The QUAD ESL57, the original

Peter Walker caused worldwide excitement in 1955 when he described his electrostatic loudspeaker in the professional journal Wireless World. Two years later, the QUAD ESL57 was ready for production. It has retained its original characteristic shape, often indentified by people as timelessly British. the ESL57 was produced completly unchanged until the mid 80s. At that point the factory wanted to discontinue its production and introduce a successor, the ESL63, which they determined to be an improvement in quality over the original design. Worldwide, many ESL57 fans disagreed and soon the original model was in high demand and traded at collector`s prices. As this was not the intention of Peter Walker, the ESL57 was reintroduced. It is once more available, as in the old days, with bronze colored grill, white front cover (as frequently seen in American living rooms), or finally black, a common color for hi-fi and music equipment in Germany.

Pricelist.pdf

The ESL57 QA electrostatic speaker
And why are todays ESL`s named as “QA” models?

It was not enough to understand Peter Walkers philosophy. To get a contemporary version of the famous ESL57 ready to work, a lot of labor was needed. Therefore a new department was established, named QUAD atelier. It has the task to join all the importened components of the original to create new speakers. We spend a new frame, which is far more rigid. and we did some further modifikations. Today each ESL57 QA is made under the ideals of Peter Walker. To say it in short words: “Each ESL57 QA will reproduce a Stradivari close to the original sound”.

Pricelist.pdf