We have owned the ML CLS II's for 8 years now. Wouldn't trade them for the world - unbelievably revealing, but very demanding, especially with the crazy load they present to an amp.
Started with Atma-sphere MA-I tube amps - amazing sound if you have 13K to spend. And the tubes kept going and popping - a high maintenance proposition.
Decided that transistors would be more trouble-free and purchased a $700 Parasound Halo amp as an interim solution. Good reputation, I guess, but sounded like mud - almost impossible to listen to. Very surprised how bad it sounded.
Lived in depression for a while, then finally decided to try again. Borrowed a Carver Sunfire amp and the sound was MUCH better. Nowhere as open as the Atma-sphere's but it was listenable. If you didn't know any better, you'd be impressed.
Encouraged by the Sunfire, I did some research and decide to give Channel Islands D-200 Monoblocks a try. (http://ciaudio.com), especially because they offered a 30 day satisfaction guarantee (and I read such good things about Dusty).
As usual, we waited for the amps to burn in. Initial break in is quick (24 hours), but we're still waiting for the final result (Dusty says the power supply takes longer than usual to break-in (300+ hours) because the amps are so efficient they don't exercise the PS as much.)
In any case, after the intial 10 minutes, these amps left the Sunfires in the dust (pun possibly intended). As the break-in continued, the sound just jumped out of the speakers. Separation of voices and instruments was amazing.
And NO feeling that the speakers were straining the amp.
The amps don't have the typical warmth of tubes, but they also have NONE of the usual problems with transistors - tight/hard/edgy/etc. In fact the amps don't seem to have a sound of their own - which is a good thing, Martha.
I still think the Atma-spheres are better (although we still aren't 100% done with the break-in), but they are also 6 times more expensive. For 2K, (any maybe for any transistor amp) I doubt you can do better than Channel Islands.
Started with Atma-sphere MA-I tube amps - amazing sound if you have 13K to spend. And the tubes kept going and popping - a high maintenance proposition.
Decided that transistors would be more trouble-free and purchased a $700 Parasound Halo amp as an interim solution. Good reputation, I guess, but sounded like mud - almost impossible to listen to. Very surprised how bad it sounded.
Lived in depression for a while, then finally decided to try again. Borrowed a Carver Sunfire amp and the sound was MUCH better. Nowhere as open as the Atma-sphere's but it was listenable. If you didn't know any better, you'd be impressed.
Encouraged by the Sunfire, I did some research and decide to give Channel Islands D-200 Monoblocks a try. (http://ciaudio.com), especially because they offered a 30 day satisfaction guarantee (and I read such good things about Dusty).
As usual, we waited for the amps to burn in. Initial break in is quick (24 hours), but we're still waiting for the final result (Dusty says the power supply takes longer than usual to break-in (300+ hours) because the amps are so efficient they don't exercise the PS as much.)
In any case, after the intial 10 minutes, these amps left the Sunfires in the dust (pun possibly intended). As the break-in continued, the sound just jumped out of the speakers. Separation of voices and instruments was amazing.
And NO feeling that the speakers were straining the amp.
The amps don't have the typical warmth of tubes, but they also have NONE of the usual problems with transistors - tight/hard/edgy/etc. In fact the amps don't seem to have a sound of their own - which is a good thing, Martha.
I still think the Atma-spheres are better (although we still aren't 100% done with the break-in), but they are also 6 times more expensive. For 2K, (any maybe for any transistor amp) I doubt you can do better than Channel Islands.