Quad 2805 v. Quad 57

Be careful, SET w/o feedback will roll off the highs on QUAD's around 10-14kHz -3dB due to the low damping factor and capacitive nature of the speaker.

Also, some solid state amps develop a peak around +3 to +6dB 30-50kHz range.

Having said that I own 57's and enjoy them immensely.

Make sure to investigate the reliability of the 2805's. I owned a pair and loved them for two years, but in that time I had to return them several times for repairs not related to panel failure. I never over-drove them. The issues were around construction and quality control including loose internal wires and cold or broken solders.

After the third time back for repairs I gave up on them and moved on. In fact, the dealer dropped the line due to the quality problems they were experiencing from their customers. Also, there was only a 1 year warranty. Hopefully Quad has these issues worked out now with their plant in China.

Unless I was sure the QC was improved and they offered a more reasonable warranty, I would not buy new 2805's again but rather go with rebuilt 63's if I was to ever own Quads in the future.

Full disclosure: I sell and service Quad speakers so you can take my comments with the proverbial grain-of-salt.

The 2805 is a great speaker. It is a Quad! Basically it is the old ESL63 with an updated frame. The more rigid frame and additional mass versus the ESL63 does give the speaker a tad more resolution and a bit more bottom end authority. None of this is a dramatic. Many people would probably never know the difference.

2805/63 versus the 57. Depends on what you want. To my ears the ESL63 eclipses the original in every area of performance. The ESL57 is more forgiving, more euphonic if you like. For some this is exactly what they want.

The newer Quads are far more neutral than the original, more resolving even in the critical midrange and much better at the frequency extremes. SOTA performance in terms of soundstage/image presentation. It is also more dynamic and plays about 3dB louder than the original. The ESL63/2805 is a more honest/literal speaker.

IMO SET amps are not the ideal match with Quads. Frequency response and clipping problems will most likely be an issue.

I have seen nothing about the new Quads that would make me believe Quad has a significant QC problem. Stats are tempramental by nature. This may not be ideal for some users or dealers. In general the Quad designs are robust and reliable. I have seen many 20+ year old in my shop over the years that are in fine working condition.

If you want the latest and 'best' Quad and can afford the 2805 you can't go wrong. IMO a properly rebuilt ESL63 is about 90-95% of the 2805. Like any company that has been building basically the same thing for 30 years, a few changes/refinements will occur over the years. But the new Quad 2805 is essentially the same speaker as the original ESL63.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

I am a former Quad dealer and sold the 57 and 63. They are quite different and some prefer the earlier model. I myself would go with a used 63; they are available used at good prices, you can always move up if you want the relative small improvement the latest models give. I know Dave and I did not have the problems with the 63s that he had with the later ones. I didn't find them demanding as to amps, revealing yes, demanding no. I used them mainly with either Quad amps or Class A SS amps from Stax and Musical Fidelity. I also wonder how SET amps would work but then I am not a SET fan, I would check on Audio Asylum and other sites for experience of others with them.

I owned a pair of 63's for about 6 months with a pair of Celestion dipole subs. It was the GREATEST most ethereal sound ever for classical and jazz. It was a bit slow and shimmery for rock. My wife forced me to get rid of them because of their size. But I would repurchase a pair immediately if I could get rid of my wife!