One thing Audio
Quad
ESL 57, Owners, Gregor Zielinsky
Installation One
Here are my two installations with Quad ESL 57's. The first installation, pictured above is the installation I am using now for several years and I am very happy with it. At this place please allow me to make a little reputation for myself. I am a Tonmeister (Sound engineer) working for Deutsche Gramophone. So I think I know what I am talking about :-). I even have a Grammy for a recording with L. Bernstein.
Installation One consists of the following:
ESL 57 in wooden stands (The bass speakers in the stands are not used). Beside you find a Nautix Transmission line system on each side. This systems come from Germany, and I was just experimenting with them and found they work fantastic with the ESL's as bass expansion.The "thumb" coming out from TL system is what I like very much in combination with the ESL's. The wooden stands seem to give the ESL's a little more bass stability. But this is just an expression. What I find very important is, that the ESL's are in the height of my ears. This gives me a much better "performance feeling"
As main amp for the ESL I am using a Neumann A 200-2. Pre Amp is Neumann A 200-1 These are extremely clear and warm sounding amps. The power amp is especially built for electrostatic speakers. I have never heard an amp that sounds so warm and stable with the ESL's Also, you can make them incredibly loud, without any distortion. You know this is one of the myths about ESL's, that you can´t play them loud. Actually I am playing them at normal levels.
The Bass speakers, which are actually misused full range speakers, are driven via a Behringer Filter that gives them exact the filtering I wanted. Actually I worked and changed the setting for quite some weeks to find the perfect filtering. It is a 5 band parametric stereo filter. The amp I am using for the bass speakers is an amp I built myself around 20 years ago. I can´t tell you very much about it. I think its class a and it is an amp with fast slew rate.
Of course the positioning of the speakers was delicate as well. Phase problems had to be avoided and the bass extension had to match the ESL perfectly.
And I think it really works. The final position matches the theory. The conus of the bass speaker has to be inline with the panels. If you move out just two centimeters, you get strange bass effects. Which is no wonder.
Now, the new installation I have, you can see above. These are two redesigned ESL, which I bought recently on Ebay. They have three bass panels plus the treble panels on the side.
On the picture you see only one speaker of course.
All cabling inside was replaced by thicker cables. The system was built by a former employee of the German Quad distributor in Koblenz. (That what I was told). These ones sound quite a little bit warmer than the originals. But I think I will add two bass speakers as well. Of course the size of the speakers is just incredible. The are around 2,30 meters and it just gives you a delighted feeling sitting in front of them.
I am listening to all kinds of music. From rock to classic, and lots of electronic stuff, which sound extremely wonderful on the ESL's. Also I am listening to CD as well as vinyl. My own recordings sound much better on my system than on the company's speakers. (But don´t ask my which ones they are :-)
