Well I am not sure if this thread should be put here or in the Subwoofers'. Anyway I want some suggestions about a TL subwoofer I will be building when I order the ESL III kit from ER-Audio next summer.
So the crossover will be 200-300hz and I want the woofer to be as light, with deep, fast and detailed bass as possible.
I am between Excel W26FX001, Eton 11-581, Eton 12-680.
BTW I am not the one building the subwoofer but one friend of mine. So any technical information is of couse accepted...
Also I am inspired from Sheldon Stokes TL sub
Thanks for any help
So the crossover will be 200-300hz and I want the woofer to be as light, with deep, fast and detailed bass as possible.
I am between Excel W26FX001, Eton 11-581, Eton 12-680.
BTW I am not the one building the subwoofer but one friend of mine. So any technical information is of couse accepted...
Also I am inspired from Sheldon Stokes TL sub
Thanks for any help
TL Subs go Very Well With ESL's...
Hi Michael,
I have been using Rob Mackinlay's ESL-3 for 2yrs now and prior to that Quad ESLs. The ESL-3 is a fabulous loudspeaker, ultra detailed, fast and addictive!!
I have also used a pair of TL subs like the one on Sheldon's site (only I started using this type of sub about two years prior to him posting his on the web). My subs use a 150w plate amp and an 8" Focal 8K5412 Kevlar driver. I tried the 8" Seas Excel magnesium driver too, but didn't like it as much as the Focal as it was not quite as extended.
This TL design sounds great. Bass is fast and extended with a sound quality that 'breathes easily' matching the ESL-3 well in not intruding too much on the ESL's delicate soundfield.
I have also heard the Eton 11" hexacomb driver in a 120L prototype Bass Reflex box. It sounded good too, being more punchy than the Focal TL, but not quite as extended. I think there is even greater potential for this driver to be TL loaded.
My next sub project for the ESL-3 is a Sheldon Stokes style TL sub using an 11" Focal 11K7511. I'm hoping it will be as fast as the 8" Focal but with more room driving ability and greater weight.
Regards,
Steve M.
Hi Michael,
I have been using Rob Mackinlay's ESL-3 for 2yrs now and prior to that Quad ESLs. The ESL-3 is a fabulous loudspeaker, ultra detailed, fast and addictive!!
I have also used a pair of TL subs like the one on Sheldon's site (only I started using this type of sub about two years prior to him posting his on the web). My subs use a 150w plate amp and an 8" Focal 8K5412 Kevlar driver. I tried the 8" Seas Excel magnesium driver too, but didn't like it as much as the Focal as it was not quite as extended.
This TL design sounds great. Bass is fast and extended with a sound quality that 'breathes easily' matching the ESL-3 well in not intruding too much on the ESL's delicate soundfield.
I have also heard the Eton 11" hexacomb driver in a 120L prototype Bass Reflex box. It sounded good too, being more punchy than the Focal TL, but not quite as extended. I think there is even greater potential for this driver to be TL loaded.
My next sub project for the ESL-3 is a Sheldon Stokes style TL sub using an 11" Focal 11K7511. I'm hoping it will be as fast as the 8" Focal but with more room driving ability and greater weight.
Regards,
Steve M.
what do you mean by bass extension?
Are they "polite" sounding like Quad as many people say?
Which amp do you use for the ESLs 3 and which for the subwoofer?
Will you be able? "Starting September 1st 2004, separate Focal Hi-Fi drivers intended for the public and loudspeaker manfacturers will not be available for sale anymore"
Thanks once again...😎
Are they "polite" sounding like Quad as many people say?
Which amp do you use for the ESLs 3 and which for the subwoofer?
Will you be able? "Starting September 1st 2004, separate Focal Hi-Fi drivers intended for the public and loudspeaker manfacturers will not be available for sale anymore"
Thanks once again...😎
Michael:
By extension I mean bass response down to 25Hz or less. I have been told by someone reputable that he has measured the frequency response of the TL sub with 8" Focal 8K415-S driver and it goes down to 13 Hz @ - 3dB...that is pretty good bass!
I heard this Focal sub and the bass was very good and went really low, but the small 8" driver did bottom out (run out of travel) on loud passages of music. I have a source for some of the older Focal drivers which is limited to me at this stage.
The ER Audio ESL-3 is not soft sounding, it is sharp and detailed. Any good solid state Class A amplifier of 30w/ch and upwards sounds good on the ESL-3. I have used a Pass Labs Aleph 3; Krell KSA100; vintage Pioneer M-22; Bel Canto eVo 200.2 digital amps with great success.
