VAC preamps - too expensive?

Aside from all the coloration VAC does it's a nice preamp.

They need to modernize their functionality.  They have a home theater knob on the front of the box and yet the remote can't control input selection.  I believe volume can be controlled by the Remote.

I think they're losing a lot of business unfortunately maybe they don't care.

Aside from all the coloration VAC does it's a nice preamp.

They need to modernize their functionality.  They have a home theater knob on the front of the box and yet the remote can't control input selection.  I believe volume can be controlled by the Remote.

Could you better describe that "coloration" from your listening experience, or are you just echoing someone else's opinion here?

This thread keeps going, somehow. You're not in the target market for a Master: an upscale, analog purist, hand-wired 2ch audio preamp with no digital control chips or volume and absolutely minimal relay switching (just the Mute control). I'm in their target market; I bought one. I actually DON'T want a Master with "modernized" features - that's not what core VAC is all about.

A far better match for your use case is an Audio Research Reference 6 or 6SE - these too are wonderful units, and I also own a 6. But here too you complained about "too many tubes". The 6H30 is long lived and ultra reliable. The single 6550 should be replaced every 1000 hours. This is minimal maintenance IMO. 

The Master has only 2 tubes because it uses Lundahl input and output transformers to handle the I/O loading. You either need to look for other tube designs using that approach (which is relatively rare), or (more likely) pivot to SS preamps. 

I'm looking at the Conrad Johnson Gat2 which provides all the functionality you need inside a home theater.

Their internal design is simplified as well.

@jumia-

It seems like you’re always steering back to home theater and that’s cool if you’re into that. I have a lot of friends who love music but want their system to do both. Why not try out these products-

https://www.trinnov.com/en/products/altitude-sup-16-sup/

https://www.genelec.com/home-theatres

This stuff will serve you well

“They need to modernize their functionality. They have a home theater knob on the front of the box and yet the remote can’t control input selection. I believe volume can be controlled by the Remote.”

No, the volume from a HT processor/preamp can’t be controlled by the VAC. That is why it is a “BYPASS” to allow the front Main channel volume to be controlled (along with all the surround/center/atmos channels) by the processor. As for input selection on the VAC remote, there are good reasons not to have it.  Give Kevin a call to ask.