Amplification conundrum - Rockport Atria II

[bob82]

Hi all,

I had just placed an order for the Rockport Atria before the 2021 price hike. I was hoping that I could get some consensus about one of the 2 options that I could potentially acquire:

1) Soulution 511- solid state, high class A 140W. Only heard Soulution once. Clean and fast sounding. Swap deal with my VAC linestage.
2) VAC 200IQ stereo - triode class A1 tube poweramp 100w can be bridged to 200w. Ballsy tube amplification and had several auditions with Kharma (similar characteristics to the Rockies).

Rockport says a 100w tube amplification is sufficient to drive the amplification but heart says to keep the VAC.

Appreciate some insights/thoughts and opinions.

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . .
Rockport says a 100w tube amplification is sufficient to drive the amplification but heart says to keep the VAC.

. . .

Welcome to WBF!

Congratulations on your purchase!

What kind of music do you like to listen to?

How loudly do you like to play your stereo?

100 watts might be sufficient to make sound come out, but I am very skeptical that 100 tube watts on the 87.5dB sensitive Atria II would be anywhere near ideal.

I don't have experience with the Atria II, but KeithR and I have experience with the more sensitive Altair II. A friend of mine has the Arrakis.

I, personally, would opt for a higher power level than 100 watts. I think Keith would agree.

I have no experience with Soulution amps on Rockport speakers.

I take as persuasive data points that Andy Payor himself, I believe, used VTL Siegfried IIs, and then Gryphon Mephisto monos and then CH Precision amplifiers at Rockport.

 

[bob82]

Congratulations on your purchase!

What kind of music do you like to listen to?

How loudly do you like to play your stereo?

100 watts might be sufficient to make sound come out, but I am very skeptical that 100 tube watts on the 87.5dB sensitive Atria II would be anywhere near ideal.

I don't have experience with the Atria II, but KeithR and I have experience with the more sensitive Altair II. A friend of mine has the Arrakis.

I, personally, would opt for a higher power level than 100 watts. I think Keith would agree.

I have no experience with Soulution amps on Rockport speakers.

I take as persuasive data points that Andy Payor himself, I believe, used VTL Siegfried IIs, and then Gryphon Mephisto monos and then CH Precision amplifiers at Rockport.

Hi Ron

I listen to a huge variety of music but rock/metal/progressive rock/jazz is pretty much staple at 80-85dB. CH Precision A1, Gryphon Antileon, Nagra Classic was also considered along with the Soulution 511.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Hi Ron

I listen to a huge variety of music but rock/metal/progressive rock/jazz is pretty much staple at 80-85dB. CH Precision A1, Gryphon Antileon, Nagra Classic was also considered along with the Soulution 511.

If you want solid-state I think upper-model Gryphon is a very good (and safe) choice!

 

[bob82]

If you want solid-state I think upper-model Gryphon is a very good (and safe) choice!

Ron

I was looking at Antileon Evo before I had a swap offer on the Soulution 511.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I also like high power hybrid amplifiers on Rockports. Absolare Hybrid 350 watt amps sounded fantastic on Lyras at Munich High-End.

 

[bob82]

I also like high power hybrid amplifiers on Rockports. Absolare Hybrid 350 watt amps sounded fantastic on Lyras at Munich High-End.

Perhaps something like Aesthetix Atlas as well?

 

[Ron Resnick]

Perhaps something like Aesthetix Atlas as well?

Yes!

 

[musher]

Hi all,

I had just placed an order for the Rockport Atria before the 2021 price hike. I was hoping that I could get some consensus about one of the 2 options that I could potentially acquire:

1) Soulution 511- solid state, high class A 140W. Only heard Soulution once. Clean and fast sounding. Swap deal with my VAC linestage.
2) VAC 200IQ stereo - triode class A1 tube poweramp 100w can be bridged to 200w. Ballsy tube amplification and had several auditions with Kharma (similar characteristics to the Rockies).

Rockport says a 100w tube amplification is sufficient to drive the amplification but heart says to keep the VAC.

Appreciate some insights/thoughts and opinions.

Congratulations. Below is some information from experience with these speakers that may help.

If I recall, Andy told me that the IIs were voiced on tube stuff. He can tell you which.
I have Atria II. Purpose built small room(17 x 12 x 9), Discussed how to power them with every U.S. Rockport dealer before purchase. My old MC275 Mark IV was said to be more than adequate, and sounded good as it turned out. Now use VTLS200, much better on large scale orchestral.
After purchasing the Atria II, I also auditioned Mc275 Mark VI, Moon 760a, Mac MC462, Gryphon 300 at Stereo Exchange in NYC. The speakers were Atria 2, Cables from Transparent, Mytek streamer. Everyone (including 2 store employees) thought MC275, which measures around 90 watts, was best-some of the source material was Lori Liberman, who had performed LIVE in the same venue for these employees, and I have heard her live at Carnegie Hall, so this was a pretty good experiment.

musher

 

[rgmd11]

Hi all,

I had just placed an order for the Rockport Atria before the 2021 price hike. I was hoping that I could get some consensus about one of the 2 options that I could potentially acquire:

1) Soulution 511- solid state, high class A 140W. Only heard Soulution once. Clean and fast sounding. Swap deal with my VAC linestage.
2) VAC 200IQ stereo - triode class A1 tube poweramp 100w can be bridged to 200w. Ballsy tube amplification and had several auditions with Kharma (similar characteristics to the Rockies).

