2. amps-preamps
  3. 1135172790

Help to make a choice: BAT; VAC; E.A.R.

Hi,
I'm on a market for a new amp, and it's going to be tubes this time. A friend of mine kindly loaned me his E.A.R. 534 amp, so that's all it took to convince me I prefer "tube" sound.
My room is 25x16x8
My music tastes are pretty diverse: classic rock, some classical, acoustic, etc.
And you can see the rest of my system listed below.
My current choices are ( for approx. the same money):
BAT VK-60 monoblocks
BAT VK-60 SE
BAT VK-55
EAR 534 (for less money)
VAC Auricle Monoblocks
VAC 220 Monoblocks
VAC Standard 105/105
P.S. I'm using Velodyne DD-15 Sub in my system now, so the amp's bass performance is not the highest priority.
As always, all your comments, comparisons and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Regards.
maril555
blakeaudio
40 posts
 
i also would vote for vac. i think their products are great and can vouch for their customer service, which really stands out as 1st class.
vicdamone
850 posts
 
Nice room and setup.
jaybo
4,478 posts
 
vac by far
keithr
1,306 posts
 
I like the old Vac 30/30 for the VAC choice. Would step up to BAT 75SE in that direction.

Both sound fantastic and neither are better "by a mile"

Cheers,
raquel
841 posts
 
I think the VAC Renaissance 70/70 would be better than what has been mentioned. It is totally dual mono all the way to the power cords and power switches, and is enormously powerful for a 65 watt amp (that wattage figure is meaningless).

It has automatic bias to take all hassle out of tubes, as well as a protection circuit that automatically kills power to any tube that is malfunctioning. The output tubes are super long life 300-B's. I just replaced my set on my VAC Renaissance 140/140's (the monoblock version of the 70/70) after five years of very frequent use. This is an amp you just turn on and off. No biasing of tubes, no regularly blowing tubes.

The sound is world-class and build-quality can't be beat. Given that they list for $14k and can be had used for almost $5k, they are extremely good value.
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