speakers for classical music

My ultimate reference for what speakers should sound like is what live performances should sound like. . . in theory. Unfortunately live performances I have attended never sound like what they should. But then, my experience is limited by the Teatro Alla Scala, the Sala Giuseppe Verdi at the Conservatorio DI Milano, The Royal Albert Hall, The Basilica Di San marco in Venice, Notre Dames in Paris, and the Tomsom Hall in Toronto. . . although I do admit that the 16th century portcature in Groznjan (Istra) near Trieste comes very close to sounding right.
So in the end. . . I just follow my ears and hope for the best.

I disagree with those who have said Quads ESL 57 are the perfect choice for classical music. I own a pair of them, I just love them, but I think their limit is that they can't play symphonic music right (meaning, reproducing as closely as possible live performance). I am not talking about chamber music...they are just sublime there. I am talking about symphonic pieces that require a fair amount of air to be moved. That's what you feel in real life concerts, at least in my experience, and this is Quads' main limitation, again, in my experience. Too bad: apart from this, they are just perfect speakers. My two cents.

Thanks for commenting about the Quads' limitations from an owners perspective. If you listen to chamber music and stay away from percussion, 20th century music, Mahler, Holtz, Stravinski, etc., then you'll be ok, and enthralled with the incredible midrange; however, just about anything by Mahler will crap them out, even with a sub, if you allow a realistic SPL, exceeding 100dB at the peaks.

I love them on certain things, but could never use them in my system with my listening preferences.

Dave

Harbeths and Spendors would be my 1st choice for classical music, but then again, the Harbeths can go with all sort of music.

DCstep, actually some people believe the right sub can solve the problem, but I never tried it (actually, I tried a Velodyne but had no luck). I've been recommended a couple of gradient subs, but my room is probably too small for that. If anyone was able to perfectly integrate a sub with the 57 we would probably have the best speaker ever...