Vac 200 IQ vs Ayon orthosII

The VAC Phi 200 had the best bass and ability to handle dynamic swings better than any tube amp I've previously owned.  They can be had for around $5K or less and are a tremendous value.

Dr-John--
  I think it was just old and tired.  It was an old McInosh Mc 2002 which I kept on at all times.  Came home and heard an awful buzzing sound.  I wasn't sure what component was causing the racket until I hit the power button and everything was silent.  Hit power again and blew the fuse in my PS 10.  I'm a little bit wiser now. I'm sure Kevin will have a fix for your amp though.  VAC seems to be an awesome company from what I can tell.

Thanks for the encouragement fischer.  I talked with the dealer and we will roll the kt 150s in 2 weeks.  Thanks for reminding me to experiment with the taps as well. I'm really interested to hear the difference the new tubes will make to the sound.  You might be right though.  I tend to listen to music with a large dynamic range and ss may be the ticket.  Not ready to concede yet though! Charles has mentioned increasing NFB for the SS.  I don't know how to do this, but the dealer who is quite knowledgeable should. Thanks for the tip

Keep us posted orthomead.  Due to some health reasons, I may be forced to sell my 200 IQ.  If you end up deciding on the VAC, feel free to message me.   The other thing to make sure when you demo the VAC with the KT150s is that they've been burned in for at least 50 hours minimum.  If you still don't feel the VAC doesn't do it, I would go solid state.    But in my listening experience, anymore MORE bass presence than the VAC will be a bit unnatural and emphasized too much over the midrange.   Balance has also been the focus in my search.   The other thing to keep in mind are the other gear you demo it with - cartridge, preamp, digital components...  Not sure that will have an impact but hard to isolate an amplifier in a demo from the rest of the system.  In store demos or show demos are impossible to isolate one component out unfortunately.  The down side of high end audio. 

If the VAC doesn't then give you that bass punch you are looking for, I would definitely go solid state.  Don't think any other tube amp will give it to imho.

VAC is not the only company that produces tube amps.   You can try running 2 200iq with KT150 in mono configuration, VTL, ARC and CAT.

If going with SS, Pass is probably down on my list for Vandersteens,   I would demo Ayre, Hegel H30, D'Agastino ... something more neutral.

There has been a T+A buzz so would contact audiotroy for info/demo.