F5 power amplifier

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#9,143
Franz Gysi said:
I am looking forward for saturday:

I will get two Quad ESL57's and two Quad Monoblocks, a FM tuner and a line amp (for a little bit more than an apple and an egg).

The goal is to refurbish the monoblocks, the tuner and the lineamp, sell it and get the needed money to (let) refurbish the ESL panels.

My first highend speakers where ESL57, 35 years ago. This was the time, when my audio fever started 😀

Does anyone have experience, driving ESL57 by a F5?

It should not be a problem for the impedance, going down to about 1 Ohm for some frequencies with the ESLs.

The power should also be O.K.

And the gain? Enough?

Franz
Click to expand...

Hello Franz,

Had a chance to try the ESL57 yet?
 
#9,144
Yes, indeed!

There is still one of the four basspanels wich does not play, so one channel sounds a little bit "thin".

I posted a thread about the ESL's here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/planars-exotics/175721-quad-esl-57-panel-refurbish-diy-not.html

One week ago, I refurbished the Quad II amplifiers and I used them some days.

In the meantime, I switched back to the F5 driving the ESL's.

I prefer the F5 over the Quad II because of its better treble (no roll off like with the Quad II) and the crystalclear mid's.

It seems to me a perfect combination, the ESL 57 driven by an F5!

But maybe it looks different when you have new panels, not aged ones like mine.

Franz
 
#9,147
Franz Gysi said:
Yes, indeed!

There is still one of the four basspanels wich does not play, so one channel sounds a little bit "thin".

I posted a thread about the ESL's here: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/planars-exotics/175721-quad-esl-57-panel-refurbish-diy-not.html

One week ago, I refurbished the Quad II amplifiers and I used them some days.

In the meantime, I switched back to the F5 driving the ESL's.

I prefer the F5 over the Quad II because of its better treble (no roll off like with the Quad II) and the crystalclear mid's.

It seems to me a perfect combination, the ESL 57 driven by an F5!

But maybe it looks different when you have new panels, not aged ones like mine.

Franz
Click to expand...


Hello Franz,

Thanks for the response, are you using standard bias on the F5 to drive the quads?.....
 
#9,149
labjr said:
I'm buying some hookup wire for the F5. Is 16 ga sufficient for wiring the power supply to the F5 Boards? 14 ga seems too heavy but I'm wondering if it will sound better with heavier wire or would it be overkill?

Thanks
Click to expand...


You could parallel two 16ga. wires.
Or 4-5 20ga wires...
Some yin/yang WRT a twist. 🙄

I prefer heavier wire for the PS, lower Vdrop = better DF and some sort of sonic benefit in the lows/low mids, or the converse is that thinner wire appears to emphasize the highs...

_-_-bear
 
#9,150
Preamp for F5

I am still looking for a good diy preamp for F5.

I have tried the following and am still not satisfied:
1) diy Jet Boz, too much gain;
2) diy B1, no gain, sounds good though;
3) diy Juma's J310, right gain, sounds okay; and
4) diy MXX 6010X simplified clone, with NE5534 or AD797 opamps, right gain, not much colouraton.

I am using #4 above, even though I do not like opamps. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
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#9,152
Electrolastic said:
I am still looking for a good diy preamp for F5.

I have tried the following and am still not satisfied:
1) diy Jet Boz, too much gain;
2) diy B1, no gain, sounds good though;
3) diy Juma's J310, right gain, sounds okay; and
4) diy MXX 6010X simplified clone, with NE5534 or AD797 opamps, right gain, not much colouraton.

I am using #4 above, even though I do not like opamps. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Click to expand...

The dilemma I am in too. I just haven't found a preamp that is right for this amp. There must be a preamp that allows this amp to be played on some medium efficiency speakers. A B1 with a 3 or 4 db gain would be perfect.
 
#9,154
I agree with your dilemma, that's what prompted my other thread about a balanced XF5. I'm trying to put one together with IRFP outputs, Patrick is doing one with Toshiba outputs. The overall gain should be in the zone you seek.

Electrolastic said:
I am still looking for a good diy preamp for F5.

I have tried the following and am still not satisfied:
1) diy Jet Boz, too much gain;
2) diy B1, no gain, sounds good though;
3) diy Juma's J310, right gain, sounds okay; and
4) diy MXX 6010X simplified clone, with NE5534 or AD797 opamps, right gain, not much colouraton.

I am using #4 above, even though I do not like opamps. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
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