Chuckie, coincidentally, there is a pair for sale here on Audiogon and the price seems reasonable. Right now I'm leaning more toward solid state, partly because of my having had more experience with that technology and partly based on the eye opening discussions here on this thread. Thank you for this info, though; I'll keep your suggestion in mind.
Best tube amp for electrostatic speakers
For over 35 years I've almost exclusively used either ribbons or electrostats with solid state amplification and have been generally happy with the sound. Over the last several years, though, my hearing has become somewhat degraded and more sensitive to certain frequencies. The frequencies which seem to cause the most discomfort occur in the 1400 to 1900Hz range and come across as "bright" to my hearing. After researching this matter and having been given some expert advice, I've decided to pursue the idea of replacing my present amplification equipment with tube based gear.
The purpose of this post, then, is to solicit advice regarding the best approach to making this decision based on the following information: the current basic equipment is Shanling Solid state CD player, Peachtree Audio Nova used as preamp, two DBX 1531 EQ's to help compensate for age related hearing loss, Peachtree 220 amp, Silversonic T114 cable and Martin Logan Ethos speakers.
The listening area is our living room measuring 15 by 22 feet with my listening position 16 feet from the plane of the 2 speakers which are positioned 11 feet apart measured center to center. Located between the 2 speakers is an entertainment center which is about 9 feet wide. My listening interests are varied from solo guitar and light jazz to occasional orchestral music. I don't generally listen at high volumes and am not particularly interested in strong bass except for the rare action movie background.
Unless not advisable for some reason, I would like to keep the Peachtree Nova as a preamp because of the significant latitude for source connection and what seems to have a decent internal DAC. If this option would substantially defeat the purpose of the intended modification I would work around it. I can no longer deal with sounds that are "bright" which I now find uncomfortable but detailed sound is very important.
So, the questions are: is the move to tubes the best option and, if so, what might be some reasonably priced amps that could accomplish the goal. This, of course, would take into consideration room size, etc. for determining power requirements. If there are other more practical and less expensive options to consider, I would appreciate that advice as well.
The purpose of this post, then, is to solicit advice regarding the best approach to making this decision based on the following information: the current basic equipment is Shanling Solid state CD player, Peachtree Audio Nova used as preamp, two DBX 1531 EQ's to help compensate for age related hearing loss, Peachtree 220 amp, Silversonic T114 cable and Martin Logan Ethos speakers.
The listening area is our living room measuring 15 by 22 feet with my listening position 16 feet from the plane of the 2 speakers which are positioned 11 feet apart measured center to center. Located between the 2 speakers is an entertainment center which is about 9 feet wide. My listening interests are varied from solo guitar and light jazz to occasional orchestral music. I don't generally listen at high volumes and am not particularly interested in strong bass except for the rare action movie background.
Unless not advisable for some reason, I would like to keep the Peachtree Nova as a preamp because of the significant latitude for source connection and what seems to have a decent internal DAC. If this option would substantially defeat the purpose of the intended modification I would work around it. I can no longer deal with sounds that are "bright" which I now find uncomfortable but detailed sound is very important.
So, the questions are: is the move to tubes the best option and, if so, what might be some reasonably priced amps that could accomplish the goal. This, of course, would take into consideration room size, etc. for determining power requirements. If there are other more practical and less expensive options to consider, I would appreciate that advice as well.
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ZD, I agree. The process to get one's absolute sound is really pretty simple. 1) know what your target/goal is/sounds like 2) Take a shot. Then tweak until you hit the target. Sometimes the target will move but with some experience and lots of exposure and focus to how things really sound, eventually it will stop. You can't reach your goal if you don't know what it is and can't recognize it when you hear it. |
Even though I've been active in this hobby for about fifty six years having built my first monaural amps from kits in the mid fiftys, I'm completely aware of my limitations attempting to evaluate deficiencies in my various setups. This is especially the case now that I'm in my seventies with the attendant hearing issues. I do, though, think I know what I want to hear but am evidently limited in the language necessary to relate it. Also, based on some of the comments I receive, I get the impression that my responses to some posts have gone unread which may be understandable in consideration of the length of this thread. Anyway, I'm at a point now where I'm going to disengage from this thread in order to take time digesting the significant amount of information contributed here. |
Now that the OP has disengaged from his thread. Get this into ya!! as a bit of wow factor!!!!! Us Ausie's are a mad lot. Just press play. http://www.networka.com/stories/34030/big-wave-surfer-ryan-hipwood-surfs-the-right Cheers George |
The RM-200 increases power as the impedance drops. Roger Modjeski has a significant amount of experience with ESL speakers having appenticed with Harold Beverage and designing his RM-10 for his personal ESL-57s. In addition he has designed a direct drive amp for Acoustat speakers so you can bypass the transformers. I suspect the RM-200 would be able to drive ML speakers. BTW - I use a pair of Atma-Sphere M-60 amps with Quad ESL 57 speakers that dip to 2 ohms in the top end. I do not use an autoformer and the amps has no difficulty driving the load. The sound is heavenly. |