@atmasphere 

Put another way, many tube amps could probably play this speaker.

I’m glad you took the time to reply and explain on this thread. I wasn’t aware of the detail and insight you provided.  However, I know what I heard on numerous occasions with the Acoustat speakers and VAC Renaissance amplifier combination. Again, truly wonderful sounding music presentation.

Thanks to your explanation I have a better understanding of what I clearly heard. The comments regarding sensitivity measurements vs real world performance, makes sense. The room was spacious yet this pairing had no difficulty filling it with music.

Charles

This is exactly what that Acoustat dealer had.

@ghdprentice

That is really interesting. As I mentioned above, the local Acoustat dealer (Early 1990s era) drove his speakers with the VAC REN 70/70. And believe me, that pairing absolutely sang beautifully. In addition he had a decent size listening space. Admittedly Kevin Hayes built those particular amplifiers with major quality output transformers and power supplies. That VAC model weigh nearly 100 pounds.

Charles

Charles

Back in the day there was an Acoustat dealer that I visited on several occasions. He drove the speakers with the VAC Renaissance 70/70 amplifier (Push-pull 300b, 65-70 per channel) with truly excellent results. Granted these amplifiers were built with very stout power supplies ​​​​​​.

I did not realize that their sensitivity was that low (81db) so I understand The recommendation for higher power solid-state amplifier. But, I can attest to the fact that they were marvelous sounding driven by the VAC amplifiers. The speaker probably has a friendly impedance load.

Charles