What are best speakers for VTL 125 amps and 90dB ?


Using Vandersteen 2C's for Rock and Jazz primarily. Keep on wrecking the 2C's at high 80's, low 90's dB. Any speaker suggestions?
weshumpston
I am listening in the high 80's to low 90's dB for 2-4 hours. Sabbath is as metal as I get. Queen, Cars, Drive By Truckers, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Karma To Burn, etc.
I've blow every speaker inside once or twice. It hasn't been as bad since I switched from a Bryston 4B to the VTL 125's mono amps.
In theory one of the tradeoffs of the gentle first-order crossovers used by Vandersteen is reduced power handling.

If you've blown every speaker you've had once or twice, I suggest that you'll save money in the long run by going with speakers that use prosound components. This means stepping outside of mainstream home audio, but the combination of higher efficiency and higher power handling makes such speakers far more survivable in a challenging application. You might look at Klipsch Heritage series, PiSpeakers, GedLee, and Tyler Acoustics' Pro Dynamics line. The PiSpeakers 3Pi at $1700 a pair is a real good starting point.

Duke
dealer/manufacturer
Something is in need of a change if you have continuously been blowing speakers. Any chance you are pushing the amps past clipping? It's not necessarily how much power you put into the speaker as much as how clean and stable the signal is - VTL 125s might seem like they have a lot of power but Vandersteen 2C's should be able to take the full power of 125's, and more. What the 2C and almost any speaker won't like is when an amp clips. The 2C and any Vandersteen is a well constructed/reliable speaker; any speaker including a Vandersteen can have a driver or a crossover fail but I think it's safe to say Vanersteen's are generally pretty robust. If you like how they sound I'd get them fixed; Vandersteen has pretty reasonable parts and services prices. (I saw Rrog's comment and I don't dispute his experience but it's different than mine - one possibility is that 2Cs in 2011 might be in need of a part replacement here or there - after 10 or 20 years stuff can wear out if it's been used too much or not enough or not properly, and sometimes it just ages due to temperature, humidity, and time.)

On a different note, in a perhaps more ideal situation, I think I'd look for speakers first and then the amp; I realize sometimes we get ourselves into a situation where we are trying to make due with the gear on hand, but personally I'd find speakers that sound right in my room and then select the right amp for the speakers.

Let us know how reliably your next set of speakers run.