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quad esl 57 panel refurb

joshuahhhhhhh

joshuahhhhhhh

Well-Known Member
Banned
Hello all was wondering if any one has any experience with quad esl 57 speakers.
I have a double stacked pair with some extra tweeter and bass panels, the tweeter panels are all still in great shape but some of the bass panels are getting towards the end of there life.
I can tell 2 of them have split membranes and I swaped them out with the 2 spare good ones that I have.
I guess what my question is where do I go in the US to have the panels redone? I could never ship these speakers as they are pretty big. Any help would be great!!!!!!
 
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I have had a set for a few years that need the treble panel on one fixed. I have looked high and low for someone in the NW who might be able to fix it for me but no luck. :tears:
 
Lucky you -- arguably the greatest speaker ever made, and even better in double pairs! Quad no longer rebuilds the panels, but there are several companies that redo panels, though I think most of them are in Europe. But the Sheldon Stokes website had very detailed instructions on rebuilding them, and apparently its within the capabilities of normal humans.
I did a lot of research on this years ago when my nephew bought me a pair of weird speakers for 25 bucks at a tag sale -- kind of wide and flat, and tilted back, he said. I practically passed out when he also thought they had a plug. After recovery, I started investigating how to refurbish my soon to be speakers. But they weren't Quads -- they were DQ 10s. Its odd how a great score can be deflating when you hope its even greater than it turns out to be. But they are my daily listeners, and in my room probably much better. But I'm still disappointed -- I've been wild about Quads since I first heard a pair at the Listening Room in Westchester in 1974.
 
Thanks all yes there great speakers but very delicate, this double stacked pair sat in this guys basement for like 15 years they were wrapped up in trash bags when I got them. Paid 800$ and I think I am the only person in kansas with a double stacked pair :thmbsp:
You would think that after being in the top 20 of stereophile for who knows how long there would be more places to get them refurbished .
 
kfa888 said:
I have had a set for a few years that need the treble panel on one fixed. I have looked high and low for someone in the NW who might be able to fix it for me but no luck. :tears:
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even still the 1 good speaker would make a fantastic mono setup :thmbsp:
 
QS&D still say on the website that they do it. Check them out.

http://www.qsandd.com/

Failing that, Quad themselves (on their website) list this company for "out of warranty" repairs:

IAG Service Department, Unit 4, St Margarets Way,
Stukeley Meadows Industrial Estate, Huntingdon, Cambs, PE29 6EB
Telephone :- 01480 452561
e-mail :- rob@iaguk.co.uk

I have bought bits from them over the last couple of years, and they were quite efficient and definitely knew what they were doing.
 
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I do haft to admit they are the best sounding most transparent speakers I have ever listen to.
On the floor is 4 aa-81 heathkit mono's 1 per speaker. I recently blew the power tranny on one of the amps by trusting some older tubes but Im gonna have a few copies of the pt's built so I can just slap on my end bells and go.

But the wall of sound this setup makes is great my room is pretty long so I can sit way back and let them rip.
I have never had any high end dynamic speakers other than a pair of vandersteen model 1's which are very transparent as well but the quads totally walk all over any thing else I have herd in terms of really complicated music
and pure high frequency response not to mention the mysterious life like midrange .
 
So if they are so amazing why are they no longer made. Seems like modern manufacturing would be able to reproduce these easily and relatively inexpensively. :scratch2:
 
kfa888 said:
So if they are so amazing why are they no longer made. Seems like modern manufacturing would be able to reproduce these easily and relatively inexpensively. :scratch2:
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They are, I've heard them. VERY realistic midrange. The Duetta's (mine) are described as (in one review) "Quad ESL's with bass and top-end", one of the reasons I jumped on the pair I own.
Check Quad's site. They up-graded. http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/
 
never had a problem makin good bass with the double stack I keep them about 4ft away from the back wall.
As for top-end it really depends on the amp and pre or what ever yer using.
What I was using has no tone control at all and the top-end is fantastic never to much never to little.
Back before I collected all 4 of those mono's I was using an eico stereo 40 to drive them and the eico did a fantastic job the 7591 is a very liquid sounding tube. But as for now I prefer el34's in ultra linear 35watts the mono's never run out of steam when the frequency goes up which is where I think the really hard to drive impedance loads are at.
I read some where when using double stacks the impedance swings are like from 60 to .09 ohms. I'm no tube guru and every one is always telling me I need an amp that drives stable into any load but if they sound that good on the eico st40 4 mono's would be even better.
So this is where I'm at. They take about an hr to charge and theres not 1 arc on the panels!! I think the pairs I have were always on a tube amp.
One more night of work!!! haven't had a day on in 2 weeks )(*#@$)(*@(*$)@$)(*
 
kfa888 said:
So if they are so amazing why are they no longer made. Seems like modern manufacturing would be able to reproduce these easily and relatively inexpensively.
Click to expand...

Three reasons pop into my head:

1. Most people like to impress their neighbours (or their date) with mind-numbing bass. They won't do that.

2. Many people like to listen to rock at ear-splitting volumes. They won't do that, either.

3. Hey, they came out in 1957. All good things come to an end.

I proved #2 to myself one night, listening to DSOTM (in the dark). When the bells started ringing, I could see the arcing happen. Replaced both tweeter panels and one power supply as a consequence.

You're welcome for the links. When you have them all going, let us know what you think of the sound then... :D
 
Aage said:
I proved #2 to myself one night, listening to DSOTM (in the dark). When the bells started ringing, I could see the arcing happen. Replaced both tweeter panels and one power supply as a consequence.
Click to expand...

I did a similar thing with mine. It wasn't DSOTM but something like that. It sounded so good ... I just turned them up a little more ... and then ... :dammit: :tears:
 
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