Honestly, you’re really not missing much. I started with an ST70 which was great. I traded it for a pair of X-Omnis because I had already built a pair of MK 4’s which were also great. Then I built a VTA ST120 and loved that. Was it noticeably better? Not really. Nor were the VTA M-125’s that I eventually built although they definitely woke up my less sensitive speakers.
The VTA amps are all great. I mean are 6550 / KT88 tubes sexier than EL34’s? My girlfriend thinks so which I thought was funny.
If you want to take the path I took then go for it. I thought more power would be better but it was really only better for my least sensitive and very power hungry speakers. Since I sold those and now have 97dB speakers I really don’t need all of the power. Unless of course I can get a bigger listening room. Still, if I had to start over an ST70 would work perfectly well for me.
I was thinking the 120 would make my jbl's a bit more crisper or punchyier. I also thought about trying to upgrade the cross overs, but when I contacted GR Research he said there was not enough room to build a new ones inside??????. This kind of baffles me since they are 4 feet tall and I already took a driver out to peek at what the crossover looked it inside. I found a schematic online and have begun writing down part numbers per the diagram.
The x-over inside is about 6x4 inches full of cheap parts. But since I know nothing about building one, I am not sure this would be a good route. Or maybe just build some new speakers. I mostly listen to 80's-90's music with some easier stuff thrown in here and there.
The main problem I have is... I want something with a bit more depth when listening at low volumes and would like to add a Sub to my system without having to move over to a sand amp. I love the tube amp sound. A 2.1 setup would be ideal I think. I do not own a TV so 5.1 and all that has no appeal to me.
Anyway, I'm just here trying to learn more about the hobby.
Thanks for the replies both of you !!!
