lkong Posted January 28, 2018 Report Share Posted January 28, 2018 Dear Quad gurus I'm looking to upgrade amplifiers for my Quad 63, preferably solid state. Budget is around $1000, new, used, and DIY kits anything goes. Suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Sawyers Posted January 28, 2018 Report Share Posted January 28, 2018 I used to drive my ESL 57's with an Audio Research D125 hybrid. Solid state front end, and a bunch of 6550 tubes. Sounded great. But an old friend (now alas dead) used a Diavelet to drive his much more recent Quad ESL's. But that will be outside your budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted January 28, 2018 Report Share Posted January 28, 2018 For solid state, I like Musical Fidelity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lkong Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 1 hour ago, Craig Sawyers said: I used to drive my ESL 57's with an Audio Research D125 hybrid. Solid state front end, and a bunch of 6550 tubes. Sounded great. But an old friend (now alas dead) used a Diavelet to drive his much more recent Quad ESL's. But that will be outside your budget. Diavelet as their class D amps? People seem to have polarized opinions on class D and ESL. For 1k budget, I can swing a pair of Hypex NC400. But I have no idea if that would be a good fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Sawyers Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 Well the Diavelet is something more akin to the Quad current dumping technology. They have a very have quality class A amplifier that does the first Watt or so, an then a class D "dumper" that takes over duty for high current drive. The basic company funding that generated their first product came from the French government. I don't have one by the way. The Hypex N-core class D amps have absolutely astonishing performance, and show what is possible nowadays with pure class D. ATI does a stereo power amp that uses N-core modules and a linear power supply (which apparently makes the amps sound better than the Hypex switched mode supply) for $1,895.00 weighing in at 39lbs. You get a whole lot of amp from ATI. http://www.ati-amp.com/AT52XNC.php Even Bel Canto have gone across to using N-core! For a company that has used their own class D technology for 15 years. Or you can buy a monoblock kit directly from Hypex for 650 Euro. Times 2 for stereo, so 1300 Euro (=$1600). None of these options fits the $1000 budget of lkong though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsavitsk Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 5 minutes ago, Craig Sawyers said: They have a very have quality class A amplifier that does the first Watt or so, an then a class D "dumper" that takes over duty for high current drive. 5 minutes ago, Craig Sawyers said: The Hypex N-core class D amps have absolutely astonishing performance, and show what is possible nowadays with pure class D. I feel like these two statements present a bit of a contradiction. Unless Diavelet is not as good at Class D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Sawyers Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 No - that is not what I'm saying. There is simply more than one way of skinning the class D cat, and is more to do what you have patented. And Diavelet's website is an absolute nightmare - it has more to do with production values than finding products. And they are seriously plugging their rather strange spherical speaker. They have invested 50 million somethings (US Dollars, UKP, Euro - they are all pretty similar nowadays) of investor's money in the design, so not surprising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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