Quad's Classic ESL 63 Electrostatic - A Legend in its Own Lifetime, and Beyond
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- Опубликовано: 12 мар 2023
- Here's a speaker that needs no introduction - as it continues to delight audiophiles even today, despite being designed 60 years ago! As its name suggests, Quad's ESL-63 electrostatic loudspeaker began development in 1963, and was finally launched in the very early 1980s..
There's little in the way of controversy in this episode, as Mike and David both know and love this speaker. Both are Quad electrostatic owners, and both understand what a well preserved pair is capable of doing. All the same, bickering breaks out!
Each episode of Hi-Fi Riff features their unedited, unexpurgated views about all manner of weird and wonderful hi-fi designs.
Business executive Mike has a wealth of knowledge from previous hi-fi retail experience, and David has written about hi-fi for thirty years. Now Editor-in-Chief of StereoNET, he's picked up a few things along the way.
So relax and enjoy some one-take hi-fi riffing - and please leave your comments below. And don’t forget to hit the Subscribe button, this one goes up to eleven!
The eighties-tastic title tune is called ‘UFO/Mike’s Jumper’, and used with the express permission of our old pal and rights holder Simon Lythe.
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I used to look after a “sound room” in Harrods in the late ‘80’s and if a customer was a classical fan we used to wheel these beauties out. Loved them, and used to spend many a morning listening to them for hours before the store opened. BTW enjoyed meeting you guys @ Bristol🎵🔊
Heard a pair of 63s back in the Eighties….their sound is still stuck in my head..still don’t have the room to accommodate them. Yes they are floored but as you say what they do they do brilliantly. Nice review guys.
I've just retired my 63s after using them for about 40 years and agree with all your comments. Used mine with a subwoofer for a bit of extra bass but for transparency, low distortion and imaging I don't think they can be bettered.
Worth experimenting with room position to get the best out of them. Had floor to ceiling curtains behind mine, 18" away from from the wall behind but right up against the side walls. They still image well or even better when placed a lot wider apart than normal speakers. Found they work really well with well recorded live concerts (rock, jazz or classical) giving a real sense of being there.
Interested to hear what speakers you replaced them with
@@grahamstrahle4010 I replaced them with a pair of Kef LS50 Metas and a KC62 subwoofer with an Audiolab 9000A driving them.
My system is in a relatively small room with bass problems so I decided to go for some stand mounts and subwoofer to give more control over the bass and that’s worked out very well.
The other reason for choosing LS50s was because of their very good imaging, which is one of the main reasons I thinks the Quads sound so good and the one thing I didn’t want to compromise on.
Given the cost of buying new Quads the LS50s are very impressive for their price. The coherency and mid range transparency is not quite as good as the Quads but in most other respect:- dynamics, treble and bass the LS50s are as good or better especially the bass with the KC62.
The Audiolab works really well with the LS50s. I found that the Minimum Phase (Fast Roll-Off) filter with upsampling turned on gives very good imaging and sound quality especially when fed with high-res audio files from my Mac Mini with it's output set for 24bit 96k/129kHz.
Interesting LS50 does so well especially with the subwoofer
In 1987 I attended an audio store open house where several newer, very expensive hifi systems were being showcased. Towards one corner were a pair of 57's playing jazz through old tube gear and we wandered over. When I walked through the focal point of both speakers, for a split second, it was like being at that concert, 6th row center. The 3D imaging was incredible in that one sweet spot where the sound was focused. Never experienced anything like that.
"All different types of music" - Country *and* Western ;-)
I have used 57s as my main speakers for over 30 years.
The ESL 988, ESL 2805, and ESL 2812, are essentially the same as ESL 63s, but with added bass panels above and below the main driver.
I began my career with these ESL63's in 81 ... the problem our shop noticed, was they were competing against those with stacked pairs of 57s. Fast forward to today ,As a restorer, working on their internals. I find them shoddily made. Internal construction is absolutley dire. As an engineer , I'd never want a pair myself.
