Recommend an amp + pre for ESL 57s and a new turntable (way out of my league)
Hi all, longtime lurker now starting my semi-serious venture into all of this. I was recently gifted a pair of Quad ESL 57s, a Well Tempered Labs Amadeus GTA turntable, and a Miyajima Labs Shilabe cartridge. I need a preamp and amplifier for the system on a budget of ~$1000 - $1500. I currently have an old Harman Kardon Stereo Festival (TA-230) receiver, which is just a cool piece of old, barely working, shits-n-gigs gear I used to drive some junky speakers with in college. It hasn't been plugged in in two years and even if its still works, I don't think it's a great match for my system. What would you recommend? I am most interested in listening to some old mono blues, jazz, and folk LPs I have, and I imagine most of the records I collect in the future will be similar (I know I have a stereo cart, which I've always understood to be fine for this?).
Some guiding questions:
- Seems like a favorite for the ESLs are a pair of heathkit UA-1s. Another that I'm seeing well recommended is the Dyna st35. Thoughts? Does it make sense to spend ~$700 - $1000 on a nice amp and get something more basic for the pre in the $400 range? (Rega fono??)
- Should I get a nicer preamp to match my cart and go with something more basic wrt amplification? Not sure what is good in the way of cheaper(?) amps to drive these speakers.
- In the event that I stretch my budget and wait a bit between buying one and the other (to save back up lol), would I get more out of a ~$1200 amp and the cheapest preamp that will work, or a ~$1200 pre and the cheapest amp that will work? What would the cheapest preamp and amp that "will work" be in the meantime? What would be in the $1200 range for each, respectively?
Thank you if you took the time to read this! I will be cleaning the dust off the Quads in the meantime.
I hear the 57's as a Stacked Array used at 16 Ohm when driven by a Sansui AU 111. I never detect anything that suggests there is something quite different to my own stacked Array used at 8 Ohm. Either are a pleasure to be hearing their End Sounds being produced when Analogue and Digital are the source. |
ChatGPT answer https://chatgpt.com/c/68a5ebde-4a9c-832c-83e4-160cc2d34140 what amp for quad esl 57 speakers ChatGPT said:The Quad ESL-57 is a legendary electrostatic speaker, but it’s also notoriously picky about amplifiers. Because of its impedance curve (dips below 2 ohms at high frequencies, ~16 ohms in the midrange) and its limited power handling (about 15–20 watts before arcing risk), you can’t just throw any amp at it. The wrong amp can literally fry the panels. Here’s what works well: ✅ Best Matches
⚠️ Solid State (use carefully)
❌ Avoid
👉 In summary:
Do you want me to suggest current production amps (modern gear you can still buy new) or are you mainly interested in vintage classics that match the ESL-57’s heritage? |
I've tried a number of amps with my 57's- I won't contradict any of the above advice, it's all reasonable. Just adding my experience to it. My pair was refurbished by One Thing Audio, so the treble response is somewhat extended, and a "clamp board" was added, which lessens the risk posed by overpowering them. Nevertheless, definitely stay away from the types of SS amps cited above, as those amps could fry. Some good vintage tube amps aren't optimal, in my experience. Heathkit UAD-1's, highly recommended by some, are too weak. In a well-damped listening space they break up at volume. Getting above 20W or thereabouts really helps. Good transformers- very good transformers- also makes a difference. My Eico HF-81, while great with many speakers, didn't cut it with the 57's. The midrange is great, but the "grip" on the bass is lacking. A Scott 299B also didn't fare well. Neither did an Anthem Integrated One- enough power, great midrange, but poor bass control. Don't even try SET's. A Bedini 25/25 (pure class-A , runs hot) cleaned up the bass and sounded pretty good, but I was tempted to try a Rogue Atlas, as a "shoot-out" featured on a website between many respected contenders had that amp placed second behind a rare boutique German ASR Emitter (sic). I sprang for a used example (not too expensive) and was finally almost satisfied. All previous issues were vanquished- it sounded really good. My next challenge was to try to fill in the lower bass frequencies that the Quads have trouble with. I tried gently supplementing them with a good sub, but it was hard to get it to feel right. So I switched the KT-88 tubes for KT120's, which definitely helped, without fouling up the midrange magic. I also put them on custom stands to raise them about 18" and make them easier to "aim" the sweetspot, which actually matters more than most amp-matching questions. I'm still curious how a Radford or a Futterman might sound, but I'm skeptical the effort to find great examples of these would be worth it. I can sum up by saying 57's are very amp-dependent, and even those with glowing testimonials may not be best. Experimentation and patience are worth it. Be careful- once you get them dialed in you'll get obsessed with upstream improvements, as you'll really be able to hear the difference they make. |
