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ESS SuperQuads - I just scored some holy grail speakers/amps

kfa888

kfa888

Addicted Member
I got a heads up on these semi local rare "end all" speakers and spent the next 3 days convincing the guy to sell them to me instead of the other 60 people wanting them.

BIG thanks to JP no matter how hard it was for him to give them up. I appreciate it, a lot.

So after 40 Emails, 10 phone calls and constant nagging I did the 300 mile round trip drive to the middle of no where and dealt with a pretty "different" guy to end up with these. Get this, he was about to hall them to the dump!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!
:blink: :blink: :blink:

What they are is ESS Super Quads. Made by ESS using the famous Quad mid panel and an array of Jenzen tweeters these are supposed to be some of the best sounding speakers on the planet. I have not heard them yet so i have no idea. This system originally was sold with transmission line bass enclosures using the "racetrack" KEF drivers. He had those as well be demolished the cabs at some point but luckily saved the woofers.

Anyway they are in very good shape.

Here is the pix...

These suckers are HUGE...

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This might be the braking point for my wife :D (when you have AR90's stuffed in the corner you are up to something :>)

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Quad mid range panel below and Jenzen array up top...

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Came with two, 200 watt stereo H&K amps, one for the tweeters on for the mid panel and the original ESS XO to divide them. these amps weigh 37 pounds each!!!

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And as you can see the KEF woofers. Unfortunately he became mad at the TL bass towers because the magnet on one KEF kept shifting and pissing him off. He demolished the cabs and saved the woofers and binding posts still on the ripped up wood :(

The box on the top is a three way XO I bought from him after mentioning I was looking for one.

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He also threw in a Sony preamp, an new in the box Janzen replacement tweeter and all the original documentation and owners manuals.
 
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Some guys have all the luck!

What a monster setup! I can't wait to read about your listening experience. See all those knick knacks and pottery on the shelves to the right? Put them all in storage right now!

Rick
 
One word----- WOW!

I'll be looking forward to reading your listening impressions.

Best,

Paul :thmbsp:
 
WOW Kelly, great work on landing those really big fish. I will be waiting with baited breath for the full account of your first listening experience......:yes:
 
What finally convinced the guy to sell them to you instead of all the others in line? Big green, or your natural charm <G>?

Great find and follow-through. Congrats.
 
Wornears said:
What finally convinced the guy to sell them to you instead of all the others in line? Big green, or your natural charm <G>?
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Very long story but get this I was going to get the whole thing for $100, then he found ot they were worth a fortune and said $250 :D Then i trade him a bunch of stuff i had about $150 into.

BUT, it took about 40 Emails, 15 plus calls and lots of pursuasion. Come to find out he was about to haul it all to the dump!!!! Then his son in law said he would post it on Craigs list and 60 interested parties later was lucky enough and persistant enough to snag them. I had help for JP (old AK member Charivari) as well. I feel VERY lucky.

*****

So i have them running and WOW they sound fantastic. much better highs than the maggies and nice smooth mids. the whole sound is very airy and smooth yet extremely detailed to the point where you would think listener fatigue but there is none. I do have a few issues, one channel on one of the amps it toast and one of the Quads does not sound quite as good as the other. I am also running these with no woofer support right now, just the Quads running mids rang down to about 120hz i think and the tweeters and it still sounds amazing. These are going to be great speakers when all is said and done. The clarity is like nothing I have ever heard before and I own two set of maggies so if you have heard those these are far more detailed which is saying a lot. I love those tweeters.
 
Very nice find Kelly! :yikes:

Can't wait to hear your impressions after the KEF woofer modules are rebuilt! :yes:

Looks like a great project! :thmbsp:

Now... about those Maggies... :deal: :D

Scott
 
kfa888 said:
Very long story but get this I was going to get the whole thing for $100, then he found ot they were worth a fortune and said $250 :D Then i trade him a bunch of stuff i had about $150 into.

BUT, it took about 40 Emails, 15 plus calls and lots of pursuasion. Come to find out he was about to haul it all to the dump!!!! Then his son in law said he would post it on Craigs list and 60 interested parties later was lucky enough and persistant enough to snag them. I had help for JP (old AK member Charivari) as well. I feel VERY lucky.

*****

So i have them running and WOW they sound fantastic. much better highs than the maggies and nice smooth mids. the whole sound is very airy and smooth yet extremely detailed to the point where you would think listener fatigue but there is none. I do have a few issues, one channel on one of the amps it toast and one of the Quads does not sound quite as good as the other. I am also running these with no woofer support right now, just the Quads running mids rang down to about 120hz i think and the tweeters and it still sounds amazing. These are going to be great speakers when all is said and done. The clarity is like nothing I have ever heard before and I own two set of maggies so if you have heard those these are far more detailed which is saying a lot. I love those tweeters.
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Welcome to the world of ESL's. Fastest speakers on the planet except for Hill Plasmatronics!:banana:
Now you know why I love my ESL's. I had Maggy's first. Once I heard some ESL's I quickly decided the ESL's were much better than anything else even Maggy's. You might want to try some tube amps with them. My Acoustats really sing with tube power. Of course, I use SS to power my sub woofers.:D :thmbsp: :thmbsp: :thmbsp::smoke:

PS: If those are Quad panels beware of using more than 100WPC. The protection mechanism in old Quad's shorts the inputs to the speakers if to much wattage is detected.
They will sound much better when raised off the floor. Try to get the center of the panels a little lower than ear height. If you build the sub enclosures that will probably raise them to the ideal height.
 
SPL db said:
Now... about those Maggies... :deal: :D

Scott
Click to expand...

:D Those aren't going anywhere :nono: I still love them. The AR90's are not going anywhere ether. Some things are just worth holding on to.
 
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