Amplifier for Audio Physics Virgo II

hi Yslee:
I owned the Virgo II for a few years, and to be honest I still miss them dearly, despite having 'upgraded' to other speakers. I actually drove them with KR Audio 6000 monos, providing <30wpc, and I thought they sounded wonderful. I also used a pair of 65wpc Blue Circle BC2 monos, which also sounded great (but the KR were that bit more palpable and richer). I'm not sure you need a lot of power here - just the right amp(s) for your taste.

One other key point I need to make and I can't emphasise this enough - I used a pair of Sistrum 004 stands beneath my Virgo IIs - the difference was night and day. You could spend many thousands and not get the benefit that this relatively affordable upgrade can provide. Good luck - you have a very fine pair of speakers. Enjoy.

My latest pair (I missed them and bought another pair after 2 years) sound very good bi-amped with a pair of Pass Labs Aleph 3s.

Thanks for all the wonderful recommendations. I am leaning towards SS.

I am actually a little surprised that Aleph 3 can drive them. When you say bi-amp, do you mean mono-block setup, one Aleph 3 for each speaker? Actually, the Aleph 5 (60Wpc) did came across my mind, wonder if anyone have hear that setup. I had both amps before, and if my memory serves me right, they sounded wonderfull but a little 'thin' with my Thiels.

Fjn04, I am not quite sure what kind of tweeter it has. I took a look, looks like soft dome but I can't be sure. Maybe others can clarify.

Yslee , thanks for the reply. I am quite sure others could clarify. Perhaps no one is because it really does not apply to your original post. I could certainly understand if that is the case. It's not a big deal , so it wouldn't make sense to post a thread with the question. With regards to your post, I did hear the Virgo's (I think 2's) at CES several years ago. They were driven by the Hovland gear, Radia amp and their tube preamp. I was very impressed w/ what I heard in a brief listen. Some of the class A amps really seem to be more powerful than their rating. This was my experience w/ both my Accuphase and a short listen to the Lamm 1.2 Ref amps. Certainly it's been documented here that the Aleph amps are very good, musical solid state. Sounds like a good direction if you can't do tubes. Another amp I heard recently that impressed me was the ARC Classic 60. You may want to consider the heat issue w/ the Pass Aleph series before going that direction. Just to clarify, the Hovland amp I heard was the EL-34 amp, not he SS one. So, it may have been the Sapphire. Not too familiar w/ their line, even the preamp name escapes me. Anyway, not sure what their tech support would be, since the Co. seems to be no longer in the US.

I too, fell in love with the Audio Physic Virgo after owning the Step and Tempo. Without being far off from the topic, I do think Virgo II deserve a high power amp with great damping factor for the sake of the 4 woofers they have. They don't post erratic impedance so you don't need a 'double wattage--half impendence' amp. However, they do need some power there to control the woofers completely.

I agree with some of the audiophile think they tend to be a bit bright in absolute sense, and they are revealing the characteristic of your amp, pre amp, and CD player, including your interconnect or speaker cables.

I have tried quite a few amps(Krell, Levinson, CJ, DK Design, Chinese tube amp Ming Da) and different front end (Wadia, Sony, Meridian, Levinson) with Virgo II and they simply show what you have changed at the front, for better or worse. You can tell some amp/CD player/pre amp sound more musical involving, more truth of timbre per Sam Telling, throw a bigger or more precise imaging and soundstage.

However, I keep coming back to the old Levinson 23.5 which I think is the best match for them probably because of the amp rather dark sounding nature, and it seems it soothes the Virgo II, good tube amp is probably another ticket but it will be hard for a tube amp to beat the bass finesse of the Levinson 23.5. I also tried the earlier Krell KSA50 MK II and even the nuclear reactor like KMA100 MK II (rated at 0.1 ohms at over 2000 Watts, PURE CLASS A!, designed the drive the earlier Apogee full range or Apogee Scintilla) but in a way they don't match the Virgo II as good as the ML.

Regardless, the Virgo II is a very unique speakers and just like the reviews, it can literally disappear with the right placement. It requires patience and hard work to set them up properly. But once you get them sing, man, you are in heaven!

One devious thing about them is they tempt you to change your gears constantly and you can't help to wonder how the new gear will sound in the setup. And boy, not all amp
pre amp/CD player sound the same!

Bravo Joachim Gerhard!