Electrostatics and tubes

I have owned Quad ESL-63s electrostatic speakers since I imported them from England in March of 1985.  I imported Quad amp and preamp at the same time but eventually replaced the electronics with a tube amplifier, an Audiomat Arpege integrated amplifier from a French company that is 30 wpc.

I should mention the reason I went to Quads in the first place was due to a chance reading of an article in Opera News that Quad Electrostatic speakers were the ideal speakers for opera lovers.  I love opera music and I love classical music and my experience suggests that the author of that article was absolutely right.  Quads are ideal for listeners who especially love the mid-range.  Voices, violins, piano, cello, guitar, etc etc sound so utterly natural and beautiful as though live in the room with you.   I eventually upgraded to an Audiomat Prelude Reference  MKII, another 30 wpc tube integrated amp that was an Arpege improved.  Just a wonderful integrated tube amplifier.  I also played with putting my stored in a closet Pioneer SX-1050 with 120 wpc to my Quads before I decided to buy the Prelude and it sounded great but I was worried about putting too much power to my beloved Quads, so I decided to go with the Prelude.  Besides, the Quads seem to be made for tubes.  That is their natural partner.

In 2017 I had my Quads completely refurbished.  What a treat to listen to them!

Many wonderful years later, I happened to audition a Luxman Tube amp and preamp that sounded beyond wonderful with my Quads.  Well over my price range of course, but I decided to buy them anyway.  

Then along came an opportunity to buy the US Monitor version of the Quad ESL-63s.  This from a friend who was downsizing.  He had just bought them from a refurbisher of Quads, so they were almost liked brand new!  
 

I have been invited to listen to the systems of fellow audiophiles and so far my system sounds better than some costing thousands more.  I attribute this to my Quads and their ideal pairing to high quality tube amplification.

The only way to criticize them is to knock their base. they don’t have a great bass but, honestly, I’ve never minded. I could add a sub, but I haven’t found it necessary.  I’m now 85 and I like to joke that I want my Quads buried with me.

The subject of Sub’s used with Quad ESL’s or a Tweeter to extend the upper frequency on 57’s is a widely discussed subject.

I have experienced Sub’s in use with a variety of Quad Models and a Super Tweeter in use with 57’s.

From a personal preference I find the additional Tweeter adds something that really appeals to me, ands would like to hear a Tweeter added as a Dipole Array to lift the higher frequencies.

I have detected on occasions that a added Bass is in use, from the experiences had, there does not seem to be the seamless integration into the produced end sound when the Bass is an added as a design being a typical Bass Driver set up. I am yet to experience a Dipole Array for Bass Drive Units being used.

Additionally, I have heard 57’s used with purpose produced Power Amplification that has been able to create the impression there is substantial Bass presentation , and the idea more lower frequency is required seems fleeting as an idea to be realised. I have even experienced others who have been demo'd such a set up, where some listeners have inquired which Sub Woofer is in use?

The Quad ESL (57) has been getting a bad rap for it's bass production for years. The speaker has quite good bass response down to 40 Hz. In most music, that would suffice. If you listen to rap/hip hop, electronic/dance, some of the newer movie soundtracks, and organ music, then the speaker will certainly not reach to those depths. The Quad ESL will even go below 40 Hz but at that point while the bass is still pleasing, it's more of the one not bass variety. I use a distributed bass array with two open baffle bass units next to the speakers and and additional two sealed boxes spread asymmetrically about the room. All bass drivers are 10", active crossover set to 100 Hz low and high pass with 24 dB slope. I use a Music Reference OTL-1 on the Quads and Bel Canto Ref 1000M monoblocks for the bass drivers. Works quite well.

I used several amps on Martin Logan Monolith IIIs in a 25X23X10.5 avg listening room with no power issues.  Audio Research Classic 60, Counterpoint 400, Bryston 4B.  However, my new wife had great issues with the terrible sound for rock, no bass, head in a vise dispersion for highs, lack of dynamic contrasts among others I forgot.  Dumped them for a pair of Legacy Focus and Signature IIIs (kept the latter).  We were happy for decades.