All valve amps I've tried up to 160w/ch struggle to drive (treble is curtailed) the ESL-3 .
Regards,
Steve M.
By extension I mean bass response down to 25Hz or less. I have been told by someone reputable that he has measured the frequency response of the TL sub with 8" Focal 8K415-S driver and it goes down to 13 Hz @ - 3dB...that is pretty good bass!
I heard this Focal sub and the bass was very good and went really low, but the small 8" driver did bottom out (run out of travel) on loud passages of music. I have a source for some of the older Focal drivers which is limited to me at this stage.
The ER Audio ESL-3 is not soft sounding, it is sharp and detailed. Any good solid state Class A amplifier of 30w/ch and upwards sounds good on the ESL-3. I have used a Pass Labs Aleph 3; Krell KSA100; vintage Pioneer M-22; Bel Canto eVo 200.2 digital amps with great success.
All valve amps I've tried up to 160w/ch struggle to drive (treble is curtailed) the ESL-3 .
Regards,
Steve M.
Dear Steve M,
I emailed Bel Canto about their eVo 2i, if it could drive difficult loads like Quad Esls and here's the answer:
"We do not recommend driving the eVo2i with loads of 4 ohms nominal. I don't think the Quads, with dips that low would be ideal. However, we have found that many of our diehard customers are those that have paired our amps with stats/planars/ribbons with typically low impedances. If you can try it, it would be worth a listen."
If in your opinion eVo2i indeed isn't that suitable,can you recommend me some solid states that can be bought right now for <4000Euro (if it's from America or Canada <2600$).
Thanks in advance
Regards
Mike
I emailed Bel Canto about their eVo 2i, if it could drive difficult loads like Quad Esls and here's the answer:
"We do not recommend driving the eVo2i with loads of 4 ohms nominal. I don't think the Quads, with dips that low would be ideal. However, we have found that many of our diehard customers are those that have paired our amps with stats/planars/ribbons with typically low impedances. If you can try it, it would be worth a listen."
If in your opinion eVo2i indeed isn't that suitable,can you recommend me some solid states that can be bought right now for <4000Euro (if it's from America or Canada <2600$).
Thanks in advance
Regards
Mike
Hi Michael,
Valves struggle on the ESL-3 but almost every solid state amp of 30w/ch Class 'A' and upwards that I've tried works well. I would aim for 100w/ch just to be safe and make sure the amp has good current delivery rather than just sheer watts. Any high quality s.s 100w/ch 8 ohm amp with a general capability to double the watts into 4 ohms should be OK.
Don't worry too much about what the BC boys are saying either about the load handling of their amps, they're just being cautious to protect their backsides. The BC amps are quite stable and can drive the ESL-3 easily. I am using the older model eVo 200.2 which is rated at 120w/ch @ 8 ohms and 220 @ 4 ohms. The eVo 2i has the same power output and same 534VA toroidal transformer so should perform the same as my 200.2. However, I've heard the new eVo's and they generally sound better, having more 'life and vivacity' than the 200.2.
So I reckon the eVo 2i is an excellent choice. I have heard the BC Pre-1 in my house and it's a beauty! Wonderfully detailed and sweet. What you are getting in the 2i is essentially an improved Pre-1 plus a 120w eVo digital amp - a beautiful and cost effective combination overall.
If I did not have my Supratek Cabernet S.E.T valve pre-amp
(see: www.supratek.biz ),
the eVo 2i would be at the top of my list.
Also, did you know there are a few secondhand eVo 2i's for sale on Audiogon at around $1,500USD. And conveniently, as far as I am aware all the BC units can be internally switched from 110v to 240v so can be used worldwide.
Other solid state contenders would be...
- the new Ice module based "H20 M250" digital amp. See
http://audioworld.com/sw/Forum1/HTML/003926.html ). *This digital 250w/ch amp is likely to be even better than the Bel Cantos, as it is specifically designed to drive the notoriously difficult 1 ohm load of the Apogee Scintilla, with ease.
