How good are the B&W 801...Series 2 Speakers ????

I'm thinking the problem that I had with the 802's was not enough power and would probably be the same with the 801's. I should be looking for something that is a little more efficient....with only 100 watts of tube power...

Hi Autospec

Let me add a few words here and see if I can also be of help. My curent system is similar to yours.LS25,ARC PH3 SE, VPI Aries, Wadia/Electrocompaniet Dac. except I run a Plinius SA250/2. I have owned the 801 ser2 and now have the Ser.3(Anniversary LE editions)
of the 801. The ser 2 are very good and the ser3 are indeed better, smoother with tighter bass, very much as stated by Hifimaniac. That said, the 2's are a great speaker, and the 801's are one of the few loudspeakers I have had that are a pleasure to listen to at length inspite of some of their shortcommings(mostly loose bass in room)

I think also, ideally, that they would indeed be better served by a powerful SS amp as described above rather than even your VT100, yet they would sound good on the tubes.As the case with the 802's, better served with SS, you may want to rethink the amp for the 801's.or perhaps indeed seek another speaker to match up with the VT-100. I can only offer that as an 801's owner, they are well worth the price, and trouble in finding the right amp to drive them. It's well documented that although they are not effecient at 87db and present the amp with a nominal 8 ohm load, yet they do like power to drive them..current specifically..is when they sound their absolute best. So the choice becomes probably to switch amps..or keep your VT100 and go with another speaker that match better with your good sounding 100. hope this helps some. :)

Kehut: Thanks for your detailed input , I would like your idea's on other speakers...I leave in a area where it is very hard to listen to speakers and I need to narrow it down a little...........thanks

Autospec-
I have sent you a lenghty email off thread with some thoughts! Hope this helps.

still very, very, very good by todays standards.... that cannot be said of the majority of speakers that are 8-10 years old...

they are very revealing and need clean, muscular amp to drive them...

one of my favorite speakers of all time....