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Needing advice

Hello everyone. 

    I would love some advice on a power amplifier to pair with my Martin Logan ESL's. I am still very new to the audio world and am having a hard time trying to figure out what amp I should be looking at. I recently purchased some brand new ESL's at a great price to pair with my Yamaha Aventage 2050 and even though they sound good they just don't sound as good as when I listened to them in my local audio video store. I have absolutely no regrets on the purchase and know when they are paired with the right equipment they can sound amazing. I know opinions can be very different and I know listening to them in a store that uses much higher end product and better room setup then I have also plays a huge part. 

    I would like to keep the price under $1k (which I know might limit my options) and the type of music I listen to ranges from Frank Sinatra to Tool.  They will also be used for my home theater and I would say my listening ratio would be 60/40 in favor of movies. The subs I use are 2 dynamo 700's  and have positioned the ESL's based on Martin logans recommendation. I have tried to do research on Emotiva, Rotel, Parasound, Outlaw audio, B&K, Peachtree and the more I read the more I realized I still have a lot to learn. 

Thank you everyone in advance for any advice you can give. 
Craig
cvbryso
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hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,611 posts
 
I have a friend who has the M-L Renaissance speakers.  He has his connected to tube amps.  Best sound I've ever heard from M-Ls.  More organic, more meat on the bones.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,645 posts
 

You'll probably hear a wide range of inputs but my personal experience with my older Aerius i model ESLs is the more clean power they get the better they'll sound, especially their bass response. I drive mine with a pair of vintage McIntosh MC2200 amplifiers and they sound good to my ears. I occasionally switch to my other amplifier which is a Vincent SP-331 (150wpc/300wpc) and I prefer the MC2200. I have also tried several other borrowed amplifiers from friends ranging from Parasound, Conrad Johnson, Prima Luna, and Bryston and with the exception of the Bryston, I still preferred the sound of my old McIntosh amplifiers. The Brystons were the 7B-ST monoblocks and what impressed me the most was the incredible bass I heard from the Aerius which I did not think was possible from their 8" woofers. Some folks have had good luck with class D amplifiers which may be easier to find within your budget, even new. Whatever you decide to get make sure it can handle 4 ohm load with ease. Generally, amplifiers that double their power as the load is halved tend to have good drive for demanding speakers like ML ESL. If you're fixed on getting something new, one option might be the Schiit Vidar with 200wpc at 4 ohms.

Hope this helped. 


yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
2,678 posts
 
Are you sure you are looking for a separate power amp? If so what will you be using as preamp?
gdnrbob
2,421 posts
 
I would go for a McCormack DNA-1. Steve McCormack still mods these amps and if you can find a broken one, they will put in a new chassis and mod to your wallets content.
That being said, a used DNA-1, unmodded is below $1K.
Can you connect an amp to the Yamaha integreated preamp?
B
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