this model Quad ESL 2905 (reference series) was reviewed by Ken Kesler in June, claiming to to be the best speaker on the planet! well although this is a major claim to make, shunning out many of those top end brands like Wilson, Genesis, Karma, Sonus Faber, Martin Logan and the like - in fact for what these Quad 2905's can do and what they do so well for the price, I must agree with Ken they are probably the best on the planet at the moment!
they have hit everything right with this model; highs, mids (glorious), bass (plenty of) it's all there. magical soundstage and presence! every nuance comes out the intended way, and measures upto top quality. absolutely ZERO listening fatigue, you could listen for endless hours ad still not want to turn off your system! this is truly a magical electrostatic design that beats every kind of speaker I have ever owned, and yes I am getting a brand new pair of Quad 2905's delivered next week! I have finally divorced my beloved long term soul mate the magneplanars - because there is a new girl in town and she rocks my world! the other fantastic thing about these ESL's is that you don't require heafty power to drive them at all; they will sign beautiful music at just 35 watts of tube power! perhaps somewhere around 80 to 100 watts on solid state would be fine, unless it was a 25 watt pure class A design from Pass Labs. Tube amps work their magic with Quad and I am currently using just a 60 watter from Conrad Johnson, and a tube preamp from c-j called the "Classic" SE version (teflon caps & vishay resistors) tube CD player from Cayin somewhere made in a chinese factory - glorious sound! absolute magic!
I have never wanted to own Quads before such as their ESL 63, 989 or 988, simply because they lacked some of this & that when compared to what maggies can do. I have owned maggies since 1986, but now with their new reference series 2805 & 2905, oh boy! get ready audiophiles for a whole new ride in true highend quality! you won't be disappointed, trust me I've been there...
cheers, Raj J (melbourne)