# 1 Year On



## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

It was the anniversary yesterday of the arrival in this house of Jackie & Janie









*13/06/05* sweet huh?



















*Jackie, 13/06/06* some what bigger


















*Janie, 13/0606* even bigger and still growing,


















Check the size of that tail!!









I`m sure it`s larger then she was in the first photo


----------



## Roger (May 17, 2003)

Mach..

In the background are those Quad ELSs?

Oh..the cats are nice too









Roger


----------



## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

Roger said:


> Mach..
> 
> In the background are those Quad ELSs?


sure are











> Oh..the cats are nice too
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks


----------



## Roger (May 17, 2003)

NIce...

you might find this useful:-

http://www.quadesl.com/quad_main.html


----------



## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

Roger said:


> NIce...
> 
> you might find this useful:-
> 
> http://www.quadesl.com/quad_main.html


Interesting stuff









Truely wonderful speakers IMHO











> The Quads have a very directional radiation pattern, so you have to position them carefully for best performance.


So true, it always amazes people who listen to them how the sound level drops when you stand up or move out of the `sweet spot`, mind you most on first seeing them think they are radiators
















BTW, as you no doubt know, they make superb AV speakers due to having no magnets


----------



## Roger (May 17, 2003)

Just dont overdrive them....

Do you leave them on? or wait for them to "warm-up"?


----------



## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

I'm assuming your talking about those brown things on little wooden legs? I thought they were the backs of a pair of 50's sofas


----------



## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

Roger said:


> Just dont overdrive them....


I don`t, they _are_ hooked up to a Concordant Exhilarant pre/ Croft Series VI 100w per channel power but I always keep the volume below 9 oclock and had advice on this from a the guy I bought them from, a friend who specialises in selling valve equipment old and new as well as servicing ESL`s











> Do you leave them on? or wait for them to "warm-up"?


I know some recommend leaving them on but I`ve found they sound just as good after an hours warm up, as does the Concordant, Croft and EAR 834P Head Amp


----------



## Roger (May 17, 2003)

FWIR when I had mine.....15W max always!

Depending on age/condition, as I,ll bet you know, keep an eye/ear and nose on the HV units....have been know to fail quite spectacularly.....HV capacitors prefer to be "on power".

If the speakers are not used/powered for extended periods...they are much more likely to fail....even if you dont want some music...power 'em up regularly....that way leads to musical Nirvana.......

I respected the ones I had, but were a bit "bass light" for me......I probably dont appreciate real Hi-Fidelity, but prefer music as I remember it from live-on stage.

Roger


----------



## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

pg tips said:


> I'm assuming your talking about those brown things on little wooden legs? I thought they were the backs of a pair of 50's sofas


yes Paul...

wide...










but slim..

[attachmentid=5668]

pluged into the mains...










Desgined in approx 1953 sounding like nothing else and still knocking spots off most of the competiton











Roger said:


> FWIR when I had mine.....15W max always!


I`ve got a 6wpc Rogers Cadet 11 in my bedroom and tend to run that low so my idea of loud is different to most peoples









BTW the Croft is set up for 16 OHM











> Depending on age/condition, as I,ll bet you know, keep an eye/ear and nose on the HV units....have been know to fail quite spectacularly.....HV capacitors prefer to be "on power".
> 
> If the speakers are not used/powered for extended periods...they are much more likely to fail....even if you dont want some music...power 'em up regularly....that way leads to musical Nirvana.......


I have heard conflicting veiws on the benefits of keeping them powered up re it`s effect on the longevity of the components but on balance for environmental reasons I don`t leave anything on unless I really have to











> I respected the ones I had, but were a bit "bass light" for me......I probably dont appreciate real Hi-Fidelity, but prefer music as I remember it from live-on stage.
> 
> Roger


I`ve heard others comment about the lack of bass but before getting these I used to own a huge pair of IMF TLS 80 Transmission line speakers with KEF B139 bass units and although obviously not as bassy as those I can`t say I find the ESL`s particularly bass light


----------



## Roger (May 17, 2003)

> IMF TLS 80 Transmission line speakers with KEF B139 bass units and although obviously not as bassy as those I can`t say I find the ESL`s particularly bass light


IMFs...lovely.

I have in the attic a pair of KEF 104ABs which use the same B139 unit, although Kef describe them as Mid Range units.

I suppose the sound is purely subjective and depends on musical taste....as stated, I respected mine, but they didnt quite satisfy...bit like a Rolex watch...does the job, but you just know something else would suit better.

As for leaving them on....if they are in good fettle, they should consume a lot less than your telephone answering machine, but there could be that risk with really old units.

I used mine with the Quad 33/303 combo....which was BTW, useless with the KEFs due to its lack of guts.


----------



## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

I love cats.









Sorry Quad fans.









"Quad is God, Sondek is the one deck".

But, a cat will never let you go if it loves you. 

Bloody claws.


----------



## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

Mac there is a fantastic column in this month's _Stereophile_ by Art Dudley about refurbishing a pair of the original Quads. He covers all the areas prone to failure, preventive and reparative measures. You should have a look. Listening to Apogee Divas just now, though I have a pair of Martin-Logan CLSs and a pair of Soundlab Pristine Mk3s


----------



## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

Stan said:


> I love cats.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Never been a fan of the Sondek, far too finicky IMHO









I prefer a nice heavy idler wheel such as a Thorens TD124 mounted on a thick slate baseplate in a massive wooden plinth or a Garrard 301/401 mounted in a massive solid wooden plinth









You are of course correct regarding cats and the trick Stan is either to develop a 6th sense when claws are about to be used and stop whatever you were doing imediately or develop lightening reflexes to avoid them making contact if they are used


















Nalu said:


> Mac there is a fantastic column in this month's _Stereophile_ by Art Dudley about refurbishing a pair of the original Quads. He covers all the areas prone to failure, preventive and reparative measures. You should have a look. Listening to Apogee Divas just now, though I have a pair of Martin-Logan CLSs and a pair of Soundlab Pristine Mk3s


Thanks Coiln, I`ll check it out









I bet when you come home from a `tour` you give your system a really good work out


----------



## Nalu (Nov 28, 2003)

I do! No video, just disc after disc - all the favorites!


----------



## nickk (Jul 20, 2005)

as a one-time hi-fi buff, I was congratulating myself on spotting the ESLs (smugness is the fifth cardinal virtue), then the next word I even remotely recognised was 'disc' about 10 posts later









Oh - I spotted 'cat' in there too - but I think that was in the phrase 'CATattenuating twizzler' or something.

It is like one of those languages spoken by children raised by wolves - wolves that may have owned a hi-fi shop sometime in the mid-80s...


----------



## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

nickk said:


> as a one-time hi-fi buff, I was congratulating myself on spotting the ESLs (smugness is the fifth cardinal virtue), then the next word I even remotely recognised was 'disc' about 10 posts later
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Be thankful we didn`t start on about which are the best types of resisters and capacitors to use in your Hi FI


----------

