Tube amp forethought


Hello, im researching my retirement two ch audio system and tube amps are in the forefront of my “wants” my plan will be a pair of QUAD ESL’s not sure which just yet

What do i need to know about maintaining a tube amp, like a AudioResearch 120 for starters or other tube amps. Biasing is totally new to me. Tube life and modes (triode, Pentode, UltraLinear) all foreign to me.

im a 40 year hobbiest so im pretty versed, this is just an unknown territory for me, thanx guys !

kgveteran

Showing 3 responses by mijostyn

Kg, it must be around 6 by now. The current ones are the ESL-2812 and 2912. They are now owned by a Chinese company somewhere in Shenzhen and they are made in China.  The 2912's are something like $14,000. At that money the clear choice would be the Sound Lab 545 which is about the same money but is a seriously better loudspeaker in all respects and it is made here in the USA. 
The first Quad was the 57 and you definitely want to stay away from those. They are way too fragile. Next is the 63 which is much more reliable than the 57 but some would argue do not sound as good as the 57. I think that is probably romantic brains talking. Then there are a few in the middle which have a good reputation but I have never experienced them so can not comment on their sound. By then I was deep into Acoustats and not really paying attention to other ESLs. Acoustat is out of business. You see them pop up once in a while. Most of them have been broken up into parts. They were relatively inexpensive and audiophile hobbyists bought them up and tried to rearrange them into speakers they thought would sound better. A clean pair of 2+2's would be a real snag.
Sound Lab speakers come up on rare occasion but most of their owners consider them permanent purchase. Where else you going to go?  
Ralph darn it. Don't complicate things. I'm trying to get him to buy your amps and you are spending all his money on Sound Lab's speakers.
kg, just in case you are interested the Quad equivalent Sound Lab would be the 545:)
Three-easy, basically you are right but guys our age have a romantic passion for tubes. Who knows, maybe it is the smell of hot power tubes.
kgvteran, everybody is forgetting about our friend Mr Karsten. His amps (Atma-Sphere) are ideally suited for driving ESLs. I have been running ESLs of decades and his output transformerless tube amps are the only ones I would consider for the job. Actually, I am in conversation with him about having a pair made. He is even going to put a custom trigger in mine so I can turn them on remotely!  http://www.atma-sphere.com/Products/#M-60
These are the ones I would get for driving Quads.
More to discover