Quad ESL 63

[PTL-Pioneer]

Hi all,
I've just bought a pair of Quad ESL-63s for €750, but I haven't collected them yet.

They're a 1995 pair that have had a substantial Quad refurbishment, including new panels, dustcovers, EHTs, cloths and feet. I also have the original Quad paperwork showing the refurbishment cost over €3,400.

I've never owned ESL-63s before, so I'd love to hear from people who have lived with them.
How loud can you realistically run them before the protection kicks in? That's probably my biggest concern. I'm not looking for PA levels, but I do like to listen at decent levels occasionally.

Also, how do you find them with subwoofers? Do they benefit from having the low bass taken away from them?

And finally, has anyone experimented with super-tweeters, and is it actually worthwhile?

Overall, what are they like to live with day-to-day? Any particular strengths, weaknesses or setup advice would be greatly appreciated.
And at €750 for a refurbished pair, did I do alright?
Thanks!

 

[eiraved]

Maybe @Thierry or @mrehorst could provide some answers to your questions.

 

[mrehorst]

Hi all,
I've just bought a pair of Quad ESL-63s for €750, but I haven't collected them yet.

They're a 1995 pair that have had a substantial Quad refurbishment, including new panels, dustcovers, EHTs, cloths and feet. I also have the original Quad paperwork showing the refurbishment cost over €3,400.

I've never owned ESL-63s before, so I'd love to hear from people who have lived with them.
How loud can you realistically run them before the protection kicks in? That's probably my biggest concern. I'm not looking for PA levels, but I do like to listen at decent levels occasionally.

I haven't pushed mine to protection level, but unless you live in an old church, they'll probably play loud enough. If you need them to play louder, use a subwoofer and active crossover to keep low freqs out of the ESLs.

Also, how do you find them with subwoofers? Do they benefit from having the low bass taken away from them?

I drive my 63s with a Wiim Amp Ultra and use its bass management as a crossover. Everything above 90 Hz goes to the Quads and everything below to an SVS 3000 Micro sub. By keeping bass out of the Quads they can play louder and the sub delivers lower, louder bass than the Quads can.

And finally, has anyone experimented with super-tweeters, and is it actually worthwhile?

I can't hear the upper limit of the Quad's response, so I would have no use for a super tweeter. Maybe when I was 15 YO and could hear high freqs (you know, before ZZ Top concerts, etc.).

Overall, what are they like to live with day-to-day? Any particular strengths, weaknesses or setup advice would be greatly appreciated.
And at €750 for a refurbished pair, did I do alright?
Thanks!

It seems like you did alright since they've been refurbished. If they are silent with power on and no amp connected they should be fine.
Pull them out from the front wall at least 1 m, toe them in to aim them at your listening chair, and put them on stands to get them up to ear level when seated. Diffusers placed on the front wall and symmetrical placement with regards to side walls will help achieve razor sharp imaging from recordings that have it.

 

[PTL-Pioneer]

Thanks so much for that detailed response.

How would you rate them against other speakers you own it have owned?

i currently run qacoustic concept 300 with qb12 sub which is really amazing I have to say. I expect these are just a totally different flavor

 

[mrehorst]

I'm not set up for instantaneous switching between the two sets of speakers, so I listen to a song on the Quads, then disable the Roomfit and subwoofer in the amp and plug the speaker cables into the B&Ws and adjust the volume down a bit, and play the same song. To my ears, under this flawed test method, they sound extremely close. The B&Ws maybe have the slightest bit of sibilance on some close micced recordings of female vocalists (example: Knock 123 by Imelda May). I feel like the Quads give me slightly sharper localization of instruments and vocals, but that's a very room-dependent thing. The B&Ws deliver bass that the Quads can't by themselves, and can play much louder than the Quads without the subwoofer.



I was using some Canton bookshelf speakers for a while, and got the sub to go with them. About 3 years ago I bought the B&Ws and used them with and without the sub and with Krell KAV300i and Advance Paris A12 amps. The bookshelf speakers got moved to the bedroom and I bought a Wiim Amp Pro to stream music to them. Then about 1 1/2 years ago I got the Quads in non-working condition for $300. I rebuilt them myself, and tried them with the Wiim Amp Pro with bass management configured as a crossover, and the subwoofer. I liked it so much I bought a Wiim Amp Ultra (a bit more power) for the Quads/sub and put the Wiim Amp Pro back into the bedroom system. The A12 amp and the B&Ws have been sitting mostly unused since then.

I'm about to rebuild the Quads into more rigid frames and add two more bass panels per speaker, essentially turning them into ESL-989s. While that's going on I'll put the B&Ws back into the living room system. At some point I'll have to decide what to do with the A12 amp and the B&Ws. I don't know if I'll continue to use the sub with the Quads once they are put into the new frames.