2. amps-preamps
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VTL MB 450 sig v cj prem 8a's v Mac MC 501's

I sold my beloved prem 8a's last year and have been on a search for a SS replacement that would fix the short comings of the prem 8a (and take away the tube hassle). namely - bass not that well controlled when playing my Vienna Mahlers, upper bass a bit fat and smearing into the lower midrange, lack of transparency in those area's, and a bit noisy. from the upper mids to treble the prem 8a's are musical heaven.

So far I have listened to cj prem 350, krell 300 cx, bryston 7BSST, JC-1's, pass X350 and Mac MC501's, the 501's have been the best of the lot. Unfortunately the Mac's in my system exibit a bit of glare/brightness in the lower treble and when you turn the SS amps up loud they don't seem to be as effortless and muisical as my old tube amps.

I am now thinking that I just like tube amps and what they do. I have a VTL 7.5 pre and are looking at the VTL MB 450 signature's. Unfortunately I cannot listen to them before buying.
Would appreciate if anyone has had direct experience with the VTL's for your opinion if the 450 will eleviate some of the cj shortcomings - namely bass control and transparency, while keeping that tube mid and treble magic.

thanks Shane
downunder
downunder OP
1,328 posts
 
Raquel, I fully understand the everything sounds different in your own system, unfortunately as I said I cannot demo the 450 sigs in my room, they need to be ordered from the factory. re the CTA amps, impossible to listen to in Sydney - living downunder does limit my ability to demo equipment.
Since I own Mahlers, buying another tube amp that may not control the speakers is a concern. however after trolling the web sites, it would seem that the VTL 450's control bass better than most tube amps. All the SS amps I have tried have not really had a problem controlling the bass,k but they don't sound as musical.

Ejlif. You maybe also experiencing some ineraction between the prem 17 and your tube power amp. I owned the prem 16 for 5 years and bass control was not its strong suite.

Mike. I beleive the current 450 version with the caps, new transformer and balanced input upgrades does give the VTL better bass control?.
Also, does the MC501 lose the slight glare in the upper mids, or is that a characteristic of the amp?.

thanks for the opinions so far.
aball
1,994 posts
 
You say you liked the McIntosh MC501s the best. Was that in your system?
downunder OP
1,328 posts
 
Yes the MC501's are in my system currently. they sound the best out of all the SS amps, but don't quite sound like tube amps. they go back to the store in the next day or so.
mahandave
152 posts
 
You are going to regret going back to solid state I bet. Once you understand as you do what tube amps do that SS will never do, will never do, will never do- your hooked for life. Its the old accuracy verses beauty debate. I hope you don't change just to get rid of tube hassle.
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