Quad ESL2912X, Electrostatic Loudspeakers, Price per Set, New

Quad ESL2912X, Electrostatic Loudspeakers, Price per Set, New
New Price: € 16,900.00 per set

EN.
General: The Quad ESL2912X is Quad's flagship electrostatic loudspeaker. The brand Quad from the United Kingdom is a brand with an enormously rich history. Such a rich history, in fact, that Quad was the first manufacturer ever to bring a full-range electrostatic loudspeaker to the consumer market in 1957, this was the Quad ESL57. These loudspeakers are revised even to this day and remain very beloved. Over the years, Quad has certainly not stood still and has significantly improved their designs. The result is this latest X-generation electrostats consisting of the smaller ESL2812X and this larger ESL2912X.

Technology: Electrostatic loudspeakers sound like no other loudspeaker because of the extremely thin and light electrically charged membrane that hangs in an electrostatic field. This membrane has a completely different radiation behavior and sound compared to a woofer with spider, voice coil, and surround. The membrane of the Quad ESL2912X is made of stretched Mylar, which is an enormously strong, heat-resistant, and flexible type of polyester film. Quad's Mylar membrane is no less than 10 times thinner than a human hair, exceptionally thin indeed. Because it is so thin, it is also light, so light that its mass is almost equal to the mass of air itself. This provides unprecedented speed and thus also accuracy when reproducing music in a colorless manner.

In addition to the fact that Quad was the first to introduce a full-range electrostatic loudspeaker to the market, Quad revolutionized the electrostatic in 1981 when they launched the ESL63, which used a new delay-line technique by placing multiple circles in the middle of the panel whereby the outer rings were slightly delayed relative to the inner rings to simulate a point source. This provides much better coherence and placement in the soundstage and a reproduction that feels more live. Quad has subsequently incorporated and refined this technique with every ESL model loudspeaker, and you will also find this technique in the ESL2912X.

In 2012, the ESL2812 and ESL2912 came to market. These have now been perfected and released as X-series, the ESL2812X and ESL2912X which were introduced to the market in 2025. The electronics in the ESL X-series are now distributed across three individual modules instead of one single circuit board, which results in less interference, keeping the signal more intact and lowering the noise floor significantly. The production of the panels themselves has also been renewed and improved, allowing the panels to be produced more consistently and accurately, giving them better performance and making them more reliable in the long term. As the final upgrade are the custom-designed transformers built in the United Kingdom. These transformers improve signal dynamics and resolution across the entire frequency range, enhancing clarity in the midrange and linearity in the high frequencies, properties that are central to the electrostatic listening experience.

Listening: The Quad ESL2912X are among the finest electrostats we have had the pleasure of hearing to this day, especially in their price range. Everything you hear is pure music, live and dynamic. The sound is simply honest and genuine, without sounding studio-like. Voices and instruments are placed convincingly and very precisely in the room, with enormous amounts of air around them. This makes the space around the voices and instruments more realistic, by which we mean that you have more of a feeling that you are actually there. Also remarkable is the bass, which not only goes very deep, but also remains stable and linear from the deep low tones to the higher low tones. This provides a very well-balanced and coherent reproduction that allows you to truly relax, with no exaggerated peaks and valleys. The bass is also extremely tight and distortion-free, never resonant or colored, but simply rhythmic and very well defined. Because of the very light membranes, the Quads can present all details very clearly at low volumes and with quieter music. But you can also throw a party with this Quad ESL2912X, we have played various percussion pieces on them at solid volume and were simply amazed at how stable, realistic, and dynamic this was reproduced by these fantastic and extremely musical loudspeakers. The Quad ESL2912X do require some space around the loudspeakers, a little distance from the rear wall is desirable, but once properly positioned and connected to a high-quality and powerful amplifier, the Quad ESL2912X brings a loudspeaker for life into your home.

The Quad ESL2912X is available for demonstration at Ohm-Audio B.V. and can be auditioned by appointment.

Specifications:

Brand: Quad UK
Model: ESL2912X
Type: Floor-Standing Electrostatic Loudspeaker
Warranty Ohm-Audio B.V. / New Transtec: 36 Months
Loudspeaker Input Terminal: Single Wiring Inputs
Power Input: 1 x C14 input for AC power cords with C13 or C15 IEC connectors
Connectors: Loudspeaker terminals for spades and/or banana plugs
Finish: Black
Sensitivity: 86dB
Impedance: 8 Ohm Nominal, 4 Ohm Minimum
Trade-in: Negotiable

Dimensions:

Dimensions: 147cm Height x 69cm Width x 38cm Depth
Weight: 44 kg Net Per Loudspeaker

Manufacturer Website and Reviews:

Manufacturer Website: Quad ESL2912X
Review Hifi.nl: Review Quad ESL2912X Hifi.nl
Review Hifinews: Review Quad ESL2912X Hifinews