- all the Nelson Pass amplfiers are good (100w upwards )
- the eAR Ice based digital amps from Denmark
- Krell KSA50S or KSA100S ( the KSA50S is apparently very nice)
- Plinius SA100 or SA102
- Musical Fidelty M300
- any other good 100w Class 'A' of good reputation, do some research on the net.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you are currently only using cone/box speakers, the quantum leap in sound quality (ie, detail) that you are going to get from the ESL-3 will blow you away! And the choice of amplifier becomes almost irrelevant. This might sound crazy, but the ESL-3 played through the humble but classic 25w/ch NAD3020 or my 50w/ch vintage Luxman 507x amp sounds better than the majority of high end cone based mega-amp sound systems that I've had ...
One final thing, unless you have tons of money to spend, keep your amp choice realistic rather than expensive. Save your money and concentrate on the sub-woofer construction. The ESL-3 needs top quality bass augmentation, so don't neglect this area and go for the fastest and most expensive drivers, heavy (resonant free) cabinet construction and good plate amp.
In concluding, my amp choices would be ...
- the H2O M250 @ $2,000USD if you already have a good preamp
- the eVo 2i if you want to economise by getting an integrated amp
Regards,
Steve M.
Valves struggle on the ESL-3 but almost every solid state amp of 30w/ch Class 'A' and upwards that I've tried works well. I would aim for 100w/ch just to be safe and make sure the amp has good current delivery rather than just sheer watts. Any high quality s.s 100w/ch 8 ohm amp with a general capability to double the watts into 4 ohms should be OK.
Don't worry too much about what the BC boys are saying either about the load handling of their amps, they're just being cautious to protect their backsides. The BC amps are quite stable and can drive the ESL-3 easily. I am using the older model eVo 200.2 which is rated at 120w/ch @ 8 ohms and 220 @ 4 ohms. The eVo 2i has the same power output and same 534VA toroidal transformer so should perform the same as my 200.2. However, I've heard the new eVo's and they generally sound better, having more 'life and vivacity' than the 200.2.
So I reckon the eVo 2i is an excellent choice. I have heard the BC Pre-1 in my house and it's a beauty! Wonderfully detailed and sweet. What you are getting in the 2i is essentially an improved Pre-1 plus a 120w eVo digital amp - a beautiful and cost effective combination overall.
If I did not have my Supratek Cabernet S.E.T valve pre-amp
(see: www.supratek.biz ),
the eVo 2i would be at the top of my list.
Also, did you know there are a few secondhand eVo 2i's for sale on Audiogon at around $1,500USD. And conveniently, as far as I am aware all the BC units can be internally switched from 110v to 240v so can be used worldwide.
Other solid state contenders would be...
- the new Ice module based "H20 M250" digital amp. See
http://audioworld.com/sw/Forum1/HTML/003926.html ). *This digital 250w/ch amp is likely to be even better than the Bel Cantos, as it is specifically designed to drive the notoriously difficult 1 ohm load of the Apogee Scintilla, with ease.
- all the Nelson Pass amplfiers are good (100w upwards )
- the eAR Ice based digital amps from Denmark
- Krell KSA50S or KSA100S ( the KSA50S is apparently very nice)
- Plinius SA100 or SA102
- Musical Fidelty M300
- any other good 100w Class 'A' of good reputation, do some research on the net.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you are currently only using cone/box speakers, the quantum leap in sound quality (ie, detail) that you are going to get from the ESL-3 will blow you away! And the choice of amplifier becomes almost irrelevant. This might sound crazy, but the ESL-3 played through the humble but classic 25w/ch NAD3020 or my 50w/ch vintage Luxman 507x amp sounds better than the majority of high end cone based mega-amp sound systems that I've had ...
One final thing, unless you have tons of money to spend, keep your amp choice realistic rather than expensive. Save your money and concentrate on the sub-woofer construction. The ESL-3 needs top quality bass augmentation, so don't neglect this area and go for the fastest and most expensive drivers, heavy (resonant free) cabinet construction and good plate amp.
In concluding, my amp choices would be ...
- the H2O M250 @ $2,000USD if you already have a good preamp
- the eVo 2i if you want to economise by getting an integrated amp
Regards,
Steve M.
how much SPL are you looking for out of your subwoofer? I myself just got an adire audio Tumult. Im crossing over at about 80hz but it is honestly the best sounding, cleanest, most defined bass I have ever heard. I know you want to go much higher with the sub, you may comprimise other things
"By extension I mean bass response down to 25Hz or less. I have been told by someone reputable that he has measured the frequency response of the TL sub with 8" Focal 8K415-S driver and it goes down to 13 Hz @ - 3dB...that is pretty good bass!"
