Reproduction of acoustic instruments with tube amp

I prefer tube amps but why would you want to mess with the whole tube thing if you prefer the midrange veracity of solid state? Makes no sense to me.

I am thinking about tubes again because the vocals with a tube amp are definitely better than any SS I have heard, and the Plinius is pretty good. I didn't say I prefer the midrange of SS, just that most instruments are more convincing to me. I don't think those two things are necessarily the same.

Esoxhntr, I have tried a few different brands of interconnects (Cardas, Audioquest, NBS, Alpha Core?) and settled on HT Pro Silway II. I use AP Oval 9 cables, and Absolute PCs. I'll most-likely keep trying amps until the end of time anyway, but just wanted some opinions from the 'tube experts'. Thanks again.

Yeah, it's worth giving it another try. Your ancillaries are good stuff. The reasons tube amps can sound best with vocals are generally the same reasons for the way they handle acoustic instruments. I just call the whole gestalt an ability to sound "natural", having a lot to do with the way the harmonic structure is preserved, and the way images are cast in their acoustic environments. SS bass slam and weight tend not to matter as much as these qualities when it comes to vocals and acoustic instruments. But in addition to trying better tubes themselves, it seems to me that you don't favor a "tubey" characterisic warmth that might compromise separation and definition. This would point to trying an amp (still push-pull, probably not in triode mode if switchable) with a large, wide-bandwidth output transformer (for un-rolled bass and treble extension), possibly running higher-output tubes than your VTL's EL-34's such as 6550's (and maybe more than one pair per channel?) for higher undistorted output capability (in conjunction with a beefy power supply), and possibly using an ultralinear output topology and somewhat greater negative feedback (both as opposed to the VTL) for lowered output impedance (less frequency response deviation into a 4 ohm load) and a higher damping factor (increased bass control). If you spend the money to get these things, you should also get passive parts quality on par with your Plinius, bettering transparancy and detail. The result may be a sound that, within the scale of tube amps, is more "dry" and less "luscious", with images that more favor focus over breadth and a soundstage favoring intimacy and clarity over distance and reverberance, and a small-scale dynamic character that may lean less toward "freewheeling" and more toward "controlled" traded off against increased large-scale dynamic resistance to sounding "amorphous" during complex passages. Obviously, many folks prefer tube amps for just the qualities opposite these, but you may not. Then let us know how things turn out. Good luck!

VTLs are not bad amps at all but they have a tendency to "eat" tubes. They do not benefit too much(as to the value invested) from placing some fancy tubes on them so stay with stocked ones and save bucks. I strongly recommend to have a tube tester for VTL amps and test tubes every month+- depending on how heavy you listen. The bias circuitry can suffer from the bad tube and be partially destroyed. Biasing is necessary to perform at least twice per month. That is the other way of keeping track on performance stability. If suddenly you notice that one of the tubes is out of bias by large values you'll need definitely to check it. If you don't have a tube tester you must have an extra tube to place instead just in case and than somehow test the extracted one(it may be OK after all).

Zaikesman, thanks for the great advice. This is exactly what I wanted to know.