"Nick Gorham" wrote
Fleetie wrote:
A) ESL-57s look OLD, DATED, UGLY, BROWN, and just YUCKY.

OSAF.

Sorry, "OSAF"?

TBH, If I didn't know they were speakers, I'd assume from their appearance,
and those awful legs that they stand on, that they were heaters.

Again OSAF, you say you have only heard them once, but feel confidant that you know what they sound like.

True, I can't deny that. If you want my opinion, they look like they
sound middy and squawky. And that's about it.

D) "Emperor's OLD clothes".

Whatever that means.

It means that the establishment still bows down before them but they're
out-of-date antiques and definitely unworthy of the reverence afforded
them. And I say that having heard them once. I remember not being impressed,
cos I was already aware of them when I saw and heard them.

Well, you could point exactly the same finger at the valve amp you have/had. the valves date from just about the same time (or a
bit earlier maybe)

There is little about a _valve_ that is fundamentally flawed. But let's
not get distracted down that side-alley. This sub-thread is not about amp
technology, it's about the fact that ESL-57s are past their use-by date.

And we ALL know that speakers introduce FAR FAR more distortion than amps
do, under normal conditions. So your argument is specious. Well, not even.

Not sure going louder is in itself a issue.

It is; the ear's frequency response flattens with increasing SPL.

You know from when I visited you (for which hospitality thanks again) that
I like to listen loud.

I would guess your Dyneaudios go louder, higher and lower, but I will bet you the midrange sucks on the dyneaudios compaired to
the ELS's

I will bet you it doesn't.

Although it's hard to define a formal metric for that without invoking
capacitor mics and oscilloscopes and so on.

I would be interested to know what the ESL-57s sold for (* 2 for a pair)
back when they were a current model, and what that'd be "in real terms"
today. I suppose they'd be pretty expensive, but that's a guess.

Even still, The Dynaudios'd thrash 'em I reckon.

I would be interested to hear the squawky abominations again just to confirm
my suspicions that they're overrated and ugly antiques. They ought to be
"cheap as chips", apart MAYBE from the fact that they are undeniably a
milestone in hi-fi.


Martin
--
M.A.Poyser Tel.: 07967 110890
Manchester, U.K. http://www.fleetie.demon.co.uk