Van Alstine?

A few years back, I was running a Pioneer AVR in my combo HT/2-channel system, and had a Rotel RMB-1066 amp, run bridged, for the front three channels. With my old speakers (Vandersteen 1C), this was a bright-sounding combination. I decided to upgrade to a new three channel amp, but limited myself to brands I could try at home. It came down to the Omegastar three channel amp and the Odyssey Audio HT3. The Van Alstine was somewheat less money, so I had high hopes, but was dissappointed. I found the V.A. sounded even brighter than the the Rotel. It was especially highlighted in the brightness range (~4-8kHz). I returned it to Van Alstine. Frank was gracious, but somewhat miffed that I did not like his amp (he really tries to make a high-value product that pleases customers). The Odyssey Audio HT3 (with cap upgrade) was completely different. It is super smooth throughout the audio band, including that crucial brightness range. Even so, it offers up plenty of fine detail and decay. Good dynamics, soundstage width (less so on depth, IME). I did have a cap go bad a few months in. Other than the hefty shipping fees, the repair was painless and it has been fine in the five years since. Note also that ground hum was an issue at first. Klaus of Odyssey had me remove an internal ground wire, which helped a lot. A later addition of a PS Audio Quintet made yet another improvement, and I no longer consider this an issue.

Hi, Bondmanp. I'm sure you did hear an increased brightness with the Van Alstine: I don't question your data. I do, however, question the conclusions that you draw from the data. Van Alstine amps are not "voiced" to have an emphasis in any particular frequency range, and they measure flat across the audible frequency range and beyond. (Some of the older reviews have test bench data in them, and AVA hasn't diverted from their design goals over the years).

Since the AVA is passing all frequencies cleanly through, without emphasis (as a test bench verifies) I would suggest that if an AVA amp in your system leads to a "bright" sound then you are getting an honest look at some part of your system that is out of whack. What room treatments are you using to control reflections that can accentuate the high frequencies?

Cedunlap - I wouldn't dispute your claims regarding the flat frequency response of AVA amps. Nor would I claim that my room measures flat in the brightness range. I simply do not know. But I don't listen to test bench gear, I listen to music. I know what I heard. Without changing any other part of my system (I must stress this fact), the results I posted above were clearly apparent to me, in my room, with my associated gear and speakers. Since nothing was changed other than the three amps involved, room treatments or other system elements were a constant. The sound of each of the three amps was strictly relative to the others.

I did not mean in any way to suggest that Frank has engineered a response hump in that amplifier. I apologize if that's the way my comments came across. I was only sharing my personal experience with AVA with the OP, who was looking for experiences with this manufacturer. I am sure there are many happy AVA owners out there.

In any case, AVA's generous return option allows each consumer to judge for themselves, as they always should.

I came across an older review of a Van Alstine Omega IV DAC as examined by engineer David Rich--go here to read it for examples of some truly heinous audio engineering:

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/back_issues/The_Audio_Critic_26_r.pdf

Permanently turned me off of Alstine stuff. I always thought it a bit Mickey Mouse anyway. When someone has been doing something as long as Van Alstine has, they become pretty set in their ways.

Kristian, I haven't heard any of Franks DACs so I can't comment. I'm also not a fanboy. But I'm wondering if in 1999/2000 AVA was probably just starting to produce DACs. While that doesn't necessarily excuse anything, it may be an indication of why this early design was what it was.

If you want a different indication of build quality I can tell you that his FetValve amps (going back to the HC which my friend has) are VERY well built. It may not be entirely fair to base a conclusion on all of a manufacturer's products on an early design effort for something they hadn't really done before. (Again doesn't excuse the outcome.)

AVA amps and preamps have been around way longer, and there has been that much time to expose any shortcomings in those efforts. I haven't seen much in that regard for this end of their product line.