Radford STA 15 driving Quad ESL 63's

[shaman]

Does anyone have any experience of the above combination.
Can it or will it work?
Grateful for any input!

[Bigman80]

Does anyone have any experience of the above combination.
Can it or will it work?
Grateful for any input!It'll work, no reason it shouldnt.

The Quad 63 are in the "all time top 10 of speakers" according to stereophile.

Go for it Nigel, you shouldn't lose on them either, especially if you are willing to ship to Japan, they will pay top dollar for a nice pair.

[shaman]

It'll work, no reason it shouldnt.

The Quad 63 are in the "all time top 10 of speakers" according to stereophile.

Go for it Nigel, you shouldn't lose on them either, especially if you are willing to ship to Japan, they will pay top dollar for a nice pair.
Stop encouraging me Ollie! :lol:

[Firebottle]

Sounds as if it would be a rather wonderful combination. I do rather like electrostats.

[Bigman80]

Stop encouraging me Ollie! [emoji38]Do it!!!!!! Lol

[montesquieu]

For all their low sensitivity Quad ESLs manage very well on low valve power, the biggest surprise for me was how well they did with some 6B4G monoblocks I had - about 6W. This was the original 57s rather than 63s, which are known to need a little more.

But given the quality of the Radford transformers and the fact the STA15 manages about 12w, I would think you should be fine indeed it ought to be pretty lovely.

[Barry]

I have used a Radford STA15 Mk.III amplifier with Quad '57 speakers, and it is an excellent combination.

[Firebottle]

I've driven '57s with my 12W (into 16 ohm) OTL amp and that is sublime.

[Radford Revival]

The STA15 III can deliver around 22W at the point of clipping and can drive ESL57s very well indeed.

[Opti-cal]

My experience driving both 57's and 63's really echo's the sentiments of folk here. I have found Quads react more positively to high quality transformers than most (probably all) speakers. It's as important (if not more) with them as the output power. (Within reason, eg: 2w and the best transformers in the world is going to be poor with ESL's).

I've driven 57's successfully with 8-12w but the same amp did not have the magic with the 63's which do need a bit more ooomph. Probably push-pull and at least 20w I would say. However the transformers on the Radfords are tip-top so it should be okay. Would undoubtedly be a better and confirmed awesome match with 57's though.

Just my experience of course and may well sound brilliant with the 63's, which are a little more demanding than 57's on the power side. It may be the case that you still get a lovely sound but maybe miss out on some of the dynamics and scale that more power would offer.

Best amp for 63's I've found is 35w Push-pull KT88 in triode mode. Very surprisingly good bass with JJ KT88's.

[Bencat]

Not directly relevant but found this thread both interesting and informative . I have a pair of refurbished ESL57's which are currently powered using a Krell KSA50 MK1 . They sound excellent but for some reason they lack that last sprinkle of magic which makes these speakers so special . All of my past musical memories of the Quads which convinced me to buy a pair had been with valve power amplifiers and so the itch started . Another itch has always been to own an OTL power amp as the whole idea and sound I heard many years ago (Futterman OTL) were very special .
So I then got the chance to buy a Croft Series Three OTL and I folded straight away . So I have now bought this amp but due to it being the other end of the country to me will have to wait before I get it back to mine and insert it in my system (quite handy at the moment as in the middle of kitchen remake and no access to Music room which has all the excess from the kitchen) .
So at the moment I have no idea if this will work as a combination but reading this I have much more hope that it will .

[Firebottle]

I am now driving my ESL57's with a Ming Da single ended integrated valve amp that gives 10W into 15 ohm load.

Surprisingly there seems to be more 'body' to the sound compared to the 90W mosfet output hybrid amp I was using before.
I have been playing quite a bit of reggae yesterday and enjoying it immensely.

[krugdoktor]

I‘m driving my QUAD ESL 57QA https://www.quad-musik.de/index.php/de/produkte/elektrostaten/esl57-qa with an Eternal Arts http://www.audioclassica.de/de/EternalArts-OTL-Mark-2.html and it sounds absolutely gorgeous!
I guess with your new OTL you’re un for a treat!