Radfordman
pfm Member
Does anyone know if this is safe? Will the A60 be able to handle the very low impedance at high frequency that the Quad ESL 57 presents?
My experience of A60s coping with loads below 8 ohms was not a happy one. The fuses blew at modest volume levels when demonstrating a pair of JBL Radiance speakers, rated I think at 6 ohms.
Hope this helps.
The A60 is no longer a new amp and hasn't been since the mid eighties. As said above, it was always happy to blow fuses, often for no reason and some unlucky owners had full scale blowups too if "prog" was played too loudly through them.
For not much more, why not invest in a Quad 33/303, have the preamp Net-Audio'd when funds permit (or Google up the simple layout to the spare disc adaptor input allowing overload-free CD replay) and have the 303 re-capped with beefier supply and output caps, along with modern ones on the amp board (again, net Audio and Dada Electronics do bits and bobs for this purpose). Not only will you get a better sound out of the ESL 57's, you'll stand far less chance of a terminal blowup.
RM, I'll try my 57s with the A60 tomorrow and report back.
If I go AWOL you'll know it exploded!
Should work..... although the 57 dips to just over an ohm at 20k there is very little power required up that high.
I recall many years ago having to use an A60 to drive a big pair of Apogee ribbons with a horrid load. Didn't play very loud but it was useable, sounded ok and didn't go into meltdown.
regards,
I'm sure it will be fine.
Teleton - that's a blast form the past.
Fake wood enclosures, black facia and silver sliders
Didn't know they were built by Mitsubishi.
I can't recall the model number now, but it had silver sliders and was rated at 20wpc.
You could switch between magnetic/ceramic cartridges on the back.
I think we had old Goodmans RB20 speakers at the time and those belonged to my Grandfather. All came from Laskys on the Tottenham Court Rd - happy days
Should work..... although the 57 dips to just over an ohm at 20k there is very little power required up that high.
I didn't know that! I thought the 57 was right at the other end, i.e. nominally 16 Ohm, hence the 303 and 405 being at their happiest at 8 Ohm or above. The 405 in particular is utterly hopeless below 4 Ohms as I recall.
Tony.
Guys. Just had to add that my A60 has been happily powering ESL57's for over 25 years. Not a single problem with either.