They definitely have something special though - even if I have had to remortgage to keep them running! Mike
I listen to Jazz,fusion,funk,rock,soul and blues and the 63s never disappoint.Amplifier is Roksan Kandy KA1 Mk3,CD player is Roksan Kandy KD 1 Mk3 ,turntable is Pro-Ject Debut Carbon.
I ran 63s for about a decade and they are a reference design. With some room gain they get to around 40Hz and if you raise them about 8" from the floor and tilt them a few degrees back they will extend pretty flat on axis to about 18kHz. Sit close- closer than you might expect for this design in the semi-near field for a crisper more open sound.
The big problem these days is fragility - they will fail at some point with the stator glue failing and the charged panel arcing to a horrendous noise.
Repair is expensive and unfortunately few companies can restore them to near factory performance these day. In the end I sold them and switched to Maggies. Be warned though , as long exposure to the 63 (or 57) will make it really hard going back to conventional designs. You'll hear cone and box ringing like never before!
Yes, it's sad that the repair costs for any Quad electrostatic speaker will comfortably exceed their market value. So, keeping them going is a labour of love, not financial prudence.
@@hugocass8381 Since when was 'financial prudence' ever a consideration for audiophiles! 😒
@@MrVinylista And the same applies to renovating classic cars, as you are no doubt fully aware, having a well documented weakness for unfashionable British motors (I am trying to suppress a sense of lust for one of the ornate ADO16 variants) ! At least there are some cars that do go up in value, eg (bizarrely) the Ford Sierra Cosworth 500 recently sold at auction for north of £500k! Is there any bit of audio gear that will hold its value, let alone increase? Maybe I'll stumble upon a nice pair of Braun LE-1 electrostatic speakers at a garage sale - those would be worth spending money on.
@@hugocass8381 I always wanted a Vanden Plas 1300. They were circa £500 in the late 1980s, but you can times that by 15 now!
Funnily enough a lot of Japanese high end hi-fi from the 1970s and 1980s, is going up in value in a silly way now. Reel to reels especially. I hope it's just a fad as there's still plenty of stuff that I want to 'mine' from that period.
@@MrVinylista Methinks that £7.5k VdP will have been restored to a genuinely rust-free state, at a cost to the owner that far exceeded its value! Just like Quads.
I have noted the rise in value of 70s and 80s Japanese HiFi - it mirrors the classic car world in following the (roughly) 30 year rule, when people with money wish to revisit their youth; and in time those values will sink down again as the 30 year window moves on. The trouble with a lot of Japanese gear of that time is extreme complexity and limited repairability. At least the fiendishly complicated electronics of a Quad 63 can always be resurrected, at a price.
Superb technical demonstration of the concepts fellas, well done
No expense spared!
@@MrVinylista
((((👋))))
I have my ESL 63s about 1 foot from the wall ,angled in on sit-up-and-beg stands .They sound amazing and I don't hear a second wave of sound reflecting off the wall.
Interesting comment. Mike
I listened to a few of my fave tracks via a pair of ESL57's at weekend. It was a complete revelation to my ears. I heard instruments for the first time on records I've listened to thousands of times.
I was seriously considering getting a pair but the lack of bass and the inability to go LOUD are deal breakers.
That's largely been my experience. So near, yet so far!
My system has eight ESL 57s hung on chains attached to the 10' high ceiling and a quarter wave stereo T-line subwoofer to fill in the bottom end. The system sounds best playing vinyl because the ESLs tend to sit on transients and don't do so well on CD/digital audio.
@@stevesmyth4982 Wow!
I was surprised that you open by saying that you thought that Quad owners were snobs yet you were/are a Linn fanboy.
Around 40 or so years ago there was a certain 'type' for a Quad owner... they tended to be upper middle class and rather disdainful of 'low brow' hi-fi. That has very largely gone now but it certainly used to be a thing.
For 25 years I've had pair of stacked ESL57s, two per channel, which I refurbished and built special frames. Initially my wife said "I not having them in the living room", she quickly changed her mind when she heard them. I use a KEF sub to supplement to low end, but the bass is better from stacked 57's.
