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!
Will rebuilt Quad ESL 57s take the place on a great $30K dynamic speaker?
In the ‘90s I lived joyfully with Quad 57s for 10 years. Have always missed them.
Especially since Electrostatic Solutions rebuilds came to light, I have looked for a used pair. My system today is far better than what I had back then.
I was very curious to hear what they would sound like now.
I love my current speakers, but have experienced some fatigue in loud, full passages. And I realized that most of what I listened to was acoustic Jazz and Classical. But with a good amount of Pop singer/songwriter.
The Quads beautifully reproduce solo or otherwise “gentle” music. They are magical with voices. Eg.: Opera that I never got into much is now sublime. And voices in general.
But on something like Peter Gabriel, the fall apart. “So” which was a favorite recording is problematic at best.
I am leaning toward the Quads since they do “moderate” unlike almost any.
But I do miss the dynamics. Bass and treble.
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I am always surprised when I haven’t used a piece of equipment for a while and it goes through breakin over again… the weirdest is a power cord moved.. requires a few days to settle down. How can this be? But it is reproducible. Ok, I had to accept breakin of new stuff… but I hate to admit “rebreakin”… but no question… it is real. No wonder everyone considers us crazy. |
I’ve been running my 57’s with an EL34 integrated and they sound great with that. Do not feel I am missing out on dynamics. Just finished building a Hiraga 30 watt Class A amp. As soon as the transformer arrives, I will be setting up the 57’s again (Currently listening to a 10 Watt Pass VFet amp through Cornwalls).
Built the amp after reading the success people had running the amp w these speakers. I should have it finished next week, and will post my findings. Very curious how 30 watts of EL34 compares with 30 watts of SS. Looking forward to hearing differences first hand!
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@mglik You correctly observe the 57s are missing some punch on gutsy material. This has always been the case and there is nothing to be done. Peter Walker conceived them for operation with quieter music such as chamber groups and voices not backed with a big orchestra. They excel on that. But on rock and large orchestras on powerful pieces 57s won't satisfy many people. This kind of issue is why many of us have more than one system. Horses for courses and you just have to choose which way to go. It's always a compromise.
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