40 watt tube integrated enough for vandy 2's?

I have a pair of 2c's (which are now my "other room" speakers), but I remember a 40w amp not being enough to make them sing. I called Richard V and asked his opinion. He suggested a 60w/ch tube amp. Of course, it depends on what you listen to and how loud. good luck .... buy right and you can resell it if you are not satisfied.

I'm aware of one happy dipole (Apogee Duetta Signatures) user who runs them with a Margules 60 watt amp if that's any solace. By the way, Jolida makes very fine entry tube amps that are as good as anything twice the price. Give it a try, if you already own the amp. You have nothing to lose.

I have used a 30 watt tube amp, but it only worked in a small room. In a larger room, the 30 watter would run out of gas and clip when I cranked it up. I found that the 60 watt Quicksilver Mono's worked great. I have also used an AMC CVT 2100as, which runs around 6-700 new, but you will need a preamp with this.

Originally used a Quicksilver GLA (signature) & mved up to M60's. Sound improved but the GLA di dirve the 2's nicely...

Hi, Rose:

I'd like to pursue your question a bit further, and ask you why you specifically want to use a tube amp with the Vandy 2Ce's? Do you already own a tube amp (the Jolida) that you prefer to use, or did you hear the Vandy 2Ce with a tube amp that you liked? Put somewhat differently, we ought to talk about the qualities of the amp you pick, and how well those qualities match the characteristics of the Vandy 2Ce.

It would also be helpful to know some other things, such as: how large is your listening room; what type of music will you typically be playing; will the 2Ce's also be used for home theater; and do you like to listen to music at fairly high volume levels?

The reason for asking you to offer a bit more information than contained in your post is not to take issue with your preferences. As regular readers of this forum know, I have owned most of the Vandy speaker models over the past 15 years, have used both tube and solid state amps with them, and my personal preference was for a solid state amp. On the whole, solid state amps may be better suited to Vandy speakers than tube amps due to the Vandy's lower efficiency (I personally think that about 100 wpc is the minimum needed to properly drive the 2Ce), impedance (6 ohms on average, with dips to 4 ohms or slightly less, which can be a real challenge to moderately priced tube amps), and tonal balance. In fairness, however, I know there are many Vandy owners that use tube amps and like the sound they provide.

Before you make a purchase, I think you would be well served to try several different amps -- both tube and solid state -- to see which you like best with the 2Ce's. Over the long run, you will probably be happier with an amp that has a neutral tonal balance and a minimum of 60 wpc. IMO, Vandy speakers perform much better with more power -- they seem to "wake up" and have greater realism. There are some excellent, moderately priced, solid state integrated amps on the market right now that deserve your consideration, such as the Creek 5350SE and the Bryston B-60.

Rose--
From personal experience, my set-up years ago was 2ci w/ the
ARC Classic 30~Classic 60 The 30 ran hot,hot,hot and the
volume knob on my ARC LS2B MkII was at 11-12:00o'clock, too
high for my liking (my room was about 17x20ft) at normal
listening levels. With the Classic 60, music just flowed.
I'm not too familiar with jolida amps and their respective
power ratings, however, I would suggest you go with minimum
50 tube watts or 40 watts s/s...Great speakers at a great $

I forgot to add- my 120wpc Macintosh MC 2120 amp (solid state) really sounds the most exciting but didn't have the smoothness of either Quicksilvers.

SDcampbell is 100% correct.i used to own the Vandy 3A.even my adcom 555($450 SSamp) sound better then my KR($3000 tube amp).if you must have tube,i think try to get something with at least 100W..hope this help

With my Vandy 2ce Sig.s I'm using the MF A300 integrated which sounds great at moderate to high volume.However since this is an apt.,I needed a low volume solution which was Y-connectors out of the MF A3 cd player into a Antique sound lab MGSI 15DT integrated into Triangle Titus speakers. This feels like agreat start until i learn more. John

Of course your room and desired listening levels will be paramount in this regard. I think the answer to your question is yes, but more power would be better. The difference between 40 and 50 watts is minimal. As a rule of thumb (not carved in stone by any means) there is a kernel of truth to the old saying "double the manufacturers minmum suggested power". I believe that the Vandy 2c's minimum suggested power was 40 Watts.