-michaelpage26-
That sounds like some sort of a marketing claim right there. 13hz @ -3dB with the super infrasonic bass booster EQ maybe. I just dont see an 8 inch driver sweeping enough air to pull that off.
"By extension I mean bass response down to 25Hz or less. I have been told by someone reputable that he has measured the frequency response of the TL sub with 8" Focal 8K415-S driver and it goes down to 13 Hz @ - 3dB...that is pretty good bass!"
-michaelpage26-
That sounds like some sort of a marketing claim right there. 13hz @ -3dB with the super infrasonic bass booster EQ maybe. I just dont see an 8 inch driver sweeping enough air to pull that off.
BassAwdyo: You could be right about the 13 Hz thing ? Thirteen hertz is pretty difficult to reproduce in any room due to wavelength limitations, but the guy was a very techy pro with an Electrical Engineering background. I think he used a Sound Level Meter attached to a laptop with Clio to take the measurements, from what I saw in his workshop at the time.
The Focal 8K415-S does have an unusually low Fs of 21 Hz for a medium sized driver, the driver was also modified by the designer, and perhaps the TL loading provided an extra octave of bass extension, who knows?? But to my ears it is still the lowest bass note I have ever heard.
Regards,
Steve M.
The Focal 8K415-S does have an unusually low Fs of 21 Hz for a medium sized driver, the driver was also modified by the designer, and perhaps the TL loading provided an extra octave of bass extension, who knows?? But to my ears it is still the lowest bass note I have ever heard.
Regards,
Steve M.
Well it is possible to have a flat frequency response down to -3db @ 13hz. The thing is, your only going to get flat response down to 13hz at a very low signal level, anything above a certian signal level will move the driver past xmax into overexcursion and there can be no more output gained by increasing the signal, just damage to the driver. Currently I have my Tumult in a 6ft^3 enclosure tuned to 10hz. This gives me about a -6dB/octave rolloff with a -12dB point at 10hz. This gives a pretty good match to room gain its probably flat down to 10hz in room, though i havent yet measured. Thats a 15 inch driver with about 3 inches of peak-peak excursion and it doesnt even make -3dB at 13hz anechoic. WinISD calculates that I would need a enclosure larger than 13 cubic feet tuned to 13hz to get -3db @ 13hz. How do you think that Tumult would do in a TL? It has a low Fs of 18hz and 749cm^2 of Sd, so a it might be HUGE
BassAwdyo: The thought of your Tumult in a properly sized TL box is mind boggling! I reckon it would have huge impact and extension because of the bass boost that a TL design gives...
The Adire Tumult is a dedicated subwoofer driver (with ultimate strength and proper cone travel). What I have been concentrating on is using normal speaker drivers which I consider to be of very high quality (eg, Focal, Seas & Eton) in order to maximize transient response (stop/starting ability) and to obtain a 'speedy' bass. I feel that unless I take this approach, no subwoofer has a chance to match the speed and elegance of the ESL-3 main speaker.
The TL subs I have built with a 4m line length using the Focal 8K5412 and another using an 8" Seas magnesium WXE20(?), are already too big at approx. 670 x 700 x 260cm to be considered room friendly. So a TL box for your 15" Tumult would be significantly bigger and very room un-friendly.
My next TL sub project will use the high quality 11" Focal 11K7511 which should have more impact and strength than my 8" versions, but I am slightly worried about the drop in speed so we'll have to wait and see?
Having heard several commercial subs and some DIY bass reflex & isobaric subs, these seem to blur the ESL's delicate soundfield and are therefore not an option for me. I think that Sheldon Stokes (Quad & DIY ESL guru) has come to the same conclusion, as he also uses a TL sub.
I like the TL subs a lot, they 'breathe' and 'couple' with the air in the room well. So I will continue to build and use them until I hear something better with my ESLs...
Regards,
Steve M.
The Adire Tumult is a dedicated subwoofer driver (with ultimate strength and proper cone travel). What I have been concentrating on is using normal speaker drivers which I consider to be of very high quality (eg, Focal, Seas & Eton) in order to maximize transient response (stop/starting ability) and to obtain a 'speedy' bass. I feel that unless I take this approach, no subwoofer has a chance to match the speed and elegance of the ESL-3 main speaker.
The TL subs I have built with a 4m line length using the Focal 8K5412 and another using an 8" Seas magnesium WXE20(?), are already too big at approx. 670 x 700 x 260cm to be considered room friendly. So a TL box for your 15" Tumult would be significantly bigger and very room un-friendly.
