Quad 57's again

"The sonic transformation is fantastic. More of everything really, with superb clarity. A pair of 57's working properly makes one wonder what speaker manufacturers have learned in the last 40 years!"

J.N.,

If NAIM would only finish what they started 30 or so years ago??!!
It would be breathtakeing.............

There are days when I think I should sell my DBLS, get a pair of 988s and not worry about 2 more 500s/SNAXO 3/6.....AND THE FRAIM THAT GOES WITH IT!!

Best Regards,

Marc

Marc

I spoke with Paul Darwin on this subject recently. He is a fellow '57' lover and reckoned that the Naim ESL loudspeaker that never was, would have to retail at something approaching £50k to be financially viable.

Sadly; it aint gonna happen - yet!

J.N.,
To be frank?

THAT JUST SUCKS!!!

Manufactures would build it if there were a difinitve market that would buy it.
This design is not the "Popular" one..
Therefor, r&d monies are not put into this type of gear. This day and age? There is very little money to play with for such a risky endeavor.

If NAIM would take the chance and the time, the market and the ability to ramp up could be at the same intersection...?

HUGE BUSINESS RISK!!!
Borrowing money these days is cheap.The risk of return is just plain scarry.......

The Best,

Marc

[This message was edited by Marc Newman on SATURDAY 10 May 2003 at 15:35.]

John,

How do the ESLs compare against the SBLs ?

Allan

Oooh Allan

That's a tricky one. A friend has been over for a listen and just left. His comment was:-

"How can you possibly go back to the SBL's"?

He has a valve/horn system, and loves what the 57's do well. Which is acoustic stuff really. They make a reasonable job of rock music, if you can put up with the lack of balls and bass extension.

The SBL's will sound weird and artificial, when I go back to them, but will 'kick-arse' in a way that the 57's cannot.

The 57's will ultimately go on the end of a sympathetic system in another room, for when I want to enjoy their particular brand of magic.

John,

Thanks for that, and the photo btw. Very interesting....

Allan

And then there was the 63.
I did read once that Walker had very little intention to have the 57s play anything but the softer side of the band.
I could not play them loud enough to suit my need. I was very worried all the time. I thought I would be blowing thwm up.
This is the reason I bought the 63s.
The 988s are much better than the 63s.
I heard them in Vegas at the winter show.
Pretty amazing! There were SO many people milling about is was hard to hear yourself think.
Those few moments that allowed a good listen were wonderful.
The music is clear as a bell. Organic and living in your room.....
I am really thinking about getting apair to replace my DBLS......

Regards,

Marc

Well friends,

I visited John's on saturday evening to hear the resurrected 57's.

A complete and total revelation in sound quality.

His SBL's sound CRAP in comparison.

A few hours of total musical enjoyment,played many different styles of music.

JOYOUS.

I had ESL 57 years ago but due to employment problems had to sell both pairs. A total wrench but money in the bank equalled food on the table.

I told John to flog the SBL and get another pair of 57 and stack em.

One of the best loudspeakers i have ever heard is stacked 57.

The quality of work done by the company is excellent and certainly worth the money.

They look fabulous.

So go on john do your self a favour flog the SBL and go stacked.

You wont regret it.

BST SOUND YOU HAVE EVER HAD AT YOUR PLACE>

Now how about valve amps to drive them!!!!!!!!!

You are now on the slippery slope to Class A Single Ended Valve Amps.

If you have not heard a good pair of 57 then you owe it to your selves to go hear.

It may change your life.

regards David

Curiosity well and truley piqued, I just had to borrow a pair of 57s from a friend nearby (thanks Vim if your reading) to compare with my SBLs. As far as we know these are totally original untouched examples and without benefit of stands - just the regular three-legged support.

Mmmm, first impressions not too great as they sound rather rolled-off at the frequency extremes. Aclimatisation sets in though. Also, very insensitive. I had my pre-amp running at unchartered 10 o-clock settings.

There is definitely something about the speaker that is very attractive (sound-wise not visually). With light acoustic material they are fantastic but unfortunately too limp and wafty for anything heavier. I do 'get' the attraction though.

I decided to play to the 57's strengths and listened to Shawn Colvin's "Cover Girl", pretty much straight through. The track "One Cool Remove" is a duet with Mary Chapin Carpenter who almost wispers her part here. Her voice is so low and soft it easily gets drowned in the mix but I don't think I've ever heard better distinction and clarity than with the 57s. Also, I like the word 'Organic'. I think it sums up nicely the qualities, particularly with voices' of the 57s. Makes the SBLs sound a bit flat and grainy in comparison.

The SBLs fight back though. On "Killing the Blues" the zing and dynamics of heavilly plucked steel guiter strings is far more realistic (impressive!). Other tracks have bass-lines that throb and drive that the 57s barely pick up on. Actually, putting the SBLs back on sounded quite refreshing. I thought I was going to be disaponted but I wasn't. In truth, these 57s sounded rather compressed compared to the SBLs.

Both speakers are great though at that ability to engage and get you into a state of mind where you switch off from the physical sound and just listen to the music playing in your head. However, with the 'wrong' material the 57s do run into situations where they reveal their faults and the illusion is lost.

I agree they would be a cracking good speaker in a second system for late night listening - acoustic, light jazz, classical - very satisfying and neighbour friendly. But I find them too limiting for my tastes and I'll be sticking with SBLs for now in my main system.

Allan

ALLAN,

Great Write.........

Beyond the 57(40 year old design!!!) there are a few models that would make the SBL sound like it was still in its shipping box. The 63 covers almost all the issues of the 57 and the 988 surely attempts to recover those individuals who still believe that an ESL can't do bass and play music(any) LOUD! .The 989 takes care of that person who has the big room and wants to pump up the bass....

Here lies the apparent issue.
The designs are on two different worlds and
makes the "Round Earth" conversation a moot point.....
There is NOT one dynamic speaker in the world that can do what the QUAD can do.(any of them)1. 3 dimentions from every type of music.
Does not matter what your front end is..
2. Here is that word again....ORGANIC.....
The players are in your room.ALIVE!
3. The QUADS are VERY dynamic. Even at the lowest volume levels. The design allows this to be one of its strengths.
4. If you can get them from the back wall? Its the only type of speaker that is NOT worried about the side walls. Standing to their side is an amazing experience. You can stand where there is no music playing.(Have to be there)..
5. No Xover
6. Sucks you right into the performance.
You can forget about the rest of the world.........

Please read one of the above posts. The subject is on how to get the QUADS to play Bass. It is SO simple and the transformation is nothing short of amazing.By crossing the input of a lesser amp it allows the amp to free up its resources.
You put all of them from 40hz and above. Thus creating a High Pass filter.Lord,I hope I said that right.....



My wish would be for KEN C. to post his thoughts but,I think, He has never had the time/desire to be on the forum.....
This is an assumption on my part and I will ask him to post if he can.......

Best Regards,

Marc

"I think the old 57's are a wonderful speaker but I would tend to agree that they suit acoustic music rather better than they do rock music."

I'll have to stop playing Audioslave, Linkin Park, White Stripes and all the other rock albums I've been listening to over the last 18 years on my old Quads.

For three years I listened to LP12/Ittok/Troika 32.5/Hi-cap/250 DMS for an average of 5 hrs a day and then went home to the same table with 42.5/snaps/140, Quad 57's and listened for hours longer and never felt I was missing a thing.

The Quads rock and are actually play much louder than you would think. The lack of distortion is what make's you think their not that loud.