Which amps work well with VSA?

JackD201 · « **Reply #80 on:** 25 Mar 2009, 02:01 pm »

I'm perfectly happy in the lower house Gavin, seems you want to give me a promotion!

Dr. M, I hope switching to 2V does the trick!

es347 · « **Reply #81 on:** 25 Mar 2009, 03:13 pm »

Quote from: JackD201 on 25 Mar 2009, 02:01 pm

I'm perfectly happy in the lower house Gavin, seems you want to give me a promotion!

Dr. M, I hope switching to 2V does the trick!

So who do I contact to get that promotion moving? I'm betting you are one of only a handful of congressmen who own VSA/LAMM.

illenema · « **Reply #82 on:** 28 Mar 2009, 02:31 pm »

After many amps on my Vr-8's i found the Rogue 120 Mono's (tube) to be outstanding to my ears and can be had for around 1K a set.
Read Aurthur Salvadores website about them, Liked them almost as much as the reference one canarys

JackD201 · « **Reply #83 on:** 28 Mar 2009, 03:51 pm »

Quote from: es347 on 25 Mar 2009, 03:13 pm

Quote from: JackD201 on 25 Mar 2009, 02:01 pm

I'm perfectly happy in the lower house Gavin, seems you want to give me a promotion!

Dr. M, I hope switching to 2V does the trick!

So who do I contact to get that promotion moving? I'm betting you are one of only a handful of congressmen who own VSA/LAMM.

I'm the only one. My colleagues who are into Hi-Fi are mostly into vintage gear. Vintage Marantz tube amps I find particularly good matches with VSA speakers.

fplanner2000 · « **Reply #84 on:** 31 Mar 2009, 03:57 pm »

Just added a 2nd VAC 300.1 to help drive my VR-7s in monoblock configuration. I'm amazed - totally new system with the additional power - definitely a 1 + 1 = 3 moment! Just got a lot closer to "as good as it gets", IMO.

thebearded1 · « **Reply #85 on:** 7 Apr 2009, 03:26 am »

I am new to VS...i just bought a pair of unifield 3s to conquer a small square room which had been undefeated in the past. They have claimed victory with ease!! and I am under 100 hours in. I have a Mac 252 (ss) with a Mac c2300 tube pre. The Macs and VS get along quite well...i can listen for hours....i am glad to see there are many fellow Mac/VS folks out there. I am intrigued by the utilization of bi-amping with tubes on the highs and solid on the lows. excuse my ignorance.... How can the gains be matched with such a set-up?

McTwins · « **Reply #86 on:** 7 Apr 2009, 07:22 am »

Hi thebearded1

Nice setup you have

Mac and VSA is a great combination. Have been tested with single MC275 on top and MC252 on botton with great result on my speakers. Haven't had any problem with the sound regarding the gains between the amps, but I do understand your question. There is a thread here where Albert explains the issue.

Currently I am running in my system active crossover dbx223xl both on ss and the tube and here I can adjust the gain a little bit. Had to give it a try and must say that am very pleased with it.

Happy listening to your unifields.

Delacroix · « **Reply #87 on:** 8 Apr 2009, 01:42 am »

Quote from: thebearded1 on 7 Apr 2009, 03:26 am

I am new to VS...i just bought a pair of unifield 3s to conquer a small square room which had been undefeated in the past. They have claimed victory with ease!! and I am under 100 hours in. I have a Mac 252 (ss) with a Mac c2300 tube pre. The Macs and VS get along quite well...i can listen for hours....i am glad to see there are many fellow Mac/VS folks out there. I am intrigued by the utilization of bi-amping with tubes on the highs and solid on the lows. excuse my ignorance.... How can the gains be matched with such a set-up?

Hi -- start here for AVS's input on biamping and gain matching:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=59529.0

And welcome to the forum!!!

thebearded1 · « **Reply #88 on:** 8 Apr 2009, 02:16 am »

Thank you. I will check out that link. I should also thank Disco (thanks Scott) from Plano for advising me and selling me my Unifield 3s. I have to say, if it wasn't for audiogon, there is no way I would ever have bought von schweikerts and there is no way I would have bought speakers from a dealer in Texas (I am on the east coast). Cheers!

