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RE: quad esl-63; Time for repair or (hopefully) not!!??

Posted by kentaja (M) on January 27, 2009 at 09:30:58

In Reply to: quad esl-63; Time for repair or (hopefully) not!!?? posted by Hujorgen on January 27, 2009 at 08:17:02:

The only time the ESL63 should make any type of noise is some minor rustling when first energized. You would only hear this noise if you were right next to the speaker. This should stop within 30-60 seconds after start-up. The other scenario for noisy ESL63 is when the speaker is used in high humidity environments, i.e. 60% RH and higher. This type of noise would be a crackling, hissing noise, and this would probably be audible anywhere in the room. Low-level in nature, but certainly can be heard. Once humidity levels drop in the listening environment the noise will disappear.

The other source of noise in the ESL63 is a bad panel(s). The panels can fail in several ways, the most common being stator delamination. This will not generally cause the sort of noise you describe. When the stator delaminates it contacts the diaphraghm and the result is a lot of noise and the speaker(s) won't work. Well it will play, but the noise will swamp the music and the sensitivity will be way down.

A less common failure mode is leakage damage. All electrostatic panels leak to some degree; without some level of leakage the elements would never charge. Over time leakage will damage the diaphragm resulting in a slight crackling, popping, or other similiar type noises. The noise can come-and-go. When this sort of damage happens the speakers will work just fine, except for some noise. Eventually the leakage damage will become severe enough to either drop the sensitivity of the offending speaker, or become so noisy as to make listening to music difficult, or ultimately it will cause the diaphraghm to split causing problems similiar to stator delamination.

Since you state the flasher unit is not flashing rapidly or constantly I would rule out high humidity as the issue. The flasher unit, a neon lamp versus a LED, would be flashing greater than once per second if the humidity were high.

My guess is you have a panel(s) going bad from leakage damage. To confirm this try to look at the flasher unit when the speaker makes some noise. When the noise occurs you will see the flasher unit light up and blink rapidly while the noise is present, and then return to normal flash rate once the noise disappears.

As long as the speakers are at the same sensitivity and the noise is not bothersome continue using the speakers. Turn them off when not being used, this will help extend the remaining life in the panels. Actually turning them off when not is use is a good idea even if the speakers are new. There is no advantage to leaving them energized constantly.

Eventually, and sooner-rather-than-later, your speakers will require some service. Continue using them, but I would imagine shortly things will take a turn for the worse. How long is anyone's guess.

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