Best tube amp for electrostatic speakers


For over 35 years I've almost exclusively used either ribbons or electrostats with solid state amplification and have been generally happy with the sound. Over the last several years, though, my hearing has become somewhat degraded and more sensitive to certain frequencies. The frequencies which seem to cause the most discomfort occur in the 1400 to 1900Hz range and come across as "bright" to my hearing. After researching this matter and having been given some expert advice, I've decided to pursue the idea of replacing my present amplification equipment with tube based gear.

The purpose of this post, then, is to solicit advice regarding the best approach to making this decision based on the following information: the current basic equipment is Shanling Solid state CD player, Peachtree Audio Nova used as preamp, two DBX 1531 EQ's to help compensate for age related hearing loss, Peachtree 220 amp, Silversonic T114 cable and Martin Logan Ethos speakers.

The listening area is our living room measuring 15 by 22 feet with my listening position 16 feet from the plane of the 2 speakers which are positioned 11 feet apart measured center to center. Located between the 2 speakers is an entertainment center which is about 9 feet wide. My listening interests are varied from solo guitar and light jazz to occasional orchestral music. I don't generally listen at high volumes and am not particularly interested in strong bass except for the rare action movie background.

Unless not advisable for some reason, I would like to keep the Peachtree Nova as a preamp because of the significant latitude for source connection and what seems to have a decent internal DAC. If this option would substantially defeat the purpose of the intended modification I would work around it. I can no longer deal with sounds that are "bright" which I now find uncomfortable but detailed sound is very important.

So, the questions are: is the move to tubes the best option and, if so, what might be some reasonably priced amps that could accomplish the goal. This, of course, would take into consideration room size, etc. for determining power requirements. If there are other more practical and less expensive options to consider, I would appreciate that advice as well.
128x128broadstone
Thanks very much, Schubert. I appreciate the nice words. To answer your question, yes I have BSEE and MSEE degrees, and 33 years experience designing and managing design of analog and digital circuits for defense electronics. I'm now happily retired :-)

Best regards,
-- Al
Thanks, Good thing you're retired.
I saw yesterday our new Congress is adding another 150K
green cards for foreign engineers because we don't have any American ones, at least ones that want to work at 1/2 pay.
We need Chinese EE's working in defense jobs.
Regarding availability of engineers, its very much supply and demand. The demand is huge and the supply of really good ones limited.

I wish education and engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers etc. got more respect in American culture in general. They are the ones that should have awards shows, not those being sold by the Hollywood promotional machine.

Most good engineers these days seem to come from countries where most are disadvantaged and science and math are and potential career in engineering is highly valued still as the ticket to a better lifestyle. Its just the way it is.

There are probably more good engineering schools in teh US than ever before, but its still a supply and demand thing.
It's tough enough for us to find systems that fulfill our wants/needs without trying to find equipment that "repairs" auditory limitations. You mentioned that a perçussive source such as a piano bothers you. I wonder if that is the case with live piano music? If not, then obviously your responding (bothered by) your present audio setup. But you've probably already made that distinction -- performed the is it live vs recording reproduction test.

I'm in agreement that your sources are less than reference level. Since its inception the silver disc has presented brightness issues that are nicely ameliorated by some of the better, more current digital sources.

With that said, I run stats in both my H/T system and in my 2-channel audio room -- Martin Logan's & Aragon 5-channel ss amplification in the former and Soundlabs & CAT tube amplification in the latter. Of course each room sounds different, but neither has objectionable frequency ranges.

My suggestion is to be very careful trying to correct objectionable frequencies with a specific design/type (e.g. tube) equipment. In your shoes, I suppose I would try to find a system at a friend's, dealer's, audio show that doesn't bother you to make sure that the problem isn't an organic one. And if not, try new sources and amplification (perhaps even speakers) until you find a combination that you can live with.

At any rate, good luck.....
Broadstone, look and you can see in the graphs 1 2 & 3 of the new reincarnation of the highly regarded Mcintosh 275.

You can see that the black trace is what happens to the frequency response of the amp that can't do current as I've outlined above into a simulated dynamic speaker load.
The upper mid/ to highs are considerably rolling off, and the whole amp is acting like a tone control

Now into the 1ohm of the Ethos this will be even more rolled off, as it is much more severe.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/mcintosh-mc275-power-amplifier-measurements

Cheers George