Benchmark ABH2 amp and full range electrostatics, e.g. CLX or Soundlab

Thank you for this feedback.  I have Anniversary CLX's and had a concern regarding the ability of  single amp to properly drive these speakers and the higher output impedance of the amps when bridged.  Are you using a Benchmark preamp with these amps? Also do the Benchmarks produce a realistic soundstage in width and depth as well delineation of individual voices and instruments?

Thank you kstaken again for your thoughts on the Benchmark/CLX pairing.  I have had a number of amps and preamps from Krell, ARC, Pass Labs and Constellation.  Having had Quad ESL's with careful component matching, ribbon tweeter and woofer which were extremely transparent and musical but frustrating in terms of limited dispersion and to an extent dynamic range, I purchased the CLX's a few years ago.  While I have not gone to the uberexpensive high end amps/preamps, I never felt that I had achieved the same level of transparency that I had with the original Quads.  I have ordered the Benchmark LA4 preamp. When my previously ordered Coda 15.5 arrives, I shall compare the ABH2 to the Coda.  I have had a Coda amp recently  and found it to be excellent and in many ways better than my previous amps in powering the CLX's.  You are obviously a careful listener and I am curious as to the cables you are using with the Benchmark electronics.  My experience has been that the CLX's are very fussy regarding speaker cables.

Maplegrovemusic,

Thanks for bringing the Schroeders review to my attention.  I shall look it up.  

Kstaken,

I have had the Nordost Heimdall 2 interconnects and speaker cables which I have subsequently sold.  These cables have a definite sound of their own.  I used the Audioquest Niagara solid silver interconnects which I thought were more neutral.  My old Kimber KCAG's remain surprisingly good compared to current offerings.  I was fortunately to have a pair of Maker Audio Signature interconnects which are not usually sold in the U.S.; these are excellent but pricey interconnects.  I have not heard the Swisscables and do not see a retailer in the U.S. on their website.  

Speaker cables are another matter altogether.  The consensus seems to be that speaker cables for full range ESL's such as the CLX's and Soundlabs should have both low capacitance and very low inductance as these speakers behave electrically like a giant capacitor.  Coaxial speaker cables such as the Analysis Plus Big Silver Ovals have been recommended and there is a dual coaxial Mogami cable as well.  I have make some homemade speaker cables using relavitively costly Belden silver coated copper coaxial RF transmitter cables.  The main problem is that they are stiff but sonically I prefer them to the  Heimdall 2's.   I have not tried Wireworld speaker cables or the more expensive MIT cables which some have recommended.

jeffreyfranz,

I appreciate your suggestion.  I have done a little investigation regarding the optimal electrical parameters for full range electrostatics most of which behave like a large capacitor.  Roger West and Roger Sanders who know a bit about full range electrostatics have both advocated speaker cables with both very low inductance and low capacitance.  This is not easy to achieve.  Roger Sanders used to sell a dual coax speaker cable with such characteristics.  The Nordost cables published specs also have both low inductance and capacitance; I was curious about Nordost 2 cables and tried a combination of Heimdall 2 speaker cables and interconnects together in my system.  I selected the Heimdall 2 as a midlevel Nordost cable which would give me an idea of the signature of this brand.  They are excellent cables but have a distinct sonic signature.  I am aware of the Iconoclast cables but have not tried them.  They use Belden wire to fabricate their cables.  I looked at the Belden catalog and noticed that Belden Coax 8268 has 13 gauge central silver coated copper conductors and also very low inductance (0.077 microH/ ft) and low capacitance (30.8 pF/ft).  It is gotten expensive for raw cable, $6.90/ft from RF Parts.  I used xhadow spades for terminations.  It works surprisingly well and I found no advantage to the considerably more expensive Nordost and is perhaps slightly more transparent.  I cannot tell anyone else whether this cable will work in a given system but for full range electrostatics you might give it a try if you can properly terminate the cables and can deal with the stiffness of this cable. 

George,

The CLX is not an easy speaker to optimize.  I had concerns regarding whether a single AHB2 amp could properly drive the CLX and like you whether the doubling of output impedance would pose a problem in regards to the very low impedance the CLX has above 8 kilohertz.  I have ordered an AHB2 amp will compare to my Coda 15.5 amp which is an excellent match.  Martin Logan has used bridged AHB2 amps to drive their hybrid speakers at various shows and apparently has not had a problem with bridged amps.  Nor has kstaken who in an earlier post on this thread communicated that bridged AHB2 amps are an excellent match with his CLX's.

Thanks for your thoughts.

George,

I agree.  The good point with the AHB2 is that Benchmark has a no questions asked 30 day trial period.  That should allow adequate time for evaluation.