ARC VTM120 Any thoughts?

>> Clearly Audiofeil has little or no experience with these models as they do not at all have a "dried out presentation" that I personally would associate with the Classic series.<<

LOL

Blue book is about $1500 which is $1500 too much. Find a used Sonic Frontiers, Cary, Rogue, Quicksilver, etc. and hear music not a dried out presentation from ARC.

I suppose my comments were a bit over the top. Reputations? That's like trusting the media for the news. Don't believe all you read and hear. ARC makes competent equipment and it is well supported at the retail and manufacturer's level. That is undisputable. That being said, however, it is my opinion that your money can be spent more wisely. Hope that helps.

>>His ignorance speaks for itself.<<

LOL

Thanks for your comments. IMO, your speaker is a critical determinant of your amplifier choice. If the load is "normal" and driveable by both ss and tubes, a used Pass X150 is a nice solid state amp. Used units are going for around 2K. As far as tubed amps go, referring to my previous post, Rogue M-120 Magnum, Sonic Frontiers Power 2, and Quicksilver V4 are within your budget. All 4 are backed by a strong manufacturer/ retail network, reliable, and will outperform the VTM120.
Good luck and have fun.

Jafox and Gmorris- I have quite a bit of experience with ARC over the past 35 years. IMO they've made some very fine linestages but I've never heard a power amp (stereo or mono blocks) I would own. I respect your opinions however and wish you both well. To each his own guys.

Correct. I hit the "submit as is" button before I removed the statement regarding strong manufacturer/ retail reliable network. My bad. :-)

The VR4JR is a very nice speaker but you will not need 100 tube watts to drive them unless you have an absolutely mammoth room. Don't forget that 100 tube watts and 100 solid state watts are different animals. With that in mind you might consider the AES (Cary) Six pack, a great pair of amps for the money, and the Quicksilver Mid Mono, another great pair of amps. Both are in your price range.

Have fun!

I've only heard the V4 and Mid Monos but not with the same speakers. Furthermore I've not heard either one with your speakers. Therefore I'm a bit reluctant to "rank" them. Both are well built by a dedicated owner (Mike Sanders) and you could do a lot worse.
The 4JR's are 89dB I believe and should work well with either of these depending on the size (including height) of your room.
Both the V4 and Mid Monos allow you to use EL-34, KT-88, or KT-90 output tubes which is kind of neat. You can buy new Mid Monos for under $2000 I believe. Nice to have a warranty with tubed components.
All of course IMO