audio-talk

I want to buy pair of Quad ESL 989's. I have cash for a decent pair.

I borrowed a customer's pair of ESL 63s [in which I repaired the power supplies] for a few days and was stunned by the clarity and managed to spend an hour with the 989s, so I'm hooked.

Hi Angela, good to see your post - trust you're keeping well?

I must bring my 300B amps out sometime, they're singing now.

Sorry, no Quads for sale though.

Ray

Does it have to be the 989 model? There are several pairs of 988s listed on Ebay. I'm no expert on Quad speakers so have no idea what the differences are.

989's are very good indeed and go a bit lower in the bass than the 57's and 63's. A friend of mine had a pair about 112 years ago, they sounded superb on vocals - most successful amp we tried was the 'Aurora' PP 300B that I had at that time.

Hi Ray, yes I'm still about and still repairing pro audio gear and test gear. I backed away from posting much in forums due to spending time doing other things.

I just missed a pair of 989's that One thing Audio had. I found a pair for £3k at a dealer in Guildford so shall give them a call to find out their history. I've just sold one of my motorcycles so have some spare cash - the new kitchen can wait.

The ESL 988s are similar to the ESL 63s, the ESL 989s have better bass, although the ESL 63 are surprisingly good in the bass for electrostatics, the bass that is there is accurate and not muddled.

Hi Angela. Good luck with the hunt and thanks for clarifying the different ESLs in the Quad range. Let us know how you get on.

Ray

Just as an off-the-wall suggestion, have you thought about building your own? Colin Topps (Toppsy) of this parish built a pair of these which were very highly thought of.

http://www.eraudio.com.au/DIY_Speaker_K ... l_kit.html

Build thread here:

http://www.world-designs.co.uk/forum/sh ... php?t=1295

I had a look at the links; interesting proposition...

Ray

not a bad proposition, or at least they didn't used to be..

http://www.vitalstates.org/diy/electros ... tatics.htm

imo they knock esl63s into a cocked hat, but I'm not sure about comparison with 989s

back in the day they were about £600-£700 + carriage when I was promoting them, which made them a practical alternative to all the 2nd hand quads etc.....Now they are nowhere near as financially competetive to the 2nd hand quads.

It's a bit academic though because Angela will struggle to get a listen to do any comparisons.

Thanks for the replies. I did consider building a pair of eraudio electrostatics or a pair from scratch but don't have the time. On Tuesday I bought a pair of ESL 989's that had been re-built by Quad and set them up last night. The clarity of sound is staggering, showing up flaws in recordings. The sound-stage is very precise with good depth that remains even if moving off the traditional "sweet spot". The ESL 989's are much better in the bass than the 63's or the 988's, very accurate and sufficient. I listen to a lot of Opera/Orchestral and Jazz so these work very well. I wish I had the spare cash years ago to buy these.

Result then.

Enjoy them Angela.