Bought a pair of ELS63 speakers from the same person as recommended by Mike after watching this video. Now I hear that Mike has had to have his pair rebuild by One Thing Audio in Banbury. I hope my pair don't suffer the same problem and need a rebuild so soon after purchase.
I got ripped off I'm afraid - when Alan from OTA opened mine up he was horrified. They hadn't been rebuilt at all.
Very sad :-)
Blimey Mike, that's terrible. I saw plenty of photos of my pair being rebuilt. Simon also showed me a pair in the process of being rebuilt and demonstrated the Quad technique for stretching the mylar. I spoke to Alan and he gave Simon some advice about rebuilding the ELS63 so I am hoping my pair are OK. Alan is going to check them when I have an electronic upgrade on the Quads. Keep up the good work with the reviews. Just listening to the AT33SA review. I have an AT33 PTG mark 2, a great cartridge and bargain.
Just bought a pair always wanted some 🎉
I heard a pair of immaculate refurbished 57's from a guy I bought a refurbished Musical Fidelity A1 from a few months ago.
GR Research do an open baffle speaker kit that a pair of would make excellent raisers for the 63's.
Back in the day I think a company called Gradient did an open baffle subwoofer for the quads if I remember correctly.
If you guys get a chance to listen to some diptyque speakers from France
I heard a pair at Daventry hi-fi show in a very large room and was convinced they had hidden subs somewhere as the bass they produced were very good and even said where have you hidden those subs the dealer just laughed and said I wasn't the only person asking the same question and no subs we're in the room. Im reggae and dance music addict so love my bass
Thanks for the tip, Steven. They look gorgeous. Am investigating now...
Recently bought a pair of ESL 63's from the same Simon, mind blown, he must be a wizard!
Could you put me in touch with this Simon? MTs
@@justinjones6267 happy to intro you to Simon, how do I direct message you on RUclips?!
To my mind Quad esl 63 sound like a room filling headphone.
Epos 14 gave a similar headphone, room filling sound.
Do you have any experience with the Quad Artera amps? I rarely hear about them.
ER Audio - From Perth Australia does rebuild kits for these that have a super tweeter incorporated in the centre electrostatic panel.
I have a pair of ESL IVs from ER Audio. Just superb. Supplemented by a sealed box 10 B&W sub barely on but helps below 40Hz.
See if you can find some Gradient bespoke subs
I wish i had the living room to have a set 😕
I wish I could get these for my quad 303, I’m in the usa, so they are hard to come by
10 years with ESL 63s until 2019 when I replaced them with ESL 2912s, driven by QUAD II-40s and with a LINN Klimax DSM 2.
The 2912 are better than the 63s, by a country mile..and they seem to like a Class A valve driver.
My friend Paul is a LINN fanboy, but I have to say that the QUADSs do everything well. Well, not Reggae, to be honest, but church organ music they deliver on. Overall they sound like 63s that have spent time at the Gym, building muscles... They are my "forever" speakers..and amplifiers.....
Thanks for the chat. Not all classical music is string quartets with no dynamics or bass (mind you even that sort of baseless chamber music needs a treble response extending above 12K. Have you ever seen the frequency spectrum of the violin?). Symphonic music exhibits great dynamics (greater than almost any hifi system can reproduce) and as for bass try massed upright basses or the concert bass drum not to mention the organ. Do you know the frequency range of the concert grand piano? Just the fundamentals greatly exceed the useful range of the Quads which are only good for the harpsichord, if that. This is a great myth usually perpetuated by people who have very little, if any, experience with classical music (and often listen to Rush), I'm sorry to say. To a lesser extent the same applies to jazz. So no, the Quads are not generally great for either classical or jazz music. I appreciate and I agree with you on their good points but they cannot get close to adequately reproducing most any kind of music but Joan Baez singing accompanied only by her acoustic guitar.
Good points. Sometimes I can be a little flippant. I got Grade 5 music theory, Music O Level and listen to classical most days - so I know my way around the genre. I think the best way of putting it, is that Quads are great for classical *because* they don't have the problems of box speakers, rather than because they're especially well equipped for classical programme material in itself. All this said, I have heard great results from ESL 63s with full fat orchestral classical - they can really sing.
