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I purchased
the Innersound ESL 300 for my Maggie 1.6's two
years ago. Before that, I was driving
them with a Carver Sunfire.
The Innersound amp opened up everything and
the grain disappeared.
The amp is a chameleon. It has no sonic
signature that I can hear. With
quiet, delicate passages, it is detailed and
sweet. The dynamics can knock you out of
your seat. It is rated at 600 watts into
4 ohms.
When it is idling, it uses less than 3 watts.
My electric bill went down $4
to $6 a month when I replaced the Sunfire.
I leave the amp on all the time.
The Innersound ESL300 was designed for the
Innersound Isis, though I found it to be the
ideal match for the Maggie 1.6s. I use a
tube pre-amp with it and like that combination
a great deal.
Sanders
designed the amp to handle the unusual
characteristics of
his electrostatic speakers. It is true
that the Maggie's are not
electrostatic, but they are planar albeit not
as thin as the planar strips
used by the Innersound Isis. He
maintains that a major source of distortion in
the top end of electrostatics (and I include Maggie's)
are the huge power supplies in the power amps
necessary to drive these speakers. He
compensates by not having a large power supply
but having 18 transistors per side. I am
not an engineer, but he has a paper on the
subject. Any way, the Innersound is now
driving my Isis speakers. I have a double
run to bi-wire the speakers. I play many
different symphonies, as well as jazz and some
rock. The amplifier handles everything with no
effort. My system, and therefore the
amplifier is extremely transparent, neutral,
layered, airy, with excellent imaging,
beautiful timbre and great dynamics.
The sound stage goes way back. The bass
is tight and nuanced. Voices are
melodic. The music sings and yet the
drums whack. The strings are seducing
and the horns are arousing.
None of this could happen if the amplifier
wasn't up to it. The high end is
open, airy, no grain and no distortion.
The background is black. The
voices and the instruments are 3 dimensional.
I bought this amplifier on line from an
auction. I researched it thoroughly,
including talking to Greg at Innersound before
I purchased it. I have never regretted
it.
I had the Carver Sunfire 300 stereo for 2
years with the Maggie 1.6's. The Sunfire
had power and was a nice amp. I still
use it with my movie system.
BUT, the Innersound is better in all
ways. It is in a different league.
I have also owned, and was very happy with the
Nelson Pass Aleph 3 and the Conrad-Johnson MV
52. I used both these amps with my Fried
G-3 transmission line full-range
speakers. These were my main speakers
for 10 years. The Fried's are a more
efficient speaker so they don't require as
much power. However, the bass goes down
to 20hz. So, weak basses need not apply.
I had the MV 52 in my system for 10
years. It is a sweet and detailed tube
amp. The Innersound is more neutral, more
dynamic, tighter bass, and more
transparent. I really liked the MV52
though I like the Innersound better.
The Aleph 3 is a jewel that I had with the
G-3s for the last 15 months
before I changed to the Maggie 1.6's.
The Aleph was sweet, airy, detailed and
musical. For a small amp, it was very
dynamic.
However, my system is much better now with the
Innersound and Isis. It was also much
better with the Maggie 1.6s and the
Innersound.
John B.
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