VTL Service ??

Prior to me going into the hifi business, I was interested in purchasing high power tube amplifiers. I called VTL on at least 5 different occasions and was told that Luke Manley would call me regarding the questions I had about the reliability of his amplifiers. I spoke with his wife, who is very nice, a number of times, and was told he would call. It never happened and I decided that was an indication of the service I would receive as an owner. I ended up buying a pair of Atma-sphere MA2 MKII.2's from Duke at AudioKinesis and was very happy with the sonics, reliability and the service I received from Ralph.

I think there are enough "GREAT" tube amps out there with the power that you are looking for, that you should not sacrifice good service.

Their service used to be great (Luke personally delivered a pair of amps to my house), but they've now limited transferrable warranties to the first re-sale, and that decreases re-saleability. And with their success and higher volumes, it's harder to give personalized service. This is understandable. But overall, as the owner of 3 VTLs, I was happy with their somewhat low-urgency approach to service.

I own both a VTL amp & pre-amp. I've never had to have them serviced, but have called VTL many times with questions & they've always been EXTREMELY helpful & cordial. Are you considering buying a brand new one? If so you'll get 5 years of warranty, longer than a lot of warranties on tube equipment. Plus, I think newer VTL stuff is very reliable (knock wood!).

As an owner of 3 pairs of VTL amplifiers, I can say that they have been VERY helpful with both the 2 pairs of amps I bought new AND the pair I bought used. I did speak with Luke about the "transferrable" warranty info. He advised they have been serviceing "lifetime" warranties from the early 80's since he re-formed VTL after his father dissovled the original VTL when he left. Sounds to me like they have gone above and beyond in the servicing of gear as old as 15 years. I understand how a "transferrable" warranty can be abused when after 2 or 3 owners, it is very difficult to tell what tubes have been used, if the unit has been altered etc. IMHO VTL builds an excellent quality product that is VERY reliable. Any problems I have had have been rectified quickly and at reasonalbe cost.

I have a VTL ST-150, and it is a superb sounding amp with very strong deep bass and lots of guts . It has blown some capacitors twice and they were serviced locally in NYC (due to the fact that it weighs about 70 lbs) at Analogic . I have spoke to luking regarding preamp matching and he spent 1/2 an hour on the phone with me and was great. Call Luke and talk to him & I think you will go with VTL . You cant beat the ST-150 for the price. Alternates are Conrad Johnson Premier 8 a's @ $ 6,000.00 use or an Audio Research VT 100 MK II