IME, Jud was very accessible and easy to talk to before his wife passed away. He is harder to get in contact with now. Seems he has delegated a lot to Simon.
I have thought about giving up my Joule VZN-80 MKV Musicwood because of the heat, a low level hum from the variac, and a very slight buzzing sound from one channel. However,I have found ways to deal with all these issues.
The Joule and variac are in a ventilated room directly behind my music room. It's literally on the other side of the wall from the rest of my system, so the cable runs are short. The heat and hum are no longer present in the music room.
As for the buzz, it is only audible from a foot or so away, when no music is playing. Careful cable choice and placement seems to help. Funny thing is that the buzz is only in one channel, and the other non-buzzing channel doesn't seem to care about cable choice or placement.
Like Desalvo55, I am addicted to the sound. It can be intoxicating. Like Samhar, I find it hard to give up my amp. I have a solid state amp that is a popular match with my Joule LA-150 preamp. I use that occassionally as a change of pace, but I always go back to the VZN-80.
Desalvo, I have an Allnic phonostage. I really like the Joule/Allnic combo. The Allnic adds to the Joule sound in a good way. There's even more openness, speed, soundstage, etc. I imagine your Allnic preamp sounds quite nice with your VZN-100's. I would like to hear an Allnic preamp one day in my system. I would also like to try out one of their amps. They are a contender for me if I ever decide to give up my Joule gear.
