| [ Quad ESL 63 ] |
Technical specifications
I'm listening to them while I write these lines. I can recognize in its sound a familiar pattern, similar to that of their fathers, the Quad ESL 57. Very similar highs, great mid range but more powerful bass, with more extension. That is how the Quad ESL 63 sound, my third pair of electrostatic loudspeakers. Before them, there were the incredible Quad ESL 57 (Two pairs. How can someboby build in 1957 such good speakers?) that I still own and enjoy every time I have the chance to do it.
The Quad ESL 63 are the descendants of the well known Quad ESL 57. They were designed in 1963 by Peter Walker to improve the weak aspects of the 57, a hard work to do. The 63 were made between 1981 and 1999 and Quad, now under the control of the IAG Group (an international conglomerated that manufacture Quad and other hifi equipment), still offers to their customers four models of loudspeakers based completely in Mr. Walker's original design. The pair of 63 that I own are second hand units bought to an audiophile and they were made in 1987. When I listen to them, 27 years after they left the Quad facilities in Huntingdon, I remember why I love this crazy thing called high fidelity.
These units had some minor faults well known in these speakers, that is, broken speaker binding posts that have been replaced by new ones, dirty external cloth that has been removed, washed and reinstalled and the internal metal grille that has been retaped to the chassis with new cloth tape. Apart from some dust here and there no other problems were present.
A brief comment about which amplifiers are suitable for these speakers. While the Quad ESL 57 can be driven with an amp like the Quad II that delivers only 12w, the 63 need more power. The amplifier I always use with the ESL 57, a Dynaco ST70, an ultralinear push-pull with EL34 and 30w per channel wasn't comfortable driving the Quads. Changing to a preamp-power amp combo like the Mcintosh MX-110 and Mcintosh MC-240 things improved a lot. The MC-240 is a power amp in push-pull configuration fitted with 7581A tubes (6L6GC) that delivers 40w. Used in twin-amp mode those extra watts made the ESL 63 sing.
Now some pics of the speakers. If you need information about them, the place to look is the web. User manuals, technical manuals and some brochures are available at Hi Fi Engine.
