Hi Bucky ~
My first involvement with high fidelity came when I was 12 years old... I was introduced to high end
audio by several people at that time... a kind of confluence that ocurred from very different friends
from different backgrounds but supported no doubt as a direct result of my growing passion
for music at that age. Fortunately for me I was very comfortable around older friends and they felt
comfortable with me in spite of my age.
So by the time I was 13 years old I had my own tube receiver and co-axial single
drivers in a non-padded box. The sound was extraordinary and that is not just nostalgia acting as a lens
into the past... I know because I kept that system for many many years and grew up with it.
The resurgence of my interest in tube amplification came recently. And is the direct result of my interest
in "digital" amplification. I purchased several inexpensive digital amplifiers and found them very
interesting... but lacking in that dimensional presentation that tubes seemed to excel in.
It was Vinnie's Signature 30 that convinced me that it was possible to achieve the same level of
harmonic sophistication of a highly evolved tube amp using tri-path ingredients.
When I upgraded to the Signature 70 I was amazed at the similarity the sound had to the best and often
the most expensive tube amplifiers I have ever heard.
Admittedly, the Signature 70 cannot sound like every tube amplifier out there... there are far too many
tube design typologies for that. But I am quite familiar with many tube designs... I have gone out of my
way to listen to a great many tube amps of various persuasions over the last few years... and Vinnie's
Signature 70 sounds remarkably like a very expensive very classy tube amp... the same family of tube
amps that are being held up as the state-of-the-art sound.
That is why I suggested that if Vinnie's new Signature 70.2 has solved some very important sonic
challenges that get it even closer to the sound of the best tube amps in the world, that that constitutes
a kind of revolution in my way of thinking... not the "ultimate" revolution of course... but a significant
improvement in the sound of Vinnie's Signature Series of amps is a very important leap in the right
direction. I applaud it... and I am excited by it... just as many of Vinnie's friends on this forum are.
I agree with you that the upcoming new Isabella tube preamplifier, run on batteries, is also a significant
move into new territory for Vinnie... but I think that the new Signature 70.2 and the Isabella have
come out of the same penetrating exploration for Vinnie... a direct implimentation of what Vinnie has
learned over the past few years into a product that has the sophistication to challenge the
state-of-the-art in amplification, that uses dependable rock-solid technology and for a very reasonable
cost... especially given his generous and well thought out upgrade path.
We are all growing more sophisticated together... both us and Vinnie... we are learning how to listen
with far more discrimination than we did only a few years ago. Vinnie is not resting on his
achievements... he is accepting the challenge to continue to innovate... and I find that incredibly
exciting.
Thanks for sharing your insights with us, Bucky... you and I seem to have a similar taste for the best
that audio has to offer.
Warmest Regards ~ Richard
