Favorite Amps with Vandersteen 7 Mk2 Speakers

Alpinist

Alpinist

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Here’s my top five in order of preference (YMMV):

1. Vandersteen M7-HPA monoblocks
2. Audio Research Reference 250SE monoblocks
3. VTL Siegfried Series II monoblocks
4. Aesthetix Atlas Eclipse monoblocks
5. Ayre MXR Twenty monoblocks

What are your favorites?

Ken
 
Ken - is there is a specific "flavor" or characteristic of amp that you found works better than others?
 
Mike,

I’ve found that amplifiers with at least some tubes generally sound better with the Vandersteen 7 Mk2’s than exclusively solid state amplifiers. However, the tube amps need to be able to deliver sufficient current and be stable at lower impedances as the speaker sensitivity is 83.5 dB and the nominal impedance is 3 ohms.

Organic sounding solid state amps such as Ayre and Pass Labs will also work very well with them. Due to the powered subwoofers doing much of the heavy lifting, the speakers are not as difficult to drive as the specs appear to indicate.

Best,
Ken
 
No personal experience but have heard the Tenor 175S is an extraordinary match.
 
tdimler said:
No personal experience but have heard the Tenor 175S is an extraordinary match.
Click to expand...

This would make a lot of sense. Tenor amps are tube/solid state hybrids just like the Vandersteen M7-HPA and Aesthetix Atlas Eclipse monoblocks. The tubes help to provide an organic sound, while the current gain demands are primarily handled by a robust solid state output stage. However, tube amps like the ARC and VTL have improved so much with their power supplies and higher powered output tubes, all-tube amps are becoming less and less of an issue with the Vandy 7’s over time.

Best,
Ken
 
i'm guessing the big darTZeel 458 mono blocks might be a great match as dart is as close to tubes as ss gets (I liken them to my Tenor OTL's from years ago), and the dart mono's have the punch to deal with 83.5 db and 3 ohms without breaking a sweat.

no doubt the price of admission would be an issue, but none-the-less the match should be excellent.....and it would be very, very low noise, and has a superb first watt, no global feedback, super low parts count in the signal path.....for that open window to the inner musical nuance and uber refinement that the Vandy 7's are capable of.
 
Ken,

If you have the VTL Siegfrieds on your list, then the VAC 450 iQ monos w KT150 tubes may be an additional consideration.


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Mike Lavigne said:
i'm guessing the big darTZeel 458 mono blocks might be a great match as dart is as close to tubes as ss gets (I liken them to my Tenor OTL's from years ago), and the dart mono's have the punch to deal with 83.5 db and 3 ohms without breaking a sweat.

no doubt the price of admission would be an issue, but none-the-less the match should be excellent.....and it would be very, very low noise, and has a superb first watt, no global feedback, super low parts count in the signal path.....for that open window to the inner musical nuance and uber refinement that the Vandy 7's are capable of.
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

I totally agree with you about the darTZeel 458 monoblocks being a great potential match for the Vandersteen 7 Mk2 speakers. I would love to hear that pairing! Super organic, high powered, low noise and a minimum amount of parts in the signal path. I see a number of similarities between the darTZeel 458 and the Vandersteen M7-HPA, including the vertical orientation, the suspended internal chassis, zero negative feedback and minimum parts in the signal path. Could it be Richard V. modeled the M7-HPA’s design to some degree after the 458’s? I think it’s certainly possible.

Best,
Ken
 
cmarin said:
Ken,

If you have the VTL Siegfrieds on your list, then the VAC 450 iQ monos w KT150 tubes may be an additional consideration.


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Click to expand...

Hi Carlos,

I totally agree with you too! This is another pairing with the Vandersteen 7 Mk2 that I would love to hear. I’ve been lucky enough to hear the VAC 450 IQ monoblocks at Axpona with the big Von Schweikert speakers and they were hugely impressive. They certainly have more than enough power to drive the Vandersteen 7 Mk2, not to mention their gorgeous tonality. I thought the VTL monoblocks sounded outstanding with the Vandersteens at RMAF, so I think the VAC 450 IQ monoblocks could take it to another level.

Best,
Ken
 
Alpinist said:
Here’s my top five in order of preference (YMMV):

1. Vandersteen M7-HPA monoblocks
2. Audio Research Reference 250SE monoblocks
3. VTL Siegfried Series II monoblocks
4. Aesthetix Atlas Eclipse monoblocks
5. Ayre MXR Twenty monoblocks

What are your favorites?

Ken
Click to expand...

What about large Pass XA series monos or Grandinote Demones (both solid state though)?

The sensitivity and impedance requirements are really tough.


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Kuoppis said:
What about large Pass XA series monos or Grandinote Demones (both solid state though)?

The sensitivity and impedance requirements are really tough though.


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Click to expand...

Hi Kuoppis,

I was waiting for someone to mention Pass Labs, this was the pairing that I most wanted to hear but never got the opportunity, as I had sold my XA-100.8 monoblocks well before I purchased the Vandersteen 7 Mk2 speakers. I think this pairing could potentially be a great one due to the organic tube-like quality of the Pass Labs XA.8 Series and its ability to drive low impedance and sensitivity speakers. Most of all the Pass Labs is at the appropriate price point as almost all models are less expensive than the Vandersteen 7 Mk2. If anyone has tried Pass Labs with the Vandersteen 7 Mk2, it would be great to hear about the experience. Sorry, but I’m not at all familiar with Grandinote amplifiers.

Best,
Ken
 
Hi Ken, Grandinote is an Italian manufacturer gaining some followership in Europe lately. They call their amp architecture Magnetosolid, essentially an SS amp built on tube amp architecture. Design goal is to achieve tube sweetness while keeping SS punch.

I do have a Grandinote phono pre, which I quite like. On the Sharks forum I believe Audiophon has Grandinote Demone monos, he switched from Pass XA100.5s I think.


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I have only heard them with Vandersteen's own amps. It is hard to imagine they would sound better with any one else's. That is a pretty hefty cost of entry
 
still-one said:
I have only heard them with Vandersteen's own amps. It is hard to imagine they would sound better with any one else's. That is a pretty hefty cost of entry
Click to expand...

Hi Jim,

I agree that the Vandersteen M7-HPA monoblocks have the upper hand with the Vandersteen 7 Mk2 speakers and would be very difficult to top. That’s why I own them. After all, these amps are custom designed for the speakers with built in subwoofer crossovers, reduced output current in the subwoofers’ frequency range (handed off to the speakers’ 400 watt subwoofer monoblocks) and single-ended output that allow the amps to be dialed in to fixed length speaker cables and the speakers’ specific impedance.

However, it certainly would be fun to try six figure amps like the Dart 458 and VAC Statement on the Vandy 7’s to see how they stack up. While they would easily win out on any other speakers, not a slam dunk on the Vandy 7’s.

Best,
Ken
 
i thought the room this year at RMAF sounded especially good (better than i remember from prior shows). The amps were VTL and it was a killer combo.
 
Has anyone listened to Vandersteen speakers with Gryphon amplifiers? FYI, I'm using Ayre MXR-20s with Vandersteen 7iis and have enjoyed the set-up; however, I like the Vandersteen M7-HPAs much better.

Thanks,
Duke
 
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