VTL Service ??

This is a very sobering thread! I was just considering buying used MB-450 monoblocs (again) when I found this topic.

My experience with VTL is a bit mixed: I own a TL 2.5 pre-amp that I bought used a couple of years ago, & absolutely love. No problems, knock on wood.

I also owned a (used) early model ST-85 power amp for a couple of years. It was a bit noisy, & had some old weird funky connectors, but still, had it's charms. It finally blew a fuse which I couldn't get locally because it was an odd one. VTL (Bea), sent me new fuses before I paid for them, relying on me to send them a check later, & gave me plenty of advice over the phone.

Bea, (Luke's wife I believe), has been extremely helpful by phone & e-mail. However, they have chastised me occasionally for not buying their gear new. The thought of shipping VTL mono-blocs to California really puts me off.......I have just read too many accounts of either their outright failure, or some "funky", intermittant, quirks. Maybe if I lived in California. The pre-amps are great however, IMHO, & easy to ship if need be. Just my 2 cents.

Hi Steve: Just let me add that I haven't had any issues with the reliability of the MB-185 Sig's themselves, just the now-replaced and amperage-uprated fuses (which are uprated for better performance [amperage-wise] and protection [voltage-wise, which I don't have yet] on current production), and the switch removal business, which I knew about when I bought them. Oh - and they sound pretty darn good, too.

With all the fine tube amps out there, why would anyone buy one from a company that stiffs its customers?

From what I read on this thread, they break down alot, and you can't get decent service, or even reasonable behavior from these VTL folks.

Who wants an amp with common breakdown problems, and a poor service policy? There are plenty of other amp makers out there who make amps just as good-sounding or better than VTL, and will treat you like a person.

I've had good experience with VTL. Maybe because I bought new, I don't know. My VTL IT 85 is a really nice unit, and sounds great. Very well built, and very well thought out. For it's retail price of $2500, I still think it's a bargain. The unit has performed flawlessly. And when I had questions, VTL always answered the phone, took my calls, and gave me the info I needed.

The only thing I didn't like was the fact that if I change my tubes to NOS, it voids the warranty. Otherwise, good experience all around.

Zaikes, that's a nice amp. I've recommended it before and a friend of mine had one so I'm familiar with it. Do you have the 805 output tube version?

On the breakdowns, old VTL not so good, new VTL as good as the rest.

I'd say that the manuf is still acting like he's a small outfit operating out of a garage, but when I was reviewing I was thinking about some tiny triodes and called three times and never got a response. Something about being out of the country, then this then that. This is EXTREMELY unusual behavior for a manuf - and not too bright given how many many reviewers penalize manuf's for such behavior, although that wasn't my MO - so I wouldn't take this too personally in the sense that its directed at dissing customers or used buyers. It seemed endemic to me and I never called again.

That said, they are nice sounding amps with many happy customers. A used VTL, sound-wise, is very hard to beat in many systems, so you have to balance it out I suppose.