tubes and rock and roll, good fit?

...BTW, if you're planning to drive the Rockport Altair speakers, then my guess is they are not the best candidate for tubes: 4 ohm nominal impedance, ?? minimum impedance.

Do you know anyone using tubes to drive Altair speakers? If so, perhaps they'd be your best resource for info. If not, then use this as an indicator.

I thought the same with the Altairs + tubes but perhaps it does't matter with a monstrous tube amp like that VTL. If it were me, I'd be concerned going in, not just about sound quality, but reliability of a big tube amp like that driving a 4 ohm or less load. You might end up yearning for the good old simple days of care free SS amplification.

I'd listen to them together first before jumping for sure though, especially if rock with maximum possible impact is a desire! You are using big Krells now I believe? That should be hard to beat I would think!

I used to rock with VTL 300/Kef 107's when they first came out. I now run a Krell 300S/B&W N802 for reliability and cost unless you can afford to keep fresh tubes running. It is a fine line and each has desirable benefits to offer. I have enjoyed the speed, impact and dynamics of the Krell for the last decade, even tried others and came back. Tvad said it right first and match is always first.

You're bored.

Man, I can't believe your system doesn't rock already. If it doesn't, something went very wrong somewhere. Or, yes, you're bored. Sounds like you're ready for your next expensive and time-consuming adventure.