Alexis from France contacted us some months ago as he has a pair of Quad 63 pro series ESL’s that were becoming very troublesome. Having experienced the high costs and further issues with the repaired speakers he contacted us and decided to take the plunge to carry out his own repairs using our Quad 63 repair kit.
This is his story.
A few words to describe how happy I am with the refurbishing of my Quad ESL 63 Pro. After at least 3 very expensive repairs along their 30 years of existence (hissing, popping, arcing, glue failure…), I started to get fed up, placed them in the attic, and decided to listen to electrodynamic transducers instead! Not the same finesse and delicacy, but no more concerns about overdriving them or having to send them abroad for long and costly repairs, with relative success every time.
Later on I realized what a pity it was to abandon them, and decided to resuscitate the ESLs myself. After a few enquiries, and a Covid confinement that left me with plenty of time, I bought Rob’s kit, and got on with the job.
My 63s had been refurbished so many times along the years by various societies that they were in bad shape to start with, and I think I have fallen in every trap I could along the repairing process. But, not only the manual provided is very detailed, but Rob has such an experience in this technology (he also creates his own line of products) that every time I was in a dead end, I could send him in email and get a very constructive and motivating answer. As a consequence, I overcame every issue and after several errors of mine (you really have to follow the manual to the letter…), I am now the happy owner of a pair of Quad ESL63 Pro which sounds better than the day they came out of the factory. This may seem surprising but it is quite logical actually, because ER Audio uses the latest improvements: a better coating, a thinner Mylar, much stronger glues, tips and tricks here and there, etc.
These speakers have never sounded so good, they are different, it is as though every limitation they suffered before, a compressed sound on high transients, limited bass and a few other defects, had been greatly reduced or disappeared. As for the qualities, they are still present of course, but in an improved way, especially their transparency: they really offer a window into the recording space.
I have acquired such an experience during this refurbishing process that I am now going to repair my father’s set, a Quad ESL 2905 pair, with no less than 12 panels (as always with original Quad panels, the glue didn’t hold and almost all the matrixes are loose with arcing on the diaphragms…).
This is one of the virtues of the kit: you definitely acquire some skills you wouldn’t have thought before. Of course, sometimes I felt like this sweating movie hero in face of a ticking bomb: “please help me, I have only 5 seconds left on the counter, shall I cut the yellow or the red wire ?!!”. Rob was the guy on the other side of the phone who calmly told me not to worry, and explained what to do for defusing the bomb, which I am proud to say I did!
It is an overused formula, but a true one: I couldn’t have done it without him.
With all my gratitude,
Alexis (France).
Note from Rob.
All of the testimonials on our website are freely volunteered by the authors, we do not ask for testimonials.