Just found a way to get my dream amp

[Gremal]

I've been hunting for an affordable way to get one of these for years, and it finally happened. An owner looking to downsize his system who happened to want my current amp. So we agreed on a deal and the VAC Phi Beta 100i will ship as soon as my check clears! This is gonna be incredible.

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[Scooby Blu]

That is REAL nice. The old time warmth of the tubes ! Years ago I had a Luxman cd player with the nice tubes built in it. Nice Score man ! Have you heard it perform before ?

[Beta Man]

I don't even want to think about how much cheddar that was..... that is a NICE amp!!!!!! I've listened to a lot of tubes, never that one, but have heard it's one of the best..... nice work! Hopefully it was cheaper than the $19,000 one I saw

[Gremal]

Thanks guys. I heard it at a trade show a couple yrs ago. Wanted it ever since but as you say, the list price is nearly $20k.

The thing I love about VAC and other good tube amps is they really don't sound warm at all. Tubes often get described that way but maybe the reviewer is confused about the heat they emit. Sound and Vision magazine had a great article in the back of one of their issues in which they did a "blind" shoot out between an VAC amp and a comparably priced solid-state amp. All of words that typically are used to describe the solid state advantages: clean, detailed, clinical, etc., were attributed to the VAC and the words like warm, imprecise, musical were attributed to the transistor amp.

Really it just depends on the design. Engineers these days can make great amps with either approach if they just pay attention to every element of the design, especially ground references.

[frenchglen]

This is like a steal! I envy you, you're veyr lucky

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by frenchglen

This is like a steal! I envy you, you're veyr lucky

But he didn't say how much he paid

Anyway, I've never heard it but it sure looks impressive. Enjoy your new toy!

[haushausman]

nice.... but i'd take a new car over that

[Woody]

Originally Posted by Gremal

I've been hunting for an affordable way to get one of these for years, and it finally happened. An owner looking to downsize his system who happened to want my current amp. So we agreed on a deal and the VAC Phi Beta 100i will ship as soon as my check clears! This is gonna be incredible.

ñ

Is that 5 channel Gremal?

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by haushausman

nice.... but i'd take a new car over that

I'd trade mine in for a Geo-Metro if I could get my hands on one of those......

[RUR]

Originally Posted by Gremal

I've been hunting for an affordable way to get one of these for years, and it finally happened. An owner looking to downsize his system who happened to want my current amp. So we agreed on a deal and the VAC Phi Beta 100i will ship as soon as my check clears! This is gonna be incredible.

Very cool! VAC makes fabulous tube amps.

[Gremal]

Originally Posted by Woody

Is that 5 channel Gremal?

No, it just covers the front L/R (99% of my music listening is in two-channel). For multichannel applications, I will use its cinema input to decouple it from the internal preamp, and it will continue to drive the front L/R while my 5 channel amp powers the rest.

[frenchglen]

Originally Posted by HDJK

But he didn't say how much he paid

He wouldn't be this happy unless he paid a fraction of its retail value!

[Gremal]

It's still more than I can "afford" but it's the best deal I'm ever going to find on this amp. Can't wait to hear all my favorite things on it.

[frenchglen]

Originally Posted by Gremal

It's still more than I can "afford" but it's the best deal I'm ever going to find on this amp. Can't wait to hear all my favorite things on it.

Hope it lasts you many great-sounding years to come!

[prerich]

Originally Posted by Gremal

I've been hunting for an affordable way to get one of these for years, and it finally happened. An owner looking to downsize his system who happened to want my current amp. So we agreed on a deal and the VAC Phi Beta 100i will ship as soon as my check clears! This is gonna be incredible.

ñ

A post like this deserves only one word............................NICE! !!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gremal]

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it will ship until Friday. But seeing as how I never thought I'd hear such a thing in my room, I have no problem waiting a few more days. I already moved stuff around on my rack to accommodate it. The thing weighs 100 lbs, and that's not including the separate power supply. Not sure where I will end up putting that.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by Gremal

No, it just covers the front L/R (99% of my music listening is in two-channel). For multichannel applications, I will use its cinema input to decouple it from the internal preamp, and it will continue to drive the front L/R while my 5 channel amp powers the rest.

Cool. Obviously it has balanced external ins right?

Let me know if you have timbre matching issues during movie watching. I have long debated a tube amp for L/R speakers, but was always too concerned w/timbre matching. I do alot more movie watching than music listening though.

[RUR]

Originally Posted by Gremal

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it will ship until Friday. But seeing as how I never thought I'd hear such a thing in my room, I have no problem waiting a few more days. I already moved stuff around on my rack to accommodate it. The thing weighs 100 lbs, and that's not including the separate power supply. Not sure where I will end up putting that.

I see your Avatar Super sold lickety-split.

[Gremal]

Yeah, luckily the seller of the Phi Beta was looking to downsize, so I was able to trade up and I just sent him the Super Avatar (of course I also had to throw in a bunch of $$$$). I should have asked him about that prior to putting up the ad and I coulda saved myself $6.
As it turned out, I'm lucky he saw the ad.

Originally Posted by Woody

Cool. Obviously it has balanced external ins right?

Yes, but I don't plan on using them. At least not right now.

Let me know if you have timbre matching issues during movie watching. I have long debated a tube amp for L/R speakers, but was always too concerned w/timbre matching. I do alot more movie watching than music listening though.

I am impressed with the timbre matching between the VAC gear and YBL-designed Audio Refinement gear I use to drive my center/surrounds. The VAC is of course significantly more open and detailed, but the speakers I'm using for front L/R lend themselves to this more than my other speakers, so overall the surround field is seamless.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by Gremal

Yeah, luckily the seller of the Phi Beta was looking to downsize, so I was able to trade up and I just sent him the Super Avatar (of course I also had to throw in a bunch of $$$$). I should have asked him about that prior to putting up the ad and I coulda saved myself $6.
As it turned out, I'm lucky he saw the ad.



Yes, but I don't plan on using them. At least not right now.



I am impressed with the timbre matching between the VAC gear and YBL-designed Audio Refinement gear I use to drive my center/surrounds. The VAC is of course significantly more open and detailed, but the speakers I'm using for front L/R lend themselves to this more than my other speakers, so overall the surround field is seamless.

Nice, thanks.