2. amps-preamps
  3. 1225160584

Best preamp for and EAR890 / ESL57 rig

Hello folks, I own a EAR890 amplifier, which drives a pair of Piquet restored Quad ESL57 (that in turn sit on a pair of dipole Gradient woofers, driven by an Acurus250 amplifier). I am currently using a pretty good Klyne SK-6 preamp, but I was thinking to move to a tube preamplifier. What do you recommend? My instinct would be to try either the Shindo Aurieges (around $3K) or the new EAR 868 ($5K). Any recommendation? thanks. Giovanni
ggavetti
ggavetti OP
143 posts
 
Tweak 1, I tried what you suggested with poor results -- for some reasons the bass is less precise and too loud, even when I set it at the minimum level using the volume dial that comes with the crossover. Also, the EAR 890 offers poor volume controls. Thanks. GG
mrupgrade
23 posts
 
Ggavetti, you have one of the best tube amps in the world!!!. You would be crazy not to use a EAR 868 to match it's performance!.
ggavetti OP
143 posts
 
i agree. it's an amazing amp...the reason i asked what other audiogoners thought is that i've heard great things about shindos too. by the way, the klyne I own does a pretty good job. there was a recent klyne on sale the other day but i wasn't quick enough to get it. GG
vinyljh
46 posts
 
Giovanni,

If indeed the load is 9000 ohms as stated above, then like Teajay a Shindo is not suited for your current system. Most tube preamps will not work. If you remove the subs and crossover, which I highly recommend, then many tube preamps will work well including Shindo and EAR.

regards,
Jonathan
ggavetti OP
143 posts
 
Jonathan, Why would you recommend removing crossover and subs? The main drawback of the Quads is that they can't go below 55Hz. The Gradient woofers were designed specifically for the Quads (well, I could not find the ones designed for the 57. So, I am using those designed for the ESL 63) and allow you to enjoy the best of the Quads (midrange) and a pretty tight bass from 120Hz to 22Hz. Giovanni
More to discover