Got Vienna Acoustics Mahler speakers - what amp?

Hi:

I have Mahlers and have used four different amps with them.

A Bryston 4B-ST worked fine and, provided the Bryston is surrounded by first-class associated components, especially interconnects and speaker cables, the sound can be surprisingly good. That would be a relatively inexpensive option.

I ran my Mahlers for two years with a VAC Renaissance Mark III 70/70, which is rated at 70 watts/channel. This would at first glance seem to be a mismatch, but, with all due respect to the above post, there are tube amps and then there are tube amps, and the VAC 70/70 is a beast. In a 2,500 cubic foot room, the amp made the Mahlers go really loud, cleanly, and with more than adequate bass control. An important consideration was that I was running Kimber Select all-copper and then Kimber Select all-silver speaker cables, both of which have unusually good bass control (Sumiko, the Vienna Acoustics' distributor, has demo'd the Mahlers at shows with Kimber Bi-Focal, a more modest cable). My dealer's impression of the sound was that the VAC 70/70 was great with the speakers and said that I definitely did not need additional power (his only suggestion was to get rid of the standard power cord on the amp for something better).

I bought VAC 140 Renaissance Mark III monoblocks (appr. 130 watts/channel) for my second system, and ran them with the Mahlers for a few months. I had a bit more head room as compared to the 70/70, but the improvement was subtle. For the record, all VAC amps were run with zero negative feedback with the Mahlers, and from the 8 ohm tap on the 70/70, and from the 4 ohm taps on the 140/140's.

I now use the VAC 140's with Salons and Rowland Model 6 monoblocks, with battery power supplies, for the Mahlers. The Model 6's are surprisingly close to the VAC 140's in all areas on the Mahlers. They are very refined and very powerful for their wattage rating (appr. 180 watts/channel), and are even more powerful if used on a 20 amp circuit straight into the wall without the battery power supplies (the stock power cords with the Model 6's are 20 amp cords).

As for controlling the bass on the Mahlers, the VAC and Bryston amps were equal (I know it's hard to believe that a 70 watt tube amp could control those woofers like a nearly 300 watt Bryston, but yah' get what you pay for). The Rowlands, however, do control the bass a bit better than the other amps.

Addressing some of the points raised in previous threads, the Mahlers usually have a big hump somewhere below 60 Hz. in most rooms that can make them sound boomy. The best way to address this is to use appropriate speaker cables with (i) a beefy solid-state amp like Bryston or (ii) an amp like the VAC's or Rowlands that have really high quality power supplies. If you are budget conscious, the Bryston 7B-ST's mentioned in the above post would probably be a really good way to go. On the other hand, Rowland Model 6's can now be had for less than $4,000 used (they were $10,600, new). To summarize, I think, overall, they sound better by a hair on the Mahlers than the VAC's (and a quantum better than the Bryston) - very refined, transparent and musical, and make no mistake, LOADS of power (incredible build quality and looks, too). Only if you are using the Mahlers in a gigantic room could I imagine you needing more power.

As for Krell, I have never heard Krells drive Mahlers -- I would imagine you could get good sound. I believe that Anthony Cordesman, reviewer for TAS, used a Krell FPB amp with the Mahlers in his review and reported excellent results.

Good luck

I just read a couple of responses to you, one was particularly interesting. The Mac owner reasoned that he used a MAC 300 watt, and also that the speakers were soft and boomey on the bottom.
First as McMasters attendee,(which includes extensive mac training at the plant for three days) I know that mac gear is rated into 4 ohms, so the reality here is that the mac into 8 ohms is more like 150. Plus the mac tends to be soft sounding in the bottom compared to the Krells of the world.
Using his logic about the amount of power you need is not completely accurate (and I am not being critical of him, he probably doesn't know this).
I used a VAC Avatar with 50 watts, (I believe someone else mentioned VAC) and it did a great job.
As to the bottom, the speaker, as are all speakers are at the mercy of the room, below the 200 hz region. However, the Mahler has a switch which allows for boost below 50hz. Sort of a built in loudness switch, ( not, obviously the Fletcher/Munsen inverse curve, since no treble is involved). I found the plus bass to be fun on certain music, and certainly on television programs, if you are enough of a heretic to use your high end audio and video on the same system, like me.
A really good integrated amp will do fine with this speaker. The Rowland is a prime example, as is other High Quality integrateds like the Simaudio Moon I-5 or the I-3. Actually, the BV which is little known, is touted to have rock solid bass and be extremely neutral. The romantic sound of the Mahler is heightened by tubes, and great fun. I finally ended up using a Gryphon Callisto which was 100wpc into 8 ohms, 200wpc into 4. But, alas like the Rowland, not cheap.
An amp worth considering is the Spectron, or Bel Canto, digitals. Very tight and not dry, especially with a sweet speaker like the Mahler.
Good luck, and congrats. Bill Peugh and John at Sumiko are great guys and deserve your business. They work hard to make the high end a better place.
Larry R. Staples

Has anyone tried a Sunfire amp with the Mahlers?

I use the Mcintosh MC-501 mono amps and am in love with teh sound. The MC-501 amps control the Mahlers very well and do not run out of steam.

A friend of mine has "Music" which is very similar to Mahler but more expensive. They were driven by the pair of Spectron monoblocks with full upgrades and it was a "heaven", particularly if you like sounds of orchestral or symponic music (or hard rock) !