Does anyone there knows the VAC tube amplifier?

[antaresbluespirit]

Hi everybody,

Just an opportunity for my to be Back in the forum after a break..

I met a CJ owner who is selling a solid state MF2500A..Within add placed on the Web.

So, I decided to buy the unit in Good shape having the main chemicals cap's replaced as well as the the Power bridge of diode.

What was a surprise for me to discover that the guy
Is also the first owner of my current PV9A I got many years ago!.....the world is very closed indeed...

Along the first Phone contact he told me to be
" fall in love" with the VAC amplifier as New religion and give up CJ despite the high respect of the Brand

I am alway surprised when I heard such words from the mooth of a CJ owner for 3 décade who décide to divorce!!! (from CJ)

Please, somebody can explain

VAC would be à New (expensive El dorado)

Raymond ( from center of france)

[AnotherJohnson]

At least in the divorce you’ve obtained custody of the MF2500A.

[Big Dog RJ]

Oh yes! The VAC gear is superb! And so is the price tag.
I've auditioned a few of their stereo versions, mostly driving speakers like, Genesis, YG Acoustics, ML Neoliths and Wilson's. On the former Genesis 500 series speakers, it was fabulous!

Hopefully this July, I'll get a chance to audition the top of the line VAC Statements, dual chassis per channel. They're mighty fine so I was told by my dealer mate in Spore. He's using them to drive the new Genesis Tribute speakers, which is another mighty affair.

Sometimes my VAC dealer in Spore offers really good trade-in deals on some of the older gear, which has been just discontinued. I could have very easily brought any of these fine high powered stereo tube amps into Aus. The one and only major problem I would've had is in Aus, there's no one to service these if service was required. My CJ tech can do the job but that would be for only much older models, not units still within warranty.

The VAC amps have a sound quite similar to Manley Labs or VTL. Very big, bold and powerful sound to it, with an excellent sense of drive and control over any load. They were just cruising...

However, compared to CJ, VAC doesn't have too much warmth of a typical classic tube design, rather they have a sort of SS finesse to the sound. This can sometimes seem quite forceful initially but partner it with the right type of preamp and everything falls into place nicely. It doesn't necessarily have to be a tube preamp, my mate's using the Momentum preamp, which matches really well with the VAC Statements, according to him.

The VAC amps also have a neat little circuit on the tube bias. There's an LED indicator for each tube, when flashing it indicates time to replace the tube, simple as that! I really like the VAC gear, and their build quality is superior.

Moving on from CJ is a huge step in investing serious money. This is top dollar items we're talking about. Brands like, VAC, Lamm Audio, Kondo Audio Note, Jadis and Aries Cerat are ones that will give you a higher level of performance and very high quality presentation for high performance speakers. When going into gear like this, the rest of your system has to be SOTA, otherwise it's pointless. There are no compromises at this level.

Try to audition any VAC amplifier and you'll know straight away what I'm referring to. Enjoy the music!
Cheers, RJ

[admin]

Hi everybody,

Just an opportunity for my to be Back in the forum after a break..

Welcome back! Always great to hear from you.

Along the first Phone contact he told me to be
" fall in love" with the VAC amplifier as New religion and give up CJ despite the high respect of the Brand

I am always surprised when I heard such words from the mooth of a CJ owner for 3 décade who décide to divorce!!! (from CJ)

I think VAC is a great brand. Nothing bad to say about them. About a decade ago I was listening to some of their stuff (I can't recall the models). My recollection was that they sounded excellent. I don't think they had a "warm sound" like CJ. Not to say they were harsh, they were not. I think this really comes down to taste more than performance. At the same time I think CJ's gear has become less colored since the days of the PV9 so maybe the two brands are getting closer than farther apart.

I don't know how much the new VAC units cost today but I think they were pretty expensive at that time when I was listening. But then again, the new CJ lines have also gone up dramatically. It's now become a rich man's game in this hobby if looking to buy top of the line new (, maybe it always was).

[antaresbluespirit]

Hello admin,

Glad to be back ,thanks!

I agree with you New CJ gears have gone up dramatically and for this reason I got the "vintage"MF2500A that correspond to the MF2550 which is sold twice more expensive of Old but very good version. and the récent CJ products are difficult to buy /selling in second hand...since the rate are hight..

Raymond

[antaresbluespirit]

Hello another Johnson and Doc Rj

You are right i am the New guardian of the 2500A !


Thanks for your VAC feeback which are out of reach ..

Further to my PV9A ( far more better than the PV9 version ( an attempt to développ à New reliable premier three but it failed) I have kept my PV8 witch represent the beginning of New génération less" Caramel "of the PV5 but remaining dynamic with plenty of matter,
High sensivity level for Phono as well high output gain ..Perhaps a reason of the dynamic quality of this generation ( pv5,pv8,pv9a)
Thèse two unit are in partenrship with à modest MV60 Se ( very good high with plenty of energy wrhout crisp..A very well balance amp very dynamique...

In other brand I own à BEARDC35 /P35Ii I appreciate for same qualitues (full recaped)

Envoyé listening..

Raymond

[AnotherJohnson]

VAC does have a Wikipedia entry. You’ve got to wonder why CJ does not. Admin, maybe you should write one

It looks like maybe the key VAC claim to uniqueness is that they invented an auto bias system that actually holds bias under load to within 1%.

Other bias systems, manual or auto, are not so precise.

Can you hear this? I’ll bet under some circumstances some listeners can.

I had a 35+ year love affair with CJ myself, but at this point my ears tell me that other brands also have very capable products.

I think that all data suggest that VAC is another boutique builder, and there is a niche for such companies. VAC looks like another company with support provided by a skeleton crew.