Initial Impression of the VTL 5.5

SolidSqual
SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
edited October 2009 in 2 Channel Audio
Well here it is . . . It's got the slightly romnatic yet organic sound of my old Dodd Battery Pre with even greater detail than my old BAT. What's even more astonishing is that the bass hits harder than my Wyred4Sound with even more of a 3d soundstage. I'm a kid in a candy store. I feel like I've heard Hi End for the first time here tonight.
Post edited by SolidSqual on
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,418
    edited October 2009
    Congrats man... BTW, if you need a safe place to store your gear while attending OCS, let me know. It's would be the least I could do for a Marine Officer.:D
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited October 2009
    Haha. Yeah you can have it all, but you'll have to fight more girlfriend for it. She's a little Indian girl, but she refuses to listen to her Indian music on anything less than 500 watts and fullrange.
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited October 2009
    Shocking.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,564
    edited October 2009
    dorokusai wrote: »
    Shocking.

    Could be, but at least there's no batteries. ;)


    Congrats Mike, enjoy!
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited October 2009
    dorokusai wrote: »
    Shocking.

    did he stick his finger in it again!!!!!!......it is hi-fi, and its warm instead of cold as ice....

    congrats Mike but FTR MY BAT will crush you.......:D

    RT1--Tubes Rule.
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited October 2009
    reeltrouble1 wrote: »
    did he stick his finger in it again!!!!!!......it is hi-fi, and its warm instead of cold as ice....

    congrats Mike but FTR MY BAT will crush you.......:D

    RT1--Tubes Rule.

    Man, I don't know. The BAT preamp and amps that I have heard don't have the tubey sound like this. The VTL preamp is exactly to the T, the kind of tube preamp I enjoy most. God, I love this sound. I wish my speakers liked tubed amps. I can't imagine what the VTL 7.5 sounds like. These guys know how to make tube gear.

    AND NO, I haven't stuck my finger in it yet. I plan to do that tonight when I open the top and begin flipping some switches to setup the phono stage. I'll be sure to unplug the unit before this surgery begins.
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  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,601
    edited October 2009
    But all amps and preamps sound the same.........................:D

    Congrats. This is the stuff that's hard to explain to the flat earthers.
    Placebo my *ss
    "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson
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  • vc69
    vc69 Posts: 2,500
    edited October 2009
    Bet it would sound even better in front of an Em****a amp. Yeah, that's right. :p

    Anyway... glad to hear you are digging the pre. Unfortunately, my TFM-35 is hindering me from realizing the full impact of my 2.5. F1Nut was entirely correct in pointing that out to me initially. I don't regret getting the Carver, it was cheap and I'll get my money back. But I'm going to have to save and scrimp to be able to afford an amp that will do it justice.

    Have you any suggestions for possible mates amp wise?
    -Kevin
    HT: Philips 52PFL7432D 52" LCD 1080p / Onkyo TX-SR 606 / Oppo BDP-83 SE / Comcast cable. (all HDMI)B&W 801 - Front, Polk CS350 LS - Center, Polk LS90 - Rear
    2 Channel:
    Oppo BDP-83 SE
    Squeezebox Touch
    Muscial Fidelity M1 DAC
    VTL 2.5
    McIntosh 2205 (refurbed)
    B&W 801's
    Transparent IC's
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited October 2009
    I've always liked tube pre with ss amps. What's your budget?
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  • vc69
    vc69 Posts: 2,500
    edited October 2009
    I am looking to save about 1.5k It's going to take me 6 months what with Christmas coming up and all. But something in that range.


    I am currently infatuated with ARC but they have been out of range for the tubed models. I have seen some SS ARC amps go within my budget though.
    I'm still trying to catch up with what is good these days.

    All I know is, I don't want to go high-end mid-fi. I wanna go big. If I have to wait and save more, I will. I want something I can be happy with a long time.
    -Kevin
    HT: Philips 52PFL7432D 52" LCD 1080p / Onkyo TX-SR 606 / Oppo BDP-83 SE / Comcast cable. (all HDMI)B&W 801 - Front, Polk CS350 LS - Center, Polk LS90 - Rear
    2 Channel:
    Oppo BDP-83 SE
    Squeezebox Touch
    Muscial Fidelity M1 DAC
    VTL 2.5
    McIntosh 2205 (refurbed)
    B&W 801's
    Transparent IC's
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  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,601
    edited October 2009
    vc69 wrote: »
    I am looking to save about 1.5k It's going to take me 6 months what with Christmas coming up and all. But something in that range.


    I am currently infatuated with ARC but they have been out of range for the tubed models. I have seen some SS ARC amps go within my budget though.
    I'm still trying to catch up with what is good these days.

    All I know is, I don't want to go high-end mid-fi. I wanna go big. If I have to wait and save more, I will. I want something I can be happy with a long time.

    Hard to go wrong with ARC. Have you checked for dealer trade ins?
    I got a pretty good price like that.
    "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson
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  • SolidSqual
    SolidSqual Posts: 5,218
    edited October 2009
    There's a lot og excellent looking VTL amps on audiogon right now within your budget. Also, check out Dodd Audio for some good custom tube amps.
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  • danz1906
    danz1906 Posts: 5,144
    edited October 2009
    Congrats on the VTL!
    Linn AV5140 fronts
    Linn AV5120 Center
    Linn AV5140 Rears
    M&K MX-70 Sub for Music
    Odyssey Mono-Blocs
    SVS Ultra-13 Gloss Black:D
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited October 2009
    Vc69......BAT vk-500 is a powerhouse mono-blocks in one chassis near your budget, excellent solid state amp, make sure you get one with the batpak, Threshold pays nice with ARC as well, you need to match your impedance input/output you can eliminate that annoying hiss, I also favor fully balanced circiuts.

    I received this e-mail from an A-GON member I sold my VK-500 to when I went to tube amps, for your thoughts. You want a fast amp with lots of reserve power, few gain stages, toroids built with care, true audio capacitors preferable oil-filled, metal film resistors and most of all built by a company who listens to each piece, all obtainable used at or near your price point, it is really great to see the membership stepping up like you and Solid (well he is always at it, he's just schizo:)) and improving their rigs.
    It was very nice to meet you and thanks for meeting me 1/2 way. The BAT VK-500 amp sounds fantastic, it's the best I have owned. I have had Krells, FPB200c and FPB300, the KAV250a, I have had McCormack DNA 1 and .5, ATI's Audio Research
    D400 MkII and this is hands down my favorite. The music comes alive, the
    micro and macro dynamics are excellent and it is the least fatiguing of all
    of them. Finally the bass is on par or a bit better than the Krells.

    RT1--Tubes Rule--Long live the Tube
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  • janmike
    janmike Posts: 6,146
    edited October 2009
    Congrats Mike.

    Hope you are satisfied with this for a while. :rolleyes:
    Michael ;)
    In the beginning, all knowledge was new!
    NORTH of 60°
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