I owned the VA Mahler for near an year already and I have to agree with the prior comment on tube amps: If you have the VA Mahler, you may as well rule out 99% of tube amps out there.
The difficulty in driving VA Mahler is the two bass drivers. The tweeter and the mid plus mid-bass are quite easy to drive, even my Baby Ongaku 2A3 monoblocks could do admirably. I also once tried the Mark Levinson ML3 and ML27.5 - the bass is still boomy and loose. Jadis Orchestra Reference failed quite badly. Kora Galaxy Ref (50wpc pure Class A) has better luck, still not realizing the full potentials. I borrowed VTL 125 and an McIntosh 6800. Still boomy (actually the Mac sound very muddy).
The VA Mahler is on the laid back side. I am using Llano A200 which gives a way way better sound- full orchestral sound with superb authority and impact. I'd expect Krell could even do better (FPB300 and newer). Lamm would be a great match too I guess.
I do know someone who owns VA Mahler, Mahler 1.5 and now Music: His formular of success is Spectral.
One tube amp that may work well would be Ayon Triton.
The difficulty in driving VA Mahler is the two bass drivers. The tweeter and the mid plus mid-bass are quite easy to drive, even my Baby Ongaku 2A3 monoblocks could do admirably. I also once tried the Mark Levinson ML3 and ML27.5 - the bass is still boomy and loose. Jadis Orchestra Reference failed quite badly. Kora Galaxy Ref (50wpc pure Class A) has better luck, still not realizing the full potentials. I borrowed VTL 125 and an McIntosh 6800. Still boomy (actually the Mac sound very muddy).
The VA Mahler is on the laid back side. I am using Llano A200 which gives a way way better sound- full orchestral sound with superb authority and impact. I'd expect Krell could even do better (FPB300 and newer). Lamm would be a great match too I guess.
I do know someone who owns VA Mahler, Mahler 1.5 and now Music: His formular of success is Spectral.
One tube amp that may work well would be Ayon Triton.