QUAD ESL 2905 / 2805


am pondering over a pair of Electrostatic Quad ESL 2905/2805 to pair with my BAT pre / power (all tube).

Wondering abt the suitability of such pairing and also worried abt reliability issues of these new generation ESL 2905/2805 supposedly made in China - having hear how many has issues in 3 months frm delivery.... albeit perhaps the older batches...

any experiences / comments welcomed...
art80342
In my recent travel to U.K. to collect the pair of Quad ESL 57 I bought to a seller, I listened to his ESL 2905 and the 57's sounded more detailled and musicaly involving. They where originals, just checked by Quad every 5 years. Back home I opened them and there was a very thick dirt deposit on the panel covers. I cleaned everything, put them on 57 cm stands ( hearing height) and I am blown away by the sound they have. My Logans are not my reference any more ! Killer looks too, just incredible for a 50 years old pair of electrostatics. Have a look at them in my system. I would love to have them stacked, the real challenge is the WAF factor here !
Best,
Jean.
Dave: ESL 57 with Mc 275 is a delight ! I would go for 57's refurbished .
Best,
Jean.
I agree about the QUad ESL57 and McINtosh275 observation. I was blown away when I teamed the 275 with the ESL57s, I had previously been using a Plinius SA102.

The improvement was staggering.
Sorry, should have posted earlier but just stumbled on this thread.The posts above would certainly cause some misgivings if not real concern for any prospective Quad customer. While I fully understand and appreciate that its pretty harrowing to have expensive audio equipment frequently break down with no real assurance of a remedy from the dealer/manufacturer. I only want to share a quite contrary experience regarding my ESL 2905s which I've owned for nearly 3 years. Have had absolutely no problems running them in a hot and dusty enviroment( New Delhi, India). The only problem I've had is with the rather flimsy speaker binding posts, made from aluminium, you would expect better quality in a $11.5k speaker.Anyway got a prompt replacement in less than a week.
Of course experiences will vary but IMHO the new Quad line are truly outstanding speakers . I have come close to contemplating a replacement but that holographic soundstage and mid range is hard to match, let alone surpass. The 2905s have their weakness, they won't play too loud, LFE is on the weaker side but paired with the right subs and tube amps they are heavenly.
Cheers
I bought 2905's used, moved them 1500 miles without original packing, used them for a year then moved them again, in the back of my pick-up truck no less. Divorce causes some extreme measures!

They have never given me any issue and must be 4-5 years old now.