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.

arg6442

I have years of History owning the 57's and have them today in use as a Stacked  Array.

The same Speakers are also used both Single Array and Stacked Array in other systems I own.

I have heard them driven by high quality Power Amp's from very low Watts to more than adequate Watts with Valve Amplification, where Valve Selection has been carefully considered.

I have also heard the 57's used with SS Amp's and SS Amp's vs Valve Amp's.

When being demo'd the 57's using a Neurochrome Modular 65, in comparison to Valve Amp's costing 20 x the N'chrome price, I was quite shocked at how impressive the SS Amp' presented an End Sound.

Recently I have loaned the N'chrome and it is resident in my system to be used alongside my Valve Amp's driving my 57's and other owned speakers.

My suggestion is there is a very affordable way to get very very close to the very best End Sound the 57's can deliver and that is to use the N'chrome Modular 65, it is worthwhile learning more.

The Pre Amp need not be too exotic, a Slagle Autoformer has been used on mine for periods and loaned out to be used with others, where the End Sound even though showing a hint of a rich tone has been extremely detailed and right for the 57. 

N'chrome also produce a Transparent Pre Amp, as well as Big Bottle Audio, for either of these it is worthwhile learning more.

Monies will be left to make further choices for other devices. 

       

I also have a nicely restored HK TA-230 tube integrated amp. That will work with the 57's though I have yet to try it out with them. I still think the 303 amp is superior. A 33 and 303 pair can be found within your budget.

@pindac : The OP needs a phono stage to utilize his turntable and moving coil cartridge.The Quad 33 has a fine phono stage. It will require a SUT (Step Up Transformer) to use with the Miyajima cartridge. A Bellari SUT is about $350. I have one. It is an excellent SUT!

@pindac I owned my first pair of 57's from 1981 to 2000 when I reluctantly sold them. I used a Bedini 25/25 with them along with a pair of Futterman H3aa OTL tube amps. In 2018 I bought two pairs of 57's to use in a stacked array. I was also able to buy another pair of Futterman H3aa's complete with twelve 6LF6 output tubes.

I imagine that the 303 would be a good match on a budget, try to get a restored one.  I have used the Bedini 25/25 and it is a great sweet spot for a reasonable price.  You could post a "wanted" on USAM.