Re: What to look for when buying a pair of ESL-57s - Pete - Planar Speaker Asylum

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Re: What to look for when buying a pair of ESL-57s

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In Reply to: Re: What to look for when buying a pair of ESL-57s posted by arend-jan on December 6, 2006 at 05:44:14:

Hello,
The age difference of the panels could have quite a marked impact...it's documented on the one thing audio site that that the panels performance deteriorates gradually for a few years initially (losing the diaphragm coating, I think). That said, I have heard a non-matched pair that definitely had treble panels of widely differing vintages that still sounded pretty good in a stereo set.
If you can make a visual inspection with grilles off, definitely check closely for signs of arcing on treble panels...one arced treble panel out of the pair would make for a big difference in output.
A severely leaky panel (or set of panels) could drain the EHT a lot, and cause some loss of output...in that case you'd hear some funny noises rather than the silence described in another earlier post.
It is possible that there is a weak-ish EHT cascade on one speaker, which would be relatively easy (and cheap) to fix. But in my experience leaky bass panels and weak EHT cascades often go hand in hand (I guess the EHT cascade is worked that much harder by a leaky set of panels).
Probably best to go for a matching pair that meet the criteria set out by Dr Quad, unless you can get them cheap enough to make it worthwhile having them rebuilt OR if you fancy rebuilding them yourself. If you think about rebuilding yourself there is plenty of info around, but do not underestimate the amount of time it takes to get to grips with everything, and then to put it into practise successfully.
Hope that is helpful, good luck! 57's are definitely worth the effort.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - What to look for when buying a pair of ESL-57s - arend-jan 06:30:37 12/05/06 (7)

Thank you all, you've been very helpfull indeed. (nt) - arend-jan 02:01:24 12/07/06 (0)

Re: What to look for when buying a pair of ESL-57s - drquad 10:33:09 12/05/06 (5)

Re: What to look for when buying a pair of ESL-57s - arend-jan 05:44:14 12/06/06 (4)

Re: What to look for when buying a pair of ESL-57s - drquad 10:59:04 12/06/06 (0)

Re: What to look for when buying a pair of ESL-57s - Pete 06:19:38 12/06/06 (2)

Just one small point about serial numbers... - Gary Jacobson 20:35:39 12/06/06 (1)

Re: Just one small point about serial numbers... - Pete 21:04:13 12/06/06 (0)

Follow Ups

Re: What to look for when buying a pair of ESL-57s - Pete 06:19:38 12/06/06 (2)

Just one small point about serial numbers... - Gary Jacobson 20:35:39 12/06/06 (1)

Re: Just one small point about serial numbers... - Pete 21:04:13 12/06/06 (0)

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