ARC VT-100 MK II vs. Sonic Frontiers Power 2


Have you had experience A/Bing these two amps? I have the VT-100 Mk II and like it, but it is rather user unfriendly for biasing, especially the input tubes.

The Power 2 is a 110 pd. beast, with every function for friendliness one could want. However, some people feel it is solid state-ish, not as detailed, smaller images, lacking the best bass.

Please give your experience with these pieces, especially with B&W's, or other dynamic speakers.
kevziek

Showing 1 response by abecollins

I owned the ARC VT100MKII and it is in fact a fairly neutral sounding amp. The low end bass and "slam" was outstanding and the air and soundstage was also very good. I tend to enjoy a more tube like sound though especially with a wee bit of midrange sweetness so I sold the ARC and kept my CJ Premier 11a. The ARC was almost "solid-state" relative to the CJ. On the other hand I preferred the ARC over my Classe solid-state amps.

If you enjoy tube rolling, be warned that the ARC VT series are not user friendly in this regard. Swapping power tubes is relatively straight forward. If you want to mess with the drivers, you better be preparred for some heavy duty disassembly, reading schematics, tweaking a handful of trimpots, and reading digital meters.