I've heard the Tributes at a dealer many years ago. They are a terrific speaker. I compared them against an A'gon favorite and was stunned. They ate the competitor's lunch. IMO.
Ok, ... when I A/B'd the Tributes, the dealer used an ARC VS 115 trade in. He used that to drive the Tributes and the competitor speakers. My amp, an ARC Ref 150 SE, shares a similar ARC house sound with the VS 115.
Bottom line: the Tributes are very sensitive. You don't need tons of power. If you want to hear magic, try an ARC tube amp, preferably a new'ish model that uses KT-120 or KT-150 power tubes. Pre-owned is fine. Drive the Tributes off the 4 ohm taps. You will get a flatter frequency response and deeper, tighter bass because the output impedance off the 4 ohm taps is relatively low; lower than the 8 ohm taps.
I realize its hard to do meaningful comparisons unless you can match the Tributes with an ARC amp and compare it to other amps, so consider my comments as just a data point.
In short, I think the Tributes and a modern ARC amp make for a magical combo. IMHO.
Ok, ... when I A/B'd the Tributes, the dealer used an ARC VS 115 trade in. He used that to drive the Tributes and the competitor speakers. My amp, an ARC Ref 150 SE, shares a similar ARC house sound with the VS 115.
Bottom line: the Tributes are very sensitive. You don't need tons of power. If you want to hear magic, try an ARC tube amp, preferably a new'ish model that uses KT-120 or KT-150 power tubes. Pre-owned is fine. Drive the Tributes off the 4 ohm taps. You will get a flatter frequency response and deeper, tighter bass because the output impedance off the 4 ohm taps is relatively low; lower than the 8 ohm taps.
I realize its hard to do meaningful comparisons unless you can match the Tributes with an ARC amp and compare it to other amps, so consider my comments as just a data point.
In short, I think the Tributes and a modern ARC amp make for a magical combo. IMHO.