VTL vs Jolida

Are the Maggies and Martin Logan's comparable to each other? One of my concerns is good music in the room from several locations and not just sitting in the speakers' sweetspot. Is a box speaker generally better in that regard?

Will a similarly powered tube amp generally push more power than a SS amp?

You need a lot of voltage swung in order to get the Maggies and probably M-Ls to sing and tube amps are not the most efficient at this task. I'd look to something more amp and room friendly like ProAcs, Merlins, Silverlines, etc.

Hi,
I have alot of recent listening experience regarding the amps and speakers in question. I have two other threads running at the moment.

First, to answer your question, VTL vs. Jolida, I think I would concur with my fellow compatriots that the answer is VTL, and I would agree with most of the comments already made. I think VTL is generally articulate, and powerful and everything you want a tube amp to be... that's in the sweetspot of the tube spectrum. I'm powering Maggie 3.6s with used VTL MB450 Signature monoblocks (six years old). I will also say that I've heard the Jolidas (3000 monos) sound really good with the Maggies as well. But as one of your prior posts mentioned (I think it was tomryan), the Jolidas are going to sound very tubey (the tubey end of the spectrum), whereas I think VTL probably sits in the center of tube sound, while maybe ARC sounds on the lean end (closer to ss) of tube sound. And yes, VTL comes from Southern California.

You might consider looking for a powerful pair of used VTLs on A-gon.

Also, if you go electrostatic or planar, (as everyone on A-gon will tell you) err on the side of more power rather than less. I think more power will positively influence the quality of your sound more so than the ss vs. tube question.

As for the speakers, I've always had a thing for electrostatics and planars. They just produce a different sound than what comes out of a box. I started searching for Martin Logans almost a year ago and auditioned Ascents and Odysseys at three different stores. They all sounded fantastic, though I thought the Ascents were a better price point. I was just about to pull the trigger on the Ascents when I finally came across the Maggies. And that was it. The first time I heard them, I was sold. I think the Maggies just presented a truer musical sound with less coloring and more life. The Martin Logans (all of them) have a certain sonic character or color to them. Don't get me wrong, Martin Logans are fantastic speakers, I do think they're exceptionally well made -probably better than the maggies- and they are esthetically unique. I don't think you could ge wrong with either the MLs or the Maggies. They both sound great! It's a personal listening preference. Opt for the sound that makes you emotional.... forget about what idiots like me will tell you.

For me, Maggies and powerful tubes are a hard combination to beat.

by the way, nice post above - Thanks

This post addresses "Angelsmtn" post more than anything else:-

Well, I have not heard VTL amps thus far so I cannot say how a JoLida would sound vs. a VTL.
However, I do own the 502A stereo power amp which is rated @ 60W/ch. It's an inexpensive power amp. For the price I paid for it used, it has very good sound as a stock unit. I had the parts modified & in bargain my friend put in new preamp & driver tubes (you can read the description in my Bedroom virtual system). My intention to modify it was always there from the 1st day I got this amp.
After modification I can compare the 2 sounds: the stock sound was dark or brooding as my modifier friend said. There was plenty of bass but it was thick. The top end was present but missing lustre. After modification, all these bad things are gone! The amp sounds quick, etc, etc (once again read my comments post modification in my Bedroom virtual system. I won't bore you by repeating it here). I have not yet tried KT88s, which can be used as output tubes without changing the circuitry & by only changing the bias manually thru an external pot.

So, what I want to say is that, if you know what you are doing, you can modify or have the JoLida modified (if you don't know what you are doing! :-) ) to sound immensely better & far more neutral than you can ever image a JoLida sounding. This tube amp seems to have basically a good pedigree/design & responds superbly to modifications.

I would say that whichever amp you end up buying don't use it stock over the long term - you are doing yourself a big disfavour. Even the big VTL amps will respond to mods (esp. power supply mods) & will sound much better post mod.

Now, there might not be a JoLida amp w/ sufficient power to drive B&Ws or Martin-Logans, which might rule JoLida out on the power output basis rather than on the "tubey" basis.