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Quad ESL57 frustrations.
Dec 24, 2012 at 8:04 PM Post #31 of 60
I didn't see myself being able to refurbishing my pair any time soon. I saw this pair on Ebay for a  while    http://www.ebay.ca/itm/251194928242  
Was surprised they didn't sell sooner but I bought them today. Seller spent a lot of time on them if they work the way they should I think it will be a bargain being refurbished and all.
 
Dec 24, 2012 at 8:14 PM Post #32 of 60
Quote:
jaycalgary said:
I didn't see myself being able to refurbishing my pair any time soon. I saw this pair on Ebay for a  while    http://www.ebay.ca/itm/251194928242  
Was surprised they didn't sell sooner but I bought them today. Seller spent a lot of time on them if they work the way they should I think it will be a bargain being refurbished and all.
Click to expand...

 
Looks like he did a pretty good job. Hope they work out for you.
 
Dec 25, 2012 at 3:27 AM Post #34 of 60
A good sensibly-priced (and highly synergistic) option is a used Quad 306 power amp. Pair this with a good tube preamp, and you will be able to do the ESLs (they were never actually called ESL57, by the way) justice.

An alternative (on the off-chance that you can actually find one) is a little 1980s UK-made integrated specifically made for the ESL: the Myst TMA3.
 
Dec 25, 2012 at 3:27 AM Post #35 of 60
A good sensibly-priced (and highly synergistic) option is a used Quad 306 power amp. Pair this with a good tube preamp, and you will be able to do the ESLs (they were never actually called ESL57, by the way) justice.

An alternative (on the off-chance that you can actually find one) is a little 1980s UK-made integrated specifically made for the ESL: the Myst TMA3.
 
Dec 25, 2012 at 4:27 AM Post #36 of 60
It won't be until summer till I get to see or hear them but I will be looking for a great amp to go with them. 306 may be too powerful and need the clamp boards in for the treble? I recall asking about buying a Classe Dr2 a while back and someone with experience said don't bother and that a Quad 405 up to spec would be better.
 
Feb 15, 2013 at 10:06 PM Post #37 of 60
I am looking for amps and I stumbled on a pair or STAX DA-50M amps for sale. Has anyone ever heard these with the esl57's? It would be about $2k to buy them and pretty scratched up but works well. I see there is a switch on them for Class A and Class A/B. If the Class A/B switch was hit playing reasonably loud wouldn't there be a big chance the esl57's would be smoked?
 
Feb 15, 2013 at 10:17 PM Post #38 of 60
Quote:
jaycalgary said:
It won't be until summer till I get to see or hear them but I will be looking for a great amp to go with them. 306 may be too powerful and need the clamp boards in for the treble? I recall asking about buying a Classe Dr2 a while back and someone with experience said don't bother and that a Quad 405 up to spec would be better.
Click to expand...

The 306 was designed to drive electrostatics (primarily the ESL63), and is, in many ways, a modern interpretation of the 405 concept, sharing its "current dumping" circuit topology. I don't know how much of its circuit is derived from the 405, but I presume quite a bit of it must be a straight carry-over. It does, however, sound a little more transparent and incisive.
 
Even a 306 is likely to be quite an old amp now, though, so please check the PSU caps before powering up  connected to the ESLs!
 
Feb 16, 2013 at 2:22 AM Post #39 of 60
There is next to no information or reviews about the STAX DA-50M on the internet I could find and nobody ever mentioned hearing them with esl57's. Not even a pic with the cover off.  There was info about the DA-100M and the downside was that it is a bit anemic in the bass but  lot of indication that these were great amps in the day.
The amp that I have been thinking about is a OTL tube kit  from " Transcendent Sound" Son of Beast OTL 15W a channel OTL Amplifier. I just don't know if it will be really powerful enough.
 
Feb 16, 2013 at 4:35 AM Post #40 of 60
You'll probably want to install the clamp boards if you plan to use the Stax amps.  I'm kinda tempted to build that OTL for my 57s...I have his book with the schematic but I'm happy with the Bedini 25/25.
 
Feb 20, 2013 at 12:29 AM Post #42 of 60
I'm not sure Stax DA50M's would be your best bet for Quads. I've used a single DA80 to power Quads and found it to be a bit limiting. They were detailed and sweet but not enough gain with my preamp to get good bass oomph. Given your price range I'd recommend an Almarro 318B. It mates incredibly well with Quad 57's. On the other hand, if you do decide to plunge for the Stax amps, please report your findings. I would love to hear/own a pair of those as they're just so damn cool looking and are probably really well designed/built.
 
Apr 4, 2013 at 7:50 PM Post #44 of 60
Very cool!  They're not that common.  I have the 25 which was made specifically for the 57s.  I bet that 10 will sound great.
 
Jul 20, 2013 at 9:36 AM Post #45 of 60
I bought a Radford STA25 from England off Ebay a while back. It was sold as tested sounding great and I paid that kind of money but I am suspicious now that I have seen it. There is strange wiring on the outputs that is not normal on any other Radford amps I have seen pics of. What is shady to me is the seller had a really nice set of pics to see the amp but they were taken at angles not to see the odd wiring in the pics below. Can anyone tell me what they think this strange wiring is about? I will bring it to a Tech next week. EDIT- My best guess now is that it is hardwired for 8ohms and bypasses the selector and the wires are all left there so it could be put back.
 

 

 

 
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