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Electrostatic Speakers

I have been lusting after a pair of electrostatic speakers for my entire life. When I was a kid the Infinity Servo Static was the big dog in town. I heard a pair of stacked (4) QUAD electrostatic when Mark Levinson was saying they were the only speakers up to his standards.

So, It was with great excitement when I ordered a pair of QUAD ESL-2912 speakers. I set them up in my listening room and they were fantastic. Even the bass was impressive, tight and went very low. However not the bass output one would get from a big powered sub-woofer. One night I was playing internet radio and I heard thunder. I walked outside and there was no rain. The thunder was coming from the speakers! Not loud but deep and tight.

I have owned lots of speakers over the years. I sold stereo systems for years when I was younger. I worked for AR for a few years. In all those years I have never heard any speaker that came close to the QUAD ESL-2912 for clarity and transient response.

Then one day the party ended. One of the speakers made a loud single CLICK, just one and then back to normal for days. Then it got much worse. It clicked and thumped every few hours. Then it clicked and thumped every few minutes.

I sent an email to the Distributor asking what to do. No answer. I sent a few more emails, no answer. The clicking was making me nuts so I removed the back cover and disconnected the panel, there are five, that was making the noise. All was back to wonderful except the left speaker was a bit softer in volume than the right speaker.

Over the next few months I sent more emails and my tone turned angry. Finally they sent me a replacement panel. Before the replacement panel arrived more panels went bad in the first speaker and then the second speaker.

Next we shipped both speakers to the factory repair center. Six months they returned with banged up cabinets, torn speaker cloth and one speaker still not working!

So my $ 13,000.00 dream speakers have bitten me. Years ago I had KLH 9 speakers (also full range electrostatic) and never had trouble with them until they died and couldn’t be rebuilt.

Any of you have experience with QUAD electrostatics? Some people say a rebuilt pair of the old ones are way better than the new ones. I assumed that new modern manufacturing methods would have made the new speakers super reliable.

Thoughts?? Am I within my reasonable rights to sue these guys?
davidclarke
maurice1937's avatar
maurice1937
36 posts
 
I own a pair of 2805's
A knowledgeable friend told me they would last six years .. then poof!. Sadly almost six years to the month it happened. That notorious "clicking" that told me a Panel needed replacement.
I decided I would purchase Harbeth 7 ES3 as a temporary replacement until my Quads get repaired. I hung on and on and never did fix up the Quads. 
The Harbeths are so good and seem to fit into my set up and room arrangement. They are so musical and I am enjoying them much more than the Quads.
Alas I will not repair the Quads.   Not worth the hassle.  
kcleveland
15 posts
 
++1 on Sanders ESLs. The model 10e is truly fantastic. They are "arc-proof" given their perfect insulation stators. Also, Roger Sanders and company are the best in terms of support. You will find only knowledgeable, reasonable and helpful folks at SSS. No "snake oil" products sold or recommended by them as well.
rsf507
2,313 posts
 
+++1 Sanders 10e. I don't own them yet but have heard them many times, just lovely. They will be my next speaker.
jaws's avatar
jaws
2 posts
 
I would agree. I have heard Sanders speakers at several audio shows and they are terrific. My only knock is that they lack the goosebump effect I get from my 57s. But they are using digital and I get my best sound from my 'table. But Roger Sanders system approach is fantastic. I have put it under serious consideration in the past.
jhills
613 posts
 
One of my first loves in speakers was the Quad ESL63. I got a pr. back in about 1984 and had them for 20 years, until having to sell because of a down size in living space. They performed flawlessly for 20 years and were still going strong and sounding great when I sold them.
A sad deal when Quad moved their manufacturing to China, their stats haven't been up to the same standards since.
Recently mooving back in a larger space, I got a pr. of the Maggie 1.7s; much the same sound and character as the Quads, but do need a sub. I'm considering an upgrade to the larger Maggie 3.7s or possibly the Sound Labs. The Maggies, Sound Labs and Sanders are all great speakers, but the Sanders (more so than either the Maggies or Sound Labs) do require a good deal of power to drive.
Best of luck.....Jim
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