Amp for ESL 57's

I missed out on an icon 40i so I am looking for a valve integrated/pre/power that will work well with my speakers. Although I can go to £400 I would prefer to go sub £300 to reduce the wife fallout position.

I know bugger all about valve amps so it would need to be something that does not require much in the way of owner tweaking. This would rule out going the chinese/hong kong route as I would be worried about frying myself.

Rod

 

A Leak Stereo 20 with a basic passive pre.

A KEL 84 WAD integrated

Some Quad II's may be in budget if you're lucky, but a pre would be needed again.

A second hand Unison Research Unico.

The Chinese valve amps that you've ruled out are likely to be more reliable (if you pick a good make) than a second hand valve amp from 40 years ago.

I'd try to overcome your prejudices against the chinese and consider a reputable chinese manufacturer like Ming Da or Consonance.

an EL84 based amp pushing out about 20w or so would be a great match. As a bonus, these are usually at the cheaper end of the scale. It's an under-rated tube and makes a great match for quad's IMO.

 

I think I'm right in saying the original quad 606 was designed to drive the awkward load of electrostics [probabley specifically the 63's] so that could be an option.

 

I should have been a bit more specific, I didn't mean to suggest that all Chinese products were dodgy, only that there have been a few posts on self imported valve amps from hong kong/ china which may have less than perfect construction and even been downright dangerous.

Rod

 

Hi rod

It's been my experience that 'some' posters on internet forums have profits at stake, and a lot to loose by customers importing products directly from abroad.

Scare stories often pop up from such sources I feel.

What you lose by importing yourself is the back up of a warranty through a dealer/distributor. If you get a fault you would need to get it repaired by a valve amp repair man.

What you gain, is an amp at 1/3-1/2 of its RRP when bought through a dealer or distributor channel.

To my mind, the maths is simple... you could buy 3!! amps directly from china, and throw 2 away if they became faulty for the price of buying through dealers and distributors.

The 'Icon' for example you were looking at is available directly from the manufacturers in China for a fraction of the cost.

Check out www.cattylink.com for examples.

At the end of the day, you spend your money and make a choice with these things.

 

I'd agree with that even to say that i was offered a pair of cyber 800 from a dealer in Australia for just over a 1/3 the price here...that was after his mark up ! The only thing that stopped me was he need a domicile address in Australia, he would then ship anywhere in the world. I just couldn't get that address !

 

What Zanesh - you mean that 21 Ramsey Street, Melbourne, wouldn't do?

 

I ended up getting an Emille Ki 70 of ebay. I had no idea how big it was until it arrived. It looks like I will need a dedicated very sturdy amp stand.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220013633624&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:UK:11


Which speaker connection should I use with the 57's 4, 8 or 16? ohm

Rod

 

16 ohm.

This article is interesting on impedence of ESL 57s:http://www.turneraudio.com.au/quad2powerampmods.html

 

I have never heard of this valve amp. When and where was it made?

 

It was made in Korea for a company in Norway who also designed it. At least thats what it say on the back. I don't know about age but they still make amps. There is very little on the net about them. If you just type in emille there are a few hits.

Rod

 

hey rodrat, how did u get on with the valve amp of ebay for the 57's?

i've just got my 57's back from OneThing having had a full service, and also got my Quad 606 back from Quad also after a service, and all sounds very sweet...... though am looking out for a valve pre-amp rather than the quad 44.

 

The Emille seems fine although at the moment it and the 57's are in the kitchen which is far from ideal. I need to obtain a suitable stand for the amp as it is much to big for my existing stand. I plan to try the Emille into my OB1's today which will be interesting as I normally use Bryston pre and power amps.

Rod