Electrostatic Loudspeakers any experience?

[bikerhifinut]

Hi folks.

Our building improvements are on track and I have put a small amount aside to purchase a pair of Electrostatic speakers for the new listening room which will be approx 20 feet x 14 feet (6m x 4.2m for our metricated friends).
The speaker end of the room acroos the 4.2m face will be against a vertical wall of approx 1.5m which then slopes back to ceiling height, being part of the roof structure, the rest of the room opening out into a large dormer where the sofa will run across the outside wall behind the window, this will have vertical blinds and an option of curtains if it improves sound reflection/damping. As a feature of the room layout, it will be necesarry in any case to have the speakers away from the back wall so in theory the dipole feature will be accommodated. (sorry bad english but hope you get the drift).
I'll be driving the speakers with mostly valve amplification, either the WD KT88 or my homebrew EL34 35Watt amp. Both will very happily drive ESL57 and the WD KT88 has done at a friends place to very great effect.

Anyway, I have a few options. A collector pal has offered to sort me out at a fair price a pair of 57's which I imagine although probably working will still need some fettling at OTA or similar experts, these speakers seem to require an amount of maintenance and at least a pro check.
I could buy a pair off eBay or a dealer with some sort of evidence of condition/maintenance.

Or I can look to a pair of ESL63, they seem to command similar prices and certainly have a better WAF than the 57 "radiator" style. And it seems they may have better performance due to the different panel construction.

Finally, the later stuff like 989 etc come into the price frame once refurb costs etc are taken into account.

All the above seem to end up costing around the same amount in the end.

So I am sure theres a few here who can offer CONSTRUCTIVE advice on the choice of ESL, I know why i want a pair having heard them on the sort of music that I mainly listen to they offer a quality to the sound that box speakers just can't get near. I figure if I need to rockout occasionally or when watching a movie, I can investigate a subwoofer if i feel the need although I never thought the 57 really sounded bass shy in the real world of living rooms.

I have read various opinions and some say that the originals can't be beaten, some say the 63 are better and some again would recommend the newer stuff as being a better bet.

Ok Chaps over to you.

Andy.

[bob orbell]

The 989's are very good Andy, but need space behind them, I had a demo some years back but found the bass not to my liking, good but not powerful, if you chose the 57's then ONE THING AUDIO apparently transform them, you may know I use STAX ear speakers, , and I am in the process of changing my head set, SR404 for the new omega at £1995.00, as you may know these are electrostatic's and sound bloody fantastic, if you are thinking of spending big money on the Quad's, get a demo of a similar priced STAX set up, you may just be converted. BOB

[bikerhifinut]

Ta Bob.
Headphones aren't in it I'm afraid.
I have expressed an interest in a nice looking pair of 989's. From the reviews and technical literature I have unearthed they do seem much better and more suited than the 57 and 63 predecessors. Last time I heard quad ESls in anger was at Bristol Last year where Peter C was demoing them in the Quad room. OK they were the latest incarnation but the sound was to me the best I heard all day. Deep bowel loosening bass isnt really what I need in our domestic setup, much as I'd like to rock out at times!
Yeah I mentioned in the first post about them being dipole transducers so I'm aware of the need to get them out from the rear wall. Fortunately the way the room will be arranged means that they'll be around a metre out from the rear wall.
The cost of a pair of used and serviced 989's compares favourably with a decent pair of serviced 57 or 63 but should present a more benign load to the power amps if I have read the blurb correctly. The room isn't huge so maximum SPL won't be an issue and anyway i'd like to hang on to my eardrums for a while yet!
I'll keep my nice little Kudos cardea1 standmounters for now also as they do seem to punch above their weight in a small room.
And as its a first floor room there will be complications due to it being on a boarded floor albeit heavily screwed down onto rather massive 7 x 3 joist beams. This old house has turned out to be somewhat over engineered, it was a self build by a chap who was a joiner in the building trade some 60 years ago and it shows whenever we dig into the original structures. So we are trying to keep the same solidity with this dormer enlargement. Fingers crossed.

A.

[bikerhifinut]

I've bit the bullet and its looking like I will be driving down to collect a pair of 989's in the next few days.
The Vendor wishes to demo them prior to packing them up and taking my cash, he is an enthusiast and apparently he won't just sell em if the buyer decides on an audition that they don't really suit. Whuch is very refreshing in this day and age.
I also think the price for a pair in such apparent good condition was very fair, especially compared to what a dealer would ask.
I did a lot of reading up on them and am happy that if they suit, then they are a better bet than the 57 or 63, being more modern and better designed as a load.
based on my experience with my WD 88VA power amp driving a mates 57's I don't forsee any problems with the amps, and lets face it the 57 was designed to be driven by the 15W QuadII so we don't need welding set power outputs!

Just need to be able to store them safe and dry until may when the upstairs rebuild is complete.

A.