Please help tube amp for panels and SS for woofer


I finally had a chance to buy two Wolcott monoblocks, which I plan to use to drive the panels of my ML Prodigy.
The two bridged Bel Cantos which did the job before, will be used to drive the woofers.
Are there any ML owners out there who have done this, using tube amps for panels and SS for the woofers?
I understand that I can run into problems here with the different gain and sensitivity of the two amps.
How do I solve the problem? With an active crossover, and if yes, which one, or is there another solution to my problem?
tekunda

Showing 3 responses by tekunda

Jonathan, seriously please. Is there any reason why I should choose different cables than the HMS Grand Finale with the Wolcott? Has it to do with the specs of the new Wolcott?
I am open to any suggestions, since the reason that I sell HMS and believe that these are great cables, does not mean that I will not listen to suggestions of other people.
So please tell me what you know about these Wolcott amps and what cables you would suggest and why you would recommend these cables.
Mikelavigne, I assumed that Jtinn was pulling my leg, but nevertheless I asked Mr. Strassner if cables in general can cause an issue with tube amps. He is a real scientist and gave me a 1 hour lecture in cables physics. What he said was that I might run into problems with a zero feedback amp, if the capacity of cables in general would be above a certain number. So unintenionally Jtinn made a valid point, but since the Wolcott amp is not a zero feedback design, it does not apply to me.
So yes, I am very happy to be able to keep on using the HMS cables in my new system.
I will check into the Placette RVC and for someone fighting with the same problems here is another link I have received: http://www.tweakaudio.com/Ultimate%20Attenuators.html
But I think I will stay away from an active crossover. I emailed the www.electrostaticdoc.com and he said it is rather complicated and frustrating to get it right with ML speakers.
Px25 and Jtinn, although I thought you are pulling my leg Jonathan, I could not help but ask Mr. Strassner what he thinks about compatibility questions with amps and cables (not necessarily only tube amps) He gave me a lecture in cable physics and I am not sure if I completely understood everything he said, but I will try:
He said that if amps have a zero feed back design, cables with a big capacity would not work and could make the amp to start oscillating and clipping. So according to him, in very rare occasions, cables might have issues with amps.
Patrick, I know that tube amps are not the perfect choice for electrostatic speakers, but since the reviewer of these Wolcotts owned a pair of Soundlab electrostatic speakers, which he called an impedence load from hell, was so absolutely excited about this combination, I felt I had to give it a chance, when I came across used Wolcotts for a very good price. So I can hear myself, what this amp with electrostatic speakers is all about. When you say that the Wolcott amp together with the SS amps will blend together and mess up the midrange, is it that you mean that biamping in general with any amp will do this (until recently I have used 4 identical SS monoblocks –WBE- a German monoblock- or is it the compatibility issues of tube amps and SS amps in general? In other words - not that I really intend doing it just yet – but what about using 4 Wolcott monoblocks, two for the panels and two for the woofers?
Anyway I am also concerned that the ML could be a bit slow with tube amps, but then the owner of the Soundlab speakers was so excited with the Wolcotts, he called it life before Wolcott and after Wolcott, that I have assumed speed is not an issue. Was this a wrong line of thought? Do Soundlab electrostats behave differently in this respect? Please excuse this rather naïve question, since this is all new terrain for me. Until recently I tried to upgrade my knowledge in regard of cables physics only. But I never turned away from a new challenge.