Quad ESL-63

I purchased these legendary speakers from a fellow US Audiomart member around 10 months ago. They, along with the revered and timeless Quad Electrostatic Speaker (ESL-57), are true classics of the vintage age of speaker design, with the ESL-63s especially suited for those who love and appreciate classical/orchestral music. The Quads produce superb strings, with clear, clean string timbre whether loud or soft in volume.

And they hold their own quite well in opera vocals, jazz, acoustic music, folk, and even blues, too. In essence, they bring one into the emotional content of the music and many owners feel these speakers come close to the original sound.

J. Gordon Holt and others of Stereophile comment: “Quad equipment is not designed primarily for audiophiles, but for serious-music (classical) listeners who play records more for musical enjoyment than for the sound”. Thus, they do have less brightness than most systems, but the result is better reproduction of many instruments – in particular violins than one is accustomed to hearing.

SDS Audio Labs in Grantham, NH, rebuilt all eight of the panels including replacing the diaphragms and dust covers, and rebuilt the electronics as well. A $1500 expense. Sadly, I have only heard these speakers once for a total listening experience of around 45 minutes. And that was around four months ago, so listening time since rebuild has been small. Speakers are free of any scratches or discoloration.

NOTE: these speakers DO require power to reach their full potential. My tubed Altec 1569 dual-mono pair with 70 watts in pentode did a marvelous job and a solld-state amp of 100 watts or more would work.

In addition, I am adding as a bonus Ken Kessler’s marvelous and encyclopedic tome on everything Quad, “Quad: The Closest Approach”, filled with over 200 pages of colorful and classic black and white photography, interesting drawings, and copious and thoughtful commentary, a reference for Quad if there ever was one. And purchased new seven months ago. Value is anywhere between $125-$300.

I still have the original Quad boxes they arrived in and will pack them securely (a professional packing service) for transport to a new destination.

Metal support stands, included in the sale, add 7.5" to height of speaker and recommended for increased dispersal of sound.

Shipping:
Since the Quads are unwieldy and fragile to a degree (all loudspeakers would qualify), care needs to be taken when shipping. I prefer to ship them ground by a uShip service located here in Texas with good success on two previous deliveries.

As an example: Devices are picked up at my home and placed on truck, and they stay in this position until the new home is reached. No tossing or jostling around from one place or another using major carriers and risking possible damage to these phenomenal speakers.

Still another option is to crate them; my packing company uses a source to crate and support devices, adding an additional element of safety in transport. Please contact me to discuss.
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Lastly, they can be picked up at my home in Abilene, Texas, 185 miles west of Dallas. 

Buyer pays shipping and PayPal fees.

Reasonable offers will be considered.

Thank you for looking!

Marion Kiker
Abilene, Texas