Tube OTL amp for VAndy 5

Hi Michael,
I heard the Vandy 5A with Joules, Elrod cable, & VPI Scoutmaster at the 2005 CES. It was by far the best I've ever heard any Vandersteens. However, IMHO it doesn't touch the sound of the Joules driving the latest Merlins, as in the Merlin room at this year's CES.
Heard various Atmas sounding nice many times with Eidolons, Frieds, Coincidents, and even Zingali horns, but never heard the Atmas w/Vandys. Cheers,
Spencer

You might want to just call Jud Barber at Joule and ask him. I have the Joule VZN100's with smaller Merlins and can say first hand they are a terrific match (well documented elsewhere all over the forums). Likewise for the various Kharma's. I know Bobby at Merlin recommends amps that aren't highly damped because his VSM's already are, so perhaps the Joule OTL's are among the less highly damped. I've tried the Joules on 3 other very different sets of speakers as well, all with great success, so I don't see them as being finicky at all. Having owned various Vandy 2's and 3a's, I can imagine their natural presentation coupled with the speed and purity of the OTL's would be glorious. I've not hear the 5A's with them myself, but Jud and Richard Vandersteen are gentlemen both, who talk very honestly with customers on the phone themselves. I'd start there if you're spending that kind of money.

My local dealer has the 5's, actually the 5A's, hooked up to a pair of M-60's, without any autoformer in between. He likes the sound a lot, has no concerns about lack of bass, no surprise since the Vandy's have the subs.
Don't you live somewhere in PA or NJ? If you don't mind a road trip some weekend, drive up to Selinsgrove in Central PA, right on 11/15, Creative Audio Video, Dale is the owner.

i heard the joule vzn160s on the vandy 5 at last years ces and the combo was fabulous. the right damping in the 160 for the vandy 5s. call judd and talk to him personally.
bobby at merlin

Atma-Sphere amps excel at bass reproduction. Call Atma-Sphere up and they will give you an informed opinion on the suitability of which amp model is recommended with any given speaker.

Call Jud at Joule Electra. Besides building the highest quality hand built OTL's that kick butt, he is without question one of the finest gentlemen of Hi-End audio.

Thanks, guys. Lots of good info. Next question, aside from Spencer, has anyone compared the 5s with the Merlins, using a Joule or Atma amp?

Swampwalker, I have Merlins (VSM-MX with the superBAM). Just today I was at the dealers who has the 5's (by the way, they are 5's, not 5A's, I was wrong) with the m60's. He had them fired up for some customers. So, I have heard the M60's with 5's, but not with my Merlins. I can compare the 5's/M60 combo with my Merlin/monoblocked Berning combo, although that's not exactly what you want.

Please share.