2. amps-preamps
  3. 1109994264

Any fellow VAC Phi 220 owners out there? Thoughts?

I am absolutely thrilled with my VAC Phi 220 monoblocks and was just wondering if any other Phi owners out here share my enthusiasm? These are the best sounding (by far) power amplifiers I have ever heard in my system, and I think one of the best amplifiers I have heard period.

The Phi 220s really do it all with my Vandy 5As, but the midrange and treble reproduction are a cut above any other amplifier I've had in my system. It is the first time I feel like I'm listening to pure music and not an audio system. It's emotional, engaging, and just sounds "right". The 5As simply disappear like never before and are extremely capable of revealing just how good the 220s are.

Sorry if I'm "over the top" with my comments on these, but VAC nailed it with these amps!

Vandertseen Model 5A- Bird's Eye Maple
VAC Phi 220 monoblock amplifiers
EMM Labs DCC2 DAC/preamp
EMM Labs CDSD- SACD/CD transport
Audioquest Sky 72V DBS XLR interconnects
Audioquest Kilimanjaro 72V shotgun biwire speaker cables
Silent Source AC power cords
Custom Power Cord Co. Model 11 Plus for 5A subs
BPT 3.5 Signature Plus balanced line conditioner
Critical Mass Systems platforms for EMM and BPT
Sistrum SP-101 platforms for VAC Phi 220s
fsarc
tvad
9,467 posts
 
No PW yet. Hell, I've just discovered I can run my VAC Phi 110/110 with zero negative feedback running the APL direct, thus avoiding the preamp altogether. This is a whole new Pandora's Box that will require some exploration. No worries, though, I'll try the PW promptly.
711smilin
513 posts
 
I am not worried now, I bet you will be selling your pre soon anyway. heh heh heh
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Not necessarily. The music has more "life" and body with the preamp in the chain. And, for some reason there is more HF noise (hiss) going direct with the digital volume control.
711smilin
513 posts
 
aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh k
scotty333
79 posts
 
Tvad, I owned the phi 110 and the ren 70/70's - while the negative feedback may 'tighten' the high frequencies, I lost some of the air and what I would call presence with negative feedback. Sometimes it was even recording dependent. I am not sure what to tell you or recommend. I know in speaking to Kevin he will tell you its system dependent. Perhaps you have some A/C line noise on the digital side? Also, the more 'noise' I have removed from my system the cleaner the high end gets and no need for negative feedback.

Another idea is the sistrum stand as it helped the treble quite a bit. Less grunge. I am not sure but tubes can be microphonic and perhaps the sistrum stand is eliminating/reducing the microphonics in the tubes, thus creating better highs...

Personally, I prefer a pre-amp for the dynamics/headroom...but going direct has its advantages and some mfrs are better at the analog outputs on digital gear these days...

You could go with a phi beta integrated :), like I did and forget about a seperate preamp and negative feedback!

Good luck. Let us know how it goes....
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