2A3 PSE - driving ESL's ??

Hi, i'm looking to buy a WAD 2A3 PSE Int Amp, and wondered if it'd be fine for driving a pair of Quad 57's ??

cheers

Dave

[andrew ivimey]

I would be very surprised if it would do the job well.

Originally Posted by andrew ivimey

I would be very surprised if it would do the job well.

hi Andrew, how come?

cheers

[Paul Barker]

Darren's px4 drove his 63's surprisingly well. Not a lot of difference between a px4 and a 2a3.

Kel84 would be a perfect amp for 57's.

[Darren D]

Originally Posted by Paul Barker

Darren's px4 drove his 63's surprisingly well.

I will add that I was very happy with this set-up for about 2 years. My change had nothing to do with the PX4's ability to drive the Quad ESL's. My PX4 produces around 3W per channel.

Darren

[andrew ivimey]

okay ... (and I could be wrong!) the first pair of esl57s I had I was probably using a sinclair something or other. The Quad instruction book was eloquent about the damage that was possible to amplifier and speakers of using an unsuitable amplifier. I (was fortunate to) bought Quad 11 / 22, which is
15watts of push pull power and 'recommended'.

Push pull (e.g. KEL84!) yes, SE, no ... perhaps.

The second time I bought ESL57s, I used a Goodmans module 90 (45watts of solid, er, power. The chap at Quad sounded scandalised (you must use Quad 303 and get the ESLs back to Huntingdon for factory modification, sir.) as I related to him my new 'rig'. Well, it worked okay for me. And then I sold the ESL57s as I was on the move.

So, Quad are famous for their power amps. They use current dumping which, to me means there is an awful lot more power in reserve for when the peaks and troughs are met. The current/power is supplied and all remains smooth and sweet. This is pretty much what I believe, in a non technical sense, that push pull valve amplifiers do. The output valves are running flat out all the time, ensuring no fluctuation in power output levels; all nicely balanced so to speak.

SE doesn't do it like that. The demands on an SE power supply are much more dynamic and so driving a difficult load (like electrostatics) is not easy.

I would expect a small SE amp to sound, quiet, lacking in dimension and overall, dull and grey, after the first pleasing impression of clarity had worn off. Size of room of course matters and ESL57s like space and dimension.

WADPSE2A3 is a good amp. I preferred the heresy (howls of derisive laughter aimed at me for being as conservative as, 'you can't just take one power valve out of the circuit! that is not how it was designed!) of making the amplifier just SE. But one 2A3 is precious few watts, which I feel would not be enough to drive the panels properly. So it would work, would strain the amplifier and it would not sound right.

Just my humble opinion of course. If you buy the amp, I am sure it will be reliable and good. I built it, but I can't remember much about the build any longer. Like all WAD amps the mains trafo gets very hot, but doesn't mind, if you don't. And it was possibly a tad bass shy, as one friend remarked. I thought it was 'well balanced' and quite sweet.