
I first heard Quad electrostatic speakers at a house in Chessington, probably in the 1960's, where the owner was proudly demonstrating them to me. Insisting that they had plenty of bass. They sounded good from what I remember.
In those days I went to listen different loud speakers, now I prefer to listen to the music or programme source.

John
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