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ARC 100.2 Enough power for Proac 3.8

I am looking for a power amp with plenty of grunt to drive a pair of Proac 3.8's.
Currently they are being driven with an Ayre V-5x which has been kindly lent to me by a friend. It sounds gorgeous by the way, but could use a bit more "slam" in the bottom end. It's damn close to perfect though.
The catch is that I can't afford one of those beasts and have read good things about the 100.2 from ARC. Could this be the beast I am looking for or do I need more power. The Ayre is 150watts and the ARC is 100watts but apparently belies it's output rating. A VT100mkII is also tempting but I'm not so sure about the tube approach.
Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
alun
tomb11
4 posts
 
I once powered my old Proac 2.5s with a VT100. I thought they were an exceptional combination, but would not go overly loud. Very detailed, open, natural sounding. I bought the same drivers for use in my truck. I believe they could have used a bit more power.

I once considered the 3.8s. How sensitive are they. I see the new D38 is 90db, and the D25 88 db.

If you listen at moderate to semi loud levels, I bet 100 watts would be just fine.

Good luck
cytocycle
1,043 posts
 
Find a ARC D400 MKII amp, control and musical 200 watts! this was a $6k new amp that sells for $2000 and it is amazing!
jbrrp1
423 posts
 
ARC D400 MKII is an outstanding and often over-looked solid state amp; a very solid value used as Cytocycle indicates. But it is still a solid state amp. I used one with my old Proac Response 2's and it did sound very nice - - but I ended up moving on to get back to tubes, and they really made the Proac's sing. I'd stay with the ARC 100.
alun OP
181 posts
 
Hmm, The D400 is definately a possibility. My wife and I like the tunes to be fairly loud and punchy so I think the tubes may be out unless I go for a big power tube. A local fellow has a D250MkII 250 watt tube amp from ARC for sale, but it uses 16 output tubes and would be a bear to retube with my little experience.
The Odysee amps are of interest as well.
The nice thing about the 100.2 is that it will fit in my stand easily and I have read many good things about it. Some even prefer it to the ARC VT100mkII.
I'm going to check into this matter further
Thank you for your responses.
jsbail
368 posts
 
I did not like the 100.2 with my Proac 3.8's. My room is fairly large and I found the soundstage to be very flat. It may have been a power issue due to my large room. I liked a Classe ca200 better, but the Rogue M-150's I use now are much better than that.
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