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Looking for vintage Quad ESL's - or my wife thinks a "shrink" becase she says I'm crazy!

Been out of the hi-fi ’scene’ since the early 80’s. My last system was a pair of Quad ESL-57’s with a Quad 303 amp, Hafler DH101 pre-amp (kit I built) and a Linn LP-12 and Grace tonearm (can’t remember what cartridge I had). I bought all of it for a song back then. The speakers were $300 (nobody knew what they were or what they were worth), I got the LP12 for $500 (salesman accommodation). The power amp and pre-amp were $200 combined. Oh yeah, I worked at a hi-fi store in Chapel Hill NC which explains some of the deals I got. Sold *everything* to pay for a down payment on a trailer as I had just gotten married. Skip 35 years, raised three kids, put them all through college, worked as a software engineer until retiring. Now I want to get back into my original passion. I can’t afford to buy new stuff, the price has gone ballistic. So, I’m beginning again to put together a system to listen to my music on. I still have my Hafler pre-amp which I will use if it still works until I can get something better. I just bought two 125 watt monoblock tube amplifier kits from Bob Latino (www.tubes4hifi.com). I love building things and am very handy with a soldering iron! Also, I always loved the sound of tubes.

Speakers...That’s where I need help. I *really* loved the way my old Quad ESL-57’s sounded. When I was 15 (I’m now 66) my friends dad had stacked Quad ESL-57’s and I swear I’ve NEVER heard anything as good since then! That’s why I’m really wanting to go back to electrostatic speakers. I’ve auditioned some of the Martin Logan stuff at Best Buy. I’m astounded that they are distributed in that chain..I also was flabbergasted that McIntosh was sold there too. Regardless, the salespeople don’t know what to demonstrate let alone setup up quality hifi equipment. They sounded terrible. Even after listening to the ML speakers on several different occasions I concluded I don’t like the way they sound. I still think a proper pair of Quad’s is the way to go. The problem is finding a pair! I’ve discovered Electrostatic Solutions LTD and if I get a decent looking pair intend to have them rebuilt there. I’m guessing after I find a pair and get them refurbished I’ll be spending between $4K and $5K. Unless I find a great deal on a pair that is already up to snuff.

DAC - I never knew what a DAC was until recently but conclude that I need one since I will be listening to music streaming from my iPhone, my Mac Mini etc. I feel really ignorant on what kind of DAC I need. I’ve noticed that some of them can double as a pre-amp too and hook directly up my power amps. That might be good for a temporary solution until I can get a proper preamp. Still, DAC’s can range from $500 - $15K. I have no idea what features I need or whether the low end DAC’s are even worth it.

I really need some suggestions. If I had the money I’d go to an audiophile salon and buy my equipment proper. But I don’t so I have to get the best equipment I can with my limited resources. I’m not exactly poor, but I could never justify to my wife spending $20K on audio equipment. Dang, I looked into getting another Linn Sondek LP12. The price is sky high compared to my ’82 version although there are differences between the basic model I had in 1982 and what they’re producing now. Still...I may need to wait on a turntable until I get speakers and a DAC.

I feel overcome with choices! New gear, used gear, electrostatic speakers, conventional speakers... Maybe my wife is right. I need some Valium and a good shrink!!

Mark in Big Stone Gap VA

markcooperstein
ps
756 posts
 
@ct0517
+1 Keep the bike.   
peter_s
1,336 posts
 
@ct0517  I am working with a pair of stacked 57's right now, rebuilt in 2016 by Kent at Electrostatic Solutions.  Listened with a real time analyzer last night and found that only the bottom 1/3 octave (centered at 39 hz) was down, everything else was well represented on the sound spectrum. I'm impressed with the bass with stacked quads.  The sound stage is also huge.  Unfortunately, these speakers may be too large for me humble listening room.  I am considering playing with the arrangement - right now the two panels form a slightly convex surface (like most of the images you see if you google "stacked quads") and the middle of the bottom panel is at ear level (making the top of the stack at around 6'6").  I might try to orient the top panel to shoot downwards towards the listening seat.
prof
3,474 posts
 
In the end, I think Quad’s Peter Walker himself said it best when asked if he felt satisfied with his product, "Oh no, we think our loudspeaker very poor, but we think that the others are even poorer!"


Finally!

You just helped me solve a brain-worm that was driving me nuts a while back. I’d remembered someone reputable saying of their work: "Oh no, I think my X is very poor..."

But I couldn’t remember who said it. I thought it might have been a famous scientist talking about a theory he was famous for or something.
Now I remember from that quote it was Peter Walker.

It’s always nice to relived one of those "middle-aged" memory moments.
prof
3,474 posts
 
peter_s,

I used to hear stacked quads (with an additional super tweeter as I remember...maybe it was a ribbon) at a local tube amp designer's place, back in the late 90's.  It was always an impressive experience and such a wall of sound!
peter_s
1,336 posts
 
It is impressive, and I am using a Townshend Audio supertweeter mounted to the inside of each stacking frame.  The first time I heard stacked quads was at CES in 2000, but the room was bigger than mine is (13.5x18.5), and I think the top/bottom panels had more room to blend. 
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