Driving 1 ohm


Hi,

I'm actually driving my recently refurbished Acoustat 2+2 electrostatic speakers with a Conrad Johnson MF 2500A. My Acoustats have been completely modernized with new more rigid frame, new electronics in the interface, Medallion transformers and other tweaks.They really get down low with a lot more dynamics than before.

A lot of electrostatics owners will often chose pure Class A amplifiers to drive the load these speakers command. The 2500A plays beautifully and doesn't get very hot at the task.

My question is : am I slowly damaging the amp without noticing it ?
andr

Showing 1 response by emorrisiv

I have been using a Hafler 220/ bone stock built from a kit in 1979 to drive my Acoustat 2s.
It has never been touched and sounds fantastic.
That said I would like to go the tube route and I think that it could really reveal some magic,,,,with the right amp.
I have heard and read folks talking about low impedances but I know the "nominal" load for this speaker is 6 ohms.I understand that the lowest impedances occur in the extreme high frequencies, not the bass.
Also I read that current is the key to these speakers. So can someone explain to me why a tube amp is not what I want? Also, the original Acoustats had tube amps for transformers, so there must be something there.
thanks in advance

e