Reproduction of acoustic instruments with tube amp

Dburdick, you may not find what you are looking for within your budget limitations. The Atma-Sphere MA-1 would deliver what you're looking for, but used prices are higher than the limit you've set. Another alternative that would work well for me would be the c-j Premier 11a, and they are available used in the ballpark of the top end of your budget.

I have been a tube amp user for many years. Last year I decided to try solid state as part of a downsizing exercise. After 9 mo of misery I have gone back to tubes. I just got a tube amp and am waiting for a tube preamp to ship. I have only heard 3 VTL amps including the one you owned and never thought they exhibited the virtues of tube amps. They all sounded more like a solid state amp to me. Good tube amps should excel at the reproduction of acoustic intruments provided the rest of the system is properly matched.
I don't know if your speakers match up well with a tube amp, which could also be an issue. If your budget is under $2k I would suggest you audition some Quicksilver Mono amps.

I agree with all of the posts here. I have found more realisim in all aspects of recorded music with tube versus ss. I changed from a cj 11a to mf2500 and lost IMO some inner detail but did gain some bass extention. My speakers are Thiel 3.6's and are relatively inefficient so I am sure the additional power of the mf2500 helped. I was amazed,however; at how well the 11a drove my Thiels. When I discussed this fact with cj (knut) he stated that tube amps produce about twice the power of ss; something about plate voltage. In other words the 11a at 70wpc is pretty close to 140wpc ss. This helped explain why the 11a drove my Thiels relatively well.

I would certainly aim for used BAT VK60 the regular stereo version. I believe that no better one can be offered to you in that price range if you are OK with used.

Dburdick, i don't know if the ST 85 can operate in Triode mode but i'm using VTL 185 monos with the 5.5 sig preamp and in triode small scale acoustic music is pretty much like being in the room with the musicians. seperation and definition is not a problem. in my comparisons with ss and tubes the ss amps won't touch the tubes for midrange wich is where the acoustic instruments dominate My guess is the VTL you were using didn't have enough juice to handle your speakers.