Mr_dingo · « **Reply #89 on:** 9 Apr 2009, 03:30 pm »

Krell amps anyone?

duguyisheng · « **Reply #90 on:** 26 Aug 2009, 12:34 am »

Has anyone had experience using the Pass xa series with the vr5's or vr4's?? Thanks

mikel51 · « **Reply #91 on:** 26 Aug 2009, 02:08 am »

I'm running a VK75SE with my VR5 Annies.....They sound awesome, but I do wonder what a good solid state amp would sound like...or biamping with solid state on the bottom and VK75SE on the top.

es347 · « **Reply #92 on:** 26 Aug 2009, 02:10 am »

My Annies don't sound half bad with the MC501 monoblocks

Delacroix · « **Reply #93 on:** 26 Aug 2009, 01:35 pm »

Since I last posted on this thread, I've added a pair of Spectron Musician 3 Mk2 monos with Bybee upgrades to my set up with VR5SE's -- with excellent results. Put it this way, I no longer care to think about power amps. Am open to offers on my BAT VK500 now, it's finally been bettered.

mfsoa · « **Reply #94 on:** 26 Aug 2009, 06:44 pm »

I may have mentioned this amp already, but due to a very very extended loan by the most generous Ampdesigner333 (aka Tommy) I wanted to add another

for the Digital Amp Co.'s products.

I have on loan a DAC Cherry Plus and I continue to be impressed with this amp every day.
It's a Class D and I am conciously listening for any sign of harshness or unpleasantness on the treble and I hear none. More telling is that I have been using a SS preamp lately (old Forte Model 40) and there is nothing in the DAC amps that needs taming w/ tubes. Not that my VAC pre doesn't sound better, but even with a current-retail less than $300 SS pre, the amp sounds great.

Imaging precision is breathtaking. Bass extremely well controlled and extended blah blah all that good stuff. I think we are familiar with the concept of "Control" when we are talking bass performance, but I hear "Control" applied equally across the spectum with this thing. I think that's where the creepy-good imaging comes from. (And not just me - I've heard things coming from behind me (2-ch system) where both dogs jump up and run across the house wondering WTF was that)

A buddy was over and couldn't believe how good the VSRs sounded w/ the Forte. He looked at me and said "It's the amp, isn't it" "Yup"

Also the cool-running has been a big asset this summer. My VAC amp is sitting in the corner and I haven't hooked it up once since the Cherry+ has been here.

I'd love to hear it vs. the Spectrons, as it handily outperformed the UcD and ICE amps I've heard w/ these speakers in this room.

I got some Reality speaker cables and systen seems happiest w/ them on the bottom and the Analysis Plus Oval 9 on the top. Realities were a bit foreward on top relative to the AP; AP had a bit more tube-ish depth than the Realities on top. Reality bass starts and stops faster than the AP, to my ears.

Tommy definitely kicks the other 332 Ampdesigner's butts.

I want to add the disclaimer that I'd consider Tommy a friend (although he hates my guts (kidding)) but there have been several other reports of success w/ the DAC products lately that mirror my own experience. (So I guess that means a bunch of us are deaf

)

-Mike

JackD201 · « **Reply #95 on:** 27 Aug 2009, 03:16 pm »

Quote from: mikel51 on 26 Aug 2009, 02:08 am

I'm running a VK75SE with my VR5 Annies.....They sound awesome, but I do wonder what a good solid state amp would sound like...or biamping with solid state on the bottom and VK75SE on the top.

I ran VK-150s with my 5s for a long time and they are now driving a pair of SRs quite happily. If you want the VK-75/150 sound on the mids and highs and Levinson like bass (I actually did bi-amp

) the amp to get is the 220wpc Lamm M2.2. No sacrifices there. It may cost as much as a pair of VK-150s plus a ML No.431 combined but it actually spanks the duo and takes up as much space as the VK-150s alone. These are my reference amps for my VR-9SEs.

Jadis JA-200s may be legendary and do sound great with SRs but the VK-150s showed how aged the JA-200s had become.

For VR-4jrs I'm partial to 3 series Mark Levinson amplifiers. The No. 332 and the 335 that replaced them, were good matches especially with tubed DACs. These go for peanuts on the used market these days.

In smaller rooms I've liked CJ's MV55 and MV60 amps with Jrs.

ARC Ref200 amps with SR Mk.IIs are a good match as well. Careful cable matching is a must though. MIT MA cables are smack on here.

For Ice amps the Jeff Rowland 501s make great music with SR Mk.2s with Kubala Sosna Fascination speaker cables.

For integrated amps I've yet to find one that can get tube magic and powerhouse slam the way the LSA/DK Design integrated does at it's price point. In the price no object integrated arena, I'd say the VAC Phi Beta (do they still make this?) and the Karan would be my likely candidates.

