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Vandersteen's new affordable mono blocks at the CES 18

Just got an email that his new amps will be unveiled at the CES.  Here is what I got.  I can't wait.  He has adjustable crossovers so you can use them on any speaker that doesn't go down to 20HZ, which is 99% of teh speakers on the market.  Here is what they said:

Vandersteen Audio Introduces the Next GREAT Amplifier at CES 2018!Venetian Suite 29-203
Vandersteen Audio shook up the audio world with its liquid-cooled M7-HPA monoblocks, a radical advance in power amplifier design and loudspeaker performance that is Stereophile Class-A rated as a true reference.Vandersteen is doing it again at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, where you can get the first look and listen at a pre-production pair of the upcoming M5-HPA (High-Pass Amplifier) monoblocks! The M5-HPA is a solid-state design descended directly from the flagship monoblocks. It will be substantially less expensive, but will offer an astonishing amount of the flagship's sonic magic. While the M7-HPA is designed specifically for Vandersteen's Model Seven Mk II speakers, the M5-HPA will work with a much wider variety of loudspeakers and Vandersteen powered subwoofers. To accomplish this goal, while the M7-HPA's high-pass is fixed at 100Hz, the M5-HPA's internal high-pass filtering is adjustable to any of the following five settings: 20Hz, 40Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 200Hz.Vandersteen for years has employed high-pass filtering with powered subwoofers for the ultimate in powered-bass performance. When paired with a Vandersteen powered-bass speaker like the Quatro Wood CT the M5-HPA forms a complete powered-bass speaker system in which the amplification is perfectly optimized over the entire frequency range.
Richard Vandersteen is responsible for the M5-HPA’s overall design and architecture; the amplifier was developed and is built in partnership between Vandersteen Audio and Dean Klinefelter, a talented designer and engineer in his own right. 
Vandersteen powered-bass speaker systems are the ultimate expression of Richard Vandersteen’s philosophies on design and performance, formed over decades of industry-leading design & research & innovation.
M5-HPA's technical attributes:
  • Zero-Feedback Solid-State Design With Dual Single-Ended Circuits Connected By The Speaker Load
  • All Signal Transistors N-Channel Bipolars 
  • No Emitter Resistors
  • Minimal Circuit Path- Only 5 Parts In Signal Path Per Phase
  • 10 Separate Power Supplies
  • Adjustable High-Pass Filter (20Hz, 40Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz, 200Hz)
  • 300-Watts Into 4 Ohms / 150-Watts Into 8 Ohms
  • Made In The USA


ctsooner
ctsooner's avatar
ctsooner OP
2,480 posts
 
That's awesome earth tones.  Can't wait to hear your thoughts.  What is the rest of your system?

Pass is all over the place from what I have heard.  It depends on which line of theirs you are listening to.  Most are a bit warmer and very nice.  Good dynamics and a fair amount of detail.

Ayre also changes a bit depending on which model.  The 20 series takes them to a different level in my book.  They are detail monsters and can be a bit let warm than the Pass amps.  They are very very fast and match up well with most speakers.  Some feel they are too neutral, but I like that with many speakers.  I personally enjoy how 'fast' they sound and how much detail they give you.

Sounds like the Vandy's are a bit of both.  Musical, fast, engaging, large sound stage or smaller if that's what the signal calls for.  I'm sure Jim will have a much better review, lol. ;) 
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,185 posts
 
Well.... only a comparison between the Ayre VX-R Twenty and the Vandersteen M7-HPA possible in my system and that is somewhat problematic because of the external filter required for the Ayre and a cable change I made to AQ wild Blue Yonder ( necessitated by mono blocks )...

the other amps are single ended and in the case of the Bryston underpowered for the task and I am not going to buy a SE Model 7 high pass filter to do a test for them nor the 400a.  Any excellent Vandersteen amp dealer will have the needed gear and a wide variety of amplifiers to try :-)

i am not much of a review writer, but I will put some summary thoughts together...stay tuned...

earthtones
113 posts
 
A partial listing of the equipment in my system includes: Vandersteen 5A Carbons, Pass XP-22, PS Audio Directstream DAC, PS Audio P20 power regenerator, VPI Classic 4, a Roon server and currently one gaping hole because I have no amps since I sold my Pass XA60.8s. I’m going to be getting a loaner amp in a day or two to tide me over.

Compared to the XA60.8s, I felt that the M5-HPAs sounded smoother and instruments sounded more natural. I had mentioned somewhere else the saxophone on the "The girl from Ipanema". When it hit, it just sort of jumped out at me as sounding like it was weightier and almost right in the room with me. Massed strings are less emphasized and more as part of a cohesive top to bottom presentation. I was pretty happy with XA60.8s when I had my Quatro CTs, but the more open midrange on the 5ACs made me feel something was amiss that no room treatment, positioning or Roon DSP tweaking could ameliorate. Essentially, there was a glare in the upper midrange - at times. On good days, when I wasn’t too fatigued from other things and perhaps the AC quality was good, (P20 is only on upstream components), I could be floored with my setup. At other times, trying to get through an extremely difficult piece to do well on a system - for example, Brahms 3rd symphony, especially the opening, was a bit fatiguing. RV himself chalks this up to the XA60.8s having global negative feedback, which causes time smear and is especially evident with his time and phase correct speakers. Also, I’m sure something could be said for the simpler circuit path in his M5-HPAs. All I can say is that once I heard the M5-HPA’s, there was no going back. Now, my Pass XP-22 sounded great to me and I plan to keep it in the system. It is exceedingly neutral and very low in distortion. Is feedback an issue with it? I can’t say, but I’d be curious to know what others think. I suppose some would say for a system like mine especially, that you should banish all traces of it.
gdnrbob
4,509 posts
 
@earthtones,
Thanks for the response.
Feedback, or more importantly, the lack of, seems to be a feature that makes Vandy's sing.
Bob
ctsooner's avatar
ctsooner OP
2,480 posts
 
I'm sure you will fall in love with these new amps.  

I notice you are using Roon.  I love what Roon does, but it's not the best sounding program for digital.  JRiver is a much better sounding program to use for digital.  Matt Clott, who now write for TAS is a very close friend who is a digital guy.  He's been going back and forth with Roon vs others and what control programs sound best and why.  I am now using only JRiver through my The Memory Player by Laufer Technik.  

You may also want to try JRiver vs Roon to see what your thoughts are.  I'd be curious to what you hear.
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