I am going to second Scott_w's recommendation for a Sanders Sound Magtech amp. It's especially made for electrostatic speakers@jasonsim Sanders loudspeakers use a conventional woofer for the bass. In this way they avoid the high impedance in the bass that is often associated with ESLs. It is that reason why the Sanders amp works with ESLs; and because of the low overall impedance of the Martin Logans, why it works with your speakers. Other ESLs such as the Sound Labs challenge the amp as it does not make power into higher impedance load, like most solid state amps.
Switch preamp?
I've been an audiophile for over 5 decades and consequently collected a hodgepodge of equipment that I've mixed and matched with a degree of luck. My current listening room system, and most likely my last, consists of AR's (ss) LS10, Krell's KSA 250S, Martin Logan's 13a -- my latest addition and the reason for my question -- and AS Liveline's chord and speaker wire. I listen to most genres equally in CD, vinyl and Tidal.
It is my understanding that electrostat speakers perform best when utilizing tubes. I am not prepared to switch out my Krell but would consider the Audio Research since it's solid state.... and the clicker has gone missing. Ages ago I owned a Conrad Johnson with another system and have fond memories of its mellow sound.
So, does it make sense to replace the AR with tubes spending in the vicinity of $5k in the used market, or do I have a gem and should leave well enough alone? I am happy with the sound but these are my first electrostats and do not know what they're capable of. The closest audio store is 5 hours away so I count on smarter minds than mine to guide me. Thank you.
It is my understanding that electrostat speakers perform best when utilizing tubes. I am not prepared to switch out my Krell but would consider the Audio Research since it's solid state.... and the clicker has gone missing. Ages ago I owned a Conrad Johnson with another system and have fond memories of its mellow sound.
So, does it make sense to replace the AR with tubes spending in the vicinity of $5k in the used market, or do I have a gem and should leave well enough alone? I am happy with the sound but these are my first electrostats and do not know what they're capable of. The closest audio store is 5 hours away so I count on smarter minds than mine to guide me. Thank you.
Showing 2 responses by atmasphere
I use to have an older Krell 200 FPB stereo amp. When I added a tube pre, I had to open the amp up and remove a small jumper(manual switch) connector. Something about tubes damaging the amp. The information was in the manual but the location was not so I called Krell and I performed the job with the tech over the phone.Despite Krell's remonstrations this bit about tubes damaging the amp is a myth. Its based entirely on a single customer's preamp having a failed coupling capacitor; which is the sort of thing that can blow up an amp whether the preamp is tube or solid state! Regarding the ability of tubes to drive ESLs and Martin Logans in particular: The issue is that of impedance- Martin Logan makes ESLs (which normally work best with tubes) but to try to get better solid state compatibility (and thus a larger market) they keep their impedances down. The typical Martin Logan is 4 ohms in the bass and 0.7 ohms at 20KHz. You can correct this with a set of ZEROs (www.zeroimpedance.com) and then a wide variety of tube amps could be used. Of course, many tube amps will work with this speaker if you use the 4 ohm tap even without the ZEROs. |