tube amp dilemma with electrostats

Just a few technical details on this setup(I'm the guy that owns the Mac & ST-70). First, the amps are stock. The tubes in the Mac are (in sequence)Mullard, Siemans, Amperex, Telefunken, Gold Lion. We did swap out to Philips\ECG 6550's. The St-70 has Westinghouse 7199's,orig dynaco EL34's(Matsushita I beleive)and Mullard GZ34. We also swapped out to a ss rectifier in the ST70, found it got a bit bright as well. Maybe we're looking at compression from the tube rectifier and interpreting this as "warm"??? on the Ascents? I too was quite surprised to hear how bright the Mac and Ascents sounded together.

Thanks very much again for your responses guys. It appears the same kind of recommendations are coming up on amp type.It will be hard for me to demo an amp before buying one so thats why i'm looking for a good place to start but i see that it is probably going to take some buying and selling of amps along with some tube rolling before i get to where i want to be.Iknow i'm getting stupid now but if i'm going to a tube amp , i kind of want to have one that is also appealing to the eye , with the arc the tubes are not exposed are they not.Thanks Boa2 for the info on douglikes audio , i will get in touch with him and see what he has come up with.
Also question for jeffery,why do you not like warm and thick is that not i should be looking for in tube gear.Currently with my ascents being driven by the anthem p5 the sound is incredible but in 2 channel the music is so razor sharp it is almost sterile.

Glad you joined us in the topic Mike as you know all the technical stuff in your equipment that i would not be able to answer.

Hi Les, looks like you and I are on a similar quest. In my case, I've had my SL3 for nearly 5 years, and I'm currently running the most satisfying setup to date. Before I go over the gory details, I think it's fair to say that the recs above of the VT100 and various CJ amps are very wise. The benefit of going with one of those larger amps is that you will probably only need one. My current solution is a bit different.

I am biamping with a SF power 1 running the bass drivers and an Audio Note SET 300B based amp on the panels. The amp only works with the panel since I've inserted the Zero autoformers from Paul Speltz. The Zeros raise the impedence of the panel by two fold and with the SET amp they make some sweet music.

I'm not quite there yet, and I may never get all the way there with this setup. For one thing, I think getting rid of the passive xover and using an active one could help. Also, using a Push Pull amp on the bass and single ended on the panels may be causing an audible temporal issue. In my room -- kinda difficult -- a small timing error in the bass may not be noticable. But, these are things I plan on tackling before ditching this basic setup.

Not sure if this is what you're looking for in terms of simplicity--or lack of it! But one thing is for sure, I have never before had the resolution and texture that I have now. Is it a matter of single ended operation? Triode? A seriously modded/tubed amp? Maybe, but it works! My quest is not over, but at least now I can relax and listen while I consider my next move.

Hope this helps. Write me for more details if you'd like.

Douglikesaudio, were there any negatives experienced when you added the autoformers? I'm especially interested in your insights because you've got electrostats. I've read that they may smooth out some of the detail, resulting in a more euphonic but less revealing sound...your thoughts?