Phono Stage upgrade to complement Dohmann Helix One Mk 2

@mijostyn @lewm 

So, it sounds like all three of us have SoundLab ESL's!  That's quite unusual.  Insofar as bass in SoundLabs is concerned, I would have to agree with @lewm .  I've had the Atma-Sphere MA-2's hooked up to my speakers, and while the sound is quite pure, and the mid-range is perfect, they do have difficulty producing bass in the speakers.  It seems that the SoundLabs perform very well without subwoofers with my amplifier.  But, it appears we are veering off topic. . . 

Unfortunately, we live in opposite poles of the country, as I'm in Florida, so I don't know that we'll be able to compare components easily.  

@mijostyn 

Does that track for resonance frequency on the Test LP inform you which frequency is being played; if not, how is it determined which frequency the stylus is vibrating to? 
Thanks. 

@drbond , Yes of course. It announces every frequency as it goes down and has two tracks, one for vertical resonance and the other horizontal.

I do not have to worry about MA2’s making bass. I cross to subs digitally at 100 hz, 48 dB/oct. It is not about bass. It is about distortion and realistic volume levels. If you play a Bill Evans record, say Waltz for Debby at the volume the music had that night at the Village Vanguard, without subwoofers the SoundLabs will crap  a brick regardless of what amp you are using to drive them.

I am down in Florida all the time. My sister lives just north of Miami and my step mother just south of Miami. You never come to New England? You need to come up the second week in October and see the colors. In Florida all you have is endless flatness, a few palm trees and hurricanes not to mention DisneyLand.

"If you play a Bill Evans record, say Waltz for Debby at the volume the music had that night at the Village Vanguard, without subwoofers the SoundLabs will crap  a brick regardless of what amp you are using to drive them."

With all respect, this is just wrong. Even though I am sick of "Waltz for Debby", though never sick of Bill Evans. And while I am sure there may be a rendition of WfD on one of the live VV performance albums (I’d have to check), he also recorded it in at least one studio session. Here’s where I debate whether to bring up the modification I made to the SL crossover that improved both efficiency and the impedance curve to suit our OTL amplifiers. The 845PX can reproduce the lowest frequencies of the bass player (Paul Motian?) on WfD at very satisfying SPLs. What it cannot do is blast you out of your seat on a hard rock recording, which I am sure Mijo’s subwoofers CAN do. And my Atma OTLs are more like MA1s than MA2s in terms of power output. (They are neither, use type 7241 triodes as output tubes on MA2 chassis’ using MA2 power transformers.)

@mijostyn 

I'm in central Florida, between Tampa and Orlando, probably about 3-4 hours from Miami.  If you're interested in listening to the Dohmann, and the CH Precision P1, just PM me.  If you can bring your (soon to be new) Channel D along to A-B, that would be fun!  

Dear @mijostyn  : "  without subwoofers the SoundLabs will crap  a brick regardless of what amp you are using to drive them. "

You are rigth and is my experience not only with the Soundlab and other electrostatic . Electrostatic speakers could start to fail between 35hz-40hz and down listening at live MUSIC SPL and as you said it's a matters of distortion levels and that's why any passive dynamic speakers needs to works with subwoofers no matters what.

To handled " accurately " that  low bass subwoofers is a must and have not substitute.

R.