Dont get stressed if you think your system isn't "Good Enough"...

[Opti-cal]

What is wrong with your Quads - what needs repairing/replacing? Mine have been in constant use for the last 45 years and are still working well; though I'm sure that ideally they could do with an overhaul.

Haha, what's right with them Barry . . . .

Just to save any confusion I'll explain as quickly and concisely as I can.

2015 - Bought my first pair of old Quads. Fell in love even though their output was low but it was evenly low.
2016 - Sold first pair and bought a pair of 'nicer' 57's which sounded even better.
2017 - saved up to get them refurbished - sent them to Quad for full overhaul - Quad returned them and just left them on my front porch upon return, predictably one got nicked. (I still have 1 fully refurbished one).
Due to their stupidity and the threat of legal action Quad provided me with another fully refurbished pair. They were perfect but unfortunately at the time I needed the money and stupidly sold them, but for good money.
2019 - Bought a pair of 63's, again output was beginning to get low.
2020 - Part ex'd my 63's plus some cash for a fully refurbished pair (1 year warranty) with all the upgrades including black gate capacitors and grill upgrades. In the words of One Thing "Probably the best we've heard".
2020 - Been back to One Thing for warranty repair twice as the grills were rattling at certain frequencies. Eventually returned them telling me they are refusing to do any more warranty work as it's costing THEM too much money.
2021 - One of the 63's simply doesn't power on any more and still has a slight rattle from the grill at certain frequencies. (Although hopefully Alan can fix the power issue for me when I pick up my amp from him asap!).

So currently I have a pair of 57's one speaker has very low output and the other one will likely need a refurb too.
I have 1 fully refurbished 57 (done by Quad) which works perfectly.
I have a pair of 63's fully upgraded but 1 now doesn't power on at all. One of them has a grill 'rattle'.

As I say with the 'current' pair of 57's the output is very low on one speaker (even though it had a new treble panel a couple of years ago) I suspect a transformer has fallen out of spec or needs replacing. The panels themselves are in good nick and there is only one tiny tear which has been repaired. I bought them as a 'spares or repair' project a few months ago after promising myself to get another pair after letting my 'perfect' ones go a couple of years ago as I needed the money. So I knew output on one of them was low prior to purchase.

Seems I am the most unlucky Quad owner of all time (although my story is not completely isolated).

I am meticulous in how they are looked after, barely even seeing sunlight and certainly never in any sort of environment with any moisture in the air and they certainly have never been over driven.

I am very sensitive to L to R balance as well as being able to hear the pops and whines from them every so often.

One day I'd love to have them all working again but realistically I don't think it'll ever happen! Not least because the various service departments at both Quad and One Thing seem hopelessly inept.

I don't think I'm too demanding of them . . . just incredibly unlucky.

[anthonyTD]

Indeed!

I don't think that the "flogging a dead horse" comment was directed at you Marco re ASR, but about the technical versus subjective ear debate.

Regardless it is much more moral than flogging a live one.

[Barry]

Wow - that's quite a history. I realise now that I had read of you problems before, and at the time expressed my sympathies and sadness that Quad's aftersales and repair service, which used to be second to none, had fallen to a lamentably low standard, since the company was sold to new owners.

All I can say is that Quad, having sold off the panel assembly jigs to Musikwiedergabe in Germany, when they ceased manufacture of the 57s, now farm out any repair work to One Thing Audio. OTA have their own design of replacement panels, which do not sound the same as the Quad originals. So if you were to have OTA fix the problem, you would need to have both speakers looked at to ensure they were sonically identical; but after your experience with OTA, I can well understand your reluctance to deal with them again.

I think the low output could well be due to problems with the EHT power supply - most likely a failure of a diode in the Cockroft Walton voltage multiplier. I'm sure Alan could diagnose the problem for you.

[Macca]

Oh - was Martin referring to your speakers? Quad 57 (sic)?

I was referring to Alan's comment that I'm using outdated equipment, given he uses ESLs. I mean I like the ESL and if they wern't potentially such a bundle of trouble I'd have had some myself at some point, but people in glass houses and so forth...

The oldest bit of kit in my main system is the Krell power amp and that's from 1994 so not exactly geriatric. I mean I'm old enough to consider 1994 as fairly recent, only seems like yesterday to me. And anyway it's an amplifier, they've been a done deal for at least half a century. Plus I've yet to hear an amp I prefer.

[Barry]

No worries. Quad 57s are not particularly robust beasts and can be easily damaged. Furthermore, they are not to everyone's tastes (either in capability or looks) as they serve some music better than others.

[Macca]

No worries. Quad 57s are not particularly robust beasts and can be easily damaged. Furthermore, they are not to everyone's tastes (either in capability or looks) as they serve some music better than others.

A friend got a set and initially they were fantastic but went downhill fairly fast. Opening them up they were full of dust, the foil was ripped in many places, the wiring had perished so much it was dangerous, plus some other problem which I forget now.

He got a kit from Australia to do the refurb himself but don't know if he ever did. It was a mammoth task.

[Opti-cal]

A friend got a set and initially they were fantastic but went downhill fairly fast. Opening them up they were full of dust, the foil was ripped in many places, the wiring had perished so much it was dangerous, plus some other problem which I forget now.

He got a kit from Australia to do the refurb himself but don't know if he ever did. It was a mammoth task.

I've come to the conclusion that it's just too much hassle of numerous occasions now.... But then I remember the sound they are capable of. As you elude to much better on some material than others (although with a 'fast' sub setup correctly that range of material is increased). I still haven't heard a speaker do vocals/guitar plucks and overall tonal accuracy anywhere near as well. Otherwise I wouldn't waste so much time and effort on them.

Certainly not a 'fit & forget' or 'jack of all trades' speaker though.... Far from it.

[walpurgis]

Mine were OK once I rebuilt the rectifiers. That was a long time ago in the late seventies, I sold them to make room for the big Coral full-range horns I was building.

[Pharos]

I think that the 57, though old, was very far ahead of the bunch when it appeared, and again the 63 moved it forward, but the inherent proneness to environment is a problem.

If I were to buy any I would choose the larger more recent iterations 2905 and beyond, but if Quad's service is poor, that places question marks for me.

[anthonyTD]

In my opinion [and please bear in mind it is just my opinion] the Quad 57 over-all is a better speaker than the 63, yes, the 63 has more bass, but i think by doing so, it messed with what the original 57 exceled at, to me the clarity in the mid to top is cleaner on the 57, although the actual flat frequency response is quite limited, the 57 is still capable of exceptional performance within its limitations.

I think that the 57, though old, was very far ahead of the bunch when it appeared, and again the 63 moved it forward, but the inherent proneness to environment is a problem.

If I were to buy any I would choose the larger more recent iterations 2905 and beyond, but if Quad's service is poor, that places question marks for me.