CAT or VAC for Shahinian Obelsik

Thanks for the responses. I know that people have found SS works. My thought was that the CAT JL2 is a different tube animal, that wattage doesn't tell the whole story - it's how stable the amp remains under difficult load. What I've heard is that the CAT is quite stable and may be more so than many SS amps. Any thoughts? Gregm - you heard an actual JL2/Obelisk combo? Very interesting. Any other description of how that worked? Thanks again for everyone's responses.
Sam

With all due respect to Hassel, the CAT is not your average tube amp. Not all tube amps control speakers the same. 100 tube watts does not necessarily equal 100 tube watts. But the same holds true between ss amps.

The JL-2 is conservatively rated at 100 wpc. With 8 6550 tubes per channel driven in Class A, and a power supply design and output transformer that is more massive than an entire Naim amp, the JL-2 has very little difficulty to drive anything thrown its way. If any Naim amp can control a speaker out there, that same speaker will be breeze for the CAT. I would even put my Counterpoint NPS400 amp against any Naim amp to compare with driveability against any speaker load out there.

Gregm - My older SoundLab A1s are not even close to 88db....probably closer to 84 or 85, and the CAT can drive this speaker with far greater ease than the Counterpoint amp that is rated twice the output. It's not an issue of rated power or speaker efficiency but rather how linear and stable the amp remains when the music material becomes more complex at higher and higher volume levels.

I had the ARC CL150 monos, also with 8 6550 tubes in triode, and rated at 150w. This amp was not at all capable of driving Magnepan 3.5 speakers to their potential. But to throw the CAT at these speakers was not a problem. So I would not put much focus on silly power ratings or dismiss an amp because its output is tube driven.

Odyssey SS amps are a overbuilt bargains, and they deliver massive current. Underrated and underappreciated by audiophiles accustomed to spending more. They are really good, IMO.

Sounds like the new VAC Phi 300 also should be able to drive your speakers with no problem. As long as you're talking about "last amp" purchases, you might want to read this review of the 300 by a fellow A'goner before your purchase:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?ramps&1148154313&read&3&zzlVac_man&&

OK, I have read a little bit about the CAT now, and this indeed seems to be a special kind of beast. Let us know how it turns out sound-wise. Another tidbit of my experience, however: The Obelisk is very sensitive to a good speaker cable. What do you use so far?