I used big VTL 300 Deluxe monoblocks on Martin Logan Quest Z speakers (they have a cone woofer) and they didn’t work out at all. The VTLs are really big monsters.
The ML quests were known to be difficult loads on an amp. The sound was really not that good. I replaced the speakers, not the amps, and purchased a pair of Magnepan 20, top of the line speakers and the matching worked very well. I lived with this setup for about 10 years and was very satisfied.
What I found really interesting was the problem was not in the bass. That is what everyone told me would be the problem but it was not at all..... the sound was "glassy" in the mids and upper frequencies. I never heard this characteristic before. There is no doubt, it was the tube amplification. Before I purchased the MLs, I was traveling and when I would be in a new town, I would pop into a high end dealer and listen and quickly decided on the MLs. All the shops powered the MLs with transistor amps. I figured my VTLs were monsters so I would have no problem. Wrong.
Of course, after I described what I was hearing to my local stereo shop, the guy said "Oh that is the tubes, you can;t drive MLs with tubes"... Great.
A simple test is just borrow a friend;s transistor amp and compare for yourself. The transistor amp does not have to be a big one, just a quality unit.... you will see (or hear).
Peace,
Bruce in Philly
The ML quests were known to be difficult loads on an amp. The sound was really not that good. I replaced the speakers, not the amps, and purchased a pair of Magnepan 20, top of the line speakers and the matching worked very well. I lived with this setup for about 10 years and was very satisfied.
What I found really interesting was the problem was not in the bass. That is what everyone told me would be the problem but it was not at all..... the sound was "glassy" in the mids and upper frequencies. I never heard this characteristic before. There is no doubt, it was the tube amplification. Before I purchased the MLs, I was traveling and when I would be in a new town, I would pop into a high end dealer and listen and quickly decided on the MLs. All the shops powered the MLs with transistor amps. I figured my VTLs were monsters so I would have no problem. Wrong.
Of course, after I described what I was hearing to my local stereo shop, the guy said "Oh that is the tubes, you can;t drive MLs with tubes"... Great.
A simple test is just borrow a friend;s transistor amp and compare for yourself. The transistor amp does not have to be a big one, just a quality unit.... you will see (or hear).
Peace,
Bruce in Philly