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First impression: Herron VTPH-2A phono preamp

I got my VTPH-2A this morning and it's up and running. After about five hours of spinning vinyl, I'm pretty sure I've wet myself, MULTIPLE TIMES! I've primarily played vinyl that I've had for decades, music that I thought I was intimately familiar with. I was wrong. There's nuance I never knew existed. Everything about the VTPH-2A is "right". The bass is tight, vocals superb, instruments have places, etc.  All that I've listened to sounds new and fresh and the most masterfully recorded vinyl sounds live. What I've read about on this forum concerning the VTPH-2A (pretty much all stellar) is true. I've had five different phono preamps and nothing can compete with this, NOTHING. It's a bad ass and definitely a keeper.
professorsvsu
rob67's avatar
rob67
73 posts
 
I have posted this in another thread but is also relevant here:

I have now had a good listen to my dual mono version of the LSA.
To my ears (and friend's and family's) It has bettered the pre-amps i have had in this system so far, including ARC Ref5se (the Ref 5se was nice with the ARC amps i had previously, (perhaps at a disadvantage due to an impedance issue with ARC & Current SS amp ??). Among other great tube pres, I also compared an older SS Pass X2.5 and Bryston BP20.

George was extremely helpful; not just in confirming impedance compatibility with my current equipment, potential PSU upgrades, but also general audio advice and a friendly approach to my many questions.

My Current system is:
0.25mV MC Cart > Herron VTPH2 phono stage > LSA > Gryphon Antileon Signature > Wilson Sasha.

Herron is configured to lower gain 64dB.

Levels are fine, i am running at 12-2 o'clock, or just past half way for comfortable to strong levels. Although my room is not large, there is still plenty of gain available (not from the LSA of course).

I wont go into its sound too much other than to say it seems to have no sound, very neutral and balanced. When i placed other preamps back in to compare it became apparent what colourations those other pres contributed to the sound, some aspects of which were enjoyable of course but ultimately there was too much trade off. I prefer the clean, open, neutral, balanced sound I am getting with the LSA.

Perhaps eventually I will discover a Pre that betters the LSA in my current system, (I'm sure when i do it will be in excess of 20x the price) or i may change a component and find it an impedance mismatch with LSA. However at this stage, with my current setup it is very impressive and very good value sonically.

Thank you George
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
rob67
Your very welcome Rob, and thank you very much for the kind words. Glad you like it so much and how it sounds, you’ve said it like it is.

Are you going to try the 12v Li-Ion rechargeable battery to power the Lightspeed with? It will give a good week of listening before a recharge is needed.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/EU-DC-12V-6800mAh-Portable-Rechargeable-Li-ion-Battery-Pack-fr-CCTV-Cam-Mon...

Cheers George
djohn
64 posts
 

I got my VTPH-2A this morning and it's up and running. After about five hours of spinning vinyl, I'm pretty sure I've wet myself, MULTIPLE TIMES! I've primarily played vinyl that I've had for decades, music that I thought I was intimately familiar with. I was wrong. There's nuance I never knew existed. Everything about the VTPH-2A is "right". The bass is tight, vocals superb, instruments have places, etc. All that I've listened to sounds new and fresh and the most masterfully recorded vinyl sounds live. What I've read about on this forum concerning the VTPH-2A (pretty much all stellar) is true. I've had five different phono preamps and nothing can compete with this, NOTHING. It's a bad ass and definitely a keeper.


I owned the VTPH-1MC for 14 Years and upgraded to the VTPH-2A just recently. I can relate exactly to what the OP has stated here. I have used a number of Reference Tracks for Years and by Track 2 I was startled and by Track 5 I had a Shiver.

Did not wet myself but the performance increase from the VTPH-1MC was not subtle and the better half also heard this. I wish to Thank You for all of your Posts since it is the largest performance increase on the equipment side in my household to date.

I urge anyone on the fence in buying one of these to do so in the very near future since Keith Herron indicated to me that he has plans to possibly Retire within the next Year.


professorsvsu OP
78 posts
 
djohn,
I've had the VTPH-2A for about six months now and have not been disappointed one bit. Keith Herron must have been divinely inspired when he came up with this beast. If he retires, the listening community will be at a loss. His skill, talent, and passion are very much relevant in a market of overpriced, mediocre crap.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,868 posts
 
Keith has said the majority of the improvement in the VTPH-2 compared to the VTPH-1 is in the MC circuit of the phono amp. For users of high output pickups (moving magnet and moving iron)---whose signal does not pass through the MC circuit---the improvement provided by the mm-2 in relation to the mm-1 is not as pronounced. That's purely academic, as the VTPHmm-1 is no longer offered, and mm-1 owners don't sell theirs!
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