Price Paid:  $15000.00 from Australia

Summary:
This review for Quad 2905s.

I have recently taken delivery of my new QUAD ESL 2905's (June 2007). I have auditioned speakers extensively over the past 3 years in my search for the perfect speaker and tried Watt

Puppy 7's and 8's, Revel Salons, Dynaudio Evidence Temptations, Magnepan 20.1s etc etc ..... the list goes on.

When I came across the 2905's back in June 2007 I auditioned in awe. They remain the most coherent and seamless speaker I have heard ...... and they have REAL bass. I have long

dismissed electrostats because they had no bass ........ but the 2905's have redefined for me what true palpable bass is. It's a truly integrated speaker from top to bottom. It is effortless and

entirely non-fatiguing.

To answer an earlier thread about whether vocals sound more forward on the 2905's than others my view is no. The vocals sound right ..... but then so too does every other part of it's

frequency re-production. There is beautiful separation and 'air' between instruments and vocals which makes them 'right'. They are superb ..... but there is a catch that will not please many.

I am now on my 2nd pair of 2905s after the first pair (then only 3 months old) had a panel failure of some sort. I began noticing huge differences between speaker sensitivities that made

correct imaging and soundstaging impossible. And then, to make things worse, I lost most of the bass response from both speakers.

To Quads credit they did provide a brand new replacement pair which I received 3 weeks ago (September 2007) and which are now burning in nicely.

Recent experiences on the web suggest this is not an isolated case and panel failures in the 2905s and 2805's have been recorded elsewhere. So reliability is clearly an issue with this

speaker and I remain nervous that the same type of failure will happen again and I'll need to spend another 12 weeks waiting for a new pair.

So ........... yes, they are a stunning speaker (regardless of price) and compete with units 5x their price. But the "Made in China" thing has clearly affected reliability.

Ken Kessler of "HiFi News" in the UK gave these speakers a "20/20, Best Speaker on the Planet" review back in 2006. My listening experiences are almost consisitent with those in his

review, including his lab report findings that suggest he also experienced sensitivity differences with his audition pair. What I wasn't expecting was the 5-7 dB of sensitivity differences that I

experienced which is, well, kind of important.

But I also note that Ken Kessler wrote the glossy "History of QUAD" book that accompanied my 2905s when they came delivered in their "bigger then mankind" cardboard boxes ........ so I

therefore remain sceptical about Kens impartiaility and objectivity in his scoring of these speakers. If Ken knew how unreliable they are now proving to be, he wouldn't be giving them 20/20 !

It's food for thought and I'm happy to answer questions on my ongoing impressions of my (now 2nd) pair of 2905s.

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Price Paid:  $7000.00 from Antwerpen

Summary:
I am an old time Quad enthusiast; I previously owned a pair of ESL63 for two decades.
The ESL989 are soundwise much better. Particularly on the bass side.
One problem: they are fragile. In the last 5 years they have been three times in repair for several months. No one was able to solve the problem (hissing sound as soon as you powerthem on)

Strengths:
Sound quality

Weaknesses:
Fragile. Hissing sound making them unusable.

muysal

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $9000.00 from Hawthorne Stereo

Summary:
The best speaker I have owned by far. For what these speakers offer and what goes into manufacturing them, I think they are underpriced. If you are considering them, do not hesitate. I have auditioned 988's Vintage made in UK which was very impressive. The 989s I have are made in China and in my opinion outperformed the 988s - although opinions do vary among Quad fans. I think you need more room for the 989s to appreciate them - otherwise I highly recommend the 988s. The ESLs are so impressive that I would not mind owning 57s, 63s, 988s - each model is like vintage wine.

Strengths:
Mid-Range clarity, transparency, imaging. Strong detailed base but will not get down to the 20's. These speakers will reproduce piano with realism which I think is a good test.

Weaknesses:
WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) - they need to be 3-5 feet away from the back wall, therefore they take up lot of living space.
The black monoliths are not pleasing to the eye.
Costly repairs, if you encounter problems.
The shipping boxes and the packing materials definitely need a redesign. They do not protect the speakers well and easy to puncture during shipment. I recommend Bax Global over other carriers, if you are considering shipment for service or purchase. Even if you have these on a crate, make sure you re-inforce the side panels from inside the box to minimize the possibilty of damage from careless forklift operators.

Similar Products Used:
I have listened Martin Logan, Magnepan and ProAc. No contest.
Owned Naim SBL, Monitor Audio, Epos. No contest.

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Price Paid:  $9000.00 from Hawthorne Stereo

Summary:
If you are considering a buy, do not hesitate because for the price they sell for and what you get in return - they are a bargain.
They will reveal all weaknesses with the rest of your system.
If you have space issues then consider the 988s which are also very good performers. 989's require more room to breathe. They are very flexible in terms of positioning. You will get a different picture into the sound stage depending on where you place them. I personally like them for close field listening - only few feet away and toed in about 20 degrees. I keep them about 5 feet away from the back wall. The only downside I can think of is the room size issue and the WAF - mine claims that her car stereo is about as good as anything else - if you know what I mean.

Strengths:
They are strong in about every area I can think of including the base.
They don't go as low as the Naim SBLs or DBLs but yet you will hear plenty of satisfactory base.

I have read one review from Stereophile that you can improve them with REL's sub-woofer (the one that costs 9K). Other reviews suggest that it is not easy to improve the lower and upper base registers seamlessly and the conclusion was that it was not necessary unless you are obsessed with base performance.

Weaknesses:
Maybe the space issue since they perform better by extending out into your living space.

Various dealers I have talked to have said positive things about reliabilty concerning the current generation ESL's which are now manufactured in China.

Some audiophiles will argue that Quad factory in China no longer uses quality components and relies on local suppliers. They will also argue that ESL 988 and 989s once built in the UK would sound different than ESL's manufactured in China and possible breakdowns to be likely because of cheap quality components. I audtioned a pair of 988s made in the UK, the 989s I have are from China. In my opinion the 989's outperform the 988s and they seem to improve as I keep listening to them. I haven't noticed any glitches yet.

I have the black ones, which do look like the slabs from Space Odysey 2001. The cosmetics and the moulded plastic is not interesting to look at but who cares - after you listen what they have to offer - you forget about the color and the shape and the rest of it because it is all about the music anyway.

Similar Products Used:
This is the only electrostat I have owned. I have listened to Maggies and Martin Logan's which in my opinion do not even come close.
As far as British designs, I have owned EPOS, Monitor Audio and Naim SBL's. I have listened to ProAcs at about the same price level and comparisons would not be fair - nothing comes close to the Quad ESLs.

twodolphins

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.29 of 5, 7.00 votes

Price Paid:  $8000.00 from London

Summary:
I am very happy with these speakers. I am the former owner of ESL 57 and 988. Now I have 989 in nouveau finish. There's a significant improvement in bass, and the whole sound image is better. They are also slightly louder comparing to 988. You should match it to tube amplifier to get a louder sound.

Strengths:
Clarity, 3D image of sound, relaxed neutral sound. Beautiful design and impressive.

Weaknesses:
Not enough loud. Too expensive to buy 4 for home cinema - people from Quad should do something about that.

Similar Products Used:
ESL 988, ESL 57, Magnepan MG1