tube amp recommendations for Watt/Puppys

I partly disagree with the above post. The Wilson WP's speaker sound much better with tubes than with solid sate. The key is that they like a lot of power. On the WP's, I have compared the Levinson, Classe and Krell gear head to head with the ARC VT200 / VTM200 / Ref 600 and the tubes were better in almost every way. The solid state did not have the harmonic texture of the tubes and seemed to distort at the higher frequencies. While the ARC gear was not as quiet as the Levinson, I still preferred the ARC gear.

On another note, I went over to a friend's house about a month ago and heard the WP 6's driven by the ML Reference 33's. It was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunatley, it would be difficult to compare that listening experience to my A/B with the ARC's.

I have also heard the BAT VK-150SE's on the WP's and they too, are a wonderful match. They are extremely quiet and beautiful sounding. They run class a so do not let the 150 watt rating fool you.

The best amps I have heard on WP's are the Atma-sphere MA2 MKII.2's. They are amazing but even used are out of your price range.

Good luck... it should be fun!

Sorry Kelly, but I disagree. I had both pieces in my system when I still had the WP's and it was mediocre at best. The WP's like power and at 50-60 watts, they did not help the speakers reach their potential. Dave uses it in an office system and does not use it for dynamics, more for background music. The Watt Puppies need more power.

Hey Kelly: I did indeed listen to the Nagra amps and preamp with the WP 6's in my home. The Watt Puppies are terrific speakers and I am sure they sounded quite good at the show. But, if you really want to hear what they can do, listen to them with a high power tube amplifier. It is a huge difference. Compared with the higher powered amps, the Nagras are mediocre on the WP 6's. Mediocre on WP's is better than good on most speakers. :)

I respect what you heard and agree with many of your opinions, this one we just see a bit differently.