It’s quite hard to determine the real value of a loudspeaker these days. Many manufacturers tend to include all sorts of expensive exotic materials that add refinement to their products, but don’t really provide a huge improvement over the usual, far cheaper materials included in average systems. Fortunately, there still are manufacturer, like Quad Electracoustics, that seems to really know the true value of their products.

Quad Electroacoustics is a UK manufacturer which has quite a few interesting HQ speakers. The one that managed to impress me is the ESL-2905, a cool floorstanding speaker which comes in a slim and compact package. In order to achieve that slim aspect, the speakers employs 8 electrostatic panels, the inner two utilizing the concentric rings of anodes used to create the point source image. Quad explains that all electrodes receive the same music signal, but each electrode area reacts slightly differently, in such a manner that treble frequencies appear to come from the centre of the speaker.

There’s a large overall surface area that provides deep bass extension and dynamic response. For the construction of this model, Quad used a combination of tensioned aluminum extrusions coupled to stainless steel support structures, with a piano gloss wooden trim.

Here are some outstanding tech specs:

- Maximum Power Output: 2N/m2 at 2m on-axis
- Sensitivity :1.5u Bar / Volt referred to 1m
- Impedance: 8 Ohm nominal
- Maximum continuous input voltage: 10V
- Programme Peak (for undistorted output): 40V
- Programme Peak (permitted): 55V
- Distortion (100dB @1m) - Above 1kHz: 0.0015
- Distortion (100dB @1m) - Above 100Hz: 0.005
- Distortion (100dB @1m) - Above 50Hz: 0.01
- Frequency Response : 32Hz - 21kHz (-6dB), 28Hz - 23kHz (usable)
- Axis band limits: -6dB at 35Hz (3rd Order)
- Axis band limits (low level): -6dB >25kHz
- AC input: 220-240V or 110-120V
- Power fuse: 100mA anti-surge (100-120V)
- Dimensions (H x W x D): 1430 x 695 x 385mm (add 25-55mm for feet)
- Weight: 34.8kg net

You can find a couple of these for 6,000 pounds at online retailers.