@@MrVinylista The below quote from J.G. Holt's original review in Stereophile is one of the reasons the ESL63s gained their, undeserved in my opinion, reputation that they are ideal for classical music, but this opinion is far from applicable today with the proliferation of extremely well recorded classical music. In fact, if one reads it carefully, it proves my point. Quoting from the 1983 Stereophile review:
'Despite certain qualities about the ESL-63 speakers which you will probably like, Quad equipment is not designed primarily for audiophiles, but for serious-music (call that "classical") listeners who play records more for musical enjoyment than for the sound. Quad's loudspeakers do not reproduce very deep bass and will not play at aurally traumatizing volume levels, and Quad's preamplifier is compromised through the addition of tone controls and filters, all for the purpose of making old, mediocre, and/or worn recordings sound as listenable as possible.
The Acoustical Manufacturing Company, better known as Quad, is one of the few remaining in the world which still view high fidelity as a service to serious music rather than an end in itself. Their products are designed to meet the needs of classical-record collectors who frequently play old, technically primitive (or inept) recordings for the music or the performance rather than for the sound.
Despite all the improvements in recorded quality that we have witnessed in recent years (with even RCA and CBS getting in on the act), audiophile-quality recordings are still very rare. The variety of fare represented on good recordings is exceedingly small, and the performances themselves range from good to ho-hum. To quote one observer, "Good sound and inspired performance seem mutually exclusive." Amen! Dedicated audiophiles would rather listen to silence than bad sound; record collectors will put up with awful sound if the music is worth listening to.'
erm 98 dB is pretty loud :) it will never reach that though
When you add fast electrostatic “midrange units” and limited dynamics, with a super tweeter & a sub with inherently mismatched drive units, tech & materials, exhibiting phase and time alignment issues along with different amp types driving the subs..l🤔…it doesn’t end well…😢…Quad’s are best left alone for that certain piece of music. Peter Walker was a genius. I suspect it will take A.I. to figure out a solution that marries an electrostatic with Isobariks
Agree. Subs and super tweeters can cause more problems than they solve. In my experience, it's just about possible to finesse things so you get the whole shebang working together, but it takes a bit of fiddling. Either that or buy a pair of Martin Logans... ;-)
Didn’t Naim make a prototype electrostatic which had a better bass response that the quads?
@@gdp6586 Guy (a French chap) who designed the Aro designed and handmade what I understood to be a single pair of prototype electrostatics.
I was Linn head of UK sales at the time where a v.small selection of dealers went to Naim to hear them. I understood they were meant to sound special but couldn’t be manufactured. Who knows what they heard and what it would be like to live with a pair.
Like Quads if you pick the right material they can sound amazing and or hear things you have never heard at the sacrifice of other things lost. Best follow the tune.
As with many things in this industry there are myths & legend and conspiracies of magic that got away. Mostly BS.
@@gdp6586 Yes, Guy Lamotte designed the Naim FL1 electrostatic, which was still born. I seem to remember that he most of the design on the ARO tonearm and also the tuner head on the NAT 01. Talented guy!
I am using a pair of QUAD ESL63 since decades updated in Pro version and perfectly positioned at 1 m of back and lateral walls. Electronics are: McIntosh 7270 amplifier, McIntosh C31V Preamplifier, McIntosh MR7082 tuner and McIntosh MCD 7007 CD player. More importantly my listening room is almost perfect with a huge volume (350 m3), and a ceiling of 6.50 m high in inverse V. Others: Nakamichi 1000 ZXL K7 deck, Revox B77 reel to reel, both connected to a DBX 124, and a turntable Linn Sondek LP12 with a Lurné 2 tone arm, a moving coil cartridge Supex 900 super, and a Pre-preamp Supex STD 1000. Special direct electric line from the counter, all components in phase. Superb stereo image, unequaled precision particularly on voices, high dynamics, etc. I regularly attend concerts of blues and Baroque Music, and I have numerous test CDs (particularly the Chesky 1, 2 and 3). I barely listened to better high end systems, the best one being in my opinion Apogee Grand speakers with Krell amplification.