ESL 2812 vs ESL 57

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 13, 2017 at 13:48:59
kentaja Manufacturer Posts: 4614 Joined: March 26, 2001	Harder to drive? Neither. A good solid state should drive either speaker without issue. 50W should be fine for either speaker. The 2812 will require more power if you wish to drive it to high SPL levels 95-98dB. If you don't needs thing this loud 50W will be fine for the 2812.

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 13, 2017 at 13:49:19
6bq5 Audiophile Posts: 4393 Location: SF Bay Joined: August 16, 2001	I can't speak to the 2812; however the '57 needs to not see over 30 volts- so your 50WPC Plinius should work very nicely- Yes the '57 goes down to ~2 ohms in the bass - but ideally you would use a '57 with a sub cutting over at 100Hz.... Happy Listening

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 13, 2017 at 14:48:06
kentaja Manufacturer Posts: 4614 Joined: March 26, 2001	The user should install the protection boards in the ESL-57 if they are not already there. This will allow use of any amplifier no matter the voltage swing. No ESL-57 as produced from the factory will have the protection board. This was made available after production ended for the speaker.

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 13, 2017 at 17:48:11
pushpulltriode Audiophile Posts: 805 Joined: September 20, 2000	The limit of single ESL 57 is 30v, what about stacked Quad ESL wired in parallel. Does it double the figure to 60v?

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 13, 2017 at 19:03:07

kentaja
Manufacturer

Posts: 4614
Joined: March 26, 2001

No.

But all of this maximum voltage, etc., is a thing of the past. We now have protection circuits that will allow use of ANY amp with the original Quad without fear of damage. I use 300 watt tube amps with mine.

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 14, 2017 at 00:41:01
pushpulltriode Audiophile Posts: 805 Joined: September 20, 2000	IMO, an amplifier can drive the 2812 shouldn't be aproblem to handle the 57.

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 14, 2017 at 06:06:36
kentaja Manufacturer Posts: 4614 Joined: March 26, 2001	This is not a question of amplifier stability, etc., this is a question of maximum input voltage for the ESL-57.

stacked ESLs, posted on April 15, 2017 at 09:52:01
sqlsavior Audiophile Posts: 55 Location: New Mexico Joined: June 25, 2013	I've read that stacked ESLs should be run in series.

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 17, 2017 at 01:50:22

triamp
Audiophile

Posts: 780
Location: USA
Joined: August 6, 2008

Original Quad ESL impedance - not all that low in the bass frequencies; treble is another matter

See the graph, which is from http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/57and303/interact.html
Science doesn't care what you believe.

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 17, 2017 at 01:52:32
triamp Audiophile Posts: 780 Location: USA Joined: August 6, 2008	If you install the Zener boards from Quads Unlimited, you can use high power amps with the original Quads without worry. That said, I've found that they seem to work really well on good amplifiers of around 50 watts. I'd bet that Plinius would sound great. Science doesn't care what you believe.

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 17, 2017 at 07:06:00
Tube747 Audiophile Posts: 419 Joined: May 11, 2004	50w for single Quad ESL 57 or stacked Quad ESL wired in parallel?

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 17, 2017 at 07:10:35
Tube747 Audiophile Posts: 419 Joined: May 11, 2004	Not many subwoofer has the speed to track the Quad ESL at 100Hz.

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 17, 2017 at 07:36:12
kentaja Manufacturer Posts: 4614 Joined: March 26, 2001	Crossover at 100Hz is not really the right way to integrate a sub with the Quad. Let the Quad run full range and blend the sub in around 40Hz. Even a modest sub set-up this way will blend nicely with the Quad.

RE: ESL 2812 vs ESL 57, posted on April 17, 2017 at 15:37:35

triamp
Audiophile

Posts: 780
Location: USA
Joined: August 6, 2008

I've used a 50 watt @ 8 ohms / 100 w @ 4 ohms solid state amplifier (Forte 4a) to good effect on a single pair of original Quad ESL's which have the Zener Protection Boards in them for over a year. I have recently changed over to a Harman-Kardon Citation II which offers 60 watts per channel.

I use the Quads in a small room, and I get satisfying volume levels. Of course one man's satisfying volume level is another man's background music....

I've measured 100 dB maximums in this particular listening room from the Quads.
Science doesn't care what you believe.

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ESL 2812 vs ESL 57

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