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Quad ESL repair in DFW,TX

207.235.160.39

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ear-mite

(A)

Anyone in the DFW metroplex experienced in testing and repairing the old 57's?

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Re: Quad ESL repair in DFW,TX - drquad 10:11:17 11/17/05 (6)
Well, ear-mite, I'm in San Francisco but perhaps I can help you anyway. What's the problem?
Sandro Boccara
- http://www.geocities.com/drquad@pacbell.net (Open in New Window)
- quad problem(s) - ear-mite 13:13:19 11/17/05 (5)
  Hello Sandro,
  
  Over the last couple of years I've acquired several pair and currently
  own 3 pr. (down from 4). Of the 3, pair 1 from the early 60's sounds tired dynamically speaking, pair 2 (early 80's) has one speaker that emits a funny smell plus has a dead bass panel, and pair 3 (early 70's)sounds great.
  
  Don't have test equipment or care to poke around HV, but do have
  a friend used to working with HV medical radiation devices.
  ken
  - Re: quad problem(s) - drquad 16:33:09 11/17/05 (3)
    Ken,
    The "tired " pair may only need 1 or 2 EHT units (as Gary Jacobson suggests) which are easily installed by someone with a little soldering & hi-voltage experience. If your friend has the requisite high voltage probe & meter he can take measurements to confirm this quick diagnosis. Each EHT block needs to read 4-6 KVDC (bass pin), & 1200-1500 KVDC (treble pin) with no panels hooked up. If not, new blocks are in order. But if the blocks measure ok without panels attached, then an accurate diagnosis gets a little more complicated (which panel [s] are bad?) & likely needs someone with more familiarity with Quad 57's.
    Pair # 2: "Funny smell" & a bad bass panel are best confirmed with the same high voltage probe & meter technique as the 1st pair. The EHT boards need to be measured, 1st with the panels hooked up, then without. If the EHT devices give the correct values (see above) without a panel load, then panels are suspect. A funny smell is often (not always) attributable to melted wax from the underside of the audio transformer, but once inside the speaker an experienced tech will be able to verify where the smell is really coming from.
    If you can't find someone nearby who is comfortable doing these basic steps, then you'll have to think about sending off the speakers in question. If you e-mail me privately we can get into it in further detail. Anyhow, I'm glad to hear you have at least one good pair!
    Sandro
    - http://www.geocities.com/drquad@pacbell.net (Open in New Window)
    - Local repair - ear-mite 06:24:38 11/18/05 (1)
      Thanks Sandro and Gary.
      
      I'd love to have PK restore the 57's, however, the distance
      and $'s envolved in repair and shipping are more than I can afford
      at this time. My preference is to source the parts from PK
      and have someone locally do the work.
      ken
      - Good idea... - Gary Jacobson 14:37:24 11/20/05 (0)
        
        In Reply to: Local repair posted by ear-mite on November 18, 2005 at 06:24:38:
        
        ...and it's always best to gather local experience. The more people involved, the better the outcomes for the long term. You can find a lot of the bits and pieces on the Internet and even in local hardware stores, but Wayne can give you a 'leg up' on tried and tested parts, of course.
    - Re: quad problem(s) - Gary Jacobson 18:34:54 11/17/05 (0)
      G'Day,
      What kind of "funny smell" - could be ozone, if you have a perforated dust cover and some minor leakage/arcing around the rivets on a bass panel you get a distinctly sharp(!) aroma of ozone - a little like chlorine.
      Regards,
      Gary Jacobson
  - Re: quad problem(s) - Gary Jacobson 14:31:01 11/17/05 (0)
    G'Day,
    A LOT of issues in that bag. I'd be thinking you need to send them to Wayne Picquet in Florida. My knowledge of U.S. geography is hardly stellar, but I think he'd be closer to you than any other rebuilder.
    If you have 3 pairs, why not have Wayne do a stacked pair for you while you're at it?
    The "tiredness" is probably from EHT failure - rebuild them if they're the was type of block.
    The failed bass panel would need a complete rebuild and so would its twin on the other side of the unit since you'd like them to match.
    A big job.
    Regards,
    Gary Jacobson
    - The Quad ESL (Open in New Window)

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