Welcome home!

[Ammonite Audio]

My main listening room has been redundant for a while due to the Quad 57s having to go back to One Thing to have a couple of issues resolved after their earlier re-build. I am pleased to say that, not only have One Thing solved those issues, they have gone rather further and returned my speakers with new treble panels and new 'slow charge' bass panels that apparently take 20 minutes to reach full charge, and are claimed to sound better than One Thing's previous best. I asked them to re-finish the grilles in black, to replace the original alluvial brown colour, which was far from attractive. The speakers now look lovely, highlighting the poor state of the side pieces, which I'm currently sanding down for staining and oiling. I have asked One Thing to bill me for the re-finishing work, but they have not done so - a very nice touch that shows how much they value good customer satisfaction.

The Quads' return has coincided with me finishing my DIY SUT, so with everything back in place, I can now listen to vinyl via MC cartridges. I have rather missed vinyl, even though digital streamed through my office system has been very enjoyable. The new DIY SUT needs a little experimentation with loading to suit my Ortofon and Benz cartridges, but is as silent as a tomb. No hum or noise even at full volume. It sounds quite decent too!

As a pair of effectively brand new speakers, the Quads sounded a bit polite and grainy yesterday, but are now moving towards plain magnificent, with a lovely natural tone and that Quad electrostatic 'air' and delicacy. Bass is perfectly decent and what's there is well controlled and not boomy, even though they are not positioned properly. I am working on some long legs for them - not the usual side legs but a sturdy and structurally properly thought out reinterpretation of the original round tapered legs.

It's nice to welcome the Quads home!

[Barry]

Good news about the Quads. How about some photos?

Regarding the "slow charge" panels: the original Quad 57s speakers took 20 minutes to fully charge from mains switch on.

[Ammonite Audio]

Photos can wait until the side pieces are back on - the Quads look a tad brutal without them. As for the slow-charge panels, there is rarely much that's genuinely new in audio, but One Thing do seem to know what they are doing and I do believe that the internal structure is different, compared to Quad's original panels.

[Gordon Steadman]

My 57s were rebuilt by OneThing about 15 years ago and are still wonderful. Its great to see that a company who offer such a great service are still going strong.

I've never found the extended side pieces particularly attractive and prefer a good set of fairly tall, solid stands. I might try a set that extend the front down a bit further one of these days but I find the bass is quite adequate in my room with my system.