Hi,
I have much the same preferences as you. VAC is a good choice in electronics if those are your goals, and there are certainly other great tube amps out there, but like VAC, most are pricey. There are some SS amps I like as well. Spendor, Harbeth, Ref. 3A are all good choices in box speakers for the type of sound you describe, and my personal favorites of the ones I've heard, but none of them are going to give you quite the same realistic mids, resolution and naturalness as Quads. I've also owned Living Voice Auditoriums, which had virtues as well but not for the sound you describe. There well may be other box speakers that are better for this sound, but I haven't heard them. A dilemma for me as well. I have a small listening room, and the Quad 57s I had were wonderful but just too large (actually too wide). I don't think any box speaker is going to give you the naturalness and resolution of a good ESL for vocals, piano, etc. if you can fit them in your room, although you will sacrifice some LF extension, and poorly recorded music will display their limited dynamics/unnaturalness. Also, reliability/repair is a big issue with older Quads. Good luck, and let us know what you do.
TLH
I have much the same preferences as you. VAC is a good choice in electronics if those are your goals, and there are certainly other great tube amps out there, but like VAC, most are pricey. There are some SS amps I like as well. Spendor, Harbeth, Ref. 3A are all good choices in box speakers for the type of sound you describe, and my personal favorites of the ones I've heard, but none of them are going to give you quite the same realistic mids, resolution and naturalness as Quads. I've also owned Living Voice Auditoriums, which had virtues as well but not for the sound you describe. There well may be other box speakers that are better for this sound, but I haven't heard them. A dilemma for me as well. I have a small listening room, and the Quad 57s I had were wonderful but just too large (actually too wide). I don't think any box speaker is going to give you the naturalness and resolution of a good ESL for vocals, piano, etc. if you can fit them in your room, although you will sacrifice some LF extension, and poorly recorded music will display their limited dynamics/unnaturalness. Also, reliability/repair is a big issue with older Quads. Good luck, and let us know what you do.
TLH