best amp for Martin logan sl-3


Need some advice from other sl3 owners. Does the Audio research vt100 MKI or II have enough power to drive the SL3. What is the difference between the mkI and MKII? Has anyone ever heard the Innersound amp with the SL3? Any advice would be most appreciated.
shemply613

Showing 2 responses by jim

I was running my CLS's with a DNA1 Deluxe, it did well up to a point. All big balls tubes amps that I tried were superior to the McCormack and several other, higher powered solid state amps. Give some big ball tube amps a try... Wolcotts, SF Power 3's and the like. They all are a little different but all will really open up your Logans. Don't get me wrong, there are some good solid state amps mentioned here (some mediocre amps, too) and they will sound good, but good high powered tube amps will take you to another place. Compare both types in your system. To answer your question, the ARC VT 100 will drive your speakers with no problem (tried a VT100MkII with my speakers, no problem). This amp was good, although not my choice. Some good deals on Wolcott's, Sonic Frontiers and used VT100 MkII's right now.
Forgot the second part of your question... I have heard (from their owners) that Innersound amps are excellent with esl's. They were specifically designed for Innersound esl speakers. The low down is that these beasts NEVER run out of headroom no matter what load you're driving and are surprisingly musical, too. Your SL3's are not terribly demanding (not like the big mofo SoundLabs, for example) but you may want to check the Innersound out anyway. Supposed to be a very good amp -- never heard anything but good stuff from guys who own these.