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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
sean
6,231 posts
 
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
>
pls1
432 posts
 
Bear and Sean, the paper I referenced on that website shows the impedance curve for the specific MK 121 interface as well as the details of its implementation. The impedance is below 6 ohms except for the frequency band between 500 and 4000 Hz.
bear
141 posts
 
Yeah... and I looked around for my original brochure and can't seem to find it...

If the curve is the same, then it would explain a lot about why some amps don't do well on the Acoustats...

My recollection was different, but I have not seen that brochure's file around for a number of years.

oh well, "swiss cheese" syndrome is setting in!

:- )
waldhorn
2 posts
 
Hi,
Try to find some Counterpoint power amps. Unfortunately, they are no longer in production so you might have some trouble locating them but it is worth it.
I have two Counterpoint NPS400's (recently upgraded by Mike Elliott, the designer-- he can be reached at altavistaaudio.com) and they sound great. In my experience, bi-amping electrostatic speakers is really the way to go, because they are notoriously inefficient. High capacity power amps really help the speakers to perform to their full potential.
asa
662 posts
 
Bear is right, its current.

I'll probably get some flack here, but driving Quad 989's the Innersound amp sounded , well, brittle - kinda like a Coda amp, who I think makes it for Sanders...

I've seen the Berning ZH270 easily drive a pair of Acoustat 1+1 Medallion transformer elctroststat spkrs - a very tough load. My advice is get the Berning. No big tube hassles either, run warmish not hot, don't weigh much, great reliability - what do you need to know?

If not, and you like SS, the Sim suggestion above looks good.
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