New Member from Kirkland, WA

[Doug033]

Greetings,
I’m the original owner of a pair of CLS’s. I fell in love with the sound of electrostatics at age 14 when I heard a pair of Infinity Servo-Static 1’s driven by Macintosh electronics. As a young guitarist, I could already appreciate the sonic benefits of tubes. Like many on this forum, I came up through Bose, purchasing my first electrostats in 1984 (Acoustat 1+1s). When the CLS came out, I had to have a pair and I bought my first tube amp to drive them (ARC D-125, which I still have). Today my system consists of a Roon PC feeding a Bartok DAC, which drives the ML’s through an ARC SP-20 and an ARC REF-150SE. I also just completed upgrading an old Linn with the latest internals and a Dynavector DRT-XV1-s, which I’m still breaking in. And, after all these years with the CLS, the preponderance of bass in modern music is warming me to the idea of subwoofers, so I’ll be watching that thread closely.

Best regards and happy listening!

 

[Big Dog RJ]

Nice one Doug033, and greetings from down unda!

That particular combination, with ARC tube gear and the CLS is outstanding!

Yes, certainly subs will be beneficial as the CLS models were upgraded from CLS to CLSIIz's, which I had before, although the majority of frequencies were reproduced flawlessly, the very low notes required a sub.

The ARC REF150se will do a marvellous job of handling those stats, no issues there whatsoever. When you eventually get to the sub, you'll also notice far less strain on the Ref150se, such that the very low notes will be handled by the sub. Therefore, the main power amp will be just cruising... all it has to do is look after mid bass - upper bass, and mids & highs on the panels. You'll also notice a greater level of control and grip on the stats, and with that you'll hear more into the music as well. So, not only in terns of dynamics and transient control but overall musicality will be enhanced.

During its hey day, I drove the CLSIIz's with a CJ Premier 11A and the ART preamp, it was wonderful! The Prem11A was rated at just 70w Class AB but it had adequate high current and stable voltage to handle stats full range, no issues. That CJ stereo power amplifier was one of my very first tube amps, and for me, it set the standard for tube finesse! The rest is history.

Cheers, and enjoy those fine tunes!
Woof! RJ