Amp for Martin logan CLS Originals

I agree that tubes are ideal.

If you must use solid state a used Innersound amp or new Sanders Sound amp will work well. They are designed to work with electrostats.

Please go to my system page and, specifically, read the short history of my system (starting in 1990 when I bought the CLS II's (now IIz).

Since I strongly disagree with about 80% of the previous posts' contents, I'd rather not add to them; however if you have specific questions about my system's evolution, my choices, etc, I'd be happy to respond -- either here or offline.

Neil
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Nsgarch, I understand. Thanks for the help.

The first thing you need to understand is the original CLS is a completely different animal than the CLSII and IIz. I ran the original CLS with 60 watt tube monos and they played loud enough that snare drum wacks would make you jump. They also produced enough bass with 90 watt tube monos to jar my listening room door.

Keep in mind these speakers are not designed to be used on stands. The stands raise the speaker off the floor distancing the speaker from a critical room boundry and thereby affecting the bass in a negative way. The speaker is designed to be tilted back for proper tonal balance just like Maggies, however, the stands do not allow for this. Once the speaker has been placed on stands the tonal character and presentation has been completely altered and not for the better in my opinion.

Rrog, your information is incorrect. If you'll send me your email, I will scan/attach a copy of a MartinLogan factory memo to CLS owners dated Feb. 12, 1992. Among other things, the factory recommends (and explains the reasons for) the use of Arcici stands, co-developed with ML.

This memo also documents the technical evolution from the CLS-I through the CLS-IIz. I owned all four versions, and the only one with a performance glitch (in the upper midrange) was the CLS-II, quickly remedied with the "a" mod. But it still dipped to .6 ohms at 18KHz. The IIz mod took care of that. You can drive all four at 4 ohms, with 100W (+/--) of tube power, or 200W (+/--) of ss power.

Arcici no longer makes CLS stands; but Sound Anchor currently makes much better ones (IMO), and the current price is ony $575/pr. (I think ;--)
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