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What kind of power wakes up electrostatic speakers

Is it wpc, high current, both or what? I've been aud-itioning amps with the Final Electrostatic 0.3's (86 db sensitivity). The manufacturer suggests a minimum of 50 wpc to get them going. So far, I've tried a Nakamichi Stasis (150wpc) and an Electrocompaniet AW250DMB(250 wpc).With both,the speakers sounded dull, yet the Parasound HCA 3500 (250wpc & high current)made them sing sweet as can be.
Could somebody be kind enought to explain to me how this stuff works. I need to purchase an amp to drive the Final 0.4's (the big brother to the 0.3's). I'd love to know what
to look for.
I appreciate in advance your help. The source for this
was a Pioneer PD S95.
steakster
tweety
41 posts
 
If you are looking for a amp designed for electrostatics the Innersound amps are made for this . They have a Kilowatt Monobloc rated at 1,000 watts at 8 ohms that will really wake up your speakers. WWW.Innersound.net They also have smaller rated amps too.
angela100
435 posts
 
Tweety speaks the truth! and whoever heard of ESL's at EIGHT ohms, so just THINK of the possibilites!
tweety
41 posts
 
Innersound also has a electrostatic amp at 2,000 volt-amps at $3000.00 which is a lot less money than the kilowatt monobloc hope this helps
bear
141 posts
 
The Innersound amps are pretty nice for the $$... you might
research their heritage though...

There are several ESLs with a benign load impedance curve. The Acoustat stands out as one without any dips below 6 ohms. It all depends upon the drive circuit. I think the Audiostatic has a patented circuit that has similar benefits.

The issue is where do you match the "cells" along their 6dB/oct slope from low freq/high impedance to high freq/low
impedance.

The idea is to NOT match them at one point but at at least two, keeping the impedances in hand... that's what the better full range panels do. The multiway ones (Quad 57) do that automatically...
sean
6,231 posts
 
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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