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Thanks to the input from many of you in this forum (special thanks to Kentaja!) I placed my order for a pair of the new Quad 2805's yesterday from Audio Solutions in Indy. I can hardly wait to get them! I have never owned Quads before, much less any electrostatic or panel speaker...have always had dynamic driver speakers.I've got a couple of newbie questions that maybe you can help me with.
ROOM PLACEMENT: My dedicated listening room is 13' X 16' with a 9' ceiling. I currently use the Audio Physic method of set-up with my speakers on the long wall, about 5' out, 8' apart and I listen in the nearfield. The set-up results in an 8' equilateral triangle such that my ears are 8' from the fronts of the speakers. Will this set-up work with the Quads, or should I consider reorienting my room so the speakers are on the short wall (again about 5' out) and fire down the longer dimension? I know, I know...just try it out in the nearfield first and if it doesn't sound good, then change it! But I had hoped to draw on the considerable experience with Quads in this forum on best set-up before I start moving my equipment rack around.
LEAVE ON: I have searched the archives and it appears that the majority opinion is to leave the speakers turned on except during thunderstorms, vacations, and such. I'm not concerned about the electricity bill, but I am concerned about the potential decay of the panels. Does leaving the speakers on all the time wear on the panels?
POWER CORDS: Again a search of the archives has turned up contradictory opinions here. Some say upgraded power cords do make a difference and others swear they do not. Any latest thinking here?
Thanks all and I'll keep you posted on my experiences.
Dave
Follow Ups:
Dave and others,Thanks to your mail and follow ups, I have just decided to follow the same path. I have a demo pair running since last Thursday running some Irish folk at the moment, it's so incredibly beautiful - easy (as in unstressed), detailled, excellent lows, lots of volume - running Dark Side of the Moon at neighbour relationship shatering volumes (in the middle of the day) - what a Base at the beginning of Money !
For general info, they are placed about 4 feet from the back wall (closer seems to make it less 'open'), running on a Quad 909 with a NAD 162 preamplifier and a 99 CDP player.
OK, kind regards,
Marc
Pre Scriptum: I have been googling the internet over and over for info on Quad ESL's, and thought the following info may be of interest to people in similar position.I have just had the opportunity to try the 2805 ESL's for a week and have just put my 22L's back. I didn't do any AB switching, just replaced the speakers now and thought it might be interesting to write down some of my impressions.
First thought when lighting up the 22L's again was how much they have in common with the ESL's, the same tonal balance, very good high's, spaciousness is there - even feel bad about letting these go (probably) somewhere in january when the ESL's should have taken their place.
Somehow, this feels very much like a balanced system (with 909 amplifier and 99 CDP player). I am listening to some ECM records at the moment (a.o Gidon Kremer), beautiful on the 22's !But there are big differences as well.
When listening to Miles Davis with Sketches of Spain on SACD, then the ESL's really make the music vibrant and spacious, with almost painful high's - incredible how the ESL's make the music come alive. Lows are beautiful (much more so then the 22's).
And, especially with close listening (about 5 feet from the speakers - avoiding room reflections) the spaciousness and presence are kind of eary.But, IMHO, the ESL's did have one weak point, and that is with electric (Blues) bands like BB King and John Scofield. It's kind of strange to listen to powerful (distorted) electric music through such a clean system. By the way, this is not about being able to play loud - for me, the ESL's can give all the volume I wish (I did try) - but the music stayed kind of sterile. One reason could be that one hears every sound engineers approach to making the recording, but . . . ? It's not about base either, I did compare it with another set of speakers (from a small homebuild PA system which sound great with John Scofield). I did actually experiment with adding a (strongly dampened) tweeter from this PA system which seemed to help for this kind of music - probably because of the added distortion. This added just an edge, which may have been the thing I was missing (sorry for that ! to ESL afficionado's).
If somebody has suggestions to overcome this sterility, please let me know.
