Please understand, NOTHING to do with me thinking you are lying to me. It is just that there is SUCH a difference between what the stereo guy and the manufacture is saying verses your opinion that I just want to confirm that...
Both the manufacturer and the salesman are trying to sell you something. If what they say causes you to buy, they get what they want. The truth need not enter into the matter. More on that in a moment.
1.) You understand THIS specific speaker. The Maggies are planer, 4 ohm, and use what looks like a textured membrane with a cloth cover. The Electromotions are curved, 6 ohms, and use a transparent smooth membrane with a grid on the front and back. Martin Logan actually says this speaker addresses the power issue with past electrostats, in part because of the impedance and in part because of the grid design.
Martin Logan is lying. That they are lying is proven by looking at:
MartinLogan ElectroMotion ESL Speaker System HT Labs Measures | Sound & Vision
Notice, they measured the impedance of the speaker, and they say its minimum impedance is 2.03 ohms. Now, look at the formula here for calculating nominal impedance:
Electrical characteristics of dynamic loudspeakers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Z[SUB]nom[/SUB] = 1.15 x Z[SUB]min[/SUB]
Plugging in, we get:
Z[SUB]nom[/SUB] = 1.15 x 2.03
Z[SUB]nom[/SUB] = 2.3345
Those are nominally 2.3345 ohm speakers, not the 6 ohms that Martin Logan claims. You see, even though nominal impedance as a real meaning, it evidently has no LEGAL meaning, since many companies routinely lie about this in order to sell more speakers. If you buy these, you should buy an amplifier that is capable of safely driving 2.3345 ohm speakers (which, in practice, means you need an amplifier that is rated for use with 2 ohms).
Now, if we go with
Martin Logan's claim about the minimum impedance, we get:
Z[SUB]nom[/SUB] = 1.15 x 1.6
Z[SUB]nom[/SUB] = 1.84
If we round this off, we are at 2 ohms. You don't think the people at Martin Logan are so stupid that they cannot do this simple calculation, do you? They are lying about the nominal impedance, plain and simple.
(As an aside, the Magnepan speakers that are rated at 4 ohms are honestly 4 ohms; as far as I know, Magnepan has never lied about the electrical properties of their speakers.)
The problem with low impedances is that they require more current for the same power, which tends to cause amplifiers to get hotter than they would with a higher impedance. This can cause them to overheat and fail prematurely. Worse case scenario is a fire in which you are horribly mutilated, but that is unlikely. But it is possible.
The reason that many speaker manufacturers lie about the nominal impedance is because many people would not buy a speaker that is rated at an impedance that is below the minimum recommended for the amplifier that they have. So their lies increase sales. And then when the poor sucker who bought their improperly rated product destroys their amplifier, that is just too bad for the poor sucker.
If your amplifier is destroyed, this is nothing to Martin Logan. They still made the sale, regardless of what happens to whatever amplifier you use with them.
Now, you might get away with something that isn't designed for such low impedances, if you keep the volume low (as you are then requiring less power), but I don't recommend using any receiver with these speakers. You should use a power amplifier designed for dealing with difficult loads.
2.) You understand I am not shooting for the stars here with performance, just want them to sound good. The
third post in this thread about the Maggies is interesting. The poster says he tried them with a 130W reciever, then with a power amp, and didn't notice much of a difference. However I agree that to a trained and critical ear this could be a big difference, and maybe the basis for your opinion.
At any rate, thanks ALOT for the heads up on making sure my receiver can readily accept pre-amps. Im going to give them a go without the amp, and if i need it I can just add it.
Anyone who has experience with the electromotion ESLs please chime in with your experiences.
If you are going to do that, keep a fire extinguisher handy, just in case.