Quad ESL-989 Floorstanding Speakers - Black

Here we have a pair of Quads most iconic series of speakers - the ESL’s or ElectroStatic Loudspeakers. Our pair of ESL-989’s are in good fully working condition with one of the pair having a new base and noting a few minor cosmetic blemishes - please refer to photographs. They will be professionally packaged, supplied on a pallet and come with our standard three month warranty.
Quad Said….
There are few things in life as rewarding as a truly invigorating live performance from our favourite artist or orchestra.
Reproducing that experience accurately in the home requires loudspeakers that go beyond the conventional. To really understand the ESL, a listener needs to be familiar with the nature of a live performance. Whilst the performance may be impressive and communicate all kinds of emotions, it is never artificial. It sounds real and natural.
At Quad, we believe this is the job of a loudspeaker. To present the music in the raw, natural form - nothing added, nothing taken away. In this respect, the ESL is an acquired taste. It displays none of the over-emphasized bass boom or mid-range projection that plagues moving-coil, box-bound speakers - so in comparison, the ESL can seem rather meek and polite. The characteristics, however, that can make these box speakers so impressive, are also those that cause
fatigue and wear down the listener. Spend some time with the ESL and you too will begin to realise that it’s not always the one that shouts the loudest that gets heard.
It is often said of ‘box’ or cabinet mounted loudspeakers that you can hear more of the box than the driver. This is true, even with high-end ‘box’ loudspeakers. The box - no matter how inert - will always colour the sound. Electrostatic loudspeakers are therefore in a league of their own in terms of ‘transparency’.
But to get really close to the original sound, a standard planar electrostatic speaker, needs more. At a live performance, each sound comes from an identifiable position on the stage. To reproduce this three dimensional sound ‘image’ accurately, we need to produce an interference pattern upon the listener of waves propagated from a pair of true point sources - in much the same way as a laser produces a hologram.
The Quad ESL 988 and 989 speakers are the only electrostatic speakers in the world to effectively mimic a point-source.
Five minutes spent listening to a well set-up pair of Quad ESLs will confirm their ability to project the positions of each and every vocalist in a choir, and instrument in an orchestra - with a naturalness and level of detail that makes the Quad ESL totally unique in every respect.
Ask many of the finest recording professionals in the world what their speaker of choice is as the answer is surprisingly common. The Quad ESL opens a window on a recording unlike any other speaker.
For professional musicians and studios, this is an invaluable asset, for no matter how good a moving coil loudspeaker may seem - no matter how impressive its dynamic ability, the laws of physics are such that it cannot be as fast and accurate as an electrostatic transducer. An ESL is like a giant capacitor, tracking the music signal with such precision and agility that using them is the only real way to know exactly what is on the recording.
The ESL-989 shares much of its technology with the ESL-988, but it is a larger model with two extra bass panels and a higher rated power supply. The extra panels increase the bass output but also contribute to an enhanced performance in the mid-band, which was already widely regarded as the cleanest in the world.
Although referred to as ‘bass panels’, the additional electrostatic panels are, in fact, full range (as are all the panels), but the increase in surface area allows a greater volume of air to be moved, leading to an improvement in the lower frequencies. This particular development had been anticipated for many years but was never previously regarded as commercially and practically viable.
The ESL-989 is Quad’s finest loudspeaker. It is a true full range electrostatic loudspeaker reproducing music with an ease and naturalness that is best described as uncanny. It has a virtual absence of the familiar loudspeaker problems of colouration, distortion, phase and frequency response errors. All that remains is the music and the original ambience. To the listener these are the very ingredients needed to create a real sensation of being there.
The Quad electrostatic loudspeakers are unique and continue to be in a class of their own but now have the versatility and range to cope with a much wider repertoire.
Specifications:
Maximum Power Output: 2 N/m 2 at 2 m on axis
Sensitivity: 1.5 µ bar per volt referred to 1 m (86 dB/2.83 V RMS)
Impedance: 8 ohm nominal
Maximum Continuous Input Voltage: 10 V
Programme Peak ( 20 Hz to 20 kHz ):
For Undistorted Output: 40 V
Permitted Peak Input: 55 V
Directivity Index: 125 Hz - 5.0 dB; 500 Hz - 6.4 dB; 1 kHz - 7.2 dB; 8 kHz - 10.6 dB
Axis Band Limits: - 6 dB at 35 Hz 3rd order
( low level ): - 6 dB > 20 kHz
AC Input: 220 - 240 V or 110 - 120 V
Dimensions: 1335 (H) x 670 (W) x 315 (D) mm (including 185 mm base)
Weight: 25.3 kg

Turnaround

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