Electrostatics and tubes

@cundare2 - I'm glad you got the old Quad gear restored, though you had to sell it. No images appear- as far as I know, you have to host them through a third party source, and then use the image function in the tool bar above to paste in the url where the images are hosted. 

I did write A Tribute to Quad a few years ago which is online and may have mentioned that I did get to meet Peter Walker at the 1976 CES in Chicago. He was "showing" in a humble little booth at the same time the big electronics firms had revolving displays with attractive female models in bathing suits. Kind of brought home the contrast in approach. These days, I still enjoy the Quad system, though I long recognized their shortcomings. And yes, those modest Quad II amps do sound better (based on sonic memory) with the original Loudspeaker than the more powerful ARC tube stuff I used for a few decades. I found the 63 to be a better all around speaker, but even with the Crosby mods, it did not have that eerie see-through quality of the original. My punchline was that listening to this antiquarian system showed how far we have not come, despite all the technological advances since the '50s.

Best, 

With my ML ESL 11a speakers, I use an audionet V2 amp 250 amps into 8ohm 450 into 2ohms. Works well for me. Tried a premluna tube power amp, preferred the solid state. I think you need to try a few differnt amps to find the sound you enjoy.

I’ve owned 10 different types of Martin Logan’s for 32 years. From 3 different sets of CLSiiz’s to Summitt X’s. The story of current ML’s being inefficient is tied to the fact they were 20 years ago. Not anymore. So buy your 9’s and simply enjoy them. Cased closed. 

MartinLogan ESL speakers highest current draw is in the highest frequencies where there is usually minimal recorded sound which make them easier to drive than expected. Currently driving my ML-11a's with a Mcintosh ma352 with no issues.

Steve Guttenberg followed up his review of the Eminent Technology LFT-8b with a review of the new LFT-8c. In the review he gives his opinion that the 8c is a significant upgrade from the 8b, and that he considers it superior to all Magnepan models, and all ESL's (of which he is not a fan). Here it is:

https://youtu.be/R4vC3V00-3Y?si=stiLs8kZ25TJhRsd