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Thread: Quad ESL57 Rebuild

  1. #1
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: South West of England

    Posts: 263
    I'm Will.

    Default Quad ESL57 Rebuild

    I have recently come near to completing a rebuild of a pair of Quad ESL57s. More pictures to come soon but the following pretty much sums up the experience of working on these things

    Radford Revival
    www.radfordrevival.co.uk

  2. #2
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

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    What will you do with the rectifiers? I rebuilt (and re-potted) mine about thirty five years ago, but I'm sure there are better modern options.

  3. #3
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: South West of England

    Posts: 263
    I'm Will.

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    Quote Originally Posted by walpurgis View Post
    What will you do with the rectifiers? I rebuilt (and re-potted) mine, but I'm sure there are better modern options.
    I rebuilt the entire EHT module with my own boards and IEC inlet - will upload more pictures tomorrow
    Radford Revival
    www.radfordrevival.co.uk

  4. #4
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

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    Excellent stuff Will. Been there, a bit fiddly at times isn't it.

    Tip: Don't use a portable gas powered iron neat the dust covers as the exhaust gas can melt it

  5. #5
    Join Date: May 2016

    Location: Notts

    Posts: 2,743
    I'm Geoff.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Radford Revival View Post
    I have recently come near to completing a rebuild of a pair of Quad ESL57s. More pictures to come soon but the following pretty much sums up the experience of working on these things

    Interesting. Is that scrunched up plastic (mylar?) the diaphragm?

    Geoff

  6. #6
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sherwood View Post
    Interesting. Is that scrunched up plastic (mylar?) the diaphragm?

    Geoff
    Looks like it. There appears to be a silvery sheen to it that may be a graphite deposit, which I believe is what Quad used.

  7. #7
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: South West of England

    Posts: 263
    I'm Will.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sherwood View Post
    Interesting. Is that scrunched up plastic (mylar?) the diaphragm?

    Geoff
    Quote Originally Posted by walpurgis View Post
    Looks like it. There appears to be a silvery sheen to it that may be a graphite deposit, which I believe is what Quad used.
    It's actually the dust cover though if you aren't familiar with ESL57 internals you'd be forgiven for thinking it was diaphragm material - each panel in ESL57 has a tensioned cover over each front and rear stator - the sheen is grey spray paint so the panels appear less visible though the grilles - though most don't bother reapplying this.
    Radford Revival
    www.radfordrevival.co.uk

  8. #8
    Join Date: May 2018

    Location: Holmes Chapel

    Posts: 31
    I'm David.

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    A very interesting project - looking forward to the next set of photos.

  9. #9
    Join Date: Jul 2014

    Location: Ukraine

    Posts: 60
    I'm Andrew.

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    Will, what diaphragm coating are you going to use?
    Michell Orbe with Moerch DP-6 Gold Precision > Shure Ultra 500 / London Jubilee / Miyajima Kansui > Croft RIAA R / Miyajima ETR-800P / Audion The Converter DAC > Audion Premier 2.0 > Audion Golden Night 300B/PX25 & Audio Black Shadow 845 > Audio Nirvana 15" Classic Alnico with Tannoy ST200.

  10. #10
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: South West of England

    Posts: 263
    I'm Will.

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    Quote Originally Posted by matador View Post
    Will, what diaphragm coating are you going to use?
    Hi Andrew

    Luckily the bass panels didn't require stripping down to the stator level so they have the factory coating (some kind of nylon I believe!)

    The treble panels had a problem so will likely be replaced with refurbished ones - unfortunately I do not have the time to rebuild the existing treble panels.

    More pics to come soon!
    Radford Revival
    www.radfordrevival.co.uk

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