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It's a vintage Rotel RB980BX.
I had read a couple of Quad owners rave about this particular amp with their Quads (57's and 63's), so for around $200 I thought I'll have a try.
Well, they were right.
I've had the amp for a couple of weeks now and find myself listening to my Quads more than my Merlins, for the first time since I bought the Merlins several years ago.
The Rotel has a high damping factor (1000) and really takes control of the panels on my original Quads in a manner that no other amp has. Strong detailed bass, very present sounding mids and highs, strong, clear, lively, no fatigue, no distortion.
I've had lots of tube amps running the Quads, including a fine OTL power amp,as well as many solid state amps (including the made-for-Quads, Quad 303), and this seems to be the first amp that really shows what the Quads are capable of. They really sing in a very satisfying way now.
Follow Ups:
I blew a channel in mine, although the quads may not have been the cause, I suppose.
It sounded good, that's for sure- I will be using a Nikko when I get my listenning room back.
One of the best results I have heard is with a home made chip amp. However to use that you need to get new transformers that can reduce the wild impedence movements on the quad. One Thing ausio make them, they occassonally turn up on eBay
Best amp I've heard on my 57's and not expensive. Hybrid tube/mosfet, only one tube to mess with. Glen Croft runs 57's in his home system.
"The problem with quotes from the internet is that many of them just are just made up."
-Abraham Lincoln
After 2+ weeks with my rebuilt PK ESL57's in the main room with the Pass X250.5, I moved them to their intended room in a second system with my VTA modded Dynaco ST70, Bottlehead III preamp, SIM 5.3 phono preamp and thorens turntable.
first off the room is small 10 x 9 with a angled door entry. I wasn’t sure if they would work in a room that small. Well I was wrong and the system work together to provide a mesmerizing experience. I was immediately impressed with this system. I played around with placement, put the speakers on bricks and sat back and enjoyed for 2 days.
Again, I found these speakers excel with anything I threw at them. they played loud, clear, with authority, the presence and imaging was exceptional.
So again these speakers proved themselves to me and my VTA dynaco drove them as nice as my Pass X250.5
Which OTL, if I may ask?
Transcendent T16. Very nice amp, but not particularly special with the Quads.
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