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I have a relative that wants to know whether the Audio Research VT50 45 wpc tube amp will be a good match for his B&W Matrix 805 (87 spl efficiency) in a medium sized room. Anyone have any experience with the ARC? Thanks.
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The ARC would probably be just fine at reasonable levels without the filter, but if he has the BAF & intends to use it, the amp may really be straining.
Nope, no bass alignment filter
I have no experience with the B&W speakers but I owned the ARC VT-50 and VT-100mkII driving less than sensitive Thiel CS1.5 speakers.
Thiel CS1.5 Specs: Sensitivity: 86dB/2.8V/m. Impedance: 4 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum. Maximum power handling: 150W.
I thought the ARC VT-50 sounded slightly compressed and a bit lean for a tube amp driving my Thiels. The larger ARC VT-100mkII amp was warmer, more robust and full-bodied in the lower mids with deeper bass, and it was noticeably more dynamic overall. What surprised me was the difference in sonic character between these two amps, and not just the difference in dynamics. Strange.
In this particular setup driving the Thiels, the ARC VT-100mkII was outstanding. The smaller VT-50 didn't cut it.
I had a similar experience with the solid-state Classe CA-100 vs the larger CA-200. In this case, they both had similar sonic character but the CA-200 was more dynamic and effortless compared to it's smaller brother. I also owned the CA-300 but with my speakers I didn't hear any significant difference between the CA-200 and CA-300. I suspect the CA-200 hit the sweet spot in terms of having sufficient power for my Thiels.
Thanks for the feedback. I noticed that your Thiels were rated as 4 ohm speakers. The 805's are nominally 8 ohm speakers. I wonder to what extend that might make a difference (in the 805's favor). Not sure.
Does the manufacturer provide a recommended power range for your speakers?
Good point. I looked at the B&W owner's manual and it says the power handling is "Suitable for amplifiers with 50 to 120W output into 4 ohms"
ARC's specs say "POWER OUTPUT: 45 watts per channel continuous from 30Hz to 15kHz. 1kHz total harmonic distortion typically 1% at 45 watts, below .05% at 1 watt."
I don't see the typical watt rating at 8 ohms followed by the 4 ohm rating. Thanks again.
The B&W Matrix 805 responds very well to high current output power amplifiers, in fact I use a 150 watt Bryston (solid state) rather than the 120 watt maximum recommendation. The sonic signature of the Matrix 805 Kevlar midwoofer is rather laid back and polite in nature, so a power amplifier with authoritative bass, plenty of PRAT, and palpable midrange presence is a good thing. While the Matrix 805 may function fine with a 50 watt amplifier, it's often too little power than too much of it that kills a loudspeaker driver. Also, a bi-wire speaker cable configuration is advisable, and make sure a proper speaker stand is used, since the Matrix 805 performs best when placed on a rigid, well-damped, mass loaded speaker stand, with the tweeter positioned slightly above listening ear height, IME.
You usually see the power output at 8 Ohms and 4 Ohms for solid-state amps as they will often double power at 4 Ohms. This is not the case for transformer coupled tube amps.
In any case, my gut tells me that the ARC VT50 will likely work OK but those speakers can benefit from even higher power.
What amp is presently being used to drive the B&W speakers?
I've been called a Rogue Audio fanboy in the past but I'll say it again, I think the Rogue Atlas Magnum stereo amp or Cronus Magnum integrated will do a great job and deliver more power provided they are running the KT90 or the larger KT120 output tubes.
These amps put out a conservative 100wpc with the KT120s. I'm running the Cronus Magnum integrated into my larger Thiel CS2.4 with plenty of dynamics and headroom to spare. And it's a wonderful sounding amp.
The Rogue Atlas Magnum LISTS for about $1995 new.
It's for my brother, he is wanting to build his first system. He's currently just borrowing my old Carver Tfm-35x amp but wants to upgrade to a higher level system. I think the Rogue is a great idea, I'll pass the idea along to him. I'm not sure he's ready for bias adjustment though. Maybe he should stick with solid state.
Thanks a lot for your great advice.
Well, even the ARC VT50 has a couple bias adjustment pots that require very occasional tweaking while reading the setting on a Digital Multimeter (DMM).
The Rogue has a built-in top mounted meter with easy access to the adjustment pots through a removable cover plate.
If you haven't already seen the Audio Research Database (unofficial), check out the link below. Good luck to you and your brother.
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