2. amps-preamps
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Building a system from scratch (other than speakers)

Hello all! This is my first post. I am a relative newbie when it comes to hifi but have been doing some research and reading the forums for a while now. I am looking to build a two channel system with the best quality sound for the money. My budget is approx. $5K. I have a pair of Martin Logan Theos in my home theater that I will be pulling out for the dedicated hifi setup. 
Mainly I'm looking for preamp and amp advice. I know a point of contention is the tube v ss debate, but have read on this forum and others that you get the most out of electrostatics with tubes. I know virtually nothing first hand about tubes so am concerned about maintenance and high ongoing cost. I don't have a lot of listening time anyway, less time for working on components. Is this something to worry about? 
Also, brand/model suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm concerned about mismatching the speakers and amp.
For cd I am looking at the OPPO BDP 105d and for vinyl the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, but would appreciate advice here as well. 
Thank you all in advance!

arisingsound

Showing 3 responses by terry9

terry9
2,354 posts
 
Arising, I too have an ESL system. I had Quad ESL57's, then ML, now modern Quads.

I have used tubes (good sound), and solid state (good sound). But here's the thing: ESL's tend to have circuits to protect them from high voltages caused by equipment failure (or owner failure, I suppose). They rob performance from your speakers. It would be great to remove them.

If you were to choose low power, high precision solid state amplifiers, it would be impossible to drive the speakers loud enough to engage the protection circuits. Therefore the protection circuits would be redundant, and so they could be removed. This I have done, running without protection circuits for nearly 10 years now. Practice is the same as theory - no problem. No problem whatsoever.

Caveat - my electronics are all ultra-stable full complementary push-pull home-brew, designed for low voltage and high precision. YMMD

terry9
2,354 posts
 
I should have added: perhaps the electronics are not optimal, but the SYSTEM is.
terry9
2,354 posts
 
Pokey, as I said, it's for malfunctioning equipment and head banging owners. If your amp can't produce the signal, the protection circuit is superfluous.

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