OK,getting close-- VAC 30/30 SIG. is a good.....

I know a dealer who hooked a 30/30 up to a pair of the very hard to drive N801's just for laughs, and it drove the speakers, nothing blowing up, but I respectfully disagree that the 30/30 would be right for any iteration of the 802, which requires a great deal of power to sound right (i.e., to have the timbre and dynamics portrayal the designer intended). If, for example, one were to run a 30/30 with 802's in an average sized room with orchestral music through a good analog rig or from DSD, there won't be proper headroom. I know this from my own VAC amps: I ran the twice-as-powerful 70/70 Mk. III for two years and have run the four-times-as-powerful 140/140' Mk. IIIs for the last five years in my main system. The VAC Renaissance amps have excellent power supplies and use expensive output transformers, and can eat for lunch a lot of supposedly much more powerful tube amps, but there is no substitute for real current when faced with a speaker, like all iterations of the 802, that feature low impedences in the bass and steep phase angles. Will the 30/30 drive the 802's? Sure. Will it sound the way the designer intended the speaker to sound? Sometimes yes, but sometimes, no. The 802's sound good with the Rowland Model 8 and other warmish solid-state amps that are very high current.

We're really missing the point, however, which is, why put a supurb amp like the 30/30 with a speaker like 802's? (older versions, that is -- the new 802D is a very good speaker). A 30/30 into Verity Parsifal Encores, for example, is a formidible combo. I have also heard a 30/30 make a pair of Meadowlark Herons really sing.

The VAC dealer who sold me my 70/70 very frankly told me that the 30/30 is the honey of that vintage of VAC amps (which says A LOT). A very good salesman I know runs 30/70 monoblocks. In any event, these amps are special -- it wouldn't be unreasonable to just buy one and build your system around it.

Nice reply, Raquel. Having owned 2 SET amps(realizing VAC 30/30 is PP)I had to find out the hard way that just about any speaker that drops below 4 is NOT A GOOD MATCH.
A while back there was an ad for the same model Montana's that I once owned;in this ad,the guy says "93 sensitive--SET friendly"____NOT SO,say I.___ I guess I was afraid to ask the necessary stupid question and payed the price.

The 30/30 Signature is a supurb amp that will drive a lot of speakers, but it is not right for 802's of any vintage. It should be run with a 90 db. or higher efficient speaker, and a speaker of very high quality (Verity, etc.).

The added nice thing about the 30/30's is the long-life 300-B output tubes that auto-bias and the output tube failure shutdown feature -- all you do is turn the amp on and off, and every five years or so, replace the output tubes. No tube amp hassles.

The VAC 30/30 Signature does not have a separate outboard power supply, bu the new VAC Phi 30/30 does. Either of the amps are more than capable of driving the B & W 802 speakers with plenty of energy and control. Depending on your room size and listening preferences, the 32 w.p.c. that the amp puts out are only capable of sane SPL's with the 802 speakers. The amp is very stable with even tougher loads than the 802's, and will surprise you even if you are use to far more powerful solid state designs.
The 30/30 is one of the most musical amps I have ever owned, and is extremely dependable as well. The newest Phi version is even more detailed and quieter with it's improved, larger outboard power supply. It is also a visual work of art! Service from VAC is as good as it gets in high end audio. I have owned 4 different 30/30's over the last 10 years, including the Phi amp, and never had a single problem with any of them. A fantastic product!