tube amps and electrostatics

There's no question that when driving the many ESL's that have impedances descending from high values at low frequencies to very low values at upper treble frequencies nearly all solid state amps will provide an increased emphasis of the upper treble in comparison to nearly all tube amps (assuming the amps being compared are operated within the limits of their voltage, current, power, and thermal capabilities).

Which of those two kinds of amplifier/speaker interactions results in the most correct acoustic output from the speaker is a separate question, however.

Regards,
-- Al

12-04-13: Frogman
OK, George, you win; clearly, I don't know what live music sounds like.

Hopefully Frogman won't mind if I provide some perspective on his comment by stating what he is too modest to say, that he is an accomplished professional musician in the classical, jazz, and other genres.

Regards,
-- Al

Ralph & Bruce & Mapman, thanks very much for the nice words.

Frogman, great post! I agree completely. Richness, body, and dimensionality are terms I find myself using frequently, I believe in the same sense as you are using the terms fullness and image density. And although I can't formulate a meaningful technical explanation, and I suspect that a good explanation would be a complex one involving a multitude of factors, my perception over the years has been that there is a tendency for those qualities to often be compromised in systems that are designed and assembled in a manner that results in flat frequency response being a leading priority.

Best regards,
-- Al

Bruce (Bifwynne), the lengthy response Ralph (Atmasphere) provided above to your last post provides, IMO, a nuanced, balanced, and technically sound perspective on the issue, derived obviously from extensive experience as well as technical expertise.

Here is another idea to consider, though: Supplement your dynamic speakers and the ARC amplifier with a set of Stax electrostatic headphones and a dedicated Stax headphone amplifier. That's what I do, and I really enjoy having the two different perspectives on what a given recording has to offer. As well as the fact that headphones eliminate (and facilitate assessment of) room issues, and allow me to listen at times when listening via speakers would conflict with my wife's activities.

Just a thought. Best,
-- Al

George, your post just above quotes my use of the phrase "increased emphasis of the upper treble" for the second time in this thread, and both times you've omitted the words which immediately followed that phrase in the same sentence (see the second of my posts dated 12-4-13), which were "in comparison to nearly all tube amps."

That sentence says nothing whatsoever about whether the acoustic response having greater emphasis of the upper treble or the acoustic response having lesser emphasis of the upper treble will be more flat, or will be more musically correct (however that may be defined). As I indicated in the subsequent sentence, those are separate questions.

Numerous opinions relating to those separate questions have been expressed during the course of this thread by highly knowledgeable people, who in some cases drew careful, informed, and informative distinctions among different kinds of ESLs. As I see it further debate on those questions would amount to repetition of what has already been said, and would therefore be pointless.

I had read Mr. Sanders' paper, btw, and without getting into specifics (which would necessitate a very long post) I'll just say that it doesn't change any of my opinions, at least with regard to ESLs other than his own.

Regards,
-- Al