DIY - HQD Decca Quad ESL 57 Richard Allan

Hate to see you go…the time has come to move and I must now dismantle for sale my beloved DIY Levinson HQD System. For those not familiar with the HQD it stands for Hartley Quad Decca and was Mark Levinson’s all out assault on the state of the art in the mid 1970’s. In his quest for sonic perfection Levinson married his ML2 amps [8], custom electronic crossovers and ML6B preamp to 24” Hartley subwoofers [2], Quad ESL 57s [4] and Levinson modified Decca Ribbon horns [2]. The Deccas and Quads were held in a pair of Levinson designed oak stands. It sounded spectacular and cost a fortune and remains to this day a reference for natural uncoloured sound across the frequency spectrum. The ‘fragile’ Quad ESL 57s were never taxed as they safely ran only in the midrange [100hz – 7000 hz] and the impedance curve was never dipping under 8 ohms or over 30 in that area. The really interesting part for the DIY crowd was that one could, using the essential speaker components make their own version with stunning results for somewhat less than the mortgage pricing of the full Levinson system. Fast forward to today with real advancements made to crossovers and subwoofers make it an ideal system to substitute equipment and realize sonic improvements with results that remain a reference for relatively small financial investment given today’s SOTA speaker prices. With the advent of CD the system went even further for less of an investment. I have played with this system setup in its various iterations for over 30 years and have never come away from any outside listening session thinking I was behind the times sonically. The heart of the system is really the crossover, the Quad ESL 57s and the Levinson Decca Ribbon Horns and Levinson Stands. I have tried many crossovers including digital and the DB systems remains the hands down winner – although I’m sure there are more esoteric x/overs out there to be tested! For sale: 4 Wayne Picquet Quads Unlimited fully modified Quad ESL 57s in mint shape and about 4 years old and never abused [although one grill has small ding - the size of a quarter thanks to its owner wrestling with a picture frame] 2500.00 pair / 2400 for the ding pair. Come with factory shipping cartons and come with Quads Unlimited custom forest green grills. 2 Levinson-modified Decca Ribbon horns - 1000.00 pair 2 Richard Allan 10” custom enclosed opposing woofers design [or Kef B139 12' (4x3) transmission line subwoofers] - either pair 500.00 Oak Mark Levinson HQD stands - 600.00 1 DB Systems factory ordered electronic cross over for Levinson specs - 400.00 The tweeter amp and subwoofer amp are custom made with mil-spec parts and if of interest these will be available at a very reasonable cost. Q57 owners are always looking for the Holy Grail of amps to drive the Q57s and I was no different having gone from Bedini to Wright and beyond. The current winner for mid range amplification is a [new – 4 months old] factory custom Rogue Audio Atlas Magnum KT90 wired in triode with beefed up power supply and a factory mono switch - 1750.00 with factory shipping carton. A note for prospective purchasers from the US – all items except the Richard Allan Radio Ltd. Subwoofers - the Deccas, Quads and Atlas DB Systems were purchased from US sources and as such if purchased by an American are returning to the country of origin and have already had duty paid. Questions? Dag 604-240-2196