One Thing Audio
Arcici
ESL 57, Reviews, Arcici Stands (Noel Keywood
, Hifi-Review January 1990 )
This article first appeared in Hifi-Review January 1990, written by Noel Keywood (provided by Christian Steingruber, February 2002)
A new Loudspeaker stand dedicated to Quad ESLs. Noel Keywood investigates.
,,Go up to the Electroactivity room", I was told, ,,they've got a lovely sound going". This was at the 1989 Penta hi-fi show. From the narrow door it was obvious that they had; 1 didn't initially recognise that it was coming from Quad ESL63's since their cloth covers had been removed and they were up high on Arcici stands, completely changing their basic outline. Drive was from a of pair of 50W Lectron valve amps. Here is a look at those stands, plus the notes and observations 1 can't help making about understanding the Quads and getting the best from them.
Rule number one with the Quads is that, if operated on their own (i.e. without sub-woofers), they are best up on stands. Floorstanding makes them boom quite strongly because of floor-plane bass reinforcement. This is intentional, a simple ploy by Quad to try and coax more bass out of a fiat panel that is physically too small to provide much bass.
Floorstanding also results in a rather dull overall tonal balance. I used to suspect this was deliberate, designed to achieve Quad's favoured position ,,about half way down an idealised concert hall (front row - dress circle)". At this distance from an orchestra high frequency energy will be relatively less prominent than further forward, due to transmission losses and absorption. But Quad tell me this isn't so. The dullness is an unwanted by-product of using a small louvre grill which is essential for safety. Luckily, this drawback can be overcome.
One of the first surprises of getting the ESL63's up on stands s that it makes them sound brighter. They actually beam treble downward, as you can tell by adopting a lotus position in front of them. It is this that damps down high frequencies when floor-standing. The downward-angled louvres of the protective grills are the cause of this effect. From above you cannot see through the grills and there is therefore no path tor direct radiation, so attenuating high frequencies. From beneath however, the grills are transparent - both visually and acoustically at high frequencies ( there's more about this in my column this month).
So getting the Quad ESL-63s up on stands - any stands -brightens up their sound to a useful degree (in most people's view!) and it also eliminates the bass boom. However, whilst bass quality is improved, quantity is lessened. For most listeners, that the Quads have weak bass (as they stand) is a fact of life they have had to come to terms with before purchasing, I suspect. I find that stand mounting improves the overall presentation of the speakers by making them sound less dull and more controlled. And let's face it, control is just one of the areas where the Quad's excel. Enhancing this property is in keeping with their design rationale.
The Arcici stands get the ESL63's up high, raising the base 34cms off the floor. As a result, they offer a touch more treble than the UK-built ,,Stand and Deliver" stands. Visually, they differ even more markedly. The Quad's on ,,Stand and Deliver" stands look like Quads on stands, if you'll pardon my perception! Cradled in the Arcicis they look quite different at first glance. I suspect it is due to the wide, black tubular uprights that stretch right up the sides of the Quads. They dominate visually, strongly defining the vertical edges of the assembly. With a height of l26cms and a width of 69cms, which is a few centimetres wider than the Quad itself, the whole constitutes a sizable mass that will visually dominate in rooms having any dimension smaller than about 16ft. However, the actual footprint of the Quad isn't increased much, so whilst the assembly appears much larger it takes up little extra floor area. In fact, you could actually store things under the speaker, so increasing floor area utilisation.
The stands are well made from rectangular steel tube, bent, welded, and finished with a satin black sprayed paint coat. They come in a large flat pack, disassembled. You have to knock in plastic end pieces, put in set screws tor holding the speakers and put in floor spikes, if required.
The spikes are one inch long (sorry, 2.5 cm!), which is enough to penetrate carpets. There is about 1cm of height adjustment available too, to accommodate floor unevenness. The edge channels of the speakers are cradled by the stands and clamped with set screws. There is a lot of spare room and I presume this is to allow forwards or backwards tilting, using the set screws, to alter treble level . The simple instructions make no mention of this, but when up very high ( 37cm) on Celestion SL6000 sub-woofers I preferred to tilt the Quads down to decrease treble slightly.
The tubes are hollow and can be fitted with sand or lead shot. Lead shot is preferable in my view, to add weight and make them sit firmly on the floor. Do bear in mind, however, that although the Quads are fully supported right up their sides by these stands, the drive panels inside are deliberately decoupled from the frame to mechanically damp main panel bass resonance at 90Hz. So damping the external frame of the 63s doesn't translate through to damping the drive unit. This is an illusion. However, although you cannot hold the Quads totally still, I dare say there is some small improvement in stabilisation, especially tor delicate low level signals when strong bass is absent
The Arcicis don't get the Quads up high enough for Celestion SL6000 sub-woofers (height
47cms) to sit right underneath. However, they can be placed just behind and remain acoustically unobstructed by the Quad's base. The difference in distance is small compared to one wavelength at the crossover frequency (100Hz) so phase lag will be negligible. This arrangement is preferable to sitting the Quads on the SL6000's central speaker support pillar because it shakes them like a leaf in the wind, I find. So the Arcicis are an excellent choice tor holding the Quads when Celestion SL-6000 sub-woofers are used.The Arcicis do significantly improve the sound of the Quad ESL63s. In my view, stand mounting is essential tor these loudspeakers. It is the first step in getting them to really sing. The Arcicis have a slight advantage over other stands because of their height and greater stability, especially when weighted down with shot. You'll notice faster, cleaner bass, but there is less of it compared to floor-standing. There is a useful increase in treble level too, and an improvement in detailing and clarity. In all, I liked the Arcicis. They look good and they work well too, getting the best out of the Quads.
Postscript
Having quietly eyed the 63s being built at the factory and noting their construction, I finally took a hatchet to mine before fitting the Arcici stands. Long have I wanted to cure certain minor problems, which I suspected meant removing the outer cloth sock and the protective aluminium grills. This essentially exposes the outer electrodes - they are protected only by a very delicate mylar film to keep dust out. The improvement in sweetness, delicacy and low level detailing is so great that I will continue to use my 63s like this. However it is dangerous. Exposed bare wires carry lethal audio voltages ( about 10kV ) wren the speakers have music going through them. A wide, stiff plastic mesh could well be used tor acoustically transparent protections instead, assuming children are not present.
Noel Keywood , Hifi-Review January 1990
