Hello! I don't know why it took me so long to find MLO but glad I stumbled onto it today whilst looking for feedback about using a tube amp with M-L ESL-X speakers. I began my audiophool journey back in the 60's with (2 pairs) of (stacked ! ) Bose 301's (oh I am so ashamed !), a Sony STR-7065 receiver and a Dual 1229 turntable (how many of you remember those??). From there I stepped up to a Mark Levinson JC-2 preamp, G.A.S. Ampzilla power amp and Bose 901's Series 1's (oh, doubly ashamed !) Eventually I came to my senses, sold the 901's and bought a pair of Magneplanar MG-II's. PHEW !
Anyway, when I got married (2nd time) my good wife encouraged me to trade the Maggie's in for something more "decor" friendly. This was late 1990's and I was seriously considering a pair of Sonus-Faber stand speakers (model # lost due to old age. I'm 69 !) but my good wife # 2 encouraged my to listen to the M-L Aerius-i's. My world changed ! Kept the Aerius'-i for 20 years, then sold them to a friend and here I am now with the ESL-X. Of course I wish I'd have popped for the ESL-9's but we did a complete system upgrade (same loving, stereo friendly 2nd wife after all these years!) so it was either spend more on speakers or go to a separate preamp / amp instead of an integrated. We finally settled on a Rotel RC-1590 preamp, Rotel RB-1582MKII amp and the ESL-X speakers. Boy, once they burned in I was in heaven !
Further upgrades hence; From a Marantz UD-5007 Blu-ray to a Marantz RUBY SA-KI SACD player. MAN-OH-MAN ! Is that thing a revelation ! Also added an SVS-SB-3000 sub.
And most recently, an Audioquest Niagara 1200 power conditioner w/ Audioquest NRG-Z3 power cord, Audioquest WATER interconnects between preamp and amp and between SACD and preamp, and Audioquest Rocket 88 biamp cables between amp and speakers. Don't let anyone tell you cables don't matter. It took a while but now that they have burned-in, the Niagara 1200 and the cables took the system to another level. Power cord upgrades are next but I'm having an issue with the phono input on the Rotel preamp (to be told in another forum), so even though I don't currently have a turntable I want to see if Rotel will get it resolved. If not, changes may be in order, which is why I was searching for advice about tube amps and electrostatic speakers.
Anyway, I'd love to hear from any and everyone who feels like chatting about audio equipment.
Best regards.
VideoVic
Anyway, when I got married (2nd time) my good wife encouraged me to trade the Maggie's in for something more "decor" friendly. This was late 1990's and I was seriously considering a pair of Sonus-Faber stand speakers (model # lost due to old age. I'm 69 !) but my good wife # 2 encouraged my to listen to the M-L Aerius-i's. My world changed ! Kept the Aerius'-i for 20 years, then sold them to a friend and here I am now with the ESL-X. Of course I wish I'd have popped for the ESL-9's but we did a complete system upgrade (same loving, stereo friendly 2nd wife after all these years!) so it was either spend more on speakers or go to a separate preamp / amp instead of an integrated. We finally settled on a Rotel RC-1590 preamp, Rotel RB-1582MKII amp and the ESL-X speakers. Boy, once they burned in I was in heaven !
Further upgrades hence; From a Marantz UD-5007 Blu-ray to a Marantz RUBY SA-KI SACD player. MAN-OH-MAN ! Is that thing a revelation ! Also added an SVS-SB-3000 sub.
And most recently, an Audioquest Niagara 1200 power conditioner w/ Audioquest NRG-Z3 power cord, Audioquest WATER interconnects between preamp and amp and between SACD and preamp, and Audioquest Rocket 88 biamp cables between amp and speakers. Don't let anyone tell you cables don't matter. It took a while but now that they have burned-in, the Niagara 1200 and the cables took the system to another level. Power cord upgrades are next but I'm having an issue with the phono input on the Rotel preamp (to be told in another forum), so even though I don't currently have a turntable I want to see if Rotel will get it resolved. If not, changes may be in order, which is why I was searching for advice about tube amps and electrostatic speakers.
Anyway, I'd love to hear from any and everyone who feels like chatting about audio equipment.
Best regards.
VideoVic
