Anyone compare VAC Phi 300.1 to VTL 450's.

Hasse,

I believe it was the MB 450 signatures, but not the series II version, which I think now cost $15K, right? (They were probably made about 4 years ago, as best I can determine. I believe the list price on them was $10K.)

As far as the Lamm hybrids bass response, you ask?
Fantastic!
The absolute best I have ever heard, bar none.
(And that includes going up against some pretty good amps, as you have read, and that includes the DarTZeel NHB-108, which is a wonderful solid state amp too. The DarTZeel has, for a solid state amp, an amazing mid-range, but it lacks a bit in the bottom end, (possibly due to it only being a 100 wpc stereo amp), and it not quite as nice in the treble response as the Lamm M2.2, IMHO. That being said, it is my favorite solid state amp.)
(Again, the Lamms were so good, that I immediately started searching, and found, a pair for myself.) In case you are wondering, the difference between the M2.2 and the M2.1 is that the M2.2 has 20 more wpc, and the treble is more extended. (Plus the amp is biased up to 41 wpc in Class A before going to Class AB, where as the M2.1 only goes to 36 wpc in Class A.) The M2.1 is very slightly dark sounding on the top end in comparison, but unless you've heard both, it would be difficult to detect said darkness. (And, by doing some easy and fairly cheap tube rolling, one can eliminate said slight darkness.) Going from the stock Sovtek 6922's (there is one in each amp) to something as relatively cheap as some Amperex Orange Globe 6DJ8's ($50 a pair for a NOS set), will pretty much eliminate the darkness. And, for a few hundred dollars a pair, for some pinched waist Amperex 6922's, you'll not only extend the treble nicely, but you'll pick up a nice touch of mid-range bloom. I am very happy with my Lamms, and sincerely doubt I will ever give them up. (Well, except to buy my friend's M2.2s when he upgrades!)
:-)

FYI, another friend owns a pair of M2.1s too, and he too would only upgrade to the M2.2s as well. (His M2.1s are up for sale here, so he can buy the M2.2s that are for sale on Audiogon as well. I wish I had the cash to do that!)

PS I forgot that there was one more reason my friend did not change to the VAC Phi 300. The cost of retubing the amp is probably $500 for stock tubes, and given that NOS tubes usually sound better, it would probably cost over $1,000 to retube them with NOS tubes. (My friend listens a lot, and he figured that he'd end up retubing the amp every other year, so it was a consideration.)

I've owned both amps and the 300.1 is better but again it cost more so it should be. My 450 was only a sig not series II. I had the 300.1 and the Lamm 1.2 ref and I thought the 300.1 was better also. I could not get over how good the midrange was and the 300.1 had amazing bass for a tube amp. But none of these amps had bass like the Levinson 33H.

Actually the price of the 300.1 in monoblock fashion is in the price range of the big 600 watt VTL monoblocks. They look like space heaters. Do you know what changes were made from the 300 to 300.1. Also I have heard the VTL 450 and thought the bass was good but not the tightest. I also thought there was a slight glare in the upper mids. My thinking is that the 300.1 will have tighter bass, less glare and grain in the upper mids, and probably a fuller midrange without being heavy or dark.

Jwm describes my experiences with the 300.1 in his last sentence...well put.

I would like to amend something I wrote previously.

(However, the VAC is also one of the hottest running amps I have ever known as well. It put out at least as much heat as the VTL, and more than both Lamm monoblocks put together.)

I have recently purchased a VAC Phi 300.1 amplifier to replace the Lamm M2.1 monoblocks.  The VAC does run very warm, but not as much as both Lamm M2.1 monoblocks.  I attribute my error to the fact that we were in my friend's listening room doing an A/B comparison between the Lamms and the VAC, and the room was pretty hot (much hotter than usual) with both amps on, and they had been on for a few hours.  I erroneously attributed this primarily to the VAC when I should have attributed it to the Lamms.

I will also point out that the bass response of the VAC is the equal of the Lamm M2.1s, (although it may not be the equal of my friend's M2.2s).

So far my enthusiasm for the the VAC 300.1 amplifier has only grown now that I own one!