Hello all. I wanted to ask for some advice, as I own such beautiful amps, and I wanted to know if I can mod them at all to drive Quad ESL57 perfectly.
From what I have gathered, the Quads can't be fed over about 25-30W or the panels would arc and die. At the same time the amp needs to be powerful enough (current) to drive a load that varies between 1.5-35 Ohm.
I have been adviced on Bedini 25/25, as it is biased deeply into Class A.
I'd want to know how Meitner MTR-101 (100 + 100 W monoblocks) would fare with the Quad's, as I already own this amplifier.
Would there need to be a protection circuit installed? If so, what exactly, and how would it impact Quad's sound quality, if at all?
Would the MTR-101 even be transparent enough, compared to said Bedini?
Thanks for helping!!
Tony
From what I have gathered, the Quads can't be fed over about 25-30W or the panels would arc and die. At the same time the amp needs to be powerful enough (current) to drive a load that varies between 1.5-35 Ohm.
I have been adviced on Bedini 25/25, as it is biased deeply into Class A.
I'd want to know how Meitner MTR-101 (100 + 100 W monoblocks) would fare with the Quad's, as I already own this amplifier.
Would there need to be a protection circuit installed? If so, what exactly, and how would it impact Quad's sound quality, if at all?
Would the MTR-101 even be transparent enough, compared to said Bedini?
Thanks for helping!!
Tony
Use of the protection boards is always the way to go if you want safety of those mid/tw
Then you can use any thing you want. Have played them with every kind of high powered amp with no issues at all and the boards show no signs of stress and no arcing!
You can build them for little dollars with a search for the schematic
Regards
David
Then you can use any thing you want. Have played them with every kind of high powered amp with no issues at all and the boards show no signs of stress and no arcing!
You can build them for little dollars with a search for the schematic
Regards
David
I suggest you take a look at this smart device from ESL labs/NL:
Quad ESL protection (clamp) board
Apart from a F5 I also have an OTL (that can easily set the ESL to arc), so it is one of my future projects as well.
Quad ESL protection (clamp) board
Apart from a F5 I also have an OTL (that can easily set the ESL to arc), so it is one of my future projects as well.
After hearing ESL57's rebuilt by Picquet I can tell you they can drive to very dynamic levels with no issues ..
If yours are original I would look into having them rebuilt before Doing anything else , 57's do need an amplifier with low impedance stability for the top end to shine , nothing wrong with powering them with 100 watts/ch @8ohm..
I have seen more used with no arcing issues , with Dynamics and Spl 's unheard off before by 57's....
Regards ,
If yours are original I would look into having them rebuilt before Doing anything else , 57's do need an amplifier with low impedance stability for the top end to shine , nothing wrong with powering them with 100 watts/ch @8ohm..
I have seen more used with no arcing issues , with Dynamics and Spl 's unheard off before by 57's....
Regards ,
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Thanks all, guys. Would the MTR-101's provide enough stability at those low impedances? Could it be modded to obtain better performances, without shipping it overseas to Museatex?
The 100W stereo models i'd be scared to use with just any ESL, but the monoblocks have been hooked up to anything from scary Apogees, to Martin Logans and Quads.
A Quad ESL refurbisher overhere used the Meitner monaurals for his artwork, and his own development, the ESl65 : Audio 4 elektrostaten
A Quad ESL refurbisher overhere used the Meitner monaurals for his artwork, and his own development, the ESl65 : Audio 4 elektrostaten
Tony: at the time that the MTR amp was being born Ed Meitner's reference speakers were Acoustat 2+2's the same holds true for the STR 50 and 55. While it is not commonly known Ed did a lot of R&D work on the segmented Acoustat speakers, Ed and Jim Strickland are good friends. Best regards Moray James.
Quad ESL 57 protection circuit board query?
Sorry to bump this thread but I wondered if you could give me a bit more detail about Quad ESL 57 protection boards. I have seen these referred to as "clamp boards". What exactly do they consist of and where might I find a schematic for them?
