EM-ESL upgrade to ESL-Classic 9’s

[MisterB]

Ownes Corning 705 2" thick. Cover it with your choice of fabric. You can find it on Amazon 4 pieces for about $100.

Yup. I used something similar -- Rockwool Safe'N'Sound bought at Lowe's. $60 for a package of twelve 16"x48"x3" batts. Built frames out of 1x4's, covered them with burlap fabric. Made 4 panels for less than $100 with material leftover to make more down the road.

I did buy some corner bass traps from GIK, but based on the absurd delivery time and quality issues I had once I finally got the product, I will likely build additional traps myself.

The prices most of these acoustic panel manufacturers charge, compared to the actual cost of the raw materials, is kind of obscene. If you're even remotely handy, I would encourage you to DIY.

 

[Midcoast Man]

Considering upgrading to the ESL-9, I’ve a small room and the ESL’s do a very nice job, but you understand the addiction…
I listened to a pair of ESL-9’s at a Magnolia center and they were pretty impressive.
I’ve an Anthem MCA 225 mk 2 amp so plenty of power to run them.
what are peoples impressions of the classic 9’s especially if they moved up to them from the ESL or older panels?

Hey they are fantastic. I have a pair since the last year. Over the esl series the masterpiece just take it to the next level in terms of true hifi. They are delicate and precise. Their center imaging and sound stage is phenomenal. No complaints but would need at least 1 sub in the room just setup right on the XO and levels to just about gently invisibly fill in some of the very low frequencies. I have powered the esl9s with a pair of mcintosh mc301 monoblocks and I have a intimate listening setup in a room where the listening position is a nice almost equilateral triangle at around 3.2meters. They freak me out with the center imaging and I have pulled them as forward as I can possibly from the back wall in this room and the vocals and center image is now behind the speakers in the center. The speakers seem to be doing nothing and seem invisble when I'm sitting at the ILP. All the sound and its weight is in the center. But they are just way more delicate and refined than the regular esl esl x series. These are true ML esl panels and the right spot for seriously critical esl listeners. The larger 11 and 13 or above are relative to these in performance if you have a larger room and need more punch but in a normal everyday lounge and den with a home theater and family space these are brilliant and behave similar to the bigger brothers. It all depends on the size of room you have. 9's are perfect for most moderate sized spaces.

Attached pictures of the setup while my kids were watching sound of music on the bluray and going nuts with the realism and transparency.

I just ordered Classic 9’s to replace my ESL’s yesterday after demoing 9’s and 11A’s. I liked the sound of the 9’s as much or a bit more than the 11A’s I think the demo room positioning of the 11A’s had them too close together and too close to the wall to let them show their stuff. Just hoping the 9’s will be a good step up from the ESL’s, which I still love after a year, but you know….

 

[Tmort]

I just ordered Classic 9’s to replace my ESL’s yesterday after demoing 9’s and 11A’s. I liked the sound of the 9’s as much or a bit more than the 11A’s I think the demo room positioning of the 11A’s had them too close together and too close to the wall to let them show their stuff. Just hoping the 9’s will be a good step up from the ESL’s, which I still love after a year, but you know….

Oh they’re a major improvement! Because I can’t get mine more than about 32” face of panel to front wall I’ve put in sound absorption panels behind the stats and OMG what a stunning improvement in clarity, stereo definition and staging!

 

[Midcoast Man]

Oh they’re a major improvement! Because I can’t get mine more than about 32” face of panel to front wall I’ve put in sound absorption panels behind the stats and OMG what a stunning improvement in clarity, stereo definition and staging!

I tried panels behind my ESL’s once, but couldn’t tell much difference. I’m liking the simplicity of the Classic 9’s, no A-D, D-A conversion, no internal amps. 11A’s are complex. The 9’s had more authority and detail than my ESL’s, hoping they do the same in my listening environment and work well with my Willsenton R8 tube amp. I will also listen to them with my Emotiva BasX A2, which is easy to switch to.