Amplifier for Martin Logan CLS II
Marc Legare
I will perhaps buy a pair of Martin Logan CLS IIZ
I need a good amplifier to drive them. Any suggestions for a good
second hand amp ? I
really like the sound of tubes. Are tube amps better than SS amps on
these speakers ?
Thanks
Marc Légaré
Randy Fishman
amplification. Many people including myself prefer Martin-Logan
speakers with tubes. I've found that SS amplification exacerbates
the cold high end while tubes provide a needed amount of warmth
(albeit at the expense of some lack of control over the bass).
I use a pair of ARC Classic 120 monoblocks. I imagine that a
VT100 or VT200 would also do the trick. The speakers need
something of the order of 80 Watts/channel or more, but these
kind of requirements are always an estimate as amps vary so much.
I've found no dynamic limitations in my room with the acoustic
music that I favor, but these are definitely not the best speakers
for large-scale music, such as big bands and orchestras, which
require the greater impact that dynamic speakers are better at
providing.
Good luck!
Randy
Marc Legare <leg...@globetrotter.net> wrote:
: Hello all
Sergei
the CLS IIz is a pretty awesome speaker, but very difficult to drive.
In my experience with them there were very few amps that can bring
them close to their potential. One is a Threshold, you could probably
find a good deal on a T400 or even older a s550. Also, a pair of
bryston 7B's would work. I personally am a tube owner and still
cannot recommend any tube amp with such a difficult speaker. Good
Luck
Sergei
Fantasy Electronics
http://members.home.net/sergeis/
Gregory Greenman
> Hello all
>
> I will perhaps buy a pair of Martin Logan CLS IIZ
>
> I need a good amplifier to drive them. Any suggestions for a good
> second hand amp ? I
>
> really like the sound of tubes. Are tube amps better than SS amps on
> these speakers ?
>
> Thanks
>
> Marc Légaré
Marc,
I heard a very nice demonstration of the ML CLS II at my local
ML dealer - driven by a pair of AMC tube amps bridged to mono:
with a Sonic Frontier tube front end. Very nice.
Dr. Gregory Greenman
Physicist / Audiophile
Bob Kivi
says...
> Hello all
>
> I will perhaps buy a pair of Martin Logan CLS IIZ
>
> I need a good amplifier to drive them. Any suggestions for a good
> second hand amp ? I
>
> really like the sound of tubes. Are tube amps better than SS amps on
> these speakers ?
>
> Thanks
>
> Marc Légaré
>
I use a Sumo Andromeda III as a backup (when the D115 goes down, which
it does) and the Sumo does quite a nice job (not as warm as the tubes
though)...
Bill Noble
levinson amp (solid state) to drive them and they sound
wonderful -suggest you consider a SS amp and use a tube
pre-amp for the "tube sound"
snip
>
> Marc Legare <leg...@globetrotter.net> wrote:
> : Hello all
Bruce J. Richman
>Hello all
>
>I will perhaps buy a pair of Martin Logan CLS IIZ
>
>I need a good amplifier to drive them. Any suggestions for a good
>second hand amp ?
An excellent choice in speakers, Marc. I own a pair of Martin Logan
CLS II speakers , and drive them with a Conrad Johnson Premier 11A (70
watts/channel - conservatively rated). My preamplifier is a Conrad
Johnson PV-12. Since my listening room is not too big, I find this
combination to provide more than enough clean sound with good dynamics
- and detail and natural musicality "to die for" - to cite the
overused cliche (but accurate here - relative to other speakers I've
heard, including original Quads, which I owned for many years prior).
As others have said, I feel that with full range electrostatics like
the M-L CLS II, tubed amplification is much more natural and provides
some needed extra body to these very accurate and transparent
speakers.
Bruce J. Richman
rneil...@my-deja.com
tube amps.
Gilbert Yeung of Blue Circle drives his with 75 watt BC 2000's,
tube/solid state hybrids.
Both, reportedly, love the results.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.