Amp for Quad ESL 57

I love my Quad ESL speakers but my intention in this post is to offer some accolades for the EAR 861.

With the Quads, I can say that for the money, this is the best hi-fi that I have had in my home. It is also, now, a musical reference point for me that I judge all other systems by.

The EAR 861 also drives my Wilson Benesch Curves quite nicely too. It has enough grunt to give them life (although they are not too difficult of a speaker to drive).

The flexibility that the amp offers of using XLR or single-ended inputs on the EAR 861 is also advantageous. It is my preference right now to run a completely balanced system with a digital source, and then with a flip of a switch on the amp, I run a completely single-ended system with an analog source.

The EAR 861 is not a very common amp to find in the US (although the Japanese love it). It took me a while to track mine down, but it was worth the effort.

I just got an EAR 890 to drive my ESL 57, and I don't know which pre-amplifier to choose for it...I have a few ideas but I'd like to hear from more experienced folks. Thanks.

Hello Ggavetti,

That EAR 890 / Quad ESL 57 combo is probably superb. I have thought about building a second system using the 890 with more modern Quads, like the 63 or the 988s.

The advice I can offer on picking a pre-amp is this:

Try a fully balanced pre-amp and a true single ended pre-amp. Toggle back and forth using the switch on the rear of the 890. Right now I am using a Tom Evans Vibe with Pulse power supply for my single ended pre-amp. For my balanced pre-amp, I am using an Ayre-K1x. I prefer the Tom Evans going into the single ended inputs of my 861 (using Kimber PBJ right now) over the Ayre going into the XLR inputs using Cardas Golden Reference. To be fair, the Tom Evans is the latest and greatest, whereas the Ayre does not have the "e" upgrade that I have heard makes it a much better pre-amp (although it is already incredible).

Depending on your sources, and whether or not you can live without a remote, I think you would be doing quite well with a Tom Evans preamp. However, if you run fully balanced sources, I would highly recommend the Ayre.

As an aside, I have always been curious about Tim de Paravicini's pre-amps. If I had a chance, I would try to demo the 912. That things looks killer!

Best of luck on your journey.

-Jake

Interesting suggestion. Thanks. Some people think the EAR ESL 834L is actually quite good and not that pricey. Someone suggested a Shindo Aurieges or any Shindo Lab preamplifier.

anyone ever use vtl tiny triodes or quicksilver minimites.

i am taking my own suggestion and looking for 25 watts or less--tube amps. i may be purchasing stacked quads. iowned them once and two is not enough. the difference in the midbass between two and four is significant.