improving my system, please help

The fact that you are looking to improve your system tells me that you are not happy with the sound that you are getting. While there is a lot of merit to the suggestion that you live with the present system for a while, my initial impression is that your system is not a well balanced one, according to the system building philosophy that I, and I stress "I", think should be followed.

The more revealing that the speakers are, the more clearly they will tell you about the weaknesses, and merits, of your electronics. Put simply, and IMHO, your electronics are not good enough for your chosen speakers. Electrostats(ML)are very revealing, and while I am not familiar with your amp, my fairly extensive experience with different brands of ESL's has taught me that THEY LIKE TUBE AMPLIFIERS. Others might disagree. The CJ pre, even the PV5, is really too colored and far, far, better is available for not a lot of money.

As far as subs go, DON'T GO THERE! Not until you have a better handle on the core of your system. Been there, done that with ESL's; a major can of worms. With the right electronics, I can't imagine really needing one.

I'd like to respectfully suggest that you are trying to do too much too quickly, best of luck and keep us posted.

while I find my current system very enjoyable to listen to, I know that I will enjoy it much more if it sounded better. I know of no one else with a system nearly as good as mine, so I am at a loss for what can be obtained. My only experience with tube amps was a AR that I borrowed for a few days back when I had Snell A2's. I was very unimpressed. while they show no advantages, there was a definate lack of bass extension compared to the SS amp I was using at the time (Eagle 2). Bass extension is a definately an area that I would improve. I am certainly willing to try one again with the ML's. It seems like beyond the obvious need for room treatments and dedicated lines, that most are recommending a preamp upgrade.

Make no assumptions as to what a tube amp might sound like driving ML's, based on your experience with Snells; apples and oranges, impedance load wise. In my experience, using electrostats, tube amps always seemed much more natural in the area of dynamics and alivenes,and much more dimensional sounding as well. Solid state amps tended to sound much drier and thin as opposed to full bodied, like the real thing. I'll never forget, quite a few years ago, the first time I tried an all tube amp to drive my Stax F-81's, granted, a more difficult speaker to drive than your ML's. I had been very disappointed with the sound that I was getting driving the Stax's with a Moscode 600, 300(!)watts, solid state output stage. A friend brought over a lowly, stock Dynaco ST70(!!!???); those 35 tube watts made the Stax's sound like I had never heard them before: sweet, pure, dimensional, engaging, if not very loud. I currently drive a different pair of Stax's with a pair of Manley Reference 200 triode monos, and the combination is woderfull. Obviously, there are great solid state as well as tube amps out there, and some might prefer solid state; I'm simply trying to encourage you to not rule out tubes, as you might find the "magic" with that combination. Yes, the Eagle was known for it's great bass response, but a good, modern tube amp should give you satisfactory bass response. I stand by my comments concerning subs and your pre. Best of luck

crossing over subs to the m-l sl-3 is a whole lot different than crossing over to cls's or some other full-range esl. the sub is being crossed over to a dynamic driver w/the sl-3's: m-l awreddy botched the integration of the e-stat w/the dynamic driver themselves! ;~)

the trick to crossing subs to e-stats (or any speakers, imho), is to use a *pair* of passive subs, a hi-quality *flexible* active x-over, w/steep-enuff slopes, crossed-over as low as possible.

ymmv, doug s.