BTW, come to think about it, I didn't play any EL&P or Jimmy Hendriks.And lastly, a big difference in terms of dynamics. Although I reckon the 22's are good speakers, dynamics of the ESL's are unbelievable. From the lowest volumes to the highest volumes, it's always there, and the differences in volume in recordings are so much bigger. It could be that the softest parts are already so present and complete - that when the volume goes up, without any sign of distortion, all these dynamic differences come into the room without any stress or other restraint.
But, summing up, it's amazing how both speakers share similar musical qualities ! Only one of them so much more of it.
Regards,
Marc
...set up method for any Quad is to draw the diagonals of the room (so to speak) and then place the speakers one third of the way along each diagonal from the "back" wall. This is clearly an approximation, and is not possible in every environment, but it does give good results in many standard rooms. Modify the room acoustically otehrwise if necessary. Do not put equipment racks between or near speakers...especially vinyl sources.Regards,
Gary Jacobson
Ask one question, get twenty answers.
nt
Thanks for your thoughtful advice and sharing experience. I am going with the long wall placement using approximately an 8' equilateral triangle and see how it goes.I've got diffusion behind where the speakers will be (windows with louvered blinds and curtains plus ficus trees). I also have absorption behind the listening position.
I'll keep you posted on my experience. Thanks again!
Long wall, equilateral has always worked best for me but all rooms are different. My Quad (57's) are along the long wall and I'm in a 13' equilateral triangle with them, and they fill the 23' width of the room I'm in easily. They have a wall and sofa between them (which I remove with room EQ) but fortunately nothing to the outside of the speakers and no rear wall for 8'. I find that walls to the outside of the speaker limit the image width and make the image creep up along the wall instead of spreading out with wings as it should. I'd try the 8' triangle first, it should work well.My local shop is getting some 2805's they say, so I'll be interested to give them a listen. They're not practical for my situation, but am very curious.
nt
Hi Chaney,I would prefer to not say over this forum because I think the dealer is providing a reasonable discount and am not sure what Quad retail policies are. If you are interested, you can call Graham at Audio Solutions (317) 255-4434. I hope you understand...
I do understand and thank you for the reply.
Congrats on your purchase! You have purchased one fine speaker.I would prefer them on the long wall as your propose. Depending on how close your listening position is to the rear wall of your room, you may experience some bass reinforcement. Your might need to add some absorbing material on the rear wall to eliminate reflections.
The original Quad needs to be energized at all times for best performance. This is not the case with the later Quads ESL63, etc. The coating resistance is low enough that the panels charge instantly when energized. The speaker will reach full performance, i.e. sensitivity within seconds of being energized. It will take your amp, even a solid state amp, longer to settle down than the Quad.
The resistive coating on the newer Quads is carbon based versus the nylon of the original ESL. This coating degrades over time; this takes years if not decades so nothing to worry about. It tends to oxidize or char over the years leaving an ashy sometimes sticky substance on the diaphgraghm. Whether or not leaving the coating bathed in a high voltage field 24/7/365 accelerates this degradation I do not know. Turning them off when not in use certainly does not hurt the speaker or impact the performance and may very well increase the life of the panels.
IMO fancy power cords are a waste of money with the Quads. Others will disagree. I have never heard any power cord or power supply tweak that made any difference with Quads. There are some power supply changes that can be made to the original ESL63 that will improve the stability of the speaker but not the sonics. The 2805 incorporates these circuit changes.
The best test I know to confirm the validity of my statement is to simply unplug the Quads while playing. There will be enough charge in the panels to play for a least a few minutes and make a determination of any change in sonics. You can't really have a more 'pure' power source than the internal charge. I have never heard any difference when 'unplugged' and neither has anyone else that I know. Unplugging them for brief periods while playing will cause no damage to the speaker. Save your money and buy more music.
I would suggest the short wall for two reasons: dipoles can be placed closer to sidewalls due to the figure-8 wavelaunch and they also need more separation from the front (behind the speaker) wall for the rear wave to fully develop.
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