This is insane...the Quad ESL

awsmone

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Apr 6, 2014
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I just purchased a reconditioned reconstructed pair of Quad ESL

These are on higher stands and have a protection circuit

By chance my Weston push pull kt120 monoblocks drive them superbly

I have never heard a speaker that got the timbre dynamics so correct without any fiddling !
676759F5-98DF-4322-A561-BBF0824FFE92.jpg
 

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bonzo75

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Feb 26, 2014
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This is in your big room, or another room?
 

awsmone

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This is in your big room, or another room?

Ha ha Ked

Know previous owner photo

I have mine set up in bedroom which is about the size of a squash court with cathedral ceiling and cedar roofing :)

Quads are a third into the room
 

awsmone

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Wonderful awsmone! Enjoy! I use a pair of Lamm 1.2 on my stacked Quad 57.

Interesting

I have Lamm m1.2,
At this stage the Weston’s are more immediate but need more time to evaluate only had three days

Vocals are stunning !
 

Audiophile Bill

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Mar 23, 2015
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Almost bought a pair this week myself! Looking forward to your opinions.
 

Tango

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ddk

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May 18, 2013
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Very attractive pair Andrew you should try listening to them near filed too, wonderful speakers.

Enjoy!

david
 
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Ron Resnick

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Congratulations! Enjoy them!
 

DaveyF

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Jul 31, 2010
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Magnificent looking Quads. A great find! IMHO, the original ESL’s can still compete with just about anything out there in the midrange. Very few speakers are able to delineate the mids with such accuracy. Listen to a great violin recording and you are in heaven.
Some of the best SQ i have heard in this hobby was supplied in the past by Stacked Quads...and that was many years back. I recently heard a restored pair of the originals, with the stock feet, and still thought the midrange was to die for. Congratulations.
 
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awsmone

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Magnificent looking Quads. A great find! IMHO, the original ESL’s can still compete with just about anything out there in the midrange. Very few speakers are able to delineate the mids with such accuracy. Listen to a great violin recording and you are in heaven.
Some of the best SQ i have heard in this hobby was supplied in the past by Stacked Quads...and that was many years back. I recently heard a restored pair of the originals, with the stock feet, and still thought the midrange was to die for. Congratulations.

I couldn’t agree more

But what has surprised me is the midbass on cello or double bass very natural
Also the top end is so natural on flute and woodwind and cymbals

Actually the bass down to 40 hz is excellent

I believe this is related to the extra height off the ground

As Art Dudley wrote they need 24 hours plugged in to come on song

Yes violin is wonderful on them

But I have always been told they don’t play loud

I have little problem going loud, and the room is large, with high ceiling

These are fully restored with protection circuits

I suspect they have the new thinner Mylar which means they play twice as loud

They are a delight

I have them in our main bedroom

They seem to work well in there

I am probably lucky the tube amplifiers I have work so well with them, as I am told it can be hard to find the right amp

These have 4 kt120 aside and twin rectifier tubes
I must try 5881 and el 34 in them as you can rebias for different pentodes

It has been suggested I try the Lamm m1.2 on them, which means hauling those big mothers upstairs
Will get around to it once have room set up better

For the price I paid I don’t think anything comes close at all
 
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mullard88

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Jun 5, 2010
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For myself, the Quads have enough bass that up till now, I have not been tempted to install the Gradient or Element subwoofers.

I have tried several amplifiers on them. Here’s my list of amplifiers I have used to drive them:
1) the old Spectral DMA 100
2) the Crosby modified Spectral DMA 50 monoblocks
3) the 47 lab gaincard
4) the Stax 80M monoblocks
5) the Audio Research D 76
6) the Croft 7 monoblocks
 

morricab

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Apr 25, 2014
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Interesting

I have Lamm m1.2,
At this stage the Weston’s are more immediate but need more time to evaluate only had three days

Vocals are stunning !

I had a pair of Stax ELS-F81s that worked the best with a big push-pull EL34 based amp (Golden Tube Audio SE-100). It just allowed that speaker to bloom in ways that made others sound choked off. Part of that was due to the very high impedance of the speaker and so it loved voltage, which made the amp happy too. Maybe the Quad is similar in that regard?
 

awsmone

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I had a pair of Stax ELS-F81s that worked the best with a big push-pull EL34 based amp (Golden Tube Audio SE-100). It just allowed that speaker to bloom in ways that made others sound choked off. Part of that was due to the very high impedance of the speaker and so it loved voltage, which made the amp happy too. Maybe the Quad is similar in that regard?

This was my thoughts also, I will swap in el34 on weekend
 

mullard88

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Jun 5, 2010
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I still have my Stax F81 speakers. I remember trying my old Lamm M1.1 on them. The Lamms just shut down. The three amps I liked using on them were the Krell FPB 300, the Spectral DMA 100 and the Quicksilver 135.
 

awsmone

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2014
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Canberra Australia
I still have my Stax F81 speakers. I remember trying my old Lamm M1.1 on them. The Lamms just shut down. The three amps I liked using on them were the Krell FPB 300, the Spectral DMA 100 and the Quicksilver 135.

I haven’t heard the stax please send some pics

The Lamm m1.2 I tried briefly with one speaker sounded clean but struggled to play loud

I will give them a proper go in. Week or two

The Kt120 are powerful and seem to play loud, till the quads start to complain

I listened briefly this morning and the guitar and violin and piano were exquisite

Unfortunately one of my preamp tubes is dying so it was sort of mono +1 but a good test of speaker tonality/timbre
 

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