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VAC Ren II, VAC Phi, or ARC Ref 3?

Finally, the two cold solder joints in one of my Rowland 7M amplifiers have been fixed. Just a simple 2 minutes soldering job at home, thanks to a kind live phone consult by Jeff himself. Now the system is back purring like a kitten.
Great say you, but. . . the problem is that now I have fallen totally prey to Upgraditis Furiosa, the most pernicious and 'wife threatening' form of Audiophilia Nervosa.
I listen mostly to classical--lots of chamber, vocal, Early Music, Baroque, Romantic, some large orchestra, lots of cello and other strings--on a system that I have lovingly put together over the last 20 years: EAD T1000, AT&T glass C-core glass wire, EAD D7000 Mk. 3, AudioQuest Quartz RCA, Audio Research LS2B, Gutwire XLR, Jeff Rowland 7M monoblocks, Cardas Golden Ref PCs on 7M, Cardas Golden Ref speakerwires, MagnePan 3A speakers.
The sound is sweet, lush, with a large if slightly unfocused soundstage, sometimes slightly veiled, somewhat soft at the bottom, can sound glorious in the midrange, good if not spectacular at the top. Much better at small ensembles than at full orchestra, where the sound stage can collapse and full strings and brass often display signs of brittleness and two-dimensionality. But, so much for self-criticism. Now what to do?
I intend to migrate towards a fully balanced system, with redbook and SACD capability and a tube linestage. I will start upgrading at the source and linestage points. The source will be an Esoteric X-01 or an upcoming APL NWO-1. But in this thread I'd like to discuss options for a new linestage. My requirements are an open and detailed, sweet sound, accurate with minimal coloration, with very good but not necessarily overwhelming macro-dynamics, an excellent three-dimensional and accurate soundstage, superior microdynamics and subtle nuance. The linestage must sound great out of the box--after breakin of course: not only after going through many cycles of NOS tubes musical chairs. All of this from a company with a stellar track record and reputation in quality, dependability and pre/post sale support. I listened to the VTL 7.5 and found it to be too soft. The BAT VK51SE sounded too dark. Then I listened at length to the VAC Ren II, which seems to embody all of my requirements. I have not heard the VAC Phi as yet, but it is in the running by inference. Nor I have listened to the ARC Ref 3, although I intend to: Ref 3 is in the running by reputation.
Suggestions? Opinions? It's your turn guys and girls!
guidocorona
wc65mustang
524 posts
 
>> It is a very 'delicate' machine with moderate reliability.<<

Delicate machine, perhaps. Moderate reliability, dead wrong.
Good luck however in your quest.
bsal
41 posts
 
I had a VAC Ren II (but not the sigature version). Superb piece. Does everything well. Perhaps just the tiniest little bit warm and veiled when compared with the Aesthetix Janus I replaced it with, but also a bit more holographic. I could happily live with either. Kevin Hayes's customer service is second to none and build quality is excellent.
guidocorona OP
4,298 posts
 
Thank you Matt, Lamm is a single ended design, as such it does not meet one of my reqs. I know Audio Frontiers of Hamilton, Ontario. I never liked its sound. Also the company has had its financial ups/downs.
But I'd be interested in more detailed impressions of ARC Ref 3 vs VAC. What do you like in Ref 3 better than in the VAC? Thanks, Guido
jafox
1,456 posts
 
Guidocorona: I can certainly relate to the issue of you wanting reliability but this comes with a lot of product lines these days so I would not worry too much here. You have listed a number of very highly rated models. I have not heard any of them but I have got to believe they are all magnitudes beyond the LS2 in pure musicality.

Rather than focus so much on what is too dark, too soft, etc., focus on the musicality. I am not going to comment on the LS2 as I have bashed this enough here already. But simply put, you have lived a long time with a product that has a very subtractive nature in many ways. Give some of these products more time. Maybe they are too soft or dark only because the LS2 is overly bright and fatiguing relative to many other pieces? It is almost like you need to "recalibrate" your ears and take notice of the multitude of refinements of these other products and not pay so much attention to simply the tonality.

There are layers and layers of harmonic overtones, decays, portrayal of space, etc., etc., that you have simply been missing all these years. The LS5, BAT 31SE and now Callisto have done this like few other products I have heard. I have to believe the 51SE, VAC and VTL have similar qualities.

As I have changed to the BAT and then Aesthetix products, I find it impossible to return to ARC products because for me now, they are simply too fatiguing. There's just too much of a "in your face" presentation with these products. And this is coming from an owner of many ARC products over the course of 15 years. Maybe the Ref3 is a different animal.

One very important note here. When you bring home a product like the ones you mentioned, you MUST also borrow a top-notch XLR cable from this to the amps. This is THE most critical cable in a system with such a line stage. I have found it to either make or break the magical qualities in the music that I have worked so hard to achieve myself.

John
guidocorona OP
4,298 posts
 
Thank you Bsal, I would consider Aesthetix were it not for the fact that you really need to love rolling tubes to bring out its potential. Your comment about the VACs great holographic imaging is bang on in my view. That's exactly my experience.
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