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I sure miss my Quad ‘57s!

I owned Quad ‘57s and joyfully listened to them for 10 years! Still questioning my decision to pass them on to another music lover. But I do sadly remember the multiple times I blew up amps because of them and the sickening feelings of the many times I arched them before I had them rebuilt.
I did eventually opt for more bass and treble but have missed their incredible mids now for decades.
Guess there are some new rebuilders who have been able to get more bass and treble? But I now have evolved the feeling that good enough is good enough. And man, were they good enough!
mglik
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

I find tube amps that only have 8ohm taps usually sound a bit soft and rolled off in the highs with the 57's, as they are a 2.5ohm load already at 10khz and falling to 1ohm at 20khz.
This is why I prefer a good stable 30-40w Class-A solid state that can do the doubling, I built quite a few of these for 57 owners based on the Nelson Pass A40 and they loved them.
http://www.firstwatt.com/pdf/art_a40.pdf

This is why they say they best amp ever for the 57's, was the Mark Levinson ML2 25w Class-A monoblocks, that could double down to 1ohm.
 https://img.ukaudiomart.com/uploads/large/2229206-mark-levinson-ml2.jpg

Cheers George    
prof
3,469 posts
 

I gave up on my Quad ESL 63s in the late 90's and don't miss them.
I'm definitely a dynamic speaker guy but I WOULD like to own a pair of ESL 57s as well.  I like them better than the 63s (though, ultimately, not as much as some dynamic speakers).
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
I bought my first pair of 57's back in '81. Along with a pair of Futterman H3aa OTL amps. And around that time a Bedini 25/25 class A amp. I alternated between those two amps. In 2001 I stupidly sold the Quads and the Futtermans. This I soon regretted! Now thanks to good fortune in the past few years I've acquired two pairs of 57's and three Futterman amps!
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
The 57's in stock form are limited to 20 volts input (50 watts). More than that they will arc! Stay below that and they will be fine! Do not expect to get floor-shaking bass and window-rattling spl's out of them! They are not JBL's!
tweak1
3,645 posts
 
I had Martin Logan CLSIIs with upgraded ladders, much later Magnepan 3.5Rs (I know not stats),but, both were frustrating in there own ways
DFor 3+ years now I have enjoyed Emerald Physics KCIIs (open baffle) with WireWorld and Clarity cap upgrades. They are very easy to drive, super efficient, glorious mid-range plus very good bass, seamless from top to bottom.

My main nit pics are both easy fixes
* the speaker face and base should have anchor bolts especially since the concentric driver at the top is so heavy

* the rear tilted face angle that EP chose is too extreme. I am using a hockey puck in the rear of the base and small Machina Dynamica springs in the front

hth
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