On Fri, 31 Dec 2004 15:09:21 GMT, "Fleetie"
wrote:

A) ESL-57s look OLD, DATED, UGLY, BROWN, and just YUCKY.

So do I, but no one complains! :-)

B) It seems "cool" to revere them. They're nearly 50 years old now.
They might (or might not; I've only heard them once IIRC, and that
was years ago at a Penta show, I think) sound ok in the mid or whatever,
but I am sure they're not as good as the uninitiated observer might be
led to think, given the amount of chin-stroking sage reverence that
they still seem to evoke.

The treble is crap, and there isn't any bass. It's all midrange, and
even that is nothing special when compared with other 'stats.

C) I would personally never give them house space. I can see that
they might have value as antiques that in some cases still function,
but let's be honest, speaker technology has moved a LONG way in the
50 years since they were designed.

Quite so - even within Quad.............

D) "Emperor's OLD clothes".

There! I've said it! Can I be burnt as a heretic now?

Oh and I bet my Dynaudios'd kick ESL-57s' sorry asses into the grave where
they definitely belong. And go a fair bit louder.

Indeed.

Next instalment: The LS3/5a.

That **** Ken Kessler's got a lot to answer for there. Note that he
actually uses Apogee Divas, which are about as far from the LS3/5a as
you can get! Typical hypocritical loudmouthed NYJ.........
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering