New Von Schweikert Models

Thanks for the post Jack. What is your opinion if I wanted to run them wih my present gear: Ayre V-1X amp, BAT 51-SE pre, Ayre CDP with Tara Labs (IC and speaker cable)? I have only read threads with folks running tube amps with these speakers due to their high efficiency rating.

Thanks,
Mark

Efficacy- I also own the DB99mkII's and have used a few solid state amps on them so far. They work great, but you don't need to use an amp with that kind of power, from my experience the less power=more musical, this is not a concrete rule, but seems to be fairly constant. I had a very highly regarded pair of SS mono's and just didn't feel I needed the power and I could get away with much less power and even get back into tubes(which is what I did). With the quality of tube amps of today its a breeze to use them and they are very reliable. I have been looking for a low wattage SS amp with balanced inputs and its pretty hard to find- I want a second amp for summer/background and possibly movies, I can't see wasting tube life on back ground noise. I am thinking of getting a Pass Aleph 30, maybe not the best, but it should suffice for back ground music.

I have run amps as low as 30 watts and as high as 400, the results are typically the same. The speakers are very dynamic and can produce enjoyable sound at levels lower then 60dB, but are also capable of CRANKING if you desire. From my listening so far I find that tube amps make a more natural sound with the db99's. Just make sure you listen only after broken in, when new they sound pretty bad, the tweeter even honks a little when new!

Of course this is just my experience.....

Efficacy, next week I'm going to inject a DK Design Group VS-1 MKII amp into my 99 system for a spin. I've been using this amp/preamp with a pair of VR4jrs over the last several weeks. The jrs have really opened up with the VS-1 like never before. I've tried the 100w Flying Mole mono amps to nice effect with the 99's. The recent Stereo Times review of the dB99's even mentioned the use of the big 500wpc Spectron MII.

I'd agree with Tireguy, the 99's seem to be a magic match with tubes.

An attachable ribbon supertweeter module will at some point be available for the 99's that will propel this speaker to even greater sonic heights. A small scale/poor man's VR 9 if you will, that should be dynamite!

Jack

Thanks for the feedback guys. I will continue to monitor feedback on this speaker (along with their newly released VR4SR), as I plan on upgrading my present B&W N805 speakers later this year.

The new SR's sounded fabulous at the show. I lived with and am therefore intimately familiar with( no Tim, not in that way) the Jr's for 8 mo's while awaiting the 9's. They are excellent and a huge bang for the buck. I thought the SR's took what the Jr's do to a new level. More refined, greater ease of presentation and better bass. Very, very nice sounding, and at 8K, for what they do, another great bang for the buck. And they are beautiful looking. The Jr's at the show sounded as expected, better than they should. The dB 99's were good also, but I don't think they were set up optimally and ergo didn't sound as good as they could have. I've heard them elsewhere sound much better and know what they are capable of. The 9's and 11's were stunning.