AmpDesigner333 · « **Reply #96 on:** 2 Sep 2009, 02:27 am »

Quote from: mfsoa on 26 Aug 2009, 06:44 pm

I may have mentioned this amp already, but due to a very very extended loan by the most generous Ampdesigner333 (aka Tommy) I wanted to add another for the Digital Amp Co.'s products.

I have on loan a DAC Cherry Plus and I continue to be impressed with this amp every day.
It's a Class D and I am conciously listening for any sign of harshness or unpleasantness on the treble and I hear none. More telling is that I have been using a SS preamp lately (old Forte Model 40) and there is nothing in the DAC amps that needs taming w/ tubes. Not that my VAC pre doesn't sound better, but even with a current-retail less than $300 SS pre, the amp sounds great.

Imaging precision is breathtaking. Bass extremely well controlled and extended blah blah all that good stuff. I think we are familiar with the concept of "Control" when we are talking bass performance, but I hear "Control" applied equally across the spectum with this thing. I think that's where the creepy-good imaging comes from. (And not just me - I've heard things coming from behind me (2-ch system) where both dogs jump up and run across the house wondering WTF was that)

A buddy was over and couldn't believe how good the VSRs sounded w/ the Forte. He looked at me and said "It's the amp, isn't it" "Yup"

Also the cool-running has been a big asset this summer. My VAC amp is sitting in the corner and I haven't hooked it up once since the Cherry+ has been here.

I'd love to hear it vs. the Spectrons, as it handily outperformed the UcD and ICE amps I've heard w/ these speakers in this room.

I got some Reality speaker cables and systen seems happiest w/ them on the bottom and the Analysis Plus Oval 9 on the top. Realities were a bit foreward on top relative to the AP; AP had a bit more tube-ish depth than the Realities on top. Reality bass starts and stops faster than the AP, to my ears.

Tommy definitely kicks the other 332 Ampdesigner's butts.

I want to add the disclaimer that I'd consider Tommy a friend (although he hates my guts (kidding)) but there have been several other reports of success w/ the DAC products lately that mirror my own experience. (So I guess that means a bunch of us are deaf )

-Mike

Mike,

Thanks for your kind post. I'd like to add that I was equally impressed with the DAC4800A on your speakers, which are some of the best I've heard.

The Cherry jr, which is due out any day now, is an improvement on the DAC4800A. It looks like a Cherry amp from the outside and has our new motherboard with better speaker connectors and an improved chassis (16 gauge steel, built like a tank).

As many of you know, our website has been down for a while, but the new one is due out soon --- possibly by the end of the week. For info, email DACSales@DigitalAmp.com. Thanks again.

Best Regards,
Tommy

Delacroix · « **Reply #97 on:** 2 Sep 2009, 01:37 pm »

Quote from: mfsoa on 26 Aug 2009, 06:44 pm

I have on loan a DAC Cherry Plus and I continue to be impressed with this amp every day.

My VAC amp is sitting in the corner and I haven't hooked it up once since the Cherry+ has been here.

I'd love to hear it vs. the Spectrons as it handily outperformed the UcD and ICE amps I've heard w/ these speakers in this room.
than the AP, to my ears.
---
-Mike

[Apologies Mike for edits in your original post in the interest of saving space]

Well, I'd be happy to do a comparison driving my VR5SEs if we could get one of these in for review in Affordable Audio! I've reviewed Wyred4Sound and Nuforce offerings over the last year or so and in my view the Spectrons sound better than both but the DAC products seem to offer something different. Enquiring minds want to know just how good these amps are...

rlw3 · « **Reply #98 on:** 18 Apr 2011, 10:09 pm »

My vr 35s are powered by a simaudio w7 mated to a cj act 2.2 preamp with synergistic tesla wiring. because it is a wood frame house i have the rear of the speakers out 45" and between 34 and 29 inches from tweeter to sidewall-still working on it... i am wondering if a cj et250s might be a little more magical?? the sim has been very nice for both female vocals and rock/blues.

StereoNut · « **Reply #99 on:** 26 Apr 2011, 12:58 pm »

I just scrolled/read through this entire thread and see one glaring omission...

What does The Master himself, Albert have to say about which amp/pre-amp combo's (or maybe even an integrated?) provide the best system synergy with all of his VSA progeny?

C'mon Albert, give us your "A" list... or even better, a price bracketed list for different budgets!

SN