Amp for Quad ESL 57

I was actually about to sell my McIntosh MA-2275 for an integrate EAR V 20, when a friend of mine told me it would be a huge mistake. His suggestion was to change a couple of stock tubes for my Mac, and get Telefunken. I did that, and the sound have improved. It's not more detailed and neutral. I like my Mac a lot, although I'd like to try the V 20 at some point. Giovanni

I tried 3 different tube amps and a ss unit. The best I found to power my Quad ESL 57's was the Cary SLAM 100 monoblocks. They ar 90wpc triode. Very warm and powerful enough for complicated passages. I tried Conrad Johnson, Manley and liked the Cary's the best.

I used to drive Quad ESL with Mc2275. Overall pretty good combo. If you use a separate preamp, TVC or passive driving the amp section, the amp gets a lot better. I ultimately sold to for midline Naim combo. I also tried VAC phi 110 and I am going to try Jadis 88S. Never heard EAR but Coolhand has more experience than me.

Also look into quad 2 eighty.

I currently have a Berning EA-230 which pairs great with the Quad ESL 57. The VTL TT-25 is another very good match. Lots of EL-84 PP amps should work well with
Quads.

Roberts4152, FWIW most of our customers who run the 57s seem to prefer the M-60s. I think there are a variety of reasons for this, not the least of which the M-60 is a monoblock, allowing for shorter speaker cables. Usually people operate them with 6 power tubes rather than 8, so it does not seem to be a power issue over the S-30.