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Quad 57 and OTL

66.177.78.121
Posted on March 27, 2015 at 16:02:43
audiogatorjim
Audiophile

Posts: 1190
Location: New Orleans area
Joined: August 4, 2001
 I have read where ESL's and OTL amps work well together. Does anyone have any experience how Quad 57's work with OLT's, specifically Transcendent Sound Son of Beast? I appreciate it.

 

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RE: Quad 57 and OTL, posted on March 28, 2015 at 14:51:38
Doug Flynn
Audiophile

Posts: 344
Joined: August 21, 2000
 .

 

Just do it!, posted on March 28, 2015 at 19:30:57
Lew
Audiophile

Posts: 10912
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Joined: December 11, 2000
 I don't know why your fixated on the Transcendent, but OTL with ESL, especially a high impedance ESL like the Quad 57, is THE way to go. Choose from Transcendent, NYAL, or original Futterman or go circlotron with Atma-sphere (my favorite, obviously). The fully balanced, circlotron output, no NFB, Atma-sphere amps have much to recommend them vs the others, but that's for another question.

 

edit, posted on March 29, 2015 at 08:18:34
Lew
Audiophile

Posts: 10912
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Joined: December 11, 2000
 "you're", not "your". I hate that.

 

RE: edit, posted on March 30, 2015 at 06:34:00
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
 or chord not cord for power cord. But actually you can edit the first post so nobody will know. No need for a second one. If you are logged in you can edit your own posts. You'll see edit just under the title of the post once you've opened the post as long as it is one of you're posts.......just kidding; your posts.


E
T

ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

RE: edit, posted on March 30, 2015 at 07:17:57
Ivan303
Audiophile

Posts: 48887
Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM
Joined: February 26, 2001
 "Let's eat Grandma!"

"Let's eat, Grandma!"

Punctuation can kill.






First they came for the dumb-asses
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a dumb-ass

 

The "edit" option did not show up when I went to edit the original, posted on March 30, 2015 at 07:56:13
Lew
Audiophile

Posts: 10912
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Joined: December 11, 2000
 So, I corrected myself in a second post.

 

RE: Just do it!, posted on March 30, 2015 at 11:40:40
audiogatorjim
Audiophile

Posts: 1190
Location: New Orleans area
Joined: August 4, 2001
 Not sure how you determined I am "fixtated" on TS but thanks for the advice.

 

RE: Just do it!, posted on March 31, 2015 at 04:56:54
Lew
Audiophile

Posts: 10912
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Joined: December 11, 2000
 OK, so I can't type.
I apologize if the word "fixated", even properly spelled, came across as a negative. I only meant to say there are other good choices among OTLs, as well as the TS. I also meant by implication that the TS is a perfectly OK choice, and anyway you were not asking for help with the choice of OTL. Back in the day, it is said that Julius Futterman was stimulated to produce a commercially viable OTL by the very existence of ESLs like the Quad 57 and the KLH9.

 

RE: Quad 57 and OTL, posted on March 31, 2015 at 08:11:08
Dman
Audiophile

Posts: 7211
Location: Kansas
Joined: January 28, 2001
 One of my first OTL experiences was with an New York Audio Labs amp (can't remember the model, and I'm just not familiar with them), running a stacked pair of Quad 57's. The source was an open reel of Bob Dylan (can't even remember the song), and I was blown away by the fat that Bob was "standing" right there between and slightly ahead of the plane of the speakers, playing the guitar and blowing on his harmonica. It was a pretty intense thing to comprehend!

Of course, I could afford neither, but I still hold that memory as a reference point in my "audio brain". If you are seriously considering an OTL/Quad combo, I don't think you'll be sorry!

Cheers,
Dman
Analog Junkie

 

RE: Just do it!, posted on March 31, 2015 at 12:57:13
audiogatorjim
Audiophile

Posts: 1190
Location: New Orleans area
Joined: August 4, 2001
 No problem Lew! I was not offended and appreciate your advice. I have since read a few more of your posts and others on the OTL forum.
I can't believe I misspelled fixated! I am a member of the 2% club; in the top 2% spellers in the US so it is very embarrassing!

 

When I was 14,..., posted on April 1, 2015 at 08:21:25
Lew
Audiophile

Posts: 10912
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Joined: December 11, 2000
 I came in second in the state of Connecticut, in the state spelling bee. Thus, at least as of age 14, may I have qualified for the top 1% (one of the top two spellers in one of the 50 states)?
I'm not that good these days.

 

RE: When I was 14,..., posted on April 1, 2015 at 19:40:20
audiogatorjim
Audiophile

Posts: 1190
Location: New Orleans area
Joined: August 4, 2001
 2nd in Conn is light years ahead of 2% in the US. In no way would I try to out speil you.

 

Don't you mean the opposite?, posted on April 3, 2015 at 07:12:59
Lew
Audiophile

Posts: 10912
Location: Bethesda, Maryland
Joined: December 11, 2000
 Contrary to what you wrote, I would think that second in the whole USA is a much larger bragging point than second in the tiny state of CT. And anyway, age has taken its toll on my spelling. Do you mean to say that you were second in the National Spelling Bee? Now THAT is a big deal.

 

RE: When I was 14,..., posted on April 3, 2015 at 18:57:10
audiogatorjim
Audiophile

Posts: 1190
Location: New Orleans area
Joined: August 4, 2001
 2nd in Conn is light years ahead of 2% in the US. In no way would I try to out speil you.

 

RE: Quad 57 and OTL, posted on April 4, 2015 at 16:33:55
powolny
Audiophile

Posts: 14
Location: Helmond
Joined: January 26, 2007
 I have ESL57's for well over 20 years now, and run them with AtmaSphere M60's for 8 years. Before I had a number of really good amplifiers, both solid state and tube, but nothing comes close to the ESL/OTL combination. Particularly now that I also use the AtmaSphere MP3 preamp, I never have any thoughts of changing equipment anymore.
One thing that you will need to take care off: If the QUADs are still original, you can be sure that they are not working as they can and should. They will probably still sound great, but you'll miss out on top performance. A real refurbishment is not just the well known replacement of EHT units and panels, but also a replacement of the resistors in the crossover circuit. This is not widely known but after many years, these resistors have gone out of spec by 10-15% which has a big effect on the sound.
I have no experience with Transcendent, but definitely can recommend the AtmaSphere amplifiers with ESL57's. It is a match made in heaven.

 

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