Which Amp for ML Ascent i?

I have the Ascents,and I power them with the Pass X-150. Its a great match. Its very musical with plenty of slam,and very detailed. If you can spend 5K, the X-250 or X-350 would be a incredible match with your Ascents.

I second Bingaman above and vote for tubes. From your post it's clear that you are looking for the attributes most commonly attributed to tubes. For example, you mention that your current gear is "voiced like a Conrad-Johnson tubed preamp. The NuVista has an analog-like quality." You go on to say you want a "smooth, glare free sound". Best way to get those things is with a tube amp.

On my SL3 I run a Sonic Frontiers power 1 at 50 watts. I have a room with huge amounts of space and I don't lack for power--even with only 50 watts. Tubes are magical in many ways. Yes, an area where the power is short is in the bass. If you really wanna rock, get the SF power 3 monos. More power than your neighbors will ever let you unleash.

The moral of the story is, there are two kinds of people...

Greetings,

I would like to thank you all for answering my post. I appreciate it!

One of the amplifiers on my list has already hit the dust. After carefully reading the reviews about the Plinius, I have decided that that unit maybe too polite sounding for my tastes and that I don't want to deal with its class A output and all the heat it will generate, which could compromise the reliability of the unit over time.

I probably won't go in the direction of Aragon as S7horton suggests for the Martin Logan, and that also includes the very fine amps made by Nelson Pass as suggested by Krelldog. I have a lot of respect for Pass and his gear; he's a great designer. But I'm looking for something a little more warm and rich, even if it means a loss of detail.

When I auditioned the Ascents using a Primare A30 integrated amp (100 watts into 8 ohms and 180 watts into 4 ohms), the sound was precise, detailed, fast, relatively dynamic, and nicely layered from left to right. Soundstage depth could have been a little greater; and there was sufficient body to hold my interest. However, the combination was a little too aggressive and there was too much detail. I could hear the musicians turn the page, shuffle their feet, and squirm in their chairs. When I go to the symphony, I usually don't hear that kind of detail, except for an occasional cough in the audience. So if I were to lose some of that detail, I wouldn't miss it.

Bingaman and Douglikesaudio may be right: the ultimate answer may be tubes. I have just learned that Rogue has introduced a new amp called the Zeus, which produces 200 watts per channel and weighs 200 lbs! And it only costs $6,000, which has to be a bargain for a statement amp! So what I might do is to bi-amp the Ascents using a solid state device for the bass and a tubed unit for the mids and highs. That's a real possibility. But I will need to see if my preamp can handle the two amps and I am going to have to make sure that both amps have the same gain setting, as Martin Logan suggests.

Anyway, thanks for helping an old guy out. I appreciate the feedback. Your suggestions have helped me sort out my amp questions.

Happy listening,

I would suggest reading the article of amps at roger_russell.com. He was the head of McIntosh research for years.

Switching to tubes on my ML Aerius was the most mind-blowing upgrade. Tubes and electrostats are really special together, and worth extra consideration.