Power/Current: How much is realistic?


Rebuilding my system, Just got a pair Martin Logan 13A, B212. Just looking for insight on how much power/ current
would be enough without going overboard and throwing $$ away. I know i am only driving the panels. Had a Krell fpb-300, 400cx, 350mcx driving M/L Oddessy Descent i. Should i go up to 600watt?  Looking for that last amp without spending a fortune on something i do not need. Thanks, Mike
fruitloopsr
Guess i will look for regulated power supplies. All this knowledge you need to know.Yikes
@fruitloopsr, as you may realize lots of people successfully use power amplifiers having unregulated power supplies in conjunction with electrostatic speakers, the comments at Mr. Sanders’ website notwithstanding. Not to mention that there aren’t very many power amplifiers that have regulated supplies, at least for their power stages.

Also, one further comment regarding the possibility of going with a tube amp. The output impedances of various tube amps vary widely, and I believe it would be preferable to limit your considerations of tube amps to those having relatively low output impedances, meaning damping factors of at least 8 or so. Most and perhaps all Audio Research tube amps are among those which meet that criterion.

Regards,
-- Al

Let me ask Anyone have tried the combo of Pass or Sanders amps with M/L 13A if so what do you think?
my mcintosh mc602's manual says it's current is 150 amperes per chanell. is this true
No. Not unless it can make well over 22,500 watts!! And that is giving it the benefit of the doubt- that it can drive 1 ohm.

@almarg I think ML specs their speakers the way they do because they are panels rather than point sources. In that regard a microphone placed 1 meter from the speaker will not pick up all the energy that the speaker radiates. If Stereophile measured it at 86 dB, 10 feet away from the speaker the sound pressure effectively is as if a point source were being used that is 5-6dB more efficient, so 91dB might be practically more accurate. This is why so many panel speakers seem crazy inefficient, but in reality aren't that hard to drive.