Best preamp for and EAR890 / ESL57 rig

Giovanni,

My preference with Quad 57's is without any subwoofer or crossover. This makes things technically more extended but in my opinion ruins the magic of the original Quad. Balance is the key to a great system and the Quad by itself has balance. The subwoofer ruins this balance. Just my opinion and from years of listening to 57's. Don't focus on the frequency response specs, just listen to the music. The Quad will be much more connective without all the extra gear. I have Entec subs that I tried with my Quads. And Decca ribbon tweeters. All a waste of time and energy in the long haul. I no longer use Quads but did so for many years.
The impedance specs for the preamp are misleading. Things are not so cut and dry as 10X or 20X. Try and see.

Jonathan

I did some research and I discovered that a few Quad folks recommend strongly the Audible Illusions M3A, even against way more expensive pieces of equipment like the EAR 868 and the Shindo Monbrison. I was surprised at first but then I read a few reviews and it looks like the AI is really a sleeper -- you can get one for between $900 and $1,500 and the performance looks really competitive with much bigger and more expensive brothers. Any thoughts? Giovanni

Modwright SWL 9.0 SE with Tube rectifier-- simply the best

SInce only one person I'm aware of combines a Monbrison with Quads, why not ask him. He actually has heard a Monbrison. look for him here- http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vdone&1070840258
And try to listen for yourself. Others opinions are quite meaningless.

Vunyljh, actually i just closed a deal on a monbrison. the guy who sold me the EAR 890 basically said that he tried 7 or 8 preamps (he also had quads, but a more recent model) and thought that shindo was the best (he had a massetto, which is more expensive than the monbrison, but the basic principles should be similar). thanks for your message. giovanni