Tube Amp Recommendation

Quicksilver, CJ, Rogue are all good. I find the first two more refined than the latter. CJ probably has the best midrange.

The Catamounts are a super speaker, but they really don't need a whole lot of watts unless your room is huge. I'd look for the best damn 50-75w amp you can get, rather than go for the big watt stuff like the ARC VT100 you mention.

You could use some of the high-power SET amps that would sound heavenly (if you like that heavy cream texture), such as some of the Canary push-pull 300B amps or the Dehavilland 845 amps. These would be among my first choices if I could afford them.

Another nice sound would be with the latest version of the McIntosh 275 amps.

Another completely different approach would be the OTL route. You'll be impressed with the Atma-sphere MA-60's if you can audition them. Or you might look for the Berning Z270 as a fast, clean and dynamic alternative.

Lots of choices, depending on your taste and budget. But all these would work.

I'm currently using a couple different North Creek speaker systems, and you'll find they take a LOOOONG time to break in. My Eska's in the bedroom took a good month before they opened up (Scanspeak Revelator Tweeters). I'm running them with a Transcendent Sounds T8 OTL amp.

Did you get ribbon tweeters in your catamounts, or the Revelators, or one of George's silk dome tweeters? Great speakers, and practically unknown here.

Hope this helps!
Doug

If you have a $3000 budget then I cannot recommend VAC strongly enough. You will most likely be looking at used in the $3000 range, but you would be hard pressed to better VAC in almost any price range.

The quality and reliability is unbeatable and Kevin's customer service is second to none in the industry. He happily supports used gear and offers upgrade service on almost all his models. Do some research on VAC - it will speak for itself.

There just so happens to be a pair of PA 90 Mono's on Agon and I also have those amps and can speak from expereince. Those rarely come up for sale and generally don't last long - I bought mine off Agon 3 years ago and have never looked back. I am pushing 87db speakers with NO problems at all. I have the D upgraded versions and they are a 4 chassis design with seperate power supplies. Check out the link below to my virual system and you can see what they look like.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vevol&1106443849&view

Very natural mid range and presence on femal vocals, great tonal accuracy, overall fantastic amps. You would need to spend 3x your budget to do better then the PA 90's!

Do yourself a big favor and do some research on VAC before you make a decision!

Hope this helps and good luck!!

Please feel free to e-mail me should you want some additional insight on the PA 90's, I am happy to share my experience with them!

If you are considering ARC VT-100, you should consider SF Power 2. Most agreed SF Power 2 is more neutral and resolving, better bass, and better build.

BAT makes great amp. If possible, stretch your budget and try a SE model. Difference is not subtle vs. the non-SE model.

Aronov LS 960 60W stereo or LS 9100 100W monos could be worth a look for well under $3000 used-around $1300 and $2000 respectively. I dont know them well but am considering them myself.