midrange forwardness

Chris,

ATC will give you close to the best "electrostatic sound" with a tilt towards the lower midrange that is missing on some panels. Not as perfect in the midrange as you can get from the best panels but overall much better dynamically (not laid back) and an excellent all round choice because of the bass and treble. Gordon Holt used large Soundlabs for many years and more recently got active SCM 50's. Both are excellent speakers but ATC is more dynamic and forward, and seems to have more emphasis in the lower mids (male vocals come out very realistic).

Get a parametric equalizer.

Hi Dazzdax,

I haven't personally heard the Soundlabs or the Gruensch amps, but most electrostatic speakers have an inverse relationship between impedance and frequency or at least they rise in the bass and likely drop in the treble. If the Gruensch is a SS amp, it's possible your bass and lower midrange would be leaner while the highs more pronounced. If the Gruensch is typical tube amp, disregard what I just wrote.

Good luck,

Jordan

It sounds like you're describing the difference between SS and tube amps. Have you thought about trying tubes? It might be worth exploring. Personally, I haven't found an SS amp that gives the kind of midrange warmth that tubes do.

Check out Soundlab's FAQ:

What is the Minimum Power that you Recommend?

I personally recommend 100 watts minimum. However, we have customers that use 30 watt single-ended triode amplifiers and find them to be satisfactory. The equivalent one-meter sensitivity of our speakers (measured at 4 meters) is approximately 88 to 100 db (depending on the equalization settings). This is typical of the more efficient high-end speakers.

Which type of Amplifier works best, Tubes or Solid-State?

The real question is, which do you prefer? The high-impedance of our speakers in the lower frequencies (where the musical spectrum is most demanding) results in a greatly reduced current drain from the amplifier. So, both types of amplifiers run cooler, exhibit less distortion and last longer. Our speakers are very neutral and are not prejudiced, so what you prefer sounds best.

Thank you for your responses. Jordan, as you stated (and as stated in the Soundlab FAQ's) the Soundlabs have raising impedance in the lower frequencies. I've always thought that power amplifiers in general have no trouble driving speakers with higher impedance. The problem is often with low to very low (like the 0.3Ohms(!) in case of the old Apogee) impedances. So why would the Soundlab sound relatively louder in the treble with a solid state amplifier?

Chris