What Randy said. I bought Quad 2905's about 10 years ago. Since then, I've hotrodded them, bought more of them, and become more and more committed to them. So the analogy is apt.
I built my own full complementary push-pull amps to drive them, and changed the step-up transformers to a Vanderveen design (75:1). With +/- 25 VDC rails, the amplifiers cannot drive the Quads into protection - it's theoretically impossible. Therefore I could eliminate the protection circuits with impunity, with corresponding gains in transparency. Oh, and changing to air-gap capacitors for the delay ladder didn't hurt either.
Long live Class A plus ESL !!!
I built my own full complementary push-pull amps to drive them, and changed the step-up transformers to a Vanderveen design (75:1). With +/- 25 VDC rails, the amplifiers cannot drive the Quads into protection - it's theoretically impossible. Therefore I could eliminate the protection circuits with impunity, with corresponding gains in transparency. Oh, and changing to air-gap capacitors for the delay ladder didn't hurt either.
Long live Class A plus ESL !!!