Using tube amp with electrostatic speakers.

LewM,

What part of "I know they're different" did you not catch?  At least you didn't write that I'm full of Baloney again.......Having said that, your explanation of the differences (the differences I acknowledged).....are spot on.

You and others seem to have taken my opinion and tweaked it to say that I say a SS amp is best with Electrostatic, or Magnetic planar for that matter.....It's not really SS versus Tube it's current...  Would a world class 150W tube amplifier sound better than it's identical but smaller stablemate say at 50W.......I guess some would say YES.....I say in most cases, the 150W would sound better.......When you get beyond that....solid state of course becomes prevalent.....I love tubes on electrostatics, and most of the electrostatics I've had, save for the Martin Logans were driven by tubes....but I never had the headroom or effortlessness I reference here.......In the case of the Magnepans I have now.......it's quite different......they simply WILL NOT SING without a couple of hundred watts......they'll make music, but they won't sing....
but when I feed them nearly 2KW into 4OHMS like I have on tap with the Brystons.....everything takes on an effortlessness that's hard to describe......

If one can bi-amp Maggies (or any other magnetic-planar speaker), solid state on bottom and tubes on top is a killer combo. It's the bass drivers that suck up all the current.

bdp24 ...

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I used a pair of "loaner" Atmosphere 60 watt mono amps for a couple of years to drive the Acoustat Four's I used to own. Then I switched to an ARC Classic 60.  The ARC produced better base, the Atmosphere took the honors in the mid-range. Both amps were under powered for the Acoustats. 

On night a friend brought over two of Frank Van Alstine's 250 watt solid state amps with one of Van Alstine's bridging devises. We used high quality IC's to hook everything up.  

We sat in total amazement when those hundreds of watts started driving those huge electrostatic panels. At the time, the room size was about 25 x 40 ... and the room was totally filled with non-distorted sound. No matter how high I cranked the volume control, the speakers and amps went right along with the program.  Haven't heard anything like it ever since. I have to admit, I sometimes pine for that system. 

Damn oregonpapa, that is a BIG room! In the 80's I heard the Acoustat 1+1, 2+2, Three, and Four driven by ARC (D-75 and D-150), but they can use all the power they can get. Same with Maggies, of course.  I'll be setting up a pair of Tympani T-IV's soon, and have an only 200w/ch amp for them, a PS Audio. There are guys throwing 2000 watts into them! But the room is pretty small, so hopefully 200 will be enough for the bass panels. They will be bi-amped, with either a tube or SS 100 watter on top.

Stewart,  I apologize for the tone of my remarks; I was feeling playful, and perhaps that came across as hostility, which was not my intent.  It seems impossible to get my point across to the assemblage, which is simply to re-state that one should make one's own decision on amplifier power and type based on the electrical characteristics of the speaker. Period.  There is no one correct answer that fits all situations. Of course, this goes for any type of speaker.  Sadly, most modern day ESLs are difficult loads for tube amplifiers, not because of the operating principle of an ESL per se but because of crossover design.  Martin-Logan is chief among the guilty.  But they really don't care; they assume you will buy the latest solid state behemoth to drive their speakers.  Try a Quad 57 or a KLH 9 sometime (both nominal 16-ohm loads), and you will know what I'm talking about.

And, since you brought up magnetic/planar speakers, others are now starting to discuss them as if there is any parallel with ESLs.  Apart from size and shape, there is not.  To run a magnepan with a tube amplifier, one should consider using the Zero autoformers.  I used to use Zeros with my Sound Labs, until I got some advice on how to "fix" their fundamental impedance characteristic.