Electrostatics and tubes

Have you seen the new FINAL brand ESLS.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisb90bc-final-electrostatic-esl-hybrids-m3-m5-m7-innovative-design-exquisite-high-resolution-planars

@russ69 from what I'm reading their speakers aren't really reliable and customer service with this company is severely lacking.

@willywonka Where are you reading that the Final speakrs aren't reliable?  I believe the new M35 comes with a 5 year warranty.  Distribution in the US just started so nobody really has experience with them here.

@hotrod6871: The first thing to do is understand that---as @fuzztone told you---Maggies are not electrostatic speakers (and visa versa of course), and the two differ in important ways. What they both are, however, is dipole planar speakers. Dipole as in sound emanating from both the front and rear of the panels, planar as in sound being produced by not dynamic/cone or horn drivers, but by large (with the exception of ESL tweeters like the 3" x 5" ones made by RTR), thin, flat sheets of Mylar. The difference between Maggies (and other planar-magnetic loudspeakers. Magnepan is not alone in making them. See below) and ESL’s is in how the Mylar is set in motion. A google search will explain it all.

If it is Maggies you are considering, you should know that they present a 3-4 ohm load to the power amp, and are very insensitive: 83dB or thereabouts. The load is almost purely resistive, unlike ESL’s, which are in some cases very reactive. The original QUAD ESL is one such case; it presents as low as about 2 ohms up to 50 ohms to the amp, so is highly-amplifier sensitive. The QUAD is not for those new to dipoles, one reason being they are very limited in maximum SPL capability. The speaker is really, really great for "small" music.

But to answer your question, yes, the power needs of Maggies is emormous (I’ve owned three pair in my life, one currently). Depending on the size and sound characteristics of your listening room, and your SPL listening preferences, 125 watts may be marginal (though there are many happy owners of the Maggie/ARC amp combo). Relieving the panels of reproducing low frequencies by adding a sub or two, along with a x/o filter to split the signal at somewhere between 50Hz-100Hz, will greatly reduce the power requirements of the panels.

It might be a wise idea to give a modestly-priced planar-magnetic speaker a try first. Magnepan designed and offers the LRS for exactly that purpose. Spending $6000 on a pair of MG2.7i is to gamble a fair chunk-o-change on liking them enough to keep them. Have you heard any Maggies? How about ESL’s? I would characterize ESL’s as being a little more transparent than Maggies, though the Magnepan ribbon tweeter used in the MG2.7i narrows the gap. A major complain about Maggies is their slight lack of dynamic expression. They also become somewhat opaque at low listening levels.

If you care to consider another planar-magnetic that isn’t as power hungry as Maggies, there is the Eminent Technology LFT-8b, priced at $3200 (including shipping). The LFT-8 has dual binding posts, one for the panels (180Hz up), the other for the 8" dynamic woofer (180Hz down). That makes bi-amping easy: a solid state amp for the woofers, your M-125’s for the panels. The LFT-8 is rated as an 8 ohm load (with about the same sensitivity as Maggies), but the panel itself is an 11 ohm load, which your amps will love.

Here’s a fairly recent review of the ET LFT-8b by Steve Guttenberg:

https://youtu.be/Uc5O5T1UHkE?si=frZqh9SRwmwjJ0MM

I tested my ML CLS, a very hard speaker to drive, when I had a Decware ZMA (pp, 24 wpc) and it did well in the midrange and highs, where that speaker thrives.  with a subwoofer, it sounded great.  

As others have said, the ESL series should work fine with a moderate power push pull amp.

Jerry