paulo m
Well-known member
This weekend I finally auditioned a pair of VTL MB-450 monoblocks. Source was an Esoteric X-03SE, pre was VTL 6.5, speakers the Magico v3. Cables were Nordost all around, Tyr for interconnects, Frey for the speakers.
It was a very good session; the sound was extremely airy, bass was controlled and tight, voices were very natural. On the flip-side, timbrally it was somewhat metallic (not necessarily bright) and had a bit of etchiness. It also lacked some of the mid-range magic I was expecting to get. I believe this is due to two factors: 1) the room, which despite having some treatments (as in most dealers), it probably wasn't optimized (you could notice that treatments were in the process of being repositioned) and 2) the speakers, which despite getting rave reviews aren't probably my cup of tea--or perhaps they matched poorly with the rest of the equipment. There is actually a possible third factor, and it is the cabling: I'm not completely sold on the Nordost hype, and even though I would gladly have Valhalla somewhere on my system, I certainly wouldn't use them all around.
In an attempt to reduce unknowns in the system, the dealer replaced the VTL amps and pre with a Pathos Logos (the hybrid integrated I currently own) for a little while, so that I could zero in better in the room, speaker and cabling contributions (I have the same CDP also). I am happy to report that the things I didn't like remained there in some form or another, suggesting the culprits are not the VTL pre and amps. Of course, the Pathos didn't sound nearly as engaging as the VTL set up (bass was less controlled, mids were bland, highs less sparkly), but that is only natural given it is in a totally different league--and now I know where the extra $$$ is going.
It wasn't a wow experience all around due to the negatives just enumerated, but it was wow enough to not rule the VTL combo out in my pursuit of all-tube amplification. My wife accompanied me to this ~3-hour audition (she's my 2nd, unbiased, opinion and extra pair of ears in all my audio evaluations), who was prepared to dismiss the VTL gear as another excentricity of mine; well, she was blown away and got fully convinced this is worth the $$$
, even though she shared the same reservations regarding the room and cabling (she got infatuated with the speakers, but admitted in the end that something was missing somewhere).
Next, I'm planning to give the ARC Ref 3 + Ref 110 (and maybe 210) a serious audition. I wonder how their sound compares to the VTLs.
PS: While we were killing time, the dealer kindly left us in a room with an all-Zanden system (top of the line transport, DAC, pre, amps) coupled to JM Lab Nova Utopias. It did everything amazingly well (but at a price)!
It was a very good session; the sound was extremely airy, bass was controlled and tight, voices were very natural. On the flip-side, timbrally it was somewhat metallic (not necessarily bright) and had a bit of etchiness. It also lacked some of the mid-range magic I was expecting to get. I believe this is due to two factors: 1) the room, which despite having some treatments (as in most dealers), it probably wasn't optimized (you could notice that treatments were in the process of being repositioned) and 2) the speakers, which despite getting rave reviews aren't probably my cup of tea--or perhaps they matched poorly with the rest of the equipment. There is actually a possible third factor, and it is the cabling: I'm not completely sold on the Nordost hype, and even though I would gladly have Valhalla somewhere on my system, I certainly wouldn't use them all around.
In an attempt to reduce unknowns in the system, the dealer replaced the VTL amps and pre with a Pathos Logos (the hybrid integrated I currently own) for a little while, so that I could zero in better in the room, speaker and cabling contributions (I have the same CDP also). I am happy to report that the things I didn't like remained there in some form or another, suggesting the culprits are not the VTL pre and amps. Of course, the Pathos didn't sound nearly as engaging as the VTL set up (bass was less controlled, mids were bland, highs less sparkly), but that is only natural given it is in a totally different league--and now I know where the extra $$$ is going.
It wasn't a wow experience all around due to the negatives just enumerated, but it was wow enough to not rule the VTL combo out in my pursuit of all-tube amplification. My wife accompanied me to this ~3-hour audition (she's my 2nd, unbiased, opinion and extra pair of ears in all my audio evaluations), who was prepared to dismiss the VTL gear as another excentricity of mine; well, she was blown away and got fully convinced this is worth the $$$
, even though she shared the same reservations regarding the room and cabling (she got infatuated with the speakers, but admitted in the end that something was missing somewhere).Next, I'm planning to give the ARC Ref 3 + Ref 110 (and maybe 210) a serious audition. I wonder how their sound compares to the VTLs.
PS: While we were killing time, the dealer kindly left us in a room with an all-Zanden system (top of the line transport, DAC, pre, amps) coupled to JM Lab Nova Utopias. It did everything amazingly well (but at a price)!
