is upgrade to REF110 worth it from vt100mkIII?

Hi Uncle dito, the 803s are excellent speakers and i think will continue to reveal the improvements in your amplification. The question is whether the 110s will have enough juice to satisfy the 803s. I have heard the 210s and remember the dealer making 2 comments: 1) not the last word in all-out power which should be considered when partnering with tougher loads that require good damping (i think your 803s might be in a category where they respond well to gripping power; 2) the 110s/210s are not the last word in bass damping where the 803s also respond well in particular.

If you are comfortable with these 2 elements being more familiar as an owner than i (who have only auditioned not owned)...i did find the 803s responded well to upstream changes such as the ones you suggest.

everyone will have their 2 cents...i would love to hear what you think of using a Pass amp with those speakers given the rest of your system...for 7500 euros, you could buy quite a lot of Class A SS power which will be smooth, powerful, controlled but sweet. and with your existing tubes, possibly a beautiful combination (to my ears, not necessarily to yours). two cents. good luck!

many thanks for the insight Lloydelee21. I don´t have much chances to hear music very loud, so I put more weight on musicality and timbre. With the current setup, I have found the bass quite nice, but maybe is because I have not heard 803D thru 300W+ SS amplification as you suggest.

Uncle dito, I'm an ARC fan as you can see from my System description. This is just hearsay, but I recall reading somewhere that the VS-115 (my amp) is better than the VT100 MkIII, but not by a heck of a lot. At the same time, I definitely recall reading that the Ref 110 is better than the VS-115, but again, not by a heck of a lot. So therefore, I question out loud how mcuh bang for the buck you would get from the jump.

OTOH, Ref 110s are starting to hit the listings in the $5K range. I don't recall what the VT100 MkIIIs go for. But I understand that the MkIII version was a major improvement. If it only costs a grand or so to move up, it might be worth it.

OTOH, OTOH, I think the most important Q is whether there is anything peculiar about the Ref 110 that would raise compatibility concerns with the 803s. That's probably a Q for Cal at ARC.

Uncle dito,

its all a personal opinion...if u are happy, that is the most important thing. i have found the bigger the b&w, the more damping control it tends to like...and they respond well to it. Worth a listen if you can. if not, ARC is great stuff...enjoy!

Thanks Bifwynne, in EU second hand vt100 mkiii sell for 2.5k€ in rare ocasions they show...and Ref110 still high at approx 7,5k€.
The more i read about 803Ds, the consensus grows that they need generous power supply as BW are current hungry.
I would really like to do A/B with Ref110 and also SS 300+ watts/channel, as I suspect as you do that I may not get much added bang for the cash, from the fair starting point I have now.

Lloydelee21, as mentioned in the earlier post, i need to get A/B to conclude if there is good return on further power amp investment. After the summer I will try to convince my brother to lend me his MA-9S1 300W marantz monoblocks and try them in my system, and do the tube/SS shoot out. I have heard them in his house, with the newer 803d and also with my Ref3, sound is awesome, but difficult to assess if and how much better.

Good luck!