My VAC journey

DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
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I thought I would share a bit of my VAC journey.

All at the same time I owned the following;

Room one

Avalon Isis speakers
VTL Ref 750's
VTL 7.5 pre
ARC Ref3
ARC 610t's
and other goodies

Room two Living room

Andra 2's
Pass Lab 600.5
MBL 6010d pre
CAT JL2 stereo

So when the MBL's arrived it was easier to move the Andra's to break them in. When I did this right out of their crates brand new I found they were very special and decided to start trying different gear and amps. What happened during this time was I had my Isis speakers up for sale and the person who wanted them, wanted every pce of gear in that room including my table. The deal felt right so I sold everything so unfortuantly I did not get to hear my 610T's or 750's, I then sold my Andra's. I spoke with Ken in relation to the JL3's and he told me that they were designed specifically with the MBL 101E's.

While I still had them I got a pair of Bryston Squared 28's to tie my system over while awaiting for other amps to show up for a listen.

In between this time I purchased a VAC Sig. MK2a pre and was so smitten by the sonics eventually sold off my ARC and MBL 6010d but not until I had these others amps within my system to pair up with such.

Those amps consisted of; Boulder 2050's, Karan 1200's, MBL 9008's and 9011's to name a few.

I knew of the Vac Statement amps and really wanted to hear them but the only way was to pay for a pair, I held of. I then received a email with what I thought would be the impossible but wasn't. A chap in NY had the same speakers and pre as me and on their way was a pair of the VAC Statement 450's and I was offered to come for a listen. I waited for them to have up to 400 hours on them and then booked my flight for a three day stay over to evaluate.

I learned allot over the time with my speakers, trying this in my own home with no presure. Looking at my notes I found I would like this or that with this or that combo but nothing that really stood out saying WOW! and me wanting to part with my money.

Well when I got to the guys home it was pretty special from the get go, first listening exsperience was the system turned down low playing music. I was in awe, the floor noise was lower than anything else I have heard, so musical and I said to my self how can this be, these are tube amps. The dynamics were there, midrange and I can go on and on but was just floored, it just sounded like real performers were in the room. I have never experienced to this extent before, I was there for a full three days in glory listening to music, this was a real world set-up in someones home. Like a add on solarium with windows all behind the speakers, the room was by far ideal, large rack of albums over 8ft high on one side and not much on the other side so really the room was off balance but it didn't matter, the music was so glorious.

While I was there I played this and that, both cd and my favorite vinyl trying to find fault. I wanted an excuse not to buy these, one of the faults I found was my face hurt from smiling

I took pictures of my journey because how many chances in a million would this ever happen, I went there not thinking this was possible and just to say to my self now I've heard them.

I could not wait to get home and place an order with my dealer, I still had the MBL 9011's hooked up. All my gear was on standby and played some music, was disappointed and packed everything up, reconnected my Bryston's and waited.
 

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DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
547
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From a view above ;)
 

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DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
547
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Getting close to my landing point ;)
 

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DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
547
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My listening buddy :) while visiting, owner said they have never seen this ever happen before.
 

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DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
547
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The owner had a great selection of music to choose from :p
 

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JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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The 450s are great Amps DEV. Just curious, how did the Karan's stack up against the 28B SST^2s in your system?
 

Ki Choi

Member Sponsor
May 13, 2010
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Hi David:

Enjoyed reading about your journey. Hope to hear the same amps at Cyrus' place soon. I too am smiling uncontrollably whenever I hear music coming out of the MBLs even with the lowly solid-state amps. ;-)
 

FrantzM

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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The 450s are great Amps DEV. Just curious, how did the Karan's stack up against the 28B SST^2s in your system?

Would be interested in your impressions about this amplifier as well. I am interested in it...
 

DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
547
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The 450s are great Amps DEV. Just curious, how did the Karan's stack up against the 28B SST^2s in your system?

Hi Jack,

I fully agree.

It's been a while and any of my comments are just that and also paired up with my MBL 101E speakers so with other speakers who knows what the out come would be which is subjective anyways. I don't want to turn this thread into bashing because I was truly amazed do my amp evaluations.

So that being said looking at my notes notes in comparison playing at low volumns and over all the 28 Squared sounded way more musical and were my prefference. If you want more detailed PM me as I don't want to turn this thread into a negative posting for any product and I'm all so aware how subjective audio is and how sensitive :D

If it was my money the Bryston's all the way but paired up with a tube pre, worked well with my ARC Ref3 and even better with my VAC Sig. MK2a.

I'm going to post more pics, just takes time resizing.
 

DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
547
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Hi David:

Enjoyed reading about your journey. Hope to hear the same amps at Cyrus' place soon. I too am smiling uncontrollably whenever I hear music coming out of the MBLs even with the lowly solid-state amps. ;-)

Thanks! I would suggest you give Cyrus sometime as he has allot going on and has yet to even get his 450's and should have at least 300-500 hours on the amps, "Smart guy though to go with same set-up as mine Speakers, pre-amp amd amps" :) not too sure about the rest because I don't have any first hand experience with such. To me the weak link will be the source as I have mentioned to him prior so it will be interesting indeed.
 

DEV

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Oct 19, 2011
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Here are some pics of the owners VAC's absolutely stunning! :p
 

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DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
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Early morning shot!
 

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DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
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Actual pic of the set-up! :)
 

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DEV

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Oct 19, 2011
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Late night listening, tubes glowing, they look so sexy!
 

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DEV

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Oct 19, 2011
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Okay I'll provide some pics of mine now :D more to come later.
 

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microstrip

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Here are some pics of the owners VAC's absolutely stunning! :p

As far as I see the cable elevators are Shunyata - do you remember what was the brand of the cables used in this system?
 

RogerD

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May 23, 2010
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Hi DEV,

Just stunning amplifers. Kevin Hayes has a very loyal following and has always built first class top of the line amps. Someday I will upgrade my VAC 140's and 70/70 as these amps produce a black background that the music just seems to come alive from. Enjoy!
 

DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
547
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As far as I see the cable elevators are Shunyata - do you remember what was the brand of the cables used in this system?

Here are some good pics for you.

I personally use Stealth Audio, two pairs of Dream SC's so my speakers are true bi-wired.
 

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DEV

New Member
Oct 19, 2011
547
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Okay here are some more shots of my set-up, taking into account this is in a family room so has to have WAF ;)
 

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