One Thing Audio
Quad
ESL 63, Purchasing ESL 63s second-hand
Perhaps no-one knows better than we the concerns people frequently have about the difficulties (or ‘risk factor’) of purchasing ESL 63s on the second-hand market – be it from dealers or private sources. Given that the seller is scrupulously honest and making his sale in good faith, it is all too often found that the performance of the speaker at point of sale is not maintained for very long. Within months (sometimes even weeks!) of purchase, our advice is being sought about putting right this or that defect. Inevitably, the question is asked, “Any idea how much it’s likely to cost me?” (Our number one “how long is a piece of string” question!) Only a thorough examination of the panels and electronics will provide the answer, and although the outcome is sometimes reassuring, the owner is often in for a bit of a shock!
Certainly, similar problems are experienced by ESL 57 purchasers, but defects are (usually) less costly to put right. The reason is simple: the ESL 57 has 6 panels, of which the 4 bass panels are (more or less) self-protecting. They can lose sensitivity, but this is often not noticed by the owner, and can continue to provide pleasure for many years. The two centre panels, however (the treble panels) can give trouble, but even if they need replacing the costs are still reasonable.
In contrast, the ESL 63 contains 8 relatively expensive panels, and one of these could have failed. And if one of them has failed, and none of the remaining 7 has been replaced (say within the last 5 years) there is a very good chance that any (or all) of the remaining panels are on the brink of failing. And our number two “how long is a piece of string” question is “how long are the panels supposed to last?” This frequently asked question will seldom get a straight answer from any source, and with the facts and figures we’ve compiled over the last decade, it is perhaps easy to understand why. The life of an ESL 63 panel can be the result of manufacturing (glue) failure (happily rare these days), but beyond that it is determined almost entirely by the long-term drive conditions to which they have been subjected by the owner.
The design of the ESL 63 panel – unchanged in Quad’s current flagships – is ingenious and innovative, and works brilliantly, in our opinion better than any electrostatic transducer produced before or since. The more one studies its design parameters and performance priorities,
the more one realises it could not have been designed in any other way. . .more than a touch of genius here.
But in an imperfect world, strengths have to be balanced by a few weaknesses. Well, for anyone with ears to hear, the strengths are obvious, the weaknesses less so, but one is most certainly the panel’s dislike of sustained heavy drive conditions over long periods. Clever electronics are there to curb the worst excesses of this, and the upgraded design works well. . .but make no mistake, owners who like to share their music with their neighbours and half the street, will find their pockets seriously challenged by their ‘generous’ musical habits! Put simply, the diaphragms wear out quicker if constantly driven hard. This statement is generally true of all electrostatic panels, but some have better protection inherent in the design. But sorry – they don’t sound nearly so good.
But to return to the question, “how long can I expect them to last?”
Well our good friend Stan has a pair of ESL 63s which have received no attention since they left Quad’s factory in August 1984 (that is, apart from being dismantled and examined by us in 2005). We concluded that all the panels should be good for another 5 years, possibly more.
Stan often likes to play them loud although not loud enough to have neighbours banging on the wall, but mostly he listens at ‘realistic’ volume levels and made the interesting comment “the sound presentation is so big from these speakers that I don’t often feel the need to screw up the wick”. By contrast, we have changed panels many times over in speakers only a fraction of this age. They all bear the tell-tale signs of heavy usage – holes or tears in a diaphragm liberally bespattered with ‘spark points’ . Now then, although the speakers may have sounded fine at the time they were demonstrated, who can say, or guess, what abuse they have been subjected to sometimes even without the owner’s first-hand knowledge. So to answer the question, “how long can I expect the panels to last?” we would be forced to answer “between 3 months and 20 years”. As intending purchasers would understandably find such an answer unhelpful and possibly ludicrous, we are loathe to make such statements, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
So, in conclusion, if your musical intelligence and sensibilities demand that you seek out one of the best sound reproducers on the planet at a cost which bears no relation to the incredible performance they offer, make sure you purchase them with a proper guarantee and that the seller has a level of knowledge and expertise which will avoid disappointment in the short term, and in the long term make fewer demands on your pocket.
Manufacturer's important modifications:
Steve Williams, Christmas, 2008.
