Why Not More Conversation about VAC?

One more point Larry, I never got the impression that VAC was not considered highly regarded tube gear. So far as value is concerned, I can't comment from an experience standpoint but I've never read where VAC has been considered on the cutting edge of price/performance, just great sounding musical tube gear very well designed and built. If not mistaken Kevin is an EE, correct? Not all tube manufacturers are and often this is reflected in poor design that have inherent flaws. I can't recall anything bad although there have been users that have moved on, nothing unusual about that in this hobby.

I agree Larry, that VAC does not come up in discussion here often these days. It used to. Kind of like "the flavor of the month" phenomenon that we see here. I've always wanted one of their preamps but they were typically out of reach monetarily.

This topic was probably a non starter.
I was just thinking about Kevin the other day and kinda did a quick look at the preamp/amp topics, didn't see any VAC threads and I began wondering why.
Tubegroover, I too have always considered VAC and certainly Kevin in the province of HIGH END AUDIO...I owned an Avatar Integrated a few years ago and had some of my more musical experiences with that piece....it's really, really good.

Elizabeth makes an interesting comment about it not being worth the money with the Chinese gear that has come to our shores. I asked, "Which Brands and Models do you think sound better."

CJ has a sound which I like, Audio Research too--though some of the older cj sounded so musical...but the VAC is just really special--Kevin's ideas of what music sounds like, is similar to mine I suppose..but I love it.

Good listening,
Larry

My opinion is that VAC has very much been considered on the cutting edge, performance-wise. The 300B-based Renaissance amps (30/30, 70/70, 140/140), especially, are some of the very best production push-pull amps ever made - fully point-to-point wired, extreme parts quality, and really careful implementation - their sound quality is very competitive to anything built before or since that I have experienced.

I happen to be the person Elizabeth purchased her VAC Standard from.

I purchased the VAC based on their prior reputation of having the classic tube sound, which to me, means thick, round, full midrange, less dynamic.

I own a VAC DAC 2 Mk2 which I have had for over 10 years and have not found a reason to upgrade at its price point.

When i recd the Standard, I was very impressed over the build quality. As Elizabeth said, it was sent to me in need of repairs from shipping damages.

After going through a very rough battle to get it repaired and very challenging customer service, when I got it back, it did not have that classic tube sound I was expecting. That and the frustrating taste in my mouth with customer service, made me decide to sell the unit at a loss-
( I should add that Kevin was not around for about 75% of the time my unit was at VAC, as it was around CES. Once he did return, I was able to speak to him, but still things were missed, balls got dropped again, by his other employees)

But to answer your question, I think a lot of it has to do with their current line. I beleive most of the current products are more on the upper price scale end. In the past they had more sub $4000 retail pieces in their line. There is less advertising in audio in general, even if they do advertise, many audiophiles no longer order the audio mags to see the ads. I also under the belief that VAC does not change or come out with new products that often

Just my 2cents