I have Googled and all I seem to find are suppliers who seem to charge rather a lot for something which may be pretty straightforward to build. Before splashing out, I would like to know what exactly I am getting.
Thanks
Sorry to bump this thread but I wondered if you could give me a bit more detail about Quad ESL 57 protection boards. I have seen these referred to as "clamp boards". What exactly do they consist of and where might I find a schematic for them?
I have Googled and all I seem to find are suppliers who seem to charge rather a lot for something which may be pretty straightforward to build. Before splashing out, I would like to know what exactly I am getting.
Thanks
Some say it affects the sonics and they may be right. However it was a long interval between reduing mine and actually getting down to comparing anything. I used Quads boards since I purchased them a long time ago when they were cheap.
You convince yourself its better to be safe then getting a smaller amp you know will swing a lower voltage than just putting anything bigger on them and letting it rip like me.
I have a second pair I will be reworking and maybe I will try it without just to find out.
Although I,m not suffering as of now 🙂
Regards
You convince yourself its better to be safe then getting a smaller amp you know will swing a lower voltage than just putting anything bigger on them and letting it rip like me.
I have a second pair I will be reworking and maybe I will try it without just to find out.
Although I,m not suffering as of now 🙂
Regards
Hi David
Thanks for the tip, based on it I found this LINK to a .PDF. Sadly, I am not entirely clear what it means; scrub that, I am not at ALL clear what it means 🙁.
I suspect that the top image describes the stock Quad clamp board and the lower one describes Sheldon's alternative. I can see that it is only used in relation to the tweeter panels but I don't really know quite where it is installed?
sounds like you are at a bit of a loss. Question for you. Are your Quads stock? If the answer is yes I think that you should do yourself a favour and stop wasting time and money. Find the closest professional re builder and have your Quads rebuilt you can have protection installed at the same time. If stock your speakers are very old and they are falling apart and I don't care how good people say their stock Quads sound they need to be rebuilt and you will not be disappointed. Start here QUAD ESL 57 repair and refurbishment Best regards Moray James.
Don't just run out and blindly rebuild your quad 57's. The return on investment isn't always great. If you panels are in bad shape, then the difference can be striking, but for panels in good shape, the differences should be minor at best. Unless your rebuilder is not staying true to the original panel performance.
Sheldon
Sheldon
I took statistics on a couple of hundred sets and they all showed the following symptoms:
* loss in sensitivity of 2 to 5 dB
* loss of low frequency reproduction due to raised Fres of the bass panels
Those two are more or less a given. I even tested a set once that came new out of the (unopened!) box and it showed the same symptoms only to a lesser degree. That being said on rare occasion there are sets that still play very well indeed. Quite amazing considering their age!
My ESL-57s ARE stock.
I AM at a loss.
I AM trying to avoid wasting money.
My question related JUST to "clamp boards". Since I am trying to avoid wasting money I am reluctant to spend some €2,000 on refurbishing my speakers even if it does happen to include clamp boards.
I accept that a complete rebuild would make a difference to my 45 year old speakers, I am not entirely convinced that I would really notice the difference. I don't want to damage them by overdriving them - seems to me to be a reasonable, sensible precaution?
You wont arc them over and burn the film's coating away IF you stay under 30 W power amp.
-Richard Marsh
-Richard Marsh
Pretty much what I had suspected, thanks. As it happens, the speakers seem to be in very good condition with a beautiful sound - except that the aluminium mesh on the front has a few "dings" in it (from careless storage), the wooden side cheeks have a few scratches and the legs have gone missing.
As it happens, I am currently using a Ferrograph F307 Mk II (20 Watts max.). However, as I understand it, the ESL 57s are somewhat tricky to drive and so I do plan eventually to use a Quad 33/303 - I will keep the volume fairly low.
Thanks for all the useful replies, they are much appreciated.
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