Solid State Amps for Quad ESL 57?

The transistor amps will not give you what you want , in my opinion. I have been a confirmed user of transistors since I built a Heathkit in 1963 and was a Quad dealer for 15 years. Transistors are undoubtedly faster on cone speakers , because of higher dampening factor among other considerations. But these factors do not apply to the Quad, which is already faster than any cone. When I was a dealer I drove my 63s with Krell, Musical Fidelity and Stax class A solid state amps but could not detect a difference in speed or bass between them and good tubes. A friend drives his 57s, which I sold him in 1975, with a rebuilt Heath tube amp , it sounds as good as anything I have ever heard drive them. Foster Blair rebuilds them, they are available through Mapleshade. This is one case where having a transformer in the line helps the sound. After all, they were designed with a lower powered tube amp in mind. If I wasn't happy with the sound of the 57s driven by a good tube I would look at another speaker, they are what they are and the amp will not change them that much.

A friend of mine runs them with parasound and loves the match. He switched from big EAR tubes without sacrificing any quality.

It does sound like maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree. Maybe it's a front end issue. I have heard the JC1's sound great with Quads but they are out of my price range unfortunately....

Thanks!

Hello Dhcod,

That's interesting!
I have two Parasound Halo JC1s but never thought these are good amps also for the Quads ESL
Do you think they are good on the Quad ESL63 too?

The Quads will only take a limited amount of power and can be damaged by over driving. I never had any trouble as I was careful with the volume but one of my customers bought 63s and a Musical Fidelity 270 [100 Watts?] and had to have them repaired 3 times because he constantly over drove them. A big amp is fine used with care.