tube amps and electrostatics

Mapman, I'm not sure I get the gist of your point in relationship to the chart.

The ear sensitivity chart shows why what measures as flat
response is not heard as flat response normally, It
illustrates why what measures as flat frequency response
may be perceived as bright.

A lot of mass produced SS gear feature things like filters,
loudness controls, and other tonal adjustments that don't
really work that well as a means of addressing this. Tube
amps in some cases may be better suited by their nature to
help compensate for how our ears hear.

Atmasphere always talks about how most amps do not address
how our ears actually work, which is a valid point. He
tends to focus on brightness from odd order harmonics due to
NF in particular, but I guess I'm suggesting there is more
to it perhaps than just that.

Mapman, I would suggest to you that that reflects how the our hearing responds to a flat frequency response. The flat frequency response is a base line. Deviate from the baseline and our hearing would deviate accordingly.

Autoformers cost more than many speakers themselves. That's a factor to consider in the equation that can't be ignored.

Have you checked the price on Zero autoformers? Even in the finished boxes I cannot see how your assertion could possibly be true.

I am standing down. I read all the posts and respect the good intensions and credibility of all the folks who contributed to this OP.

My sense of the issue is purely academic. I'm still trying to get my arms around "simple" electrical compatibility concepts involving amps and conventional/cone speakers. Electrostats seem like a horse of a very differnt color.

I will say this. Any interest I had in trying ESLs is gone. It seems that amp/ESL compatibility is counter-intuitive. So I'll stick with what I have.

Btw, to the point about going with one's ears. I've been switching between my amp's 4 and 8 ohm output taps. For various technical reasons that I am not going to get into, I would have surmised that the 4 ohm taps would have been the preferred taps. But it just isn't always the case. At least that's what my ears tell me. So much for any notion of "faithful sound reproduction."

Well Stanely, "... that's another fine case" where changing speakers may be an exercise in futility.

Cheers and Happy Holidays.

Bruce