SEEKING AN AMPLIFIER THAT MATES WELL WITH MARTIN LOGAN 11 A IMPRESSIONS

I would experiment with moving speakers at least another foot closer to the wall.  Play with toe in and the rake, too.  The flooring and method of support are important, too.  Don't rush to spend money on an amplifier just to potentially continue with the same issues.  Additional resources are the ML owners manual and some youtube videos.  If you put some time and effort into this project, you will be rewarded!

I have a pair of ESL11As, which replaced a pair of Montis. I sit about the same distance away as you do, and the speakers are 9’ apart. I have a somewhat larger room, and the back of the speaker bass box is c. 2’ away from the front wall and the speakers about 4’ from each side wall.

I use a pair of Benchmark AHB2s in mono mode, driven from an RME ADI-2 PRO FS R BE and volumio/RPi4 for digital and a Miyajima Madake plus a SOTA Acrux for vinyl. I also have a pair of subs.

Cable is a pair of Mogami speaker cables about 6' long.

The sound is absolutely not anaemic, it is, in fact, amazingly dynamic.

I own the same speakers, driven by an Accuphase E470 integrated (a good match IMO), and the sound I'm experimenting is definitely not anemic either, despite the fact that Accuphase is not a brand renowned for stunning dynamics. So:

1. I have the PKB kit (microphone for Anthem ARC room correction) and don't like what it does to the music. Bass gets too light, rounded and lacking punch, even the midrange seems to inexplicably lose some of the wonderful immediacy of the electrostatics. Tinkering with the software  made for some improvements, but not enough. I'd skip the built in room correction and play a bit with the deep pass potentiometers in the back of the speakers. The +/- 2dB at 150 (200?) Hz switch was also better left untouched in my case.

2. I'm also using the speakers close to the back wall (back of the speakers is at the minimum manufacturer approved distance to the back wall, i.e. 20 cm), but that is the long wall in my case.

3. Do experiment with those drapes! You want that some of that back wave absorbed and some of it dispersed. This is hugely important! In fact, the whole room acoustics is always important but it is essential with the electrostatics IME. What I'm about to say will raise some eyebrows but trust me, I'm not making this claim lightly: the room treatments / acoustics are in this case much more important than the amplifier used! I've spent countless hours tinkering with the room. The back firing bass driver should aim at the bare wall while the panel should "see" thick absorbing material, but NOT covering the whole back wall etc. Experimenting is the way.

4. These are picky and revealing speakers. All the other components of your system should have good synergy with them, not only the amplifiers - the cables and power outlets (I'd avoid anything with silver or with rhodium plating), the source (I'm using a rich sounding Accuphase CD/SACD player / DAC, I'm not sure your CChord isn't too clinical for the Logans...) etc. My dealer repeatedly said that a matching source is even more important that a matching amplifier for these speakers.

Good luck and keep us posted!

I had the Montis (similar to 11A) paired with Rogue ST-100/RP1 and ST-100/RP5 combos and then upgraded to Pass XA30.8 with XP12 preamp. While the Rogue gear sounded good, the Pass combo took it to another level. Rogue sounded a but dry. 
I heard the 11As several times and they sounded warmer to me than the Montis. 
I would suggest either the Simaudio Moon (360 or 760) or Pass X series amps. 
One other suggestion if you want to try it on the cheap is to replace the stock JJ tubes in the RP1 with Brimar CV4003 from Upscale Audio. I found the JJ tubes in the RP1 to be quiet but not very engaging sounding. The Brimars bring out more sparkle and kick up the PRAT. 
 

You could try the Kinki Studios EX-M1+   It is an SS amp that cumes as close to tube sound as I've found and mates well with Chord DAC.  It also has replacable op amps so you can do some "rolling" trying different brands.  has plenty of beef to drive the electrostats. I am using it currently on my ancient pair of CLS.

Jerry

@carlsbad2 who sells Kinki Stidios besides AliExpress? Any dealers? It looks interesting.

The way to buy is directly from KS on their website.  https://www.kinki-studio.com/

That is how I bought mine.

BTW, the name Kinki is the owner's wife's first name.

If you are in Socal you are welcome to listen to mine in my home or even take it home if you want to make 2 trips.  It is in my backup system.

Thanks,

jerry

Try the Orchard Audio Starkrimson Stereo Ultra. @orchardaudio is running an amp tour. You get a week to try it for FREE. Merely pay shipping to the next person on the list. The Absolute Sound did a video using it to drive Magneplanars. Contact Leo at Orchard Audio to join the fun.

I’m not associated with OA, but did buy the amp after participating in the tour. It is an amazing amp. Can’t go wrong with a free demo. I haven't heard it with Martin Logan. Unfortunately, my friend passed away before we got to audition my amp with his ML CLS. 

Thanks,

aldnorab

Thanks for the mention @aldnorab.

If anybody is interested in joining the tour please see here:
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/orchard-audio-starkrimson-stereo-ultra-amp-tour.1148415/page-24#post-32067277

They sounded very good at my local dealer driven by McIntosh

@carlsbad2 thanks for the info and the offer! I’m jersey. But if I’ll be in your neck of the woods I’ll hit you up!

coda amplifiers sound amazing we haves parasound jc5 plus trade in comming in

the coda .8 will do the trick it is watm dynamic and images great made in CA

Dave and Troy

Audio intellect nj

Coda And parasond dealers

ps we are in nj as well

Magtech works well, better than most.

My main system speakers are Impressions.  I use a Classe CA-D200 (class D, 200wpc/8Ω amp paired with an ARC LS7 (tube) preamp and I've never had the urge to change either. The CA-D200 provides excellent bass control, silky midrange, and effortless high frequencies. 

I do highly recommend taking your time with speaker placement, use songs that you love and know by heart - it's time consuming but should be fun! For reference, my room is 13.5 wide by 25 feet deep with an 8 foot ceiling. My speaker placement is (center of front of speaker) 5 feet from the front wall and a 3.5 feet from the side walls.  I sit about 8 feet from the rear wall of the room.

Look at the AM Acoustics room mode simulator. Try to keep your speakers and listening locations out of the lowest room modes.

While I’m a big fan of Luxman, the uber ESL amp is a Sanders Magtech. Definitely the opposite of anemic with ESLs.

PS - Huge fan of CJ pres and amps but have never seen a CJ amp do well with an ESL.  Typically keeping a tube pre and solid state amp is the starting recipe for a great ESL experience, though there are exceptions and people who will naysay this, but most people who try this out are happy.