Well anyone who's been reading TAAS lately knows I'm a huge fan of ESL's. I currently have a pair of Martin Logan Aeon speakers (that are for sale BTW) I am looking to make a substantial upgrade from them. I have been toying with the idea of building a line array after I got a very nice deal on some
Newform Research R30 ribbons and Scanspeak drivers. Next week I will be picking up the remaining components I need to complete the array, plus some R45 ribbons, a pair of custom cabinets and drivers to complete a pair of Newform R645V2 speakers.
The complication started this week when I saw and opted to purchase a pair of probably 20 year old Acoustat Model 1 ESLs for a fair price locally. These are about 12" wide by 6ft tall ESL's but they need a subwoofer to complete the frequency range. I do have a custom made pair of passive subs using Peerless XLS drivers that would be a perfect match to these ESL's and get very close to the original design of the Model1, albeit with an extra bass driver (not a bad thing). Still need an amplifier/crossover for each, but I'm looking at some Bash amplifiers from Creative Sound Solutions or can use one of my SS amps and a nice little crossover from CSS.
Then I discovered a pair of Audiostatic ESL sub panels for sale, which would match up very well with the Model 1's. These are about the same dimensions as the Acoustats. Passive crossover is built in only need 2 amp channels. This is where the dilemma begins.
I want to end up with a very dynamic sounding system with the ability to present a huge soundstage and approach 100dB+ when called upon by musical transients at a 15 ft listening distance, but it also must have coherence at very low volume levels or passages with less complexity but also still sound musical...I don't ask for much do I.
I believe either approach (line array with ribbons or, large ESL's with dynamic subs, or large ESL's and Large ESL subs) will achieve this.
Something would need to give for me to be able to afford the ESL sub panels. I was also thinking of some other items I could conceivably sacrifice or offer for a quick sale on CAM to make the deal work. Here's a list of options
Trade/sell the ML Aeons for the ESL panels +$300 - offer on the table now.
2 Passive Peerless XLS Subs, no internal crossover - These would be obsolete if I get the sub panels - keep or sell?
4 AudioQuest interconnects ( 2m, 1m, 1m, 0.5m) - was just going to add to my collection of cables but I have others I can use - keep or sell?
2 PS Audio 2M power cables - really these are far too long for my current rig - keep or sell?
2 PS Audio power centers - keepers....will only sacrifice to stave off debt, famine or other calamity.
Newform R630 kit - I'd rather not sell, an array speaker project or something with them is still in my future plans at least to build and compare head to head.
Newform R645 kit - I'd rather not sell, I want to complete this kit and see if I can either sell them for more $$ or keep and use with the array as rear channels
Scan Speak drivers 18W/8545 midbass drivers - there would be some spares of these if I didn't do the array keep or sell?
4 PS Audio Amps - will have 2 more than I need by next weekend, but if I don't build my speaker project I have 4 amps I don't need - keep or sell one, pair or all?
Forget the ESL subwoofer panels and go with the Acoustats and custom Peerless subs.
Looking for a discussion and various opinions here. Feel free to post or just smack me upside the head.
