What amp do you use with your QUAD'S?


I have had a pair of original QUAD ESL's in my system for about 15 years. The amp is a Berning 230 which I love and will always keep. I'm curious about what other owners of this speaker use to drive them as I would like to get a but more volume out of them from time to time. My musical taste runs from rock to classical with a smattering of jazz. I listen to classical mostly. I have searched the archives but really haven't found much. Hope to hear.
trebleclef

Showing 2 responses by audio_ken

Harhau - My take on the 400a being used for driving stats is to do away with the "stacked" output devices and make a bank of simple emitter followers, using however many of the devices you like. Also, from it's output design and how it's integrated with the active bias circuit, it has a rather high open loop output impedance and could probably be lowered for driving stats. Of course, this entails somewhat of a redesign, so would leave that to you. I know of at least one person having used it to drive some acoustats and blowing fuses was a problem when pushed. Since you mentioned you were bringing a 400a back to life, just thought I'd chime in....:)
Harhau - I just rebuilt a 400A to use with my Martin Logan CLS's and it drives them pretty well, doesn't seem strained or anything. But, it is by no means an ear shattering experience. It's a work in progress so it just keeps getting better. The only reason I mentioned awhile ago about changing the output stage was to gain more voltage swing which stats need. The quads may not need them. I even seem to recall that the 57's limited the voltage after a certain level, 40 volts comes to mind. The 400a is indeed a different beast and a kick to work on, having enjoyed myself immensely and even threw in some circuit mods that booted it all up a notch. Hotrodding a power amp is not hard to do since they never seem to leave the manufacturing line as well made as they can be. But it does seem to be a stable amp.