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MartinLogans and Cary CAD-805s / electrostats and SET amps

Hello, Audiogon!
I have a pair of MartinLogan Montis speakers that are currently powered by a pair of vintage Denon monoblocks.  I have an opportunity to pickup a pair of Cary CAD-805s at a great price.  Does anyone have experience/have auditioned such combo?  If not, what about generally speaking electrostats powered by SET amps?  Montis are rated @ 91db as far as sensitivity goes, so powerwise 50W will go a long way, but what about the sound/presentation?  Thanks!
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georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 

Yes, unless you want it to act like a tone control and give colorations.
Cheers George
clio09
3,355 posts
 
A tube amp that works well with Martin Logan speakers is the Music Reference RM-200. It was designed to handle loads down to 1 ohm.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
As clio metioned there is that tube amp the RM200 MkII from Roger (rip), which has down to 1ohm speaker taps the only trouble is as you go down in "ohmic taps" so does the output wattage.
The 2ohm may be fine to drive the ESL panels, but you "may not" get the wattage needed for loud'ish level's. (try before buying)
And sadly the HF frequency response takes a bit of a nose dive from the 2ohm tap https://www.stereophile.com/images/1211RM2fig01.jpg

Cheers George

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Sorry didn't mention, the 2ohm tap is the bottom dashed line
https://www.stereophile.com/images/1211RM2fig01.jpg

Cheers George
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,841 posts
 
Alternatively you can use a set of ZEROs (www.zeroimpedance.com) which will allow you to use a tube amplifier and the highs will be just fine.

The high frequencies do not need a lot of power. but the overall sensitivity of this speaker is low enough that I would certainly question the use of the Cary- even with the ZEROs it might not be enough power!
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