Rockport says a 100w tube amplification is sufficient to drive the amplification but heart says to keep the VAC.

Appreciate some insights/thoughts and opinions.

Congratulations on the Rockport speakers, a couple of years ago at my local dealer i heard a pair of Altair's with a Gryphon Mephisto and an Accuphase CD player, the SQ was stupendous, the low end was one of the very best i have heard from a pair of speakers without additional subs.

Merry Christmas

 

[bob82]

Congratulations. Below is some information from experience with these speakers that may help.

If I recall, Andy told me that the IIs were voiced on tube stuff. He can tell you which.
I have Atria II. Purpose built small room(17 x 12 x 9), Discussed how to power them with every U.S. Rockport dealer before purchase. My old MC275 Mark IV was said to be more than adequate, and sounded good as it turned out. Now use VTLS200, much better on large scale orchestral.
After purchasing the Atria II, I also auditioned Mc275 Mark VI, Moon 760a, Mac MC462, Gryphon 300 at Stereo Exchange in NYC. The speakers were Atria 2, Cables from Transparent, Mytek streamer. Everyone (including 2 store employees) thought MC275, which measures around 90 watts, was best-some of the source material was Lori Liberman, who had performed LIVE in the same venue for these employees, and I have heard her live at Carnegie Hall, so this was a pretty good experiment.

musher

Hello there,
I e-mailed Kevin Hayes (VAC) and he reckons based on the speaker specifications, the VAC won’t have issues with the Atria II. I managed to secure a demo of the VAC 200IQ stereo that can be later changed to monoblock configuration to put out 200w/channel. Rockports are sort speakers the seems to accentuate the performance of the upstream equipment and don’t think there will be sonic synergy issues. The VACs are very familiar electronics to me as heard them thru the Kharma that are in a way very similar to the Rockports.

 

[bob82]

Congratulations on the Rockport speakers, a couple of years ago at my local dealer i heard a pair of Altair's with a Gryphon Mephisto and an Accuphase CD player, the SQ was stupendous, the low end was one of the very best i have heard from a pair of speakers without additional subs.

Merry Christmas

The Rockports go very well with the Gryphons. I have heard the Cygnus thru Vitus Audio SM-103, Mira II driven by the VAC Statements 450s IQ that I thought was excellent playing Tool Forty Six and Two at 85-90dB.

 

[Gregadd]

You should be thinking interface at this point. Think of amp/ cable/ speaker as a sub-system.
jc parasound or spectral.

 

[bob82]

You should be thinking interface at this point. Think of amp/ cable/ speaker as a sub-system.
jc parasound or spectral.

I was looking at the JC1+ too for these speakers. Can’t get Spectrals here, unfortunately.
I am looking at Soulution 520/511 too.

 

[Gregadd]

Tubes​

Atmasphere
VAC

 

[kimurastanley]

Congrats on your new speakers!
I demoed VAC signature and Soulution 725 preamp side by side few months ago and I preferred VAC by quite a big margin. Both preamp paired with Accuphase A-75. The dealer and me agreed that VAC performed better in my setup.

According to him, there is great synergy of Soulution preamp and power amp and the preamp may not pair well with other brands of power amp. So I feel that if you plan to change to Soulution power amp, may have to go for the matching preamp also.
Best to have home trial of the combo. Either way I am interested to know your final decision! Enjoy!

 

[bob82]

Congrats on your new speakers!
I demoed VAC signature and Soulution 725 preamp side by side few months ago and I preferred VAC by quite a big margin. Both preamp paired with Accuphase A-75. The dealer and me agreed that VAC performed better in my setup.

According to him, there is great synergy of Soulution preamp and power amp and the preamp may not pair well with other brands of power amp. So I feel that if you plan to change to Soulution power amp, may have to go for the matching preamp also.
Best to have home trial of the combo. Either way I am interested to know your final decision! Enjoy! View attachment 72742

Thanks. Sweet looking kit- almost got the YGs myself. I have the same concerns about Soulution as well. VAC seems to have a good thing going about these preamps and thinking about putting the phono section on it Signature preamp.

 

[ationg]

I have been driving my Cygnus with Vitus amplification So far so good.

 

[bob82]

I have been driving my Cygnus with Vitus amplification So far so good.

Heard the Cygnus driven by full Vitus (I didn’t ask about the amps but they were probably SM102s).

 

[ationg]

Heard the Cygnus driven by full Vitus (I didn’t ask about the amps but they were probably SM102s).

In my case, they have been SS103, SM103s, and MPS201. Very satisfied for my taste.