ARC VSi60 vs Ayon Spirit II/III

Erikminer, I haven't heard the '#" but have the "2" and after Paul at USA Tube told me that,amongst other changes, that the "3" came with the Black Treasure tubes I decided to swap them in for the GL Reissues - they took a very good sounding amp up a coupleo f notches - net net- I, like you,don't hear what Lance0955 described even with the "2"

I have heard modified jolida and even the best Cayin is not in the same league as the New spirit mk3 for sure something is wrong for I have heard them, any pure class A amp with 0 negative feedback will better any ultralinear
tube I know of for it is a much cleaner signal, even in Pentode mode which is still much better than ultralinear
and still running Pure class A and 0 feedback. It is that simple .Please don't make that mistake if you have around $4500 to spend with discounts you will get this heavy duty amp and the preamp section with such a short signal path and the transformers are 1st class all the way Lundahs fron Sweeden,also the preamp section is better than most good preamps, direct is direct and even saves on the money on an extra pair of interconnects, as
well as power cords that in itself is at least $1k for anything decent .

Please, The Ayon is superior sounding! I have had the the VSi60 in my home. (not bad btw) but Key word is sound. I have never had any issues with my Ayon Triton and the the Spirit II gets you about 90% of the Triton. Yes a Toyota is very dependable and out sells Porsche. But I would still rather have the Porsche.

I've had my spirit 3 now for about 9 months I recently replaced the stock Philips driver tubes with a matched quad of 50's vintage RCA black plates from Andy Bowman of Vintage Tube Services all I can say is WOW amazing improvement, I was shocked at the increase in performance. Anyone had this amp upgrading the driver tubes is a no brainier.

The Ayon amps to me for my taste yield somewhat dryer less warm mids, yet a beautifully detailed presentation with liquid highs full of finese, compared to the average tube amp.

I think there may be good synergy of Ayon gear with warm speakers that require power. Otherwise, in my opiniion, although still quit nice, the Ayon sound may seem a little too solid state or analytical in presentation compared to the average more lush sounding tube amp.