What kind of power wakes up electrostatic speakers

Back about 15 years ago ( WOW, was it really that long ago ??? ), J. Gordon Holt found that the only two SS amps that he had tried that could drive Acoustat's well were the Acoustat TNT-200 and a Threshold. I will second that nomination and also add Perreaux to the list. Whether or not any of these amps are to your personal liking in terms of sonic characteristics may be another story though. Sean
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Hahahah... Bear, you bring up a very good and interesting point. It is quite possible for an amp to drive a difficult load like a walk in the park, but the bottom line is, does it sound good doing it ??? : ) Like everything else in life, there are a LOT of factors that add up to make the big picture, not just one or two. Sean
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Bear, i have seen impedance charts for Acoustat's that show a dip below 1 ohm at appr 10 KHz. From other charts that i have seen, this is pretty normal for a LOT of E-stat's. While the dips may not be quite as extreme or at the same exact frequency, they all tend to frustrate amps at high freq's. The saving grace of all of this is that there is not a ton of recorded info up that high and what is recorded is not of a high current demand like low freq's.

I would also think that a speaker with an impedance of 6+ ohms ( even with a reactive phase angle ) would not be too tough for a decently built amp to deal with. The fact that Acoustat's put MANY, MANY amps to shame and can suck most "high powered" monsters dry somewhat contradicts your previous statements. What i'm trying to get at is, what info did you base your nominal 6 ohm impedance figure on ? As mentioned, i'm going by the test measurements that i've seen and the experiences of more than a few Acoustat owners. Sean
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Bear, i'll see if i can dig up the info on that specific Acoustat. As to running Acoustat's with receiver's, we've all seen systems that worked but were far from optimized. In fact, i think that most of us still own them : )

Pls1, while i haven't had a chance to look at the Strickland paper that you mentioned, i have seen that website. It is a wealth of information for fans of E-stat's. Sean
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Scotty: I think Bear meant that one might want to do some research and find out who actually builds the amp for them i.e. Innersound does not build their own amp or preamp. As far as i know, it is built by Coda for them. On the same hand, Coda also builds the amps / preamps for Legacy too. Something about Coda and speaker manufacturers i guess....

Quadophile: While i don't know if the 606 is similar in design to some of the older Quad amps, the use of "current dumpers" helps the amp load in a more linear fashion to speakers with wild impedance curves. As such, the power transfer ( or "apparent volume" ) seems to be more consistent regardless of impedance or frequency. From what i've read about the 606, it appeared to be of similar design to what i'm talking about but with a "beefier" power supply.

Krell and other "brute" SS amps simply respond to the varying impedances at different frequencies in a more mechanized manner. It is possible for such an amp to be delivering BIG wattage at X frequency while only being able to muster a few watts at another frequency at any given time due to the impedance. As such, the output levels won't be as consistent due to the loading characteristics that the amp sees varying so much.

With an E-stat, it is not so much high current as it is high voltage over most of the range. Since tubes are more of a voltage amp, they tend to work pretty well. Only problem is, some E-stats drop in impedance, so they need a lot of current. Finding an amp that can deliver both high voltages AND high currents and do so at any given time and frequency with any level of reactance / impedance thrown at it would put you in "E-stat heaven" : ) In effect, you would have the effects of a tube amp that sees the constant impedance of an output transformer and the current of a BIG solid state amp as it needs it on demand. No simple trick and that is why some of these speakers are hard to find suitable amps for. Sean
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From what i've been told, both Sound Labs & Martin Logan ( as companies and manufacturers ) have ordered or already have the new Parasound JC-1's in their reference systems. As i mentioned in another thread before, if i had the money, i'd have a pair of these mono-blocks too.... : ) Sean
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Hmmmm.... Thanks for the info Btstrg. I'll have to check with my sources and see what the deal is. Sean
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I don't know about the Bel Canto's or Spectron's but the PS HCA-2 does not respond very linearly as impedance is changed. Both frequency response and distortion are effected as impedance varies. Sean
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To corroborate what Bob stated, ML is in fact using the JC-1's as their reference amplification within their test lab / listening room. Even in a large room, ML stated that these amps are fully capable of providing any SPL range that they desire and can do so with absolute control and do so while sounding superb. Sean
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PS... I posted this not to jump on the band wagon, but simply as a "witness" to verify / support the statements being made. Some might feel that such information was tainted coming from Bob or that Bob was blowing his own horn. To clarify things, Bob was involved with designing the amps, primarily selecting the individual components used to voice the sonic signature of the amp. For the record, i do not own or sell any Parasound gear or the JC-1's in specific. Having said that, i would like to own a pair of these amps and am accepting funds on a donation basis so that i can afford to buy a pair or two : )