Accuphase E-560 versus VAC Sigma 160i

Jriggy-
I would get the VAC - there is absolutely NONE of that hotness you are concerned about in the upper mids and treble. I repeat, NONE. You will LOVE this VAC piece - the tubes will impart that bit of warmth you are seeking, as well as the smoothness.

Sounds like a perfect fit to me - if you don't like it (unlikely), they sell very quickly here on Audiogon. My buddy with the 160i listens to opera with TEARS in his eyes at times due to the realism, warmth and organic nature of the performances thru his VAC.

Knghifi,
it's highly unlikely as I remain very happy with big Tannoys & Rogue, and it's been that way for a long time now. So I don't have a strong motivation to make a big change. And as amazing as the Magico's engineering and beryllium tweeter are, the big Tannoys still do things a smaller speaker can't.

Not that it's a complete impossibility -- what I heard from the S1/VAC combo was awesome sound that I'd happily acquire if circumstances changed and I needed to go to a smaller, simpler system. Again, it really surprised the heck out of me. Though to be fair, in a downsize scenario I'd also thoroughly investigate Tannoy's new(ish) Definition 10A (though they're bigger and slightly more expensive than S1).

Interesting comments- I had a Vac Phi Beta and Luxman 590ax in my room on Zu Definition 4 speakers. I would say the Luxman was very, very warm and smooth compared with the Vac. The Lux was like butta' and I didn't like it one bit. On the other hand, the Phi Beta to me was a tad rolled off, go figure. I rolled lots of tubes in it as well (Psvane 12ax7s, Shuguang Black Treasure KT88s, etc).

I've also had the Phi 200 in my system compared with my McIntosh 601s at the time- I felt they sounded really similar, which surprised me. Bass was not tube-like fyi. I didn't get to roll tubes in that amp, however.

Perhaps this is just a long way to say that I couldn't get Vac and Zu to work right. I heard the Sigma 160i on Tads sound spectacular at an audio show, so I'm well disposed to Vac amps.

Keithr,
Interesting that you found the Luxman 590ax to be way overly warm. I have not read that about the unit in any reviews (I know, take all reviews with a grain of salt)... Is it possible that the FETs in the amp were not broken in yet. I had a Mosfet amp once and it took quite a while to 'wake up.'
Did you have any other warm character cables or gear involved as well???
Thanks, Just trying to get a barometer going.

Jriggy- The Luxman was a demo piece that On A Higher Note circulates around the country when requested. It definitely had lots of hours on it (and I ran it continuously for 5 days- a space heater!) as the dealer and I had scheduling issues. Two other audiophiles and myself thought similarly on sonics.

Zu speakers tend to favor a slightly warm amp, so I thought it would be a perfect match. That was not the case however. I have another Class A amp (Valvet) in the system currently that sounds much better. I was told to demo the Luxman AB integrated as it's less warm, but I wasn't really interested.

The other integrated you should probably audition is the Ayre. It sounds quite good on some systems. I think Ayre, Dartzeel, and Vac would be my audition. Dart imo is the best, but at 2x the price.