Thoughts? - First Watt F8 / Vandersteen Treo's

Vandersteens are a little on the warm side. Bright tubes or Solid State 100+. Audio Research for tubes and Ayre for solid state are both very popular combinations. I recommend asking same question at the Vandersteen forum. It's an active a passionate group. You'll get lots of great suggestions. 

I hope you don't have issues with the F8.  More power is a lot more money.  The F8 drops to 15 w 4ohms.

What you will not get with the F8 on that speaker is real dynamic swing. Yes, it might sound good tonally, but those speakers deserve more power. I base this opinion from someone going from a FirstWatt M2 (25W) to Quicksilver Mono 120s (120W) on 85dB Dynaudios. The M2 sounds fantastic, but the 120s sound way more dynamically alive...simply no contest.

@charles1dad no it was an older model that we repaired it has a 520 tube if I recall correctly.  The amp is not made any longer but on the Vandy Sevens, WOW!  It lit them up.

The Vandy's do not need power and the First Watt will work just fine until you get a better amplifier.  I have a clone of a First Watt but no time to test it out plus the clone is a better amplifier.

Unless people have the speakers, they will never no what amp will really work. I have Sevens, 5As and have used our amps on 2s, 3s and Quattros.  Plus as I already mentioned, zero feedback designed amplifiers are what you need to look for.

Happy Listening.

While the sensitivity of Vandersteen speakers is usually in the 80s, as someone said, their an easy load. Bring your amp to your friend's house. Also, give Vandersteen a call. They'll likely put you on the phone with Richard and he'll tell you what he thinks. For what it's worth, I rad a pair of Model IICe with a 35 wpc harmon Kardon Receiver from the late 70s and it did the job. 

That speaker needs some real power. Those first watt amps are designed for baby speakers that are high sensitive.

Vandersteen calls the Treo a 6 ohm load. Unlike most solid state amps which have more wattage into lower impedance loads the F8 reduces power  into lower impedances putting out 1/2 power into 4 ohms so the 6 ohm output is probably midpoint or about 19 watts into 6 ohms. This is way too low power to handle significant peaks. Even assuming the advertised 85 Db for 1 watt the Treo will die above about 98 dB peaks.

The difference between 25W and 40 W is roughly 2dB, between 25 W and 100W is 6dB. Unless you're a head banger in a big room, you'll be fine. Just understand the limits, and maybe think of it as 'qui-fi' - as in quiet fidelity. You'll be surprised what a good 25 W amp is capable of.

@bigkidz 

I drove my pair of Vanderteen model Sevens with an Art Audio 28wpc stereo amp that was simply amazing sounding. We use our own 40wpc class A tube amps that make them  really  sing also.

Art Audio has some wonderful amplifies. Did you have their Carissa 845 SET?

Charles

@tomic601 is correct.  They are not hard to drive at all for great sound.

Comments like these are simply not correct:

That amp will not cope well with very hard to drive Vandersteen speakers.   I would echo Soix's POV exactly.  Those speakers need a bit more oomph.

I drove my pair of Vanderteen model Sevens with an Art Audio 28wpc stereo amp that was simply amazing sounding. We use our own 40wpc class A tube amps that make them really sing also.

Zero feedback amps make Vandersteen speakers really sound their best also.

Happy Listening.

@tomic601 

 Personally, i would haul the amp to friends Treo and see for yourself… 

If this is a possibility I'd definitely heed this suggestion. You'll know for sure. I also believe that the Volti Razz seems a potentially excellent option with your F8 amplifier.

Charles

You really do need to find good experts ; hard to drive is not just a simple efficiency evaluation…The Vandy is an easy load relative to impedance and phase angle w no bizare dips. it also has pistonic drivers and a very inert cabinet. Pistonic drivers don’t include out of phase trash in the output. The waterfall and your listening at friends should tell you that. I run a set of Treo CT with either a 40 wpc tube or SS amp ( MC-240 or NAIM Atom )  Personally, i would haul the amp to friends Treo and see for yourself… if anything Nelson designs amps w grunt, headroom and drive….

Of course, room size and SPL requirements might mitigate all that….

Having said that, i’ve heard a Razz… plenty of virtues for sure…. enjoy the music and the journey 

Thanks Gents!  Always good to have someone smarter than me to run this type of information by.  Leaning towards the Volti Razz which seems to be one to the top matches for the F8.  

I had Vandersteen 5a for many years. Unfortunately, not enough power. All the Vandersteen’s have about the same sensitivity.

That amp will not cope well with very hard to drive Vandersteen speakers.   I would echo Soix's POV exactly.  Those speakers need a bit more oomph.  

When Atkinson measured the original Treo he found relatively benign impedance but sensitivity of 82.5dB that was even lower than the stated 85dB spec.  I wouldn’t drive those speakers with your amp.