Budget power amp for Promethius TVC and Quad 22L

Thanks for all your suggestions.

How much gain is usually considered as good for a power amp with a passive pre?

What do you think of the following amps, are they match well with a passive?

1. McCormack DNA 125, DNA 1, .5
2. Arcam P35
3. Odyssey Stratos
4. Cary CAA 1
5. Rotel RB-1070
6. NAD C252
7. Quad 909

Can you name your power amp if you are using with a passive and speakers effitiancy less than 89db.

I use an Audio Sector amplifier with 30 dB gain.My speakers are 89dB efficient. It's rare for me to go higher than 12 o'clock on the volume. Average music levels are 10 o'clock.

I have two friends who used the Odyssey amplifiers. One used it with QUAD monitors. He didn't use a TVC though. He had a matching Odyssey preamp. It sounded very nice. Sort of warm I might say.

The other used it with the Promitheus preamp and VMPS speakers. The VMPS I think are 92 dB. He didn't like this combo. He found the Marsh amplifiers to work better.

I would consider a power house tube amp like the Music Reference RM9 or one of the newer versions. It will be a match made in heaven for the TVC. Gain is something this amplifier doesn't run short on.

Good luck!

I used an RM-9 with my TVC and it worked fine. The gain is adjusable on it via a toggle switch on the top plate. I now use a TRL D-225, but that is not in your budget. Some amp specs to look for are an high input sensitivity (under 1V is preferable but you may be able to get away with 1.2V) and an input impedance of at least 50k ohms.

Are there any other solid state amplifiers at reasonable price works with a passive TVC?

I agree with Ngjockey about the gain issue.

Gain (i.e. amplification factor) is not very important in this context, and you have already opted for ~100W capability for the amp, so stick with that for now. However,

A TVC, or any passive device for that matter, needs an amp that is very easy to drive.

"Easy" simply means the following: the input impedance of the amp should be "benign" (high) -- a rule of the thumb is, 10kOhm or more.

Likewise and usefully, the output impedance of the source connected to the TVC (i.e. cdp, phono, tape, whatever, connected to the input of the TVC) should have be low -- rule of the thumb would be 1kOhm or less.

A practical way of determining if the set-up is correct electrically is simply to listen to mid-bass & upper bass energy. If it is notoriously lacking, there is incompatibility usually termed as "mismatch" in audiophool. WHat that means is, the source + TVC are outputting insufficient energy to drive the amp. ANother amp may sound excellent, with the same source+TVC -- simply because its input impedance is higher.