Tube Amps with Vandersteen 2Ci's ???


Anyone have any experience powering 2Ci's with a tube amp? I'd like to move up from my Adcom 555 to something in the tube department, perhaps monoblocks. Already have tube preamp (Audible Illusions Mod 1), and have been eyeballing a few class A tubers. 2Ci's not your typical rock and roll speaker, will I lose all the low end punch and crispiness? Any recommendations?
osideffs
Difficult to say. Mr. Vandersteen himself recommends tube amps and I think he uses Audio Research for home use. However the Model 2 is not the best in sensitivity and it will need a powerful tube amp to drive the woofers properly. Unfortunately these come at a price. I remember a Model 3 driven by 24W Unison Research SE triodes; excellent on soft music, but they run out of steam when things got rough. Overall the best Model 2 I heard was driven by two modified B&K EX-442 amps in vertical bi-wiring (one stereo amp pre speaker). The B&K is 200W pre channel, but offers a darker and mellower sound than your Adcom. Try to find a local dealer that offers a home loan to make up your mind; I like my orchestral tuttis very loud, but you may find that it is too loud for you.
arc classic 60/sp9 combo is escellent. you wont want for more bass, perhaps deeper if youre greedy but not more.
I,ve heard a lot of Vandersteens and I must say that for moderate listening levels the ARC classic 60 sounds very very good, about as good as I,ve heard. If you want for extreme bass impact I'd add the subwoofer but I doubt you'll need it.
try a hybid amp used counterpoint sa-20 or a 220 abound on the used market or any other hybrid
I'm in the the process of buying a pair of 2c's right now. I'm using a Music Reference MKII and a SP9 MKIII modified by Steve Huntley at Great Northern Sound. I'm told this combo should work very well. I have not decided on speakers yet and I am open for suggestions.
I have 2C's & an Audib0le Illusion Modulus III, and LOVE my modified Dynaco Mk III's so much thaat I have just bought a second pair & am having them modified as bass amps to bi-amp the 2c'S. I get excellent bass (relatively small listening room & I can't play at full blast, but very satisfying anyway) with the one pair of 60 watt Dynacos & can hardly wait for the second pair to go in the system. Using Kimber 8tc & 4tc in shotgun configuration. BySENGEN on 09/21/00