After the thrill is gone

I had my destination system.

But never forgot the “decade of joy” I had in the ‘90s with Quad ESL 57s.

Then Kent McCollum of Electrostatic Solutions came to the fore as the preeminent 57 rebuilder. Among other significant differences is that the Mylar he uses in 2 microns instead of 13 microns. They play louder with more bass and treble.

Now, my system is built around ESS 57s.

Couldn’t be more different. I do miss the big dynamics. But what the Quads do with voices and small scale is nothing short of magic. Records that were very good on the big dynamic speakers are now sublime. 
Years ago when I lived with 57s, I ultimately wanted to hear the dynamics and sold the Quads. But they have again grabbed my ears. They draw you into the music in a way that no other speaker can, IME. Instead of the music coming at you, they draw a picture of the real thing as they pull you in. The more I hear them, the more I love them. I don’t think I have the right amp match, so bigger scale is clipping.

Am going to try a Quad 405 amp. Pretty long in the tooth, but said to be THE perfect match. Matching the 57s, he 405 rolls off the highs and limits the bass to 40-45 Hz. Which is what the 57s do.
Guess the audiophile bug again. The thrill was not really gone. I may keep the old speakers and rotate them. But laid back Quad sound does fit my music preferences.

Over the last couple of years I tried three new well regarded speaker pairs and none were as good as what I already had...so if it ain't got the "thrill" after an appropriate break in it's outta here. My current speakers have earned their place.

I must be lucky. I loved my first good speakers, ML SL3 electrostats and they were my mains (with a Velodyne) for 16 years. I loved them the whole time.

I moved into Dynaudio Sapphires and was very happy five years but I'd heard better and got very lucky as I moved into (possible end-game speakers for me) used Raidho D2 small floorstanders. Their sound, room-corrected has thrilled me for six years and I can listen to glorious rich detail with full bass for hours at a time.

I'd be wary of moving in a very different direction to buy an end-game pair. Lots of potential risk is what I suspect. I moved gradually into a speaker type and sound I really love and then got a great pair after fully understanding them.

@inscrutable

I’ve been thinking 1.7i, but debating with myself about biting the bullet “buy once, cry once” and get the 3.7i. Will be listening to both in a few weeks, and if the immediacy/dynamics aren’t as disappointing as they have been for some/others, will pick one and move on

i just went from 1.7i to 3.7i (still have both sets, i cannot get myself to part with the 1.7i's...)

both are truly superb, i think which is better is quite room dependent - at the price of the 1.7i it is an unfathomable value for the enjoyment and quality of music it delivers, and as you know, both require specific placement for them to shine

with either, i feel nothing is lacking in the ’immediacy/dynamics’ department... but then again i am fortunate to have excellent supporting equipment/amplification

happy to talk further with you via pm if you’d like, i can share a lot of observations and pointers