Will rebuilt Quad ESL 57s take the place on a great $30K dynamic speaker?

The ESL 57’s are wonderful speakers and my only suggestion would be to add a couple of small (8”-10”) subwoofers. The faster the better! That’s what I did with my Acoustat Model  X’s.

All the best.

JD

In that price range I would make the Rockport Avior ii a must audition 

Learned a lesson once more: don’t judge a component until it has a chance to warm up and open up. The First Watt M3 is much better today now that it went from dead cold to warm after about 10 hours. And the Quads have now also opened up.

Interesting, moderate volume recordings which are so, so on my big dynamic speakers sound good and interesting on the Quads. They are seducing. 
Now listening to David Crosby “If I Could Only Remember my Name”.

Very soft. Very lovely. Still not really a good recording, but it takes you in.

Uniquely offers insight into the soul of the music that is only offered by Quad 57.

And a cool 3D soundstage. Feel I am hearing Crosby for the first time.

I definitely understand why people use tweeters. And to a lessor extent, subs.

This record absolutely was not very good on the dynamic speakers.

Now, it goes into the best recordings file.

And, wow, clarinet trio-beautiful! It definitely takes a bit of time to “accept” the sound of Quad’s instruments and voices. They are very different than dynamic speakers. Dare I say more real?

And I, mostly, take back what I said yesterday about Peter Gabriel’s “So”.

Just put on the first minute of that disc. The booming bass was tamed. And the overall SQ is acceptable and good. But it still is not the kind of content with which the Quads excel. Quiet is lovely. Yes, sublime.

Elizabeth Swartzkopf and orchestra beautiful balance and tone. A main difference with the AGD Audions is that the phrasing is clearly heard. The subtitle beginning and end of phrases is not as clear with the First Watt. This is a good example of how something relatively small can make a big difference. But still, I am engaged with the music which is not so with the big dynamic speakers.

Walker’s Wonders? I get it.

Apples to oranges. Two amps with totally different construction/design.

Good Luck on your adventure.

B

Hello mglik!  Adding a subwoofer will give you dynamics in the lower musical spectrum. All the panel speakers lack dynamic fireworks (but they sing so clear and detailed!). I've used mono and stereo subs with Maggies of verious kinds since  the late 80's. Cross it over somewhere between 80 an 300 Hz. Enjoy!