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

That will certainly improve the frequency balance: I have mine set up so from my listening position each speaker is 'square on' as you describe.

The only problem I see with your arrangement is that the sound stage will appear elevated and the musicians unnaturally tall; but I can't speak from experience. Let us know how you get on. :)

Barry.

You are right that the ESL 57s need to be angled down towards me quite a lot and rather precisely, otherwise the treble energy disappears. The right ESL 57 wasn't angled down enough so it sounded like it wasn't working. I had to take off the long wire on it in order to enable it to be angled down enough. But then I must say that it is like wearing giant headphones indeed.

I am listening to Leonard Cohen's OLD IDEAS and YOU WANT IT DARKER albums. It is as if I am right in the music. It is a similar experience as when I had Magnepans 1.7s in here however, these does not sound quite a resolved/bright at the end of the EAR 869 as the Magnepans sounded with solid state amps.

I suppose that the limited treble extension of the Quad ESL 57 also helps. However, because I am an old man, I probably don't miss anything abover 14-15Khz, sad as that may be. The Magnepans did something to my ears. Most likely because of their highy resolved treble panels. The Quad 57s sound as good but without making my ears ring.

Hi Peter,

It starts with a pair of ESL57s. Then it becomes a stacked pair. Then you end up extending your house so the 4 x ESLs in their stacked frame can do justice to the room. LOL! Ah, happy days. I don't have my ESL57 stack any more but if I find some photos I'll stick them on here.

Paul at Classique Sounds in Leicester (http://www.classiquesounds.co.uk/main.htm) supplied the woodwork. He also offers some fantastic looking stands which IIRC were from http://onethingaudio.net/index.html ?

Enjoy your speakers, they're fantastic and very revealing. And if you get fed up with people asking if they're radiators or you happen to dent the grilles, Paul / OneThing can supply acoustically neutral covers.

Steve

Thanks Steve. I have not finished placing the speakers yet. I will do that this coming weekend.