My next TL sub project will use the high quality 11" Focal 11K7511 which should have more impact and strength than my 8" versions, but I am slightly worried about the drop in speed so we'll have to wait and see?
Having heard several commercial subs and some DIY bass reflex & isobaric subs, these seem to blur the ESL's delicate soundfield and are therefore not an option for me. I think that Sheldon Stokes (Quad & DIY ESL guru) has come to the same conclusion, as he also uses a TL sub.
I like the TL subs a lot, they 'breathe' and 'couple' with the air in the room well. So I will continue to build and use them until I hear something better with my ESLs...
Regards,
Steve M.
I indeed understand your desire to have a very fast and transient woofer. I have never actually built a TL subwoofer or any kind of TL speaker for that matter. Everything I have read about them has pointed that it takes alot of experience to build a good TL and there is no way to calculate the perfect TL design. I am really interested now in building my own TL now, perhaps not for the tumult, but another driver. I was wondering how a sealed enclosure with a Qtc of .5 compares with a TL as far as transient response goes. I have also heard from some other people in different forums that dipole designs are very transparent and intregate nicely with ESLs and the like. Perhaps a set of midwoofers to cover the upper and midbass range down to 50 hz or so and a subwoofer to go down to your deepest desire might work for you. You could then use smaller drivers for the midbass with better transient speed and dedicate something big to the low end. I understand this becomes more expensive not to mention more hassle with extra crossovers, but you get the best of both worlds. Adire is coming out with the new Extremis6. The specs they have are as follows
Fs 30hz
Qms 5.24
Qes .383
Qts .332
Vas 33.2 l
Le .13mH
Sd 140 cm^2
Xmax 13mm one way
BL 9 N/A
Re 7.02
These drivers sounded great to me, especially since I'm an adire fan, but how do you think they would do in a TL. I was thinking 2 of these for my system up to around 3Khz and some good tweeters. The total volume displacement is only about .7 liters total so extension in the low end is limited a bit, but it is still pretty amazing for a 6. Not that I need to go any lower than 100hz though myself with a mid, but I always think its a good thing to have a little overlap between the speakers, so long as there arent any phase problems. I my experience it seems more like the bass is coming from the mains when they have response lower, and the sub is not as easily localized.
Fs 30hz
Qms 5.24
Qes .383
Qts .332
Vas 33.2 l
Le .13mH
Sd 140 cm^2
Xmax 13mm one way
BL 9 N/A
Re 7.02
These drivers sounded great to me, especially since I'm an adire fan, but how do you think they would do in a TL. I was thinking 2 of these for my system up to around 3Khz and some good tweeters. The total volume displacement is only about .7 liters total so extension in the low end is limited a bit, but it is still pretty amazing for a 6. Not that I need to go any lower than 100hz though myself with a mid, but I always think its a good thing to have a little overlap between the speakers, so long as there arent any phase problems. I my experience it seems more like the bass is coming from the mains when they have response lower, and the sub is not as easily localized.
BassAwdyO said:
This is not true... with Martin King's or George Augspurger's software it is possible to model a TL better then most modelers will do a bass reflex (MJK's software does a better job of BR than most)
dave
I think I changed my mind on the Tumult TL. I have a shed that has a essentially empty 24'x24' basement. I figure there is pleanty of room for it there, though it may be just an experiment. I know room modes will be a sick problem and the reverb period is INSANE being that all of the walls (spare one, i mean part of one) floor and ceiling are concerete. I just wanna see how low I can go and how it might sound. If it works out well, I might decide my living room is too big and needs something to occupy some space in there. Hmm quarter length thats about 16 feet, not bad. But then again with a Sd of 749cm^2 the entire enclousre will be 14+ cubic feet YIKES! That tops the dual reflex bandpass design I built last year that was 13.6 cubic feet. Anyone know somplace I could get a large order of stuffing. Not to mention there goes another 50 dollars in wood, screws, and liquid nails.
"This is not true... with Martin King's or George Augspurger's software it is possible to model a TL better then most modelers will do a bass reflex (MJK's software does a better job of BR than most)"
Thanks Dave, I had never heard of an TL modeling software before. Where might this software be available?
"This is not true... with Martin King's or George Augspurger's software it is possible to model a TL better then most modelers will do a bass reflex (MJK's software does a better job of BR than most)"
Thanks Dave, I had never heard of an TL modeling software before. Where might this software be available?
