What preamp?

I think a real good match for the VT 100 mkll is an LS 25 mk1 or mkll.........I have the 25 mkl and I am very happy with this set up (so far)!

I owned an LS-25 preamp for a couple of years; an amazing piece...some things about it were preferable to my Ref 2 MKII...instrumental action was par excellence!!

Hmmm... I use an Aleph P with my EMC-1, and certainly decided that my Red Dawn was a limiting factor, given the Pass pre's transparency. Further I modded the EMC-1 to "UP" level (RSVP if you want me to mod yours for 1/2 price), then found nirvana with SPM XLR. I'm not sure that I'm pretty sure that i would NOT have been able to resolve these levels of further purification with a lesser preamp.
So if you want to follow my example treat yourself to a cleaner top octave with the EMC-1 mod, then feed it through a cleaner top octave than the Blue Heaven, into a totally transparent pre like the Aleph P or similar. The latest "UP"grade to the EMC-1 lights up the top octave to a less laid-back character, but ya need a more resolving IC (in balanced mode!) and pre to appreciate it. Just my experience, but VERY noticeable.

Subaruguru,

What is involved in this mod? How much? what amp are you using?