ESL 57s will be added to my system soon. What to expect?

[Barry]

You will need to angle them down so the pannels are directed towards you and not the celing , 57's have a sweet spot

They are going to sound awful like that. The Quad 57s have a vertical beamwidth of only 7 degrees, and having them mounted on top of the shelf, that 7 degree beam is going to be directed over the top of your head and not towards your ears.

Also, being a dipole, you will need at least 1m (preferably 2m) separation between the rear of the speaker and the wall.

[Rosewind]

It depends on where I sit and how much I am going to tilt the ESL 57s, I'm sure. And the beam width isn't as bad as all that. It is 15 degrees. On the green forum a gentleman showed me a drawing of the vertical dispersion of the treble panels. Here it is:



But it shall all be revealed when I have wired the speakers to the walls and have had a listen. You are welcome to sail across the North Sea for a listening session!

[Rosewind]

Photos in this popst reposted below using imgur. Thanks!

[jandl100]

Photos in the last post not showing, Peter.

[Rosewind]

I have no idea why my images won't show. I use google photo, copy the direct link that ends in "no". To the image address, I have also tried to add "?.jpg" as described in one of the help posts on the interweb. Neither option works for me. The images show up fine for a while on my computer but then they "regress" into nothing or [IMG]. Puzzling.

[jandl100]

I use www.imgur.com.
Works well for me.

[walpurgis]

Try using tinypic. It's free and no account needed: http://tinypic.com/

I explained how to use it yesterday:

[Rosewind]

Thanks to all: Using imgur, I will repost the images:









I will use the Quad ESL 57s tilted forward by attaching wires going from the wall to the two metal holders placed at either top corner of the speakers. On the bottom of each speaker I have attached 4 soft rubber feet. I will test this to see if I need to fix the speakers at the bottom as well.

[Barry]

It depends on where I sit and how much I am going to tilt the ESL 57s, I'm sure. And the beam width isn't as bad as all that. It is 15 degrees. On the green forum a gentleman showed me a drawing of the vertical dispersion of the treble panels. Here it is:



But it shall all be revealed when I have wired the speakers to the walls and have had a listen. You are welcome to sail across the North Sea for a listening session!

Apologies - I was careless with my notation. I should have said the vertical dispersion is +/- 7.5 degree about an axis normal to the speaker (or a total beamwidth of 15 degree), just as the horizontal dispersion is +/- 35 degree (or a beamwidth of 70 degree); as you have shown in the diagram above.



The vertical dispersion for the Quad speaker will be poor because the treble unit consists of a thin vertical strip, about 2.5cm wide, running the height of the speaker forming a line source, which will have a vertical beam width inversely proportional to the height, and a horizontal beamwidth inversely proportional to the width of the source. Thus the dispersion in the vertical plane will be poor, whereas the dispersion in the horizontal plane is quite good.

This is an oft-quoted criticism of the Quad 57 speaker - the sound appears to be projected from a 'letter box'-shaped window. The original speakers were designed at a time when listeners sat in chairs taller than those used today. Thus, unless the speakers are tilted down slightly, the treble 'beam' no longer points towards the ears but is directed over the head.

I have been using Quad 57 speakers for at least forty years and have them tilted slightly forward so the treble is directed at ear height when sat in my listening position (about 3.5 metre away from the speakers). If I stand up, the treble level drops noticeably .

Placing the speakers on a high shelf as you propose, you are unlikely to hear the treble properly, unless you tilt them down significantly.

The Quad speakers both deserve and benefit from careful positioning in the room.

Happy experimenting!

[Rosewind]

Barry.

I will have to try it out. As you can see from the photos below, I have angled and tilted the Quad ESLs. If I look up from my chair I am looking right into the middle of the Quad ESL 57s. It remains to be seen whether a position 4-5 feet further back will have moved me outside the sweet spot. Thanks for the clarification.