Tube Power Amp Reviews

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Tube Power Amp Reviews
VTL MB750 monoblock power amplifier
Brian Damkroger  |  Dec 03, 1997  |  0 comments
How much power do you really need? What does it do for you, anyway? Even before the single-ended renaissance, the prevailing wisdom was that you really didn't need that much power. When I had a pair of Met 7 speakers, even the "1 watt" indicator LED was hardly ever lit. Ditto for my time with a Threshold Stasis Two—all those cool power-indicator LEDs just sat there dark. Besides, everyone knows that power can be had only at tremendous cost, both monetary and in terms of other performance attributes.
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Tube Power Amp Reviews
VTL S-400 Reference power amplifier
Brian Damkroger  |  Dec 24, 2005  |  0 comments
When I reviewed VTL's MB-750 monoblock amplifier in the December 1997 Stereophile (Vol.20 No.12), it was a transitional time for the company. Luke Manley had recently taken it over, and he and his wife and partner, Bea Lam, were aggressively retooling. They introduced new business systems, including rigorous inventory and quality control; rebuilt VTL's dealer network around top-rank dealers; and systematically upgraded the products themselves to improve their consistency, reliability, manufacturability, and performance. VTL's goal, Luke explained to me at the time, was to build amplifiers that competed with the very best, and to "make the tubes invisible to the customer."
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Tube Power Amp ReviewsAudacious Audio
VTL Siegfried Series II Reference monoblock power amplifier
Michael Fremer  |  May 02, 2014  |  0 comments
Big tube amplifiers were once scary monsters reserved for those who didn't mind heavy maintenance, careful tweaking, and the occasional explosion. Blown tubes required replacing, preferably with pricey matched pairs, then biasing with a voltmeter. Optimal sonic performance required regular bias monitoring and adjusting, and because of current surges on startup, you had to choose between leaving the heat-producing monoliths on, or turning them on and off for each listening session, thus shortening the life of the tubes.
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Tube Power Amp Reviews
VTL ST-85 power amplifier
Lonnie Brownell  |  Feb 26, 1999  |  0 comments
"More power!!!"
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Tube Power Amp Reviews
VTL Tiny Triode monoblock power amplifier
Corey Greenberg  |  Nov 05, 2006  |  First Published: Apr 05, 1991  |  0 comments
During the time of the Native-American Comanches, a young brave had to undergo many trials by fire before he earned the respect of the tribe's adults. He was violently beaten by the men, humiliated by the women, and forced to endure physical torture such as the slow flaying of the foreskin with smoldering pine saplings drawn from the fire. Alienated from the tribe, exiled until he proved his manhood, he had to survive on wriggling cream-colored larvae and infrequent rainwater. Legend speaks of these Indian youths, dehydrated and disoriented, crawling around on their hands and knees and baying like wolves at the moon.
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J. Gordon HoltTube Power Amp Reviews
VTL/Manley Reference 350 power amplifier
J. Gordon Holt  |  Aug 01, 2017  |  First Published: Feb 01, 1991  |  0 comments
Manley is not a new company; it's the last name of the president and chief designer of VTL, David Manley, whose Model 300 has been my reference standard power amp for the past two years. In fact, Manley is not even a new brand name; it's the name of VTL's "deluxe" line of electronics, built (ostensibly) to industrial standards of ruggedness and reliability.

It's customary to think of "the tube sound" as being warm, rich, weak through the deep bass, fat through the midbass, forward through the midrange, bright through the middle highs, and soft at the extreme top, with superb rendition of depth and spaciousness. The "solid-state sound," by contrast, is generally thought to be cool, detailed, and pristine, with powerful deep bass, controlled midbass, rather reticent (laid-back) midrange and mid-highs, and a somewhat crisp high end, with variable (roulette-style) reproduction of depth and spatiality.

