deepak

How are they compared to the Qualia?

Price mostly, I can't refurb the panels myself. What else is in that $1500-2500 (used) ballpark, ESL-988?

I don't know how to word this properly, but I'll give it a shot- where does the RF15 (log) begin to ease off from max attenuation? ie with most pots it's immediately after the 0 position which often leads to channel imbalance at low volume.

I will keep my eyes open. Would something like a Pass Labs Aleph 3 or Aleph 30 be enough power? I really like the sound from both of those. I was under the impression a stout 50 wpc amp would be needed that is stable into a highly variable load. Though the other benefit of staying with tube amps in my system is they are usually higher gain and I intend to keep my transformer volume control as a preamp.

Everything I have read leads me to believe the 63 will better suit me (more extension, and I listen to a wide variety of music). It's difficult to hear either around here. Any recommendations for amps? My preference is for tube amps since they're easier to find than low power class A solid state and I don't want to mess with any other SS amps in case they blow up Also do the protection circuits for the tweeters need to be rebuilt for the ESL63?

Hmm well my experience with electrostatic speakers is limited to the Sound Lab 945 (admittedly not a fair comparison, since it is probably the Ferrari of electrostat speakers) and various Maggies. I will say the SLs sound like real music and the clarity I heard was unbelievable. Maggies try and get close to that clarity, but never quite get there. They also lack the utmost realism with instruments. Still they fare better than any box speakers in those two areas. My interest in Maggies is I still feel they are the best value at various price points, but wouldn't mind extending my budget for Quads. I will eventually get the SLs, life is too short to not enjoy that sound on a daily basis.

I haven't measured it, but roughly 25'x15' dedicated listening room. I'm sold on Cardas/Barry Diament's speaker setup guide so either instance I wouldn't be sitting further than 9 feet from the speakers.

Lots of great info at estatsolution.com, the first I have seen with any meaningful info on serial numbers. I have been going back and forth about whether or not to put down a deposit for the Magnepan 1.7 vs an ESL63 (even before the Audiogon ad showed up), and everything tells me go Quad since I love electrostats. Does it seem more sensible finding a dead pair of ESL63 then getting someone to completely rebuild them? $1900 at estatsolution.com, but then you're approaching used Quad 988 prices once you take into account the used speaker cost.

Given that Q&SD are not really close to the seller my assumption is all 6 were done at once, but I should ask. I rang Q&SD and refurbing/replacing individual panels isn't cheap. $350 per panel plus labor, which is a minimum of 3 hours. Replacing all 8 panels is $3100 including labor (I believe).

I have been going back and forth about whether or not to get these Quad ESL 63 For Sale | AudiogoN I have no idea how only replacing 6 of the 8 panels will affect the sound, and the good side of the brain says it's not worth it in case anything goes wrong I wouldn't be able to service them myself... The evil side says do it :/

Blah can't believe they let up 2 in the third

All of the RK27s I've tried only had the imbalance right after the 0 position and none after that.

845 Morgan Jones amp just because you can!

Yeah the Civic was my first choice all along, the $2500 saving on the Corolla was nice. But if it's only $1500 it wasn't worth it.

2010 Honda Civic LX. I was about to buy a Corolla but the dealer failed to mention I didn't qualify for the $1000 rebate just as I was putting the pen to the paper

I will have to double check I think they are EARS drives.

One of my favorites from the BN 1500 series.

Read the welcome PM please

That's odd both of my WD Green drives work with the BlacX (USB2).

Yup modded Garrard 301 was all kinds of win.

Porcupine Tree - We Lost the Skyline (vinyl)

Yes - Fragile (AP vinyl)

The selection is fairly limited though. And the jazz selection is sort of bland/popular music. There's only so many times one can hear Waltz For Debby. And Monk has recorded far more adventurous music than Brilliant Corners. The Coltrane/Burrell and Clifford Brown is good stuff.

I'm pleased to say I can run the .37 mv (what my particular DL-103 measured at according to the spec sheet) DL-103 with the Pearl without a SUT. For the quietest records I'm at 3 o'clock on the Blue Hawaii's steppers and for the loudest records at 12 o'clock (6 o'clock is mute). Everything is dead silent. I did some brief listening tests with crude volume matching with and without SUT and I prefer the transparency without the Cinemag SUT. Though I will have to put it back in when I integrate the vinyl setup with the speakers, which uses a passive transformer preamp.

I haven't done any measurements yet, but plan to get more serious about it when I get some better speakers. luvdunhill recommended me a great book for this stuff, but it's fairly deep with regard to the math (Testing Loudspeakers)