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speakers for BAT vk-55 mono blocks

After 3 years, I am thinking about replacing my Vandersteen 2ce's with a pair of well maintained tube friendly speakers. Is it possible to power a pair of Wilson Audio WATT PUPPY 5.1's using VK-55 mono blocks (110 wpc) and have them sound decent? Are B & W n802's tube friendly? . I am wide open to suggestions. I am using a VK-32SE preamp. I can use all of the help I can get. Thank you for your assistance in advance.
bgmyers
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
I auditioned WATT Puppy 8's with VK-55 monos. Fairly good sized room, and I heard no indication the BAT's weren't up to it. I also heard Sophia's driven by a BAT SS amp, and thought the Sophia/SS combo was more musical. Magical in some respects. This was in a different room, and I heard the Sophia's in a more near field set up. If the Watt Puppy 5's present a similar load to the 8's, I would think you should be fine.
bgmyers OP
28 posts
 
Thank you very much for your input. Any thoughts on planer type speakers?
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
Well, I'm a die hard Maggie fan. I auditioned a lot of dynamic speakers, including Dali, Dynaudio, Magico, Sonus Faber, Aerial, and Theil, ranging in price from 7K to 17K. I ended up buying Magnepan 3.7's. It was an easy decision. The only speaker I liked as much as the Maggie was the Sophia at 17K. BUT--- I would not go in that direction if I really wanted to stick with the BAT-VK55's. You will however find people who swear by tubes with Maggies. Most planars tend to be rather inefficient, and they tend to like plenty of current. To me, that argues strongly for solid state.

I already had my system built around Maggies, since I was replacing 1.6 QR's. It just made sense to spend 6K on the 3.7's vs 16K at a minimum, and then not really knowing if the rest of my stuff would mate well with the Wilsons. If I were you and I already had the BAT's, I'd try to find a used pair of Sophias. Those are mighty fine speakers, they are very flexible with respect to room placement, and they are not that hard to drive. The BAT monos are outstanding amps. I could see the BAT's and Sophias being a pretty sweet combo. I have not heard the Watt-Puppy 5's, but it seems there is a consensus that Wilson has come a long way with the new Sophias and Sashas over older designs.
audiofreakgeek
115 posts
 
You can get way better speakers than WP 5.1 for similar money.

I had the 5.1 a long time ago and a pair of $3k Usher speakers actually outperformed them in most ways.

A pair of Dali Helicon 400 MK II sound awesome with the BAT amplifiers, also the Ushers as well. If you don't play crazy loud or low the Vivid speakers are amazing. I have owned all of these speakers contact me if you want more info.
bgmyers OP
28 posts
 
I would love Maggies, but space is a problem. so I am leaning toward a pair of Focal 826W. There is a good used pair of Sophia 2's out there for $8,500. I am not sure I want to spend that much, and again, we are talking about a 15 X 20 room with my rack in a corner and a fireplace to work around.

Any thoughts on this?
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