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Tube Power Amp ReviewsAudacious Audio
Wavac SH-833 monoblock power amplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Jul 10, 2004  |  First Published: Jul 01, 2004  |  0 comments
Leaving aside for a moment the fact that the Wavac SH-833 costs $350,000/pair—
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Tube Power Amp Reviews
Wavelength Audio Cardinal XS monoblock amplifier
Jonathan Scull  |  Apr 04, 2004  |  First Published: Jan 01, 1996  |  0 comments
We have to talk. Are you sitting comfortably? Is the reading light okay? Have a little something to drink at hand? (Audio is thirsty business.) The audio world is abuzz over the reintroduction of the single-ended triode amplifier. This is the first of three reviews of such amplifiers I'll be bringing you, along with two speaker systems with which to play them.
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Tube Power Amp Reviews
Wavelength Audio Gemini monoblock power amplifier
Robert Deutsch  |  May 20, 2001  |  0 comments
"I'm a fan of tubes—I don't like designing with them, but I do like listening to them."—Paul McGowan, Stereophile interview, May 2000
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Tube Power Amp Reviews
Woodside MA50 Renaissance monoblock power amplifier
Larry Greenhill  |  Aug 26, 2007  |  First Published: Jun 26, 1994  |  0 comments
Brian Tucker, the US Quad importer, introduced me to the Woodside MA50 tube amplifiers and their manufacturer, John Widgery, during the 1992 Summer CES. Tucker's combination of Woodside MA50 tube amplifiers and Quad ESL-63 USA Monitors sounded unusually neutral, dynamic, and detailed. This was good news; back in 1987, Dick Olsher (Vol.10 No.6, pp.104–5) was unable to recommend an earlier Woodside-manufactured amplifier, the Radford STA 25 Renaissance. Brian mentioned that the MA50's design is a much-improved version of that earlier Radford model. Time for another review.
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Tube Power Amp Reviews
Yamamoto A-08 power amplifier
Art Dudley  |  Mar 17, 2006  |  0 comments
My stepfather wore only second-hand clothes as a child and never understood why anyone would deliberately wash the color out of his new dungarees. By the same token, the senior members of our hobby, many of whom recall with fondness the transistor's advent, don't understand why anyone would now wish to throw away their newfound power. Some people deserve to be blessed for their point of view, even as the world moves away from it.
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Tube Power Amp ReviewsAudacious Audio
Ypsilon Aelius monoblock power amplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 29, 2013  |  First Published: Apr 01, 2013  |  6 comments
I knew nothing of Ypsilon when I first saw its products in a room at an overseas audio show. Even though the speakers in this system were complete unknowns, I was convinced that it was the electronics that were responsible for the magical balance of what I was hearing. That was confirmed when I reviewed the VPS-100 phono preamplifier in August 2009 and PST-100 Mk.II preamplifier in July 2011.
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Audacious AudioTube Power Amp Reviews
Ypsilon Electronics Hyperion monoblock power amplifier
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 22, 2018  |  18 comments
Designers of hybrid amplifiers can use solid-state devices in an amp's input stage and tubes in its driver and output stages, as Music Reference's Roger Modjeski did in his RM-200 Mk.II—or they can use tubes in the input and transistors in the output, as Ypsilon Electronics' Demetris Baklavas prefers.

The advantage of solid-state at the input stage can be lower noise. In the RM-200 Mk.II's fully balanced design, carefully matched input devices result in high common-mode rejection and low-noise operation close to the levels achieved with the best input transformers. The RM-200 Mk.II's signal/noise ratio measured a healthy 95.4dB.

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Tube Power Amp Reviews
Zesto Bia 200 Select power amplifier
Ken Micallef  |  Mar 03, 2023  |  9 comments
Like many other industries, audio has its power couples: behind-the-scenes movers-and-shakers who shape the trajectory of the industry and who also happen to be, well, together. Angela Cardas and Josh Meredith of Cardas Audio come to mind, as do Dave and Carol Clark of Positive Feedback, Eli and Ofra Gershman of Gershman Acoustics, Luke Manley and Bea Lam of VTL, Carl and Marilyn Marchisotto of Nola Speakers, Edwin and Gabi van der Kley-Rynveld of Siltech and Crystal Cable. George and Carolyn Counnas of Zesto Audio are a hi-fi power couple I'm especially fond of; I'm always happy to see them at shows, catch up with them on the phone, or exchange emails with them. Their sweet demeanor and good vibrations always lift my spirits.

George designs Zesto's preamplifiers, power amplifiers, phono stages, and step-up transformers, while Carolyn, a talented fine-art painter, gives Zesto's products their unique organic curves...

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