BassAwdyO said:
Taper the line heavily (ie as much as 10:1) and it will become shorter. The use of Sd as an indicator of line cross-section is unfounded (MJK uses it for historical purposes in his model). In reality the cross-section is a function of line length & Vas.
Augspurger has a commercial version of his SW -- it is available from audioXpress. Martin's software is in the form of freely downloadable MathCad worksheets. (there is a no-cost, but limited, explorer version of MathCad that many people use)
MJK website is http://www.quarter-wave.com/
A good exposition on the state of TLs can be found at my website
http://www.t-linespeakers.org/readme1st.html
dave
Thanks Steve M and others for this rare help. 
Of course I haven't tons of money as I am just a High school student (and the sub won't be designed and constructed by me- I just do the info searching and I hope I will be able to get the ESL III kit finished)
Well right now I have a cheap 100w/ch @ 8 ohm and 160w/ch @ 4 ohm Thule IA100 (820 euro) with a pair of Swedish Audio Pro Avantek Six (820 euro). That have some very good qualities but I am afraid that the Thule integr. is slow enough to struggle in complex music materials, as the loudspeakers and cd player haven't such a problem. So you say that the ESL III aren't such a difficult load like the Quad ESL 57 (I have e-mailed Rob if he could get me some impedance plots? So I don't need an amp that can go down to 1 Ohm easily like the int. Perreaux Radience R200i for 4000 Euro. I will phone the Thule Technical support to ask if it can cope with an electrostat... Can I keep it for a short time until I find more money to buy a more expensive amp?
Also I have found the Sim audio moon I-3 with very good current having 200W at 2 Ohm but here costs 2700 Euro (instead of 1300$).So I am searching an amp that isn't from America or Canada.
Should I believe the component reviews?
Also the Hypex subwoofer amps are they any good?
Thanks
Regards
Michael
Thule Audio Denmark IA100
Perreaux Radience R200i
Sim Audio Moon I-3
Of course I haven't tons of money as I am just a High school student (and the sub won't be designed and constructed by me- I just do the info searching and I hope I will be able to get the ESL III kit finished)
Well right now I have a cheap 100w/ch @ 8 ohm and 160w/ch @ 4 ohm Thule IA100 (820 euro) with a pair of Swedish Audio Pro Avantek Six (820 euro). That have some very good qualities but I am afraid that the Thule integr. is slow enough to struggle in complex music materials, as the loudspeakers and cd player haven't such a problem. So you say that the ESL III aren't such a difficult load like the Quad ESL 57 (I have e-mailed Rob if he could get me some impedance plots? So I don't need an amp that can go down to 1 Ohm easily like the int. Perreaux Radience R200i for 4000 Euro. I will phone the Thule Technical support to ask if it can cope with an electrostat... Can I keep it for a short time until I find more money to buy a more expensive amp?
Also I have found the Sim audio moon I-3 with very good current having 200W at 2 Ohm but here costs 2700 Euro (instead of 1300$).So I am searching an amp that isn't from America or Canada.
Should I believe the component reviews?
Also the Hypex subwoofer amps are they any good?
Thanks
Regards
Michael
Thule Audio Denmark IA100
Perreaux Radience R200i
Sim Audio Moon I-3
Michael: You've been misguided by the Bel Canto people, the Quad ESL-57 is *NOT* a difficult load. I use to own three pairs of them at one stage, and it was not difficult to drive a single pair with any 40w push-pull valve amp.
The ESL-3 is a different kettle of fish - it is very difficult to drive with a valve amp! I had some massive $7,000 40kg valve monobloc amps using 4 x KT88's per channel and rated @ 160w/ch into 8 ohms and it could not drive the ESL-3 properly (treble was curtailed).
Your 100w solid state Thule amp should be fine though, as most transistor amps of this kind of power don't struggle on the ESL-3.
Regards,
Steve M.
The ESL-3 is a different kettle of fish - it is very difficult to drive with a valve amp! I had some massive $7,000 40kg valve monobloc amps using 4 x KT88's per channel and rated @ 160w/ch into 8 ohms and it could not drive the ESL-3 properly (treble was curtailed).
Your 100w solid state Thule amp should be fine though, as most transistor amps of this kind of power don't struggle on the ESL-3.
Regards,
Steve M.
Back in the days of when i was selling Dayton Wrights the NAIM 250 was the only amp we could find to reliably drive them (i also used a pair of NAIM 160s to drive my Acoustat 2s)
dave
dave
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