Quad ESL 2905

[Deleted member 11516]

Using a VINCENT AUDIO SV-233 and CD S3/Marantz 9600 with CH2 as the DAC via Toslink and apple express as a streamer with my Quad ESL 2905 but plan to upgrade, as I am not a science guy and stumble with the calculator what would be the best match power-wise for these? Looked at Tubes but rather prefer SS, even though they look fantastic and have this romantic feel and liquid sound, just the hassle and sometimes low end hizz which i despises want the clearest and most detailed and transparent sound.....any feedback from experienced audiophiles appreciated. Listen HD800 on a CH2 for my evening sessions so looking at this level of detail, anyone who can give their 2 cents?

 

[PaulD]

I drive a pair of Quads with one of Nelson Pass' amps that I *think* is about 50W class A. But if I had my time again I would now be very tempted by the Benchmark AHB2 or an Ncore NC400.

 

[solderdude]

I recommend not to use amplifiers that can deliver in excess of 200W in 8 Ohm.
When they can deleiver more make sure the outputs are short-circuit protected or can at least safely handle 1 Ohm when the ionisation detection kicks in. The 220uF that is connected directly to the output of the amplifier also may not be appreciated by all power amps.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I owned ESL-63's for a long time. Very similar to the 2905. Basically any amp with 50 wpc or more not bothered by the capacitive load are fine. Okay you no doubt want to know how you determine that? Well I'm not sure.

So I've used 75 wpc tube amps which are fine. Used an old Spectra DMA 50 which is 80 wpc which is fine. Used a big 200 wpc Conrad-Johson FET which was good. Used C-J MV50's which were good. I'd think any of the good class D amps are going to be fine with the Quad. Over the years I have connected lots of amps to them. Only big time failures were Pass Aleph 0. It sounded good, but you had to be very gentle on volume (no power or current reserve). And a low wattage OTL. As in 20 watts (again no power or current reserve). What actually hurts is no voltage reserve as those low wattage amps have limited voltage. I've not had issue with 250 wpc amps on them, but they do have the voltage that could cause the protection circuitry to trip.

My favorites probably sound like they make no sense, but it would be the VTL 75/75 amps I had, and the Spectral DMA 50.

Quads are in a sense very gentle due to their high impedance at low frequencies. So they don't really need tons of power, but do need voltage. That does drop at frequency goes up. The impedance varies over a huge range. Which is why I think various amps sound different with them. The output impedance interacts with the speaker impedance to alter the frequency response enough to hear. The impedance drops to 4 ohms near 11 khz, but that is coupled with a fairly punishing -45 degree phase angle.

 

[jorgen]

As an amp for the Q63 I have had Q405, Primare 928, Q303 new from Quad Revisie in Holland, Q405 from Keith Snooke and some smaller Hypex.
I just got the Benchmark AHB2 which to me seems as the perfect amp for these speakers.
The sound is transparent, dynamic, open, tube like mids and highs and class D like fantastic and wonderfull bass.
I have not tried with the Purifi amps till now but hope to do that one day, till then I enjoy..........

 

[Deleted member 11516]

As an amp for the Q63 I have had Q405, Primare 928, Q303 new from Quad Revisie in Holland, Q405 from Keith Snooke and some smaller Hypex.
I just got the Benchmark AHB2 which to me seems as the perfect amp for these speakers.
The sound is transparent, dynamic, open, tube like mids and highs and class D like fantastic and wonderfull bass.
I have not tried with the Purifi amps till now but hope to do that one day, till then I enjoy..........

Thanks for feedback

AHB2 on my list together with the new to release Nad M33 which sounds promising but would like it to be tested by Amir first before I go listen to my short list.....what DAC streamer are you using, have the CH2 as my main DAC.

 

[jorgen]

I wrote q63, but in fact I do have a q989 or 05 or 12, - 6 panel in a big wooden frame, totally free from protection!
This is of coarse the main speaker, then using 3 x Gradient SW 63, amp Hypex nc252 for bass XO at 65hz.
Front end is Qobuz>Audirvana>Acourate Convolver>Merging Technologies Anubis>amps/speakers.

 

[misterdog]

I have Quad 989's using monoblock Neurochrome parallel 86 in bridged mode. Hoping to get an AHB2 to try.
Best sound upgrade for me so far was to remove the crap quad frame and fit the panels into a steel frame, jacked up so the centre of the panel is at ear level (removing the 3 degree tilt), running naked of course. Though I have now fitted some socks to make them look better .
Using 2x 12" subs with MiniDSP plate amp and Adam ribbon supertweeters.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Any photos from gentlemen with their tweaked quads?

 

[watchnerd]

Any photos from gentlemen with their tweaked quads?

Tweaked quads

 

[jorgen]

 

[SpaceMonkey]

View attachment 78770

Just wow!

 

[watchnerd]

View attachment 78770

Quadraphonic?

 

[misterdog]

Putting the panels in a rigid frame makes a huge difference.