Thoughts on a new tube amp for high end rig? The last piece!
Welcoming any thoughts/suggestions on monobloc amp recommendations for the last piece of my second system- BTW doesn't necessarily need to be tube!
Been at this for 35 years or so, had a slew of high end gear through the mill but always interested in others experiences.
I have a VAC Master Pre with phono, TW Raven AC with Raven 10.5 arm (likely to mount either a Air Tight PC1 or ZYX Universe II, tbd), EMM Labs XDS1 v3 through a just fully broken in pair of Wilson Yvette's (which will likely be upgraded to Sasha DAW's later this year). Shunyata Anaconda PC's and Crystal Clear Magnum Opus IC's, WW Plat 6 speak wires. 18x13 room with good sweet spot set up.
Although the PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium mono's/Pre have worked really well as hold overs, I need a pair of mono amps to fill out the frame here.
Been down the ARC road many times over, maybe 160m's would fit the bill but I'm tired of the ARC constant upgrade treadmill, thinking Pass 160.8 may also work if my room were an igloo. VTL MB 450's? VAC 200iq's?
Thanx in advance for any opinions.
Jackaroe
Been at this for 35 years or so, had a slew of high end gear through the mill but always interested in others experiences.
I have a VAC Master Pre with phono, TW Raven AC with Raven 10.5 arm (likely to mount either a Air Tight PC1 or ZYX Universe II, tbd), EMM Labs XDS1 v3 through a just fully broken in pair of Wilson Yvette's (which will likely be upgraded to Sasha DAW's later this year). Shunyata Anaconda PC's and Crystal Clear Magnum Opus IC's, WW Plat 6 speak wires. 18x13 room with good sweet spot set up.
Although the PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium mono's/Pre have worked really well as hold overs, I need a pair of mono amps to fill out the frame here.
Been down the ARC road many times over, maybe 160m's would fit the bill but I'm tired of the ARC constant upgrade treadmill, thinking Pass 160.8 may also work if my room were an igloo. VTL MB 450's? VAC 200iq's?
Thanx in advance for any opinions.
Jackaroe
13 responses Add your response
Rogue Apollo Dark -- http://www.rogueaudio.com/Products_ApolloDark.htm |
I would have to second the notion of Quicksilver in your beautiful system, I replaced a pair of VTL mono120s with a pair of new M120 Quicksiver amps as a stop gap till my VTLs which I have owned for 20 years got back from repair. Sold the VTLs and never looked back. The Quicksikvers have the K150 upgrades. Have to say that the V4s are a better looking amp if those things are important to you, you might want to call Mike Sanders and discuss which would be best suited to your application. Enjoy the music. |
If the Wilson speakers he owns now (upgraded or not) are typical of most Wilsons of yore then some pretty healthy impedance dips are to be expected. For OTLs, low impedance loads are not a desirable pairing. Having said that, Atma MA-2s were specifically mentioned and it's possible they just might have the balls to cope with 3-4 ohms scattered here and about, That's a mess o' 6AS7s your sportin' there, pawpaw. Anyway, Ralph would know should he care to chime in. I think it'd be borderline unless he springs for MA-3s and we're talkin' lotto money now. |
I can’t imagine anything close to or above their price significantly bettering Quicksilver, I certainly haven't heard it. Superb value and top shelf performance, it has to be in the transformer design. As to which model would be better in your specific application, check with Mike Sanders. The M120s have a lower output impedance than the V4s but less power. |
