[2bigears]

    Hello, i have been breaking in my V's with a VAC Avatar and digging the speakers for sure.. i have since moved soooo far north it's not funny.. Power supply is lumpy to say the least so the Avatar is popping tubes and fuses left,right and centre.....
     Can i get a recommend on a SS amp please.. We all know the V's are great on efficiency,so that help in the selection.....  thank you for any help .....       better yet ,,do you have a good one FS?

[S Clark]

Pick up a used Virtue and run it on batteries... or check with Gary Dodd to see if he is close to building another batch of battery tube amps.

[persisting1]

Any used Virtue Audio amp would be great. Especially a Sensation with the Dodd buffer.

[persisting1]

Pick up a used Virtue and run it on batteries... or check with Gary Dodd to see if he is close to building another batch of battery tube amps.

You beat me to the punch 

[persisting1]

I'm sure you've seen the Class D thread. If you're DIY inclined, I'd give that a consideration.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=76400.0

[morganc]

You might want to ask MichaelHiFi.   He just had a pair of NCores and didn't find them to his liking, but he is working on perfection!  I would think a Pass Labs F3, Aleph, or The like would be a great choice.   I would also of course ask Danny his opinion on the matter.   

[persisting1]

You might want to ask MichaelHiFi.   He just had a pair of NCores and didn't find them to his liking, but he is working on perfection!  I would think a Pass Labs F3, Aleph, or The like would be a great choice.   I would also of course ask Danny his opinion on the matter.

Those are great choices, but since he posted this in Cheap and Cheerful, I'm sure he's not looking into spending that kind of money on a amp. I'm sure NCores would be fun though.

If you're referring to clones, then yes 

[shadowlight]

Would TBI Millenia MG3 work?

[mca]

I find it hard to believe the Avatar can't power these.

[john dozier]

A Classd Audio amp would work well. I am enjoying mine. And they are cheap and cheerful. Regards

[2bigears]

    WOW, thanks guys.... 1 thing,,,, the VAC is an integrated...  i do like that ..but it's not in stone ..  battery sounds like the way to go .... so now i need a set ???? amp and pre

[2bigears]

   the VAC can power these.... it's just i live at the end of the grid.... very dirty KW's delivered..      Darn,,,,i had Danny on the phone just yesterday .... what the hell was i thinking ????   he would know of all people ....

[persisting1]

I've never heard them, but I've read good things about KingRex. 

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/kingrex2/u.html

[Jonathon Janusz]

I'm also interested in the answers to this question.  A lot of talk is made on the super-v with low-power tube amps, not so much on solid state.

I can tell you from experience, that the Virtue Sensation can sound promising with the super-v coaxes.  I run a M901 with the 30/130 wall power supply, no tube buffer, sonicaps with platinum bypasses.  I have pretty good AC power, but for what it is worth I still do hear a bit of line noise through the coaxes that would probably be all but gone on batteries. 

Another little quirk of running the Virtue gear with the very high efficiency coaxes is the gain and volume control of the amp.  With the Virtue being fed by a Tranquility SE/Mac Mini combo, I can only realistically use up to about 9:00-10:00 on the volume dial before my ears/room say stop.  The steps in the volume are a little steep, in particular using the remote.  Sometimes I have a time of it finding a "happy medium" on the volume control with one button push on the remote being too much, and one less being too little.

I could go on about details regarding the sound of this combo, but honestly my setup right now is so far from ideal I will just say that all above being said, it can sound very nice if set up well.

Cheers!

[2bigears]

    MY LOCATION SUCKS GEOGRAPHICALLY......
             A small tube amp and pre on battery sounds like the ticket....
              But i could be wrong totally ?????

[Early B.]

  the VAC can power these.... it's just i live at the end of the grid.... very dirty KW's delivered..

Is your problem the VAC amp or the need to clean up the dirty power?

[2bigears]

   soooo polluted power in my area which like i say ,,,, is at the end of a grid.....the very end ..
       i dig the idea of flee power/battery 

[S Clark]

I can tell you a bit about the 15 wpc Dodd battery amp, because it shares much of the same circuit found in one that Gary made for me.  In mine, he took two old 1958-1962 vintage Eico mono integrated amps and gutted them and used the iron to make me a pair of mono integrted amps using 6BQ5 and 6DJ8 tubes.  Mine has some limitations that the battery version doesn't, but the imaging, fluid mids, and sense of space surpases my upgraded Moscode 401HR.  Mine doesn't have the bass extension that the Moscode has, but otherwise it holds it own with the more expensive amp.  If you are running the Super V, then the bass is not powered by that amp anyway.   If I remember correctly, Gary was asking about $1500 for the battery amp. 

Now, the bad news is that he has had a hard time getting parts (transformer?) for it.  So it may not currently be available.  You'll just have to contact him.  If it's available, I suggest that it's the best answer to your problem.  http://www.doddaudio.com/

Scott

Oh yeah, here is a write up I did a couple of years ago.  http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=69032.0

[2bigears]

    sounds like Dodd battery is the way ..... another BLOWN BUDGET,,,,, ha
           can't take it with ya .....  time for DC i think .....

[sl_1800]

I run a Class D on mine.