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Quad ESL 63 In Another League Now

I’ve owned many speakers over 30 years. I now have owned a total rebuilt ESL 63’s with the work done by Electrostatic Solutions. Kent did a wonderful job and the speakers sounded better than stock that I can say for sure. During the last few months for the fun of it I added better power cords, though Kent said they cannot make a difference well I can tell you they do and they do in a big way, so if you own any Electrostatic speakers you owe it to yourself to put better power cords on them even the Signal Cable power cords were a big step up from the stock power cord.

So things were just great then I read in my Furman reference 20i manual that the high current outlets are great for active speakers, though I read it, I never tried it because they sounded so good. Well blow me away, I tried it, and wow, more natural, clearer, bottom end more dynamic, and so forth, but the lowering of the noise floor, brought forth detail, more natural body, warmth, and a pitch black background, i.e. a grayness or veil in comparison gone, and I mean gone.

I never knew just how good these speakers were until I did the power cords, but in addition what the Furman does, with lower impedance, reservoir or current on demand, and of course the isolation between any interaction of the components. I also added some nice ebony cones with a copper tip (cheap) on Amazon, for a nice tilt back of about one inch which opened up the speakers and really made imaging better.

In this hobby, we are always learning something, and the big lesson I keep learning is always try something, even when some may say it will not make a difference, such as power cords cannot impact the Quads, well they do so try it. The bottom end now really go low and tight, I added 2 small Mini Vee subs crossed over at 40Hz for that last bit of bottom end in the 20’s range.

The rest of my system is McIntosh 402 amp at 400 watts, Luxman C800F preamp, and the Esoteric K-01 SACD/CD player with streaming capabilities. All cables are Lessloss Marc-C( the best I’ve ever heard) regardless of cost and that includes the ones with the big network boxes. Power cords the Luxman (for the preamp) beats anything I’ve tried and that is the stock cord, Crystal Clear Opus for the Esoteric, Essential Sound MusicSound Pro for the McIntosh Amp. I use a pair of the Emotivia Power cords for the quads due to their length, they work just fine, the AntiCables reference 3 power cords work well also with a bit more mid-bass and warmth but were a bit too short.

No matter how long you’re in this hobby you can always learn, and improve the system without buying new gear, in fact, I would say the power cords can change the sound of your system as much as a new piece of gear and even the wall plates impact the sound, not just the ac outlet. That also was a surprise to me. Go figure!




128x128phillyb
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
esl57addict
All of the above items provide REAL improvements, IMHO.
Forget everything about power cord BS, sorry to say.

>>>>>If you have not removed the heavy clunky metal grills, removed the suffocating plastic dust covers and placed the Quad 57s on stands, you are hardly a good judge of what the Quads really sound like. No offense intended.

esl57addisct
ESL addict and audiophile for many, many years...

>>>>If time spent in the hobby was a determining factor of knowledge or wisdom all the old fuddy-duddies here would be geniuses.
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
A little story to add some perspective on this thread...

Several years ago Kent was invited to my home. Why? He and I had a disagreement over at the Asylum (I no longer participate due to what I considered virulent disdain of women) on whether an ESL's power cord could effect the sound. He said no, I said yes. 

I invited him to my home to hear this on the Kingsound King (can't recall whether it was the original King or King III - doesn't matter, as I've owned both and both operate similarly). The bottom line is he acknowledged that he heard the obvious distinction in operation between different power cords. It was tough for him to admit it; he inferred that it was the power supply of the King III speaker, as though it might not be a universal effect. 

Now, I can't speak to the Quad, as I have never owned it or been given the opportunity to swap power cords on one. So, wisdom dictates a neutral stance, not a proclamation - as is the habit of some here - of what can or cannot happen. Perhaps the Quad operates entirely differently and would be insensitive to PCs. Perhaps not. A simple comparison of power cords would tell.

Who cares anyway? The older Quad is an also ran, a crippled speaker, like putting an 80 year old into a foot race with teens. 

Since then I have had the pleasure of reviewing the Sound Lab Ultimate 545 (at the time called the U-4iA) for Dagogo.com. Guess what? It, too, is quite sensitive to power cords. Surprise, surprise. No, not really if anyone bothers to actually TRY changing power cords. If the Quads are not sensitive to power cords, then I consider them even worse than their already quite stilted performance. They would be one step away from junk, imo, as they are so compromised holistically, to add the crippled performance of not being tuned by power cords would make them undesirable as ESL speakers, imo. Frankly, I think they've been surpassed so thoroughly over time that the cult of adherence to them is more from nostalgia than superior sound. They were an amazing product many decades ago. Now? Hardly.  Having heard them several times I wouldn't dream of swapping out the King III for them. They aren't even in the running for SOTA sound. 

I have no interest in debating/arguing my position on this.  

Phillyb, is the smart one. He actually tries things, and realizes it's a waste of time listening to people who don't.   :) 


geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
“I have no interest in debating/arguing my position on this.”

Quote of the Week!  😀
audition__audio
1,467 posts
 
doug

I tend to agree that the Quads are more limited than some of the newer designs, but I dont condemn them outright. I do think that they have the edge over the Kings in a few categories. I have a pair of 63s that I will send to Kent soon to be redone and I will try various power cords on these speakers.

Exactly what convinced you of the disdain of women on the Asylum? I find it odd but predictable that you would see fit to add this tidbit to your post. First the request to not mention weapons in any context and now this makes me wonder how you survive in such a tainted world. Please dont engage with me as such an exchange might prove to be uncomfortable.


esl57addict
3 posts
 
Against better judgment I got myself involved in a cable discussion (and the view of the ESL57s -- some think old nostalgia garbage, other think superior to many USD 25,000+ speakers in the important midrange).
Let's agree to disagree about the importance of power cords (they need to be long enough to reach the outlet for sure) and keep on enjoying our sound systems. 

Peace and happy listening!!
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